the olive-branch presented to the native citizens of london in a sermon preached at s. paul's church, may , being the day of their yearly feast / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the olive-branch presented to the native citizens of london in a sermon preached at s. paul's church, may , being the day of their yearly feast / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by j. g. for john clark ..., london : . errata: p. . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng bible. -- o.t. -- psalms cxxii, - -- sermons. fast-day sermons. a r (wing h ). civilwar no the olive-branch presented to the native citizens of london, in a sermon preached at s. paul's church, may . being the day of their yearly hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - rachel losh sampled and proofread - rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the olive-branch presented to the native citizens of london , in a sermon preached at s. paul's church , may . being the day of their yearly feast . by nath. hardy preacher to the parish of s. dyonis back-church . psal. . . pray for the peace of jerusalem ; they shall prosper that love thee . aug. de civit. dei l. . c. . quae harmonia à musicis dicitur in cantu , ea est in civitate concordia , arctissimum atque optimum omni in republica vinculum incolumitatis . london , printed by j. g. for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhil , . to all the native citizens of london ; particularly , those who lately met together ; more especially , the worthy stewards of the feast . how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity , the psalmist telleth us , or rather cannot tell us , and therefore proposeth it by way of question , and ushereth it in with a behold of admiration . surely then , for brethren who dwell together in unity , sometimes to meet and feast together in amity , cannot be either had in it self , or justly displeasing to any . at all solemn feasts piety ought to be the first , and charity the last dish ; upon which account it is that they usually begin with a sermon , and end with a contribution . it was your pleasure ( my honoured friends ) to whom the care of the late solemnity was committed , to put the sacred part of that burden on my shoulders . a service which as i did not ambitiously seek , so neither could i ingratefully refuse ; and therefore ( according to my slender abilities ) have endevoured to perform ; of which weak performance your candid acceptance hath laid upon me a further obligation of gratitude . at your desire the following discourse ( whatever it is ) was conceived in the study born in the pulpit , and now appeareth to the world in the printers sheets , not doubting but that where ever you meet , you will vouchsafe to own it , since it ( together with the author ) is so much yours . as for you ( my brethren ) who were pleased to honor the stewards with your presence , i heartily wish your liberality had been so large , that it might have come abroad into all the land as a pattern for others to follow ; that as the close of the sermon is hortatory , so the preface might have been laudatory . but since i cannot praise , i will pray , the lord make you to increase and abound in love towards the poor and needy . to all my fellow-citizens , whether then present or absent , i shall make bold to commend a double word ; . as the two cherubims looked with their faces one to another , and both to the mercy-seat ; so let us mind each others welfare , and all of us the cities good . let there be no strife between us brethren , except it be who shall most honour this place wherein we were born , by an exemplary conversation . . as our saviour said in another case to his disciples , rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you , but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven : so say i in this , let us not rejoice that we are london-natives , but rather rejoice if we are citizens of the heavenly jerusalem . let us not please our selves with the priviledge of our natural birth in this city , unlesse we are born again from above , so as we may truly say ( according to beza's translation of those words of s. paul ) our city is in heaven ; where that we may all meet together , celebrating an eternal festival of peace and joy , is the unfeigned prayer of your affectionate brother and servant nath : hardy . psalm . ver. , . . for my brethren and companions sake , i will now say , peace be within thee . . because of the house of the lord our god , i will seek thy good . this scripture like a well-made picture which looketh every way , or a well-wrought key which fitteth every door , hath a congruous reference to each circumstance of this solemne meeting . jerusalem the mother city of judea , is the centre in which the lines of this text , yea the whole psalm , meet , and upon what should our eyes , especially at this time , be fixed , but london , which is the metropolis of england ? this psalm ( whereof the text is the close ) was wont to be sung by the jewish tribes when they met at jerusalem , on the yearly feasts ; in that respect very fit to be the preachers subject , when the english , particularly the london tribe is gathered together on their annuall festivall : besides , the place in which we are assembled , is no other then the house of the lord our god ; we who are here met are by our birth and education in this famous city , brethren and companions ; nor is there any thing on this occasion more fit to be inculcated upon us than ( that which is the chief scope of the text ) that we should seek the good of the city , & now say , peace be within thee . indeed what duty more suitable to this place then prayer ? for whom should prayer be made if not for our english jerusalem ? what should we pray for if not for her peace and good ? who should pray for it or seek after it if not we ? and when , if not now on this day of our publick assembling ? you see how easily the text is applicable to the occasion ; god grant we may all as readily apply the sermon to our consciences , and then i doubt not but with one consent we shall breath forth davids language in reference to this our jerusalem , for my brethren and companions sake i ●ill now say , peace be within thee ; because of the house of the lord our god i will seek thy good . the words contain in them a double engagement , and double enforcement . the engagements are to words and works , devotion and action , prayer and endeavour : i will now say , peace be within thee , i will seek thy good . the enforcements are in respect of men and god , relations and religion , persons and place : for my brethren and companions sake , and because of the house of the lord our god . if you please i shall more punctually anatomize the text into its severall members , for though sometimes a single view of every particle in a scripture may seem a mangling of the meat and crumbling of the bread , yet when every word affords a distinct materiall observation , it is a carefull cutting of the meat and breaking the bread , so as it may be the better eaten and more easily digested . conceive then the text as a river parting it self into six smooth and soft streams ; or like a tree spreading it self into six choice and flourishing branches , namely , the cui , quid , quomodo , quando , and the quare . the subject for whom , in the pronouns , thee and thy . the object for what , in the nouns , peace and good . the acts whereby , in the verbs , say and seek . the agent who , implied in the first person of the verbs , and expressed in our translation by the pronoune i. the time when , in the adverb now , and the future tense of the verbs , will . the reasons why , ushered in by the conjunction , because ; whilest the psalmist looking both downward upon his brethren and companions , and upward upon the house of the lord his god , findeth strong obligations laid upon him to endeavour jerusalems welfare . i shall with all convenient speed climb up these branches , staying upon some , and onely touching upon others ; passe through these streames , sometimes bowing down my knees , and sometimes lapping with my tongue , that i may make the more haste . and now my brethren & ( if i may be so bold ) companions , remember , i beseech you , where you are , namely , in the house of the lord our god , & so after a more especiall manner in his presence : that which i seek is ( my conscience bearing me witness ) as first gods glory , so next your souls good ; let me not miss of my aim , my chief errand is peace , the peace of the city ; therefore i trust you will gladly hear what i shall say . if by reason of the multiplicity of the branches and streames my stay shall prove a little longer than ordinary , i before-hand beg your pardon and patience ; withall intreating the holy spirit to sharpen your appetites , that you may eat of the pleasant fruits which grow upon these branches , and drink of the waters of life which flow from these streams ; and having fed your souls i shall then dismiss you to that love-feast which is prepared for your bodies . in the handling of these words ( according to the proposed method ) my discourse must be retrograde , beginning at the end , and ending at the beginning of the verses : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which are the last words in the hebr. are the first we must take into consideration , as referring to the subject for whom peace and good is desired ; nor need we go further than the sixth verse to find out the noun to which these pronouns refer , it is jerusalem , which there speaking of , the psalmist here speaketh to , ut majorem exprimat affectum , as a more vehement way of expressing his affection . not to trouble you with the multiplied acceptions of this word jerusalem in sacred writ , know , to our present purpose that it may be taken either mystically or literally . . in a mysticall sense , by jerusalem is understood the catholick church , whereof she was a type , and that in severall respects , . jerusalem was the place which god chose before all the world , so we read , the lord hath chosen sion , and the lord which hath chosen jerusalem . the caholick church is that number of people which god hath culled out of the rest of mankind , being therefore called by the apostle peter a chosen generation . . jerusalem was an holy city , an holy mountain , it 's often so called . all the true members of the catholick church are saints , for which reason she is styled an holy nation by s. peter , the holy city , the new jerusalem by s. john , and in our creed the holy catholick church . . at jerusalem was gods house and davids throne ; in the catholick church is gods speciall presence and christs royall scepter , who was both davids lord and son . . to jerusalem was the confluence of all judea at the time of their solemn feasts : to the catholick church ( according to jeremy's prophecy ) is the gathering of all the nations of the world . . jerusalem stood upon hills , especially that part of it which was called the upper city : the catholick church in respect of its divine originall is the jerusalem which is above , which cometh down out of heaven . . jerusalem was ( as we read in this psalm ) a city compact within it self , in respect of the regularity of its building and unity of its inhabitants : the catholick church is one , all whose members are knit together in the bond of love . . jerusalem was the mother city of judea : the catholick church is mater christianorum , the mother of us all , of all christians . . mountains and hills were round about jerusalem , gods protection is round about his church . . finally , the names of jerusalems citizens were enrolled in a register , and the names of the members of the church are written in the book of life ; so fit and full is the parallel between them . and now according to this construction , we learn how deare and precious the peace and good of the catholick church ought to be to us , what searchings of heart for her divisions , what longings of heart for her union . the catholick church in reference to god is his daughter , to christ she is his spouse , to us she is our mother , and therefore whilest hereticks and schismaticks , like unnaturall children , as it were , rend her garment , nay tread upon her body , and viper-like eat out her bowels , let us express a filiall love towards her by using our utmost care to procure her peace and promote her good . it were easie to instance in moses , jeremy , paul , and others , how as the marigold openeth and shutteth with the rising and setting of the sun , so those good mens hearts have been suitably affected according to the different state of the church , her miseries have been their sorrow , and her peace their joy , oh let the same mind be in us . the truth is we are never in a right frame till we come to this temper , so it go well with the church it matters not much though it be ill with us ; and if ill with the church , it contents not , though it be well with us . and as we tender the good , oh let us study the peace of the church , since it can never be well with us unless peace be in her , she is a building which cannot stand if the stones be not cemented , and a chain which cannot hold if his links be not fastned , a body which cannot thrive if its members be not united . no wonder if upon this account there is nothing the churches adversaries endeavour more than her disse●io●s , nor is there any thing her friends should more strive for than her union ; oh let it be our earnest vote , our hearty wish , our daily prayer , that all they who confesse gods name may agree in the truth of his holy word , and live in unity and godly love . . but though the mysticall interpretation would not be excluded , yet the literall is principally intended , and so at once suitable both with the text and the occasion . in this notion it is the city of jerusalem , for which david is so zealous , and a city being a society or community , yea according to aristotles character , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a perfect association ; that which we hence learn is , what speciall regard every one of us ought to have to the publick peace and common good . we see in nature how the severall parts agree together for the preservation of the vniverse ; we may observe in our bodies how the eye seeth , the hand worketh , the foot walketh , the mouth eateth , the stomach digesteth , nor for it self onely , but the body : thus ought we to be affected towards the whole , the body whereof we are parts and members ; unum omnibus debet esse propositum , ut eadem sit utilitas unius cujusque & universorum , saith the orator ; every man should make the common interest his own . and he ( saith st. ambrose ) is the perfect wise man who respects not his own advantage quaerens non quod sibi sed quod omnibus utile , seeking rather what may be beneficiall to all then to himself . thus it ought to be : but how contrary most mens practice is sad experience testifieth . seneca observeth of voluptuous persons , quis est istorum qui non malitrem publicam turbari quàm comam suam ? they had rather the commonwealth should be disturbed , then one of their haires misplaced : and it is reported of honorius , that he was more troubled at the supposed losse of his hen called roma , then at the reall loss of the city called by that name . too many such there are who are not for the publick , so they may enjoy ther quiet , and who are more troubled for the petty losse of their own , then the publick dammage . the pro , isaiah complaineth of men who joyne house to house , and lay field to field , that they may dwell alone upon the earth ; this generation of men still liveth who would grasp all into their own hands , and with whom ( as epictetus truly ) their own gain is father , brother , kinsman , country , yea instead of god himself . but oh be this base selfish temper far from us , let us not be like minerall grounds , which being barren without keep all their riches within their own bowells ; much lesse like the ivie , which hinders the growth of that tree to which it cleaveth , that it self may flourish : rather let us be like the starre which shines to enlighten the world ; yea like the candle which spendeth it self to give light to the room where it is . let it not be said of any of us , ( those especially who are in place ) what cato complained of the senators in his time , separatim vos quisque sibi consilia capitis , that they did every one consult apart for his own ease and contentment ; but let us imitate those fabii and fabritii ( of whom salvian saith ) omnia studia , omnes conatus suos in communia emolumenta conferrent , they did bend all their studies to the common good . to induce hereunto , consider : . in seeking the generall , we seek our particular good : it is the prophets argument to the captive jewes in babylon , seek the peace of the city , for in the peace thereof you shall have peace . cicero laughed at the folly of those men , qui amissâ republicâ piscinas suas fore salvas sperare videntur , who hoped their fish-ponds should be safe , though the commonwealth were lost . quae rogo insania , quae caecitas ! what a madnes , blindnes is it ( saith salvian ) to think we may preserve our own riches , when the commonwealth groweth poor . surely if the tree fall , the branches cannot flourish ; and the good of each part is involved in the whole . . if at any time by seeking the publick good we endanger our safety , we shall advance our dignity : gloriosum unicuique ducitur ( saith st. ambrose ) si periculis propriis quaerat universorum tranquillitatem . it is an honorable enterprise to endeavour the common tranquillity , though with our own danger . nehemiah and mordecay are upon record in gods book , to their perpetuall renown , for seeking the welfare of the people . . and which yet should most prevaile with us who professe our selves the servants of the most high , is , that , this is very acceptable in his eyes . it is well observed ( by the forementioned father ) that whereas hannah is onely said to speak , moses is said to cry ; the reason whereof is rendred very fitly to our present purpose , hannah prayed onely for a child , which was a private benefit , but moses for the whole people of israel . as publick prayers , so prayers for the publick , cry loudest in gods eares . how angry was god with jonah , as chiefly for disobedience to his command , so withall , for that , neglecting to deliver his errand wch concerned the ninevites good , he fled to tarshish to prevent his own supposed danger ? whereas david is called a man after gods own heart , amongst other reason , because he was one who served his generation , a man intent on the publick good , and as you may see here , resolved to do his utmost for jerusalem ; which will further appear by a discussion of the objects for what , in the nounes , peace , good . two words which are not much different as to their sense ; but yet having their peculiar emphasis , i shall distinctly handle them , and so take notice of the benefit , and the excellency of the benefit . the benefit it self is peace , and that within jerusalem . the excellency of the benefit is intimated in that parallel word good . . the benefit is . generally , peace , a word both of a large and extensive , and of a narrow and restrictive acception , and in both senses it may be here construed . . peace in its extensive notion is a voluminous mercy , a state of prosperity comprehending whatsoever is requisite to the well-being of a person or a society . in this sense it is used by the hebrewes in their salutations answering those . words {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which are used by the greeks ( the first whereof refers to the mind , the second to the body , the third to the estate ) and so taking in all sorts of blessings . this we may very well conceive to be the latitute of the word in this place ; and perhaps the psalmist changeth the phrase from peace to good in the next verse , to intimate , that by peace he meaneth a confluence of all those good things which might conduce to jerusalems prosperous and happy estate . . but though this notion may be included , yet i conceive the restrained acception of the word peace as it is a particular blessing , is here principally intended , both because in the former verse it is contradistinguished to prosperity , and chiefly because in this verse it is not said , pax tibi , but in te ; peace to , but in thee . if you shall inquire what peace is , i answer with gregory nyssen , it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a friendly agreement with our neighbour , or if you will with st. augustin , it is hominum ordinata concordia , a well ordered concord among men . what calmnesse is in the sea , and clearnesse in the skie , what health is in the body and harmony in musick , that is peace among men . calmeness is a quiet settlement of the waves , clearness a freedom from black and dark clouds , health a just temperature of the humours , and harmony a fit accord of the notes : all suitable emblems of peace , which is the ceasing of jarres , stilling of commotions , and a sweet agreement of many in one . . this peace with men is either extera or civilis , without or within , with forraign countries or domestick citizens : the former is that which is called rest round about , which god gave the jews from the heathens invasion ; the later which her is desired , is peace within jerusalem , that which is called civil peace , and is according to s. austin , ordinata imperando & obediendo concordia civium , an orderly concord among the citizens by commanding and obeying : civitas , saith one , is quasi civium unitas , a city is a peaceable cohabitation of citizens ; it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith aristotle , a communion with one another in regular living ; so that without peace and order , it is not populus but turba , a civil society , but a giddy multi ude . now though peace is to be had with all men , nations , people , if it be possible , and , as much as in us lieth , to be endeavoured ; yet peace with one another is principally to be sought after , as being of greatest concernment to the safety of the community . if there be war without and discord within , nothing can be expected but ruine ; it being in this case with a city ( to use greg. nazianzens comparison ) as with a ship on a tempestuous sea , when the winds are raging without , and the marriners railing within , so that in all probability it will sink and perish in the waters . if there be peace without and discord within , the condition of the city is still desperate ; though the skie be never so clear , yet if a wind be got into the bowels of the earth , it will shake , if not overturn it . but though there be war without , if there be peace within , the city may probably be safe . unanimous citizens are as agesilaus said concerning sparta ) the best walls to a city ; in which respect it was wittily returned upon caligulas wish , that the people of rome had but one neck , intimating his cruel desire to cut them off at a blow . thou art mistaken caesar , had they but one neck — fortior illa foret , it would be the stronger to make resistance : no mervail if the oracle advised the athenians , when they were to wage war with the sicilians , that they should carry minerva's priest with them , whose name was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth peace . it is very observable to this purpose , what great care hath alwaies been taken for preventing intestine commotions . that phrase of the prophet zacharie , execute judgement in your gates , implieth , that the courts of justice among the jews were in the gates of the city ; and why so , say some satyrically , that the simplicity of the countrey might not be poysoned by conversing with the subtile citizens , say others more suitably to my present purpose , ut civi●atis populus esset pacificus , discordes ingredi non liceret , that the city might be at quiet , suits and contentions at law were to be in the gates . it was appointed by the people of rome that the senate should sit in the temple of concord . crates the philosopher made it his business to find out and compose differences among the inhabitants ; and alexander ab alexandro tells us of an officer at athens , constituted for this onely end , to make up breaches among the citizens ; yea it was a law among the troglodites , that if there were any disturbances , upon the very naming of peace , though but by a woman or a child , all was husht : no wonder if davids word and wish concerning jerusalem , is peace be within thee . . having opened the nature of the benefit , it now remaineth that we take view of its excellency , as it is construed in that other word good ; for though taking peace in its narrow notion , we may construe good in a way of amplification , as if the psalmists meaning were , i will not onely say peace , but i will seek all manner of good ; yet i rather incline to look upon good , as synonymous with peace . to this agreeth that antithesis of peace and evil , i make peace and create evil ; and to this purpose it is , that publishing peace is twice in the same verse said to be the bringing good tidings . unum & bonum in metaphysicks are convertible terms ; and here good is , as it were , appropriated to peace ; nor is it without good reason , and that up on a three-fold account , in as much as . of all good things , peace , and especially civil peace , is the best , as health in respect of the naturall , so peace in respect of the politick body is the chief comfort . plutarch reckoning up those good things which are needfull for a city , begins with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , peace , and concludeth with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , concord . indeed this comparison must be limited to things of the same kind , and with this restriction whatever is said of the excellency of peace is to be understood ; outward peace is not better than inward grace , but it is better than all other worldly enjoyments : they are as the milk , this as the cream ; they are as the grass , this as the flower ; they as the starrs , this as the sun ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , that is s. chrysostomes phrase , nothing is equall with peace , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . so synesius concordis most excellent ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . so s. basil , it is the most superlative blessing ; with which accord that of the poet — pax optima rerum ; and as war being the worst of miseries , is emphatically called evil , so peace being the best of comforts is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} called good . . without this nothing is good : s. paul resembleth peace to a bond , and very aptly , since that which keepeth all our comforts together is peace : the psalmists phrase is not onely the lord will give , but he will bless his people with peace , as if nothing we enjoy were blessed without peace ; what light is in the world , that is peace in a city ; nothing would be amiable without light , nor can any enjoyments be comfortable without peace . very appositely to this purpose is that of gregory nyssen : suppose ( saith he ) a man to have all those things which in this world are esteemed precious , wealth , health , wife , children , parents , servants , friends , pleasant gardens , stately palaces , large parks , or whatever else is invented for delight , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; if all these be present , and peace absent , what is the gain of them , when as war hinders the fruition of , and contentment in them ? that prayer of the church , lord thou wilt ordain peace for us , for thou also hast wrought all our works for us , may very well bear a sense to this purpose , as if she would say , whatever works thou hast wrought for us will afford us no comfort , unless thou also ordain peace for us . more than this ; . whatsoever is called good may be predicated of peace ; it is a little word , and spell'd with a few letters ; but within these few letters is to be found all good ; the hebrew word signifieth both perfection and peace , intimating that there is no good wanting where peace is . the moralists distribution of bonum is into honestum , jucundum , utile ; good is whatsoever is honest , or pleasant , or profitable , and in all these respect ; peace is good . . peace is honest , as being that which results from the dictates of the divine law and right reason ; peace is the daughter of truth , the effect of righteousness , and the fruit of the spirit ; indeed this is not true of all kind of peace , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith the greek father , there is as a commendable dissention , so an execrable union ; such was that of herod and pilat against christ ; such are all combinations for the opposing of good , or the accomplishing evil : but otherwise a friendly agreement with one another in all things that are not absolutely sinfull , is that which is most just and honest . . peace is pleasant , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith the greek father ; and to the same purpose the latin oratour , nomen pacis dulce , res ipsa salutaris , both the name and the thing is sweet . s. paul joyneth peace and joy together , to intimate that peace is joyfull . oh how good and pleasant a thing it is ! so the psalmist : that which is good and not pleasant may be tedious , that which is pleasant but not good is vicious ; but peace , and chiefly civil peace , is both good , that is , honest , and pleasant . . peace is profitable ; in the forementioned psalm it is compared to aarons oyntment and hermons dew , that for pleasure , and this for profit ; it is called by s. chrysostome {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a mother of good things . this queen of peace hath a train of blessings , like so many handmaids to attend upon her ; in peace the merchant traffiqueth securely , the husbandman reapeth joyfully , the citizen tradeth cheerfully , all men manage their affaires prosperously ; in peace our garners are replenished with store , our valleys with corn , our hills with sheep , our shops with wares : the time will not give me leave to set before you all the flowers which grow in the garden of peace . s. paul joyneth peace and holiness together ; and what in another place he saith of the latter , i may after a sort apply to the former , it is profitable for all things . loe what a blessed trinity here is in unity ; vertue , pleasure , profit , all as so many jewels in this one ring of peace ; and surely peace being so good , may justly be desirable . it is the philosophers definition of good , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is that which all desire ; the poet saith no less of peace . — pacem te poscimus omnes , it is that we are all in love with . st. austin , hath a large discourse to this purpose , and among other things , observeth that even they who disturbe , cannot be said altogether to hate peace , non ut sit pax nolint , sed ut ea sit quā velint , since the reason of all war & contention , is not that men would have no peace at all , but because they would have such a peace as they like . but though peace , is in some sense the vote of all , yet i would to god there were not just cause of taking up gregory nazianzens complaint , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oh lovely peace , a good which art praysed of all , and yet preserevd by few , whilest the tares of anger , wrath , envie , malice , contention , quarrelling , evil-speaking , railing , slandering , and sighting , grow up every where , and which is the more sad , even among them who professe the gospel of peace , and to be subjects of the prince of peace , peace finds few friends . well my brethren , what ever others do , i hope we who have experienced the evil of war , will say of peace as abraham of sarah , when among the swarthy egyptians , now i know that thou art a fair woman to look on ; now we know that thou art good , and worthy to be valued above any earthly blessing whatsoever . the truth is , next to the peace of our conscience , ( which must be preferred before all ) there is nothing we should more highly prize then peace with all men , and especially with one another , since we cannot be friends to the good , if we be enemies to the peace of the place , where we live : so much the psalmist implyeth in these parallel words , peace & good . and if you would know how this peace which is so good , may be attained and maintained , go on to a view of the acts here mentioned , as done by david , in order to the peace , and good of jerusalem , namely , saying and seeking ; the former whereof is a word of devotion , and the latter a word of action . of each a word . . that which in the former verse he resolveth upon is to say peace be within thee . there is loquela cordis & oris , a saying in the heart , and a saying with the tongue ; one word in the hebrew signifieth both meditari and loqui , to meditate and to utter ; indeed the tongue is but the interpreter , the heart is the enditer ; the heart is the minting-place of words where they are first coined , and the tongue is as it were the hearts echo to resound outwardly what is first spoken inwardly . both these waies no doubt did david say peace , he said it within his heart , affectionately desiring it ; he said it with his mouth , openly testifying that desire . thus must it be with us . . our will must say peace ; as that is not done which the heart doth not , so neither is that said which the heart speaketh not . too many there are who have peace in their mouths and war in their hearts ; whose words are smoother then butter , softer then oyle , but the thoughts and desires of their hearts are bitter as gall , and sharpe as swords : but far be such odious dissimulation from david , and every good man , since as the seeming saint is the most wicked , so the pretending friend is the worst enemy . . our tongues must say peace : the truth is , as salomon saith , life and death , so i may say war and peace are in the power of the tongue ; strifes which end in blowes begin with words . st. james saith of the tongue , it is a fire ; this is most true of the malicious tongue , it is set on fire of hell , and puts all in a combustion . but whilest turbulent spirits have fire in their mouth , let us have water in ours , whilest others curse let us blesse , whilest they bluster with tempestuous language , let ours be the still smooth voice ; and whilest the wretched edomites say of jerusalem , raze it , raze it even the foundations thereof , let all true-hearted israelites say peace be within it . but this is not all which is here intended by saying , i called it but now a word of devotion , and so no doubt it is ; say is as much as pray ; you find the very word used a little before : in the immediately preceding verse you meet with a short form of prayer , peace be within thy walls , much like that of our church , da pacem domine in diebus nostris , give peace in our time o lord , and here david saith , that is , prayeth , peace be within thee . the truth is , . peace is gods gift ; all the letters of the name jehovah are literae quiescentes , quiescent letters , it is he who must give quietness ; god is called the god of peace , and peace is stiled the peace of god ; and good reason , since he is the author of peace , and lover of concord . indeed it is gods work , and his alone ; perhaps for this reason called a creating peace , creation being the prerogative of a deity . he onely in whose hands all mens hearts are , can make men of one heart ; he onely who stilleth the blustring winds and roaring waves , can quiet angry minds and furious spirits . is it forraign peace he maketh peace in thy borders : is it domestick peace ? he maketh men to be of one mind in one house ; is the peace broken , he healeth the breaches : is it made ? he it is who ordaineth and stablisheth it . . the effectual means of obtaining peace is prayer , it is the strongest weapon in war , & the best orator for peace ; if we would have peace on earth , there is no better way then to dispatch a messenger to heaven : peace is called by god himself the fruit of the lips ; it is the fruit of his lips , he hath promised it ; it must be the fruit of our lips , we must pray for it : those whom the psalmist saith god will bless with peace , are his people : and one character of his people is , that they are a praying people : either god will give no peace , or however , not as a blessing to them who call not on him for it . learn we then , as upon all occasions to plead with men , so especially to beg of god for peace ; there cannot be easier terms , then ask and have ; and he will do little for peace , who will not so much as ask for it . let then the psalmists counsel be as acceptable , as in the hebrew phrase it is elegant , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} pray for the peace of jerusalem . and since it is to god we pray , let us be sure that our saying be heart-work , as wel as lip-labour , for he understandeth the language of our hearts , and it is our inward devotion which speaketh loudest in his ears . . but is this all that david will act in order to jerusalems peace , onely a few good words and wishes ? no , he will not onely say , but seek . a word of a very large extent : . it includeth an act of desire , since what we seek is that we do not onely coldly wish , but affectionately will . . more then this , it is an act of design , setting the head on work to contrive the best means of finding what we seek . . yet further , it is an act of endeavour , making use of all those means which are afforded . . nay more then this , it is verbum solicitudinis , and noteth an industrious diligence in that endeavour . the hebrew word here used {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is emphatical , and ( as the criticks observe ) is in this differenced from the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} used a little before ; that whereas that signifieth onely to seek by inquiry , this signifieth to seek by endeavour . the verb by which the septuagint translate it , is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a word which hath an emphasis both in the verb and the preposition . the simple verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is more then {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and noteth a sedulous search ; it is used of the pharisees seeking to lay hold on christ , who no doubt did omnem movere lapidem , leave no means unassayed to accomplish their malice against him . the preposition {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} doth much increase the signification , and is rendered diligently seek : so that the resolve of this holy man in reference to jerusalems peace and good , is not only to send up devout prayers , but put forth his utmost endeavour . the truth is , a lazie prayer begs a deniall ; it is no reason god should grant what we are not willing to have ; and we cannot be said to desire to have that which we will not labour as much as lyeth in us to obtain . st. gregories gloss upon those words of the church , let us lift up our hearts with our hands to god in the heavens , is very apposite to this purpose ; cor cum manibus levat qui orationem cum opere sublevat , he lifts up his hands with his heart , who assists his prayer with endeavour : the latter of these without the former is a contempt of god , and the former without the latter is a tempting him ; and therefore let us joyn both together . indeed saying , that is , praying , should have the first place , it is the first in the text , and should be so in our practice ; but yet it is not the only thing we must do ; all other lawful means must be prosecuted in order to the peace of jerusalem ; and that you may know who they are that must be thus devout in saying , and active in seeking , i proceed to a delineation of the agent , implyed in the hebrew verbs , expressed pressed in the english by the pronoun i ; this i is most rationally conceived to be the pen-man of the psalm , and he most probably supposed to be david . and before i go further it will not be amiss to observe , that he who at the sixth verse exhorts others to pray for jerusulems peace , here maketh it his own petition ; and as here in reference to the duty of prayer , so elsewhere in respect of the duty of praise ; the psalmist as he calleth upon others , bless the lord all ye his hosts , bless the lord all his works ; so both in the beginning and close of the psalme , upon himselfe , bless the lord o my soul . thus doth it become all those who crow to others , to clap their own wings ; who admonish others , to be exemplary themselves ; it is an excellent saying of saint gregory , qui alios excitat , seipsum ad bene operandum ligat , our excitations to others , are obligations upon our selves : since ( as saint austine excellently ) non obedienter auditur qui non seipsum audit , hee cannot expect to be obediently heard by others , who doth not hear himself : that orator is most likely to prevail , who perswadeth the people to do no other then what he resolveth to do himselfe . as here david , i will say , i will seek . if you please more particularly to consider who this person was , you shall find him to be both a king and a prophet ; and so it lets us see that the publick peace and good ought especially to be the care of two sorts of persons , namely , magistrates and ministers . . i a king . to whom should the peoples good and peace be more precious then to their rulers ? it is well observed that the hebrew words {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} are the same radicals transposed , whereof the one signifieth to rule , and the other to be peaceable , intimating , quod dominatores debent vacare paci , that they who are in authority , should especially mind the peoples tranquillity . when saint paul explicitly bids the people pray for kings and all in authority , that under them they might live a quiet and a peaceable life , he doth implicitly instruct kings and governours what should be their care , that the people may live peaceably under them . non mihi sed populo , was trajans word ; and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is not unfitly derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : good princes have ever looked upon themselves as constituted , though not by the peoples power , yet for their good ; and that the sword which god puts into their hands is for the preservation of the peoples peace . . i a prophet . though the ministers chief work is to reconcile men to god , yet his endeavours must not be wanting to reconcile man to man ; indeed there is a peace of carnal security , which we must strive to disturb ; wo to us if we sooth up men , and say peace , peace to them in their evil wayes . but still the peace of civil tranquillity is that which we must be careful to promote . levi had his name in hebrew from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth to joyn , to teach the tribe of levi , that union not division should be their design . aaron the high priest had pomegranates and bells together , round about the bottom of his vestment ; the pomegranate having many kernels within one circumference , is an emblem of peace and unity ; and the bells being joyned with the pomegranates teacheth gods priests , that peace should be a principal subject of their preaching . we must be ( o that too many among us had not been ! ) trumpets of sedition and contention , but bells with pomegranates , perswaders to peace and love . those whom our blessed saviour chose to be his disciples and apostles , were not hollowing hunters , but still fisher-men . the priests of juno were called melissae , we must be laborious bees without a sting of anger , except it be against sin ; and as christ said of his spouse , the milk of love , and the honey of peace should be still under , or rather on the tip , the top of our tongues . but yet we must not thus confine the consideration of the i david was bound not onely as a king and a prophet , but as a servant of god , and a member of jerusalem , to seek its good ; and so none is exempted from this duty . some expositors conceive the three last verses of this psalm to be one continued form of prayer prescribed by david to all the people ; and in this notion the i , is every one , of what calling and condition soever . there is no man who is not obliged , according to his place and calling , to endeavour the common welfare . s. basil complained in his time , i wish there were not too just cause of complaint in all ages , that men are wont every one to withdraw his own shoulder from the publick burden , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and transfer the care of things of general concernment upon his neighbour , by which means it cometh to pass ( as that father well observeth ) that whilest each man having the same mind , neglects the publick good , before he is aware , he brings a mischief upon himself . let no man therefore look upon himself as unconcerned in the common interest , and if he cannot by any other way , let him however seek it by his prayers . any man , though blind as bartime●s , lame as mephibosheth , and poor as lazarus , may yet say , peace be within thee ; nay , though he be dumb as zachary , he may say it in his heart , which is an acceptable prayer to god : it is that which every one may , and if he will approve himself to be such an one as david was , must doe . but when is it that david will set about this work ? to this the answer is given in the adverb and the tense . . the adverb is now , which may be looked upon in a double reference . . to the present state and condition of jerusalem , concerning which the psalmist saith , that it was a city compact at unity within it self ; and if so , may some say , why will david say , now peace be within thee ? we do not usually crave what we have , but what we want ; nor seek what we enjoy , but what we need . to this it is justly returned , that we both may and ought to pray for , and endeavour the continuation of those blessings we already enjoy , non minor est virtus — said he of victory , it is true of peace , which we must be as careful to preserve as to procure ; be the dayes never so haldcion , we must not think we have clipt the wings of peace , so that it cannot fly from us ; and therefore must strive to keep it with us . we are deceived if we think our mountain at any time so strong , that it cannot be moved . when the sea is calmest , and the skie brightest , on a sudden a storm , a cloud may arise ; and therefore it is our wisdom to pray for dayly bread , though our buttery be full ; for health , though we are well ; and for peace , even when all is quiet . . to the present temper and disposition of the psalmist . now that is while his heart was warmed with zeal to jerusalem , having fixed his meditations on her , he resolveth to engage himself to pray for her peace , and seek her good ; it is no small piece of pious wisdom to watch our own hearts , and not to let go the opportunities of engaging them to the exercise of any duty . indeed whosoever observeth his own heart , shall find it very deceitful . it was holy bernards complaint , nihil corde meo fugacius , nothing is more slitting then my heart ; and therefore at any time , when we find out hearts in a good frame to any service of repentance , or charity , piety , or prayer , it should be our care not to let it slip , but improve it to the best advantage . . but will he only do it now ? nay it is the future tense in both verbs , i will , which implyeth a fixed resolution of continuing in prayer , and endeavour for jerusalems good . the septuagint useth the preterperfect tense , i have , the adverb now , is of the present time ; and the hebrew is in the future , i have , i do , i will , yesterday , to day , and to morrow , yea , all the days of my life . those words which we meet with elsewhere , may very well be annexed here , i will say and seek as long as i live , whilest i have any being : nay , the emphasis is yet more , i will say , whosoever gainsay ; i will seck whosoever oppose it . thus unwearied and undaunted , constant and resolved ought we to be in the prosecution of jerusalems welfare , so as no discouragements or dangers should stop us in the pursuit . as the spouse in seeking christ , gave not over till she found him ; so must we in seeking peace , till we obtain it . saint pauls word is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , follow peace , persequere donec assequaris , follow till thou obtain , as the hound doth the hare , through hedg and ditch , over hill and dale : the psalmist doubleth the word , seek peace and pursue it again and again , by renewed prayers , and repeated endeavours , ever remembring that it is in vain to begin if we do not go on , or to go on for a while , if we do not continue to the end . this was davids resolve , i will . there is onely one part of the text remaining , namely , what moved david to be so sollicitous for jerusalems welfare , which we find to be double . here is a nether and an upper spring of his affection , for his brethren and companions sake he will say , and because of the house of the lord his god , he will not onely say , but seek . . the first in order , but second in energy , is drawn from his brethren and companions . if it be inquired whom david calls by these titles , let saint chrysostom return the answer , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , no doubt he principally intends the citizens that dwelt in jerusalem , though he might also include reliquas urbes , the people of the other cities and parts of judea , who came up to jerusalem , as he tells us a little before , eos qui te invisunt & qui te inhabitant ; so musculus glosseth , both those who visited and inhabited jerusalem ; and thus the whole nation of the jewes are those whom he calls his brethren and companions . but what , may some say , doth king david call his subjects ( for such were the people of the jews ) his brethren and companions ? these are words of equality , and suit not well with that distance which is between a prince and his people : subjects stand in the relation of children rather than brethren to their king , they are onely the nobles , and but a few of those who are comites regis , companions for the king ; and those so his companions , as that they are rather his attendants . indeed the level●ing spirit knoweth no difference between the scepter and the spade , looking upon all as fellow-creatures . but certainly superiority and inferiority are of divine appointment ; god is the god of order , which cannot be where there is parity : it was not then davids designe to make his subjects his equals , but onely to expresse the meeknesse and humility of his spirit , verifying that which elsewhere he asserts of himself , not out of an arrogant ostentation , but by way of a thankfull acknowledgement , oh lord , my heart is not haughty , nor mine eyes lofty . vvell were it if all superiours would take pattern by david . humility is a rare vertue , especially in great ones . it is no easie task to keep the heart low , when the state is high ; most mens dispositions commonly ebb and flow with their conditions , and of the two it is more often seen pride in raggs than humility in robes : but as that is abominable , so this is very amiable : oh that all rulers would be like the stars , which being seated on high seem small , or like the boughs , which being richly laden with fruit , hang down their heads . though withall , it is a needfull caution for inferiours , that their rulers humility be not an occasion of contempt ; but let subjects look upon their king as their father and governour , whilest the king in humility calls them his brethren and companions . and yet though those phrases did proceed from humility , they are also according to verity , since though considered under the notion of king and subjects , they were not ; yet in other respects they were brethren and companions . to illustrate this , we must take notice of a double brotherhood and vicinity ; to wit , on the left hand of nature , and the right hand of grace , and upon both accounts was this verified . . david and his people were brethren and companions on the left hand , as men and as jews . . as men , there is a brotherhood and vicinity between all mankind , man and beast were not made to converse one with another , nor here on earth do men and angels associate , onely man is a sit companion for man ; yea , not onely is one man a companion for , but a brother to another ; brethren we are all by the mothers side , in respect of our bodies , coming originally from the earth ; brethren we are by the fathers side , in respect of our souls , which are breathed into us by god ; in which respect the greek poet saith , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and the latine — omnibus ille idem pater , according to the apostolicall phrase , the father of spirits ; and yet more , we are all brethren both by father and mother , being descended from the loyns of adam and eve . . as jews , so the relation was yet neerer , they were brethren , because all descended from abraham ; he was the root out of which the whole nation sprouted ; the quarry out of which they were digged , and rock whence they were hewn ; nor did the term companion less fit then brethren , since god interdicted the jews all society with any other nations , and so were onely companions to one another . . besides , there is a brotherhood and vicinity on the right hand , which s. ambrose saith , and that justly , is greater than that of the left . thus david and the jewes were brethren , in as much as they were all gods adopted children in covenant with him , had all received the same sacrament of circumcision ; and they were companions together in the worship and service of god , meeting all together at jerusalem three times a year to offer sacrifice to him ; and in all these respects doth david sitly style the jews his brethren and companions . and now to give you the account of this motive , know , that . on the one hand , those whom here he calleth his brethren and companions , were much concerned in jerusalems welfare . jerusalem in respect of her inhabitants was as the ship in regard of the passengers ; if that miscarry , those must needs suffer damage . jerusalem , in respect of judea being the chief city , was as the head or the heart , in respect of the body , upon whose safety the rest of the members depend . . on the other hand , that they who were thus concerned were his brethren and companions ; by vertue of which relations he was bound to wish well to them , and for their sakes to jerusalem . david and the people were knit in a three-fold fraternity , as men , as jews , and as the people of god ; and ( as his son solomon tell us ) a three-fold cord is not easily broken . oh let us look upon one another under the same relations , that accordingly we may have endeared affections . the poet observeth of brethren — fratrum quoqus gratiarara est , that love between them is rare ; but withall , where it is , it is for the most part not onely true , but intense . martial tells of two brethren , whose contention was who should die one for another . that love which the scripture commends , as a pattern of fervent charity , is brotherly love ; in which respect that of s. paul is very observable , be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love : you know whose voice that was , am i my brothers keeper ? god ( saith the son of sirach ) hath given every man commandement concerning his neighbour : and s. paul would have us look every man on the things one of another : nor will there be need of much exhortation to it , if with david here we look one upon another as brethren and companions . . but this is the least and lowest consideration ; if you would know what was the chief wheele that carried david with such affection to jerusalems welfare , the beginning of the seventh verse will tell you , it was because of the house of the lord our god . . it is a question among interpreters , whether it were the tabernacle or the temple , which is here called the house of god . the ancients conceiving this psalm to be penned for the jewes returning out of babylon , understand it of the temple . moderne vvriters supposing the occasion of penning this psalme to be davids bringing of the ark of god to have a fixed residence at jerusalem , understand it of the tabernacle , in which the ark was placed , to which latter i incline , though withall i see no reason why david might not have an eye to the temple , which he knew was to be built in solomons time , and for which he himself made so great preparation . vvhether we interpret in the tabernacle , or temple , or both ; this appellation was most justly given to them upon a double account , to wit , of dedication and habitation . these were the places which by gods expresse precept were dedicated to him , as the places wherein and where alone sacrifices were to be offered up . these were the places in which by express promise god had obliged himself to vouchsafe his speciall residence , whence he gave answer to his peoples prayers ; in which respect he is said to dwell between the cherubims . indeed there were other places among the jews ( i mean their synagogues ) wherein prayers were made , and the law was read , which were set apart onely for religious uses ; these ( as that learned scot observeth ) though they had not divine institution , yet wanted not divine approbation ; yea , which would be observed , they are called by the psalmist the houses of god , and proportionably every place which is set apart for gods publick worship is no other than the house of god ; but still the tabernacle and the temple were the loci ut sic , the peculiar places of gods speciall presence and principall worship at that time , namely , sacrificing ; and therefore to them did this title especially belong . the house of the lord our god . having found out what david meaneth by the house of god , there are these two things offer themselves to our consideration : . his zealous affection to gods house ; indeed it is that which we find him often expressing , and that severall wayes ; wh●t was it made his banishment so tedious to him , but the want of opportunity to go to gods house ? and therefore he tells us , teares were his repast day and night , when he remembred how he had gone with the multitude to the house of god : for the enjoyment of this it was ( as he tells us in another psalm ) he did earnestly long , envying ( as it were ) the sparrows , who builded their nests there , when as he was debarred of coming thither ; nay , yet more , he presents it to god as his one , his onely thing which he would desire of the lord , and require of him , that he might dwell in the house of the lord all the dayes of his life , to behold the beauty of the lord , and to euquire into his temple . finally , when as being setled in his throne , he fetched back the ark of god from kiriath-jearim , he all all israel played before god with all their might , with singing , and harps , and psalteries , and timbrels : and afterwards , when he brought it to , and fixed it in jerusalem , what shoutings and trumpets , making a noise with psaltery and harp , thereby testifying his great joy . no wonder if he saith of himself , the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up . and if you shall inquire the reason of all this , it is in the text , the lord our god , or ( as some read it ) in the singular number , my god . david having taken the true jehovah fo : his god , could not but upon severall accounts have a singular respect to his house . . thou art my god , and i will exalt thee , saith this holy man elsewhere ; nor could he exalt or glorifie his god more than by taking care of his house . . having made choice of the lord for his god , he had an exceeding delight in his presence ; and where was that but in his house ? . finally , having placed his love upon god as his god , he could not but love whatever belonged to god , his name , his law , his priest , his house . . his desire of jerusalems good ▪ because of gods house ; it was now the honour of jerusalem , that it was not onely camera regis , but domicilium dei , the place where was the kings palace , but gods sanctuary ; thither the ark was brought there it was fixed , there afterwards the temple was built ; and in this , jerusalem excelled all the cities that ever were , are , or shall be , that it was the onely place where god would then put his name , being therefore called the city of god , and the holy city . upon this consideration , as the house of god was the glory of jerusalem , so the peace of jerusalem was the safety of gods house ; if jerusalem be destroyed the house of god must lie waste ; if jerusalem be not in peace , there will be no opportunity for the tribes to come to gods house to sacrifice ; and therefore will david seek jerusalems good . indeed this holy man had many reasons to seek the cities welfare , for his own sake , for his peoples sake , for gods sake ; the former he doth not mention at all , in which respect , s. austin thus glosseth ; non propter honor em meum , vitam meam , &c. it is not my own dignity or safety i am thus solicitous for , only the two latter are expressed , of which no doubt the chief inducement was the honour of god and his house , because of the house of the lord our god . the result of what hath been said on this part , amounts to these two things : . every good man , especially every good ruler , is very zealous for gods house , for the maintenance and promotion of his publick worship , hoc mu●us cujusvis sidi ac veri amici dei , dei quaerere hoaorem & proximi salutem , is molle●us his note upon the text , every true friend of god cannot but seek gods honour and his neigbours salvation ; to both which the establishment of the publick worship very much conduceth ; they cannot be with david , men after gods heart , who are no friends to his ordinances , wherewith , his ministers by whom , his houses wherein his publick service is administred . . in order to the publick worship we ought to endeavour the publick peace . on the one hand , no peace must be entertained , or can be expected without respect to gods house ; in vain do we look for peace in our houses , if we take no care that god may be worshipped in his : the angels song coupleth together glory to god , and peace on earth ; and saith saint bernard excellently , quomodo stabit pax hominum coram deo , si deo apud homines non potest tuta esso suagloria ? if gods glory be not maintained by men , mans peace shall not be preserved by god : let gods house be well looked to , and there will be no great fear of jerusalems peace . on the other hand , gods house cannot be established if jerusalems peace be not maintained ; quid in vita hominis est bonum nisi pax , sub quâ omnia quae sunt honesta proficiunt ac roligiosâ nutriuntur ? saith an ancient sweetly ; what better than peace , under which honesty thriveth , and piety flourisheth ? peace is a joseph , a good nurse to religion , especially to the free and publick exercise of it . the scythians , who did worship many gods , had neither altar , nor temple , nor statue to any god , save mars ; intimating that where wars are predominant , gods publick worship ceaseth . i deny not but as once paul preached , so god may be served on mars hill , yet his most solemn worship is in dayes of peace ; and for this reason principally it is that good men are , and all men ought to be studious of making , of seeking peace , that religion may shine in its splendor and glory . to summe up all , if we acknowledge jehovah to be our god , we cannot chuse but place our affections on him ; if we love him , we will love his house , we will love our brethren ; if we love either or both , gods house or our brethren , we must needs wish well to jerusalem , the place where his house is , where our brethren live ; we cannot wish better to jerusalem then peace , and if we wish her peace , we will both say and seek it , according to the psalmists resolution in the text , for my brethren and companions sake , i will now say peace be within thee , because of the house of the lord thy god i will seek thy good . and thus with what brevity i could in so great variety , i have dispatched the severals of this scripture : but though i have finished my text , my sermon is not done . the scene all this while hath been layed in jury , i must now change it from jerusalem to london , that i may winde up my discourse with a punctual and particular application to our selves . there was a city in sicily called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} because of three things very excellent in it , namely , fountains , vineyards , and an unaccessible rock , upon which it was built : but this city ( whereof we here met this day are the native members ) may well be called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for its manifold ornaments . let me say to you this day in words much like those of the psalmist concerning jerusalem , walk about london , and go round about her , tell her markets for victual , granaries for provision , aquaeducts for water , halls for societies , tower , and gates for safety : mark well her royal-exchange for merchandize , her navigable river with that moving forrest upon it , and that famous bridge which tieth the two banks of that river together : finally , consider her bridewel for the idle , bethlehem for the mad ; hospitals for the sick , the lame , the poor ; chamber for the orphans , churches for holy assemblies , and tell me if she deserve not that name augusta , of stately and magnificent , which was given her some hundred of years ago , when she wanted much of that amplitude which now she hath . it would be lost time and labour to make a parallel between this and those other glorious cities of the world , especially since it is at once both briefly and fully done already by that ingenious and laborious gentleman , whose service and labour of love for , will not i hope be forgotten by this city . in few words , as athens was called the greece of greece , so may london be stiled the england of england : if england be an eden , the garden of god , london is the tree of life in that garden : if england be a ring of gold , london is the diamond in ring : finally , if england be a beautiful body , london is the eye of that body , or rather the apple of that eye . sed quò feror ? but whither am i transported ? beloved , it is on my mothers behalf i have been speaking ; my mother did i say ? i , and your mother surely ; i shall not need to beg your pardon , especially when you consider for what end i have spoken so much , or rather so little , in honour of this city , namely , . in the first place to excite and enlarge our thankfulness to almighty god , that our lines are fallen to us in such a pleasant place , that we have had the honour to be born and brought up and ( at least the most of us ) dwell in this city . charles the fifth was wont to glory that he was by his birth a citizen of gaunt . plato gave the gods thanks that he was born an athenian . it is no small honour among the italians to be a roman : why should it not among englishmen to be a londoner ? . but that which i chiefly design to perswade is the duty of the text , that you would seek the peace and good of this renowned city . a city ( saith aquinas in his politicks ) is principalissima eorum quae humana ratione possunt constitui , the choice and chief of all those societies which can be constituted by humane reason . no wonder if cicero asserts in one place that it is a very amiable object in the eys of the chief god ; and in another place that all men are carried to a city by a certain instinct of nature : surely then the more eminent a city is , the more it is beloved of god , and the more it ought to be regarded of us . this city ( my brethren ) in respect of gods affection to it , and care over it , may well be called ( to use the prophets language ) concerning sion , sought out , a city not forsaken . time would fail me to reckon up the signal favours god hath conferred on this city ; for these many years continuing , and of late restoring health to it , even to a wonder , preserving it unto this day in safety ( notwithstanding the wars and battels that have been round about it ; the many sects and divisions that have been within it ) even to a miracle ; yea , after our ungrateful barrenness , our unworthy contempt both of the word , and the messengers thereof , still causing the light of his gospel in some measure to shine in it . thus hath our gracious god sought the good , and as it were , studied the peace and welfare of this city ; and shall not we our selves endeavour it ? londons prosperity should be the prayer of all her sister-cities and neighbour-countreys , but much more of her children ; all her adopted children ( those i mean who having been born in other parts of the land , have here taken up their habitation ) but much more her natural children , we that have both our being & well being , in , or from , should wish well to her . our blessed saviour saith of him that should betray him , it had been good for that man if he had not been born ; it may be said of him ( with a little alteration ) who being born in , doth not seek the good of the city , it were good for the city that man had not been born in it . vives in one of his declamations , saith of some who were born in rome , that they were no citizens of rome , since it matters not where a man is born as what mind he beareth . i ( saith he ) should rather account those citizens of rome who being born in the utmost scythia wish well to her , then those who being born in her , in her chiefest place , the very capitol , endeavour to spoyl her of her peace , safety , liberty , and glory ; cives tu mihi putas eos qui hanc suam esse civitatem non putant ? wilt thou have me account them to be her citizens , who yet own not her as their city , so as to seek her welfare ? but i hope better things of you beloved , and methinks you are putting that question to me about the cities preservation , which those jewes did to the apostles concerning their own salvation , what shall we do for the good and peace of the city ? the answer to which question must be either more special or general . . among the city natives there are persons of several degrees and orders who are accordingly capacitated to act for the cities good . . some of you who have received your first breath in , are now officers , nay magistrates of this city , and it concerneth you to seek her good by executing justice and judgment . one being asked how a city might be safe , answered , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , where right taketh place : let that be your care , that right may be administred , the good encouraged , the offenders punished , the idle set on work , the impotent relieved , the unruly curbed , and houses of riot and disorder suppressed . certainly execution of justice is of great concernment to a cities welfare , when god would have spared israel , had there been a man in her to do it . . some of us who were once new born babes sucking at our mothers breasts are now ministers in , and so in a spiritual sense nurses of this city ; oh let us seek her good by giving to the people sincere milk , by preaching the words of truth and peace ; far be it from us to keep up factions or parties , to sow the tares of false doctrine and heresies , of schism and sedition in our churches , but let us preach the truth as it is in jesus , proclaiming no war , but onely against the sins of the city . . some of you who were born and live in this city are merchants trasticking to the several parts of the world , do you seek the good of this city by supplying and enriching her with forraign commodities , by encreasing and advancing her trade : yea , let your fair and upright dealings with turks and pagans gain her honour in the eyes of all men . finally , the greatest part of you who were once little children , are now tradesmen in this city , and if you tender her good , put away far from you lying and swearing , fraud , and couzenage , the wicked ballances , and the deceitful weights . let truth sit upon your lips , honesty dwell in your hearts , and industry appear at your fingers ends . . besides these particulars give me leave in a few words to commend some general directions which concern us all , in what capacity soever we are . . let every man act for the cities good in that sphere wherein gods providence hath placed him . nothing sooner confounds and ruineth an army , then when the souldiers break their ranks . it is excellent counsel of saint paul , let every man abide in the same calling whereunto he is called : and again let every man study to be quiet , and to do , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , his own business , the magistrate his , the minister his , and the private man his . . let us all seek the cities welfare by our dayly prayers at the throne of grace in its behalf , that god would forgive its crying sins ; and though it be unworthy , that he would still save and defend it for his own sake ; in this respect let that resolve of the prophet concerning jerusalem , be ours concerning london , for its sake , not to hold our peace , nor rest , till the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness , and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . . finally , let us seek the cities good by being good our selves : when one asked the reason why peloponesus flourished so much , the answer was returned , aegina bonos filios nutrit , its chief city aegina brought forth good children . oh that it might be said so of london ! octavius augustus said of his wanton daughters , that they were not his seed , but some aposthume broken from him . i would to god london might not take up the same complaint of her profane , intemperate , malicious , covetous and wicked children , to whom i cannot speak better then in that language which one used to a debauched carthaginian , parce carthaginisi non tibi , if you will have no pity on your selves , yet that you may not bring ruine upon this great city , amend your lives . the truth is , it should not content us to seek the cities good by being good , but its honour by being better then others , urbs metropolis ut sit maximae in toto regno authoritatis constituatur praecipuum pietatis exemplum & sacrarum , said one justly ; a metropolis doth preserve its authority by being a pattern of piety to the whole land . what a shame is it that the sowrest fruit should grow upon the uppermost boughs , and the worst scholars be in the highest forms ? what a reproch is it that the country should have cause to complain , that her children coming to the city , lose their goodness , as rivers running into the sea lose their freshness ? oh that all londons inhabitants might be patterns to all england , and londons natives to all its inhabitants , of holiness , righteousness , and goodness . that i may drive this naile to the head , so as the exhortation of seeking the cities good may be the better fastened in our hearts , be pleased to consider these two things ! . the most glorious cities are not priviledged from ruine , there was never any city on earth more bravely defended against a forraign enemy then was jerusalem against titus and vespasian , upon a conceit that that city was eternal and should never be destroyed ; whereas it is onely true of the heavenly jerusalem , the earthly city was then taken and ruined : nor is and city , how populous or potent soever , secured from destruction . the historian saith of lyons a famous city in france , una tantùm nox interfuit inter civitatem magnam & nullam , there was onely the distance of one night between a great city and none ; so suddenly may ruine come upon a place . verulam , once a famous city in our own land , hath not now so much as the name remaining : and s. hierom tells of a renowned city in which had been a goodly temple , neque urbis neque templi ullum restat vestigium : both were so perfectly demolished that there was not the least footstep remaining either of city or temple , so total , as well as sudden , may the destruction of a place be . . multiplied abominations in , will bring inevitable desolation on a city . it was a custome among the romans , whensoever they went forth to war against any city , by a charm tutelares deos evocare , to call out the tutelar gods , either because they held it an impiety to destroy the gods , or because they thought they could not conquer the city whilest the gods were in it : the heathens had many tutelar gods for one city ; but the one jehovah is the tutelar god of all cities and places : and what the spaniards boasts of madrid , that it had a wall of fire about it , meaning the quarries of flint which encompassed it , is in an higher sense true of that city in which god dwells , his protection is a wall of fire about it : but alas , impenitent rebellion will cause god to depart from , and bring ruine upon a city : he that maketh a fruitful land a barren wilderness , will make a good city an heap of rubbish for the wickedness of them that dwell therein . believe it a city cannot be safe whilest the citizens are wicked . nil prodest muros munire propugnaculis , & deum provocare peccatis , saith s. ambrose truly , in vain is the city fenced with walls , guarded with watches , troops , bands , whilest god is provoked with iniquities , transgressions and sins . i am loth ( beloved ) on this day of joy to call for sorrow , and put you in fear ; but yet withal i must be faithful , and let you know both your sin and danger : how is the faithful city become an harlot ? said isaiah of jerusalem , i wish it were not true of london ; wo to the bloody city , said nahum of nineveh ; let london beware . what filthiness is in her skirts , i mean her suburbs , where all manner of sin is acted with a brazen forehead ? nay , i would to god the whole head were not sick , and the whole heart faint . in few words , as when i consider the tranquillity of this city , i wonder at her ingrateful impietie ; so when i consider her impiety , i wonder at her lengthned tranquillity . but oh let us not despise the riches of gods forvearance , let it rather lead us to repentance : and as we desire that london peace may be preserved , good promoted , and ruine prevented ; let us the natives first begin to sweep our own doors , reform our own lives , and be among the number of those who mourn for the sins of others . i hasten to an end , onely i must not , i cannot forget either the house of the lord my god , or my brethren and companions . . among those many eminent worthies , who by being born in , have been an honour to the city , the chief was that noah father of the new christian world , after the deluge of a bloody persecution ( as a reverend father of the church calls him , ) constantine the great , who among many other excellent virtues , was and will be famous to all ages for his zeal in erecting churches for gods publick worship ; and besides the large contributions of his purse ( the story saith ) to the building of a church , he carried twelve baskets of earth upon his own shoulders . beloved , there is a fire of zeal within me , which must flame forth , and that is , to speak a word in behalf of this house of the lord our god , in a part whereof we now are ; this church of saint pauls once one of the most glorious piles of building in the world , taking all its dimensions together , now likely to become an heap of rubbish , the most ruful spectacle upon the face of the whole earth . indeed were i silent , yet the tattered rags , dis-joynted stones of the building speak , nay cry aloud in words much like these , is it nothing to you all that pass by ? when the body of slaughtered asahel was left in the way , not a man went that way but turned aside to look on it : and shall not we behold with pity the ruines of this dying church ? i doe not mention this as if i thought our shoulders were strong enough to bear the burden of repairing it ; but onely since it is the city-church , hath been the cities choicest ornament , i think it would well become us who are the city-natives , to set on foot a petition , that at least leave may be granted for a free contribution throughout the city , the whole land , whereby it may be preserved from utter ruine ; lest when this fabrick is fallen , that name be given to this city , which by the woman was given to her child when gods ark was taken , ichabod , the cities glory among all nations and countreys is departed from her . . having imparted my thoughts ( if not with success , yet i hope without offence ) to you concerning this house of god , i have yet another word to adde concerning my brethren and companions . i may truly say concerning this congregation , that we are not onely in one , but many respects brethren , in a borrowed , but proper notion companions . there are fratres natura , brethren by nature , those that have the same immediate parents , as esau and jacob ; and of this sort there are some i doubt not here present . there are fratres cognatione , brethren by lineage , those of the same stock , as abraham and lot : in this sense the number is far greater , many of us being kin one to another . there are fratres gente , brethren by country : in this sense all the jews were brethren , and thus we are all brethren . cognationem quandam inter cives natura constituit , nature hath constituted a kind of kindred among citizens ; and pluto will have all citizens to be brethren one to another . finally , there are fratres religione , brethren by religion , all those who profess the same faith ; in which sense saint paul meaneth it , when he bids to salute the brethren ; saint peter when he exhorts to love the brethren . and thus i trust we are brethren too , for however we may many of us disagree in some circumstantials ; yet i hope we all agree in the substantials of christianity ; and therefore why should we not be fratres affectione , brethren in affection , as david and jonathan were , by intire love one towards another ? and as we are brethren , so we are companions . the hebrew word which is here rendred companions , is derived from a word that signifieth to feed ; and so properly noteth them who are simul educati , brought up & feed together . thus have many of us been educated together from our child-hood in one family , in one parish , in one school , companions at the table , at the book , and in the street ; and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith the philosopher , it is a great engagement to love to have been bred up together . since then we are brethren and companions , let us all as joyntly seek the good of the city , so mutually the good each of other , that it may be said of us what was said of the primitive christians , ecce ut se invicem diligunt , see how they love one another . this is one special cause of this days meeting . it is well observed by josephus , that gods enjoyning the people three times a year to come up to jerusalem , was , though principally for his own solemn worship , yet secondarily , that meeting and eating together , their friendship might be the faster . for this reason is this annual feast observed , that once a year at least , beholding each others faces , we may be the better known to , and beloved by each other : in which respect , as we will not blame the prudence of those our brethren who think fit to abstain , so i hope they will not condemn our amity who think fit to associate and feast together . and now ( my brethren and companions ) god forbid that charge should this day be drawn up against us , which is laid by the prophet amos against israel , they eat the lambs out of the flocks , and the calves out of the midst of the stall , they chaunt to the sound of the viol , they drink wine in bowls , but they are not grieved for the afflictions of joseph . how greatly defective we have hitherto been in our commiseration and contribution , i even blush to speak . one that wrote the history of the grecians related what worthy acts had been done by the lacedemonians and athenians ; and it being enquired what his countrey-men of cumin had done , he had no other answer to return , but that they had done just nothing . i wish there were not too just cause of the like accusation : we the city-natives have done nothing in matter of charity , nothing in comparison of what we might have done , yea of what others of other countreys have done ; yea , i wish , whereas the expence of our feast is double to theirs , the extent of their benevolence were not double to ours . but i had rather exhort then chide , incourage future forwardness then blame former backwardness . if you shall inquire how the charity which is conferred shall be imployed , the wisdom of the stewards hath suggested to me an answer . saint paul elegantly compareth alms to seed , and there is a very fit and large piece of ground said forth for this seed to be cast into . the hedg of this field , the confines of our bounty , is to them that have receiv'd their first being in the freedom of london , who since by reason of their poverty they cannot feast with us , ought by reason of their brotherhood and vicinity to be refreshed by us . the acres of this field in which our seed must be scattered are four , each of which singly , much more all jointly crave a bountiful contribution . . the first acre is the distressed clergy , and if there be an especially set upon the whole houshold of faith , it much more belongs to the chief officers in that houshold : you cannot be unmindful how ample a recompence is promised to a small dole , when conferred upon a minister ; he that giveth a cup of cold water to a disciple to drink in the name of a disciple , shall in no wise lose his reward . . the next acre is the widows of such clergy . indeed the sad condition of those who were the wives of able , famous ministers of this city , deserveth not onely pitiful compassion , but a serious consideration , and that by all the inhabitants , how some competent provision may be made for them ; and in the mean time i hope the present benevolence will afford some succour to their widows who had their birth among us . . the third acre is the binding of the poor children of freemen apprentices , whereby being placed in a lawful calling , they may be enabled to get a lively-hood . a work , to which , as i hope none will be unwilling , so i trust those will especially be forward , who , though now possessed of great estates , were perhaps at first of mean beginnings . . the last , but not the least acre , is the maintaining of the sons of indigent free-meen , students at the universities . indeed what pity is it ( to use the prophets allusion ) the children should be come to the birth , and there should be no strength to bring forth : hopeful youths should be trained up in our grammar schools fit for , and no means to carry them to , or maintain them at the university ? how sad is it that young students should be forced to leave that nest before they are well fledg'd , after a short stay of some very few years running into the countrey for want of maintenance at the university ? nor yet is this all ; who so with a sad and serious eye shall look into the several churches throughout england and wales , and observe how many of those candlesticks are altogether empty ; and in how many of them there are very dim lights , how many flocks have no speherds at all , and how many have such to watch them , who though perhaps they may have honest hearts , i am sure have ignorant heads , altogether unable and unfit for the ministerial charge ; i say , who so truly layeth this to heart , will be enforced to acknowledge that atheism and irreligion , if not popery and superstition , will prevail in succeeding ages , unless there be some plentiful supply from the universities . so that as we tender the honour of god , propagation of the gospel , and the souls of our posterity , we are obliged to take care what we may , that there may be a nursery of young plants for gods vineyard . lo here a large field , god send liberal hearts and hands , & then though there be not so many as heretofore , there will be enow to fill these acres . alas my brethren , had you hearts as wel as purses , were your will equal to your power , the sum of both the former years put together might be equalized , nay exceeded by the bounty of a few among you , i , and that without any prejudice to your estates ; prejudice did i say ? nay with a great deal of advantage perhaps to your estates , however to your souls . which way most of the former charity went , those little ones , though silent , speak ; nor do any of you i hope in the least doubt the fidelity of these worthy gentlemen with whom the present benevolence is to be entrusted : and now i am willing to believe that such a fire of love is kindled in your hearts as will burn at your fingers ends with a bright and clear flame . i trust there is none among you who can spare five shillings towards the feast , but hath as much to give to the collection ; yea i hope there are some of you who are resolved to give as many if not more pounds to the one , then you have shillings to the other . i shall adde one thing more in reference to that which verily is a fault among you , and i believe hath been a great remora to your bounty , i mean to make example the rule of your giving ; and therefore to stop your hand , and alter your resolution , because some persons of vast estates and narrow minds , full purses and base spirits , throw in slenderly ; what account such men think to give to god at the last day i wonder , when having hundreds , nay thousands coming in , and perhaps none , or but a few children to leave it to , they scarce give pounds upon such a special occasion as this is . but however such men may do , or rather not do , remember i beseech you , it is your duty to consider the ability which god hath given you , to weigh the necessitous condition of the objects set before you , and accordingly to extend your bounty to the honour of god , the discharge of your consciences , the regaining of your credit , and the relief of the needy . i am sorry i have been thus long , and yet i shall not be sorry but glad , if it may prove successful . my valediction shall be a benediction . to you ( my dearly beloved brethren in the lord ) peace be in your families , peace in your parishes , and above all peace in your consciences , peace with your neighbours , peace with your relations , peace with one another , peace within your selves , and before all , peace with god through jesus christ our lord . to thee oh london that art highly favoured , may there be no complaining in thy streets , plague within thy dwellings , nor sword within thy bowels ; may the wrath of god be appeased , the rage of man prevented ; mayst thou be a city compact at unity within thy self , having peace within thy walls , and prosperity within thy palaces ; and let all the sons of my mother here present with hearts and lips , as always , so now that we are together in the house of the lord , say amen , amen . the first sermon preached upon this occasion entituled zions birth-register , unfolded in a sermon to the native citizens of london , in their solemn assembly at pauls , on thursday the . of may . by th. horton d. d. sold by john clark at mercers chappel in cheapside . errata . page . line . after quomodo adde quis . p. . l. . del. us . l. . for his r. its . p. . l. . after who r. care . l. . for the r. a. p. . l. . after take add a. p. . l. . r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. . del. ly . p. . l. . r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . in marg. l. . joyn phil. . with cic. l. . r. eth. p. . l. . after must r. not . p. . l. . del. d. p. . l. . before were r. they . l. . for those r. these . p. . l. . r. tels . in marg. l. . adde t. l. . del. ae . p. . l. . before ring , r. that . finis . a catalogue of all mr. hardy's sermons , hitherto printed . justice triumphing , or the spoiler spoiled . a sermon preached on novemb. . in the cathedral church of s. pauls , in o . the arraignment of licentious liberty , and oppressing tyranny . a sermon preached at a fast before the lords in parliament in the abbey-church at westminster , in o . faiths victory over nature . a sermon preached at the funerals of mr. john rushout junior , in o . the safest convoy , or the strongest helper . a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sir thomas bendish baronet , his majesties ambassador to the grand seigniour at constantinople , in o . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony . a sermon occasioned by the nuptials between mr. william christmas , and mrs. elizabeth adams , in o . divinity in mortality : or , the gospels excellency , and the preachers frailty . a sermon preached at the funerals of mr. richard goddard minister of the parish of s. gregories by s. paul's , in o . two mites : or a grateful acknowledgment of gods singular & goodness . in two sermons , occasioned by his late unexpected recovery of a desperate sickness , in o . death's allarum : or , securities . warning-piece . a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church , at the funeral of mrs. mary smith , novemb . o . the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of god : or , the happiness by death of holiness in life . a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. adam pemberton ( late minister of the parish of s. fosters , foster-lane ) april . in o . the first epistle general of s. john unfolded and applied , the first part in sermons , in o . a divine prospective , representing the just man's peaceful end . a sermon preached at the funeral of sir john gaire knight , in o . safety in the midst of danger . a sermon preached in the church of all-hallows barkin , january . . upon the anniversary commemoration of that dismal fire which happened in the said parish on january . . wisdomes character and counterfeit delineated in two sermons ; & the one on the epistle of s. james ch. . . the other on the gospel of s. matth. ch. . . the pious votary and prudent traveller characterized in a farewell-sermon , occasioned by the voyage of nathanall wych esq president to the east-indies . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- psal. . . thess. . . exod. . . gen. . . luk. . , . heb. . . phil. . . civitas nostra in coelis , beza . notes for div a e- partic. . hilar. in loc. aug. de catho . rud . l. c. . ps. . . zech. . . pet. . . isa. . . dan. . . pet. . . revel. . . jerem. . . gal. . . revel. . . ver. . gal. . . aug. de mor. eccl cath. l. . c. . psal. . . heb. . . rom. . . arist. polit. vid. macar. hom. . cic. ossi . l. . ambros. offic. l. . c. . sen. ep. . sidon . de imper . occident . l. . isa. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} arr. epictet . l. . c. . aug. de civit. de● . l. . c. . salv. de gu● . l. . jer. . . cic. l. . ep. ad attic. . salv. ● . l. ambros. l. d. neh●m . . . ester . . ● . ambros. in psal. . serm. . act. . , . part. . gr. niss . orat . de beatitud . aug. de civit. dei . l. . c. . iosh. . . aug. l. d. petr. greg. l. . c. . aristot. pol. l. . c. . rom. . . gr. naz : orat . . plut. apothegm . id. de orat. pyth. zech. . . al. ab al. l. . c. . vaiah . . . . plut. r●ip . ger . pracept . chrysost. 〈◊〉 . b●● . m. in ps. . ephes. . psal. . . g● . nyss. 〈◊〉 . . de b●at . isaiah . . greg. naz. orat . . id. orat . . cic. phil. . galat. . . psal. . . chrysost. hom. in colos. . heb. . . tim. . . arist. esth. l. . c. . aug. de . civit . dei l. . c. . gr. naz. l. d. gen. . . partic. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} psal. . . james . . psal. . . heb. . . phil. . . isa. . . prov. . . psal. . . . . according to the old translation . . isa. . . isa . . ver. . mark : . . heb. . . lam. . . greg. mor. l. . c. . part. . psal. . , . greg. aug. sher. lex . tim. . . jer. . . exod. . . alex. ab alex. gen. dier . l. . c. . cant. . . bas. mag. in ep. . part. . bern. heb. . . part. . chrysost. in loc. scultet . musc. ibid. psal. . . pind. lucret. vid. lactant. l. . c. . major est fraternit●s christi quàm sanguinis . ambrose ser. . de unit . eccles. . . nobilis haec esse & pietatis rix● duobus quod pro sratre mori velit uterque prior . matt. epig. rom. . . hebr. . . genes . . eccles. . . philip . . . aug. hilar. in loc. moll . musc. kings . . psal. . . weems . christ . synag . psal. . . psal. . , . . , . psal. . . chr. . , . . , . ps. . . vide lorin in loc. psal. . . neh. . . psal. . . aug. in loc. moller . in loc. luk. . . bern. ep. . valer. serm. . alex. ab alex. genial . dior . l. . c. . acts . . ps. . . . amm. marcel . l. . landinopolis by jam. howel , esq aquin. polit. l. . c. . cic. de somn. scip. macrob. sat. l. . c. . ●ic . offic. l. . is. . . matth. . . vives decla . . acts , . plut. apotheg . jer. . . cor. . . thes. . . isa. . . isa. . . quid. in com. cambdea in com. hist. hieron. in dan. macrob. satur . l. . c. . ps. . . ambros. serm. . de bell. tumult . isa. . . nah. . . see bishop kings sermon at pauls cross , on the behalf of pauls church . hier. contr. helvid . c. . florent . l. . colos. . . pet. . . arist. eth. amos . . ●al. . . matth. . . isa. . . the first general epistle of st. john the apostle, unfolded and applied the first part in two and twenty lectures on the first chapter, and two verses of the second : delivered in st. dyonis. back-church, an. dom. / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the first general epistle of st. john the apostle, unfolded and applied the first part in two and twenty lectures on the first chapter, and two verses of the second : delivered in st. dyonis. back-church, an. dom. / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by e. tyler for nathanael webb and william grantham ..., london : . includes index. errata on p. 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ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- john -- sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the first general epistle of st. john the apostle , unfolded and applied . the first part in two and twenty lectures on the first chapter : and two verses of the second : delivered in st. dyonis . back-church . an. dom. . by nath . hardy minister of the gospel , and preacher to that parish . orig. hom . . in divers . o beate iohannes , non immeritò vocaris iohannes , id est , cui donatum est : cui enim theologorum donatum est , quod tibi donatum est ? abdita videlicet summi boni penetrare mysteria & ea quae tibi revelata & declarata sunt humanis mentibus ac sensibus intimare . london , printed by e. tyler , for nathanael webb and william grantham , and are to be sold at the black bear in pauls church yard , . aquilae , theologi christo discipuli conjunctissimi fidei martyris meruenti charitatis praeconis ecclesiae insignis columnae d. johannis apostoli perspicaci mystae , servo fideli , confessori invicto , spectatissimo exemplo , reverendo patri , johanni d no episcopo roffensi . in primam epistolam has commentatiorum primitias d.d.n.h. in perpetuum grati animi testimonium . obnixè rogans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ut & illi res omne genus prosperas , & ecclesiae anglicanae aerumnis & erroribus ( heu ! ) penè obrutae antiquam veritatem & splendorem pristinum , pro summa sua misericordiâ largiri velit . the epistle to the reader . the mahumetans say , that the first thing god created was a pen : sure i am , the best thing which ever was conveyed to us by a pen is the bible ; nor can the one be better exercised then about the other . i have often wished that every one of st. pauls epistles , yea every book of holy writ might have a davenant to draw forth its lineaments ; nor do i know any work that would be of more general and singular use , then a practical commentary upon the whole bible . vpon a small , yet choice piece of this sacred volume , i have made an essay , wherein if any thing be well done , let it be ascribed to divine assistance , and whatsoever is amisse , to my ignorance . the chief design of this work is explication of the text ; yet i have still annexed a brief application of the doctrine , that i might not only enlighten thy mind , but enliven thy affections . in the prosecution of this design , i am sometimes engaged in controversies , which are calmely debated , and ( according to my measure of knowledge ) hope truely stated ; if thou hast a starre-light , yet contemne not my candle . the prefixing of the prayer is that to which i am necessitated for my own vindication , having met with my name affixed ( in print ) to a broken prayer , made up of some scraps , which a scribling pen hath taken from my mouth , and phrases which anothers fancy hath added . what mistakes , misplacings , omissions , or additions of words thou mayest observe in perusing these discourses , pardon and correct , those especially , which are taken notice of to thy hand . if these labours find any acceptance with the pious , orthodox , and judicious , i shall be encouraged to a progresse , and the remaining parts may in due time see the light . thy candid censure , of , and devout prayer for , is earnestly desired by him , who is thine in the common saviour , nath . hardy . the prayer commonly used before sermon . eternall jehovah , in whose presence the glorious angels vaile their faces , as being not able to behold thy brightness ; how shall we who are men and not angels ; wormes and no men , yea , dust and ashes rather then wormes , dare to appear before the , oh lord , we acknowledge there is an infinite distance between thee and us by our creation , as far as is between the high heavens , and the low earth . thou art infinite , and we finite , thou art immutable , & we changable , thou art the potter , and we the clay : thou our maker : and we all the worke of thy hands . but far , oh far greater is that distance which we our selves have made between thee and us by our corruption ; even as far as is between the highest heavens , and the lowest hell : thou art purity , add we filthinesse , thou ●rt majesty ; and we misery : thou a god of purer eyes then to behold iniquity without fury , and we such in whome dwelleth nothing but sin and iniquity . we were at first ( oh god ) concluded in sin , and in iniquity did our mother bring us forth , and ever since we have conceived nothing but sin , and that iniquity hath been a fruitfull mother of all uncleanesse : we are by nature deprived of all good , and depraved with all evil , & throughout the whole course of our life we have neglected much good , and committed more evill . which of thy righteous lawes ( oh god ) have not we often violated by impiety against thee , and iniquity against man , in our thoughts and affections , in our words and actions ? before we knew thee , we knew how to offend thee , and ever since thou hast set up a light of knowledge in our minds , we have not ceased to act the workes of darknesse in our lives . thy patience hath spared us , and our wickednesse hath provoked thee ; thou hast forborne to punish , and we have therefore gone on to r●●ell . the raine of thy word hath not fructified our barren lives , the beames of thy love hath not melted our frozen hearts , the thunder of thy wrath have not awakened our sleepy consciences , but we still continue to adde sin unto sin , and thereby treasure up wrath against the day of wrath . we confesse ( o god ) our just deservings of thy fury , yet are we bold to implore thy free bestowings of mercy , we have abundantly sinned , but thou canst abundantly pardon : with us there have been numerous rebellions , but with thy son christ jesus is plenteous redemption . according to the freenesse of thy mercy , and the fulnesse of his merits , the greatnesse of thy compassions , and the meritoriousnesse of his passion , have mercy upon us , be reconciled to us , that all our sins may be blotted out of the booke of thy remembrance . do thou ( oh god ) forget our sins , but let us remember them ; doe thou cast them behind thy back , but let us set them before our faces ; open our eyes that we may see , open our hearts that we may consider , how glorious a name we have dishonoured , how gracious a father we have provoked , how deare a jesus we have crucified , how holy a spirit we have grieved , how just a law we have transgressed , how great salvation we have despised , what long suffering patience we have abused , what precious opportunities of grace we have mis-spended , what hainous sinnes we have committed ; that by all these considerations we may be melted into tears of godly sorrow for our sins , that so mourning , we may loath , loathing , we may leave , leaving , we may strive against , and striving against , we may obtain power and victory over them . be it enough ( o god ) for it is enough , nay , too too much , that we have played away so great a part of the candle of our lives in the pleasures of sin , oh give us grace for that little inch of our candle which is yet to burn , so to let our light shine before men , that they seeing our good works , may glorify thee our father which art in heaven . to this end we pray thee , enlighten our blind minds , incline our crooked wills , soften our hard hearts , compose our distempered passions , mortify our earthly members , sanctify our whole man , spirit , soul , and body , and preserve us blamelesse to the coming of our lord jesus . implant ( oh god ) and increase all the graces of thy holy spirit in us , confirm our faith , stablish our hope , strengthen our patience , enlarge our love , enflame our zeale , quicken our obedience , put thy fear into our hearts , that we may never depart from thee , and do thou never leave nor forsake us , but be our god , our guard , our guide even to the death ; and after death receive us to thy self , in that glory which is everlasting . not to us , ( oh lord ) not to us alone , but to thy holy catholick church , be thou propitious ; she is the vine which thine own right hand hath planted , let her be for ever preserved , and suffer not ( good god ) suffer not either the wild boar out of the forrest to pluck up her root , or the many pestilent foxes that are within her to pluck off her grapes . plant thy gospel where yet it is not , restore it where it is lost , continue and enlarge it where it is , especially in these realmes . remit our crying sins , remove thy heavy judgements , restore our wonted blessings , settle all things once again amongst us , upon their right and ancient foundations that glory may dwell in our land. let the cry of the fatherlesse and the widow ascend into the eares of the lord god of hosts , that he may give them beauty for ashes , and the oyle of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse . blesse all sorts and degrees of men among us . let the gold of our nobility excell in grace , as they do in honour , purify the silver of our gentry from the drosse of vice , engrave upon the brasse of our commonalty , the fear of thy holy name ; and preserve thine earthen vessels , in whom is laid up , and by whom is dispensed thy heavenly treasure , the pastors and ministers of thy church . comfort all the sonnes and daughters of sorrow , poure oyle into wounded consciences , succour tempted souls , settle distracted minds , heale diseased bodies , releeve impoverished families , release imprisoned persons , those especially who suffer for the testimony of a good conscience . oh thou that hast a salve for every sore , a cure for every crosse , a remedy for every malady ; apply thy self suitably to all the necessities of thy children . and now in blessing , blesse that word of all thy grace , which goeth forth throughout all congregations , lawfully and duly assembled in thy fear this day ; this in particular . oh thou that standest at the door and knockest , be pleased to open ; open the preachers lips , that his mouth may shew forth thy praise , and declare thy message with power and plainnesse ; open the peoples ears , that they may hear thy word with reverence and diligence : open all our hearts , that with faith and love we may receive , with care and conscience we may obey thy sacred truth , so as it may become the power of thee our god , to the illumination of our judgements , the renovation of our natures , the reformation of our lives , and the salvation of our soules , through jesus christ our only mediator and redeemer ; for whom we bless thee : to whom with thy self and blessed spirit of grace , we give all praise and glory ; and in whose most absolute form of prayer , we further call upon thee , saying , our father which in heaven , &c. the first epistle general of st. iohn . history , prophecy , and doctrine , are the three channels in which run the streames of sacred writ , from whence ariseth the division of its bookes into historical , prophetical , and doctrinal : not , but that all the bookes of scripture are doctrinal , in which respect the apostle saith , it is profitable for doctrine ; but , because some books are chiefly concerned in narrations of things past , others in the predictions of things to come ; and some are chiefly , if not only , conversant about dogmatical truths , and practical precepts , they are not unfitly thus distinguished . of this latter sort are the epistolary writings , and therefore in this regard the fittest to be discussed among the people ; the prophetical books are most congruous to the schooles , but the doctrinal most suitable to the pulpit ; those for exercising the learned , these for feeding the vulgar . upon this account i have made choice of an epistle , and in particular , ( not without serious and mature deliberation , nor yet ( i hope ) without the blessed spirits instigation ) of this first epistle general of s. john to be the subject of my postmeridian discourses . if any shall be inquisitive to know why among all the epistles of the holy apostles i have pitched my thoughts upon this , i shall returne this threefold answer , which as a threefold cord , ( and that saith solomon is not easily broken , ) enduced me to this work. one , ( though indeed the least ) is that i finde not any english expositor upon it , nor yet many among the latine , except those who have undertaken comments upon all the epistles , whereas either in latine or english , or both , i finde several excellent interpreters upon each of the rest : and truly , i shall esteem it an high honour conferred upon me by my god , if , through his gracious enablement by a ( though imperfect ) dilucidation of this epistle , i may cast a mite into the churches-treasury . a second and more perswading reason is the congruency of it to the age wherein we now live , since there is the same occasion ( as to general , if not particular considerations ) now given to ministers of handling , which st. john had then of writing this epistle . to clear this you may be pleased to know , that there were two sorts of men in st. johns dayes , to wit , antichristian-hereticks , and carnal-gospellers , those expressely denied the fundamentalls of christian religion , these whilest they had divine phrases , seraphical expressions flowing from their lips , were sensual and diabolical in their lives , talking of communion with god , dwelling in god , knowing the truth , and what not ? and yet practising envy , malice , hatred , and all uncharitablenesse in their actions , against both these this boanerges ( for so he with his brother james are called by christ , ) thundereth , and accordingly ( as appeareth by the several chapters , ) his scope is double in this epistle . . to warne the orthodox that they were not withdrawn from their christian profession by the wiles of hereticks , this our apostle himself expresseth to be one special end of his writing , where he saith , these things have i written unto you concerning them which seduce you . indeed wherein can the shepherd more expresse the care of his flock , then in keeping off the wolves ; a minister of his charge , then in arming them against hereticks : and is there not as great need in this age as ever of such a caution , wherein such a multitude of deceivers swarme to the endangering of ignorant and unstable christians . . to perswade in general a practise agreeable to christian profession , in reference to which he saith , these things i write to you , that you sin not , and in special the practise of that most truly christian-grace , love , which therefore he calleth the message from the beginning . it is observed of precious stones , that each of them hath a several and peculiar excellency , the like is taken notice of in sacred bookes , and the splendour of this is , that it is much conversant in describing and prescribing the grace of charity . for this reason st. gregory adviseth those who would be enflamed with this heavenly sire to read st. john. whose words are altogether as it were colour'd with love . and st. augustine taking notice of this , affirmeth that charity is the chief thing commended by saint john in this epistle . and can any admonition be more seasonable to this licentious and malicious generation ? that prediction of our saviour , the love of many shall waxe cold , was never more verified then in these dayes . the best of us need this advice , as oleum in flamma , oyle to nourish and increase the flame , and the most as flamma ad fomitem , a coal fetched from the altar to kindle , or recover this fire in us . indeed canting-language , affected formes of religious-speech were never more in use , but the reality of a christian and charitable conversation was never lesse in fashion . and if as without doubt that of solomon be true , a word spoken in due season , how good is it , the discussing of this epistle which was written for these ends so neerly concerning us , cannot but be profitable for , and so acceptable to us . but , . lastly , the chief argument ( which incited me to this undertaking ) is the comprehensive excellency and utility of the matter contained in this epistle . st. hierome speaking of all the catholick epistles , calls them breves pariter & longas , breves verbis , long as sententiis ; short , and yet long , short in phrase , but long in sence . this is singularly true of this epistle , which as in situation it is the middle , so for matter the fullest of them all , at once enriched with weight of matter and elegancy of words , in which respect lorinus is bold to say , no other epistle is more divine then this of him who is by the church called the divine . the truth is , a world of heavenly matter is contained in this little map , which that it may the better appear , give me leave in few words to delineate it before you . the globe of divinity parts it self into two hemispheres , to wit , credenda & agenda , the things we are to know and believe , and the things we are to do and performe ; both which are here described , and therefore those two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the second ver . of the first chap. are by justinian considered as referring to those two heads , the bearing witnesse to matters of faith , and the showing , or declaring to matters of practise . out of this epistle we may gather an abstract of the things to be known , and that concerning god , our selves , and christ. . concerning god we may hence be instructed in his nature , attributes and persons , as to his nature , that he is light , and in him no darkness ; his attributes , that he is faithful , just , holy , righteous , pure , invisible , knowing all things , and love it self ; the persons , that there are three which bear record in heaven , the father , the word , the holy ghost , and these three are one . . concerning our selves we may here learn what we are by nature , namely lying in wickednesse , what we are by grace , to wit , borne of god , and what we shall be in glory , like to him seeing him as he is . . concerning christ , we have him here characterized in his natures , offices , acts , and benefits . . in respect of his natures , he is as to his deity called true god , and yet more distinctly with reference to his personallity , the only begotten son of god ; as to his humanity , he is said to be sent into the world , and so truly man , that he was seen , heard , and handled by the apostles . . as to his offices , he is here asserted in general to be the christ , and so annointed to those offices , and in particular as priest , to take away sin , to be the propitiation for our sins , and our advocate with the father ; as prophet by his spirit to teach us all things , and as a king , to destroy the works of the devil . . most of his mediatorial acts are here specified , his incarnation , where he is said to come in the flesh , passion , in that he layeth down his life for us , his resurrection , in as much as eternal life is said to be in him , and his ascension , and intercession , because he is affirmed to be an advocate with the father , and his coming again in the day of judgement to appear as judge of the world . . lastly , we need not go further then this epistle to meet with those benefits we obtaine by him , in that he giveth his spirit to us , whereby we dwelling in him , and he in us , have fellowship with the father and his son jesus christ ; and by vertue of this forgivenesse of our sins for his names sake adoption , whereby we are called the sons of god. finally , justification by blood , sanctification by water and eternal life . . nor are only doctrines of faith , but rules of practice deducible from this epistle . . would we know what to avoid , this book teacheth us in general to eschew all sin , both describing what it is , a transgression of the law , and dehorting us from the commission of it , in particular to expell the love of the world , to abandon hatred , malice and envy , to keep our selves from idols , and especially to beware of the sin unto death . . would we be instructed what we are to put in practise in this epistle ? we are called upon to believe in the name of jesus christ , to love god who hath begotten us , and to love those who are begotten of him , to have the hope of glory fixed in us , to declare our repentance by confessing our sins , and purifying our selves , to overcome the wicked one and the world , to conquer the lusts of the flesh , to walk as christ walked , by imitation of him , and to abide in him by perseverance , to hear the word preached by the ministers of christ , to aske the things we want according to his will , to open bowels of compassion , and distribute our worldly goods to our needy brethren , finally to do righteousnesse , keep gods commandments , and do those things which are pleasing in his sight . in few words , there are many golden threes in theology , which i finde scattered up and down in this epistle , and being put together , must needs much ennoble it in our estimation . the three persons in the sacred deity , god the father , the son and the holy ghost , their trinity in unity , and unity in trinity . the three-fold state of man , to wit , deformed , reformed , and transformed , corrupt , regenerate , and glorified . the three-fold coming of christ , in the flesh , by his spirit , and at the day of judgement . those three grand enemies of mans salvation , the flesh , world , and the devil . the three theological graces , faith , hope and charity . the three principal duties of religion , prayer , hearing and almes , are plainly set before us in this parcel of holy writ . nay , yet once more , those three things which every christian man ought to be acquainted with for his souls health , to wit , the creed , the lords prayer , and the ten commandments , are here at least summarily comprized . our blessed saviour telleth us the whole law is reducible to these two great commandments , the love of god , and our neighbour , both which are here amply taught us . the lords prayer is intimated , in that we must aske according to gods will , which cannot be unlesse according to that patterne ; yea , in that we are called sonnes of god , it teacheth us to cry our father , and that chief petition in it , forgive us our sins is once and again inculcated . finally , if you please , we may out of this epistle , compile a creed not much unlike that of the apostles , ( no lesse justly then commonly heretofore received amongst us , though now almost forgotten by us , ) in these or the like words . i believe in god the father , invisible , just , holy , pure and faithful , who knoweth all things , ( and is no lesse almighty to do all things , ) who is love it self , whereby he vouchsafed to make the heaven and earth . and in jesus christ his only begotten son , who came in the flesh , ( to wit , by being conceived of the holy ghost , and borne of the virgin mary , ) and laid down his life for us , ( being crucified , dead , and buried , ) and having life in himselfe , ( rose from the dead , and ascended to heaven , where he sitteth at gods right hand , ) is our advocate with the father , and at that day of judgment shall come and appear again , ( to wit , to judge the quick and dead . ) i believe in the holy ghost , the fellowship or communion of saints , the forgiveness of sins , and eternal life . by this time you cannot but see ( beloved , ) what a body of divinity , what a treasury of spiritual knowledge this epistle is , well might f●rus say , ipsam evangelicae doctrinae summam brevissimam complectitur , the summe of evangelical doctrine , is succinctly and yet distinctly comprehended in it ; and now me thinketh every one is ready to say with that father , adoro plenitudinem sacrae scriptura : i adore and admire the fulnesse of holy scripture , wherein every drop is as it were a rivulet , every rivulet a great river , and river an ocean : every branch a tree , every tree an orchard , an orchard a field : i mean every verse as it were a chapter , every chapter an epistle , every epistle a volumne , for the abundance of precious truths contained in them ; and yet more particularly by these considerations sufficient reason cannot but appear , as for my discussion so your attention , and thus this discourse serveth to make way for the following . but before i begin , i have one request to make to you , and that from my very soule , that as ( i hope ) you have not , are not , so you will not be wanting in your requests to god for me , and what you should aske for me , i shall not go out of this epistle to tell you , even that unction from the holy one , whereby we may know all things , that anoynting which teacheth us all things , and is truth and no lie , let this be the matter of your prayer , both for me , & for your selves , that it may teach me how to expound , & apply , you how to hear & receive , both you & me how to understand and obey the sacred saving truths which are delivered to us in this first general epistle of st john . i shall not at this time enter upon the epistle it self , only in a few words take notice of the title which is prefixed , wherein we have two things considerable : namely , the p●nman john , and the writing which is set down : for the nature of it , to be an epistle : for the order , the first : and for the extent of it , a general epistle . first , the epistle is asserted to be st. johns . indeed we do not finde him setting down his name in any part of the epistle , the other apostles are express in this particular . iames and peter , and iude , and paul in all epistles , except that to the hebrewes ; but saint iohn in this epistle is altogether silent , in the other two he only giveth himself the common title of an elder : when he hath any occasion to mention himself in his gospel , and that in things much tending to his dignity , it is done in a third person by way of circumlocution , only in his apocalypse he specifieth his name , but that without any addition of honour or dignity . it lets us see in general the humility of this holy apostle , who thought so meanly of himself , that he accounts himself not worth the naming . indeed on the one hand , ( though it s often too true of many , who arrogantly affect to blazon their own names and titles , ) we are not to imagine that when the other apostles prefixe their nam●s , and most of them their high calling , that it is done out of vain glory ; but on the other hand , we may justly conclude it a testimony of great humility in this apostle , that he suppresseth his name , his office by silence . thus whilest he was high in christs , he became lowly in his own eyes ▪ whilest he was rich in grace ( his ve●y name carrying as it were grace , as benjamines sack did money in its mou●h , ) he was poor in spirit , scarce thinking himself worthy of a name . oh let us learn by his pattern not to affect our own praises , nor speak high things of our selves , ever remembring , that as artis est celare artem , it is an art to conceal our art , so to neglect our own names and honour , is the best way to true honour and a good name . besides this notion of humility , it may further be conceived , and not improbably , that this concealment of his name was an act of prudence , especially considering the time when it is most rationally conjectured to be written , to wit , ( as the learned english annotatour hath observed to my hand , ) not long before the destruction of ierusalem , when as the church was under a sharp persecution , ( occasioned no doubt by those many antichrists then arising , ) in which s. iohn was peculiarly involved ; yea , of which he warneth those to whom he writeth , and therefore wisely forbeareth to publish his name , which might have been prejudicial to him . there is no doubt a policy consistent with piety ; which as all christians , so ministers may use in persecuting times . it was that our saviour at least allowed his disciples , to be wise as serpents , with this caution , that they were innocent as doves ; and sure it is no injury to truth and innocency , if a man , a minister in prudence , with-hold the publication of his name , to prevent his enemies malice . but whether these or any other were the reasons of s. iohn's silencing his name , yet it is without controversie , that he was the penman ; and indeed as dionysius alexandrinus hath not unfitly observed the gospel and the epistle are so concordant , often using the same phrases , that he who penned the one , must be acknowledged as the writer of the other . but i shall not need to prove what all christians grant , only it will not be amisse in a few words to give you a character concerning this sacred amanuensis . though in one greek copy i finde only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the epistle of st. iohn , yet the most read the title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the epistle of iohn the apostle , whereby it appeareth , that the penman of the epistle was not an ordinary saint , and so a member of , but an officer , yea , dignified with the highest office in the christian church : for so we finde s. paul in his enumeration , beginning with apostles as the most divine order ; and yet more then so , this apostle iohn was not only one of the twelve , but one of the three whom christ honoured so far , as to be witnesses of his miracle in raising the rulers daughter , spectatours of his glorious transfiguration on the mount , and his associates in the garden when he laboured under that sore agony , and whom s. paul mentioneth as pillars of the church ; yea , one of the two whom christ sent to prepare the passeover for him and his disciples to eat : and yet to go one step higher , there were some prerogatives with which this apostle was invested above any of the rest . to him it was above all the other , christ at his death upon the crosse commended the care of his mother ; him it was whom christ admitted so neer , as to lean on his bosome , being therefore called the disciple whom iesus loved , and to whom even peter beckoned that he should aske christ concerning him that should betray him . quod majus dare potuit majoris dilectionis indicium ? christ could not give a higher testimony of his affection towards him , then by taking him into his bosome ; no wonder if lying at such breasts , he did thence suck spiritual wisdome , and drinke the nectar of divine mysteries , whereof he became at once an evangelist in his gospel , a prophet in his revelation , an apostle in his epistles . and surely the consideration of the person should make us so much the more in love with the epistle , me thinketh as god saith to us concerning christ , who was in his bosome , this is my well beloved son , hear him , that christ saith to us concerning st. john , who lay in his bosome ; this is my well beloved apostle , hear him , though yet let me adde one caution , with which i shall close up this branch , that we rest not in the writer , but look up to the enditer , remembring that st. john , and all holy men of god , both spake and wrote as moved by the holy ghost ; they were only the amanuenses , but the spirit is the authour ; they were the instrumental , but the spirit is the principal efficient ; and therefore though we ought to honour them , yet we must look beyond , above them , receiving what was written by them , as inspired by god , and accordingly to yeeld audience , credence and obedience to it , and so much for the penman . passe we on to the writing it self , and therein consider we , i. the nature of it , expressed in that denomination of an epistle : indeed in a large sense the whole bible is called by st. gregory , epistola omnipotentis dei ad creaturam suam in qua verba dei sonan● , & cor dei dicitur ; gods epistle to his creature , wherein his minde is revealed ; but in a strict sense it is only used of , and applied to this and other holy writings of the like nature : for , an epistle properly so called , is a familiar colloquie between absent friends , whereby they impart counsel and comfort to , and so after a sort become present each with other . to this purpose the father excellently , where he saith , the use of epistles is to unite them that are separated , to make present those that are absent , by which we communicate our thoughts and mindes to our distant friends ; thus it was with the apostles , they could not be alwaies present with those churches they had planted , & therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vice fungebatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they endeavoured to advise , and strengthen , and build them up by epistles . it lets us see the care of godly ministers over their people , not only whilest present by speaking , but when absent by writing to them , egebant vexali haeresibus & persecutionibus epistolarum consolatione , st. john well knew what need the christians ( being as sheep in the midst of wolves ) had of direction and consolation , and therefore he sendeth this comfortable epistle to them , desiring that though his tongue could not , yet his pen might reach them . and yet further we may here take notice of gods mercy , as well as the apostles care who is pleased so familiarly to converse with his church by way of epistle : he dealt with the jewish church as with servants by way of mandate , but with the christian as with friends by way of epistle , far be it from us that his familiarity should beget contempt , but rather the lower he is pleased to condescend in this way of making known his will to us , let us so much the more highly advance his goodnesse , and readily follow his dictates . god seemeth to set it down as an aggravation of jsraels disobedience , that he used similitudes by the ministry of his prophets , it will be no lesse of ours , that god hath used epistles by the ministery of his apostles in a most friendly way , advising us for our good , and yet these love-tokens are slighted and contemned by us . ii. the order of this epistle is next to be briefly taken notice of , it is the first , and it is so in a double consideration ; the one of time ; the other of dignity : it is the first , not the only epistle he wrote ; first implieth at least a second ; and here we finde not only a second , but a third : this holy apostle was not idle or negligent , but in several kindes , and in the same kinde once and again reneweth his paines : nor yet is there only a priority in respect of order , but of honour : the first , because the largest , the fullest , the sublimest of all the epistles , for the extent of it , not only equalizing , but exceeding the other two ; and that not severally , but joyntly , for the matter of it more divine and heavenly then either of the rest . all portions of holy writ are alike excellent as to the authour from whom they are sent , and end for which they are written ; but yet some of them may be moreful and useful then others ; such is this , if compared with st. johns other epistles , and therefore called first . iii. the last thing to be discussed in the title , is the extent of the epistle , signified in that terme catholick . it is the appellation which is given to the seaven epistles of james , peter , iohn and iude , an epithet affixed to them , ( as pareus thinketh ) rather through inconsideratenesse then any just ground , but i think him too rash in that censure . others have sought the reason of it in the number which being septenary , is a number of perfection , intimating the universal perfection of the doctrine contained in them , in which respect these epistles have been resembled to wisdomes seven pillars , by which her house is supported : the lambs seaven hornes by which hereticks are pushed at : the seven golden candlesticks , by which the light of evangelical doctrine is set up , and the seven loaves by which multitudes are nourished , but this i conceave to be a fancy rather then a verity . there are two reasons given of this appellation , which carrie in them most probability , especially the latter . . this epistle may be called general according to oecumenius his notion , because it is not directed to one particular person , as those to timothy and titus , nor yet to particular churches , as those to the romans , corinthians , galatians , &c. but to the converted iewes in several parts , and in this sence denominatio à majori parte petita , the denomination is not from every epistle ( since two , at least one , of st. iohns epistles is manifestly directed to a particular person , but the greater part , as for this first epistle , st. austin indeed seemeth to assert it as directed to the parthians , but if with iunius , we understand that as an hebrew word , it signifieth as much as the scattered , banished ; or if we take it in the vulgar notion , we must know , that parthia was then a potent kingdome , containing under it many oriental nations , through which , as iosephus testifieth , abundance of the iewes were scattered , to whom it is not improbable this epistle might be directed , and so this reason of catholick fitly applied to it . . but that which ( at least to me ) seemeth most rational , is that this title was given them upon their general reception in the church , in which respect they were called canonical as well as catholick . to clear this you must know , that at the first besides those epistles which carry st. pauls name in the front of them , only the first epistle of peter , and this of iohn , were universally received ; indeed concerning this epistle of st. iohn , st. austin saith , per omnes gentes recitatur , orbis terrae authoritate retinetur ; it was received by the whole christian world from the beginning , and to distinguish these from the rest , they were then called catholick , and afterwards the other sive being received into the canon , had this name affixed to them for the distinguishing of them from those epistles of barnabas , ignatius , and policarpus , which though ancient , were not taken into the rule of our faith : nor was this any diminution to the authority of st. pauls epistles , but only an intimation that these were now added to those , and whereas the other epistles being written by one man , might very well receive a single denomination from him , and be called st. pauls epistles ; these being penned by several , could not be mentioned joyntly without some such fit and venerable title annexed to them . the useful meditations we may hence take up are , that since this epistle is written generally to the christians in several places , we are to remember it is as well catholick in respect of several ages . indeed there is no age of man , but is herein instructed ; so he saith himself , that he writes to children , young men , fathers ; nor is there any age of man since it was written to whom it doth not extend ; and therefore no lesse concerneth us then those who were then alive ; and surely as the epistle is generall , so our application of it must be particular : every one bringing the lessons of it home to our owne hearts ; and yet once againe , since it was so generally at first receaved , therefore we to be the more confirmed in the verity of it , and so induced the more strongly to beleeve the assertions , and carefully to obey the directions contained in it . and thus with what brevity i could i have unfolded the title page ; time will not now give me leave to enter upon the booke it selfe . but i hope what hath been already said will prove a good preparative to my ensuing discourses , both to give some light for the knowledge of , and cause some heat of love towards this parcell of holy writ : and my desire to you ( with which i shall conclude ) is , that though i cannot begin to handle , you would begin to read it , and as in it selfe it is a familiar kinde of writing , so by frequent perusing make it familiar to you ; and as the penman of it lay in christs bosome , so it may lie in your bosome to be both your comforter & councellour till you come to rest in abrahams bosome to all eternity amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . i. chap. ver . , , , . . that which we from the beginning , which we have heard , which we have seen with our eyes , which we have looked upon , and our hands have handled of the word of life . . ( for the life was manifested , and we have seen it , and bear witness , and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the father , and was manifested unto us . ) . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you , that ye also may have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son jesus christ. . and these things write we unto you , that your joy may be full . these words are as an head to the body , a gate to the field , a porch to the building of this epistle , an introduction which very much speaketh the writer to be st. john , because it is as it were antistrophe evangelii a resounding to the proaeme of his gospel . the gospel begins with , in the beginning was the word , and this with that which was from the beginning concerning the word of life , there a little after , the word was made flesh , and we saw his glory , here the life was manifested and we have seen it , vide si non attestatur epistola sua evangelio suo saith the father justly . see how the one as it were ecchoeth and answereth to the other , so that at the very threshold we may read the builder of this excellent fabrick . and as this exordium speaketh the writer ; so it manifesteth him an oratour , since it fitly agreeth to those rules which oratory giveth to be observed in praeambles . there are three properties in every good exordium , convenient length , lest if excessive , the oration be like the little city of mindas , with a great gate ; suitable aptness fetched from the very bowels of the matter in hand , and a profitable efficacy to render the auditory attentive , docible , and benevolous , all of these meet in this preface . the length you see consists but of . verses , whereas the epistle spreadeth it self into . chapters , in respect of its fitness , it is taken from the matter it self , about which he intended to write , not staying the reader in any needless circumlocutions , yea ( which is almost peculiar to this apostle ) not so much as in a salutation of those to whom he writeth ; finally it is so fully and exactly composed that it cannot but attain with rational men the ends of a preface , since the importance of what he was to speak of , being no less than that of life , & that life eternal , it could not but gain attention , the perspicuity of it , by reason of the manifestation of this life , could not but render them docible , and the end of the apostle being their joy , and profit , and comfort , might well command benevolence to him , who declareth so much good will towards them . and i hope this proaeme being so ample , i shall need no other preface to obtain the like from you , than the rehearsing and unfolding this , that which was , &c. the manner of composing these verses by reason of that figure which rhetoritians call hyperbaton , the transposition of words , and likewise the interposition of a parenthesis , is somewhat dark and obscure : and the greek scholiast undertaketh to give several reasons of it , such as are to let us know that our salvation consisteth not in words , but things ; to prevent the casting of pearles before swine , to avoid heathenish loquacity , to express much in a little , and to exercise our diligence in finding out the sence and meaning of it : and how involved a labyrinth soever this period may seem ( i doubt not ) but by the clue of the spirit we shall extricate our selves out of it . the syriack version hath contributed some light to this dark sentence by placing the principal verb in the front , we publish to you that which was from the beginning , &c. but the sence of these verses will , i conceive , appear the plainliest by digesting them into those several propositions , by which as so many steps we shall orderly ascend to their genuine meaning . . the word of eternal life which was with the father was manifested to us . . this word of life being manifested , we have heard and seen with our eyes , and looked upon , and our hands have handled . . that which we have thus seen , heard , and handled concerning this word of life , was from the beginning : . that which was from the beginning ▪ and which we have heard , seen , and handled , concerning the word of life , we bear witness , shew , declare , and write to you . . the end of our declaring and writing these things to you is , that your joy may be full , by having fellowship with us . . that fellowship which we have , and we would you should have , together with us , is with the father and his son iesus christ. that i may proceed both more distinctly and succinctly in discussing these words , be pleased to observe in them these two generals : to wit , apostolicum praedicationis studium , & sublime evangelii preconium here is , the apostles care of their duty in publishing the gospel , and this according to the english translation , in four , but according to the greek original , in three expressions , one of them being twice repeated , we bear witness , we shew , we declare , and unto you . the gospels excellency which they did publish , and this delineated in four characters ; namely , . the dignity of its object , and that no other than the word of life , even that eternal life which was with the father , and was manifested to them . . the certainty of its tradition , in as much as it was that which they had heard , seen with their eyes , looked upon , and their hands handled . . the antiquity of its origination , as being that which was from the beginning . . the utility of the end , which is the peoples communion with the apostles , yea with god and christ , in those words , that you may have fellowship with us , and truly our fellowship is with the father , and his son jesus christ ; and by this means the completion of their comfort in those words , that your joy may be full . these are the several branches of this tree of life , through each of which by divine enablement , i shall pass according to the proposed method , gathering and distributing those sweet and wholsome fruits which grow upon them , the apostles care of publishing the gospel is the first considerable , and it is that which st. iohn doth here assert in the behalf not onely of himself , but his fellow apostles , for it is not the singular i , but the plurall number we ; nor is this a term of state , as sometimes princes write in a magnificent stile , but intended to comprehend the other apostles , together with himself , that they might be accounted as faithful as he in this sacred work : the expressions by which our apostle sets forth the exercise of their care , are very significant , and such indeed as do superadde somewhat at least by way of explication to the other : take them briefly in their order as they lie in the verses . . the first we meet with is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bear witness ; this was indeed the chief office to which the apostles were designed by christ to bear witness of him , and that they might be inabled to the faithful discharge of it , he promised he would , and accordingly did after his ascension , cause them to receive the power of the holy ghost coming upon them . not ( beloved ) that christ stood in need of any human testimony , he saith himself , i receive no witness from man ; to wit , as wanting it , or not having greater : his own miraculous works which were done by him did testifie of him , the devils of hell , the angels in heaven , those out of envy , these in duty gave witness to him : nay , his father by a wonderful voice from heaven , attested him to be his well-beloved son , it was not then in regard of himself that he ordained the apostles to be his witnesses , but in regard of them , and the people , of them , that he might put this high honour upon them of being , as it were christs iury. look as gods making use of instruments in his providential works , is not ex defectu potestatis , but abundantia bonitatis , want of power , but abundance of love whereby he would advance his creatures to that great dignity of being his servants : so christs appointing his apostles to be witnesses , was not because he stood in need of testimony from them , but that he might confer the honour upon them of giving testimony to him , and as of them , so of the people , who having men like themselves to bear testimony to christ , might with the confidence , & cheerfulnes , received it , in this respect , what christ said concerning those words he uttered at the raising of lazarus , because of the people that stand by i said it , and concerning that voyce from heaven , it came not for me but for your sakes , the same may be asserted concerning the apostolical testimony , it was not , as if christ needed it , but because we need it for our confirmation and consolation . i end this , with a double item . to the ministers of the gospel that we remember this is our duty as well as it was the apostles , to bear witness to christ , to be an eye witness of christ risen was indeed peculiar to the apostles , and therefore that st. paul might be an apostle , christ was pleased to manifest himself visibly to him , but to bear witness to christ is that which all ministers are obliged to , and therefore to labour that we approve our selves true and faithful witnesses , asserting only and wholly the truth of the gospel , it is required in a steward ( saith the apostle ) that he be found faithful , no less in a witness , ministers are both gods stewards and christs witnesses ; oh let them discharge their duty with fidelity . to the people , that they receive with faith what the apostles and ministers of christ attest with truth ; that as there is fidelitas in teste , so there may be fides in auditore , these faithfull witnesses may finde believing cares . what great reason there is of believing these witnesses wil afterwards appear , let it suffice us to know for the present , that he who hath appointed them to bear witness , expecteth we should embrace it . and so much the rather ought this duty to be performed by the people , because as we do testari , so likewise obtestari , protestari ( for that sometimes is the notion of this word , and is so construed here by cassian ) we so bear witness to the truth as that we protest against all those who receive not our testimony , we testifie not only for the strengthning of faith in the weak , but for the affrighting of them who are obstinate in their infidelity , since as we now bear witnesse to you , so we shall one day bear witnesse against such , and that testimony which cannot now prevaile for your conversion , shall at last come in as an evidence to your condemnation ; and so much for the first terme . . the next expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is twice repeated but englished by two several words we shew and we declare , it is that which intimateth what kind of bearing witness the apostle here intended . there are indeed several ways of bearing witnesse to christ , to wit , by suffering , especial●y death it self ( for to such the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applied ) for christs cause , and the gospels , by leading lives answerable to the christian profession , & by openly publishing the truth of christ , & all of these waies the apostles did bear witness to christ , the most of them suffering death actually , except this apostle , who yet was banished , & no doubt was ready to have dyed ( had he been called to it ) for the name of iesus , nor were any of them wanting by the holiness and uprightness of their conversations to attest and credi their doctrins , but that way of bearing witnes which here is meant appeareth by the subjoyning of this phrase to be the promulging of the evangelicall truths concerning the messiah , to which those other wayes are necessary appendixes , that as we preach , we should live and be ready to justifie the truth of what we preach , with the losse even of our lives , if the providence of god , and malice of men put us upon it . that then which we have here to take notice of , is the readiness of these apostles to shew and declare the misteries of salvation to the people ; indeed this was the chief part of their work , being therefore compared to lights and embassadours , the nature of light is to discover , the business of an ambassadour is to impart his message , and accordingly , the work of an apostle is to reveale the gospel . indeed for this very end the life was manifested to them , that they might manifest it to others , christ made knowne himselfe to them that they might make him knowne to others : and it is that which is gods ayme : in what soever knowledge he bestoweth upon any of us . he hath given light to the sun that it should be communicated to the world , water to the ocean , that it should feed the rivers , and talents to ministers , christians , not that they should hide them in a napkin , but imploy them for the enriching of their breth●en , and therefore if we heare a veni et vide , come and see , we must expect to heare another voyce abi et narra go and tell and declare it , the truth is , this is the temper of a religious heart , jeremy saith of himselfe i was weary with forbearing , and david , i have not hid thy righteousnesse , nor concealed thy truth from the great congregation , and the apostles , we cannot but speake . spirituall knowledge in the christian soul : is like new wine in the vessel which must have a vent , or the oyntment in the right hand , which cannot but bewray it self . the zeale that is in a faithfull ministers , nay in every godly man , for the advancing of gods glory , edifying others , propagating religion burneth so strongly , that it cannot but flame forth in shewing what he knoweth to others : oh let every one of us , to whom any divine illumination is imparted , fulfill gods designe , & testify the truth of grace in our hearts , by endeavouring to teach and instruct our brethren . but this is not all we are to consider in this expression the greeke word is a compound of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to bring a message & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is as much as from another , so beza glosseth upon the word here , we declare , as being sent by god to publish this erran and that , which hereby is intimated to us , is , that these holy apostles did not run before they were sent : but had a mission and commission to show and declare the things of the gospel . indeed st. paul puts the question , and by it no doubt intendeth a negation ; how shall they preach except they be sent ? and the author to the hebrews is express , no man taketh this honour upon him , except he be called of god , as was aaron . these apostles were in an immediate and extraordinary way , sent by christ himself , the successors of the apostles were separated and sent by them , and all the true ministers of christ have been , are , and shall be sent by their successors until the end of the world , to declare this message . i would to god this were more seriously pondered on in this licentious age , wherein so many presumptuously undertake to preach the gospel without a call : gregory nazianzen speaking in his own defence , saith , he came to this work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of himself but being called , but a great number in our dayes send themselves into the vineyard , as if our saviour had said , not the kingdom of heaven , but the preaching of the kingdom suffereth violence , and the violent take it by force , having no right at all to it ; these men tread in the steps , and it is gods wonderful patience they come not to the dismall end of corah , and his complices ; it is true beloved , all christians , as i have already hinted , ought as they are able to declare the things of god to others , teaching and exhorting one another ; but it is as true that this they are to do within the compass of their place and calling , as masters , as parents , as governours in a private charitative way , but still this declaring here understood , which is in a publick authoritative way , belongs onely to them who are sent , either immediatly or mediately from god. i end this , to shew and declare that is our part , who are the ministers , to hear and attend , that is yours , who are the people ; and surely as we are bound to do the one , you are no less obliged to perform the other , we after st. paul's pattern , must not shun to declare the whole counsel of god to you , and you must not neglect to receive the counsel we declare , and so much the rather considering that as we do annuntiare , so we do denuntiare , declare the truth to you , so we denounce judgement against the stiffnecked , and hard hearted auditors , yea as we do now annuntiare , so we must at the last day renuntiare ( and all these things the word in the text signifieth ) return an account to our lord and master , what entertainment our message hath found with those to whom we are sent : and then as truly it will be woe to us , if we have not declared : so woe will be to you , if you have not regarded this message which we show and declare unto you ; and so much be spoken of the second particular . . there is yet one term more behinde , and that is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we write unto you , and as declaring sheweth what kind of bearing witness the apostle chiefly relateth to ; so this writing , what kind of declaring he especially speaketh of ; for whereas there are but two wayes of declaring the gospel , to wit , sermo and scriptio , word and writing by the tongue and the pen ; this latter is that which the apostle principally intendeth when he saith , we declare , we write , that is , we declare by writing . and indeed there are several advantages in writing above speaking , which might very well induce the apostles to take this course . my tongue saith david , is the pen of a ready writer ; the pen no less truly is as the tongue of a ready speaker . . by this it is we speak to many , very many , even those that are absent and far distant from us , in which respect , writing is wittily stiled an invention to deceive absence ; and therefore st. paul made use of it for this very end , when he saith to the corinthians , being absent i write unto you : whereas by the voice we onely speak to those who are present , and in a little compass of ground distant from us ; so that , be they never so many , they are but a very few in comparison of those to whom we communicate our thoughts by the pen. . again , by this it is we speak , not onely whilest alive , but when we are dead , and so declare the truth , not only to them who are coaetaneous with us , but shal in future ages succeed after us ; in which regard , that of the psalmist is very suitable , this shall be written for the generations to come : words pass away , and are buried in oblivion , whilest writing remaineth and becometh an image of eternity . upon these considerations it is more than probable that st. john and others of the apostles did show by writing , since the christians of those times were scattered up and down by persecution , so that the apostles could not reach them all in person , nor had they regard only to the present age , but to the propagation of christianity in succeeding , and therefore they made use of this way , to declare by writing . that which we are from hence to take notice of is double . . in special , the industry of the apostle is to be meditated on by ministers for their imitation ; these men of god , neglect no means whereby they may bear witness to christ , and declare the gospel : hence it was that where ever they came they did teach both publickly and privately , and where they could not come , they sent by writing , for the edification of the church . st. jude saith of himself , that he gave diligence , nay , all diligence , and that not onely to speak , but write of the common salvation , and by this means whereas the slothful man is dead whilest he liveth , he ( with the rest of the laborious pen-men of holy writ ) lives though dead . this practice should be ministers pattern , who must make the salvation of the people their business , and do all the good they can , & that by all ways in promoting the knowledge of christ ; if we had as many tongues or hands as argus had eyes , we should think them all little enough to imploy in this sacred work of the gospel . . in general , the benignity of god is to be contemplated by us all for our gratu●ation , in that he was pleased to put his apostles upon writing the mysteries of salvation . indeed as the greek fathers expression is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it was gods singular good pleasure which moved him to move these holy men to the penning of his word for our learning , that we may have a sure guide , a clear light , an infallible rule to walk by ; and therefore however some among the romanists , yea ( which is more dolful ) even among our selves cast contempt upon scripture , stiling it attramentariam theologiam , an inky divinity , a dead letter , let us highly esteem it , stedfastly cleave to it , and acknowledge the mercy of god in affording it . i am not ignorant how the romanists that they may deny the written word to be an adaequate rule of faith , and infer a necessity of their un-written traditions , assert that the apostles did not write ( by vertue of any command from christ , but onely upon emergent occasions : but beloved , as to some parcels of holy writ , we read of an express precept ; so often in the apocalips , no less than twelve several times , besides , ( as the learned chamier and iunius well observe against bellarmine ) the general command of teaching all nations , and preaching the gospel to every creature , vertually requireth the use of all means , among which , writing is not the least for the publication of it ; and yet further , when as we read in st. pauls epistle to timothy , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all and every parcel of scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of divine inspiration , we may very well conclude that the penmen had an internal command putting them on , as well as an internal assistance enabling them to this holy work . in this respect it is that st. augustine saith expresly , whatsoever god would have us know concerning his word , and his works he gave in charge to those sacred amanuenses to write ; and therefore let none of us be wise above what is written , but humbly and meekly confine our selves to that which his goodness and wisdom hath allotted for us , to walk by the writings of his prophets and apostles , beseeching him that as he hath caused his truths to be written , that they may be read with our eyes , so he would write them in our hearts , and thereby we may have a comfortable evidence , that our names are written in the book of life . and thus i have given a dispatch to the first general part , to wit , the apostles care of their duty , pass now on to the other general , which is the gospels excellency , and therein to the eminency of its object , in the close of the first , and part of the second verses , in those words ( the word of life , the life that was manifested , that eternal life which was with the father , and was manifested to us , all which is spoken concerning christ. but before i enter on the handling of these words in this ( which i conceive to be the most genuine ) interpretation , there is another exposition , which being neither improbable , nor unprofitable , i shall not pass by , and it will be all i can discuss at this time . it is of those who understand these words concerning the gospel it self , as if that were here called the word of life , wherein this eternal l●fe is manifested , though even according to this construction the encomium is of the gospel , with reference to its matter , where about it is conversant : this exposition is that which is alleadged by calvin , asserted by grotius , and assevered by vorstius , nor is it dissonant to the analogy of faith , & according to it , here are two things to be considered , namely , the appellation given to the gospel , it is the word of life : and the reason of that appellation , because in it the life , eternal life is manifested to us . . the appellation here affixed to the gospel , is choice and comfortable , it is the word of life ; a title which is made use of by st. paul , when he required of the philippians , that they should shine as lights in the world , holding forth the word of life , and by the angel , when he commands the apostles to speak in the ears of the people , all the words of this life : suitably hereunto , it is that it is called else where the word of salvation , and the gospel of salvation , and the grace of god that bringeth salvation , and the ingrafted word , which is able to save our souls ; and yet once more , that word of gods grace , which is able to build us up , and to give us an inheritance among them which are sanctified . . the reason of this appellation is fit and pregnant , because those words , eternal life is manifested to us , are such a confirmation , that they ate withall an explication of the title in both the branches of it . for . would we know what this life is , whereof the gospel is the word ? the answer is , it is eternal life , in which respect st. peter saith to christ , thou hast the words of eternal life . in these two expressions is contained a short description of felicity , it is a life , for since life is the highest of all created excellencies , it is aptly used to set forth a state of happiness : especially if we take vivere as comprehending in it valere , and so denoting an hayle , vigorous , and prosperous life . but that which crowneth life it self , and maketh it an happiness , is its eternity , since ( as the schools well ; ) true bliss must be able to give satisfaction to the appetite , which it cannot do , if there be any fear of losing or expiring ; the truth is , neither of these two can be severed in an happy condition , were it eternal , if it were not life , there could be no bliss , since it is true of the damned that they shall exist eternally ; and were it life , if it were not eternal , it could not be happy , since a transitory fading life is rather a death than a life , and therefore that the gospel may appear a means of happiness , it is said to reveal to us eternal life . and . would we know in what respect the gospel is the word of this life ? the answer is , because this eternal life which was with the father , is by it manifested to us ; indeed we must here distinguish between data and manifestata , the giving and the manifesting of this life , nor is it mine , but st. pauls own distinction , where he informeth us . that salvation or life eternal was given us in christ iesus before the world began , but is now made manifest by christ , who hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel . the truth is , eternal life , before the time of the gospel , was with the father , that is , did latere quod●mmodo apud patrem , lie hid in the fathers bosome , unrevealed to the world : as to the gentiles , it was altogether unknown , who therefore are said to sit in darkness , and the shadow of death , as being wholly strangers to this life : and as to the iews , it was hid ( as learned davenant hath observed ) ex parte & comparativè : the greatest part of the iews looked no higher than an earthly canaan , and dreamt onely of a temporal happiness to be accomplished by the messiah , the discoveries of life were so dark , that few could spell them , and that manifestation which any of them had , was very obscure , in comparison of what is by the gospel . it is true , eternal life was so far revealed in the old testament , that the believing iews attained to some knowledge of it , so as that they looked for it , and no doubt are in their souls possessed of it ; upon this account st. paul tells timothy , that the holy scriptures ( to wit ; of moses and the prophets , were able to make him wise to salvation , and christ bids the iews to search the scriptures , because they thought ( which yet christ reproveth not as a bare surmize ) in them to have eternal life : but stil those discoveries were very imperfect , in comparison of that knowledge which the gospel imparts , and therefore one observeth an emphasis in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to us , not to the patriarchs , not to the prophets was this life , to wit , so clearly manifested as to us , the apostles of christ , and by us to the sa●nts throughout the world , in which respect st. paul writing both to the ephesians and the colossians , stiles not onely the calling of the gentiles ( which is as much spoken of by the prophets , as any other evangelical truth ) but the whole doctrine of life in the gospel , a mysterie which hath been hid from ages and generations , nor was in other ages made known to the sons of men , but is now revealed unto his holy apostles , and made manifest to his saints by his spirit . to sum it up in few words , eternal life is that mysterie which could not have been found out by reason , neither the thing it self , nor the way to it could by any humane wit or industry have been at all discovered , and therefore it must be manifested , to wit , by a divine revelation , a spiritual illumination , and onely the gospel is the word wherein god hath been pleased to vouchsafe the clear distinct , and full manifestation of it , for which reason it is deservedly called the word of life . to apply this briefly , what should the consideration hereof teach us ? but . thankfully to acknowledge what a rich treasure a pretious pearle god hath vouchsafed to us , in bestowing the gospel on us ; life is the most pretious treasure in nature , eternal is the best of lifes : oh then , how singular is the worth of the gospel , which manifesteth this life unto us ; and surely , as the water of life it self , so the vessels that convey it to us , should be highly esteemed by us ; we may truly say of all the ministers of the gospel , what that possessed damosel said concerning st. paul , and the rest : these men are the servants of the most high god , which shew unto us the way of salvation , and what st. iohn here saith of himself , and fellow apostles , we may no less justly say of our selves , we shew to you that eternal life which was with the father . shall the lawyer be valued who sheweth you that way of preserving your temporal estate ? shall the physitian be honoured , who sheweth you the way of prolonging your corporal life : and shall not the feet of them be beautiful , who bring the glad tidings of peace , and shew the way of obtaining eternal life ? but however , if we must be neglected , yet let the treasure we bring , be gratefully esteemed by you , as you love your life , as you value eternity , prize the gospel . that i may the more enhaunce the worth of the gospel , consider it not onely absolutely and positively , but oppositively and comparatively . . in opposition to the law strictly taken , which ( though there was a time when life might have been obtained by it , yet ) now to us who are guilty of the breach of it , it threatneth nothing bu● death . oh how sweet is the gospel to the transgressor of the law , in the law there is nothing but matter of fear , in the gospel of love , in the law , god is against us , in the gospel , he is emanu●l , god with us . the law curseth , the gospel blesseth : the office of the law is to accuse and terrifie ; of the gospel , to heal and comfort ; finally , the law is a killing letter , but the gospel a quickning spirit . . in comparison with the state of the old testament ; how much more obliged are we to god , who live in the times of the new , in respect of the clear revelation of this life unto us ? god spake with moses at the door of the tabernacle , but now he leadeth his spouse into the presence chamber : the old testament christians saw through a veil , but now the curtain is drawn ; with them it was the dawning of the day , with us it is full noon ; oh that we would praise the lord , for his inestimable goodness to us , upon whom the glorious light of the gospel shineth . . to endeavour , that what this word of life is in it self , it may be to every one of us ; and as it is the word of life by way of manifestation , so it may be also by way of operation , effectuall , to bring us to that life which it revealeth to us , the more to quicken us in this endeavour , it would be seriously considered by us , that though the gospel be intentionally the word of life , yet accidentally it proveth to many the savour of death : namely , those who receive with the left hand of infidelity , what god offereth with the right hand of grace and mercy ; the same sun both softneth the wax , and hardneth the clay ; the same earth is sweet in the grape , and bitter in the wormwood ; the same odour is a refreshment to the dove , and poyson to the beetle ; the same herb called rhododaphne , is a cure to men , bit with serpents , and venemous to beasts ; and the same gospel , is both to believers a word of life , and to unbelievers a means of condemnation , whilest they love darkness rather than light , and choose death before life : oh therefore , let it be our prayer , among whom this word of life hath been so long preached , that it may come to us , as it did to the thessalonians , not in word onely , but also in power , so as it may become to every one of us the power of god to salvation , and life eternal ; the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. , . . that which was from the beginning , which we have heard , which we have seen with our eyes , which we have looked upon , and our hands have handled of the word of life . . ( for the life was manifested , and we have seen it , and bear witness , and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the father , and was manifested to us . ) a scripture to which i need no beginning , since it begins with the beginning , and that such a beginning as hath no beginning ; a text to which a preface will be needless , because it self is a preface , and yet such a preface , as may withall be called a book . in reference to the epistle , it is a proaeme , in it self it is a volume well worth our most serious study and perusall . the apostles duty , and the gospels excellency , are the two sections which divide it , the first of which consisting onely of one leaf , though that having three columes i read over the last time . the second expatiateth it self into four large leaves , the first of which is written as it were on both sides , having a double exposition annexed to it , the one side was then dispatched , & now we are to turn over the other , and according to the most genuine sense to handle these words as spoken concerning christ , the word of life , that eternal life , which was with the father , and was manifest to us . nor is it without strong reason ( as i conceive ) that we should incline to this latter , as the most congruous interpretation . for . this phrase the word of life primarily agreeth to christ since when it is attributed to the gopsel it is in reference to christ , and therefore eternal life is manifested in the gospel , because christ by whom we obtain that life , is revealed in it . . the things that are here asserted concerning this word of life , are such as most properly belong to the person , rather than the doctrine of christ ; the word of life is said to be manifested , and that such a manifestation as was visible ; nay , so as they not only heard & saw , but handled , which cannot litterally be referred but to a corporeal substance ; and to understand those expressions with socinas metaphorically , is here very unsuitable , because the strength of the argument , by which st. iohn would confirm what he delivered concerning christ , lyeth in the litteral acception , that sensible experience they had of him , by hearing , seeing , and handling . . those phrases of word and life , are most frequently , when used by this apostle in all his writings applied to christ ; so in the beginning of his gospel , when he saith , in the beginning was the word , and in him was life , it is without controversie spoken of christ ; so in the last chapter of this epistle , the term word , in the enumeration of the trinity , is plainly meant of christ , and this life is said to be ●n him : and again , of him no doubt those words are spoken , this is the true god , and eternal life . . adde to all this , that which ( where there is an equal probability of reason on both sides ) shall ever with me praeponderate the scales , is that almost all expositors , as well antient as modern go this way ▪ and interpret this concering the person of christ. and now following this construction , you may observe the person of christ generally denominated , and particularly exempl● , 〈◊〉 the former in the end of the first , and the latter in the greatest part of the second verse , of each in their order . . the general denomination here given to christ is , that he is called the word of life ; and here are two substantives , that singly deserve our consideration . . christ is called the word . an expression not altogether unknown to those heathens , trismagistus and plato , which made amelius swear when he read the beginning of st. iohns gospel , per iovem barbarus iste cum nostro platone sensit verbum esse in ordine principii . this barbarian ( for so he was in his esteem ) agreeth with our plato , asserting the word to be in the order of a principle . but they being ignorant both of the trinity , and of the messiah , though they had the word , could not rightly understand the thing ; as for the iews , it is very likely it was known to them as the name of the messiah , at that time when st. iohn wrote , because it was often used in the chaldee language , which was then common among them . it were easie to multiply places in the old testament , where when the hebrew reads lord , the chaldee paraphrase rendreth it the word of the lord ; thus where the prophet saith , israel is saved by the lord , the chaldee read it , the word of the lord ; and when in the psalms it is said , the lord said to my lord , the chaldee read to my word ; and these may suffice to let us see that the iews being no strangers to this language , could not but be acquainted with this term . a title which st. iohn , of all the evangelical penmen seemeth most to delight in , and therefore it is most frequent in his writings ; nay , indeed onely used by him in the new testament , who is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and no wonder if he who was a seraphical writer , made so much use of this sublime expression . that i may fully and distinctly represent the severall notions of this terme word among interpreters , be pleased to look upon it as capable of a double trope , to wit , a metaphor , and a metonymi● . . this phrase may not unfitly be looked upon as metaphoricall . christ resembled to a word , which that i may the better explicate , take notice of that known distinction of word , into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , conceptus mentis , & sermo oris , the inward conceit of the mind , and outward speech of the lips , to both which , the messiah is not unfitly compared . . the conceit of the mind is called a word , the heart having its language as well as the mouth , and speech being nothing else but as it were the eccho of that voice which is in the mind ; now to this it is which the antients generally refer this title word , when spoken of christ ▪ nor is it without good reason , that they conceive the messiah compared to the internal word , and that in a double respect . . primarily , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in regard of his father , for as the internal word is that off-spring of the mind , so is christ the son of god , as the mind formeth its conceit , by understanding the object proposed , so the father generateth his son , by understand●ng his own essence ; as the conceit issueth from the mind , without any passion or trouble ; so is the son begotten of the father ; as the generation of the word , in the mind is immaterial and spiritual , without any carnal conjunction , so is the generation of the son of god ; finally , as the word which is framed in , remaineth with the mind , so the son being begotten of , abideth in the father , though withall notwithstanding those analogies , there want not many discrepancyes ; for wheras the internal word is an accident to the mind , different from it in essence , and after it in time , so as though the word could not be without the mind , the mind may be without the word ; christ is the consubstantial , coeternal son of the father , and as there was no time when the word was without the father , so neither when the father without his word . i cannot let this go without taking notice how gratiously god is pleased to condescend to us in his language , that though we cannot comprehend , we may apprehend something of those divine mysteries : this age hath brought forth a generation of preachers , who wrap up plain notions in cloudy expressions , but they are very unlike the spirit of god , who cloatheth sublime verities in plain similitudes ; what mysterie in all divinity more abstruct than that of the generation of the son of god ? the prophet isaiah is at his quis enarrabit , who shall declare it ; for of this many father● understand that question , and yet much of it is manifested to us , by this common metaphor of a word . . secondarily , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the creatures , for as the internal word is that according to which a man effecteth all his actions , so is this word , principium omnia peragendi , the beginning of the creation of god , as he calleth himself , and by this word it is that all things were made , as this apostle saith in his gospe : and as the internal word may exist in the mind , and yet the external work not presently be ; but the work cannot be unless the word pr●e-exist in the mind : so christ was from eternity with god , before the world was made , but the world could not be made without this word . it is a consideration which should teach us , when we contemplate the worlds goodly fabrick , to reflect on christ the former of it , even the creation ( if considered by a knowing christian ) leadeth not onely to god but christ , nor can we think seriously upon the making of the world , except we remember how it was made by a word , which word is christ. . but further , the speech of the lips is that to which most properly this term word belongs , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dico to speak , and truly there wants not a fit analogy in this metaphor ; it is true , there are many things wherein this external word is unlike to christ , as its extrinsicalness to the person , its temporary continuance , and the like ; but there is one thing wherein it seemeth aptly to shadow forth christ to us , for as a man maketh known himself to others by his word , so is the father by christ revealed unto the world ; some observing the various acceptance of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , have taken hold of the signification of definitio , and applied it to this present purpose ▪ for as the definition doth explicate the thing defined , so doth christ make known the father , but the common signification of the word , seemeth sufficiently to illustrate the same truth , and so accordingly is taken notice of by the fathers , irenaeus and augustine , who tell us , he is therefore called the word , because by him the father is made known , and through him we come to the saving knowledge of god , in this respect it is that christ is called by the author to the hebrews , the brightness of his fathers glory , and express character of his person ; and again , by st. paul , the image of god , quia patrem suum nobis conspiciendum praebet , because he manifesteth his father to us . and yet more particularly , as that which a man maketh known of himself by his word , is his will , intent and purpose , so hath the father by christ imparted to the world his eternal purpose and counsel concerning mans salvation . it is observable , that christ is called the power of god , and the wisdom of god , and the word of god in scripture , and all fitly : he is the wisdom of god , because gods decrees and counsels , are , as it were , made by him ; the power of god , because they are made good , and accomplished by him , and the word of god , because they are made known and promulged by him : this is epiphanius his notion of word : he is called ( saith he ) the word , because he is the interpreter of his fathers counsels and minde to men , and that we may expound scripture by scripture , me thinketh that of the author to the hebrews is a comment upon this title , when he saith , god in these last dayes hath spoken to us by his son , who therefore is the word , because god by him hath spoken , and that most clearly to us . it is a distinction not unusual , nor irrational , which is made between sonus , vox , and verbum , a sound , a voice , a word , a sound , being any kinde of noise , a voice , an arti●ulate sound , and a word , a significant voice ; the application of it , to this present business , is very fit ; the prophets of the old testament , they were as a sound , iohn baptist , christs immediate forerunner , was as a voice : he is called so , the voice of one crying in the wilderness ; but it is christ , and he onely who is the word , distinctly and fully signifying to us the will of god concerning our salvation . how great is our happiness ( beloved ) who live in these last dayes , and how great will be our misery if we be deaf to the word , by which in these last dayes god speaketh to us , and therefore let that apostolical counsel be acceptable . see that you refuse not him that speaketh , rather let us hearken to him , learn of him , and seek from him divine knowledge . the truth is ( brethren ) thus the case now stands . eternal life ( to wit , the only way to it ) is to know the onely true god , and iesus christ , whom he hath sent ; no man knoweth the son , but the father , nor the father but the son , and he to whom the son will reveal him . this onely begotten son , who is in the bosom of the father , he hath declared him . yea , he counselleth us to buy of him that eye salve , by which onely we may see ; and the voice from heaven chargeth us with ; this is my welbeloved son , in whom i am well pleased , hear ye him ; and therefore as peter said to christ , lord to whom shall we go , thou hast the words of eternal life ? so let us say , blessed iesus whither shall we go , whom should we hear but thee , thou art the word of life ? . i have done with the metaphoricall , a word of the metonymical construction , and so christ is called the word , in as much as he is the subject matter of the word , and this we shall finde true , both in a general and a speciall consideration . . in general , the whole word either mediately or immediately in a proxim or remote way points at christ ; to him all the prophets as well as the apostles give witness ; the scriptures are as the field , and christ is the treasure hid in this field ; they as the ring , and christ as the diamond of great price , which giveth the lustre to it ; he is the center in which all the lines in holy writ do meet ; and this word of life is the very soul and life of the word : oh let us in the reading of this sacred book break the bone , that we may suck the marrow , crack the shell , that we may feed on the kernel , open the cabinet , that we may finde the pearle , search the scriptures , that we may meet with christ in them ; since as that devout antient said , he found no relish in tullies oratorical writings , because he could not read iesus there . so the very sweetnes and excellency of the bible lyeth in this , that we may read iesus , as it were in every line of it . but . in special , word is as much as promise , when synecdochically taken ; and thus , as the spirit is sometimes called the promise , so christ is called the word , quasi eum dicas de quo loc●tus , vel quem pollicitus est dominus ; to wit , he of whom god speaketh , or whom he promised should come into the world ; in this respect , those words of st. paul , fitly explicate the phrase , where he tells agrippa , i continue witnessing no other things than those which the prophets and moses did say should come : christ is therefore the word , because it is he whom they say should come , or to use zachary his expression , he is that horn of salvation which god raiseth up in the house of david , as he spake by the mouth of all his holy prophets which have been since the world began ; moses his great prophet , balaams star , esaiahs tender plant , jeremies branch , zacharies horn , malachie his sun , are all of them mystical prophecies and promises of the messiah . it lets us see at once , both the goodness and faithfulness of god , his goodness in that before he gave his son , he gave the promise of him ; he was promissus priusquam missus , first assured verbally , then sent actually ; and his faithfulness , in that as he promised , so he gave him ; sicut promissus sic missus , he was not more mercifully promised , than faithfully sent . it did not seem good to his wisdome to confer this jewel presently , but in the mean space that the church might have somewhat to support her , he vouchsafed the promise of it : divine promises are as sweet bits to stay our stomachs before the full meal of his actual performances ; the promise of christs first coming was that which comforted the iewes , and the promise of his second coming is that which now reviveth the christian church : and since we have found him making good his word in the one , we may assure our selves he will fulfill it in the other ; since as he was so good as to give a word , so he will be so good as his word , and give the thing whatsoever it is that he is pleased to promise ; for so it was in that singular eminent promise of christ , who is therefore not unfitly called the word ; and so much for that . . the other substantive yet remaineth , to wit , life , which is in the place of an adjective , and may be rendred as an epithete , the living word , and look as christ , when he is compared to bread , to a stone , it is with this addition , the bread of life , a living stone , to difference him from other stones , from common bread ; so he is here called the word of life , to distinguish him from , and advance him above other words ; for whereas other words though spoken by living persons , yet have no life in themselves ; this word is the living word personally subsisting , or else , as he is called the bread of life , because he giveth and communicateth life to them that feed on him ; so here the word of life , because he is the author of life to them that receive him : but the discussion of this falleth more fitly in in the next part , to which therefore i pass on ; namely . the particular exemplification in which christ is characterized as god-man , as god , as man ; as god-man he is stiled the life , and the eternal life ; as god , he is said to be the life which was with the father ▪ as man , he is the life which was manifested . of each of which with all possible brevity and perspicuity . he is called the life , that eternal life . if you ask in what respect this agreeth to him , the answer is already hinted , but shall now be more largely prosecuted ; he is the life , and that eternal , two wayes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 formaliter and efficienter in himself , & in respect of us , as being both vivus and vivificus , living & giving life . . christ is the life , and that eternal life , because in himself he liveth for ever ; this is true of him , primarily as god : this being one of his choice attributes , that he is the living god , & inasmuch as divine attributes are better expressed by the abstract , than the concrete , he is fitly said , not onely to be living , but life it self , and this life is most properly said to be eternal , because it is so , both a parte ante & a parte post , from everlasting to everlasting ; secondarily , this is true of him , as mediator , god-man ; since , though there was a time when thus he began to live , to wit , at his assumption of our nature , and likewise his life on earth did expire , to wit , at his passion , yet now he dieth no more , death hath no more dominion over him , but he is alive for evermore , and that to make intercession . . but that which i conceive most suitable to the apostles meaning , is that christ is said to be the life , because he is the original of life to us , in this respect the abstract fitly agreeth to him , because life is in him as sap in the root , water in the fountain , to convey it to all that believe on him ; in this sense it is that christ useth it concerning himself ( as appeareth by his own commentary ) i am the life , whosoever believeth in me , though he were dead , yet shall he live : hence it is that he is called by the apostle paul expressely our life , nor is he onely life , but eternal life , that life which as mediator he vouchsafeth to believers being eternal ; indeed all creatures are beholding to him for their natural life , in him we live , move , and have our being ; but the life which believers have by him , is an eternal life , according as he saith himself , i give to them eternal life . this is that life which ( as the learned davenant observeth ) christus promisit , christ promised to his disciples , and in them to all christians , where he saith , it is my fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdome , promeruit , by his own death he purchased for all believers , in which respect eternal life is said to be the gift of god through iesus christ our lord : praeparavit being now ascended into heaven , he there maketh ready for us , according as he saith himself , i go to prepare a place for you ; and yet more , inchoat , he begins by the work of grace in the hearts of all the faithful , in which respect he that believeth on him , is said to have everlasting life : and finally , reddet , he will at the last day consummate by glory . indeed , then it is that our bodies being raised , our persons shall be glorified , and this eternall life actually conferred , & therfore our blessed saviour joyneth these two together , in that forementioned place , i am the resurrection and the life : thus as the oyntment ran down from aarons head to his beard , and thence to his skirt ; so that eternal life which christ rising from the grave personally enjoyeth , shall be communicated to all his members . to sum it up , christ , god-man , mediator , is the life , that eternal life , in respect of his threefold offices , of king , priest , and prophet : as prophet , he is the life by way of revelation , discovering this eternal life to us ; as priest , by way of impetration , procuring this eternal life for us ; as king , by way of collation , conferring this eternal life on us : and as the fulness of water is dispensed by the sea to the earth , and the fulness of light is communicated by the sun to the air , and the fulness of corn was divided by ioseph among the people ; so the fulness of grace and glory of life , even eternal life is conveyed by christ to his church , and therefore very justly doth this character belong to him . and now what should this consideration teach us , but . to bewail our sad condition whilest we are without christ : for if christ be the life all that know him not , or believe not in him , must needs be in a state of death and damnation . it is observable , that st. paul , speaking of the ephesians whilest in the state of unregeneracy , saith , they were dead in sins and trespasses ; and a little after , renders this as the reason , because at that time they were without christ ; indeed as the body without the soul is corporally , so the soul without christ is spiritually dead ; and alas , whilest we are in this estate , we are without all hope of life , being under the sentence , not onely of the first , but second death , and therefore iohn the baptist saith expressely , he that believeth not the son , shall not see life , but the wrath of god abideth on him ; oh heavy load , and unsupportable weight , which upon whomsoever it abideth , must needs crush him to peices , and sink him to the depth of hell : oh labour we then both in respect of our selves and others , to be sensible of our natural estate , and if we mourn over our friends dead bodies , much more should we mourn over theirs , and our dead soules . . to seek after this life , because it is eternal , and to seek it by union with christ , who is the life . indeed this temporal life may be used , but onely that eternal life is to be sought , the life that now is , is a fleeting shadow , a vanishing vapour , a day , which though never so pleasant , cannot be long ; but the life which is to come , is a light ever shining , a leaf never fading , and such a day as shall know no evening : and now tell me which is most rational , to seek after that life which is lost , almost as soon as it is found , or after that life which being once found , can never be lost ? to catch after that which being got , we cannot hold , or that which being once got , we cannot lose ? and therefore that i may allude to our blessed saviours expression ; labour not for that which perisheth , but for that life which endureth to eternity . to this end , let it be our continued care to gain , to assure our interest in , and union with christ ; the shunamite went to the prophet for raising her dead childe : we must to christ for the quickning our dead souls ; it is very observable what st. peter saith to this purpose : to whom coming as to a living stone , we also are built up as lively stones : so that if you know how we become living stones , it is by coming to , and being built upon christ as our foundation ; the soul cannot enliven the body , till infused into , and united with it , nor can we receive life from christ , but by an interest in him : he that eateth my flesh , and drinketh my blood ( saith christ himself ) hath eternal life ; there is life , eternal life in the flesh and blood of christ , but then we must eat and drink it , that so this spiritual food may be incorporated into us , and we made one with christ. . lastly , to set an high value upon christ , and give him the glory of this great mercy , even eternal life ; of all the titles that do express the personall excellencies of the lord christ , that of the word is most glorious ; and of all those that do express the priviledges we have by him , none so comprehensive as this of eternal life , to you who believe ( saith the apostle ) concerning this living stone , he is pretious ; and well he may , since he bestoweth so rare a iewel , and so invaluable a pearle as eternal life upon us ; indeed all our good and comfort is wrapt up in christ ; he is the bread to nourish us , the light to guide us , the life to save us ; are then any beginnings of this life wrought in us ? any hopes of it assured to us ? let us look upon our selves as vessels filled by this fountain , stars enlightned by this sun , carcases enlivened by this spirit , acknowledging what we have , and hope for to be onely and wholly from christ , that as we have life from him , he may have thanks from us : now to him who is the life , that eternal life , be praise and glory in the church throughout all ages , amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . . ( for the life was manifested , and we have seen it , and bear witness , and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the father , and was manifested unto us . ) among the mystical interpretations of those four living creatures , mentioned in ezekiel and the apocalyps , that of resembling by them , the four evangelists , is the most usual among the antients ; and st. iohn is compared to the eagle by them all , except iraeneus , who likeneth him to the lion. st. hieroms reason is from the eagles wing , which soareth highest of any bird : st. gregories from the eagles eye , which is able to look upon the sun , and both very apposite , for so doth st. iohn in his gospel look upon the sun of righteousnes , and so are high in contemplation of his divinity ; nor is this lesse observable in this epistle than in his gospel , which both beginneth and closeth with the deity of christ : indeed we have here in this beginning , both the god-head and man-hood of the messiah , and the union of both in one person set before us , when he saith , that which was from the beginning , &c. the second character here given , and which now followeth to be handled , is of christ as god , in those words , which was with the father : it is the same no doubt in sense , with that in the gospel , and the word was with god ; and to this purpose theodoret applyeth that of the psalmist , with thee is the fountain of life . for the better explanation of it , we must take notice of the noun ▪ the praeposition , and the ve●● ; ●ather , with the father , was with the father . . by the father , we are here no doubt to understand the first person in the sacred trinity ; indeed it is a word that is taken in scripture , both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , essentially and personally ; essentially it is common to all the persons ; personally it is onely true of the first : when it is used of god in respect to the creatures , it is to be understood essentially , and our apostle so intends it , when he saith , behold what manner of love the father , hath showed , that we should be called the sons of god ; but when of god in order to the persons , it is to be constru●● personally , as here ; and in the next verse , it is manifestly so used . and the first person is called the father , say some , because he is the original of the trinity , as connoting the relation he hath both to the son and the holy ghost ; but ●hy others , more properly the first person i● the father onely in relation to the second , who is his begotten after the most perfect way of generation , and so he only a father in regard of him . but further . . the chief thing considerable , is what this meaneth , that christ the life is said to be with the father . the answer to which , i shall lay down both negatively and affirmatively . . negatively , we must not strain the expression too far , as noting either an inferiority , or separability between those two persons , of the father , and the word . . not a separability , as if christ were so with , that he were without the father , as a cloak which a man holdeth in his hands is with him ; but yet without him in this sense with , is opposed to in : but that in this construction it cannot be verified of christ is plain , because he is said not onely to be with , but in the father . . not an inferiority , as it is sometimes used , when he that is said to be with , doth after a sort depend upon the person with whom he is in a way of subordination and subjection , in which respect , the son is said to be with his father , the servant with his master , and the like . as for the eternal son of god , st. paul saith , he holdeth it no robbery to be equal with god , and therefore his being with , cannot infer a disparity ; indeed this expression is true reciprocally , the father with and in the son , as well as the son in and with the father ; the three persons being mutually with each other , and none superiour to the other . but . affirmatively , this exposition noteth , . the secrecy of christs subsistence before he came into the world , he was with the father , to wit , in his bosome , and so hid from the world , as things in the bosome are recluse from common view , and the opposition of this with the father , to manifesting , giveth some ground for this construction . . the distinct personality of the son from the father ; with the father , that is , subsisting with the father , and though not divided , yet distinguished from him , hence it is that st. ambrose maketh use of this place , to stop the mouth of sabellius , who would confound the persons ; the same person cannot be said to be with himself , but with another person , and therefore the life which is with the father , must be a distinct person from the father . . the essential unity between the father and the son. he that is with another , though he is distinct from , yet he must be neer to , or else he could not be said to be with him ; nor are we to imagine this with , when spoken of the divine persons , to note a local ( as a man who is in the same place , is said to be with another ) but an essential union , whereby though they are personally distinguished , yet they are essentially united ; and in this respect st. ambrose maketh use of this phrase to confute eudoxius and eunomius . this then is the catholick faith , the father and the son are alius and alius , another and another person , but not aliud and aliud , another and another thing ; and this praeposition with , may serve fitly to connote both these . . lastly , the sons eternity may , be insinuated in this praeposition , in as much as with , stands in opposition to before and behinde ; as the son could not be before , so neither is he after the father , but with him , and therefore as the father is eternal , so also is the son. indeed in humane generation the son is after , but in divine , the son is with the father ; nor can any moment be assigned to the father , wherein the son was not . this will yet further appear by , . the verb which is set down in the praeterimperfect tense , and that we may comprize the full of it , take it in a double opposition to the present , and the praeterfect-tense . . it is not said which is with the father , st. iohn might have said so of him as man , he being then ascended to heaven , and set down at the right hand of his father ; but here speaking of him as god , he useth the past-time , he was , that is , from all eternity with the father : so that if any shall be so curious as to ask where this life was before it was manifested ? christ was before incarnate ? the answer is , he was with the father , by which the heresie of elion and cerinthus falls to the ground , who deny him any being before he was born of his mother : upon this account it is , that tertullian saith excellently , the father was alone before he made the world , and yet he was not alone because the eternal life was with him ; and in this respect wisdome saith , the lord ( not created according to the unhappy mistake of the greek , but ) possessed me ( according to the true meaning of the hebrew ) to wit , as a father is said to possess his son , and this in the beginning of his way before his works of old , to wit ( as it followeth in the next verse ) from everlasting ; suitably hereunto , christ mentions a glory which he had with the father , before the world was ; from whence , an antient strongly argueth , that he was with the father from all eternity , since he could not have had that glory if himself had not been . besides , when we find these two words , eternal , and was here put together , we have reason to conceive that eternity is to be taken in its most proper notion , as it excludes not onely ending , but beginning ; acco●ding to which , it were a contradiction in terminis , to say this eternall life was not with the father from everlasting . . it is not said which hath been , but which was , to note that his subsistence with the father is not now at an end , but this eternal life still remaineth with the father ; for that aquinas maketh the notion of this word was , importing a thing so to have been , as that it doth not cease to be ; and therefore when christ is said to come forth from the father , it must not be taken in a rigid sense , & is best explain'd by this phrase of manifesting , his making himself known to the world in our nature , being all that is meant by his coming forth from the father ; for the truth is , he so was , as that he still is , and for ever shall be with the father ; and in this respect it is not unworthy our observation , that the apostle doth not say , which was with the father , and is now separated from him , but onely is now manifested to us , to wit , so as that this life still is with him , and that to eternity . to end this , let the meditation hereof , . comfort us , in as much as it assureth us that christ is very fit for the work he undertaketh , and therefore will accomplish it : the great designe of the messiah is to reconcile us to the father , and who fitter to do this than he that was with the father ? indeed he that is here said to be with , is elsewhere said to be in the bosome of the father ; and who more fit to make our peace than he , who lyeth in the fathers bosome ? upon which ground , is that expression of st. paul , he hath made us accepted in his beloved ; christ and the father are one by nature . let us not doubt but he hath prevailed to make us one with god by grace now , and by glory hereafter . . encourage us against that contempt and scorn which is cast upon christian religion , as if we did place our trust in a meer man ; and therefore the iews upbraid us with that curse in the prophecy of ieremy , cursed be the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arm ; but he is not a meer man whom we trust in , and therefore that curse doth not belong to us , for as he became man of his mother in the fulness of time , so he was god with his father , before all time . . exhort us to adore this eternal life which is with the father , with the same reverence and worship we give to the father ; we need not fear idolatry , when as it is expressely said , that all men should honour the son , as they honour the father : let then st. ambrose , his pithy counsel take place in spight of blasphemous hereticks , iungat honorificientia patri filium quem junxit divinitas , as the father and the son are joyned together in unity of essence , so let us joyn them together in unity of worship , saying in words , not much unlike those of the elders : worthy art thou ( oh iesus ) to receive glory , and honour , and power , for thou art that eternal life which was with the father . . the last character remaineth which belongs to christ as man , set forth in the word manifested , which as being of singular concernment , is twice repeated , to wit , both in the beginning and the end of the second verse ; for the better explication whereof , these three things are briefly to be considered : what this manifestation imports . who it is that was thus manifested . why the thing here intended , is called a manifestation . . as to the first of these quaeries , it is generally answered ; that by this manifestation , we are to understand the incarnation of the son of god : nor is it without sufficient reason , since . this phrase is manifestly used elsewhere in this sense , so by st. paul , with that explicatory additament , when he saith , god was manifested in the flesh ; nay without any addition when he speakes of the appearing of iesus christ , and which yet more confirms it by our apostle himself in this epistle , and that twice in one chapter , he was manifested , and the son of god was manifested , that is ( as all agree ) incarnated . but . besides these parallel scriptures , there is a convincing argument in the text it self , to which end , you may be ple●sed to observe , that this parenthesis is interserted by the apostle , on purpose to prevent an objection that might be made against , and so add a confirmation to what is asserted in the precedent verse ; whereas st. iohn there saith , he and the rest heard , saw and handled the word of life : it might be asked , how could this be ? this living word being spiritual and immaterial , to which he implicitly answereth by adding , and the life was manifested , to wit , in the flesh , in which respect , the ▪ and after the hebrew phrase , may well be construed for ; this being a strong reason to prove that this word of life might be seen by them , since he was manifested to them ; yea , which giveth much light , and addeth much strength to the verity of this exposition , the apostle immediately knitteth these two together , manifesting and seeing : the life was manifested , and we have seen it , whereby it appeareth that the manifestation spoken of is such as was visible , and therefore must be corporeal , since onely that which is corporeal is visible . . that the manifestation is the incarnation is clear , but it would be further inquired , who it is that was thus manifested ? the answer to which appeareth by those two characters , the word of life , and the life which was with the father : it was not then the father himself , but the word with the father , the second person in the sacred trinity that was incarnated . true it is , the divine essence was incarnate , and therefore st. paul saith , god manifested , because the whole divine nature is in every person , but yet onely as in one of the persons , and therefore our apostle saith , as here , the word , so elsewhere the son of god was manifested . it is true , that as all external works , so this of the incarnation belongs to the whole trinity ; but yet the termination of this work was onely in the son , as three persons may make a garment , and onely one weareth it , or three persons conclude a match , and onely ▪ one of them , the person married . if it shall be further inquired , why the word , the second person was manifested ? divers reasons are given in answer by the antients by the word all things , were at first made , fit it is that the new , as well as the old creation , should be his work . this word is the image of the father , and therefore most fit to restore the image of god in man. the third is the middle person in the trinity , and therefore most fit to be mediator between god and man. he is the word to reveal his fathers will to the world , and therefore he fittest to be manifested in the flesh for this end . he onely the son , and therefore most suitable for him to become the son of man , that he might make us the sonnes of god. in a word , had either the father , or the holy ghost been incarnate , there must have been two sonnes in the trinity , which were incongruous . but when all is said , that which we must acquiesce in , is the good pleasure of the blessed trinity , by whose mutual consent , the second person , the son of god , the word of life was made flesh , and so manifested . . the last quaere cometh now to be unfolded : why the thing here intended is called a manifestation ? whereby we shall see the aptitude of this phrase , and to this end i shall answer it , both by way of remotion , and of position . . we must not by any means construe this phrase in favour of those who deny christ to have a reall body , as if christs coming into the world were onely a phantasme or apparition , a manifestation in , but no real assumption of the flesh . in opposition to this heresie , athanasius saith solidly , that as in the manifestation of this word , there was no transmutation of the god-head into flesh , so neither a phantastical representation , but a true assumption of flesh . it is true , the holy ghost onely appeared in the shape of a dove , but he came not to redeem doves : christ came to redeem man , and therefore would be truly man. . but if you will know the true reason of this expression , it is because the deity in our flesh , hath most clearly manifested it self to men . the fathers phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is not much unlike those scripture expressions , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and gregory nazianzen enquiring why christs nativity is called by this name , giveth this pregnant reason , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because god made himself in a special manner manifest to the world , by coming into it . the truth is , never did god so familiarly reveal himself , as when he took our nature . indeed , there is a manifestation of god in the works of his creation , the invisible things of his power and god-head are seen in this visible fabrick ; but this is onely of his attributes , as a picture discovereth the art , but not the person of the painter . there was indeed some manifestation of god to the patriarchs of old and ( as is probably conceived ) it was the son of god which did appear unto them , yea , and that in an humane shape ; for one of those three men that came to abraham , is not irrationally thought to be the second person in the trinity ; but still those apparitions were but at sometimes , and to some few persons , and indeed were but as irenaeus calleth them , praeludia verae incarnationis , forerunners of his incarnation , and as it were , the dawning of the day , wherein the sun of righteousness did arise . indeed , so clearly did the deity manifest it self in christ incarnate , that when philip desireth him to shew him the father , christ tells him , he that hath seen me , ha●h seen the father . thus as the candle giveth its light through the lanthorn , and the face is seen through the vail , so did the god-head manifest it self through our flesh . but perhaps you will say , how can this be , that the deity should be manifested in flesh ? whatsoever is a medium of discovering any thing , must be somewhat proportionable to that it discovereth : now flesh and god are at a distance , nor is there any proportion between them ; but beloved , st. paul speaking of this , calls it a great mysterie , and therefore if we cannot see how it should be , let that content us . besides , it cannot be denyed , but that the assumption of our flesh , was in respect of the deity , not a manifestation , but an obscuration , and therefore it is said of him by st. paul , he emptyed himself , he humbled himself , when he took on him our nature ; but yet still in respect of us , it was a manifestation . to clear this briefly , and yet fully , you must know , that objects of excelling brightness are best manifested through allaying mediums : thus the sun being in it self so transcendently lightsome , cannot be looked on by us as it shineth in its own lustre , but best conveyeth its light to us through the clouds ; and hence it is , that whilest the clouds obscure , they make the sun beams to us more obvious ; the same is the case in this present matter , gods face in it self , is so bright , that we cannot see it , and live , which made the israel●tes desire that god would no more speak to them by himself , but by moses : whereas , in the face of iesus christ through the cloud as it were , of our humanity , god is become familiar with men , and we partake of the light of the knowledge of the glory of god , as st. paul speaketh . . to apply this , here is matter of . exultation , and that upon several grounds . . because it is spoken of , as a thing already accomplished ; it is not the life may be , or shall be , but was manifested : this manifestation was that which the saints of the old testament waited for , and rejoyced in the very expectance ; for so it is said by christ concerning abraham , he saw my day , and rejoyced , much more cause have we to rejoyce in the reall performance . . when we look upon the impulsive cause of this manifestation , which was no other than free love and mercy . revelatio deitatis , revelatio charitatis , in the appearing of our saviour christ , there was an appearing of the grace of god , in the manifestation of this eternal life , was a manifestation of immense love to the sonnes of men , and therefore saith athanasius , our saviour gave a great experiment of his singular affection , in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , being in himself invisible , he was pleased to manifest himself as the eternal word to us . . and yet lastly , considering this manifestation in the effect , whereby it appeareth , that as he was manifested to us , so likewise for us , even our redemption . the pagans , when any great works are done beyond the common course of nature , ascribe it to the apparition of some deity ; the son of god appeareth to do a great work , such as not all the creatures in heaven or earth could possibly have effected , this life was manifested , yea , and he was manifested , that we might have life through him : why art thou strange poor trembling soul , and standest afar off from him , who draweth so nigh to thee ? the blessed god was willing to manifest the riches of his love , and that all terror might be prevented , he appeareth as a man ; god is come down , and that not in a flaming fire , roaring thunder , warlike armour , but cloathed with the garment of flesh ; thus whilest he vaileth his greatness , he unvaileth his goodness , and therfore say not , who shall go up to heaven to bring down this life to us ? or down into the deep , to fetch it thence ? it is nigh us , even manifesting it self in , yea , conveying it self to us by our flesh . . excitation , to endeavour , that as this life was manifested to , and for , so it may be in us . those words in the canticles , set me as a seal upon thy heart , and a signet upon thy arm , are by the antients understood , as the words of christ to his spouse , thereby stirring her up to pious affections , and religious actions , in quibus figura dei christus luceat , by which christ may shine forth , and it may appear that this life liveth in her . that expression of st. paul , holding forth the word of life , is by some referred to christ , whom we must hold forth to the world by pious & exemplary conversations , that so as he was pleased to manifest himself in our nature , we may manifest him in our lives . i end this first generall , which is the messiahs character , who is the object of the gospel . he is the ●ord , let us give ●are to him . he is the life , let us seek it from him . he is the eternal life with the father , let us adore him . he was in due time manifested , let us acknowledge him . and to this word of life , who being from eternity with the father , was thus pleased to manifest himself ; let us give in heart , in word , in life , faith and affection , praise and thanksgiving , obedience and subjection to all eternity , amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . that which was from the beginning , which we have heard , which we have seen with our eyes , which we have looked upon , and our hands have handled of the word of life . such is the transcendent worth of christ , the word , that no words can declare it , of the word of life , that no tongue can set it forth to the life , of the life manifested , that no expressions can manifest it ; and yet even in these very characters , much of the excellency of christ is delineated before us , so that what the psalmist said of ierusalem , glorious things are spoken of thee , oh thou city of god , i may say of christ as he is here represented , glorious things are spoken of thee , oh thou son of god ; nor is there less verity than dignity in these sayings , that as the one cannot but attract our love , so the other may engage our faith ; this holy apostle , and the rest had good ground for , clear evidence , convincing proof of what they uttered ; for it was no more than what sensible experience did assure them of , that which we have heard , &c. it is that part of the text i am now to handle , the commendation of the gospel from certain tradition , as being that which the apostles had heard , and had seen with their eyes , and their hands had handled of the word of life . out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established ; so runs st. pauls maxime , loe here no less than three witnesses , to wit , three sences , hearing , seeing , handling , produced by st. iohn , to assert the truth of what he writeth : some expositors restrain it particularly to the resurrection , of which the apostles first heard by mary magdalen , afterwards they saw him themselves , and one of them handled him , putting his hand into his side , yea christ bids them all to see and handle him ; indeed the special work of the apostles , was to be witnesses of the resurrection , and therefore it is not improbable that st. iohn might have a singular eye to it , but yet we shall do best to take scripture in the fullest latitude , and so refer this , ad totam verbi incarnati oeconomiam , to the whole oeconomy of the word incarnate ; thus according to the several wayes whereby christ was pleased to manifest himself to them , he was heard , seen , and handled by them : he manifested himself in flesh , and so was handled ; in his miracles , and so was seen ; in his words , and so was heard . that we may the better understand , both the intent , and extent of these phrases , let us consider them severally . . that which we have heard of the word of life ; it is a clause which admits of several references . to moses and the prophets , that which we have heard out of their writings concerning the messiah , for it is mentioned of both , that they were read in the iewish synagogues every sabbath-day , whither the apostles often repaired . . to the scribes and pharisees , that which we have heard from their mouths in their expositions upon moses and the prophets , the pharisees themselves preached those things concerning the messiah that were fulfilled in him , and so against their wills gave testimony to him whom they rejected . . to iohn the baptist , that which we heard from him , who was christs harbenger to go before him , and pointed at him with an ecce , behold the lamb of god. . to the voyce from heaven , that which we heard when we were with him in the holy mount . this is my beloved son , in whom i am well pleased , the father himself by this extraordinary way testifying of him . . or lastly , ( and as i conceive most suitably to the apostles meaning ) to christ himself , that which we heard from his own mouth , for so it seemeth to be expounded at the fifth verse , the message that we heard of him , not from others at second hand , but immediately from his own lips ; we read in the gospel , that he opened his mouth and spake , and as generally to the multitude , so more especially to his disciples , unfolding to them the mysteries of the kingdom , aperuit os suum qui prius aperuit or a prophetarum , he that opened the mouthes of the prophets , at last openeth his own mouth , and oracula quasi auracula , those sacred oracles , which like hony drop'd from his lips , were distilled into their eares , who continually sate at his feet to receive instruction from him ; nor was it a naked hearing which the apostle here intends , but an hearing so , as to understand and believe ; for it is such an hearing as put them upon declaring , which could not have been , unless they had understood , nor would have been , except they had believed themselves ; this is that which perhaps the iteration of it at the third verse may insinuate , they heard , and heard , to wit , with the ear , and with the heart , and that is the right hearing , when there is internus fidei assensus , as well as externus auris auditus , an inward assent accompanying our outward attention ; that which christ spake to his disciples , he many times spake to many others ; but as when the instrument sounds , a multitude hear it , yet only the musical eare understands and taketh delight in it ; so onely the apostles heard with a divine religious ear , by which means it affected their hearts , and inclined them to declare and write that they had heard . . that which we have seen with our eyes , that which we have looked upon ; the next sense , which is brought in as a witness , is their sight , and it is set forth with abundance of emphasis , to unfold which , observe the extensiveness of the object , and intensiveness of the act . . this that , the object is of a large extent , and may be taken in reference to both his natures , to wit , humane and divine . . the apostles saw his humanity , beheld him a man , altogether like to themselves , sin onely excepted , they saw him eating , drinking , walking , and thereby expressing the actions of an humane body ; yea , they saw him in weariness , hunger , thirst , and so subject to the defects of our frail nature . . they saw his divinity , to wit , in the effects of it , those powerful miracles which were wrought by him ; such works may well challenge our aspect . they saw him cleansing the lepers , curing the sick , opening the eyes of the blind , the eares of the deaf , nay , raising the dead ; and this , interpreters conceive st. iohn especially to aime at , expounding him by himself in the gospel , where he saith , we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten son of the father , full of grace and truth ; yea , besides those miracles which he wrought among men whilest on earth , they saw his glorious transfiguration on the mount , his raising himself from the grave , and his wonderful ascending into heaven , when from mount olivet a cloud received him out of their sight ; all this , and what ever else conduced to declaring either his manhood , or his god-head may be very well comprehended in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which we have seen . . the act is set forth with a great deal of advantage , to express the intensiveness of it . for . it is not barely that which we have seen , but that which we have seen with our eyes , an addition which may seem a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( since if we do see , it must be with our eyes ) but is indeed an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , since as chrysostome well observeth concerning the like phrase of hearing with our eares , it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the usuall custome of men , when they assert any thing , whereof they are fully assured , and that to those , who by reason of the strangeness of it , may seem to doubt , to say , i heard it with these eares , i saw it with these eyes , and these hands handled it . . it is not once , but twice , nay , thrice expressed , as if there lay a great deal of weight in the evidence of this sence , as indeed there doth ; and therefore that we may be assured they did see what they declared , it is not onely mentioned so emphatically in the first verse , we have seen with our eyes ; but again in the second , the life was manifested , and we have seen it ; and yet again , ut dilucidior fieret sententia & cer●ior veritas , that the sentence which was obscured by the parenthesis , might be made more plain by an epanalepsis , and withall , that the truth of what is asserted , might appear more certain , it is repeated at the third verse , that which we have seen and heard . . to express it yet more fully , here is another word added more significant than the former , which we have looked upon ; it is the same with that which is used in the gospel , we saw his glory , and there are severall things which it doth superadde ▪ . that they saw not onely with bodily , but with mental eyes , they saw cu●m dijudicatione considering and judging what they saw , and which upon mature judgement was found to be as it appeared ; for so didimus referreth , seeing to the body , and looking on to the mind : indeed this was it which differenced the apostles from the rest of the beholders . christ had many spectators of his person and works , but the great part onely saw them with their eyes , but did not look upon them with their judgements , so as to ponder and consider aright of them , and therefore were not converted by them ; whereas the holy apostles so saw , that they looked on with serious and deliberate inspection . . that what they saw , was not done privately in a corner , but to the open view , the word here used is the root of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifieth a stage , or theater , and that you know is an open place , nothing more publick than that which is acted upon a stage . thus it is said of him after his resurrection , that god shewed him openly , though not so openly as before , when he went about in several places , doing good , and working miracles , in the sight not ▪ onely of his apostles , but the people . . that what they saw , was not a transient , but a continued sight ; it was not one , but many miracles they beheld , not once , but often that they saw him ; and therefore it was not probable they should be deceived : st. luke saith , christ was seen of his apostles after the resurrection for . dayes , and before , for many years together ; to this purpose is grotius , his gloss upon the text , diu multumque we frequently , constantly beheld the great things that were done by him . . lastly , that they so saw as to believe , and believing to rejoyce , and rejoycing , to admire at those things ▪ which they beheld . to this purpose is that of the greek scholiast , beholding with our eyes , we wondred at that we saw ; for that the greek word is used somtimes to signifie , to see a thing with admiration and amazement ; indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , miracula spectacula ; miracles are such sights as may well raise our admiration , at the beholding of them . no wanden that christs wonders were seen with wonder . besides . . and our hands have handled ; the last of the senses , but not the least , nay , greatest in point of evidence , is that of handling . nor is it unworthy our observation , how fit a gradation is here made ; the apostle proceeding still higher and higher , he begins with hearing , as being that sense which is most capable of deception , from thence he riseth to that of seeing , which is more certain ; one eye-witness being of more value than ten ear-witnesses : and yet because seeing might pretend ludibria oculorum , the eye might be subject to delusion , he addeth another sense , which as it is crassior , so it is certior , more gross , so it is most sure ; asserting , that what he declared with his mouth , was that which not onely his eare and eyes , but his hands gave testimony to . that one of the apostles , namely , thomas , did handle him with his hands , is expressed ; and where it is said of this apostle , that he leaned in his bosome , it implyeth that he handled him ; nay , in as much as we find that the other apostles did eate , drink , converse with him , nay , that he saith to them , handle and see ; it is not improbably conceived , that they might all handle him , so much the rather considering that it is here affirmed by st. iohn , not onely of himself , but others ; our hands have handled : nor doth this handling onely refer to his person , but his miracles , the fishes and loaves which he gave them to feed so many thousands with , the dead bodies which he raised to life , whereby the reality and verity of his miracles did the more clearly appear to them . there are onely two questions would be discussed ere we apply this truth . . how all this can be verified in reference to the word of life , which was with the father ? can a spiritual substance be handled , an immateriall be visible , an incorporeal be heard , and such is the word of life , and yet thus it is here asserted ; we have heard , we have seen with our eyes , and our hands have handled of the word of life . to which the answer is easily returned , that this person ▪ the word of life , was made flesh , or as it is in the next verse , was manifested , to wit , in humane nature , and so though in himself he were invisible , yet in flesh he was visible and palpable . this is that which perhaps may be insinuated in the praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here inserted ; it is not said the , but of , or concerning the word of life , because it was not the very word it self , but that nature which the word assumeth to it self ; though withall , in as much as that nature was assumed into unity of person with the word , it was the word it self they saw and handled ; and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is onely an hebraism , and equivalent to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the acts answereth to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and so the syriack readeth it the word of life . . what might be the reason why the apostles had such sensible confirmation of what they did declare ? the answer to which is because , . the holy apostles were to be the first publishers of the doctrine , concerning christ come in the flesh : the doctrins they were to publish , were such as were very incredible to human reason , & therfore presently found great opposition ; nay yet further , these apostles were not onely to be the first declarers , but by reason of persecution , were to be in some kind or other sufferers for the truth of that which they did declare : now upon these considerations it was most requisite these planters of christianity should be bold and resolute in declaring and defending what they declared : rationally much less religiously bold they could not be , unless strongly and undoubtedly confirmed in , and assured of the truth of those things they did declare , & this confirmation they could not have by a better way than sensible demonstration . hence it is that the apostles give this as the reason of their resolvedness , we cannot but speak the things we see and hear ; and st. luke calls those proofs which the apostles had of christs resurrection , by seeing and coversing with him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our translation not unfitly rendereth infallible proofs , by which therefore they were no doubt strengthened in their faith , and animated with courage . to apply this to our selves in severall particulars . . here is matter of confutation , and that both direct and collaterall . . this directly confuteth a double heresie . . that of the marcionites , and manichees ( whereof st. austin saith cerdo was the author ) who assert all things christ did , were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , only in appearance , denying that he was truly man. but surely when we read that he was not onely heard , but seen and handled ; we must needs acknowledge him reall man ; an apparition may indeed deceive the sight , but it cannot the feeling ; christ was not onely seen , but felt : hence it is that this is his own argument to his disciples , when they doubted whether he were not a spirit ; handle me , see me , for a spirit hath not flesh and bones , as you see me to have . . that of the nestorians , who assert two persons , the one the son of god , the other the son of mary ; but were it so , st. iohns words could not be verified , they saw and handled the word of life , for it was onely the man-hood they saw and handled ; and if the man christ were a distinct person from the word of life , they could not be said to handle the one , when they handled the other ; and therefore we do from these , and such other like places , strongly assert a unity of the two natures in one person , it being one and the same person , who as god was invisible , and as man visible , as god , was from the beginning , as man , had a beginning , as god , was immateriall , and as man palpable . . this collaterally confutes that error of the papists , who assert the flesh and blood of christ to be corporally present in the holy sacrament , so as that the bread and wine are by a miraculous work transubstantiated into it ; indeed from this very clause a strong argument may be drawn , and that two wayes . . to prove that christs flesh and blood is not there corporally present , because then it must be visible ; it is an undoubted maxime in philosophy , omne corporeum est quantum , quantity is inseparable from corporiety , and being so , it cannot but be visible and palpable ; nay , since it implyeth a contradiction for a thing to be a body , and not to be visible , because it is as much as to be , and not to be a body , it is that which omnipotency it self cannot do , and therefore in vain is a miracle pretended . . to prove that the bread and wine in the holy sacrament , are not transubstantiated , but remain bread wine still , because it is a clear axiome , bodies are such in their own nature , as they present themselves to the sence , when it is every way disposed and fitted for the object : now that which at the holy table offereth it self to the view , and taste , and touch of the most rectifyed organ , is not flesh and bloud , but bread and wine ; and therefore if st. iohns proof here be valid , that which he declared was true , because he saw and handled it , we may with the same validity , prove it is bread and wine in the sacrament , because by seeing and handling we find it to be such . . here is matter of conviction , to perswade us of the verity of the apostolical writings ; it is true , the chief reason why we are to receive their writings , is because they were moved , and extraordinarily assisted in the penning of them , by the holy ghost ; but yet withall , this may be a secondary reason of our assent to what they testifyed and wrote , because it was no other than that which they had heard , nay seen , nay , handled ; we all think it just and reasonable to believe a man when he speaketh not by hear-say , but personal experience : and why then , is it not reason that we should believe the apostles , who declare nothing but what they heard , saw , and handled ? this was so rational an argument in st. iohns account , that speaking concerning christs being thrust through with a spear , he thus argueth : he that saw it bare record , and his record is true ; therefore true , because of that which he saw : and hence it is , that iohn the baptist , complaining of the iews infidelity , in rejecting christ , useth this aggravation ; what he hath seen and heard , that he testifieth , and no man receiveth his testimony ; and in the same chapter , christ himself taketh up the same complaint to nicodemus , verily , verily , i say unto thee , we speak that we do know , and testifie that we have seen , and you receive not our witness . to drive this nail to the head , there are but three things that can possibly be objected against this reason , which being cleared , i conceive it will remain unanswerable , and such as may convince a iew , a pagan , if they were not wilfully blind . that they say they heard , saw , and handled , what they never did , and so were no better than deceivers . that they did onely think they saw such things , but in truth did not , and so were themselves deceived . that that which they did hear , see , handle , will not amount to a proof of what they declared , namely , that iesus was the christ. to all which , i doubt not but to return a full answer . . as to the first , such an accusation cannot aequitably be charged on any , except they either were men of loose and flagitious lives , and so not likely to make any conscience of a lye , or else that there were some great advantage , apparently accruing by such a lye , which perhaps might have an influence , not onely on a loose , but a civil person ; now neither of these can in this case be alledged . for . the apostles were men of holy and exemplary lives , men that did shine as lights in the world by their good conversation , men whom those grand apostates , and enemies of christianity could charge with nothing but simplicity , and therefore no reason to suspect that they should tell such a gross lye , as to say , they heard , or saw , or handled , what they never did . . it is sufficiently manifest , that they were not allured to bear this testimony by any gain , either of honour , or profit , or pleasure ; nay , in stead of gain , there was nothing but loss , they were hated of all men , for christs names sakes ; they forsook father , mother , friends ; they were exposed to hunger , thirst , cold , nakedness , tortures , and most of them to death it self , nemo gratis malus est ; no man will be wicked for nothing , nay , invent and maintain , and stand in a lye , when no benefit , but a great injury redounds to him by it ; and therefore we may justly conceive that it was nothing but the force of truth that prevailed upon them , and the spirit of god burning as a fire in their bosomes , which could not be concealed . . as to the second , these three things are very considerable . . that where the object is sensible , if there be a fit organ , an apt medium , and a convenient distance , the sense is not , cannot be deceived , nor is there any demonstration more certain : now these things , of which the apostles bear witness , were things placed within the compass of sense , as being concerning a man , his birth , death , resurrection , and the like , all which are sensible objects ; and they who tell us they saw these things , were the companions of this man , alwayes neer to , conversing with him ; nor did ever any deny them to be men of perfect sences ; and therefore there is no reason to suspect a deceit . . that it was not one or two , or a few , but many , who had this sensible experience ; there were twelve who did continually attend upon christ ; & after his resurrection , he was seen of above five hundred . though one mans sense might be bad , or fallible , yet it is not imaginable that so many were deceived , especially considering that all they who testifie to us what they saw , agree for substance in one and the same testimony , not varying from , not jarring against one another . . and yet once more , it is plurium sensuum experimentum , they had the proof of many senses , and if one , yet it is not likely that all should be deceived ; if the eare , yet sure not the eye ; if the eare and eye , yet not the hand ; if any , yet not all of these ; and therefore it is very improbable , nay , impossible , they should be deceived . . as to the last , the contrary will plainly appear , if we consider these two things . . the proving those prophecies which were made concerning the messiah , to be fulfilled in him , is an evident proof that he was the messiah : but by their sences they might and did prove these things to be accomplished in him , for they saw him borne and dying , and rising according to the scriptures , the greatest part of those things which are foretold , being within the reach of sense . . the proving him to be a worker of glorious miracles ( such as never any before nor since , did nor could do , unless by his power , and in his name ) proveth him to be the messiah , the great prophet which should come into the world : but by sence they were able to prove that such and such miracles were wrought by him , and therefore it is very observable , that when iohn sent to christ , to know whether he was he , or they must look for another : the answer christ returneth , is an argument drawn from sense ; go tell iohn what things ye have seen and heard , how that the blinde see , the lame walk , the lepers are cleansed , the deaf hear , the dead are raised , and to the poor the gospel is preached : and therefore , all these considerations being laid together , it remaineth as a clear truth , that christian religion is very reasonable , and the sensible experience which the apostles , those first planters of christianity , had concerning the things they declared and wrote , is a strong and undeniable reason , why we should give credence and obedience to their writings . . to draw to an end , here is in the last place matter of exhortation , and that double . . that before we declare things or truths to others , we look that we be fully convinced of their verity our selves ; surely if he that doth any thing which he doubteth , whether it be lawfull , sinneth , much more he that declareth any thing which he doubteth whether it be true ; and especially doth this concerne the ministers of the gospel , who being to speak as the oracles of god , must speak the word of truth . indeed there are two things every good minister should be careful to do , in respect of the things he declareth . to work the goodness of them on his own affections . to imprint the verity of them on his own understanding . the truth is , what we take onely upon hear-say , or is only a fiction of our own brain , and an invention of our own fancy , we can never confidently maintain , or however not solidly ; and the true reason why so many recant , deny the truth they have declared , is ( at least for the most part ) because they were never throughly stablished in the faith , and sufficiently convinced of its verity . . that so far as is imitable by us , we follow these holy apostles , in hearing , seeing , looking on , and handling the word of life . it is true , we cannot now hear christ speaking to us with his own mouth , but we may hear him speaking to us by his faithfull messengers ; we pray you in christs stead , saith the apostle : and again , it is christ that speaketh in us : oh then , let him that hath eares hear , and let us all pray for that hearing-eare , whereby we may attend to what christs ministers speak from , as if it were spoken by him , to wit , with all humility and sincerity . again , we cannot now see him in his person , but we may see him in his ordinances . st. paul saith , that in the gospel , iesus christ is before our eyes , evidently set forth , crucified among us ; and that in the holy sacrament , we shew forth the lords death till he come : oh therefore , let us in these holy ordinances see , and so see , as to look upon , and rejoyce in him . finally , we cannot handle him corporally in himself , but we may handle him sacramentally in the pledges of his love , the bread and wine ; we may handle him , though not literally , yet metaphorically by faith , believing on him : indeed it is faith that can do all these acts , hear and see , and look on , and handle christ ; it is the christians eare , and eye , and hand , let us so make use of it , by faith attending to him , beholding and embracing him , till at last the time come , of his second manifestation , when with these eyes and no other , we shall see him coming in the glory of his father , and to the endless joy of our hearts hear him pronouncing the sweet sentence , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you , from the beginning of the world . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . part first . that which was from the beginning . ver. . part middle . that ye also may have fellowship with us . christian religion hath ever met with contradiction ; it is true as st. paul saith , without controversie it is a great mysterie , but it is as true , that because it is a great mysterie , therefore it hath never been without controversie : nor hath the devill been wanting to blow this slame , raise these commotions . at the very first he strove to strangle this babe in the cradle , nip this blossom in the bud , and devour christianity in its infancy , whilest he stirred up the iews and pagans without , various false teachers within the church , to oppugne true religion ; for this reason , no doubt it was that this holy apostle endeavoured to confirm those to whom he wrote , in the verity of christian faith ; to which end , he beginneth this epistle , with discovering both its antiquity and certainty , in these words , that which was from the beginning , &c. the antiquity of the gospels origination , is that part i am next to handle , as it is expressed in the very beginning , that which was from the beginning . i am not ignorant , that a great part of expositors refer these words to the person of christ , as if st. iohns meaning were thus to be construed , the word of life , which was from the beginning : a special argument , moving them to this interpretation , is the fit correspondence between the epistle and the gospel , which begins with those words , in the beginning was the word , and is no doubt to be understood of christ , signifying his eternal subsistence : indeed these words , was from the beginning , do very fitly and fully represent that divine truth to us . for . the verb was , being a verb substantive , is peculiar to god , and so belongs to christ as god : the being of all creatures is determined to some species , as it is an angel , or it is a man , and the like , onely of god , we say he is without any additament , for that is the name god gave himself ; i am hath sent thee , and christ applyeth to himself before abraham was , i am . indeed the tense is very improper , since eternity admits not of prius , or posterius , nor knoweth any succession ; but yet as st. austine observeth , because of the mutability of time , in which we subsist , we best conceive of eternity , by referring to those distinctions of time , past , present , to come , affirming of christ as god , that he was , is , and shall be , since there was no time wherein he was not ; there shall be no time wherein he shall not be , and there is no time wherein he is not ; in which respect , he is said to be yesterday , to day , and the same for ever . . these words from the beginning , serve yet more clearly to express the eternity of his god-head , whether we understand by beginning , eternity it self , or the beginning of the creation : some construe beginning by eternity , for though it is true , eternity hath no beginning , yet in as much as it is no less true , that there was nothing before eternity , this word beginning , may though improperly , be applyed to it , and so was from the beginning , is was from eternity . the most , & i conceive most rationally understand by beginning , rerum omnium initium , the beginning of all things , that time when all creatures began to have a being , and so this from , is the same with the gospels in , and both as much as before the beginning ; in this respect , it is that st. austin observeth , it is not said , god made him in the beginning , as it is of the heaven and the earth , and the things in both ; but he was in the beginning , even then when other things began to exist , he had a personal subsistence , and therefore eternal , because whatsoever was before the beginning of time , must be eternal . and if in this sense we construe these words , they are praefixed no doubt , on purpose to prevent a mistake , which might arise from the following words ; for whereas , they might have been apt with some hereticks to think , that this word did not begin to be till he was heard , seen & handled , he first acquaints them that he was from the beginning . indeed , then it was he began to be man , but not to be , then he was made flesh , but he was the word before , even from all eternity , the word of life , which was from the beginning . but when i observe the grammar of the text , i must crave leave to receed from this exposition , for it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he which was , or the word which was , but that which was from the beginning , concerning the word of life ; by which it appeareth , that the most proper reference of these words , is not to the person of christ , but to the doctrine which the gospel revealeth concerning him , and this exposition no less agrees with the logick , then the grammar of the text , since in this sense , ( as oecumenius , theophilact , and athanasius have observed ) the words are an answer to that objection which was made against christian doctrine by its enemies , as if it were a new doctrine , that therefore he might take off this aspersion , which both iewes and greeks did cast upon christianity ; he assureth us that it is no novell fancy , but an ancient mysterie , that which was from the beginning . and now according to this interpretation , we are further to enquire , in what respect this is verified of christian religion , evangelicall doctrine , that it was from the beginning . the answer to which , will be dispatched in three considerations , each of which exceedeth the other . . that which was from the beginning , that is , which was preached from the very first , that christianity was published to the world . that this phrase from the beginning , is so to be understood in some places , both of the gospel and epistle , is not to be denyed ; and vorstius is positive , that it must be so understood here : nor will i reject this sense , though i shall not confine the words to it . take it then thus briefly ; soon after the gospel was preached , there arose up some who broached another gospel , and filled the church with damnable heresies ; now st. iohn in these words , acquits his doctrine from partaking with heresies , and lets them know , that what he declared to them , was not what some hereticks had lately invented , and privily brought into the church , but what was taught by christ to his apostles , and by them to the world , from the very beginning . . but besides this , we may very well carry the expression a great deal further , and look backward as far as the fall of man , which was in the beginning of the world , and so that which was from the beginning , that is the doctrine which soon after the world began , was preached to man ; for indeed , the promise made by god to adam , the seed of the woman shall break the serpents head : what is it but an abridgement of the gospel , an epitomy of christianity , a summary of evangelical truths ? nay , this doctrine is that which stil along was umbris praefigurata , vaticiniis praedicta , praefigured in the types , and foretold in the prophecies ; upon which ground st. paul saith expressely of the gospel of god , it is that which he had promised afore by his prophets , in the holy scriptures , and zachary saith , the raising up of christ an horn of salvation , is that he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets , which have been since the world began : the truth is , as god would never have man destitute of a way to come to him , so the way for fallen man to come to him , hath been one and the same for substance in all ages of the church , and the new testament is nothing else but the unveiling of moses his face , a breaking of the old testament shell , a more clear discovery of what was , though darkly made known from the beginning . . and yet to go one step further , beyond which we cannot go , that which was from the beginning , that is , before the beginning of the world , to wit , in the eternal purpose and counsell of god ; indeed as the permission of mans fall which was in the beginning of time , so the effecting of mans redemption , which was in the fulness of time , was fore-ordained by god before all time , so as the gospel is nothing else , but as it were a copy of that writing which was in the mind of god from all eternity ; in this respect it is that the gospel is called the everlasting gospel , and christ is said to be the lamb●slain from the foundation of the world ; and yet more clearly this eternal life is said to be that which god , which cannot lye , promised ( that is purposed ) before the world began . from whence we may profitably infer a double conclusion . true antiquity is a sure mark of verity . that antiquity is true , which is from the beginning . . would ministers know what doctrine they ought to declare , and the people what they are to receive ? this is a good rule , let it be that doctrine which hath been anciently embraced and maintained by the christian church : a very seasonable item in these dayes , wherein to use vincentius lyrinensis his expression ; bene fundata antiquitas scelestâ novitate subruitur , well grounded antiquity is overturned by fanatick novelty ; the cry of the aegyptian priest in plato , cited by clemens alexandrinus ? oh solon , solon , you are alwayes children ; may fitly be taken up of the men of this generation , they are children pleased with every novell toy , and tossed to and fro with every winde of doctrine . not content with the antient apostolical government , universally continued in the christian church for many hundred years , we have endeavoured to erect new formes , which proteus-like , change into several shapes , and about which , the contrivers cannot tell how to agree . not knowing indeed themselves what they would have ; not satisfied with , nay , much offended at the antient devout liturgie of our english church , which the first compilers extracted as a quintessence out of the several praeceding liturgies , both of the greek & latine church : we have erected a new , or rather no way of worship , leaving every minister to the dangerous liberty of an extemporary devotion , and the people to the sad slavery of hearing those vain tautologies , nay , many times horrid blasphemies , which are vented in those kind of prayers . and yet once more not willing to be regulated by those ancient doctrinal truths , which the church , from and with the holy scriptures hath delivered to us , how many are there amongst us , who seek another gospel , vent strange opinions , the people heaping up to themselves teachers , and the teachers heaping up to themselves auditors , who have an itch after novelty , not onely in discipline , but doctrine . oh my brethren , take we all heed , lest we be infected with this itch , which is the sister of superstition , mother of rashness , and the daughter of inconstancy ; rather let the prophet ieremy his words take place with us : thus saith the lord , stand ye in the wayes , and see , and ask for the old paths , where is the good way , and walk therein , and ye shall finde rest for your souls ; let st. pauls counsel to timothy be acceptable ; serva depositum , hold fast the form of sound words , non a te inventum , sed tibi creditum , which was not invented by thee , but committed to thee ; and according to st. iudes exhortation , let us contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints : finally , let st. hieroms practice be our pattern ; meum propositum est antiquos legere & a side ecclesiae catholicae non recedere , my resolve is to read the ancients , and not recede from the faith of the catholick church . indeed however it may now be made one of the marks of the well-affected godly party to follow new wayes ; yet i am sure lyrinensis sets it down as a continued practise in the church , that the more religious any man was , the more zealous he was against factious novelties . . but further , as we must assert antiquity , so that antiquity is , what was from the beginning , for though error may be old , yet still , that which is from the beginning is truth ; indeed as crookedness is no other but a deviation from a straight rule , so error an aberration from truth , and therefore as a crooked line supposeth a straight , so error supposeth truth ; and upon this ground it is , that the fathers rule is veritate manifestâ cedat consuetudo veritati , when truth appeareth , custome must give way , because indeed , be the custome never so ancient , truth was before it . with this it is we must justly answer the romish plea of antiquity , for many of their erroneous assertions , that though they have been some of them of many hundred years standing , yet they were not known in the pure and primitive times of the church , and therefore as our blessed saviour in the point of divorce , reduceth the iews to this consideration , it was not so from the beginning ; true indeed , it hath been long permitted you for the hardness of your hearts , but it was not so from the beginning , the first institution giveth no such allowance : so we in those points of controversie between us and the church of rome reduce them to the beginning of christian religion ; it is true , many of their doctrines have been long published , but they were not from the beginning , they were not taught by christ or his apopostles , or their successors in the first centuries of the church . whilest therefore the papists scoff at our religion , as a novell faction , as those athenians did at pauls doctrine ; we have this in readiness to retort , and are able ( blessed be god ) to make it good against them , ours is no other than that which was from the beginning , and that even at rome it self preached , and professed ; nor do we differ from them , but only in those opinions which since the golden foundation of christianity was laid by christ and his apostles , hath been by babel builders superstructed , as hay and stubble , fit onely to be cast into the fire . the last branch of the gospels commendation is from the utility of the end . now the end which is here mentioned is double , to wit , proximus and remotus , the proxime and immediate end , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a sacred fellowship , the remote end , which is indeed the effect of the former is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a spiritual joy . the first of these is set down in these words , that you also may have fellowship with us , and truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son iesus christ , wherein this end of the gospel , and the declarers of it , is propounded and expounded , that in the former , and this in the latter clause , which is inclosed in a parenthesis . . the proposition is , that you also may have fellowship with us , which that we may handle in its fullest latitude , we shall consider it , both absolutely as a benefit , and relatively as an end . . you have fellowsh●p with us , is a choice benefit , and such as may be construed two wayes . that you and we may have fellowship together . that you may have the same fellowship which we have . zanchy expounds it of the former , gagnetus of the latter , marlorate taketh in both , so shall i , the one indeed following upon the other , since being in fellowship with the apostles , they became partakers of the same priviledge that they had , though this latter is that which i conceive the most genuine sence , and therefore i shall especially insist upon . . the benefit here understood , may be the joyning of these converted christians into one body with the apostles , whilest they by embracing the apostles writings , and acknowledging the truth of what they declare , became members of the church , whereof the apostles were the planters . and surely this is no small comfort , that all believers how different soever in offices and degrees , how distant soever in place and habitation , have yet a spiritual fellowship with one another , to wit , in as much as they are fellow worshippers of the same god , fellow subjects of the same lord , fellow souldiers under one captain , fellow sheep in the same fold , fellow servants under one master , fellow brethren of the same parents , fellow stones in the same building , fellow members in the same body . and look as in corporations and societies , though the particular members are never so remote one from the other ; yet in as much as they all belong to the same society , they are said to have fellowship each with other . so is it in the christian church , and this relation is that which as it carryeth in it dignity , it being in theodosius his opinion , and not unjustly a greater honour to be membrum ecclesiae , then caput imperii , a member of the church , then head of an empire ; so also manifold duties of mutual love and amity one towards another , of earnest and devout prayer one for another , of sympathy and fellow feeling one with another , of imparting all manner of talents one to another , because they are members one of another . but . the more genuine construction of this benefit , is to interpret it , the intituling of them to whom he wrote to the same fellowship and partaking , to wit , of god and christ , as it followeth in the next words , which he with the rest of the apostles had , as if he should say , these priviledges which hitherto we enjoyed alone , we now by writing the gospel , communicate to you ; we are the first members of the church , but not the whole body , and therefore you as well as we are capable of the same benefits . and it is a tacite prevention of an objection which might be made ; for whereas , when the apostle saith , we write the things we have seen concerning christ , they might say or think what is this to us , we have not , cannot see or handle him , it is a priviledge not possible for us to attain ; to this these words implicitly return an answer , that by the apostles writing what they saw , they , to wit , believing the truth of what was written , might have fellowship with them ; and thus it is true of all christians , who by faith have fellowship with christ as well as the apostles , though they never saw him , because the same interest in his person , his merits , and those good things which are purchased by him . excellently to this purpose st. austin on this very place , they saw and we do not , and yet we are partakers of the same benefits with them , because we believe in christ as well as they . it is very observable in this respect , that our blessed saviour himself , as in one place , he tells his disciples , blessed are your eyes , for you see , so in another place he tells them , blessed are they which have not seen , and yet have believed ; we then who are there no doubt pointed at , are as well happy as the disciples , and as they , had they not believed in christ , would have been miserable though they saw him , so we believing in him , are blessed , though we cannot see him : yea , eo magis beati in credendo quo minus expedi●i in videndo , the want of sight evidenceth our faith so much the more amiable . oh let us set an high estimate upon this grace of faith , which giveth us an interest in christ , as well as the apostles ; it is very observable what the apostle peter saith of those to whom he wrote , that they had obtained the like pretious faith with him , and the rest of the apostles ; indeed of all divine gifts , faith is not of the least price , and their faith which saw not christ , is a like pretious with them that did , because it instateth them in the same fellowship , and therefore how should we christians value our faith . but . that you may have fellowship , argueth these words , to be set down as the end , which the holy ghost aimed at , in declaring and writing to them , not onely that they might know those things to be true , but that they might reap the same benefit by them which the apostles had ; thus as the sun shineth that others may partake of the same light with it self , and the fountain sends forth water , that others may participate of it ; so do these apostles write that the people might relish the same sweetness in christ , which they had tasted . it is that which is observable in the apostles , considered under a double notion , as pastors , as christians . . as pastors , we see in them what is the aim of a true minister of the gospel , not so much his own , as his peoples benefit . st. iohn doth not say , we write that we may participate with you , to wit , in your temporals , but that you may participate with us in our spirituals ; true , this is the peoples duty to the pastor according to that apostolical precept ; let him that is taught , communicate to him that teacheth in all good things : but this is not that the pastor aimeth at , in declaring the gospel to the people , but rather that he may be an instrument to communicate those better things to them . indeed ( as st. paul observeth ) false teachers suppose gain to be godliness , minding nothing more than their own carnall advantage , but the true apostles esteem godliness gain , and therefore chiefly aim at the peoples spiritual benefit ; and truly this is that which ( as calvin noteth ) should be a singular means to gain your credence to our writing our declarings ; why will you not believe our report , regard our message , when our end is onely your good , that you may partake the same benefit with us ? . as christians we may in them behold the frame of a truly pious heart , to desire that others may have fellowship with it self , in the same spiritual enjoyments ; good christians are no niggards of their heavenly dainties , they love not to eat their morsels alone , but invite others to the same participation ; hence that wish of moses , would all the lords people were prophets , and of st. paul , that all were as he except his bonds : upon this ground it was that philip having found christ , called nathanael , and the woman of samaria , having met with the messiah , inviteth her friends to the sight and knowledge of him , and if you desire the reason , it is plain . because . the bringing others into the same fellowship with themselves , is a means of inlarging the kingdom of christ , and so of advancing the glory of god ; religion teacheth every good man to pray , hallowed be thy name , and thy kingdome come ; and surely we cannot pray this cordially if we desire not , endeavour not that which tends to both , the winningmen to the faith of christ. . the gaining others to their fellowship will be the means of making them for ever happy , and therefore as in zeal for gods glory , so in charity to the soules of their brethren , they cannot but desire it ; this is the different temper of envy and charity , envy thinketh it a small matter to be happy it self , unless another may be unhappy , charity would not be happy alone , but striveth to draw in company ; this aretius giveth as the sence of these words here , we love you as our selves , and therefore wish you as well as our selves , that you may have fellowship with us . . the bringing in others , is no diminution to themselves , it is the manifest difference between spiritual and temporal riches , those diminish by imparting , but not these . godly men well know , that if others have more , they shall not therefore have the less , and it were strange not to wish a courtesie to another , when it may be no injury to our selves ; the musick is not the less harmonious to thee , because others hear it , nor doth the candle the less enlighten thee , because others see by it as well as thy self , nor is our participation of heavenly things the less , because others have the same fellowship with us . to end this , let the same mind be in us , that was in these holy apostles , and is in all good christians . indeed it is that which in a bad way is usually the practice both of the devil and wicked men ; the devil being himself fallen , never ceased till he drew adam into the same pit with him ; ungodly men would have all partners in the same wickedness , & wretchedness with themselves : they say , come with us , cast in thy lot among us , let us all have one purse ; and by these words they seek to intice and inveigle inconsiderate persons : for this reason , it was that that epicure heliogobalus took care for the training up of his son in the same luxuriant courses wherein himself lived . now there is an oblique imitation , even of wicked men , which is commendable ; as sin is boundless , so grace must be abounding , as sin is infectious , so grace must be communicative ; evill men decrease from bad to worse , holy men must increase from good to better , wicked men strive to make others as bad or worse than themselves , good men must indeavour to make others as holy and as happy as themselves ; thus we may learn even of the worst of men , but rather let christs apostles be our tutors , his disciples , our school-master . thus let believing masters instruct their servants , parents teach their children , friends admonish their friends , and godly ministers exhort their hearers ; as here the apostles did declare and write to the people for this very end , that they might bring them into the same blessed fellowship with themselves . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . part last . and truly our fellowship is with the father , and his son iesus christ. the person of christ is of all others , the most amiable and excellent ; hence the psalmist saith mystically of him , thou art fairer than the children of men , as being indeed more than a meer son of man ; and the spouse in the canticles being asked in contempt by the daughters of ierusalem ; what is thy beloved , more than another beloved ? returneth that high , yet deserved encomium , my beloved is the chiefest among ten thousand . the doctrine of christ is that , then which none more certain and undoubted : in which respect , the main fundamental axiome of christs coming into the world , is called by st. paul a fai●hfull saying , and the whole gosspel by st. iames , the word of truth , there being infallible verity and fidelity in evangelical sayings . the sincere professors of christ are such , as none else but they can be truly happy and blessed : hence it is that they are dignified by the apostle peter , with these honourable titles , of a chosen generation , a royall priesthood , an holy nation , and a peculiar people . and now beloved , if you look into this short exordium , you shall finde each of these briefly and pithily handled . the gospels certainty , as being most ancient and evident , is evinced in the first verse , christs excellency , as being the word of life , that eternall life is insisted on in part of the first and the second verse ; finally , the faelicity of a christian , as being one that hath fellowship with god and christ , and thereby fulness of joy is characterized in the third and fourth verses ; well may this golden three invite us once and again , nay often to look into , and peruse this choice preface , that which was from the beginning , &c. we are now come according to our proposed method to the last branch of the second general , the commendation of the gospel , from the utility of its end ; and having made entrance upon the first end , as it is propounded in those words , that you also may have fellowship with us ; we are now to handle the exposition of it in the following , and truly our fellowship is with the father , and his son iesus christ. which words are a plain assertion , unfolding the dignity and excellency of that fellowship which the apostles and all believers with them have , inasmuch as it is a fellowship with the father and his son ; it is that which our translators set down with an asseveration , truly conceiving this to be the emphasis of the pleonasm , which is in the greek . the greek word which is here rendred fellowship , admits both in sacred and prophane writs of a double construction , as signifying either communio or communicatio , communion and fellowship , or communication and partnership , and though in some places onely one of those can well be admitted , yet here i conceive both may very well consist , and the apostle may be probably thought to intend that intimate communion which believers have with , and by vertue hereof , the liberall communication they receive from the father , and his son iesus christ. to unlock this cabinet , and shew you the rich pearl contained in it ; give me leave to consider it , both generally and particularly ; in generall , what maketh up this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellowship here mentioned , and in particular , as this fellowship is expressed to be with two of the persons in the sacred trinity , the father , and his son iesus christ. . the substance of the benefit will be discovered in the general dicussion , and that you may the more distinctly understand it , proceed with me by ●hese four steps , which are as so many degrees of this fellowship , namely , amicable reconciliation , effectuall regeneration , comfortable association , and compleat glorification . . the rice and inchoation of this fellowship is reconciliation , whereby god of an enemy becomes a friend , and receiveth us into favour ; to this purpose is ferus his paraphrase , to have fellowship ( saith he ) is to be in covenant with god , to be one of the number of those to whom he vouchsafeth his special love ; accordingly this phrase may be interpreted by that of st. paul , where he saith , we have peace with god , and he hath made us accepted . the truth is , we all by nature are not onely strangers , but enemies , and where there is hostility , there can be no society , so that we begin not to have fellowship with , till we are reconciled to god. this reconciliation of god , to penitent believing sinners , is most elegantly and sweetly shadowed forth under the fathers gracious behaviour towards the returning prodigal ; no sooner doth his son set foot forward to come home , but his father saw him , there were eyes of love , had compassion on him , there were bowels of love , and ran to him with feet of love , and fell on his neck , there were armes of love , and kissed him with lips of love : by all which expressions , we may gather what a tender dear affection of amity there is in god towards penitents , which is the foundation of this fellowship . . the concomitant of this reconciliation is regeneration , since whosoever is accepted by god , hath stamped upon him the image of god , and so doth after a sort partake with god. to clear this , you must know that there can be no fellowship where there is not some similitude , in which respect , saith one upon my text , this fellowship with god is by likeness to him , for this reason , at first it was that almigh●● god intending man a creature to have fellowship with ●●mself , made him after his own image ; nor can we be admitted into this fellowship , unless this image be renewed in , and restored to us ; now , this image of god is nothing else but the communication of such qualities as resemble those , which , for this very reason , the schools call the communicable attributes of god , such are his holiness , goodness , mercy , justice , truth , and the like , and because holiness is the chief , yea , after a sort comprehensive of the rest , therefore especially in this , is the image of god placed , and so this fellowship with god is a participation with him in purity and sanctity , and may therefore fitly be explained by st. peters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 partaking of the divine nature , or st. pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , partaking of his holiness . . the progress of this fellowship is in that sweet communion which believers ( being thus reconciled and regenerated ) have with god , so that there is though not an aequality ( far be it from us to make such a blasphemous construction of this phrase ) yet a neer and intimate familiarity , in which respect , god and a christian may be said to walk , to talk , to feast , nay , to lodge and dwell together ; believers walk with god in a holy subjection , god walketh with believers , in affording them gratious protection , believers speak to god in devout supplications , god speaketh to believers in spiritual consolations , believers feast god with their graces , god feasteth believers with his joyes . finally , believers inhabit in the secret of the most high , and god reposeth himself in the bosome of believers : hence occurre those phrases of gods being with us , and our walking with god , of our having access to god , and his coming down to us , of our supping with him , and his supping with us , of our dwelling in god , and god in us , we being ( to speak it with holy reverence ) as it were convivae his fellow commoners , conviatores fellow travellers , yea contubernales , chamber fellows . adde to this . the consummation of this fellowship is in the other world where there shall be a full communication of the image of god to us , whereby we shall partake of purity , life , and immortality , of unspotetd holinesse and indeficient happinesse , when we shall have the clear vision of god face to face , and by vertue of that a full fruition of him so farre as a created nature is capable of , and all this without the least interruption , intermission , cessation . this fellowship is that which for the present we have , though not re in actual possession ; yet spe in certain expectation , that participation and communion which we have here by grace , being an earnest and pledge , asring us of that we shall have hereafter by glory , and this shall suffice to be spoken in generall of the nature of this fellowship . . the further amplification of this fellowship is in that here are two persons specified , and though it be one and the same fellowship which we have with all the persons , yet inasmuch as two of them are severally mentioned , it may well admit of a distinct consideration . . this fellowship is said to be with the father . it is very observable to the understanding of this , that the father being the first person in the deity , is the primary original and fountain of all communication to the creature ; whence it is , that those acts which the deity is pleased to exercise towards the creature are , though not exclusively ; yet for the most part expresly assigned in scripture to the father : thus the father is said to come and dwell with us ; the father is he that hath begotten us aga●n to a lively hope : finally the father is said to blesse us with all spirituall blessings . no wonder if this fellowship is here said to be with the father ; the neerness of this fellowship which we have with the father , is represented by a gradation of allusions in scripture ; all which do excellently illustrate this truth . there is some kind of participation that a servant hath with his master , yet greater is that which one friend hath with another , yet greatest is that which a son hath with his father : in all these relations we stand to the father ; we his servants , and he our lord ; nay , not only servants , but friends , and therefore we read not onely of moses the servant , but abraham the friend of god ; nay , we are adopted to be sons , and therefore it is no presumption to say , our fellowship is with the , because our father . . this fellowship is said to be with his son jesus christ , which may very well admit of a double construction ; either our fellowship is not only with the father , but his son. or our fellowship with the father , is by and through that fellowship which we have with the son. . our fellowship which we have with the father , is also with his son iesus christ. there is a generation of men indeed in the romish church , who challenge this as their peculiar , to be è societate iesu , iesuites , iebusites rather , such , who whilest they pretend to be of the society of iesus , are in truth limbs of antichrist , and one day this iesus will give them little thanks for this arrogant assumption of his name , whilest they stand in opposition to his truth . as for the reall priviledge of having society with christ iesus , it is not be appropiated to any order of men , but is justly applicable to every christian. this fellowship which we have with christ , is set forth in various similitudes ; such as are these , of the head and the members , root and branches , foundation and building , husband and wife ; and look what participation the members have with the head , receiving sence and motion from it , the branches with the root , which communicate to them sap and juice , the building with the foundation , by which it is sustained and upheld : finally , the wife with the husband , having an interest in his person , goods , what ever he is , and hath , the same hath every christian with christ , who communicateth himself with all his merits and benefits unto him : indeed as the apostle tells us . it pleased the father , that in him should all fulness dwell , and this not for himself , but us , that we , as the evangelist speaketh , might of his fulness receive grace for grace . if you would yet have a more distinct explanation of this fellowship , consider it in reference to each of these titles which are here used , we having fellowship with him as gods son , as our iesus , and as christ. . we have fellowship with him as he is gods son , in as much as we participate of his sonship and inheritance ; christ , though the onely begotten , yet maketh us the adopted sons of god , and therefore our apostle saith in his gospel , to as many as receive him , he giveth this power , to become the sons of god , even to them that believe in his name ; in this respect , christ tells his disciples , i go to my father , and your father . indeed he saith not our father , because christs filiation is of another kind than ours , but mine and yours , not only mine , but yours . christ communicates to all believers by grace , that which himself had by nature , and as thus we have fellowship with him in the sonship , so likewise in the inheritance : as the inheritance is christs by natural right , so he conveyeth it to us by deed of gift , and therefore the apostle paul saith , that being children we are heires , heirs of god , joint heirs with christ. . we have fellowship with him as iesus , in as much as it is to believers , that he becometh effectually a iesus , according to that expression of the angel ( when he gave this name to him ) for he shall save his people from their sins ; indeed we are sick of sin , and iesus is our physitian ; we are captives to satan , and iesus is our redeemer ; we are at enmity with god , and iesus is our peace-maker ; we are in danger , and iesus is our deliverer : finally , we are indebted , and iesus is our surety . now as the patient partaketh of health by his physitian , the captive of liberty by his redeemer , enemies are reconciled by their peace-maker , the afflicted saved by their deliverer , and the debter is acquitted by his surety , so have we by this iesus , a participation of pardon , peace , liberty , and salvation . . we have fellowship with him as christ , and that whether you look upon the mediatorial offices he was pleased to undertake , or the mediatorial acts he performed . . christ signifyeth as much as annointed , and we have an unction too , he was indeed annointed with the oyle of gladness above his fellows , but yet , so as that we are fellow partakers with him of this oyntment ; in which respect , st. hierom well observeth , that the very name of this unction is communicated to us , who from christ are called christians . yet more distinctly , there is a threefold office to which christ was annointed , in each of which , we have fellowship with him , namely , prophetical , sacerdotall and regall ; st. paul saith concerning christ iesus , that he of god , is made unto us wisdome , and righteousness , and sanctification and redemption ; as he is a prophet he is made to us wisdome , enlightning and informing our ignorance ; as priest , he is made to us righteousness , absolving us from the guilt of our sin , whereby our persons are justified , and services accepted ; as king , he is made to us sanctification , enabling us to mortifie our lusts , and to live holily : thus he becometh a christ , and being a christ , he is a iesus also , and thereby redemption to us . in respect of this participation with christ in his offices , it is that we are not onely in generall called christians , but in particular said to be kings and priests to god the father , and that of his making ; and the christian church is called a royall priesthood , offering up spiritual sacrifices , acceptable by iesus christ. . this iesus being thus annointed , for the accomplishing of our salvation , and the completion of his offices , performed many acts ; he was born , crucified , dead , buried , he rose again , and ascended into heaven , and in all these we have fellowship with him ; with his birth in our new birth and regeneration , with his cross in our sufferings , with his death in the mortification of our lusts , with his buriall in the progress of that work , with his resurrection in our newness of life , and with his ascension in our heavenly conversation . this is that which the apostle paul often intimateth in those phrases , we are buried with him , we are planted into the likeness of his death , our old man is crucified with him , and you are risen together with christ , yea , yet more sutably in those expressions , the vertue of his resurrection , and the fellowship ( the same word with this in my text ) of his sufferings . this being that which every christian , more or less , experimentally knoweth , and wherein he hath a conformity to , and so a fellowship with christ. . but this is not all that the apostle here insinuateth , those words , and with his son iesus christ , being not onely a further enlargement of this participation , in that it is as with the father , so with the son , but likewise a discovery of the means whereby we come to have this fellowship with the father , and that is by having fellowship with the sonne , according to which notion , we may fitly conceive the father to be the terminus , and the son the medium of this societas ; the father is he with whom , and the son is he by and through whom we have this fellowship with the father , and therefore it is else where said , he hath made us accepted in his beloved , and we have peace with god through our lord iesus christ , and god was in christ reconciling the world unto himself , and to name no more , they who were a far off , are made nigh by the blood of christ , that amity and communion which we have with god , being onely in and through a mediator iesus christ. the heathens were in part sensible of this truth , who conceiving that the supream gods were defiled by the unhallowed approaches of mortals , invented heroes , and half gods , a kinde of middle powers , to be as mediators between those gods and them , but this doctrine of a mediator , the gospel fully revealeth , and this to be no other than iesus christ , by whom we are brought to communion with god. indeed there was a time ( to wit , in innocency ) when man stood not in need of a mediator , but injoyed a fellowship of perfect amity with his creator ; but now man being fallen from that integrity , and thereby having lost the favour of god , there is no other way of reconciliation but by christ. so that as thethemistocles , when admetus was incensed against him , brought the kings son in his armes , and implored his favour , so we can by no means obtain a fellowship of reconciliation with the father , but by his son iesus christ : in this respect it is , that christ saith concerning himself , i am the way , the truth , and the life , no man cometh to the father but by me ; and upon this ground , he is not unfitly resembled to that ladder in iacobs vision , which reached from earth to heaven , by whom alone we climb to heaven , so that if we will pervenire ad deum , we must ascendere per hominem , to come to god , we must ascend by the man , even the man christ iesus . there is onely one thing further to be enquired , for the full explication of this clause , and that is why the apostle having mentioned two , doth not annex the third person , and with the holy ghost ? in answer to which , you must know , that the third person though he be not expressely mentioned , is necessarily implyed , for the truth is , we can neither have fellowship with the father , nor with the son , but by the holy ghost , by the spirit it is , that god begets us again unto himself , and therefore it is called the renewing of the holy ghost ; by the spirit it is , that we participate of gods holiness , and therefore he is called the spirit of holiness , not onely because he is so in himself , but it is he that communicateth it unto us : finally , by the spirit it is , that the father and the son dwell in us , and have communion with us ; in which respect our apostle saith , we know he abideth in us , by the spirit he hath given us , and therefore it is , that we finde this elsewhere directly expressed concerning the holy ghost , to wit , in that solemn benediction , to the grace of our lord iesus christ , and the love of god the father , is joyned the communion or fellowship of the holy ghost . though then he is not here named , we are not therefore to imagine he is excluded . indeed it is a rule in divinity , which st. ambrose hath observed to my hand , qui unum dixerit trinitatem signavit , when any one of the persons is nominated in any external operation , all the rest are implyed ; and therefore as when we find onely mention of the fellowship of his son iesus christ , we must take in the father & the spirit ; and when we read onely of the fellowship of the spirit , we must conceive it as well of the father and the son ; so when here we find the father and the son expressed , we must not exclude the holy spirit , and look as our blessed saviour when he speaketh of that knowledge which is the way to eternal life , though he only mention the father and his son iesus christ , is to be understood as including the holy ghost , so are we here to interpret s. iohn , and therefore may very well adde by way of explication , our fellowship is with the father and his son iesus christ , and with the holy spirit : nor yet doth there want a reason ( as iustinian hath well observed ) why the apostle maketh no expresse mention of the holy ghost , as he doth of the son of god , namely because as for the communion of the holy ghost ; they to whom he wrote , could not be ignorant of it , as having no doubt had experience themselves of the effusion of his gifts upon them , and therefore it needed not to name him , but because the divinity of the son of god was oppugned by the hereticks of those times , therefore he thought it fit with the father to mention the son ; and thus much , or rather thus little of this unconceivable , much more unspeakable benefit , the fellowship which believers have with the ever blessed and glorious trinity ; what now remaineth , but that i bring it home by some comfortable application to our selves . there are onely three inferences which are plainly deducible from hence for our practice . . whatever men do either for , or against any christian , reflects on god and christ , with whom they have fellowship ; christ shall say to those at the last day , who releive his members now , in as much as you did it unto them , you did it unto me , and it was his saying to saul in the vision , when he breathed forth threatenings against the church ▪ saul , saul , why persecutest thou me ? and why this , but because of the fellowsh●p which is between christ and his members . take then heed o ye sons of belial , how you scoffingly deride at , proudly insult over , and maliciously persecute the servants of god , and members of christ. haman notwithstanding all his greatnesse , durst not but honour mordecai , because he was the man whom the king delighted to honour , and dare you abuse such whom god vouchsafeth to honour ? know you not that they are his jewels , and will you deface them ? the apple of his eye , and will you touch them ? his temple , and will you seek to destroy them ? are they not ( to speak it with an humble modesty ) all in all with god , his bosome friends , his daily associates , and dare man whose breath is in his nostrils , do any injury to them ? or can he do it , and hope impunity ? let none deceive themselves , qui insurgit in christum , domini , insurgit in dominum christi , he that riseth up against the lords anointed , riseth up against the lord , by whom he is anointed , and he that offereth any indignity unto them that have fellowship with the father and his son , offereth it to the father and the son , with whom these have fellowship , and therefore must in due time expect the sure vengeance of the almighty , upon so great impiety . . great is the dignity of beleivers , who have fellowship not with kings the best of men , not with angels the best of creatures , but with god himself , the father and his son jesus christ ; and therefore let them not debase this dignity , dishonour this fellowship by conversing too much with creature-comforts . when augustus the roman emperour , saw saracen ambassadours sporting with dogs , he asketh them if there were no women in their countries : when wicked men see beleevers swallowed up of earthly contentments ; will they , not question whether there be any such divine fellowship , as is pretended : since then we have a fountain of living waters : why do we digge to our selves broken cisterns ? and if we have fellowship with god , let us scorne to be familiar with the world : rather let us say with david , whom have i in heaven but thee , and there is none on earth i desire in comparison of thee , oh blessed trinity , father , son , and holy ghost , to converse with . . how amiable and desireable must this fellowship needs be which is with the father and his son , and therefore to be earnestly endeavoured after ; for this it was , christ prayed in the behalfe of his church , and not onely of them , but all that should beleive in his name , that they all may be one as thou father art in me , and i in thee , that they also may be one in us , and surely this , we both may and ought to pray for in our own behalf ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that you may have , was s. johns desire for these to whom he wrote , and it ought much more to be our desire and endeavour for our selves , that we may have ; and if we have attained any degree already , that we may have yet greater measure of this fellowship . this is the note of lapide upon the text , that you may have , that is , that you may continue to have , and have more fully this communion , because he writeth to beleivers , in whom this was already begun ; indeed this participation being qualitative , doth suscipere magis & minus , admit of degrees : all have fellowship with god and christ , as well as the apostles , but not in the same degree ; christ tells the jewes , i come that they may have life , and that they might have it more abundantly . so doth s. john write to these , that they might have fellowship , and have it more abundantly , in the same fulnesse that the apostles had . if then as yet thou art a stranger , now labour to acquaint thy self with god and be at peace , and if thy acquaintance be begun , endeavour that it may grow to an indeared intimacy : indeed who would not hunger and thirst after , who can be sufficiently satisfied with this fellowship ? fellowship in it self , is a thing very delectable : the wise man much enlargeth in the commendation of it , when he saith , two is better then one , and pronounceth a vae soli , woe to him that is alone : indeed as the greek proverb runs , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one man is no man , and as euripides , one hand can make but a weak defence , in all undertakings society is helpful . fellowship is amiable to all creatures ( even the dove will mourn when she hath lost her mate ) but especially to man who is therefore called by the philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a creature born for society : indeed for this reason banishment is accounted next to death , because it depriveth of civil society ; it is observable , how sadly this hath been bemoaned , not onely by a cain , thou hast this day driven me out from the face of the earth , but by a iob , i am a companion to owles , and a brother to dragons , and by a david , i am as a pelican in the wilderness , and an owle in the desert , i am as a sparrow alone upon the house top . and if fellowship be so lovely to all men , how much more religious fellowship to good men ; if fellowship with men be delightful , how much more this fellowship with god himself , the father , and the son. this , this beloved is the only good fellowship . there is indeed a fellowship called by that name which is the cover of many enormities , the devourer of large patrimonies , the bane of many hopeful wits , & yet is the darling of a great number in the world , i mean the riotous fellowship of luxurious companions . but alas , how unlike are the thing & the name , how catachrestical an expression is it , when drunkenness is stiled good fellowship ? oh turn in hither , & behold that which truly deserveth this name , this fellowship with god and christ , in which there is all good of honesty , utility , and of jucundity , a fellowship in which all safety , liberty , pleasure , and contentment , is to be found ; no wonder if the psalmist saith , blessed is the man whom thou choosest & causest to approach unto thee , that he may dwell in thy courts , he shall be satisfied with the goodnesse of thy house , even of thy holy temple . this is that fellowship to which god calleth us in his gospel , and of which by faith in the gospel we participate . indeed as beza well observeth upon the text ; this is the very scope of the gospel , to make god and us at one , and as naogorgeus appositely ; faith is the key which opens the door , and admits us into the presence-chamber of the king of glory . oh therefore let us cordially embrace the gospel , and daily strenghen our faith in it , so as we may have , and that every day more and more of this heavenly fellowship , till at last we come to heaven , where our faith being turned into sight , we shall have the greatest reason to say in the language of the apostle ; truly our fellowship is now not onely with saints and angels , with patriarchs , prophets , apostles , martyrs , but with the father and his son iesus christ. the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . part last . and these things write we unto you , that your joy may be full . i am now come by divine assistance to the end of the beginning , the conclusion of the exordium of this epistle , namely , the last clause of the fourth verse , a close full of sweetness , the subject whereof is that sweet monosyllable , joy ; the sound of which cannot but charm our eares , and ravish our hearts ; indeed the thing which this word expresseth , is the wheel upon which all mens projects and motions turn , the mark at which all their designes and endeavours ayme . those various design●s of men in getting wealth , grasping honour , purchasing lands , building houses , planting vineyards , do all meet in this one center of joy , and contentment ; the truth is , this is that prize for which all run , and yet to which few attain , because they miss the way that leadeth to it : would you then , beloved , enjoy that joy you so earnestly desire , and partake of the content you so industriously strive for , turn in hither , follow the apostles dictates who wrote this epistle , that it may be subservient to this very end , for so he telleth us himself , these things we write , that your joy may be full . i find in the greek copies a double reading of the pronoun in this clause whilest in some it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in those a pronoun of the second person , referring to them to whom the apostles wrote , to which accords our translation ; your joy , in these a pronoun of the first person , respecting the apostles who did write , and so may be rendered our joy ; both of these constructions are both agreeable to the analogy of faith , and sutable to the scope of the apostle , and therefore i shall omit neither . . the most and the best copies read it your , and therefore on this i shall chiefly insist ; but before i enter upon the sence of this clause , it would not be passed by , that the phrase is such , as our blessed lord himself was pleased to use once and again . if you cast your eyes upon that large and excellent valedictory sermon of christ to his disciples ; in the gospel of s. iohn you shall find this expression twice mentioned . these things i have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you , and that your joy might be full ; and again , ask and you shall receive , that your joy may be full : and now as scholars use to imitate their masters language , and one freind affecteth those forms of speech which the other is frequent in , so doth this beloved disciple ; in that stile in which christ spake to his disciples , he speaketh to his children : indeed it is not only observable in this , but those other phrases of keeping christs commandements , of loving one another , of abiding in christ , and the like ; which as you find them to be christs in the gospel , so here they are used by s. iohn in the epistle , thus lying in his masters bosome ; he sucked in as it were the phrases which dropped from his lips , and here mellifluously poureth them out . to let go the phrase , that we may take in the sence and scope of the words : be pleased to look upon them in a double reference either to the end of the third , or the beginning of the fourth verse . . refer this clause to the end of the former verse , and then the choice truth here insinuated , is , that by fellowship with the father and his son iesus christ ; beleivers have fulness of joy : or if you please , take it thus ; the joy which beleevers have in fellowship with god and christ is a full joy . for the better explication of which assertion , i shall demonstrate it to be true in a double notion , to wit , de praesenti , & de futuro , both here and hereafter ; for of both i find expositors interpreting these words . . the joy which beleevers have for the present in this fellowship is a full joy . the truth of which will the better appear , if we consider it not only positively , but oppositively ; assertively , but exclusively , it being true of this joy , and no other , that it is a full joy . what ever we have in fellowship with the creature , is a false , a vain , an empty joy , a shadow ; nay , to use the greek poets phrase , a dream of a shadow ; reall , substantial , solid full joy , is onely to be found in fellowship with god in christ ; more particularly to illustrate this truth , be pleased to know that this joy , and this alone is a full joy in respect of its adjuncts , effects , objects . . there are two adjuncts peculiar to this joy , which demonstrate its fulness , to wit , the sincerity , and the permanency of it . . this joy is a sincere cordial joy : a full showre of rain is that which doth not onely wet the surface , but sink into the ground , be-dew the branches , but go down to the root . that is a full joy which doth not onely fill the face with laughter , but the heart with comfort , and such , yea , such alone is this joy . caeterae hilari●ates non implent pectus sed frontem remit●unt , saith seneca ; worldly joy smooth the countenance , but have no influence upon the soul ; nay , many times to use guadulupensis his comparison , as sweet juicy plumbs have stones with a bitter kernell within them , so to give the reddition in solomons words , even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ; wicked & worldly men for the most part , do but counterfeit a mirth , like a commander in a desperate battel , ( to borrow seneca his similitude ) who lest his souldiers should run away , sets a good face on it , speaks cheerfully , whilest yet his heart akes : but this joy is such , that it doth not onely with oyle cause the face to shine , but with wine make the heart glad : the blessed virgins expression is , my spirit rejoyceth in god my saviour , and david saith , thou hast put gladness in my heart . indeed , hilaris cum pondere virtus . the ioy of religion is not a l●ght joy , which onely swimmeth at the top , but weighty , and sinks down to the bottom of the heart , so as it exhilarateth the inmost parts ; it maketh the minde like the upper region of the air , without any clouds of sorrow , or if you will , like heaven it self , where there is nothing but light of joy ; in a word , this spiritual fellowship maketh the heart merry , which , as the wise man saith , is a continual feast . . this joy is a permanent lasting joy , that is most truly said to be full , which doth not fail , and such onely is this divine joy ; other joyes are such as before they come , we make great account of , but when they are come , we cannot keep , nay , we quickly grow weary of , and as the flower often sheds before the leaf fade , so the joy vanisheth , whilest yet the thing remaineth : in this respect , we may say of worldly joy , it is satiating , but not satisfying , glutting , and yet not filling , like some meats which nauseat the stomack , and do not fill the belly , but christian joy is that which we can never have enough of ; of this society , and the joy in it , there is no satiety , and though it be a full joy , yet we are never so full of it here , but we desire more , whilest both the desire obtaineth fruition , and the fruition increaseth the desire ; indeed this water quencheth our thirst as to any thing else , all other joyes seeming vain , worthless to him that hath this , but in respect of it self , it is still kindling new flames of love ; excellently hath st. gregory to this purpose observed the difference between corporal and spiritual delights , those when we want them are coveted , when we have them are loathed , those are onely loathed by those who want them , but still coveted by those who taste them . besides , other joyes are such as many times end in sorrow , how oft have you seen tears in mens eyes , after the heartiest laughter ? nothing more usuall than for the sun of carnal mirth to set in a cloud , and this serpent of sensuall delight hath alwayes a sting in its tail , that verse , vae tibi ridenti , quia mox post gaudia slebis they say , hath all the parts of speech in it ; sure i am , it comprizeth in it the state of all voluptuous epicures , who sowing in joy , reap in tears , and after all their good chear , are sure to meet with a sad reckoning . indeed carnall delights , at first glitter like gold , but at last prove heavy as lead ; and as one saith aptly , they are wine in the morning , beer at noon , but they are vineger at night ; but this joy is a remaining , abounding joy , whereof no man had or shall have cause to repent ; carnal joy , like a standing pool , quickly drieth up , and leaveth nothing but the mud of discontent ; whereas christian joy is like a fountain of water , ever running . that , ( to take up st. bernards metaphor ) is like a candle , which goeth out in a snuff , a stink , a smoak ; this , like the morning light , shineth brighter and brighter , unto the perfect day : finally , that like the crackling of thornes under a pot , soon vanisheth , and leaveth nothing but the ashes of sorrow behinde it , whereas this , like the fire under the altar , never goeth out . . not onely the adjuncts , but the effects commend this joy , it being deservedly called a full , because a strong joy , able to sustain the spirit under , and bear it up against affliction ; it is the apostles epithete , strong consolation , and it is nehemiahs assertion , the joy of the lord is your strength ; when any winde ariseth , it bloweth out , when any damp is cast forth , it puts out the candle of worldly joy : but this joy like a torch , burneth clearest in the dark night of trouble ; and which plainely bespeaketh its fulness , it is of manifold use , nay , indeed of universall concernment in all calamities : in which respect , the greek father affirmeth of him , that is in communion with god , he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , merry in all conditions ; other joyes at best , carry in them onely a partial emolument , and therefore it is the joy of wealth is no antidote against sickness ; nor can the joy of health cure the sorrow of poverty , but this joy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the universall medicine , the catholick remedy against all sorts of miseries ; it maketh a prison sweet , and pain easie , it maketh a man cheerfull in want , and comfortable in losses , it turneth a wilderness into a garden , teacheth to sing in a cage , and accounts solitary exile a courtesie , finally it supports , in life , yea , and it comforts in death . thus like the tree cast into the waters of marah , it sweetens all calamities to us ; and as outward afflictions are mitigated , so inward troubles are removed by this joy , those wounds of conscience , which carnal mirth can only skin over , this cureth , and therefore whereas , after sensual jollity , those wounds fester the more ; by this joy the very rotten core is eaten out , and we enjoy a spiritual sanity of minde and conscience ; the sum is , let conscience accuse , let the world persecute , let the devill tempt , yea , let afflictions of all sorts , ( like the waves of the sea ) successively , nay , simultaneously beat against the ship of the soul , this joy like a firm anchor , will be able to stay it . . lastly , the fulness of this joy , chiefly depends on the ground and object whereabout it is conversant . it is an undoubted maxim , that the object of all joy , is good , and therefore such as is the good , such is the joy ; if the good be onely so in appearance , the joy must be needs be false and empty , but if it be a reall , full good , the joy must needs be both true and full : now , as for worldly joy , it is onely in vain , empty things . solomon hath long since passed that censure upon these terrene comforts , all is vanity , and therefore the joy must needs be gaudium vanitatis , a vain joy ; whereas this joy is fixed on god our creatour , christ our redeemer , and so is gaudium veritatis , a true and solid joy , the one is a joy in corn and wine , as david distinguisheth it ; but the other in the light of gods countenance ; the one in broken cisterns that hold no water , but the other in the fountain of living waters ; and indeed , hence it is , that the fulness of this joy , in those forementioned respects ariseth ; therefore doth this joy fill the heart , because it is in god and christ , who is a proportionable good to the heart ; therefore is this joy such , as no man can take from us , because it is in god and christ , of whose fellowship none can debar us ; therefore is this joy able to support us under all troubles , because it is in god and christ , who is an universal , and all-sufficient good . alas , other joyes being only in outward perishing things , and such as at best can afford but some particular advantage , must needs be defective , onely god and christ is such a good , as is of a spiritual nature , everlasting durance , and generall extent ; no wonder if this fellowship alone content the mind , and the soul find that in this , which may answer all its wants , and satisfie all its desires ▪ excellently therefore st. bernard , what needest thou seek beside him ? what can please without him ? what doest thou desire , which thou mayest not finde in him ? he made all , he hath all , he is all . whatsoever good thou wishest , sweet thou cravest , delectable thing thou searchest after , it is all to be found and enjoyed in him , and that by communion with him ; good reason hath st. iohn to wish , that his brethren to whom he wrote , might have this fellowship , even upon this account , that the●r joy might be full . . though this joy we have for the present , be as you have heard , a full joy , in opposition to carnal and worldly joy , yet in comparison of that caelestial joy , it is but empty , and rather filling than full , and therefore some conceive joy here to be by a metonymic of the effect for the cause put for blessedness , because then alone it is that we shall have full and perfect joy , and to this purpose some ( as the phylosopher observes ) derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , only changing the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if the word blessedness , did signifie greatly to rejoyce . indeed , as david saith , in thy presence is fulness of joy ; our joy will never be full , till we come to enjoy the beatifical vision : our joy here , is onely in hope and expectation ; so st. paul , we rejoyce in hope of the glory of god : nor can our joy be full , till we come to the fruition of what we expect . hence it is , that all we have here is but a taste , then we shall drink deep of the river of pleasure : now we have onely the first fruits , hereafter our joy shall be as the joy of harvest : finally , now the joy of the lord enters into us , but then it is we shall enter into the joy of the lord , and be , as it were , swallowed up in the boundless ocean of that joy ; the truth is , according to this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our exultation answereth our participation , because this fellowship cannot be perfect , till we come to heaven , where we shall fully enjoy sanctity and immortality with god and christ for ever , therefore then and not till then , shall this be verified , our joy shall be filled . and now to tell you how full that joy shall be , i want words : st. peter speaking of our joy which we have in believing , calls it unspeakable , and full of glory ; indeed , sentire est cordis , dicere non est oris , the heart feeleth what the tongue cannot express : but oh then , how glorious , and not onely unspeakable , but unconceivable shall that joy be in seeing . surely , as when christ miraculated wine , he filled the vessels to the brim , so shall he fill the vessels of our souls in that day , with the water of joy , to the very brim , so as there shall not be the least deficiency , but an abundance , yea , a superabundance , both over , and everflowing , to make glad the inhabitants of that heavenly city to all eternity . what then is the inference which we are to draw from hence , but that we learn ? what joy to seek after ? namely , that which is full , and wherein ( to that end ) to place it , namely , in fellowship with god and christ. beloved , it is a false slander , an odious calumny , which by black mouths is belched forth against christianity , as if it were an enemy to all joy , whereas it doth not extirpate , but ordinate our joy , teaching us to place it on the right object ; you are mistaken when you think that we would rob you of your comfort , and spoile your mirth ; no brethren , our aim in indeavouring to bring you to god and christ , is ( to use seneca's phrase upon better grounds ) that you might never want mirth ; or according to st. pauls expression , that you may rejoyce evermore : indeed , this is our scope , to confine your carnall joy , or rather refine it , that it may be pure , spirituall , and heavenly . oh that you would at last be wise , and fix your joy in the right center , by elevating it to the things above ; how should you say with that penitent father , far be it lord , far be it from the heart of thy servant , that i should account my self happy by any earthly joy , that is the joy , which is not given to the wicked , but onely to them who serve thee , whose joy thou thy self art , and that is the blessed life to rejoyce of thee , in thee , for thee , that is it , and no other ; or in words not much unlike those of st. paul , god forbid that we should rejoyce in any thing , save in fellowship with the father , and his son iesus christ. . refer this clause to the former part of this verse , and then the truth , which is manifestly implyed is , that those things which the holy men of god did write , are able to give fulness of joy . this is the doctrine which i shall endeavour to illustrate , both generally of all the holy writings , and particularly of the apostolical writings . . there is fulness of joy to be had in the holy scriptures , this was that which david experienced , and therefore affirmeth concerning himself , that the words of god were sweet to his taste , and he rejoyced in them , as one that found a great spoyle ; and that holy man ambrose upon those words , breaketh forth into these expressions , i have great cause to rejoyce , for i have found the spoyles for which i have not laboured ; i have found the pentateuch of moses , the writings of the prophets ; i have found christ the wonderfull counseller , and paul the prudent builder ; for this reason , no doubt it is , that the word of god contained in the scripture , is compared to light , and wine , and honey , and milk , all which , are of a pleasing and exhilarating nature ; indeed the holy scriptures are a tree of life , whereof every leaf is healing , or according to st. chrysostom , a pleasant garden , wherein every flower yields a fragrant smell ; or to use st. ambrose his comparison , a feast , in which every book is a dainty dish , affording both sweet and wholesome nutriment . no wonder if st. paul , speaking of the scriptures , maketh mention of the patien●e , and hope , and comfort of the scriptures , there being no such ground of hope and patience , and therefore no such comfort to be found elsewhere , as in these sacred books . . as this is true in general of all parcels of holy writ , so more especially of the apostolical writings ; to this purpose st. cyril mystically interpreting those words of the prophet micah , that every man should sit under his vine , and under his figtree , observeth that wine is an embleme of joy , the figtree of sweetness , and by both is shadowed that joy wh●ch the evangel●cal doctrine should produce in those who sit under the preaching of it ; indeed those doctrines which reveal god and christ , satisfaction to god by christ , reconciliation to god in christ , can only give solid comfort to the soule , since god out of christ , is a consuming sire , onely in christ he is a reviving sun ; out of christ , he is a sin-revenging , onely in christ a sin-forgiving god : now these doctrines are no where made known but in holy writ , and they are most clearly delivered in the apostolical writings , what moses and esay , and ieremy , spake obscurely that paul , and peter , and iohn , declare plainly , and therefore though we find joy in those , yet by these our joy is filled . it is not unworthy our obsetvation in the text , that this clause . these things we write , stands in the middle , between our fellowspip , is with the father and his son iesus christ , and that your joy might be full , as having indeed an influence on both , and by effecting the one , it produceth the other ; these things which the apostles write , reveale god and christ , and the way of fellowship with them , and by bringing us to this fellowship , they convey unto us this fulnesse of joy and comfort . to apply this in some short confectaries . . how injurious is the superstition of the papists , and that both to the scriptures themselves , and to the people . . to the scriptures , in that they deny to them a perfect sufficiency containing all things necessary to salvation , and that for this reason that th●y might advance the esteem of their unwritten traditions : indeed such traditions as are not fictitious but real , not particular but universal , and clearly appear to be s● , we reject not ; but withall , we assert there are no such traditions delivering any thing necessary to salvation , which is not to be found either in expresse termes , or by evident cons●quences in the holy scriptures , and that i may not wander , we meet with a strong argument to this purpose in my text . that which is able to give us full joy , must not be deficient in any thing which conduceth to our happinesse ; but the holy scriptures give fulness of joy , and therefore the way to happiness is perfectly laid down in them ; the major of this syllogisme is so clear , that it needs no probation : for who can or will deny , that full joy is only to be had in a state of bl●sse ; the minor is plain from this scripture , and may thus be drawne forth . that which the apostles aimed at in , may doubtlesse be attained to by their writings , for they being inspired of god , it is no other then the end that god purposed in inspiring , which they had in writing , and either god himself is wanting in the means which he hath designed for this end , or these writings contain in them , what will yeild fulness of joy , and to that end bring us to a state of blessednesse . . to the people whom they expressely forbid to read the holy scriptures , esteeming the permission of them to the vulgar eye to be the casting of pearls before swine , and the giving holy things to dogs : hence is it that in a seeming reverence to holy writ , and withall a pretended care of the laicks , that they may not wrest the scriptures to their own perdition , they lay upon them a prohibition ; but the truth is , as they are but false friends to the scripture , so in this they are manifest enemies to the people , bereaving them of that comfort which they might have in the reading of those divine books . certainly the apostles intended that their epistles should be read both to and by them , to whom they wrote them : now these you to whom s. john wrote were ordinary christians , dispersed in several countries , such , whom in the second chapt. he calls not only fathers , but young men and children , and the other apostles express●ly direct their epistles , to all that are called to be saints , as well private persons in , as publick officers of the church ; nay yet further , when we consider what singular benefit is to be gained by the reading of the holy scriptures for correction , ●nstruction , and in particular , consolation ; surely it is no small injury , that the church of rome by this prohibition doth to her members , even as great as if the mother should deny the dug to the tender infant . . how odious is the prophanenesse of those christians who neglect the holy scriptures , and give themselves to reading other books ? how many precious hours do many spend , and that not only on workdays , but holy-days , in fool●sh romances , fabulous histories , lascivious poems ? and why this ? but that they may be cheered and delighted , when as full joy is onely to be had in these holy books . alas the joy you find in those writings , is perhaps pernicious ; such as tickleth your lust , and promoteth contemplative wickednesse , at the best it is but vain , such as onely pleaseth the fancie and affecteth the wit ; whereas these holy writings ( to use davids expression ) are right , rejoycing the heart . again , are there not many who more set by plutarchs morals , seneca's epistles , and such like books ; then they do by the holy scriptures ? it is true beloved , there are excellent truths in those moral writings of the heathen , but yet they are far short of these sacred books ; those may comfort against outward trouble , but not against inward fears ; they may rejoyce the mind , but cannot quiet the conscience ; they may kindle some flashy sparkles of joy , but they cannot warm the soul with a lasting fire of solid consolation . and truly brethren , if ever god give you a spiritual ear to judge of things aright , you will then acknowledge there are no bells like to those of aarons , no harp like to that of davids , no trumpet like to that of isaiahs , no p●pes like to those of the apostles , and you will confesse with petrus damianus , that those writings of heathen orators , philosophers , poets , which formerly were so pleasing , are now dull and harsh in comparison of the comfort of the scriptures . . lastly , let us so diligently read , stedfastly beleive , and obediently conform to these writings , that our joy may be full by them . it is very observable , what the prophet ieremy saith concerning himself . thy words were found , and i did eat them , and thy word was to me the joy and rejoycing of my heart ; the word caused in ieremy joy and rejoycing , that is , a full joy , but by what means ; it was by eating it , so must we get comfort in the scriptures by eating , that is , reading , meditating , and applying them to our selves . let then that counsel which st. ambrose giveth , be acceptable to us ; eat , and eat daily of this heavenly manna , that thy hunger may be satisfied , and thy soul nourished to eternal life : remember the advice which st. hierom giveth , whatever joyes and pleasures others may take , let our delights be in the law of the lord. finally , hearken to the exhortation of drogo hostiensis . let not the law depart from thy heart , read and ponder again and again , that thou mayst find the savour of this manna , & with the bee suck the sweetness of these heavenly flowers : and yet more particularly , when thou art cast into any danger , labourest under any affliction , make use of these writings for thy comfort , which are as st. ambrose truly styleth them , the onely refuge in all temptations . excellently to this purpose is that even of a roman bishop , in his exhortation to the clergy ? doth any one labour with ignorance ? these writings are a light to the feet , and a lanthorn to his paths ; do we weep in this valley of tears ? here we may find that which will dry our eyes , and revive our spirit ; doest thou thirst after righteousnesse ? here is a fountain of pure water ? art thou spiritually hungry ? here is the bread which came down from heaven : indeed there is no condition that can befall a christian , to which these holy writings do not afford a sutable and proportioned consolation . i end this therefore with allusion to that expression of the prophet esay , with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation . these wells of salvation , are evangelical truths : so st. hierome spiritual sayings ; so procoptus , oh let us by the bucket of faith draw the water of comfortable doctrine out of those wells , to the joy and solace of our hearts . i have now dispatched the first and most genuine reading of this pronoun , the other ( which the greek scholiast taketh notice of ) would not be altogether passed by , which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a pronoun of the first person , since not onely some greek copies , but the syriack version also so renders it , that our joy might be full . and thus as venerable bede observeth upon these words , it lets us see what is the joy of a godly minister ; namely , when the people by his declaring , preaching , writing , are brought to fellowship with god and christ , and the more they gain to this fellowsh●p , the more is their joy enlarged and filled up . indeed ( that i may borrow seneca's similitudes ) if it cannot but delight the husbandman when he seeth his plants grow , his trees flourish , his fruits ripen , if it must needs rejoyce the shepheard to behold his sheep sound , fat , and fruitfull ; if it glad the heart of a schoolmaster o● tutor to observe his schollers thrive in learning , and increase in knowledge , it must needs be matter of abundant joy to the ministers of the gospel , when they reap the fruit of their labour in the conversion and confirmation of their people . this is that which this holy apostle john , as here , so elsewhere expresseth to be his temper , when writing to the elect lady , the saith , i rejoyced greatly that i found of thy children walking in the truth ; and when writing to the well-beloved gaius , he saith , i have no greater joy then that my children walk in truth , the same spirit lodged in that blessed apostle paul , who calls the philippians his joy and his crown , and the thessalonians his hope , his joy , his crown of rejoycing , his glory and his joy , by which phrases is intimated an exceeding joy , glorying being the height of rejoycing ; nay emperours cannot take greater joy in their crownes , then he did in those of whose conversion god had made him instrumental : nay as if he knew not how enough to be thankful , he breaketh forth into that pathetical question , what thanks can we render to god for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes . to this purpose was that pious speech of an holy bishop to his flock , implestis viscera mea , cum implestis mandata divina ; your fulfilling gods precepts is the filling up of my joy . we read in the parable , of a woman , who having found her lost groat , called her neighbours and friends to rejoyce with her ; that finding the lost groat , is an embleme of a lost sinner gained to christ , and the woman represents the minister who cannot but greatly rejoyce at his being the means of converting any sinner ; indeed as we find afterward in that chapter , there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth ; the truth is , there is joy both in heaven and in earth , whilest both the angels those heavenly ministers , and ministers those earthly angels , rejoyce at the winning of soules to christ. this is the joy of godly ministers for the present , and shall be , yet much more at the last day , in the presence of our lord iesus christ , at his coming , when ( as st. gregrory aptly ) peter shall appear with his converted iews , and paul with his converted gentiles , and all pastors , with their reduced sheep , when they , who have received any spiritual profit by us , shall give in evidence for us , and be as so many pearls set in our crown of glory . oh then , how should we that are the ministers of christ , double , yea , treble our diligence in feeding the flock , according to christs threefold mandate ? how should we bestir our selves in all the wayes , by all the means we can , by preaching , writing , and that in exhorting , reproving , comforting , that we may bring men to this fellowship , since it will be the filling of our joy ? indeed , a lazy careless minister , is not more the peoples , than his own enemy , since as he hindreth their good , so his own comfort : for if it be uncomfortable when we sow much , and reap little , the success not answering our pains , it must needs be much more doleful , when conscience giveth in testimony against us , that we have sowed but little , having been careless and negligent in the discharge of our duty , since whereas the other is but onely a cross , this is a curse , according to that of the prophet ieremy , cursed is he , that doth the work of the lord negligently . but further , oh that you who are the people , would upon this consideration labour to profit , by what we preach and write to you , that hereby you may fill our joy . many of you pretend a great deal of love and respect to us : oh my brethren , if you love us , do not grieve us by your unprofitableness : by your presence , you fill our churches , by your maintenance , you fill our purses : but what is this , if by your obedience you do not fill our joy ? many of you seem to pitty us , when you see us exhausting our spirits , wasting our bodies , weakning our strength in preaching to you : oh then , why do you not refresh our minds , revive our spirits , rejoyce our hearts in requiting our pains , with your fruitfulness ? it is true beloved , our work in it self is difficult , but your hard hearts , are an heavier burden to us , than our hard work . truly if our hearts deceive us not , to finde good wrought upon you by our pains , is the best cordiall you can give us , as that godly father said to his people of antioch , i feel not the weight of my labour , because i am revived by the gain of you that are my auditors . let me then bespeak you my dearly beloved parishiners and auditors this day , in the same language st. paul bespoke his philippians , fulfill you my joy in your endeavour , to profit by my ministery : why shall we , who are evangelical sowers , be forced to complain that we sow our seed , if not among bryars and thorns , which scratch and tear ( the usage that too many have found in these dayes ) yet among stones , so as it yields no fruit ? why do you force us with our preaching and praying , to joyn tears in weeping for , and over you , because of your barreness ? nay , why should we come in at the last day of iudgement as witnesses against you , and be forced to give up our account with grief ? i end all , if on the one hand , you will not be won to christ by our ministery , know that as it is our sorrow , it will be your misery , our heaviness , your unhappyness , if it be uncomfortable to us , it will be unprofitable to you , and if you put us upon a woe of condoling , you will meet with a woe of condemning : and on the other hand , if our ministery be effectual to bring you into fellowship with god and christ , know that it will not only be ours , but your joy ( for so we may put both the readings of this clause together ) we shall have some , and you will have much more cause of comfort in it . for this end it is my brethren , that we shew and declare , and write . oh do not disappoint us of our hopes , and frustrate our desires , but for this cause do you hear , beleive , and obey , that both your and our joy may be full . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. , , . this then is the message which we have heard of him , and declare unto you , that god is light , and in him is no darkness at all . if we say that we have fellowship with him , and walk in darkness , we lie , and do not the truth . but if we walk in the light , as he is in the light , we have fellowship one with another , and the blood of iesus christ his son , cleanseth us from all sin . happiness is the center , in which all mens desires meet , and the mark at which all their intentions shoot ; this is that which every one seeketh after for himself , and which christs apostles and ministers labour after , in regard of their people . the safety of the flock is the shepheards care , the health of the patient , the physitians work , and the peoples salvation , the hearty desire , prayer and endeavour of every faithful preacher : indeed , for this end , they are set as lights , placed as stars in the firmament of the church , that they may guide mens feet into the way of peace , and path of life . true happiness principally , nay , wholly consists in communion and fellowsh●p with god in christ , since he is that summum bonum , chief and universal good , the fruition of which alone , can make us happy : no wonder if st. iohn , with the rest of the apostles , desiring to bring the people to blessedness , labour by their preaching and writing , to make them partakers of this fellowship . but as indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , all things of excellency are attended with difficulty , so is in special this fellowship ; the truth is , to be mistaken in it , is very easie , to partake of it , is very d●fficult , the attainment of it , will undoubtedly make us happy , but withall , it is very hadly attained unto ; good reason then had st. iohn , having signified this fellowship , as that which was the end of his writing , to discuss in his writing at once the marks whereby we may know , and the means whereby we may atain it , with which , he therefore begins in the words that i have now read . this then is the message which we heard of him , &c. having already passed through the preface , we are now to handle the epistle it self ; i shall not stay to give you an exact and particular analysis , or as it were , anatomy of its body , and that chiefly , because our apostle doth not tye himself to a strict , and accurate method , though i doubt not , but in perusing the several chapters , and parcels of it , we shall find a rational connexion and dependance of one upon the other , and all upon the principal scope . it may for the present suffice , to know that the design of this discourse is , to instruct all men professing christianity , how they may try the truth of their prof●ssion . to erect a partition wall discriminating between heretical and orthodox , hypocritical , and sincere christians : finally , to deliver us a boxe of evidences , by which we may clear our interest in communion with god and christ , and thereby our title to eternal life ; and indeed this is that which our apostle implicitely insinuateth in the former verse , since the fulness of our joy must needs ar●se onely from an apprehension of our part in this partnersh●p , and expresly asserteth in the last chapter , where he saith , these things have i written , that you may have eternal life . as for the words which i have now read , our apostle in them giveth us a breviate of what he intends to enlarge upon in the rest of the epistle , summarily proposing what he doth afterwards abundantly exemplifie ; for if you peruse the whole epistle , you shall find ( if not all , yet ) the greatest part spent in one of these three things , either in delineating the steps of the way , whereby we walk in the light ; such as are faith , obedience , contempt of the world , and especially love to god and our brethren , or in declaring the choice priviledges of fellowship with god and christ , namely our justification , adoption , and glorification , or in describing those antichristian hereticks , who pretend to have fellowship with christ , and walk in darkness , so that in few words if you please , we may call these three verses the text , and the rest of the epistle , a commentary upon the text. begin we then now with the text , and in it for our more orderly proceeding be pleased to take a view of the porch and the house , and in the house of the foundation and the superstructure , and in the superstructure of the two rooms , directly opposite one to the other ; the one as it were on the left , the other on the right hand . the porch is contained in those words ; this then is the message which we have heard of him , & declare to you ; the foundation of the house in those ; god is light , and in him is no darkness at all ; and the rooms in the house are on the one hand , the vain presumption abominable lye of those who pretend to have fellowship with god , and walk in darknes ; on the other the assured fellowship with god , and cleansing by christ , of those who walk in the light . of each of these in their order , most humbly beseeching him who is the light to irradiate our minds with his heavenly beams , that we may clearly discern , and effectually embrace those truths which are here set before us . . enter we then into the porch , a clause which for substance and in effect we have already handled , as having met with it in the beginning of the third verse . and truly , were this only a repetition , it would not be supervacaneous , because no endeavour can be too much , as for the informing our apprehensions aright of , so for the confirming our faith in , and assent to evangelical doctrines , indeed it is the policy of the devil , and that which by many wayes he endeavoureth to cause in us both a misunderstanding of , and hesitation about gospel truths . it was the stratagem he used with our first parents , to beget in them a questioning , and then a denial of the veritie of gods saying , and it is still his practice to make us either totally deny or causelesly doubt of divine writings ; no marvaile if the apostle , not once , but again , ; nay ( as lorinus observeth ) thrice inculcates that what he was now to write , was no other then what he had heard . but as this is a repetition , so with some addition , & it is such an iteration as admits of variation , if you please to compare this with the precedent paralel clause , you shall find a noun & pronoun here added , whereas before it is only that which , here it is the message which , and whereas there it is only that which we have heard ; here it is that which we have heard of him , so that here are two things to be discussed de novo , which is , what it is that hearing they declared a message , & of whom they received it , of him , & yet there is one thing more not touched before , because it more fitly falls in , now , the persons who did hear of him , and declare to us . we . that which the apostles heard is here called a message : so our translation renders it : as also beza ? and the vulgar latine version ; according to which grotius tells us in one manuscript , it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; socinus would have us beleive a mistake in the scribe of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and that it should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the noun of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is the verb our apostle useth here for declaring . but the usuall reading in the greek copie is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and that in its most known acception signifieth a promise , nor ( though i confesse i am almost alone in it ) do i see any reason why we should decline the word , or its usual signification ; nay indeed ( at least to me ) it seemeth very congruous and sutable . for . it is the word which out apostle afterwards useth , when he speaketh of the same thing , that which they had heard from the beginning , presently addes , this is the promise which he hath promised , and so we have heard . . but chiefly it is that which very aptly agreeth with the context , whether you look backward or forward . in the former verse , the apostle acquaints the people that his end in writing these things was , that their joy might be full ; and here he tells us what those things were that would bring this fulnesse of joy , to which purpose he calleth them not barely a message , but a promise ; which is a message of glad tidings , able to fill our joy . . if you look on what immediately followeth , god is light , and in him is no darkness● , though for this reason , that signification of promise is rejected , because those words are assertory , not promissory : yet a late writer hath observed ( ingeniously , though not so solidly ) a congruencie even in these words ; because light represents the communicative goodness of god ; here is a tacite & virtual promise , assuring us , that god is ready to cast forth the beames of his grace and mercie on us . . but i conceive in this lieth the mistake of interpreters , that they understand this message to consist in the words immediately subsequent , whereas if we examine it more narrowly , we shall find the substance of the message to be laid down in the seventh verse , to which the term of promise fitly agreeth , it being a manifest promise of fellowship with god , and cleansing by christ to them who walk in the light ; and this is illustrated in the sixth verse by a redargution of that lying promise which presumptuous sinners who walk in darkness , make to themselves of having fellowship with god. and as for those words in the fifth verse , god is light , and in him is no darkness ; they are apparantly premised as a proof of the promise and , confirmation of the message ( for which reason i call them in the division the foundation of the building ) & accordingly that greek particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being as well causall as declarative , may be fitly , and is so rendred by the vulgar latin quoniam , because , and the sence will amount to this , because god is light , and in him is no darkness : therefore they , and they onely who walk in the light , being thereby like to him , can or shall have fellowship with him , cleansing by his son ; and this is the promise which have heard of him . this word , and thereby somewhat of the sense of the whole being thus cleared to us ; i cannot pass it over without a double note , wel worthy our serious consideration . . the nature of the gospels message , it is a promise . . the tenure of this promise , it is conditional . . the syriack word here used signifieth gospel , the greek , promise : indeed the gospel in its chief design is promissory , it is not only an historical narration of something done , but of this as done for us , and so a promissory declaration of gods good will towards us ; the prot●vangelium , first gospel preached by god to fallen adam , is a plain promise , the seed of the wooman shall break the serpents head ; nor is there any promise now made to man , but what is contained in the gospel . the law is a denunciation of wrath , of a curse against us , because of trangression ; onely the gospel is an annunciation of mercy and forgivenes ; that breatheth forth only a cold blast , a northwind of threatening ; this sendeth forth a warm gale , a south-wind of promise . a promise it is , and that not of paying a debt , but bestowing a gift : mans promise is ofttimes an act of justice , but gods , of meer grace and free love , and therefore it is that his purpose of which the gospel-promise is the counterpane , is joyned with grace , and that speciall promise of the gospel forgiveness of sin , is said to be according to the riches of his grace ; yea one appellation given to the gospel is , that it is called the word of gods grace , because it manifesteth his free grace to sinners . and indeed if we beleive the greek critick , this truth is wrapt up in the very word there used , this being the difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that the latter is onely a promise of what is due , but the former of what is free . a promise it is , and that such as hath many promises in the womb of it , and those as the apostle peter calls them , exceeding great and precious , not of temporals , but spiritualls ; nay eternals . fellowship with god , remission , adoption , eternal life ; what not ? are the choice and precious benefits which this promise revealeth and offereth to us ; indeed it is a treasury of divine riches , a store-house of the soules provision , a cabinet of heavenly pearles , all things truly good , and justly desireable , being contained in , and conveyed to us by this promise , oh let us learn to set an high value upon evangelical doctrine . thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name , saith the psalmist , thou hast magnified thy gospel above all thy word , may we say ; and that upon this ground , because it is promissory revelation ; surely if the whole word of god be as milk , the promising part is as the cream of that milk ; if that be as a firmament of starres , this is as the sun in that firmament . finally , if that be as a feast , this is the sweetest dish in that feast . desire saith the apostle peter , the sincere milk of the word ( meaning the gospel ) if you have tasted that the lord is gracious ; indeed we may taste the verity of god in all his words ; the equity of god in his commands , the severity of god in his threats : but we onely taste the mercy of god how gracious he is in the evangelical promises ; and surely tasting , we cannot but singularly esteem , and fervently desire it . . calvin and grotius make the sense of these words , this is the promise ; to intend thus much . the promise which we bring to you hath this condition annexed to it , to wit , of walking in the light ; and therefore it is expressed with an if , an hypothetical conjunction ; that then , which we have further to take notice of , and would by no means be omitted , is , that the promise of the gospel is conditional ; it is a position with a supposition , nor are the benefits in it granted absolutely , but respectively . it is a question moved by some how the promise can be free and yet cnoditional , not considering the difference between a meritorious cause , for which a thing ought to be , and a necessary condition , without which it cannot be effected ; were there a proportion of equality between the thing promised , and required , the promise could not be free , but the evangelical condition is such only , as maketh us meet for , not worthy of the thing promised , and therefore hath onely a proportion of congruity . mercy then is the spring from whence the promise floweth , but duty is the channel in which it runneth down to us . the primarie design of the law was precept , commanding us to do , though there was annexed to it a promise , which upon doing what was commanded , we should receive . the principal scope of the gospel is promise , revealing what god is pleased to do for us , yet so , as that there are precepts annexed to it , which require somewhat to be done by us , that we may obtain the promise . what then god hath joyned together , let not us put asunder : the most of us with malchus have but one eare to hear the promise , but not the precept of the gospel ; we like well to gather the rose , and suck the hony of a promise , but the condition we hate as the pricles and sting ; we would gladly have the priviledge assured , and yet we abhorre the duty required , but be not deceived , if you will have the one , you must do the other . god will not fulfill his part , unlesse we perform ours ; and therefore it is in vain to expect an accomplishment of his promise , but on his own terms ▪ in fine , the gospel is a promise , let us not be so unthankful unto god and christ , as to reject it : it is a conditional promise , let us not be so injurious to our selves , as to misapply it . . the apostles heard this message of him : if you ask , of whom ? the answer is to be fetched from the end of the third verse , the father and his son jesus christ ; it would not be passed by , that the apostle speaking of two persons ; nay implicitely of all three , useth the singular number , saying , not which we heard of them , but him ; from which though socinus would only gather an unity of will & affection , yet the orthodox conclude an unity of essence and nature . the multitude of beleevers were of one heart in the primitive times , and one soul , yet it would have been very improper to have spoken of them , as one man , but inasmuch as the father and the son , though two persons , ●ave one and the same essence , it was very proper to use the singular number , that which we have heard of him . that which we are here to take notice of is , . partly , that these apostles heard before they declared . it is very observable , that in the hebrew tongue , the same verb in kal signifieth to learn , and in piel to teach , and the same noun signifieth both an hearing , and a report ; and indeed the greeks use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the latines auditio in the same sense ; whereby is intimated to us , that we must be hearers , ere we be speakers , learners , ere we be teachers , scholars , before we be tutors . and i could heartily wish that this consideration might be a check to the inconsiderate rashnesse of those giddy heads in this age , who never sate at gamaliels feet , and yet step into moses his chaire ; and though they have scarce learned any thing themselves at either school or academy , adventure to teach the people in these sacred oratories . . chiefly , that what they declared to the world , was no other then what they heard from christ , this is that which as s. john asserteth here , so s. paul elsewhere concerning himselfe : that which i have received of the lord , i have delivered unto you ; and in another place , not i but the lord : thus it was with the apostles , and thus it was with the prophets , who uttered nothing but what was by god revealed to them , and therefore you find them very often bringing in , sic dicit dominus , thus saith the lord. . it is an item to ministers , that our faithfulnesse appear in delivering as wholly , so only the counsell of god , the mind of christ , revealed in his word to the people , whilest jesuites declare what they hear from the pope , as accounting him infallible , whilest enthusiasts declare what they hear from the devill , mistaking his delusions for the spirits inspirations ; let the ministers of christ declare nothing but what they hear ; though not immediately , yet mediately from christ : oh far be it from us to pretend to be his messengers , and yet to vent our own inventions , and preach our own fancies : what ambassadour dare deliver any thing to a forraign prince but what the king his master giveth him in charge ; oh let us who are the ambassadours of christ , declare nothing but that message with which he sends us . . it is a document to the people , that the apostolical writings , and our preaching according to them be received by you with faith and reverence , because they are no other then the dictates of christ ; indeed whose authority should prevaile if not christs ? and with whom ? if not the church : it is the character of christs sheep , that they know his voyce , and follow it ; we need not fear that he who is the way will cause us to wander , who is the truth will cause us to erre , who is the faithful witness , will go about to deceive us : so long as we speak the truth in and from christ , and lye not , do you beleeve and doubt not . . the wee to whom christ was pleased to impart this message , and by whom he declared it to the world , would be considered ; and that especially in respect of their mean and low condition : if you look upon s. john and the rest of these holy apostles with a carnal eye , there was nothing in them which might render them worthy of so high a prerogative : they were poor rude illiterate despised fishermen ; and who were they that christ should imploy them to be his ambassadours ? kings do not use to send beggars and pesants of their errands , but christ was pleased to make use of these contemptible persons for his embasie . in this respect it is the apostle saith , we have this treasure in earthen vessels ; not golden or silver , but earthen vessels , are chose by christ for the receiving and communicating of this heavenly treasure of the gospel . indeed , whether you look on things or persons , still they are mean and despicable , which christ imployeth in his service . as the prophet from god appointed the water of iordan to be the means of curing naamans leprosy , so hath our lord christ instituted water and bread and wine , common ordinary creatures , to be the pledges of his love , and conduit-pipes of his grace to the church ; and as common things , so ordinary persons are thought fittest by him to be imployed in his work ; indigent ignorant fishermen must be the publishers of his gospel to the world . it is that which lets us see the freeness , the strangeness , and the wisdom of divine dispensations . . the freeness , in that as the apostle speaketh , there is no respect of persons with god , it is not external qualifications that christ looketh at , the poor as well as the rich , the simple as soon as the wise , the base as easily as the noble are accepted of him ; nay many times he passeth by these , and chooseth those . . the strangeness , in that it is so contrary to the dictates of carnal reason , who would not have thought it the most probable way of spreading the gospel , if christ had imployed the scribes that were learned in the law , and the rulers of the people to have been the publishers of it ; but gods wayes are not as our wayes , neither are his thoughts as ours ; he loves to tread in uncouth paths , and for the most part such as are crosse to our reason . . the wisdom , in that this serveth much to magnifie his own name , look as the lesse aptitude there is in the matter , so the lesse energie , there is in the instrument ; so much the greater doth the skill , power , and causality of the efficient appear , the less there is of men in any work , the more of god is seen . to do so great a work as the publishing and promoting of christian religion , by such weak instruments as the apostles were , cannot but highly advance the honour of christ , since as s. paul speaketh , hereby the excellency of the power is manifested to be of god and not of man. . and thus i have given you a view of the porch , be pleased now to go into the house , and therein to take a survey of the . foundation , as it is laid down in those words , god is light , and in him is no darkness at all ; if we consider these words in their utmost latitude , they are both a position and a probation , but this latter i shall defer to the following words . for the more full handling of this clause as a position , be pleased to observe something , both more general and more speciall . . in generall , the words are a metaphoricall description of god : for beloved , when the apostle saith , god is light , we must not think that the nature of god is the same with that of light ; indeed as st. austin well observeth , the sun is light , and the moon is light , and the other stars are light , but far be it from us to imagine that the creators essence is the same with the creatures , but something far more choice and excellent ; only by light as a similitude the apostle would represent something of god to us ; and thus it is not unworthy our consideration . that . the metaphor which st. iohn maketh choice of , is drawn from a thing very obvious and familiar to us : indeed , as one saith well , light is that then which nothing is more unknown , and yet nothing more known , being that which is visible to every eye ; and in this respect , the fitter to illustrate god by , that by what we do know , we may be instructed concerning him , whom we do not know . it is a fit pattern for all ministers to follow , whose work is not to make plain things hard ( as too many do ) but to make hard things plain ; and therefore to draw their similitudes from common and manifest things , such as may not cast a vail over , but give a lustre to the truth they deliver . indeed , the end of these similitudes , is chiefly to help the minde in conceiving , and the memory , in retainning what is by them represented ; now familiar comparisons are both more quickly understood , and easily remembred , and therefore ought espeoially to be used . . the apostle endeavouring to instruct us concerning the creator , borroweth a resemblance from the creature . indeed , as the apostle paul speaketh , there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , something to be known of god by the creatures , the earth , and every pile of grass that groweth out of it , but much more the heavens , and the beams of light that flow from it , declare the glory of god. god hath vouchsafed somewhat of his excellencies to the creatures , and therefore in them we may , nay , ought to read something of god , and that not onely in respect of his being , but attributes . oh let us study this divine art , learn this spiritual alchimy , to extract heaven out of earth , god out of the creature ; that as we behold the works of his hand , so we may in and by them , see the excellency of the worker . it is a known maxime in philosophy , omnis cognitio fit per sensum , all naturall knowledge entereth into the minde by the sense ; and it is thus far true in divinity , that spiritual knowledge may be helped by the sense : happy is that man , who maketh the things which he seeth , as so many stayres , by which his contemplation goeth up to god , whom he doth not see . . in particular , this metaphoricall description of god is set forth both affirmatively , god is light ; and negatively , in him is no darkness at all ; and both may be construed two wayes , to wit , as spoken of god , considered either , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in himself , or in his influences . . in himself . and that . affirmatively , god is light . and thus , . this metaphor of light ( though but darkly ) shadoweth forth the trinity , the father being as the body of light , the son as the beams , the holy ghost , as the splendor of both . dyonisius illustrateth it by the similitude of three candles , enlightning one and the same room : damascen of the parelii , when there appear as it were three , and yet it is but one sun ; some have observed a resemblance of it in the hebr●w , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the latine , lux , which signifie light , all of which are monosyllables , consisting of three letters ; and in the hebrew word they observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the beginning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth the father , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the beginning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifieth the spirit , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the middle letter , may aptly represent the son , which is the middle person , especially being neer of kin to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the first letter of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifieth the son ; but as i would not altogether contemn , so neither do i much delight in such kind of observations ; and besides , it is no doubt aliene from the apostles scope , to intend by this metaphor , a resemblance of the trinity . . that therefore which is to be considered , is , in what respects this metaphor of light doth resemble the nature and attributes of god. and there are severall attributes of god , which are aptly delineated in the various properties of light . . the light , of all bodies , is the most immateriall and incompounded , whereby the simplicity and spirituality of gods nature may be insinuated , which is void not onely of all matter , but of all composition . . the light is the first of all the creatures , which we find mentioned in the beginning of genesis ; the first thing that god said on the first day of the creation was , let there be light , and this shadoweth forth the eternity of gods being , who is both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the first and the last , before all other things whatsoever . . the light sh●neth in all parts of the world , east , west , north , south , every way scattering its rayes : and what is this but an emblem of the ubiquity of gods presence , who is in all places , filling heaven and earth ? . the light is a creature of a resplendent beauty and lustre , by reason of which , it is apt to dazle the eyes of the beholder , and this sets forth gods transcendent majesty and glory , in which respect , he is said to cover himself with light as with a garment , and to dwell in the light , which no man can approach unto . . the light is of that nature , that it cannot but impart it self for the good of others , shining upon the just and unjust ; and this characterizeth the diffusive goodness of god , whereby it is that as he is good , so he doth good , and that to all . but there are more particularly two attributes , which light doth clearly discover , and which may agree to the scope of the apostle , especially the latter . . the light is of a discovering nature , so that nothing can be hid from the heat thereof , it pryeth into every corner , it peepeth in at every crevis , so that all things are made manifest by it ; in which respect , it mindeth us of gods omniscience , whereby it is , that all things are naked and open to him , even things that are most secret . to thee , saith david , the darkness and the light are all one , because god seeth in the dark , as plainly as in the light , by his own light he revealeth the deep and secret things ; he knoweth what is in the darkness , and the light dwelleth with him saith daniel , finally , i try the reins saith god of himself , our minds being as apparent to him as the intrailes of a beast are to us , when the body is ripped up . it is a truth well worthy our meditation , that we may be hereby admonished to take heed to our wayes ; indeed , in this respect , that which is appropriated to good men , is true of all men , they walk in the light , to wit , of gods omniscience ; and oh then , how carefu● should we be of our walk ? alas , how vainly do hypocrites please themselves in the secrecy of their actions , and perhaps perswade themselves , that god himself taketh no notice of their doings ; whereas his eyes are upon the ways of man , and he seeth all his goings , there is no darknes nor shadow of death , where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves , saith elihu concerning god , indeed , as st. ambrose excellently , if thou canst not hide thy self from the sun , which is gods minister of light , how impossible will it be to hide thy self from him , whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the sun. . but to draw neer the apostles scope , light is a pure defaecate body , a bright spotless splendor ; though it shine upon filthy dunghils , it contracts no pollution , but still retaineth its pure lustre . and by this aptly is represented the holiness and purity of god. that expression of the prophet malachy concerning christ , giveth much light to this truth , when he calleth him a sun of righteousness ; since what the sun is in sensibles , that is , god among inteligibles ; and what light is in the sun , that is righteousness and holiness is in god ; this is that attribute by which god is often called in scripture , the holy god , and the holy one ; yea , the angels double , nay treble it , holy , holy , holy ; it is an attribute so essential to god , that every thing so far as it hath relation to god , is said to be holy , his name holy , his word holy , his works holy , his day an holy day , his temple an holy place , his ministers holy persons , and all because he is a pure and holy god. . for the better illustrating of this perfect purity and sanctity of god ; it is that our apostle goeth on , and to his affirmative addeth a negative , in him is no darkness at all . zanchy hath observed concerning this clause , that it may be referred both to the predicate , and the subject of the former proposition , and so may be rendred in it , or in him . in it , to wit , the light , there is no darkness , and so it is as much as if said , god is a most bright l●ght ; for look as the darkness which hath no light at all , is a thick aegyptian cymmerian darkness , so that l●ght which hath no darkness , must needs be a most a clear splendid l●ght ; but i rather refer it with our translators to the subject god ( though the difference is not materiall ) in him is no darkness at all . before i proceed , a stumbling block would be removed , that seeming contradiction of the psalmist , to this of st. iohn , where he saith concerning god , he made darkness his secret place ; but it is easily reconciled , since that darkness onely noteth the inscrutable and incomprehensible majesty of god ; and it is to be understood of him in reference to us , not himself . in respect of us , because we cannot comprehend him , darkness is his secret place , but in regard of himself , the purity of his own nature , he is light and not darkness , as the sun , though it be sometimes hid from us by dark clouds , remaineth still in it self most light some . and now if you would know the intent of this negative , it is but the more strongly to affirm the contrary ; this is an usuall way of expression in the hebrew , as beza observeth from that speech of isaiah to hezekiah , thou shalt dye , thou shalt not live ; and of david concerning himself , i have preached , and have not refrained , i have not hid , i have declared , and it is a form of speaking very usual with st. iohn , as you may find in the very next verse , and several other places of the epistle , which it shall suffice ( because it here first appeareth ) once for all to take notice of . this appearing to be the scope , the meaning is no more but this , god is light , and in him is no darkness , that is , god is so pure , that not the least , the smallest spot can cleave to him ; so holy , that not any sin at all can be found in him ; as there is no defect in his knowledge , so there is no default in his nature , and to this tend those expressions of moses , he is a god of truth , and without iniquity , just and right is he ; and of david , he is my rock , and there is no unrighteousness in him ; and again , thou art not a god that hath pleasure in wickedness , neither shall evil dwell with thee . indeed the gods of the heathen were such as had been impure filthy men ; and therefore , as one of themselves argueth , no gods : but the true god cannot be charged with any iniquity ; nay , as carthusian enlargeth it , because it may be said of the angels that stand , and the saints that are glorified , they have no darkness of sin at all in them : in god there is not so much as a defectibility , or mutability , which yet is in the creatures , if considered in themselves , because of their dependency , though the reducing of it into act is impossible , in regard of their plenary confirmation in the state of bliss : god then , as aquinas excellently , is a pure , a most pure act , without the least potentialitie : and so this in the highest sense , agreeth to him , and to him onely , he is light , and in him is no darkness at all . . these words are true of god ; not onely formally , but causally ; in himself , but in regard of his influence , and that in both the clauses . . god is light , that is , according to st. iames expression , the father of lights : so that whatever light there is in any creature , it is but a ray , a beam of his excellency . that distinction of a threefold kinde of light is very considerable to this purpose , there is lux light . illuminata & non illuminans , enlightned and not enlightning , to wit , the air . illuminata & illuminans , enlightned , and enlightning , such is the moon . illuminans & non illuminata , enlightning , but not enlightned , and this is the sun. it is that which may fitly be applyed here , all christians are lights as the air , ministers are lights as the moon , but onely god is light as the sun , to wit , receiving no light from any other , and communicating to others what light they have ; and this exposition zanchy conceiveth most sutable to the apostles meaning in this place , making the paralell to run thus . look as the l●ght where it ariseth , and displayeth its beams , expels darkness , with all the effects of it , and maketh all to be clear and lightsome , so doth god to all them who have fellowship with him , impart the light of his grace , so that they can no longer walk in the darkness of sin ; and though i conceive that the apostles aim , is chiefly to describe the purity of gods nature in himselfe , and thereby the repugnancy of walking in darknesse , and consonancy of walking in the light , to him ( both because this carrieth in it a full sense , correspondent to the apostles intention , and also because the phrases of no darkness in him , and afterwards his being in the light , do intimate that these words are to be understood rather subjectivè , then effectivè ; of what god is in himself , then what he doth to us ) yet withall i cannot but acknowledge this construction , to be both pious and ingenuous . . and accordingly the sense of the other clause in him is no darkness at all , amounts to this that he is not , cannot be the cause of any darkness . it is true , god is said in scripture to create darknesse as well as to form light , but that is the darkness of calamity , not of iniquity ; it is true , god hath an hand even in the darkness of sin , so far as to limit it , how far it shall spread , and no farther ; as to permit , that it shall be , & suffer men to walk in it , as judicially to withhold the light of his grace from them who love darkness rather then light , whereby they plunge themselves into greater darkness . finally , so as to bring light out of the darkness , good out of evill , and make all the darkness of sin tend accidentally to illustrate the glory of his own wisdom , justice , and mercy , but still farre be it from him to be any way an impelling cause of any wickedness . indeed these two do one necessarily flow from the other , there is no darkness in , therefore none can be from him ; nil dat quod non habet , is a known rule in phylosophy ; no cause can communicate to another what it hath not in it self : surely then , god having no darkness in himselfe , cannot be any cause of it in us . besides , he is an hater , an avenger of darkness , and it cannot consist with his justice to be a punisher of it , were he himself the authour . in a word , it is impossible that the same cause should directly produce contrary effects : can the same fountain send forth sweet and bitter , fresh and salt water ; no more can god who is light , and the natural cause of light be the author of darkness . to draw to an end in a word of application . . our apostle here implicitely teacheth us by what means we may come to know something of god ; indeed those three ways which the schools mention of knowing god , per viam causalitatis , eminentiae & remotionis , by way of efficiency , eminency , and remotion , are all to be found in this scripture . we know god by way of causality , when we assert him the prime , supreme , universal cause of all good whatsoever ; we know him by way of eminency , when we attribute to god whatsoever perfection or worth there is in any or all the creatures , and that as being in him after a more eminent manner . finally , we know god by way of remotion , when we deny of him whatever imperfection and defect is observable in the creature . a taste of all these our apostle here giveth us , since if we understand the words both formally and causally , he proclaimeth him the cause of that light and beauty , and excellency that is in us ; he attributeth to him that which is the most noble among inanimate creatures , light ; and he removeth from him darknesse , which is a defect and deformity . . learn we with this holy apostle to have high and holy thoughts of god , as most pure and free from all pollution . indeed there have not wanted such sonnes of belial who have charged god with sin ; as the luciferians who blame god for dooming lucifer to eternal darknes ; the talmud which blasphemously forgeth the new moons , as appointed for an expiation of a fault in the deity , of taking away the light from the moon , and giving it to the sun ; and too many there have been who charge their own sins upon god ; as plautus brings in a deboyst wretch pleading for himselfe , dii voluerint , and st. augustine speaketh of some jewes who would say , when they had done any crime , deus voluit . oh let all such opinions be to us , as they were to that father , detestable and abominable ; and as st. basil adviseth , though gods counsels may many times seem strange to our reason , yet let that axiom be firmly rooted in our minds , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that no evill can come from the good god , no darknesse from him who is light . indeed there are two attributes of god wherein he especially delights , his mercy and his holinesse . oh let us take heed how we diminish the one , or deface the other , when we speak of god after the manner of men , as we represent his power by the arm , his mercy by the bowels , his justice by the hand , so his holinesse by the face . oh how great an injury must he needs account it , if we shall throw dirt in his face ? and therefore remember the caution of s. iames , let no man say when he is tempted , that he is tempted of god , for god tempteth no man , neither can he be tempted . . lastly , let us learn of whom to seek whatsoever light we stand in need of : every good and every perfect gift ( saith the forementioned apostle ) commeth down from above ; we must shine in his beam , be kindled at his flame , and be lighted by his torch . like the moon we are dark bodies , till the glory of the lord arise upon us ; if we lack any light of wisdom , of grace , of comfort ; we must ask it of , and onely expect it from god. and therefore in a sense of our own darknesse , let us sue to him , for that spiritual illumination , which may guide and conduct us , through the wildernesse of this world , till we come to the heaven of heavens , where god in an especial manner , is the light of it , and in his light we shall see light ; even the light of his face in glory for ever . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . if we say we have fellowship with him , and walk in darkness , we lie , and do not the truth . it is an undoubted truth , that all parcels of holy writ , are alike in respect of their divine authority , and un-erring verity . but it is as true , that there is some difference between them in respect of clear perspicuity and beneficiall utility , some parts of scripture , being as more plain , so more useful then others . such no doubt are those upon which the holy ghost , hath as it were set a mark , and to which he hath affixed an asterisme . thus when we meet with a selah in the close , or a verily , verily , in the beginning of any sentence , and yet when we find any dignifying clause placed in the front or rere of any discourse , it is no doubt the spirits intention to put us hereby on a more serious consideration on such scriptures , as containing somewhat in them of more then ordinary importance . no doctrine more fundamentally necessary to be beleeved , then tha● of salvation by christ incarnate ; and therefore st. paul doth not barely assert it , but prefixeth an encomium before it , this is a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation : no lesson more needful to be learned by a beleever then that of maintaining good works , and therefore the same apostle calling upon beleevers to learn it , annexeth a preface , this is a faithful saying , and these things i will , that thou affirm constantly . and surely upon this very account we have a great deal of reason to look upon this present text , as neerly concerning us , since we find the doctrines of it ushered in with an exordium , this is the message which we have heard of him , and declare to you , &c. . having already led you through the porch , and given you a view of the foundation , i hope i shall not need to go back and take a re-view ; passe we therefore into the rooms of this fabrick , which are a reproof and a promise , the one in the sixth , the other in the seventh verse , that is ; as it were on the left hand inhabited by those whom christ will one day place on his left hand , to wit , presumptuous hypocrites , and the other on the right , i●habited by those who shall be set on christs right hand , namely sincere and holy christians . . the reproofe is that i am now to beginne with , concerning which ( before i fall upon particulars ) it will not be amiss to observe in general , that it is at once both sharp and milde , discovering those two graces to be sweetly conjoyned in this apostle ( which it is pity they should in any be severed ) zeal & discretion , the one making him faithful , and the other gentle in framing his reprehension . . on the one hand it is very considerable , what plainness of speech st. iohn useth in this reproof ; he is not meal mouth'd , but sharp tongued , in home and down right language he telleth these sinners their own . it might have sufficed the apostle to say , they who walk in darkness , can have no fellowship with god ; but see , he useth more harsh terms , giving them the lye , who say they have fellowship with god , and walk in darkness : we s●y in our english proverb , a lye deserveth the stab ; it is accounted by all nations an high offence , to tell a man he lyeth : but the zeal of this holy man maketh him bold and sharp in his expressions . how well doth fervent vehemency become a minister in all his addresses to the people , but especially when he reproveth ? some in dealing with sinners , and rebuking their sins , are like men that handle thorns , as if they durst not touch them ; they are loath to rub too much upon their auditors sores , and dare not peirce them to the quick : but surely as a cold and heartless petitioner , beggeth a deniall ; so a cold and heartless reprover , doth but harden and hearten the sinner in his evill ways . st. paul bids titus , not onely to reprove , but to do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sharply ; so our translators , cuttingly , so the force of the originall : like good chyrurgions , that lance and search the sore to the bottom : indeed , a pittifull cruelty , is far better than a cruell pitty , yea , and there is found health in those smart wounds . and indeed , if we consider with whom our apostle had to do , we shall find it was not without just reason , that he is so bitter against them . it is the counsell of st. iude concerning offenders , of some have compassion , making a difference , but others save with fear , pulling them out of the fire ; we must put a difference in the persons whom we reprove , and accordingly , put a difference in our reproofs ; those who offend through infirmity , and declare themselves penitent , are to be rebuked with lenity , least they be swallowed up of grief and dispair ; but others we must save with fear , that is , by terrifying them with threats , and with a loving violence , plucking them out of the fire of those destructive courses . such are all obstinate trangressors , who offending hainously , are to be checked severely , to whom ( when they spurn at our rebukes ) we returne st. austins answer , when you amend your lives , we shall mend our language . more especially of this kinde , are presumptuous hypocrites , a sort of men with whom our apostle had here to do , and which of all others , deserve to be roughly handled , and that upon a double ground ; the hainousness of their sin , and the highness of their self conceit . . hypocrites are the worst of sinners ; we may wrong a wicked man , in calliing him an hypocrite , but we cannot injure an hypocrite , in calling him a wicked man : what the moralist saith of the ungratefull , is as true of the hypocriticall person , he is a very sink of all filth . hypocrites are not onely the children of the devill , but as it were , his first born ; malus ubi bonum se simulat , tunc est pessimus , a bad man is then really worst , when he is seemingly best . no wonder if such sinners find what they so well deserve , tart and severe rebukes from the mouths of gods messengers . . besides , hypocrites , though the worst of men , have the best conceits of themselves , and it is no easie matter to take them off ; they are pure in their own eyes , though they be not washed from their filthiness , and being miserably poor , account themselves rich , and increased with goods ; they lull themselves asleep , sing a requiem to their souls , soothing up themselves with an omnia benè , so that there is need of loud cryes to awaken them . indeed , penitent sinners are sharp to themselves , and therefore gods ministers must use lenitives to them ; but arrogant hypocrites are indulgent to themselves , and therefore they must apply corrasives to them ; no man needs a more severe reprover , then the self flatterer . it is then a fit item for all ministers , when they have to do with hypocrites , to rebuke them sharply . true indeed , though none more need reproof , yet none are more unwilling to hear and bear it , than they . this sort of men , commonly have bryars hanging at their ears , to scratch those who deal roughly with them : condemn the feigned showes , seeming professions of hypocrites , and they will presently decry you as a scoffer at religion , railer against the godly party , and an enemy to the saints ▪ but we must not neglect our duty , what misconstruction soever they are pleased to put upon it ; we have the pattern of christ himself , who speaking to the scr●bes and phar●sees , hypocrites , useth upbraiding language ; whilest he compareth them to wolves in sheeps cloathing , to whited sepulchres , yea , to serpents and vipers , denounceth severe woes against them , and in his epistle to philodelphia , mentioning those who were dissembling iews , he accounts them worthy of no better names than lyars , and the synagogue of satan . this was the practice of his forerunner , iohn the baptist , who observing the hypocritical pharisees to come to his baptism , resembleth them to the most venemous creatures , and calleth them a generation of vipers : finally , this is the example which this other iohn , his beloved disciple here sets us , giving hypocrites ( and that no less justly than sharply ) the lye . . on the other hand , it is no less observable , that st. iohn in directing his reproof , useth not the second , but the first person , saying , not if you , but if we ; by which his intent ( no doubt ) is to demonstrate the impartiality of his spirit , that if he , or any other of the apostles , could or should be guilty of this fault , he would be no less severe to himself and them , then he was to these hypocrites ; by this means he plainly lets them see that these words were not written in passion , much less out of any hatred to their persons , but onely to their practice ; since he is no more violent against them , than he would be against himself upon the same , occasion : hereby the edg● of his reproof was much taken off , which otherwise might have been too sharp , and the potion sweetned , which else might have proved too bi●ter . it is a singular skill , and prudence in a reprover , so to qualifie his severest censures , as they may appear to be free from either wrath or malice . indeed , froward , and much more malicious reproofs , do not corrigere , but corrodere , instead of healing , fret the sore , like too much winde , instead of increasing , put out the flame of devotion . to take off all such suspicions , and to render reproof the more acceptable , it is that the messengers of god have found out several wayes of mitigating their reproofs : for this end it was , that moses composed his tart reprehension of israels ingratitude , in the form of a song , that nathan coming to david upon an harsh errand , begins it with a parable . finally , that st , paul rebuking the faction of the corinthians , transfers it in a figure to himself ; and accordingly here st ▪ iohn useth the first person , if we say , &c. having thus taken a survey of this room at large , come we now to the several partitions contained in it . and there are three things which our apostle discovereth in this reprehension concerning these hypocrites . the impiety of their practice , they walk in darkness . the eminency of their profession , they say they have fellowship with god. the incongruity of their profession to their practice , they ly● , and their practice to their profession , they do not the truth . these are the three paths , through which , my discourse , and your attention must walk , beseeching god for the light of his holy spirit , that i may speak , you may hear , all of us may do the truth , and so none of us come under the censure of the text , for walking in darkness , and not doing the truth . . the impiety of their practice , is that which is described by that metaphorical phrase , of walking in darkness : for the right understanding whereof , we shall take a short view of both the metaphors , to wit , darkness and walking , there being in both an emphatical significancy . . for the better illustrating of this term darkness , be pleased to take notice , that there is a fourfold darkness , namely , naturae ignorantiae , miseriae , nequitiae of nature , of ignorance , of misery , and of iniquity . . darkness of nature ( properly and litterally so called ) is the absence of light ; when the sun taketh its leave of our horizon , and all things are envellopped in the sable mantle of the night , then we justly say it is dark : of this darkness moses speaketh , when he sayeth , god made two great lights , to divide the light from the darkness , and this was the curse iob wished , upon the day wherein he was born , that it might be darkness . . darkness when used in a borrowed sense , serveth to represent in scripture a state , . of ignorance in divine matters , when the minde is destitute of spiritual knowledge , unacquainted with the mysteries of salvation . what is it , but as it were , wrapt up in darkness ? in this darkness , the gentiles , before the coming of christ , are said to sit , and in this respect , the ephesians are said to be sometimes darkness , to wit , in their unregeneracy . . of misery , and that of all sorts , temporall , spiritual and eternal ▪ when the psalmist speaketh of some who sit in darkness , he presently explaineth himself of those who are bound in affliction ; and more especially , when iob speaketh of a land of darkness , he manifestly intendeth the grave and its forerunner , death , the last , but not the least , nay , the greatest of all temporal evils . when the prophet isaiah mentioneth , one that feareth the lord and obeyeth his voyce walking in darknesse and seeing no light no doubt he is principally to be understood of the darkness of spiritual desertion , when god withholdeth the light of his countenance from the soul. finally , when we frequently read in the new testament of utter darkness , the mist of darkness , blackness of darkness , what else do those phrases mean , but the damneds everlasting misery , in being wholly deprived of the beatifical vision . . of iniquity , in this respect it is , that the power of sin ruling in mens hearts , is called the power of darkness , and the works of sin which they act in their lives , are called the works of darkness , especially , flagitious enormities , such as rioting and drunkenness , chambring and wantonness , strife and envying , which are enumerated by the apostle , as the works of darkness . if you ask in which of these acceptions it is here to be construed , some interpreters answer in two of them , namely , for ignorance and iniquity , but doubtless more sutably , the latter is to be understood , namely , sin and wickedness ; and chiefly , gross notorious sins , because the apostle speaketh of the conversation ; the darkness of ignorance , is that in which men are said to sit ; but that in which they walk , is most congruously construed to be the darkness of sin . and indeed so truly , nay fully , doth this term of darkness agree to sin , that it taketh in all the other acceptions under some notion or other , each of which , may serve as a several reason , why this appellation of darkness is given to it . . sin hath relation to the darkness of nature , as a concomitant , which it most delights in ; most sins are such as flie the light , and love to be covered over with nights canopy , st. paul saith of drunkards , that they are drunk in the night , and solomon of the young man , that he goeth to the harlots house in the evening , in the black and dark night , and iob of the adulterer , the thief , the murderer , that they rebell against the light , and the morning is to them , even as the shadow of death . to this purpose it is , that clemens alexandrinus observeth of the carpocratians , that they appointed their meetings in the night . indeed , the night being a cover to wickedness , maketh men secure and shameless in committing it ; no marvell if they make choice of that time , and there works are therefore deservedly called the works of darkness , because acted in the night . . sin hath relation to the darkness of ignorance , both as an effect , and as a cause , in which respect , it is called by wickedness· . no sin is committed , but the iudgement is first infatuated ; and therefore it is the wisemans question , do not they erre , that devise mischief ? and the phylosophers assertion , every offender erreth ; there is upon the heart of every sinner , atra nubes caeca nox ( to use the poets expression ) a black cloud , a dark night , which causeth him to wander , and the blindness of our mind , is that which misguideth our feet , in which respect , sin is an effect . . the commission of sin , as it hardneth the heart , so it blindeth the minde ; what mists , and fogs , and clouds are to the aire , that are corrupt affections , and flagitious actions to the soul , darkning , and obscuring whatever light of knowledg shineth in it ; in this notion we may very well understand that of the wise man , when he saith , the way of the wicked is as darkness , the darkness of ignorance increasing upon men , as they go on in sinfull wayes ; and in this respect , sin is as a cause , and because sins are caused by , and withall , are the causes of darkness and ignorance in the mind , very fitly is this brand of darkness set upon it . . sin hath reference to the darkness of misery as a cause , and that in its full latitude ; wherefore doth the l●ving man complain ( saith the church , in respect of temporal afflictions ) man suffereth for the punishment of his sin , all the miseries of life ; yea , death it self being the bitter fruits of sin , for so the apostle saith expressely , death entred into the world by sin . it is the interposition of sin between god and us , that eclipseth his loving kindness towards us ; so saith the prophet isay , your iniquities have separated between you and your god , and your sins have hid his face from you : finally , it is wickedn●ss that brings eternall wr●tchedness , that being the doom denounced by our blessed saviour , against the wicked servant , cast him into utter darkness , there shall be weeping and gnash●ng of teeth , so that in this respect , is sin most justly called darkness , because it brings so great a darkness of sorrow and calamity upon the sinner . and thus i have given a dispatch to the first of these metaphors . . the other of walking is no less considerable , a word that is very frequently used in scripture , and that to signifie in generall a course of life . indeed , what is our life but a walk , and all the actions of our life , as so many steps ? and as walking in a way , leadeth to some place or other , so doth the course of every mans life tend to some end , either of felicity or misery . to this purpose is that metaphor of sowing , which we so often meet with in holy writ , because sowing bringeth forth some harvest or other , according to the seed that is sown . and i would to god that all men might hence learn so to look upon themselves as sowers , as travellers ; & therefore to make choice of their seed , and take heed to their wayes ; more particularly this word is used , both in respect of a good and an evill course of life ▪ and an instance of both , we have in this and the next verse ; there it is applyed to a godly , and here to a w●cked conversation . that then which we are now to inquire into is , what this phrase of walking imports , concerning a state of sinfull living , the answer to which , will appear by taking notice of three properties in the motion of walking , as being motus voluntarius , continuus & progressivus , a voluntary , constant , and a progressive motion . . walking is a voluntary motion ; it is one thing to be drawn , and another thing to goe ; the one is an act of violence , the other of voluntariness : walking is a free willing act , so willing , that it is an act of choice , and is never done , but upon a preceding del●berate resolution ; nor is it onely voluntary , but delightful ; running is painful , but walking a pleasant motion , and it is a great deal of content and pleasure men take in walking . all this representeth the temper of wicked men , who not onely act sin , but affect it ; a good man may be sometimes drawn into sin , but bad men walk in it ; yea as solomons expression is , they leave the path of uprightness ; to walk in the way of darkness . hence it is , that ( as it there followeth ) they rejoyce to do evil , and the wayes of sin are pleasant to them ; for this reason , no doubt it is , that the acting of sin is compared to eating , and drinking , and sleeping , as well as to walking ; nor doth the hungry man take more delight in eating , the thirsty in drinking , the weary in sleeping , than the wicked man doth in sinning . . walking is a continued motion , an iteration of many steps one after another ; this intimateth the most characterizing property of a wicked man : he is one who repeateth and multiplyeth sinfull actions ; the cup of iniquity is never from his mouth , his imaginations are onely evill , and that continually ; the special bent of his heart , and the generall current of his life is vile and wicked , i have spread out my hands all the day ( saith almighty god ) unto a rebellious people , which walketh in a way that is not good , the length of gods patience argueth the continuance of their provocations , and to note this it is expressed by the phrase of walking . it is one thing for a man to fall , and another to lie , one thing to step , and another to walke in any way . the moralist saith truly una actio non denominat any one evill action denominateth a man a sinner but not wicked ; men , good men may sometimes step into an evill way , he only is to be adjudged bad , who frequently reneweth his sins and maketh it his constant practise to do iniquitie . . walking is a progressive motion wherein we set one foote before another and so are still going forward till wee come to our journies end . and this is a fit embleme of a wicked disposition , which still addeth sin to sin ; and groweth from bad to worse . the prophet jeremy saith of the wicked they proceed from evil to evil and againe they weary themselves to commit iniquity they walke so long till they are weary ; and when they are weary they will not give over walking . st. paul saith concerning hereticks they waxe worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ; indeed wicked men never come to their maximum quod sic , in sinfull growths , sin like the sea never will set bounds to it selfe . this darke walke is a descent , wherein men go lower and lower , never staying of themselves , till they come to the bottome . and as in walking , a man is every step further of the terme from which , and neerer to the terme to which hee moueth ; so sinners every day , go further and further off from god , and draw neerer and neerer to the suburbs of hell. by this time i doubt not but the meaning of this clause appeareth , and if we looke upon those whom our apostle may be probably supposed here principally to intend to wit the gnosticks we shall finde this fully verified concerning them . they were a sort of people that did constantly wallowe in notorious wickednesse and counted it pleasure to live in all manner of impiety epiphanius , writing of them saith it loathed him to delineate , what darknesse of wickednesse they lived in , and i tremble to mention what he there relateth , concerning their impure and flagitious practices , in which respect it was , that ( as both he and st. austin observe ) they were among other names called borboritae , the signification of that name being fully verified , in them who were a generation of filthy unclean persons . and as this was in a very high degree to be charged upon them , so is it more or lesse , true of all wicked and ungodly persons ; wickednesse is their way , darknesse is their walke , in which they willingly give th●mselves up to a course of sin in some kind or other . to apply this , what other use should w●e make of this part , then that which the chu●ch exhorteth to let us search and try our wa●es : and oh that every one of us would deale impartialy with our selves & passe a right censure upon our owne condition , according to this discription . it is a sad truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — no man will acknowledge himselfe wicked though he be so . we willingly accuse our selves to be sinners , but we would excuse our selves from being wicked . but alas what will it availe us , not to thinke our selves so , if yet in truth we be so . oh therefore let us bring our selves to the test , and faithfully examine whither we do not walke in darkenesse . set thy selfe oh sinner in the presence of god , and aske thy conscience this question . in● perhaps oh sinner thou doest not walke in chambering and wantones , i but doest thou not walke in strife and envying . is there not some deed of darkenes , or other to which thou art addicted , with which thou art enamoured , and from which thou wilt not be diverted . and now if upon dilligent enquiry thy conscience accuse thee , and thine owne heart condemne thee , oh then be further ( and that even from this very expression ) convinced of thy deplorable and miserable estate , lugere ( say etymologists ) is quasi luce egere ; surely we have great reason to mourne over our selves , because we walke in darkenes . one of the plagues of aegypt was a thicke dark●nes it is the plague of all wicked men , oh that they were sensible of it . and if you please a little further to trace the metaphor , you shall finde this phrase of walking in darknes , to denote as well the calamity as the iniqu●ty of transgressours . there are three no lesse sad then common attendants on walking in darknes casus , error , terror , falling , wandring , trembling , all which are in a spirituall sence sadly true of ungodly sinners . . darknesse is casus inductiva apt to cause stumbling and falling ; these two are joyned together by the psalmist in his curse let their way be darke and slippery , in the darke men stumble at every ston● , fall into many a pit so that many have lost their limbs , nay lives by walking in darknesse , thus do wicked men by walking in sin wound their consciences ▪ hazard their soules , whilst their table becommeth a snare ; everything they enjoy a stumbling block , and they are continually ready to fall into the pit of perdition . . darknes is erroris productiva apt to make men wander and lose their way ; how many hath the night inclosed within some desolate wood , exposed to cold and raine upon some spacious heath , whilest missing the right path , they have not knowne whither to go , thus do wicked men walking in the darke , misse their way to blisse , and wander up and downe in folly , in this respect the psalmist saith of them , they are all gon out of the way and the prophet compareth them to stray sheepe . . darknes is timoris incussiva that which maketh men prone to feares and terrors , in the darke a man is in continuall feare of some danger or other to befall him , because he cannot see his way , nay he is apt to fall into pannick feares , whilest every bush is in his fancy a theef , and the least noyse causeth a commotion in his brest . thus is it with wicked men many times , they feare ( according to the psalmists expression ) where no feare is , though withall the truth is , they have alwayes reall cause of feare , in respect of the danger that deservedly hangs over their heads . indeed as men in the darke sometime not seeing , feare not the perill which they are very neere to ; so wicked men being secure are feareles and not considering what they deserve feare not till they come to feele , but when once their sleepy conscience is awakened , oh what horrid feares , perplexing terrours , invade them whilest the cloud of vengence is ready every moment to raine fire , haile , and brimstone upon them . to end all , what now remaineth but that this discourse of darknes serve as a light to discover to you where you are , what you do , and whither you are going ; that so being enlightened to see your utter darkenesse , you may walke no further , but with incessant cries beseech him who is the father of lights , that he would send his spirit to plucke you out of sodom , and by his mightie working deliver you from the power of darknes , & translate you into the kingdome of his deare sonne : amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . if we say we have fellowship with him , and walk in darkness , we lie , and do not the truth . that preface which i find in the beginning of one of salvians books , concerning gods government of the world ; i may here aptly make use of ; i suppose , yea , i am confident , my discourse of this scripture , will be unwelcome to many auditors , and that because it is a smart and sharp reprehension : men naturally love to be tickled with applause , not scratched with reproof ; we relish well the honey of commendation , but know not how to digest the wormwood of increpation . but beloved , the diet , which is not so toothsome , may be wholesome ; that potion which is very bitter to the taste , may prove healthful to the body ; and faithful rebukes , though they be not so pleasing , yet i am sure are profitable , especially when they are seasonable and sutable , such as this was to those in st. iohns time ; and i would to god it were not as truly agreeing to many , very many , in our dayes , who will be found one day among the number of those lyars , if we say we have fellowship with him , and walk in darknesse , we lye , and do not the truth . having already dispatched the impiety of those mens practice , in that they walk in darkness ; that which followeth next in order is , the eminency of their profession , implyed in that supposition , if we say we have fellowship with him , for in this supposition , there is a position couched , namely , that many who walk in darkness , say they have fellowship with god. for the better explication of which , in its fullest latitude , i shall briefly premise a double distinction , and then pursue a double proposition ▪ the distinctions to be premised , are of . a double having this fellowship , to wit , in spe , and in re , in a confident expectation , and in a reall possession . . a double saying we have it , namely , a saying within our selves , and a saying to others , that is , inward in respect of our thought and opinion , this outward in respect most properly of our words , and not excluding gestures , and all other wayes of external expression . the propositions to be prosecuted , are two , . many say they , have fellowship with god in hope , who yet walk in darkness ; they promise to themselves , the future vision of gods face , whilest they go on in the wilfull breach of gods law. this is that which they say in their hearts , perswading themselves , that their condition shall be happy , though their conversation is wicked ; of such an one it is moses speaketh , who blesseth himself in his heart , saying , i shall have peace , though i walk in the imaginations of my own heart . this is that they say with their lips , impudently laying as full claim to happiness , as the uprightest and exactest saint . if you inquire whence this comes to pass , i answer , from the false reasonings which are in the minds of men , concerning . the freeness of gods grace in electing . the fulness of his mercy in forgiving . the worthiness of christs blood in redeeming . . when presumptuous sinners hear that gods election is without respect to any worthiness or qualifications in us , they presently fancy to themselves , that their names may be written in the book of life , as well as any other ; yea , they fondly imagine , that being elected , they shall have fellowship with god , let them live as they list ; and hence they are emboldned to presume and boast of a future well-being , not considering that gods election , though it be not conditional , yet is ordinate , to wit , to the end by the means , to happiness by holiness . . when wicked men look upon the extent of gods mercy , whereby it is , that he desireth not the death of a sinner , that he is a god pardoning iniquity , transgression and sin , not onely few , but many , small , but great , all sorts of sin : they promise to themselves a facility of obtaining forgiveness , whilest yet they indulge to their sins , not considering that god is just , as well as merciful , righteous , as well as gracious , and he is ready to pardon the penitent , so he will by no means clear the guilty . finally , when secure sinners hear of the infinite merit of christs blood , how satisfactory it is for the sins of the whole world , and therefore much more of a particular person , they are willing to perswade themselves of an interest in that blood , and thereby of reconciliation and fellowship with god , not considering what our apostle saith , in the very next verse , the bloud of iesus christ cleanseth from all sin but it is on●ly those who walke in the light . thus is the sweetest hony turned into gall by bad stomachs , the most wholsome antidotes become poyson to wicked men , and the pretious supports of a lively faith , are abused to be props of presumption , by arrogant hypocrites , by reason whereof , it is that they are so impudent as to say , they hope to have fellowsh●p with god , though they walk in darkness . . many who walk in darkness , say they have actually this divine fellowship , and are in a state of grace . as for the grossest sort of hypocrites , who make pretences of religion and holiness , a cover of their wickedness ; they cannot say it in their hearts , because their consciences must needs tell them , they are wicked and odious in god sight : but they say it to the world , that they may walk in the dark , and accomplish their wicked designs the more secretly , speedily and effectually . but as for others , they say it both in opinion and profession , they think , and accordingly boast themselves , to have communion with god , though they walk in the darkness , both of sin and error . instances of this nature , there want not many in all times of the church . the prophet isay speaketh of the israelites in his time , that they did swear by the name of the lord , and make mention of the god of israel , but not in truth , nor in righteousness . they call themselves of the holy city , and stay themselves upon the god of israel . and again , god himself , concerning the people saith , that notwithstanding , their transgressions and sins , in which they lived , they would seek him dayly , as a nation that did righteousness , yea , that they took delight in approaching to god : and what was this , but to say they had fellowship with him , of this sort , were the pharisees in iohn the baptists time , though they were a generation of vipers , yet they would say within themselves , they had abraham to their father , and so in effect , that god was their god ; such were those in phylodelphia , of the synagogue of satan , and yet they said , they were jews , the people in covenant with god. against this generation of men it is , that st. paul declaimeth , where he saith , they have a form of godliness , by which they say , we have fellowship with god , and yet deny the power of it , to wit , by walking in darkness ; and again , they profess they know god , and so have communion with him , whilest in their works they deny him , by walking in darknesse . indeed , so far hath the presumption of some carried them , that ( though they were impure hereticks , and at once , both in respect of doctrine and manners , walked in darkness yet ) they have said , not onely that they had fellowship with god , but that they were the onely people that had fellowship with him . this did the gnosticks ( a people , as you have already heard , that lived in all manner of impurity ) pretend , that they onely were the people , who had the knowledge of god , and his son iesus christ , which is eternal life , and therefore gave themselves that title . such was novatian with his followers , whom st. cyprian compareth to an ape , dissembling it self to be a man , because being an enemy against , he assumed to himself the authority and verity of the catholick church . not to expatiate in this large feild , at this day on the one hand , the papists appropriate to themselves the title of catholicks , assert theirs the only true church , wherein alone fellowship with god is to be had , and out of which , there is no salvation to be obtained , and yet they walk in the darkness of idolatry , superstition and impietyes , and on the other hand , the schismaticks ; among our selves , account themselves the onely saints ; the pure churches , those that alone have communion with god in pure ordinances whilest their pride and arrogance , malice and oppression , cruelty and bloudshed , sedition and rebellion testifie to their faces that they walke in darkness . to apply this , all then is not gold that glistereth , nor are faire shewes a sufficient argument of realitie , the truth is there are many sincere hearted christians who make conscience of their waies and walke in the light that have not so far attained , as to say they have & hope for fellowsh●p with god , being very jealous and timerous about their spirituall and eternall estate . and yet many base hypocriticall wretches , who indulge to themselves in knowne wickednesse are strongly confident of felicitie , yea make large professions of pietie . take heed therefore how you give credit to pretenses esteeme not a pharisee , the holier for the breadth of his phylacteries or depth of his fringes , every man is not presently a scollar that weareth black , nor a gentleman that is arrayed in scarlet , nor a christian , that is so in name and profession , well meaning persons thinke all men speake as they meane , and are as they seeme , but the wiseman tels us it is the word· indeed because many who walke in darkness , say they have fellowship with god to infer . all who say they have fellowship with god , walke in darkness would argue too little charity . but to conclude , that all who say they have fellowship with god , have so indeed , argueth too much credulity . it is true if i know not a mans conversation , charity bids me thinke well of his profession and hope well of his hopes , but with all prudence adv●seth me , that i be not presently drawne aside with smooth words , and faire pretences . the summe is , neither rashly censure , nor yet hastily credit them who say they have fellowship with god , lest as by the one , you may contemne the good , so by the other you may beleeve a liar . for if they who walke in darkness say it they lie . and so i am fall●n on the last , and maine part of this scripture . the incongruity of these two , the hypocrites profession and practice one to the other they lie , and do not the truth . here are two characters given of these hypocrites the one affirmative , the other negative , the one of lying , the other of not doing the truth . aquinas conceiveth by these two a double sin charged upon them , the one of commission in speaking a lie , the other of omission , in not doing the truth ▪ aretius better refers the lie to their sayings , the not doing the truth to their walking , therefore their saying is a l●e , because their walking in darkness , is a not do●ng the truth , and so the latter is added by way both of explication and confirmation to the former . . begin we with the affirmative expression , and therein inquire how this saying appeareth to be a li● . to which end be pleased to know , that there are two things considerable in a lie , to wit the materiall , and the formall part , the matter of a lie is a falsehood , the forme of it is an intentionall asserting it to be true . . as to the first of these we lie , is as much as we say that which is false , indeed every falsehood is not a l●e , but in every lie there is a falsehood . it is true a man may tell a l●e , and yet speak truth ; but it is then when he thinketh it to be false , and comonly the matter of a lie , is that which is false in the nature of the thing . such is the matter of this saying in the text , that a man who walketh in darkness hath fellowship with god i grant , a man who hath fellowship with god may fall into darkness ; do some particular worke of darknesse , but he cannot walke in it . it is not to be denyed , but that a man who doth walke in darkness , by changing his course may come to have fellowship with god ; and a man that now hath fellowship with god may be one that hath walked in darkness , but to say that he who doth walke in darkness hath fellowship with god , is materially a lie , because a notorious falsehood . that this may more fully appeare , consider this double demonstration . . that saying which is not according to , nay directly against the saying of god , must needs be a lie ; for if god be the god of truth , his must needs be the word of truth , & so whatsoever is dissonant to it , false and lying . now ( beloved ) search if you please the whole volume of sacred writ , from the beginning of genesis , to the end of the apocalipse , and finde if you can any leafe in that booke , or any line in those leaves that speaketh the least word of peace or pardon or comfort or mercy from god to a man that walketh in darkness , liveth in wickednesse , nay indeed god hath written a bill of divorce to every such person , non est tibi pars neque sors as the apostle said to simon magus , thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter of divine fellowship , who walkest in sinfull courses . the lord is farre from the wicked , the wicked is an abomination to the lord , there is no peace saith god to the wicked , god will wound the hayrie scalpe of him , that goeth on in his wickedness . depart from me ye workers of iniquity , this is the language which the holy ghost useth , and the doome which the scriptures passeth on such a person , & now tell me can there be a more palpable untruth , then when god sayth no peace for men to say peace , and for them to whom god saith depart , to say they have fellowship with him . . to say that is , which not only is not but cannot be is a lying falsehood , who would not account him a lier that should as●ert a thing actually existing which is not onely improbable but impossible ? now for a man walking in darkness to have fellowship with god , is all together impossible , and the reason is cleare in the context , read but the end of the former verse , with this and the inconsistency will be manifest because , god is light and no darkness is in him therefore they who walke in darkness cannot have fellowship with him . for as st. paul puts the question intending by it a vehement negation , what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness , and what communion hath light with darknes . we see in experience the darkness commeth not till the light be gone , when the light cometh , the darkness vanisheth , they cannot dwell together and the ground of it is cleare in philosophy because things of a contrary nature do mutuò se tollere mutually take a way each other . indeed contrary qualities may in remisse degrees consist in the same subject but not in intense ; and when they do , it is with them as with a paire of scales , if one goe up , the other goeth downe , as one increaseth , the other decreaseth , now god is not onely lightsome but light , & such a light , as is without the least darknesse , light in the abstract , and that noteth the brightest lustre , whereas the wicked man walketh in darkness , yea according to st. pauls phrase concerning the ephesians , he is darkness in the abstract and that noteth the utmost darkness , as soone then may the clearest light & the thickest darknesse rest in the same place together as god : and a wicked man have fellowsh●p together michael and the dragon could not agree in one heaven , nor the arke and dagon in one house , nor esau & jacob in one wombe , no more can god and a wicked man agree , a silly old hermite was sorry that god and the devill should be at odds , and would undertake to make them freinds , but the devill bids him spare his labour for they were everlastingly fallen out . indeed god and a wicked man are not so , there is a possibility of reconciliation , but not whilest he so continueth , you may as easily beleeve that fire and water , peace and war , purity and filthiness , love and hatred , truth and falsehood , happines and misery , light and darkness can be made freinds as that god can be at one with him who goeth on in his sins . by reason of this contrariety between god and a wicked man , it is that as god hateth the wicked , so the wicked hateth god , darknesse doth not with more celerity fly from the light , then unrighteousnesse from god so that it is impossible not only for this fellowship to be but , to be so much as desired . it is true many wicked men desire to goe to heaven but it is because they are mistaken in their imaginations about heaven , they looke upon it as a place of faelicity but not of sanctity they only fancy it a place of pleasure and contentment but consider not that the pleasure is in fellowship with a pure and holy god. alas the societie of a godly man is a burden a terrour to the wicked , he cannot be merry so long as he is in his company , what then will be the fellowship of an holy god , upon which account i may truly say , that if god should let a wicked man into heaven , heaven would be an hell and that divine fellowship a torment to him . by this time i doubt not , but you see the truth of the falsehood , written as it were with a sun beame , and what just cause st. john hath to give them the lie , who walking in darkness , say they have fellowship with god , there being a plaine untruth in it , which is the materiall part of a lie . . but further in a lie not only the matter , but the forme of it is to be considered , this by the most is made an intention to deceive , for so the definition usually runs , nor is it to be denyed but that this is consecutivè an essentiall property , of and so annexed to every lie , yet if we speak of that which is constitutivè the essentiall forme of a lie , it is the intention of asserting a knowne faleshood , so that to lie in its proper notion is for a man to affirme or deny intentionally that which he knoweth to be contrary . if we apply this to the buisinesse in hand it is onely to be charged properly on the grossest hypocrites , who against the inward verdict of their owne consciences say this openly to men , that they have fellowship with god , yea which maketh them perfect liers , they say this on purpose to deceave , and cheat the purblind world , that they may seeme to others what they know they are not , it is that which one aptly calls not onely dipt but double dipt hypocrisy . and yet in asmuch as the falsehood of this proposition is so evident , that whosoever will make use of his reason must acknowledge it , it followeth that even they , who may in saying this speak what they thinke , are interpretatively liars . if a man shall wilfully shut his eyes , and say the sun shineth not , would you account him any whit excusable for his not seeing , or rather would you not adjudge him to tell a voluntary lie , the same is the case here . all who assert this , are to use st. peters phrase willingly ignorant they cannot but know , and yet they will not know the falsehood of it , which , being an affected ignorance , is so far from excusing , that it rather aggravateth ; and therefore this brand of a lier most justly rests on every one , who walk●ng in darkness , saith he hath fellowship with god , and so much for the affirmative expression , passe we on to the negative in these words and do not the truth , this phrase of doing the truth is very rare i find it not used in the new testament but only by the master and the beloved disciple , it is christs phrase in his speech to nicodemus , he that doth the truth cometh to the light , and here st. john having learned it from him maketh use of it , we do not the truth . an expression which at first view seemeth harsh and incongruous , since truth more properly refers to the judgement then the life , and is the object rather of contemplation then action : hence it is that truth is that which we are said to know and beleeve , & that which we are said to do is good , and this is the most u●uall phraise of the scripture . but if we looke a little more narrowly into this expression , it will appeare apt and significant to which end we must know , that according to the philosophers there is a three fold truth , metaphisicall , logicall , and ethicall ; the first is in being the conformity of a thing to the idea , by which it was framed , the second is in knowing , the conformitie of the understanding with the thing , the third is in signifying the conformitie both sermonis and facti , of our words to the things , and our actions to right reason , by which distinction it manifestly appeareth that there is a practicall as well as a speculative truth , and so this phrase of doing the truth very sutable . to open it a little more fully , be pleased to know that doing the truth , may be construed two waies , and both here be made use of , to wit , by considering truth either as the object , or the manner of this doing . . to do the truth considered objectively , is to conforme in doing to the truth that is the word of god , the rule and square of truth , and so this phrase may be expounded by that of ezekiel , doing that which is lawfull and right , to this purpose is the exposition which st. cyrill and tollet give of the phrase in the gospell , to do the truth , is to do according to the law of justice , rightly and honestly , to make the law of god the rule of our conversation , whereby we may be come acceptable to god. . to do the truth considered modally , is to do what we do heartily , sincerely , and so it may be explained by hezekiahs phrase of walking in truth , and with a perfect heart , for as to doing good , it is not enough that we do what is good , but that we do it well so to doing the truth , it is not sufficient that we do what is right , but that we do it truly with a good and upright heart , and no wonder if our apostle here declayming against hypocrites , whose devotion is but a stage play , a meere fained representation , and whose conversation is after their own lusts , not gods waies , chargeth them that they do not the truth . but if we put these two expressions togeather we lie , and do not the truth , there may seem yet a further incongruity , it would have been more sutable ( one would thinke ) to have said , we lie and speak not the truth , since lying refers to the tongue , and so this would have been fitly annexed as a proofe of the lying , in that they speak not truth , but if we consider upon what account the apostle chargeth these hypocrites with lying we shall find this phrase was fitly made choice of not doing , rather then not speaking truth . the reason why this saying is asserted to be a lie , is because their walking was not answerable to their talking , their doing , to their saying , no wonder that he saith they lie , and that is because , they do not the truth . to cleare this more plainly , you must know that though in a strict & proper sence , a lie is the dissonancy betweene the tongue & the heart , the words & the thoughts , when a man speaketh one thing & thinketh another ; yet in a large & no lesse reall notion it is a dissonancy between the tongue and the hand , the words and the workes , when a man speaketh one thing & doth another . to this purpose st. ambrosse excellently noteth , that there is a lie as well in respect of deeds as words , for a man to call himselfe a christian , and not to do the works of christ is a lie and thus estius glosses on these words , we do not the truth that is we prove by our deeds , that what we say is not true . indeed they are alike bad , when the life , as when the heart giveth the tongue the lie , may in respect of men the former is far more discernable then the latter , when a man speaketh what his heart thinketh not , i cannot presently say he lyeth , because i know not what he thinketh , but when a man speaketh that which his actions confute , i can easily see and boldly say that he lyeth . that then which our apostle would intimate to us by this phrase is , the contrariety between an hypocrites profession and his conversation : his voyce is jacobs but his hands are esaws , like silver he looks white , but draweth blacke lines , audi , nemo melius , specta , nemo pejus , loquitur ut piso viuit ut gallomus . heare him talking , you would thinke him an angell , see him walking , you will finde him a devill like that stage-player who cryed oh caelum and pointed with his finger to the earth , his tongue talketh of heaven , whilest his fingers are defiled with the earth , he speaketh much of the spirit , but he walketh after the flesh , the discourse of his lips is holy , the course of his life profane ; in a word , his profession is angelicall , his conversation diabolical , his words are spirituall , his works carnall ; he saith , he hath fellowship with god , but he lyeth , for he doth not the truth . to apply this , when i read this text , and consider the times , i am ready to believe that the one was in a speciall manner intended for the other , so fully is this charge of lying verified in this generation ; it was the complaint of god by the prophet , ephraim compasseth me about with lyes , and the house of israel with deceit : may he not take up the same against us ? england compasseth god about with lyes , and london with deceit . let our ungodly , abominable , unjust practices speak , if our fastings , and prayers , and profession , be not a loud notorious lye . oh that i could cry aloud this day , in the ears of these lyars , to awaken them out of their security , trust not in lying words , was the caution of the prophet to the iews , it is no less needfull for us : let us not content our selves with false shows , nor rest on vain hopes , it was the charge of the prophet against the people , concerning their king , that they made him glad with lyes ; and what else do hypocrits whilest make themselves glad with false presumption . oh that this lying generation would sadly consider , what a kind of lye this is , whereof they are guilty . the schools distinguish of three kind of lyes , according to the several ends at which they aim , to wit , jeasting for mirth and pleasure , officious for profit and advantage , pernitious , tending to injurie and hurt , all of these are condemned , but the latter is justly accounted the most abominable , and of this sort is this lye , my text speaketh of a pernitious hurtfull lye . that you may see the injury which commeth by it , consider it in reference to god and his gospell , to others , and to our selves . . to say we have fellowship with god , and w●lk in darknesse , is such a lye as tendeth much to the dishonour of god , and disgrace of religion , st. paul , speaking to the hypocritical iews , tells them , the name of god is blasphemed among the gentiles through you , the like may be said to licentious christians , the name of god is blasphemed among turks and pagans through you , when the indians were so barbarously used by the spaniards , who called themselves christians , they cryed out , quis ( malum ) deus iste , what god doth these men serve ? when the enemies of the reformed church , hear what perjury , oppression , bloodshed , they who would pretend to the strictest profession of it commit , are they not ready to say , what a religion is it , these men profess , that can dispence with such wickedness ? it was no small ( though a just ) disgrace to the pope , when the king of hungary , having taken a bishop prisoner in battel , sent his armour to him , and onely this in writing , vide num haec sit vestis filii tui , is this your sons coat ? and it is a sad ( though unjust ) reproach , which the bad lives of christians cause to fall on god himself , whilest profane wretches are apt to say , these are your saints ; and thus , by our wicked conversation , our being called christians , brings a reproach to christ and christianity . . besides this ( which is the highest ) injury to religion , it is hurtfull to others , when they who pretend to have communion with god , lead wicked lives ; how are strong christians grieved , the weak staggared , and they that are without , kept back from embracing religion , yea , encouraged in their licentious actions ? nay , if these that say they have fellowship with god , do such abhominable things , what need we trouble our selves ? are profane wretches ready to say , our lives are little worse than theirs , why should not our condition be as good ? . this lye will prove no less pernitious to our selves , he who is the eternall truth , cannot endure lying lips , vident & rident demones ; devils see and rejoyce , god seeth , and is incensed against such dissembling wretches ; every such hypocrite may well think god bespeaketh him in the psalmists words , what hast thou to do to take my name into thy mouth , seeing thou hatest to be reformed , and refusest to receive instruction ? and must expect no other answer at that day , when they may plead their outside devotion , and large profession , but depart from me ye workers of iniquity , i know you not . brethren , you may for a time cozen men , but you cannot deceive god , and as st. cyprian excellently , it is a meer madness not to think , and know that lyars will at last be found out . diogenes seeing a vitious young man clad in a phylosophers habit , plucked it off , as conceiving that it was defiled by him ; and god will one day pluck off the hypocrites vizor of piety , that he may appear in his colours , and in that day , how far more tollerable will it be for professed enemies of god and religion , than for such persons ? it is very observable , that other sinners are doomed to have their portion with hypocrites , as if hypocrites were the tenants , and the rest , as it were , inmates of hell ; certain it is , the fornace of torment shall be seven times hotter for a carnall gospeller , loose professor , then for licentious pagans , since their condemnation shall be so much the greater , by how much their profession hath been the holier , and the higher they have lifted themselves up to heaven , in their religious pretences , the lower they shall be cast down to hell for their impious practices . let then every one that nameth the name of christ depart from iniquity ; it was st. cyprians advice to those , who took on them the name of confessors , that they would keep up the honour of their name , it is mine , to all who take upon them the name of professors . for shame let us not so palpably give our selves the lye ; quid verba audiam , cum facta videam , what avail good words , when our works are bad ? tace linguâ , loquere vitâ , either say less , or do more . in one word ; let our actions speak , what our expressions pretend to , and our conversation be answerable to our profession ; so shall we be found true men , and not lyars , and not onely knowers and professors , but doers of the truth , and so be blessed in our deed . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . but if we walk in the light , as he is in the light , we have fellowship one with another , and the blood of iesus christ his son , cleanseth us from all sin . rightly to divide the word of truth , is the charge st. paul gave to timothy , and a special part of every ministers office . to give every auditor his due and proper portion , as a master of a feast doth to every guest , is ( according to some expositors ) the right dividing the word of truth ; for which reason , no doubt it is , that among other similitudes , ministers are compared to stewards , whose work is to provide for , and distribute to every one in the family , their convenient food . what st. paul requireth of all christians , in respect of their neighbours and superious , render to all men their due , tribute to whome tribute , custome to whome custome , fear to whom fear , honour to whom honour belongeth ; that by way of analogy is required of all ministers , in regard of their people , to give to every one their due ; reproof to whom reproof , threatning to whom threatning , instruction to whom instruction , and comfort to whom comfort appertaineth . a manifest example hereof , we have given by this holy apostle in this place , expressely reproving , and implicitly threatning , in the former verse , those to whom it belongs , such as walk in darkness ; and here sweetly comforting those to whom promises belong , such as walk in the light , in this verse . but if we walk in the light , &c. this is that room on the right hand , into which we are now to enter ; wherein , if you please , you may take notice of three partitions , here is the christians practise , to walk in the light . pattern , as he is in the light . priviledge , we have fellowship , &c. or if you please to reduce the three to two , here is considerable , the duty required , and the mercy assured . or , the qualification premised , walking in the light , as he is in the light . the collation promised of . communion with god , we have fellowship one with another . iustification by christ , and the blood of iesus christ his son , cleanseth us from all sin . the first of these is all i can dispatch at this time , wherein you may please to observe , the path and the guide , whom we are to follow . the walk and the footsteps , which we are to trace . the matter of the duty wherein it consists , walking in the light . the manner of the duty , how it is to be performed , as he is in the light . let me crave your patience whilest i shall by the light of divine truth lead you through both these . the matter of the duty , which qualifieth a christian , is said to be walking in the light . there is a phrase used by st. paul , of walking as in the day , which cometh somewhat neere this of walking in the light and if we should construe light here literally and perfix an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before , in the light it would excellently instruct us in the nature of a truly christian conversation . they who walke in the light , walke visibly to the eyes of all beholders , walke carefully that they may not behave themselves unseemingly , nor do any thing which may be offensive . . thus must christians walke ( as ) in the light to wit. exemplarily according to the counsell of our saviour , let your light so shine before men , that they may see your good works , it is not enough to do good works in secret , but we must shew them openly , and though we must abhorre to do our works for this end , that they may be seen yet we must so do them , as they may be seen . . exactly in such sort as may become the gospell we beleeve , and religion we professe , we must walke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is st. pauls phrase to the romans , honestly , so our translators , decently so the sence of the originall , as befits those that call themselves christians , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the apostles phrase to the ephesians , circumspectly , so our translators , accuratly , so the force of the word , that we may be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sonnes of god without rebuke as the same apostles expression is to the philippians , so that even a carping momus cannot spie a fault . but this cannot be the right way of interpreting this clause , since wee finde the ( as ) in the next , and therefore we are to understand light metaphorically , and so our cheife worke is to enquire what the apostle intends by this metaphor of light . i shall not trouble you with the various acceptions of the word in holy writ , let it sufice to know . there is a three-fold light , ad quod , per quod , in quo . to which , by which , and in which we are to walke . . there is a light to which we walke , namely the light of glory , and happines . those two cheefe excellencies life & light are not unfitly made choyce of in scripture , to shaddow forth the future estate of the glorifyed , st. paul calls it the inheritance of the saints in light , to shew how pleasant , glorious , and amiable , that inheritance is , this light , is the terminus ad quem , terme of a christians motion to which the course of his life tendeth , and in which at last it endeth . . there is a light by which we walke , and this is double to wit externall , and internall , of the word , and of the spirit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lex lux , the law is a light , the commandment a lampe saith the sonne , and he learnt it of his father who saith thy word is a light to my feet , and a lanthorn to my paths , it being gods word that discovereth to us the way , wherein we should walke , and yet this is not enough without the other , though adest lumen the sunshine never so bright yet , if desunt oculi eyes be wanting , to make use of the light , it will be in vaine to us . there must not only be a light before the eyes , but a light in the eyes , if we will see to go ; and therefore st. paul prayed that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightned , since it is only by the direction of the word , joyned with the illumination of the spirit , that we are enabled to walke in our spirituall journey . . lastly and to our present purpose , there is a light in which we are to walke , and that is the light of sanctity , and holinesse ; this being the path , in which every christian must tread , and when we remember that the light spoken of god in the fifth verse , intends his holinesse , that the darkness , mentioned in the former verse , is put for wickednesse , we may rationally conclude that by light , here we are to understand holinesse . having found out the meaning , it will not be amisse to enquire a little further , into the analogy of the metaphor , which will the better appeare if we consider the originall , and the properties of light . . light is of a celestiall extraction , springs of water arise out of the earth , but the fountaine of light is in the heavens , those flowers of light , are found in no garden , but the supernall firmament : so is holinesse of an heavenly parentage , as prudence so pietie is that which is from aboue . that of our saviour except a man be borne againe , may according to a double signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be read , except a man be borne from above , and indeed st. cyrill doth so interpret it , our generation is in some sort from below but our regeneration is only from above , and for this reason partly , though not principally , is holinesse called by the apostle peter the divine nature , because of a divine originall , indeed christ calls it our light , when he saith to his disciples , let your light sh●ne before men , and so it is subjective , but not effective , our light because in us , but not from us ; and therefore it is so ours as that it is primarily his , from whence we receive it . . light among others , hath two speciall properties , namely claritie and beautie , the one following the other , light is of a cleare bright splendent nature , and by reason hereof , it is of a very beautifull and lovely aspect , yea it is the great ornament of the world , putting a beautie on all things els , since without it , the redness of the rose , the whiteness of the lilly , all naturall and artificiall beautie were as good be not existing , because not appearing . by these two properties , are represented those two parts of holinesse which consists in purgamento and in ornamento cleansing and adorning , in holinesse there is puritie which answereth the splendour , and there is conformitie which answereth to the beautie of light , holinesse is expulsive of all sin , and thereby maketh the soul bright , holinesse restoreth gods image , and thereby maketh the soule beautifull , indeed it is holinesse that puts a beauty upon all other excellencies , our naturalls , morals , our intellectualls , are then ornaments , when like the diamond to the ring holinesse is superadded to them . you see what this light is , and how fitly light doth illustrate it , but yet this is not all , for since this light we are speaking of , is the way the only way to communion with god , remission of sins and eternall life ; and besides since there are somethings which glitter and yet are not this light , such are civ●litie , moralitie , and pharisaicall sanctity , so that it is not only possible , but easy to mistake , give me leave yet a little more distinguishingly , to characterize this light to you . to which end , since god is compared by the psalmist to the sun , and christ is called by the prophet malachy , a sun of righteousnesse , and this light is of the same qualitie with gods , nay is a ray and beame of his , we may infer that the light to which holinesse is here resembled is sun-light , and so the differences which are between the light of the sun , and that of the moone and the stars , will aptly seeme to difference holinesse , from those other things that seeme to come neere to it . to instance breefly in a few particulars . the light of the sun , helpeth a man to see , and finde out the filth in his house , yea to search into the most secret corners of every roome , whereas the moone and star-light , only helpeth a man to see a little abroad in the open streets and feilds . this is a singular difference , betweene pharisaicall , and reall sanctity , that is curious to looke abroad but seeth nothing at home , so that pharisee condemned the publican , and saw nothing in himselfe worthy of blame , but this is carefull to looke at home , and searcheth into the secret corners the very spirit of the minde so did good david when he prayed . cleanse thou me from secret faults . . the sun-light , discovereth moats , and pins , and atom , things of the least , and smallest quantity , whereas the moone and starlight onely manifests trees , and houses , and such things as are of a great magnitude . this is the difference betweene sanctity , and morality ; morality teacheth a man to avoyd grosse vices , notorious offences , scandalous enormities ; but it is only holinesse which causeth a man to make conscience of the least sins , as well as the greatest . . the sun-light representeth those things which may be seen by moone and star-light , in another clearer , fuller way , hence it is we cannot give so true a judgement of the greatness , or colour of any thing by moone & star , as by sun-light , the paralel holds in this present matter . holinesse inlightens a man to looke on the same sins , which morality and civility discovereth , with another , and a clearer aspect , since whilest the civill person , only abhorres them as enimies to his good name , and the moralist as repugnant to reason , the holy man loaths them , as breaches of gods law , and offences to his majesty , for so repenting david , and the returning prodigall , looked upon their sins , as against and before god. . the sun-light , though gradually , yet powerfully expelleth darknesse out of the aire , so that the night becommeth day , whereas the moone and star-light only mitigateth and lesseneth it , and therefore the darknesse prevayling , it is night still , this is that which puts a difference between sanctity and civility , civility restraineth sin , but holiness conquereth it , civility lesseneth the actings , yet taketh not away the power , whereas holiness though not all at once , yet by degrees subdueth the power of corruption . . finally , the sun-light is ever attended with heat , driving away cold , as well as darkness , whereas the moone and star-light can only illuminate , but not warme , which appeareth in that , the moone and stars shine brightest when the night is coldest , this is the peculiar efficacy of true holinesse , that it doth not only irradiate the understanding but inflame the will and affections with a love to god and zeale for his glory , in which respect it is that they whom christ purifieth to himselfe a peculiar people , are said to be zealous of good workes . by this time , ( i hope beloved ) you are in some measure enlightened , to understand the nature of this light , wherein we are to walke , it would not be passed by what this importeth , that we are required to walke in this light , since the emphasis of the phrase , holdeth as well in regard of good , as evill . the better to cleare this , be pleased to consider walking in a double opposition to bare stepping , and to standing still . . it is not taking a step , or two in the light , which denominateth a man , a walker ; it is not a few good actions , but a good conversation , which speaketh a man , a christian ; st. paul bids timothy , to excercise himselfe in godliness , and the prophets counsell is learne , or as it may be rendred , accustome your selves to do well . it is the constant habituall practise , and exercise of holinesse , which may most justly be called a walking in the light , indeed this walking , is not opposed to stumbling , no nor yet to falling , there is a great deale of difference , inter carrentis casum & vitae ●ursum between the course of life in which a man runs , & the falls he may catch in running , if not only in some particular acts , but our generall course wee practise holinesse , though we cannot but sometimes fall into sin , we shall be found walking in the light . . it is not to begin in the way of holinesse , and then stand still ; but we must go forward to perfection . st. austin very aptly expounds ambulare by proficere ; walking is a proficiency in holinesse : indeed both the metaphors in the text presse this duty ; holiness is as light which shineth more and more to the perfect day , living holily is as walking wherein we go on step by step , till we come to the journeys end . true it is , we do not , cannot alwayes walke with even pace , sometimes all we can do is to creep , and then again our hearts are so enlarged that we can run ; but however , the good christian will still be going never accounting himself to have attained . indeed so long as we are in this world , our holinesse is rather in fieri , then in facto , perfecting , then perfect . when we come to be comprehensores , we shall sit down , but whilest we are viatores , we must walk on in the light . what now remaineth , but that every one of us reflect upon himself , and ask his soul this question ; do i walk in the light , to which , by a faithful inquiry into our conversation , according to the preceding characters , we may be able to teturn an answer , only for our further quickening in this work , i shall briefly mind you of these following considerations . , there is a great deal of difference between talking of , and walking in the light ▪ our lips may drop as the honey comb , whilest we are in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity : many have golden tongues and leaden feet , it is not scripture discourse , but a religious course , which denominateth a man a christian. . it is one thing to have the light of knowledge , and another thing to walk in the light of holinesse ; too many men as well as children , are troubled with the rickets , their heads are big , full of speculation , but their feet are unnable , to walk in spiritual actions ; if you know these things , happy are ye if ye do them : having the light , may help us with moses to see the land of canaan , but it is walking in the light , must bring us with joshuah to enter into it , though we have mouthes and speak well ▪ eyes and see well , yet if we have feet that walk not , hands that work not , we are but idle idoll christians . . it is not barely , not walking in darkness , but walking in the light , that is required of a christian. the pharisees religion in the gospel consists chiefly of negatives , but our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , so saith our great lawgiver , indeed it is good not to do evill , but withall , it is evill not to do good ; the unprofitable as well as the prodigal is an evill servant , we must not only cast away our transgressions , but make us new hearts , cleanse from filthiness , but perfect holiness , cease to do evill , but learn to do well , not walk in the darkness , but walk in the light . . it is not a meer resolution , but the reall execution of holiness , that intituleth to happiness ; oh how many are cast into utter darkness , who here resolved to walk in the light ▪ in vain are those purposes which have a conception but no birth , which only blossome , but never bear ripe fruit . the repenting prodigal as he said , i will arise , so he did arise and go to his father ; holy david saith , i have sworne , and withall addeth , i will perform it : only this must be understood with one caution , if god give time and place of performance , otherwise that of st. paul concerning almes , is generally true ; if there be a willing mind it is accepted , in which respect it is a very uncharitable opinion which excludeth all death-bed penitent resolutions , from divine acceptation . indeed that death-bed promises of amendment , are seldom reall , is not to be denied ; yea , that when they are reall , it is very difficult , if not impossible for themselves or others certainly to know it , must needs be granted ; and therefore the case of such persons is doubtfull and dangerous : but since gods grace can speedily work a change in the will and affections ; and where such a change is wrought , the resolutions must needs be cordiall , and such as ( if life were afforded ) would undoubtedly be accomplished ; we have reason to beleeve that he who alwayes accepts the deed chiefly for the will , will in such a case accept the will for the deed : and therefore the condition of such an one , is not altogether desperate . but still beloved this stands in full force , as to us who have as yet life and health continued to us ; our purposes will be to no purpose , if they be not attended with practices , nor is it if we will , but if we do walk in the light . and thus i have acquainted you with the matter , go we on to the manner of the duty in those words , as he is in the light , wherein we shall consider two things . what is here asserted concerning god , he is in the light . what is here required from us , implyed in that particle as . . god is said here to be in the light , a very improper expression , according to a strict acception . when it is said of god at the fifth verse , that he is light , we must look upon the phrase as onely metaphorical , since he is ten thousand times brighter then the sun , but when here he is said to be in the light , it is a catacrestical expression , since it is impossible , either that the light should be in him who hath no accident , or that he should be in light , who is infinite , and illimited ; nay , indeed those two phrases , he is light , and he is in the light , seem one to contradict the other , since nothing can be said strictly to be in it self , but both the phrases being allusive , they may well stand together , and this latter , if construed according to its true intention will be found emphatically significant . if you please to difference the meaning of these two phrases you may referre the one , god is light to his nature , and the other , he is in the light to his works ; so grotius giveth the sence of this phrase , he is in the light , that is , he is conversant in most pure actions ; according to that of the psalmist , the lord is righteous in all his wayes , and holy in all his works , to which agreeth that of the heathen , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god could not be god , if his actions were not exactly pure and holy . but i rather conceave the intent of these phrases , to be the same , to wit a delineation of gods pure and holy nature , and there are two things which this expression of his being in the light , intimateth concerning it , namely the perfection and immutability of his holiness . . there is a great deale of difference between these two expressions to have light in one , and for one to be in the light , the former noteth only some measure of participation , but the latter a compleate fruition , this may be cleare by an instance , taken from the water , a man that drinketh downe a small quantity of water , may be said to have water in him , but when a man is compassed , and covered over head & eares in water , he is then most truly said to be in it . to paralell it with an instance in scripture , every man even the best by reason of the remainders of sin , is said to have flesh in him , but only the wicked man , who is under the power of sin , is said to be in the flesh . thus , whereas wee at best have only some light of holinesse in us , god is in the l●ght , so that nothing of the light of holiness is a wanting to him , but he is absolutely , compleately , holy . . there is not unfitly observed by expositours a discrepancy betweene these two phrases of walking , and being in the light , walk●ng , noteth a progressive motion , being a fixed residence , wee are still passing from one degree to another , and according to the apostles expression changed into the divine image of holiness , from glory to glory , but he is ( to wit eternally , and unchangeably ) in the light , in which respect that phrase of dwelling , used by st. paul , answereth this of being used by st. john. he is and dwelleth in that light , as of majesty , so purity , to which no man can attaine , and that from everlasting to everlasting . by what hath been said , you see what is asserted concerning god , we must now consider , what is required of us in the particle , as , namely , a conformity to gods patterne by walking in , as he is in the light . upon the hearing of this message , i beleeve many are ready to put forth the question , how can this be ? god is so in the light , that in him is no darkness , and our lives like the israelites cloud , have a darke side , as well as a light , gods holinesse is perfect , and unspotted , ours is imperfect , and defective , so that if this be the condition , this supposition can never be a position , and not only few , but none shall be saved . but how harsh so ever this ( which is here mentioned ) may seeme , yet it is no more then what is necessary , indeed when we finde st. john not once , but againe , not only in metaphoricall , but plaine terms , calling on us to be pure and righteous as god is , yea christ himselfe , requiring us to be perfect , as his father is perfect , and god himselfe to be holy as he is holy , we have reason to looke upon this addition as of waighty , & needfull concernment , and therefore to remove this objection , and cleare the genuine sence of this ( as ) be pleased to observe this threefold solution . . there is a double , ( as ) to wit of likeness , and of a quality , the one respects the kinde , the other the degree , that the nature , this the measure of the thing , our light in which we are to walke , must be like to that in which god is , though the light in which god is , be infinitely brighter then ours , looke as it is between the streame and the fountaine , the branch and the root , the aire and the sun , so it is between god and a christian , the same water is in the streame that is in the fountaine , the same sap in the branch , that is in the roote the same light , in the aire that is in the sun , though the water and the sap and the light are primarily , & most plenarily in the fountaine , the root the sun , indeed to speak exactly , we cannot call the holiness of a saint the same with gods holinesse , because this , ( as all his attributes ) is his essence , which is in communicable to any creature , besides his holinesse is infinite , and ours finite , and infinite , and finite must needs toto genere distare , differ generically , but the holinesse in us , is the image of that holiness in god , and as it were the stampe , and impression of gods holiness upon us , in which regard holiness , is one of those attributes of god , which the schooles call communicable , because god is pleased to communicate the likeness of it to his saints , and therefore they are truly said by the author to the hebrews , to partake of his holinesse , and here by the apostle john , to walke in the light , as he is in the light . . we must distinguish inter effectum & affectum , actum & conatum , between an effectuall performance , and an affectionate endeavour , as for the walking in the light you have already heard , it must not be only in affection , but action . but so to walke , as god is in the light , is that which because we cannot fully attaine to , it will suffice to desire and endeavour after . to this purpose is that glosse upon the text , he is said to walke as god is in the light , who striveth to imitate divine purity . when a master sets his schollar an exact coppy , and bids him write as that is written , his mean●ng is , not that he should cut all his letters with the same dexterity , and transcribe the lines with the same evenness , that he hath done ; but that he should endeavour to come as neere it as may be : the same no doubt is the intention of the holy ghost in this , and the like scriptures to put us upon a cordiall study of following god in the footsteps of his purity and holiness . . besides these no lesse true then apt solutions , there seemeth to me yet a plainer answer in the words themselves , by observing the difference between these two expressions of walking , and being in the light , it is not said we must be in the light , as he is in the light , but we must walke , as he is , looke as he is in the light , so that there is not the least darkness of sin in him , so we must walk in the light , and not indulge our selves in any sinful work of darkness , so that to walk in the light , as god is in the light , is so to walk in the light , as that we do not walk in , though we be not wholly free from darkness ; he then that liveth not in a course of known sin , that leadeth a conversation without any raigning iniquity , as god is without any sin at all : he walketh in the light , as he is in the light , and who will not acknowledge but this is that which every one not only may , but must attain to , who expects these glorious priviledges . and now to what should the meditation of this clause serve but to . humble us for our spiritual pride . how usual is it with most of us , to have overweening conceits of our own worth , to think our selves better then indeed we are , and by reason of self-sufficiency , to make a stop in our proficiency ; one special cause whereof , is that we measure our holiness by a false standard , and do not weigh our selves in the ballance of the sanctuary : we look upon the prophane rabble of the world , and presently judge our selves holy enough , and because we wander not in their cimmerian aegyptian darkness , conclude our selves to walk in the light ; but tell me , thou that pleasest thy self as if thou wert holy enough , art thou as holy as paul who calls to the philippians , and in them to all christians , be ye followers of me : nay , art thou as holy as the angels , when yet thy prayer is , that thou mayest do gods will on earth , as they do in heaven ; nay once more , art thou as holy as christ , as god ; whom here the apostle sets before thee as a pattern . alas , thou that lookest on thy left hand ( them that are worse then thy self ) with scorn , didst thou look on thy right hand ( those examples that so farre excell thee ) hast more reason to tremble , thou that castest thine eyes onely behind thee , and standest still ; didst thou look before thee , couldest not choose but haste forward , starres are glorious things in comparison of candles , but alas how is their splendor obscured when the sun ariseth ; compare thy light with that of the apostles , angels , god himself ; and be not high minded , but fear . . enflame us with a spiritual ambition , though our minds must be lowly , yet our aimes should be high : only with this caution , not to be great but good . it was indeed the haynous crime of the fallen angels ( as is probably supposed ) of our first parents , ( as is clearly manifest ) that they desired to be as gods , but it was in point of knowledge , of majesty , not of holiness ; and truly we their unhappy progeny , are too much of the same mind ; we would walk in the light of knowledg and glory , as he is in the light ; but far be those thoughts and desires from sincere christians , let us make him our pattern for walking in the light , which he hath appointed us to walk in , to wit , of purity and holiness , and thus let us walk as fast as we can , and aspire as high as we may , till we come to the utmost degree of conformity which our created and finite nature is capable of , and whereas man desiring to walk in the light , of gods knowledge , fell from his estate of innocency , our endeavour to walk in the light of his purity , will restore us to that state of integrity ; which here inchoated , shall be hereafter consummated . to end all , put both these parts together , we must walk in the light , as he is in the light , and this double consectary will naturally flow . . true conversion maketh a manifest and wonderful alteration , the poet speaking of a grafted tree , saith . miraturque novas frondes & non sua poma . it wondreth at those new leaves , and fruits , with which it is adorned , so do converts themselves , and all that behold them , wonder at the change which is wrought in them ; every man by his first birth is still-born , dead in sin , by his new birth he becometh alive to god ; as the father said of the prodigal , this my son was dead , and is alive ; and surely what a difference was between lazarus lying dead in the grave , and lazarus standing alive on his feet , the same is between a natural and a regenerate man. every man naturally walketh in darknesse , and is a slave to the prince of darkness , every convert walketh in the light , as he is in the light , so that look what alteration there is in the same ayre , by the arising of the sun , the like is in the same person by the infusion of holiness . . that the works of christianity is attended with no small difficulty . ah lord ! how light do most men make of their general calling ? how easy a matter do they account it to get to heaven , but surely they are such whom the devill casts into a sad sleep , and sootheth up with fond dreams ; who can read that general assertion of our saviour ; straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life : yea this more particular delineation of that way by the apostle , to be a walk●ng 〈◊〉 the light , as he is in the light ; and not work out his salvation with fear and trembling . brethren , if we intend to enjoy communion with god , we must walk , not sit , there is no stepping out of the worlds ease , into gods rest ; yea , we must walk upwards , ascend to divine perfection , there is no comming to heaven p●r saltum , but per scansum : it is no leaping thither in a moment , in a word , if it be no easy thing to be holy , it must needs be difficult to be happy . and therefore let us in a sence of the works difficulty , together with our own impotency , make our addresses to the throne of grace , and that both for the light wherein we are to walk , and the feet which may enable us to walk in this light : pray we that he would by his preventing grace infuse the habit of holiness into our hearts , and then by his assisting grace strengthen us , to act that holinesse in our lives . finally , according to the councel of that devout ancient , when we first set foot upon the ladder of piety , considering our deficiency and gods excellency ; let us stretch forth our hands to him who is at the top of the ladder , saying with the spouse , draw me , and we will run after thee : so shall we at the last come to him , and be with him in the light of purity and glory for ever . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . but if we walk in the light , as he is in the light , we have fellowship one with another , and the blood of iesus christ his son , cleanseth us from all sin . the life of man on earth is a race , and every one in this world a traveller . the wayes in which all men walk , are fitly and fully enumerated to be two , the one on the right , the other on the left hand ; so much pythagoras his y imports the one a straight and narrow way , the other a wide and broad way , so our blessed saviour plainly asserts ; the one a lightsom , & the other a dark path , as s. iohn here insinuateth . hence it is that all men who either have been , are , or shall be , are marshald into two ranks , sheep , and goats , the seed of the woman , and the seed of the serpent , the righteous and the wicked . in italy after the guelphs and the gibellines , there arose two factions which were called the albi and the atri , the white and the black ; these two indeed divide the whole world , all men being children of god , or of the devil : such as walk in the light , and such as walk in darknesse . these two wayes are so directly contrary in their natures , that though a man may go out of the one into the other ▪ yet it is impossible he s●ould at once walk in both , and therefore st. john sets the one in a manifest antithesis to the other . but if we walk in the light , nor are they lesse contrary in their ends , then in their natures ; the one leadeth to life , the other to destruction : so christ expressely , the one causeth a separation between god and us , and therefore they lye who walking in darkness say they have fellowship with god , the other leadeth to communion with god , and an interest in christ ; so it is affirmed in the words of the text. but if we walk , &c. having dispatched the qualification which respects our duty , passe we now on to the collation , which representeth gods mercy , and that in respect of two excellent benefits here specified , namely fellowsh●p with god , and cleansing by christ ; the one in those words , we have fellowsh●p one with another , the other in those , and the blood of iesus christ his son cleanseth from all sin , of each in their order . . the first of these benefits , namely our fellowship with god hath been already explicated from the third verse , and therefore i shall not need here to insist upon it . indeed the phrase ( one with another ) seemeth to intimate another kind of fellowsh●p then that before handled : namely , that fellowship which those who walk in the light , have one with another ; but the connexion will by no means admit this interpretation , this fellowship of them that walk in the light , being an inference from the consideration of gods being light , and therefore must be understood of the fellowship they have with him . sutable to this it is that grotius , and doctor hammond , observe the space in the kings manuscript to be so little , that it may more probably be supposed as left for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ but our greek copies do plainly read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ and so it may ( as beza and others observe ) admit a very fit exposition ; in reference to god we have fellowship one with another , that is , he with us , and we with him . and truly this is that which we may very well look upon with admiration and astonishment , and that both in the one part , and in the other , when we consider that we have fellowsh●p with him , it may teach us to admire at the exaltation of a saint , when we consider that he hath fellowsh●p with us , we have reason to wonder at the condescension of god ; how may we here make use of st. pauls words , oh the heighth , oh the depth , oh the heighth of advancemet , oh the depth of his abasement ; would we not think that beggar highly preferred , whom a king should admit to fellowship with himself in his palace , would we not conclude that king did much undervalue himself , who should vouchsafe to have fellowship with the beggar in his cottage , and yet thus it is between god and a christian : hereafter we shall have communion with him in his palace , now he hath communion with us in our cottage . oh our dignity , oh his dignation , how high are we exalted , how low doth he stoop . the truth is , there is not a more familiar fellowsh●p between the dearest friends , then there is between god and the saints , in which respect stobaeus asserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that there is a common negotiation and converse between god and pure minds ; oh let them rejoyce in , be thankfull to , and wonder at it . that which is yet further to be taken notice of , is the habitude and relation , which walking in the light , and fellowship with god bare one to the other , for the better clearing whereof , conceive it in this double notion . walking in the light , is both medium disponens , and testimonium firmans , a means disposing the subject for , and a testimony assuring the person of fellowship with god. . if we walk in the light we have fellowship , in as much as walking in the light doth make us fit for fellowship with god : that we may rightly understand this , it will be needful to make use of that known distinction between meritum de condigno & de congruo , condignity which is properly merit , and congruity which is onely so called in a large and improper sense . our walking in the l●ght , hath no worthiness to deserve so great a priviledge as fellowship with god , because it is no more then what is our duty , so that when we have done our best , we have done but what we ought ; but yet our walking in the light , hath in it a fitness for this fellowship , so that though it do not oblige god , , yet it qualifieth us for this benefit , and that in two respects ; inasmuch as . it removeth that which otherwise would be offensive to god , and cause a separation ; it is very observable , that when st. james speaketh of our drawing nigh to god , and gods drawing nigh to us hee presently addeth , cleanse your hands ye sinnners , and purify your hearts ye double minded , thereby intimating that the cleansing from sin fits for approaching to god ; now by walking in the light , darkness is expelled , the heart is purified , the hands are cleansed , and so the person fitted for divine communion . . it rendereth the person in some measure like to , and so fits for fellowship with god , it is a knowne maxime of the philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 likeness causeth love and love fellowship , where there is conformity , there must needs be congruity , god cannot but take delight in his owne image , what is said of david , is true of every holy person , he is a man after gods owne heart , he wils , what he wils , and nils , what he nils , and no wonder if there be a friendly communion between god and him . . if we walke in the light , we have fellowship , that is our fellowship with god , is assured to us by walking in the light . and if we consider the antithesis of this to the preceding verse , this construction cannot but seeme very genuine , that as for them who walke in darkness , to say they have fellowship with god , is a lie : so on the contrary , they who walke in the light , may truly say they have fellowsh●p with god , the one being an evident , and infallible testimony of the other . to illustrate this briefly , you must know that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellowship if taken for a participation of gods sanct●ty , is the cause of our walking in the light , since till wee receive by this participation the l●ght of hol●ness from god , we can never walke in it . now though science properly so called , is à priori from the cause to the effect , yet our knowledge for the most part and especially in this particular is à posteriori from the effect to the cause , and so this walking in the light as an effect , assureth us of its cause , fellowship with god. the consideration hereof may serve for a touchstone , and a whetstone ; and so both rectify our judgements , and quicken our endeavours . . let it be a touchstone , to try the truth of our interest in this fellowship , that so we may give a right estimate of our own condition . it is st. peters counsell , give all dilligence to make your calling and election sure , this fellowship my text speaketh of , is that to which we are elected before time , and called in time , but how shall we make it sure , beza and grotius both tell us , that in severall greek manuscripts these words are added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by good workes , which are metaphorically a walking in the light . if then we would not be deceaved in the knowledg of our election and vocation , to this heavenly participation , let us measure our selves by the course of our actions and integrity of our conversation . . let it be a whetstone , to set an edge upon our desires after walking in the light that we may have fellowship with god , surely if we have any beleefe of a deity and acknowledge him to be the summum bonum cheefest good , we cannot but account it our happines to have the fruition of him . if then we desire this happy communion , let it be our care to lead holy conversations . the truth is fellowship with god , is such a priviledge which as on the one hand it is impossible to deserve , so on the other it is not sufficient to desire , but we must be in some measure fitted for it . there is none of us but would attaine this fellowship , only we like not the way that leadeth to it , whereas it is in vaine to expect the one , without performing the other , as therefore we seriously desire fellowship with him , let us earnestly strive to walke in the light as he is in the light , and so much shall suffice for the first benefit here assured , passe we on to the. . other which indeed is the foundation of this namely our cleansing by christ , and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin . for the fuller discussion whereof i shall consider it two waies . in it selfe as it containeth a positive assertion , the blood of jesus christ , his sonne cleanseth from all sin . in its connexion with the preceding parte of the verse intimated in that coniunctive particle and. . the plaine position of this clause , is the bloud of iesus christ cleanseth from all sin , insignis hic locus ( to use calvins expression ) an elegant , and excellent sentence , wherein every word hath its weight , so that we might finde in it as many parts as words . if you please to allude to a known and apt metaphor , here is observable the phisitian , the patients of that physitian , the disease of those patients , the physicke for that disease , the operation of that physick , and the efficacy of that operation . . the physitian , is iesus christ the son of god , one who being the son of god , must needs be able and skilfull , since he is the christ , he wants not a call to the office , & as he is iesus , he cannot but be ready & willing to the worke , who can desire a better , who would seeke after another physitian then him in whom skill , and will , ability , and authority do meete . . the patients of this physitian are expressed in the pronoune us conceive it by way of exclusion , us , not the angells , he is pleased to have no pitty on their misery , nor to vouchsafe them any remedy , by way of inclusion , us apostles , as well as others , none but stand in need of this physitian , and they most need him , who thinke they have least . . the disease of these patients is sin , a disease both hereditary , as to the root of it , which together with our nature we receave from our parents , and likewise contracted by our selves , upon our selves , in the dayly eruption of this corruption , by thoughts , words and workes ; a disease that maketh the patient sick , dangerously , desperatly sicke , even to the death , yea such as must inevitably have brought upon us , not only the first , but the second death , had not this physitian interposed , and undertaken the cure . . the physick , which this physitian administreth to the patient for the cure of his disease is blood , and which is the wonder his owne blood . indeed the cause so stood , that as none but this physitian , so nor he but by his blood could effect this cure , and behold , he is content , to part with his owne blood for our sakes . . the operation of this physick , is by cleansing , indeed such is the excellency of christs blood , that it is both a purge , and a cordiall , strengthening , and cleansing ; none like this to comfort our hearts , none like this to purge out the ill humors of our sins , whereby our spirituall health is restored . . lastly the efficacy of its operation , which appeareth by a double extent . . the one in regard of the disease it cleanseth from all sin , that is , whatsoever can be called sin , of what k●nd , nature , degree soever it be , since the cure of no d●sease can be impossible to him that can do all things . . the other in respect of the permanency of this physicks vertue , implyed in the present tence of the verbe , this blood never loosing its efficacy , cleansing not onely when shed but indeed , both before and after , so that the patriarchs and prophets before christ , the apostles who were contemporary with christ , nay all christians after him , to the end of the world , may truly take up this saying , the blood of christ , cleanseth us from all sin . but that i may rather breake , then crumble this bread of life , be pleased only to take notice of two generall parts in this clause namely . the effect , or benefit it selfe in those words , cleanseth from all sin . the cause and spring of this benefit in those words the blood of jesus christ his son , of the first breifly , of the latter more largely . . the benefit it selfe is cleansing from all sin , for the unde●standing of which we must know that in sin , there are two things considerable to wit macula , and reatus the staine , whereby it defileth our natures , and the guilt by which it defileth our persons , according to these two , there is a double cleansing , the one of sanctification , the other of just●fication , nor is it my distinction but st. pauls , where having mentioned walking as the genus , he presently distinguisheth it into its species , sanctifying and justifying . the one , by subduing the dominion of sin , gradually abateth , and in due time shall by an expulsion of the being , wholly take away the staine of sin upon our natures , the other so taketh away the guilt of sin , that the person is not in gods sight , and account obl●ged to suffer the pun●shment due to it . if you aske which of these is here understood , i answer in a large sence , we may comprehend both , it being true that the blood of christ hath in it self a moral efficacy to perswade , and withall hath purchased the spirit of christ , to be annexed to it , which is the efficient cause , of the cleansing of sanctification , in which respects our dying to sin , and redeeming us from all iniquity , are set down as ends ; yea effects of christs death , but withall , in a proper sense we are here to understand the cleansing of justification , partly , because the walking in the light before mentioned , includeth in it the purity of sanctification , and partly , because this cleansing is here prom●sed as a priviledge to be conferred upon them that walk in the l●ght . to this purpose it is rationally observed , that . where cleansing from sin is required as a duty to be done by us , it is to be understood necessarily of cleansing by sanctification , so in that of the prophet , wash you , make you clean , of the apostle s. paul , let us cleanse our selves ; s. james , cleanse your hands , and the like . . where cleansing from sin is prayed for as a mercy , of which we stand in need ; it extends to both : as appears in davids penitential psalm , where he beggeth of god washing , cleansing , purging , and creating in him a clean heart ; since though the former principally refer to the cleansing of justification , yet the latter manifestly relateth to that of sanctification . . where cleansing is promised as a benefit to be bestowed upon us if it is not only yet primarily to be interpreted of cleansing by justification ; of this nature are those evangelical promises we read of in the prophesyes of jeremy and ezechiel , and thus i conceive we are to interpret both the ninth and this present verse . according to this construction , the blessing here assured , is that which is elsewhere called rem●ssion and forgiveness of sins , why it is expressed by this metaphor of cleansing , shall be ( god willing ) more fully illustrated in the handling of the ninth verse . let it suffice for the present , that we have found out the genuine meaning of it , and so pass we on to . that which is the chief intendment of this clause , the cause and spring of this benefit , the blood of jesus christ his son. this phrase of cleansing , is both a metaphorical and a legall word , and in both it represents this blood of christ. . as it is a metaphoricall word . what water is in the corporal , that is , this blood of christ in the spiritual cleansing ; blood in a natural way , is not cleansing but defil●ng , and besmearing ; and yet what water doth to material , that , this blood doth to the immaterial cleansing ; in this respect it is , that as men use to wash themselves in water , so christ is said to wash us in his blood : to this the promise in ezechiel properly alludeth , where god saith , i will sprinkle clean water upon you , and for this end certainly , christ instituted water as the element in the holy sacrament of baptism , that he might thereby signifie the cleansing efficacy of his blood . . as it is a legall word . what the blood of beasts in the law did tipically , that the blood of christ doth really , to wit , cleanse from sin . the authour to the hebrews observeth , that almost all things in the law were purified with blood , and without shedding of blood , there was no rem●ssion ; thus in the ceremonies for legal uncleanness , there was for the most part blood used , and in their sacrifices for expiation of moral uncleaness ; there was shedding of blood , to both which the apostle alludeth , when he speaketh of the blood of bulls and goats , and the ashes of an heyfer ; the blood of bulls and goats being shed in their sin-offerings , and the ashes of a slain heyfer , used in cleansing those that touched a dead body . and surely what were all these cleansings by blood , but types and figures of the cleansing by christs blood , for which cause the apostle manifestly calls these purifyings , patterns of the heavenly things : indeed as the same holy writer saith , it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin , so that when expiation of sin is attributed to them , it is only to be understood in a tipical and sacramental sense , as they were shadows , figures , representations of this blood , whereof my text speaketh ; and therefore it is , they all vanished and were abrogated from the time of the shedding of this blood , in which they had their accompl●shment , and by which this admirable effect was really and fully performed , the cleansing from all sin . for the better understanding of this precious truth , give me leave briefly to resolve these three queries . what we are here to understand by the blood of christ. what kind of causality this blood hath to the cleansing from sin . whence it is that this blood hath this causal●ty , and when i have thus opened the vein of this clause , i shall the better let out the blood contained it , for your spiritual refreshment . . in answer to the first of these you must know that this blood of christ is here to be taken both metonymically , and synechdochically . . metonymically , socinus making use of this trope , understandeth by christs blood gods new covenant , in which this benefit is promised ; a sence which if admitted , yet according to a right construction , will nothing advance his design . it is true , he maketh it a metonymy of the adjunct , as if the covenant were called christs blood , onely because it is confirmed by it ; but when st. paul telleth us in general , that all the promises are in him yea , is well as amen , made , as made good ; yea when our blessed saviour in particular calleth it the blood of the new testament , or covenant , because it was shed ( not so much for confirming the covenant , wherein rem●ssion of sins is promised us ) for the remission ( that is , obtaining the remission ) of sins which is promised in that covenant , it plainly appeareth , that if by blood we will understand the covenant , it must be a metonymy ; not so much of the adjunct as of the cause , & so it amounts to thus much , that the remission of sin which is promised in the new covenant , is procured by the blood of christ , which is as much as the orthodox doctrin asserts . but the right metonymy here necessarily to be taken notice of is by the blood , to understand the death of christ , and this of the cause for the effect ; because by the violent effusion of his blood , his death was effected . the better to clear this , take notice that the blood of christ was shed , according to st. bernard ( who supposeth they drew blood from his cheeks , when they smote him ) seven , but rather six several times . soon after his birth , when at his c●rcumc●sion they took away the foresk●n of his flesh , a little before his death in the garden , when he was cast into that bloody sweat , in his scourging , when they plowed his back with whips , and made long furrows on his shoulders , upon his coronation , when they platted his head with a crown of thorns , at his death on the cross , in the piercing of his feet and hands with nayls , after his death when his side was opened with a spear , blood and water gushing forth ; and truly , though none of these times , his blood was shed in vain , yet it is the blood of the cross , when together with his blood , he powred out his life , that was the offering for sin , in which respect it is expressely so called by st. paul : it is indeed by some asserted , that one drop of his blood ( by reason of the hypostatical union ) might have sufficed for the redemption of the world , but that must be taken cum grano salis : since ( supposing at least gods decree ) it was no less blood then his life-blood , that could avail to the accomplishing this expiation . . synecdochically . socin●anizing vorstius making use of this trope , extends the synecdoche to that which he cals the whole oblation of christ , and so comprehendeth not only his antecedent obedience , but his subsequent glory , to wit , of his resurrection , ascension , session , and intercession . but inasmuch as the authour to the hebrews expressely saith , that when he had purged our sins , he sate down at the right hand of god , and again he entred into the holy place , having obtained eternal redemption for us , yea our blessed saviour himself being ready to up the ghost cried , it is finished , i shall not noubt to assert , but that what concerned the acquisition of this great benefit was then fully performed , though the resurrection with the consequents of it were needful for the effectual application of it to us . this synecdoche therefore is to be extended onely to his passion , one part put for the whole of his sufferings , and so we are to construe it not onely of his blood but his body ; since as the one was shed , the other was crucified , and as here , his bloud cleanseth from sin , so in st. peter he is said to beare our sins on his body , yea st. paul ascribeth our reconciliation ; both to his bloud , and to his body , nor yet onely of his body and bloud , but his soule also in which suffering a subtraction of the divine vision , he cryed out upon the crosse , my god my god , why hast thou forsaken me , and therefore the prophet isay , foretelling his passion , mentioneth his soule which was made an offering for sin , in a word , not onely his bloud , and body , and soule , but his whole person is to be included , the passion being expiatory ( as you shall hear more fully anon , ) in that it was the passion of such a person , and therefore it is often said he gave up himselfe , and more appositely to our present purpose , is that of the auther to the hebrews by himselfe he purged our sins . . for the resolution of the . question be pleased to take notice . . that the cleansing of our sins is attributed in scripture to god , to christ , to faith , and all of them have a reall and severall influence upon this benefit , the principall efficient of this cleansing is god , to whom therefore it is attributed in the verse , the instrument receiving the benefit is faith , and therefore it is said to be through faith , the meritorious cause deserving this benefit at the hands of god for us is christs bloud , indeed socinus asserts ( with a nihil verius ) that god and christ act in the same way of efficiency , onely with this difference , god is the principall , and christ the organicall cause , and so god forgiveth by christ , but whilst he onely asserts , but doth not prove it ; we may as confidently deny , as he affirmeth : especially when the scriptures expresse that not per but propter christum , by , but for christ we are forgiven , so our translators render the sence of st ▪ paules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for christ , sake , and our apostle in the twelfth verse of the next chapter , saith our sins are forgiven , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his name sake . . more particularly , christs bloud , is the meritorious cause of cleansing us from sin , inasmuch , as he thereby took our sins upon himselfe . this is the truth which the apostle peter manifestly asserts where he saith : he bore our sins on his own body on the tree , and presently addeth by whose stripes we are healed . healing & cleansing are paralel phrases , our sins being the diseases of our souls , of these sicknesses we are healed , of these sins we are cleansed by christs bear●ng them on his body , which , because it was done on high , upon the tree ▪ the apostle useth not barely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifyeth sursum tulit , not onely he bore , but he carryed up , whereby the sence is not diminished , but augmented , as having in it a fit allusion to the sacrifices which were lift up upon the altar . it is very considerable in this respect , that the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( like the latine tollo ) signifie both ferre , and auferre , to bear and to take away , and both these are used concerning christ in this particular , the one by the prophet isay , where he saith , he bore our griefes , the other by iohn baptist , when he saith ; he taketh away the sins of the world , and most aptly because he taketh away the sinne from us : by taking it upon himselfe . to unbowel this precious truth know . that christ bleeding and dying on the crosse stood in our stead and suffered in our room ; to this purpose are those expressions , where christ is said to suffer for us , to die for the people ; for so much the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifieth , as when st. paul wisheth to be an anathema 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for or instead of his brethren , and when the apostles are said to be ambassadors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that is in christs stead ; more clearly to this intent is that phrase of the evangelist , where christ is said to give his life a ransom for many , the preposition being not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which alwayes implyeth a commutation , and when it is applyed to persons , signifieth the comming of one into the room of another , so archelaus is said to raign in judea , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the rooom of his father herod . yea , that this sence is intended where spoken of christs sufferings , appeares by st. pauls question , is paul crucified for you ? for if it were onely meant for your good , paul might have been crucified for them , as he tells the colossians , i rejoyce in my sufferings for you , and therefore crucified for you , must be as much as in your stead , which neither paul , nor any other could be . . that christ standing in our stead , death was inflicted on him by god for our sins : this no doubt is the genuine meaning of those scriptures where he is said to be wounded for our transgressions , and bruised for our iniquities : and again , he was delivered for our offences , he died for our sins . that these phrases cannot properly note the final cause appeareth , in that the end of his death is not our sins , but what is directly contrary to our sins , the destruction of them , who ever said that physick was taken for death , that is , the avoyding death , but for the disease ; the disease being that which necessitateth to physick , besides to instance yet nearer when we say , a man died for theft , for murder , or treason : what else do we mean , but that those crimes were the deserving cause which brought him to his end . thus christ died for our sins , our sins bringing him to his cross , to his grave ; in this sense no doubt it is that the apostle saith , he ( that is god ) made him to be sin for us , to wit , at least so farre as to be made a sacrifice for our sins , when yet he sin-namely , in himself , and look as the beast in the law was slain and sacrificed in the room , and for the sin of the person that brought it , so was christ crucified in our stead , because of our sin . . that christ bleeding and dying for our sins , suffered that punishment which was due to us . it was the commination of god to adam , thou shalt dye the death . death then was the punishment due to him and all his posterity for sin , and this death which we must have undergone in our own persons , is inflicted upon christ. to this purpose it is , that christ is said by the apostle to be made a curse : when this , but when he hung upon the tree , for cursed is every one that hangeth upon the tree , so that the curse which the law pronounceth against u● , was laid on him : if it be said that the curse and death which was due to us was eternal , whereas christs was temporary . i answer that duration is but a circumstance to the thing , and the reason why on us it must have been eternal , is because our punishment could no other way be infinite , which yet is required for the satisfaction of an infinite offended justice , whereas the case is farre different in respect of christ , as will appear presently . . that christ having suffered that punishment which belonged to us , we must needs be thereby acquitted and cleansed ▪ to this purpose he is called by the authour to the hebrews , a surety : and look as the surety paying his debt for whom he is bound , dischargeth him from his creditor ; so christ suffering our punishment , freeth us from the obligation to it , which is all one with cleansing from the guilt of sin , and the reason is plain , for since the guilt of sin is its binding the sinner over to the punishmen● , christ taking that punishment upon himself , and suffering it in our roome must needs thereby cleanse us from that guilt , so that in few words christs blood being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a laver became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a price satisfactory for our debt , hath obtained the forgiveness of it to us , and so we are cleansed . having in some measure according to the scriptures explained the genuine notion of this causality , i shall not much trouble my selfe nor you with those farfetched and ieiune inventions of the socinians , whereby they endeavour to elude these truths , and yet i cannot passe by one evasion because it is that socinus annexeth to this very scripture as if this saying the blood of christ cleanseth from sin were no more but that his blood declareth us to be , & assureth us that we are cleansed , so that what the orthodox attribute to the sacrament , instituted by christ in commemoration of his blood , that these hereticks attribute to the blood it selfe , but how incongruous it is to expound this of a declarative cleansing , appeareth in that the apostle who could best interpret his own language in the very next verse save one , unfolds it by forgiving besides this construction maketh cleansing from sin , to antecede christs blood , for if it did not praeexist , there not be could any declaring or confirming of it , whereas the scripture , both here & else where , plainly , positively asserteth this cleansing to flow from , & come through the blood of christ , the consideration hereof no doubt forced socinus to the finding out of other solutions , and there fore he sometimes asserts , that christs blood cleanseth inasmuch as it perswadeth us to a beleefe , & hope of eternall life , whereby we are induced to holiness of life , and so our sins are cleansed , but all which is hereby ascribed to christs death is only a morall causality , nay rather a meere antecedency , sure it is christs resurection , rather then his death which ingenders that faith and hope in us , and it is not imaginable , that the scripture should so often attribute that to the death , which cheifely depends on the resurrection of christ , adde to this ( which is very considerable ) how remote ( if any at all ) an influence it is which christs blood according to this sence hath upon this cleansing , ( for as grotius hath well observed ) the thread must be drawn out to this length . forgiveness and cleansing from sin , is conferred upon them that live holily , to live holily , we are induced by a certaine faith and hope of the reward , the example of christ raised from the dead , and exalted to glory for the holinesse of his life is a way to beget this faith , & hope , that glorifying and rising his death did necessarily antecede and thus our cleansing from sin is obtained by his blood , but how credible it is that the scriptue should so frequently , so positively , so expresly attribute this cleansing to christs blood , and yet the dependance of these one upon the other to be at so remote a distance , and of so slender an energie , let any one who hath but a competent use of his reason judge , . i proceed therefore to the answer of the last question nor need we go further then the text it selfe to finde that , if you would know how this blood becometh so effectuall to cleanse from sin , the answer is , because it is the blood of iesus christ his son . i shall not altogether passe by nor yet insist upon that note which estius hath upon the blood of his son , that in them there is a confutation of three heresyes at once , the m●●ichees who deny the truth of christs humane nature since as alexander said of his wound , clamat me esse hominem , it proclaymeth me a man , we may say of his blood , for had he not beene man , he could not have bled , have dyed ; the ebionites who deny him to be god , since being gods naturall son , he must needs be of the same essence with himselfe , and the nestorians who make two persons , which if true the blood of christ the man , could not have been called the blood of christ the son of god. that which i conceive here chiefly to be taken notice of is that our apostle contents not himselfe to say the blood of jesus christ , but he addeth his son to intimate to us how this blood became ava●leable , to our cleansing to wit as it was the blood not meerly of the son of mary , the son of david , the son of man , but of him who was also the son of god. indeed that it was the blood of an innocent pure unsinn●ng man did much conduce to this worke since had he beene himselfe a sinner he could not have cleansed us from our sins , and therefore our apostle in the next chapter joyneth these two together jesus christ the righteous , the propitiation for our sins , and the apostle peter puts these together as of a pretious lambe without spot and blemish , to this purpose it is st. austin saith the blood , because it was the blood of him who had no sin himselfe , was shed for the remission of our sins , and leo sutably the powring out of a just mans blood , for the unjust was effectuall to our redemption . but though this was a necessary qualification in this person who did shed his blood for this end , yet that which gave the efficacy , and merit to his blood , was the fullness of the godhead which dwelt in him personaly , thus damasen speaking of his deity addeth , thence his passion became of a saving , and quick●ning virtue , and st. cyrill expresly , his blood had not been a price for the worlds sin , if he had been only man. indeed socinus asserts that the dignity of his person added nothing to the value of his sufferings , because the divinity it selfe did not suffer , but though the godhead did not suffer yet godman did suffer , and he who endured the punishment was god , though he did not indure it as god , in these respects it is said they crucify'd the lord of glory , and god is said to purchase his church with his blood , and here it is called the blood of iesus christ his son , and we may as well say it is all one , to kill a king as a beggar , a father as a stranger , because the mortall wound is directed against the body , not the dignity or affinity . the summe then is this , christs deity being personally united to his manhood , giveth an efficacy to his sufferings , hence it is that his person being infinite , the worth of his blood is infinite , and so it became commensurate and adaequate both to the infinite demerit of the sin committed by us , and the eternity of the punishment , which was to have been inflicted upon us , and by the same reason that mans sin , being a finite act , yet deserveth an infinite punishment , because perpetrated against an infinite majesty : christs death though a temporary passion , cannot but be infinitely satisfactory , because it is the death of an infinite person , christ iesus the son of god , blessed for ever . and now what other use should we make of this but as both a looking-glasse , and an antidote . . in this truth as in a looking-glasse , let us see these two things the haynous nature of our sins , and the unparaleld measure of christs love . . view oh sinner the hainous nature of thy sins , from which nothing but christs blood can cleanse th●e , sin if looked upon in the glasse of the law , cannot but appeare sinfull but when beheld in the blood of christ , it must needs appeare beyond measure sinfull : ex consideratione remedii periculi aestimo quantitatem ; saith st. bernard excellently take notice of the greatnes of thy disease , and danger in the remedy prepared for the cure of the one , and prevention of the other . oh how great is that wound , which nothing could heal but the physitians death . the truth is , christs blood in respect of sin , is both aggravating and diminishing : look upon sin in christs blood one way ; & it appeareth not so terrible because this blood cleanseth from it : look upon it another way , & it appeareth abhominable , because it could not be cleansed but by this blood . tell me oh sinner why dost thou make nothing to defile thy self with that which cost thy saviour so dear to cleanse thee from , how much rather should thy sins wring tears from thee since they drew blood from christ ? . behold oh sinner the exceeding love of thy saviour , who that he might cleanse thee when polluted in thy blood was pleased to shed his owne bloud . indeed the powring out of christs blood was eximium charitatis opus , a superexcellent worke of charity , hence it is that these two are joyned together , and when the scripture speaketh of his love it presently annexeth his sufferings so st. paul , who loved me and gave himselfe for me , so st. iohn , who loved us and washed us from our sins in his owne blood . we read , that when christ wept for lazarus , the standers by said , see how he loved him , surely if his tears much more his bloud proclaimeth his affection towards us , thus may we see the bowels of his compassion through the wounds of his passion . the iewes were the scribes , the nayles were the pens , his body the white paper , and his bloud the red inke , and the characters were love , exceeding love , and these so fairely written , that he which runs may read them . i shut up this with that of devout bernard , behold , and look upon the rose of his bloudy passion , how his redness bespeaketh his flaming love , there being , as it were a contention betwixt his passion and affection , this , that it might be hotter , that that it might be redder , nor had his sufferings been so red with bloud , had not his heart been enflamed with love . oh let us beholding magnify , magnifying , admire , and admiring , praise him for his inestimable goodness saying with the holy apostle unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his bloud be honour and glory for ever . . make use of this truth as a cordiall to revive thy drooping soul , in a time of inward affliction : it is the note of oecumenius upon the text . is any one affrighted with the light and sense of sin ? let this cleansing by the bloud of christ make him confident , and to the like purpose st. austin , the devil hath put in a caveat . an hand-writing against us , but let us be secure : the blood of christ hath blotted it out . me thinks i hear some wounded , broken sinner crying out in dispaire . woe is me that ever i was born , my sins are for number innumerable , for measure , unmeasurable , and i am not able to cleanse my selfe from any , no not the least of them . oh what mountaines of grievous sins lye upon my back , that i am not able to look up , oh what scarlet crimson bloudy sins continually sly in my face , that i am not able to behold without desperation , oh that i had never been , oh that i might be no more , whether shall i sly , who carry my guilt still along with me ? what shall i do to be eased of this oppressing burden ? ah my sinfull soule what will become of thee ? vile wretch that i am , where shall i appear ? but stay thou despa●ring sinner ; with poore hagar in the wildernesse , thou art crying , weeping , dying , when as behold a well of water is by thee , a fountaine of bloud is opened for sin , and for uncleanness , thou dost well to bewayle thy own sin , but thou dost ill to forget thy saviours bloud . thou sayst thou art a great sinner , true , else christ needed not have shed his bloud , thou sayst thou art a great sinner , be it so , yet christs bloud cleanseth from all sin . and therefore is christs bloud sayd to cleanse from all sin , because there is no sin so great from which it cannot cleanse , what if thy sins be clouds : thick clouds , yet the beames of this sun of righteousnesse can dissipate them , what though they be mountaines , yet this red sea can swallow them , what though they be scarlet sins , yet this scarlet bloud can make them white as snow . view the catalogue of those sinners whom this bloud hath cleansed , and thou shalt find fornicatours , idolaters , adulterers , effae'minate , abusers of themselves with mankind , theeves , covetous , drunkards , revilers , extor●tioners have been washed by it , for such saith st. paul to the corinthians , were some of ye , but ye are washed : look once again , and thou shalt find a blasphemer , a persecuter , ( for such was paul himselfe ) nay murderers , even those who had a hand in the murder of christ himselfe , ( for such were those converts at st. peters sermon ) cleansed mercyfully by this very bloud which they shed so cruelly . sinners , this bloud still as it were runs afresh , and the efficacy of it is as full now , as it was at first , onely remember that this bloud which was shed , cleanseth not unlesse it be sprinkled , so much david intimateth in that prayer , purge me with hisope , hysope being that by which the bloud of sacrifice was sprinkled , to which answereth faith , wereby our souls are sprinkled with this bloud of christ. the brazen serpent cured those who were stung with the fiery serpent , but not without their looking on it : the bloud of christ can cleanse us from all our sins , but not without our applying it . go then oh sinner in a sence of thy own filthiness to thy blessed saviour , say to him with the leper , lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean , with the father of the child , lord i believe , help my unbelief , remember his gracious invitation to come , and his comfortable promise of ease , and be not faithless but beleeving . nor needest thou mingle any water with this bloud , popish pennances , pilgrimages , indulgencies or any such like inventions of superstitious dotages , this bloud alone can cleanse ▪ and by joyning any thing with it , thou dost what lyeth in thee to defile and debase this bloud . to him then , and him alone ; have recourse with a lowly , yet lively confidence , relying on the merits of his bloud , which cleanseth from all sinne . . you have seen the position in it selfe , be pleased now to look upon it : in its reflection , on what proceedeth , and thus we may consider it two wayes . either as these words are an answer to some objection , which may be made against the preceding . or as the preceding words prevent a misapplication which may be made of these . . whereas the apostle saith in the former part of the verse . if we walke in the light , as he is in the light , we have fellwoship one with another . it may be objected though we now walke in the light , yet before we walked in darkness , and will not that hinder our communion , nay besides , though we walk in the light : yet we still fall into darkness , and will not that make a seperation between god and us , to both these we have a cleare answer returned in these words . . as for our past sins , committed before conversion , they shal not hinder this fellowsh●p , because ? ( so ( and ) is somtimes taken ; especially by s. john ) the bloud of christ cleanseth from all sins . to wit , as some expound it ( truly though not fully ) all past sin , it is the promise of almighty god , made by ezechiell , that when the wicked , turneth from his wickedness that he hath committed , all his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned to him , indeed the convert himselfe still penitently remembers them , bu● god mercifully forgets them , and why ? the bloud of christ cleanseth from them , whence by the way it is well observed by zanchy : that it is not our walk●ng in the l●ght ; cleanseth from our former workes of darkness : but the bloud of christ. our present obedience is not , cannot be any compensation to god , for our former disobedience , we now doe no more then we ought to do , and therefore it cannot satisfy for our former doing what we ought not , and not doing what we ought to do , but the merit of christs bloud both can and doth expiate our former guilt . . as for our present sins , whither continuall infirmities ; or our particular grosse acts , into which we may fall : notwithstanding , we walk in the light , from these upon our repentance , the bloud of christ cleanseth , & so our fellowsh●p with god continueth , it is true we cannot walke so exactly but sin will cleave to us , sin in whomsoever it is , cannot but provoke god to seperate from him , i but the bloud of christ cleanseth us from our sins , whereby it is that we still have fellowsh●p with god. thus doth this sentence at once : both infirmitatis nostrae nos admonere : admonish us of our own weakness , & adversus desperationem munire , arme us against those fears which the sins we fall into , by reason of that weaknesse may prompt us to ; whilst we have still a refuge to flie to a rock to lay hold upon , a plaster to make use of , even this bloud of jesus christ which cleanseth from all sin . . there is yet another relative consideration of these words ; which would by no means be left out , as being that which may serve like the angels flaming sword ; to keep of impenitent sinners from comming to the tree of life . brethren , this is a very comfortable doctrine which you have heard of christs bloud cleansing from all sin , and i doubt too many will be ready to lay hold on it , to whom it doth not yet belong ; when therefore you apply this comfort , take with you the cond●tion , if we walke in the l●ght as he is in the light ; the bloud of christ cleanseth from all sin . and remember that this hypotheticall proposition is aequivalent to an exceptive , unless we walk in the light the bloud of christ will not cleanse us . hence then impenitent presumptuous sinners , here is bread indeed ; but not for dogs , a pearle , but not for swine . the comfort of this text is precious ; but not common , and though that his bloud is able to cleanse all : yet it only will cleanse them that walk in the light . it is the strange conceit of many , that all is so done for them , that nothing needs to be done by them , whereas christs bloud so cleanseth from sin , that we must walk in the light , it is the horrid presumption of some , that though they live in sin , they shall be cleansed by christs death whereas his bloud cleanseth onely such as walk in the light . oh then , let us not deceive our selves with vain hopes , christ hath borne our sins , we must not therefore think to lay what load upon him we please : he onely taketh away their sins , who cast away their sins . christs death is a plaister for wounded sinners , but we must not presumptuously wound our selves : in hope that this plaister will cure us . finally , christs bloud is a rich treasure , to defray the debts of humble sinners , and to beare the expences of such to heaven : but there is nothing allowed for wanton prodigals , who spend freely , and sin lavishly , upon the account of christs merits : and therefore to end all , be sure in reading , and applying to joyne the beginning of the verse with the end . if we walke in the light the bloud of jesus christ cleanseth from all sin . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. , , . if we say that we have no sin , we deceive our selves , and the truth is not in us . if we confesse our sins , he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . if we say we have not sinned , we make him a lyar , and his word is not in us . that vision which moses saw of a bush burning in the fire , is symbolically applyed to instruct us in that most exquisite wisdom , the knowledge of god and our selves , nor unfitly , since flaming fire is a fit embleme of gods purity , and the thornie bush of mans iniquity . this sight me thinketh st. iohn presenteth us within this chapter , if you please to cast your eyes on the sixth verse you may behold the fire , a delineation of gods holinesse , who is light without any darknesse , here in these verses you may meet with the bush , a declaration of mans sinfulness . it was the prayer of a devout ancient , domine noverim te , noverim me . lord let know thee , let me know my self ; this ought to be the prayer , the study of every christian to know gods purity that we may admire him , ou● own impurity that we may abhorre our selves , no wonder if st. john having acquainted us with the one , here minds us of the other . if we say we have no sin , &c. after the preface contained in the first verses , we entered into the body of the epistle , wherein we have taken notice of the text , and the commentary . the text wherein is comprized the main subject of the whole epistle is set down in the three preceding verses . that being handled , we are now to enter upon the commentary as it is enlarged in the remaining part of the epistle . there are three principal termes in the text , to wit , fellowship with god through christ , which is denied to them who walk in darkness , and assured to them who walke in the light . to one of these three ( as will appear by the handling ) every thing in the following part of the epistle belongs . but that which our apostle begins with , and most insisteth upon , is walking in the l●ght ; his chief drift being to chalk out the steps of this way to divine communion , in which he often collaterally describeth them who walk in darknes . the words which i have now read , contain one , and that which is both the first and the last step of a christians walking in the light , namely an acknowledgment of his sins , contrary to which , they who walk in darknesse , instead of acknowledging their faults , justify themselves as if they had no sin . for the more methodical handling of the words , be pleased to tade notice in them of two general parts , a confutation of the arrogant begun in the eighth ingeminated and amplifyed in the tenth verse . a consolation of the penitent briefly , but fully laid down in the ninth verse . begin we with the confutation , wherein we have considerable the truth implicitely asserted . the errour explicitely confuted . the first of these will justly take up this houres discourse ; it is that , which is though implicitely , yet manifestly asserted ; and since accords to that geometrical maxime , rectum est index sui & obliqui , that which is straight , discovereth not only it self , but that which is cro●ked ; so by the clear apprehension of this truth , we shall the better discover the odiousnesse of this errour . the truth plainly layed down in these two verses , is , that all men are sinners ; and that not only before , but after conversion : for if there be no truth , nay , gods word is not in them , who say they have no sin , it must n●eds be a true saying , and consonant to gods word , that all men have sin . it is a truth which you see consists of two parts , though the latter be principally here aimed at , and chiefly to be insisted upon . . all men before conversion are in a state of sin : thus s. paul saith expresly , that the scripture hath concluded all men under sin , nor can we understand this note of universality too largely , it being true not onely of all sorts of men , but all men of all sorts ; that either have , are , or shall be . indeed , all men by corrupted nature , are so far from having no sin , that they have no good : and therefore that complaint of the psalmist is enlarged by the apostle , as true , of all , both iews and gentiles ; they are all gone out of the way , they are become unprofitable , there is none that doth good , no not one : but the truth of this is so evident , that i shall not need to expatiate upon it . all men even after conversion continue sinners : indeed by grace we cease to be wicked , but not to be sinners . it is the note of st. hilarie , upon these words , thou hast trodden down all them that erre from thy statutes , that we are not by them that erre , to understand all sinners , but wicked apostates : for if god shall tread down all sinners , he must tread down all men , because there is no man without sin . that this truth is here intended and asserted by st. iohn in these words , will appeare , if we consider , . the connexion of this with the precedent verse , which evidently seemeth to lye thus . the apostle there affirmeth , that the bloud of jesus christ cleanseth them who walk in the light , from all sin . whereas it might be objected on the one hand , that they who walk in the light have no sin , and therefore need not the bloud of christ to cleanse them , our apostle here tacitely returneth answer , letting them know that even they who walke in the light , are not altogether free from sin , and therefore have continual need of cleansing by christs blood : and whereas it will be said on the other hand , if the benefits here mentioned stand upon such termes of walking in the light as he is in the light , we who have darknesse mixed with our light , cannot hope to be partakers of them : our apostle here preventeth it by acquainting us , that it was far from his intent by this phrase to exact unspott●d purity , or a perfect freedome from all sin . . the persons in respect of whom he maketh this supposition , to wit , himselfe ; and the rest of the holy apostles . indeed i do not deny but that the aime of our apostle in these words was to confute those in his time , who living in wickednesse , & thought themselves pure , but withall , it is manifest that the argument by which he confuteth them is drawn a majori ad minus , from the greater , to the lesse . if wee our selves , ( st. john and the other apostles ) cannot say , much lesse might the gnosticks say , that they had no sin , for doubtlesse the apostle would never have made the supposall in such persons , if it were not thus far true , that supposing even they should say , they had no sin , they did but deceive themselves : and as his meaning at the . verse , by putting the reproof in his own person , is to assert that if he or any of the apostles should walk in darknesse , and yet say they have fellowship with god , even they would be found lyars ; so it is his intention here to affirme , that if he or any of the apostles should challenge to themselves this immunity from sin , they would be found selfe coseners , yea injurers of god himselfe . this truth which i am now to handle , hath met with many antagonists , and therefore i shal the more largely and distinctly unfold it in these ensuing propositions . . this non exemption from sin is affirmed , not onely de praeterito , but de praesenti ; in respect of time past , but present : indeed we finde both tenses used by our apostle in this matter , the present in the . the preterperfect in the . vorstius , and grotius in this , ( as in too many other places , ) tracing the footsteps of socinus , would expound the former , by the latter , as if the present tense used in the . verse , were to be understood of the time past , the tense of which is expressed in the . and so refer both to the state of christians before their conversion to the fayth : but i know no reason why we may not as wel expound the . by the . as the . by the . besides , it is an usuall hebraeisme , which kind of phrase our apostle much followeth , to put the preterperfect tense , for the present , & therefore it is more rationall to expound those words , we have not sinned , by those we have no sin , then these by those , and so this assertion is verified concerning all christians not only before , but after conversion , & indeed this is not mine , but st. austins note upon the verse . st. john doth not say , if we say we had , but have no sin ; indeed there are two places in this epistle , which seeme to contradict this construction of these words ; the one where he saith , he that is borne of god cannot sin , and the other not much unlike , where he saith , that which is borne of god sinneth not . what the full sense of these scriptures is , i shall ( god willing ) insist upon , in their proper places● for the present , it may suffice to answer , either with st. austin , that he who is born of god , sinneth not , to wit , as he is born of god. regenerate men being therefore subject to sin , because but in part regenerate , and that holy men fall into sin , is because of the remainders of the old man , not so far as their natures are renewed , or else , as st. john seemeth to expound himselfe , in the one place , that he who is born of god , doth not sin , that is , doth not commit sin , which being a synonimous phrase with working iniquity , is onely true of unregenerate persons ; and in the other place , that he who is born of god , sinneth not , that sin of which he there speaketh in particular , namely the sin unto death , notwithstanding which , it still remaineth as a truth , that even they who are borne of god cannot say they have no sin at all . . this totall immunity from sin is denyed not onely of ordinary , but eminent , even the holyest saints that have been , are , or shall be . the we of whom my text speaketh , were the apostles , who as they were dignified in office above others , so no doubt they obtained greater measure of grace then others ; yea , he that includeth himselfe in the number was st. john , who of all the apostles was most beloved of christ , and as st. austin excellently , who can say he is without sin , when he that leaned in the bosome of christ , saith , if we say we have no sin . indeed as jehu wrote to the rulers of iezreel in another case , look out even the best and meetest of your masters sonnes , i may say in this , looke out even the best and holyest of gods children , & see , if any of them can , or dare wholly acquit themselves from sin ; the truth is , as that forementioned father saith , if we shall ask all the patriarchs , prophets , apostles , martyrs , de sepissi dum in hoc corpore degerent una voce concorditer responderent , they would with one consent say of themselves as living on earth , in these words ; if we say we have no sin , we deceive our selves . to this purpose is the observation of beza , and zanch. upon the text . consider who it is that here speaketh , and that in his own person : who then can be excepted out of the catalogue ? it is true , there is one whom he calleth in the next chapter , iesus chr●st the righteous , who is most justly to be excepted ; of him it is said , he did all things well : himselfe maketh the challeng , which of you can convince me of sins ? he was no doubt altogether free from the least spot or staine of corruption , but as for any other exception , this generall rule admits none . i know the papists contend very earnestly , that the mother might be exempted , as well as the son , asserting her to be free from all kind of sin . it is true , st. austin in one place speaking of the saints sinfulnesse doth except her , but not in their sen●se , as if she were not a sinner , but for the honour of christ , he would not have her mentioned as a sinner , and therefore elsewhere he is cleare , and expresse , that all are sinners , except the one onely mediator between god and man ; nor need we feare to injure the blessed virgin in joyning her with the rest , when as her selfe calling christ her saviour , acknowledgeth her selfe to be a sinner : indeed that her conception of christ should be without sin , was needful , but that she her selfe should be without all sin , was not necessary , nor doth the scripture , or the ancient church affirme . clement . alexandrinus is expresse , onely the word is without fault , and st. basil , the scripture beareth witnesse onely to one that he knew no sin , & tertullian expressely , our lord commandeth his disciples to pray , forgive us our trespasses , as knowing himselfe onely without sin . i shut up this with st. ieroms saying , if there be any who may attain to this state of perfect purity , he must be holyer then any , nay then all the apostles . . this perfect freedome from sin is not denyed , de suturo but de praesenti , of the future , but onely the present time . our apostle doth not say , if we say we shal have no sin , nay it is an undoubted verity , there will be a time when we shall sin no more , yea , when sin shall be no more : as man in his created estate had a posse non peccare , a possibility of not sinning ; so in his glorified condition he shall have a non posse peccare , an impossibility of sinning . but now , as in his fallen estate , he cannot say he doth any good , so in his renewed condition , he cannot say he hath no evill . alexander alensis starteth an objection of pelagius seemingly very accute , nay solid , that either god would have us without sin , or he would not ; to say he would not have us without sin , were to deny his nature , contradict his word , which calleth upon us to sin no more . if he would have us without sin , then surely we may be so , since the divine will cannot be conversant about impossibilities . to which he returneth this answer , and that very aptly to our present purpose , god would have us without sin , quantum ad futurum statum , as to the future , but not as to our present state . and if you desire a fuller untying of the knot , be pleased to know , that . voluntate praecepti , god calleth upon us to be perfect as he is perfect , and requireth us to lay apart all filthinesse , nor is it unjust for him to command that which we might once have done , but now through our own default cannot , and so is impossible , not per se , but per accidens , in its own nature , but accidently , yea in wisdome he commands men not to sin , though he know they cannot but sin , that in the disobedient he may punish , not the cannot , but the will not , thereby glorifying his justice , and in the obedient , he may reward the willing to doe what they cannot , and so glorifie his mercy ; in a word , the designe of these precepts is to teach us what we ought , not what we can , to set the marke before us which we must shoot at , though we cannot reach to it till we come to heaven . and therefore . voluntate decreti , gods decree is that we shall gradually come to perfection , and here indeavouring to attaine , hereafter attain what we indeavour . to this purpose it is that the church which christ is said to present to himselfe , not having spot or wrinckle , is called a glorious church : to intimate saith chemnitius excellently , that then , and not till then , the church shall be without spot , when she is glorious , and that is , when it shall be t●iumphant , and appeare with him in glory . . this impeccability is not denyed , as that which might not have been , but as that which supposing gods councel , cannot be . s. austin moveth the question whether it be possible for a man assisted by grace to be without sin , and resolveth it affirmatively , nor can it be gainsayed , but that if god had so pleased , he might have restored his image to man perfectly at his first conversion , or he might have conferred such extraordinary grace ( as a pecuilar priviledge ) upon some particular men , whereby they should have been free from all sin . god neither hath commanded any thing which was impossible in it selfe for man to do , nor is it impossible for god to assist a man fully to performe what he commands : but what need we dispute of gods power , when we know his purpose : divine decree hath placed impeccability beyond the reach of any meer man in this life , there cannot be any one named that hath been , and we may surely conclude , there never will be any one on whom such a praerogative shal be conferred . from hence s. ierome hath wel reasoned against pelagius , it is in vaine to assert such a power which never is reduced into act , and to say a man may do that which yet no man could ever do , yea ( as he doth ) to say a man might be without sin , if he would , when the blessed apostle cryeth out , the good i would do , i do not , and the ev●ll i would not do , i do , is foolish , and absurd , yea , hereticall and impious . . there is a great deale of difference between these two phrases , habere peccatum & haberi a peccato , to have sin , and to be had by sin , to the one is required onely the presence , to the other the dom●nion of sin : there are many that can say , nay , all truly regenerate persons may say , they are not had by , and under the possession of sin , but yet they cannot say , they have no sin , remayning in them ; the weakest christian is not under the raigne , and the strongest is not without the being of sin : aliud est non habere peccatum , aliud non obedire desideriis , it is one thing not to have sin , and another not to obey sin . he that obeyeth any sin , and yet saith he is a saint , deceiveth himselfe , and he that is a saint , should he say he had no sin , would but deceive himselfe likewise . . it is not a possibility of freedome from grosse , scandalous , enormous sins which is here denyed , but from any sin whatsoever . st. gregory maketh a distinction between crimen and peccatum , that though every crime is a sin , yet every sin is not a crime , and proportionably many in this life are without crime , but not without sin . to the same purpose st. ierome asserts , that a man may be without that which the greeks call malitious wickednesse , and yet not free from sinful spots : and not much unlike , st. , austin where he saith , it is one thing to be without sin , and a-another to be without blam . we may read of men without crime , without blame , but of none without sin ▪ it is the apostles councell to the philippians , that they should be harmless , without rebuke ; and accordingly it is said of zachary and elizabeth , that they walked in all the commandements of the lord blameless : and no doubt there are many godly men who lead such lives that the world cannot taxe them , nor they themselves with any known grosse wickednesse , but still they want not infirmities cleaving to them . when therefore st. paul saith of the saints ▪ that they are free from sin , it is an inchoate , not a consummate liberty , and a freeedome from great , not all sins , as st. austin appositely , the truth is , to be without sin is the holynesse of heaven : to be without grosse sin , the holynesse of earth . . it is not a possibility of freedome from this , or that particular sin , but from all sin that is here denyed . there are severall sins which godly men may say they have not ; nay there is not any one particular great sin which a man may not , through divine assistance , be able to avoid ; but to say , we have no sin at all in no kind nor respect , were arrogancy in the holyest person : this is the position of that great schooleman , a man may shun any sin in particular , but not sin in generall , and his instance excellently illustrateth it . if there be an leakes in a ship , it is easy to stop any one of them , but difficult to stop them all ; we may be in a great measure , and in many respects , but not in all , free from sin , till the resurrection of the flesh . . lastly these two expressions , the one of hav●ng sin , the other of having sinned , are not improbably referd by interpreters , the one to originall , and the other to actuall sins , and accordingly i shall demonstrate the truth of this doctrine in respect of both . . if we say we have no sin , ( that is no originall sin ) remaining in us , we deceive our selves . that our apostle here intends originall sin , is probable , because he useth the singular number sin , not sins , as if it were some special sin he pointed at ; and likewise because of the phrase of having , which intimateth , that he speaketh of that sin which is as it were habitual and innate in us . it is not unworthy our observation , that christ speaking to his own disciples , calls them evill ; and st. hilaries note upon it , is , that the reason of this appellation was in respect of that common staine of naturall corruption which did still adhere to them . indeed we all , bringing sin with us into the world , cannot be without it whilest we are in the world ; it is the apostles expression , that we must be renewed dayly , and it is st. austins glosse , that therefore we are but in part renewed , and so the old man is still ab●ding in us . indeed according to that known elegant expression of st. bernard , this sin is weakned , but not plucked up ; cast down , but not cast out ▪ subjugated , but not extirpated in the best of gods saints . hence the dolefull sigh , and sorrowful complaint of the holy apostle , oh wretched man that i am , who shal deliver mee from this body of death ? knowing ( saith that devout father ) that he should not be loosed from the root of bitternesse , law of sin , till he was loosed from his body ; nor could this sin which separateth between god and us , be separated from him , till his soule was separated from his body . it may be here objected what is by the romanists asserted , that concupiscence in the regenerate is no sin ; and so , though they have concupiscence , yet not therefore sin ▪ to insist upon this controversie would be a digression , it is enough , that whilest they only account it paenam and fomitem ; a punishment of sin , and as it were the fuell of sin . st. paul no lesse then fourteen times calleth it by the name of sin , in the . . and . chapters to the romanes . it may perhaps further be obj●cted what is generally agreed to , that baptisme be coming an instrument of regeneration , washeth away original sin : & therefore why may not regenerate baptized persons say , they have no original sin ? but the schools answer to this objection is very ful , that sacraments are administred to the person , & therfore the person is free from the guilt , whilest yet stil the nature is defiled with the stain of original sin ; & whereas it may be retorted , that if the sin remaine , the guilt cannot be abol●shed , guiltiness being an inseperable adjunct of sin : i answer , that the ●eatus simplex , guilt abstractively considered , is not taken away : but as redundans in personam , concretively considered , it is taken away , so that this guilt shall not be imputed to the person whilest yet there are some remainders of the sin in him , so that he cannot say truly he hath no sin , to wit , no originall corruption . . if we say we have not sinned by actual transgressions , we deceive our selves ▪ that expression of the prophet , upon the land of my people shal come up briars & thornes , is not unfitly moralized by st. gregory to this purpose , since the bryers and thornes of iniquity are to be found growing in the land of gods people , the hearts and lives of gods saints . excellently to this purpose saith l●● , who is found so voyd of fault , that there is not in his life , what justice may blame and mercy perdon ? it is the position of solomon in his prayer upon his supposition , if they sin against thee , for there is no man that sinneth not ; and the assertion of st. iames including himself in the number , who yet was called iames the just , in many things we offend all ; yea our blessed sav●our prescribeth it as part of a forme of prayer , for his own disciples , forgive us our trespasses ; and as st. cyprian well noteth , to check any high conceits of our sanctity , he mindeth us of our dayly sins for which we have need dayly to ask pardon . indeed as st. gregory aptly , we must know there are some faults not to be avoyded by the most righteous persons ; such are those delicta quotidianae incursionis , as tertullian calls them , sins of quotidian incursion , to which all men are subject : yea in respect of these it is st. ambrose his complaint , unus quisque nostrum per singulas horas quàm multa delin● 〈◊〉 ? in how many things doe every one of us offend every hour ? no wonder if st. cyprian assert , opus est nobis quotidiana sanctificatione ; we have need of renewed sanctification ; that as we sin dayly , so we may be dayly purged by repentance ; nay that the wise man makes the challenge , who can say i have made my heart clean , i am pure from my sin ? we can neither ascribe what purity we have to our selves , nor yet attribute perfection to our purity . to illustrate this more distinctly , consider . even the externall conversation of the best men is not exactly pure . the life of a christian is as it were a book , his birth the title page , his baptisme the epistle dedicatory , his years the leavs , and his actions the lines in those leaves , and there are some lines in the leaves of the fairest life , which by reason of their errata , are legenda cum venia , to be looked upon with a favorable eye , since if god should examine our acts with a severe eye , woe would be to the most commendable life , as st. augustine excellently . . put the case that a man were free in respect of his externall actions , yet who is free from internall motions ? though thy hands were perfectly cleane , yet thy heart is not . to be free from all titillations , and motions , is not for this life , which is a continued temptation : that expression of our saviour , he that is washed , need not , save to wash his feet , is fitly alluded to by st. bernard , for our present purpose , he is washed , whose head , that is , his intentions , and hands , that is , his operations , are cleane . but our feet , which are lusts and affections , whilest we walke upon the dust of this world , continually need washing . . and yet further , though one might arrive at such a perfection , as to say with st. paul , i know nothing by my selfe , yet as he saith of himselfe , he could not thereby be justifyed . indeed it is most probable , that the apostle there speaketh onely in respect of the discharge of his calling , concerning which he knew nothing by himselfe , for which he was blame worthy : but take it in the largest extent , that he knew nothing by himselfe in the present bent of his heart , and course of his life , yet he as well as david , and so every saint , hath reason to pray , cleanse me from secret sins ; many things being sins , which yet we know not to be so ▪ and there being much filth , and uncleannesse in our hearts , which by reason of their deceitfullnesse we are not able to discover and finde out . . finally , our holiest services are full of infirmities , so that if we say , we have not sinned in the best duty that ever we performed , we deceive our selves . this was visibly represented , where aaron the high priest , a tipe of christ , was to beare the iniquity of their holy things ; and it is not improbably conceived as the assertion of solomon , when he saith , there is not a just man on earth that doth good , and sinneth not , that is , who sinneth not in the good he doth ; yea it is the confession of the church , all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; upon which st. bern●rd , our righteousnesse though upright is not pure , unlesse we think our selves better then those who uttered those words ; and gerson upon the same scripture , infers , who dare then boast of his righteousnesse before god ? no , brethren , there is a worme in our best fruits , drosse in our purest gold , smoak in our brightest fire , spots in our most beautiful & splendid performances : our graces are not without their defects , our duties not without their defaults : who finds not his knowledge d●mme , his faith weake , his love cold , his zeale remisse ? who may not complain of dulness : deadness , wandringnes in his devotion ? who ever could say , he loved god with all his heart , with all his soule , with all his might , and with all his strength ? & ex hoc vitio nō est justus super terram , by reason of this defect no man can be perfectly just upon earth : for though a negative imperfection ( such as there was in adam as created by , if compared with god ) be no sin , yet a privative imperfection , ( such as is now in our best righteousnesse ) undoubtedly is . it is no fault for a thing not to be so perfect as another is , but it is a fault for a thing not to be so perfect as it ought to be ; and therefore because no grace existing in us ariseth to that degree , no duty performed by us is exactly according to the manner which gods law requireth , it must needs be a sin : where then it is said of any person by god himselfe , that they are righteous , as of noah , job , and others , it is to be conceived , saith the learned chamer , as a testimony given of them according to the indulgence of mercy , not the rigour of justice ; and where the works of godly men are called good works , though they are absolutely called good works , yet they are not absolutely good , since as st. gregory saith of himself , so may every saint , my ●vill actions are purely evill , but not so my good actions ; indeed , we must distinguish of sins per se , & per accid●ns , the good actions of wicked men are not sins in themselves , but as performed by them : we must further distinguish between sinful actions , and sin in an action ; the good works of the godly are not sinful works , but yet they have sin in them : so that to summe it up , the best actions of bad men are turned into sin , and the best actions of good men are accompanied with sin : so that none can say , no not in respect of their good duties , we have not sinned . and yet i do not hereby assert , what some do too rigidly , that a man sinneth in every action he doth ; there are some actions done by men that are not humane , but natural , and those cannot be said to have sin in them ; besides , there may be in a renewed man some suddain emanations of the will as regenerate , antecedencies to the conflicts and lustings of the will as corrupt , and those may be conceived as sinlesse , but still all deliberate actions must needs have some sin cleaving to them . as for those doctrines therefore which assert a possib●lity of keeping the law , of an unsinning estate in this life , i say ( as jeremy upon hananiahs prophesie of the speedy deliverance to the jews ) amen , the lord do so ; oh that we might be so perfect ! but still i must assert with st. austin , it is a state , magis optandus quàm sperandus , to be desired , yea and endeavoured , but not to be hoped for in this life ; and here with st. john , if we say we have no sin : if we say we have not sinned , we deceive our selves . to apply this doctrine . it is worthy to be considered by three sorts of persons , the wicked , the weak , the strong . . let wicked men take heed how they abuse this doctrine , it is too usual a consectary , which ungodly wretches draw from these pr●mises , if the best cannot say they have no sin , no wonder if we commit sin : and they think it a sufficient excuse for their flagitious wickedness , every man hath his faults , would you have us chaster then david ? soberer then noah ? have not the godliest fallen into sin ? so that as we may say of many rich men , it were happy for them if they did beleeve that errour of pelagius to be true , an impossibility of rich mens salvation , since it would divert them from earth to heaven , whereas because they may lawfully care for the things of the earth , they care for nothing else : the like we may say of many wicked men , it were happy for them they did beleeve pelagius his errour in this particular to be true , that men might be without sin : sure , because they hear no man can be without sinne , they think themselves safe enough , though they live in sin . but oh thou foolish sinner , knowest thou not that though no man can be without moats , yet good m●n are without beams ? they have infirmities , but they are free from enormities ? knowest thou not that though no man can be altogether without sin , yet he is best that hath the least ? and every good man striveth to his utmost against all sin ; and therefore take heed how thou cheat thy self with these false reasonings . . let weak saints hence comfort themselves against the stirrings of their lusts , the sense of their infirmities , and their daily frail●ies , which they find accompanying them ; it is too usuall with tender consciences , to be too harsh to themselves ; and because they find much sin , to conclude , that they have no grace . indeed it is good to be jealous of our own hearts , still to suspect our graces , our duties , lest they be counterfeit : but withall , we must take heed how we censure them to be counterfeit , because they are imperfect . there may be good gold where there is much drosse , burning fire hid under many ashes , and the truth of grace may be in that heart which is sensible of various and strong lusts ; indeed these burres of sinfull corruption as they cleave to us , so they should prick us ; our manifold imperfections and infirmities , should be the matter of our griefe , but not of our despair ; we cannot be too bitter against our sins , even the least ; yet we must not be too severe against our selves , because of those lesser sins which we cannot be rid of : if the holy prophets , apostles , martyrs , could not , whilest on earth , say they had no sinne , no wonder if thou groan under the weight of many sins . . let strong saints be hence admonished to be . lowly in their own eyes : that god will not have his saints altogether free from sinne in this life , is not opus impotentiae , but sapientiae , from want of power , but abundance of wisdome : and one special reason why the godly have sinne still adhering to them , is to keep them humble and poor in spirit : indeed pelagius scoffes at this as a great absurdity , that sinne should be a meanes to prevent sinne , as if fire could put out fire : but st. austin answereth him fully , that it is no unusuall thing for a chirurgion to cure a griefe , by causing grief ; puting his patient to pain , that he may remove his pain ; and we may answer him in his own instance , that fire is the way to fetch out fire . the truth is , it is not the remainder of sin , but the sence of those remainders which is a means to humble us , and abate that spiritual pride , which is too apt to arise , even from our graces ; and look as grace accidentally causeth the sin of pride , so our sins accidentally cause the grace of humility : when therefore we are at any time apt to pride our selves in our gay feathers , let us look upon our black feet ; and as with one eye we behold the good that is done by us , so with the other , the evill that remaineth in us . . charitable towards their brethren . if thy brother be overtaken in a fault , restore him with a spirit of meeknesse : give to thy neighbours actions the allowance of humane frailty , and be not too rigid in censuring other mens faults . if they offend in one thing , perhaps thou art more guilty in another ; if they fall to day , thou mayst tomorrow ; the same corruption that hath led another aside , is still in thee ; and ( if grace withdraw ) will soon prevail over thee ; indeed , if you practise the former duty , you will soon learn this , pride and censoriousnesse are ever companions , and he that is lowly in his own esteem , will be charitable towards others . . watchful over their own hearts : indeed , he that carrieth gun-powder about him , had need beware the least sparks of fire : what cause have we to take heed of every temptation who are at best so prone to be led into it ? happy is the man ( saith solomō ) that feareth always ; no doubt , he sinneth least , that most feareth lest he should sin ; it is jobs saying of himself , according to the vulgar latine , verebar omnia opera mea , i did fear all my works ; let the best do so , fear themselves in all their actions , lest they should fall into sin . . frequent in prayer to god ; for this shall every one that is godly pray to thee , saith david : for this , what because of his sins ? and who ? not the wickedest , but the godly in this respect have cause to pray ; and for what should he pray ? surely for renewed pardon , for increase of grace , and for the perfection of glory . we cannot say we have no sin : oh then let us pray with david , enter not into judgement with thy servant oh lord ; where there is a double emphasis observable , it is not ab hoste , but à servo ; though gods servant , yet he would not have god to enter into judgement with him : and again , ne intres , it is the very entrance into judgment , that he dreads and prayeth against ; not only do not proceed , but do not so much as enter ; when we have done our best , we have need to crave for mercy . again we cannot say , we have no sin , let us pray for more grace , that we may every day have lesse sin ; so doth paul in effect , when he confesseth himself not to have already attained , but resolveth to reach forward : we must never cease to hunger and thirst after greater measures of righteousness , till we are wholly and perfectly without any stain of sin ; and therefore we must continually say with the apostles , lord increase our faith , and all other graces of thy spirit in us . finally , since we cannot now in this life say we have no sin , how should we pray and sigh , and long to be possessed of that future felicity ? indeed , in this respect only it is lawful and commendable to desire death , that we may be free , not from pain or misery , but from sin and iniquity , upon this ground we may , we ought , and the stronger we are in grace , the more earnestly we should groan for the day of our perfect redemption , when we shall be cloathed with unspotted purity , perfect felicity , and that to all eternity . amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. i. ver. . . if we say we have no sin , we deceive our selves , and there is no truth in us . if we say we have not sinned , we make him a lyar , and his word is not in us . it is one of the sage counsels which the wise man giveth , turn not to the right hand , nor to the left , remove thy foot from evill : the genuine and literal sense whereof , no doubt , is that we must keep the straight way , which god hath chalked before us in his word , not in the least declining on either hand , but withall , there are severall allusions , and profitable applications made of these words by the ancients : hugo taketh the right hand as an embleme of prosperity , to which we must not turn , by being too much l●f●ed up , and the left hand of adversity , which we must not turn to , by being too much cast down ; vene●oble ●ed● resembleth by the right hand , 〈◊〉 , to which we must not turn by being wise above what is written , and by the left hand , folly , to which we must not turn by giving our selves up to its dictates ; once more to our present purpose , according to st. austin . to turn to the right hand , is ▪ by saying we have no sin , to deceive our selves ; to turn to the left hand , is to go on in sin , and yet think our selves safe , and our cond●tion happy . both these our apostle warneth us of in this chapter , and it is not mine , but aretius his observation , where he saith , the kings high way lyeth betwixt two extremes , the one whereof is to will a continuance in our sins , the other to acquit our selves from having any sin , the former of these which is secura delectatio peccati , a secure delight in sin , is that which is sharply reproved at the sixth verse , which calleth those lyars who walk in darknesse , live in wickedness , and yet boast of communion with god ; the latter of these which is superba justitiae presumptio , proud presumption of our own righteousness , is no less severely condemned in these verses , letting such know how vainly they cozen themselves , and highly they injure god , if we say we have , &c. having already dispatched the first branch of the confutation which is the truth implicitely asserted ; proceed we now to the second , which is the errour expresly refuted : for the handling whereof be pleased to observe these two things , the opinion wherein the errour consists , and that is set down in the beginning of the eighth and the tenth verses , if we say we have no sin , if we say we have not sinned . the arguments by which it is refuted , and disswaded , drawn from the folly of it , in that we deceive our selves , and the truth is not in us . verse eighth . the impiety of it , in that we make god a lyar , and his word is not in us , verse tenth . begin we with the opinion it self , which we see is not singly mentioned , but ingeminated ; as if our apostle would hereby insinuate , that it is at once both a very common and very dangerous disease , no lesse spreading then deadly , infecting in some degree or other , the greatest part of men , of christians . the manner of committing this moral errour , is saying , which refers both to the tongue and the mind ; saying , is not only peculiar to the lips , every thought is interpreted by god a saying ; the heart may cry when the tongue is silent , and we may say when we do not speak . hence it is , that though this be not our open assertion , or outward protestation , yet if it be our inward thought , our secret imagination , we shall be found guilty before god. the truth is , this errour is managed several wayes ; some say it with their tongue , and not with their heart , they cannot but be convinced of their own hypocrisie , and yet b●ast of exact purity , their consciences secretly nip them with the sence of guilt , yet they pretend to the highest form of saint-ship . some say it with their heart , and not with their tongue ; they are not so impudent as to professe it , yet they proudly conceit it ; yea whilest with their lips they say , in general they are sinners , they think themselves pure : finally , some say it both with heart and tongue , the conceit is so strongly fixed in their minds , that they are not ashamed to utter it , proclaiming themselves to be without sin , and all these are here included ; so that if we say it with either , or both , we are among the number of those who are here charged . the matter of this errrour , is a denying that we have sin , or that we have sinned : which yet is capable of a double construction , either , that we have not sinned in respect of this or that particular action ; thus , when we deny the fact as not done by us ; like that adulteresse , who wiped her mouth and said , i have done no evill , or acknowledging the fact , we deny it to be a fault , and that we have sinned in doing it , as jonah , who said , i do well to be angry , we run into this errour . and surely if it be bad , non dicere peccavimus , not to say we have sinned , by acknowledging , it is far worse , dicere non peccavimus , to say we have not sinned by justifying our faults . or , that we have not sinned , yea , have no sin at all in our whole course ; that our wayes are right , our doings pure , our conversations unblamable , not only before men , but god ; this is that which our apostle here no doubt chiefly intendeth , and therefore in this sense i shall handle it . that there are such , and that in all ages who sooth up themselves with such conceits , is no difficult matter to demonstrate : solomon the wise observed it in his time , when he said , there is a generation of men that are pure in their own eyes , and yet they are not washed from their filthinesse : in very deed , they were filthy , and yet in their own eyes they were pure ; they did nothing but sin , and yet said , they had no sin : and truly what generation of men hath there been , wherein this generation hath not been ? yea , it is not improbably observed , that therefore he calls them a generation , because they have still succeeded one after another , as generations do . indeed there are two things to which hypocrites are very prone , to s●y they have those graces which they have not : so did the church of laodicea say , she was rich and increased with goods , and had need of nothing , yet she was poor , and blind , and naked . to say they have not that sin which they have , so did the jewish church against whom the prophet jeremy declaimeth , for saying , i am not polluted , i have not followed baalim : and again , i am innocent , therefore the anger of the lord is turned from me : our blessed saviour speaking of the pharisees , calls them the whole , when he saith , the whole need not the physician , but the sick ; not that they were so in reality , no , they were full of bruises and sores , but in their own apprehension , conceiting themselves to be free from that soul-sicknesse , and spiritual disease of sin . to the same purpose it is , that elsewhere he calls them the just ones , which need no repentance ; these self-justiciaries imagining themselves to have no sin , thought that they needed no repentance . of the same arrogant temper was that young man in the gospel , who said to christ concerning the commandements , all these have i kept from my youth , since to keep all the commandements , is as much as to be without sin , there being no sin , where there is no breach of the law . this opinion the gnosticks against whom s. john especially levels this confutation had concerning themselves , as if they only were the perfect christians , and fancying that they were no more polluted by the wickedest actions , then the sun-beames are by the dunghill ; of this tribe was novatus and his followers , concerning whom s. cyprian saith , that he thought himself and his d●sciples to be gold , when as in truth they were brasse , or as the fathers phrase is , golden calves ; not much unlike to these were the cathari , who had that name given them from the high estimation they had of their own purity , whilest they were full of poyson , and therefore are compared by epiphanius to the basilisks , which though a venemous creature , hath a royall name ; little better are the antinomians ; who account repentance a legal duty , affirme that god seeth no sin in them , nay , are so audacious , as to say they are as righteous as christ , and yet worse are the familistical ranters of this age , who impudently assert , that what soever they do is no sin , and all these say at least in effect , they have no sin ; for you must know that a thing may be said two wayes , formally or interpretatively , explicitly or implicitly , directly or indirectly ; and thus as the atheist saith , there is no god : not only when in plain terms , he denieth a deity , but when he denieth to god those things which are the essence of a deity ; in which respect , to say god is not true or just , or omniscient , is to say there is no god : so the justiciary saith , he hath no sin ; not only when he saith it expressely , but when he saith that which amounts to as much : in which regard , to say we keep the commandements , we need no repentance , god beholds no sin in us , whatsoever we do is no sin , is all one with saying , we have no sin ; and although there are few , very few who flatly deny a deity , yet many who do it by a circumlocution . so , though there are but few who deny themselves to be altogether without sin , yet ( as appeareth by what hath been already said ) there are many who say that which is virtually to deny it , and so are justly chargeable with the opinion which our apostle here declaimeth against , if we say we have no sin . having in some measure discovered wherein this opinion consists , it remaineth that we now proceed to manifest the erroniousnesse of it , that we may be disswaded from it : and to that end consider we the arguments which our apostle here useth , of which . the first is the folly of it , in that by so saying , we deceive our selves , and the truth is not in us : where we have two expressions , the one principal , the other collateral , annexed by way of confirmation : the point our apostle layeth down is , that in saying we have no sin , we deceive our selves ; and the proof he adjoyneth is , because there is no truth in those that say so . . in saying we have no sin , we deceive our selves ; this self-conceit is a self-dece●t . it is at first view a strange assertion that a man should deceive himself ; if a man would deceive , it were more probable he should deceive an enemy than a friend , a stranger than a kinsman , one that is afarre off , then near to him ; nay there is inbred in every man a love of himself : yea , proximus quisque sibi , every one is nearest to himself : and is it to be imagined , that he would deceive himself ? for a man to kill another , may sometimes be ( at least be accounted ) valour , but to kill himself can be thought no other then madnesse ; for a man to deceive another , may by worldlings ( at least ) be esteemed craft , policy , wisdom , but for a man to deceive himself , must needs be adjudged meer folly , and yet thus it is with all wicked men , to whom by reason of corruption , it is natural to be unnatural , whilest by doing what is sin , they kill themselves ; and by saying they have no sin , they deceive themselves . indeed as the prophet jeremy saith , the heart is deceitfull above all things , and desperately wicked ; there being a mystery of iniquity in our corrupt minds , the heart is sometimes in scripture metaphorically described by the belly , and truly there are not more twistings and foldings in the guts of the belly , then there are turnings and , windings in the heart of man , by which we are too too witty to cozen our selves : no wonder if the wise man saith , he that trusteth to his own heart is a fool ; and that it was the prayer of st. austin , custodi libera me de meipso deus , lord deliver me from my self ? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is an excellent rule , remember to distrust , especially thy self ; and ever keep a narrow watch , and a jealous suspicion over the dictates of thy own heart , which is so prone to deceive thee . among those many things whereby we are apt to deceive our selves , none more frequent then this which our apostle here specifieth , whereby we are well conceited of our own innocencie ; the truth is , we have such an inordinate self-love , that it is no wonder we fall into self-flattery : they say in optickes , that if the object be too near the eye , we cannot rightly discern it ; we are very near and dear unto our selves , and therefore it is we discern not the sins that are in our selves ; every way of man , saith solomon , is right in his own eyes ; indeed , therefore it is right in his own eyes , because it is his own way . the eye which seeth all other things , beholdeth not it selfe . hence it is , that whilest we spye moats in others , we see not the beames in our own eyes , and so deceive our selves , in saying we have no sin . indeed there want not other impostors who are ready enough to put tricks upon us . the dev●ll , that old serpent , that grand jugler , is very busie to delude us , and that in this kind : it is his great design to make us beleeve those things not to be sin , which are so ; and to think our selves not to have those sinnes we have . besides , the world , a cunning deceiver , is very willing to sooth us up in a good opinion of our selves . nay , there want not false teachers , cheaters rather , who perswade their followers ( at least ) that they are the saints , the pure , the godly partie ; whereas they act those things which even heathens would blush at . but the truth is , were it not for our selves , none of these could deceive us ; were we faithful to our own soules , they could not betray us : we are willing to be deceived , yea , to deceive our selves in the matter of our own goodnesse , and that because . the truth is not in us . indeed , where ever there is deceit , there is falshood ; since to be deceived , is to apprehend a thing otherwise then it is , or to take a thing to be that which it is not ; true , there must be some shew of truth , it must seem to be that which we take it to be , or else how shou●d we be cheated ? but there is no reality nor truth of the thing , else it could not be a cheat : will you know then how men come to say they have no sin ? they seem so in their own eyes , and thereby deceive themselves : but indeed it is not so , there is no truth in their conception ; and so it must needs prove a deception . look as when a man deceiveth another , it is by a verbal or a reall lye , presenting that which is not ; so it is when a man deceiveth himself , in which respect one expounds this negative by the positive of lying , the truth is not in us ; that is , we lye to our selves , in saying we have no sin . it is not unfitly here taken notice of , that our apostle doth not say , there is no humility , but there is no verity in us : indeed , one cause , why we deceive our selves in saying we have no sin , is the pride of our spirits : a proud man hath onely one eye open , both in respect of his neighbour , and himselfe ; of his neighbour , he hath one eye to see his spots , but not his beautie , his faults , but not his gifts ; of himselfe ; he hath an eye to see his beauty , but not his spots , his gifts , but not his faults , and so becometh a selfe deceiver . in this regard our apostle might justly have said ; there is no humility in those , who say they have no sin . indeed as st. austin occasionally speaking of those words , be not righteous overmuch , and understanding it of a selfe conceited righteousnesse , truly asserts , it is not justitia sapientis , but superbia praesumentis , the righteousnesse of the wise , but the pride of a presumptuous man : but that it may appeare , that that which causeth even the holyest to accuse themselves of sin , is not onely the lowlynesse of their minds , but the truth of the thing ; and that according to st. cyprians speech , he that thinketh himselfe innocent , is not onely proud , but foolish ; yea in plain termes , a lyer , therefore he saith there is no truth in us . it is the question of the wise man , who can say , i have made my heart clean , i am pure from my sin ? and such a question , to which none can returne an affirmative answer : who can say it , and say it truly , and not be untrue in saying it ? since both to ascribe that purity which we have to our selves , and to ascribe that purity to our selves which we have not , are manifest and odious untruths . to this purpose it , is what beza observes , that these words are spoken by st. iohn , not onely for modesty , but truths sake ; yea a councill hath pronounced an anathema against any who shall assert that this was spoken onely in humility , but not because so in truth : sutable to which is st. austins note upon these words , st. iohn doth not say , if we have no sin , we extoll our selves , and there is no lowlynesse in us , but we deceive our selves , and there is no truth in us , since thus to say is not onely to lift up our selves with an high conceit of that purity which we have , but to flatter our selves with a m●s-conceit of that purity we have not . to explicate this clause in its fullest latitude : know there is a double truth , which may be denyed to those who thus say ; truth of grace in their hearts , and truth of knowledge in their minds . . there is no truth of grace in our hearts , if we deceive our selves by saying we have no sin : it is the note of ghis●erius , occasionally upon thes● words , that the sence of this clause , is as much as we defile our selves by this conceit , and it argueth a want of truth and sincerity in us . st. austin acknowledgeth it an hanious sin , that he did not account himselfe a sinner , nor is there a surer brand of hypocrisie , then this foolish arrogancy ; indeed , good men are sometimes apt to deceive themselves in a contrary way , by denying the grace of god which is bestowed upon them , saying in the bitternesse of their soules , they have no faith , no love , no repentance , when yet both in the sight of god and others , these graces appeare to be in them : it is a selfe deceit , which must be taken notice of , and avoyded as an act of ingratitude ; but yet it is an errour of the right hand , and therefore the more tollerable : but this which my text speaketh of , is of another nature , and that which onely wicked men are subject to , who though they live in sin , yet deny sin to be in them : sincere christians oft times think themselves worse , but onely hypocrites thinke themselves better then they are , and so being just in their own eyes , they become unjust . . but that which is the genuine sence , ( as hath been already intimated ) is that there is no truth of knowledge in our minds : truth in the minde is the congruous & adaquate conceit of the understanding to the thing , and therefore this conceit being not adaequate , but opposit , no● congruous , but contrary to the thing , is justly charged with falshood . this will the better appeare , if we look into the rotten foundations of this perverse opinion , which are no other then misapprehensions , misconstructions , or false reasonings . the word which st. james useth for deceiving our selves , is very significant to this purpose , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is to deceive our selves by false argumentation , this is very evident , in this selfe dece●t my text speaketh of , which is grounded not upon syllogismes framed by reason , but paralogis●●s made by fancy . thus this conceit that we have no sin , is in . some , from a misunderstanding of the nature of divine concourse , to human actions ; as if because in him , m●n l●ve , move , and have their being , therefore whatever they do , god doth it in them , and so they can have no sin , not distinguishing between the physicall entity , and the morall obliquity of the action , nor considering that he who maketh an horse to goe , doth not therefore make him to halt in his going . . others , from a strange fancy of i know not what nature within us dist●nct from us , to which our sins are to be attributed , and so we are acquitted : such were those falsi & fallentes sancti , deceaved and deceitfull saints , of whom st. austin speaketh , who said it was not they that sinned , but another nature within them , whereas st. james saith , when a man is tempted , he is drawn aside of his own lusts . . many , from a misconceit of what is sin , whilest they think nothing is in its own nature evill , but onely according to mens opinions of it : so that what st. paul saith concerning meats , they say of actions , i know and am perswaded , by our lord iesus , that there is nothing uncleane of it selfe , but to him that esteemeth any thing to be uncleane , to him it is uncleane ▪ this was as iren●us informeth us , the lying doctrine of the gnosticks , and carpocratians , whence they concluded , that nothing they did was sin , not considering that not our opinion , but gods law is the rule both of good and evill . . too many , from a misapprehension of the nature of justification , as if it were an utter extinction , where as it is onely a non imputation of sin , as to punishment ; as if because christ is made to us of god righteousnesse , so far as to cover us from his revengeful , therefore it must be also from his omniscient eye ; as if because we are made righteous by christ , we must be as righteous as christ ; whereas our apostle here plainly tels us ; that though christs bloud cleanseth us from all sin , yet we cannot say we have no sin . . very many , from a misconstruction of the true meaning of the law . s. paul saith of himselfe , that he was alive without the law , to wit , in his own opinion , before the law came to him in a right representation ; no doubt that which made the phar●sees think themselves pure , and the young man brag of his obedience , was that they knew not the spirituall intent , and comprehensive extent of the laws : and truly thus it is stil with many civill , and morall just●tiaries , who think themselves carefull observers of the law , and are ready to answer for themselves to every commandment : they think they fulfill the first , in that they onely acknowledge the true god , the second , in that they never bowed to an image , the third , in that they doe not use to swear by god , the fourth , in that they are constant goers to church on the lords day , the fifth , because they honour and respect their naturall parents , give the minister good words , and wish well to their king , the sixth , because they never k●lled any man , the seventh , because they are no whores , nor rogues , the eighth , because they never cut a purse , or broke open an house , or robbed on the high way , the ninth , because they never gave in false evidence to the iudge , or iury , and the tenth , because they were never sick for naboths vineyard , not considering , that the law in every precept doth not only forbid a sin , but command a duty , and that it doth not onely reach to the outward work , but the inward thought , to the act it self , but the attendants , occasions , and whatsoever hath affinity with it . indeed besides these , it were easie to reckon up many more m●stakes , which are in mens minds about the corrupt●on , that cl●aveth to their nature● ; the examples of those who are abominably vile , the successe and prosperity god is pleased to vouchsafe them in their wayes , all of which will be found , if weighed in the ballance of the sanctuary , very l●ght , and therefore since this saying we have no sin , is it self a misconceit , and aris●th from false reasonings , well might our apostle say of such , there is no truth in them . and now what improvement shall we make of all that hath been said of this particular , but to d●sswade us from this vain , false , wicked deceiving our selves with an op●nion of our own righteousn●sse ? alas , though thou deceive thy self , thou canst not cozen god ; thou thinkest thy self faire as absolom , he seeth thee foule as thersites ; whilest thou esteemest thy self amiable , thou art in his sight , a leper , a lazar , full of sores ; the truth is , thou art never a whit the lesse , nay , thou art the more sinful in gods , because thou art sinlesse in thine own ; besides , it is no less then thy soules welfare , that is endang●red by this deceit ; and how great is that danger ? we account that patient desperate , on whom a mortal disease is seized , and yet he saith he is not sick : is not this thy case ? thy soul is spiritually sick , and thou knowest it not ; this conceit is that which at once both hindreth our repentance & pardon , & therefore must needs be exitial ; he that is not sensible of his sicknes , will not seek after a remedy ; nor wil he that saith he hath no sin , look out for a pardon . all reproofs , threatnings , admonitions , have no influence upon his spirit ; he feareth no punishment , but goeth on securely : and indeed by this means he is without the compass of pardon , as st. augustine and st. bernard excellently ; presumption of our own dignity , excludeth divine mercy ; and he that denieth he hath sin , doth not make himself the less sinful , but the less capable of forgiven●ss : nay let me adde this , that though thou mayest thus deceive thy self for a while , yet the time is com●ng , when thou shalt be undeceived to thy shame , and horrour and confusion . it is the threatning of almighty god to the sinner , that thought god was like him , sinfull ; and it belongs as well to him that thinketh he is l●ke god , sinless , i will set thy sins in order before thee . who can expresse what horror seized upon ruined babylon , which had said , i sit as a queen , i shall see no evill ? the like shame shall sit upon the face of hypocrites , which say they have no sin , when god shall set their sins in order before them . oh then be not so injurious to your selves , as to harbour this self-deceit ; you think it self-love , but indeed it is self-hatred , there being no worse enemy then a seeming friend , a base flatterer ; and that you may no longer be thus deceived , be true to your own selves , and labour to have your minds enlightened , your judgements rectified , that you may passe sentence upon your selves according to truth ; be much in examining your selves , searching your hearts , trying your wayes , and that impartially : the truth is , we deceive our selves , because we do not see our selves ; we do not see our selves , because we do not search our selves ; and we cannot search our selves , unlesse we have the candle of divine illumination : pray we therefore that the eyes of our understandings may be opened , and thereby the truth of saving knowledge conveyed into us , that we may no longer be such fooles , as to deceive our selves by saying we have no sin ; and this so much the rather , because it is not onely an injury to our selves , but to god , which leads me to the . second argument , which is the impiety of this opinion , in that hereby we make god a lyar , and his word is not in us ; and this is represented by a double character , to wit , the blasphemy and the infidelity of those who say thus , their blasphemy , in that they make god a lyar , and infidelity , in that his word is not in them . . we make him a lyar , a very vehement and urgent expression , how earnest is our apostle in confuting this errour . indeed this phrase at first reading may seem harsh ; the thing which it asserts being in a proper sense impossible , we make him a lyar , it cannot be , god is not a man that he should lye , or son of man that he should repent saith balaam ; and again , it being impossible for god to lye , saith the authour to the hebrews . indeed , if god should either do what is evill , or speak what is false , he could not be a god : but beloved , though god cannot be a lyar , we may be said to make him so , no really , but interpretatively , when we do as much as lyeth in us , to make him so ; look as an adulterer looking upon a woman to lust after her , though she be not defiled , is said to commit adultery with her in his heart , and as apostates are said to crucifie the sonne of god afresh , not that he who is possessed of his crown , can again be brought to his cross , but that such sinners do what in them lyeth , to bring him to it : so self-justitiaries , though they cannot justly fasten the least lye upon god , yet they do what they can to make him so : perhaps indeed this is not that which they directly intend , but yet it is that which must necessarily follow upon their saying , and therefore this brand is justly fastened upon them . this will further appear , if we consider what god hath said both in his laws , and in his gospel , his law accuseth all men of sin , his gospel offereth pardon of sin to all men , so that law and gospel affirm ( at least impl●citely ) that all men have sin , if therefore ( as they say ) they have no sin , god must be a lyar in both : indeed the dilemma is manifest , either they must be lyars , or god ; their saying must be false , or gods : since there is an apparent contradiction between them , god saith all men have sinned , and they say we have not sinned ; no marvaile if our apostle charge them with making god a lyar . see hence at once both the pride and the danger of these pharisaical hypocrites , their pride in that rather then accuse themselves of sin ; they dare to accuse god with lying , and lest any blot should lye upon their purity , they go about to stain gods veracity . thus , as it were inverting those words of st. paul , let god be true , and every man a lyar ; they say , let god be a lyar , so we may be pure and true . how dishonourable , and therefore provoking this must needs be to god ? we may guesse by our selves , our proverb saith , the lye deserveth a stab ; we cannot in words offer a man a greater injury then to give him the lye ; and can we think that god himself doth not take it as an high affronts , from those who go about thus to make him a lyar ? yes certainly , and all such proud wretches shall know it is an evill thing to cast so great a dishonour upon god , and whilest they condemn god unjustly as a lyar , he will one day condemn them justly as lyars , in deceiving themselves , and having no truth in them , yea as blasphemers , in making him a lyar , and as unbelievers in that . . his word is not in them , by word here some understand christ who is called at the first verse the word of life , and so his word is not in us , is as much as christ is not in us if we thus say , this is the rather observable , because many who say they have no sin , pretend to have christ in them , and be in christ ; yea that therefore they have no sin , because christ is in them , and they in him ; whom the apostle according to this construction here plainly contradicteth : and indeed it cannot be otherwise , since where ever christ is , there is his spirit ; and where the spirit of christ is , there is a divine light discovering to a man the darkness that is in him , and effectually , convincing him of his own sinfulnesse . but though this be a truth , i doe not conceive it the truth of this clause , and therefore with the generality of the best interpreters ; i understand it in the proper and usuall sence , not for christ the word ; but for the word of christ , not the word which is god , but the word of god ; and thus it will not be amisse to consider this clause , both in i●s selfe and in its reference . . consider this clause in its selfe , and that which we have to inquire , is , what our apostle meaneth by this phrase ? negatives are best known by the affirmatives , as privations are by habits , and therefore by knowing what it is for the word of god and christ to be in us , we shall learne what this meaneth , the word is not in us . the word is then said to be in us ; when according to christs phrase , in the gospel , it doth take place in us , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being there according to camerarius , as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) and finde entertainment with us , and surely then it taketh place in us , when it taketh place in our hearts , as it did in david , who saith thy word have i hid in my heart . the word is then said to be in us when according to st. iames his phrase it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ingrafted word , and that is , when , as the tree being opened , a graft is set deep into it , and so becometh one with it , or rather it one with a graft , so our hearts being opened ( as lydias , was ) the word is deeply imprinted in it , and it sweetly closeth with the word . if yet more perticularly you ask how this is done ? i answer in one word by beleeving , when the minde giveth a cleare assent , and the will a full consent to the word , then it is received by , and dwelleth in us , so interpreters paraphrase , non amplecti●r , non intelligimus , non retinemus veram ejus doctrinam , his word is not in us , that is , we doe not understand and imbrace by faith , the true doctrine of his word . and that this is s. johns meaning in this place ; we need no other expositor then himself in his gospel , where he bringeth in christ , saying , yee have not his word among you , for him whom he hath sent , you beleeve not , thereby plainly intimating that to have his word abiding in us , is to beleeve in his word . look how christ himselfe is said to be , and to dwell in us , so is his word , now the apostle pauls expression is full , of christs dwelling in our hearts by faith , indeed on christs part , the spirit , and on our part faith maketh the union , between him and us , and both these , concurre to the inbeing of the word , when the word is received as st. paul saith of the thessalonians , in the holy ghost , and in much assurance to wit of faith . to end this , be pleased to know that there is a great deale of difference between these two , his word among us , and his word in us , his word is among us , when published , and made known to us , but it is not in us , unlesse received and beleeved by us , and therefore ( my brethren ) let us not content our selves with the former , but labour to find the latter , it is very observable what st. paul saith of of the colossians . the gospell is come unto you , and bringeth forth fruit in you , which it could not doe were it not ingrafted , and therefore the authour to the hebrews saith of the iews , the word did not profit them , because it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it , oh beloved it may be truly said of us , that gospel is come to us , but is it in us ? doth it bring forth fruit in us ? st. austin excellently compareth the word to an hooke , which then taketh the fish when it is taken into the fist , so the word when it is taken into us by faith , then taketh us , and that not to our ruine , but safety , and st. iames when he speaketh of the word as able to save our soules , calls it the ingrafted word , to teach us how necessary it is to our spirituall and eternall profit by the word that it should be in us , the truth is , it were farre better never to have had the word among us , then not to have it in us , that this light had never shone in the midst of us , if it be not set up in the candlestick of our hearts , and therefore let it be our prayer , that the gospel may come to us , not in word onely , but in power , that the seed of the word which is sowne and scattered among us , may be hid in us . finaly that it may please god to give unto us increase of grace , that we may heare meekely his word ; receive it with pure affection , and bring forth the fruits of the spirit . . but further consider this clause in its reference and ye shall find according to a severall reference , severall things not unworthy our observation . it is not amisse to compare the end of the eighth , and of the tenth verse together , in the one it is said , the truth is not in us , the other , his word is not in us , and if ( as doubtlesse we may ) we look upon these as synonimous phrases ; we may observe that what he calleth truth in the one , he stileth gods word in the other ; and so it amounts to that which our blessed saviour himselfe elsewhere asserts , thy word is truth , in which respect it is called by st. paul , and st. iames , the word of truth ; and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eminently and primarily , indeed it may be said of many words that they are true , but onely gods word , is the word of truth , yea truth it selfe , consonant to this it is , that the psalmist calls the words of the lord pure words , and compareth them to silver purified in the fire seven times , that is fully perfect : so as there is not the least drosse of errour in them , indeed when we consider whose word it is namely his word , who as he is the first being ; so he is the first truth , we cannot but conclude that it must needs be altogether true , & therefore if we would have an answer to pilates question , what is truth , the text giveth it , it is gods word , and if you would know when doctrines are true , this word is the onely sure touchstone , and therefore the prophet isay calleth to the lawe , and to the testimony , if they speake not according to these it is because there is no light ; ( to wit of truth ) in them . . if we put these two clauses together , we make him a lyer , and his word is not in us . we learne how hainous a sinne infidelity is , in that it puts so high a dishonour upon god as to make him a lyer , this clause his word is not in us , manifestly is added as a confirmation , of the former , therefore we make him a lyar , because his word is not in us , and his word is not in us , when it is not beleeved by us , so that not to beleeve gods word , and to make him a lyer , are all one . hence it is , that our apostle in his gospell saith , he that beleeveth , sets to his seale that god is true , and else where in this epistle , he that beleeveth not god , maketh him a lyar , because he beleeveth not , look as among men , if we tell a man we beleeve not what he saith , we in effect tell him he is a lyer , so when we doe not receive the truth of gods word , we put as it were the lye upon god , and now tell me how in excusable , nay abominable is the sin of infidelity , in excusable , because that which we are required to beleeve is no other then truth , and abominable , because by not beleeving we make god a lyer . . lastly , put the beginning and the end of this verse together , if we say we have not sinned , his word is not in us , every selfe justitiary , as st. austins phrase is , contrarius est divinae scripturae , is so far from having gods word in him , that he is directly contrary to gods word , and so to say we have no sin ; appeareth to be no other then an odious , and damnable errour . if then we would not be infected , with the poyson of this errour , let us alwayes have by us , nay in us , that powerfull antidote of gods word , let us be carefull to study that we may understand it , and by it our own sinfulnesse , let us often behold our selves in it , as in a glasse , which knoweth not how to flatter , so shall we no longer deceives our selve , and dishonour god , by saying we have no sin , and so much shall suffice to be spoken of this confutation : let us every one make it our supplication , that the word which hath now been heard by us with our outward ears ; may through his grace be grafted inwardly in our hearts , to bring forth the fruit of an holy life , and withall of a lowly mind to his prayse and glory through jesus christ our lord . the first epistle of s. iohn . chap. i. ver. . if we confesse our sins , he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . there are two sorts of persons among others observable in the church , namely glorioli , and infirmi , presumptuous hypocrites , and weak saints , those are commonly lifted up with an opinion of their own righteousnesse ; these are usually cast ●down with an apprehension of their own sinfulness , those boast themselves to be the best of saints , and these abhorre themselves as the worst of sinners : finally , those think themselves to have no sin , and these account themselves to be nothing but sin . hence it is that gods ministers ( though they must not be double tongued yet ) must speak in different language ; to the arrogant , words of terrour ; to the penitent , words of support ; must use both hands , with the r●ght hand lifting up them that are cast down , and with the left hand casting down them that are lifted up ; of both these our apostle sets us a pattern in the three last verses of this chapter , launcing the sores of proud iustitiaries , with the knife of reproof , in the eighth and tenth verses , and powring oyl● of comfort into the wounds of humble confessours in the tenth verse , if we confess our sins , &c. not to trouble you with multiplicity of divisions , be pleased to observe in the words three generals , a duty conditionally required in those words , if we confess our sins . a mercy annexed to that duty in those , to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . the certainty of that mercy , demonstrated in those , he is faithfull and just . these are the three boughs of this tree of life , out of each of which sprout so many branches , and groweth so much fruit that it will ask many houres the gathering . at this time i shall enter upon the . duty conditionally required , for the handling whereof be pleased to consider it two wayes , as it is materia praecepti , the matter of a commandement . cond●tio promissi , the condition of a promise . in the former i shall unfold the nature and exercise of this duty , wherein it consists , how it is to be managed . in the latter i shall discover the necessity and utility of it , as being that whereof the absence excludes , and the presence includes forgiveness . the former will be as the directive part instructing you in , and the latter as the perswasive part , exciting you to the performance of it . the dispatch of the first consideration , will lye in answer to four questions . what it is which we are to confess . to whom this confession must be made . how this confession must be performed . who they are that must thus confess . quest. . what it is we are to confess , the answer to which is in these two words , our sins , and there are three steps , by which i shall proceed in the handling of it , sin , sins , our sins , must be confessed by us . . sin must be confessed . divines do not unfitly take notice of a threefold confession . fidei , laudis , peccati , of faith , of praise , of sin ; a declaration of the truth we beleeve , mercies we receive , sins we commit ; the first is an act of courage , the second of gratitude , the last of repentance ; concerning all of these , the word in the text is used by s. paul in reference to the confession of faith , where he joyneth beleeving with the heart , and making confession with the mouth together ; by the authour to the hebrewes , in reference to thankefulness , where this very word is rendred giving thanks ; and by s. john here in respect of sin , if we confess our sins . it is that indeed which both sin and the sinner very much shun ; sin is so ugly , that it loveth not to appear , and being a work of darkness , cannot indure the light ; besides , the sinner is so much in love with his sin , that he is not willing to bring it forth : that expression of the prophet hoseah , you have ploughed wickedness , is rendred by the septuagint , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ you have concealed wickedness , and not unfitly , because the end of ploughing is , that the seed may be cast into , and hid in the ground : this is the practice of wicked men , to keep close their sin : they hide their talents in the napkin of idleness , and their sins in the napkin of excuse ; indeed it is a disease our first parents were sick of , no wonder if we be infected ; and therefore jobs expression is , if i have hid my sin as adam ; if we are not so proud as to say we have no sin , yet we are not so humble as to say we have sin ; with the pharisee we can brag , what sins we are not guilty of , but we will not confess the sins we are guil●y of . men love as s. austins phrase is , clamare mer●●a ▪ but tacere p●cca●a , to proclaim their good , but conceal their evill d●eds ; vain glory puts them upon the one , but shame forbids them the other : indeed when sin is to be commit●ed , shame is absent ; and when it is to be confessed , shame is present . oh take we heed of this shameful shame in hiding our sins , which is at once both cursed and va●n , non pudenda pecca●i c●nsessio sed perpetratio , it is a shame to act sin , but not to acknowledge it ; shame is a good bridle to keep from sin , but a bad cover to hide it . s. bernard calls it a foolish , dishonest , injurious modesty ; thou art not ashamed to defile thy self , and yet thou art ashamed to be made clean ; indeed it is a shame , whereof thou hast reason to be ashamed , since as it doth much hurt , so it can do no good , as to that which thou desirest , all excuses are but fig-leaves and paper-coverings ; wicked men as st. ambrose saith excellently , in affectu habent abscondere non in effectu , desire to hide , but cannot fulfill it ; god , saith our apostl● , is light , and therefore there is no concealing or darkening any thing from him : the reason saith tertullian , why god commands us to confess our sins , it is not that he may know them , but that it may appear we know , and are sensible of them ; oh then let me say to you ( to use s. gregories morall ) as christ did to lazarus , come forth by the confession of your sins . i beseech you ( in the words of an ancient ) by that god to whom all hearts are open , all desires known , and from whom nothing is hid , that you do not skin over your wounded consciences . that of the psalmist , commit thy way to the lord , is rendred by the vulgar , revela viam domino , reveal thy way , and by s. ambrose understood of revealing our sins to god : indeed since it is impossible to cover , why should we not d●scover our sins ? conceal not that which god knoweth already , and would have thee to make known : it is a very ill office to be the dev●l● secretary : oh break thy league with satan by revealing his secrets , thy sins to god. . as sin in general , so sins in particular must be confessed : an implicite confession , is almost as bad as an implicite faith : it is not enough to acknowledge our sins by whole-sale , but by retaile . true it is , a general confession may be penitent ; such no doubt was the publicans , wh●n he said , god be merciful to me a sinner : but a penitent will not content himself with a general confession , and therefore s. paul as in one place he calleth himself at large a sinner ; so in another , he particular●zeth his sins of blasphemy , and persecution and injury against the saints : thus doth a true penitent sit , or rather kneel down to draw his own picture in all its black l●neaments : to this purpose it is well observed in the text that our apostle doth not say , si confiteamur nos peccatores sed peccata nostra , if we confess our selves sinners , but if we confesse our sins , whereby is intimated a particular acknowledgement of those sins whereof we are guilty . to open this more fully , i shall enlarge it in a threefold variation : we must confesse our sins in respect of their number , measure , merit . . in confession of sin , we must enum●rate the several sins which we have committed , as he in the comedian said , that he had invited two guests to dinner , philocrates , and philocrates , a single man , but a double eater , so shal every man by examination find himself , though a single person , to be a double , nay a treble sinner . confession , what is it but a setting our sins in order , and that is to be done by a distinct and particular enumeration ? in this case , as samuel said to jesse , are here all thy children ? so we must conceive that god saith to us , are here all thy sins ? and as good not confess any , as not bring forth all . indeed this must be understood with this limitation , so far as we know and can remember . there are some sins which we act , and know not that they are sins : there are other sins which we have perhaps so often comm●tted that we are not able to remember them , and surely what we cannot either know or remember , it is impossible to recount ; so that particular confession must reach onely to known sins , and in those to the kinds and the actings onely , so farre as we can call them to m●nd , and yet more especially , if the sins wherein we have walked , or which we have acted , have been scarlet cr●mson sins ; for so we find the israelites particularizing idolatry , and david his murder , and shechania● , the peoples unlawful mixtures ●n marriage : briefly , though we cannot exactly recount all our sins , yet we must not wilfully om●t any sin in our confessions , there being the same reason of confessing all as any , because every sin is an offence to god , and a breach of his law . . in confession we must aggravate our sins by confessing , not only the kinds and acts ( so far as we remember ) but the circumstances of our sins . indeed as pelbartus well observeth ; there are some circumstances of sinful actions , which are impertinent , and neither l●ssen nor heighten our sins ; these are not to be mentioned , there are other circumstances which may somewhat lessen our sins , but those a penitent will not much insist on , only those circumstances which do heighten his sins , or by their badness change the kind of his sin , and render it of a more hainous nature ; he is careful to acknowledg . when a man confesseth his sin , he becometh a witness against himself , and therefore he must on the one hand confesse nothing but the truth , ( for though as iob sacrificed for his sons upon an if may be they have sinned , so a man may charge himself before god upon suspition , yet , he is not to accuse himself of what he is not guilty ) and on the other hand , he must confesse all the truth , and keep back nothing which may aggravate his fault . indeed it is our great fault in our confessions , we perhaps spet out some sins , but others we hide under our tongues , we acknowledge something of our crime , but yet we would make the best of it we can : if the sinner do not say , non feci , or non malè feci , i did not do the fact , or i did not ill in doing it , yet he is too often at non multum malè , 't was not very ill done . me thinks that of aaron is very observable to this purpose who in confessing the idolatry of the golden calfe , useth a mincing expression , there came out this calfe , as if it had happened rather by chance , then art , and there were little or no fault in him , but the temper of a t●ue paenitent is far otherwise , he looketh upon his sins as the greatest enemies ; nor can a malicious person , so spightfully set forth the faults of his enemy , as he will his own : besides he knoweth that extenuating sin , aggravates , and aggravating , extenuateth it , that as a charitable man gathereth by scattering , so a penitent lesseneth his sin , by acknowledging it great . hence it is that the confessions recorded in scripture , are full of exaggerating expressions ( as may appear in those of david , and ezra , and daniel ) setting forth not onely the nature , but the greatnesse of their sins . . finally , in confession we must acknowledge the guilt and desert of our sins , not onely what we have done unjustly , but what we deserve to suffer justly : thus we must confesse as our sins , so the punishment due to us by reason of those sins , how we deserve to be stript of all gods mercies , and to have all the curses written in his book inflicted on us , this is that the scripture calls a judging our selves ; when we do not onely arraigne and accuse our selves unto god by a confession of the fault , but judge and condemne our selves , by a confession of the punishmen●t and so we finde in daniels acknowledgement , not onely we have committed iniquity , we have done wickedly , but to us , oh lord god belongeth confusion of face , as it is this day . . once more , as sins , many sins , so our sins , must be confessed : it is st. austins note upon those words of david , i acknowledge my iniquity , non intueor alios , i do not pry into other mens faults to publish them , but i acknowledge my own offences . to enlarge this in a threefold consideration : we must confesse , . our own sins principally . indeed we finde the people of god confessing publique , as wel as private sins ; the sins of their princes , their priests , as well as their own , not onely the sins of their contemporaries , but their progenitors , we have sinned with our fathers , but stil they chiefly insist upon their own sins . when gods servants confesse the sins of others , it is upon one of these two reasons , either because they have been theirs , or lest they should be theirs , sometimes other men sins become ours , and fit it is , that as we have been partakers with them in their sins , we should be in repentance , and if they do no● , yet we must confesse their sins , inasmuch as our hand hath been in them : again , the sins of others when publick , if not confessed , and bemoaned by us become ours : it is not enough for us that we doe not joyne with , but we must mourne for the abominations of others , but still principally our own sins must be ou● greatest trouble , and the matter of our confession . . our sins to be our own . many in confessing oft times transfer their sins upon others . these brats are so ugly , that when they are brought forth , we are loath to own them , but lay them at others doores . eve chargeth her sin upon the serpent , the serpent beguiled mee , adam upon eve , nay in plain termes upon god , the woman which thou gavest me . st. austin upon those words of david , confitebor adversus me iniquitates meas domino , i will confesse my sins against my selfe unto the lord , observeth , ●hat many confesse their sins , not against , but for themselves , not to , but against the lord , how usuall is it with wicked men to accuse not onely the devill , but god for the sins which they commit , laying them upon fate and destiny , upon the stars and clymate , upon their constitution and complexion and the like ? but the truth is as agamemnon said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither jupiter , nor the destinies , nor the furyes , but it is a mans selfe that doth him the mischiefe , and therefore the true pen●tent layeth his sins at his own door , and taketh shame upon himselfe by reason of them . . those sins which are most especially our own . the prophet isay saith of himselfe and the people , we have all like sheep gone astray , and turned every man to his own way , thereby intimating that as all men go in a wrong way , so every man hath his own way , in which he wandereth . it were easy to instance in countries , in persons , how there is some sin , which is as it were more especially beloved and practised by them . pliny writeth of some families that had privy marks on their bodyes peculiar to those of that line , and every man hath as it were a privy sin , which is most justly called his , but if we will confesse our sins aright , we must not leave out that sin , nay our chiefest spight must be against it according to davids resolve , i will declare mine iniquity , and be sorry for my sin . and so much shall suffice in answer to the first question , which respects the object of our confession . quest. . to whom confession of sinnes is to be made , is that which next in order calls for a solution : true it is , we have no expresse and direct , but yet we have a collaterall and implicite answer in the text , and though it is not said , if we confesse our sins to god , yet it will easily appeare that it is so intended . indeed it cannot be denyed but that . our sins against the second table as they are wrongs and injuries to our neighbour , ought to be confessed to him , in this sence st. augustine interprets that of st. james , confesse your faults one to another , and without doubt it is implicily required by our blessed saviour , when he bids a man before he offer his gift to goe and be reconciled to his brother , if he have ought against him , to wit by ( at least ) making an acknowledgment of the wrong he hath done him . . our sins having been open , and so become scandalous , ought to be acknowledged to the church where of we are members , this is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was used in the primitive times of which tertullian and others of the antients speake . a piece of discipline , which it were heartily to be wished , were still in use that notorious , offenders might be brought to a publique acknowledgment of their sinnes . . our sins when they are not onely in themselves grosse but to our consciences burdensome may , nay ought to be confessed to a faithful , pious , discreet minister . the truth is . there are many excellent benefits which hereby accrue to the penitent as zanchy hath wel observed , such as are the helping forward of his humiliation , faith & repentance , the obta●ning from the minister more suteable , particular and direct counsels , more spirituall and fervent prayers both for , and with him , and withall upon the signes of his true contrition accompaning that confession , the comfortable sentence of absolution ; and therefore , though i doe utterly dislike the doctrine of the romish church , which asserts a particular enumeration of all our sinnes to the preist as necessary to remission yea in ( her last conventicle , rather then councill , pronounceth an anathema to all , who shall deny this particular sacramentall confession ro the preist , to be of divine right , yea though i abhorre the practice of it as used among them , by the priest , as a stratagem to vntie the peoples purses and a pick lock to open the secrets of states , by the peopl● , not as an hedge , but a gap to make way for future commissions with more freedome after they have ( as they suppose ) cleansed themselves by confession , yet i could heartily w●sh , that the right use of private confession to the priest were revived and pract●ced , since i am confident that as many having secret d●seases p●rish , for want of reveal●ng them to an able ph●sitian ; so may sin sick soules , either wholly miscarry or however , sad●y continue and increase their inward wounds for want of making known their case to some faithfull min●ster . but the confess●on which our apostle , here intends is ( no doubt ) onely in reference to god , for besides that , it is a confession to be made by the apostles , and so the m●nisters themselves , as well as the people , it is clearly intimated , that this confession must be made to him who is just and faithfull to forgive , and that is onely god : indeed , this confession is that which must accompany all the rest , when wee confesse the wrong to man , wee must confesse the sin to god ; when we acknowledge the scandall to the church , still we must acknowledge the sin to god : finally , when we confesse too , our confession must not be ●erm●nated in the m●nister , and though it bee made before him , yet it must be directed to god. the truth is those confessions without this , are not avaylable , but this may , nay will be without those , if god deny the opportunity of them , indeed it is god who is ●ither mediately , or immediately injured , it is gods law which is d●rectly violated in all sinnes , and therefore to him , they must be conf●ss●d . thus david said , i will conf●sse my transgress●ons unto the lord , and the prod●gall resolveth to goe to his father and say , father i have sinned against heaven , and before thee , and st. chrisostom● adv●seth , yea beseecheth the p●ople , to acknowledge the●r sinnes continually to god , to confesse them before the judge , praying if not w●th their tongue yet their hearts , and so much bee spoken in answer to the second quaere . how this confession must be performed , is next to bee resolved : to which end be pleased to take notice of the antecedent , ingredients , and consequent of a right acknowledgement . . there cannot bee agnitio if there be not cognitio peccati , an acknowledging , unless there precede a knowledge of sin . david puts them together . i acknowledge my transgressions , and my sin is ever before me , ●f our sinnes bee not before us how can we set them before god ? and therefore to the right exercise of this duty , th●re is required a praevious examination of our hearts , inspection into our lives , that we may be enabled to see our sinnes : hee that hath not yet asked himselfe that question , quid feci ? what have i done can never make the confession ? sic feci , thus & thus i have done : & in this respect i would though not require , yet advise it as a pious and prudent practice , and that which i doubt not but many christians have found benefit by , to keepe a constant daily catalogue as of mercies received , so of sinnes committed . . the ingredients of this confession , are many and such as well deserve our observation . a right confession of sin must be . free and voluntary , not a confession upon the rack , or the gallowes , extracted meerely from sence of paine and smart of the punishment : wee read of confessions made by pharaoh and saul , but it was when judgement either feared or felt compelled them to i● . many cast out their sinnes by confession as mar●ners doe their war●s in a storm , wishing for them again in a calme , a true confession must be ingenious , and must come like water out of a spring which floweth freely , not like water out of a st●ll which is forced by fire . . cordiall and sincere , confession to men is a worke of the voyce , but to god of the hea●t , and that so peculiarly , as oftimes the heart alone is sufficient without the voyc● but never the voyce without the heart , many mens confessions come from them as water , runs through a pipe they leave no impression , their hearts are not affected with what they confesse . o let us learne to be in good earnest , with god , remembring that as prayer for mercy , so confession of sin must not be onely a lip labour , since then instead of offering the calves of our lips , wee shall but offer the lips of calves . . penitent and abasing . this is that which puts forth it selfe in a three fold affection of shame , of griefe , of hatred , wee must confesse . with shame . this was ezrahs temper when he saith oh my god i am ashamed , and blush to lift up my face to heaven , to bee ashamed to confesse is bad , but to confesse with shame is good those words of the prophet so wil we render the the calves of our lips , are by velasques expounded of penitent confession , which whilest it brings by shame redness into the che●ks , as it were le ts out the bloud of the sacrificed calfe , by the knife of repentance . . with griefe . thus the publican for shame , stands a farre off , not daring to lift his eyes to heaven , & for grief smiteth his hreast . david doth not onely say , i will declare , but i will be sorry for my sin , the people of god , in the day of their confession not onely say wee have sinned but draw water and poure it out before the lord , in token of contrition . wee should in confessing sins have our hearts so affected that our eyes with job may poure teares before god that with david rivers of teares may run down our eyes ; yea wee should wish with ieremy , that our head were water , and our eyes a fountaine of teares . but however nonne stillabit oculus noster , if we cannot poure out shall wee not drop a tear , or at least if we cannot shed a tear , let us breath forth a sigh for our sins , it is onely the heart broken with godly sorrow , that sends forth a true confession . , with hatred , confession is the soules vomit and looke as what the stomack vomits , it loaths , yea therefore it casts it up , because it loaths it , so must wee confess our sins , with an holy indignation against , and detestation of them . there are beloved too many , who declare their sin , but it is to use the prophet isaiahs comparison as sodom , with impudency , they made a sport of acting and they make a ●east of confessing their sins these are they who according to st. pauls expression glory in the●r shame , mention their sin not with sorrow , but joy , hatred , but delight , boasting of the wickednesse they act , it is a confession which is attended with dedolent imp●nitency : but the penitent confession , is of a contrary nature , ever accompanied with a shamefull griefe and loathing . . beleeving and fiduciall , that must be like the confession , not of the malefactor to the iudge , but of a sick man , to the physitian , wee read of cain , and iudas confessing , but it was rather a desperate ac●usation , then a penitent confession , daniel as he acknowledged to them , belonged confusion , so that to god belongeth mercy ; thus must our most sorrowfull acknowledgment be joyned with some comfortable hope , of , and trust in divine mercy . . the consequent of this conf●ssion , must be dereliction were it onely to confesse our fault , when we have done it , it were an easie matter , but if solomon may be st. iohns expositor , it is not onely to confesse , but forsake sin , and therefore interpreters truly assert , that confession is here put synecdochi●ally , for the whole worke of repentance , it being not enough for us to confesse the sin wee have committed , but wee must not commit again wilfully the sins wee confess . indeed it is very sad to consider how generally defective , mens confessions are as to this particular . many ( as fulgentius , ●xcellently ) being pricked in conscience confess that they have done ill , and yet put no end to their ill deeds , they humbly accuse thmselves in gods sight of the sinnes which oppresse them , and yet with a perverse heart rebelliously heape up those sins , whereof they accuse themselves . the very pardon which they beg , w●th mournfull sighs , they impede with their wicked actions : they aske help of the physitian , and still minister matter to the disease , thus ●n va●n endeavouring to appease him w●th penitent word● , whom they goe on to provoke by an impen●tent course : ●ook● how saul dealt with dav●d , one whi●e confessing hi● injustice towards him , and soone after persecu●●ng him in the wildernesse , so doe men with god ▪ you know the story of pharaoh who one day saith , i have sinned and promiseth to let israel goe , and the next day hard●neth his heart , and refuseth to let them goe , and this practice is too too frequent : our repentance is a kind of che●ker worke , black & wh●te , wh●te and black : we sin , and then we confess , we confess & then again we sin . but o● beloved , what will it availe you to vomit up your sins by confession , if you do it onely with the drunkard to make way for pouring in more drinke , committing new sins , nay with the dog , you returne to your vomit , and lick it up again . it is excellent councell that is given by st. ambrose , oh take we heed that the dev●ll have not cause to triumph over our remedy as well as our d●sease , and that our repentance be not such as needs a repentance . indeed as fulgentius appositely ) then is confession of sin , availeable when it is accompanied w●th a separation from sin , and the practice of th● contrary duty ; and therefore what our apostle saith of loving , let mee say of confessing , confesse not in tongue or in word onely , but indeed , and in truth , by endeavouring to forsake those sins which wee confesse , not onely saying , i have done iniquity , but cordially , a●ding , i w●ll doe so no more . i end this , with that note of st. austin upon those words of the prophet . wash you make you clean . he onely washeth and is clean , who sorrowfully acknowledgeth past , and doth not again willingly admitt future sins , and so much shall serve , in dispatch of the third question . . come we now in a few words to the last , which is , who they are that must thus confess● , & that is intimated in the word we , to confesse 〈◊〉 , is that which belongs not onely to wicked and ungodly men but to st. iohn and such as he was , good , nay , the best christians , and that in a respect of their . past enormities . true pen●tents , love still to rub upon their old s●res . david in his psalm deprecateth the sins of his youth , our old sins call for new confessions , and this holy men doe upon severall considerations . . to keep down the swell●ng of spirituall pride , which is apt to arise in the best saints . king agathocles , by drinking in ●arthen vessels , to minde himselfe of his or●g●nall ( which was from a potter ) kept hims●lfe humble , so doe good christians by remembring and acknowledging their hainous sins before conversion . . to gain further assurance of the pardon of these sins ▪ faith in the best is apt to faint , and feares to arise in their minds , but the renewing of confession and contrition supports faith and expels fear . . to strengthen themselves the more against relapses into those sins . the best men want not temptations to the worst sins , especially those which before conversion they were accustomed to , & lived in , but every new confession is as it were a new obligation upon a man , not to doe it any more . . to enflame their souls with greater measure of love to god and christ. the sence of sin is a great indearment of mercy , and the confession of sin renew●th the sence of it : indeed wee must not comm●t s●n abundantly that grace may abound the more , but we may and ought to confesse s●n abu●dantly that grace may abound & be the more prec●ous to us , for these reasons it is that good christians , are frequent in confess●ng their old s●ns , but besides they have new matter of co●●ession in respect of . their present infirm●t●es , not onely all that are wicked , but all that are sinners , are bound to confesse their sins , and ( as you formerly heard ) the best whilest they continue here are sinners ; whilest the ship is leaking , the water must be pumped out : as the room continually gathereth soyle , so it must be daily swept , and the stomack which is still breeding ▪ ●ll humours , must have vomits administred . the line of confession must be drawn out as long as the line of sinning , and that is as long , as the line of living . to shut up therefore , we may by this see what kind of saints those are , who are altogether for high raptures of gratulation and admiration , but think themselves past confession and humiliation , and therefore you shall observe their prayers to have little or no mixture of acknowledgment of sin ; to all such i shall say as the emperor did to the arch-puritan acesius , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , erect thy ladder , and climb alone upon it to heaven ; for our parts ( my brethren ) let confession of sins be as the first , so the last round in that ladder to heaven , by which we expect and endeavour to ascend that celestial habitation . the first epistle of s. iohn . chap. i. ver. . if we confesse our sins , he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . that covenant which almighty god hath made with fallen man in christ jesus , is not unfitly called by divines , a covenant of grace , free grace being the impulsive cause from within , moving god to make that covenant . but though it be of grace , yet it is still a covenant , and therefore as in all covenants , there is a mutual obligation on both parties , between whom the covenant is made , so is it in this , wherein is signified as what god will do for us , so what he will have done by us . hence it is that we find not only in the law but gospel , commands , as well as comforts , precepts as promises ; yea , these promises still proposed conditionally : for so we may observe among other places in this chapter , and particularly in this verse , wherein remission is annexed to confession . if we confess our sins , he is faithful , &c. having already dispatched the duty in an absolute consideration , as it is the matter of a precept , we are now to handle the relative , as it is the condition of a promise : the prosecution of which shall be done two wayes , . negatively : it is not a cause , but only a condition of the promise , and therefore it is not said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because , but if we confess our sins : indeed if confession be a cause of remission , it must be either meritorious or instrumental , but it is not , it cannot be either of these . . confession is not , cannot be a meritorious cause of forgiveness , it is satisfaction , not confession which merits remission , and therefore with men , forgiveness upon meer acknowledgment , is an act not of equity but of charity ; in this regard the merit of remission is christs , not ours , his blood whereby he hath made satisfaction , not our tears which are only the concomitant of confession . true it is , there is a congruity in confession , inasmuch as it maketh us fit for , but there is no condignity to render us deserving of this mercy of forgiveness . it may perhaps be here inquired why since the commission of sin is meritorious of punishment , the confession is not of pardon ? for if the sin be therefore of so great a desert , because against god , why shall not the acknowledgement be of as great merit , because to god ? the answer to which is iustly returned , partly that whereas our commissions are purely sinful , our confessions are not purely penitent , since even when we confess our sins , we sin in confessing , partly , that whereas the demerit of the fault is chiefly respectu objecti , in regard of the person to whom the injury is done , the amends for the fault is respectu subjecti , principally considerable in respect of the person by whom it is made : and hence it is that though the sin committed by us , bee of infinite demerit , because against an infinite justice , yet nothing done by us , can bee of infinite merit , because wee are finite persons . . confession , is not the instrumentall cause of forgivenesse : to clear this the more , be pleased to know , that there is a great deale of difference between that which is meerely conditionall , and that which is so a condition , as it is withall an instrument : that may be a necessary condition , which is onely required to the qualification of the subject on whom the thing is conferred , but that which is not onely a condition , but an instrument , hath some kinde of influence , into the production of the thing , which is conferred , and this being well observed , will serve excellently to clear that orthodox doctrine of justification by faith alone , we are justified , ( a chiefe ingredient , whereof is forgivenesse of sinnes ) onely by faith , not by repentance , not by charity , nor by any other grace or work , because it is onely faith which concurreth as an instrument to this work , in as much as it is the hysope sprinkling the soul with the bloud , the hand applying to the soule the righteousnesse of christ , for which wee are forgiven , and justified : and hence it is , that the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is onely used concerning faith , hee is the propitiation for our sinnes through faith , and we are justified by faith ; whereas it is never said , wee are justified by confessing , or forgiving , or repenting , though yet still these are conditions of justification , and forgivenesse , in as much as they are necessary qualifications , required in the person whom god doth justify , and to whom sinne is forgiven . . affirmatively , it is a condition , and that both exclusive , and inclusive . . it is an exclusive condition , this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is as much as , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this si as nisi , if otherwise not , there is no forgivenesse to bee had , without confession , though it be not that for which , no nor yet by which , yet it is that without which no remission can be obtained . i thinke it is needlesse to dispu●e what god could doe by his absolute power , it is enough hee cannot doe ●t by his actuall , because he will not ; & truly though the●e is no need of any , yet there is abundant reason of this divine pleasure , since it is that which his justice , his purity , and his wisedome seem to call for . justice requireth satisfaction , much more confessiion . if god shall pardon them which doe not confesse , but conceal , and goe on in sinne , it would open a gap to all prophanesse and impiety , which cannot consist with his purity ; finally , it cannot stand with gods wisedome , to bestow mercy , but on them that are in some measure sitted for it , and wee are not , cannot be sitted for rem●ssion , till we have practised confession . none are fitio● mercy , but they who see the●r need of it , hunger after it , and know how to value it ; whereas if god should offer pardon to an impenitent , he would scarce accept it , how ever hee would not prize it . it is confession which maketh us taste the bitternesse of sin , and so prepareth us for a relish of the sweetnesse of forgiving mercy . the exclusivenesse of this condition is that which solomon expresseth , when hee opposeth hiding to confessing , and as hee assureth mercy to the one , so hee flatly denyeth it to the other , he that hideth his sin shall not prosper : and to this purpose it is that almighty god threatneth , i will goe and returne to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seeke my fa●e , in which done● , is manifestly intimated a nisi , untill , that is unlesse they acknowledge , i will not vouchsafe my gracious presence to them , yea this is that which david found verified in his own experience , where he saith , when i kept silence , my bones waxed old , day and night thy hand was heavy upon mee , i acknowledged my sinne and thou forgavest : unlesse the sore be opened , and the corrupt matter let out , the party cannot be healed ; when the ague breaketh forth at the lips , then there is hope of its cessation . if the apostume break , and come not forth at the eares or mouth , the patient is but a dead man ; till that which oppresseth the stomach be cast up , there can bee no ease , and unlesse there be a penitent laying open of our sinnes before god , by self accusation , it is in vain to expect his absolution . those words of the wise man , life , and death , are in the power of the tongue , are not unfitly morallized by one to this purpose , if our tongues keepe silence , nothing but death to bee expected ; i● they speake in humble acknowledgement , life is assured . this is the course of the court of heaven , directly contrary to the courts on earth , as st. chrisostome , and others , have observed ▪ with men , confession is the ready way to condemnation , with god , there is no other way to remiss●on ▪ he that doth not conceale his offence , from the judge , is sure to suffer , he that doth endeavour to hide his sin from god , shall surely suffer ; so the sentence was against the speechlesse offender : take him , bind him hand and foote , cast him into utter darknesse , there shall be weeping , and gnashing of teeth . . it is an inclusive condition , such as where ever it is found , the benefit is certainly conferd : this supposition , may truely be turned into a position , this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verily godwill forgive th● who confess their sins . it is not , an it may bee god will forgive , or an , who knoweth but hee will forgive ? but a surely hee will forgive : there is not onely a possibility , or probability , but a certainty of remission to confessing sinners . st. bernard to this purpose taketh notice of a booke which god keepeth as it were in heaven , and saith apposi●ely quod ibi ser●bit transgressio , delet confessio , what sin writeth in , confession blotteth out of thaet book● : hence it is that wee finde god himselfe prescribing this , as the ready w●y to forgivenesse , his ministers assuring pardon , upon the performance of this , so nathan did david , yea , sinners , actually obtaining pardon upon this : so did david , and the prodigall : & which is observable , in both those penitents gods remission seemed as it were to prevent their confession , and interpose it selfe betweene the purpose and the performance of it . david onely said , hee would confess , and god forgave ; and the prodigall said , i will arise and goe , and whilest yet hee was a great way the father runs to meet him . and now if any shall say , wee have set upon this course , but not yet found this comfort , wee have confessed our sinnes , and they are not ( at least in our apprehension ) forgiven . i answer , perhaps thou hast not been serious , and ingenious in thy confession : thou hast confessed some sinnes , but not all ; or thy confessions have not been so cordiall and penitent , as they ought to bee : and no wonder , if fayling in the right performance of the condition , thou doest not finde the accomplishment of the promise ▪ but if thy endeavours have been sincere , in confessing thou must then distinguish between the reall condonation , and the sensible manifestation : thy sins may be forgiven in heaven , and yet not in thy conscience , as god many times heareth prayer , and yet the petitioner findes no answer ; so hee pardoneth sin to the penitent ; and yet hee doth not know of it ; and therefore still it remaineth as a truth , remission is undoubtedly annexed to confession , tantum valent tres syllabae peccavi , saith st. austine , of so great force are those three syllables , in the latin , three words , in the english when uttered with a contrite heart , i have sinned , to obtaine forgivenesse of our sinnes to end this therefore , and so dismisse the first generall of the text , what an engagement and incouragement should this bee to the practice of this duty ? the necessity should engage us , might pardon be had upon any other terms , this might be dispensed with , but it canot be , there is not only necessitas praecepti , a necessity by vertue of a command ( though truely gods bare command , is a sufficient obligation , and therefore tertullian accounts it boldnesse to dispute of the good of repentance , when as we have a precept injoyning it ) but there is necessitas medii , a necessity in reference to the end of forgivenesse and happinesse : there being no other meanes or way wherein it is to be obtained , since by concealing of , and indulging to our sins , wee exclude gods indulgence . . the utility should encourage us : were it onely gods honour , which is hereby advanced , it should be a prevailing motive : confession of sin , though it publish the ill qualities of the peccant , yet it hath this good quality , that it ascribeth to god his divine attributes , omniscience , acknowledging it were in vaine to hide from him that seeth already : mercy , since it were madnesse to make confession , where wee conceived no compassion ; iustice , which wee acknowledge might utterly consume us ; patience , which is the onely cause that vengeance did not presently follow our sins ; finally power , that there is no way to fly from him , but to goe to him , in humble confessions . to this purpose , st. austin tels us , est confessio laudantis et gementis , there is the confession of the thankfull , & of the sorrowful ; nay the confession of sin is a confession of prayse ; yea , bis deum laudamus ubi pie nos accusamus , by taking shame to our selves , we give double glory to god. but if zeal for gods glory will not induce us , yet love to our selves should oblige us , since as it is gods honour , so it is our comfort , he hath the glory , wee have the good , his is the prayse , ours is the profit , we being truely intituled to , & qualified for the blessing of remission ; for this reason no doubt it is that the divel striveth what he can , of all duties , to hinder us from this of confession , lupus apprehēdit guttur ovis , the wolfe catcheth at the throat of the sheep , that is the divels aim to stop our cōfessions , because he knoweth how advantagious the performance of it will be unto us : indeed , therefore he would not have us to accuse our selves , that he might accuse us ; but according to st. ambrose his councell , praeveni accusatorem tuum , let us be wise to prevent him , and the mo●e hee disswades us from , let us with the greater fervency set upon this duty , which as it is acceptable to god , because it exalts his glory , so it is profitable to us in obtaining our pardon nor let us onely be ingaged , and encouraged to the duty it selfe , but to the r●ght manner of performance ; it is that upon which , as it were , our everlasting comfort depends , and therefore , how carefull should wee bee so to manage it , as wee may not misse of our comfort . wouldest thou then that god should ignoscere , cover , doe thou , agnoscere , discover thy sins : wouldest thou have no sin unpardoned ? let no sin be unconfessed : if thou wouldest not have god impute thy sinnes to thee , doe thou charge them upon thy selfe : wouldest thou have god to spare thee , doe not spare thy sinnes , wouldest thou speed well in the court of heaven ? tell the worst tale thou canst against thy selfe , wouldest thou have him freely to forgive ? doe thou freely acknowledge : wouldest thou rejoyce , and glory in his pardoning love ? confesse thy sinnes with sorrow , grief , and hatred : wouldest thou have him put away thine iniquities far from him ? doe thou put thy iniquities far from thee : finally , wouldest thou have him to cast thy sinnes for ever behinde his back ? doe thou often set them before thine own , and his face , ever remembring , that if wee condemn our selves , hee is ready to acquit us ; if wee lay our sinnes upon our selves , hee is willing to lay them upon christ ; if wee confesse our sinnes , hee is just , and faithfull , to forgive and so i am fallen upon the mercy annexed to the duty , set down in these words , to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse in the discussion whereof , i shall take notice of three particulars , each of which are doubly expressed the object , called by those two names , sin , unrighteousnesse . the act , characterized in those two metaphors , forgive and cleanse the extent of the act ; in reference to the object , intimated in the plurall number , sinnes , and expressed in the universall particle , all unrighteousnesse . the object of remission , is here described by two names , and both of them very significant . . the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the most vsuall word , by which sin in generall is called , it answereth to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the hebrew , and pe●catum , in the latins , and cometh no doubt from the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to shoote besides the marke , whence suadas defineth it to bee , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and deriveth it from ( ● ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if it were , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . it is very observable to this purpose , what wee read in the book of iudges , concerning those seven hundred chosen men of beniamin who could sling stones at an haires breadth , and not misse : where the hebrew word for misse , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby is intimated to us what the nature of sinne is ; namely a amissing the mark . god , beloved , hath proposed to man a marke , to wit , glory and ●elicity , which by sin wee faile of , according to that expression of the apostle , all have sinned , and come short of the glory of god : where the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alludeth to those , who come short in running to the goale , both amount to the same , and let us see how sinne maketh us come short of the goale , and shoote besides the mark of blisse : and no wonder , since according to our apostles definition , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sinne is a transgression of the law , to which agreeth ciceros definition of peccatum , that it is , transilire lineas , as god hath given man a scope to aim at , so a rule to walke by ; as he hath proposed an end , so hee hath appointed a way , but sinne misseth of both : hence it is that sinners are said to goe astray , as sheep which wander from the fold ; and sinne is compared to darkeness , which causeth the traveller to step aside ; so fitly is it here called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a deviating aberration from the right rule or scope . the second is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a word , which is sometimes used in a strict notion , for one kinde of sin , to wit , injustice towards man : in this sence , it is contradistinguished to ungodlinesse , by st. paul , where he saith , the wrath of god is revealed from heaven , against all ungodliness , and unrighteousness of men . but again , sometimes it is taken in a larger notion , as applicable to every sinne ; for as the moralist distinguisheth of righteousness , it is particular and universall , which universall righteousnesse containeth in it all vertues ; so wee may distinguish of unrighteousness , and so in a generall sence it comprehendeth all sinnes . thus it is said of the romans , before conversion , they did yeeld their members as weapons of unrighteousnesse to sinne , according to this latitude , it is to bee taken in the promise , where god saith , i will be mercifull to their unrighteousness ; & here in the text , which assureth , cleansing , from all unrighteousness : and therefore though we may with demosthenes , distinguish between these two , by the one understanding a voluntary , the other , an involuntary fault , or with turrianus , upon the text , by sin understand lesser , & by unrighteousnesse greater crimes ; yet i rather conceive both of equall extent ; nor is it without just reason , that all sin is called by the name of injustice , whether you consider it in its nature or its effects ▪ looke upon the nature of sinne : it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a missing the marke , and hee that doth so , shooteth wrong , a swerving from the right rule , and therefore must bee crooked . it is one of the definitions ; wee meete with in st. austine , of sinne . it is a will of getting , or keeping , what iustice forbids . the statutes of the lord are right , saith david ; the commandement is just , saith st. paul ; and therefore , sinne , which is a breach of it must needs bee unrighteousnesse . behold the effects of sinne , what injury it doth both to god , and to the sinner . sin is unrighteousness towards god , denying him his dae , and robbing him of his honour ; true it is , gods int●rnall essentiall glory is inviolable , but sin depriveth him of that externall glory , & honour which the creature by worship and service ought to give to him , and though it cannot actually , yet it doth intentionally , and therefore interpretativ●ly , injure the divine majesty : in which respect god complaineth , that hee is pressed under sinne as a cart under sheaves ; and it is truly said , omne peccatum est quasi deicid um , sinne doth as much as in it lyeth commit murder upon the sacred deity . sinne , is unrighteousnesse towards our selves : hee that sinneth against mee , saith wisedome , wrongeth his owne soul ; and that is the greatest wrong a man can doe himselfe , it being such a losse , as no gaine can countervaile ; for what will it profit a man , saith our blessed saviour , to gaine the whole world , and lose his owne soule : it is not unfitly observed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the greeke , which signifieth losse , commeth from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the hebrew ▪ which signifyeth sinne , sinne ever bringing losse , and doing the greatest injury to him that committeth it . and now , beloved , what other use should wee make of these considerations , but that wee learn so to looke upon sinne , as the scripture represents it , that wee may loath , and abhorre it . alas ? whatsoever pleasure thou maiest have in it , it is but the pleasure of sinne ; what ever mammon thou mayest get by it , it is but the mammon of unrighteousness ; and therefore when the seeming delight and profit may allure thee , let the reall obliquity and iniquity of it , affright . thee a morally just person , would not wrong a man of a peny to get a pound : and why wilt thou wrong both god and thy selfe for a little present emolument , and contentment ? let not then sinne any longer deceive thee , but remember what names are given it in gods d●ctionary , and in those names , read its nature , that thou mayest hate to commit that which is so irregular , and unjust , being therefore characterized , by these two titles of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sinne , and unrighteousnesse . the act of remission , wherein the benefit consists , is expressed in two metaphors , forgiving and cleansing , and commeth next to be considered . indeed , some expositors referre these two phrases , to two severall acts , and so conceive this promise to consist of two parts ; to wit , justification , and sanctification : thus beza calleth cleansing another benefit distinct from that of forgiving . and truly it is not to be denied , but that justification and sanctification , are inseperable concomitants ; indeed they are not to be confounded , but withall they ought not to be severed , distinguished they must be , divided they cannot ; and therefore they are fitly called twines in the wombe of free grace ; to this purpose , saith st bernard , where sinne is pardoned , the g●ft of sanctity is conferred : & in this respect st. austin saith , that rem●ssion of sinne , maketh men good trees ; hence it is that wee finde those two frequently joyned together by st. paul , you are just●fyed , you are sanctifyed , by the prophet ezechiel , i will cleanse you from all your iniquities , and i will give you a new heart ; and by the prophet micah , i will subdue their iniquities , and cast them into the depth of the sea. this phrase of cleansing , serveth very fitly to represent the worke of sanctification , whereby the filth of sinne is more and more removed , and therefore many times it is set forth in scripture by this metaphor ; so when david prayeth for a cleane heart , and st. paul exhorts to cleanse our selves , wee are no doubt to construe it of sanctification . vpon these considerations , i shall not quarrel with any , who so interpret it here , but i conceive it more rational , in this place , to referre both to one , and by cleansing , understand the same with forg●ving , and that because it is very probable , that st. iohn attributes the same thing here to god , as the principall efficient , which he ascribeth at the seventh verse , to christ , as the meritorious cause ; now the cleansing there spoken of , as hath been already manifested , and evidently appeareth , is that of justification . it is very incongruous , to make the sam● thing , both the condition , and the matter of a promise : i●●eed , that which is the cond●tion of one promise , may be the matter of another , but the same thing , cannot be the matter and condition of the same promise ; now the cleansing from sinne , which is an act of sanctification , consists , though not onely , yet partly in the confession of sinnes , which is the condition of the promise . upon these considerations , i shall handle both these metaphors , as belonging to one and the same benefit , nor is it unusuall with the holy ghost , in scripture , to repeat the same things , under various notions ; yea so choice is the matter , here promised , that it cannot be sufficiently expressed , and assured to us : no wonder that it is ingeminated , to forgive , to cleanse . and indeed so emphaticall are both these phrases , that though they are one and the same in sence , yet i shall handle them severally , as they lye in order the first word we meet with , is forgive ; a word that is of all others most frequently used ; if you inquire into the plaine meaning of the greeke word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is as much as to d●smisse , or sen● away , or let alone : thus when god forgiveth sin , he lets the sinner alone , and as it were , dismisseth his sin , removi●g it ( according to the psalmists expression ) as farre from him as east from the west : if you observe the vse of the word , you shall finde it applied three severall wayes , to the acquitting of one that is accused , the releasing of one that is imprisoned , and the discharging of one that is indebted , each of which ( especially the last ) serve to set forth this benefit . when agesilaus wrote to the iudge , in the behalf of nicias , he used this phrase , if he have done no wrong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , acquit him , ●f he have done wrong ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acquit him for my sake , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ however , acquit him , this is that which god , doth , in forgiving , acquit the sinner from the accusations that are laid against him , by sin , & satan . our blessed saviour , quoting that place of the prophet , maketh vse of the noune of this verb to preach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deliverance to the captives , as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and thus doth the pitifulnesse of divine mercy in forgiving loose the captive sinners who are tied and bound with the chaines , and fetters of their sinnes . in the parable , of the lord , and his servant , who ought him many talents , this word is used to expresse the lords forgiving the debt to his servant ; and this is the sence , in which the scripture , most frequently useth the expression : and therefore in the lords prayer , where forgivenesse is expressed , by this word , one of the evangelists expresly joynes with it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debts , forgive us our debts . and now according to this notion of the word , there are two things ; it represents to us what sin doth , and what forgiven●sse doth . what sinne doth : it maketh a man a debtor : grave vocabulum debitoris , saith st. ambrose , the name of debtor is very unpleasing ; yet such is every sinner , a debtor to gods justice , by reason of the breach of his law : indeed man , as a creature , was a debtor to gods authority commanding , but withall , hee was able to pay that debt to the full , and therefore it was no burden , nor misery ; whereas man , as a sinner , is a debtor to gods justice punishing , and this such a debt , as he is never able to satisfy ; and therefore must lye in prison for ever . it is a proverb in suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 once red with blushing at the time of borrowing , and ten times pale for fear of paying : augustus would faine buy his pillow who was so much in debt , as conceiving it was good to sleep on . how can a sinner sleep securely who is indebted so deeply ? but that which is here chiefly considerable , is what forgivenenesse doth : indeed it lets us see that wherein the nature of this blessing consists , whereas sinne making us debtors to divine justice , obligeth us to the suffering of eternall punishment , forgivenesse , taketh off this obl●gation , and consequently the punishment it selfe , so that looke as a forgiven debtor is freed from whatsoever penalty his debt did render him lyable to : yea from being so much as lyable to the penalty , so is the forgiven sinner from the punishment it selfe , which is the remote term , and the obligation to it , which is the proxime term of pardon ; in this respect it is that anselm saith , to forgive sinne is not to punish it , and st. austin to the same purpose , it is gods not marking inquity , so as to inflict the penalty due to it , and the schooles , to remit the sinne , is not to impute it so , as to punish it . for the fuller opening this truth , know on the one hand , there is a great deale of difference between these two , to withhold the execution off , and to withdraw the obligation to the punishment : it is one thing , for a creditor to give day of payment , and another thing to cancell the bond : indeed the phrase used by moses , of gods forgiving his people from egypt , untill now , seemeth chiefely to intend his sparing to punish them , but that is forgivenesse , in a larger , and improper sence , according to the genuine notion , there is a vast difference between forgiving and forbearing mercy . as learned davenant , upon those words , forbearing & forgiving one another , hath observed , that there is far more in the latter , than in the former ; since a man may forbear revenge , meerly for want of ability , or opportunity , so is it true ( though not upon the same ground , ) in respect of god , his forgiving , is farre more then his forbearing ; and therefore this latter hee vouchsafeth even to those who goe on in sinne ; but the former onely to them who confesse the●r sin ; since whereas by the one , it is onely hee doth not as yet , by the other , it is that he will not at all punish . on the other hand , there is a great deal of difference betwixt affl●cting for sin , and punish●ng for sin , properly so called : for though the meritorious cause of both be the same , to wit , sin , yet the impulsive cause from within , is different , that , from an anger mixed with love : this , from meer anger , and purely judiciall wrath ; besides , the finall cause , is far differen● , that is for emendation of the person , this is for satisfaction of the law , and so whereas that is medicinall , this is exitiall . that god doth afflict his own people for sin , yea for sinne after it is forgiven , is a case so cleare , that it cannot upon any just reason be denied . the antinomians doe but discover their owne blindnesse , whilest they deny that god seeth sinne , so as to correct it in justified persons : that instance of david is pregnant , whom the prophet tels , as it were with one breath , that god had forgiven his sinne , and yet for that sinne the childe must dye ; that of the psalmist , concerning the isralites , is very plaine , thou wast a god that forgavest their sinne , though thou tookest vengeance of their iniquities : finally that of the corinthians , is no lesse apposite , who though they were forgiven , and therefore should not be condemned with the world ; yet were judged , and chastized of the lord , for their sinne , of unworthy receiving the holy sacrament . but still , though god doe afflict , yet hee doth not punish for sinne , those whom hee forgiveth ; unlesse as all afflictions may in some sort bee called punishments : and the reason is plain , because punishing for sinne , is in a war of revenge , and satisfaction ; which are dire●tly opposite to forgivenesse ; and wee may as well say , that ● judge can at the same time pardon a malefactor , and ex●●ute him , as that god can punish when hee forgiveth : indeed , because those eternall miseries , have most properly in them , rationem paenae , the nature of sat●sfactory pun●shment , therefore forgiveness chiefly consists in taking off the obligation to that , according to st. pauls phr●se , there is no condemnation to them that are in christ iesus : but yet it is no less true , that the obl●gation to temporall , as well as eternall punish●en● : is taken off , so that though the same ou●ward miseries seize upon pardoned , as well as unpard●ned sinners , yet n●t in the same way , as hath been already i●timated , and therefore though god , doe inflict many miseries , of life , yea death it self upon forgiven sinners to make them feel the smart of sinn● , watchfull , how they run into sinne , and to declare his justice against sinne ; yet not in the least , to satisfy his justice upon them for sinne ; that being already most fully ( as i shall hereafter shew ) performed by christ. you see the significancy of the first word , and thereby the nature of the thing , passe wee on to the second , which though the same , as to the thing , with the former , yet wants not its peculiar emphasis . that distinction of divines , concerning remissio culpe & paenae the remission of the fault , and the punishment , may not unfittly bee made use of , for a distinct reference of those two expressions , the former of forgiving more properly refers to the remission of the punishment , though yet it includeth the fault , as a creditor cancelleth the bond , doth thereby , remit the debt it selfe : this latter of cleansing , chiefely refers to the remission of the fault , which defileth though it include the punishment , because it is of that defilement which is contracted through the guilt of sinne . and now as in the former , so in this expression wee have two things considerable , what unright●ousnesse doth , and what pardon doth . what unrighteousnesse doth● it maketh the sinner filthy and polluted in gods sight : sinnes , as they are debita , debts ▪ so they are said to bee remitted , and blotted out ; and as they are sordes , filthy , so they are said else where to bee covered , and here to bee cleansed . oh then how odious is an unpardoned sinner in gods sight ? it is very observable , how almighty god describing the sinfull state of rebellious israel , borroweth a metaphor from a ch●ld that is not swadled , but lieth polluted in its bloud ▪ & the psalmist , speaking of wicked men , saith , they are corrupt , ●nd become abominable ; where the former word i● borrow●d from a dead carkass : and truely , ● child in its bloud , is not more loathsome to our eyes , a carkasse on the dunghill is not more n●isome to our smell , then a sinfull wretch ▪ is in gods eyes , and to his nostrils . what forgivenesse doth : it cleanseth the sinner . an expression that must not be strained too much , as 〈◊〉 ( according to the doctrine of the church of rome ) the pardoning of sinne were an utter extinction and abo●●t●on of it , as cleansing doth wholy take away filth● tru● it is , where sinne is forgiven , the filth of sinne is in some measure , and shall at last bee wholly removed , but that is onely the effect of glorification , not of justification , or sanctification : and indeed , as if our apostle would prevent any such inference from this phrase , wee finde him subioyning , if wee say wee have not sinned , as before wh●n hee speaketh of christs cleansing , he addeth if wee say wee have no sinne , so that sinne is therefore said to bee cleansed , not that the filth of it doth not remaine , but that it shall not bee imputed to us . if then you would have the intention of the holy ghost in this phrase , when applied to forgivenesse , take it thus , looke as a man when he is cleansed from filth , is as if he had been never defiled , so a sinner , when pardoned , is in gods account , as if he had never been a sinner , not but that god seeth him to be a sinner still , because the spot of corruption remaineth in him , but that god will no● deal with him as a sinner , nor impute it to him for condemnation ; in this and no other sense , are those expressions to bee construed , when god saith the iniquity of israel shall bee ●●ght for , and shall not b●e found ; and hee will cast all the●● sinnes into the d●pth of the sea , and to come neer the phras● of my text , that hee w●ll make scarlet cr●mson sinnes , a● white as snow , ●nd wooll , and that david saith of himselfe , when god shall have purged him with hysope , i ●hall be● whiter then snow , that as to the matter of guilt , it shall bee all one as if they had never beene polluted with any such sinnes . nor is this all that this expression carrieth in it , but further , looke as a man being cleansed is amiable , and l●vely in the eyes of beholders , so is a pardoned sinner in gods : hee is not onely freed from punishment , but accepted into favour , as fully at peace and amity with him , as if hee had never offended him : hence it is that the church joyneth these two together , take away all iniquity , and receive us gratiously : or as some read it , and do us good ▪ to this purpose it is the schooles say of remission of sinnes , it is not onely oblativa mal● , but collativa boni , a remotion of guilt , but a collation of good . so that in summe , a pardoned sinn●r is cleansed , that is , as to those great intents , and purposes , of delivering him from the wrath to come , being fully reconciled to him , bestowing the sonship , and inheritance upon him , he is in gods account , as if hee were perfectly pure , and unspottedly innocent , nor had ever cōmited any sin against him ▪ and now what should these considerations kindle in every one of us ? but . an earnest desire and longing after this benefit : oh my brethren , no misery like to that of sin , which maketh us filthy and abominable , yea which engageth us to a debt we can never pay ; no mercy l●ke to that of pardon , which sets us free from debt , and maketh us pure in gods sight . oh wretched man that i am ( saith the sensible sinner ) who shall discharge me from this debt ? if thy sins are forgiven , thy debt is discharged . oh that this sin had never been , oh that i had never done it , saith the sorrowful sinner ; thy sins , i● cleansed , are as if they had never been committed ▪ poor penitent ; poor did i say ? rich blest penitent ; thou art vile and filthy in thine own eyes ; i but thou art pure and clean in gods : thou chargest thy sins home upon thy own account , but god will not call thee to account for them ; so that whereas rachel mourned for her children because they were not , thou mayest be comforted concerning thy sins , because they are not : with what boldnesse may the forgiven sinner look death , and hell , and satan , in the face , no● fearing the arrest of the serjeant , nor the horror of the prison , nor the cruelty of the jaylour ? with what confidence may a cleansed sinner come before gods face , not doubting of acceptance and audience ? no wonder if the psalmist break forth into that sweet acclamation , blessed , o● according to the hebrew , oh the blessednesses of the man whose iniquity is forgiven , and whose sin is covered . and now ( me thinketh ) every sinner considering the misery on the one hand , and felicity on the other , should cry out in words much like those of the conve●t jews , men and brethren , what shall i do to have my sins pardoned ? tell me i beseech you , what man in chaines would not be at liberty ? what debtour doth not long to be discharged ? what malefactor desireth not to be acquitted ? what leper craveth not to be cleansed ? what diseased person is not restless till he be healed ? & how is it that we who by reason of sin are all these in a spiritual sense , do not breathe and pant after the remission of our sins , which healeth , acquitteth , ransometh , discharg●th , and cleanseth ? nor should these meditations only kindle desires , but . quicken serious and diligent endeavours of attaining this pardon in the way which god hath prescribed , and in this respect the mercy assured layeth upon us a great obl●gation to perform the duty required . it is true , confession of sins in a right manner is a difficult task , i , but the f●rgiving and cleansing of sin is an excellent benefit ; the sweetnesse of the one maketh abundant amends for the bitternes of the other ; surely to him that feeleth the waight and burthen of his sins , the yoke of repentance cannot bu● b● light , and to him that knoweth the preciousnesse of an healing pardon , the vomit of confession cannot be disple●sing . there is yet one th●ng more remaining in this 〈◊〉 general , and that is the extent of the act in reference to its object , expressed by the plural number sins , and the universal particle all . indeed i must prefix a limitation of this extent , and it is that which st. paul hath done to my hand , this forgivenesse is of sins that are past , not of sins to come : when a wicked man turneth from his wickedness ( saith the prophet ezechiel ) all the transgressions he hath committed shall n●t ●e ment●●ned , not those he shall commit , t●ll by actual rep●ntance he turn from them . i no where read god hath made such a jubilee as one pope did , who gave a pl●●ary indulgence , not only for sins past , but before hand , for sins to come a long time after : it is true , both things past and future are present to god , and therefore the decree of pardon extends to all times , but still the execution of that decree the actual issuing out of that pardon , is done time by time : indeed when a sin is pardoned , it is perfectly pardoned , so that it can be no more forgiven then it is , but as sin is successively committed , so it is successively forgiven ; doubtless our blessed saviour would not have commanded us to renew our prayers for forgivness , if god did not renew forgivenesse upon our penitential prayers : what need we any other arguument then that which my text affordeth , if we confess our sins , he forgiveth our sins ? what sins ? surely those that we confesse : & not till they are confessed ▪ now whoever antedated confession ? indeed it were not penitency but impudency for a man to confesse a sin before he hath committed it , since whereas true confession is accompanied with a resolve of forsak●ng , this would be attended with a purpose of ren●wing our sins , since then a man is not in a capacity of pardon , till he have made confession , nor of confessing a sin till he have committed it ; it plainly appeareth that god doth not antedate his pardons , but till sin be past , pardon is to come . this being pr●m●sed , we need no● doubt to affirm , when god pardons one sin , n● one sin is left unpardon●● . larga dei bon●tas ven●am non dimid●ab●t , the acquittan●● which mercy gives , is not in part , but in full : indeed i● god shall pardon some sins and not others , he would at the same time be a friend and an enemy , and we should be at once both happy and miserable , which are manifest contradictions ; besides , god doth nothing in vain , and it were in vain to cleanse from any , if not from all sins ; one leake unstopped will sink the ship , one sore not healed , may kill the body , and one sin unpardoned may destroy the soul ; no wonder that the scripture still useth a word of extent : thus it is said in the parable , the lord forgave his servant all his debt : thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back , saith hezek●ah , and wash me throughly from my sins , and blot out all mine offences , so david prayeth . to enlarge this comfortable truth , be pleased to observe both the wayes of expression here used , and accordingly take it in a double variation . . sins in the plurall number : he doth not only forgive one , but many ; nor doth he only forgive once , but often ; he will abundantly pardon , saith the prophet isay ; or according to the original , he will multiply to pardon ; the rabbins say , that if a man sin thrice , it is pardonable , but not the fourth ; god is far more rich in mercy , he that cast out a legion of devils , will cast out a legion of sins , he that bids us forgive our brother not only seven times , but seventy times seven , will certainly be as abundant in forgiving us ; the sea can as easily drown an whole hoste of men , as twenty souldiers ; and where god forgiveth sin , he casts them into a sea : the lord in the parable forgave his servant not one , or ten , or an hundred , but ten thousand talents : were all the sins of the world the sins of one man , yet they were to his mercy , but a drop of a bucket to the ocean . . all unrighteousness , of what degree●●ever ●●ever : all manner of sin and blasphemy , shall be forgiven ( saith our blessed lord ) yea that the sin against the holy ghost is irremissible , it is not for the mal●gnity so much of the sin , as the sinner , because he that once commits it , can never penitently confesse it , not only pence but pounds , moa●s but b●ames , mi●●s , but talents , are within the compasse of r●mission ; there is a necessity of pardon to the least , and there is ( one excepted ) a possibility of pardon for the greatest sin : christ cured all manner of diseases , and god cleanseth all manner of sins , the foulest rags may become white paper , and mercy crosseth not only the black , but the red lines of our scarlet sins out of gods book ; to this purpose it is , that in the name of god proclaim●d by moses , he is said to forgive iniquity , transgression and sin , where though there be neither the plural number , nor an universal particle , yet there is a three-fold noun which answereth both , & is not unfitly expounded , as extending both to original & actual , & to great , as well as small sins . and now ( my brethren ) what abundant consolation doth this afford us against the sense of our manifold and mighty sins ? so that we may well take up the challenge of st. paul , who shall lay any thing to our charge ? what singular admiration should ravish us in the apprehension of this , multa & m●●na mis●ricordia , manifo●d and great mercy ? saying with the prophe● micah , who is a god like unto thee , that taketh away iniquity , and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage ? what exceeding gratulation should flow from us , if at any time god give us assurance of this general pardon ? exciting our selves with the prophet david , blesse the lord , oh my soul , and all that is within me praise his holy name , who forgiveth all thy iniquity , and healeth all thy diseases . onely let me close up with a needful caution , god forgiveth and cleanseth all our sins , but it is , if we confesse them ; and as we expect that his remission , so he expecteth that our confession should be proportionable to our comissions ; now our confession is then answerable when our sorrow which ever attendeth confession , is in some measure correspondent to our sins : beleeve it ( brethren ) the pardon of many , of gr●at sins , is not to be had upon the sam● easie terms , with that of infirmities , and seldom offences ; as our sins are more , our teares must be more , as our transgressions are greater , our humiliations must be deeper . if our offences have been not gnats but camels , our sorrow must be not a drop but an ocean ; scarlet sins call for bloody tears , and if peter sin heynously , he must weep b●tterly . if then thy former life hath been a cord of iniquity twisted with many threds , a writing full of great blots ▪ a course spotted with various , and those grievous sins , multiply thy confessions , and enlarge thy humiliations , double thy fastings , and treble thy prayers ; poure out thy teares , and fetch deep sighs : in a word , iterate and aggravate thy acknowledgements , though yet as the apostle saith in another case , i say in this , grieve not as without hope , that upon thy sincere and sutable repentance , divine goodnesse will forgive thee thy sins , and cleanse thee from all unrighteousnesse . the first epistle of s. iohn . chap. i. ver. . if we confesse our sins , he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse . the text is a promise , and promises are the most comfortable part of scripture , the whole word of god , is according to saint peters metaphor , sincere milk , and these are the creame of that milk : according to st. pauls similitude , a treasure , and these are the pearles of greatest worth in that treasure ; according to davids comparison a light , and these are the brightest beams of that light ; in them all our good is centained , by them all our hope is sustained , through them all our comfort is attained . the promise of the text is one of those which 〈◊〉 apostle peter calls exceeding great and precious promises , because of that which is an exceeding great and precious blessing , the remission of our sins : that which is the sole spring of our comfort , so that all waters which flow not from this spring , though they may be sweet in the mouth , will prove bitter in the belly ; that which is the queen of mercies , so that wheresoever she goeth , a train of blessings attend upon her : since if sin be pardoned , we have grace from , peace with , accesse to , joy in god ; yea all needfull comforts both for this life , and that which is to come . but though the text contain a promise , and the promis● a blessing of so great a value , yet if it were not as sure in the performance as it is sweet in the promise , we could not with joy draw water out of it . and therefore he lets us see , this well of salvation is d●gged so deep , that the water cannot fayle ; this fabrick of comfort is founded so strong , that it cannot fall , if we be not a wanting to our selves in fulfilling the condition ; gods justice & fidelity will not suffer him to be a wanting to us in performing the promise , for if we confess our sins , he is faithfull & just to forgive , &c. it is that part of the text i am now to handle , the certainty of the mercy in those words , he is faithfull and just . to assertain us of the effect , our apostle mindeth us of the causes : and here are two sorts of efficient causes set before us ; the principal in the word he , and the internal impulsive in those words , faithful and just : and surely when we consider both quis , who it is , that conferreth this benefit , and qualis , how faithful and just he is , we may certainly conclude , the accomplishment of it : of each therefore in their order . the principal efficient cause of rem●ssion is he , and if you ask who this he is , you must look back , and you shall find it to be him , with whom we hav● fellowship , who is light 〈◊〉 self , and so no other then god himself . and indeed such is the nature of this blessing , that if he did not do it , none else could , it being not only his act , but his prerogative , and so his onely act to cleanse and forgive a sinner , i , even i am he ( saith god himself ) that blotteth out thy transgressions , by which reduplication he intendeth an appropria●tion , as if he had said , i , and none but i ; who is a god like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity , ( saith the prophet ? ) by which is no doubt intended both an affirmative , and a negative , the one that whosoever pardoneth must be a god , the other that there is no god like to him for pardoning , and therefore indeed whatever else besides him is called god , is no god. in this doubtlesse , those pharisees spoke truth , though with a malicious intention against him , who is the truth : when they said , who can forgive sins but god alone ? and therefore from that very position s. ambrose proveth the deity of the holy ghost , and s. cyr●l most properly , the deity of the son of god. and indeed i● must needs be onely in gods power to forgive , because it is onely against him that the offence is comm●tted ; it is no doubt a clear truth , that only he to whom the injury is done can remit the doing of it : now david saith , and most fully , aga●nst thee , against thee only i have sinned , nor is that only true , because he ( being a king ) was accountable to none but god , for what he had done : but because sin properly so called , is only against him , of whose law it is a breach , and that is , god himself . thus s. cyril argueth , it belongeth only to god to loose men from their sins , for who can free from the transgression of the law , but the authour of it ? and accordingly s. cyprian , let no man cheat and delude himself , only god must shew mercy ; since the servant cannot grant an indulgence for the fault , which is done against his lord. sin is a spot in gods sight , and none can hide it from him , unless he pleaseth to turn away his face . it is a debt in gods book , and who dares to blot any thing out of his book , but himself ? if any man shall pretend to forgive anothers debt , he offereth a double injury , to the debtor , by deceiving him with false hopes , and to the creditor , by usurping his power : hence it is , that we find those exclusive propositions frequent in the ancients , s. chrisostom often , none can forgive sin but god alone ; to forgive sin belongeth to none other ; to forgive sins is possible to god alone . and gregory the great , thou who only sparest , thou who alone forgivest : and optatus , it is only gods act to cleanse and make white our scarlet sins , this is a part of gods name , which is incommunicable , because an expression of his nature , he is the lord , forgiving iniquity , and transgression , and sin ; an emanation of that glory , which he saith , he will not give to another . that which may seem to contradict this truth , is that power which the ministers of the gospel have in the point of forgiveness , insomuch that our blessed saviour expressely saith , whose sins you remit , they are remitted . to cleare this scruple , be pleased to know , that . whatever power the priest hath of forgiving , it is then on●ly effectual , when the person is rightly qualified : we are stewards , and must not be like the unjust steward , str●ke out our masters debt without his leave , or otherwise then according to his prescription ; we are ambassadors , & therefore have not power to proclaim war or conclude peace between god and man , according to our own discretion , but his direction , to wit , upon the testification of ( that which we at least probably conceive is ) unfained repentance ; and therefore saith tolet well , quod in terra sacerdos , in coelo deus , what the priest doth on earth , is ratified in heaven , but clave non ●rrante , not when he turneth the key the wrong way , so that if the confession of the penitent be not sincere , the absolution of the priest is invalid . . but further , the power which a priest hath upon pen●tent confession of forgiving , is but ministerial , not magisterial ; ministri sunt pro judicibus baberi nolunt , they are only ministers , not judges , so st. austin , it is the king that grants the pardon , they are only officers that bring it . if you desire more particularly to know how far the power of a minister extends to forgiving , i answer briefly . . they have power by vertue of their office to intercede with god for sinners , and therefore the sick person is to call for the elders of the church , that they may pray for him that his sins may be forgiven him . . they have the word of reconciliation committed to them , wherein the promise of pardon is revealed and exhibited : by them the holy sacraments are administred , which are the means of conveying pardon to those that are rightly qualified , to which purpose it is that f●rus saith appositely , m●nisters forgive sins inasmuch as they are instrumental , in those several ordinances by which god remitteth sin . . they have authority of releasing those censures which have been past upon sinners , for the scandal given by their flagitious practices to the church . . finally , they have power particularly to declare that god hath forgiven their sins , in whom they observe the signs of repentance , as they pray us to be reconciled to god ; so they may assure us upon our contrition that god is reconciled to us , thus durand asserteth that god forgiveth by himself , releasing us from the bond of our sins , and the priest absolveth by declaring that remission to be granted . and f●rus though a jesuite , saith , that man doth not properly forgive , but only assure that god hath forgiven , look as the priest in the law was said to cleanse the leper , because he did pronounce him clean ( saith the master of the sentences ) so do the ministers of the gospel forgive , b●cause they pronounce to us that god forgiveth , and in this sence our church understood it : and therefore saith in the form of absolution , he hath given power and commandment to his ministers , to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent , the absolution and rem●ssion of their sins . thus the ministers are instrumental in this work , and their power , as appeareth by what hath been said , is partly declarative , and partly operative ; but stil● the princial efficient conferring this benefit , is god , and god alone . the use therefore which we are to make of this truth , is for direction and imitation . . be we directed whither to addresse our selves for pardon in the sence of our sins , with the prodigal , let us resolve to go to our father , and after dav●ds pattern , let us implore gods mercy . indeed since god hath set ministers in his church for this end , that by their help we may obtain the pardon of our sins , and the comfortable assurance of it ; we must not neglect , much lesse despise their assistance ; and whereas what others do only in a way of charity , they do in a way of authority , having power committed to them for this end , we must prefer their help before what private christians can afford us . in which respect i dare boldly affirm that many people want that comfortable sence of the pardon of their sins , which they might attain to , did they consult with a faithful minister , declare their sins together with their rep●ntance to him , earnestly and humbly desiring a declarative absolution from him . but yet before , and above all other means , let us seek god by prayer , and wrestle with him for this great mercy : our church hath taught her ministers when they absolve to prefixe a prayer to christ , that he would absolve a poor penitent : and as you desire absolution from the minister , so you must direct your prayer to god , that he would speak peace to you , so much the rather because though he is pleased ofttimes by his ministers , to give case to burthened sinners , and accordingly we are to make use of them for that end , yet the conscience can find no ease from the minister , unlesse he be pleased by the inward testimony of his spirit , to seal a pardon to it ; so true is that of elihu , when he giveth quietnesse , who then can make trouble ? and when he hideth his fa●e , who then can behold him ? . be we exhorted to imitate god in this gracious act , he forgiveth our sins against him , let us forgive the injuries others do against us , this was s. pauls counsel to the ephesians , and that upon this very ground ; be you kind one to another , tender-hearted , forgiving one another , even as god for christs sake hath forgiven you ; where the ( as ) is both modall and causall . as , to wit in the same manner as god doth forgive us , we must others . indeed the parallell holds not every way , for whereas god doth not forgive sins , but to those that conf●sse and bemoan them , we are bound to forgive those who do not confesse , but persist in their offering wrong to us , according to the precept of blessing them that curse us . and this by the way would be taken notice of , in answer to that socinian argument against satisfaction from the parallell of gods forgiving and mans , since by the same reason that they say god should forgive without satisfaction , because he requires man to do so , they may as well say he should forgive without confession . it is not then in every respect , that this sim●litude agrees ; bu● as god , when he forgiveth is fully reconciled , forgetting all that is past , as if it had not been without any desire of , nay , resolving against all future revenge , ita purè & perfectè , so purely & perfectly saith anselm , ought we to forgive our brethren . and as thus in the same manner , so likewise on this ground , and so the ( as ) is causal , because god for christs sake forgiveth us , we for gods sake ought to forgive one another ; we find the lord in the parable wroth with his servant , to whom he had pardoned all his debt , because he was so cruel not to forgive his fellow-servant , and we pray in the lords prayer , for forgivenesse of our trespasses as we forgive others ; so necessary a connexion is there betwixt these two , that our forg●venesse is a condition of gods , and gods is to be a cause of ours . thus god doth seem as it were to put it in our power , whether or no we will have our sins forgiven , by making our forgivenesse a condition of it , and as at first he made us after his own likenesse : so he still taketh care , that we may become like to him . and surely as it is gods goodnesse to require no more from , then what he performeth to us ; so is it but reason we should at his command perform that to others , which we expect from him ; and so much of the first , the principal efficient he. . the internall impulsive causes here specified are two , to wit , gods faithfulnesse and justice , and these i may well call the two pillars which ( like jachim and boaz ) support our faith , compare to the two cherub●ns which look toward the mercy seat , whence pardon is vouchsafed , resemble to the two olive trees , whence floweth the oyle , or the two breasts , which yield the milk of heavenly consolation to troubled consciences . . the first here mentioned is gods fidelity , he is faithfull : for the opening whereof be pleased to observe , . that god hath made many promises of forgiving sins , and cleansing from iniquity to those that acknowledge them ; to this purpose st. cyprian saith , christ teaching us to pray for , assures us god hath made promise of forgiving our trespasses : indeed god hath no where promised peccan●●●rastinum , to morrow to the peccant , but every where poenitenti veniam , pardon to the repentant ; if my people shall humble themselves and pray , i will hear from heaven and forgive their sins : so we read in the chronicles , ●et the wicked forsake his way , and the unrighteous man his thoughts , and let him return unto the lord , and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our god , for he will abundantly pardon : so runs the promise in isaiah . if the wicked will turn from all the sins that he hath committed , all his transgressions , they shall not be mentioned to him , so saith god by the prophet ezechiel . thus i might bring forth a iury of textual witnesses to prove this assertion , but those already mentioned , may suffice in stead of all . . know therefore further , that in whatsoever god hath promised , he is faithful ; and that both in respect o● intention and execution . . of intention , inasmuch as his promises are the declaration of his purpose , revelation of his decree , and manifestation of his good will towards poor sinners ; god hath spoken nothing but what he meaneth , he doth not outwardly pretend to forgive , and inwardly meditate revenge , but his words are the true characters of his thoughts . . of execution ; inasmuch as his promises are not onely yea , but amen , made ; but made good ; as god hath a mouth to speak , so he hath a hand to fulfill whatsoever he hath spoken : that nam● jehovah ( which is as it were a proper name ) signifieth not onely his being of himself , but his giving a be●ng to all his promises , and therefore whereas god had made a promise to the patriarchs of the land of canaan , yet inasmuch as the accomplishment was not in their dayes , it is said , he was not known to them by his name jehovah : as god saith nothing but what he meaneth , so he saith nothing , but what he do●h ; and as his heart thinketh , so his hand ac●●th ; what his tongue speaketh : he many times performeth more , but never lesse than he promiseth . and now both these being put together , that god hath promised pardon , and his promise is stable : well might st. john say , he is faithful to forgive , this being that which his faithfulnesse in keeping promise obligeth him to . it fitly observable how the prophet micah joyneth these two together , he will cast our sins into the sea , and he will perform his truth to abraham : as if god could not perform his truth , except he cast our sins into the sea ; so that look as if we pray , he is faithful to hear , if we mourn , he is faithful to comfort , so if we confesse , he is faithful to forgive . indeed the glory of god is much concerned in his being faithful to forgive , not only because of the thing it self , since if it be the glory of a man to passe by offences , much more is it of god ; but likewise because of his word which is passed for granting a pardon , and therefore cannot be recalled , retarded , impeded ; for if god doth promise any thing which he doth not effect , it must be either for want of wisdom in foreseeing what might be done to prevent it , or for want of power to effect what he intends , or for want of stability , as if his mind were changed , and his good will altered , any of which if they could be fastened upon god , were an high dishonour , and but to imagine them is blasphemy ; that therefore it may appear his wisdom is infallible , his power irresistable , his will unchangeable , and so his name may be glorious , he must be faithfull in accomplishing , as all other , so this promise of forgiving . and now there are two graees which this fidelity of god should teach us , namely , fidelit as & fides , faithfulnes & faith . . what obligation doth gods faithfulnesse lay upon us to be faithful , and that both to him and one another . . to him , as he hath promised to forgive us , so we have promised to give our selves to him ; as he hath promised to cleanse us from all unrighteousnes , so we have promised to him in our baptisme to cleanse our selves by renouncing th● world , th● flesh and the devill : and now , is god faithful to us , and shall we be false to him ? he is a god k●eping covenant , and mercy with us , and shall we be a people not stedfast in our covenant with him ? . to one another : let us not speak fair , and yet have seven abom●nations in our hearts ; but since the tongue is the hearts herald , let it ever declare the masters message , yea let not only our affections but actions keep even pace with our expressions : we must not be open mouthed , and close fisted , long tongued , and short handed , to make golden promises , and leaden performances ; like the nobleman who had two chests ; the one whereof he called promise , that was ever open , thither he sent all his petitioners , and there they only found hope ; the other he called performance , that was alwayes locked , and no key would open it , but necessity ; far be this from true christians , who must be followers of god , and that especially in a faithful discharge of their promises . . what encouragement doth gods faithfulnesse give to our faith ? sarah judging him faithful that had promised , beleeved , and that against hope : since god is abundant in truth , we may well be abundant in confidence . indeed gods fidelity should draw out the actings of our faith , and the acting of faith will as it were draw forth gods fidelity . very observable to this purpose is that expression of the psalmist , oh how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee , which thou hast wrought before the sonnes of men for them that trust in thee ? in the former clause , gods goodnesse is said to be laid up , in the latter to be wrought : goodnesse is layd up in the promise , wrought in the performance ; and that goodnesse which is laid up , is wrought for them that trust in god : and thus as gods faithfulnesse engag●th us to beleeve , so our faith as it were engageth gods faithfulnesse to perform the promise . more particularly , let this consideration strengthen faith in beleeving the pardon of our sin , upon our performance o● the condition . ah thou despairing sinner whoever thou art , what doest thou hereby but question , nay deny gods faithfulnesse ? so that what our apostle saith in the next verse , of those who say they have not sinned , the same may i say of them , who say their sin is greater then can be forgiven , they make god a lyar : little dost thou think , how whilest thou darest not ( as thou conceivest ) misapply the promises ; thou callest the truth of god in question , and thereby offerest to him an high indignity . but consider thou drooping soul , what provision god hath made against thy infidelity . to assure thee of his fidelity , thou hast his word , nay more then so , his oath ( as i live saith the lord ) nay more then so , both in writing , & that writing hath seals annexed to it , namely the holy sacraments ; how mayest thou confessing thy sins , plead with god upon all these ? and as iacob used this argument , lord thou hast said thou wouldst do me good , so maist thou , lord thou hast said , thou hast sworn that thou wilt forgive the sins of them that turn to thee . i have thy hand for it in the scriptures , thy seal in the sacraments , so be it to thy servant , according as thou hast spoken and sworn , and written , and sealed . . that which next cometh to be considered , is gods justice in those words , he is just : not to mention all the interpretations which expositors give of this word , i shall only acquaint you with three , and insist upon the last , as being ( at least in my opinion ) most congruous . . some interpreters make faithful and just to be synonima's , therefore he is faithful and just , because it is just he should be faithful ; in this respect the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth truth , is by the septuagint translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifieth righteousnesse , nor is it without reason because it is a righteous thing to be true ▪ before a man maketh a promise , he is free to make it or not , but when he hath made it , he is not free to keep it or not ; by promise a man becometh a debtor , and for one to pay his debt , is no more then just . indeed this is not exactly true in regard of god , because we never so fully perform the condition , but it is justly lyable to exception , yet after a sort it is that which he accounts himself engaged to in point of justice , to perform all his promises , and therefore though it is meer mercy which maketh , it is justice which fulfilleth the promise . this interpretation socinus layeth hold on , hereby to evade the doctrine of satisfaction , which this word according to its proper sense doth clearly ●avour . but the designe of the holy ghost being in these words to strengthen our weak faith in beleeving the pardon of sin , i conceive we shall do best to expound the words in that way which may most ●onduce to this end , and that is as affording not only a single , but a double prop to our faith , from a double attribute in god , and therefore i wa●e this interpretation . . others there are who distinguishing these two , understand by justice , mercy ; so grotius here saith , i interpret just to be good , gentle ; and illyricus observeth that righteousnesse is sometimes taken for benignity , and clemency ; in this respect i● is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth mercy , is sometimes by the sep●uagint rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ that signifieth righteousnes : agreeable hereunto , the gre●k word for almes is by the syriach rendred righteousness : the merciful mans bounty is by the psalmist , and st. paul called righteousnesse ; yea upon this account mercy and righteousnesse , gracious and righteous are joyned together ; and david promiseth if god would deliver him from blood guiltinesse , he would sing aloud of his righteousnesse . and now according to this interpretation we see another impulsive cause of forgivenesse , namely , the grace , mercy , & clemency of god. among others there are two greek words ( by which pardon is set forth ) that excellently confirm this truth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the former by st. paul , which comming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifieth to forgive freely , and intimateth free grace to be the spring of pardon ; the latter by the authour to the hebrews , in that quotation of the prophet , i will be merciful to their sins , and their transgressions : which is by shewing mercy to the sinner , in the forgivenesse of his sins ; so that we may hence learn , to what we are to ascribe the pardon of our sins ; meerly the good will , and grace and mercy of god. indeed we shall still find all those benefits ( especially spiritual ) which we receive attributed to mercy ; the regeneration of our nature ; according to his mercy he hath begott●n us ; the salvation of our soules , according to his mercy he saved us ; and the remission of our sins through the tender mercy of our god : oh let us admire the bowels of love , the riches of grace , the treasures of mercy which are manifested in pardoning and cleansing our sins . . but though this interpretation may be received , yet since it is a good rule in expounding scripture , to keep to the proper meaning of the words , if there be not very good reason to the contrary , and there being no reason why we should here recede from , i have chosen rather to adhere to the litterall sence of the word iust. for though it be true that . the commission of sin deserveth punishment , and therefore justice which giveth every one their due , calls for the punishing , not the remitting of sin , and . the confession of sin cannot ( as hath been before asserted ) deserve pardon , because it is no proportionable compensation of the offence . upon which grounds it appeareth , that this justice which forgiveth , cannot be in respect of us , yet it still is a truth in regard of christ , god is just to forgive ; so that a gualt●r well , he cannot but forgive , unlesse he will be unjust to his own son , and inasmuch as our apostle in the foregoing verse save one , expressely attributes this cleansing to christs blood , this interpretation of justice is doubtlesse most genuine and congruous . to clear briefly and perspicuously this sweet truth of pardoning justice ; be pleased to know , that . the m●ledictory sentence of death denounced by the law against sinners , was inflicted by god upon christ , this is that which the prophet esay positively asserts , where he saith , the chastisement ( that is , the punishment called a chastisement , because inflicted by a father , and onely for a time ) of our peace was upon him ; and again , he was oppressed , and he was afflicted , which according to the genuine sence of the original is better rendred , it was exacted , to wit , the punishment of our sin , and he was afflicted , or he answered , to wit , to the demand of the penalty . it may be here enquired , how it can stand with god● justice , ●o infl●ct punishment upon the guiltles ? and if this doubt be not cleared , we shall stumble at the threshold , and the foundation of this pardoning justice will be layed in injustice : and truly when we find god saying , the soul which sinneth shall die , and asserting those who condemne the righteous as an abomination to him , it is hard to imagin how he can himself justly punish the innocent for the nocent . to remove this scruple , consider . that god did inflict death on christ is undeniable , and who may question the justice of his actions , when as things are therefore just , because he wills them to be done , whose will is the supream rule of justice ? . there cannot be a more necessitating reason of gods affl●cting christ by death then this : so that if it be not just for god to inflict it upon him on this ground , it is much lesse upon any other : that christ should die for the confirmation of his doctrine , was needless ; it was done sufficiently by miracles . to make way by death to his glory , was not necessary ; he might have been translated , as were enoch and eliah . to dye only as an example of patience and fortitude to his followers , is a far less cogent cause , then to dye as an example of gods justice and severity against sin ; nor need he have died for that end , since the death of any of his apostles might have been exemplary in that kind : finally , had he died only for the declaration of gods immense love to us , and not for the demonstration of his severe justice against sin , whilest he had been so loving to us , he had been little other then cru●l to christ ; there wan●ed not other wayes to declare his tender affection to mankind , but there was no other way to declare his impartial justice against sin : so that since the inflicting of death on christ as a punishment , carrieth with it a more urging inducement then any other cause assigned , and since the lesse cause there is of inflicting death upon any , the greater must needs be the injustice in the inflicter ; it evidently followeth that there is nothing can so much clear the justice of god in this act , as ( that which the orthodox asserts to be the cause of it ) his undergoing the penalty due to our sins . . but further , christ becoming man is joyned to us in nature , and undertaking in our behalf , is conjoyned to us by suretiship ; and in sensu forensi , a judicial construction , one with us . we see in humane courts the law taketh as much hold of the surety as of the debtor : and why then should it be unjust for god to punish christ engaging for our debt ? indeed upon this account the messiah , though innocent , became ( after a sort ) guilty , not as guilt noteth a due deserving of punishment in respect of sin , either personally inherent , or at least naturally imputed ; but onely so farre as it noteth an obligation to the punishment in a judicial way , as being our surety , in which respect that phrase of st. paul is very apposite , he was made sin for us . . lastly , to put all out of doubt . the undergoing this punishment , was christs voluntary act , who as he had power , so he wanted not will to lay down his life . he was not sent for this end without his own consent ; as god layed , so he took our iniquities upon him ; the curse to which we were subject ( saith theodorus ) he assumed upon himself , of his own accord , the death that was not due to him , he underwent , that we might not undergo that death which was due to us , saith s. gregory ; he made himself a debtor for us , who were debtors , and therefore the creditor exacts it from him , saith arnoldus ▪ now volenti non ●it injuria ; so the moralist most truly , if another will voluntarily substitute himself in the room of a malefactor , though the inferiour judge who is bound by the law cannot , yet the superiour governour may without injustice accept of it . when therefore god saith , the soul that sinneth shall dye , he only sets forth the ordinary course of his providence , which impedeth not but that christ being ready to dye in our stead who had sinned , god being the supream ruler and judge , might most justly inflict it on him . . this punishment thus inflicted on christ , is a plenary satisfaction to gods justice . it is true , this word satisfaction is not formally expressed in scripture , yet there are aequivalent phrases ; such among others is that phrase so often used of redeeming , and as if the holy ghost would prevent that socinian exposition of ( redimere pro aliqu● modo liberare ) redeeming , as if it were onely in a large sence , no more then delivering , it is st. pauls expresse phrase , ye are bought with a price , and that this price may appear to be of full value , it is opposed to , and advanced above corrupt gold and silver by the apostle peter : nor is it any infringement to the merit of this price and worth of this satisfaction , that the suffering of christ was not every way the same that we should have undergone ; since it is all one whether the debt be payed in the same coyne or no , so it be to the full value . christ suffered the punishment of our sins , as calovius well observeth , though not se●undum identitatem omnimodam , yet per aequivalentiam , the same in every respect , yet aequivalent to it : indeed what satisfaction could justice demand more then infinite , and the suffering of an infinite person , could not be lesse : whence followeth . in the last place , that gods justice being satisfied for our offences , it cannot but remit those offences to us . as the creditor cannot demand that of the debtor , which the surety hath already payed : so nei●her can god exact the punishment of us which christ hath suffered , and therefore it is just with him to forgive and cleanse us . the case being thus cleared , it will be altogether needless to enquire whether it had been injustice in god to forgive without satisfaction . st. austins determination is very solid , there wanted not to god another possible way ( and if it were unjust , it were impossible ) but this of satisfaction was most agreeable to divine wisdom : before god did decree this way , it might be free to have used it or not ; but in decreeing , this seemed most convenient , and after , it became necessary : so that there can be no remission without it : and however it might not have been unjust with god to have forgiven without , yet we are sure it is most just with him to forgive upon satisfaction . there is onely one objection which remaineth to be answered , and it is that , which seemeth to carry a great deal of strength in it , namely , that forgiveness is a free act in god springing from grace and mercy ; and if it be of grace , how can it be of justice ? that which is of grace is freely done , and might justly have been otherwise ; that which is of justice , there is a necessary obligation to the performance of it : and what more opposite ? besides that which addeth the greater force to this argument is , that remission and satisfaction are altogether inconsistent . a man cannot be said to forgive that debt which he is fully payed ; so that plenary satisfaction , leaveth no place for remission . to remove this doubt , you must know that things in their own nature opposite , may according to different respects concur to the same work , and therefore forgivenesse of sin may be an act both of mercy and justice in a several reference . in respect of us , it is an act of mercy , meer mercy , and therefore we are said by st. paul to be justified freely : in respect of christ , it is an act of justice , and therefore he is said by the same apostle in the same place , to set forth christ a propitiation to declare his righteousnesse . in these different considerations it is , that remission and satisfaction are consistent , inasmuch as the satisfaction was by christ , not us , and the remission is to us , not christ. for the further clearing of this answer , be pleased to observe , that . this satisfaction was neither performed nor procured by us : we did not , could not do it our selves ▪ we did not desire , could not obtain it at the hands of christ ; it was no other then god himself : the injured person who provided , and that no other then his own son to perform this work : if a creditor should of his own good will appoint his son to pay the debt , might he not be said to forgive the debtor ? and would it not be interpreted an act of benignity ? though therefore god sent his son to satisfie for our sins , yet he is truly said to remit it to us ; and though upon satisfaction , it is an act of justice , yet it was mercy which afforded the way and means of accomplishing this satisfaction . . this satisfaction , though tendered by christ , might not have been accepted by god ; to this purpose it is which grotius excellently observeth , that one man be discharged by the punishment of another , there must intervene an act of the supream governour , and that no other then an act of grace : for the law requ●reth that the punishment should be infl●cted on the person offending , and accordingly just●ce might exact the penalty from the person himself : so that notwithstanding satisfaction be made by another , yet there must be a gracious act , which in respect of the law is relaxation , and of the offend●r remission . that therefore god is pleased to accept from christ what he might in justice have required of us , is from no other cause then his gracious clemency , and in this respect it is , that the case between god and a sinner is not like that between a creditor and a debtor : but a king and a malefactor ; because if the debt be payed , whether by the debtor or the surety , it matters not : nor can the creditor receiving the debt , from whomsoever it be , if upon the debtors account , be said to forgive him his debt , whereas the malefactor is bound by the law to suffer in his own person , and therefore the king accepting another in his stead , is truly said to pardon him , as dispensing with that which his law in the rigour of it did requir● . to summe it up , remission and satisfaction are not repugnant , when that satisfaction is accepted which might have been refused , and when the person who receiveth the benefit , is no way contributory to the performing of it ; now both these are manifest in christs satisfaction : for that which we do ( and not that neither of our selves , but by gods grace ) is only to the applying , not at all to the performing of this satisfaction ; and though christs satisfaction was so full , that it could not be excepted against , as to the aequivalency , nay , redundancy of its value ; yet god might not have accepted of it in our behalf , had he not so decreed of his meer goodnesse . by all which it appeareth , that there is a sweet contemperation of iustice and mercy in this work ; so that we may truly say in the remission of our sins ; righteousnesse and peace meet together , and kiss each other ; whilst justice hath satisfaction in the punishment of the offence , and mercy sheweth it self by appointing christ to make this satisfaction , and accepting of it in the sinners behalf , whereby he is as to himself , freely and graciously , as to christ , justly and righteously remitted . and surely this being well considered , every crevis will be stopt , at which despair might creep in . when a sinner is sensible of sins , there is nothing more affrighteth him then the meditation of gods justice ; but see , christ having made satisfaction , that justice which was before a cause of fear , becometh a support of our hope , and when tha● which only could discourage us , is a ground of comfort ; what can terrifie us ? if then at any time upon remembrance of the guilt of sin we begin to faint , considering that god is just to hate and punish sin committed , let us upon remembrance of christs satisfaction , which god hath accepted in behalfe of all believing and penitent sinners , be established and quieted in our minds , considering that god is just to forgive sin confessed . indeed the debt being payed by christ , gods very justice , ( as i may say with reverence ) would trouble him , if he should not give in the bond , and give out an acquittance . the pardon of beleevers sins is as it were the wages of his obedience , a legacy he bequeathed at his death , yea the end of shedding his blood , so that as the wages of an hireling detained , the will of one that is dead ( having left wherewithall to satisfie ) unperformed , yea , the blood of one suffering in anothers s●ead , if that party should notwithstanding be executed ▪ must needs cry , and that aloud for justice ; which is hereby very much violated . so would christs death , & that even against god himself , if he should not grant a pardon to them that beleevingly and penitently confess . go then thou burthened sinner to god with boldnesse , and in an humble confidence sue out thy pardon , not onely at the throne of grace , but the bar of iustice , in these or the like expressions , lord , thou hast pun●shed my sins in thy son , wilt thou punish them in me ? thou hast accepted that suffering of thy son as the punishment of my sin , and ther●fore thou canst not in just●ce exact it of me , for this were to punish twice for one offence , which thy justice cannot but abhor . to close up with a needful admonition , very fit to be annexed to this ample consolation ; that the dogs may not eat the childrens bread . as god is faithful and just to forgive the sins of those that confess them , and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness ; so he is no lesse faithful and just to punish their sins who conceal and continue therein , and condemn them for all their unrighteousnesse . god ( beloved ) hath denounced as many severe threats against the impenitent , as he hath pronounced comfortable promises to the penitent ; and his faithfulnesse no lesse strongly binds him to perform the one , then the other ; christ hath satisfied gods justice for the sins of penitent confessors , in which respect it is just with god to forgive them , but he hath not satisfied for impenitent committers in which respect it is just with god to punish them in their own persons for their iniquities : and therefore let the one tremble , whilest the other rejoyce in these divine attributes of justice and fidelity . and thus through gods assistance i have finished the first chapter , of this first epistle , wherein you have heard christs divinity and humanity illustrated , the gospels excellency and certainty demonstrated , hypocrisy detected , piety encouraged , arrogancy confuted , and repentance comforted : so that what st. paul saith of the whole scripture , i may justly apply to this chapter , it is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , and for instruction in righteousnesse ; for doctrin● , in the great mystery of the gospel , for reproof of licentious christians , for correction of arrogant justiciaries , and for instruction in righteousnesse , by teaching us to confesse our sins , and walk in the light . i have nothing further to adde , but only my prayers for you , and desire of your prayers for me ; mine for you , that this chapter which is profitable in it self , may become so to you , by th● mingling of faith and obedience , with the reading , hearing , and meditating on it ; yours for me , that i may through gods providence , continuing my health , and his spirits assistance enlightening my mind , be enabled to proceed in handling the subsequent chapters , so as may be to his glory , my comfort , and your profit , amen . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. ii. ver. . . my little children , th●se things write i unto you that ye sin not ; and if any man sin , we have an advocate with the father , jesus christ the righteous . and he is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours only , but also for the sins of the whole world . what a disease is in the body , that sin is in the soule ; nor are mali humores , ill humours more pernicious to the one , then mali mores , bad manners are to the other : and indeed these are as more , so far more dangerous then those , by how much the part affected is more noble . in this respect they who are appointed to watch over the peoples soules , are not unfitly called spiritual physicians ; and as luke a physician of bodies was one of the evangelists , so all the evangelists , apostles , and all ministers are physicians of souls . upon this account we find this holy apostle as in this whole epistle , so in these verses performing the part of a careful and skilful physician : for whereas the whole body of physick is divided into two parts ; namely , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the one whereof is for preventing , & the other for curing diseases ; here we have this ghostly physician prescribing to his patients ( whom he calls little children ) in both these kinds , giving them a preservative to keep them from sin ; and a restorative in case of falling into sin : my little children , these things i write unto you that you sin not , and if any man sin , &c. these two verses might very well have been annexed to the foregoing chapter , because the matter of them is pertinent to , yea depends upon that which immediately precedeth , as marlorate , and illyricus have both truly observed ; for whereas in the end of the former chapter , the apostle insisteth upon three things , remission of sins , as being the foundation of fellowship with god , confession of sin , as being the first step of walking in the light , and saying we have no sin , which being opposite to confession , is a step of walking in darknesse , our apostle in these verses doth but further amplify , explain , and confirm these several parts ; letting us know that the confession of sin he speaketh of , is such as puts on not sinning , and yet we cannot so not sin , as to say we have no sin , and that the comfort of our remission dependeth upon christs advocateship , and propitiation . in the words we have two generals considerable , namely , a caveat entered , which requireth care against sin in those words , my little children , these things i write unto you that you sin not . a comfort annexed which discovereth the cure of sin in the following words , and if any man sin , we have an advocate with the father , jesus christ the righteous , and he is the propitiation for our sins , and not for our sins only , but the sins of the whole world . in the caveat we have observable , a friendly compellation , my little children . a faithful admonition , these things i write to you that you sin not . in the comfort we have considerable , a disease or danger supposed , if any man sin . a remedy or succour proposed , we have an advocate , &c. and he is the propitiation for our sins , &c. at this time onely of the first general , and therein begin we with the friendly compellation , my little children . these three words in the english , are but two in the greek ; and accordingly we may observe a word of declaration , who they were , little children . appropriation , whose they were , my little children . . he calls them little children , and that not once , but often , very often in this epistle , and here , yea not , only here , but in the most places he so stileth them upon a double ground . . because though not in a carnal , yet spiritual way ; they were little children : what the proverb saith of old men , is true of all good men , they are twice children , by generation , and regeneration , as when they first partake of the humane , so when they participate divine nature , they become little children . . because being regenerate , they were to be as children ; our blessed saviour puts these two together , except ye be converted and become as little children , intimating that all converted persons become such , and st. peter calleth upon those who were born again , to be as new born babes ; indeed in little children are the shadowes of many graces and vertues , which are really found in the regenerate . little children cry after the dug , an image of spiritual thirst after the word , are solicitous for nothing , a lesson of dependance upon divine providence , are content with a little , a document of temperance ; lye upon the ground , a shadow of humility ; give willingly of their meat to their play-fellows , a representation of liberality ; have no fraud nor deceit in them ; an embleme of sincerity , bear no malice , are soon pacified , a dictate of placability and charity ; are harmlesse and inoffensive ; a monitor of innocency . it were easie to multiply parallels in this kind ; and truly inasmuch as little children put us in mind of these duties , and thereby of avoiding the contrary sins of pride , covetousnesse , injuriousnesse , guile , malice , wrath , disobedience , contempt of gods word , hypocrisy , and all uncharitablenesse ; our apostle here intending to disswade from sin in general , which includeth all these particulars , fitly bespeaks them in this phrase , little children . . it is further observable , that he calleth them my little children , and this both in respect of a reall ( though spiritual ) relation , and also by way of a metaphorical , yet apt allusion . . my little children , in reall relation , god having no doubt made him an instrument of converting many of them to , and strenghthening all of them in the saith ; this spiritual affinity have all true christians to their ministers . indeed primarily they are gods children , being ( as the phrase is frequent in this epistle ) born of god ; in this respect it is that st. james saith , of his own good will begat he us , and st. peter blesseth the god and father of our lord iesus christ , for begetting us again ; and thus indeed ministers as well as people ( if believers ) are gods children . but still secondarily , the people are the ministers children ; for whereas god is the principall ▪ they are the instrumental causes of forming christ in the hearts of their auditory , and as the instruments of their natural being do , so no lesse justly the instruments of our spiritual being , may call us their children . to clear this a little further , you may please to consider that the word of truth is the means whereby we are begotten to a spiritual , and nourished to eternal life ; in which respect s. peter compareth it both to seed and to milk , the seed by which we are born again , and the milk by which being born we are fed ; now the preaching of this word is committed to the ministers of christ , and they are sent and appointed by god for this end , to publish the doctrine of salvation to men , no wonder if st. paul writing to the corinthians , resembleth himself to a father ; and tells them , i have begotten you in christ iesus through the gospel , to the galathians , compareth himself to the mother , and using this phrase of the text , my little children ; giveth this as the reason , of whom i travaile in birth again till christ be formed in you : and to the thessalonians likeneth himself to a nurse that cherisheth her children . thus ministers are fathers and mothers to those who are converted , and so as it were begotten and brought forth , and nurses to them who are confirmed , and it were so as educated and brought up by their labours . upon this ground it was that paulinus writing to delphiuns , by whom he was baptized and instituted in christian doctrine , saith to him , tu nobis à dom●no , & in domino pater factus , you are under , and in god , a father to me . and ( oh beloved ) that every soule in this congregation might be able to say of me , my father ; oh that i might be able to say of you , my children ; why ? tell me why do you enforce us to complain with the prophet , we labour in vain , and spend our strength for nought ? when , oh when will you by receiving this caelestial seed , make us joyfull fathers and mothers ? surely what abraham in another case said to god , what wilt thou give me , seeing i go childlesse , that we say to you in this , what will you give us ? reverence , maintenance , i but all this is nothing , if we go childlesse ; our desire is ( like that of the king of sodom to abraham ) give us your soules , that we may give them to god , and as isaiah prophesieth concerning the messiah , he shall see of the travaile of his soule , and shall be satisfied : so this is our prayer to god , and desire of you , that we may see the travaile of our soules in the conversion of yours ; then , and not till then shall we be satisfied . oh that you would do us this honour , afford us this comfort by your spiritual birth , and growth under our ministery , that we may be able upon this reall ground to call you , as here st. john did those to whom he wrote , my little children . but further , we may conceive , our apostle using this appellation by way of allusion , thereby to teach them , implicitely , how they ought to look upon him , to wit , as a father . explicitely , how he did look upon them as his children . . by calling them his children , he teacheth them to look upon him as their father , and not only in respect of his age , ( for so old men are stiled by the younger , but his office ( for so superiours are called by inferiours ) and accordingly behave themselves as children ; in his second and third epistles , he giveth himself the title of an elder , being an elder he was a ruler , and therefore to be owned as their father . naaman being a ruler in syria , is called by his servant , my father . elijah being a prophet in israel is called by elishah my father . micah said to the levite , thou shalt be a father and a priest to me , and surely st. john being an elder , nay more then so , an apostle , ought to be accounted by them as their father . thus tacitè dignitatem suam ind●cat , saith one upon these words , here is a tacite insinuation of his dignity and the authority he had over them , whereby they might be minded of their duty , and that both towards him and his writings . . towards him , a duty of reverence , filio semper honesta & sancta persona patris videri debet , saith the civil law , the person of the father ought to be venerable in the sons eye , when alexander was asked why he did so highly respect antipater ? answered , because he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of a father to him ; upon this account it is , that ministers may expect , and the people ought to give them a filial respect . it is gods argument to the priests that despise his name , a son honoureth his father , if then i be a father , where is mine honour saith the lord of hosts , it may be the priests argument to the people that despise their persons , if we be your fathers , where is our honour ? . towards his writings , a duty of obedience , hear ye children the instruction of a father saith solomon , indeed whose instruction should children hear , if not their fathers ? so that our apostle in calling them his children , intimateth what an obligation lay upon them of conformity to his writings , and following those counsels which were thereby given to them . . but lastly , by calling them his little children , he expresseth how he lo●keth upon them , to wit , with most endeared affections . . he declareth his love and care of them , in that he calleth them his children . he letteth them see that it was no lesse then a paternal and maternal love which he did bear to them , father , saith tertullian , is not only appellatio potestatis , but pietatatis , a word of power but of love , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said the poe● . all living creatures love their young ones , love many times doth not ascend from children to parents , but it usually descends from parents to children ; such an affection had s. iohn to those to whom he wrote . . and yet further , he sets forth the dearnesse of his love in that he calleth them his little children , it was the language of his loving master to his disciples , and he learned it of him as being full of sweetnesse . indeed sometimes diminutives are words of contempt , and scorn but sometimes of tender respect , & no doubt this was the reason of our apostles using this d●minutive , not out of a supercilious contempt , but an affectionate esteem of them . clemens alexandrinus hath observed that all little things are most regarded and delighted in . there is in us a kind of sympathy with , and care of little things . it was iacobs phrase to esau , that he must have regard to the tender children , and young cattel in his journey . besides parents though they love all , yet especially their little children , let the other shift for themselves , but their little ones they will be sure to take care of ; can a woman forget her sucking child ? is the question of god himself , the sucking little babes are carried in the armes , dandled on the knee , fed at the brest , and though the mother may love her ●lder children , as truly , yet not so tenderly ; no wonder if interpreters conceive this expression as a word of greatest love , and manifesting his singular care of their good . thus he who was the beloved disciple , sheweth himself a loving pastor , and as he was dearly beloved of his master , so his flock was dearly beloved of him , nor was this only the temper of s. iohn spirit , but of the rest of the apostles , especially s. paul who therefore tells the corinthians , how gladly he would spend , and be spent for them , calls god to record how earnestly he longed after the philippians in the bowels of iesus christ. indeed to all to whom he wrote he still expresseth his intire affection , one of those titles which the holy apostles use in their epistles is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the vulgar rendreth and not unfitly , charissimi , and our translation dearly beloved , nor are we to imagine this a verbal complement , but a real expression ; as they called them , so they accounted them their dearly beloved . we read concerning aaron , that he was to bear the names of the children of israel in the brest-plate of judgment upon his heart , so did those holy apostles in a mystical sence ; nay , s. paul saith of the corinthians , that they were an epistle written in his heart . let the same mind be in all ministers towards their people , that was in st. iohn and the other apostles , non minus vos diligo quos genui ex evangelio , quam si suscepissem conjug●o , said st. ambrose . i love you no lesse whom i have begotten by the gospel , then if i had begotten you in matrimonial conjunction , pro officio sacerdotis omnes christianos filiorum loco diligimus , saith st. ierome , we love all christians as our children , and this we do by reason of our office , which obligeth us to it , and if all , much more those over whom divine providence hath placed us , and let our love shew it selfe to be a parental love by the purity , vehemency , and activity of it , that as parents love their little children not for their own , but the childrens sake , with a great measure of affection , not sparing any cost , pains for their good : so let us love our people , not theirs , but them , not coldly , but fervently , not lazily , but diligently watching , fasting , praying , preaching , and every way endeavouring their spiritual good . to end this first particular . it is not unworthy our observation and imitation , that this holy apostle being to presse upon them a duty first expresseth his affection ; and the better to make way for his counsels , coucheth them as it were in sweet and pleasing language , verbis non duris , sed ad admodum blandis utitur ut eo facilius persuadeat : he useth not harsh and rough , but sweet and soft words ; he well knew that the sun-beams , have a greater influence then the boysterous winds , and those whom sincecerity , hardnesse , meeknesse softneth . he well knew that if he could perswade the people of his love to them , he should the better gain their observance of his advice ; since that cannot but be be well taken , which appeareth to be spoken in love . for this reason it is , that this and other such compellations , as brethren and beloved , are frequently made use of by the apostle ; yea , that we find them so often intreating , beseeching , perswading that by their gentle expressions they might win upon those to whom they wrote . my doctrine ( said moses ) shall drop as the rain , my speech shall distill as the dew ( to wit in a mild and gentle manner ) and indeed so it did ; for like a tender nurse he sings to the froward child , reproving israels ingratitude in a song . thus you see how as god did once to elijah so the men of god to the people have for the most part come in the still voyce ; and surely it becommeth well all gods ministers to write after these coppies , and to endeavour , that by affectionate expressions and alluring phrases , they may prevaile with those to whom they preach . indeed since we are messengers of the word of truth , we must abhorre lying flattery , but withall , since we are ambassadours of the gospel of peace , we must use perswading lenity , and bespeak the people in the most loving , insinuating phrases , as here we see st. iohn ▪ did , calling them my little children . and let this suffice to have been spoken of the friendly compellation , which seemeth very fitly to make way for the faithful admonition . these things i write to you th●● you sin not , wherein there are two particulars further to be taken notice of . the matter of the admonition in these words , that you sin not . the motive enforcing it as the end of what he wrote in those words , these things i write unto you . . begin we with the matter of the admonition which is not to sin . that i may the better illustrate what is the true & full meaning of these words , i shall intreat you to observe these ensuing particulars , and those , such as the comparing of this clause with the three last verses of the former chapter manifestly prompts to . in the end of the preceding chapter , our apostle tells those who say they have not sinned , that they make god a lyar , by which it appeares that this , sin not , is to be understood de futuro , in reference to time to come ; as if he should say , though you have sinned heretofore , yet sin not , that is , abstain from sin hereafter , and thus this admonition is the same with that of god by the prophet isay , cease to do evill . by the prophet ezechiel , cast away all your transgressions , and of christ to the impotent man whom he had healed , and to the woman which was charged with adultery , sin no more . it was one of the prohibitions given to the nazarites , that they should not drink vinegar ; but what need of this , when as the sharpnesse of the liquor is enough to disswad● from drinking it ; the literal reason whereof was no doubt , because it came of the wine and strong drink , but rabbanus maketh a moral application of it apt to our present purpose , where he saith , they drink vinegar who return to the oldnesse of their past sins , of which every spiritual nazarite must beware . it is not unfitly observed to this purpose by mendoza , concerning gods command of turning the rebels censers into broad plates , which were fastened to the altar for a covering , that this might he one reason , that those censors might more●e ●e imployed in that sacrilegious way ; for whereas had the censors rema●ned , and not been beaten into plates , or if beaten and not fastened on the altar , they might have been easily again abused ; now they remained as memorials of their sins , and yet no way was left for misimploying them afterwards , and surely what should this but teach us how solicitous and careful we should be , though we have done iniquity , to do so no more , and though we have sinned , yet not to sin hereafter . . but further in the ninth verse , of the former chapter , he adviseth confession of sin , and here he addeth , sin not , as if he would say , as you confesse your sins past , so sin not for time to come ; indeed this is both the truest and the safest , the most reall , and the most comfortable part of repentance , wash you , make you clean saith god by the prophet , he washeth and is clean , saith st. austin , qui praeterita plangit & iterum non admittit , who bewaileth sin committed , and doth not commit sin bewayled . our confessions our prayers , our tears , our purposes may be hypocritical ; it is our actuall forsaking of sin , which evidenceth the truth of all the rest . true repentance doth not only decline the accusative case by acknowledging sin , and the vocative by calling upon god for pardon , but the ablative by putting sin away , and thus ( according to origens phrase ) as it healeth those wounds that have been made , so it taketh care that the soul be not wounded again . indeed this is the great mistake of very many , they content themselves with a generall confessing sin , and formal asking of pardon , and still they add sin unto sin , but alas this is only fingere , not agere poenitentiam , to pretend , not practice penitence ; optima poenitentia vita nova , the repentance of the life , by dying to sin is the very l●fe of repentance . . lastly , in the eighth verse of the former chapter , our apostle saith , if we ( in which number he include● himself , and consequently the holyest men ) say we have no sin , we deceive our selves , and yet here he writeth to them not to sin ; two clauses which seem irreconcileable , but may be solved up by a double answer . either thus sin not , that is , indevour that you may not sin at all hereafter ; though this cannot be the event , let it be your intent , the successe , let it be your design , in execution , let it be in intention ; sin not ( saith bede ) that is , let us take heed how we adde to the frailty of our flesh by our neglect , and therefore let us strive to the utmost we can , that we may be free from all sin , and to this purpose is calvins gl●sse , when he saith , by not sinning he meaneth , that as far as humane weaknesse will permit , we should abstaine from all sin . . or thus , sin not , that is , be sure you sin not de futuro , again , as you did de preterito ; in the dayes of your unregeneracy ; as if he would say though you cannot but sinne still , yet sinne not so as you did before . to inlarge this in a double reference . . quoad genus , not in the same kind . sin not , that is , beware of those grosse sins , scarlet iniquities , in which before you lived . and thus , though it is possible a regenerate person may commit some great sin , in which he formerly wallowed , yet it is not impossible for him wholly to avoid sins of that nature ; nay , this is that which god expects and requireth of us , that though our garment will be spotted , yet it may not be rent in pieces ; and though we cannot be without failings , yet that we should be without scandalous falls . . quoad modum , not in the same manner as before you did , not with that fulness of deliberation , freenesse of consent , strength of resolution , frequency of action , which you sinned with in times past . we cannot but sin , but we must not delight in , give up , accustome our selves to the commission of sin , it was davids prayer , keep back thy servant from presumptuous sin , and it is every good mans practice , to keep himself by gods grace from sinning presumptuously . and thus much shall serve to be spoken of the matter . proceed we now to the motive , enforcing this admonition , and that is because this was the end of his writing these things . the prosecution of this lieth in the various reference of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , these things here spoken of . indeed we may very well understand it both in a general , and a particular reference . it may have a general respect to the whole epistle , and so we are to take notice of one principal end why he wrote this epistle , that he might take them off from their sinnes . and thus here is intimated both finis scribentis ; and finis scripturae , the end of the writer , and the end of the writing ; and that one and the same their not sinning . . i write these things that you sin not , that was his ayme and scope in his writing , nor was it only his , but that which all the men of god in all their writings and preachings aymed at , and therefore you still find them harping upon that string , repent ; and shooting their forked arrowes at sin . indeed the false prophets , as god complaineth by jeremy , did strengthen the hands of evill doers , but the true prophets endevour was to restrain them , the false prophets as ezechiels phrase is , did sow pillowes under their arm-holes , but the true plucked them away . go up and prosper was the voyce of the lying prophets to ahab , if thou return in peace , the lord hath not spoken by me saith micaiah , flattering ministers lull the people asleep , but faithfull ones awaken them out of their sins : oh let us herein approve our selves sincere by striking at , and labouring to beat down sin in all our discourses . . these things i write unto you that you sin not , this was the end of all that he wrote , nor is it only the end of his , but all the writings of the apostles and prophets , so that the whole scripture is given us among others for this end , that we might not sin . if we look into holy writ ; we shall find precepts , reproofs , threatnings , promises , hystories ; and sin not , is that to which they all tend . the precepts are clear as glasses to discover sin . the reproofs as faithful monitors to mind us of sin . the threats as strong cords to bind us from sin . the promises as gentle antidotes against sin , and the histories as memorable monuments of the sad effects of sin . to this purpose it is , that gods word is compared to a fire , which purgeth away the drosse : to water which cleanseth away the filth , and to a sword with a double edge ; the one whereof is to cut the heart of a sinner for sinne , and the other to cut sin in the heart of a sinner . oh my brethren , as these things are written by those sacred penmen , so let them be read , heard , pondered , and observed by us for this end , that we may not sinne . these things are written in gods book that we may not ; and if these things be written in our hearts , we shall not erre . the psalmist proposeth it to young men , and in them to all men as an excellent help against sin , wherewith shall a young man cleanse his wayes ? by taking heed thereto , according to thy word ; and presently after he sets down a probatum est , from his own practice and experience , i have hid thy word in my heart , that i might not sin against thee . when therefore we are to encounter with any sin , let us go to the brook of holy writ , and thence choose out five smooth stones , a precept , a reproof , a threat , a promise ▪ an history ; put we them in the scrip of our hearts . let us throw them with the sling of faith , against the forehead of goliah ; our lust whatsoever it be , so shall we be enabled to overcome ; for these things are written that we sinne not . besides thls general , there may be a more particular reference of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , these things to the things which precede in the end of the former , and immediately follow in this chapter . for whereas he had in the foregoing verses ; delivered the doctrines of an impossibility of being without sin , of a possibility of pardon of sin , & that upon confession , & besides , he was presently to mention the comfortable doctrines of christs interceding to god for us , and reonciling us to g●d , well knowing how apt men are , and how ready they would be to make these doctrines encouragements to sin ; he thought it necessary that this caveat should be put after the one , and set before the other ; whereby the misconstruction and misapplication of these precious truths , might be prevented , and according to this reference here is something implyed , something expressed . that these things which were written , would be perverted by some for the encouragement of themselves and others in sin . that these very things which would be so perverted , were written by him , that they should not sin . . our apostle no doubt foresaw how these things which he wrote , would be abused , and therefore thought this caveat very needful ; for how apt are men to reason in this or the like manner . if we can never come to say we have no sin , what need we care though we have sin ? that which no man can avoid , why should we go about to withstand ? and thus from a necessity take to themselves a liberty of sinning again . again , if god will forgive sin upon confession , what need we fear the commission , if he is ready to forgive all sin , what need we care how many and great sins we run into ? we can confesse as oft as we offend , and god will forgive as oft as we conf●sse . once more , if christ will be an advocate , and propitiation , when we have sinned , why should our sins trouble us ? there is a plaister provided for our wounds , what need we fear to wound our selves ? and since christ will free us from sin , let us sin freely . thus as the best of actions , so of expressions are subject to misconstructions , nothing can be done so exactly , nor written so exquisitely , but a wicked eye will pry , and censure , and slander ; a vitiated stomach turneth all its meat into choller , a venemous spider sucketh poyson out of the sweetest flower , and men of corrupt minds will strengthen themselves in sin , from pure and heavenly truth : ; as they make the good gifts of god conferred on them , so the good word of god published to them , fuel for their lust . st. peter saith of many unlearned and unstable soules , that they wrest the scriptures to their own perdition ; to wit , by making them patrons of errour , no lesse do prophane men by making them fautors of sin ; and the metaphor there used is very emphatical , borrowed from the stretching of men upon the rack , and as those who are racked , are ofttimes made to confesse what they never did , so these cause the scriptures as it were to speak what they never meant . oh let us take heed of learning this hellish sophistry , beware we of putting foule glosses upon the fair text ; it is very ill to make a sinister construction of our neighbours words , but farre worse to misinterpret gods sayings , and we cannot more abuse these writings , then to make them speak any thing which is either untrue , or impure . and because it is that to which men are so prone , oh let gods ministers take heed how they deliver these things too largely and loosely , without their due caution ; it is ferus his note how wary s. john is in delivering the sweetest doctrine of remission , and reconciliation by christ , no lesse is s. paul when he handleth the doctrine of justification , and so ought we in delivering those sweet gospel verities so to propose them , as that wicked men may not hereby take occasion to let loose the reines to all licentiousnesse . . but further to prevent this m●stake , he plainly asserts that these very things were written by him , that men might not sin . those very doctrines which wicked men abuse to countenance loosenesse , directly tend to perswade strictnesse . when the apostle saith we cannot be altogether without sin , what should that teach us , but to be so much the more careful , and watchful , since we daily gather filth , we had need to take the more pains in cleansing our selves . if i cannot shoot fully home , when i have done my best , i had need draw the arrow as far as i can , that i may come the nearer to the mark . because my best knowledge is mixed with some ignorance : have i not reason to study hard , that i may attain the more knowledge ? seeing do what we can we shall slip ; is there not cause of the more warinesse that we may not fall , or at least not often ? these things if we say we have no sinne , if we say we have not sinned , are written , that we sinne not . again , when the apostle saith if we confesse our sins , god is faithful and just to forgive ; for what is this confession required , but that we might not sin ? the truth is , confession is required not so much in reference to sin past , either to inform god of , or make him amends for it , but chiefly in reference to sinne for time to come , that hereby being the more sensible of the offence , guilt , shame , and griefe , attending , we may be both inraged and engaged against it ; he that by confession condemneth himselfe for his sinne , is thereby obliged to condemn sinne in himself , and the end of acknowledging our sins is , as that the sinner may be absolved , so that the sinne may be executed . once more when the apostle saith , god forgiveth and cleanseth from all unrighteousnesse , and christ is our advocate and propitiation for our sinnes ; these are sweet , yet strong arguments to disswade from sinne . gospel-truths favour the sinner , but not the sin ; they reach forth an hand of succour to us , but it is to pluck us out of the mire : they are a playster not to skinne , but to heale the sores . very apposite to this purpose is that of s. paul , the grace of god which bringeth salvation , hath appeared to all men , teaching us , that denying ungodlinesse and worldly lusts , we should live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world : pardoning and reconciling love , cannot but . oblige to thankefulnesse , and it were a very i●l requitall for pardoning an old , to offer a new injury ; . excite , love , and love must needs make us careful not againe to displease , no wonder if arnobius saith we who beleeve that our sinnes are expiated by christs blood , cannot but be ca●telous how we plunge our selves into the guilt of sinne again . oh let us study the purity of evangelical doctrines , let us get spiritual enlightened understandings , that we may judge aright of these truths . having these promises saith saint paul , let us not defile , but cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit , perfecting holinesse in the feare of god : then , and not till then , are gospel-verities rightly understood and beleeved , when we use them not onely as cordials , to revive our drooping spirits , but as purges , to expell our corrupt humours ; for these things i write to you , ( saith our apostle here ) that you sin not . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. ii. ver. . part. . and if any man sin , we have an advocate with the father , jesus christ the righteous . presumption and despaire , are two destructive rocks , upon either of which , if the ship of the soule dash , it is split in pieces ; they are the two dangerous praecipices upon which whosoever steps , sail●th headlong into hell . finally , these are the two deviating extreames from the golden mean , to which he that turneth , must needs perish . indeed one of these is the more common , to wit , that of presumption , in which respect ( alluding to that expression of saul and david ) we may say , despaire hath slain its thousand , but presumption its ten thousand ; yet though the poyson of the one be more spreading , the venome of the other is no lesse endangering ; yea both where they seize , are deadly : whilest presumption is an enemy to pepentance , and despaire to faith , that deceiveth with vain hopes of mercy , this tormenteth with hellish feares of justice : finally , the one hurrieth the soul on into sinful courses : and the other keepeth the soul back from laying held on spiritual comforts . good reason why the scriptures afford us antidotes against both these poysons ; and here s. john like a skilful pilot , a wise guide , a faithful friend , warneth those to whom he wrote of both these rocks , advising them that they should neither go on presumptuously in their sins , nor yet mourn despairingly when they had sinned . my little children , these things i mrite unto you , that you sin not , and if any man sin , we have an advocate , &c. having dispatched the caveat , proceed we to the comfort , and therein begin with the . disease or danger supposed in those words . and if any man sin . the right understanding of this clause , depends much upon the genuine sence of the verb , sin . to which end you may please to observe a threefold signification of it in scripture . . to sin , is as much at to live in sin , and so respects the general course of a mans conversation ; in this sence i conceive that of s. paul to timothy , is to be understood them that sin ( that is , saith calvin , qui dissoluti vivunt , who obstinately go on in sin ) rebuke openly ; for those who sin , though grossely , at first , are to be rebuked privately , and upon persisting openly . it is very observable to this purpose , how the apostle useth those two phrases as synonimous , continuing in sin , and sinning ; for so he puts the question in the beginning of the sixth chapter , what then ? shall we continue in sin ? and afterwards in the same chapter , what then ? shall we sinne ? . to sin , is as much as to do some grosse act of sin , and so respects particular falls in the course of a mans life ; in this sence joseph maketh these two paralell phrases , doing great wickednesse , and sinning against god. thus when iob saith of his sonnes , it may be they have s●nned ; and where it is said of iob , in all this he sinned not , and when the question is put concerning the blind man , who sinned ? this man or his parents ? is to be interpreted of some grosse and hainous offence . . to sin , is as much as to do any thing dissonant to that exact rule which the law of god sets before us , and so referres to frailties and infirmities in this sence ( no doubt ) is that assertion of the wise man to be construed ; there is no man that doth good and sinneth not , if you ask which of these is here meant , i answer . the former of these acceptions is by no means here to be allowed . christ is not , will not be an advocate for them that continue in their sins ; he saith himself expressely , i pray not for the world , to wit , lying in wickedness ; the world of unbeleevers : impenitent sinners have no interest in christs intercession , and indeed it is very observable to this purpose , how our apostle phraseth this clause , so as that wilful sinners might have no hold of it . for , observe . it is set down in conjunction with sin not , so much the particle and , intimateth , implying , that only those who make conscience of the caveat , have a share in the comfort , and if any man sin , to wit , who endeavoureth not to sinne . . it is set down with an if , he saith , not because we cannot but sin , ( though this , as you shall hear presently , is his meaning ) but if any man sin , as if he would intimate , that the sinning he speaketh of , is not a resolute , but a casual sinning ; if any man sin , that is , if it happen that any man sin , to wit , besides his bent and course . . it is not in the future tence , if any man shall sin , lest that might be an encouragement to a man in future indulging to his sins , no , but in the second aorist , if any man sin , being only intended to prevent despaire in men when they have sinned , so that i must at the entrance of this paradise , place a flaming sword to keep the tree of life , whereby presumptuous sinners may not gather the fruit which groweth upon it . the bread of this scripture is very nourishing , but it is not common , we must not sin as much as we please , as long as we list , and think to put it on christs score , to wallow in the mire , and expect his bloud shall cleanse us , to renew our provocations , and still find him our propitiation , multiply our rebellions , & make use of him as an advocate to plead for us ▪ no , let us not deceive our selves , this si quis is not so large as to take in thē that sin , that is , serve sin , & live in it . . the second of these acceptions may warrantably be admited , as at least an orthodoxe sence of these words , and so the verb sin in the former clause , and this may be construed identically , or differently ; either thus , i write these things that you sin not , to wit , continue not in your sins , and if any man sin , that is , having left , do fall into sin ; and so the construction is diverse ; or thus , i write these things that you sin not , that is , take heed of grosse sins , and if any man sin , that is , happen to commit some gross act of sin , & so the sence of the verb in both clauses is the same , & according to this interpretation , here is manifestly implied a double possibility , the one of regenerate persons falling into grosse sins , and the other of obtaining pardon for them . . according to this construction , the conditional particle ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if ) importeth a possibility for them who are converted to fall , and that into a grosse sin . indeed there is no sin so small which a convert doth not abhorre , and yet there is scarce any sin so great , which he may not commit ; it is true , on the one hand it is possible for him to live without , but on the other , it is as well possible for him to fall into , even a scandalous crime ; doubtles what hath bin , may be , & therefore when we find in scripture eminent saints marked with notorious spots , we may justly cōceive them incident to any as well as them . whilest grace is defective . and temptations are strong , it is no wonder if sometimes corruptions get the mastery , and we not only step aside , but fall foulely ; very needful in this respect are those counsels of s. paul. . brethren if a man be overtaken with a fault , ye that are spiritual , restore such an one in the sp●r●t of meeknesse , considering thy self , lest thou also be tempted , ille hodi● , ego cras , was a devout saying of a good man , he is fallen to day , and i may to morrow ; and therefore if thou standest whilest another falleth , thankfully acknowledge thy fathers goodnesse , but do not proudly disdain thy brothers weaknesse , again . let him that thinketh he standeth , take heed lest he fall . he is a wicked sinner who presumeth on gods mercy , and he is a proud saint who presumeth on his own strength : whilest we are here , temptations will enter upon us , and we may enter into temptation . when we have acted a sin , we may fear too much , if it be such a fear as ends in horror and despaire ; but we cannot too much fear , lest we should sin . since as the former is flagellum , a scourge of the bad ; so the latter is fraenum , a bridle to the good : nor is there a better preservative from , then the fear of falling . but further it is well observed , that this expression , if any man sin , is elliptica oratio , an elliptick speech , and there is somewhat implyed , which may be thus supplyed ; let him not despaire or cast away all hope of pardon , and so we see that there is a possibility of pardon for such sins . it is the erroneous opinion of the novatians , that sins committed after baptisme are unpardonable , and this chiefly grounded upon that of the authour to the hebrewes , where he asserts it impossible for them who fall away ( after enlightening and partaking of the holy ghost ) to be renewed again by repentance ; in answer to which ( though some interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be no more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expounding impossible by difficult yet ) i conceive we are to understand the falling away , not of a grosse fall into a particular sin , but a malicious apostacy from the christian religion , which crucifieth the son of god afresh , and puts him to open shame , as if he were an impostor and seducer , not the worlds redeemer ; a sin which being alwayes joyned with impenitency , rendereth renewing impossible 〈◊〉 such persons . notwithstanding which , there remaineth a possibility of pardon for particular sins , into which baptized and regenerate persons fall , in which respect repentance is fitly called by tertullian , secunda tabula post nausrag●um , a second plank for them , who after they are bound for heaven , are shipwracked by the storme of some violent temptation , and therefore though grosse falls are to be matter of deep humiliation , yet not of deadly desperation . . lastly , the third which is the most comprehensive acception and proper signification of the word is by some , and not improbably conceived to be the most genuine construction of it in this place ; in this respect the conditional particle is as much as a causal , and aliquis aequivalent to omnis , if any , that is , because ev●ry man sinneth . indeed it w●re to be desired that this supposition might never be a position , but understanding it of infirmities , it not only may , but will be so long as we live here , and therefore as solomon having made an hypo thesis , if they sin against thee , presently addeth a parenthesis , and that by way of an epanorthosis ( and there is no man that sinneth not ) so it might here be in like manner annexed ; if any man sin , as who is there that doth not sin : this being ( as hath been heretofore proved ) incident to the best saints . indeed , time was , when there was a possibility of not sinning , to wit , in the state of innocency : time shall be , when there shall be an impossibility of sinning , namely in the state of glory : but in this present state of grace , there is both a possibility of sinning grossely , and a necessity of sinning in some degree . these daily infirmities though they cannot be avoyded , yet must be bewailed , the burres of corruption which cleave to us , must prick us . these canan●tes which we cannot expell , must be thornes in our eyes , and pricks in our sides ; with david we must pray , lord cleanse me from secret sins ; with paul we must complaine , oh wretched man that i am , but yet though they be our grief , they need not be our terrour ; matter of sorrow they ought to be , but not of despaire : ever remembring that there is balm in gilead , a remedy appointed for these unavoydable diseases , and so i am fallen on the remedy proposed , we have an advocate , &c. before we enter upon the particulars , something would be observed in general , and indeed it is well worthy our consideration , that the apostle prescribing a remedy for our sins , sends us to christ as him in whom alone our comfort lyeth : extra nos , rapit nos , sath aretius aptly ; he taketh us from our selves , that he may fixe us upon christ : indeed he requireth , that if we sin , we should confesse our sins ; but still we must have recourse to christ as an advocate for us , and a propitiation for our sins ; he calls upon us before to walk in the light , but withall minds us of the blood of christ , as that which must cleanse us ; none more for repentance and holiness of life , then st. john , yet still he would have us by faith rely on the efficacy of christs merits . the truth is , he that relyeth on christ , buildeth upon a rock , but he that resteth on his own performances ; buildeth upon the sand & as on the one hand we must not think to rest by faith on christ , and neglect our duty ; so on the other , we must so perform our duty , as still by faith to rest on christ. the truth is , our own performances are so accompanied with defects , that they cannot afford full consolation . we confess & pray , & repent , but alas these very duties need an advocate ; so that as noahs dove found no rest for the sole of her foot till she came to the arke , no more can we find any hearts ease , soules rest , till we come to christ , and this be spoken in the generall . more particularly we may observe two ingredients in this remedy , namely , christs intercession and reconciliation , the former in the end of the first , and the latter in this second verse . the first ingredient is christs intercession in those words , we have an advocate with the father , jesus christ the right●ous , wherein there are two things observable , the quality , what it is , we have an advocate . the efficacy , how prevalent it is in respect of the person with whom , the father . the person who , jesus christ the righteous . the first thing to be discussed , is the quality of this ingredient , and to that end we must enquire what this meaneth , that christ is called an advocate . the more clearly to unfold this comfortable truth , i shall proceed by these steps . . the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used , is attributed in scripture both to christ and the spirit , but when it is attributed to the spirit , it is rendered by comforter , when to christ by advocate , and not without reason , since the spirits work is to speak comfortably to us , and christs to plead powerfully for us ; indeed whensoever this title is given to the holy ghost , it is either in respect of the world , and then it noteth his pleading for god with men by way of conviction , or in respect of beleevers , and then it noteth his incouraging them in all their distresses , and enabling them by strong groanes , to plead with god for themselves , but when it is given to christ , it importeth his taking our cause upon himselfe , and undertaking to intercede with god in our behalfe . . this will the better appeare , if we consider that advocate is verbum forense , a judicial word , so that look as in all such proceedings , there is the guilty , the accuser , the court , the judge , and the advocate ; so is it here , heaven is the court , man is the guilty , satan the accuser . god is the iudge , and christ the advocate , and look as the advocate appeareth in the court before the iudge to plead for the guilty against the accuser , so doth christ before god in heaven , to answer whatsoever the devil can object against us . . but further , as christ is here called an advocate , so is he elsewhere a iudge ; thus st. peter saith , that christ commanded the apostles to preach , and testify that it is he whom god hath ordained to be iudge of quick and dead . indeed both these in respect of different times , and his several offices are aptly verified of him . . now being ascended to heaven , he is an advocate ; at the last day when he descends from heaven , he shall be a iudge ; how comfortable is this meditation to beleevers , that he who is now their advocate , is hereafter to be their iudge ; and if he vouchsafe to plead for them at the barre , he shall certainly passe sentence for them upon the bench. . there is a twofold office which christ undertaketh , in respect of which these are truly attributed to him , the one regal , and the other sacerdotal , as king , he shall one day sit as a iudge ; as priest he now stands as an advocate at gods hand , by his kingly power he shall execute the one , but of his priestly goodnesse he vouchsafeth the other : and thus whilest as a king , he can and will himself confer , yet as a priest , he obtaineth of the father remission of our sins . . it is not unworthy our observation , that as christ is here called by s. iohn an advocate , so by s. paul a mediator , unus utriusque nominis sensus , saith gualter ; the sence of both is one and the same , but yet there is som● difference to be observed between them . christ is a m●diator both in respect of his person and office , both b●●cause he is a middle person , and because he mediateth b●●tween god and man , whereas he is an advocate onely ? respect of his office . again he is a mediator in respect of all his offices , an advocate only in respect of his sacerdotal . finally a mediator , inasmuch as he doth both deal with god for man , and with man for god ; pacifying god towards man , bringing man to god , obtaining favour with god for us , and declaring gods will to us , but an advocate onely inasmuch as he intercedeth with god , and pleadeth our cause in heaven . mediator then , is as it were the genus , and advocate the species ; it being one part of his mediatorship , that he is an advocate . i shall end this with bezaes distinction , who observeth that christ is called a iudge in respect of our adversaries , a mediator in reference to god , and an advocate in regard of us , judging our enemies , mediating with god , and pleading for us . . we may not unfitly here distinguish between a patron and an advocate , between a defender and an interceder ; the one undertaketh to justifie the fact , the other only to prevent the punishment of the fault . if any man sinne ; far be it from christ to be a patron , to defend the fault , but he is an advocate to deprecate the guilt . in the end of the verse he is called iesus christ the righteous , and therefore non nisi justam causam suscepit , he cannot maintain a bad cause ; but though he abhorres to plead for the sin , yet he will for the sinner , and though he dare not excuse the commission , yet he intercedes for the remission of the offence . . lastly , when christ is said as an advocate , to intercede , we are not to fancie a supplicating voyce , and bended knees ; no , it suiteth not with the majesty of christ in heaven . but that which christ doth as an advocate , is ( according to the apostolical phrase ) his appearing for us in that coelestial court , as an advocate doth for his clyent in humane iudicatories . to open this more fully , be pleased to know that the advocateship of christ consists in a fourefold presentation . . of his person in both natures divine and humane , his and ours as our sponsor and mediator , in this respect he liveth in heaven , saith the apostle , to make intercession , as he lived on earth to dye , so he liveth in heaven to intercede for us , presenting himself as one that hath made satisfaction for our offences : hence it is , that there is not only a ptesentation of himself , but . of his merit , as the high priest entered into that holy of holies , with the blood of the sacrifice , so is christ entered with his own blood , and as there was once for all an oblation of it upon the crosse , so there is a continual presentation of it in heaven ; in this respect his blood is said to speake better things then abels : for whereas abels blood did from the earth imprecate , christs in heaven deprecates vengeance : indeed quot vulnera , tot ora , how many wounds , so many mouths to plead for sinners , thus action is the best part of this oratour , who intercedeth by shewing his wounds , his pierced hands and feet , his opened side , his bruised body . as a mother intreating her sonne openeth her dugs and brest , so this son interceding with his father , presenteth his blood and his wounds . when aechylus the tragedian was accused , his brother amyntas coming into the court , opened his garments , shewed them cubitum sine manu , an arme without an hand lost in their service , by which he obtained his brothers discharge ; so doth christ for us , by shewing to the father as once he did to thomas , his wounds , and his side : in which respect calvin saith well , that christs intercession is nothing else but a perpetual application of his death ; though yet withall we must conceive , that in christs advocateship , there is not only a presentation of his person and merits , but . of his will and desire in our behalf , christ interceding by the vertue of his blood , doth not beg in a precarious way , but yet he signifieth his will ; and if you would know what his will is , i answer it is ; that the pardon which his blood hath merited , may be granted and assured to , that the spirit which his death hath purchased , may be given for the strengthening of , that the salvation which by his sufferings he hath wrought , may in due time be conferred on all his members : besides all which , this advocate makes a presentation . . of our prayers and supplications which we make in behalfe of our selves and others , and the prayers of the church which she maketh in our behalf . preces sacrificii sui odore sanctificat , saith calvin , he perfumes our prayers with the odour of his sacrifice , and so presents them to his father ; in this respect he is as it were the master of requests , and the angel ( in the revelation ) with the golden censer , and we are said to have boldnesse of accesse through him , and he assured his disciples that whatsoever they did aske in his name , should be given them . i end this first part . lapide observeth that an advocate appearing in the behalf of guilty persons , is to do three things . to alledge what may satisfy the law , and yet the guilty person escape . to present the humble confessions and intreaties of the nocent , and withall to interpose his own desires and requests to the iudge in the delinquents behalf ; in all these considerations christ is our advocate , as you have already heard ; he as it were alledgeth his sufferings as a satisfaction of the law for our sins , he tenders our penitent acknowledgements and prayers for pardon to the judge , yea he declareth it to be his own , no lesse earnest then just desire ; that for his sake our sins should be forgiven us . and now that you may see he is according to tertullians phrase , exorator , a prevailing oratour , be pleased to take a view of . the efficacy of this intercession , and that in respect . of the person with whom he is an advocate , the father . to unfold this , know . first , that the father is properly the name of the first person in the sacred trinity , and accordingly with carthusian we are so here to understand it , though not excluding the other persons ; indeed all the three persons being offended , when any sin is committed , christ is vertually an advocate with them all , but yet because he cannot be said properly to intercede with himself , and lest he might be thought inferiour to the spirit , if an advocate with him , therefore his intercession is set forth as expressely directed to the father ? and inasmuch as the other persons have the same essence , and therefore will with the father , christ in being an advocate with him , is also with them . . but further , the father relateth to the son , whence the arrians argue , ●hat as the advocate is inferiour to the iudge , so the son is to the father , when as yet st. paul saith , he thought it no robbery to be equall with god , that is , the father , in answer to which . it may , and that orthodoxly be returned by way of concession , that the son is inferiour to the father with this restriction as son , and the father as father ; look as though the essence be the same , yet the persons are really distinct one from the other , so i know no reason but that we may assert , though the persons have an equality , because an identity of essence , yet as persons they are inferiour one to the other : this solution st. basil maketh use of to clear those words , my father is greater then i , whilest yet he was equal with his father ; nor is it any infringement to the truth , nor incouragement of the arrian heresy , to assert , that whereas the son of god , as god is equall with , yet as son , he is inferiour to the father . . but letting this go , you may please to take notice , that the son of god is advocate with the father as mediator , and he is mediator not as god , nor as man , but as god-man : upon which consideration he may be truly asserted inferiour to the father : hence the sonne of god his becomming man , is called an emptying himself ( for so st. pauls phrase signifieth ) whereby he that is equal with , became in our nature subordinate to , and so capable of , being advocate with the father . . lastly , the father is a comprehensive expression , and may have reference both to the advocate , and the guilty , and so either his father or our father . indeed god is the father of christ , and the father of all beleeving penitents , in a very different respect , whilest he is christs father by generation , ours only by regeneration ; christs by natural begetting , ours by gracious adopting , christs primarily , ours mediately , in and through him ; and therefore our saviour saith not , i go to our , but to mine and your father , because he is otherwise christs then ours , but yet he is ours as well as christs ; and these words the father may well take in both , as having a strong influence into the efficacy of the intercession . . with the , that is , christs father , the advocate , is the iudges son , and therefore the father is illius amantissimus , dearly affected towards him , and cannot but grant his desire , surely he that saith to us , this is my well beloved son , hear him , will himself hear him upon that very account : as the sufficiency of christs death depends upon his god-head , so the validity of his intercession upon his sonship , when god saith concerning christ , thou art my son , there presently followeth an ask of me and i will give thee ; i and my father saith christ are one ; so that god can as well deny himself as his son ; adde to this . . with the , that is , our father , the guilty are the iudges children , & therefore the father is erga nos clementissimus , most indulgent towards us , and in this respect the advocate likely to speed ; great is the love of parents , ventowards their offending children , witnesse that of david to absolon , especially when they return , witnesse that of the f●ther to the prodigal , pro maximo delicto paululum supplici● satis est patri , a few stripes will serve with a father for a great offence ; nay , any intercession will prevaile with a father to withhold his correction . yea , how often will a father desire another to step in and intercede for his childe , i say not ( saith christ ) to his disciples , that i will pray the father for you , the father himself loveth you , as if there were scarce any need of this mediation ; however no doubt but that this being the pleasure of the lord , it shall prosper in his hand , and gods heart being prepared , christs suit must needs be granted . to shut up this first consideration . iacob the younger brother obtained the blessing from his father in the garments of esau the elder . christ the elder obtaineth ●he blessing at the fathers hands for his younger brethren , no wonder if the brother pleading for brethren , and that with the father , become an effectual advocate , and so much the rather , considering . the person who it is , and how fitly he is qualified for this office , being iesus christ the righteous . this word righteous , is capable of various acceptions , which accordingly interpreters make use of . . righteous is som●times as much as merciful , and thus iesus christ the righteous , that is , gracious , and therefore ready to become an advocate for us ; to this pu●pose it is , that the authour to the hebrewes calls him a merciful high priest , one who having compassion on us and our infirmities , is willing to plead our cause before god. . righteous is sometimes as much as faithful , and so iesus christ the righteous , that is , in performing his promise when he was on earth ; he promised his disciples , i will pray the father , and now he is in heaven to perform it . . righteous , is as much as just , and so iesus christ the righteous , that is , in doing us right ; if we retain him for our advocate , he will not be withdrawn from pleading our cause by any means what ever . . but lastly , righteous is as much as holy , innocent , so we find them joyned together concerning christ , whom the apostle peter calls the holy and just one , and so jesus christ the righteous is as much as pure and innocent , and this both in respect of himselfe and us . . in himself , he is righteous , because blameless , one who is altogether free from sin . it is well observed by the learned chamier , that the apostle saith not , we have a righteous advocate jesus christ , but we have an advocate jesus christ the righteous . and therefore this terme righteous signifieth not so much , rationem fungendi officii , as ipsius officii fundamentum , the manner of performing this office , as a qualification rendring him fit to undertake it , and so is most properly referd to his innocency , since he could not have been an advocate , if he had not been in this sence righteous . in this respect it is that ferus saith truly , verè necessaria cond●tio , this is a condition necessarily requisite , since , if he had had any sin of his own to answer for , he could not have pleaded for us , neque enim idoneus advocatus qui ipse sit reus , as estius saith excellently , he can be no fit advocate for another , who himselfe is guilty . but yet this is not all , he is jesus christ the righteous or innocent not onely in himselfe but also . . in respect of us , inasmuch as he maketh us righteous , cleansing us from the guilt of our sins . to this purpose saith illiricus , he is called ●he righteous , not so much in a passive , as an active sence , and cajetan observing the following words , he is the propitiation , saith ecce justitia jesu christi , herein is the righteousnesse of jesus christ our advocate , that he maketh us by his propitiation righteous , & so is inabled to plead our cause . to this effect it is that lorinus observeth , he is such an advocate , as satisfieth the judge , not onely by reason , but reality , interceding by vertue of a price payd . and hence it is , that though he findeth both us and our cause unjust , yet ( which no other advocate can doe ) he maketh both us and it righteous , so that though we by reason of our sins are unworthy of pardon , yet christ pleading his satisfaction , rendreth us worthy , and our cause just . and no wonder if being thus every way righteous , he become an effectual advocate , and thus much shall suffice for the explication of this choyce ingredient in this divine remedy , we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous . to end it in a brief application , and that by way of . consolation , the greek word here used ( as vorstius well observeth ) may be rendred either advocate , or comforter , since inasmuch as christ is an advocate , he is a comforter to all penitent sinners . if you please read over the text againe and take the words asunder and you shall find that every word breatheth comfort . . wee , it is not you , but wee st. john includeth himselfe in the number of those sinners , who need christ an advocate , and therefore we may be the lesse discouraged in the sence of our infirmities . and again it is not i , but wee , he excludeth not others from having an interest with himselfe in christ the advocate , and therefore every penitent moy apply this comfort to himselfe , which is so much the more comfortable because it is wee . have , it is not we may , but we have , a burdened conscience cannot be satisfied with a perhaps , nor will it hang upon uncertainties , this comfort of christs intercession is certain , and therefore positively asserted , nor is it spoken of as a thing past , but present , not we had , but we have , and indeed it is so in the present tence that we now may as truly say we have ; as st. john then , yea so long as there shall be penitents on earth , there will not want this advocate in heaven , so true is that of the author to the hebrews , he ever liveth to make intercession , that is to be . an advocate , it is true we want not accusers that will be ready to lay our sins to our charge , satan without , and our own consciences within , ready to bring an endictment against us , nor have we any merit of our own to plead before god for us , but we have an advocate to stand and appear for us , and that with. many times a cause miscarrieth in humane courts , by reason of the advocates absence , but of this their is no feare in our advocate , for he is at the judges right hand and so stil ready upon all occasions as it were to put in a word for us to the father ; not the judge , but the father to render our hope of prevayling so much the more firme , this sweet word of father implying not onely a passibility , but a facility of obtaining , so much the rather considering that it is the father , and so capable of a reference both to christ and us , hee that is our advocate is not a servant a friend but a son , and so the judges chiefest favorite , wee for whom he is an advocate , are not slaves , or strangers , or enemies , or onely servants , but sonnes , though too dificient in our obedience , and can we imagine that the suite should not speed , nay further this advocate whom we have with the father is iesus that signifieth a saviour , and he that vouchsafeth to be our saviour will not stick to be our advocate , yea that he may save as the apostles phrase is to the utmost , he will leave no way unatempted , as by his passion , so by his intercession by the one purchasing salvation for , by the other applying it to us , nor need we doubt that he will be thus every way a iesus to us , when we observe that he is the christ , a word that signifieth anointed , and indeed so he was to all his offices among the rest to that of his priesthood , and so this part of it which consists in intercession . anointing carryeth in it both designation to , and preparation for an office ; all that were anointed , being thereby called to , and furnished with abilities for the office to which they were anointed , our advocate therefore being christ , is both a legal , and skilful advocate , called to the barre , invested with gifts , and therefore knoweth how to plead and that our joy may be full , take in the last words . righteous , and therefore he will not deceive us in our trust , or faile our expectation , though an advocate be able , & knowing , yet if he be not just , our cause may miscarry , but this advocate is so righteous : that he cannot be perverted , nay he is righteous , and therefore can stand in gods sight to plead for us , whereas were he himselfe nocent , he must flee from the face of the iudge , and being unable to answer for himselfe , could not undertake our cause . once more this advocate is iesus christ the righteous , because so exactly , perfectly without the least spot , we know how far the intercession of abraham , moses , and other righteous men have prevayled , yea st. iames saith the effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much , and that not onely for himselfe , but others , & surely then much more must the intercession of him who is the righteous one be effectual . yea perhaps ( as origen observes ▪ ) therefore moses obtained so much of god in israels behalfe that we might not be faithlesse , but confident in our advocate iesus christ the righteous . and now oh thou drooping sinner , let me bespeak thee in s. austins language , thou committest thy cause to an eloquent lawyer and art safe , how canst thou miscarry , when thou hast the word to be thy advocate . let me put this question to thee , if when thou sinnest , thou hadst all the angels , saints , confessors , martyrs , in those celestial mansions to beg thy pardon ; dost thou think they would not speed ? i tell thee , one word out of christs mouth is more worth , then all their conjoyned intreaties . when therefore thy daily infirmities discourage thee , or particular falls affright thee , imagine with thy self , that thou heardest thy advocate pleading for thee , in these or the like expressions ; oh my loving and affectionate father , look upon the face of thine anointed , behold the hands and feet , and side of thy crucified christ , i had no sins of my own for which i thus suffered , no ; it was for the sins of this penitent wretch , who in my name sueth for pardon ; father , i am thy son , the son of thy love , thy bosome who pleads with thee ; it is for thy child , thy returning penitent child , i plead , that for which i pray , is no more then what i payed for ; i have merited pardon for all that come to me : oh let those merits be imputed , and that pardon granted to this poor sinner . chear up then thou disconsolate soul , christ is an advocate for thee , and therefore do not despaire , but beleeve , and beleeving rejoyce , and rejoycing triumph , and triumphing , take up that bold challenge of st. paul , who shall lay any thing to the charge of gods elect ? it is god that justifieth , who is he that condemneth ? it is christ that died : yea rather , that is risen again , who is even at the right hand of god , who also maketh intercession for us . . councell , and that in several particulars . . since we are so well provided , seek we not elsewhere ; it is not unfitly observed to this purpose , that st. iohn saith not , we have advocates in the plural number , but an advocate in the singular ; this being christs peculiar prerogative . indeed the papists have coyned a distinction between mediator redemptionis , and intercessionis , a mediator of redemption and intercession , appropriating the former to christ , attributing the latter to the virgin mary , and the rest of the glorified saints , but the advocateship , and the propitiation are here by our apostle joyned together , and accordingly our church in the close of one of the collects , putting mediatour and advocate together , prefixeth an exclusive particle to both , through our onely mediator and advocate iesus christ our lord. i deny not , but that the saints in heaven p●ay for the church on earth , but though they pray for her in general , yet not for her paeticular members , whose sins and wants they are strangers to , and therefore cannot pray for , and that they pray for the church ; it is , ex charitate ut fratres , non ex offic●o ut mediatores , by way of charity , not authority ; as friends , not as advocates . and whereas it is another subterfuge of the romanists , that though christ be our onely mediator with the father , yet we may make use of the mother ; and the rest to be our advocates to christ ; besides , that in their prayers , they expressely desire the saints to pray to god for them , even in respect of christ , it is both vain and impious . vain , because it being his work to reconcile us to god ; there is no need of any to reconcile us to him , and though an advocate be needful to the iudge , yet what need of an advocate to the advocate : nay indeed , when christ bids us come to him , to wit , our selves ; what an impious contempt were it of his command , to go to him by a proxie . it may perhaps be here objected , if we may not desire the prayers of the saints in heaven , why do we of those on earth ? how is i● that st. paul calleth upon the thessalonians to pray for him , and st. cyprian in an epistle to the romane confessors , craveth their remembrance of him in their prayers , and nothing more usual with christians , then thus , both by word and writing , to beg one anothers prayers ? but beloved , this we desire of one another not as advocates , but only as fellow-helpers ; and hence it is , that whilest as members we pray each for other , we all in our prayers acknowledge christ to be him who doth , and must intreat for us all . in summe , there is a great deal of difference between a christian-desiring of their prayers , who know our persons , to whom we may signifie our wants , and a religious invocation upon them for their prayers , who are both ignorant of us and our necessities . let then the apostatized rome seek to angels and saints , we will only make mention in our prayers of the name of iesus christ , as him on whose intercession we depend and rest . . since he is an advocate for us with the father , let us be advocates for him with the world , let us plead his cause , vindicate his honour , speak for his gospel , intercede for his members ; it is but that to which gratitude obligeth , to do for him : ( as far as we may ) what he doth for us , and so return like for like : indeed he can and will plead his own cause , nor doth he stand in need of our help , but he taketh it kindly , when we expresse our thankefulnesse by becoming advocates for him . . that when we sin , christ may be our advocate , let us be sure to arraign and accuse our selves ; it is st. austins advice , continually censure and condemn thy self , so mayest thou come boldly in confidence of thine advocate . indeed i may here fitly make use of those words towards the end of the former chapter , if we confesse our sinnes , he is our advocate to plead for pardon : in one word , let us with penitent hearts , on all occasions go to him , and humbly intreat him that he would intreat for us ; he desireth no more then to be desired ; prayer is the only fee this advocate expects . let us therefore confesse , and confessing , pray to the father in his name ; yea to himself , that he would pray to the father , and let us not doubt but he will perform what we desire , and obtain what we expect , the forgivenesse of our sins ; and not only so , but in the end , that which is the end of our faith , the salvation of our souls . the first epistle of st. iohn . chap. ii. ver. . and he is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours onely , but also for the sins of the whole world . it is one of those excellencies which are common both to law and gospel , that they require purity of heart , and holinesse of life ; sin not , is the voyce both of moses and christ , prophets and apostles : indeed since they were holy men who wrote , and that as moved by the holy ghost it was impossible but that all their writings should tend to the advancing of holinesse . it is one of those excellencies which are peculiar to the gospel , that it provideth an anchor in case of a storme , a rock of succour in shipwrack , a refuge whether to flye when we are in danger ; indeed the law doometh the transgressour to the curse , and there leaveth him hopelesse , helplesse , remedilesse ; accursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them , so runs the comminatory sentence in which the sinner being involved , hath no way left ( by the law ) of escaping , but must inevitably perish ; whence it is , that the legal ministration is called by the apostle the ministration of death , but by the gospel cometh glad tidings of pardon , and propitiation to disconsolate sinners , and whilest we are sitting in the darknesse of despaire by reason of our sin , breaketh in upon us with beams of comfort from the sun of righteousnesse ; thus as it saith , sin not , so withall , if we fall into sin , it saith , despair not ; a careful endeavour against sin it requireth , yet when we have sinned , it leaveth us not without hope , but directeth us to christ as an intercessor and reconciler , for so we find st. john here in those words , which may therefore be truly called the epitome and summe of the gospel , my little children , these things i write unto you , &c , we are now come to the second ingredient in this remedy , to wit , the reconciliation wrought by christ , and this in the second verse , and he is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours only , but for the sins of the whole world , concerning which choice , and amiable benefit , we have two things set before us . the nature of it , wherein it consists in those words , and he is the propitiation for our sins . the extent of it , how far it reacheth in those words , and not for ours only , but for the sins of the whole world ; each of which may well take up an whole discourse . at this time only of the former , expressed in those words , and he is the propitiation for our sins . before i enter upon the matter , it will be needful to take a little notice of the connexion of the clause implied in the particle and. a word which may be considered either meerly as conjunctive , or as causal . . if we read it only as a conjunctive particle , it lets us see that christ being an advocate becometh a propitiation , indeed the work of reconciliation according to a different notion belongs both to christs sacrifice and his intercession , the meritorious purchase of our peace belongs to his sacrifice , the effectual application of it to us belongs to his intercession , the shedding of his blood upon the crosse , was that which wrought reconciliation for all that should beleeve in him , the presenting his blood in heaven , is that which obtaineth the actual collation of this benefit , upon them who do beleeve in him . this was excellently tipified under the law by the blood , and the incense which the priest made use of in the attonement , the former prefiguring christs suffering , and the latter his advocateship by both which the propitiation is made . it is that which we have reason to take notice of for our comfort , that christ is such an advocate , as hath not only affectum , but effectum ; a desire to do us good , but accomplisheth it , as doth not only satagere but efficere , undertake , but perform ; as he intercedeth for us when we sin , so he finds acceptance and he propitiat●th god for our sins : oh let it be our wisdom to addresse our selves to him as our advocate when we have offended , & let us not doubt of being reconciled . . we may yet further look upon this and as a causal particle , signifying after the hebrew use for , and so it lets us see what giveth the efficacy to christs intercession ( to wit ) his propitiation ; this will the better appear , if we consider that . this propitiation for our sins was merited by christs blood , and therefore god is said to set him forth a propitiation through faith in his blood , and christ is said to make peace through the blood of his crosse ; indeed there can be no propitiation of wrath without satisfaction of justice , and there can be no satisfaction of justice without shedding of blood , whereby the punishment was suffered , which justice required . . christ maketh intercession in the vertue of his blood , our salvation is obtained ; first pretio , and then prece , by laying down a price , and then plead●ng the payment before god , so that what was once offered , is continually presented . . christ being a propitiation , and so our advocate must needs speed ; whilest a man is angry , it is in vain to move him for a favour , but his anger being appeased , there is hopes of successe , especially when he pleads who was the means to pacifie him ; thus stands the case between god and christ and us , god being ●ncensed against us . christ taketh the chastisement of our peace upon himself , whereby gods wrath was pacified , and he who wrought this reconciliation on earth it is that appeareth for us in heaven , and therefore let us not doubt of the power of this advocate , who cannot but effectually prevaile , because he was the prop●tiation for our sins . having viewed the context , let us look upon the clause it self , wherein there is a double truth , the one implic●te , the other explicite ; to wit , sins provocation , and christs pacification . our sins incense the wrath of god against us , that is implied jesus christ the righteous is the propitiation for our sins , that is expressed of the former briefly , because it is but intimated of the latter more largely and fully . . sins provocation is manifestly couched in this clause , and accordingly taken notice of by interpreters , since there were no need of a propitiation for , if there were no provocation by our sins , it is the note of st. chrisostome upon the phrases of reconciling and making peace , in the colossians , that the one implyeth an enmity , the other a war ; & the same may be made here , the propitiation supposeth wrath . and as it is here intimated , so it is elsewhere asserted by s. paul to the romans , when he saith , the wrath of god is revealed from heaven , against all unrighteousnesse and ungodlinesse of men , and consequently , against men for all their unrighteousnes and ungodlines ; in this respect it is , that he calleth all men by nature children of wrath , and why this ? because they are born in sin . indeed god made man ( as solomons phrase is ) upright , and so long as he stood in that integrity , there was pax amicitiae , a peace of amity and friendship between god and man , but they sought out many inventions , by which god was most justly provoked to anger . thus at first , and ever since sin hath proved the make-bate , the k●ndle-coale , that incendiary between the creatour and his creature . and how can it be otherwise ? since there cannot but be enmity where there is contrariety , and there is nothing more contrary to god then sin , nay , there is nothing contrary to him but sin , it is opposite to him in his pure nature , it robbeth and spoyleth him of his glory , it transgesseth and rebelleth against his law , and therefore must needs incurre his displeasure . it is observable in scripture . that as members , so senses are after the manner of men attributed to god , and sin is represented as offensive to every one of them . it grateth his eares , and therefore he complaineth of the cry of sodom and gomorrah , it disrelisheth his taste , in which respect it is compared to leaven , and that especially for its sowernesse ; it oppresseth his feeling , according to his own expression . i am pressed under you , as a cart is under sheaves , it disgusteth his smell ; for which cause sinners are said to be corrupt , where the metaphor is borrowed from a rotten carcase , which stinketh in the nostrils of a man. finally it offendeth his sight , and therefore he is said to be of purer eyes then to behold iniquity , to wit , without fury . it is a meditation that should convince us of the odious nature of sin , are any persons more abominable then the contentious solomon , justly declameth against him that soweth discord among brethren ; that beatitude of our saviour , carryeth in it according to the rule of contraries a curse , cursed are the peace breakers , for they shall be called the children of the devil . but ( oh my breathren ; ) how accursed , and hatefull a thing is sin , which hath broke the peace ; not between man and man onely , but god and man , and hath sowne discord between , not onely brother and brother , but father and sonne , oh that this thought might stirre up in us a zealous indignation against sin , god forbid , that that which is his hate , should be our love , that that should find favour with us , which provoketh his wrath against us , nay rather since sin displeaseth god , let it displease us , and let our anger wax hot against that which causeth his wrath to wax hot against us . the miserable estate of a sinner , because he is under the wrath of god , coelestis ira quos premit miseros facit , divine anger is an unsupportable burthen , the sinning angels are not able to stand under it , but fall immediately from heaven , the great men , the mighty men cannot abide it , but cry to the mountains fall on us , and to the hils couver us , no wonder if the psalmist put the question , who may stand in thy sight , when once thou art angry ? and now tell me sinners , have not we most justly incurred this sore displeasure , hath not god both by the sin of our nature & transgressions of our life been provoked against us from our mothers wombe to this day , if one sin be sufficient fuel for this fire , what a flame of wrath burneth against us , whose sins have been numerous , or rather innumerous ? all which being serously pondered ; me thinketh greif , and anguish , trembling and astonishment , horrour and amazement should take hold of us . david feeling some drops or sparks of this anger , saith there was no rest in his bones by reason of it , truly if we doe not feele , we have cause continually to be in feare , not onely of drops , but flouds , sparks , but flakes of this vengeance , how can we be secure and quiet ? and if there be any awakened conscience , wounded soule which cryeth out , what shall i do ? i answer , gods wrath is unsupportable ; but not unavoydable , it cannot be indured ; but it may be prevented , we are not able to stand under it , we may flye from it . and that by flying to him ; whom my text speaketh of , as the propitiation , and so i am fallen on the explicite ve●ity , which is here plainly and directly laied downe . . christs pacification , he is the propitiation for our sins , it is both assertive , and exclusive , carrying it both an affirmative , and a negative , he is , and none but he , or he onely is the propitiation of both which in order . . he is the propitiation , gods wrath towards man sinning , is pacified by christ suffering , the rabbins say of the messiah , that when he commeth , he shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reconciling man , and the apostles assertion is expresse , we have peace with god , through jesus christ our lord , it is the testimony which the father gave concerning christ at his baptism , this is my beloved sonne in whome i am well pleased , by which latter clause is ( according to euthymius , cajetan and others ) expressed that favour which god in christ beareth towards us , as he is in himselfe beloved , so in him god is with us well pleased . according to that of st. paul , he hath made us accepted in the beloved , and therefore accepted ; because reconciled , wel-pleased in him because his wrath is appeased by him towards us . among other resemblances by which christ is set forth in scripture , that of a stone is one , and very apt to our present purpose . since as in respect of satan , he is lapis triumphalis , a stone of victory and triumph dashing that goliah in the forehead , so in respect of god , he is lapis foedificus , a stone of league and amity , such as that between laban and iacob , or rather lapis angularis , a corner stone , for as this uniteth the wal● , which were one seperate from the other , together , so doth he unite , and that not onely iewes and gentiles to one another , but both to god. this is that truth which the apostle paul planly asserts in those scriptures which speak of reconciliation to god , thus he saith , god was in christ reconciling the world to himselfe , and again , christ is said to reconcile both ( to wit jew and gentile ) unto god in one body by the crosse , and againe , it pleased the father by him , having made peace through the bloud of his crosse to roconcile all things to himselfe , it would not be passed by what is by socinians objected , against these scriptures that they speake onely of our being reconciled to god , not of gods being reconciled to us , and so prove not any pacification of divine wrath by christs death , whence it is that they understand this reconciling of us to god , to be no more then the turning of us from sin to god by true repentance . but to vindicate this great truth , and that as asserted in those scriptures be pleased to consider briefly that though the phrase onely run in this straine , the reconciling us to god , yet it doth not therefore follow that the reconciliation is onely on our part , and not on gods , nay rather the one involveth the oth●r , since if we were not sinners , there were no need of reconciling us to god , and being sinners , there is no lesse need of his being reconciled to us , unlesse we will say , that sin doth not provoke him , which is to deny him to be a god , and though this reconciliation being mutuall , doth no lesse imply gods to us , then ours to him , yet it is very fitly thus expressed , because god is the pars offensa , the party offended , and man is pars offendens , the party offending , he that offendeth another , is more properly said to be reconciled to him whom he hath injured , then he that is offended ; in which respect christ adviseth him who bringeth his gift to the altar , if he remember his brother have ought against him to go and be reconciled to his brother , and st. paul wisheth the woman that departeth to be reconciled to her husband , as having by departing offended him . but as the reconcililing of a woman to her husband , & a trespasser to his brother is the pa●if●ing ▪ the one of her husbands anger , the other of his brothers displeasure , justly conceived against them ; so the reconciling us to god is the appeasing of his wrath towards us , which for our sins was incensed against us . and that this is st. pauls meaning appeareth plainly in one of those forecited places , where the manner how god in christ reconcileth us to himselfe , is expressed to be his not imputing our trespasses , and christ in whom we are thus reconciled , is said to do it , by being made sin for us , it is not therefore our turning from sin to god , but christ becomming a sacrifice for our sins , and gods not imputing our sins to us for his sake which is our reconciltation to god , and inasmuch as it is god who being offended receiveth us againe into favour ; therefore it is ascribed to him as his act , and because it is christ who hath by his death appeased gods anger , therefore it is attributed to him , and so the cleare meaning of our apostle , appeareth to be the same with that which here s. iohn asserts , and intends when he saith of christ , he is the propitiation for our sins . and because the socinians ( being resolved to make all scripture stoop to their reason ) endeavour to pervert this text as if it were onely a delivering us from the wrath to come upon impenitents , by turning us from our sins . give me leave to set before you the genuine sence of this word which our apostle here useth , and that both in its native , signification , and legall allusion . . if we consider this word in its native , signification , we shall find that the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text commeth ) in all writers both sacred and prophane , poets , oratours , historians , as the learned grotius hath observed : signifieth to appease , or pacify , or render propitious ; and is usually construed with an accusative expressing the person whose anger is pacified . indeed there is one place in the hebrewes : where being joyned with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the plurall accusative it is rendred to expiate the sins of the people , but either the use of the word there must be altogether different from its sence of perpetuall signification , or it must signify such an expiation , as tends to a pacification , & so it is all one whether you read it here , he is the expiation , or he is the propitiation , since the one depends on the other , and by expiating our sins , it is that he propitiateth god towards us . . if we consider this word in its legall allusion , we shall find a double reference which may be made of it . . to the mercy-seat , which covered the arke where the law was , whence god gave answers , and from which he shewed himselfe propitious to the people , whereof we read in the booke of exodus . hence the seventy , and the auth●r to the hebrews from thence cal it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a propitiatory , to this the apostle paul manifestly alludeth , where the very same word is used , when he saith , him hath god set forth a propitiation , and possibly st. john in this word , might have the same reference . indeed christ may well be called the propitiatory , or a propitiation in allusion to the mercy-seat , since , there is a fit analogy between them . for as it covered the law , so christ the transgressions of the law ; as thence god gave answers , so by christ his evangelical oracles are revealed ; and as from thence god shewed himselfe propicious , so is he in christ well pleased ; but in this last analogy ( in which respect it was called a propitiatory , and serveth to our present purpose ) though there is a fitnesse , yet not a fulness ; for whereas the mercy-seat is called the propitiatory , onely because it had vim declarativam , a declarative vertue to signify , christ is the propitiation , as having vim effectivam , an operative energy to procure divine favour , and therefore was god pleased to manifest himselfe benevolous from the mercy-seat , because it was a type of christ , in whom he is propitiated towards sinners . in vaine therefore do the socinians confine the antitype to the type , as if that christ must be in no other sense a propitiation , then the mercy-seat was ; since it is sufficient to make a type that there be in some things a similitude , though not in all things an aequality , nor is it any wonder if there be more energy in the body , then in the shadow , since the shadow is but a resemblance of the body . besides this allusion , which no doubt is most congruous , to s. pauls phrase , there is another more suitable to this of s. john , and that is in reference to the sacrifices of expiation , & attonement . almighty god in the law appointed both the burnt-offering for sin in generall , and trespasse-offerings for particular sins , by which being offered up , he became appeased towards the sinner . now all those sacrifices did look at christ , and the attonement which was made by them , was not as considered in themselves , but as they did typify christs death , and the propitiation to be wrought by it . that those sacrifices did all of them typify christ , seemeth to me an undoubted truth , and that among others for this reason , because by christs death , they were abolished , and became mortua dead , yea soon after , mortifera ; not onely dead , but deadly , upon this account , that to continue those sacrifices , was to deny christ. that whatsoever efficacy those sacrifices had towards attonement , was onely in reference to christ , must needs follow upon the former , since as when the antitype is accomplished , the type ceaseth , so the vigour of the type , whilest inbeing , is from its relation to the antitype ; in this respect it is that under the legall administrations , the people offering sacrifices , were minded of christ , and beleeving in him , and god was propitiated by those sacrifices , as they did prefigure , and so as it were mind him of christ to be offerred up a reall , and effectuall propitiation . to close up this , it would not be passed by , how emphaticall our apostles expression is , in that he doth not onely say of christ he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a propitiatour , but the propitiation it selfe , that is , victima 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the propitiatory sacrifice . indeed he is both the priest , and the sacrifice , rhe propitiator , and the propitiation ; according to which is that of origen , god hath set him forth a propitiation through faith in his blood , that by the sacrifice of his body , he might render god propitious to men . in one word , ( to speak after the schooles ) inasmuch as christ by his death did removere peccatum , take away the guilt of sin , which causeth the enmity , and offerre sacrificium deo acceptissimum , offer up a sacrifice most grateful to god , he might be truly said to be the propitiation . there is only one objection which carrieth in it a shew of reason , and therefore calls for a solution ; it is drawn from those scriptures , in which gods love to mankind is set down as the cause of sending christ into the world , whereas if christs coming into the world to dye , did propitiate god for our sins , this love of his towards man should be the effect , not the cause ; and those scriptures should have run thus , not , god so loved the world that he sent , but , god sent his son into the world that he might love it , and not in this was the love of god manifested , but by this was the love of god procured , to wit , the sending his only begotten son. to untye this knot , you may please to know that these two assertions are not irreconcileable ; gods love to us moved him to send christ to dye , christs dying moveth him to love us : indeed the love of god to man is in one respect the cause , and in another the effect of christs death , and that thus it appeared to st. john is plain , in that he puts these two together in one verse , he loved us , and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins . to clear the truth hereof , briefly observe these distinctions . . man fallen is to be considered ( say the schooles ) two wayes , either quantum ad naturam , or quantum ad culpam , as made by god , or marr'd by sin ; he loved us as the work of his hands , and that love was the cause of sending christ , he hated us as transgressours of his law , and christ by making satisfaction removeth that hatred , and obtaineth his favour , . there is a twofold love of god towards man. the one of commiseration and benevolence ; whereby he was reconcileable , yea , himself appointed the way of reconciliation , and this love was the cause of christs death . the other of friendship or complacency , whereby he becomes actually reconciled , and so conferreth all good upon us , and this love is the effect of christs death : it is observable concerning the friends of job , that god said to them , my wrath is kindled against you , therefore take seven bullocks , and seven rams , and go to my servant job , and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering , and my servant job shall pray for you , for him will i accept ; wherein it appeareth , god so far tendred them as to acquaint them with his wrath , and the meanes of pacifying it , but his wrath was not removed till those meanes were used . an enemy may so far love as to propose and offer conditions of peace to his adversary , but till those conditions be accomplished and performed , there is no amity between them : so is it in this case , though god loved us so as to propose , nay , indeed to perfect the meanes of reconciliation , yet still he is not actually reconciled to us , but only in and by those means , the chief whereof is christs passion . the summe of all then amounts to this ; god considered without respect to christ , was though iratus , yet placabilis , actually angry , yet so as that there was a possibility of appeasing it , he was not so far provoked with men , as with the angels , for whom he would not appoint nor accept a ransom , but still it is only in and through christ , that he becometh placatus , actually appeased toward sinners . . he only is the propitiation for our sins , only moses must go up to god in the mount , none but the high priest must enter with the blood into the holy of holies ; christ alone must mediate with god for man : indeed there was not , could not be found in heaven or earth , any one fit , or able to undertake this work . this will the better appear , if we consider , that whosoever would become a propitiation for our sins , must both be free himself from all sin , and be both capable and able to undergoe the punishment of our sins . . he must be free from sin , and therefore we could not propitiate god for our selves ; can it be imagined a reb●ll should pacify the king towards himself , or fellow-rebels ? whatever we could do , whilest in our sins , were but evaginato gladio pacem peter● , seeking for peace with a drawne sword in our hand against our soveraign ; indeed the good works of them that are in christ , do placere , but not pacare ; please , not appease , and that only as dyed in christs blood ; but as we are in a state of sin , nothing we do can please , much lesse pacify he almighty . the truth is , ( to use ferus his similitude ) all the works we do are in themselves but as a ring of iron , and could not so much as gain acceptance , were it not for faith , which sets into them as it were the precious gemme of christs merits . . he must be capable and able to bear the punishment of our sins . there can be no propitiation for , without expiation of sin , the expiation of sin is by suffering the punishment ; and the sin being committed against an infinite majesty , the suffering by which it is expiated , must be of infinite value ; in these respects it is impossible that any or all the angels , though holy and just , should propitiate god for out sins : since as angels , they were not capable of the punishment ; and though they should have assumed humane nature , yet being but finite creatures , the worth of their sufferings could not be infinite , only christ in himself being altogether pure , and therefore called iesus christ the righteous ; in the end of the former verse , and being both god and man , and so able as god , and capable as man of undergoing such a penalty as should by reason of the infiniteness of his person , be of infinite merit , is the propitiation for our sins . to end this , the propitiation here spoken of may be considered several wayes , and accordingly it may have several causes , as decreed , published , applyed , purchased . the decree and intention of this propitiation , is the work of the whole trinity , though especially attributed to the father . the declaring and publication of it is the work of christs ministers , to whom is committed the word of reconciliation . the effectual application of it to every one in particular , is done principally by the spirit , and instrumentally by faith . but still the purchase and procuration of it , is only by the blood of christ : nemo praeter illum , nemo cum illo , there was none besides him , there was none to joyn● with him , he alone did undertake and accomplish the work of reconciliation . having briefly , and i trust in some measure clearly explicated the explicite truth of this clause , give me leave in a few words to apply it . . in the sense of gods wrath for our sins , whither should we go but to christ for reconciliation ; far be it from us to think we can pacify god for our sins by our prayers , or teares , or almes ; in all which , gods severe eye of justice would find matter of provocation ; far be it from us to place our hopes of gods favour towards us in the merits and mediation of saints or angels , who themselves are beholding to this mediatour ; the truth is , propter filii meritum mater invenit gratiam , the mothers peace was made by the sonnes blood , and therefore to him , and him alone let us have recourse , as our only peace-maker . and would you know how to go to him ? i answer , by faith ; accedit qui credit , he cometh to , who beleeveth on christ ; and as there is no propitiation but through him , so there is no propitiation through him to us , but by laying hold on him , in which respect the apostle doth not only say , god hath set forth christ a propitiation through his blood , but through faith in his blood , and therefore being sensible of divine pleasure , let us embrace christ in the armes of our faith , that god for his sake may be propitious to us . . in the confidence of this propitiation wrought for us by christ , how infinitely should we account our selves obliged to our blessed jesus ? the more to imprint this meditation upon us , consider . what the benefit is which christ hath procured , propitiation for our sins , a benefit which hath many blessings to attend upon it , such as are acceptation of our persons and performances , nearnesse of union , and fulnesse of communion with god , boldnesse of accesse to the throne of grace , peace of conscience , and joy in the holy ghost . christ saith to every beleeving soul that hath an interest in his propitiation , in words much like those to his disciples , be of good cheer , i have pacified the fathers wrath towards thee . god saith to every such person for whom he hath accepted christs propitiation , in words much like those to ephraim : it is my dear son , it is my pleasant child , though i spake against thee , i do earnestly remember thee , i will surely have mercy on thee ; and . who are we for whom christ vouchsafed to become a propitiation ? jonathan stood between sauls fury and david , a good reason , sauls rage was causelesse , david was innocent , but gods anger was just , and we were offenders : the people mediated between saul and ionathan , when he tasted of the honey , but ionathan had offended ignorantly ; we have been wilful presumptuous rebels . abigail pacified davids wrath against nabal , but he was her husband , hester diverteth ahasucrus his rage from the iewes , but they were her countreymen ; but loe christ becometh a propitiation for our sinnes who were strangers , not allies , enemies , not friends , enemies to him as well as the father , and yet for our sins he propitiateth . . when there was no other way left of propitiation , he undertaketh it , i looked ( saith christ ) and there was none to help , i wondred that there was none to uphold , therefore mine own arm brought salvation . if all those glorious angels had with united endeavours , sought to reconcile god to man , it could not have been accomplished . as god faith in another case , though these three men , noah daniel and iob , were in the land , they should deliver but their own soules , they shall deliver neither sonnes nor daughters : so he seemed to say in this , though gabriel , michael , yea , all the myriads of angels , had not only intreated , but in assumed bodies suffered , they should not have propitiated my wrath towards one man for the least sin . and as elishah said to ahab , were it not that i regard the presence of iehoshaphat , i would not look towards thee , nor see thee ; so god saith to us , were it not that i regard the passion and intercession of my son , i would not vouchsafe the least look of grace or favour towards you . . that christ might be the propitiation for our sinnes , he was pleased to offer himself a sacrifice ; our blessed saviour appearing to his disciples after his resurrection . said , peace be to you , and shewed them his hands and his feet , as if he would say ? see how dear your peace cost me . thus the case stood , we had offended , god was provoked , wrath was ready to strike us , christ steps in and taketh the blow upon himself , and so by his suffering god is pacified towards us . and now putting all these together , that when none could , christ would , and that undertake so great a work as the reconciling offended justice ; and when no other means would prevaile , but blood and death , christ should be willing to lay down his own life ; and this for our sinnes , who were so unworthy of the least regard : oh tell me , i● each of these severally , much more all joyntly be not strong obligations of love , and thankefulnesse ? how should every beleeving sinner in the apprehension hereof , break forth into these or the like ejaculations ! dearest iesus , didst thou procure thy fathers love to me , and shall it not engage my love to thee ? didst thou snatch me as a brand out of the fire of gods wrath , and shall not i be inflamed with affection towards thee ? the propitiation which thou hast wrought for me was undeserved , nay , undesired ; shall it be altogether unrequited : it is true , i cannot recompence , but surely , i will acknowledge it ; i will love , and blesse , and praise thee for it ; saying , in words much like those of the angels , worthy is the lamb that was slain a sacrifice , and so a propitiation for my sins , to receive power , and riches , and wisdome , and strength , and honour , and glory , and blessing . the first epistle of s. iohn . chap. ii. ver. . and he is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours onely , but also for the sins of the whole world . words amiable as beauty to the eye , harmonious as musick to the ear , sweet as hony to the taste , and joyous as wine to the heart , who can read them , and not be affected ? hear them and not be ravished ? meditate on them and not be delighted ? beleeve them , and not be comforted ? diligenter observanda cordibusque inscribenda sunt haec verba , saith ferus aptly . these words deserve to be written , yea ingraven upon the tables of our hearts , as containing in them that which cannot but afford unspeakeable joy to the wounded conscience . the person spoken of is iesus christ , whose very name is as a precious oyntment , the thing spoken of is a pacification between god and sinners , then which no perfume can be sweeter , finally this benefit is set forth as obtained by this person , not for a few , but many some , but all , and so like the light diffusing it selfe through the whole world , and therefore i trust since we are all concerned in , we shall all be diligently attentive to this precious scripture , and he is the propitiation for our sins &c. having already unfolded the nature , we are now to handle the extent of this excellent benefit , which is expressed two wayes . negatively , and not for ours only affirmatively , but also for the sins of the whole world . . a word of the former , not for ours onely , it is that which lets us see the nature of faith . true faith applyeth ; but doth not appropriate , or if you wil it doth appropriate , but it doth not impropriate to it selfe , a beleever so maketh christ his own , as that still he is , or may be anothers as well as his , and the reason of this is . partly , in regard of the nature of the object which is such , that it is capable of being communicated to many , as well as few , for as the ayre is a meanes of refocillation ▪ the sun an instrument of illumination , and the sea a place of navigation , for the people of our country , and yet not ours only , those being things so communicative , that every one may have a share in them , nor is one mans or peoples enjoying , an hindrance to another , so is christ a propritiation for the sins of st. iohn and the rest of beleevers then living , but not for theirs only , he being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a common good , and his propitiation such as that the participation of it by some , doth not at all impede others from having the like interest . and partly in respect of ●he temper of the subject , this being the frame of a beleevers spirit , that he would have others pertake of the same benefit with himselfe . the apostle st. paul saith of faith that it worketh by love , and accordingly as faith brings christ home to it self , so the love by which it worketh is desirous he might be imparted to others . to this purpose it is observable , that that holy apostle when he speaketh of a crowne which shal be given to him , presently addeth , and not to me onely : as here st. iohn for our sins , and not for ours onely . to wind up this , whereas there are two objections amongst others , made against the applying act of faith , as if it were a bold presumption in regard of christ , and an uncharitable excluding of others from having the same benefit , to say he is ours , and that he is the propitiation for our sins , both will be found no better then calumnies , since on the one hand ; faiths particular applycation is within the bounds , and according to the tenure of the gospel-promise , and therefore it s no presumption , and on the other hand , faiths applying christ to our selves , is not thereby to withhold him from any other , and therefore it is no uncharitablenesse , for whilest faith saith , he is the propitiation for our sins . love addeth , and not for ours onely . and so much , or rather so little of the negative , pas●e we on to the . affirmative clause , but also for the sins of the whole world , favores ampliandi , is a rule in the civill law , favours are to be extended to the utmost , so doth our apostle here this benefit of christs propitiation ▪ amplificatio est misericordiae dei , it is an amplification of gods mercy ; and christs merit , and that . implicitely , in respect of the object , since , christ did not pacify god onely for the original sin of our natures , but the actuall sins of our life , and not onely for one , but for all kind of sins . the sins of the whole world , are a world of sins , what a numberless number of sins are every day committed in the world , yea what sin is there so vile , so heynous , which commeth not within this latitude , the sins of the whole world , so that this propitiation extends it selfe , not onely to one , but many , lesser , but greater sins , not the multitude , nor magnitude of all the sins which are acted in the world , can exceed the virtue of christs propitiation , and therefore though the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be ell●ptically cut of in the greeke , both it and its substantive are fitly supplyed in our translation for the sins of the whole world . but further this enlargement , is chiefly to be considered . . expl●citely in regard of the subject , the persons to whom this propitiation bel●ngs , and it is set forth with the fullest advantage that may be . indeed there are divers phrases , by which this universality is represented , sometimes it is sa●d he gave his life a ransome for many , and that is opposed to a few , more then this , it is said that he dyed for all , and that he gave himselfe a ransome for all , yea the author to the hebrews saith , he tasted death for every man , not onely all in generall , but every man in perticular , in like manner the usuall phrase of the scripture , when it speaketh of the subject of reconciliation , ●nd salvation is in the comprehensive word world , god so loved the world , god was in chhist reconciling the world , and again in this epistle , him hath god sent to be the saviour of the world , and yet as if this were not large enough to this extensive substantive , is here in the text annexed an universall adjective , whilest he saith not onely the world , but the whole world . that this is so must be granted , or else the scripture must be denied , which hath so frequently and plainly asserted it , the onely thing to be inquired is , in what sence this is to be understood , and how it is verified . i well know there is much dispute among learned and godly men , about the interpretation of this , and such like scriptures . for my own part , i have a reverend esteem of many of them , who hold the severall opinions , and i could heartily wish , that such questions having much to be said either way , both from scripture and reason , might be more calmely debated then they are by some ; and the ass●rt●rs on either hand lesse censorious each of other . that which i shall now indeavour , is ( according to the measure ●f light , i have received by prayer , reading , meditation , and conference , ) positively to acquaint you what i conceive to be truth , and show you how far we may safely extend , and so how we may genuinely expound this clause , he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world . to this end , let your attention go along with me , whilest i shall prsoecute two or three distinctions . . this assertion , christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world , may be understood , either exclusively , or inclusively , and in both considerations it is in some respect or other true . . to say , christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world exclusively , imports thus much , that there is no propitiation for the sins of the whole world , but onely by christ , and thus we may take the whole world in its full latitude , pro omnihus & singulis , and need not feare to assert that there never was , nor will be any man from the first adam , to the end of the world , who did , shall , or can obtain propitiation for his sins except through christ. indeed god ( according both to moses and pauls phrase ) is a consuming fire , and all mankind being fallen in adam , is as stubble and straw to that fire which must needs be consumed by it , if christs blood did not prevent that consumption by quenching the fire of his displeasure . hence it is that s. paul saith expressely , god was in christ reconciling the world to himselfe , thereby intimating , that were it not for christ , the world could not be reconciled to him . to this purpose it is that the apostle peter speaking of christ , useth a negative proposition , neither is there salvation in any other , and inforceth it with a strong confirmation , for there is none other name under heaven , given among men whereby we must be saved , where that expression under heaven is very observable , as comprizing in it the whole earth , which is under heaven , with all the inhabitants therein . it is the promise of god to abraham , that in his seed , should all the nations of the earth be blessed , that seed st. paul expounds mistically of christ and lyra's glosse is quia nullus consequitur salutem nisi per christi benedictionen , because none can attain eternal life but through christs benediction , and not much unlike is bezas note on this place . christ is the propitiation for the whole world , ut noverimus nusquam esse salutem extra christum , that we may know salvation is not to be had any where without christ. from hence it is that may be inferred , which elsewhere is expressed , that since there is no propitiation but by christ , none can pertake of this propitiation , but by faith in him , and the strength of the inference is built upon this foundation . whosoever have propitiation by christ , must bee in christ , and therefore st. paul saith of the ephesians , whilest heathens they were without christ , and presently addeth in the same verse , having no hope ; as if he would say , there is no hope of salvation for them that are without christ. none but they who beleeve in chirist , are in him , and therefore the apostle saith , christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith , and those two phrases ; being in the faith , and christ being in us , are used by him in one verse , as one expository of the other . the result of both which propositions is , that seeing there is no propitiation without christ , and without being in christ , none can obtain that propitiation , but they who beleeve in him , agreeable to which it is that st. paul saith , god hath set him forth a propitiation through faith in his bloud , indeed this must be rightly understood , and to that end qualified with these distinctions of seminall , and actuall , of implicite , and explicite faith , and of faith in christ , as to come , and as come . christ is no doubt a propitiation for all circumcised and baptised children dying in their infancy ; who yet cannot actually beleeve in him , but they have after an extraordinary way the spirit of chr●st conferred on them , and so the seed of faith and all other graces in them . christ was no doubt a propitiation for those before his coming , as well as us , all of whom only beleeved in him , as to come , and many of whom had but only an implicite , not a clear and distinct faith in the messiah , nor will i undertake to determine what degree of knowledge is necessary to that faith in christ , which is necessary to an interest in this propitiation ; but still i say with the authour to the hebrewes , without faith it is impossible to please god , and that faith is not only to beleeve that god is but to beleeve that he is a rewarder of them that seek him , which cannot be without some knowledge of christ ; since it is onely in an evangelical sense , that he is a rewarder , and as he is no rewarder of any that seek him , but for christs sake , so none can rightly beleeve him a rewarder , who is altogether ignorant of christ. indeed when our blessed saviour saith , this is life eternal , to know thee the only true god , and iesus christ christ whom thou hast sent ; what doth he but as it were define eternal life by the knowledge of god and iesus christ ; this knowledge being both the way and the end , that wherein it consists , and that whereby it is obtained , and more fully , when he saith , god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten sonne , that whosoever beleeveth in him , should not perish ; what doth he but set down beleeving in christ , as the way , whereby the whole world must escape perishing . finally , when st. paul speaking of iew and greek , maketh calling on the name of the lord christ , the means of salvation , and annexeth beleeving in , as necessary to the calling on him ; what doth he but intimate , that without beleeving in him , there can be no salvation . by all which we may see how miserable the condition of all those is , who have no interest in christ by faith ; if no interest in him , no propitiation by him , & if no propitiation by him , there can none be had elsewhere ; & therefore iohn the baptist sath of every unbeleever , the wrath of god abideth on him ; a burden so heavie , that it must needs press down to hel . and which followeth upon this , we may see what great reason we have to pitty and pray for all pagans and infidels , to whom christ , and propitiation by him , is not so much as revealed . indeed , that heathens who never heard of christ , shall be condemned for not beleeving in him , i beleeve not ; the light of nature will be enough to render them inexcusable : but how they not at all hearing , and so not at all beleeving in him , should be saved by him , i cannot see by any light of scripture : that those among them whose lives have been eminent for morall vertues , might have christ by some extraordinary way made known unto them , and so be brought to faith in him , i am willing to hope , however that gods wrath is not so hot against them as others , yea , that it shall be more tolerable for them then many who are in name christians , i confidently assert ; but how without christ , and any knowledge of him , they should obtain propitiation , and so salvat●on , i know not ; the onely charity which we can and ought to exercise towards them who are now alive , is to commiserate the●r condition , and poure out our supplications , that god would cause the light of the knowledge of christ to sh●ne in upon them , who at present sit in darknesse and the shadow of death ; and so much for this interpretation . . the more generally received , and indeed most genuine exposition of these words , is by way of inclusion , according to which the sense is , that christ is a propitiation not only for some , but all , even the whole world . . to understand this aright , be pleased to know further , that this phrase the whole world , may be taken either more strictly or largely , according to a double consideration of this propitiation , either in respect of its actual efficacy , or virtual sufficiency . . these words , he is the propitiation may be thus construed , he is actually and effectually the propitiation , yea , inasmuch as it is joyned with his advocateship , it is very probable this is our apostles meaning , since christ is effectually a propitiation to them , for whom he is an advocate ; and if so , this whole world must be construed in the same sense , in which world is used by s. paul , where he saith , the fall of the iewes is the riches of the world , that is , as it followeth in the same verse , the riches of the gentiles ; and again , the casting away of them , the reconciling of the world : so here he is the propitiation , not for our sins only , ( who are iewes ) but for the whole world ; to wit , the gentiles in all parts and ages of the world who beleeve in him ; and it will appear so much the more rationall , by the world here to understand the gentiles ; if we consider that the our here spoken of , most probably refers to the iewes ; for st. iohn who was a iew , would rather have said , your then our , had not they to whom he wrote , bin iews as well as he : & this is further evident by the th ver . where he saith , that they to whom he did write , were such as had heard ( ●o wit what he wrote ) from the beginning , and those were the iews , to whom christ was first sent , and preached . according to this construction , the sense of this scripture will be best explained , by parallelling it with those two texts in the gospel , the one concerning cataphas , of whom the evangelist saith , he prophesied that iesus should dye for that nation , and not for that nation only , but that also he should gather together in one the children of god that were scattered abroad , the other christs own words , in that excellent prayer wherein he saith , neither pray i for these alone , but for them also which shall beleeve on me through their word . thus christ is the propitiation not only for us who are of the iewish nation , and live in this present age , but for them also of the gentiles , who now do , or hereafter to the end of the world , shall beleeve in him . and however the number of them that beleeve , and have christ effectually a propitiation to them , is still but small comparatively , in which respect it may seem strange they should be called the whole world , yet considering that whereas before christ came , the beleevers of the old testament were only to be found in iury , ( some few , very few proseyltes of the gentiles excepted ) now since christs death , the beleevers of the new testament are to be found ( as st. austin speaketh ) among all sorts of persons , in all nations , at some time or other , and so dispersed through the whole world ; as they congruously are called in our creed the catholick church so here by s. iohn , the whole world ; to which purpose is that excellent speech of st. ambrose , the people of god hath its fulness , and there is as it were a particular generality , whilest all men are taken out of all men , and a whole world is chosen and saved out of the whole world . this exposition of these words as it appeareth not to be irrational , so it wants not the consent of many interpreters , not only modern but ancient . the design of st. iohn ( saith calvin ) in these words , is no other then to assert this benefit of propitiation common to the whole church . least he should be thought by saying , our , to restrain christs propitiation only to the jewes , he addeth the whole world , so beza . besides these neotericks , we find this to be st. austins interpretation , speaking occasionally in one of his epistles upon this text , as ( saith he ) the whole world is said to lye in wickednesse because of the tares , so christ is said to be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world , because of the wheat which groweth throughout the whole world . yea , the greek fathers render this very sense of these words ; so oecumenius upon the text it self . this he saith , either because he wrote to the jewes , that he might extend this benefit to the gentiles , or because the promise was not only made to those in that time , but all that shall come after them . so st. cyril comparing this scripture with that of christs in the gospel , i pray not for the world , reconcileth them , by affirming that where st. john saith , the whole world , he meane●h them that should be called of all nations through faith , to righteousnesse and holinesse . that which according to this construction we are to take notice of , is , the largenesse of gods grace to the times of the new , above that to those of the old testament : they who since the coming of christ , partake effectually of his propitiation , are of all sorts and ages of the world ; to which purpose is that acknowledgement which the foure and twenty elders in the revelation make to christ , thou wast slain , and hast redeemed us to god by thy blood , out of every kindred , and tongue , and people , and nation . among other resemblances , christ is compared by the prophet malachy to the sun , and among others for this reason , because like the sun he communicates light , heat , life to all parts of the world , and therefore he saith of himself , i am the light of the world ; and again , i give life to the world . it is well observed that , the first promise of christ , the seed of the woman was not made to abraham the father of the iewes , but to adam the father of the whole wo●ld ; and whereas the iewes call christ the son of abraham , and the son of david , who were iewes , christ usually calleth himself the son of m●n , which taketh in gentiles as well as iewes . in this respect it is well taken notice of , that the place of christs birth , was domus publici juris , not a private house , but an inne , which is open for all passengers , and that not in a chamber , but the stable , which is the commonest place of the inne ; for though every guest hath his chamber private , yet the stable is common to them all ? to mind us , that he who was borne , should be a common saviour to high and low , noble and base , rich and poor : besides , the superscription upon his crosse was written as st. cyril and theophylact observe , not only in hebrew , the language of the iewes , but in greek and latine , the languages of the gentiles ; and the crosse was erected not within the city , but without the gate ; to intimate saith leo , ut crux christi non templi esset ara , sed mundi , that it was not an altar of the temple , but the world : indeed what part of the world is it that christs propitiation reacheth not to ? s. basil putting the question why the world was redeemed by a crosse , maketh this answer , that a crosse hath foure distinct parts , which represent the four parts of the world ; to all which , the efficacy of the crosse reacheth . an embleme of this truth st. cyprian hath found in the four letters of the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is given to christ , which letters are the first of those greek words , which signify the four corners of the world ; and st. austin in christs garment , of which st. iohn saith , the souldiers made four parts , to each souldier a part , which he conceiveth to figure the church , gathered out of the four parts of the world . indeed this was gods promise to his christ , ask of me , and i will give thee the utmost parts of the world for thy possession ; and to his church , i will bring thy seed from the east , and gather thee from the west , i will say to the north , give up , and to the south , keep not back . from this assertion it appeareth that the church is ( in i● self considered ) a great multitude , and especially the christian in comparison of the iewish church . we read of noah , that he blessed his two sonnes , sem and iaphet ; the former a type of the iews , & the latter of the gentiles : now concerning iaphet , he saith , god shall enlarge him , and he shall dwell in the tents of shem , to intimate , saith st. hierome , the enlarged multitude of the gentile beleevers ; and the same father upon these words of the prophet , enlarge the place of thy tent , and let them stretch forth the curtaines of thy habitations , spare not , lengthen thy cords , strengthen thy stakes , saith , hoc intelligitur de ecclesiarum magnitudine , this is to be understood of the greatnesse and multitude of the church , by reason of its spreading over all the world . it is well worthy our observation , that whereas the temple of solomon had onely one gate , the court of the gentiles which compassed the temple had foure , yea , the city of the new jerusalem an embleme of the christian church hath not foure , but twelve gates ; three at every corner , and these never shut , to intimate what a continuall confluence there should be to christ from all parts of the earth . and surely beloved , hoc probè novisse multum prodest , it concerneth us much to meditate on this truth , whereby as the pride of the jews is humbled , so the hope of the gentiles is erected . indeed since it belongs to the whole world , it may well be matter of great joy , and that such a joy as may put us upon thankfulnes for this grace of god which hath appeared to all men , and bringeth salvation . that cloud which was at first but the breadth of a mans hand , hath now covered the face of the heavens ; that contemptible stone cut out of the mountain , hath filled the whole earth . christ is as well a light to lighten us gentiles , as the glory of his people israell ; nor is he a propitiation for the jews onely , but for the whole world of them that beleeve in him . . but further , these words , he is the propitiation , may be construed in respect of the virtue and sufficiency of his propitiation , according to which notion the whole world is to be taken in a more comprehensive construction . to unfold which be pleased to take notice of a double sufficiency , the one intrinsecal , or naturall , arising from the worth and value of the thing , the other extrinsecall , and positive arising from the ordination and institution of god , suitable to which this phrase , the whole world is to be more or lesse extended . . christs propitiation is sufficient as to its natural value ; for the sins of the whole world , comprizing not onely men , but angels . there is ( no doubt ) merit inough in the bloud of christ to pacify god for the sins of the devils as well as men , and the reason is plaine , because the value of christs passion depends primarily on the dignity of the person suffering , so that the person being infinite , the value of his passion must be infinite , and since an infinite merit can have no limitation , we may truly say , he is a propitiation sufficient for the whole world , containing as well spirituall as earthly wickednesses , yea not onely for one , but a thousand worlds , yea as many millions , as we can imagine . nor doth the dissimilitude of the nature which christ took , and in which he suffered to the angelicall hinder , but that his death might in it self be sufficient for angels , if god had so pleased . for what crime of any creature whatsoever can be so haynous , for the expiating of which , the shedding of the bloud of god cannot suffice ? and if christ obtained confirmation for the angels that stand ( as the learned generally acknowledge ) that he is not a propitiation for the angels that f●l is onely from gods pleasure , not any want of dignity and sufficiency in the price which was payed by him . but when the schooles speak of christs dying for all sufficiently , and accordingly some expositours interpret this expiation sufficient for the sins of the whole world , it is as the learned davenant hath excellently observed , & solidly proved another kind of value , to wit , such as ariseth from divine ordination , and thus ( though we must exclude angels , and consider men , onely as viatores , whilest they are in the way since ( as s. bernard truly , ) the blood of christ which was shed on earth goeth not down to hell ) yet ) we are by the whole world to understand omnes & singulos , all and every man that hath been , is , or shall be in the world so that we may truly assert . it was the intention of god giving christ , and christ offering himselfe to lay down such a price as might be sufficient , and so upon gospel termes applicable to all mankind , and every individuall man in the whole world . to unfold this truth aright , i shall briefly present two things to your consideration : . a price may be said to be sufficient , either absolutely , or conditionally ; a price is then absolutely sufficient , when there is nothing more required to the participation of the benefit but onely the payment of the money ; and thus we are not to conceive of gods ordination , that christs death should become an actuall propitiation without any other intervenient act on our part ; he dyed not in this sense for any , much lesse for all ; when therefore we say , god would that chr●st should lay down a pr●ce sufficient , and so applicable to every man , it is to be understood in a conditionall way , upon the termes of faith and repentance . and hence it is , that though christ dying , suffered that punishment which was designed to be satisfactory for the sins of every man , yet god doth justly inflict the punishment upon the persons of all them who are not by faith partakers of christs death , because it was intended to satisfy for them onely upon cond●tion of beleeving . . know further , that though god intend christs propitiation conditionally appl●cable , aequè , as well to every , as any man , yet he did not ex aequo , aequally intend it for every man ; it is one thing to say , he is a propitiation , not for our sins onely , but for the sins of the whole world , and another thing to say , he is a propitiation as fully for the sins of the whole world , as he is for ours . it is observable in scripture , that some places speake of christ laying down his life for his sheep , and giving himselfe for his church , and others of christs dying for all , and tasting death for every one ; in one place , he is called the saviour of the body , and in another , the saviour of the world , nor will it be hard to reconcile these , if we distinguish of a general & a speciall intention in god , that the fruit of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , love to mankind , this of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , good will to some particular persons by the former , he intends christs propitiation applicable to all , by the latter he decreth it to be actually applyed to some , according to this it is that s. ambrose saith , christ suffered generally for all , and yet specially for some , and peter lumbard , christ offered himselfe on the altar of the crosse for all , as to the sufficiency of the price , for the elect onely , as to efficacy , because he ef●ects salvation onely for them that are praedestina●ed . sutably hereunto it is , ●hat divin●s conceive a double covenant to be intimated i● scripture , the one universall , and cond●tionall , the other speciall and absolute , the one made with all , and every man upon these termes , whosoever beleeveth in christ , shall not perish , the other made with christ concerning a seed which he should see upon mak●ng h●s soule an offering for ●in , to whom he promiseth not onely salvation by christ upon condition of beleeving , but the writing his law in their hearts , whereby they are inabled to performe the condition and so infal●●by pertake of that salvation . by all which it appeareth , that notwithstanding gods speciall affection , and d●cr●e of election whereby he hath purposed this propitiation shall be actually conferd upon some , we may t●uly assert , god hath a generall love whereby he hath ordained the death of christ an universall remedy applicable to every man , as a propitiation for his sins , ●f he beleeve and repent . and hence it is , that this propitiation as it it is applicable , so it is annunciable to every man , indeed as god hath not intended , it should be actually applyed , so neither that it should be so much as a●●ually revealed to many men , but yet it is as applicable , so annunci●ble , both by virtue of the generall covenant god hath made with all , and that generall mandate he hath given to his ministers of preaching the gospel to all , so that if any minister could go through all the parts of the world , and in those parts singly from man to man , he might not onely with a conjectural hope ; but with a certain faith , say to him , god hath so loved thee , that he gave his onely son , that if thou beleeve in him , thou shalt not perish , and that this is not barely founded upon the innate sufficiency of christs death , but the ordination of god appeareth in that we cannot , may not say so to any of the fallen angels for whom yet as you have already heard christs death is intrinsecally sufficient . and now what should the meditation of this truth afford us but matter of admiration at the riches of divine love to all mankind , and which rendereth it so much the more wonderfull , that whilest it is conferd on the whole world of men , it is denied to angels . that god should cause his wrath to smoake against those spiritual and noble creatures the angels , and appoint a propitiation , a ransome for such crawling wormes , sinful dust and ashes , as men are , is it not to be admired at ? st. ambrose speaking of these words , the whole earth is full of thy mercy ; puts the question , why is it not said the heaven as well as the earth ? and returneth this answer ; because there are indeed spiritual wickednesses in high places , sed non illae ad commune jus indulgentia dei remissionemque pertinent peccatorum , but the remission of god , and propitiation of christ belongs not to them ; well may we in this consideration take up those words of the psalmist , quoted by the authour to the hebrewes upon this very occasion ; lord , what is man that thou art so mindful of him , and the son of man that thou visitest him . . consolation to all despairing soules , it is an excellent saying of leo , the effusion of christs blood is so rich and availeable , that if the whole multitude of captive sinners would beleeve in their redeemer , not one should be detained in the tyrants chaines . who art thou then that sayest christ dyed not for thee , and will not be a propitiation for thy sins ? when the doore is open by god , why should it be shut by thee ? when god is ready to receive thee , why shouldest thou reject christ and cast away thy self ? view the text well , and tell me if the whole world do not include thee ? surely , omne totum continet suas partes , omnis species sua individua , every species includeth its individuals , every whole its parts ; it is both calvins and gualters note upon the word world , that it is so often repeated , ne aliquem à christi merito exclusum pu●aremus , so gualter , that we should not think any one excepted , ne quis omnino arceri se putet modo ●idei viam teneat ; so calvin , lest any one should think himself excluded , if he walk in the path of beleeving . beleeve it , never any missed of propitiation for want of merit in christ , but of faith in themselves ; why should i give my self over , when my physician doth not ? so long as i am one of the whole world , and my particular sins are not so great as the sins of the whole world , i will not cast away all hopes of propitiation . . caution , that we do not hence presume of a propitiation without application . st. john saith , he is the propitiation for our sins , and for the sins of the whole world ; but we cannot inferre , he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world ; therefore he will be for ours , though we live as we list . alas brethren , you have already heard this propitiation ; as it is universal , so it is conditional ; habet quid●m in se ut omnibus pro sit , sed si non bibitur non medetur ; this cup of salvation hath that in it which can benefit all , but if no drinking of it , no healing by it . if thou dost not beleeve saith st. ambrose , christ did not descend for thee , nor dye for thee , to wit , so as effectually to save thee , and in another place , more aptly to our present purpose ; if any one doth not beleeve , he defraudeth himself of that benefit which is so generall ; indeed , by reason of this condition it falls out , that though christ be a propitiation for the sins of the whole world , yet it is not the whole world , no nor the greater , no nor an equall part of the world , but a third , a fourth part , a remnant , a little flock , partake of this propitiation , and therefore we have a great deal of reason to fear and tremble , lest we miscarry , and have no share in this propitiation , which is so universal . . exhortation , that since christ is a propitiation for the whole world , we labour to make sure our own share in this universal good , it had been little comfort to st. iohn , that he could say christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world ; if he could not have said , he is the propitiation for our sins : that known saying is in this case too often verified ▪ later dolus in universalibus , men deceive themselves whilest they rest in generalities , content not thy self to know that christ hath dyed for the world , but strive to be assured that thou shalt be saved by his death , it will be a sad trouble at that day for thee to think , i had a price in my hand , but i made no use of it , i might have obtained propitiation by christ , but i neglected it , there was a remedy prepared , but i contemned it . and therefore let our great care be to gain an interest in , assurance of this prop●tiation to our own soules , that what it is in it self , it may be to us , and it may be for our sins efficiently , what it is sufficiently not for ours onely , but for the sinnes of the whole world ▪ finis . a table of the materiall truths in this treatise . a. advocate , how affirmed of christ , how of the holy ghost . . how christs advocateship differs from his mediatorship . . he the onely advocate . . wherein it consists . . with whom he is an advocate . . what giveth efficacy to it . , . he is no patron of sin , though advocate for sinners . . he is no advocate for them that continue in sin . . . we must be advocates for christ. afflictions compared to darknesse . , . christians rejoyce in them . . the word of god comforts in them . for sin inflicted even on forgiven persons . . ambition spiritual commendable . . angels . christs death in some sense suffi●ient to redeem the fallen angels . . yet not applicable to them . . anger ; gods how terrible . . sin the cause of it . , . antiquity ; a note of verity . . what kind of antiquity is so . , . apostles ; the meannesse of their outward condition . . their integrity and unblameableness . . christs witnesses . . their continual converse with him . , , . why needfull . , . b. blood of christ how taken in scripture . . how often shed . . how it cleanseth from sin . , . c. children . regenerate persons must be as such . . they must reverence their parents . . christ. why called the word . , , , . the subject of the whole scripture . . how , the life the eternal life . , , his eternal subsistence from the beginning . , . truly man. . god and man in one person . , . how he was visible . . his excellent preaching . . his unspeakable dignity . ● his fitnesse for the work of our redemption . . promised before sent . . our miserable condition without him . , . in what respects said to be righteoue . . the onely refuge of a wounded conscience . . the parable between him and the mercy-seat . . his great love to sinners . . no fellowsh●p with god but through him . . no salvation but through him . . christians , their dignity . . their charity in desiring others may partake with them . , . . what is done to them reflects on christ. . christ to be manifested in their lives . . church , the christian in it self a great multitude . . civility , how differenced from sanctity . , . cleansing from sin twofold . , . the causes of it . . commandments of god , joyned with promises . . how conversant about things impossible . . many think they keep them all . . communion with god and christ , and the saints ; see fellowsh●p . confession threefold . . of sin necessary to remission , and how . , , . it brings glory to god. . benefit to us . . the devil an enemy to it . . it must be particular . , ▪ chiefly of our ouwn sins . . to whom to be made . , . its antecedent , ingredients , consequent . , , . to be performed by the holiest . . conversion maketh an alteration . , . others must be desired by us . . conversation of christians ought to be exemplary . . covenant of grace double , one general ; the other special . . d. darkness fourfold . . death of christ in our stead , for our sins , our dischrge . , . what gave the merit to i● . , . no benefit by it to wicked men . . deceive . man apt to deceive himself . . the more need to wheare of it . , . there are many dece●vers . . despair . antidotes against it , christs blood two . , . his avocateship . , . his propitiation . . especially the undversality of it . . despaire and presumpt on two dangero●us rocks . . e. epistles ; their use . . exordium's ; the properties of them . . excuse men apt to make for their sins . . by transferring the fault on others . . the sins of the godly , no excuse for the wicked . , . f. falls . saints nay fall grossely . . fear of falling , a preservative . . father , when applied to god , how taken . . how god is our father , and how christs . . fathers love to their children . , . faith , the christians spiritual sense . . the means of fellowship with god. . it applieth , but doth not appropriate christ. ▪ no salvation but by faith in christ. , . greatly oppugned by the devil . . it is neither unmannerly nor uncharitable . . the only instrument of pardon . . faithfulness ; gods in performing his promises . , . ground of faith . . mans required in imitation of gods. . fellowship between saints . . with god and christ , wherein it consists . , , . we may have it as well as the apostles . . how with the father . . how with christ. , , . earnestly to be desired . . the difficulty of attaining it . . impossible to men continuing in their sins . . forgiveness of sin , the nature of it . , . why called cleansing . , . gods prerogative . . , . gods faithfulnesse obligeth him to it . , . it is just with god to forgive sin , and how . , . mercy the impulsive cause in respect of us . . it is onely of sin past . . it s universal extent . , . how consistent with afflictions for sin . , . how differ●nt from forbearing . . earnestly to be longed after . . mans required in imitation of gods. , . forsaking sin to be joyned with confession . , . the truest part of repentance . . how far it is required . . g. gentiles as well as jewes , capable of the m●rit of christs death . , . gnosticks , their impurity . . their pretences of purity . . god , all good in him . , . why compared to light . , . how manifesting himself in the incarnation . . no authour of sin . , . gospel , why called the word of life . , . its excellency above the law . . , . accidentally the savour of death . . chiefly promissory . . a doctrine of joy . . its antiquity . , . its doctrines , made by wicked men incouragements to sin . . whereas they are arguments against sin . . though a refuge when we have sinned . . grace ; the difference between sincere and counterfeit grace . , . see holinesse . h. heathen , their condition to be pitied . . hide our sins from god we cannot . . holiness , gods , why compared to light . , . all holinesse from him . . . mans holinesse why resembled by light , and by what light . , . how it fits for fellowship with god. . humility maketh men low-conceited of themselves . . she remainders of sin in us should make us humble . . hypocrites the worst of sinners . . sharply to be reproved . . they are best conceited of themselves . . they say , they have no sin . , . they pretend to fellowship with god , , . the most miserable men . . the contrariety of their conversation to their profession . . i. iesuites ; their arrogancy in assuming that title to themselves . . ignorance compared to darknesse . . affected , damnable . . image of god what it is . . imitation of god required . , . incarnation , why called a manifestation . , . why the second person incarnate . . infidelity , it maketh god a lyar . . infirmities , to be altogether without them the priviledge of heaven , , . . they accompany our best duties . , , . they hinder not fellowship with god. . they ought to be bewayled . . but yet must not too much discourage us . . john his humility . . prudence . . innocency . . his first epistle , the scope of it . , , , . the comprehensiveness of it . , , , . why cvlled cathalick . , , . joy , it is that which all men seek after . . christianity doth not abolish it . . the difference between worldly and spiritual joy . , , . spiritual joy is fixed on god and christ. , , it supports in all afflictions . . judge ; how christ both iudge and advocate . . we must nat judge according to outward shewes . . our owne frailties should make us judge charitably of others . , , . justice of god appeare●h both in forgiving penitents , and punishing of the impenitent . , . justification and sanctification inseparable . . justiciaries , their self-conceit . . . the causes of it . , . k. knowledg not avayleable without practice . , it must be communicated to others . . of god , how to be attained , . of sin , an antecedent to confession . . l. life eternall to be sought after . . how great the joy of it . , . in what respects through christ. . light threefold . . love of god to man threefold . , . lie , wicked men fasten on god . hypocrisie a reall lie . , two things concurre to a lye , . . three sorts of lies . . m. mean things made choyce of to be christs instruments , and why , . . mediatorship onely belonging to christ. . . how different from his advocateship . . . men ranked into two sorts . . metaphors must be familiar . , . ministers must be sent . . they must be assured of the truth of what they deliver . . what they declare to others , must be received from christ. . they must give every one their due . , . their language must be plain . . their aime is to beat down sin , . they must use mildnesse in their instructions . . . fathers to the people , and how . . their great love to the people . , . their care of , and joy in the peoples welfare . , , . they must seek the peoples benefit . , . to be honoured , and reverenced , and obeyed . , , , how far confession to be made to them . . what their power in forgiving . . morality how different from sanctity . . . n. name ; it is prudence sometimes to conceale it . . o. obedience ; the properties of it represented by walking . . omniscency , gods attribute . . originall sin remaining in the best . , . p. papists , we dare vie with them in the point of antiquity . . pardon of sin , see forgivenesse . precepts . see commandements . presumption the grounds of it . . the difference between presumptuous sinners , and weake saints . . christs universall propitiation no just cause of it . . pride spirituall , what should abase it . . profession without practise a lye . . the loose conversation of professors , how great a dishonour to god , religion , and injurie to themselves . , . promises ; their worth . . benefit . , . free , and yet conditional . . punishment of the guiltlesse , how consistent with gods justice . , . of the godly , how consistent with forgiveness . . purposes without performance unavailable . . propitiation . see reconciliation . christ is the propitiation . , , . the severall causes of it . . r. reeconciliation is of god to man , as wel as man to god. , . merited onely by christ. . attributed both to his sacrifice and intercession . god being our father very willing to it , . redemption in what sense universall . , . religion christian continually proposed . . reproofe must be plaine . . gentle . , . with respect to the difference of sinners . . how profitable . resurrection of christ how proved . . s. sacrament of the lords supper , no corporal presence in it . . sacrifices all looked at christ. . saints may fall grssoely . , . salvation , only by christ. , . satisfaction , made by christ to gods justice . , . how consistent with remission . , . scriptures , their fulness , sufficiency . . . they consist of three parts , . the certanty of apostolical writings . , . gods mercy in giving them to us . . . some parts more useful then others . . fulnesse of joy afforded by them , . to be read by the vulgar . , . . senses ; the velid●ty of a testimony from them . . shame , when of confessing sin , bad . sin. to sin how taker in scripture . . it is a wandring . . why called unrighteousnesse . , . it maketh a man a debtor . . it rendreth us filthy in gods sight . . the soules sicknesse . . compared to darknesse . , . the great guilt of it . . the onely makebate . , . god cannot be the authour of it . . all men by nature sinners . . the holiest not without it here . , , , . from grose sins they may be free . . the sins of the godly no excuse for the wicked ▪ , . christ a propitiation for the greatest sins . . sonne how destinct from , and one with the father . , . to be worshipped as the father . . how inferior to the father . . t. testament , the difference between the new and the old. . . our happinesse , who live in the times of the new. , . trinity illustrated by the metaphor of light . . truth three fold . . to do the truth what . . w. walking what it imports . watchfull we ought to be , because prone to sin . ● . wicked men delight in sin . . make it their course . . grow worse and worse . ibid. their miserable estate . , . they cannot have communion with god. . witnesse , how many wayes we beare it to christ. . word of god , a great mercy that it is written . , . the rule of truth . . as it is among us , so it must be in u● . , , a preservative against sin , and accord●ng●● to be made use of . , . words nothing without workes . ● . world made by christ. . how 〈…〉 the whole world . ● ● , ● . writing , the advantage of it . . errata . page . line . read 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 . p. . l. ● . s. we . r. was . p. . l. ● . bl . the , and. r. receive . p. . l. . r. credit . p. . l. . r. e●r●and p. . l. ● r. ●●struse . and l. . r. gospel p. l. . f. their , r. word . p. l . bl the ( . ) and ● are it in l. . after have . p. . l. . marg . f. 〈…〉 de . p. . l. . r. ●oye● . p. l. . r. these . p. . l. . r. here . p. . l. . bl . afterward . p. ● . l. ● . r. hardly . p. . l. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● . r. he before presently . p. . l. . r. here . . r. a before promissory p. . l. . marg . r. ment●mur . p. . l. . bl . the ( : ) p. . in the tit. 〈…〉 . l. . r. case . p. l. . r. it is it . p. . l. . after clause r. 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . after us r. as . p. . l. . after to r· give . l. . r. doubt . p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l. . r. could not be l. . f. sure r. since . p. . l. . aft●r upon r. those words . p. . l. . r. sight p. . l. . r. according . l. . bl . so . l. set the figure . p. . l. . bl . at and. p. . l. . r. scipsi● . p. . l. . r. sense . p. ● . ● . marg . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . after and r. as . p. . l. . f. a r. the p. . l. . after the r. truth . p. . l. ● . for his r. gods. p. . l. ● . bl . the ( , ) after notorious . p. . ● . that r. 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . after su● bl . the ( , ) p. . l. ● . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ p. . l. ● . after sincere bl . ( , ) p. . l. . f. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . f. sua r. su●m . f. 〈…〉 . p. . l. . m. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ p. . l. . transfer the ( . ) from aff●ight to thee . p. l. . f. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. . l. . r. cancelling . p. . l. . bl . ad . . f. sincerity r. severity . . f. hardne●s r. hardeneth . p. . l. . r. as clear glas●e . p. ● . l . after excite bl . the ( , ) p. ▪ l. . r. repentance . p. . l. . r. it is . p. . l. . f. this r. the. p. . marg . r. lap . p. . marg . r. mestrez . p. . marg . d. verum . r. indicat . p . l . bl . ( : ) . r. perverted . p. . l. . r. plead . p. . l. . f. the ( . ) put a ( , ) p. . l. . put a ( , ) ●fter contentions . bl . the ( , ) after solomon . p. . l. . r. carrying in it . p. . l. ▪ after native bl . the ( , ) p. . l. . bl . a. p. l. . r. and. . r. christ. books printed , and are now to be sold by nathanaell web , and william grantham , at the black bear in s. pauls church-yard , neer the little north-door books in quarto . master isaac ambrose , prima , media & ultima , [ first , middle , and last things ] in three treatises , of regeneration , sanctification , and with meditations on life , death , hell , and judgement , in . mr. nathanael hardy , . severall sermons , preached upon solemn occasions , collected into one volume , in . — [ the first ep. general of st. john ] unfolded and applied in . sermons , in . [ history survey'd in a brief epitome : or , a nursery for gentry ] comprised in an intermixed discourse upon historicall , and poetical relations , in . mr. nicolson's full and plain exposition of the church catechisme , in . dr. stoughton's . sermons , being an introduction to the body of divinity , in . dr. john preston [ the golden scepter , with the churches marriage , and the churches carriage ] in three treatises , in . — a position delivered in cambridge , concerning the irresistiblenesse of converting grace , in . mr. thomas cradock [ gospel-liberty ] in the extention & limitation of it , in ▪ mr. john browning , [ concerning publique prayer , and the fasts of the church ] six sermons , or tracts , in . mr. thomas parker [ the visions and prophecies of daniel expounded ] wherein the mistakes of former interpreters are modestly discovered , in . reformatio legum ecclesiasticarum ex authoritate primùm regis henrici inchoata , in . mr. george strode [ the anatomy of mortality , divided into eight heads ( viz. ) . the certainty of death , . meditations on death , . preparations for death , &c. ] in . dr. daniel featly [ the grand sacriledge of the church of rome , in taking away the sacred cup from the laity at the lords table ] in . mr. rich : lewthwat [ vindiciae christi & obex errori arminiano ; a plea for christ ] in three sermons , in . welch common-prayer , with the singing-psalms in . mr. john lawsons [ gleanings and expositions of some of the more difficult places of holy scripture ] in . mr. john cotton [ the way of the churches of christ in n. england ] in . mr. mr. edward thorp [ the new birth , or birth from above ] in . sermons , in . mr. john vicars [ the schismatick sifted , &c. ] in . — [ coleman-street conclave visited , and that grand impostor , the schismaticks cheater in chief , truly and duly discovered ] in . roberti heggi dunelmensis aliquot sacrae paginae loca , lectiones , in . mr. john lewes [ contemplations upon these times , or the parliament explain'd to wales ] in . [ the beacon flaming , with a non obstante against those that plead for liberty of printing , and publishing popish books ] in . [ the ranters reasons resolved to nothing , or the fustification , instead of the justification of the mad crew , &c. ] in . mr. nath. stephens [ a precept for the baptisme of infants , out of the new test. ] in . mr. josiah ricr●ft [ a nosegay of rank-smelling flowers , such as grow in goodwin's garden , &c. ] in . dr. sam. annes●y [ the first dish at the wil●shire feast ] a sermon preached before many worthy citizens of london born in that county , in . [ communion with god ] in two sermons , preached at paul's before the lord major of london , in . mr edmund calamy ( the monster of sinfull self-seeking anatomized ) a sermon preached at pauls before the lord major of london , in . mr. john warren of hatfield-regis in essex [ the potent potter ] a sermon preached at a fast before the parliament , in . — [ the unprofitable servant ] a sermon preached at the assize at chelmsford in essex , in . dr. robert gell , a sermon touching gods government of the world by angels , preacht before the astrologers , in . dr. john wincop [ gods call to weeping and mourning ] a sermon preached at a fast before the parliament , in . mr. george walker : a sermon preached at a fast before the praliament , in . rich. meggot [ the rib restored ] or the honour of marriage . a sermon preached in dionis back-church : occasioned by a wedding the fifth of june . mr. valentine : a sermon preached at a fast before the parliament , in . mr. william good [ jacob raised ] a sermon preached at a fast before the lords in parliament , in . mr. tho. goodwin [ the great interest of states and kingdomes ] a sermon preached before the parliament , in . mr. sam : kem [ the king of kings ] his privy marks for the kingdoms choyce of new members ; a sermon preached upon the choyce of burgesses for the city of bristoll , in . mr. ben : hubbara [ sermo secularis ] or , a sermon to bring to remembrance the dealings of jehovah with this kingdome of england , in . mr. j. p. a sermon preached upon mat. . . wherein is set forth the kings due in part , and the peoples duty , in . mr. ambr. stavely ( index expurgatorius : or , a short examination of the doctrine of purgatory ) a sermon , in . mr. peter sterry ( the clouds in which christ comes ) a sermon preached before the parliament , in . — ( the teaching of christ in the soul ) a sermon preached before the par. in . in octavo large . mr. robert young ( a soveraign antidote against all grief , with the victory of patience ) in . mr. ben. needler ( expository notes , with practical observations upon genesins ) in . octavo small . mr. geo : hopkins ( salvation from sin by jesus ( christ , or the doctrine of sanctification , which is the greater parr of our salvation , founded upon christ , who is both the meritorious and efficient cause of sanctifying grace , purchasing it for working and perfecting it in his people , &c. in . bp . davenant ( an exhortation to brotherly communion betwixt the protestant churches ) in . bp . cooper ( the triumph of a christian ) in . excellent treatises : . jacobs wrestling with god , &c. in . mr. john robotham ( the preciousnesse of christ to believers , &c ) in . ( the bee-hive of the romish church ) a worke of all good catholicks , to be read , and most necessary to be understood , in . testament roman letter , scotch print in . mr. iohn simson ( the perfection of justification against the pharise●s , the purity of sanctification against the stainers of it , the unquestionablenesse of glorification against the sadduces , ) &c. in . mr. hall ( the loathsomnesse of long haire ) a treatise wherein the question is stated , many arguments against it produced : with an appendix against painting , spots , naked breasts , &c. in . — ( vindiciae literarum , the schools guarded ) or , the excellency and usefulnesse of arts , sciences , languages , history , and all sorts of human learning , in subordination to divinity , with an appendix in answer to mr. webster , in . mr. iohn warren of hatfield in essex ( principles of christian practice ) illustrated with questions and scripture-answers , in . mr. daniel evans ( a baptismal catichisme ) shewing unto what person , whether of riper years , or as yet infants , the sacrament of baptisme ought to be administred according to the scriptures , in . twelves large . mr ▪ nich : byfield ( the marrow of the oracles of god , or , divers treatises containing directions about six of the weightiest things can concerne a christian in this life , in . ( the practice of christianity ) or , the epitome of mr. rogers seven treatises , in . mr. thomas iackson ( the true evangelicall temper ) wherein divinity and ecclesiasticall history are interwoven and mixt , &c. in three sermons , in . twelves small . mr. mullard ( celestial soliloquies ) composed of severall divine meditations and prayers , drawn from the holy scriptures , in . francis thin , esq. ( the perfect embassadour ) treating of the antiquity , priviledges , and behaviour of men , belonging to that function ; in . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e chronicon . de vitis , mahum . & successor . in omnibus meis scriptis , non solum pi●m lectorem , sed & liberum correctorem desidero . aug. pro●em . l . de 〈◊〉 . notes for div a -e serm. . junil . in bibl. pat . t. . tim. . . eccles. . . mark . . john . . nemo non & lectu dignam & scitu necessariam hanc epistolam judicare possit maximè hisce temporibus quae haereses & schismata cum magno ecclesiae detrimento invexerunt . fer. proaem . in epist. joh. cap. . . . . sanctus judas totus est in fide orthodoxâ , jacobus in oratione & patientia , petrus in sanctitate , & johannes in charitate fidelibus commendandâ . lap. proaem . in ep. cathol . succendi cor nostrum in igne charitatis quaerimus johannis verba pensemus cujus omne quod loquitur charitatis igne vaporatur . greg. hom. . in ezek. in ipsâ epistolâ satis dulci & satis memorabili maximè charitas commenda●ur . aug. expos. in hanc epist. matth. . , . id . ibid. pro. . . hieron . epistol . ad paulin. mediam tenet in septem quasi honoratiorem catholicis locum . lor. in loc . ausim ipse dicere nullam hac epistola magis theologicam . id . ibid. videtur apostolus du●bus hisce verbis dupraecipua christianae religio●is capita indica●e voluisse &c. 〈◊〉 . in 〈◊〉 . joh. epi●● . . chap. . , . . , . . , & . . , . . . chap. . . . , & . chap. . . . . . chap. . . . , . . , . chap. . . . . . . . . . . . . chap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . chap. . , . . ▪ . , . . , . chap. . , . . , . . , . . . . . ▪ . . , . . . . fer. proaem . tertul. adver . hermog . cap. . chap. . , . rev. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nomen compositum ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gratia pass . lex . dr. ham. matth. . . aug. de doctr . christ. l. . c. ▪ euseb. eccles. hist. l . c. . eph. . . luke . . math. . . . . gal. . . luke . . joh. . . . . . aug. in . joh. tr . . joannes cum caput suum supra pectus jesu domini reclinaret , hauriebat profunda ▪ secreta sapientiae . ambros. in ps. . octo● . . joannes et apostolus et evangelista et propheta &c. hier. contr . jovin . l. . math. . . pet. . greg. l. . ep . epistolarum eiusmodi usus est ut disjuncti locorum intervallis affectu adhaerea● mus in quibus inter absentes imago refulget praesentiae &c ambros. l. . ep . . lorin in epist. pulchra est piorum veter●m observatio , quod in novo d●mum testam●nto in quo deus familiariter per filium suum n●bis locu●us est mysteria regni caelestis per epist●lus cons●ribi coeperint cum epist●la nihil aliud sit quam familiare cum amico colloquium . gerard. in epist. petr . . hos. . . par. in jac. pro . . rev. . . , . math. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. oecumen . in epist , cathol . serrar prolog in ep. cath. aug. in ep. jun. in bellarm. l. . de . verb. dei . c. . joseph . antiq. l. . c. . . aug. in ep. non ut aliis quippian adimat sed has illis adjungerent . jun. in jud. epist. hoc nomen hic impositum est epistolis quod a diversis authoribus sine conscripta et commune eis nomen tribuendum . carthus . proaem in epist. call. ideo videtur dici 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod non certis per●sonis dedicetur , sed ad omnem aetatem et sexum pertineat art. in loc . notes for div a -e serm. . lapid . in loc . aug. ibid. exordia ex ipsis causae viscerebus sumenda cic. de orat . l. . munus exordii est comparare benevolentiam , si causa sit invidiosa & dubia , attentionem ▪ si causa videatur levis , & parvi momenti ; docilitatem , si difficultas aut prolixitas offendat alsted . orat in encyclop . exordium sine exordio nullis prorsus ambagibus auditorem suspendens fer. in loc . iustin in loc . occum . in loc . gen. . pluralis nominativus primae ▪ personae non semper magnitudinis sed saepe modestiae habet significationem ●●bi nostra decora cum aliis partimur . grot. in loc . v. . ioh. , . acts . . ioh. . . v. . jo. . . . . hoc se protestari dicit sim●l scilicet et exequens officium fidei & ingerens terrorem incredulitati &c. cass. de incarn . l. . c. . sacerdotis praedicatio salvandis est correctio , contestatio judicandis &c. ambros. serm. . v. , . cum displiceret testimonium &c aug ep . . jer. . . ps. . . act. . . pro. . . bez. in loc . rom. . . heb. . . greg. naz. orat . . act. . . v. . modi praedicandi evangelium omni creaturae sunt duo &c. iun. animadv . in bell. l. . c. . ps. . . psa. . . scripserunt apostoli ut no● solum hominibus qui tunc erant sed omnibus qui f●turi erant , ipsi non solum vivi sed etiam mortui evangelium annuntiarunt maldon●t praefat in evang . iude . theoph. in matth. coster . enchirid . bellarm. de verb. dei . l. . c. . duodecies ioanni mandatum ut scrihat in libro apocalypseos . iun. animadv . in bel. l. . c ▪ . tim. . . sufficiebat gen●rale mandatum ut docerent ▪ praedicarent , etiam ut traderent nam illa omnia fiunt duobus modis vel vivá voce vel scripto . cham. de can . l. . c. . quicquid ille de suis d●ctis & factis nos legere voluit hoc scribendū illis tanquam suis manibus imperavit . gen. . a●g . de consens evang. part . . l. c. . bifariam potest exponi vel de christo , vel de evangelio calu. in lo● . vera evangelii doctrina grot. ibid. videtur omnino intelligere evangelium vorst . ibid. phil. . , . act. . , . ▪ ▪ . eph. . tit. . . iam. . . ioh. . . cum beatitudo sit perfectum bonum & sufficiens oportet quod desiderium hominis quietet & omne malū excludat naturaliter autem homo desiderat retinere bonum quod habet . aquin. prim . . quest . . artic . tim. . , . daven in ●oloss . tim. . . ioh. . . vide rive● . isag. scriptur . non patriarchis non prophetis &c. grot. in loc . eph. . . col. . . primariò sanctis apostolis , secundariò aliis sanctis ▪ immediatè apostolis , mediatè deiservis . davon . in coloss . act. . . thes. . . notes for div a -e serm. . vt rei certam scientiam declararet hiscae metaphoris videndi , & contractandi oculis ipsis & manubus usus est socin . in apoc . non animadvertunt hoc a ioanne socili . ut teste &c. est. ibid. ioh. . ● . . . . . dr. hammond . annot. in luc. c. . isa. . . ps. ▪ ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c cyr. thes an●t . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & sermonem & rationem significaet . lact . instituti l. . c. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . bas. hom . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. ignat ep . ▪ ad magn . verbum h●eres est non ●●nus &c. hila● . l. de t●init 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . de 〈◊〉 vide bas loc . praedict . mens cogit ando verbum intra se generat & sic generat verbum de se ●t genitum habeat apud se sic verbum divinum in ipso patre manet a quo gignitur . fulg. ad m●●rim l. . c ▪ . vide aug. de trinit . l c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ cyr. thes. assert . . bas. chrysost. aug. cum aliis . a●g . quaest ▪ . . apoc. . ioh. . , . aug. de trn. l. . c. . vide damasc . de orthod . fide ▪ l. . c. . & cyr. catech. filius dicitur verbum quia agnitionem patris facit iren. l. . c. . quia per ipsum innotescit pater aug. de fid ▪ & symb . c. . heb. . . cor. . . slat ▪ in corinth . cor. . ● . apoc. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 epiph 〈◊〉 ● h●b . . ● . mat. . . heb. . . ioh. . . luc. . . ioh. . . mat. . . ioh. . . christus velatus in veteri , revelatus in novo , in isto praedictus , in illo praedicatus . b●ys . conc . lati . in post . act. . luk. . . act . ● . luk. ▪ ● , . genitivus loco epitheti capitur . calv. in loc . gen. . part. . vera vita per se subsistens & autor vitae . iustin. persectissimè vitae rationem habet & spiritualem coelestē aeternāque vitā tribuit . serrar . ibid. rom. . . rev. . . heb. . . ioh. . . col. . . vitam largitur dum omnia fovet & conservat . iustin. ioh. . . ioh. . . daven . in coloss . luc. . . rom. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . eph. . , . . ioh. . . ioh. . . pet. . , . ioh ▪ . . pet. . . notes for div a -e serm. . ezek . . apoc. . . iren adv . haeres . l. . c. . dum in ipsâ divinitatis substantiâ intendit , quasi more aquilae oculos in solem fixit . greg. in ezek. l. . hom . . assumptis pennis aquilae & ad altiora festinans de verbo dei disputat . hier. in matth. praefat . ioh. . . ps. . vide theod. ibid. quando divinitas intra se describitur , nomen patris sumitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , quando autem fit collatio divinitatis adcreaturas nomen patris sumitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & complectitur omnes personas . gerard. l. . de . deo patre . ioh. . . vide fulgent . ad monim . l. . ioh. . . phil. . . ioh. . . qui ab aeterno latuit absconditus in sin● patris . t●●in . in loc . ve●ôum absconditū esse insinuat cum subjungit & verbū erat apud deum . greg. mor. l. . c. ● ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 declarat hypostaceos distinctionem bez. in loc . subsistens apud aliā subsistentē serrar . ibid. quod erat apud deū non commixtione confunditur , sed manentis verbi apud patrem folidâ perfectione distinguitur ut sabellius annotat . ambros. de fid . l. . c ▪ . qui est apud alium distinguitur ab illo quia nihil est apud se. paul. palat . in ioh. quod erat apud deum sempiternae divinitatis in patre & filio inseparabilis u●itas edocetur ut erubescat . eudoxi us & eunomius . ambros. de fid . l c. . an te omnia deus erat solus ipse sibi , solus autem , quia nihil aliud extrinsecùs praeter illum , caeterum ne tum quidem solus ▪ habebat enim secum quam habebat in semetipso rationem suam . tertul contr . prox . c. . prov. . , . ioh. . . si antequam mundus esset gloriā habuit apud deum & claritatē tenuit apud patrē ante mundū fuit , nec enim habuisset gloriā nisi ipse prius fuisset qui gloriā posset tenere . tertul. de trinit . lib. cap. . erat , significat aliquid fuisse , & non esse adhuc determinatū , nec desinisse sed adhuc manere . aquin. in ioh. evang. ioh. ● . ● . eph. . . facit haec ad demonstrandam fidei nostrae dignitatē . gualt . in epist. ier. . . io● . . . ambros. de fid . l. . c. . rev. . ● . intelligens illā exhibitionē promissi messiae per incarnationem factā . illyr . in loc . per incaernationē se● mundo manifestavit . tirin . ib. tim. . . . . ioh. . , . tacitae objectioni occurrit , &c. illyr . in loc . manifestata est ipsae vitae in carne &c. aug. ibid. particula 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juxta hebraicam phrasin accipitur . zanch. ib. vide damase . de orthod . fid . l. c. . chap. ● . licet tota trinitas in hujus formae assumptionem , operata sit tamen , neque sp . sanctus sed solus filius eam sibi junxit tho. aquin. pars . tertia q. art . . vide lomb. sent . . dist . . li●● . . aug. in . l. de dogm . eccles. c. . athanas de incarnat ▪ verbi . vide athanas. de salutari . adventu . christ. vide dyonis . ep . . ad cajum . naz. orat . . rom. . . non pater in rubo , non pater in eremo , sed filius moysi loc●tus est . ambr. de fid . l. . c. . hilar. de t●in . l. . iren l. . c. . ioh. . . tim. . . phil. . , . exod. . . cor. . . coelesti lumine perfusi christū venturum expectabant , & videre exoptabant , quem illi futurum praestolantur , apostuli praesentem conspexerunt iren. l. . c. . athanas. de incarnat . rom. . . cant. . . ambr. de virg. l. . phil. . . zanch. notes for div a -e serm. . ps. . . part. . cor. . . auribus audiere , oculis videre salutem , tractavere manu corpus de morte receptum . tertul contr . marc. l. c. . prius audierint , quia dominus resurrexit , postea vero oculis in spexerunt , & contractarunt pedes & manus & latus ejus . didym . ioh. ● . . luc. . ●er . in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oecumen . hug. lyr. pet. . , . v. . mat. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc in loco non significat , ex aliorum narratione aliquid accipere , sed suis auribus aliquid audire bez. in loc . audivimus non ab aliis sed ipsomet filio dei , ●ustin . ibid aug de serm . dom. in mat. vide lor. did. in loc . vide lorin : lyrar : in loc . ioh ▪ : lorni . ibid. chrysost. in ps. . efficax locutio non enim satis fuit , dicere vidimus sed addit oculis nostris . grot ▪ ibid. zanch. in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spec tare plus quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 videre zanc. ioh. . . didym . in loc . multa videmus oculis quae revocata ad judicium animi secus essent . aret ibid. sollicitam & sagacem inspectionem indicat . iustinian . ib. act. . . act. . . grot. in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oecumen . ipsa gradatio crescentium verborum valdè facit ad certitudinem . illyr . pluris est unus oculatus testis , quam auriti de cem . plaut . trucul ipse & auditus & visus & ne phantasma crederetur , tractatus . tert. adv . prax . c. . vide aristot. de an. l. . text . eos piè ad robur fidei invitabat ad tactū sim. de cass. l. . luc. . . tertium sensum adjicit tactum nam is quoque intervenit tum alibi tum in panibus multiplicatis & lazaro . grot. ibid. verbum caro factum sic sermonem vitae videre possint . aug. in ep . verbum dei quod per se invisibile , vident apostoli , tractāt &c. hier. in amos. filius dei in suâ naturâ invisibilis in nostra naturâ visibilis factus est &c. cypr. de bapt . vide zanch. iustin. bez. in loc . necessarium fuit ut apostoli eo tactu , visu , crederent quippe qui ad posteritatem certitudinem suae fidei erant transmissuri paul. pal . in ioh. cum displiceret ipsum testimonium passi sunt omnia quae pas si martyres &c. aug. in ep : quod videt aliquis potest nuntiare alteri &c. didym . ib. act. . . . . vide quintil. l. . c. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 graeci indubitata & necessaria signa vocant . bez. aug. de haeres . luc. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. oecumen . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 naz. orat . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ plat. in trin. ioh. . . . . . phil. . . vide grot. de verit . christ. relig. l. . cor. . fálsa utique testatio si oculorum & aurium & manuum sensus natura mentitur . tertul. de anim. c. . luc . , , . cor. . . . gal ▪ . . cor. . . iob . . mat. ● . . notes for div a -e serm. . tim. . . part. . verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propriè ad deū pertinet . bez. exod. . . ioh. . . propter murabilitatem temporum in quibus versatur ▪ nostra mortalitas , non mendaciter dicimus & fuit & erit , & est &c. aug. in ioh. tr . . heb. . . aeternitas est pritcipium sine principio . lap. in loc . confer . mat. . . cum v. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oecumen . in principio sic dictum , ac si diceretur ante omnia . aug. de trinit . l. . c. . non sicut in principio fecit deus coel●m & terram ita in principio fecit verbum , sed in principio erat verbum . aug. ep . . coepit esse caro ex virgene mariâ sed non tunc caepit verbum , &c. aug. in ep . vide athanas. synops. theoph. & oecumen . in loc . videtur omnino designari tempus illud quo primùm caepit evangelium praedicari vorst . in loc . a condito orbe in ecclesiâ semper praedicata &c. zanch. rom. . . luc. . . rev. . . . . tit. . . vide est. ibid. vincent . lyr. adv . h●r . c . , . cl. al str●m . l. . in fine . ier. . . tim. . , . vincent . lyr. l. d. iude . mos iste semper in ecclesiâ viguit ut quo quisque foret religiosior eo promptiùs novellis adinventionibus contrairet . vinc. lyr. adv . haer . c. . quod primum illud verum quod posterius falsum . tertul. aug. de bapt . parvul . mat. . . pa●t . . part. . vna cum illis fieri ecclesia . zanch. vt participos sitis sicut & nos . gagn. vt societatem cum apostolis habeamus & eorundem b●norum particip●s simus marlor . communicatione in eâdem fide religione ecclesiâ menoch . iosh. . . eph ▪ . . heb. . , . ioh. . . rev. . . gal. . . . pet. . . cor. . . . quae nos apostoli hactenus soli hahuimus en nunc per evangelium etiam vobis annuntiantur & communicantur &c. fer. in loc . illi viderunt & nos non videmus & tamen socii sumus quia fidem communem tenemus . aug in ep . mat. . . ioh. . . magnarum vigor est mentiū●r edere quae corporeo non videntur intuitu &c. leo de ascens . serm. . pet. . . non tantum ut noritis haec esse vera , sed ut & vos non minus quam nos fructum inde participetis . grot ibid. quod apostoli predicandi quaesierint , fer. gal. . . tim. . . vide gualt . cal. in loc . num. . . act● , . ioh : : : : . parum est si tu sis faelix nisi alter sit in faelix vide aret. in . loc . prov ▪ . ▪ . notes for div a -e serm. . psa. . . cant. . , . tim. . . iam. . . pet. . . in exordio hujus epistolae ioannes tria haec nobis inculcare voluit quod nihil majus aut excellentius personâ christi nihil certius quam evangelium nostrum , nihil denique beatius christiano homine . fer. in loc . explicat quam nobilis sit ecclesiae societas zanch. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ipsius gratiam & favorem haebere & amicitiâ dignum reputari , & in faedere esse . fer ▪ in loc . rom. . . eph. . . luc. . fit haec societas cum deo per similitudinem . serrar . pet. . . h●b . . ● . assotiatio cum deo , trin. eph. . . r●v . . . ioh. . . ioh. . . pet. . . eph. . . est societas domini cum servis , patris cum filiis &c. serrar . num. . . iames . col. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . non ait patrē nostrum , aliter ergo meum , aliter vestrum , naturâ meum , gratiâ vestrum . aug. ibid. quicquid habet christus habent illi qui cum eo sunt in societate donatitio iure . na●gorg . in . loc . rom. . . psa. . . hier ep . . cor. . . rev. . . pet. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. . , , col ▪ . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . phil. . . eph. . . . . rom. . . cor. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. ioh . . gen . , scala pa●adisi fracta in adamo reparata est in christo bonav . factis ad offensum scala beata patrem ger. in genes . tit. . . rom. . . ioh. . . ambros. de sp. s. l. . c. . cor. . . phil. . . joh. . . vide justinian . in ep. cath. matth. . . act. . . non tam ▪ vos quam christum in vobis perse . quuntur : salv. de provid li. . c. . est● . . ● . m●● . . . zech. . . cor. . . jos. . . habeatis , i. e : habere pergatis & in eâ proficiatis , loquitur enim fidelibus qui jam habebant hanc societatem lapidan loc . joh. . . eccles. . . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. gen. . job . . psal. . . . psal. · . scopus evangelii ut omnes una conjuncti in christo , per fidem filii dei simus . b●z . fides clavis est & aditum praebet ad hanc communionem naogorg . notes for div a -e serm. . joh. . . . imbibisse mihi videtur plerasque formulas johannes quibus utebatur christus . lorin . si gaudeam de rebus s●culi , &c. vide orig. hom. . in num. plenum gaudium cujus interiora sunt pacata . na●gorg . sen. ep . . guadulup . in luc. prov. . . sen. de consol . ad polyb . c. . p● . . . luc. . . ps. . pro. . . laetitia saeculi cum magnâ expectatione speratur ut veniat & non potest teneri cum venit . aug. tract . . in ioh. quae major voluptas ▪ quam fastidium ipsius voluptatis . tertul. de spectac . c. . vide gregor . hom. . in evang . et greg. nyss. orat . de mort. vide goclen . de risu . vide bern. serm . de fallac . praesent . vitae . et bas. hom . de deo gratiis semper agendis . heb. . . neh. . . solatium quia recreat , fortissimum quia roborat . cl. al strom . l. . eccles. . . aug. serm . . de verbis dom. ps. . . quid quaeris ext●a illum ? quid desideras praeter illum ? quid placet c●m illo ? bern serm de miser . hum . quisquis verò percipit quid valeat illa cum deo societas h●c unâ abundè contentus . calv. in loc . posito effecto pro causâ significat ipsam be atitudinem . illyr , in l●c . per nomen gaudii pleni significat id quod in re atque pat●● pe●ficitur . lorin . ibid. ps. . aristot eth. l. . c. . rom. . . mat. . . pet. . . ioh. . . nolo tibi unquam de esse laetitiam . sen. ep . . ● thess. . . vide aug. conf . l. . c. . gal. . ps. . . . vide ambros. in ps. . vide bern. serm . . chrysost ▪ hom . in e●trep . ambros. de offic . l. . c. . rom. . . mic. . . vide cyr. al. ibid. vide bellarm. de verb. dei. l . c. . laicis lectionem scripturae permittere est sanctum dare canibus & margaritas ante p●rcos projicere . hos. de verb. dei. psal. . olim mihi tullius dulcescebat blandiebantur carmina poetarum . &c. petri dam ser. de christi natal . ier. . . ede scripturarum coelestium cibos & ede ut permaneant tibi in vitam aeternam , &c. ambros. in psal. . habeant sibi caeteri si velint suas opes gemmâ bibant . serico niteant , &c. hieron . ep. . non excedat tibi lex de ore cordis tui , volve , revolve , versa reversa , ac tunc intelliges quid sapiat manna , &c. drog . host. de sacram . dom. pass . l. . vide ambros. l●d . petr. sim. tilet . vid. rivet . isag. p. . is. . . hier. pr●cop . ibid. oecumen . in loc . gaudium doctorum fit plenum cum multos ad sanctae ecclesiae societatem perducunt . bed. ibid. senec. ep . . cum gaudere in hoc omnes fratres oportet tum iu gaudio communi , major est episcopi portio . cypr. ●p . . ad joh. ep. . v. . . v. . ep. . v. . phil. . . thes. . . . . . euseb vercell . episcop . luc. . . v. . greg hom . . in evang. jo. ▪ . . . jer. . . chrysost. ad pop . antioch . hom . . phil. . . notes for div a -e serm. . plut. de . lib. educ . v. . ch. . . jam incipit rem ipsam attingere suaeque doctrinae materiam p●op●nit . lo●in . in loc . vide gualt . lorin . in loc . vide bez. grot. socin . in loc . joh . non secus ac si ingens nobis bonum joannes promitteret de deo enuntiat ipsum omni modo lumen esse , &c. velasq . in philip . c. . v. . annot. ● , mor. gen. . ● . tim. . . eph. . . acts . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. ammon , pet. . . psal. ▪ ● . pet. . . vide calv. grot in loc . v. . socin in loc . acts . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cor. . . . . ideo reverenter atque inviolabiliter debetis retinere quod mihi dominus tradidit & ego vobis . ans. in cor. jo. . . nihil in illis videbis quod aliquâ praerogativâ dignum censeas . gualt in loc . cor. . . rom. . . is. . . cor. . . aug in ep . nihil luce notius simul & ignotius . lor. in loc . rom. . . ps. . . dyonis de divin . nomin . c. . damasc. de fid . l. . c. . gen. . . psa. . . tim. . . ps , . . heb. . . ps. . . dan. . . ier. . . job . , . ambros. offic . l. . c. . mal. . . vide gr. naz. orat . . is. . . . vide zanc. in loc . ps. . . vide oecumen . in loc lorin . in ps. is. . . ps. . . . vid. bez. marlor . lorin . in loc . deut. . . ps. . . . . nec ignorantia nec nequitia in deo. dydim . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . europ . vide carthus . in loc . aquin. in . tim. . . iam. . . vide zanch ▪ in loc . is. . . deus non est author eorum quorum est u●tor fulg. l. . ad monim . c. . vide damasc. de orthod . fide l. . c. . aquin ▪ part . . q. . art . . aug. ad art . fals . imposit . resp . . , . bas. orat . deus non est autor mali . jam. . . chap. . . notes for div a -e serm. . tim. . . tit. . . qui timidè rogat , docet negare . t●tt . . iud. v. , . emenda●e vitia , & ego emendabo verba . aug. ingratum si dixeris , omnia , dixeris . prov. . . rev. . . mat. . . . rev. . . mat. . . vide oecumen . in loc . deut. . sam. . cor. . . gen. first . gen. . . iob . . luc. . . eph. . . ps. . . iob . . is. . . mat. . . p●t . . . iude . col. . . eph. . . rom. . , . in tenebris ambulare est versari in ignorantiâ & peccato lor. in loc . vide oecumen . ibid. thes. . . prov. . . iob . , , , , cl. al. strom . l. . nox & amor vinumque nihil moderabile suadent . ovid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dyonis . de caelest . hier. prov. . . aristot ▪ eth. p●ov . ▪ ● . lam . . rom . . isa. . . noli cadere in peccatum & non tibi occidet hic sol si tu feceris casum tibi faciet occasum . aug tract . . in ioh. mat. . . ambulandi verbum latè patet & accipitur pro vitae ratione . lor. in loc . ambulandi verbum indicat de flendam delectationem . id . ibid. prov. . , . prov. . . iob. . ● . eph. . . is. . . ambulare i. e. de malo in pejus proficere aquin. jer. . . . ambula●e est ulterius tendere & peccato peccatis cumulare serrar . tim. . . quis peccandi finem sibi posuit horat. epiph. adu . har . i. . t. . aug. de haeres . ad qu●d ult de● . l●m ▪ . . psal. . ▪ psal. . isay . . notes for div a -e serm. . arbitror imo certus sum &c. salv. de gub. dei l. · deut. . . is. . , . is. . , . mat . . . rerel . . tim. . . tit. . cypr. ep . p●o , . . prol. . mentimur ecce peccatum commissionis non facimus veritatē ecce peccatum omissionis aquīn in l●c . mentimur refertur ad professionem non facere veritatem ad mores . a●et . ibid. rectè praesentis temporit ve●bum p●nitur l●r ibid. act. . . pro. . . . . m●● . . . is. . ps. . . cor. . . eph , . vide aug. l. de mendac . c . voluntas fallendi pertinet ad perfectionem mendacij &c. regn. de mend . p●t . . . joh. . . veritas in essendo , cognoscendo , significando , facere veritatē est operari secundum legem justitiae rectitudinis & honestatis . tolet in joh. vide cyr. alex. in joh c. . ezek. . . facere veritatem nihil aliud est quam sincerê agere vorst in loc . is. . . non solum in falsis verbis sed in simulatis operibus mendacium est christi anum sedicere & opera christi non faceremendacium est . ambr. serm. de abrah . non facimus veritatem , ● e. facto non probamus verum esse quod verbo aut cogitatione loquimur est in loc . hos. . . ier. . . hos . . triplex mendacium , iocosum , officiosum , perniciosum . rom. , . ita agimus ac vivimus ut hoc ipsum quod christianus populus esse dicimur opprobrium christi esse videatur . salv. de gub. dei l. . mendaces non fert qui est aeterna veritas . gualti in loc , ps. . . math. . . est vera de mentia non cogitare non scire quod mencacia non diu fallant cypr ep . . math. . . notes for div a -e serm. . tim. . . vid. est. lap. ibid. cor. . . rom. . . pa●t . . rom. . . math. . . rom. . . eph. . . vide zanch ibid philip. . . collo . · . vide davē ibid. pro. . ps. . . ephes. . ● . james ▪ . joh. . vide cyr. al. ibid. pet. . ps. . mal. . ps. . . hanc sollicitudinē non facit nisi spiritus sanctus qui nec minimam paleam intra cordis quod possidet habitaculum patitur residere . bern serm . . de sp . s. ps. . . luk. . . tit. . . tim. . . isa. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in kal significat & didicit & assuescit . ambulare brevit●r dico proficese . aug. serm. . de verb. apost . prov. , . h●mo in luce ambulat qui in virtutum operibus proficit . aquin. cor. ▪ . acts . . joh. . . luke . . matth. . . ezek. . . isay. . . cor. . . luke . . psal. . . cor. . . part. , lux non est pr●priè in luce carthus . in luce i. e. versatur in purissimis actionibus . grot. in loc . psal. . . rom. . . vide carthus serrar in loc . cor. . . tim. . . exod. . . mat. . . levit. ● . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hebr. . . qui ad ejus similitudinem aspirat . marlorat . in loc . quomodo pros●cis qui jam tibi sufficis ambros phil. . . matth. . . vide alex ▪ alens theol. summ . part . . q. . gen . . . virg. eclog. luke . . mat. . . ph●●ip . . . adhuc in pede vel ascens● scalae positus in te deficiens & altitudinem ejus prospiciens debes sursum manus extendere ad dominum qui est innixus supremae parti scalae , &c. zu●ph l de spir . ascens . cant. . . notes for div a -e serm. . duae sunt viae una aequitatis altera iniquitatis , &c. ambros. in ps. . litera pithagorae discrimine secta bicorni , &c. mat. . , . cresol . de virtut . part prima . c. . vide gr●● . d. hamm●nd i● l●c . vide bez. calv. se●rar . rom. . . stob. in ecl●g . phys. p. . jam. . . aristot. eth. acts . . pet. . . vid bez grot . ibid. cal● in loc . omnipotenti medico nullum vulnus in sana bile , aug. in ps. . vide bern serm . . de nat dom . et . de parv . et in cant. cor. . . tit. ● . . pet. . . isa. . . cor. . ▪ jam. . . p●●l . . ▪ . ier. . . ezek. . . revel . . ezek. ● . est metaphora deducta ab aquâ quâ quemadmodum abluuntur sor●des corporis ita ●anguine hoc est sacrificio christi tolluntur peccata n●stra . lubbert . adv. socin . de serv. l. . c. . heb● . . . v. . v. . cor . . mat. . . vid. bern. de pass dom . cap. . &c. colos. . . gutta sanguinis modica propter unionem ad verbum pro redemptione totius humani generis satis fecisset . extrav . commun . l. . tit . . c. . clem . hebr. . . . . ioh. . . . pet. . ● . colos. . . . mat. . . . 〈◊〉 . . . gal. . . eph. . . tit. . heb. . . socin . in loc . eph. ●● . . io. . . p●t ▪ ● . ● . vide s●erae i●inerar in ps . super ●e●bum . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 isay. . . joh. . ▪ pet. . . io. . . rom . . cor. . . m●●th . . . . . cor. . . col ▪ . isai. . . rom. . . cor. . . cor. . ult . genes . . . gal. . . heb. ● . socin . in loc . eph. . col. ▪ . vide socin de servat●re . vide grot . de satisfact . christi c. . ad finem . vide est in loc . io. . . pet. . . aug de trinit . l. . c. . leo ep. ▪ dames● de fide . l. . c. . cyr. de rectan fide ad reg. socin . de 〈◊〉 cor . . act. . . peccati inma●nitas christi charitas justin in loc . vide gualt : hom . in ep . bern de nat . dom . serm . gal. . . rev●l . . . io. . . bern. de pass dom c. . rev . . vide oecumen . aguust in loc . z●ch . . . dicitur christus emundare ab omni peccato quia nullum est tam immane sacinus quod christi sangnine non potest el●i . justin. in loc . cor. . . . . tim. . . act. . . ps. . . jo. . . math . ma●k . math. . . et maxime apud johannem causaliter usurpatur . l●r . in loc . ezek. . . . zonch . ibid. calv. ibid. notes for div a -e serm. . exod . . ignis in rubo symbolum est sapientiae quae consistit in ●ognitione d●i & nostri lap . in exod. vide gualt . in loc . gen. . part . gal . . p● ▪ . . rom. ▪ . ps. . . si enim peccatores spe●ne●et omnes utique sperneret quia sine pecca to nemo est hilar. in ps. soc. in loc . vorst . in loc . grot. in loc . praeteritum pro praesenti . ambr. de abr. l. . c. . non dicit joannes si pec at●●n non habuerimus sed habemus . &c. aug. de perfect . justitiae . io● . . . . . in quantum à deo nati sumus non peccamus . &c aug in ep. quis sine aliquo peccato sine aliquo vitio cum clamet qui s●pra pectus domini recubuit &c. aug ep . ad hieron . kings . . aug. contr . pelag . epist. ad bonifa● . bez. in loc zanch. in loc mark . . joh. . . exceptâ sanctâ virgine de quâ propter h●norem d●mini nullam pro●sus quam de peccatis agitur habere volo quae st●onem &c. aug de nat & grat. excepto 〈◊〉 mediatore dei & hominum . &c. id. de pers . j●st . luc. . . cl. al padag . l. ● . c. ult . bas. hom . de poenit . tertul. de orat . c. . hieron . adv . pelag. alex. al. pars . quaest . . art . . math. . . jam. . . aug. de peccat . merit . et remiss l. . id. de perfect . j●stit . eph. . . chemnit . exam . concil . trident aug. de peccato● mer. & ●emiss . l. ● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gr. naz. hom . jact patr . hier. adv . pelag . dial . l. . id. ad chesiph . adv . pelag . ro● . . . a●g . de nat . & grat , l. . c. . id. in ep . ad . gal. h●c inter peccatum distat & crimen quod omne crimen peccatum &c. greg. mor. l. . c . absque vitio quod graece dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hominem esse posse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e sine peccato esse neminem . hier. adv . pelag dial . l . phil. . . l●c. . . aliud est esse sine peccato ▪ aliud esse sine querelâ . &c. aug. de perfect . j●st . id. in joh. tr . . alex al. p. . quaest . . art . . ex 〈◊〉 partibus p●t●st esse ex omni non nisi in resurrecti●ne ca●nis . aug. exp●s . in ep . ad ga● no●anter dicit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pr●p●i● ergo loquitur de peccato ut ita dicam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habituali & pe●petu 〈◊〉 inhaerente . ger. loc . com . de peccato . ma● . . . per conditionem communis nobis originis &c. hilar. ibid. sine culpà in mundo esse non potest qui in mun dum cum culpa veni● . greg. hom . in evang. . co● . . pr●●ecto qui de die in diem re novatur ad huc no●dum t●tus est renovatus &c. aug. de peccat . mer. & . remiss . l. . c. . bern. in . ps . qui hab . serm. . id. de advent . serm. . dom. rom. . . . ch●pters . is. . . greg. mor. l. . c. . quis inveniatur ita immunis à culpâ ut in eo non ha bea● vel justitia quod culpet , vel misericordia quod remi●tat . leo epiph . serm. . king. . . james . . . cypr. de orat . dom . tertull. de pud●cit . ambros. de apolog. david . cypr. l. d. p. ● . . . aug. confess . l. . c. . leo de quad● ages . serm. . ioh. . ● . bern serm. de coenâ dom● . cor. . . ps. . ● . exod. . . ecles . . . is● . . . bern. serm. . de verb. isaiae . gers. de consol . l. . aug. ep . . c ham d● ope●um imper. l. . c. . id. ibid. greg. mor. l. . c. . jer. . . aug. de pe●f . just. vitiis nem● sine nascitur , optimus ille qui minimis urgetur flac● . aug. de nat . & grat . c. . ga● . . . iob . . paal . . . vide aug. ibid· vide hier. adv . pelag. aug. de lit . & sp. c. . luke . . notes for div a -e serm. . p●o● . . . declinare ad dexteram est prosperis efferri ad sinistram adversis deprimi . hug. declinare in sinistram est st●ltitiae se dedere in dextram plus sape●e quam sapere oportet . bed. in dextram declina●e est seip . sum decipere dicendo se esse sine peccato etc. aug. de peccat m●r . & remiss . l. ● . c. . via regia deducit inter d●o extrema , &c. 〈◊〉 . in loc . part. . p●o. . . ionah . . p●o. . . rev. . . ier. . . . mat. . . luke . . mat. . . cypr. de novat . epiphan . adv . haer . t. . haer . . psal. . . part. . jer. . . p●o . . pro. . . epictet prov. . . decipimar specie recli . h●r . veritatem non esse in aliquo est aliquem mentiri . zanch. i● loc . aug. sent. . eccles. . . cyp● . ●e ●pere . & ●l●em●s . prov. . . bez in loc . quis ●●is sicac●ipiend●m putat ut dicat●r propter humilitatem n●n qui● ita verè est . anathema sit milevit . concil . aug de nat . & grat c. . gh●sler ▪ ●n jerem aug. confess . l. c. . 〈◊〉 . ● . . aug. c●ns . l. . c. . jam. . . rom. . . j●en . ad v. haere● . l. . c. . rom. . ● . rom. . . qui negat se ●alere peccatum non h●c agit ut peccat●m non haber●t . sed ut ●●niam non accipiat . aug. de civit . dei. l. . excl●●it miseriae dissimula●io misericordiam , nec dignatio habet locum ubi fuerit praesumtio dignitatis . bern. psal. . . magnâ verbo●um vehementiae prop situm urget . fer. numb . . . heb. . ● . mat. . hebr. matth. ▪ heb. . . dum non vult hypocrita se accusare peccati mavult deum accusare mendacii· zancb . rom. . . v. . vide est . zanch menoch ▪ ●l●yr , in 〈◊〉 . io. . . quid est ergo non capit in ●●bis non capit corvestrum &c. aug. in ioh. ●● . . iames . . acts . . ioh. , . ephes. . . . thes. . . col. . . heb. . . sic est sermo dei esse debat fidelibus sic ut ●isci hamus &c. aug. tr . . in joh. ioh. ▪ . eph. . . col. . . iam. . . ps. ● . ioh. . . isay. . ● . ioh. . . ioh. . . aug. de perfect . justit . c. . notes for div a -e serm. . vide aret. in loc . gen. rom. . . h●b . . hos ▪ . . sept. job . . a●g . in ps. . nae ●u verecundiâ bonus ad delinquendum expandens f●ont●m ad deprecand●m subducens . ●ertul . de poeni● . c . theod. de pro●id . lib . be●● ep ● . friv●l● nimis ●egmen quaeris anima misera , &c. g●frid tilman in gen. c. . ambros. in psal. . serm. . tertul. de poenit . c. . ven●at fori● mortuus , i. e. culpam confiteatur peccat●r . greg. in evang. h●m . . r●go v●s per illum dominum quem occulta non fall●nt de finite v●lne●a●am ●egete c●nscientiam , &c. pa●ia● . paraen . ad poeni● . p●al . . . am bros . ibid. luke . . tim. . . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. chris●● . hebr . c. . bella●m . de paen . l. c. . zanch. in l c. sam. . . judg. . . p● . . . ●zr . . pelba●t . de ●●nfess . job . . exod. . . . sam. . . ezra . . dan. . . cor. . . dan. . . . ● . aug. in ps . . psal. . . gen. . . . isa. . . ps. . . aug. in iam . . ioh. ▪ . matth. . . tertull. depaenit : zanch in , loc . concil . trident sess. . can. . ps. . . l●k . . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. chrisost. t.c. hom . . q● . . p● . ● . . exod. . . sam. es●· . . hos. . velasqu . in phil , c. v. . annot . luke , . . ps. . . sam. ● . . iob. . · p● . . , . ier. . . isaiah . . . phil. ● . . dan. . . pro. . . peccat●rum confessi●●yned●●hicè vniversam penitentiam hoc l●ce significat . vo●st in loc . f●lgent . de rem . peccat . l. . c. . ● . s●m . . ● . . . ambros. de penitent . l. ● c. . et c. ● . aug ▪ h●m . . fulgent de remiss . peccat l. c. . iob. . . ioh. . . i● . ● . aug. se●m . de temp. hom . ▪ qu. . psa. . . notes for div a -e serm. . rom. . . gal. . . p●o. . . hos. . ult . psal. . . . . quid peccatorū confessio nisi quaedam vulneris ruptio greg. mag : febris cum f●ris e●●●pit spem a●●e●t , desinendi ambr●sin p. ● . quando ap●stema convertitur ad interiora causa m●rtis ad exteriora , possibile ad salutem pe●ven●●e summ. c●●c●on . nisi quis animi sui vitia cognov●rit & ●●is prop●●i c●nfessione prodide●it , 〈…〉 non 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 〈◊〉 . st●machus . si v●●uerit relevatur &c. orig. in ps. . p●o. . . ●ertull . de p●●nit c. . vide vela●● . ● . phi. chrisost de ve●● . isayae . h●● . vt qui p●opria v●bis non 〈◊〉 ●lagitia ●ànatur 〈…〉 ●●s●um qui eadem de●●uerit confessus absol ▪ vitur . sidon apoll . l . ep . . math. . . bern. de inter : dom . c. . num. . . . jer. . . . sam. . . ps. . . luk. . . velox confessio vel●cior medicina . eucher : aug. hom . . tertull. de paenitent aug : in ps. ● . summ. concionat ambros●e in ps. . gen. . suid. in 〈◊〉 . a. iudg. . ● . rom. . . sic. paradox . c. vide fulgent de remiss : peccat : l. . c. . rom. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theog . rom. . . heb. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dem●st . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . tur●●an . in loc . peccatum est v●luntas assequendi v●l retinendi quod justitia vetat aug : de dua● . anim : adv● man : c. . ps. . . rom. . amos. . . pro. . . matth. . . bez. in loc . bern. in cant. serm. . aug. de verb. dem . serm. . cor. . . ezeck . . . micah . . ps. . . cor. . . ps● . ● . . plut. 〈◊〉 . luke . . matth. ● . . matth. . . ambr. de t●b . c. . said in litt . a dimi●●●●e peccatum non est h●m●●uam puri●e , ans. ●ar deus 〈◊〉 . l. ● , aug. in ps. . durand in sententis num. , . coloss. . . daven . is●ud in sili●s damnationis vindicat i●atus in silios gratiae vindicat propitius aug. de peccat . mer. et remiss l. . c. . sam. . ps ▪ . . cor. . 〈◊〉 ▪ . . ezech. . ps. . ▪ 〈…〉 . ●ic●h ● . ● isa. ● . ● . p● . ● . . hos. . . ps●l . pa●● ▪ rom. ● ▪ 〈◊〉 ▪ ● . mat. . . is. . . ps. ● . is. ● . . mat ● ▪ . v. 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 rom. . . mic. . p● . . ● , . notes for div a -e serm. . pet. . ● . cor. . . psal. . ● . pet. ● . . gen. . part. ● ▪ isaiah . . . micah . . . mark. . luke . . ambros. de sp ● . l. . c. ● . cyr. alex. thesaur . l. . c. . psal. . ▪ cyr. in l. de rect . fid . ad regi● . cypr. de lapsis . chrisost. in cor. . h●m . cor. . h●m . . greg. in ps. poenit . optat. centr . donat. l. . exod. . . is. . . joh. . . tolet. in joh. aug. in joh. tri. . jam. . . . fer. in ioh. 〈◊〉 per se 〈…〉 debi●●m 〈…〉 s●lvant dimis●i●nem ●act●m ●ssenden● . 〈…〉 . . fer. in 〈◊〉 in remitte●d●s & retine●di● 〈…〉 & ●ffici● habent evangelici qo●● suble●● legales sa●erdotes in●●randis leprosis . 〈◊〉 . dist . . l . l●turg . ●f the church of england . iob· . . eph. . . ma●th . . . anselm . in ephes. matth . ● . king. . . cron ▪ . . cant. . . zech. . . qui or are ●os 〈◊〉 etc. cypr. de orat . dom . chro. . . is. . . ezek. . . kings ▪ . exod. ▪ ● micah . . . eph. . . heb. . . psal. . . gen. ● . ● . vide span●e● . e●ercitat . ca●thus . lap . s●c . in loc . grot. illyr . in loc . 〈◊〉 . . . ps●● . ● . . ● cor. . . psal ▪ ● . . . . . col. . . heb. . . pet. , . t it . . luc. , gualt . in l●c . is. . . ezek . ● . cor. . . tre●d . disp . l. . c. gr●m●r . l . c. arnold . de sept. verb. tr . . cor. . ult . pet . . . vide cal●v . 〈…〉 . a●g . de tri●it . l. . c. . rom. . . . vide orig. t●let . in rom. g●●t . d● sa●is●act . psal. . ● . ● tim. . ● . notes for div a -e serm. . morbi perniciosi●res plures . que sunt animi quam corporis . cic. . tusc. pertinet capitis hujus initium ad finem 〈◊〉 , ma●l●r . in loc . vide ill●r . ibid. matth. . . pet. . . . . vide hilar. in matth. amat deus infantiam humilitatis magistram innocentiae regulam , &c. leo. pet. . . . . vide cl. al poedag . l. ● . c. . cor. ▪ . gal ▪ . t●es . . . paulin. ep . . is. . . gen. . . . . is. . . kings . . . . judg. . . j●stin . in loc . mal. . . prov. . . tertul. de ●rat . c. . eurip. joh. . . non ex su●●psius magnificati ne , sed charita●is magnitudine . cartha● . in loc . vide lorin . ibid. cl. al poedag . l. . c. gen. . . filii diliguntur at filioli tenerè amantur . tol. in joh. is. . . summi amoris gualt . in loc . patenter indicat charitatem justin. ibid. cor. . . phil. . . exod. . . cor. . . ambros. de offic . l. . c. . hier. ep . . vide est. fer. in loc . deut. . . part. . isay . . ezech. . joh. . . . . numb ▪ . acetum bibunt qui post vitae sanctitatem in ve●ustatem praeteritorum vitiorum labuntur & corruptione veteris nequitiae delectant●r rab. num. . . is. . . au● . de temp. serm. ● . poenitentia non s●lum vulnus praeteritum sanat , sed & ultra animam non sinit peccato vulnerari . orig. h●m . . in num. vide b●d . calv. in lo● . psal. . . part. ● . ier. . . ezech. . . king. ● . . . tota doctrina huc spectat , &c. zanch. in loc . ier. . ● . revel . · . hebr , . . psal· . . ver. . vide fer. na●g●rg . in loc . pet ▪ . . vide fer. in loc . tit. . . nos qui credimus sanguine filii del expiari peccata n●n possumus . non sollicitè à peccato nobis cave● arnob. adv . gent. l. . cor. . . notes for div a -e serm. . sam. . part. . tim. . . calv. ibid. rom. ▪ . . gen. . . iob . . . . eccles. . . gal. . . cor. · . zanch. in loc . heb. . . . tertul. de 〈◊〉 . si quis fragilitate 〈◊〉 ●●averit . cajet . in loc . si de infirmitate vita subrepserit pe●catum , &c. aug. in loc . king. . . psal. . . rom. . ult . part. . aret. in loc . part. ● . aret. in loc . jo. . . . . rom. . ● . morem & consuetudinem fori exprimit . acts . . judex est christus cum residet advocatus cum assurgit . ambros. in psal. . ●ct . . maxim. in pentecost . h●m . . tim. . gualt . in loc . isidor . hiszal . orig . l. . c. ● . bez. in loc . aug. ep . . serrar . in loc· non supplicium moro calv. est. vide naz. orat . de theol. heb. . . heb . . he● . . ● . vide greg l. ep . . ambros. in ps. oct . . aug. in p. . calv. in loc . cal. in loc . revel . . . ephes. . . joh. . leu. ib. tertul. de pudicit . l. . c. . carthus . in loc . philip. . . bas. in illa verba . vide ambros. l . de virginit . aug. in iohan. mat●h . . . psal. . . terrent . adv . joh· . . heb. . . mishez . in loc . socin . ib. hug ib. calv. act● . . . cham de satiss . l . c. . vide fer. est in loc . vide illi● . cajet . lor : gualt . in loc . perinde est . s. advocatus . s. consolator . vo●st . in loc . maluit se in numero pone●e peccatorum &c. aug ▪ in loc . hebr. . . vox dulcissima patris verum facilitatem indecat . fer. vide bellarm. de ascens dom . conc . . heb● . . ● . i●mes . . . orig. hom . . in num. aug. in loc . rom. . . . zanch. in loc . thes . . cypr. ep . ● . vide aug. in loc , id. ibid. notes for div a -e serm. . galath . . . co● . . . gen. . levit. . . rom. . . colos. . . nititur haec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unicâ sacrificii vi & ● . bez. in loc . innuit nos nostris pec●atis deum nobis infensum reddidisse . zanch. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , chrys. hom . , in colos. rom. . . eph●s . . . eccles. . ult . gen. . . gal. . . amos ▪ . psal. . . hab. . . prov. . . matth●w ▪ . . sen. trag. herc. iude v. revel . . . . p●almes , . . psalmes . . rom. . . m●●th . . . in quo hominib●s bona volui . e●thymius . habeo in eo compla●entiam ad rediviendum et reconciliandum genus humanum . cajet . eph● . . . . pet. . . psal. . . cor. . . ephes. . . colos. . . ● . mat. . . . cor. . . cor. , ▪ . vide grot. de satis . hebre. . . exod. . : hebr. . . rom. . . orig. in rom. aquin summ . pars. . q. . art . . ioh. . ioh. . . ioh. . . aquin. pars. . q. . art . . affectus ●●m miserationis sive benefaciendi voluntas , affectus conjunctionis & amicitiae . cal●v . socin . proflig . amor benevolentiae & ordinativus . amor complacentiae & collativus arnold . iob . . . fer. in loc . scelesti in animum inducunt suum . j●vem posse placari omnibus hostiis . plaut . ioh. . ▪ ier. . . is. . . ezek. . . . king. . . ioh. . . notes for div a -e serm. . fer. in loc . gal. . , ● tim. . . naogorg . matth. ● . . cor. . . . tim. . . hebre. . . joh. . . cor. . . . joh. . . dist. . deut. . . hebr. . . . cor. . . acts. . . gen. . . gal. . . lyr. ib. beza in loc . ephes. . . chap. . . . cor. . . rom ▪ . . heb. . . ioh . . . . 〈◊〉 . . ● . . . john . . distinct. ● . rom. . , . verse . ioh. . . . ioh. . . aug. in epist. populus dei habet plenitudinem suam &c. ambr. de vocat . gent. l. . c. . vide calv. bez. in loc . aug. ep . oecumen . in loc . cyr. in ioh. l. . c. . revel . . . m●l . . vide ambros. p● . ● . ioh. . . . . cyr. in ioh. l. . c. . theoph. in luc. leo de pass . se●m . . basil in 〈◊〉 . . cypr. de pass . io● . . . aug. in 〈◊〉 . tr. . ps. . . 〈◊〉 . . . . gen. . . hier. qu. heb ▪ is. . , id . in is. . chron. . . . . revel . . . gualt . in loc . tit. . . kin. . . dan. . . luke . . . dist. . carthus . serra in loc . sanguis essusus super terram non descendit ad inferes . bern. in cant. serm . iohn . . gla. . . v. . ● ioh . . christus passu ●s est pro 〈…〉 nobis tamen specialite● 〈…〉 amb ▪ 〈…〉 sufficienciam sed 〈◊〉 electis 〈…〉 . p. lumb . dist . secunda . lit . h. joh. . . isa . . h●b . amb●●s . in ps. . psal. . . h●b . ● . . effusio pro in●ustis sanguinis 〈◊〉 ●am p●tens est , &c. leo de ●ass . serm. . c. . vide gra●● . calv in loc . prosp. ad vincent . object . prim . ambr●s . de fide ad grat. l. c. id in ps. . oct. . faiths victory over natvre, or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) faiths victory over natvre, or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed for nathanael webb and william grantham ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng rushout, john, d. ? funeral sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no faiths victory over nature: or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father. delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - lisa chin sampled and proofread - lisa chin text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion faiths victory over natvre : or , the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father . delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london . by nathanael hardy master of arts , and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church . was not abraham our father justified by works , when he had offered isaac his son upon the altar . seest thou how faith wrought with his works , and by works was faith made perfect , jam . . , . transgreditur fides rationis fidem , humanae naturae usum , experientiae terminos , bern. verus obediens mandatum non procrastinat , sed statim parat aures auditui , linguam voci , pedes itineri , manus operi ; & se totum intus colligit ut mandatum peragat imperantis . idem . london , printed for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at the grey-hound in pauls church-yard , . to my right worthy friend , mr. john rvshovt of london merchant , and inhabitant in the parish of dionis back-church , the blessings of the throne and footstool . honoured sir , it was a sorrowfull losse occasioned the delivery of this sermon in your eares , and the seasonable comfort you then found , caused those desires which ( being to me commands ) occasion the presenting of it to your eyes . the tryall wherewith god hath been pleased to exercise you , cannot but be grievous , yet a patient sufferance and sanctified use will make it precious : no better means of support under , and benefit by this tryall then faith , which is both a powerfull antidote against the crosse , and a skilfull alchymist to extract spirituall advantage out of temporall losses . it is true you have lost a hopefull son , but faith will eye god , as a wise and gracious father . charity comforts you in the hope that he hath gained , the enjoyment of glory by his dissolution : faith will instruct you in the christian art , how to gain increase of grace by this affliction . it is the justice of god that hee never punisheth without a cause , it is his mercy that he ordereth all to a good end , let repentance find out and bewail sin deserving , and faith will apprehend the benefit intended . oh divine grace of faith , many daughters have done worthily , but thou surmountest them all ; thou regulatest our actions , and moderatest our passions , thou teachest us how to enjoy , and supplyest us in what wee want ; by thee wee finde the sweetnesse of a god in the creature-comforts we have , and the sweetnesse of those comforts we lose in a god . and now worthy sir , what bitter counsell could i prescribe you then this of faith ? what fuller example of faiths energie could i set before you then that of abraham , who by faith gave up that isaac to god , whom god had conferr'd on him in love . the picture of this believing patriark , offering up his obedient isaac , you have delineated in the following sermon . let abrahams steps be your walk , and his bosome shall be your rest ; imitate him as a son in the grace of faith , and you shall be an heire together with him in the grace of life , whech is the prayer of him who is your devoted servant in all christian and ministeriall offices , nath. hardy . errata . page . line devoute , the former l . for people r. people p. . l. . . se transferre , p. . in marg pone chrysost. p. . in marg. pone chrysost. imprimatur , ja. cranford . on the death of master john rushout , eldest sonne of master john rushout , of london merchant . who slew all these ? was nimshi's sonne 's demand , when 's will was done by false samaria's hand , when heads were heapt , and nobles ( by the rude ) were made the many-headed multitude : when slain youth , and beauty were heap'd on high , virtue and strength pil'd with nobility . who slew all these ? each tear now seems to say , the mourner drops by this sad heap of clay . nor doe they soloecise , for in rushout's sonne there 's a heap'd funerall , though he be but one . logick is out , it 's praecepts erre in this , he is but one , and yet a number is . arithmetick mistakes in him , for we if not divide , yet one may multiply . virtue and beauty , strength and youth are here heap'd up and pil'd together : on this biere a summe of graces are , hee 's a totall than , not one of these , but might compleat a man . the tears that from his fathers eyes doe run , fall for but one sonne , and yet not for one . when he laments his beauty so soon gone , doth he not weep for his dead absolom ? he mourns and praises his obedient will 't is for his isaac sure those tears distill . when he recounts the wisdome of his sonne , and sighs , sighs he not for his solomon ? when how religious ! and a tear let fall , then sure he weeps at joseph's funerall . absolon , isaac , joseph , solomon , are all deceas'd in this his onely john . who slew all these then ? not the barbarous hand , of forreign stranger , nor the dire command of the theeve's captain , where the riddle 's this , out laws obey , and rape obedience is . no death abroad , strange ayre his breath supplies , he travels and lives , but returns and dies . thus have we seen the pearl or diamond stone ( brought to the cooler , from the hotter zone ) escape the threats of th' rocks , and th' oceans fome , and yet in th' harbour have been lost at home : having past the pyrats , and the watry way , made , or the customers , or the thames his prey . is this the welcome thy return'd natives have o england ? entertainment in a grave ? when to thy long'd for soile thy sonnes return , canst finde no lodging for them , but their urn● ? when from strange climates to their own they come has't no home for them , but their longest home ? fame calls thee eden , if thou a garden be , 't is such as joseph's , the sepulchre 's in thee . the terme 's too good ; since on thine none thou prey ▪ wee 'l change thy name , thou art acel●●●a . since now thy bowels are with funerals full , thou'rt or a field of bloud , or place of scull . death dwels within thee , makes his mansion here , hath ta'ne a lease ( we dread ) for many years . a lease not made by law , but war ; yet good , 'cause seal'd with swords and written in our bloud . thus cruell art thou , and like to be , yet he hath cause to thank thee for thy crueltie . in thee he dy'd , but to thy sins and fears , thy crown 's of cypresse , he a laurel weare . he rests in peace secured from thy harmes , hears glad hallelujah's , but thou alarms . the grave and heaven 's his arke , whilst that the floud sweeps thee away , he floats above thy bloud . the grave and heaven 's his house , where he hid ly , and the destroying-angel passe him by . death leads to life . he dy'd young , yet shall be , a youth as long-liv'd as aeternitie . j. thompson . faiths victory over natvre : or , the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father . hebr. . . by faith abraham when hee was tryed , offered up isaac . this chapter after a briefe yet full description , presents us with a large and singular commendation of the grace of faith , the excellencie of this vertue is demonstrated by the efficacie ; that in its powerfull effects we may behold its divine nature . peruse the chapter , and you shall find her honoured as the mother of many graces , the spring of choyce duties ; yea , the worker of strange miracles . the truth of all which our apostle illustrates by various examples , since though positive doctrines declare what faith can doe , yet plain examples shew what faith hath done : amongst many others wee have the president of abraham , chiefe of the patriarks , and father of the saithfull set before us : if you cast your eyes upon the verse , you shall there finde an eminent instance of his faith , when he was called to goe out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance , obeying , and he went out not knowing whither he went ; no easie matter , doubtlesse , for a man to part with his friends and live among strangers , to let goe his present possessions for uncertain enjoyments , and become a voluntary exile from his own countrey ; sence derides it , reason contemns it , but faith obeys it : nor doth his faith stay here , behold in the text a harder task imposed upon , and performed by him ; that was to leave his countrey , this was to lose his isaac : that was to sojourn in a strange land , this to commit a strange act : that to forsake his fathers house , this to forgoe his sons life : in that he sayled against the winde , in this against the winde and tyde : but the strength of faith carryed him through , enabling him to leave his countrey when called ; and to offer his isaac when tryed . by faith abraham , &c. in the words we have these three observables ; a singular fact performed by abraham , he offered up isaac . a speciall occasion moving him to it , when he was tryed . a powerfull cause enabling , and that was his faith . or if you please to take the words in their naturall order , observe , an act of gods wisdome , to wit , the tryall of abraham . an act of abrahams obedience in offering up isaac . the principle inclining him to perform his obedience , in reference to divine tryall , and that was his faith . once more we have here considerable , the state and condition to which abraham was exposed , to wit , of temptation , when he was tryed . his sutable behaviour under that condition , in obedience to that tryall , he offered up isaac . the true ground of that obedient behaviour , to wit , his faith . according to each of these there are three assertions our apostle layes down in the words . that abraham was tryed , that being tryed he offered up isaac , that it was by faith he offered him up : and of these in order . the state of temptation , to which abraham was exposed when he was tryed , st. austine speaking of the life of man tells us , tota vita humana tentatio est , every mans life but much more the saints is a continued tryall , no day passeth over his head without some clouds , and whiles he is in the sea of this world waves continually dash upon him , but yet there are some dayes in the calendar of his life which deserve , nigro carbone notari ; to be marked with a black coale as more cloudy then others there are some storms wherein the waves rage more vehemently , some times in which the saint is exposed to strange and strong tryalls ; and of such a one our apostle here speaketh , when he was tryed . but by whom is it that abraham was tryed ? the hebrews have a tradition that the devill appeared to him in an angelicall forme , and by many arguments diswaded him from sacrificing his son , as being an unnaturall and impious act , contrary to the law of god and nature ; nor is it improbable , that then the devill was very busie with abraham by temptation to withdraw him from obedience to gods command , though the conceit of his visible appearing to him is altogether uncertaine ; but this triall whereof my text speaks , is doubtless to be referred unto god himself : for so we finde it plainly mentioned in the history , god tempted abraham : genes . . . nor doe moses and saint james herein contradict each other , when the one sayth , god tempted abraham , and the other chap. . . god tempteth no man , but rather we must distinguish of a double tentation , the one probationis , the other seductionis , the one meerly of tryall for our good , the other of enticement for our hurt ; this latter cannot agree to the pure and holy god , but is the devils work , who goes about seeking to insnare and devoure the former : as it stains not gods purity , so it sutes well with his wisdome , which oft times puts him upon making experiments of his servants , as here he did of abraham . but for what end , may some say , doth god tempt and try his peoole ? i answer , for this double end . partly to disclose their corruptions , and discover those sins which were lurking in the heart : it is a common saying , magistratus judicas virum , many men that were good while confined to privacie , have proved licentious , when advanced to magistracie ; it 's as true of tryals , wherein oft times , there is an eruption of of that corruption which one would not have imagined had lodged in their brests , for this end god proved hezekiah , that the pride of his heart might appear , and the israelites to humble them under the sence of those corruptions which tryals manifested to be in them . but , chiefly the end of tryall is a discovery of our graces , both their truth , and strength , their quality and measure . tryalls shew what is the depth of our confidence , the breadth of our patience , the height of our love , and the length of our perseverance , observe but this tryall of abraham , and you shall find what a many graces here was tryed and discovered : namely , his faith , whether he would depend upon gods , promise above , against reason . his obedience , whether he would yeild to gods command against nature . his love , whether his affection was more enlarged toward his son or his god . finally , his feare , whether he did reverentially acknowledge and stand in awe of divine sovereingty the truth is , apparet virtus arguiturque malis : stars shine bright in the darkest nights , graces are manifest in the sharpest tryall ; and for this end that our graces may appeare , we are tryed , and they are exercised . but what need is there that god should for these ends try his servants ? doth he not understand there thoughts long before , are not both there sins and graces open in his fight ; it is a strange expression which god useth concerning himselfe in this tryall of abraham , now i know that thou fearest god . what did he not know before who is omniscient ? yes , doubtlesse , but we must remember , it is usuall with god , quod homini competit in iis tansferri , to apply that to himself which belongs to men , and to speake of himselfe after the manner of men ; but the truth is gods end of tryall is not that he might know but that we and others may know the graces of god that are in us : tryals are oft times publishers of concealed vertues , neither the patience of job , wisdome of solomon , or the faith of abraham , would have been so famous had it not been for tryalls . but how and by what meanes doth god try his servants ? divines answer two ways , factis , verbis ; by deeds & words : by deeds , when either he substracts his grace from us , leaving us to our selves ; as he did hezekiah , to try all that was in his heart , or else when he brings us into straits , & lays upon us afflictions , so he was forty yeares in leading of the children of israel through the wildernesse , to prove them , sometimes by words and commands , which he enjoyns us , such was that command which christ gave to the young man in the gospell , to sell all he had ; and this which he gave to abraham , take thy son , and offer him for a burnt offering ; and if you please to take a serious view of this command , you shall find it was a sore tryall , and that there was a strange probation in this divine precept : for consider , whom doth the command concerne ? not a servant , or a friend , or an allye , but a son ; and him not an adopted , but a naturall son : not of many but an only son by sarah , one that was the son of his love , of his hope , yea , of his old age ; a childe of promise , of prayers ; nay , tears . what it is that is required ? is it to send him a far off into some strange country ? is it to part with him and not see his face for some yeares ? is it to have him taken away by death , through some visitation of gods hand ? all of these would have been sad tryalls : nay , but it is to lay violent hands upon him and cut him off by an untimely slaughter : but whose hands must they be , may his servants carry him away to some remote place out of his sight and there kill him , or is it only to stand by ▪ look on and suffer him to be slain ; no , he himself must ' offer him up : abraham must not onely have his eyes on , but his hands in this bloudy act , he must not only be a spectator of , but an actor in this dolefull tragedy : the tender father must imbrue his hands in the bloud of his innocent childe . god had tryed abraham before many wayes , calling him to goe out of his countrey , suffering that contention between him and lot , in the battell he had with the five kings , in the circumcising of his houshold , in the casting out of ishmael , but all short of this , in sacrificing of his isaac , which abraham here was put upon , and our apostle means in these words , when he was tryed . to apply this . let the saints of god learn continually to expect and prepare for tryals , let no son of abraham hope to scape temptation , when he sees the bosome in which he desires to rest , assaulted with difficulties , nor must we onely stand in fear of diabolicall suggestions , but in expectance of divine temptation ; the truth is , tryals are both necessary and precious , needfull and usefull : saint peter joynes both together , ye are in heavinesse , if need be , and the tryall of your faith being being much more precious then that of gold : the shakeing of the trees by the winde , the casting of gold into the fire , is not more usefull for the se●ling of the one , and purifying of the other , than tryals are for gods servants : nor must we onely expect single but successive tryals , like jobs messengers , one upon the neck of the other : when one woe is past look for another to come , and that many times on a suddain , in matters we are least aware of : nor let us onely prepare for many , but great and sore tryals , such as will not only rend our garments but break our hearts , tryals in our neerest friends , deerest comforts , the delight of our eyes , joy of our hearts , and breath of our nostrils , such were jobs , in his cattell , the support of his estate , his children , the fruit of his loyns ; nay , in the wife of his bosome , and the smiting of his own body : such was abrahams in the text , in his near and dear isaac . since we must be tryed , look we to the soundnesse of our graces that they be such as will abide tryall : paint will melt at the heat , while the naturall complection remains : drosse will consume in the fire while the gold grows purer : bad stuffe will shrink in the wetting , whilst that which is good retains its measure : finally , the house that is built upon the sand falls down at the blowing of the winde , while that which is built upon the rock remains : seeming grace vanishes in the times of tribulation , onely true grace retains its lustre , continues firm , nay , grows purer in fiery tryals . and since wee must expect strong tryals , look we to the strength of our graces , if thou saint in the day of adversity , thy strength is small , saith solomon , prov. . . adversity though it be a hard tyrant , yet it is a right judge speaking truly what our graces are : nemo vires suas in pace cognoscit , no , one knows his strength in peace , a sharp battle calls for courage in the souldier , hard weather makes the weak body shrinke , every cock-boat can swim in the river , it s the lusty ship must saile in the ocean ; we meet with strong tryalls , we must labour for strong graces ever remembreing this for our comfort , that divine wisdome and goodnesse will proportion the tryall to our strength : a skilfull physician in potions considers the strength of his patient , a wise scholmaster in his lessons observes the ability of his scholler , and our gracious god in his tryals remembers what wee are and will lay no heavier burthen on our shoulders then we are able to beare : that of the apostle is in this sence truly applicable ; he hath both milk for babes , and meat for strong men ; and if he impose so great a tryall as the slaying of a son it shall be upon an abraham that is strong in faith , vigorous in grace , and knoweth how to obey so severe a command which leads me to the . generall abrahams obedient behaviour under his tryall , he offered up isaac ; god puts him upon it , and he sets about it , and having received an injunction , puts it in execution : he offers up isaac . but here some , perhaps , may tax our apostle as a false relater of the story , since indeed isaac was not offered up , but a ram , the answer is easie . hee offered , that is , offerre coepit ; hee began to offer him , he had taken his journey , clave the wood , and was come to the mount ; being there , he had built an altar , laid the wood in order on that altar , bound and laid his son on that wood , stretched forth his hand , took the knife to slay his son ; the knife was even at his throat , and nothing wanting but the last blow to have done execution ; and so on abrahams part there was no deficiency in fulfilling this probatory command of god . he offered , that is , voluntate jugulavit ; he offered him in his intention and readinesse of will , immolatio isaac , ab animi affectu censetur , his sacrificing of isaac is reckoned not from the action but his affection , and he offered him , that is , interpretativè obtulit ; in regard of gods account and esteem : that which was but begun by abraham is consummated in gods sight , and his readinesse to sacrifice is interpreted as an actuall performance of it , thus pareus upon the text obtulit ille holocaustum , non facto quidem , sed prompta voluntate & obedientiae quam deus acceptavit , & scriptura celebrat pro facto . abrahams willingnesse to offer his son is accepted with god , and is recorded in scripture as if it had been really done : excellently saint chrysostom to this purpose , so far ( sayth he ) as concerned the fathers will , he had already imbrued his hands in his sons bloud , and therefore that father brings in god commending his ready performance of what he had enjoyned , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , thou didst not spare him at my command , i have spared him for thy obedience , to summe up this , it lets us see the gracious goodnesse of god , who is pleased to accept the will for the deed , and accounts what we would doe as if we had done it ; when we perform any duty , it is not quid facis , but quo animo , what we doe , but with what minde we doe it ; and as the action is never accepted without the affoction , so somtimes the affection is regarded without the action : true it is , where god affords ability , and gives oportunity , he expects the expression of our will by the execution of the act , but if either be denyed ( as here god sent his angel to stay abrahams hand , and many times he is pleased to withhold enablements to good duties ) then he mercifully accepts our intention and endeavour ; in this sence a poor man may be more charitable then the rich , according to that of our saviour concerning the widow ; verily this poor widow hath cast in more then all they that have cast into the treasury : more for the manner , though lesse for the matter , not so much , yet with more cheerfulnes , and so it was more in gods estimation . in this regard a man that dieth in his bed , may yet be a martyr in divine account , not opere , but voluntate ; reall suffering but propense willingnes to lay down his life if god had called him to it : finally , by this means it is , we fulfil that command of our saviour , in taking up the crosse daily , that is , semper animum habere paratum , being in a daily readinesse to beare whatsoever crosse it shall seem good to divine wisdome to inflict upon us . it is that which may yield abundant comfort to weak saints , and tender consciences , who are oft times sadly perplexed at the non performance of those duties , the omission whereof is caused , not through want of will but power , surely what the apostle sayth , in the point of charity , is true in regard of all other services . if there be first a● willing minde , it is accepted according to that a man hath , not according to that a man hath not . i would not have prophane carelesse sinners encourage themselves from this comfortable doctrine , who pretend to good desires , whilst they improve not the oportunity and ability god puts into their hands of doing good , and which is worse , please themselves in the vain excuse of their good meanings , whilst they impenitently go on in evill ways ; such lasie desires will be no sufficient plea at gods bar , and they will finde that usuall maxime true , too late , hell is full of good wishes , heaven of good works . but as for weak christians , who doe what they can , and would doe what they cannot , let them take comfort in this meditation , that the syncerity of their intention shall be regarded , and rewarded by god . it was the complaint of holy paul , concerning himselfe , when i would doe good evill is present with me , so that the good i would doe i doe not , and the evill i would not doe , that i doe : and surely if he , well may we have cause of taking up the same complaint , but though we complain , yet let us not despair : it is observable what a candid interpretation our saviour makes of his disciples sleep in the midst of his agony , excusing it as a fault arising only from the weaknesse of their flesh , not defect of their will ; the spirit indeed is willing , but the flesh is weak , and it is his gracious promise not to quench the smoaking flax , nor break the bruised reed : know then , oh thou dejected soul ; though thou canst offer nothing to god but a turtle , that is , gemitus a sound of sorrow that thou canst do no better , or a pair of pigeons that is well wishing , a desire to do good , god will accept and account of thy will as the work ; it was so with abraham , whose reall intention of offering was esteemed and is registred as an actuall execution he offered up isaac , to let this goe . that which is principally observable in these words , is the nature and strength of abrahams obedience , god imposes a strange command upon him , he denyes not , delayes not his obedience , he doth not consult with flesh and bloud , harkens not to naturall affection , acquaints not the wife of his bosome with his intention , but obsequiously follows divine injunction , he well knew , that though he were isaacs father , yet he was gods servant , and though his love as a father would have diverted him from the slaughter , yet his duty as a servant engaged him to the sacrifice of his son : his son was dear to him , but his god was dearer ; affection was strong in him , but grace was stronger ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : hee casts away all naturall , and embraceth divine love ; he trampleth upon fatherly bowels , and resists not his fathers call . thus he became obedient , though against his will , yet with his wil , in the sacrifice of his son , one wil sacrificed another , his spirituall will to serve his god , overcame his naturall will to save his childe : and so hee set upon this unnaturall work of offering up isaac . one would have thought that in so neere a tryall , so harsh a command abraham through frailty might have replyed against god with murmuring , as those israelites did upon a lesse occasion when they wanted food , would god wee had dyed in the wildernesse , exod. . . flesh and bloud would have broken out into these or the like expressions . what , lord ? didst thou mocke me with thy gift , that so soon thou takest him away , nay commandest me to throw him away , would thou never hadst bestowed a son upon me , rather then so sodainly to snatch him from me ? why didst thou make me a father , if now i must become a murtherer of my childe ? far better i had been childlesse , then now to make my selfe so . but far be such thoughts from abraham , who had learned this sacred lesson , not to murmur but to obey , had it been any but an abraham , he would doubtlesse have returned an excuse and said ( to use naamans words ) in this the lord pardon his servant , any thing but my isaac , thou shalt command , him i cannot , know not how to part with , however it might seem no more then just for abrahom in this case to expostulate with god in these or the like words . doth the god of mercie delight in cruelty , and piety it self command murther ? will justice require the slaughter of an innocent , and canst thou in equity desire the bloud of the guiltlesse ? or if thou wilt needs have an humane sacrifice , is none but isaac fit for thine altar , and must none offer him but abraham ? shall these hands destroy the fruit of my loyns ? must i that was the instrument of his life , become the means of his death ▪ can not i be faithfull unto thee , unlesse i be unnaturall to my childe ? why did i so long wayt for him ? why didst thou at last bestow him , if i must now part with him ? how shall i look sarah in the fa●e when i have slain her son ? how will the heathens censure this holy cruelty , and say , there goes the man who cut the throat of his own childe ? but abrahams obedience had taught him better , not to dispute but 〈◊〉 me thinks , i hear him answering gods command in these o● the like submissive terms : blessed lord , doest thou call for my isaac , thou shalt have him ; what though he be precious in my eyes yet thou art more : true , he is my son , but thou art my god , to me it will prove a bitter losse , i , but to thee it will become a sweet sacrifice ; what though my wife may blame me , yet thou commandest me ? better shee call me a bloudy husband , then thou an undutifull servant ? what though the world accuse me of cruelty , yet thou requirest it as a duty ? better i be in their eyes an unnaturall father , then in thine an ungracious son : were he ten thousand isaacs , i dare not , i will not spare him , but am ready , though against my own , to doe thy will ô god . but here a farther doubt may be moved , how abraham , though he would , could offer isaac : abraham was old and feeble , isaac young and lusty , though one had a command of offering , yet the other none of suffering , and the law of nature would teach isaac to endeavour the preservation of his life , though a father came to take it from him . to this divines answer , that isaac being religiously educated , and no doubt , by his father , sufficiently informed of gods will in this particular , submitted himselfe to be offered up . sutable to this purpose is that of saint chrysostom , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isaac gave himself to his father , as freely as abraham gave him to god : whom should i first admire , to whom shall i give the greatest honour , the tender father that offered his son : or the obedient son submitting to his father , even to the death : thus there was the same minde , the like affection both in abraham and isaac ; so that the courage of the father seemed to be transplanted into the son , and the innocency of the son ; not wanting unto the father : that golden-mouthed oratour illustrated this , whilest hee fitly bringeth in abraham , thus be-speaking his son ; suffer me , ô my son , suffer me to perform the command of my god , that god that made thee , calls for thee ; hee that gave thee , seeks thee : he that created thee , desires thou shouldest be sacrificed to him ; thou wilt be a sacrifice , so much the more acceptable : by how much the more willingly thou entertainest the glorious benefits of death : and then isaac sweetly complying with his fathers desire . my father , perform what thou art commanded , doe the office thou art enjoyned , i resist not , refuse not : what thou wilt i will , what thou desirest , i submit to , and with the same readinesse i embrace death , as i know thou doest by gods command inflict it . see here a rare patterne of obedience to parents in isaac , who suffered abraham , to god in abraham , who offered up isaac . this latter is especially presented in the text , and ought principally to be imitated by us , and though we cannot attain , yet let us aspire to that height of obedience which abraham practized : indeed , herein is the tryall of our submission , when in things contrary to our nature , contradictory to our desires , crosse to our reason , we can obey god ; it is the aggravation of disobedience in easie precepts to rebell , it is the commendation of obedience in difficult commands to submit , to obey god in what suites with our temper is not praise worthy , but then to yield when nature and reason oppose is most laudable . indeed , hic labor , hoc opus ; to strive against the stream , row against the tyde ; go against the haire , act against the dictates of our own naturall and carnall affections is the difficulty : and withall the excellencie of obedience . to close up this in a three-fold speciall application : though god call not upon us to offer up our sons , yet hee requires us to offer up our sinnes , there is none of us but in this sence hath an isaac , a dilectum delictum , some darling lust , bosome corruption , which he expects we should part with at his call ; but alas how far short are we of this patriark ? he offered up a dutifull isaac , we will not sacrifice a rebellious lust ; he at a single command went about the work , we neglect after many precepts , often intreaties and frequent threatnings ; he rose early in the morning to slay his son , we make it our evening sacrifice , and scarce thinke of mortifying our lusts , till death is ready to kill us ; finally , he would have sacrific'd his son , in whom all nations were to be blest , we will not slay our sins which otherwise will make us for ever curst ; but ô sinner , how long wilt thou hug that in thy bosome which is gods hate and will be thy ruine , think thou hearest a voice from heaven once more be-speak thee as god did abraham , take now thine isaac whom thou lovest , thy sin wherein thou delightest , and offer it up to me for sacrifice : or as christ did the jews : as for my enemies ( thy lusts ) which would not that i should reign over them , bring them hither and slay them before me . o then delay not , consult not , neglect not , but while it is called to day , binde thy corruptions on the altar of the law , take the knife of gods word in thy hand , and cut the throat of thy sins , that they may become a sweet smelling sacrifice in gods nostrils , and thou an amiable priest in his eyes . though god do not call us as he did abraham , to offer up our children , yet he somtimes requires us to neglect both children and parents , and all naturall relations for his sake , and surely in such a case , pietas est impium esse pro domino , it is piety towards god , to be unnaturall to our friends , our blessed saviour hath told us , he that loveth father or mother more then me , is not worthy of me , and he that loveth son or daughter more then me , is not worthy of me , mat. . . another evangelist useth a more harsh expression , he that commeth to me and hateth not all these : strange that love it selfe should require hatred , but yet just , not in an absolute but comparative sence , we must not love father or mother more then him , yea , when their desires come in competition with his will , we must hate them for him , we must say as levi , nescio vos , i know you not , or with christ to his mother , quid mihi tecum ? woman , what have i to do with thee ? trampling under foot all naturall relations , which would hinder us from obedience to divine injunctions . it was a pious ( though erroneous ) spirit that lodged in the breast of sir thomas moor , once lord chancellour of this kingdom , who regarded not the prayers , nay tears , of his dearest wife , when shee perswaded him with the forfeiture of his conscience to endeavour the restauration of his liberty , let us follow his pattern , that no respect either to wives or children may withdraw us from the performance of our duties to god . finally , though god doe not call us to offer up our children , yet many times he calls to us to part with them ; though not to sacrifice them with our own hands , yet to resigne them up to his dispose ; oh let us learn by abrahams example , chearfully to give up our dearest comforts to that god who hath given them unto us , he was willing to an obtulit , so far obedient as himselfe to offer his son , shall not we be content with an abstulit , that god should take away wife or children , or any enjoyment from us , : good old eli , when acquainted by samuel with gods severe intentions against himselfe , his sons , his family , sits down quietly and sayes submissively , dominus est , it is the lord , let him doe what it seems good in his sight . holy job , when informed by severall messengers of the losse of his oxen by the sabeans , of his camels by the caldeans , of his sheep and servants by a fire from god , nay of his sons and daughters by a winde from the wildernesse , worshiped , saying , dominus dedit , the lord gives , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord . oh let us write after these copies , and what we daily pray for , cheerfully , submit unto , that the will of the lord may be done , let all parents say , to use the prophets words , though in another case , behold , i and the children whom thou , ô lord , hast given me , are at thy dispose , doe with me and mine as it pleaseth thee , and that we may attein this gracious frame of spirit , let us take notice of , and strive after that grace of faith wherein abraham excelled , and by which he was enabled to so difficult a work : which leads me to the generall , namely , the true ground of abrahams obedient behaviour in those words by faith , indeed nothing but faith could enable him to quit himselfe in so great a tryall . i deny not but even heathens have sacrificed themselves and their children unto death , but upon what grounds ? for the most part affection of vain glory , at the best , but love of their countrey , was that which bereaved them of their lives , abrahams offering up his isaac was upon another ground , in a religious observance of divine precept , to which nothing but faith could enable : the truth is , if we rightly weigh this act of abraham , we shall finde there was great need of faith to unlock the difficulties , silence the reasonings , & answer the doubts which could not but arise in his spirit . there was a double objection which this patriark might make against offering up his son , to both which only faith could give an answer . the one in reference to the comand which god gave . the other in respect of the promise which god made . besides the law of nature god hath given an expresse command , thou shalt not kill , and well might abraham argue , if i must not kill any man , much lesse my son , surely god is either contrary to himselfe , or else this bloudy precept came not from him , but is a meer delusion of the devill ; but here faith steps in , unfolds the riddle , assures abraham it was no other then god who had given this in charge , that he is an absolute illimited commander , and therefore might enjoyn what he pleased , that he is sovereigne lord of his own law , and therefore may dispence with it when he will , thus silencing this objection by faith he offers up isaac , and it is a rule we are to take notice of , that where gods commands seem or doe really clash one against another , the lesser must give way to the greater , and ordinary to extraordinary precepts , the ten comandements are the generall rule of our life , yet if a speciall intervene as here did to abraham , faith gives that the preheminence . another objection might well arise from gods promise god hath assured abraham of an innumerable seed , as the stars of heaven , and the sands on the sea-shore , all these to come out of isaacs loynes , and yet god commands that isaac should be slain . might not abraham well have reasoned thus . what , lord , are thy decrees changable , or thy promise failable ? how can these two stand together , isaac shall be a father of many nations , and yet he must dye by his fathers hands ? what fruit is to be expected from a dry root , or what hopes can there be in a dead isaac ? the truth is to sense and reason , there is a manifest contrariety between his precept and his promise , neyther of these eyes can see how god should fulfill what hee had promised if abraham perform'd what he required , but faith hath a piercing sight , so , she steps in , untyes the knot , and thus bespeaks abraham : feare not abraham to sacrifice thy son , hee that commands thee to kill him , wants not power to quicken him ; the same hand which raised him from the dead wombe of sarah , can revive him from the ashes of a sacrifice , thou gottest thy isaac by believing , thou shalt not lose him by obeying . now faith hath got the day , obteined the victory . what cruelty doth in others , that faith did in abraham , makes him not to be moved at the strangenesse of the fact , god knew he had to do with an abraham , and therefore puts upon him such a comand ; abraham knew he had to do with a god , and therefore believes what he commands is good : and what he promiseth is infallible . thus being carelesse of the means , not doubting of the end , he sets upon the work , and by faith offers up isaac . briefly , faith wrought in abraham a double effect which inclined him to offer up isaac . the one a dependance on gods power . the other submissive to gods will . the one confidence on gods truth in promising . the others reverence of gods majesty in commanding . in regard of the promise it assured him god was able to raise up isaac from the dead , as it is verse th , that notwithstanding all seeming contrarieties , and though hee saw no way of accomplishment , divine power could act above , against means , and so he believeth above and beyond hope . in reference to his command , it perswadeth him this was gods will to which he must subscribe , that the almighty was his sovereigne lord to dispose of him and his how hee pleased , and therefore ought to be obeyed . thus being confident of gods ability and fidelity in making good his word , being resolved to exalt gods will above his own , hee readily performeth his duty , and by faith when he was tryed , offered up isaac . to shut it up in a brief application , learne wee all to prize the worth , and endeavour for the growth of this grace of faith , we know not what tryals god may call us , but , alasse ▪ how shall we bear them if not supported by faith , its faith is the only weapon to resist satans temptations , and the best staffe to hold us up under divine tryals : this grace of faith , as it is of singular worth , so of universall use , in prosperity it teacheth us how to use comforts , in adversity ; how to want them ; without this ; we can neither do what is enjoyned , nor beare what is inflicted : oh then let our care be with all our gettings to get faith , and not only to get but strengthen faith , since its strong faith gives us strong support in strong tryals ; and in particular , that wee may with abraham , in some sence offer up our isaac , resigne our children , yea all earthly comforts with cheerfulnesse , when he tryes us in them , and calls for them from us , let us pray with the apostles , lord , increase our faith , true it is , a naturall man when he sees there is no possibility of enjoyment , may be contented to want , just like a man who in apparent danger of the ship , with a nilling willingnesse and mixt consent casts his goods into the sea ; but it s only the believing saint who makes a free and full resignation of himself , and comforts into gods hand . there is a four-fold enablement which faith contributes to this difficult duty of offering up our isaac , parting with our dearest comforts when god calls . it acknowledgeth gods sovereignty over all , and teaches the soul to say , my state , my friends , my children , my self are not my own but gods , who may doe with his own what he will . it confesseth the inconstancy of all worldy enjoyments , and lets us see upon what uncertain terms we hold creature-comforts , being only tenants at the will of the lord , of whatsoever we possesse : thus it learns those that buy to be as that possessed not , to rejoyce as those rejoyced not ; and those that have wives and children , as though they had none , continually expecting to be bereaved of them . it assures us of great good by obedientiall submission , and that there is no losse in giving up all to god , its good for mee to enjoy this comfort , sayth sense , its better to part with it , saith faith , since there is no better way to retein a comfort then in a faithfull carelesnesse to surrender it up to god , witnesse abraham in the text , hee offers and god spares his isaac . it convinces us of gods all-sufficiencie , presents him to the soule as an universall good , finding all losses to be made up in him alone : what sweetnesse can be suckt out of any or all the creatures below , that , and more doth faith finde in the god above , as once briseis said to achilles . tu dominus , tu vir , tu mihi frater eris . thou art lord , brother , husband , children , all to me . thus will faith draw strength from god to support us under , and carry us through the saddest tryals . that therefore we may answer when god calls , obey when he commands , resigne when he requires , and be found blamelesse in the day of tryall : let our care be in all exigencies to quicken faith , so shall wee walke in the steps of faithfull abraham now , and after the cheerfull endurance of tryals for a time , we shall rest in the bosome of abraham for ever , finding that gracious promise fully verified , blessed is the man that endureth temptation , for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . to end all , with one word of advice to you the father of this son , whom god hath pleased in mercy ( i hope ) to take away ; i may truly affirme , god hath bereaved you of your isaac , one who had learnt with isaac obedience to you , no small vertue in children , especially when grown up in years , ( since it too often falls out that they come no sooner to know themselves , but they forget their parents ) one in whom you had much comfort , on whom you had placed singular affection , of whom you and all that knew him , had great hopes ; his naturall endowments , ingenuous education , skill in variety of languages ; modest and civill behaviour , promising in future time abundant fruit : but this tree god hath cut downe betimes , and in charity ( we may hope ) transplanted to his own paradise , but , doubtlesse , it is no small losse to the garden of your family , and cannot but be a sore tryall of your patience , that therefore you may be comforted , look on abraham , and let his practice be the matter of your imitation your triall , in a double respect falls short of his , his was an only son ; you have one yet surviving : hee was to be executioner of his own son , but it is divine providence which by a sad accident hastened your sons death ; since then your losse is lesse then his : let your submission be equall with his , and if you cannot keep even pace with him , yet be sure to follow him in those steps of faith and obedience , which he took , remember your son is not amissus but praemissus , lost but sent before you whether one day you and wee all must follow : in the mean time , think that god saith to you , as elkana said to hannah , why weepest thou , and why is thy heart grieved , am not i better to thee then ten sons ? ô then let grace over-rule nature , faith suppresse passion : and though you cannot but shew your self a tender father towards him , yet still behave your self as a son of abraham , who by faith when he was tryed , offered up isaac . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- quest . . answ. aliter deus tentat , aliter diabolus , diabolus tent●t ut subruat , deus tentat ut coron●t . ambros. quest . . answ. chron. . ● . deut. . . quest . . answ. gen. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. quest . . answ. luke . . gen. . . use . pet. . , . gr●● ▪ fieri dicitur quod tentatur fieri . rib. hier. calv. pareus . chrysost. obser. mark ● . luke ● . . stella . use . cor. . ●● . matth. . , . matth. . . matth. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ge● . ● ▪ hier. luke . . sam. . ●● . job . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , chrys. cor. . , james . . sam. . ● . the pious votary and prudent traveller characterized in a farewell-sermon, occasioned by the voyage of nathanael wych esq. president to the east-indies : preached in s. dionys back-church, mar. . / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the pious votary and prudent traveller characterized in a farewell-sermon, occasioned by the voyage of nathanael wych esq. president to the east-indies : preached in s. dionys back-church, mar. . / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by j.g. for john clark ..., london : . reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. eng wyche, nathaniel, d. . bible. -- o.t. -- genesis xxviii, - -- sermons. farewell sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no the pious votary and prudent traveller characterized in a farewell-sermon, occasioned by the voyage of nathanael wych esq. president to the hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the pious votary and prudent traveller : characterized in a farewell-sermon , occasioned by the voyage of nathanael wych esq. president to the east-indies . preached in s. dionys back-church , mar. . . by nath : hardy , minister of the word , and preacher to that parish . psal. . . vow and pay to the lord our god , let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared . bern. de modo bene vivendi , serm. . vos ipsos vovete & reddite ; necesse est ut qui vovit etiam reddat , quia vovendi se debitorem fecit . london , printed by j. g. for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhill . . to my honoured friend nathanael wych , esq. chosen president by the honourable english east-india company ; together with his vertuous lady anne wych , the influence of heavens dew , the affluence of earths fatness , and confluence of all good things which concern the life that now is , and that which is to come . did not the law of thankfulness forbid me to deny what you are pleased to require , these imperfect notes had not been made thus publick . but i had rather incur the censure of indiscretion than the brand of ingratitude ; and if the perusal of this unpolished discourse may adde to your comfort , i shall be the lesse troubled , if the publication of it detract from my credit ; especially considering that the concernment is very large ; and as i pray it may , so i hope it will , be of good use and benefit to merchants , mariners , souldiers , and all sort of travellers , who shall think fit to make it their vade mecum . and now ( worthy friends ) give me leave to congratulate your mutuall happinesse in that matrimoniall union whereof you have honoured me to be the instrument . yours ( noble sir ) in your dearly beloved anne , whose name imports grace or favour , and in finding whom ( according to solomons assertion ) you have obtained favour of the lord ; one who so fully retaliateth your love , that she saith to you as ruth did to naomi , where thou goest i will go , and where thou dwellest i will dwell ; having learnt the just extent of that first institution , which though it onely mentioneth the man , no lesse truly reacheth to the woman , who must leave father and mother and cleave to her husband . yours ( honoured madam ) in your deservedly beloved nathanael , whom i doubt not but ( according to the signification of his name ) you thankfully accept of as gods gift ; one , who is the third brother of his fathers house , upon whom the honour hath been conferred , of being sent as chief officer into forraign parts about publick employments ; yea one whose singular dexterity and integrity rendred him no lesse acceptable to the adventur●rs , than his courteous affability doth to all who know him . i have nothing more to adde but a benediction : may she whom you have taken into your bosom , be a leah for fruitfulness , as well as she is a rachel for amiableness . may you do worthily in india , and by a zealous care of gods honour , together with a faithful discharge of your trust , be famous both in india & england . may that good hand of providence which hath joyned you together , bless and preserve you both at home and abroad , by sea and land , in your persons and relations , in your going forth and coming home . may you both live to return ( as you go forth ) with honor . may you bring home ( what you cannot carry with you ) an hopefull progeny . in a word , may you live together long on earth comfortably , and for ever in heaven happily . so prayeth your most affectionate friend and servant , nath : hardy . the pious votary . gen . . , . and jacob vowed a vow , saying , if god will be with me , and will keep me in this way that i go , and will give me bread to eat , and rayment to put on , so that i come again to my fathers house in peace : then shall the lord be my god . having a great journy to go in a little time , i would not be long in setting out ; and therefore lest i should be prevented ( by the expiration of the hour ) before i come to my journies end , i shall not detain my self-or you with an introductory exordium . the words are a part of jacobs vow , who is not unfitly called pater votorum , the father of vows : this being the first vow which we find upon record in sacred writ . that i may the better lead you into the several rooms of this excellent fabrick , it will be needful to ascend by three steps , in the resolution of three quaeres . . what this meanes , that jacob vowed a vow , saying . . to whom this vow was made . and . upon what occasion . in answer to the first quaere , there are three things to be explained , what it means , that . jacob vowed : . that he vowed , saying : . that he vowed a vow , saying . . jacob vowed . to a vow ( saith aquinas ) there are three things required ; deliberation , purpose and promise : the promise must proceed from the purpose , and the purpose from deliberation . a vow must be a voluntary act ; which cannot be , unless some deliberation precede ; it must be an unfeigned act , and that cannot be where there is no true purpose : finally , it must be an obliging act , and this cannot be without a promise . if you please , we will reduce the three to two , namely , a deliberate intention , and a resolute obtestation ; whereof the former brings on the latter , and the latter fast binds the former . . on the one hand , if a deliberate intention do not go before , either there will be no vow made , or if made , it is not likely to be performed ; nay though performed , it is no other than a mocking of him to whom it is made : a promise without a purpose being no other than an illusion . . on the other hand , though the intention be never so real , yet if not seconded with a promise , it is no vow . in a vow ( as a casuist well noteth ) there is voluntas seipsum obligandi , a man doth will to binde himself to the performance of that which he vows , and that is not done by a bare intention , but an obtestation . hence it is , that whereas a purpose may be altered , a vow cannot be recalled : so that when it s here said , jacob vowed , the meaning is , that he did deliberately binde himself by promise , with an intention of performance . . he vowed , saying . that in a vow use should be made of words , is not alwayes necessary , since he to whom the vow is made understands the language of the heart : in which respect peter lombards definition of a vow is somewhat redundant , where he saith , it is testificatio quaedam promissionis spontaneae , a certain testification of a voluntary promise , the testification being onely a circumstance , not essential to a vow . and accordingly , whereas its here exprest , jacob vowed a vow , saying , it may very well be construed of saying in his heart ; for so in holy writ the heart is oft-times said to speak : though yet withall we may interpret this saying in its most proper notion , as referring it to his tongue , with which he might utter this vow . for ( as aquinas well observes ) there is a double use of words in making vows : . the one is , when we are in company , that others may take notice and be witnesses of our vows . upon this account it is very fit for those who have been notorious sinners , being penitent on their sick-beds , to declare their vows of amendment of life . . the other is , that even when we are alone , the elevation of the voice might make a deeper impression upon the heart , it being very evident in experience , that our wandring thoughts are kept in , and our dull affections quickned by vocal expressions . in which regard it s not improbable , that jacob , though for ought as we reade , alone , might vow , not onely inwardly in his heart , but outwardly with his mouth . . he vowed a vow , saying . it is not without some singular emphasis that this kinde of phrase is made use of . it is not said , he made a vow ; but he vowed a vow . verbalia addita verbis augendi vim habent , is a known rule among the hebrews ; verbal nouns being added to the verbs , do much increase the signification . when we reade of seeing visions , and dreaming dreams , the gemination intimates the clearnesse of their visions , and the solidity of their dreams . when david saith , he found in his heart to pray a prayer to god , it means doubtless far more than saying a prayer ▪ to wit , the sincerity and fervency of his devotion : and therefore that hebraizing greek-phrase of st. james concerning elias , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , is looked upon as parallel to that , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in the preceding verse , and is fitly rendred by our translators , he prayed earnestly . in like manner this phrase of vowing a vow , implieth the doing it with fulnesse of deliberation , freenesse of consent , earnestnesse of desire , solemnity of engagement , resolvednesse of execution . vows are not to be made rashly , but considerately ; forcedly , but freely ; slightly , but seriously ; feignedly , but cordially ; perfunctorily , but solemnly ; waveringly , but stedfastly : in a word , not as it were in jest ▪ but earnest , with a firm purpose of binding our selves by promise to the performance . to give you then a short , yet full paraphrase upon these words , jacob vowed a vow , saying ; it amounts to this , that jacob upon mature consideration , with a setled intention made a solemn promission , testifying it with verbal expressions . and so much shall suffice to have been spoken in answer to the first question . if in the next place you enquire , to whom this vow was made , though it be not expressed , yet it is plainly implied that it was to god ; for of him he presently speaketh in the third person , if god will be with me ; nay , in the close of the vow he addresseth himself directly to god in the second person , of all that thou shalt give me i will surely give the tenth to thee : it was not to any of the angels whom jacob saw ascending and descending upon the ladder , but to the lord who stood above it , to whom he vowed this vow . religious vows are onely to be made to god : for this reason david calls them gods vows , where he saith , thy vows are upon me , o god . upon this account it is , that sacrifices and vows are joyned together , in that prediction of the prophet isaiah concerning the egyptians , they shall do sacrifice and oblation , yea they shall vow a vow unto the lord ; vows being gods peculiar , no less than sacrifices . suitable hereunto peter lombard saith , a vow is the testification of a promise , quae deo fieri debet , which ought to be made to god : and aquinas positively affirms , that it is actus latriae , an act of worship , yea of that worship which even the romanists acknowledge to belong to god alone ; the more is it to be wondred at , that they practise vowing unto the virgin mary , and to other saints : but leaving them to their follies , it may suffice us , that there is no example in holy writ of any religious vow made by any godly man , to any other than the great iehovah . if once more you shall ask , upon what occasion iacob vowed this vow , the context will return the answer ; if you cast your eyes upon the beginning of the chapter , you shall find isaac calling iacob , and blessing him , and enjoyning him to go to padan-aram , that he might take a wife of the daughters of laban : in obedience to his fathers injunction iacob taketh his journey , and being on his way , that he might the more effectually implore divine aide , maketh a sacred and solemne vow . all religious vows are of two sorts , either {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , vows of prayer or praise . . we read of the mariners in jonah , that when the storm was ceased , and the sea calm , they offered sacrifice to the lord , and made vows : and david , being delivered from death , and tears , and falling , resolveth , i will walk before the lord in the land of the living . thus our holy mother the church teacheth us , when we receive those dreadful mysteries , and offer that sacrifice of thanksgiving , by way of vow to present our selves , our souls and bodies to be a reasonable , holy , and lively sacrifice unto god . indeed , vows of obedience and duty to be performed , are excellent testifications of thankfulnesse for mercy already received . . the same word in the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , signifieth both a prayer and a vow ; and most usually vows are the attendants of our prayers : in which respect david saith , thou , o god , hast heard my vows , meaning his prayers , which were accompanied with vows : more especially those prayers which are made either for obtaining of some eminent good , or for the removing of a present , or preventing an imminent evil , have still been fortified with vows . jonah being delivered from the whale , mentions the paying of his vows , which he made , no doubt , when he cried unto god out of the whales belly . david tells us of his vows which his lips uttered , and his mouth spake when he was in trouble . and here jacob being on a perilous journy , maketh a prayer unto god in the form of a vow . it is a strong argument when in the day of trouble we can plead with god not onely his promises of deliverance , but ours of obedience : no doubt david thought it so , when he prayeth , lord remember david and all his afflictions , how he sware unto the lord , and vowed a vow unto the mighty god of jacob . great dangers feared , miseries felt , wants to be supplied , are just occasions not onely of fervent prayers , but solemn vows ; and good reason , since vows are as it were the wings of prayer , by which she flies with swifter speed to heaven ; and being there , they are as it were her advocates to obtain a merciful audience with a gracious answer . st. austin observes of annah , that samuelem impetravit , quia cum poscerit , vovit , she prevailed for a samuel , because when she prayed , she vowed ; and to the same purpose damascen , per orationem ac promissionem samuelem procreavit , she brought forth a son by a prayer and a promise . indeed , as our prayers manifest what we desire god should do for us , so our vows that we are willing to do for god : and no wonder if we then most prevalently incline god to mercy , when we most strongly engage our selves to duty . learn we after jacobs example , upon special occasions to make solemn vows to god . it is very amiable in gods eyes , when we endeavour by vowing both to bring a voluntary necessity upon our selves of doing good , and withall to contract a nearer familiarity , that we may the more effectually prevail with god in our devotions . art thou then cast upon a sick bed , and desirest to be recovered ; engaged in some desperate warfare or dangerous wayfare , whether by sea or land , and desirest to be preserved or delivered : finally , art thou invironed with necessities , straits , difficulties , and wouldst be supplied , advised , directed ? do not onely pray to god for health , counsel , safety , but vow to him the performance of some singular service upon the grant of thy request . and whereas it was the fault of this good man , that what he now vowed he was afterwards backward in performing ; nor did he pay it till it pleased god as it were aurem vellicare , & voti istic olim suscepti admonere , to twich him by the ear , and put him in mind of his promise : let us not onely vow a vow by saying , but pay our vow by doing . i am vovisti , jam te obstrinxisti , tenetur apud deum sponsio tua , saith saint austin excellently , having vowed thou art bound , thy promise is upon record in heaven . and as saint bernard elegantly , justè exigitur ad solvendum , qui non cogitur ad vovendum : he who was not compelled to vow , is justly required to pay . and therefore to allude to saint hieromes expression with a little alteration , be not in vovendo stultus , foolish in vowing , nor yet much less in non reddendo impius , wicked in breaking . vow not easily without very just cause , and do not dare to violate thy vow for any cause , but rather according to that pithy advice of gregory nazianzen , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , having begun a promise by vowing , consummate it by acting : ever remembring that excellent saying of the wiseman , when thou vowest a vow unto god , defer not to pay it : better is it that thou shouldst not vow , than that thou shouldst vow and not pay . as therefore thou dost adjoyn vows to thy prayers , so annex prayers to thy vows for grace to keep the vows thou hast made . it is s. austins question upon those words , lord remember david how he vowed a vow to the god of jacob , ad quam rem , to what end would david have god remember him ? to which he returns this answer , ad hoc memento , ut impleat quod promisit , lord remember david for this end , that he may fulfil that which he hath promised . let the like be our petition to god whensoever we vow a vow to him : nor can we do it better , then ( with a little addition ) in that collect of our church , lord from whom all good things doe come , grant us thy humble servants , that by thy holy inspiration , we may think ( and vow ) those things that be good ; and by thy mercifull guiding may perform the same , through our lord jesus christ . having led you up the stairs , and opened the doore , be pleased to enter in and take a view of the severall rooms in this well-compacted building . more plainly , in this vow of jacob , observe these two generalls : the matter , and the condition . in the former , we shall see promissionem , what he promised to god , namely , that the lord should be his god . in the later , petitionem , what he desired of god , namely , that he would be with him , and keep him in his way , and give him bread to eat , and rayment to put on , so that he may come again to his fathers house in peace . that which we are first to insist on , is that which is last in the text , and is exprest in these words , the lord shall be my god . for the right understanding whereof , be pleased to know , . this phrase , the lord shall be my god , is capable of a double construction , either in a way of descending from god to man , or in a way of ascending from man to god . . by way of descending from god to man , the lord is his god , to whom he vouchsafes a peculiar favour , and of whom he is pleased to take a speciall care . in this sense he is called the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of jacob , and it is the matter of the promise which god made to abraham and his posterity , i will be a god to thee and thy seed after thee . in this notion some interpreters here take it , understanding these words as the last branch of the condition of jacobs vow , and then the matter of it is onely that which followes in the next verse . but had these words been intended by jacob as a part of the condition of his vow , he would probably have placed them in the beginning , since this near relation of having the lord to be his god , is the foundation of all the rest ; and therefore according to this construction , the rational order of the words had been thus ; if the lord shall be my god , and be with me , and keep me in the way that i shall goe , &c. nor is there any need , ( as will hereafter appear ) of fastning this interpretation upon the words to avoid any objection which may be made against the other , to which ( with the generality of expositors ) i shall rather adhere , and accordingly construe the words . . by way of ascending from man to god , and so they begin , yea after a sort comprehend the matter of his vow . for the further clearing of which , know , . that even in this latter construction , the words are capable of a double notion : the one generall and ordinary , the other speciall and extraordinary . . in the generall and common notion , the lord is his god , who makes him the sole and whole object of his trust , love , fear , worship and obedience . those divine attributes which are praedicated of the deity , do justly call for all these . his omnipotency obligeth to trust , his goodnesse to love , his justice to fear , his majesty to worship , and his soveraignty to obedience . were not these excellencies in jehovah , he could not be a god ; and unlesse we perform these duties to him , he cannot be our god . when david saith of god , thou art my god , he proves it by this , i trust in thee , and in another place by this , i delight to do thy will . when the church saith , o lord thou art my god , she presently addeth , i will exalt thee . when that heathen king said to daniel , thy god , he addes as it were by way of explication , whom thou servest continually . that first and great command , thou shalt love the lord , is with this addition , thy god . by all which it appeares , that the lord is then our god , when we place our confidence in him , set our affections on him , and yield subjection to him . it is foretold concerning the christian church by the prophet hosea , i will say to them which were not my people , thou art my people ; and they shall say , thou art my god . now as for god to say of us , we are his people , is as much as to say , we are those whom he hath culled out as his peculiar , with whom he is entred into covenant , and to whom he will vouchsafe singular defence and succour : so for us to say of him , thou art my god , is as much as to say , thou art he whom alone we account worthy of our faith , hope , love , fear , and service . indeed these two are reciprocall . what , or whomsoever a man maketh his god , that he trusts in , is afraid of , bears love , and yields service to : and to what or whomsoever a man gives all or any of these , that is a mans god . not but that in a subordinate and relative way we may perform at least some of these acts to the creature , to wit , for and under god . yet still whatsoever it is , that these acts are so directed to , as that they are terminated in , is our god . by this time you see what is the generall import of this part of jacobs vow . that which may rationally be objected , is , that this is the matter of a command , and therefore needlesse to be the matter of a vow . that first commandment , thou shalt have no other gods before me , doth manifestly imply , thou shalt have me for thy god : according to that known rule of expounding the commandments , where the negative is exprest , the affirmative is included . this is a part of that law which was ingraven from the very first upon our hearts , and therefore jacob could not be ignorant of : so that it may seem absurd for him to bind himself by the private law of a vow to that , to which he could not but know himself already bound by the publique law of god . in answer to this objection , it is well returned by layman and other casuists , that nihil obstat rem eandem ex diversis obligationum capitibus debitam esse , & debitorem pluribus ac diversis vinculis astringi : it is no repugnancy for the same thing to be due upon divers considerations , no more then for a debt to be secured by severall bonds . indeed ( as aquinas excellently distinguisheth ) those things which are absolutè necessaria , absolutely necessary , that is , ( according to the definition in logick ) quae non possunt aliter se habere , for which it is impossible to be otherwise then they are , cannot be the matter of a vow . how frivolous a thing were it for a man to vow that he will not fly , or that he will die , since the one cannot be performed , nor the other avoided . but those things which are onely hypothetically necessary , to wit , ex suppositione finis , upon this supposition , that we will attain such an end , may very well be the matter of a vow , since that which i must doe necessarily in order to an end , i may yet do voluntarily , making choice of it as a means to that end , and what i may do willingly , i may willingly vow to doe . of this sort are those things which god hath commanded , to wit , necessary upon this supposition , that we will give god the glory of his authority , and obtain for our selves eternall felicity : and therefore it is no way irrationall for a man to vow the performance of them . nay if you will believe saint austin , vows of morall duties are more acceptable to god , then those which are onely of things ceremoniall and indifferent . there are many ( saith he ) that vow not to drink wine for a certain time , and to fast certain dayes , sed non est votum optimum nec perfectum , adhuc melius volo : but this is not the best and perfect vow , i would have you make a better , offer your selves to god by holy manners , chast thoughts , fruitfull words , by ceasing from evill , and turning to good . and yet nearer to this vow in the text , he saith in another place , quid debemus vovere credere in illum , sperare ab illo vitam , bene vivere , what ought we to vow to god , but to believe on him , hope in him , and live to him ? no wonder then , if we find severall instances of vows and covenants of this nature . moses having delivered the law to the people , causeth them to enter into a solemn covenant of observing it , all that the lord hath said , we will doe , and be obedient . when asa gathered all judah and benjamin together to enter into a covenant , what is the matter of it , but to seek the lord god of their fathers , with all their hearts , and with all their souls ? the like was the matter of those covenants ▪ which were made in the time of that good king iosiah , and of that excellent governour nehemiah , for so it is exprest , to walk after the lord , to walk in gods law , which was given by moses the servant of god , and to observe and doe all the commandements of the lord our god , and his judgements , and his statutes . thus david saith of himself , i have sworn , and i will perform it , that i will keep thy righteous judgements : and here iacob vows , that the lord shall be his god . these are those communia vota , common vows , as s. bernard calls them . hoc totum omnes debemus vovere , saith s. austin . whereas other kind of vows are peculiar to some sorts of men , this is that which all of us ought to vow . if you shall yet more particularly enquire why the servants of god may and do bind themselves to bounden duties ? i answer , especially for two reasons : . that hereby they may testifie the reality and fervency of their desire to fulfill gods precepts , and in particular to take him for their god ; what we earnestly desire and cordially intend we are ready by all means and wayes to oblige our selves unto . he that truly meaneth to pay his debt , will not be backward to enter into bond . indeed , so great hath been the zeal of the people of god in this particular ( as appeares in those forementioned instances ) that they have not onely engaged themselves by protestation , but adjuration , nay execration , entring into a vow , nay oath , yea curse , to seek the god of their fathers , and walk in the law of the lord . . that hereby they might provide against the infirmity and perversness of their corrupt nature , which is so backward to what is good , that many cords are scarce strong enough to bind us to the altar . it is in this case with us as it is with wild beasts , which though put in inclosed grounds , yet wil not be kept in , unless iron fetlocks be put upon them , religionis vota compedes , saith one elegantly , vowes are as it were those fetters with which we had need to be kept within compasse , notwithstanding the inclosure of divine precepts . to come closer to this particular in my text . . were there neither law nor vow to bind us to have the jehovah for our god , yet even this is reason enough that he is jehovah ; a word which signifies one who both hath an absolute and perfect being of himself , and is the author and originall of being to all things besides himself , and who then , if not this iehovah , should be our god ? . the obligation of a divine precept to this as all other duties , is so great , as there cannot be a greater , and therefore there needs no other to be added to it to make it stronger than in it self it is ; nay , whatever other obligations are joyned with it , they are inferiour , in force and energy to it . this one consideration , that god hath required us to take him for our god , ought in reason to engage us more strongly than either any promise which god hath made to us of rewarding those who have him to be their god , or any vow which we have made to him , that he shall be our god . major est authoritas imperantis quam utilitas servientis , saith tertullian truly , divine authority should be of greater force than our own utility : and therefore gods precepts , which have upon them the stamp of his authority , are more binding than his promises , which perswade by representing to us our own advantage . and how far short the obligation of our vows is to that of gods commands , will appear from that of an ancient , who said , no less justly than devoutly , domine plus tibi quam mihi , meipsum debeo , lord i owe my self more to thee than to my self : and consequently it is most just that god should have a greater command over us than we over our selves ; and if so , his precepts must needs more bind us than our own vows . . notwithstanding it is in it self so reasonable to have the lord for our god , and the precept is so expresse of having none other ; yet , we are all very prone to make something else our god ; whilest the ambitious man saith to honour , the voluptuous to pleasure , and the covetous to wealth , what david said to jehovah , thou art my god ; which of us , if we seriously examine our selves , may not accuse our selves of idolatry , if not corporall yet spirituall , whilest we shall find something or other which we trust , or fear , or love , or serve more than god . . by vowing to have the lord for our god , we adde , though not a stronger , yet another obligation to that of divine precept , which appeares in that the breach of it addeth a new guilt ; for whereas before the vow , if a man sinneth , he is onely a transgressor of the law , after it he is also a breaker of covenant : and so contracts upon himself a double guilt ; in which regard , the laying a vow upon our selves to avoid that from which , or doe that to which we are already bound , cannot but be to our corrupt nature both fraenum and stimulus , a bridle to restrain us from the one , and a spur to excite us to the other . i end this , as for those things which are manifestly sinfull , to vow them ( under what pretence soever ) is height of impiety . those covenants which ingage men , instead of keeping gods law , injuriously to violate at once the law both of god and man , and perfidiously to break their own former oaths , are no better than leagues with hell , and covenants with the devil . upon which account , how great cause this land hath to mourn bitterly , and repent speedily , at once , both for making and breaking vows , i pray god we may all yet at last consider sadly . but as for those things which are plainly commanded us by god , we cannot bind our selves too fast to the performance of them ; and therefore , though the very command should be enough to oblige us , yet it will be both our wisdome and piety , ( considering the perversenesse and deceitfulnesse of our own hearts ) by voluntary vows ▪ to impose upon our selves ( even ) necessary duties ; and in particular to vow with jacob here , that the lord shall be our god . . besides this general , there may be a more peculiar construction of those words , the lord shall be my god , by expounding them not seorsim , but conjunctim , not by themselves , but in conjunction with the following verse , and so the meaning is , he would in an extraordinary way own the lord as his god , by erecting a place for his worship , and consecrating a tenth part of his estate to his service ; and in this sense the lord shall be my god , is most properly the object of a religious vow . to illustrate this a little , know , that according to the determination of the schools , the object of a vow strictly so called , must be , . bonum melius , that which is good , not onely in the positive , but the comparative degree , and consequently the more excellent any thing is ( provided it be within our power to perform ) the more fit to be the matter of a vow . . bonum indebitum , such a good as we were not obliged to before our vow . indeed this must be understood in a qualified sense , by distinguishing between the substantials and the circumstantials of that good we vow ; as also between an expresse and a virtual command . as we cannot do , so neither can we vow to do any thing which may justly deserve to be called a work of supererogation , that is , a thing which is over and above what the latitude of gods law reacheth to : but there are some things we may vow which are not expresly commanded , and circumstantiated by the divine law ; and to speak properly , things of this nature are the most fit matter of vows . to bring this home to the present case , though that iacob should have the lord for his god , is for the substance of it an expresse command , yet to have him for his god in such an extraordinary way as here he mentions , was more than gods law did expresly injoyn . for zacheus to give his goods to the poor is that which the law of god obliged him to ; but to give half his goods was a free-will offering , the law having no where precisely determined how much of our goods we should give . that david should praise god was a duty directly prescribed , but that he should praise him seven times a day was no where exactly determined . in like manner , that iacob should have the lord for his god , so as to worship him in some place , & to honor him with his substance , was according to express precept , but that he should so own him for his god , as to erect an altar in that place for his worship , and to give him the tenth of all that he should have , was no where punctually injoyned him , and therefore he doth here engage himself by vow to do them . i shall close up this with a short meditation : when we expect extraordinary favours , it is but reasonable we should vow some eminent service . that merchant did very well in making ( had he done as well in keeping ) his vow , who being in apparent danger of losing his ship , goods , life , by a violent storm , vowed to jupiter if he would bring him safe to shore , hecatombs of sacrifices to be offered upon his altar . our saviour saith , to whom much is given , of him much shall be required : it is no less true , god looketh for much from him who expects much from god . this no doubt was the inducement which put jacob upon this engagement , that in such a special manner the lord should be his god : and so i pass from the matter to the condition of this vow , as it is expressed in those words , if god will be with me & keep me in this way that i go , and give me bread to eat and rayment to put on , so that i come again to my fathers house in peace . wherein two things offer themselves to our consideration , namely , the manner of proposal , and the things propounded . the manner of proposal is in the particle if , which being of various construction , and here liable to misconstruction , would be a little examined and rightly setled . to which end i shall discourse it both negatively and affirmatively . on the one hand this particle if is not in this place , . si dubitantis , an if of haesitation : indeed many times it is so used , things which men are sure of they expresse positively , but when they are doubtfull they speak with an if . so the psalmist : if he hath shut up in anger his tender mercies , in a way of doubting ; and therefore our translators fitly read it as a question , hath he shut up ? with which agrees that of saint paul to the chief captain , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , may i speak unto thee ? thus ( as mercer tells us ) some here construe it , and look upon it as this holy mans infirmity , that he doubted whether god would be with him or no . but since jacob had but even now been assured by god in a vision , that the things here mentioned should be performed , it is not rationall to imagine he should so soon entertain doubting , when he had so lately received an assurance from the god of truth . . nor yet is it si stipulantis , an if of stipulation ; when this parricle if is used in contracts and bargains , it carries in it a restriction , and includeth in it a negation if , then , in such cases implies else not . and thus we are still to understand it where it is prefixed before the promises which god makes to us : so in that speech of god to cain , if thou dost well , shalt thou not be accepted ? and again , in those words of god to solomon , if my people which are called by my name , shall humble themselves and pray , &c. then i will hear from heaven , &c. but we must not thus construe it in this promise of jacob to god , as if these words did import , that if god would not be with him , &c. he should not be his god : for this were to make him a base hireling , who serves onely for his wages . indeed this was that calumny which the devil would have fastened upon job , when he saith , doth job fear god for nought ? and how false it was appears , as by his patience under afflictions , so by his resolute expression , though he slay me , yet will i trust in him : far be it from iob or iacob to serve god for end , they that take him upon such terms , are not holy but crafty ; nor is their service obedientia , but mercatura , a yeilding obed●ence to him , but rather a trading and merchandizing with him . he loves god best , who loves him for himself , and resolves to cleave to him though he seems to leave him . such was the temper of the church , as is exprest in those words , though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons , and covered us with the shadow of death ; if we have forgotten the name of our god , or stretched out our hands to a strange god , shall not god search this out ? the same spirit it was that lodged in those three worthies , when they peremptorily told nebuchadnezzar , our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace , and he will deliver us out of thine hand , o king ; but if not , be it known unto thee , o king , that we will not serve thy gods , nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up . nor need we doubt to affirm the like of jacob , that however god should deal with him in his journey , yet he was resolved that he should be his god . . on the other hand , we may very justly look upon this if in a three-fold notion , namely , as . si inferentis , an if of illation , and that two wayes : . by way of consequence , if sometimes is as much as when or after . thus by the prophet isaiah , where it is said , he that is left in sion shall be called holy , if , that is , ( as our translators render it ) when , or after the lord shall have washt away the filth of the daughter of sion . to which accords that of our saviour , if ( that is , after ) i depart i will send him unto you . and in this sense it is likewise used by the latines , so in terence , herus si redierit , when my master comes home . according to this construction we may take it here , but with a caution : when , or after god shall be with me , he shall be my god , is not to be meant exclusively , as if he were not before . no doubt jacob being piously educated , had already learned to take iehovah for his god . but notwithstanding he might resolve that after his return he should still be his god , and that then he would make a publick and extraordinary testification of it , by building him an altar in this place where he had so graciously appeared to him , and giving him the tenth of his estate . . or , by way of causality , if may import as much as because , and is so used many times in the hebrew , greek , and latine . my mouth shall praise thee ( saith david ) with joyful lips , if i remember thee upon my bed , and meditate on thee in the night watches . where the particle {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is not onely ordinal but causal , importing not onely the time , but the reason of his praising god with his lips , namely , the meditation of him in his heart . thus when the apostle saith , if you be risen with christ , seek those things which are above , that if hath the force of a because , and so it is in all hypothetical syllogisms . accordingly that known saying of cato , si deus est animus — may well be rendred , because god is a spirit . and where it is said in virgil , — vestro si munere tellus chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit aristâ : in this acception it will hold here very well , because god will be with me , &c. and that which jacob implyes , is , that the collation of mercy should be an obligation to piety . if iacob find god merciful , god shall not find iacob undutiful . this is that which he both might and ought to do . no wonder if he promise to do it . . it was that which he might do . though divine favours should not be the final , yet they may be the impulsive cause of our service ; though they must not be the high prize for which we run , yet they may be spurs to quicken us in our race . we must not look upon them as our ultimate end , but we may use them as perswading motives . god himself so propounds them in his word ; surely then we may so propose them to our selves . . nay more , this was that he ought to do . it is but reason , that if he prevent us with his benefits , we should follow him with our service . if he draw us with the cords of love , we should run after him with the feet of obedience . god takes it very ill from davids hands , that having heaped upon him so many mercies , he should despise his commands . when he had planted israel like a vineyard on a fruitful hill , fenced it , gathered the stones out of it , in a word , done so much as more could not be done for it , he justly lookt that it should bring forth grapes , and takes it unkindly that it brought forth wild grapes . it is no more than what justice and thankfulnesse requires , that if god doth hire us with his benefits , we should do his work ; let out his good things to us , we should pay him rent ; and that his sweet voyce of love should be answer'd with an echo of praise . the poet being sensible of caesars favours , resolves — erit ille mihi semper deus , he should alwayes be to him as a god : much more justly doth jacob cum proposito gratitudinis , in a way of gratitude here vow , if god will be with me , &c. then god shall be my god . nor is this if onely a particle of illation , but . si admirantis , an if of admiration ; for so musculus glosseth upon the words . iacob having received assurance from god of manifold mercies to be conferred upon him , knows not how enough to express his sense of gods love towards him , and therefore prorumpit in votum , breaks forth into a vow , and begins it with an if , which ( as sometimes it hath ) seems to have the force of an interrogation , and that in a way not of doubting , but wondring . as if he should have said , what ? is it thus ? will the lord be so exceeding gracious to me , and shall not i be more than ordinarily grateful unto him ? nay surely , if god will so far vouchsafe as to be with me , and keep me in this way that i go , &c. he shall be my god . . lastly , it is si orantis , an if of supplication . when moses uttered those words , and now if thou wilt ( he intends as much , oh that thou wouldest ) forgive the sin of this people ; and that of david , if thou wilt slay the wicked o god , though it be rendred by our translators , as if it were si asserentis , an if of confidence ; surely , it may no less fitly be translated , as si optantis , an if of desire , oh that thou wouldst slay the wicked . suitable to this is that of our saviour , father if thou be willing , that is , ( on that thou wouldst ) remove this cup from me . and thus in that of the poet , si is as much as utinam , si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus ostendat — to this notion the fore-named expositor alludes , when he saith iacob uttered these words , not as a condition , but a petition . and to the same purpose paraeus , non dubitat sed petit : jacob doth not doubt , but ask : so that we may well read the words , oh that god would be with me , and keep me in this way that i goe , &c. according to which construction his design is to expresse what were those things which he desired god should doe for him . and so i am faln on the matter proposed , in these words , god will be with me , and keep me in this way that i goe , and will give me bread to eat , and rayment to put on , so that i come again to my fathers house in peace . for the full handling whereof , i will first take the clauses asunder , and then put them together . . if you look upon them severally you shall find there are four things that jacob doth here desire of god : . his mercifull presence , will be with me : . powerfull protection , and keep me in this way that i goe : . convenient provision , and give me bread to eat , and rayment to put on : . prospereus rediction , so that i come again to my fathers house in peace . . the first thing that he craves of god is his mercifull presence , that he would be with him , and this is indeed the genus that comprehends , the cause that produceth all the rest . in which ▪ respect saint chrysostome saith upon those word , god was with the lad {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , this ( meaning divine presence ) is both our strongest weapon and richest treasure . indeed in a large sense there was no need for jacob to desire god to be with him , since nothing is withou him . suppose we in our thoughts a sphere of infinite greatnesse , whose centre is every where , and circumference no where ; it must necessarily follow , that all things besides are incompassed by , and contained in it . such a sphere is god , no wonder if seneca could say , quocunque te flexeris , ibi illum vide bis occurrentem tibi , nihil ab illo vacat , opus suum implet ; which way soever we turn our selves we may behold him meeting us , who fills all he hath made , and is absent from none of his creatures . well were it , if we would ever thus behold him present with us , whereever we are , and whatever we do . this is that presence of god , which though there is no need to desire , yet there is great reason to observe , that we may not dare to do any thing unbeseeming so glorious a majesty . but doubtlesse that which jacob intends when he would have god to be with him , is , that he would vouchsafe his peculiar , intimate and effectuall presence , whereby he is so with his own servants , as he is with none beside . it is not unworthy our observation , that gradation of phrases , by which this presence of god is set forth in scripture . the lord is nigh to all that call upon him in truth , saith the psalmist ; whereas solomon tells us , he is far from the wicked . nor is he onely prope , but cum , nigh , but with his servants ; so he saith to israel , thou art my servant , i am with thee . nor is he onely cum , but circa , with , but about his people , as the mountains are round about jerusalem , so the lord round about them that fear him , saith david . nor is he onely circa , but in , about , but in his people . so the psalmist , god is in the generation of the righteous . nor is he only in , but in medio , in , but in the midst of them , i come and will dwell in the midst of thee , saith the lord . to be with is more then to be nigh , since nearnesse may consist with some distance . to be round about is more than to be with , since he that is onely on a mans right or left hand may be said to be with him . to be in is more then to be round about , since that doth onely note an adjacency , this an inherency . finally , to be in the midst is more than onely to be in , the middle being the very centre . and why all these expressions , but to intimate gods near , speciall , and gracious presence with his people ? this was that which jacob desired : and good reason ; for , . jacob had left his fathers house , where were his best friends on earth ; and what could now render his life comfortable but the presence of god in heaven ? it rejoyced david to consider , that when his father and his mother forsook him , yet the lord would take him up . and surely now jacob was gone from his father and mother , it would much revive him to have god with him . am not i better to thee then ten sons , said elkanah to hannah ? god is better than parents , or kindred and friends , and his presence with us will sufficiently recompence their absence from us . . jacob was now in a journey , and , at such a time especially , good company doth well . comes facundus in via pro vehiculo , saith publius truly , a cheerfull associate speedeth a mans way ; and reddit iter leve & breve , makes a mans journey seem both easier and shorter . but no company like to gods ; solus non est cui praesul adest deus , saith s. ambrose sweetly : jacob , though alone , is not alone , if god be with him . it is an excellent note of s. bernard upon those words of christ to the spouse , arise and come ; non parū confortat quod audit veni & non vade , &c. it was no smal comfort to the spouse to hear that sweet word come , and not go ; by which she understood that she was not sent , but led , and that her bridegroom would go with her . quid enim difficile sibi illo comite reputet ? for what way can be rugged to her , whilest he vouchsafes to be her companion ? if god be with us in a prison , it is no longer a confinement : neque enim poterit carcer videri in quo socrates erat , said he , that cannot be a prison where socrates is : but i may much more truly say , that cannot be a prison where god is . if god be with us in a desart , it is no longer solitary ; he cannot be lonely , though alone , who hath a god to cheer him . excellently s. chrysostom , if god please , though we be in a wildernesse , we need none else to accompany us . . homo gaudet de propinquitate amici , every man is glad to have his friend near him . if a man be on a journey , the company of a stranger is acceptable , but of a friend is most desirable . jacob knew the lord , his grandfather abraham , his father isaac and himself had found him to be a sure , a fast friend ; can you blame him to desire his society ? no friends to a man in any difficulty like a good god and a good conscience . . iacob made an account of troubles which might befall him in his way ; no wonder if he would have god go with him ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith the greek father sweetly , when we have god propitious , we are more secure in the open field than others are in walled cities . the truth is , i do not on the one hand much wonder at the fear of the disciples in the ship , when besides the darknesse of the night , and vehemency of the storm , i read that iesus was not come to them : on the other hand , i lesse marvell at the confident resolution of david , though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death , yet will i fear no evil , when i presently read , for thou art with us . if gods presence go with us , as we need not care who else is with us ; so neither need we fear who or what is against us . it is moved as a question , why , whereas the prophet foretold concerning the messiah , thou shalt call his name immanuel , the angels precept is , thou shalt call his name iesus . to which this ingenuous answer is returned , that the names immanuel and iesus , though they differ in sound , are much one in sense . immanuel signifieth god with us , and iesus a saviour ; and if god be with us , salvation cannot be far from us . in one word , as the presence of the sun dispels all clouds , so doth divine presence prevent all troubles , at least the evil of them . . iacob supposeth he might need supplies in his journey , and he knew gods presence would furnish him . the lord is my shepherd ( saith david ) therefore i shall not want ; whilest the shepherd is with his flock he will not let them want either pasture or waters . nihil ei deest cui adest omnium plenitudo , saith s. ambrose , no good things can be absent where the fulness of all things is present . . lastly , iacob considered that the chief errand about which his father sent him , namely the taking of a wife , was a matter of serious concernment : besides , it so fell out , that he was intrusted by laban with the managing of his estate , and in all weighty undertakings ; who fitter than god to consult with ? to this accords tostatus his glosse , if god will be with me , dirigendo negotium & statum meum , to direct and order my affairs . it is no small content to a man , when he hath a friend no lesse prudent than faithfull at hand to advise with ; the onely wise god is both the safest guide and the best counsellour . by all this it appeares how needfull the speciall presence of a propitious god is . indeed moses made so great an account of it , that being to conduct the israelites to the land of promise , he saith unto god , if thy presence go not with me carry us not hence . oh let it be our wisdome , as alwayes , so especially when we are engaged upon perillous journeys and weighty businesses , by earnest prayer to implore , and so secure the divine presence , as here jacob doth , when he saith , if god will be with me . . the next branch of his request is , his powerful protection in those words , and keep me in this way that i go ; wherein there is something implied and exprest . . the thing implied is , that in this way which jacob was to go he should stand in need of keeping . indeed , which way can a man go wherein he may not be endangered , and therefore needs to be preserved ? there are but two wayes wherein any man can go , either the earth or the water , the land or the sea , and both are perillous . as for the earth , that indeed is steady , but our footing on it is not steady ; many have stumbled upon plain ground : and as for the perils of the water , they are both manifold and manifest . by land we meet with hills and desarts , bogs and theeves : by sea we are tost with tempests , assaulted by pirats , run upon the sands , and dash against the rocks . i speak not this to discourage any from going that way to which god calls them , though it be never so long a voyage by sea , which yet seems to be more dangerous than the land . it is a pretty story of him , who saying that his father , grandfather , and great grandfather died at sea ; and being asked , why then do you go to sea ? replied , where did your father , grandfather , and great grandfather die ? and being answered , in their beds ; wittily retorted , why then do you go to bed ? the truth is , there is no just reason to be more timorous , at least not more anxious , when we go by sea , than when we go by land ; but withall , so great is the peril of both , that we stand in need of being kept . and this jacob well knew , else what need of this prayer ? . the thing expressed is , that iacob desired god to be his keeper : the great jehovah is the lord keeper and protector of his servants . the lord keepeth the feet of his saints ; so runs the song of hannah : where if the question be asked why the feet are mentioned ? the answer is aptly returned , that the feet bear the whole weight of the body ; and besides , they are most subject to danger , so that by keeping of the feet the whole body is preserved . the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord , and he delighteth in his way ; though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down , for the lord upholdeth him with his hand : where almighty god is compared as it were to a loving nurse , or a tender mother , which holds the weak child ( when it goes ) by the hand , that it may not fall . what the devil said of job , hast thou not made an hedge about him ? is true of every good man ; the way which he goeth is hedged about with the fence of divine protection . if it shall be enquired , how god keepeth his servants in the way they go ? the answer is returned by the psalmist , the angel of the lord encampeth round about them that fear him : and again , he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes , they shall bear thee up in their hands , lest thou dash thy feet against a stone . where by the former scripture it seems that one angel guards many ; and by the latter , that many angels keep one . that a particular angel is assigned by god to every particular person is by some probably asserted , that all the angels have a charge given them to guard the saints is certainly assured ; and by the way we may at once take notice of the dignity of the saints , whom god so highly honours , as to make as it were his houshold-servants to attend on them ; and of the angels humility , who willingly condescend not onely to be comites , but bajuli , as companions to go with us , but porters to carry us , putting as it were their hands under our feet to do us service . nor is divine protection less efficacious , because by the ministry of angels ; since that maxim , agens per medium est minùs efficax in agendo , a mediate agent is less effectual in operation , onely holds true when means are used propter necessitatem , not of choice , but of necessity . whereas this cannot be imagined of god , who can preserve all things by the same immediate hand which made them . it is then no other but his good pleasure which moves him to make choice and use of angels in this service . nor yet are we to conceive that god doth so depute the angels to this employment , as that he takes no care of us himself ; for though the angels keep us ratione executionis , by ministerial service , yet god keeps us ratione gubernationis , by his over-ruling authority & providential influence . if you do but cast your eyes a little before upon jacobs vision , you shall find this truth excellently illustrated , where the ladder represents jacobs journey , upon which the angels ascending and descending intimates their care of jacob going and returning , upon the top of which the lord stood , to wit , not onely as a spectator , but a moderator . how happy are the servants of the true jehovah ! heathen worshippers are fain to keep their gods , the great god keeps his worshippers . fulgosus tells a pretty story of one musonianus , who perceived the roman army to stop in their march by reason of a bird sitting on a tree , in expectation of whose motion a soothsayer stayed them , that he might divine by it ; whereupon he shot his arrow and killed the bird , saying in derision , what help can be expected from these creatures , which are not able to prevent a danger hanging over their own heads ? all those dii tutelares , tutelar gods , ( as the heathen falsly called them ) could not save themselves , much less their worshippers . but our god whom we serve , is both able and willing to keep us . to him therefore let us have recourse , on him let us depend for protection in all our journeys and voyages , and let us set him between us and harms . they are well kept whom god keeps . his eye is ever watchful , his hand is alwayes powerful , he will not suffer thy foot to be moved , he that keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep . tutò dormivi , nam antipater vigilavit , i slept securely while antipater waked , said alexander ; we may both awake and sleep , ride and sail , walk and run secure whilest god preserveth us . we are neither safe without him , nor in danger with him . except the lord keep the city , the watchman watcheth but in vain . if he withdraw his protection , it is neither the strength of horses and multitude of forces in war , nor the skill of the pilot and tallness of the vessel at sea can preserve us ; and if god undertake our defence , it is not the greatest dangers can injure us . how perillous was the israelites journey out of egypt , when in all probability the red sea might have been made redder by their bloud , and the hills on both sides made larger by the heaps of their dead bodies , but the mighty god was their keeper , and brought them safe , not onely out of egypt , but through the sea and wilderness unto the land of promise . indeed , as s. ambrose excellently , ibi plus auxilii ubi plus periculi , when danger is greatest then divine help is nearest ; and the more perillous the way is , the more doth god glorifie his mercy in his servants safety . he that keeps the sea from over-running the earth , can keep us from miscarrying ; though it be by sea , neither waves nor winds can hurt him whom god will preserve ; and therefore in our greatest straits let us not cast away our confidence , but exercise our devotion , praying to god with jacob here , that he would keep us in the way we go . . the next branch of his desire is convenient provision in those words , and give me i read to eat , and rayment to put on . it may be here enquired , whether jacob had not provision of bread and rayment already with him ? and if so , why is this inserted in his petition ? when abraham sent forth eleazar his servant to find out a wife for isaac , he sent him forth with ample furniture ; and is it to be imagined that isaac would deal worse by his son than his father abraham did by his servant ? but to answer this , know , . that how well soever jacob were provided , this prayer was not needlesse ; even rich men must be gods beggars , and ( as will appear by and by ) have reason to pray for bread and rayment though they have it . . it is not improbably conceived , that iacob was sent forth from isaac but in a mean condition , without any plentifull sustenance or attendance . for this reason , saith mercer from the rabbins , quò citiùs rediret & anhelaret ad domum patris , that he might think the sooner of returning , and make the more haste home ; and perhaps withall , that he might be the lesse envied and maligned by his ▪ brother esau , who was enraged against him . . besides , the extent of iacobs desire for bread and rayment was till he came back to his fathers house , and possibly his stay might be longer then he intended , and so his provision fall shorter then he expected . to let this go , you may take notice in this request of these three things , the matter of his desire , bread to eat , and rayment to put on ; the donor from whom he desired them , namely , god ; and upon what account , in that word give . . the things he here desires of god are bread and rayment . bread being the most generall and needfull food , is by a synecdoche in scripture put for all kind of aliment which is necessary to the sustentation of nature , and rayment includes all things needfull for the clothing of the body . indeed some of the rabbins conceive , that jacob having now got the birth right and blessing , had an eye to the sacerdotall garment , which the first-born did minister with in holy things . but this is a far-fetcht conceipt : the most genuine sense is , that all things necessary for his feeding and clothing are here meant by bread and rayment . that which would be taken notice of is the modesty of this good man , who onely desires things necessary . he doth not ask of god quails , or manna , but onely bread ; he doth not beg purple and fine linen , jewels and ornaments , but onely rayment . it is as easie for god to give his servants delicacies as bread , silks as cloth , superfluities as necessaries ; and if he be pleased to blesse our lawfull endeavours , and throw in abundance upon us , we must receive it thankfully , and use it rightly . such , no doubt , was jacobs resolve , as appears by that part of his vow , to give god the tenth of that state he should bless him with . but still with jacob we must not enlarge too much in our prayers for temporals . this is that our saviour hath taught us christians in that excellent form of prayer , give us this day our daily bread : upon which ggregory nyssen thus elegantly glosseth , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. give us bread , not dainties , nor riches , not golden ornaments , nor silver vessels , or precious stones ; not herds of oxen , flocks of sheep , or troops of horses ; not large revenues , stately palaces , or numerous attendants ( by all which the mind is too much withdrawn from better things ) no , onely give us bread , that which may support nature and preserve life . oh how doth this check our grasping , soaring thoughts and desires ! know we not that riches and honours are things too great for our bodies , and too little for our minds ? they are more than we can use , and lesse than we would have ; we may be well enough without them , and cannot be satisfied with them . let me then bespeak you in those words of god to baruch , seekest thou great things for thy self ? seek them not : or in that excellent counsel of the apostle , having food and rayment , let us therewith be content . it is a known saying , cui satis non est satis , nihil est satis : our proverb englisheth it , enough is as good as a feast . and if you would know what is enough ▪ let juvenal answer : in quantum sitis atque fames & frigora poscunt . that which is enough to keep off hunger , thirst & cold . it was agurs prayer to god . give me neither poverty nor riches , ( both being like scylla and charibdis , destructive ) but feed me with food convenient for me : and if you would know what is convenient , i answer in few words , that which is necessary for our own preservation , which is suitable to the present station wherein god hath set us , and is justly requisie for the charge committed to us . within these bonds let us limit our desires , so shall we be followers of this godly patriarch , who onely craveth bread and rayment . . the donor of whom he desireth this provision is god , the lord in heaven is the disposer of all things on earth , we neither have them of our selves , nor can have them from any other but him , or at least by his appointment . it were easie to instance in all the various comforts of this present life ; how it is he that builds the house wherein we dwell , that makes the bed ( especially in our sicknesse ) whereon we lie , that gives his beloved sleep and rest upon her bed ; that causeth the sun to shine and the rain to fall , that prepares a table for us , and causeth our cup to run over . but i shall confine my self to the present instances , the bread we eat is out of his cupboard , and the rayment we put on out of his wardrobe . he gives us bread , inasmuch as he blesseth the seed , and giveth the earth strength to bring forth corn ; whereas the corn giveth bread to us , he giveth as it were bread to the corn by the dews of heaven , & sendeth seasonable weather to ripen it and gather it in : he giveth us rayment in that he giveth us sheep , and covereth them with wooll to clothe us : he giveth us both bread and rayment , in that he gives health and strength to earn them , peace and quietnesse to enjoy them , art and skill to make them . finally , he gives us bread and rayment , inasmuch as he gives strength to our bread to nourish us , heat to our rayment to warm us , a blessing with both , making them beneficiall to us . bread and all externall things are but as so many lumps of the first chaos , having in them neither life nor light , neither strength nor comfort , unlesse a word proceed out of the mouth of god . the truth is , if god give us not our bread and rayment , we shall either not have them , or having , not be able to use them , or using , shall not be refreshed by , or satisfied with them . whether therefore we want , or have bread and rayment , let us desire god to give them us . if we want them , let us , with the hungry ravens , cry and call upon him ; nay , if we have them , let us still cry to him for his blessing on them , humbly acknowledging all to depend upon his gracious influence . . the account upon which jacob desires bread and rayment of god , is gift ; whatever we have of god comes of free-gift . we neither can deserve any thing of him , nor repay any thing to him ; not onely the glories of that other life , but the comforts of this life are undeservedly conferred upon us ; the smallest crumbs are greater than our merits , and the worst rags better than our deserts . oh my soul , make much of this word give , and account it the chiefest ground of thy hope for whatever thou wantest , and the greatest strength of thy title to whatever thou hast . if god will give me bread to eat and rayment to put on , is jacobs form of prayer at his going forth : i am not worthy , or ( according to the hebrew ) am lesse then the least of all the mercy and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant , in his form of thanksgiving when he returned home . and surely the consideration of our unworthinesse should so much the more oblige us to thankfulnesse . the more freely any thing is conferred , it is both so much the more acceptable to him that receives it , and the more worthy of praise to him that gives it . oh let us learne with all humble thankfulnesse to acknowledge the very bread we eat , and the rayment we put on , to be not debita , but dona , due debts , but free gifts . . the last branch of iacobs request is a prosperous reduction , in these words , so that i come again to my fathers house in peace . it is usuall with the hebrews synecdochically by peace to understand a state of prosperity . mercers paraphrase is , salvus & incolumis , a safe and prosperous return to his fathers house in due time , is that then which here jacob desireth of god . there is implanted in every man by nature a love of his fathers-house , his native soyl , where ( as lipsius elegantly phraseth it ) we drew our first breath , and our feet did first tread ; where our infancy flourished , childhood played , and youth was educated ; where the heavens , the rivers , by often view have become familiar to us ; where of a long time our kindred , friends & companions have lived : in a word , where there are those objects of content , which in vain we seek for anywhere else . true it is to a wise and resolved man ( as teucer once said ) patria est ubicunque benè est , where ever a man is well , that is his country : omne solum forti patria , to a magnanimous mind every place is alike . he that thinks he can live no where but where he was born , and would confine himself to his fathers house , wants either wit , or courage , or both . a prudent and valiant man reckons himself with socrates and diogenes to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a citizen of the world , and therefore refuseth no honourable imployment , though it be to the utmost parts of the earth . but yet still , as the orator said truly , nullus locus est domesticâ sede jucundior , no place is more desireable than a mans native seat . to which agrees that of the greek poet , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; what is more delectable to a man than his fathers house ? hence it is , that . though other places be more wealthy , fruitful , pleasant than a mans own country , yet ( as he said ) quia sua , because it is a mans own , he prefers it before them . rome was far better than scythia , and yet the barbarians would leave rome to return to scythia . a stately palace in another land ( to allude to homers expression ) is not so pleasing as a mans fathers house , though it be a cottage . sertorius , a citizen of rome , having obtained many conquests abroad , at last sent to pompeius and metallus that he might return home , saying , malle se romae ignobilissimum civem , quàm exulem omnium aliarum civitatum imperatorem nominari : he had rather be one of the meanest inhabitants of rome , than a governour of all other cities . . banishment from a mans fathers house and country hath been ever accounted a grievous punishment : — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} — no greater trouble than for a man to be deprived of his native soyl . a prison at home is more welcom than perpetuall exile . those captive israelites sit down , and striving as it were to out-vie the rivers with their tears , weep by the waters of babylon , saying , how shall we sing the songs of sion in a strange land ? jephtah took it very heinously that the elders of gilead cast him out of his fathers house ; and as if they could not well have done him a worse injury , he construes it as a clear argument of their spiteful malice : did you not hate me , and expell me out of my fathers house ? . when men are in forrain parts , ( whether it be by forcible compulsion , or voluntary consent ) they cannot choose but often think of their fathers house : de loco peregrinationis proprii domicilii crescit affectus , our love to our home increaseth by our absence from it : and therefore it is when we are abroad in our persons , we are at home in our thoughts . so ovid found it in his banishment , nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos ducit , & immemores non sinit esse sui . there is such a sweetness ( saith he ) in ones native soyl , that though a man be absent from , it will not suffer him to be unmindful of it . though upon some occasions men may be willing to leave their fathers house , yet they are desirous of return . we see it in other creatures ; the wild beasts , which goe abroad to seek their prey , return to their dens ; the conies , that goe forth to feed , haste back to their holes ; the hare , that is put up by the hunter ▪ and pursued by the hounds , and almost tired , makes back to her fourme , though it be but to dye there . it is no lesse true in men ; as they that are at sea do often look towards the shore , and long for the land : sic ii qui in peregrinis locis ad patriam suam aspirant , saith lipsius , so do pilgrims and travellers seek after their own country . homer and ovid doe both tell us of ulysses , how desirous he was to come so near his country , as but — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ▪ fumum de patriis posse videre focis ; to see the smoke coming out of the chimneys . thus jacob here , though at his fathers command he left his house , yet he expresseth his desire of coming thither again in peace . this it is he begs of god , as well knowing , that as the success of his egress , so the welfare of his regress did depend upon divine providence . alexander ab alexandro tells us that one of juno's names was iterduca , and s. austin , that she was called not onely iterduca , but domiduca , the heathens looking upon that goddess as a guide of their journy both in going out and coming home . this is undoubtedly true of the great god , by whose renewed goodness it is , that after long travels and many troubles men return home in safety . if he please to appoint a mans return , though there be never so many mountaines of difficulty in the way , he shall over-leap them all . good king david , by the rebellion of absolom , was forced to flie from jerusalem , with a sad heart ( god knoweth ) and ( as appeareth by his doubtfull prayer ) with little hopes of returning . but not long after the rebellious traitour with all his confederates is discomfited , and the king cometh again to ierusalem in peace , to the great joy of all his loyall subjects , and confusion of his enemies . the experience i doubt not of many can attest how wonderfull providence hath not onely carried them forth , but brought them back . and surely this is no small mercy , yea , indeed it is that which completes all other favours , when providence thus lengtheneth out the line of a mans tranquillity . that which inviteth men to go forth , is an hope of coming home ; scarce any man would leave his country were he sure to die before he returned . a comfortable egresse is a good beginning , a successfull progresse is an addition to , but a safe regresse is the consummation of the mercy . no wonder if iacob desired of god so to keep him , as that he might come again to his fathers house in peace . having thus viewed the clauses asunder , put them together , and so look upon this petition of iacob in a double reference , both forward and backward . . look forward to the answer that god gave iacob of this request , which we find far to exceed it . he desires of god that he might be kept and fed while he was abroad , and come home safe : but lo , over and above his desire , whereas he went forth with a staff , he returned with two bands ; he went out alone , and returns with wives and children , servants and cattel ; his desire was onely to come again in peace , and behold , he comes again , not onely in peace , but with wealth . thus are gods grants many times larger then our desires : david asketh him life , and together with life he gives him a crown . solomon desireth wisdome , and with wisdome he giveth him riches and honour . the theef upon the crosse would onely be remembred by christ , and christ assureth him that he should be with him in his kingdom . thus as a little water put into a pump , makes way for a great deal more to be drawn out ; and as those thin and insensible vapours which ascend from the earth , fall down in great and abundant showres ; so do our weak and short prayers return with full and enlarged answers , god dealing with his servants in this case as ioseph did with his brethren in egypt , when he did not onely put the corn in their sacks , but the money wherewith they purchased it . how should this consideration engage and incourage us to the duty of prayer ! men in suing to their betters many times ask more then they expect ; but in suing to god we may expect more then we ask : when we go to men they deal with us as the eccho with the voice , cut off half of our petition ; but when we go to god , the crop of mercy which we reap , is far greater then the seed of prayer which we sow . . look backward to that which was a ground of his prayer , namely the promise which god made ( when he appeared ) to him . behold i am with thee , and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest , and will bring thee again into this land ; for i will not leave thee untill i have done that which i have spoken to thee : so that indeed his prayer is nothing else but a repetition of that promise . it may here be enquired , what need jacob trouble himself ▪ to pray for that which god had already promised ? his word being passed the performance is sure ; to what end should jacob pray ? one would think that this should argue some diffidence in jacob , nay forgetfulnesse in god , as if he needed to be put in mind of his word ; and god might have retorted upon jacob , why do you trouble me to ask what i have already granted ? but for answer hereunto ; know , . that it hath been the usuall practise of gods servants to pray to him for those things which he hath already promised ; not onely jacob , but abraham his grand-father , having received from god the promise of a son , intreats the lord for his wife , because she was barren . all the saints of the old testament prayed for the messiahs first coming , and we now pray for his second coming , though yet both of these are clearly promised in holy writ . . this practise of gods servants is founded upon very good reason ; for . the prayer of the upright ( according to solomons proverb ) is gods delight : christ saith unto his spouse , let me heare thy voice , which then makes the best musick in his eares , when it is the eccho of his own voice . men love not to be troubled with suitors , but god is wel-pleased with frequent addresses , yea therefore he defers to fulfill what he hath promised , that we may be the more importunate in desiring it . . divine promises are so far from being impediments , that they are incouragements to prayer : if i know that he to whom i petition is well-affected towards me , and well-pleased with what i desire of him , it cannot but embolden me to go to him ; what are the promises , but declarations of gods good will towards us , and what he is ready to do for us ? and therefore we are justly animated to go boldly to the throne of grace . . more then this , the promises are not onely incouragements to , but arguments in prayer . it is a sufficient argument to prevaile with any honest man , that his word is past , much more with the faithfull god . accordingly this holy man urgeth upon god in that prayer he made when he was returning home , thou saidest thou wouldst do me good ; with which that of david agreeth , deal well with thy servant according to thy word : and therefore instead of desisting from prayer , because of a promise , we should rather plead the promise in our prayer . . yet further , prayer is the condition and means of obtaining what god hath promised . after a catalogue of many sweet promises made by god to his people , it followeth , thus saith the lord god , i will yet for this be enquired of by the house of israel to do it for them . as repentance is the condition ( if not alwaies expressed yet implied ) of avoiding what he hath threatned ▪ so is prayer of obtaining what he hath promised : and as the space between the denouncing and executing of the menace is the time for the practise of repentance , that the evil threatned may not be inflicted ; so the space between the making and accomplishing of the promise , is the time for the exercise of prayer , that the good promised may be performed . the promises are as it were a store-house of blessings , but prayer is the key that opens it ; they are as it were the well of comforts , but prayer is the bucket which must draw out the water . . adde to all this that which may fully satisfie , not onely is prayer as an antecedent condition to the performing of a promise , but a promise must antecede to the making of a prayer : so far should we be from neglecting prayer because god hath promised , that onely what god hath promised ought to be prayed for ; s. john is expresse , if we ask according to his will he heareth us ; intimating that no prayer can have audience and acceptance , but what is according to his will ; which will is revealed in his word , and ( as to the things which we are to desire ) particularly in his promises . among the many requisites to an effectual prayer , faith is not the least ; indignus esse divina benedictione censetur , qui dominum dubio quaerit affectu , saith s. ambrose , he that asketh doubtingly begs a denial : whatsoever you ask believing ( saith our saviour ) you shall receive ; and accordingly s. james is express , if any of you lack wisdome , let him aske of god , but let him ask in faith ; now the choice prop of faith is the promise , for though we believe god is able , yet we cannot believe he is willing to grant our desires unless we have a promise to declare it . since then the rule of our prayer is gods will , and that will is revealed in the promises ; yea since the promise is a choice ground of faith , and faith is a necessary ingredient into prayer , it manifestly followeth , that we cannot make an acceptable prayer to god , unless it be founded upon faith in a promise , and so according to gods will . let it therefore be our care to study the promises , that we may be acquainted with them , have recourse to them , and make use of them , so as by them not to be hindred from , but rather incouraged to , and quickned in our devotion ; for so it was with jacob , whom we find upon the receipt of a gracious promise putting up a fervent prayer . but now methinks i heare some saying , we are convinced that a promise is an inducement , not onely to thankfulnesse , but prayer ; and had we such a promise as jacob had , we could pray both confidently and fervently . but god hath no where said to us , that he will be with us in our journeys , to keep us and provide for us , and bring us home again ; and therefore how can we hope and pray for those blessings ? to remove this doubt , be pleased to know , that . the promises which are made to particular persons in scripture , so far as they are of general concernment , belong to all the servants of god . it is very observable that the promise which god made to joshuah , i will never leave thee nor forsake thee , is not onely repeated but applied by s. paul to all christians , for otherwise the argument had been very weak ; let your conversation ( writing to the hebrews ) be without covetousness , for he hath said , ( namely , to joshuah ) i will never leave thee nor forsake thee . thus , what god said to jacob , he saith unto every one of his servants when we go forth by sea or land . indeed he saith it not so expresly , particularly , positively to us , as he did to iacob ; therefore it is that , whereas iacob having received such a punctual promise from god , might assure himself that nothing should hinder his return home , we may not be so confident ; he that goeth out in the morning , though but for a day , cannot be sure that he shall come again to his house in the evening , since he doth not know what god hath appointed to befall him . but yet withall , he that goeth forth ( as here iacob did ) for many years , may upon this very promise made to iacob , so far assure himself , that god will be with him , and if he see it fit for him ( as he did for iacob ) he will so keep him and provide for him , that he shall come again to his fathers house in peace : and what man , unless he think himself wiser than god , would desire it upon other terms ? . god hath been pleased to vouchsafe many promises of protection and provision to his servants in generall ; which among other places you may meet with in the . . and . psalms , where it would be observed , that though the promises are made to all the godly , yet some of them run in the singular number , thee and thy ; he shall cover thee with his feathers , he shall give his angels charge over thee ; the lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and for evermore . and why this ? but that every servant of god in particular might take those words as spoken to him , and in all dangers might apply them to himself for the strengthening of his faith , and the quickening of his devotion . i shall wind up this with these following directions : . be sure the way wherein thou goest be gods way , that is , such a way for which thou hast either his command that thou shalt , or at least his warrant that thou maist go in it . it is very observable , how the devil quoting that scripture , he shall give his angels charge over thee , mangles it , leaving out those words , to keep thee in all thy wayes . upon which mellerus his gloss is very apposite , in omnibus viis tuis , i. e. in vocatione tuâ , in all thy ways , that is , in thy calling wherein god hath placed thee , in which alone thou mayst expect angelical and divine protection . for a rebel who goeth forth to fight against his lawful soveraign , a theef , a pirate , who lieth in wait to rob and spoil men of their goods and lives , to pray that god would be with him , and keep him in the way that he goeth , were not a petition , but a presumption : for though it be true , that almighty god do sometimes suffer ( for reasons best known to himself ) such wretches to prosper in their wicked wayes , yet they cannot either justly expect ▪ or religiously desire it ; and by how much the more devoutly they seem to undertake such attempts , by so much the more abominable they are in the eyes of god , who never more abhorreth robbery and rebellion , then when it is masked with religion and devotion . let every one therefore , who hopeth and craveth gods blessing , be carefull that he have gods call ; nor let him think it sufficient that gods providence seemeth as it were to open a door , unlesse gods word warrant him to go forth . . be careful together with thy prayer to god to joyn thine own endeavour ▪ god will be with us , but then we must not be wanting to our selves ; he will give us bread to eat and rayment to put on without our merit , but not ( if we be able ) without our labour . he will keep us in the way we go , and that so as we may come again in peace ; but then we must not needlesly thrust our selves into danger , and use the best means we can to preserve our selves . in vaine doth that scholar think to get learning who neglects his book ; or that husband-man look for an harvest who throwes his plough into the hedge . jacob was fain to serve laban for that bread and rayment which he desired god to give him . god can keep us by a miracle without means ; he hath done so , where means have been wanting , but he hath no where said he will do it , whilest means is afforded . oculus ad coelum , manus ad clavum , is the pilots practice , as his eye is upon the star , so his hand is upon the helm ; orare is to little purpose without laborare : in all dangers , as thou liftest up thy eyes to god for his succour , so thou must put forth thy hand to the means of self-preservation . . before thou goest on thy way take thy farewell of thy sins by godly sorrow and repentance : your iniquities ( saith god by the prophet ) have separated between me and you . if any sin unrepented go with us , god will leave us ; and if iniquity be found in our hands , we cannot expect that his protection should be over our heads . i wonder not if israel turn their backs before their enemies whilst the accursed thing is in the camp . they are gods own words , i will not be with you any more , except you destroy the accursed from among you . . resign thy self to god as by a voluntary submission to his dispose , so by a willing subjection to his commands . he taketh none to be of his charge , whom he finds not to be of his family . this of jacob , if god will be with me , and keep me in that way which i goe , &c. then the lord shall be my god , may well be inverted , if the lord be thy god , then he will be with thee , and keep thee in thy way , &c. it is a false maxime on the one hand , that onely actuall protection obligeth to subjection ; i am bound to obey my parents ( whether civill or naturall ) though they be not able to protect me ; and much more my god , though he will not preserve me . but on the other hand , subjection onely is that which entitleth us to protection ; so that unlesse i serve and honour god , i do in vaine expect that he should blesse and keep me . . finally , begin , continue , and manage thy whole journey with frequent and zealous prayers to god for these blessings . nor will it be amisse , nay i would commend it as a very fitting preparative to all weighty undertakings , that thou before hand engage thy self to god , ( after jacobs pattern ) by a vow of some eminent service to be performed in case he be pleased to give thee the successe desired , and beseech him that he would prove and try thee whether thou wilt not faithfully make good the obligation thou hast made to him . having observed these rules , go forth ( in gods name ) cheerfully , couragiously , confidently , expecting divine presence and providence to accompany thee : and whereas , because the generall promises of temporall blessings in scripture are made , cum exceptione crucis ( as divines speak ) with the exception of the crosse ; things may not altogether succeed according to thy desires , yea it may so fall out that not onely troubles but death it self may befall thee in the way which thou goest : let this be thy strong consolation , that if thy life be at an end before thy way ; it is that which thy gracious god seeth best for thee , and if he do not so keep thee as that thou shalt come again in peace to thy fathers house on earth ; it is that thou mayest so much the sooner go to thy fathers house in heaven , where are many mansions , and where thou shalt be in rest , peace , and blisse to all eternity . and thus i have at length brought you through all the parts of my text , and should now put an end to my discourse , but that i have a worthy person in mine eye , whose lately intended voyage is the occasion of this discourse , and to whom in a few words i must crave leave to make a particular addresse . it hath pleased divine providence to call you forth , from your friends and fathers house : the way you are to go is long , to the remote parts of the world , and in that respect may seem tedious ; your passage is by sea , and that may prove perillous ; the dangers of the sea being probably more and greater then those of the land : but withall , your employment is not onely lawfull , but laudable , just , but honourable ; you are intrusted with the goods , and imployed for the good of many , in which respect you are likely to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a common good . besides , ( which is no small comfort ) god hath provided for you a meet help , a loving yoke-fellow , to go with you , one whose society wil recompense the absence of your other friends , and beguile the tediousnesse of the way , yea one who will help to bear a part with you as well in your trouble , as in your enjoyments . nothing now remaineth but to make sure that god may be with you in the way you are to go : in order to which the example of this holy patriarch is well worthy your imitation ; as he did , so do you bind your self to god by some solemn vow at your going forth , to do some extraordinary act of piety , of charity , at your coming home ; and not onely so , but while it is called to day , consecrate your self to his service ; throughout the whole time of your voyage walk with him , cleave to him , ever remembring that of azariah to asa , the lord is with you while ye be with him , and if ye seek him , he will be found of you , but if ye forsake him he will forsake you . nor let this onely be your personall care , but what lieth in you take care that those who are under you may serve the lord , so as the glorious name of god and christ may not be blasphemed among the indians by the prophane , intemperate and unclean lives of english christians . thus doing , doubt not of the hand of god upon you for good , & for your greater incouragement cal to mind former experiences , remember how god hath been with you and kept you in this very way that you are now to go , so that you came again to your fathers house in peace ; his hand is not shortened , that it cannot save , nor is he less willing to keep you now , if you keep close to him . i shall end my hortatory consolation to you with an intercessory supplication to god for you , for your dear consort , and all that goe along with you . nor do i doubt but all your friends here present will joyn with me ; nor shall we onely now but continually make mention of you in our prayers ; and by the way it may be a comfort to you when you are upon the tempestuous sea , and in that barbarous land , that you have a stock of prayers in england going for you . and now , what better , fitter , fuller prayer can be made for you by us or by your self , then that which here in effect jacob maketh for himself ? that god almighty would vouchsafe to be with you and keep you in the way which you go , and at last bring you again to your fathers house in peace , so as your friends who now part from you mournfully , may then meet you joyfully , and our prayers may be turned into praises and songs of deliverance . finally , not onely that you may come to your native country in peace , but , that when you come again , you may find it in peace , the breaches of church and state healed , every one enjoying his rights in quiet , sitting under his own fig-tree , and eating the fruit of his labours with joy and thankfulnesse : and let all that wish well to you , to the church , to the land , say amen , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ab heb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} gratiosus , benignus fu●t . prov. . . ruth . ● . gen. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} compositum ex {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} dedit , & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} deus . notes for div a e- musc. in loc. qu. . aquin. a . ae . q. . art . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vovit affi●e cum {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●ecit spontaneum fil●u . tr . ● . . . deus ●ordis auditor sicut & inspector . tert. l. de orat . c. . p. lomb. sent . . dist. . part . . aquin. l. d. jo●l ▪ . . sam. . . jam. . , . qu. . v. . v. , . psal. . . isa. . . p. lomb. l. d. aquin. l. d. qu. . v. , , . jonah . . see the english liturgy in the prayer after the communion . psal. . . jonah . ▪ psal. . . oratio per modii voti prolata . par. in loc. psal. . , . aug. ep. ad prob. . c. damasc. de fide l. . c. . gen. . ▪ par. ibid. aug. ep. . bern. ep. . hieron. in hist. jepht . naz. orat. ▪ eccles. . , . psal. . . aug. ibid. the collect for the fift sunday after easter . . gen. exod. . . gen. . . vide merc. in● loc. psal. . . . . isa. . . dan. . . hos. . . object . exod. . . semper in negativis meminerimus affirmativa contineri . strigel . loc. theol. answ. l●ym . tra. . c. . aquin. a. ae . quaest. . ar. . aug. de nat. dom. ser. . in psal. . exod. . . chr. . . . . neh. . . psal. . . bern. de modo bene vivendi , ser. . aug. in ps. . , . quest . answ. hoc voto suae voluit infirmitati consulere , &c. merc. in loc. mend . in ▪ . reg. c. . num. . tert. de poenit . vid. musc● ▪ ●oc . vid. est. in sent. l. . dist. . luke . . psal. . . luke . . gen ▪ partic. . negat . psal. . . acts . . v. merc. in loc. gen. . . chron. . job . . . . gratis amandus est deus , &c aug dom. . post trin. serm. . psal. . , , . ●●● . , . affirmat . isa. . . john . . terent. phorm . eum semper pro deo agnoscam & colam . mer. in loc. psal. . , . col. . . cato sent. virg. georg. sam. . , isa. . , , , . virg· musc ▪ id. ib. exod. . . psal. . . luke . . virg. aeneid . . non per modum conditionis , sed cum spiritu precationis . musc. in loc. par. ibid. partic. . gen . . chrysost. hom. ● . in gen. sen. de benef. l. . c. . psal. . . prov. . . isa. . , . psal. . . psal. . . zach. . . psal. . . sam. . . amb. l. de isaac c. . bern. in cant. serm ▪ . sen. in consolat . ●d helv●d . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. in gen. hom. . chrysost. l. d ▪ john . . vid. cyr. alex. ibid. psal. . . isa. . . matth. . . psal. . ver. . tostat. in loc ▪ exod. . . sam. . . vid. mend . ibid. psa ▪ . , . job ● . . quest . answ. psal. . . . , . see the question ingenuously discussed in a book called the guardian angel , by r. d. beatos illos spiritus propter nos remittis , in ministerium custodiae nostrae deputas , &c. bern. psal. . serm. . verse , . vid. par. in loc. psal. . , . psal. . . vides equum benè ●ormitum , bonis viribus , magno cursu praeditum ? ista omnia videntur tibi promittere de illo salutē , sed sallent , si deus non tuetur . aug. in ps. vid. cyr. in amos c. . amb. l. de joseph . c. . quest . gen. . . answ. hoc tanquam pauper & verè dei mendicus dixit , nec mirum , cùm & rex maximus ege●um se ac pauperem & mendicum professus sit . rup . in gen. merc. in loc. vide merc. in loc. vide modestiam jacob , necessaria tantùm postulat . id . ibid. matth. . gr. nyss. de orat . dom orat . . jer. . . tim. . . juven. sat. . prov. . . psal. . . . . . . math. . . psal. . matth. . . gen. . ▪ merc. in loc. lips. de const. . c. . cic. . tusc. ovid . delicatus ille est adhuc cui patria dulcis est , fortis autem jam cui omne solum patria , perfectus cui mundus exilium . hug. de s. vic. natal . com. mythol. l. . c. . eurip. in aegr . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. hom. odyss : . eurip. in med. psal. . , . judg. ▪ . cass. in psal. . patriae memoria dulcis . liv. l. . ovid . de pont ▪ l. . eleg. . aves ipsae per aera vagantes proprios nidos aman● : erratiles ferae ad cuhilia dumosa festinant , &c. cass. l. . ep. . — assueta leones an●ra petunt — ovid . l. d. lips. cent. . ep. . hom. odyss. ovid . l. d. al. ab al. genial . dier . l. . c. . aug. de civit ▪ dei . l. . c. . sam. . . . & . . ps. . , , . king. . . luk. . . gen. . . ●erse . quest . answ. gen. . . cant. . . gen. . . ezek. . . john . ▪ matth. . . ambrose . james . , ▪ object . answ. joshua . . h●b. . . psal. . , . . . mat. . . moller . in p. . isa. . . josh. . . john ▪ . . chr. . . the first general epistle of st. john the apostle, unfolded & applied. the second part, in thirty and seven lectures on the second chapter, from the third to the last verse. delivered in st. dionys. back-church, by nath: hardy minister of the gospel, and preacher to that parish. first general epistle of st. john the apostle. part . hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) the first general epistle of st. john the apostle, unfolded & applied. the second part, in thirty and seven lectures on the second chapter, from the third to the last verse. delivered in st. dionys. back-church, by nath: hardy minister of the gospel, and preacher to that parish. first general epistle of st. john the apostle. part . hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , - , - , - , - , [ ] p. printed for joseph cranford, and are to bee sold at his shop at the castle and lion, in st. pauls church-yard, london : . text continuous despite pagination. errata on p. [ ] at end. includes index and leaves of advertisements. annotation on thomason copy: "may "; "may ". reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- john -- commentaries -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the first general epistle of st. john the apostle , unfolded & applied . the second part , in thirty and seven lectures on the second chapter , from the third to the last verse . delivered in st. dionys . back-church , by nath : hardy minister of the gospel ▪ and preacher to that parish . london , printed for joseph cranford , and are to bee sold at his shop at the castle and lion , in st. pauls church-yard . . to the right honourable lady , christian , countesse dowager of devonshire . madam , i finde this holy apostle directing his second epistle to an elect lady ; whereby hee conferr'd no small honour upon her ; i am bold to dedicate this second part of my weak labours on his first epistle to your ladyship , as esteeming it ( and that justly ) a great honour to mee . st. john dignifieth the person to whom hee wrote , with the title of a lady ; it seemeth hee was of another spirit than our levelling quakers , who denying a civil difference of superiour and inferiour , refuse to give those respects , both in gestures and titles , which are due to some above others . and as he calleth her a lady , in reference to her external quality , so an elect lady , in regard of her choice internal qualifications , as being , to use st. hieromes language , concerning a prime lady in rome , non minus sanctitate quam genere nobilis ) no lesse good , than great ▪ an amiable sight it is when these two entwine each other ; piety in a mean one , is like a mine of gold in the earth ; nobility in a bad one , is like a blazing comet in the aire : but piety in a noble person , is like a bright star in the heavens . honour without vertue , is as a cloud without water ; vertue without honour , is as a room without hangings : but vertue and honour is as a golden apple in a silver picture ; or rather , as a pretious diamond in a golden ring . both these were conspicuous in st. johns elect lady , and i may no less truely say , are met together in you . should i give the world a true account of those intellectual , moral , and spiritual endowments , which god hath conferred upon your honour , i easily beleeve ( what st. hierome saith in reference to a noble lady , si quacunque virtutibus ejus congrua dixero , adulari putabor ) i shall bee censured as a flatterer . besides ( to speak st. ambrose his phrase in an epistle to the same lady ) i am justly fearful , n● verecundiae tuae onerosa foret etiam vera laudatio , lest i should offend your ladyships modesty , by expressing a character of your worth , though never so consonant to truth . i foresee also , how needlesse any enconium will bee of your merit : the lives of great persons , being , as cities built upon an hill , generally obvious . i am withall sufficiently sensible what an arrogance it is , ut tuis praedicationibus ingenium meum par esse praesumam ( as the same father in the same epistle elegantly ) that i should think my rude pensil fit to draw the lineaments of your better part ; upon all which considerations i have resolved against that common custome of a panaegyrick . onely ( after st. johns pattern ) i beseech you ( madam ) that you would abound yet more in all vertue , so as the light of your good works may shine more and more to the perfect day . to this end , let those excellent counsels which are given by him in this chapter , and though i cannot say fully , yet i dare say faithfully expounded by mee in this book , bee firmly engraven upon your noble breast . account it your highest honour ( with mary ) to sit ( as it wete ) at christs feet , not onely that you may hear , but keep his commandements , and to make good your christian profession by treading in his footsteps , and walking as he walked . by imploying ( as you do ) this worlds goods , for pious , hospitable , and charitable uses , let it appear that you have learned to love your brother , and not to love this world . go not forth to those antichristian lying teachers , who by heresy and schisme are gone out of the church of england , that ( according to the motto of your honours armes , cavendo tutus ) your pretious soul may bee still safe from errour , by bewaring them , and their poysonous doctrins . finally , as you know , so abide in him , whom you have beleeved , and let those truths , which you have heard from the beginning , and hitherto embraced , abide in you to the end of your life . i must not ( right honourable ) conclude this epistle , without fulfilling the chief end of its dedication , namely , to confesse my obligation , and professe my gratitude to your ladyship , for those kinde aspects , and benigne influences , which in these black and cloudy daies , the bright beams of your goodness have vouchsafed ( as to many of my reverend brethren , so ) in particular to my self , the unworthiest of them all . i have nothing more to adde but my devotions ▪ that the great god would accumulate upon your own person , with all that are descended from , and related to , you , the blessings of life , health , and wealth , of love , grace , and peace , of joy , blisse , and glory , is , and shall bee the uncessant prayer of madam , your honours greatly obliged , and humbly devoted servant , nathanael hardy . to the reader . this epistle , which i have undertaken by divine assistance to unfold , is as it were a goodly fabrick , consisting of five rooms , being divided into so many chapters . among those , this second is the most spatious and specious , by reason of which this volume is swelled far bigger than the former . i need not tell thee how well worthy this room is of thy most serious view ; thus much i dare assure thee , the more often thou lookest into it , the better thou wilt like it . at the entrance into it , is as it were the effigies of christ , as an advocate for thy consolation , and a pattern for thy imitation . towards the further end is the portraiture of antichrist , with all his cursed crew , spitting fire out of their mouths against the holy jesus , denying him to bee the christ , against whom the apostle giveth a seasonable caveat . on the right hand hang the lovely pictures of those virgin graces , knowledge , obedience , love of god , and of our neighbour , and perseverance in the faith . on the left hand are represented those mis-shapen monsters , of malice , and envy , in hating our brother , of worldly love , with all her brats , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eies , and the pride of life . finally , there are in it several partitions ( one for fathers , another for young men , and a third for children ) for men , for christians , of all ages and sorts . these following discourses , are as so many windows to let in light to this room , whereby thou mayest the better view it , and whatever is contained in it . i have not made use of painted glass , which ( though it may adorn ) obscureth , but rather that which is plain and clear , as affecting , not the ostentation of my own wit , in high language , but thy edification , by significant expressions . i have used my utmost care , that the several windows might bee well leaded , by a methodical and rational connexion . many flaws thou wilt meet with ( some whereof are already observed ) which i hope thy can did ingenuity will pardon . that it may please the father of lights , to transmit through these discourses , some beams of heavenly knowledge into thy soul , is , and shall bee the earnest prayer of him , who desireth to live no longer , than he may be serviceable to god and the church in his generation . nath. hardy . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , , . . and hereby we do know that we know him , if we keep his commandements . . he that saith i know him , and keepeth not his commandements , is a lier , and the truth is not in him . . but who so keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected ; hereby know we that we are in him . . he that saith he abideth in him , ought himself also to walk , as he walked . among the many excellencies of this epistle , this is one , that it is a sacred and spiritual touchststone ; for as a touchstone discovereth mettals , so doth this , both doctrines and persons . by a touchstone , the goldsmith discerneth what is right , and what is counterfeit ; and by this epistle , we may know truth from error , and sincerity from hypocrisie . would we be informed concerning positions , what are orthodox , and what heterodox ; concerning professours , who are sound , and who are rotten , we need go no further then this book . if you cast your eyes on the latter end of this , and the beginning of the fourth and fifth chapters , you may learn what is the true christian religion , namely to believe jesus to be the christ ; that christ is come in the flesh , and that he is the son of god. if you peruse every chapter throughout the epistle , you shall find those markes , whereby you may know who are true christians ▪ this is that which more especially is observable in this scripture , the chief scope whereof , is to describe a true and sincere christian , by his conformity to christ in his command and example . hereby we know , &c. it is not unfitly taken notice of by the greek scholiast , that these words have a reference to those in the seventh vers . of the former chapter , if we walk in the light , we have fellowship with one another . and indeed , if we view these verses well , you shall find them a further and fuller explication of that proposition , and that both in the predicate and subject . the predicate of that assertion , we have fellowship with one another , is here explained by two phrases ; the one in the third verse , we know him ; and the other in the fifth and sixth verses , we are , and abide in him . these being ( as it were ) the springs of that fellowship , since our communion is founded in our vnion ; and all fellowship is between those , who know each other . the subject of that assertion , if we walk in the light as he is in the light , is here characterized by two eminent steps of this walk , namely obedience to , and imitation of christ ; keeping his commandements , and walking as he walked . by which we see that verified in this part which i have formerly told you , is the chief design of the whole epistle , to wit , an explication of that proposition , as being the message which he heard , and was sent to declare to them to whom he wrote . in these four verses , there are four propositions considerable ; two whereof are principall , and two collaterall . the two principal assertions set forth the characters of sincere christians . the two collaterall refer to the knowledg we have of our christianity by those characters . the first of the principal doctrines is asserted , amplified , proved . asserted as a thesis in the close of the third verse , we know him , if we keep his commandements . amplified by an antithesis in the fourth verse , he that saith i know him , and keepeth not his commandements , is a liar , and the truth is not in him . proved by a strong reason in the beginning of the fifth , who so keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected . the second principal doctrine is only propounded by way of position in the sixth verse , yet with a tacite intimation of an opposition , and withall of a probation , as will appear in the handling ; he that saith he abideth in him , ought himself so to walk as he walked . besides these , there are two other propositions , which i call collaterall , as being appendixes to the former . the one , that a knowledg of our knowledg of , and interest in christ , is to be endeavoured . the other , that an especial means of attaining this knowledg , is hereby ; to wit , by keeping his commandements , and walking after his footsteps . and these are couched in the beginning of the third , hereby by we know that we know him ; and the end of the fifth verse , hereby we know that we are in him . the first assertion , as it is propounded in the end of the third verse , we know , or according to the greek , we have known him , if we keep his commandements , is that which will take up our present discourse . it is a proposition which is true both waies , saving knowledg being both the cause and the effect , the root and the fruit of obedience , on the one hand . keeping the commandements , is a means whereby we come to know him that is to increase our knowledg : and on the other , the saving knowledg of him , is a means inabling us to keep his commandements . that of st paul to the collossians , is very full to this purpose , where he prayeth for them , that they might be filled with the knowledg of gods wil● in all spiritual wisdom and understanding ; that they might walk worthy of him , and please him in all things , being fruitfull in every good work , and increasing in the knowledg of god : intending thereby , to teach us that we cannot walk worthy of the lord , unless we be filled with the knowledg of his will : and withall , that by being fruitfull in every good work , we should increase in the knowledg of god. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith theophilact aptly ; one of these being , as it were constitutive and productive of the other : that as water engendereth i●● , and ice water ; so doth knowledg beget obedience , and obedience augment knowledg . . would we then know him , let us keep his commandements . by thy precepts ( saith david ) that is , by the observance of thy precepts , i get understanding . if any man do my will ( saith our blessed saviour ) he shall know my dostrine . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith nazianzen ; wouldst thou be a divine ? do the commandements . for action is ( as it were ) the basis of ▪ contemplation . it is st gregories observation concerning the two disciples , who , whilst christ talked with them knew him not , but in performing an act of hospitality towards him , to wit , breaking bread with him they knew him , that they were inlightned , not by hearing but by doing divine precepts . quisquis ergo vult audita intelligere ; festinet ea quae jam audire potuit , opere implere . whosoever therefore will understand , let him first make hast to do what he heareth . . again , would we keep his commandements ▪ let us know him . these two , knowledg , and practice are necessary attendants the one upon the other . those two sisters , leah and rachell are fit emblems of contemplation and action ; contemplation like rachell is beautifull ; action like leah is fruitfull . and as those two sisters were marryed to jacob , so are these two graces concomitant in every christian . those cherubims which the prophet ezekiel speaketh of , are described to have hands under their wings . the wings ( saith st gregory , ) are an embleme of knowledg , whereby we flye in our thoughts to heaven , the hands , of practice whereby we do good on earth , and all true christians like these cherubims have hands under their wings ; that is , operation attending meditation . this that father looketh upon as resembled by those two sisters ( of whom we read in the gospell , ) martha and mary , whereof vna intenta oper● , altera contemplatio●● , the one was intent upon doing , the other upon hearing . indeed these two are not only as two sisters , but as the mother and the daughter , divine knowledg both engaging and inabling to obedience , so as it doth not only follow upon , but flowe from it . the true knowledg of divine things is not otiosa , but officiosa , a loyterer , but a labourer . as her principall object christ is incarnate , so is shee ; having eyes of charity , bowels of mercy , hands of bounty , and feet of obedience . indeed you may as well sever the beams from the sun , heat from the fire , motion from life , as practice from a right knowledg : to which purpose is that note of calvin upon the text. he admonisheth us that christian knowledg is not idle but active by its efficacious vertue producing obedience . so that they who know him really , will , nay cannot but keep his commandements . to illustrate this truth the more clearly , i shall briefly resolve these two queries ? what it is to know him ? and what it is to keep his commandements ? whereby we shall learn both why a right knowledg of christ enableth to keep the commandements ? and what keeping the commandements floweth from this knowledg . . the full explication of this knowledg and its influence upon keeping the commandements , will best appear , by considering both the object whereabout it is conversant , and the acts which it puts forth . . the object of this knowledg is insinuated in that pronoune him ; and if you ask whom , the answer is to be given from the first verse , where we read of the father and jesus christ the advocate . according to this it is , that our blessed saviour maketh the object of saving knowledg to be the only true god , and jesus christ whom he hath sent . it is not then that knowledg we have of god by his works , by his law , but by his gospell , whereof st john here speaketh . so beza upon the text. agitur hic de cognitione dei in evangelio . the apostle here speaketh of evangelicall knowledg , which must needs engage to obedience . inasmuch as it is a knowledg of the love of god and christ towards us , and those choise benefits he hath wrought for us ; and certainly he that knoweth how much christ hath done for his salvation , cannot but be ready to do whatever christ requireth for his service . indeed that naturall knowledge we have of him , as a creator , carrieth in it an argument of obedience . it is the acknowledgment of the elders , worthy art thou , o lord , to receive glory and honour , for thou hast created all things . it being most equall that to him we should return service , from whom we receive our being . yet further , that legall knowledg we have of him as our law-giver and judge , is an enducement to obedience : inasmuch , as the breach of his law , cannot but provoke him to inflict the curs , but still the knowledg we have of god as a father , of christ as an advocate and propitiation , is both the sweetest and the strongest obligation , nothing being more rational then that our father , our redeemer should be our lord , and that we should be wholly devoted to him , who is so dearly affected to us : especially considering this , is the very end of his delivering us out of the hands of our enemies , that we should serve before him without fear , in righteousness and holiness all the daies of our lives . . the acts of this knowledg will the better appear by observing that various acceptation of this word know , which may fitly be accomodated to our present purpose . among others , there are three constructions of this word . . to know , is sometimes as much as to acknowledg . when we read of a pharaoh risen in aegypt , which knew not joseph : of god complaining concerning israel , that she did not know he gave her corn , and wine and oyl : and again , of christs answer to many at the last day , i know you not . it is plainly manifest , that to know , is as much as to own , acknowledg : and in this sense , that latin word is used by the poet , cognoscere for agnoscere . — dominum cognoscite vestrum . this acceptation is here made use of by tirinus , and not unfitly : if we know him , that is , acknowledg him as our lord and jesus , and own him as our prince and saviour . and thus knowing him , we cannot but account our selves obliged to keep his commandements . it is very observeable to this purpose what christ saith in st johns gospel concerning his sheep , they know my voice , and they follow me . true believers acknowledging christ to be their shepherd , and owning it to be his voice which they hear in the scriptures , follow him by an active conformity to his precepts . it is gods own reasoning in the prophecie of malachy , if i be a father , where is my honour : if i be a master , where is my fear . and therefore christians acknowledging him to be their father , their master , cannot but give up themselves to the honour , fear , and service of him . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to know , the same with to believe . it were easie to multiply instances of this kind , but one may suffice instead of all , where god saith concerning christ , by his knowledg , shall my righteous servant justifie many : which is no doubt to be construed , by faith in him , he shall justifie , according to that of st paul ; being justified by faith. and believing is called knowing upon a double account . . partly , because knowledg is a necessary ingredient of faith. it is the apostles assertion concerning himself , i know whom i have believed ; and his question concerning the heathen , how shall they believe on him , of whom they have not heard ? thereby asserting it impossible ; and the reason is , because they cannot believe on him , whom they have not known . indeed , faith formally considered , is an assent , or if you will , consent . but fundamentally it is knowledg : faith is not a bruitish captivity , but a voluntary assent , which cannot be without some measure of knowledg praeceding . it is true , the knowledg required in faith , is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of the cause , such as in science , but only , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that it is so , upon divine revelation : but whilest it bridleth curiosity , it also abhorreth igorance . in which respect st hierom saith excellently , quae simplicitas est nescire , quae credas ? what a fally is it not to know what thou pretendest to believe ? and fulgentius , fides vera quod credit non nescit etiamsi non potest videre quod sperat & credit ; true faith , though it cannot see , yet knoweth what it believeth . . partly , because faith carrieth in it as much certainty as knowledg . it is the difference between opinion and knowledg , that the one is built only upon probabilities , but the other upon certainties ; the one argueth topically , but the other demonstratively . now faith is not an opinionative but a scientifical assent : for doubtless , since faith is founded upon divine revelation , which is infallible , there must needs be as much certainty and clearness in faith , as there can be in any knowledg , though founded upon never so strong demonstration . upon this account it is , that faith is defined by the authour to the hebrews , to be an evidence : and the evangelists expression is , we believe , and are sure ; to intimate that our believing is not a thinking , but a knowing . according to this notion of knowledge st gregory occasionally speaking of these words expounds them , and giveth this as his reason , notitia quippe dei ad fidem pertinet , because the knowledg of god is an appendix of faith ; and in this sence , if we know him , we will keep his commandements . it is observable that in scripture obeying is sometimes put for believing , so st paul quoting that of the prophet , who hath believed , reads it , who hath obeyed our report ; and that obedience is called sometimes , the obedience of faith , why this ? but to teach us that true faith cannot be severed from , yea puts upon obedience . works without faith are not good works , in which respect faith is wittily called the nest of good works in which they must be hatched ; but withall , faith without works is as good as no faith , and therefore is affirmed by st james to be a dead faith , and good works are not unfitly stiled the pulse ●f faith , by which the state and temper of it is discovered . believing is sometimes called in scripture ● receiving of christ , and this receiving is of whole christ , christ not onely as a priest , to propitiate for our sins , but as a king to governe us by his laws , in vain doth he trust for salvation by , who yields not subjection to christ : and therefore saith st paul , as you have received the lord jesus ( by faith ) so walk in him ( by obedience . ) . to know sometimes is as much as to have a personall experience , who so knoweth the commandement saith the wiseman , shall know no evill , so the hebrew , feel no evill , so our translation appositely , know , being the same there with feel . when st paul saith of christ , he knew no sin , he is to be understood in this sence , that he did not experience any sin in himself . in this acception beza construeth that of st paul , where he professeth to account all things losse , that he might know christ , that is , reipsa sentire , in very deed to feel a savour and relish of christ . and according to this notion oecumenius understands this knowledge of him in my text , to be as it were a commixion and communion with him . eliphaz hath a phrase very proper to this purpose , acquaint thy self with him . those with whom we are acquainted , are such of whom we have had trial and experience , and thus to know christ is to have a sweet intimacy between christ and our souls , to know him not onely as revealed to us , but in us , as preached to our ears , but as dwelling in our hearts . and now whosoever thus knoweth him , cannot but keep his commandements . the reason whereof appeareth in the forementioned text , where the knowledg of christ and the virtue of christ are joyned together . as the woman that touched christ received virtue from him to cure her disease , so whosoever hath an experimental knowledge of christ cannot but experience the virtue of christ , to wit , of his death for mortification , of his rising for vivification , both which make up sanctification , whereby we keep the commandements . and further , look as they who are inwardly acquainted each with other , are joyned together in a firme league of amity ; whereby it is that they will and nill the same things : so is it with those who are acquainted with christ , they will what he wills , and nill , what he nills , and indeavour wholly to conform themselves to his precepts . to summe it up then , if you would know what this meaneth to know him , i answer , it is to know god and christ as revealed in the gospell , and that so as to own him , to believe in him , and to have an experimentall acquaintance with him , and thus knowing him , we cannot but keep his commandements . . you have beheld the mother knowledge , be pleased now to take a view of the daughter obedience , as it is expressed in those words , if we keep his commandements , wherein each word is emphaticall and deserveth our due consideration ; here are three words , commandement , his , and keep , accordingly here are three particulars , the object , the subject , the act ; of each briefly . . commandements , ] that is the object , aretius upon the romanes critically observeth , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differ as the genus and the species , law taking in all sorts of precepts , but commands specially respecting those which are affirmative , and it is that which we may not unfitly here take notice of , so much the rather considering what is said at the first verse of this chapter , there it is that you sin not , avoid what is forbidden , here it is keep his commandements , do what is required . it is not enough to avoid sin , but we must do our duty , as we cease to do evill , so we must learn to do well ; as we die to sin , so we must live to righteousness . finally , as we abhorre that which is evill , so we must cleave to that which is good . pharisaicall religion lieth chiefly in negatives , god i thank thee i am no extortioner , but christian religion obligeth to affirmatives as well as negatives . as well the idle and unprofitable servant , as the wastefull prodigall steward is condemned , and the barren vine is in danger of being plucked up , as well as the wilde . indeed he that abstaineth from sinfull actions is not far from the kingdome , but it is he that doth well shall obtain the kingdome , the first step is not to sin , to leave off those evills we have done , but the next is , to do the good we have left undone , and so keep his commandements . . his , ] jesus christ the righteous hath not only published promises but given precepts , and as he proposeth comforts to stablish our confidence , so he imposeth duties which require our performance ; in which regard it is that we read elsewhere of the law of christ , and here of his commandements . if it be further enquired what these commandements are ? i answer , they are no other for substance then those which are contained in those ten words , which are usually called the morall law. and therefore we find our blessed saviour in that sermon of his upon the mount , expounding the precepts , and pressing the practice of the law upon his disciples and the people . thus as the law , in respect of our inability of exact observance , and the rigidity of its curse upon non-observance , driveth us to christ for comfort in the promises , so christ sendeth us back to the law , as a rule still to guide us in the course of our conversations , by a sincere indeavour to observe its precepts , and these are here called his commandements . . keep , ] the act which every christian is to performe , and which this knowldeg whereof my text speaketh , inableth to , is keeping . it is a word of a large extent , and may have a double reference , the one to the heart , the other to the life : when solomon giveth it in charge to his son , let thine heart keep my commandements , he meaneth no doubt a due pondering , and a stedfast remembring of those precepts he gave him ; thus david kept , when he saith he hid gods word in his heart ; and the metaphors both of keeping and hiding referre to a treasure , it being our duty as carefully to keep in mind the commandements of god and christ , as a covetuous mammonist is to keep his gold and silver in his chest . but that which we are here to understand is the keeping of christ commandements in our life . apposite to this purpose is that note of st austin upon those words of our saviour , he that hath my commandements and keepeth them , qui habet in memoria & servat in vitâ , qui habet in sermonibu● & servat in moribus , qui habet audiendo & servat ▪ faciendo , he that hath them in mind and keepeth them in life , he that hath them at his tongues end , and keepeth them at his fingers end , he that hath them by hearing and keepeth them by doing ; so that in this construction , this metaphor of keeping , referrs to a way which he is said to keep , who constantly walketh in it . and so keeping is the same with obeying , and the import of these words , we know him if we keep his commandements , is , where there is a true faith in christ , there will be a sincere obedience to his precepts . and that you may see wherein the sincerity of this obedience consists , which is the fruit of this knowledg , be pleased to observe it briefly , and yet fully in these two particulars . . the sincere keeping his commandements , is , a keeping them because they are his ; it is one thing to do what christ commands , and another to do it because he commands it . pagans that have no knowledg of , do many things which are required by christ , but they cannot do them because he requireth them , hyppocrites that have no saving knowledg of christ performe many things which he prescribeth , but it is only out of self-respects , and if a man do that which christ commands , and yet know not that he commands it , or if he knows it to be his command and do it not , because it is commanded by him , it is not such an obedience as ariseth from a right knowledg of him . it is very observable concerning david , that when he prayeth so earnestly , oh that my wayes were so directed that i might keep thy statutes , he premiseth this as the reason , thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently , thereby intimating that the ground of his obedience to gods precepts , was the stampe of divine authority in joyning him ; to this purpose it is that he saith in that same psalm , i have sought thy precepts , thereby implying , that that which he sought in his obedience was the fulfilling of gods will ; indeed that only and properly is obedience which is done intuitu voluntatis divinae , with a respect to , and eye upon divine ▪ will. as that is onely a divine faith which believeth a truth , not because of humane reason but divine revelation , so that onely is a true obedience which conformeth to the command , not because it may consist with any self-ends , but because it carrieth in it an impression of christs authority . . and further , this sincere keeping of the commandement , is a keeping not some but many , nay all : so as whatsoever appeareth to be required by him , is conformed to by us . indeed this necessarily followeth upon the former ; for quicquid propter deum fit aequaliter fit , he that doth any thing at anothers prescript , upon this account , that it is prescribed by him , will not neglect to do whatsoever he prescribeth , there being the same reason of obeying him in all as in any ; hence it is that as our faith eying divine revelation , believeth whatsoever is revealed , how cross soever it may be to our reason . so obedience eying divine prescription fulfilleth whatsoever is required though never so contrary to our affections . and thus this keeping the commandements is an universall obedience . . in respect of the extent which is ad totum preceptum to every command . . as well duties of the first as of the second , and the second as of the first table ; piety without equity is but hypocrisie , and equity without piety is but morality , both together is christianity . a pharisee may be zealous for devotion , and yet a devourer of widowes houses . an heathen may be exact in his dealings towards man , whilst yet he is no worshipper of god , but a true christian keepeth a good conscience both towards god and man. . as well the spirituall as the externall part of commands ; in our keeping the commandements it is not enough to approve our selves to men , who only observe our actions , but to god and christ , who searcheth the hearts , and vieweth our dispositions ; hence it is that true obedience is a keeping of all the commandements , not onely as to the matter , but the manner and the end ▪ a performing those duties which are required with sutable affections and a single intention . . in respect of the duration which is per totam vitam , to the end of our dayes ; it is said of christ that he was obedient to the death , and one interpretation of that is to his dying day : so must they who know christ , be obedient to him throughout the whole course of their lives . st austin explaineth the phrase of keeping , not onely by doing but persevering , and indeed that is sometimes the notion of the phrase ; so when st paul saith , i have kept the faith , he meaneth no doubt his constancy in the profession of the faith : and where christ saith , because thou hast kept the word of my patience , he intends a perseverance in their obedience to christs word , notwithstanding persecution . and thus to keep christs commandements , as well by suffering as doing , to lose any thing rather then not keep them , and patiently to continue in well doing though we may suffer ill , is that obedience which ▪ a right knowledg of christ produceth . i cannot leave this without annexing one caution , that this universall obedience is not to be understood in respect of an exact execution , but a cordiall endeavour . indeed the punctuall observation of the commandements is in this life impossible , not absolutely and in it self , for god doth not command such things ▪ as are in themselves impossible to be done ; but respectively and accidentally , because we are by the fall disinabled , and that ability we once had is not for the present perfectly restored . the truth is in the best there is both defectus privans & affectus obstans , a defect of that measure of grace which should strengthen to full obedience , and besides a continuall lusting of the flesh against the spirit , conflict between sin and grace , whereby it is that grace cannot perfectly produce its acts : hence it is that as we cannot keep them collectively , so neither distributively ; we cannot observe all , no , nor any so perfectly in every title as that there should be no deviation . but still there may be a sincere purpose of heart inclining us to observe all ; whereby it is that as hypocrites may be said to break the commandements when they keep them , because with the observance of the outward act , there is no concurrence of the minds delight , so that the good they do they would not do : so true christians may ( in a qualified sence ) be said to keep the commandements when they break them ; because when they fail in the outward act , they have an habituall purpose in their regenerate part to performe , and so the evill they do they would not . nor is this kind of obedience unfitly called universall , because it hath respect to every command , nor doth it suffer a man willingly to allow himself in the breach of any of the precepts . to summe it up , there is a knowledg of god and christ , which is true and perfect , and there is a knowledg which is true but imperfect : the perfect knowledge is that which we shall have in that other life , which is said to be perfect , not in respect of comprehension , since it is impossible that our finite understandings should fully comprehend an infinite object ; but in regard of apprehension , because it shall be the fullest degree of apprehensive knowledge , which humane nature is capable of . but the knowledg which we have in this life is imperfect , according to that of the apostle , we know in part : and according to this different knowledg , so is our keeping the commandements , since the effect cannot exceed the energy of the cause : when therefore our knowledg shall be perfect , our obedience shall be compleat . but in the meane time as our knowing christ , so our keeping his commandements is defective , though withall it is sincere , and as to the intention illimited ; the soul that rightly knoweth christ being ready to observe , and resolved to do whatsoever christ revealeth , as his will , and imposeth as a command . what now remaineth , but that every one of us indeavour to expresse the truth of our knowledg of christ by our obedience ? we have all of us ( my brethren ) heard much and often of christ , but have we yet learned to know him ? we , many of us are able to speak much of ; but have we any spirituall acquaintance with christ ? if so , where is our obedience to his commands ? true knowledg is such as may not only be heard , but seen . sheep ( saith the morall philosopher ) do not bring their fodder to their shepheards and shew them how much they have eaten , but they inwardly digest and outwardly shew it by the goodnesse and quantity of the fleece upon their backs ; if we will shew the reality of knowledg in our hearts , it must be by the fleece of holiness in our lives . indeed how can it be otherwise , but that he who knoweth christ , the authority he hath over him , the mercy he hath wrought for him , and accordingly experienceth any communion with him , and dependeth for salvation on him , should account himself infinitely obleiged to the observance of whatsoever is injoyned by him , lord what wilt thou have me to do ? is the voyce ▪ of saul when christ is pleased to discover himselfe to him . they that know thy name ( saith the psalmist , of god , ) will put their trust in thee . they that know thy nature ( oh blessed jesus ) will yield obedience to thee . indeed we many of us so know christ , as that we are willing to trust in him , but yet not to serve him , believe his promises of mercy we do , observe his commands of duty we will not , but in vain is that confidence which is not attended with obedience , and therefore let our consciencious keeping the precepts , give evidence of our faith in , our knowledg of christ , so shall we be found reall christians ; and if our knowledg of christ here inable us to keep his commandements , our keeping the commandements shall bring us to the knowledg of christ hereafter when we shall behold him face to face in glory for ever . amen . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , and part of the . . he that saith i know him , and keepeth not his commandements , is a lier , and the truth is not in him . . but who so keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected . knowledg is very amiable in the eyes of all rationall men , since as the understanding is that faculty which ennobleth man , so knowledg is that excellency which ennobleth the vnderstanding . of all knowledg none more precious then that of god , and of christ . other knowledge may ennoble , but this spiritualizeth the mind . other knowledg is needfull for us as men , but this concerneth us as christians . indeed to use lactantius his expression , this is that knowledg without which he that seeth is blind , heareth is deafe , speaketh is dumb , and i adde , liveth is dead . so much our blessed saviour implyeth when he saith . this is life eternall to know thee the only true god , and jesus christ , whom thou hast sent . but as all shining glasse is not crystall , nor all lightsome apparitions stars ; so neither is all knowledg of god and christ , that which intituleth to life eternall . and therefore our apostle is here pleased to prevent deceit , by giving us its most genuine character drawn from its inseperable attendent , yea , necessary effect , to wit , obedience to the commandements ; the willfull neglect whereof argueth the absence of this knowledg : for he that saith i know him , and keepeth not , &c. the first principall proposition , as it is asserted , hath been already discussed . that which next followeth in order , is the antithesis , by which it is illustrated ; a sentence equivalently the same with the former : and as ferus hath observed , that we may see it did not fall from him rashly ; yea , withall vehementiae gratia , as gualter notes , that it might make the deeper impression on us , he expresseth it again by its contrary . in which words there are two things to be considered ; an implicite accusation , an explicite aggravation . the one in these words ; he that saith i know him , and keepeth not his commandements : the other in these , is a lyar , and the truth is not in him . according to which zanchy laieth down two positions ▪ the one , that there were many in st johns time , yea , alwaies would be in the church , who say , they know christ and keep not his commandements ; and the other , that all such do most impudently lye . . these words , he that saith i know him and keepeth not his commandements , plainly intimate that there are some who keep not christs commandements , and yet say they know him . parallel to this is that of st paul to titus , where he speaketh of some who profess they know god , and in works deny him , being abominable disobedient , and to every good work reprobate . they whom both these apostles may most probably be supposed to intend , were the gnosticks ; this phrase of knowing so fitly answering that name ; which out of an arrogant self-conceit they gave to themselves , whilst they were men of flagitious lives , and licentious conversations , calling themselves gnosticks , and accounting themselves the only knowing men in the matters of religion . nor is it only true of these hereticks , but is likewise verified of all hypocrites , who whilst they indulge to their lusts , and live in wilfull violation of the precepts , pretend to great measure of illumination with divine knowledg . in which respect aretius saith , this is vera nota simulatorum filiorum dei , a true mark of bastard children and false saints . the sins of the people of israel were so great , and their transgressions hainous , that god bids his prophet to lift up his voice like a trumpet , and cry aloud against them , and yet they seek god daily , and delight to know his way . the same people are charged by god for transgressing his covenant , and trespassing against his laws : and yet the prophet saith of them presently after , they cry to the lord my god , we know thee ; as if they were familiar with , and had an especiall interest in him . our blessed saviour in the gospell speaketh not of a few , but many who shall at the last day take acquaintance of him , as if they had long known him : for they shall say , lord , lord , have not we prophesied in thy name , and in thy name cast out devils , and done many wonderfull works , whom yet he cals workers of iniquity ? whence it appeareth that wicked men may not only say it to others by profession , but within themselves by their opinion , yea may not onely live but die in this self-delusion , that they know christ , and so have an interest in him whilst yet they work iniquity . it was the observation of calvin in his time , that many hypocrites men of loose lives , did fidei titulo superbire , pride u● themselves in the title of believer , and made large profession of christianity , nor is it less observable in the seeming saints of this age ; on the one hand their actions are manifestly contrary to those commands of self-deniall , and humility , loyalty , and equity , meekness , and patience , mercy and charity , in giving and forgiving , which christ hath imposed on all those that will come after him : and yet on the other hand , whilst their hands are leaden , their tongues are guilded ; they say , they know god , yea , they are intimate with him , they talk much of the new birth , the work of grace , having an interest in christ , and the like . . you see the truth of the charge , now view the hainoufness of the fault . he that saith this is a lyar and the truth is not in him . indeed both wayes it is an untruth , and he that saith it , deserveth to be branded for a liar . to say we keep his commandements , when we do not know him is a lie , since if the eye be blind it is impossible the foot should make strait steps . god never turneth any from the power of satan to himself , whom he doth not first turne from darkness to light . knowledg is the souls rudder according to which its course is steered ; the christian travellers mercury pointing him the right way ; nor can we give up our selves in obedience to his precepts , whom we know not , as our lord , and of whose command we are ignorant . and as it is true on the one , so on the other hand . to say we know him , and not to keep his commandements is a lie , nor can there be truth in those who say it : it was well spoken by the philosopher , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , without virtue god is but an empty name ; and it is as true , without obedience , all knowledg of god and christ is but an empty notion , a lying vanity . for the further illustrating of this it will not be amiss to take notice of a threefold lye , to wit , verball , doctrinall , practicall ; told , taught , acted . a verball lye is , when we tell a false tale , raise an untrue report , and so become lying witnesses , and our lips lying lips . a doctrinall lye is , when men assert that to be gods word , which is their own fancy , and vent their false opinions under the notion of sublime verities : to believe these lies god threatens to give up those , who receive not the truth in the love of it . finally a practicall lie is when a mans actions do not correspond to his profession , in which respect he is justly called a liar , whose actions are breaches of the precepts , and yet his pretences are large of knowing christ , since as lorinus well noteth such an one , non praestat quod scit , quod profitetur , quod dicit , quod promittit , he performeth not according to what he knoweth , professeth , saith , nay promiseth , and so there is no truth , not only of veracity but fidelity in him , ( as that author observeth ) whilst he fulfilleth not that , which in his baptism he promised , and by his profession he is oblieged to , the keeping the commandements . but it may be here objected , that there are many who do know christ , and that not onely in a weake but great measure , since they are able to discourse excellently of the mysteries of salvation , the things of god and christ , whose lives are yet dissonant to the rule of christianity , and if so , surely when such say they know christ , they do not lye , though they do not keep his commandements . the answer to which objection will be easily made by distinguishing of a double knowledg of christ , to wit , informis and formata , literall and spirituall , notionall and practicall , speculative and active . look as there is in a man caro & spiritus , flesh and spirit , a body and a soul ; in a tree cortex & succus , the rind or barke and the sap or juyce : so is there in christian knowledg . he whose knowledg is onely litterall , hath but the flesh , the body , the barke , the rinde of knowledge ; only he whose knowledg is spirituall , hath the spirit , the soul , the sap , the juyce of knowledg . these two knowledges though they agree in the object , whereabout they are conversant , yet are they very much different . . in their efficient . for whereas a speculative knowledg of christ may be in a great measure acquired by industry in reading , and is at most , but a fruit of common illumination : the active knowledg is only obtained by prayer , and is a fruit of speciall sanctification . . in their subject . for whereas that is only seated in the understanding , this hath an impression upon the will , and is sapida scientia , a knowledg with a savour and relish of the sweetness of christ ; that only floateth in the brain , but this sinketh down into the heart ; that spins fine cobwebs in the head , this maketh the heart beat with a true pulse towards heaven . finally in their effect , that puffeth up with self-conceit , this abaseth a man in his own apprehension ; that only sits upon the lip , but this is to be felt at the fingers end ; that indeed may be , nay many times is alone ; but this is ever attended with obedience . now of this knowledg it is , that st john here speaketh ; and he that saith he thus knoweth christ , not keeping his commandements , is a liar . the truth is , whereas this knowledg is , licet vera tamen imperfecta , though true yet defective , that is , nec vera nec perfecta , not perfect nor yet true according to a theologicall notion : it is only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the apostles expression is , a forme of knowledg , not the power ; a shadow , not the substance ; and is not the true , because not the good knowledg of god : since as the psalmist saith , a good understanding have they that do his commandements . indeed as works without knowledg are no good works , so knowledg without works is no good knowledg . he that saith he believeth in christ and liveth not accordingly , believe him not , he sheweth his hypocrisie not his faith , who maketh shew of faith without obedience . and as it is vain glory to boast of our keeping the commandements , so it is in vain to boast of knowledg without keeping the commandements . in which respect that of st gregory is very apposite when there is time and place and ability of doing good , tantum quis operatur , quantum deum noverit ; tantum se nosse deum indicat , quantum pro deo bona operatur . look how much knowledg , so much doing ; and so much as a man doth , for so much he knoweth of god , and no more . this will yet the more fully appear , if we observe the scripture language , which as it were defineth that knowledg of god by obedience , and denieth it to them who ( though they be not ignorant ) are disobedient . that expression which the prophet jeremy bringeth in god speaking to shallum concerning his father , is very observable to this purpose ; he judged the poor and the needy : was not this to know me saith the lord ? and why is righteous judgment a knowing the lord , but because it was a fulfilling of his command ? upon this account it is , that these words of the same prophet , they shall not teach one another , saying , know the lord , are read by the caldee , saying , feare the lord , which the wise man joyneth with keeping his commandements : and those of the prophet hosea , there is no knowledg of god in the land , are rendred by the caldee , there is none that walketh in the feare of the lord. hence it is that the sons of eli , though priests are said to be sons of belial , which know not the lord god , where the one phrase is expounded by the other , because sons of belial that would not stoop to the yoke of obedience , therefore branded as guilty of ignorance . yet more clearly god saith by his prophet jeremy , they that handle the law know me not . and this is annexed as the reason because they transgress his law : a strange expression . handling the law , supposeth knowing it and yet not keeping : they are said not to know even the law which they handle : and in the same prophesie god complaining of his people of israel , saith , my people are foolish , they have not known me , they have no understanding : and why thus ? but because to do good they have no knowledg . some know that they may know , this is curiosity : some know , that they may be known ; this is vain glory : but some know , that they may do ; this is piety . and because the jews had not knowledg to do good , they are said to have no knowledg ; by all which it appeareth an undeniable truth , that for them who break this commandement , to say they know god and christ is an odious lye . to winde up this , david acknowledgeth i said in mine haste , all men are lyars ; but st john was not guilty of any such rashness , in saying all hypocrites are liars : and therefore credamus & cedamus veritati , nosque fateamu● esse mendaces : in a sence of our hypocrisie , let us assent to this verity , acknowledging our selves to be liars ; nor let us any longer believe a lye , and so cheat our selves into hell. do not think a few barren notions , drie sapless opinions , airy frothy speculations to be a saving knowledg : let not ( saith st austin ) thy foolish heart deceive thee , by imagining thy self to know god , whilst thy faith is a dead faith without works . who would fraught his ship with such drossie oare , or stay for that gale which cannot waft him to heaven ? nay , knowest thou not ( oh man ) that all such knowledg will only serve to make thy mittimus to hell , and aggravate as thy sin , so thy torment , in that day , when all naked empty knowledg shall vanish away ? where will be the scribes ? where the disputers ? where the wise ? shalt thou not then have cause to cry out with the poet , cur aliquid vidi ? or with job , quare misero lux data est ? woe is me that ever i knew any thing of god or christ . oh that i had been born a pagan , an ideot , and never so much as heard the sound of the gospell ! for then would my condemnation have been less . in a word , what shame will at that day sit upon thy face , when thou shalt be found before god , angels , and men a liar ; and he whom thou saist thou knowest shall say to thee , i know thee not ? be wise therefore in time , and learn what it is to know christ , take heed there be not a worm of disobedience in the tree of thy knowledg ; let it not suffice thee to have a great , but labour for a good understanding ; ever remember that knowledg is as the means , and obedience as the end ; and therefore all knowledg is vain , which doth not tend to , and end in obedience . and so much for the antithesis , by which the thesis is illustrated . proceed we to the last particular in this first proposition , namely , the argument , by which it is proved , laid down in these words , who so keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected . calvin indeed conceiveth these words to be annexed , as a description of obedience , so that if we would know , what it is to keep the commandments , the answer is ; it is to have the love of god perfected in us , to this purpose is it that moses saith , what doth the lord thy god require of thee , but to love him ? and christ summeth up all the commandements in those two precepts , of love towards god , and our neighbour ; yea st paul saith expresly , that love is the fulfilling of the law , not only effectivè , because it inableth us to keep it , but reductivè , because the whole law is reducible to that of love . but though this construction be true , yet i conceive it is not so genuine and congruous to the apostles scope . and therefore i rather look upon these words as a confirmation of the preceding clause , he that knoweth god will keep his commandments , because he that knoweth him loveth him , and he that loveth him cannot but keep his commandements . the strength of this argument will the better appear , if we put it into a syllogism which we may take briefly thus , the love of god is perfected in all , and only those who keep his word . in whomsoever there is a right knowledg of god , the love of god is perfected , therefore whosoever knoweth god aright , will keep his word . and now acording to this interpretation , here are two positions to be insisted on . the one whereof is the minor , the other the major in the syllogism ; the one tacitely intimated , and the other positively expressed . . that which is here implyed is , that where there is a knowledg , there is also the love of god and christ . the love of god may admit of a double reference ; either charitas quâ amat , or quâ amatur , actively , the love whereby god doth love ; or passively , the love whereby he is beloved . illyricus understandeth the former ; and no doubt it is a truth , that gods love is fixed on him , who keepeth his word . he that hath my commandments and keepeth them , saith christ , my father will love him . yea , whereas god vouchsafeth a generall love to all men , he hath a more speciall favour to obedient persons ; but if we thus understand the love of god in this place , the phrase of perfected will sound very harsh , since there is nothing in god , but it is absolutely and infinitely perfect , and therefore i reject it . more generally and probably expositors here understand , that love which we have to god , and so it is an undoubted truth , they who know him , cannot but love him . the truth is , therefore is divine knowledg effective , because it is affective ; it commands our actions , because it commands our affections ; and if we know him , we keep his commandements ; because if we know him , we love him . it is a rule among the hebrews , that verba notitiae connotant affectus , the phrase of knowing noteth such an act of the understanding , as carrieth the affections along with it . and indeed it is impossible but the affections should be carried on toward the object , when it is rightly known . it is a saying of st austin , qui vult habere notitiam de● , amet : he that will know god must love him , since love causeth acquaintance : and it is as true , qui vult habere amorem dei noscat , he that will love god let him know him . the necessary connexion between these two appeareth upon a double ground . . the one in respect of gods nature , which is good and goodness it self . the proper object of love is good , and it is impossible , vt quis bonum cognitum non amaret , that good known should not be beloved . be a thing never so good , if the goodness of it be not known to us , it cannot be loved by us ; and if our understandings are fully and clearly convinced of its goodness , it cannot but draw our love towards it : now god is good , the chief good , a full universall originall good . there is no goodness in any creature , which is not from him , and after a more eminent way in him ; and therefore he that knoweth him apprehending him infinitely good , cannot but be enamored with him . indeed he that rightly knoweth god , knoweth him to be justice it self , and therefore cannot but fear him . truth it self , and therefore cannot but trust him . goodness it self , and therefore cannot but love him . . the other in respect of the spirits efficacy and operation . idem spiritus qui illuminat , inspirat conformem affectum , the same spirit is both a spirit of knowledg and love. like the fire which giveth both light and heat , and wheresoever the spirit worketh savingly , there is not only an illumination of the minde , but a sanctification throughout , whereby the will is inclined to the love as well as the judgment enlightned with the knowledg of god. content not thy self then with a sapless , heartless knowledg . though christ as god knoweth all persons and things , yet he knoweth not them whom he loveth not ; and therefore he saith himself to the workers of iniquity , i know you not ; and though a man ( as st paul specifieth in his own person ) have all knowledg , yet if he have not charity it is nothing , to wit , in gods account ; and though it may be profitable to others , yet it can neither be acceptable to god , nor beneficiall to himself . . but further that which is here expressed , and therefore chiefly to be insisted on is , that whoso keepeth his word , in him ver●ly is the love of god perfected . the subject of this clause , whoso keepeth his word , is the same for substance with that in the third verse , if we keep his commandements , and therefore need not be again handled , only the different term of ( word ) would not be passed by . the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath especially a double signification , both of which may be here made use of , to wit , ratio and sermo , reason and speech . according to the former acception christs commandements are so called , because in them , is set before , us ratio vivendi , the way to order our conversation aright . and there is nothing in them but what is rectae rationi consonum , most agreeable to right reason . according to this notion , it is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in st peter , is rendred by the vulgar latin , lac rationale , and that for this reason , quia rationem tradit credendi & rectè vivendi , because the word set down a just rule , but of a right belief , and a good life , and this ( by the way ) may be a strong obligation to the keeping of what christ requireth , because he requireth nothing , but what is just and reasonable . according to the latter construction christs commandements , are so called , because they were first uttered by himself , vivâ voce with his own lips , in those sermons which he preached to the people , that especially upon the mount , and it is that which doth both advance the dignity of the commandement , and engage our duty in keeping them . when a king shall not send his herald to proclaime his pleasure , but declare his will himself , and give his commands with his own mouth to the people ; ought this not to be received with the greater reverence , and performed with a more ready obedience ? these commandements they were first gods words , for so runs the preface of the morall law. god spake these words and said , they were afterwards christs words , for so begins the sermon on the mount , he spened his mouth and spake ; so that whereas all the scripture is christs word , because dictated by his spirit , the commandements are his word , because immediately spoken by him . and in that it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words but word , perhaps our apostle might have respect to a particular command given by christ , namely the law of love , of which he chiefly treateth in this epistle . to let this goe , pass we on to the predicate of the clause as being that which here is eminently considerable . in him who keepeth his word , verily the love of god is perfected . it is that which is true both wayes , and so may very well admit of an inversion . . on the one hand in him who loveth god the keeping of his word is verily perfected . it is the excellency and perfection of obedience when it springs from love. there is a threefold obedience , to wit , necessitatis , cupiditatis , charitatis . of compulsion , when a man obeyeth no further then he is forced ; that is the slaves , whom nothing but feare enduceth to the performance of his masters command . out of expectation , when a man obeyeth for the hope of reward , that is , the servants who serveth his master for his wages . out of affection , when a man obeyeth because he loveth him , who commands ; that is the sons , whom deare respect to his father , engageth to serve him : and this last is the most ingenuous and perfect obedience . indeed it is love that enlargeth the heart not only to creep but go , nor go but run , nor run but flye at gods call . it teacheth us to obey , not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , grudgingly , but chearfully ; nor is any obedience more free then that , to which the love of christ constraineth . the truth is , malus miles qui imperatorem gemens sequitur , he is a base souldier that followeth his generall with tears . malus est ager , cum quo dominus luctatur , that is bad ground which bringeth forth nothing unless it be forced ; that obedience is not worthy the name which is only extorted from us ; and such is all service where love is absent . in this respect , it is that st ambrose saith , plus est diligere quam custodire , it is more to love god then keep his word , since this may spring from force and feare , but that only from charity . indeed this charity is that which perfects all graces and duties , nudae sine charitate omnes virtutes , said leo , truly all even our best actions are naked if not done in love . . and as thus it is our love that perfects our obedience , so withall it is our obedience that perfects our love ; i will lift up my hands ( saith david ) to thy commandements which i have loved . it is not the lifting up our eyes to the reading , no nor of our ears to the hearing , but of our hands to the doing of the commandements , which argueth our love . hearing may be a means to perfect our knowledg : the eare being the bucket , whereby we draw the water of spirituall knowledg out of the well of gods word . hearing may be a means to perfect our faith ; and therefore the apostle saith , faith cometh by hearing ; both the inchoation and the perfection , the rise and growth of it ; but still the keeping of gods word , is that which perfects our love , whoso keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfect . but it may be here objected , what meaneth our apostle to use this phrase of perfecting : nay , to use it in the preterperfectence ? for so the word grammatically is to be rendred ; in him the love of god hath been perfected . can any grace , which we have in this life be perfect ? the measure of the arke was an imperfect measure , two cubit and an half was the length , a cubit and an half the breadth , and a cubit and an half the height of it . such is the measure of all our graces in this life . one qualification of christs blessed men , is , that they hunger and thirst after righteousness , alwaies in desiring , because never in full fruition . this then being true of all graces , is in particular verified of love to god , which shall never be perfected , till we come to heaven , and therefore whilst we are here is perfecting , but not perfected . for the solution then of this doubt , be pleased . in generall , to distinguish with the fathers of a double perfection , alia absoluta , alia quae competit fragilituti nostrae : so st hierom ; alia media , alia plenos numeros habens , so st ambrose ; the one absolute and compleat , the other limited and comparative ; in which sense , he that attaineth to great measures of grace , yea , far above others , is said to have grace perfected in him , to wit , such a perfection as man in this life can attain unto : or again , we may distinguish of a perfection of parts , and of degrees ; the one whereof refers to the sincerity , the other to the exactness of grace ▪ we call a child which hath all the essentials and integrals of a man , a perfect man , though he is not grown up to the strength , and stature , and wisdome of a man. it were easie to instance in many scriptures , where perfect is put for upright ; and according to this notion , grace may be said to be perfected in them , in whom it is found to be sincere . . in particular , concerning this grace of love , it will not be amiss to distinguish with lorinus of four degrees of perfection . . to love god , is to love him , quantum ipse est diligibilis , as much as he is worthy to be loved , and so he only loveth himself ; neither in viâ , nor yet in patria ; here , nor hereafter , can we attain such a degree of love : and the reason is plain , because the love which is worthy of himself , must be like himself infinite . . to love god , quantum creatura diligere potest , as much as any creature can possibly love him ; and this we shall have in heaven , where we shall know , and knowing love god , to the utmost that a finite nature is capable of . . to love god , quantum mortalis potest creatura , so much as a creature cloathed with frailty and mortality can ; and this is that which all ought to aspire after , yea some do attain to , and may be called a perfection of proficiency . . lastly , to love god , quantum nulla alia res diligitur , so much as no other thing besides is loved by us ; to love god above all , and all in and for god. this is that to which every true christian attaineth even in this life , and is called a perfection of sincerity . in this last notion , interpreters generally and rationally expound it here . so among others , beda and beza , charitatem perfectam videtur apostolus eam intelligere quae est vera & sincera , saith the one ; the apostle understandeth by perfect sincere love . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hoc in loco non declarat aliquid perfecte consummare , sed mendacio & simulationi inani opponitur , saith the other : perfected doth not here signifie to make a thing compleat , but is opposed to lying and hypocrisie . in this respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , seemeth to be a corrective of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he doth not say , in him the love of god is fully , but verily or truly perfected . in this sense he that keepeth gods word , is said to have the love of god perfected in him , upon a double account . . because he that keepeth gods word , doth reipsa praestare , really performe love to him . look as a tree is then said to be perfected , when it hath not only buds and leaves , but fruit ; so is the love of god perfected , when it is not only in desire and profession , but practice . indeed love begins at the judgment , by a surpassing estimation of god , as the chiefest good : from thence it acts in the will by ardent desires after , and frequent delight in the enjoyment of him ; but still the reall part of love is that , by which the integrality of it is as it were consummated , is obedience in doing what he requireth from us . . because he that keepeth gods word doth hereby plenè manifestare , fully declare and manifest that his love to god is sincere ; in this respect the greek scholiast renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and giveth this as the reason , because by our good works our love appeareth to be perfect ; nor is this an unusuall acceptation of the phrase . when gods strength is said to be made perfect by weakness , it no doubt intends no more but that it is discovered to be perfect ; and when abrahams faith is said to be made perfect by works ; aquinas giveth this as the reason , because these were the operations , and so the manifestations of his faith. thus the keeping of gods word perfects our love , because it doth discover the perfection of it . by this it appeareth to be true and not fained , since though fained love may shew it self by words , it is only sincere love that expresseth it self by works : and were not love deeply rooted in the heart , it would not bring forth good fruits in the life . nay , indeed by this it appeareth to be strong as well as true ; look as it argueth nature to be strong in a man when he can perform with vivacity the operations of nature ; so it manifesteth grace to be strong , when a man doth readily performe gratious actions . the fire which flameth forth , is not only kindled , but is fervent ; and our love manifesteth it self , not only sincere , but strong , when it breaketh forth in our observance of gods word , throughout the course of our conversation . and now what remaineth , but that every one of us approve our love to god by keeping his word . love to god is that , which we all pretend , and which is the riddle : even profane wretches are ready to say , he that loveth not god , is not worthy to live ; but in vain is love to god professed by us in our words , whilst it is not perfected in us , by our deeds . how canst thou say thou lovest me ( said dalilah to sampson ) since thy heart is not with me ? it may no less truly be objected , how can we say we love god , whilest our hands are not lift up to his precepts ? the truth is amori cedunt omnes affectus , all the affections attend on love : it is full of fear , of grief , of joy , of desire . he that loveth god cannot but be grieved when he offends him , glad when he pleaseth him ; fearfull to do anything which may provoke ; desirous and carefull to do whatsoever may delight him ; and no wonder if where these affections are active , there be an endeavour to avoid what he forbids , and perform what he requireth . i end all : let every one of us conceive that christ saith to us in those words , which he is pleased to ingemminate to his disciples ; if you love me , keep my commandments ; and again , if any man love me , he will keep my word ; and therefore let us at once both testifie and justisie , the truth of our love by the reality of our service , ever remembring what this blessed disciple asserts in conformity to his masters lesson , who so keepeth his word , in him verily ( and none but him ) is the love of god perfected . the first epistle of st john . chap. . the lat . part of the , and the . verse . . hereby know we that we are in him . . he that saith he abideth in him , ought himself also so to walk , as christ walked . it is an amiable excellency in any superiour , to become a precedent of that whereof he giveth a precept , and shew himself an acter in that whereof he is an exacter from others . it was the praise of caesar , that his word to his souldiers was not ite , but venite ; go , but come . nor much unlike was that of gideon to the people ; look on me , and do likewise . indeed by this means a governour layeth a double , and so a strong obligation upon the inferiours , whilst he doth at once both enjoyne by his commands , and invite by his pattern . for this reason no doubt it is , that the captain of our salvation as he hath prescribed us laws , so he hath given us an example ; not imposing that on us , to which he did not some way or other expose himself . to this purpose are those phrases which are used by him in the gospel , of coming after him , and learning of him ; and for this reason his beloved disciple here enjoyneth these two together : and as in the former verses , he calleth upon us to keep his commandments , so here to walk as he walked . hereby we know , &c. the second principall position is that , which cometh now to be handled ; wherein we have two things observable : the christians being and his operation ; his state and his work , his dignity and his duty . the being , state , and dignity of a christian is expressed in those phrases , we are in him , and he abideth in him . the operation , work , and duty of a christian is signified in those ; ought himself so to walk , as he walked ; both which we shall consider apart in themselves ; and then joyntly in the dependance they have one upon another . consider , . in handling them severally , begin we with . the being of a christian , it is that which is characterized by two phrases , to wit , being in , and abiding in christ ; both of which are the same in substance , and yet each of which hath its proper emphasis . that which is intended by both is , the spirituall and mysticall union , which is between christ , and a christian , that which is peculiar in either is , that by being in , is noted the neerness ; and by abiding in is intimated the firmness of this vnion . . every true christian is in christ , accident is esse est inesse , saith the philosopher , the being of an accident is to be in his subject . christiani esse est inesse , saith the divine , the being of a christian is to be in christ . indeed all creatures have their being in god , and are said to consist in christ , in a generall notion , because of their necessary dependance upon him , as their preserver ● but all christians are in christ after a more peculiar notion : because of that neare and close union which they have with him , as their redeemer . the intimacy of this union cannot be expressed by a fuller phrase then this of being in ; it is one thing adhaerere , and an other inhaerere : it is more to be in , then to be with , by , or about a thing . we do not only belong to , but we are in christ ; not that there is any confusion or transfusion of the substance or person of a christian , into the substance or person of christ ; but that there is a solid , substantiall , and personall conjunction between them . indeed it may seem strange , how christ being in heaven , and we on earth , we should be in him ; but it will be easily understood , if we consider that it is not a locall or corporall , but a spirituall union , which no distance of place can hinder . we have an embleme of this , in that of marriage , the knot whereof is indissoluble though the husband be in the western , and the wife in the eastern part of the world. no wonder if this spirituall contract unite heaven , and earth , christ and a christian together . the nature and quality of this union , is that which the holy ghost hath been pleased to represent in scripture by various similitudes . when st paul speaketh of putting on the lord jesus christ ; he implyeth , that a christian is in christ , as the body is in the garment , which covereth and incompasseth it , but this is the most remote allusion , the same apostle useth a fitter metaphor , when he compareth christ to the head , and christians to the members ; for as the head and members are so neerly united , that they make but one body ; so is it with christ and the church , in which respect the very name of christ is given to the church , in those words of the apostle , so also is christ. for which cause origen saith , per unum christum , multi christi ; by one christ , many christs are made : and st austin , caput & corpus unus est christus , the head and the body , christ and the church , make but one christ . parallel to this is that comparison our saviour himself maketh use of , when he saith , i am the vine , you are the branches ; look as the branch is in the vine , so as that its very being depends upon its being in the vine , without which it dyeth and withereth ; so is a christian in christ . and therefore he telleth his disciples a little after , without me you can do nothing . not to multiply similitudes , of all carnall unions , that between a man and wife is nearest , and by that is this union shadowed ; in which respect st paul cals marriage a mystery : and let us see that even this resemblance cometh short of expressing this union ; for whereas the man and wife are but one flesh , he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit . to end this : see hence both the excellency of faith , and the felicity of a believer . . the excellency of faith , inasmuch as it is by faith , we come to be in christ : sometimes we read that christ is in us , and sometimes that we are in christ . if we would know how christ is in us , the answer is by his spirit which he conferreth upon us ; and therefore saith our apostle , hereby we know that he abideth in us , by the spirit which he hath given us . again , if we would know how we are in christ , the answer is , by believing : so much our apostle intimateth here ; for these two clauses , hereby we know that we know him ; and hereby we know that we are in him , seem to be synonymous , and plainly intimate that we are in him by knowing ( which is believing him : ) indeed both the graces of knowing and loving him before mentioned , concurre to our union with christ . inasmuch as the morall union of hearts is by love , and the mysticall of persons by faith ; oh how efficacious is this grace which tyeth the knot between a christian and christ , and maketh them one . . the felicity of believers , a christian besides his naturall , hath another more noble being , to wit , in christ , it is that which is both magnum privilegium , and magnum solatium . a great priviledg it is to have so near a relation to christ : as it is the honour of christ as god , that he is ens independens , hath his being of himself . so it is the honour of a christian , that he hath his immediate dependance on , and being in christ ; nor is there only honour but comfort in it : since we being in christ , have thereby a participation , as of his person so of his merits and benefits . that fellowship with christ whereof the apostle speaketh in the former chapter , and all the comforts attending on it , whence flow they but from this spring ? our union with christ , by being in , we have a title to , communion with , and so wisdome , righteousness , redemption , sanctification , yea all through him . that grand objection against the comfortable doctrine of the imputation of christs righteousness ; how can a man be made righteous by another mans righteousness ? is hereby answered , and the riddle of it unfolded ; we are in him , and one with him , by whose righteousness we are made righteous . and as the husband marrying the wife endoweth her with all his worldly goods , so christ uniting the christian to himself , invests him with his spirituall goods . look as● all men being naturally in adam , have the guilt o sin . , so all christians spiritually in christ have the merit of his righteousness imputed to them , so much the rather , because that whereas we were but virtually in adam , we are actually in christ . adam was only a publick person , representing ; christ was not only our representative , but surety , by whose payment we must needs be discharged , yea , indeed it were blasphemy to imagine there should be more demerit in adams sin to condemn , then merit in christs obedience , to justifie those who are in him . hence that mellifluous aphorism of st paul. there is now no con●●mnation to them that are in christ jesus . how happy is that person who is free from condemnation , and he that is in christ , having the merit of his satisfactory righteousness , by imputation communicated to him , must needs be free from the guilt of his sins , and so out of all feare of condemnation . he that dwelleth in the secret of the most high , shall be quiet from fear of evill , saith the psalmist . he that lyeth in the bosome of christ , is safe from fear of danger . oh who can sufficiently prize this amiable priviledg , this choise comfort of being in him ! and so much for that phrase . . every true christian abideth in christ . the philosophers distinguish of two sorts of accidents , the one separable , the other inseparable . those may both adesse , and abesse , be present , or absent , but these cannot be severed from the subject wherein they are ; such is the being of a christian in christ : and this is intimated in the phrase of abiding , which to inherency addeth permanency ; in this all those fore-mentioned resemblances are discrepant , the body is in the garments ; i but they may be put off , the branches are in the tree , and the members knit to the head , but they may be cut of ; the man and the wife are joyned together , but they may be parted , whereas this union is indissolvable , inseparable , and they who are truly grafted into abide in christ ; nor yet doth this truth altogether want its resemblances . that phrase of dwelling which this apostle else where useth , is very significant to this purpose , it is one thing for a man to lodg as a guest , to sojourn as an inmate , and another thing to dwell as an inhabitant , where a man dwels it is the place of his setled and fixed residence . the true believer dwelleth in christ , as in his house , surely united to him . suitable hereunto is that which learned bp davenant hath observed upon those words , roote● and built up in him , a tree that is rooted in the ground stands fast against the feircest blasts , an house that is built upon a good foundation endureth wind and weather ; thus believers being rooted and built up in christ , are able to withstand temptations , corruptions , afflictions . how greatly doth this meditation advance the comfort of a christian ? indeed in this respect mans renewed estate is better then his created , and a christian in christ , happier then adam in innocency : adam might eat of the tree of life ; but we are branches of him , who is truely the tree of life . adam might and did lose his right to the tree , we cannot our interest in christ . adams standing was as it were by himself , so that he became subject to a miserable fall , our being is in christ , by whom we are preserved from such falling . oh let believers rejoyce in this holy and stable comfort , it was far more easie for david , to pull the prey out of the bears mouth , then it is for satan to pluck us out of christs arms. if we be in him we are his members , and can we imagine that christ will suffer one of his members to be rent from him , indeed ( be it spoken with an holy reverence ) christ himself would be imperfect if any of his members should be defective , a thing inconsistent with the glory and honour of christ : no wonder if as we are in him , we are said to abide in him ; and surely such a priviledg carrieth with it an engagement , and that is it which next followeth : pt. . the operation of a christian , and that is to walk as christ walked . the phrase of walking is such , as the holy ghost delighteth frequently to use , we have already met with it in this epistle ; and therefore shall not here need to enlarge . know in brief that we are all in this world travellers , and heaven is our country , so long then as we are here , we must not sit down , but go forward . one sect among the philosophers was called the peripateticks ; such must all christians be , keeping as it were an holy preambulation in this walk . the word of god is our light ; the angels are our guarde ; the spirit is our strength ; and christ is dux itineris the guid to go before us , and therefore we are here called upon to walk as he walked . that which would be chiefly inquired into , is wherein the practice of this duty consists , and how far it extends . to which end know , . in generall , that this imitation which is required hath a limitation annexed , we must walk as christ walked , but not in all respects . there is via solitaria , and via socia ; some paths christ walked in alone , and others , we are to go in after him , look as the schools distinguish of gods attributes , that some are incommunicable , and others communicable , so may we of christs walks . some are beaten , others untroden paths ; some are such wherein we may , nay must ; others such wherein we neither can nor dare to follow him . . in speciall , we are to consider christs walking , according to a threefold reference . tria sunt operum genera quae inter homines praestitit christus , saith zanchy , there are three sorts of works which christ wrought among men ; to wit , as god , as god-man , as man. . christ as god walked in a double way , to wit , imperij & miraculi . . imperij , of authority and soveraignty , by virtue of which he sent his disciples for the colt , without asking leave of the owner ; for so god himself saith , every beast of the forrest is mine , and the cattle upon a thousand hils ; and therefore he may command them when he pleaseth , but this is not imitable by us , in whom it would be no other then theft . indeed superiour magistrates may give command in some cases for the ablation of mens goods without their leave ; but this not in imitation of christs practice , but by the deputation of his power , he having given that authority to his vicegerents on earth , for the better administration of justice and judgment . . miraculi , of might and omnipotency , doing things which were not only besides but above , nay , against the course of nature : these we are to admire but must not attempt to imitate ; and though they are the supporters of our faith , yet no rules for our practice . to this purpose is that of st austin upon this place , forte hoc nos monet ut ambulemus in mari , some may imagine that we are required to walk on the sea a● christ walked ; but far be this from our thoughts , which as it is impossible to performe , so it is presumptuous to attempt . upon the same account it is that that holy father in another place thus paraphraseth upon those words of christ , learn of me ; what should we learne of him , to make a world , to tread upon the water , to raise the dead ? noe ; but to be meek and lowly : it was the itch of our first parents , they would have been as god in knowledg , and we their unhappy progeny , are troubled with the same distemper ; we would trace the footsteps of divine power , and knowledg , and wisdome , but alas all such indeavours will prove vain and cursed , fruitless , and sinfull . indeed we find christs apostles working miracles , but not in imitation of christ ; rather christ wrought signs and wonders by them , for the propagation of his gospell , and this was only a personall , and that a temporary priviledg . . christ as god-man , mediator undertook many offices , in the exercise of which he was pleased to walk ; as a prophet , he walked up the mount , and from thence gave laws and precepts to the people ; as a priest , he walked to mount calvary , whereby suffering death upon the cross he merited our redemption . he walked from the grave to heaven , where he maketh intercession , as king and head of his church ; he walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks , defending and governing his people , conquering his enemies , giving laws , conferring guifts : and in these walks we are not directed to follow him , it is an horrid presumption in the romanists , who make a meer man head of the church , who attribute to saints and angels a power of interceding in our behalf ; and therefore we justly assert with the apostle paul , he hath given him ( to wit , exclusively ) to be head . and again , there is one mediator ( namely both of redemption and intercession , ) between god and man , he who is god and man the man christ jesus . indeed an analogicall imitation may here be allowed as christ is head of his church , so the king is head of his kingdome , the master head of his family . as christ walketh in the midst of his church , so the king in the midst of his kingdome , and the master in the midst of his house : christ as a prophet doth give laws , so his ministers are prophets to interpret his laws to the people , and all superiours must be prophets , to instruct those who are under them ; as christ intercedeth in heaven for us , so we must pray one for another on earth . as christ offered a propitiatory reall sacrifice , so we must by him offer gratulatory spirituall sacrifices . finally , to performe the office of a mediator he `dying on the cross , rose again from the grave , ascended into heaven ; so we must dye to sinne , live to righteousness , and seek the things which are above . thus we are allowed , nay obliged indirectly and allusively to follow christ in his walks as mediator but not directly . . consider , christs walks as he was man , and so we shall find the actions he performed , reducible to three heads , ceremoniall , circumstantiall , and morall . . christ walked in a way of conformity to the ceremoniall law , and therefore he is said to be made under the law : on the eight day he was circumcised , and thereby became obedient to the whole law of moses , but in those walks we must not trace him . though he was pleased to fulfill the law in himself , that it might have an honourable buriall ; yet he hath abolished it as to us ; it is not , ought not to be observed , and thereby as it were revived by us . . many things which christ did were circumstantiall , in some of which it is unlawfull , in others possibly , it may be inconvenient , and in neither of both it is needfull to imitate him . the duration of time in which christ fasted , to wit , forty daies , and forty nights , is such as being miraculous , we ought not to follow ; we are indeed to fast as he did , but not so long , since thereby we should be guilty of self-murder ; though withall it was not imprudently but piously appointed by the church , that so long time as christ fasted a toto wholy from food , we should a tali & a tanto , from some kind of food , and from our usuall measure of eating . christs choosing of such persons as publicans and sinners , to eate and drink and converse familiarly with , inasmuch as he came to call them to repentance , and was not capable of pollution by them , is no warrant for us to be familiar with wicked men , from whom the best may more easily receive evil , then do good to them ; though yet withall it giveth ministers leave to converse with those under their charge , ( though wicked ) that if by any means they may bring them to god. those circumstances of place and time which christ observed in prayer , when as one time we read he withdrew himself into the wilderness to pray , and at another time he prayed all night , though the one direct to choice of private places for private prayer , and the other intimate long prayer in some cases not to be unlawfull ; yet nether doth the one oblige us to leave our houses and run into a wilderness , nor the other to debarre our selves of a whole nights sleep , for the exercise of our devotion . that gesture of sitting which christ was pleased to use when he preached to the people , would be though not unlawfull , yet inconvenient for us his ministers to follow ; since whereas he taught magisterially , we but ministerially , and so a more humble posture ( except in case of necessity , ) best befits us . finally , the time at which our lord administred the holy communion , namely , in the night after supper : the posture in which ( as it is imagined ) he participated it : to wit , that of lying , which he used ( after the common custome ) at his other meales are no patterns necessarily oblieging us to follow them : for as to both the time and gesture it appeareth they were only occasionall , it being most suitable that the time of the first administration of that which was to come in the roome of , should be immediately after the passover , and if he did use ( which yet no evangelist ex●resly affirmeth ) that gesture , the probable reason is , because he had used it before at the pasover , and so being neerly inoidentall was not intended for our imitation . the truth is this , on the one hand if it at all oblige , it bindeth not only to a , but the table gesture ( since the custome of a countrey is no dispensation , for what is of religions and necessary concernment ) and so even they , who pretend in this to imitate christ , are defective . but on the other hand in reallity , it doth no more bind ministers and people to conform to it in that holy administration , then that gesture he used in his sermons doth bind the ministers in their preaching ; and if ( as by the practice of all sorts it seemeth to be granted ) it be more decent for the minister to stand preaching though christ sate ; i see no reason why it may not be more decent for the ministers and people to receive kneeling , notwithstanding christ did it in the usuall posture of his meales : though to all this it might be added , that since the posture there used , was humi discumbere , to lye down upon the ground , this of kneeling cometh nearer to it , then either that of sitting , or standing . in fine the summe amounts to thus much ; christs ceremoniall actions being in conformity to a law abolished , are not ; and his circumstantiall actions being not commanded nor forbidden by any law , need not be imitated by us : nor doth this walking as he walked extend to them . . but lastly , christ walked in a way of obedience to the morall law , humbling himself , and becoming obedient even to the death , and these footsteps of his morall actions , we are to tread in . for the fuller explication of this be pleased to know , that . our lord christ is ( to speak in ennodius his phrase ) clara epitome virtutum , an exact epitome of graces , in st bernards language , cardinalium virtutum exemplum , a spotless example of the cardinall virtues ; or if you will in tertullians stile , cumulata perfectionis massalis summa , an accumulated heap of spirituall perfections . suitable hereunto it is , that cresolius cals him , a seminary of graces , temple of religion , tabernacle of goodness , and habitation of virtue . indeed there is no grace nor duty , either towards god , or our selves , or others , whereof christ hath not set us a coppy . those graces of trust , feare , love and obedience , which we are to exercise towards god ; those virtues of loyalty to kings , subjection to parents , equity and charity , which are due to man. finally , those ornaments of humility , temperance , patience , by which we possess our selves , were all eminent in him , as it were easie to demonstrate , would the time permit , or did the text require it . what he in lucian said concerning solon , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in seeing solon you see all that is good , may more truly be affirmed of christ , in whom are all treasures of graces , as well as knowledg . that of the apostle concerning himself and the rest of the saints , our conversation is in heaven ; may not unfitly be applied to this duty of the imitation of christ : he hath his conversation in heaven , who leads it according to christs example , and good reason , since as athanasius excellently , christ whilst on earth did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , carry heaven about with him . this sun of righteousness went through the libra of justice , leo of fortitude , virgo of chastity , taurus of industry , gemini of love to god and man. indeed the firmament is not more full of starres , then he is of graces . it is a rule in philosophy , primum in unoquoque genere est mensura reliquorum , that which is the first in any kind is to be the measure of the rest , and christ being the first , the grand exemplar of virtue , no wonder if we are required to walk as he walked . . one singular end of christs comming into the world was , that he might become a pattern of duty . indeed the chief and primary end of his advent was to be a saviour , but a secondary was to be an example . upon this account is it that st basil saith , one end of christs coming was , that in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as in a picture we might behold the lineaments of all virtues , and accordingly learn to order our conversation aright . when christ had washed his disciples feet he saith to them , i have given you an example : and truly for this cause he lived that he might give ; yea , according to st peter , for this end he dyed , that he might leave us an example that we should follow his steps . . to endeavour as far as we can that all those graces which christ practised may shine forth in our conversations , is to walk as christ walked , so that this ( as ) here specified admits both of an extent , and a restraint . . of an extent , as , that is in all those morall steps wherein he walked : thus tertullian saith , to walk as christ walked , is to observe the discipline of that piety , and patience , justice , and wisdome , which flourished in christs life . and prosper putting this question , what is it to walk as christ walked ? returneth this answer , it is contemnere omnia prospera quae contemp●it , non timere adversa quae pertulit , libenter facere quae fecit , &c. to contemn what he contemned , suffer what he suffered , and do what he did . indeed to imitate christ but in some things , is only to step as he stepped , but to walk as he walked is to imitate him in all ; not onely to be lowly , but holy , just , but charitable as he was ; go about doing good , but suffering evill as he did ; it is to imitate him in his active , and in his passive obedience ; to follow him in his life , yea in his death . for as st austin observeth , when christ was fixus in cruce , fast nailed to the cross , he walked in the wayes of constancy , courage , patience , charity towards his enemies , which we must practice when at any time we are called to suffer ; we cannot have a better expositour of the disciple then the master ; and christ saith to follow him , is to deny our selves , and take up our cross . . of a restraint , it being an ( as ) not of equality but quality , nor doth it require an exactness of performance but only a sincerity of purpose . christs phrase is following , and coming after him , which we may do though non passibus aequis , we come far behind him : excellent to this purpose are those expressions of an ancient , proderit imitari et si nemo valeat adaequare , persequi , debemus , et si consequi non possimus , non eisdem passibus , sed eodem tramite , eisdem vestigijs insistendum : made equall we cannot , conformable we may be to him ; to attain to his measure is impossible , to press hard towards it is necessary , to go with the same speed and evenness is not expected , but to go in the same path , tread in the same steps is required : in one word , those graces which did flame forth in christs life , must at least sparkle in ours , which did shine bright in his , must twinkle in ours , which were perfectly in him , must be sincerely in us ; so shall we fulfill this apostolicall dictate , to walk as he walked . i end this , naturale homini alium imitari , man is naturally a mimicke , and loves to follow ; and what fuller , fitter , better pattern can be made choyce of then this here set before us ? oh then as moses did all things in making the tabernacle according to the pattern which god shewed him in the mount , so let us order all our actions according to the pattern christ taught in the mount ; and as he taught , so did in the course of his life . i●●s the command of god to abraham in the old testament , walk before me , it is the voice of christ to his disciples , in the new , come after me , and both very usefull ; we must walk before god , by a continued remembrance of his eye , we must come after christ , by a due observance of his steps , and so walking as having god to be our spectatour , and christ to be our guide we cannot wander . this is that which hath still been the practice of holy men , to set christ before them as their example ; this did st paul who adviseth others to follow him as he did christ ; thus did martianus of whom paulinus saith , caelestis hominis imaginem perfectâ christi portavit imitatione , he bare the image of the heavenly man , by a perfect ( that is , sincere ) imitation of christ . oh let it be so with us in every thing we go about ! let us consider with our selves what christ did , or what we have reason to believe he would do in the like case : in case of injury , christ would forgive ; of contention , christ would be a peacemaker ; of miseries , christ would shew mercy ; of reproaches persecutions , christ would suffer patiently : let us do likewise ; christ is the sun , and then only doth the watches of our lives move right , when they are set by the diall of his motion : christ is the book of life , and then only is the book of our conscience faire , when it is written according to that coppy . to this end , learn we according to the counsell of the author to the hebrews , to look unto jesus . we ( saith st paul ) beholding the glory of the lord are changed into the same image ; and we beholding the graces of christ are transformed into the image of them . look as a painter ( to use macarius his similitude ) can draw a mans picture to the life if he sit before him , and stedfastly look upon him , but if he turn away his face , the painter can do nothing : so then doth christ draw the lineaments of his virt●●s upon our souls , when we diligently look upon him : indeed who can seriously view christ , and the waies wherein he walked , and not be in love with them , and desire to walk in them ? all his waies ( as solomon●aith ●aith of wisdome ) are waies of pleasantness and peace . no cleanness or purity , no safety or security , no peace or tranquility , no delight or pleasure , like to that which is to be found in christs waies . true indeed they are narrow waies in regard of their difficulty to flesh and bloud ; they are sl●bby waies in regard of the afflictions which accompany those that love godly in christ jesus ; but they are clean waies without the mine of filthiness ; for they are safe waies fenced with the hedg of divine protection , they are pleasant waies in which we have alwaies the sun of gods favour shining on us ; yea they are blessed waies , for they lead to life and and glory ; who can behold them and not be allured to go in them ? look we therefore with a serious and spirituall eye upon christ and his waies , and that so long till , according to st pauls advice , the same mind be in us that was in christ jesus ; and then having the same mind , we shall do the same works ; so easily is the life con●ormed , where the heart is inclined : in one word , if our eye be fixed , and our heart willing , the foot will be ready to run the race that is s●t before us . i shut up with that of leo , imitamini quod operatus est , diligite quod dilexit ; love what he loved , so will you do what he did : to which we should be so much the rather induced , considering the necessity which our profession layeth upon us of so doing , and that will appeare if you , joyn both parts of the text together which is the other consideration , and cometh now to be handled . he that saith , ought ; it is not onely ( as zanchy well observeth ) utile but debitum , that which he may do , or that which is best for him to do , but that which he ought to do . this will the better appear , if you consider both the relations which they who are in christ have to him , and the influence they have from him . . the relations , which they that are in christ have to him , are many and near , all which oblige to walk as he walked . he that saith he is in christ , saith he is the friend of christ , and friends go hand in hand , have the same affections and inclinations ; he that saith he is in christ , saith he is so in , that he is under him ; christ is his lord , and he his servant , and probum servum pro ingenio domini conversari videmus , saith tertullian ; we see good servants conforme themselves to their masters will , and frame themselves to their temper . he that saith he is in christ , saith that christ is his king , and he his subject , and regis ad exemplum ; all men love to imitate their prince ; if nero like musick , all rome will turn fidlers ; let the king be lame , and his subjects will halt for company ; nay more then all this , in saying we are in christ , we say we are his seed , his off-spring : and hominibus laetum & gloriosum filios habere consimiles , it is a joy to parents when their children are like them , and the care of good children to follow their parents : so that since in all these relations there is an obligation , he that saith he abideth in christ , ought . . there is a singular influence which christ hath upon all those who are in him , enabling them to walk as he walked . it is true our blessed saviour speaketh of branches in him that beare not fruit : but there he meaneth those who are in him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely in appearance , not in reality ; who in respect of their christian profession seem to be , and in others , perhaps their own opinion are in him , not of those who are in him by a reall , substantiall , and spirituall union with him ; since all that are so in him , cannot but receive grace from him , to become fruitfull in good works . they that are in christ are his members , and as the members whilst united to the head have sence and motion derived from it , so is it with those who abide in christ , to whom he impartes that motion whereby they are able to walk as he walked . they that are in christ are his branches , and as the living branches receive sap from the root , yea , the sap that is communicated to the branches , is of the same nature with that in the root , and the fruit according ; so doth every one that is in christ partake of grace from christ , yea , that grace which is in christ is infused into the christian . finally , he that is joyned to the lord is one spirit ; if any man be in christ , he hath the spirit of christ , and look as when the spirit of eliah came upon elisha ; he was enabled to do the same miracles which he did : so in whomsoever christs spirit dwelleth , it strengthens them to do the works of christ , and become like to him . very observable to this purpose is that phrase of sealing with the spirit of promise ; for as the seal maketh the impression of its own stampe upon the wax , whereby it is that the characters upon the seale are to be discerned in the wax ; so doth christs spirit stamp his own image upon the soul : whereby it is that the graces of christ appear in the life of a christian . hence it followes that whosoever saith he is in christ , ought to walk as he walked , or else he is a lyar , and saith he is , what he is not : in which respect leo excellently , falsae professionis imagine utimur si cujus nomine gloriamur , ejus instituta non sequamur , if we conforme not to his precepts and pattern , in whose name we glory , and of whose relation we boast , all our profession is in vain , nay a meer lye . to end therefore , explora teipsum infaelix qui baptisatus es in christum , whosoever thou art that being baptised into christ , professest to put him on , and calling thy self a christian , faist thou art in him , try thy self by this mark ? dost thou walk as he walked ? nay , rather dost thou not walk contrary to him ? he was holy , thou art profane ; he was humble , thou art proud ; he was meek , thou art contentious ; he was charitable , thou art malitious : thou saist thou art in christ , and yet thou livest like a beast in sensuality , nay , like a devill , in hatred and envy , but let no man deceive himself with such a vain profession . nec quisquam se christianum judicet nisi qui christi doctrinam sequitur & imitatur exemplum , nor let any man esteem himself a christian who doth not resolve to follow christs commands and example . indeed what alexander said to one of his name who was a coward , aut depone nomen , aut fortiter pugna ; either shew thy self valorous , or do not call thy self alexander ; that christ saith to all loose christians ; either live according to my pattern , or renounce my name : let then every one that nameth the name of christ expresse the nature and do the works of christ . pythagoras instructing the women in a grave oration told them , that many of the names which were given to them in their conditions both before and after marriage , were the names of goddesses ; and thence exhorted them to imitation of those goddesses . the name ( beloved ) which we all have taken upon us is the name of christ , and therefore let us account our selves engaged to conforme to him . this , this is that which will both justifie the truth of our present profession , and make good our future expectation . there are many as st bernard observeth , who would christum consequi , and yet not sequi , be where christ is , sit down in his throne , as he is in his fathers , and yet will not go where he went , and walk as he walked ; but alas it cannot be : there is no coming to the same place but by the same path , sequi servatorem est participare salutem , saith ireneus elegantly : the way to partake of salvation , is to follow our saviour ; and therefore he that saith he is now in christ , and hopeth hereafter to be with him , must so walk as he walked : in a word , live as christ lived , holily , justly , soberly , dye as christ dyed , believingly , charitably , patiently , so shall you raign as christ raigneth , gloriously , triumphantly , eternally . amen . the first epistle of st john . chap. . verse . part former . hereby we know that we know him . verse . part latter . hereby we know that we are in him . that rule of divines concerning precepts , tota lex est copulativa , the whole law is copulative , may no lesse truly be applied to graces , which as so many links in a chain of gold are knit one to the other . the mother and root grace of all is faith ( here called knowledg ) as being that which ingrafts us into christ , of whose fullness ( saith the evangelist ) we receive grace for grace this faith whereever it is , is attended with charity , ●or faith ( saith st paul , ) works by love . this love cannot reside in any soul , but it will manifest it self by obedience . so much our blessed saviour expresseth , if any man love me , he will keep my commandments . this obedience is then best performed when we are conformed to christ in our lives , and therefore calling upon us to take his yoake he biddeth us learn of him . finally , by this obedience to , and imitation of christ , we gain our assurance of our interest in him : whence the apostle peter requiring us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure ; presently addeth , if you do these things that is practice those graces whereof christ hath given us a pattern . thus there is not only a concomitancy , but an efficiency of graces , a connexion of one with , but a dependance of one upon the other ; whilst knowledg begets love , and love keeping the commandments , and keeping the commandments we walk ● christ walked , and by all these we come to know that we know him , and are in him ; all of which are succinctly and distinctly laid down in these four verses , hereby we know , &c. in these verses there are two clauses yet remaining to be discussed , the one in the beginning of the third , and the other in the end of the fifth ; the former of which referrs to the keeping of the commandments , and the other though it may look backward , yet most rationally is conceived to look forward , to walking as christ walked ; both for substance the same , and contain in them two collaterall propositions ; the one whereof asserts the attaining a comfortable knowledg of our knowledg of , and interest in christ : we know that we know him , we know we are in him ; and the other an especiall means whereby that knowledg is attained ; namely hereby , that is , by keeping his commandments ; and again , hereby , that is , by walking as he walked ; of both which in their order . . st john here affirmeth of himself and other saints , we know that we know him , we know that we are in him . it is that indeed which not only here , but elsewhere he asserts , in the next chapter , we know that we are translated ; and again in the fourth chapter , we know that we dwell in him ; and in the fifth , we know that we dwell in god. for the better opening of it , take notice of these ensuing considerations . . there is a threefold object , whereabout this knowledg is conversant ; namely , what was before all time , what shall be after all time , and what is in this present time . this knowledg looketh backward , and that as far as eternity to the decree of election , which was before the foundation of the world ; in this respect it is st peters advice , make your election sure . this knowledg looketh forward at the future estate of felicity ; upon which account st paul in the name of himself , and others saith , we know that we have a building in the heaven . finally , this knowledg looketh upon our present estate of vocation , justification and sanctification , our union with , and faith in christ , and of this our apostle here speaketh , to which i shall therefore confine my discourse . . there is a double knowledg attainable by a christian , to wit , direct , and reflexe ; the direct knowledg is terminated in christ who is its object ; the reflexe in the knowledg itself which is the act , both these kinds of knowledg our apostle here expresly speaketh of when he saith we know that we know him ; where the latter , we know , is that scientia knowledg which immediately looks on christ , and the former is that conscientia knowledg which immediately looks upon the act of knowing . indeed it is the choice priviledg of the rationall soul , that it can reflect upon its own acts , whereby it is that a man not only understandeth and willeth , but knoweth that his soul doth exercise those functions : this is that which accordingly a christian improveth in respect of his spirituall actings , so that he doth not only put forth the operations of his graces , but is in some measure assured that he doth put them forth ; for as when i look in a glass , i look upon my self looking in it , when i touch my body i feel my feeling of it ; in like manner the soul by reflex knowledg apprehends her own apprehension , judgeth of her own judgment , and believes her beliefe . suitable to which is that of devout anselm , qui fidei sensum in corde habet , hic scit christum jesum in se esse , a christian having an experimentall sence of faith in his soul , knoweth himself to be in christ. . this knowledg of knowing christ , and being in him , is only i● respect of our selves , not others ; we know him saith the apostle , not that you know him , or that you are in him , but that we , every one attaineth this knowledg in respect of himself . congruous to this purpose is that of st austin , fides est in intimis nostris ; nec enim quisquam hominum videt in alio sed unus quisque in semitipso . faith is inwardly seated in the heart which one man cannot discern in another , but only in himself . indeed negatively we may conclude concerning those whom we see wallowing in prophanness , living in wickedness ; that for the present they are not in christ , nor have any saving knowledg of him . positively , we cannot concerning any though never so holy in appearance , that they are in christ . since whereas men may give undoubted signs of their badness , they cannot of their goodness ; indeed this new name is such as no man knoweth but he who receiveth it ; and that only in himself who doth receive it ; and as to know it in our selves is very difficult , so to know it in another is impossible . true , we must here distinguish of a double knowledg , to wit , of charity , and certainty ▪ the former is only a probable opinion ( improperly called knowledge ) and is that which we may have of others being in christ by their external conversation . thus the author to the hebrewes was perswaded better things of them to whom he wrote ; and st peter calling sylvanus a faithfull brother , addeth , as i suppose : nor are we to understand any more by st pauls phrase concerning the thessalonians , knowing your election of god , since not the apostles themselves ( except by special revelation ) could infallibly know any particular persons to be the chosen of god , and members of christ . . lastly , this knowledge of our own interest in christ , on the one hand is not barely conjectural but infallible ; and yet on the other hand it is not perfect and compleat . . this knowledge is not , cannot be perfect ; for by the same reason that one , and every grace may be perfect in this life : whereas full perfection of grace is the priviledge of that other life . indeed one of the names by which this grace is called in scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , full assurance , but that is onely in a comparative notion , since none ever had an absolutely full assurance . there are indeed several degrees and measures as of others , so of this grace ; and the higher degree may be said to be full in comparison of the lower , but the highest is not altogether perfect : true it is sometimes , and in some persons this knowledge may be so clear and firme , that there may not be any sensible stirrings of infidelity , the conclusion which such an one maketh of his union with christ , may be peremptory without actual haesitation ; but still there are some remainders of unbelief in the heart , whence it is that their knowledge is not alwayes in an equal height , but hath its ebbings as well as flowings . . but though it be not perfect so as altogether to expell doubting ; yet it is infallible so as to exclude deceit ; it is not onely we thinke , or we hope , but we know . it is true , as all other graces , so this hath its counterfeite ; there is a presumption which looketh like this perswasion , whence it is that a man may be deceived about it , but still the knowledge it self is such as doth not deceive . to this purpose are those similitudes which the learned davenant maketh use of ; a man that is drunk , may think himself sober ; a man that is in a dream may imagine himself to be awake , and both are cheated in their opinions ; yet this hindereth not but that a sober man may know that he is not drunk , a man that is awake may know that he is not asleep , and this knowledge of theirs is infallible . thus whilest hypocrites have a deceitfull presumption of their union with , it hindereth not but that regenerate persons may and do attain an infallible knowledge of their knowledge of , and interest in christ . to apply this : what remaineth but that every one of us labour to be among the number of this we , to know that we do know and are in christ ? indeed they who take upon them the profession of christianity may in this respect be fitly ranked into three sorts . some there are who are in christ , but know it not , like children who live in their mothers belly , but are not themselves sensible of it . as jacob said of bethel , god was in this place and i knew it not ; so may it be said of many christians , christ is in them , and they in him , and they are not aware of it ; of whom we may pronounce in virgils words , o fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint agricolas ! — how happy were they did they but know their happiness , for want of which their jealous mindes pass unrighteous censures upon themselves , as if they were miserable . . others there are who pretend to know , and be assured of their interest in christ , when yet they have no tru● right or title to him ; their self-flattery fils them with this vain self-conceit , and their blind ignorance causeth them to presume that they know christ ; and whereas the condition of the former sort is in their apprehension only , the estate of this sort is really miserable . indeed as one saith excellently , they are eo magis desperati , quò minus desperantes , their case is so much the more desperate , because they are so farre from despairing , that they presume ; since by this presumptuous opinion of having already attained , they are hindered from labouring after an interest in christ : and as the philosopher said of one who had been ill taught , that his task was double , both dedocere and docere , to unteach and then teach such an one ; so may we say of such persons , they must first be taken off from their sandy foundation , and then fixed upon the true rock , whereby it is that they are brought with more difficulty into the state of salvation . . but lastly , others there are who both truly know christ , and know that they know him ; are by faith ingrafted into christ , and have an inward sense of that faith , and so of their being ingrafted in him . among this number was st john , and not he only but many others , as well christians as apostles ; in which respect he useth the plural number , and indeed an endeavour after this reflex knowledge , is that , to which every christian is bound . it is st peters counsell , giving all diligence to make your calling and election sure ; and if you please to view the begining of his epistle , you shall find those whom he puts upon this work , to be all that had obtained like precious faith with the apostles , ( to wit for quality though not quantity ) that is all believers who being chosen and called , must strive for an assurance that they are so . among others , there are two considerations which may serve as spurres to quicken our endeavours , and wings to accelerate our pursuit after this knowledg ; namely the possibility of attaining it , and the utility of it when attained . . if we strive after it , we shall not labour in vain . indeed god hath appointed to every christian his measure of spiritual stature ; yet so as that no christian who is not awanting to himself , but may attain so farre as to have some degree of this knowledge ; where st peter in the fore-mentioned scripture requireth all believers to give all diligence to gain this assurance , what doth he but imply at once both a difficulty and a possibility of gaining it ? since , were it not difficult , there were no need of all , and if it be not possible , it will be in vain to use any diligence . when st paul calleth upon the corinthians to examine themselves whether they be in the faith , what is his designe but ( as the following words [ know you not that jesus christ ●s in you ) intimate ] that they might come to know their interest in christ ? and surely it were in vain to bid us search for that which cannot be found ; examine whether we be in the faith , if we cannot know whether we have faith , or no. . possible then it is , and not only so , but profitable , as conducing very much to the exercise of many duties , and the participation of many comforts . . christians are called upon in scripture to cry abba father , to rejoyce in the lord , to be thankfull , to love the appearing , and look for the coming of christ . now these are such duties as are to be performed by none but them who know that they know christ , and are in him . how can we call god father , unless we know him to be so ? nor can we be assured that he is our father , except we know our selves to be in christ , through whom alone he becometh a father . gerson hath well observed , that to joy there must three things concurre , objectum delectabile , applicatio ad appetentem , & cognitio applicationis : a delightfull object , an application of this object to him who desireth it , and a knowledge of that application ; it is so in spiritual joy , christ is the delectable object , our knowing him , and being in him is the application of this object ; and though these two be present ; yet if there be not a knowledge of this application , there can be no rejoyceing . how full of teares and despair is hagar , when yet a well was by her ? how sad , and pensive are those two disciples whilest yet christ draweth near to them , and walketh with them ? how bitterly doth mary weep at the sepulchre , whenas he for whom she weepeth , is risen from the grave , and standeth by her ? and why all this ? alas hagar seeth not the well , the disciples and mary knew him not to be jesus ! thus as it is impossible to desire that we know not to be good , so to delight in that good whereof we know not our selves possessed . and as we cannot be joyfull in , so neither thankfull for those benefits , whereof we have not a sensible fruition ; he only that can say , god of his abundant mercy hath begotten me again , can say , blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ . finally , christs coming at the last day shall be in flaming fire , rendering vengeance on them that know him not ; only to them that are in him , he will arise a sunne of righteousness with healing in his wings ; so that whilest we are uncertain of our being in christ , we cannot with comfort expect or with desire long for his coming . . and as this knowledge enableth us to these duties , so it is that which enlargeth our comforts ; true it is , he is an holy man who hath grace without peace , but he is the happy man who hath grace and peace . the knowledge of our interest in christ is not necessary to the end it selfe , as if there were no salvation without it , but it is needfull to solace us in the way to the end , since there is no consolation without it . what is it that heighteneth our fellowship and communion with god , that giveth us boldness of access to the throne of grace ; that causeth the soul to converse with god as a favourite with his prince , a son with his father , a bride with her bridegroome , but this knowledg ? how amiable is the meditation of christ , in his person , natures , offices , merits , to him who knowing himself to be in christ , knoweth all these to be his ? every thing of christ is sweet to such a soul , it doth him good to view his wounds ; nay with thomas to put his hands in the hole of christs side , whilst he can say , my lord ▪ and my god. with what gladness doth he receive the word of god in every part of it ; since the very threatnings do not affright him , because he knoweth they belong not to him ? this knowledg of our interest in christ is that which multiplyeth the sweetness of all temporall enjoyments , inasmuch as by this means we look upon our selves as having not only a civill , but a spirituall right to them , we look upon them as the fruits and pledges of speciall love ; yea , the earnest of a better inheritance ▪ indeed mercy looketh like mercy , and every blessing is doubly beautifull in the eye of such a christian . one being asked what was the best prospect ? returned this answer , to see a greatway in his own land ? he who knoweth he is in christ may look both on earth and heaven as his : according to that of st paul , all things are yours . finally , this is that which contents us in all estates , supports us under all afflictions , and armeth us against the fears of death . he must needs be willing to want any thing else , who knoweth he hath christ , who is all in all , he need not , cannnot be troubled at any evils , who knowing that he is in christ , knoweth all things shall work for his good ; nor can the separation which death maketh be terrible to him , who is assured of that union with christ , which admits of no separation , no , not by death it self ; yea , which death is so far from hindering , that it hasteneth to a fuller perfection . to end this therefore , let our first care be to kn●w christ , and by knowing to get into him ; and then let our next endeavour be , to know that we do know him and are in him . the former will give us a right to , but it is the latter will give us the comfort of all those glorious priviledges , and benefits which christ hath purchased ; and if we would know how to attain this reflexive knowledg , pass we on to the . next and last proposition , which discovereth the means of attaining it ; namely , hereby by keeping the commandments , we know that we know him , and by walking as christ walked , we know that we are in him . look as if the question be put , how we shall know the true church , the answer is , by its essentiall marks ; so if you ask how shall we know that we are true christians , our apostle answereth hereby , by the characteristicall properties . to elucidate this assertion , observe these following particulars , . that knowledg which we have of our being in christ , and knowing him by these characters is , not à priori , but à posteriori , not by the causes , but by the effects ; our obedience is not the root , but the fruit of faith , and we are not in christ , because we walk in him , but we walk in him because we are in him . to this purpose is that note of beza upon the text. bona opera nos non inserunt christo , sed insitos consequuntur , good works do not ingraft us into christ , but our being ingrafted into christ enableth us to performe good works . as therefore the tree is known by its fruit , and life is known by breathing and motion , which are the effects of it ; so we know our faith in , and union with christ by our obedience to , and imitation of him . . that knowledg we have by these characters is safe and sure , yea such as cannot deceive us . for . inasmuch as the commands which christ requireth us to keep , and the waies wherein he walked which we must follow , are clearly set down in the word ; if we faithfully compare our actions with the rule , we may know whither we keep the commandments , and walk as christ walked or not . true it is , many are cheated with alchymie instead of gold ; think themselves to have those graces , which christ did shew forth , whenas they are counterfeit ; but this is not for want of an exact rule discovering , but because of a deceitfull heart misapplying ; so that were men but faithfull to themselves , they might be able to pass a right censure in this particular . hence it is , that whilst the hypocrite deludeth himself with a partiall obedience and a counterfeit imitation , the regenerate christian being in some measure enlightned , discovereth what is sincere , and what is fained , and so judgeth righteous judgment : to this purpose is that of st austin , qui diligit fratrem magis novit dilectionem quâ diligit , quam fratrem quem diligit ; he who loveth his brother , more surely knoweth the love whereby he loveth him , then his brother whom he loveth : and hence it is that the same father saith , est modus gloriandi in conscientia ut noveris fidem tuam esse sinceram , ut noveris spem tuam esse certam , ut noveris charitatem tuam esse sine simulatione ; this is the rejoycing , yea , glorying of a christian whilst his conscience regulated by the word , and illuminated by grace giveth in evidence that his faith is sincere , his hope firme , and his love unfained . . inasmuch as this obedience to , and imitation of christ , are the necessary and particular effects of our knowledg of , and being in christ : he who findeth the one , may undoubtedly inferre the other . to unfold this briefly , know , that the effects of a lively faith are of three sorts . some which so flow from a true faith , that they are likewise the effects of other causes ; such are all acts of morall virtue , and extenall duties of religion : hence it is , that heathen who have no faith at all , have performed the former , & hypocrites who have no true faith the latter . so that though from hence we may conclude negatively , he that doth not these things hath no faith , yet we cannot affirmatively , because we do such things , therefore we are in christ and believe in him . others which are only the effects of a right faith , but yet such as faith produceth not but when in strength ; of this sort are the sence of gods love , peace of conscience , joy in the holy ghost , magnanimity in afflictions , and desires of dissolution . from these we may conclude affirmatively , but not negatively , he that can act these duties doth know christ , but every one that knoweth christ cannot act these duties . finally , other effects there are which flow from faith only , and alwaies , which it is as naturall for faith to produce , as for the sun to shine , or the fire to burn ; such are these my text speaketh of , a sincere obedience , and a consciencious imitation of christ : from whence we may infer both waies , and so the proposition will be recipocrally true , every one who keepeth the commandments knoweth christ , who walketh as christ walked , is in him ; and every one who knoweth christ keepeth the commandments , is in christ , and walketh as he walked . put then both these considerations together , we may know that we keep the commandments , and if we keep the commandments , we may assure our selves that we know christ ; no wonder if our apostle say , hereby we know we know him . we may perceive whether we walk as christ walked or no ; and if we walk as christ walked , we may be confident we are in him ; no marvell if our apostle say , hereby we know that we are in him . the strength of this argumentation will the better appear if we reduce it to a syllogism , which may be thus framed ; whosoever keepeth the commandments knoweth christ , who so walketh as christ walked , is in him ; but i keep the commandments , and walk as christ walked , therefore i know christ , and am in him . the first of these , which is the major we know by a certainty of faith , as being expresly asserted in this and other scriptures . the second , which is the minor we know by a certainty of experience , finding these qualifications wrought in us ; and thus knowing the premises we inferre the conclusion , and so by a certainty of faith joyned with experience , we are able to assert our interest in christ . . this knowledg which we have hereby doth not exclude the testimony of the spirit . it is st pauls assertion , that the spirit beareth witness with our spirits , that we are the children of god : yea , st john in the last chapter of this epistle plainly ascribeth this office of bearing witness to the spirit , and yet it is no less true , that these graces and qualifications do beare the same witness ; these two witnesses being the one subservient to the other , whilst the spirit is the principall , and these qualifications are the spirits instrument in this work . whether there be an immediate testimony given by the spirit to the soul of a believer , assuring him o● his interest in christ i will not now dispute . that the spirit can thus testifie is not to be questioned , and that at some times to some eminent saints he hath been and may still be pleased to vouchsafe it , will not be denied : but doubtless the usuall way of the spirits witnessing is by the grace of sanctification imprinted on the heart , and expressed in the life . to this testimony the spirit concurreth especially two waies , partly by implanting his graces in us , in which respect they are called the fruits of the spirit ; and partly by discovering them to us , in which regard st paul saith , we have received the spirit which is of god , that we might know the things which are freely given us of god. the truth is , as we cannot have grace without the spirits operation , so neither can we discern it but by the spirits irradiation ; and as the beauty of all colours is manifested by the light of the sun , so is the truth of all graces in the heart by the spirits light . by all which it appeareth , that the spirit is the chief in this work , so that as if you ask how we know that we know christ , and are in him ? the answer is , by keeping the commandments , and walking as christ walked ; so if you ask , how we are inabled to keep the commandments ? and walk as christ walked ? and how we are to know that we do thus walk and keep the commandments ? the answer is by the spirit . to close up this with a double consectary . . that assurance of an interest in christ which many pretend to , who walk contrary to him and his precepts in their lives , is not a christian knowledg , but a vain confidence , a carnall security , a lying delusion , and a damned presumption . to all such therefore who hug sin in their bosomes , and yet suppose they are folded in christs arms , who sail with full speed to hell , and yet think to cast anchor at heaven gates , who live in rebellion against , and yet promise to themselves salvation by christ , we say not rejoyce with trembling , but tremble without rejoycing ; not work out your salvation with fear , but fear without any hope of salvation in this condition . and whereas such persons may perhaps plead an immediate testimony of gods spirit , assuring them that they are in christ ; we are bold to tell them , it is an hissing of the old serpent , not a whispering of the good spirit , it is the voice of the devill , not of god. ah my brethren , we sometimes pity mad persons whom we seelying in the straw , clad in rags , and yet heare them boasting themselves to be kings and queens : have we not as great , nay far more reason to pitty our own madness , in fancying to our selves we are in christ , washed by his blood , and made kings and priests to god , when as we transgress his laws and cast both his precepts and pattern behind our back . me thinketh when men who live in adultery , fornication , covetousness , envy , rebellion , or any work of the flesh , promise to themselves an interest in christ , their sins should presently look them in the face and tell them , that they are none of christs . . it neerly concerneth us all to search our hearts and try our waies , to enquire into the obedience and conformity of our conversations , that hereby we may know we are in christ . it is an excellent saying of st bernard , quantum creseis in gratiam , tantum dilataris in fiduciam , according to the measure of our obedience , so is the measure of our confidence ; if therefore we would strengthen the latter , we must by due inquiry assure our selves of the former . ah my brethren , it is an easie matter for a man to say i know i am in christ , but it is no easie matter to say , hereby i know i am in him ; what is it for a man to brag that such and such lands and lordships are his , unless he can shew his evidences ? these qualifications are the evidences of our title to christ ; and what will it avail to lay a claime to christ , if we have not these to shew ? oh then what need is there of a diligent search , that we may find these qualifications in us , and because in nihilo facilius , & periculosius erratur , there is nothing wherein we may more easily , and yet more dangerously be mistaken , then in this enquiry ? oh what need is there of a due care , that there be no flaw in our evidence , that our qualification be of a right stampe . to this end , study carefully the directions of the word , pray ▪ fervently for the illumination of the spirit , consult not with flesh and blood , hearken not to the suggestions of satan , but deal impartially with thy own soul , as knowing of how great concernment the right managing of this work is . and now upon serious and deliberate search . . on the one hand , canst thou not find these qualifications in thee ? be not too hasty in passing a determinate sentence against thy self , since though these graces be necessary effects , yet they are no● necessary signs of faith ; and therefore they may be in us , and so we truly in christ , and yet not appear , so as we to know either that they are in us , or we in christ . perhaps thou art at that time clouded with some violent passion , assaulted with some virulent temptation , under spirituall desertion ; and no wonder if in such a case thou be not able to see those graces which yet thou hast ; since though there be fire , yet so long as it is hid in the embers it cannot flame forth , nor doth it appear to be there . besides the operating , there must be ( as you have heard ) a discovering work of the spirit . by the former , faith bringeth these graces forth as effects , by the latter , a believer maketh use of them as signs , and these two do not alwaies go together . indeed if thou manifestly find the contrary vices reigning in thee , thou maist and oughtest to conclude thy self as yet to be without christ ; but though thou canst not clearly apprehend the inbeing of these graces , thou must not peremptorily conclude against thy being in christ , but rather hanging as it were between hope and fear , wait and pray , and search for further discovery . . on the other hand dost thou find the truth of these qualifications in thee ? bless thy god , know thy bliss , own thy priviledg ; and labour after greater measures of this apprehension ; since as he that only hopes he keepeth the commandments , can only hope that he knoweth christ , so he that knoweth and is assured he keepeth them , may know and be assured that he knoweth christ . i shut up all with one caution ; in your indeavours after the reflex , forget not the direct acts of faith. look upon christ , as he who is your righteousness to justifie you ; and then look upon your obedience as that which may testifie to you that you are justified by him ; even then , when you cannot clearly discover inherent qualifications , cast not away wholly your confidence in christs merits , and when you do discover them , rest not in them but only in christs merits , ever remembring that it is the being in christ by faith , which intitleth you to justification and salvation , and your keeping the commandments , and walking as christ walked , is that which manifesteth the truth of your faith , by which you are in christ ; by whom you are justified ; and shall at last be saved . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , , , . . brethren i write no new commandment unto you , but an old commandment , which you had from the beginning ; the old commandment , is the word which ye have heard from the beginning . . again a new commandment i write unto you , which thing is true in him and in you , because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth . . he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , is in darkness , even untill now . . he that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him . . but he that hateth his brother is in darkness , and walketh in darkness , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because that darkness hath blinded his eyes . it was st pauls sage and sacred advice to timothy , hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in christ jesus . where these words faith and love are by some , and not unfitly referred to the manner of holding , these being the two hands by which we hold fast the truth ; but by others and no less probably they are refered to the forme of sound words which he heard of him , the matter of the form , the substance of those words being reducible to those two heads : suitable hereunto is that paraphrase of theophilact , in faith and love , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , my words and discourses are conversant about faith and love : what he saith concerning st pauls we may concerning st johns words in this epistle , all of which tend either to the enlightning of our faith , or inflaming of our love ; the latter of which our apostle beginneth with at these verses , brethren i write no new commandment , &c. which words consist of two generall parts . a preamble inviting , in the , and , verses . a doctrine instructing , in the , , and , verses . our apostle intending to spend a great part of this epistle in a discourse of love , doth not unfitly begin it with a preface ; especially considering that the end of an exordium is captare benevolentiam , to gain love both to the orator and his matter . in this preamble there are two things considerable . the kind appellation our apostle giveth those to whom he wrote in the first word brethren . the large commendation he giveth of the doctrine about which he was to write in the rest of the words . that which first occureth to be handled is the kind appellation brethren . the vulgar latine following the syriack read it charissimi , dearly beloved : and grotius finds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in one greek manuscript . indeed either is very suitable , to shew that he himself was not a stranger to that love he would teach them , he might fitly call them dearly beloved , and being to treat of brotherly love , he no less aptly useth the stile of brethren , so that it is not much materiall which way we read it ; but because the other phrase of dearly beloved is used afterward , and the most greek copies here read , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i shall handle that reading ( which our translation following renders ) brethren . it is a title that is very considerable upon severall accounts , especially these foure . inasmuch as it is a word of verity , of humility , of charity , of dignity . there was really such a relation between st john , and those to whom he wrote . the mentioning it by the apostle argueth in him a spirit of love , and lowliness , and much advanceth the honour of those to whom he wrote . . it is a word of verity ; indeed it is somewhat strange how this should be true . if you cast your eyes on the first verse of this chapter , you find him calling them children , and how is it possible they should at once be his brethren , and his children ? if they were his brethren , he and they must be children of one father ; if they were his children , he must be their father , and these two cannot consist together . the truth is , these relations in a natural way and a proper notion are altogether incompatible between the same persons ; and yet this hinders not but that in a spiritual and scripture-sence both these are verified of s t john , in reference to those to whom he wrote . know then that the sacred penman of this epistle may be considered under a three-fold latitude ; as an apostle , as a christian , as a man. . consider him as an apostle , invested by christ with authority to publish the gospell , whereby they were converted to the faith , so he was their father , and might therefore call them his children . but . consider him as a christian embracing the same faith with them , which he preached to them , so he and they were bretheren . they who have the same father and mother , are undoubtedly brethren ; now the apostles as christians had god to their father and the catholick church to their mother : and therefore brethren to all even ordinary christians . in this respect it is that st peter , giving thanks to god for this mercy of regeneration , useth a pronoune of the first person plurall ; blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ , who hath begotten not me or you , or me and you , but us again to a lively hope ; thereby intimating that he and they were all the children of god , and that by the same meanes of the new birth : and st paul writing to the corinthians , maketh himself one of the number , when he saith , we being many are one body ; and again , by one spirit we are all baptized into one body , thereby implying , that he and they stand in the same relation to the church . this relation is that which is not between every minister and his people . on the one hand sometimes the minister himself is not a brother , because a prophane wicked person ; yea , in this respect he may be able to say my children , and yet not my brethren : for since the spirituall birth dependeth upon the energie of the seed , which is the word accompanied with the spirit , not at all upon the goodness of him that dispenseth it ; it is not impossible for an unregenerate person to beget others to the faith , and so the minister may be a father and not a brother . on the other hand ofttimes a great part of the people remain in a state of sin , and imenitency , in which regard good ministers have too oft just reason to complain , that when they have many auditours , they have but few brethren . indeed whereas these two relations in a carnall alliance are inconsistent , in this spirituall kindred , they one make way for the other ; auditours by becoming the children are also the brethren of their faithfull pastors . thus when we our selves are begotten again to god , and we are instruments to beget you again ; you and we are brethren . happy the people who have such a minister ; happy the minister who hath such a people ; then is there the sweetest ▪ harmony when there is this spirituall affinity between them . . and lastly , consider him as a man sprouting from the same root , and made of the same mould with them , so in a naturall way according to a large notion , he and they were brethren . it was moses his prediction to the jews concerning christ . the lord thy god will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee , of thy brethren like unto me , him shall you hear ; and as christ himself , so his apostles whom he raised up to publish his gospell , and their successours , who are sent about this work have still been the peoples brethren . moschus relateth a story of an abbot , who was checked by a deacon for some errour in holy administrations , whilst he saw angels standing by : he supposing the angels would have rebuked him if he had done any thing amiss , slighted the deacons admonition . the deacon continuing his reproof ; the abbot addresseth himself to the angels , quare vos non dixistis mihi ? why have not you checked me ? to whom they returned this answer , deus ita disp●suit ut homines ab hominibus corrigantur , god hath so ordered it that men should be convicted and instructed by men , who are their brethren . we have a great deale of reason herein to take notice of gods mercifull condescention in teaching us by men like to our selves . when god was pleased to speak by himself , it was so terrible that the people could not endure it : when god was at any time pleased to send angels of his errand , it caused amazement in the minds of them to whom they were sent , but speaking to us by our brethren men as we are , we are comforted and encouraged . doubtless it had been more congruous to the majesty of god and sublimity of his message , that those glorious angels should have been the dispensers of it ; but surely it was more correspondent to our weakness , and thereby to his goodness , that men should be the conduits to convey this water of life to us . and now beloved let not this goodness of god be to us an occasion of contempt ; far be it , oh far be it from us , to regard the message the less because they are men , our brethren who bring it : he wanted not other waies of making himself known to the children of men , but this was most expedient for us , and therefore let it be matter of gratulation to us ; and if at any time our corrupt hearts shall prompt meane thoughts of the word , because of the meanness of the ambassadours , let us remember that it is verbum patris , though in ore fratris ; the gospell of god , though spoken by man , the word of our father , though in the mouth of a brother . . it is a word of humility , brotherhood is a relation of equality ; all brethren ( except the elder brother ) are alike , christ is the elder brother , so that the apostle in calling the christians his brethren , maketh them as it were equall to himself . oh what humility lodged in the hearts ▪ of those holy apostles ! no doubt as apostles , they were above the rest in place , and power , office , and dignity : in which respect st john before calls them children , a relation , that argueth a superiority in him over them , and yet such was the lowliness of their minds that they looked upon themselves as but equall : and therefore this apostle here , and the re●t frequently in their epistles use this term brethren ; nay , as if this were not low enough , st paul mentioneth a relation that argueth an inferiority in the apostles to the people , where he useth that religious complement to the corinthians ; our selves , your servants for jesus sake . this lowliness of mind was that which according to christs command they learned of him . it is very observable , that though christ was their lord and master , yet he calls them not servants but friends , a word of parity ; yea , he intitles them to this very relation , when he said to mary magdalen , go to my brethren : and if christ was pleased to call them , well might they call those , who were their disciples , brethren . oh let the same mind be in all the ministers of the gospell ! pride is odious in any , but especially in christs ambassadours . as st paul saith , though i might enjoyne , i rather beseech ; so though we may challenge superiority and authority , yet let us rather condescend to a way of equality ; yea , if need be , inferiority . we must keep up the honour of our office , but still express the humility of our minds : in respect of heavenly mindedness , we must be as the hills ; of lowly mindedness as the vallies : let us not think much to sit in the hinder part of the ship , so we may steere the course of it to heaven . how willingly should we bespeak the people as our brethren , nay masters , so we can but gain them to be christs servants ? only let me adde one caution , the humility of the minister must not be an occasion of contempt from the people ; yea give me leave to tell you , whilst we are ready to be commanded by you , you ought readily to obey us , and it becometh you to reverence us as fathers , whilst we call you brethren . . it is a word of amity , it is not unworthy our observation , that the holy apostles are of all others most frequent in this stile of brethren , and that no doubt for this reason , because it is a term at once both free from pride and full of love . great is the love which hath been betwen brethren ; nor can any relation afford higher examples then this ; brotherly love hath exceeded parentall . a persian that wept not for his childs , did for his brothers death , saying , i may have more children , but not brethren . so that our apostle here calling them brethren , no doubt intends to let them see how kindly affectioned he was towards them ; such is the affection which the ministers of christ have ever had towards their people . thus did st paul love the corinthians when he saith , oh ye corinthians our mouth is open unto you , our heart is enlarged ; and the thessalonians when he saith , being affectionately desirous of you , we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospell of god only , but also our own souls , because ye were dear unto us . thus did st ambrose love his charge , when he declareth how much he was troubled at his absence from them though upon just occasion . it were easie to multiply instances of this nature . oh let all pastors take fire at these flames , and learn by these examples : indeed there is no relation in which ministers stand to their people , but it cals for this duty , if they look on them as their sheep , their schollars , their children , their brethren ; all ingage them to love. and surely , magnes amoris amor , love is the loadstone of love ; if we love you , you must love us as brethren , so did those converts who bespake the apostles with this very title , men and brethren . tell me i beseech you why should we be accounted as your enemies who watch for your souls ? if you think scorne to honour us as fathers , yet however own us as brethren . in a word , since we are brethren let us sweetly live and love as brethren . oh how pleasant a thing it is for ministers and people like brethren to dwell together in vnity ! oh that both priest and people when any contentions arise between them , or when their love to each other , begins to faile in them would remember this relation , so should the meditation hereof be both as water and fire , as water to coole the heat of contention , as fire to kindle and cherish the heat of affection . . it is a word of dignity , that he who was in the highest office belonging to the christian church should call the despised christians , to whom he wrote his brethren ; as it is a dignation in him , so it must needs be an exaltation to them . the greater the persons to whom we are related , and the nearer the relation is , the greater is the honour . to be a servant , a kinsman , but much more to be a brother of a lord , or earl , but much more of a king is a very great dignity ; such honour have christians ; they may claim brotherhood to the goodly fellowship of the prophets , the noble army of martyrs , the sacred hierarchy of the apostles , yea the head of the church , christ himself : for so saith the author to the hebrews concerning him , he is not ashamed to call us brethren . oh let us walk worthy of these high relations which christianity confereth upon us , and so much the rather , because by our unanswerable behaviour to these relations , we shall not only dishonour our selves , but them to whom we are related . if one that is brother to a king should make himself a companion of thieves , doth it not redown to the dishonour of the king to whom he is so nearly allyed ? and if we who by our christian profession pretend at least alliance to the apostles ; yea , christ himself , shall live no better , nay worse then turks , pagans , infidels , how must they suffer to whom we pretend so near a relation ? and therefore ( to imitate the apostles exhortation ) let our conversation be such as becometh the brethren of those holy apostles , who were the first publishers of the gospell of christ . and so much be spoken of the compellation given to the persons . pass we on to the commendation which our apostle here giveth the matter whereabout he was now to write , which is drawn from three heads . the authority of it , as being a precept both old and new in those words ; i write no new but an old commandment , &c. and again a new commandment i write to you . the conformity of it to the pattern which christ hath set , in those words , a thing which is true in him . the congruity of it to the state of the gospell , the truth of christianity , in those words , and in you , because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth . the authority of that which our apostle here commendeth is that which we are to begin with . and that inasmuch as it is . an old commandment , this is that which is both propounded and proved : the former in those words , i write not a new but an old commandment to you ; the latter in those , which you heard from the beginning , the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning . . the proposition is set down with a great deale of emphasis , not only positively but oppositively ; affirmatively , but negatively . the apostle doth not content himself to say , i write to you an old commandment , but knowing ( as calvin well noteth ) how suspected novelty is and deservedly hatefull , and because as didymus observeth , the brand of novelty , both by jews and pagans was cast on christianity ; and withall , because many things are old which yet in truth are but old innovations , ( as i shall hereafter discover ) he doth expresly vindicate his doctrine from any such aspersion by this addition , not a new but an old commandment . it is somewhat debated by interpreters what our apostle intends by this old commandment , whilst some understand it generally of the whole evangelicall doctrine . others referre it to the preceding verse , where is a speciall command of walking as christ walked . others to that particular command of love , which immediately followeth . this last i incline to , and so much the rather , because i find st john himself so expounding it in the eleventh verse of the next chapter , wherein he cals loving one another , the message from the beginning , and at the fifth verse of the next epistle , where he saith , not as though i wrote a new commandment , and this concerning the precept of loving one another . that i may the better dispatch this clause , be pleased to proceed with me by these steps , ● . the doctrine which our apostle was now about to propose , is called a commandment , whence observe . generally , that as the law had gospell , so the gospell hath law in it ; and as it publisheth promises , so it obligeth by precepts . it is the difference between promises and commands , that the one importeth some good to be done for us ; and the other , some good to be done by us ; the one informeth us what god will do ; and the other , what we should do . now though the principall end of the gospell be to declare the one , yet so , as that it teacheth the other . for this reason it is no doubt that the gospell is sometimes called by the name of law , as where we read of the law of faith , and the law of christ , and the law of liberty , and the law of the spirit of life : and upon the same account the apostle paul cals it a canon , or a rule to which our lives must be conformed , and by which our waies are to be directed : and st peter stileth it the holy commandment , from which apostates turn , and the grace of god which many interpret ( by a metonymy of the object ) to be the gospell ; is said to teach , being as well a schoolmaster as a comforter . finally , in this respect it is that we read not only of believing the gospell which layeth hold on the promises , but obeying which conformeth to the precepts of christ , the non performance of which is threatned with a miserable end by st peter , and with vengance to be rendred in flaming fire by st paul. true it is , that whereas the law did only command , the gospell enableth as well as commandeth ; nor doth it only jubere quod placet , but dare quod jubet ; prescribe what we are to do , but strengthens us to do what is prescribed ; yet still the evangelicall doctrine consists of commands as well as comforts ; let not then carnall gospellers deceive themselves by fancying a gospell , altogether made up of mercy : since such an one must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , another gospell then christ or his apostles taught , and so must needs prove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a lying gospell , such as will fail those that trust in it . . particularly , that the doctrin of love is a commandment . there is a great deale of difference between allowing and commanding ; that only implyeth a may , but this a must , that a licet it is lawfull , this an oportet it is needfull to be done : of this latter sort is l●ve ; as being that which all christians are not only warranted but enjoyned to practice : when therefore at any time our corrupt natures , or satannicall suggestions put us upon any thing which is contrary to love , let us refell it with this consideration . it is a command which i dare not violate , and ( as st paul saith in another case ) a necessity is laid upon me for the observance of it . our apostle having before called upon those whom he wrote to keep the commandments , proceeds to sh●w them what the command was , he would have them especially to keep ; no doubt hereby intending to prevent an objection which might otherwise be made . st john having set down keeping the commandments as the only mark of knowing christ , it might be inquired . oh holy apostle what are those commandments which thou wouldst have us to keep ? for prevention of which he lets them know what was the old and new commandment , which they were chiefly to keep , namely , love. a practice deservedly imitable by all ministers , who must not content themselves with generalities , but descend to particulars , as we call upon the people to do their duty , so we must inform them in the duties which they are to do . thus the prophet micah doth not only exhort the people to obedience , but sheweth them what the lord required of them ; namely , to do justice , love mercy , and walk humbly with their god. thus our blessed sauiour not only requireth his disciples to come after him , but instructs them in what it consists ; namely , the denying of themselves , taking up the cross and following his pattern : and else where inciting them to learn of him , specifyeth in what , to wit , meekness and lowliness . the truth is , whilst we only in generall terms stirre up men to believe and repent , and serve god and do the commandments , but instruct them not wherein the practice of those duties consists , they will be very apt to deceive themselves , and the devill will help to perswade them that they do them whenas they are farre short of them . that preaching is likely to be most effectuall which is most punctuall , in describing as well as prescribing : as here st john doth in his writing . whereas the apostle before useth the plurall number the commandments ; here he changeth it into the singular and saith , i write a commandment ; and perhaps for this reason to imtitate that in this one , which he was now to write about , all the commandments are contained , so as in keeping this one we keep all ? indeed what else are the commandments , but love enlarged ? and what is love but the commandments contracted ? st paul writing to timothy saith , the end of the commandment is charity ; this being the finall cause to which every command tends , and the practice of this as it were the formall cause the impletion and perfection of every command : to this purpose is that of st gregory when he asserteth , omne mandatum de solâ dilectione est , & omnia unum praeceptum sunt , quia quicquid praecipitur in solâ charitate solidatur , all the commandments are but one and that the command of love , love being as it were the one root , out of which all other duties as so many branches sprout forth . and surely we have great cause to take notice of gods goodness herein , who having absolute power to command what he pleaseth , is pleased to command nothing but love. and as naamans servant said in another case to him , if the prophet had commanded thee a greater thing , wouldst thou not have done it ? how much more when he saith wash and be clean ? so ( my brethren ) if god had imposed more or harder precepts upon us , would we not have obeyed them ? how much more when he only obligeth us to love ? this commandment of love about which our apostle was to write is commended from this , that it is not a new but an old commandment , where observe . in generall , the commandment which the apostle enjoyneth by writing to these christians , is not new but old : it is tertullians observation concerning all the apostles , nec ipsi quicquam ex arbitrio suo quod inducerent elegerunt , how that they did not prescribe any commandment of their own invention to the church ; and surely then it is a fit item both for us ministers what doctrines to deliver , and you the people what commandments to receive , such as are not new but old . the newest philosophy may excell as having the advantage of new experiments , but the eldest divinity is the best : that of solomon , an hoary head is a crown of glory , if it be found in the way of righteousness , may in this case be inverted , it is a crown of glory to the way of truth , that it is alwaies found with an h●ary head , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , are near of sound , and they agree in sense , new doctrines are vain at best , yea , too often dangerous : and therefore saith zanchy well , nihil novum in religione admittendum , nothing of novelty is to be admitted in religion : and to the same purpose lyrinensis , vitanda est novitas , tenenda antiquitas , shun new paths , and keep the beaten track : the christian faith is not quotidie inventa , still to be newly invented , but semel tradita , once delivered to the saints which we must earnestly contend for . indeed new illustrations of old doctrines are attainable . fas est ut prisca caelestis philosophiae dogmat a limentur , poliantur , non ut commutentur , saith the forementioned author , it is lawfull for us to put new trimmings upon those old garments , to handle the old doctrines in a new method , illustrate them by new similitudes , but still the same truth for substance , must be retained and maintained by us . by this which hath been said , we may see what reason there is to exclaime against the madness of this generation . mirari satis nequeo ( said lyrenensis of the men in his daies we may no less truly of those in ours ) i cannot enough wonder at the impiety of those blind minds which not being contented with anciently received truths , are alwaies either adding , or detracting , or changing , some way or other introducing somewhat that is new : that which here st john sets down as a commendation , is now become an accusation ; he preacheth nothing but what is old : the voice of those in the psalms is , quis ostendet bonum ? who will shew us any good ? the cry of this age , quis ostendet novum ? who will shew us any thing that is new : our proud women are not more for new fashinos , then both men and women for new fancies . but surely if that which our apostle wrote was not new but old ; they who vent not old but new are false apostles : upon this account it was that ireneus inveighing against hereticks , maketh this one character of them , affectant per singulos dies novum quicquam ad invenire quod nunquam qu●squam excogitavit , they affect to broach somewhat new which was not heard of before : and to the same purpose st austin giveth a definition of a heretick ; he is one qui alicujus temporalis commodi & vanae gloria causâ novas opiniones vel gignit vel sequitur , who for secular advantage or vain-glories sake , doth either invent or uphold some new doctrine : and to name no more origen observeth concerning hereticks that they marry themselves extraneo verbo to a forraign and so some new word , altogether alyene from that which is conteined in the holy scriptures . and therefore ( my brethrer ) take ye heed of them who publish according to tertullians phrase concerning marcion , hesternum evangelium , a g●spell that is of yesterday , who change their faith and doctrine , with the moon every moneth , and are as it were skepticks in divinity . remember , ( i beseech you ) who it is that soweth the new tares among the good corn ? even the envious man : observe i pray you whither those men wander who ( as ghislerius his phrase is ) antiquâdimissâ per novam gradiuntur viam , leaving the ancient path , seek new waies : it is seldome that he who is taken of his old and sure basis , s●tleth any where , but is tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine , falling away from truth to e●ror , from error to heresie , from that to blasphemy , and at last to atheism . remove n●● then the ancient land-marks : it is solomons ingeminated counsell , no doubt to be understood literally , but yet such as is applyed allusively , by the ancients to this present matter , terminos antiquos dicit terminos veritatis & fidei quos statuerunt ab initio catholici doctores , he calls the old doctrines embraced by the chatholick doctors , the ancient land-marks saith salazar , let us not dare to remove them ; yea , if an angel from heaven , ( as st paul speaketh ) shall preach any other gospell let him be accursed : in one word , let the obedience which we yield to the commandments be a new obedience ; but the commandments to which we yield obedience must be not new but old , such was this concerning which the holy apostle here writeth . . in speciall , yet further and lastly take notice that the commandment of love is not a new , but an old commandment : many indeed are the topicks whence this commandment of love might justly be commended ; and among others this is not the least that it is gray-headed and of ancient institution . there are some things to which oldness is a disparagement , an old garment past mending , an old house past repairing , an old ship past rigging : but then there are other things of which oldness is a praise , old coynes , manuscripts , monuments , buildings have a face of honour upon them ; it is a great dignity for a man to be descended of an ancient house , no wonder if this command of love be therefore honourable , because it is an old commandment . the truth of this which is here attributed to love will best appear by the proofe which is annexed and is next to be handled . for the present we will take it for granted , and let the improvement of it be to render this command of love the more amiable and acceptable to us . indeed were it a new precept , and the imposition of it but of yesterday , we might have some reluctancy against it , haud facilè insuetum jugum suscipimus saith calvin well : men do not easily undertake a yoke to which they are not accustomed , but this yoke is no other then what was of old imposed . it is well observed by an historian , the laws which at first were exceeding harsh and heavy , by force of custome become not only tolerable but light and easie . hereupon one compareth customes to a king , and edicts to a tyrant ; because we are subject voluntarily to the one , but upon necessity to the other . to this purpose herodotus reporteth that darius having under his dominion , certain grecians of asia , who had a custome of burning their dead friends , and certain indians who used to eat them , he called the grecians and would have them to conforme to the indians , afterward he called the indians and would have them to conforme to the grecians , but found both very unwilling to leave the usage of their countrey , so tenacious are men of old customes . oh then my brethren , since this command is such as hath alwaies been a custome among the saints , and hath upon it the stamp of antiquity , let it be embraced and practiced by us with the more readiness and alacrity . and so much for the point it self ; it remaineth , i now proceed to the proofe it is from the beginning . but the time being past , commands me to end , and reserue that to the next opportunity . the first epistle of st john . chap. . v●rs . , . . brethren i write no new commandment unto you , but an old commandment , which ye had from the beginning , the old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning . . again a new commandment i write unto you , which thing is true in him and in you , because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth . every scribe instructed for the kingdome of heaven ( saith our blessed saviour ) is like unto a man that is an housholder which bringeth forth out of his treasury things new and old ; an excellent similitude representing to us the properties of a good preacher . the housholder hath his treasury where provision is laid up : the preacher his storehouse of divine knowledg . the housholder doth not hoard up , but bring forth what he hath in his treasury for the use of his family : the preacher being furnished with abilities employeth them for the churches good . the things which the housholder bringeth ●orth out of his treasury are both new and old , all sorts of provision both of the present and former years growth : the doctrines which the preacher delivereth are either ( according to brugensis ) the new and glorious mysteries of the gospell , in old and common resemblances ; or ( according to st hilary , and the ancients ) nova & vetera in evangeliis & in lege , the legall and evangelicall verities : according to this is that occasionall note of st ambrose upon those words of the spouse , at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits new and old which i have laid up for thee , oh my beloved , teneo mandata omnia novi & veteri testamenti , i keep the commandments both of the old and new testament : for whereas the jewish synagogue neither keep the new in the letter , nor the old in the spirit : the christian church observeth both , and instructeth her children in both . suiteble hereunto it is that this great apostle of the christian church and well instructed scribe for the kingdome of heaven , brought forth in his preaching , and here layeth up a writing both old and new , chiefly pressing upon us the observance of a command , both legall and evangelicall , brethren i waite no new but an old , &c. again a new commandment i write unto you . . having dispatched the compellation brethren , we have entred upon the first branch of the commendation drawn from its divine authority , and therein the consideration of it as an old commandment , which having been already handled in the assertion ; we are now to proceed to the probation , as it is implicitly couched in these words , which we had from the beginning , and explicitly set forth in those , the old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning . that you may see the strength of the argument . i shall forme it into a syllogism thus ; that which you heard and had from the beginning is the old commandment . but this commandment about which i write unto you , is that you heard and had from the beginning . therefore . it is not a new but an old commandment . the conclusion is the assertion and hath been already handled , the major and minor containe the probation , and remaine now to be dispatched . . begin we with the major , the old commandment is the word which was heard from the beginning . to clear this , be pleased to know , that a thing may be said to be old , either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in some respects only , or absolutely . that which is not from the beginning and therefore is new in respect of preceding times , may yet in respect of following ages be said to be old , but only what is from the beginning , is absolutely old . antiquity properly referreth to time , so that what hath the priority carryeth it in point of antiquity , and id prius quod ab initio ( saith tertullian ) that is first which is from the beginning , principium , a beginning being id quo nihill prius , that before which nothing is , else it could not be the beginning . in this sence it is we most justly say that which is true is old , for though error may be old , truth cannot be new : yea , since as that forementioned father excellently argueth , falsum est corruptio veri , falshood is nothing else but an adulteration of truth , truth must needs be before falshood , and so the terms are convertible , that which is true is old , and that which is old is true , for no error but is new in respect of that which is from the beginning , though it be old in regard of that which followeth . upon this account it is that the same father disputing with marcion put it to this issue , i say my gospell is true , marcion saith his is . i say marcions gospell is false ; he saith mine is , quis inter nos determinabit nisi temporis ratio ei praescribens authoritatem quod antiquius reperiretur ? let antiquity end the controversie : that which can shew largest prescription of time , and so the eldest let it be accounted truest . indeed christianity stands upon holy antiquity , and there is no better way of discovering what is false , and reforming what is amiss , then by looking back to the beginning . upon this ground it is , that we contest both with the papists on the one , and all sectaries on the other hand , as being ready to justifie against both , that what we teach is truly old , because the word from the beginning . . as the gibeonites cheated joshuah with their old shooes clouted upon their feet , old garments , dry and mouldy bread. so do the papists delude many poore souls with pretence of the old commandment , and the old religion . it is the calumny they cast upon us where was your religion before luther ? we are novelists and but of yesterday ; yea that we daily broach new doctrines . that some ( who are among us , but not of us ) do so we cannot deny ; but still we are ready to justifie the doctrine of our church to be the old doctrine ; nor do we desire a better medium of proving it then this in the text , the old commandment is the word which was from the beginning . take any or all of those opinions wherein we differ , and for which we separate from them , such as are transubstantiation , half communion , adoration of images , invocation of saints and angels , the supremacy and infabillity of the pope , and the like : and we shall find even by their own confessions that they were not from the beginning : scotus acknowledgeth that till the counsell of laterrane ( which was almost years since christ ) transubstantiation was no article of faith : cassander confesseth that for a thousand years , the holy sacrament was administred in both kinds ; it were easie to instance in the rest , but that learned prelate hath already done it to the full : and now let any rationall man judge whether we or they are to be charged with novelty , when as those things wherein they and we disagree , have no primitive antiquity to establish them . . as in this particuler we vie with the papists , so are we ready to put the differences between us and the sectaries upon this triall . do we contend for a lyturgy in the church ? is it not because all churches , greek and latine have had their lyturgies from the first plantation of christianity ? yea , christ himself hath left a prayer upon record , to be not only a platform after which manner he would have his disciples pray , but a set form which they were to say when they did pray . do we contest for our hierarchie in the church , is it not because it was so from the beginning ? st paul gave timothy and titus single persons , episcopall power of ordaining , and governing presbyters . those angels of the seaven churches manifestly appear by the ecclesiasticall history to be bishops : yea , no church since the apostles ( till calvins time ) hath been without episcopall government . do we oppose the office of a lay ruling elder in the church ? is it not because it was not from the beginning ? we can trace no footsteps of it in antiquity ; nor yet any such officer or office described in holy writ . finally , to name no more , do we plead for the baptizing of infants ? is it not because as ( origen and austin assure us ) it is a practice which the church received from the apostles ? and so an apostolicall tradition which the more plainly appeareth , because in st cyprians time though there was a controversie about baptizing infants upon the eight day , yet the thing it self is supposed as a practice then in use ; and though we do not read ( totidem verbis ) in the scripture that the apostle baptized infants , yet it is very probable ; when as st paul cald the children of a believing parent holy , if he do not by the very phrase intend , ( as the learned dr hammond not improbably conceiveth ) yet that he did allow baptism to those children : and where we read that whole families were baptized , the children might be among the number . in one word , it is the glory of the church of england , that her doctrines are exactly consonant to universall and primitive antiquity ; nor do we desire any other rule to examine them by then this , which here is laid down by our apostle , the old commandment is the word which we have heard from the beginning . . to let this go , that which is chiefly to be considered , is the minor of the syllogisme ; that the commandment of love was from the beginning . now that which would here be enquired into is , whence this beginning taketh its date ? indeed haec vox pro materiâ substratâ varié accipi potest ; this word beginning may admit of a several reference , and i find no less then four several expositions of it here ; all of which are not repugnant to , but consistent with each other , from the beginning of their conversion , of christian religion , of the mosaical administration , and of the creation . . some interpreters render the sence of the words thus ; from the beginning , that is from the time you became christians , and first gave up your names to christ , and were called to the faith ; according to which sence our apostle seemeth to assert , that one of the first lessons of christianity is love . st paul speaketh of milk for babes , and meat for strong men ; intimating that there are some commandments and doctrines which are only fit for grown christians ; but this commandment of love , as it is meat for the strongest , so it is milk for babes . . others give this construction of the words ; from the beginning : that is , from the beginning of the gospels publication , ever since the faith of christ was made known to the world . soon after christian religion was revealed , there were many who endeavoured to bring in other gospels , but this commandement which st john wrote of , was as old as christianity ; and what he delivered to them , he received from christ himself . in that sermon of christ which is first mentioned by the first of the evangelists st matthew , this precept of love is expressed ; and in the last sermon that ever he preached , this lesson of love is commended to them ; and being taught by christ himself , it must needs be from the beginning of christianity . . many take the date of this beginning a great deal higher , even as high as moses : that which you israelites had of old in the writings of moses delivered to you . so that we now give no other commandement in charge to you , then that which god cmmanded moses and the prophets to preach . it is the exposition which i most incline to . for since it is not improbable ( as hath been already suggested ) that those to whom this apostle wrote , were ( if not only , yet principally ) the jews ; and the design of st john by these words , being to prove that what he wrote was no new but an old commandement , it is improbable that he would prove it by a date of not much above sixty years , nor would it ( especially to the jews ) have been any conviction of the antiquity of his doctrine , that it was from the beginning of christian religion ; when as in their opinion christs religion was a new doctrine . upon this ground it seemeth a more rationall construction to referre this beginning to moses : and our apostle could not use a more prevailing argument to the jews , then by letting them know that the command he gave them was as old as moses , and before enjoyned by him . there is only one objection to be answered , that if this from the beginning be taken so far of ; how doth the apostle say , not only which you had , but which you heard , whereas this beginning was many hundred years before they were . but the learned grotius hath framed a fit answer to my hand , interpreting vos by majores vestri , you , that is , your ancestours , according as it is to be taken , where it is said whom you slew , and did not moses give you the law. that then which according to this construction is here asserted is , that the commandment of love was from the beginning of moses , and required in the law as well as in the gospell . this is that which in some sence is granted by all , even the socinians , but so as that they assert something to be added to it by christ : and that upon that account it is called in the next verse , a new comandment . in what sence this epithete of new belongs to it , shall be by and by discovered : in the mean time that which the orthodox assert , and i shall endeavour to make good is , that the evangelicall command of love was from the beginning of the law , and so nothing new enjoyned by christ which was not before by moses . to this end , be pleased to know that the command of love may be considred either extensivè or intensivè ; extensively in regare of the object ; or intensively in respect of the act. in both these respects say the socinians , christ hath added to the law ; for whereas say they , the law requireth the jews only to love their countrymen , their friends ; the gospell requireth us to love our enemies , and so the extent of the object is larger . and whereas the law required only of the jews an active love ; the gospell requireth a passive , so far as to lay down our lives for the brethren . the chief ground on which they build the former is that of our saviour , you have heard that it hath been said , thou shalt love thy neighbour , and hate thine enemy ; but i say to you , love your enemies : and the foundation which they lay of the latter is , that the law commanded only to love their neighbours as themselves ; but the gospell , to love one another as christ loved us , which is in effect , to love others better then our selves by laying down our lives for them , which is more then the law required . to enervate both these arguments , and establish the truth of the orthodox assertion : be pleased to know , . that neighbour which is set down as the object of love in moses his law , includeth enemy as well as friend . to clear this , i shall propose a double demand , . whither is not neigbour to be taken in the same latitude , when it is said , thou shalt love thy neighbour , as when it is said , thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour ; and again , thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife , nor his ox , nor his ass , nor any thing that is thy neighbours . if this be denied , that will be enough to evince it , that the particular commands of the second table are but severall explications of the generall command , thou shalt love thy neighbour : and therefore it is the same neighbour to whom we must express our love , by not bearing false witness against him and the like ; and if it be granted , then certainly neighbour must include stranger , nay , enemy . since the jews were not to bear false witness against their enimies , or to covet unjustly what belonged to them : to this purpose is the note of a rabbin upon these words of the psalmist , he that doth no evill to his neighbour , nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour , understanding it of enemies as well as friends . . when our blessed saviour repeateth this law of moses , whither did not christ understand it in the same sense with moses ? if he did no● , then he affixed another sense to moses his words then what he intended , which is not to be imagined ; if he did , then either moses meant them universally , or else christ did not ; and so christ hath added nothing in this particular to moses . as for that passage in our saviours sermon , thou shalt love thy neighhour and hate thine enemy ; it is doubtless to be understood , ( as abulensis hath well noted ) only as a tradition of the scribes and pharisees . indeed st austin , and st hilary seem to be of opinion , that hatred was allowed in the old testament : yea , oecumenius in this place harpeth upon the same string : but ( by the leave of those reverend fathers ) upon what ground it doth not appear ; since it is no where written in the whole body of the law , thou shalt hate thy enemies : and therefore it is well observed , that our blessed saviour doth not say , you have heard that it hath been said by moses , or in the law ; but you have heard that it hath been said , to wit , by the scribes and pharisees , those corrupt interpreters of the law. to all this for the further confirmation , i may add , that solomon expresly requireth in his proverbs , and st paul from him enjoyneth in his epistle . if thine enomy ●e hungry give him bread to eat , and if he be thirsty give him water to drink , so shalt thou heap coals of fire on his head , and the lord will reward thee . that god in the law gave strict charge concerning the beast even of our enemy . if thou meet thine enemies oxe or his ass going astray , thou shalt surely bring it back to him . again , if thou see the ass of him that hateth thee , lying under his burden , and wouldest forbear to help him , thou shalt surely help him . and certainly he that required them to assist their enemy , in rescuing his beast , did not allow them hatred and malice to his person : nay , yet once more in the forementioned place where moses saith , thou shalt love thy neighbour , is prefixed , thou shalt not avenge nor bear grudge , which refers to an enemie that hath done one an injury . as for that lex talionis , law of retaliation ( though ( as appeareth by our saviour ) it was otherwise construed by the pharisees ) yet doubtless it was only intended by god , as a rule for the publique magistrate in his administrations of justice , and is no less in this sense allowable now : and though they were to exercise acts of hostility towards the nations about them in making no peace with the ammonites , casting out the cananites , and cutting off the amalekites ; yet this was by a speciall command from god , which both then and now may dispence with a generall precept ; and withall , their being the instruments of gods vengance upon the heathen , did not hinder , but that they might be free from any private revenge , and so fulfill the generall precept , as well as any headsman ; who notwithstanding he is the executor of justice , may yet love that person , whom he doth execute . . that love which the law requireth may very well in some cases be raised up to that heighth of suffering death . briefly to clear which , know , that laying down our life in reference to our neighbour is only required in one of these two cases ; the one when the publique , the other when the spirtuall good of others necessitateth to it . to lay down a mans life for the publique good , is so far from being purely christian ; that even heathens have done it : and therefore is no doubt included in the mosaicall precept ; which we may the rather believe , because we find himself willing to be blotted out of the book of life for the preservation of the people : and if it be said that this is to love our neighbour more then our selves . i answer , it is not , if we take neighbour distributively ; and if we take it collectively , for the generality , even nature teacheth us : and surely then moses his law did require to prefer the puhlique , before the private wellfare , a generall before a particular good . . but that dying which is especially an act of love , is when we are willing to lose our own temporall life for the eternall good of others . an example of this we have in the old testament . what else meant davids wish in regard of his son absalom when he said , would god i had died for thee ? desiring no doubt to prevent that eternall death , into which he had reason to think his son dying in rebellion against his king , his father ; was now plunged by the loss of his temporary life . and in truth , though this be to love our neighbours souls better then our body , yet it is not to love our neighbour better then our selves , and therefore exceeds not the mosaicall precept . cae●eris paribus , let there be an equality every way , and a christian is as much bound now to prefer himself before his neighbour as a jew was , and in way of inequality a jew was bound to dammage himself for his neghbours good as well as a christian . i am not to love my neighbours soul more then my own soul , nor his body more then my body , nor his estate more then my own . christian charity in this respect , as well as jewish , begins at home ; only when it is my estate , or body , and my neighbours soul , which come in competicion , this must be valued above those ; and this is required by moses , as well as christ . in one word , that addition ( as thy self ) was certainly intended , not as a limitation or restriction , but rather as an amplification and inlargment of this duty of love : that look how dear and entire , and cordiall that love is , which men bear to themselves , the same they ought to have towards their neighbours . and therefore i shut up this with that of cassian , quid diutius evangelicis atque apostolicis praeceptis immoramur , cum etiam vetus lex haec eadem praecepit ? this precept of love is not only apostolicall but propheticall ; evangelicall , but legall : and in that respect , truly said to be from the beginning . . lastly , there is one interpretation more which looketh backward as far as adam ; and so this command of love is from the beginning , not only because commanded by mos●s , but imprinted in nature . the law of love was written at first in the mind of man ; and though it be much obliterated , yet some characters still remain : and as by ruinous walls we guess how stately the buildings once were ; so by these remaining impressions we may easily gather what goodly characters of it were once stamped upon us . thus as before christ made it gospell , moses gave it as a written law ; so before moses made it a written law , god made it a branch , or rather the root of the law of nature . to wind it up therefore , tell me i beseech you how inexcusable shall we be if having so manifold obligations we shall be negligent in the practice of this duty , even the gentiles that have only the remainders of natures law are obliged to love , and not observing it will be found justly blameable ; much more the jews , who besides nature , had the law of moses to guide them , but most of all we christians who have nature , and moses law , and the law of christ , to direct us . a threefold cord ( saith solomon ) is not easily broken : behold a threefold obligation lyeth on us christians ; christ , moses , adam , all preaching this doctrine to us ; upon which account st john cals it , the old commandment which was from the beginning . . there is yet another branch of this first particular in the commendation remaining , which we find in the beginning of the eighth verse , again a new commandment i write unto you . that our apostle by this new commandment intends the same which before he cals , not a new , but an old commandment , is most probable , partly because the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth , and is here rendered again , which therefore seemes to look back on what precedes , and intimateth that he continueth his discourse upon the same subject ; chiefly because this very command of love is called by our blessed saviour in the gospel a new commandment ; nor is this phrase used any where concerning any other , then this command ; and therefore it is most rational so to understand it here , though socinus most ab - , surdly contends , that those words , the darkness is past and the true light now shineth , are a command , and that which here is called a new commandment . this being premised , the chief work is to reconcile st john to himself ; for if he speak of the same commandment , how is it that he cals it in one verse not new , and in the next a new ? is it not a contradiction to affirm and deny the same thing of the same subject ? that of st ambrose concerning the cherubims , si stabant , quomodo movebant ? si movebant , quomodo stabant ? if they did move , how did they stand ? and if stand , how move , may be here alluded to ? if it is old , how is it new ? if new , how is it old ? but surely it is not to be imagined that this holy apostle should , as it were with one breath , give himself the lie . had it been at a great distance , though an humane author might forget himself ; yet surely this divinely inspired apostle could not ; and much less being so near as the next verse . and therefore we must necessarily conclude , that though he speakes of the same subject , yet not in the same respect . now it is a known maxime in philosophy , that contraryes and contradictions may be attributed to the same subject in divers respects ; the same snow may be called white as it falleth , and black in its melting ; the same person may be in one part hot , and cold in another . not to multiply instances , the same commandment may be old , and yet in some respect not unfitly be called new . to illustrate this , give me leave briefly to set before you those several notions , in which this term new may fit this old commandment of love . . appellant haebrei novum quod praestantissimum ; it is usuall with the hebrews to call those things new which are excellent . he hath put into my mouth ( saith david ) a new psalm : and again , oh sing unto the lord a new song , that is , say interpreters , an excellent song . in this sense it is true here ; the command of love is an excellent command : our saviour cals the love of god the first and great commandment , and the love of our neighbour the second , which is like to it . st paul speaking of this grace of charity , and comparing it with , preferres it before faith and hope . that apologue is very fit to this purpose , of a consultation among the vertues , which should have the preheminence , whilest one was for chastity , sister to the angels ; another for justice , which giveth every man his due ; a third for prudence , solomons choice : not agreeing among themselves , they made reason the vmpire , who passing by all the rest , set the crown upon the head of love. but this interpretation though in it self true , is not so congruous to our apostles meaning . . that exposition is doubtlesse more suteable , which expounds new in opposition to the long received tradition of the pharisees concerning this command ; for whereas this command had been corruptly taught for many years by those doctors of the law ; it was now refined from the dr●s●e , and purely taught by christ and his apostles ; and so this commandment though old in it self , yea older then their false glosses ; yet being but newly freed from them , is fitly said to be new . it is well observed by heinsius , that those things are said to be new , which though they were long before , yet are denuó restituta , newly restored to their pristine purity . look as an old house repaired , may be called a new house , and a rusty sword fourbished , a new sword ; look as an old book new bound up , is as it were a new book , and a defaced picture refreshed with colours a new pic●ure ; so is this command a new commandment . for whereas they who sate in moses his chair , had perverted this doctrine ; christ was pleased by himself and his apostles a new to revive and restore it to its primitive integrity . indeed it was at this time with moses law , as it was in the beginning of our reformation with christian religion . the primitive doctrine and worship had for some hundred of yeares been buried under the ashes of romish superstition ; whereby it is , that the reformed religion though farre older then popery , might be accounted , and was , as it were , a new religion . the moral law in christs time as to the both intensive and extensive meaning of it , had been long hid under the corrupt opinion of the jewish doctors ; and in that respect the command of love , as delivered by christ , seemed no doubt to the jews , and was as it were , a new commandment . but there are two other interpretations which seem more genuine then the former . and therefore know , . that this commandment of love is a new commandment , not substantially , but circumstantially ; not in the essence of the doctrine , but the manner of patefaction ; not in respect of the thing delivered , but the way of delivering it . it is the same command of love which is now , and was in the law enjoyned ; but the example is different ; in the law our love to our selves ; in the gospel , christs love to us , is made the pattern of this duty , indeed this variety of example maketh no difference at all in the matter of the precept ; when moses saith , thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self , he requireth as much , as when christ saith , love one another as i have loved you : that of st paul concerning the love which ought to be between man and wife , sully illustrateth this truth ; for whereas he useth both these examples , exhorting husbands to love their wives , as christ loved his church , and every one to love his wife as himself ; yet he commands no more by the one then the other , only presseth it hereby with the greater energie . not are we to conceive any new addition to the general precept of love ; but only a fuller enforcement of the same precept from this new example . look as the jewish and the christian sabbath are both dayes to be kept holy , but on a different account , the one of the creation of the world , and the other of christs resurrection ; so the jewish and the christian command of love are of the same nature , but the one urged by the example of self-love , and the other of christs , and because the gospel-command is enforced with a new argument , and so delivered in a new manner ; it may therefore be stiled a new commandment . nor is it unlikely that st john , having before in general exhorted to walk , as christ walked , here particularizing in this walk of love , might call it a new commandment in this respect , as it is an imitation of christs pattern . . but there is yet another interpretation which wants not good authority and reason to back it , and would not be passed by ; and that is , to take new not in opposition to antiquity , but antiquation ; new , because it waxeth not old , is never out of date , but alwaies in force . there are some commands which are new and not old , such are the sacraments of the new testament ; others which are old but not new because abolished , such are the ceremoniall services of the old testament ; and there are others which are old , and yet new , such are the precepts of the morall law. st paul compareth love to a debt when he saith , owe nothing to any man but love : and indeed it is such a debt that is ever paying , the bond being never cancelled . it is the usuall cry of this age , when preachers deliver these morall doctrines , he preacheth old , and common things ; but ( my brethren ) they are so old , that they are new , and must continually be inculeated upon the people . and therefore let us all learn so to look upon this command , that taking it as new , we may the more carefully observe it . it is well noted by arnoldus . solent homines leges novas studio sius observare ; paulatim verà lege inveterascente de studio remittunt , men are wont to be very observant of a law whilst it is fresh and new , but as it groweth old , their obedience becometh remiss : and therefore it is maldonates note upon the gospell , that this newness is to be refer'd , non tam ad mandatum ipsum quam ad studium obediendi , not so much to the command it self as to our indeavour of obeying it , and since as some trees are green all the year , so this is alwaies in force , we should with all care and conscience perform it . to draw to an end , there is one acception of novum for rarum , new for that which is rare and unusuall , which i would to god might not be too true as to the practice of this commandment , it is rare and unusuall especially in this frozen age . but however let us remember the command is new that is excellent , and new that is renewed , and new that is refined , and new that is perswaded by a new and urgent example : and therefore let our desires and indeavour's be still new and vigorous in the observance of it : so much the rather considering that as some of the ancients glosse , it is novum quasi innovans , this new commandment by our obedience to it , will transform us into new creatures , and new men in christ jesus . and that we may be enabled to this obedience , what other course should we take then to pray for a new spirit , for that is another reason given of this phrase , novum quia novo spiritu impletur , it is therefore called new , because it requireth the new grace of the new testament , which is given by a new spirit to fullfill it ; for this new grace let us be daily orators , so shall we be of this new commandment daily practisers . to end all , they say of wine it is best when old , of honey it is best when new ; behold this command of love is as wine , and to commend it , it is an old commandment , as honey , and to commend it , it is a new commandment : some men are plodding antiquaries and delight in old things , old evidences , old monuments , old gold , old coines , old proverbs , and the like : others curious novelists , and delight in new : here is that may allure both , and therefore which way soever we are bent , our apostle hath as it were fitted our humour , god grant it may affect our hearts , so as we may all be in love with this commandment of love , which is both an old and new commandment . the first epistle of st john . chap. . part of the , vers . which thing is true in him and in you , because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth . among the many observables in sacred writ , it would not be passed by what frequent use the penmen make of those two arts , logick , and rhetorick ; by the one proving strongly , and by the other perswading sweetly . it were easie to discover in these divine books the severall topicks of argumentation , tropes and figures of elocution , and forms of oratory . true it is , it had been enough for the divine majesty whose penmen these were , only to assert and enjoyn without either proving or perswading . but such is his mercy , that knowing our dulness and perversness , he is pleased to convince us by undeniable reasons , and allure us by loving insinuations . a pregnant instance hereof we have in these words , the scope whereof is to make way for the command of love which our apostle was about to give them , friendly bespeaking them with the title of brethren , and sweetly preparing them to receive the command by various arguments , which are aptly couched in this oratoricall proaeme . i write not a new but an old commandment . and again a new commandment i write to you which is true in him , &c. having dispatched the compellation and the first branch of the commendation , we are now to proceed to the second , which is drawn from that conformity this duty hath to christs pattern , intimated in those words , which thing is true , or a thing which is true in him . i am not ignorant that some learned men refer all that followeth in this verse , to those words in the beginning of it , a new commandment i write to you , as if it were only a confirmation of that part of the commendation , and so those words , which thing is true , are thus to be paraphrased ; which thing , namely , that this commandment of love is a new commandment , is true both respec●u christi & nostri , in regard of christ who hath himself fulfilled it , and so given us a new pattern of it , and in respect of us christians who by reason of the true light shinining have a new grace enabling us to performe it our selves . but i rather incline to take these words as affording new topicks for the commendation of love , and so the laudatory character we are now to handle is , that this grace which is enjoyned to christians is no other then what was true in christ . the clause as it is set down in the greeke carrieth with it no small difficulty . gagneius upon this place ingeniously professeth that he could not find out the true sence and meaning of it . some expositors render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in it self , as if the sense of these words were only to assert the verity of the thing concerning which he discourseth ; but this to me seemeth jeiune and unbeseeming the fullness of scripture expressions ; besides , if we observe the phrase of this holy apostle , and that in this epistle we shall find it very usuall with him to speak of christ under those phrases of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we may observe in the latter end of this , and the beginning of the next chapter : look as mary magdalen having her own thoughts so full of christ , conceived there was no need of nameing him , only to say , tell me where thou hast laid him : so st john burning with love to christ , not doubting but that he was well known to them to whom he wrot , and therefore supposing they would easily guess of whom he wrote , thinketh it enough to say only him , so that we may very well expound this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as our translators readit , in him , to wit , christ . but the greatest difficultie of construing this clause lyeth in the first particle ● , since being of the neuter gender it cannot agree with the feminine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is the substantive immediately preceding ; but it is no strange or unusuall thing for an adjective of the neuter gender to be taken substantively , and so quod which is as much as quae res which thing . thus it is rendred in our translation , and is not unfitly expounded by grotius to be that thing ( namely love , ) which is the matter of the old and new commandment : and indeed though the phrase may seem somewhat harsh , yet the sense is most fitly thus expressed , since the commandment it self referrs to us , not christ ; but the thing or matter of the commandment was true in christ himself , and so layeth a greater obligation upon us to performe the commandment ; nor need we stick at this construction , when we find the same in the former chapter , where in the second and third verses after the feminine substantive , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is put a neuter adjective ● as that forementioned author observes : and now according to this interpretation , the plain sense of the words appeareth to be this , a thing which is true in him , that is , this grace of love which i enjoyn you is no other then what was verified in christ himself . so that as before he lets them see it is a commandment both old and new : so here he acquaints them further , it was such a commandment as had christ himself an example of it . ipse enim prius charitatem ostendit , saith ferus , for he himself did practice love , ratum ac reipsa invenitur primum quidem in illo ut capite , saith beza ; in him , as being the head of the church , and having received the spirit without measure was this primarily accomplished . and this interpretation i so much the rather assent to , because it so aptly suiteth with what our apostle had before delivered when he calleth upon them to express the reality of their interest in christ by keeping his commandments , and walking as he walked ; whilst he lets them see that the duty of love which he was about presently , and did intend chiefly to inculcate upon them , was the only way to performe both these ; by love , they should keep the commandments , for it is both the old and the new commandment , and by love they should walk as christ walked , for it is a thing which was true in him . and now , that this was true in christ , is a truth so clear , that there will be no need to prove it . indeed it is tanquam radio solis scripta , written as it were with a sun beam : so that he which runs may read it . it is a subject i might very well dilate upon , but that i shall have more full occasion to discuss both the love of christ and god to us in the following chapters . that it is so cannot be denied , yea , should we be so ungratefull as to deny or doubt it , the manger and the cross would testify against us . if either confering benefits on us , or suffering injuries for us , can assure his love to us : our apostle she weth it to be true in both when he saith , to him that loved us , and washed us from our sins in his blood , and made us kings and priests to god the father . how legible are the characters of his love in his birth , life , death , resurrection , ascention , intercession ; and all those advantages of redemption , remission , adoption , justification , salvation ; which by those accrue to us ? which who so knowingly considers , must needs say with st paul , the love and kindness of god our saviour hath appeared : with st peter , the lord is gracious : and with st bernard , his love to us was dignitatis nescius , dignatione dives , affectu potens suasu efficax , full of condescention and affection . indeed that it should be so ( though it cannot be gainsaid ) may well be admired , especially when we look upon our selves . what were we the rebellious off-spring of degenerate parents , slaves of satan , servants of sin , children of wrath ; that christ should cast an eye towards , and place his love on us ? the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then is manifest that he loved us , and you if he ask the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why he loved us ? there can no reason on our part be given of it . and surely since his love was not deserved , no nor so much as desired by us , fit it is , it should be acknowledged with admiration , and retaliated with gratulation , and followed by imitation . this last our apostle here aimeth at , in which respect he fitly addeth , and in you ; it being most rationall that what was true in the head , should be true also in the members , what was true in the root should be true in the branches , that as christ loved us , so we christians should love one another . before i proceed to this which is the next part , i shall in a few words mind you of one reading of these words , in which they have reference to this second part : grotius tels us that in one manuscript it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and st hierom in his translation , reads it nobis , a thing which is true in him , that is , chri●t , and in us , that is , his apostles , who write and publish this commandment to you . the originall copy was drawn by christ , his disciples transcribed it in their own practice , and have commended it to all christians to write after both him , and them . this cup of love was begun by christ , his apostles pledged him , and it must go round , all christians are to drink of it . and here i cannot but take notice of that which i would to god were seriously laid to heart by all who succeed the apostles in the work of the ministry ; namely , that as st john in the behalf of himself and the other apostles saith , i write to you a commandment concerning a thing which is true in us , so we may be able to say , that that which we enjoyn the people is verified in our selves . this is ( according to isidores phrase ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to joyn living with dead instruction , when our life as well as our tongue preacheth , this is ( according to primasius his exposition ) rightly to divide the word of truth , when we confirme our doctrine by our practice . finally , this is ( according to playfers allusion ) to lift up the voice like a trumpet , which must be held with the hand as well as blown with the mouth ; when we not only report the truth by a lively preaching , but support it by a preaching life . indeed then only can ministers publish commands with authority , so as to gain belief , with boldness so as not to be ashamed , with efficacy so as to perswade , when they joyn patterns to their precepts . . men are very apt to question the truth of that dectrine to which the preachers practice giveth the lye ; the way to imprint an instruction upon the hearers heart as well as ear , is to speak by our works as well as words . it is said of our blessed saviour , he spake as one having authority : and st gregories morall is , cum imperio docetur , quod prius agitur , quam docetur : he only preacheth with authority , who doth what he teacheth . . when a ministers conversation confuteth his instruction ; blushing may well sit upon his cheeks , and his ears tingle to hear that of st paul , thou that teachest another shall not steal , dost thou steal ? the leper in the law was to cover his lips , which one morally applyeth to leprous ministers who may well stop their mouths for shame . . a speech not accompanied with action , saith isidore truely , for the most part is liveless and ineffectuall ; if the heavens , that is , the preachers are as brass only tinckling with sound of words ; no marvell if the earth , to wit , the people are as iron , obdurate to all their counsels : since cujus vita despicitur , restat ut ejus praecatio contemnatur , his preaching is usually despicable , whose life is contemptible : in which regard st bernard saith truly of such an one , verendum ne non tam nutriat doctrinâ verbi , quam sterili vitâ noceat . it is to be feared his vitious life more infects then his pious doctrine instructs . that preacher wi , ll both find most comfort in himself , and do most good to others , who can say in the words of a devout abbot , n●n aliquem docui quicquam quod ego prius ipse non fecerim , i never taught any man any lesson which i did not first learn my self : as here st john saith of this commandment , it is true in us . and so much for this second commendatory character of this grace of love ; its conformity to the pattern of christ , and ( as you see by some readings ) his apostles . i now hasten to the . last , that conformity which this duty hath to the state of the gospell , and the truth of christianity , in these words , and in you , because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth . in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in you , is implyed a substantive verb , which may be put either indicatively , or imperatively ; is , or let it be true in you , according to a different construction , of the following words . whilst some by darkness and light understand the legall and evangelicall administration : so the imperative rendering best suiteth , let this love be true in you , because the darkness of the law is past , and the light of the gospell shineth . and others by darkness understand the state of unregeneracy , and by light the state of regeneracy ; and so the indicative best fits this thing which is commanded the duty of love is true in you , because you are brought out of the darkness of nature , into the light of grace . each of these constructions are consonant to the analogy of faith , agree well with the scope of the apostle , want not the concurrence of judicious expositors , and therefore i shall neglect neither . . in handling these words according to the first interpretation , we shall loook upon them two waies , as an assertion , and as an argument . . as an assertion , we have considerable in them . a double subject , darkness , and light . a double predicate of the darkness , that it is past ; of the true light , that it now shineth . . it would in the first place be here considred , that the gospell is set forth by light , and the law by darkness . suitable to this it is that st paul ( as some expound those words , the night is far spent , the day is at hand ) compareth the one to the day , and the other to the night : and st ambrose interprets these words of the psalmist , day unto day uttereth speech , and night unto night sheweth knowledg , the one of the christian , and the other of the jew . . that the gospell is most fitly described by light is out of question , and the analogy may easily be demonstrated in severall parables . the fountain of light is the sun , and christ the son of righteousness is the author of the gospell , in which respect it is called the word of christ . the nature of light is pure , the doctrine of the gospell is holy : in which regard it is called the mystery of godliness , and the doctrine which is according to godliness . light by reason of its splendour and beauty is very am●able , delighting , chearing , and reviving the beholder . evangelicall truths are pleasant and comfortable to the believer . so much the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifying a good message , or ( according to the angels phrase ) tydings of great joy imports : such is the subtilty of the light that it penetrateth the aire , the window , the smallest crevis ; and so great is the gospels efficacy that it pierceth to the very soul . so much the author to the hebrews asserts when he saith , the word of god is quick and powerfull piercing even to the deviding asunder of soul and spirit , and of the joynts and marrow , and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . finally , the principall effect and use of light is to discover and make manifest : things that are secret and hidden appear in the light , by reason of its clarity and brightness : for this cause chiefly is the gospell resembled to light , because it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a revelation and manifestation of many glorious mysteries . the trinity of persons in the vnity of essence ; the unity of the two natures in one person , in the incarnation of the son of god ; the meeting together of mercy and justice in the redemption of the world ; the estate of bliss and glory laid up for believers in heaven ; the calling of the gentiles from all parts of the earth , out of the state of ignorance to the knowledg of god and christ ; are those mysterious doctrines which the gospell plainly revealeth to us ; well may it deserve to be represented by the similitude of light . . but though the metaphor of light very well agree to the evangelicall , yet that the other resemblance of darkness should be understood of the legall administration seemeth somewhat harsh and strange ; nor indeed can it be admitted , but in a qualified sense . to which end you must know that the law of moses may be considered either absolutely , or comparatively . if we consider it absolutely in it self , it was a light . david acknowledged it , his son solomon in his proverbs asserteth it ; and it were easie to parallel the law to light as well as the gospell , inasmuch as it is the law of the lord , an undefiled law , rejoycing the heart ; yea , inasmuch as what ever was necessary for the jew to know in order to salvation was delivered in it . again , if we consider it comparatively with the state of the gentiles at that time , what is here ascribed to the gospell , belongs even to the law , it was then the true light . in jury was god known , saith the psalmist , and his name was great in israel . whilst the whole world was an aegypt involved in the darkness of idolatry , jury was a goshen , a place of light for the knowledg and worship of the true god. but still compare the time of the law , with the time of the gospell , and so this term of darkness may be asserted of it . a light it was but a candle light , so much the phr●se of a light , and a lamp used both by the father and the son , david and solomon intimate ; and perhaps the like is intended by st peters expression , of a light shining in a dark place . now what is a candle light but dark in comparison of day light . to clear this , be pleased to observe that this darkness is not opposed simply to light , but to the true light and that as shining ; now this expression of true may be taken in a threefold reference , as contradistinguished to that which is imperfect , figurative and false . . as perfect is sometimes no more then true , so true is sometimes as much as perfect , it is the gloss of grotius upon the text. quod in quâque re eminet solet dici 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which is the most eminent in any kind , is said to be truly so , thus the true light is as much as the choice and most resplendent light ; in which sense christ himself is said in the gospell to be , and here the evangelicall administration is called the true light . that this is the meaning of the epithet here , appeareth so much the more , in that the article is prefixed both before the substantive , and the adjective : as if we should render it the light , the true being so most eminently and transcendently . indeed the law is a light , and in some sense a true light because it did not deceive nor misguide them who walked according to it ; but still the gospell is the true because the most illustrious light , and so in comparison of it , the law is as it were darkness . . it is not an unusuall signification of true and truth in holy writ , nor unsuitable to this place to take it in opposition to types , figures , and ceremonies ; in this sense we are to understand it , where christ is called the true tabernacle , that of moses being only a type of him : and when our saviour saith , god will be worshiped in truth , not according to the typicall and ceremoniall worship of the law ; and yet more appositely to our present purpose , when it is said , the law came by moses , but grace and truth by jesus christ . the meaning whereof is briefly thus , whereas the law only enjoyneth , the gospell enableth , and what the law taught in figures , is nakedly delivered in the gospell . congruous to which is that of st austin , grace comes by christ , ut datâ indulgentiâ peccatorum quod praeceptum erat ex dei dono custodiretur , that indulgence being granted to our failings , what is commanded may by gods assistance be performed ; and truth , ut ablatâ observatione umbraru● quod promissium erat ex fide presentaretur , that by removing the obscure types what is promised might be made manifest . upon this account the phrase of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , darkness here used may be attributed to the law , or at least that which is by the learned dr hammond observed to be the reading in the royall manuscript 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a shadow , all the ceremonies , types , and sacrifices of the law being but shadows of those things which the true light of the gospell more fully discovereth . this is excellently expressed by st paul to the colossians , where he calleth the legall ceremonies a shadow , and christ the body : to the hebrews when he saith , the law was a shadow of good things to come ; not the very image : in both which scriptures put together , you find a body , an image , a shadow ; the body is christ , the image the gospell , the shadow the law. now as the representation which a shadow maketh of the body is very dark and obscure in comparison of that which the image sheweth : since the shadow represents only in communi , that there is a body ; the image in particulari , the severall lineaments of the body ; so the discoveries which the law maketh of christ and salvation by him are very imperfect in comparison of the gospell revelations . . if you like to retain the common signification of true as opposite to false , you must take in the verb shineth , and so the sense will be clear ; the true light shineth only in the gospell , and therefore the law is called darkness . true there was a light a true light in the law , but it did not shine forth , it was as it were hid under a bushell ; and so a state of darkness in comparison of the shining light in the gospell . it is very observable to this purpose , that all things were covered and wrapt up to the jews ; when they carryed the brasen altar in the wilderness , they covered it with a purple cloth ; when they carryed the ark it was covered with three coverings , a vail , a badgers skin , and a cloth of blew ; the table of the shew bread had three coverings ; and except the laver every thing was covered in the temple ; yea , the temple it self had a vaile . when moses came from the mount , his face was vailed ; the priests bare the things which they might not see : and all this to signifie what a concealment there was of divine knowledg under the law. to this purpose st gregory allegorizeth these words of the psalmist , tenebrosa aqua in nubibus , dark water in the clouds , that is , occulta scientia in prophetis , the darkness of knowledg in the law and prophets . it is true , eternall life , salvation by christ , and those other sublime truths are to be found in the law , but as a face under a mask , as a sun in a cloud , heavenly wrapt up in earthly promises , christ involved in types and figures . there were but few that knew any thing of these truths in comparison of the multitudes now , and that they did know was but obscurely in comparison of the clearness now . divine knowledg was then as an oyntmennt kept close in an alablaster box , now the savour thereof perfumeth the whole house . then it was at best but as the dawning of the day , now it is full noon : and those doctrines which were velata inveteri , folded up in the old , are revelata in novo , unfolded in the new testament . to this tends that expression used by st paul concerning christians , we all with open face behold the glory of the lord. the jews faces were vailed , ours are open , they according to the apostles phrase elsewhere saw afar of and so darkly , we as it were near hand and so clearly . to summe it up , look as the true shining light of the gospell in comparison of that beatificall vasion , so the typicall instruction of the law in comparison of evangelicall teaching is but darkness or at best a shadow . indeed the triumphant church is in intimis , the holy of holies . the christian church militant , in atrijs the holy place . but the jewish in extimis the outward court. when god gave the law the second time , he commanded the people to stand at the foot of the mount ▪ aaron , nadab , abihu , and the seaventy elders of israel to worship afar off in the middle of the mount , and moses ascends to the top of the mount , even within the cloud : by which three one hath represented the three states of the church : by those who stood at the bottome , the jewish ; by them who worshipped in the middle , the christians ; and by moses the glorified church . in one word to use st ambrose his phrase , umbra in lege , imago in evangelio , veritas in cael● , the truth is in heaven , the image in the gospell , but in the law only the shadow . . the just fitness of those metaphors darkness and light , in reference to the law and gospell being manifested ; that which next is more briefly to be considered , is that , which is predicated concerning both . namely , that the one is past , and the other now shineth . indeed the word for passing is in the present tence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it doth pass away , for when st john wrote this epistle , it was only in fieri , passing , not past : those legall ceremonies began to dye at christs passio● : then , in signification thereof was the vail of the temple not only perforatum , or attritum , or laceratum , worn or torn a little , but rent in twain from the top to the bottome ; but they were not dead and buried till the destruction of the temple it self ; so that during the space between christs passion and jerusalems desolation , they were passing away : and the evangelicall administration did more and more display it self . thus as when the house is built the scaffold is pulled down , when the sun ariseth the starrs disappear ; when the prophet himself came the staffe was taken off , and when christ increased , john the baptist decereased ; so when the gospell was published the legall administrations vanished away . and surely the consideration hereof should teach us on the one hand to bewaile the hardned jews , who though the darkness be past and the true light now shineth , shut their eyes against the light , and love to abide in darkness . st hierome very aptly compareth the jews before christ , to those that eat the flesh : christians under the gospell to those who eat the marrow , but the jews now to the dogs that gnaw the bone . indeed those legall observances at the best were only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a shadow but now they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 darkness exitiall to those who still embrace them ? oh let us pitty and pray for the blinded jews , that the vaile may be taken from their faces ; and they may behold the light which shineth so brightly : nor is there less cause of gratulation in respect of our selves , then lamentation in regard of the jews . it was a great benefit to learning , when the obscure hyeroglyphicks of the aegyptians were changed into letters , and platoes dark writings were brought down to more easie conceptions by aristotle ; but surely farre greater is the benefit which the church hath now , the evangelical administration suceeding in the room of the legall . oh , how fitly may that expression of the psalmist be taken up by us christians ! god is the lord which hath shewed us light , a clear full glorious light , let us be glad and rejoyce in it ! to winde up this first interpretation by considering the words ( in this sense ) as an argument why this command of love ought to be true in us ; namely , because we live under the christian dispensation . indeed hatred and malice were not tollerable in the jews , but they are abominable in us christians ; who should live in love if not we , to whom the love of god and christ is so clearly revealed ? oh my brethren , how sad is it to think , though ( the shadow as some read it ) the darkness ( as others ) be past , and the true light now shineth ; yet we may too truly complain that the shadow remaineth ? nothing but shadows of grace , fancies of godliness found among us ; nay the darkness of envy and hatred , and all uncharitable walking prevaileth among us . oh be we exhorted , since we have the light , to walk in it , to walk worthy of it , to walk as children of it , by walking in this path of love . and so much for that exposition . the other interpretation renders these words assertively , is true in you , and expounds the darkness and light of sinne and grace ; an exposition which i incline to as most rational , it being very probable that our apostle as in the following verses he useth the same metaphors ; so here intends the same things ; and that there his primary scope is to describe by darkness and light , mans corrupt and regenerate estate , will appear in the handling . for the better prosecution of these words in this sense , be pleased to proceed with me by these steps , and observe , . what is the state of all men before conversion ; namely , a state of darkness ; darkness is in our minds , the darkness of ignorance and infidelity , we neither do nor can know aright either god or our selves , the naturall man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of god , is st pauls generall doctrine , asserting our ignorance of god ; and the particular charge against laodicea , that she knew not she was wretched and miserable , poor , blind , and naked ; may justly be extended to all mankind in regard of self-ignorance . indeed there is so much light left in us as may render us inexcusable , but not as can lead us to heaven , we neither of our selves can find out , nor yet discern divine truths , though they are set before us , how quick sighted soever reason may be in naturals ; it is dimme yea blind in spirituals : and as our blessed saviour argueth , if the eye be darkness , the whole body must needs be darke ; the eyes of our understanding being darkned ; no marvell if our will and affections be clouded , yea a darkness of sin overrun our whole man ; so that what st paul saith to the ephesians , is true of all unregenerate persons , they are not only in the concrete darke , but abstract darkness it self . . what the state of all regenerate persons is , the darkness is past and the true light of saving knowledg and heavenly grace shineth in their hearts . regenerate christians are called in the new testament new creatures , and indeed not unfitly ; since as it was in the old , so is it in this new creation . we read in the beginning of genesis , that darkness was upon the face of the deep , and god said let there be light . a fit embleme of the spirits work in a sinners conversion . whereas darkness covereth the soul before , a glorious light ariseth in , and diffuseth it self through it ; to this no doubt the apostle alludeth when he saith , god who commanded the light to shine out of darkness , hath shined in our hearts : and for this reason it is that very often the turning of a sinner is set forth by this metaphor : so pauls conversion of the gentiles is called a turning them from darkness to light ; the converted colossians are said to be delivered from the power of darkness ; and of the ephesians it is said , you who were sometimes darkness , are now light in the lord. suitable to all which is this phrase in my text , the darkness is past , and that true light now shineth . nor is it unworthy the observation , how fitly these two clauses are ioyned together , since the one cannot be without the other ; nay , indeed one is the cause of the other . in every convert there is not only a passing away of darkness , but a shining of the true light ; yea , the shining of the light is the cause of the passing away of the darkness ; in which respect zanchy noteth , that conjunctio copulans pro causali posita videtur , the copulative conjunction , and is put for the causall , for . this will the more appear if we consider what st austin hath observed , namely , that darkness is nothing else but the non residency of light , and therefore that which expelleth darkness , must needs be the presence of light : thus the grace of the spirit infused into the soul , is that which prevaileth to the expulsion of sin . look as the taking of an antidote driveth out the poyson ; the putting of a new seal upon the wax defaceth the old stampe , and the return of the sun causeth the darkness to vanish ; so is it the donation of the spirit and his grace which dispossesseth sin and satan of the soul. hence we may take notice , what it is that maketh the difference between a convert and a naturall man , namely , the shining of the light of grace . we that are converted were once involved in the same state of darkness with the rest of the world , and as unable to deliver our selves from it , had not gods free grace caused the light to shine upon us , which he denieth to others : in which regard st peter saith to the converted christians to whom he wrote , you are a chosen generation , a royall priesthood , an holy nation , a peculiar people , that you should shew forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light . but yet it must withall be considered , that the words in this sense are better read according to the greek , the darkness passeth away , then that it is past , since so long as we are here , though our light be true , yet it is not perfect , but shineth more and more to the perfect day . now according to the increase of the light is the decrease of the darkness , and therefore because it is not full noon , perfect day whilst we are here , the darkness cannot be said to be wholly past , but rather is still passing ; if then we are sensible of the remainder of darkness in our hearts ; let it trouble , but not too much dismay us : light and darkness in remiss degrees may be together , nor must we expect the darkness of sin to be wholly removed till we participate the light of glory . . in whomsoever the darkness passeth , and the true light shineth : this is true of which our apostle here speaketh , this grace and duty of love will shew it self in all regenerate persons : it is a clear maxim , where there is the cause , there will be the effect ; such as is the root , such will be the fruit ; now goodness which is a companion of love , is called by the apostle paul , a fruit of the spirit , or as some greeke copies read it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a fruit of light , this light which here is said to shine , which is no other then the grace of the spirit ; no wonder if where this light shineth there this beam and fruit of it appear : indeed glowe worm light and star light is such as hath no beat at all to accompany it , but sun light which is the true light expelling darkness wanteth not heat , which is the embleme of this grace of love whereby the soul is warmed , yea enflamed . examine we then our selves by this character if we be brought from darkness to light , this is true in us , who so experienceth this change will find some measure of strength to performe this command , darkness is hatefull , but light is lovely ; the darkness of sin causeth hatred , but the light of grace love , if the wild beast of envy and malice range abroad in thy conversation , it is a plain argument that as yet it is might with thee . for a close of this particular i have already told you , that according to this sense these words , true in you , are to be read affirmatively , and so they are a commendation of those to whom our apostle wrote , and intimate , that this command , which he was to impose on them , was already true in them : and his designe hereby no doubt was to encourage them the more in the practice of this duty . since according to that of the oratour , trabimur omnes laudis studio , all men love to be commended , and praise is a spurre to virtue . this is that policy which our blessed saviou● himself is pleased to use in all his epistles to the asian churches , except that of laodicea ; owning and praising those graces which he saw in them . the like we may find practised by all the apostles in their epistles . st paul writing to the corinthians , now i praise you brethren : to the galathians , you did run well : st peter , whereunto you do well that you take heed . it were easie to instance in each ; and surely this practice is deservedly imitable by ministers towards their people , superiours towards inferiours ; yea , all men one towards another . render to all their dues , honour to whom honour belongeth , saith st paul. it is a breach of that justice , which is due from man to man , not to give due commendations . indeed flattery is abominable , and therefore there must be salt as well as honey , in our praises : commendations are then commendable when they are done with fidelity , and exceed not verity ; having just ground , and ayming at a right end : we may , we ought to acknowledge and declare the good , which we see in others , as here st john doth . but perhaps you will say , if this were true in them already , what need our apostle write this commandment to them ? is it not in vain to bid a man do that , which he already doth ? i answer , no : and that upon a double account . . that which was true , must be still true , and so a command may be given to enjoyn the continuance in , as well as the entrance upon any duty . as the devill diverteth some from , so he interrupteth others in the performance of what is good ; we had need to be called upon once and again , least we faint in the race . . that which was true , ought to be more true in them ; we fulfill no command so exactly , but we may complain of manifold defects , nor do we ever so well , but still we may do in all , better ; the truth of love and every grace is in whom the true light shineth , and on whom regeneration is confer'd , but the strength of grace may still be deficient ; and therefore there is continuall need of writing and preaching this commandment even to those who practice it . to end all , what remaineth but that this large and excellent preface , with which our apostle ushereth in his discourse of love , have an effectuall influence upon our hearts and lives , to prepare us for the doctrine , and excite us to the practice of it ? it is a command , and that not antiquated but still in force , it was practised by christ himself and all his holy apostles , it is most suitable to the gospell administration , under which we live ; yea , if we have the true light of grace in us , this cannot but be in some measure exercised by us . and therefore , that we may obey this old and new commandment , which god hath given us ; that we may follow that choice and excellent pattern , which christ and his apostles have set us ; that we may walk worthy of the gospell , which shineth among us : finally , that we may declare our selves to be indeed what we profess , brought from darkness to light , let us attend to , and set upon the performance of the following instruction which should now be handled , but that the time prevents , and therefore must be referred to another opportunity . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , . he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , is in darkness even untill now . he that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him . he that hateth his brother is in darkness , and walketh in darkness , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes . what humidum and calidum , the naturall heat and radicall moisture , are to the body , that are repentance , and love to the soul ; nor are those more necessary to the conservation of our temporall , then these to the sustentation of our spirituall life . indeed the principall grace is faith , this brings as it were the copula , that which knits christ and the christian together in union with whom consists our life ; but the maintaining of this life is by the moysture of godly contrition for our sins , and the warmth of holy affection towards god and man : no wonder if we find as faith and repentance ; so likewise love frequently inculcated in holy writ upon all christians . indeed this latter is one of the principall subjects of this epistle , so that though our apostle minds us of repentance in confessing our sins , and faith in believing on the name of jesus christ , yet he chiefly insists on loving , and that as god , so our brother , which is the design of the verses i have now read , he that saith he is in the light , &c. having dispatched the preamble inciting , contained in the two former verses , i am now to procced to the doctrine instructing , laid down in these three ; for whereas before he had mentioned a commandment concerning , which he did now write to them , and withall adorned it with very amiable characters , he now plainly and expresly declareth what this commandment is ; namely , that of loving our brother , for so interpreters well observe these verses to be an exposition of the generall commendation in those ; and having by his large praises endeavoured to inflame them with desires after the knowledg and practice of it , he goeth on to informe them what it is , and wherein it consists . nor would it be passed by , that our apostle in handling this doctrine of love pursueth that metaphor which he made use of in the former chapter , where he layeth down the generall scope of his epistle ; hereby no doubt intending to intimate to us that this duty of brotherly love , is a primary step of that walking in the light , which intituleth to fellowship with god ; and so on the contrary , hatred of our brother , a chief step of that walking in darkness , which depriveth us of that communion , so that we are now come to the fourth step of that divine walk , which st john designeth to chalke out in this epistle . the first whereof is repentance , the second obedience , the third imitation of christ , and now the fourth which we are from these verses to discourse upon is , the love of our brethren , he that saith he is in the light , &c. in these three verses we have two generall parts considerable ; a grace proposed , the vice opposed . the proposition is in the . verse , the opposition in the , and . verses . and inasmuch as the grace is in order of nature before the vice : and ( according to that geometricall maxime , rectum est index sui & obliqui ) the way to know when we commit the sin is to understand the nature of the grace ; and yet further , since the opposition is intended as an amplification of the proposition , i shall therefore in handling these verses begin with the middlemost , wherein is contained the thesis or grace proposed , he that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is no occasion of stumbling in him . in the discussion whereof be pleased to observe two things , the nature and the benefit of the grace , the former in the subject , the latter in the praedicate of the proposition . . the subject of the proposition , he that loveth his brother . so that the grace here set before us is the love of our brother : st austin speaking of love hath observed a foure fold object , whereabout it is conversant , quod supra nos , quod nos sumus , quod juxta nos , quod infra nos ; the first above us , namely , god , the second our selves , the third about vs , the fourth beneath us , our bodies ; and as he well observeth two of them are so naturall that there is no need of a precept , to wit , our selves , and especially our bodies ; and therefore the command of love is expressed in these two , the love of god , and of our neighbour , the latter of which our apostle here calls for . if you look backward upon the . verse of this chapter ▪ you find the apostle speaking of the love of god , that being indeed the primary object of love : and here he adviseth to the love of our brother ; these two being not contrary but subordinate : a little after he speaketh of two loves which are inconsistent , the love of the father , and the love of the world ; but it is not so with the love of god and our brother ; nay , indeed the former is a ●ause of the latter , and the latter a testimony of the former . love to our brother is effected by our love to god ; and our love to god is perfected by love to our brother : and therefore very fitly doth our apostle here speak of the latter , ( having before mentioned the former ) because he is now about to describe the word or commandment the keeping whereof perfects , that is , declareth our love to god to be perfect or sincere , which is no other then brotherly love . for the better unfolding of which , i shall briefly resolve these two queries , what that love is which we owe to our brother ? who that brother is whom we are so to love ? not to discourse of love at large , be pleased to know , that to love our brother as zanchy well defineth , 't is to have our mind so inclined towards him , as that we will , and to the utmost of our power , conferr good upon him : suitable hereunto is that description of the philosopher , love is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ to will that which is good to , and as far as we are able to do that which we will for another . if then you ask what is the formal act of this love ? i answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ benevolence . if what is the proper effect of it ? the answer is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , beneficence ; nor can love be , where either of these is wanting : on the one hand , if there be beneficence and not benevolence , it is not love . when st paul saith , though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and have not charity , it profiteth me nothing ; he intimateth , that it is possible for a man to bestow his goods on the poor , and yet want love , liberality being sometimes a fruit rather of vain glory , then charity . on the other hand , if there be benevolence , and not beneficence , it is not love ; since it is only vell●●tas , not voluntas , a wishing and woulding , not a serious willing : trahit secum animorum propensio omnem beneficentiam , saith gualter , a cordial propension carrieth with it a vigorous prosecution . in this respect st james chideth those , who when a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily bread , say to them depart in peace , be you warmed , be you filled , notwithstanding they gave them not those things which were needfull for the body : that is not charity which only expresseth it self in words , not works ; love being an emanation of the will , in a way of adhaesion to its object , cannot but will all good to the object loved ; and since the will is the queen regent of the whole man ( in which regard the actions of all the other faculties are called the imperate acts of the will ) commanding the execution of its inclination ; it must needs follow , that he who seriously wills , cannot but really endeavour his brothers good ; and therefore that velleity which like an empty cloud vanisheth away without efficacy , is not an act of love : in which respect some not unfitly give the sense of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to move every ●●one , and use all meanes for accomplishing the good we will ; only that caution ( according to our ability must be here inserted : for as s paul saith in this very case , if there be first a willing mind , it is accepted according to that a man hath , and not according to that he hath not ; where there is want of ability , benevolence ( though it cannot be profitable to our brother , yet ) is acceptable to god , and ought to be to him without beneficence . the one then , namely a good will , is absolutely and alwayes necessary ; the other to wit good works conditionally , and with this limitation , so farre as they are within the sphere of our activity , and compass of our ability . besides this general definition of love ; it will not be amiss somewhat more particularly , to enquire into the several wayes of exercising it , that we may see how many lines meet in this centre of love ; which may both fully and briefly be delineated by a double reference . . to the present condition of our brother , who either hath the good already ; and then love first blesseth god , and next cong●atulateth him , rejoyceing him at the presence , and willing the continuance , yea encreasing of it , so farre as may be good and expedient for him . or else he wants the good , and is distressed by some kind of evil ; and then love beareth a part with him in his sufferings by sympathie , wiping away his teares with the spunge of her compassion ; yea , not only so , but endeavoureth to relieve him in , and deliver him out of his affliction , above all praying with earnest prayer and supplication to god for him . . to the several kindes of good which concerne this life , and that which is to come . thus love . willeth and endeavoureth chiefly the spiritual good of his soul , instructing his ignorance , rebuking his wickedness , exciting his negligence , supporting his weakness , resolving his doubtfullness , laying forth readily what gifts god hath vouchsafed to her ; yet still within the compass of her calling , for the edification of others . . next she wisheth well to , and taketh care of his temporal advantage in body , name , estate , feeding the belly , cloathing the back of her brother , and so making the one her barn , and the other her wardrobe , and both her treasury , concealing those secret faults which might , and confuting those false slanders which do impair his credit ; finally seeking the things of another , his outward welfare , gain , prosperity ▪ as well as her own ; yea when need requireth , throwing the fat dung of her wealth upon the barren soyl of her brothers mean estate . by this time you see both the intent and the extent of the a●● of love , which is here required . pass we on to the object , whereabout it ought to be conversant , and so to a resolution of the second question , who this brother is , whom we ought thus to love . to this end , you may please to take notice of a double fraternity , to wit carnal and spiritual ; the one is by the bloud of man , the other by the bloud of christ . . carnal brotherhood in its utmost latitude reacheth very farre ; nor can we too farre extend the meaning of brother in the text , according to this notion . for the clearing whereof ▪ observe these particulars ▪ . brother in the strst and strict acception , is predicated of those who have the same immediate parents ; the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uterus intimateth as much ; one that cometh out of the same womb , the same loynes , hath the same father and mother with another , is most properly a brother . . brother is sometimes enlarged further to affinity ; and so kinsmen are in scripture phrase called brethren . the jewes say concerning christ , is not this the carpenter , the sonne of mary , the brother of james and joses , and of juda and simon , and are not his sisters here with us ? whenas yet we rationally conceive , that the blessed virgin never had child besides him ; and as he is caled her first born , because none before him ; so we read not of any she had after him , and therefore he her only one . so that his kindred and a●●yes are called his brethren and sisters , according to the usual form of speech among the jewes . . brother is sometimes yet more largely applied to all those who are of the same countrey : thus where the jewes are forbid to take usu●y of a brother , and required to set him king over them whom the lord their god should choose from among their brethren ; brother is manifestly taken in opposition to a stranger , one of another nation ; so that not only cognatione but natione , by kindred but countrey there cometh in a brotherhood . . brother is yet capable of a farre greater extension , and so taketh in all men ; inasmuch as there is not only identitas naturae , a specifical identity of nature , but originis , a numerical identity of original . he is in strict sense a brother , who hath the same immediate parents ; well may he be a brother in a large sense , who hath the same mediate parents : thus all men came from the loynes of one man adam , and from the womb of one woman eve , in which respect the apostle saith , he hath made of one bloud all the nations of the earth . indeed all angels have the same intellectual nature one with another ; but they did not all come from one angel , but were severally and immediately created ; whereas god ( though he could have created millions ) made but one man , and ordained that out of him all the race of mankind should proceed , in which regard every man is brother to another . and therefore ●ertullian writing to the heathen saith , fratres etiam vestri sumus jure naturae matris unius ; we christians and you heathen are brethren in a natural way , as having the same original . thus as circles in the water do enlarge themselves one greater then the other ; so do the acceptions of this word . if now you shall ask me in what acception brother is here to be taken ? i answer with augustine , estius , and danaeus : hoc loco fratrem omnem hominem debemus accipere , in the largest , as including every man. st gregory speaking of this duty of love , well observeth , aliud est quod sponté impenditur naturae , aliud quod praeceptis divinis ex charitate debetur obedientiae ; there is doubtless something more intended by the precept , then what we are prompted to by nature : to love our countrymen , our friends , our brother , is that which we are naturally enclined to ; so that they who do not performe it , are justly branded as without natural affection ; whence by the way , we may see what an unnatural age we live in , wherein englishmen are so cruell to one another , kinsmen worry each other , yea one brother betrayeth and supplanteth another . but surely the contrary to those horrid acts , i mean natural affection is not all that is here intended , it is the love of all men which is required of us . according to this notion , frater and proximus , brother and neighbour are of equall extent , and so the mandate is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the love of our neighbour , or brother , which is indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of every man. true it is , our love must be regular and orderly ; and therefore caeteris paribus , other things being alike , we must preferre a brother before a kinsman , a kinsman before a countryman , a countryman before an alien ; but yet so , that as farre as we are able , the beames of our love may sea●ter themselves throughout the world . and thus to love our brother is to love every man. . sive bonum , sive malum , as well the bad as the good : god causeth his sunne to shine ▪ and his rain to fall upon the unjust , no less then the just ; and we must express our love to the wicked , as well as godly ▪ . sive amicum , sive inimicum , as well enemy , as friend : it is christs express precept , love your enemies , and ( as s austin truly ) h●c est vera & germana charitas , this is right christian-charity . to wish well to those that wish well to us , to do good to them that do good to us , is no more then what publicans do , ( so out blessed saviour ) nay then what thieves , dragons , wol●● , and all sort of beasts , do ; so that fore-mentioned father : but to wish well to them that wish us ill , and do good to them that do us hurt , this is that which christians ought to practise : yea as tertullian truly , solorum christianorum , only they can do it . if thy enemy hunger , saith st paul , feed him , if he thirst , give him drink ▪ the hebrew word in the proverb whence st paul borroweth it , is rendred by vatablus , propina ei aquam ▪ not only give him drink , but drink to him , as a token of love , that it may appear , however he is towards thee , thou art reconciled to him . excellent to this purpose is that advice of gregory , nazianzen , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , we must say brethren unto them that hate us , and accordingly express brotherly love to them . and thus in this construction of brother , we have beheld the extension of love , how farre it reacheth , in regard of the objects about which it is conversant . . but besides this carnal fraternity between all men , there is a spiritual brotherhood between all christians ; they have all the same father , even the father of our lord jesus christ , who begetteth them again ; they have the same mother the church , jerusalem from above , which bringeth them forth ; they all are washed in the same laver of regeneration , baptisme ; partake of the fame immortal seed , and are nourished by the same sincere milk of the word . finally , they are all begotten to the same undefiled inheritance , heirs of the same glory ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith clemens alexandrinus , we call them brethren who are born anew of the same word , yea quanto dignius fratres & dicuntur , & habentur ? saith tertullian ; how much more deservedly then other men are they called and accounted brethren , who acknowledge one father , god , have drank of one spirit of holiness , and are brought forth of the same womb of ignorance , into the glorious light of evangelical truth ? a brother in the sense above-mentioned is only so by nature , but in this by grace ; that 's only a brother on the left hand , but this on the right hand ; that of the earth , earthly , but this from heaven , heavenly . in this sense some expositors , and as i conceive , most rationally take the word here , this name brother , being by the apostle , and afterwards in the primitive times in common language given to all , and only those who did embrace christian religion ; and which maketh this interpretation more manifest is , that our apostle in the next chapter phraseth it , love the brethren , which seemeth to indigitate a certain society of men so called : yea in the fifth chapter at the beginning , he describeth him whom here he calls brother , to be one that is begotten of god. according to this construction , that which is here required , is called by the apostle peter , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , brotherly kindness , and is distinguished as a particular species from its genus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( which is presently annexed ) charity . as then there is a general love which belongeth to all men , so a special love which belongeth to all christians ; and as we must do good to all men , so especially to the houshould of faith ; indeed seeing the christian brother hath a double cause of love in him , that is gods image as a man , and gods graces as a christian ; we ought to deal by him as joseph did by his brother benjamin , whose mess was five times greater then the rest of his brethren . if any shall yet further enquire , why our apostle speaking of this love to a christian , calls him by the name of a brother ? i answer for these three reasons ▪ because this name of brother carrieth in it an obligation to , a specification and modification of that love which is here required ; since we must love a christian , quia , quatenus , qualis , because he is a brother , inasmuch as he is a brother , and with such a love as is among brothers . . this word brother carryeth with it a strong obligation to love , in fratris voce ratio , so danaeus , it is an urgent reason why we should love a christian , because he is our brother : all relation is a ground of affection : and hence it is a man loveth any thing that is his : the nearer the relation the greater tye to love , and therefore the more reason why a brother should be beloved : the nearest relation is that which is spirituall , and therefore yet greater reason to love a christian , who is ours , our brother , yea , our brother in christ . when moses saw two israelites countrey men strugling together , he said to them , sirs , you are brethren ; why do you wrong one another ? when abraham and lot ( kinsmen ) were likely to fall out , saith abraham , let there be no strife i pray thee between me and thee , for we are brethren : when socrates saw two brethren striving one with another , he told them they did as if the two hands which were made to help should beat each other , so that since christians are brethren in the highest and closest relation , this should be a great ingagement upon them to love . . this word brother intimateth a specification of this love in regard of its object , which is then rightly placed when it is upon a brother as he is a brother , that is a christian , as he is a christian . one that is a brother in this spirituall notion , may be my naturall brother or kinsman , and then to love him is what nature dictates ; or he is my friend and benefactor , and so to love him gratitude teacheth , or he is able to do me either an injury or a courtesie ; so that i have cause to fear the one , and hope the other : and in this respect to love him , self love prompts me , or ( once more ) he may be a man of rare naturall and acquired endowments ; and to love him , for this ingenuity moves me ; but to love him because he is a brother in a spirituall sense , this is that which christianity inciteth to , and this only is a right christian love . indeed thus to love him , is to love him in reference to god and christ , because he hath the grace of god in him , the image of god upon him . to love him as a brother in this sense , is to love him as a son of god , a member of christ : and ( as st hieromes phrase is , diligere christum habitantem in augustine ) to love god , and christ dwelling in him . and now if any shall say it is hard , nay , impossible to know any man to be such a brother ; and therefore how can i love him as such when i cannot know him to be such ? i answer , that there is a great deale of difference between the judgment of certainty and charity , love doth not need nor require infallible , but only probable signs ; and therefore whosoever doth profess the true faith of christ , and doth not by a flagitious conversation give that profession the lye , love taketh him to be a brother ; and to love one , because he atleast seemeth to be such a one by his externall profession and conversation , so as the more christian graces we discover in him , the more we are affected towards him , this is that which most especially falleth under the precept of loving our brother . . yet once more , there is in this word brother implyed a modification of that love which we must express towards christians , to wit , that it must be such as that which is between brethren , and that more properly in two things ; the instancy , and the constancy , the fervency and the permanency of it . . brotherly love is fervent , it is a relation of the greatest indearment , partly as its naturall not founded in choice as it is between man and wife , and between friends ; and partly as it is between equals ; not like that between parents and children , whose love towards their parents hath more of neverence then sweetness in it : hence it is that as no discord , so neither is any love like to that which hath been found among brethren : such ought our love to be towards christians , a bright shining , an hot flaming love . that exhortation of st paul is very observable to this purpose , be you kindly affected one to another with brotherly love , where the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is rendred by tertullian affec●uos● , both which note an eminent measure and degree of affection ; such is brotherly , such ought to be christian love , very affectionate . memorable in this respect was the example of the primitive christians , of whom that forementioned father saith , they did love one another ad stuporem ▪ gentilium , to the astonishment of the heathen , so much that the heathen cryed out with admiration , vide ut invicem se diligunt , see how they love one another . . brotherly love is lasting , it is naturall , and therefore perpetuall , it is a relation that ceaseth not till death , and therefore the affection may well remain . a brother if not very unnaturall will own his brother in rags , and love him in his lowest estate : such must christian love be towards a brother of low as well as high degree , in persecution as well as prosperity , when he wants us , not we him , nor must our love cease to act towards him , till he cease to be amongst us . this was that no doubt which the apostle aimed at when he saith , let brotherly love continue , thereby minding what the love of brethren is , and what the love of christians ought to be , a continuing and enduring love . and now what other use should we make of all this discourse upon the nature of this grace , but hereby to examine our selves whether our love be of the right stampe , to wit , such a love as is ready to every good word and worke , as extendeth it self to our very enemies , as is chiefly fixed upon christians , and that because they are so ; and so much shall suffice to bespoken of the first part , the subject of the thesis : i now proceed more briefly to the . praedicates , which are plainly two , describing the benefit of this grace ; the one in regard of the condition , and the other of conversation of such a person : his condition is happy , for he abideth in the light , his conversation is sweet , for there is no occasion of stumbling in him . . he that loveth his brether is said to abide in the light , it is not unfitly here taken notice of by zanchy , that as in the eighth verse our apostle argueth , à causa ad effectum , from the cause to the effect , this thing is true in you ; namely , the prac●ice of love , because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth , to wit , of grace ; so in this verse , he reasons ab effecto ad causam , from the effect , to the cause , he in whom this is true , that he loves his brother is brought out of that darkness , and abides in the light . light is a metaphor variously applied in scripture , we may here take it three waies . . this metaphor of light is sometimes attributed to christ , so by our apostle in his gospell , when he calleth him the light , of whom john the baptist did beare witness , by himself when he saith , i am the light of the world , and thus abiding in the light is the same with that of abiding in him . thus it is an undoubted truth , he that loveth his brother abideth in christ : that branch which participateth of the juyce and sap of the root , must needs abide in it . love is the sap that was in christ , and therefore he that partaketh of love from christ must abide in him ; that member which suffereth with the rest of the body , declareth it self to be in the body ; he that by loving sympathizeth with his brother , manifesteth himself to be a member of christ . . sometimes by this metaphor of light , the gospell together with the saving knowledge of it are represented . both these we meet with in one chapter : whilst st paul expresly mentioneth , first the light of the glorious gospell of christ , and presently the light of the knowledg of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ . indeed in the one is the light without , and the other is as the light within , and he that loveth his brother adideth in this light ; hereby declaring that he hath indeed learned and is rightly acquainted with evangelicall doctrine : to this purpose is justinians note , eo lumine dignum se ostendit qui luminis ductum sequitur , by following the conduct of this light , he sheweth himself in some measure worthy of it , because answerable to it . . but lastly , this metaphor of light is used to set forth grace and holiness : in this sense no doubt st peter is to be understood , when he saith of believers that they are called by god out of darkness into his marvelous light ; and thus the light in which he that loveth his brother is said to abide , is the same with that in the former chapter , where we have the phrase of walking in the light , and the meaning of the word is briefly this , he that loveth his brother is in a state of grace ; charity is an evident demonstration of sanctity : st paul reckoning up the fruits of the spirit , placeth love in the front , as if there were no clearer fruit of the spirits residence in us , then the exercise of this duty of love . indeed there is a love which only argueth good nature ; such is that of a kinsman , a friend ; but to love an enemy , and that because it is an evangelicall injunction , and to love a christian because he is a christian , is such a flower as groweth not in natures garden , but is a fruit of the spirit , and so a testimony of grace . but because i shall have more full occasion of discussing this in the next chapter , i pass on to the . next benefit which attends upon brotherly love , as it is expressed in those words , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him . not to insist on the severall acceptions of the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as it is used by the . in the old testament , and by the sacred writers in the new ; this being already done by the late learned annotator . it may suffice to know that here according to its derivation from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , claudic● , it signifies any rub or block cast in a mans way , which may indanger halting or falling : and therefore is fitly here rendred occasion of stumbling . in what sense this is true , that there is no occasion of stumbling in him that loveth his brother . expositors somewhat vary , yet so as that they are all consistent with the analogie of faith , and scope of the place . . some understand scandall in an active sense , and thus render it , there is no occasion of stumbling given by him ; he taketh care that neither by opprobrious language , injurious action , or vitious example , he give a just offence , so as may occasion the fall and ruine of his brother . st paul writing to the philippians , exhorts them to be blameless and harmless ; where the former word ( according to its derivation ) signifies that we must not be as beasts who push with their horns , and thereby do much harme ; and the latter word signifies one , de quo nullus queri potest , of whom none can justly complain , and they are well put together : since as st austin aptly , quis de illo just è queritur , qui nemini malè vult ? he that is harmless must needs be blameless ; nor can he be justly complained of by , who doth no injury to another : such is every one who loveth his brother . love nec reti● tendit , nec laedere intendit ; neither doth , nor desireth anothers wrong , it worketh no ill saith the apostle , and again in another place it thinketh not evill : wisdome avoideth the snares which are laid by love layeth no snares for others ; yea so cautelous is charity that shee will rather abridg her self of liberty , then do what may offend her weak brother : and therefore st paul expresly saith to him , who did grieve his brother with his meat ; which yet was in it self lawfull to eat , now walkest thou not charitably . indeed this is that which floweth from the very nature of love : for since it is , as hath been already shewed , a willing of good , it must needs infer a nilling of evill to my brother ; it being impossible that i should at the same time will and nill the same thing to the same person ; and therefore since if i will good , i must nill evill : no wonder if by him that hath a true love , there be no occasion of stumbling given to his brother . . others interpret scandall in a passive sense , there is no scandall or occasion of stumbling given to him : not but that there will be blocks laid in the way , but he passeth over them , and so falleth not at them ; according to that of solomon , it is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression to this purpose is zanchies note upon the text , it is not non est illi scandalum , but , non est in illo scandalum , finding an emphasis in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which grotius conceiveth to be a pleonasm ; there is no offence to him , but not in him , that is , though it may be given by others , yet it is not taken by him : in which respect are those expressions of st paul , charity suffereth long , is not easily provokt , beareth all things : and st austin observeth upon this place , qui diligit fratrem tolerat omnia propter unitatem ; he that loveth his brother , for unities sake , beareth with all things ; the back of love will sustaine a load of wrongs , and when it is moved with violence , it is not removed from patience . it is st peters phrase , and he borroweth it from the wiseman , love covereth a multitude of sins ; and as it covereth them from others by concealment , so , which is especially intended , from her self by connivence and forgivness ; and this she exerciseth in respect not of a few , but many injuries , herein ( being to use st chrysostoms comparison , ) like to fire which burneth up not only a few sticks , but a great wood : thus whilst faith is a resolute grace , having cedo nulli , for her motto ; love is a yielding grace , and so passing over , is not offended , those wrongs , which like stumbling blocks are thrown in her way . . but there is another construction of these words , which as it is of no less verity , so is of greater latitude , by scandall to understand transgressions ; these being those stumbling blocks which cause us to fall and hurt , yea ruine our selves ; and thus the sense of the clause is , he who loveth his brother escapeth those hainous sins into which others fall , walking in the commandments of the lord blameless . this is that which taketh in the other constructions , for inasmuch as he doth not willingly give offence ; therefore he avoideth those sins by which his brother is offended : and since he doth not easily take offence , he avoideth those sins to which others are provoked . it were easie to instance in the severall commandments , how the love of our brother prevents the breaches of them ; he that loveth his brother , because he is a brother , much more loveth his father god , and loving god abborreth those prophanations of his worship , name , day , which ungodly men wound themselves by . again , he that loveth his brother , will reverence him if his superiour , dare not injure him in his wife , estate , name , or any thing that is his . and if you please to put these two together , abiding in the light , and no occasion of stumbling , you shall find the one a manifest reason of the other . by the opposition of being in darkness , and walking in darkness , to abiding in the light , it appeareth that abiding in the light , implyeth being and walking in the light , whereby he escapeth what ever might be a stone of offence , or stumbling block in his way . if any man ( saith our blessed saviour ) walketh in the light he stumbleth not , because he seeth the light of this world ; and thus he that loveth his brother having the light of saving knowledg , and grace to shine before him , nunquam imping it ; so grotius , never fals ; but inoffenso gradu pergit : so another , goeth on inoffensively , in the path of eternall life . indeed we must take this with some restriction , not as if he that loveth his brother did not sometimes fall into sin , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not into scandalous and injurious sins , and this too with reference to his abiding in the light ; it is possible for a charitable christian to step-out of the light , and then he may ▪ fall foulely , but so far as he is regenerate , and abideth in the light , he is free from such sins . . once more ; grotius conceiveth that the apostle in these words hath some reference to the . reading of the . verse of the . psalm , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , great peace have they that love thy law , and nothing shall offend them ; and so it intimateth the inward tranquillity , which as they that love the law , so he that loveth his brother doth enjoy , so as that what soever befals him he is not disturbed nor distracted by it ; it is that indeed which followeth upon all the former , for since he neither justly giveth ▪ nor quickly taketh offence , and keepeth himself from gross sins in the course of his conversation : no wonder if he enjoies a serene calm in his soul , and though wicked men may be offended at him , yea , raise storms of persecution against him , yet he is at peace within . excellent to this purpose is that of st ambrose , charitas pellit omnes tribulationes , non ut non eveniant , sed ut non n●ceant ; quia licet exterius tribulationes insurgant , tamen vir justus interius non turbatur : charity driveth away all troubles , not that they do not come upon , but that they shall not do hurt to him , because though tribulations arise outwardly , he is not molested inwardly . that adage of the wiseman , no evill shall happen to the just , the vulgar latine reads , non contristabit justum quicquid ei acciderit , what ever happen to the just shall not vex and grieve him ; and to use hugo's philosophicall comparison , as an accident is present and absent without the corruption of the subject ; so tribulation when present as well as when absent doth not perplex and disturbe the just . indeed there is nothing occasions offence to such a man but sin , and therefore abiding in the light he is not stumbled at affliction . if you cast a sparke of fire into the water , how soon is it quenched , so are all fears cast into a good conscience ; when the skie is black with clouds , the stars though they seem to be obscured , yet retain their proper lustre ; and good men when they seem in affliction to be clouded with sorrow saith , st chrysostom● , are not sorrowfull but rather rejoycing . and now what other use should we make of all that hath been said , then to press upon us that apostolicall exhortation , walk in love ? indeed what way better for us to walk in then this , which is so bright and lightsome , so plain and cleare , so pure and pleasant ? it is solomons assertion , the way of the righteous is made plain , it is no less true of the charitable , in the way of love , there is nothing to offend or molest , whilst purity is the track , and tranquillity our companion ; you then that have not experienced this , begin , and you that have begun go on . i think i need not bid you , your own experience cannot but encourage you in this sweet way , till you come to that countrey whither this way leads you , where the law is charity , the league unity , and the life eternity . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , . he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , is in darkness even untill now . he that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him . he that hateth his brother is in darkness , and walketh in darkness , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes . opposita juxta se posita magis illucescunt , saith the logician , things of greatest distance , set near in place do one illustrate the other . the sun never appeareth so gloriously as when breaking through a cloud . a freeman most prizeth his liberty when he seeth the prisoners fetters and captives chaines ; and sara becometh doubly beautifull when surrounded with the swarthy aegyptians . the dolorous noise of war is the best language to proclaim the sweetness of peace . health is never so acceptable as when it brings letters of commendation from sickness , and virtue becometh more amiable ▪ when the contrary vice is represented ; for this reason no doubt it is , that as painters draw black shadows to set off their pictures with a greater lustre ; and some ( i feare proud ) ladies are wont to wear black patches , that their faces may seem the more lovely : so do orators frequently set virtues and vices together , that the evill of the one may the more advance the good of the other . this way of illustration is that which is very observable in the penmen of sacred writ ; especially those two , whom i may well call heavens darlings . solomon who is stiled jedidiah , and john the beloved disciple ; the one you may observe in his parables very often setting prudence and folly with such like contraties one by the other ; and the other in this epistle and more properly in these verses , that he might the more commend the goodness of love , enlargeth his discourse in discovering the badness of hatred : he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , &c. it is that part of the text ▪ i am now to handle , the antithesis or opposition set down in the , and , verses . but before i enter upon the severals in this part , it will not be amiss once for all to take notice of that which we shall find very usuall in this epistle ; namely , the repetition and ingemination of the same sense , yea , sometimes of the same sentence . this indeed is the first time we have fully met with this : for though in the first chapter we finde the subject of one proposition , if we say we have no sin , and the predicate of another , cleansing from all sin ; yet we meet not with one entire proposition twice mentioned till now , where these words , he that hateth his brother is in darkness , is both in the , and . verses . indeed this repetition is not without some variation . in the . verse , there is an enlargement of the subject ▪ it is not barely , he that hateth his brother , but he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother ; and in the . verse there is an amplification of the predicate , not only he is in darkness , but he walketh in darkness , &c. yet still it is for substance the same thing which is intended , and the same words are repeated in both the verses . and indeed it is that which is easily observable , not only in this but the rest of the sacred bookes . that of david the sweet singer of israel is remarkable who twenty six times warbleth over the same note , for his mercy endureth for ever , and of christ that unparallel'd preacher , who ( as probably appeareth by comparing the two evangelists ) preached the same sermon twice . nor are these repetitions vain tautologies , it is not without good reason that the penmen of sacred writ do sometimes take this course in respect of themselves , the matter of their writing , and those to whom they wrote . . those holy penmen by these repetitions did declare the zeale and vehemency of their spirits in pressing what they wrote upon the people . what was it which caused solomons father ( as himself relates it ) to multiply expressions to the same purpose , yea , to iterate the same expressions in dehorting him from evill company , enter not , go not , avoid , pass by , turne from , pass away , but his sense of the danger and desire that he might avoid it . and again , what moved his mother to amplifie her appellations in the beginning of her counsell to him , what my son , and what the son of my wombe , and what the son of my vowes , but her affectionate desire that he should hearken to her ? indeed no marvel if the boyling spirit run over in words , and the zeal of the affection double , nay triple the expression . thus was it here ( as bullinger well observeth ) with st john , prae ardore suo , such was the vehemency of his hatred of the sin of hatred , that he can never enough declaim against it , and therefore not only once but again he reproveth it . . those sacred writers by these ingeminations intimate alwayes that the things about which they write , are of more then ordinary importance , and necessary concernement to be known and believed in matters of faith , to be avoided or performed in matters of life : yea and sometimes that there is no less difficulty then necessity , and whilest they are things which must and ought , yet they are not easily believed , avoided or practised . upon these grounds no doubt it was that solomon iterated his doctrine of the worlds vanity , and christ inculcateth upon peter the duty of feeding his sheep : nor is it improbable that st john here had both these in his eie , he well knew how much the very being of christianity did depend upon avoiding this sin , and exercising the contrary grace , how hard it is to cast out this poison of hatred , where it is once harboured , and withall that as the usurper being ejected , the right heir gets possession , and the old form being corrupted , the matter is easily susceptible of a new ; so if he could eradicate this weed of hatred , he should with a greater facility plant the flower of love : and therefore no wonder he doth ingeminate his discourse of the vileness of this sin . . those divine scribes thought these repetitions very needfull for those to whom they wrote , in regard of the dulness of their mindes , and weakness of their memories , and hardness of their hearts : to write the same things to you ( saith the apostle paul to the philippians ) for you it is safe , to wit , least at the first you should not rightly understand them , or not remember them , or not be sutably affected with them : god speaketh once and twice saith elihu , and man perceiveth it not ; our memories are of weak retention , and therefore need renewed incitation : the heart of man is by the prophet ezekiel compared to an heart of stone , and it is not one blow of the hammer will break it : the words of the wise saith solomon are as goads and nailes : and truly we are so dull , that these goads must be often thrust into our sides ; so obdurate , that it is not one stroak will drive these nailes to the head , disciplinam praeceptorum inculcationibus densamus saith tertullian appositely ; we thicken , and so as it were we strengthen our instructions by inculcations , which is no more then what the need of the people requireth . the consideration hereof is that which should teach , both the teachers , and the people . . let it not be grievous to us ministers to repeat , and thereby inculcate our doctrines upon the auditors . if a mus●●ian shall only strike one string , it maketh no musick ; but it is ●itting for a preacher to insist upon one and the same truth ; nor must we here stand upon our own credit , when it comes in competition with the peoples profit . if it were not grievous to that eminent apostle paul , why should it be to any of us ; we are not only instructers , but remembrancers . so st peter accounted himself , where he saith , i stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance , and what is the office of a remembrancer , but to repeat things formerly done , or spoken ; that cannot be often enough taught , which can never be well enough learned . nor yet do i hereby intend to patronize those illiterate or lazy , ignorant or negligent preachers , who use ▪ iterations for want of premeditation , and therefore say the same thing again , because they know not what to say next : far be it from me ; only i would mind my self and others , how requisite it is we should sometimes upon some occasions reinforce by repetition some doctrines upon our hearers . . let it not be tedious to the auditors to hear the same truths sometimes repeated by the ministers : we must not esteem it a dishonour , nor should you account it a burden . it is that indeed to which hearers are very prone , aut nouum , aut nihil , some new thing , or nothing , is the cry of many : if we come with a scitote , something that they knew not before , they listen , but if with a mementote , something formerly delivered , they think their patience abused . as they say of drinking wine , the first is for necessity , the second for pleasure , the third for sleep , so do auditors with a little inversion account of a sermon , the first time they hear it with delight , not the second except of necessity , and if they meet with it the third time they fall asleep . how sad is it that if we hear an excellent lesson on an instrument , we call for it once and again ▪ nay — decies repetita placebunt . we are not easily weary of it , and yet we care not to hear the songs of zion rehearsed : who ever complained of the renewed rising of the same sun , or loathed his daily bread ? why then are we so quickly cloyed in spirituals ? but especially repetitions most vex us , when they are of reprehensions , such as this is in my text , we love not to have our sores too often rubbed upon ; but tell me , are you not willing that the physitian should repeat his purging course though the potion be bitter , for the health of your body ? and why so loath that we should repeat our reproofes for the health of your souls ? divine and excellent to this purpose , is that ratiocination of seneca in his advice to lucilius , to them that say quousque eadem ? how long shall we hear the same admonitions ? answer quousque eadem peccabitis ? how long will you commit the same faults ? remedia ante vultis quam vitia desinere , will you leave off the remedy before the disease is cured ? ego vero eò magis dicam , et quia recusatis perseveralo : nay i will so much the rather reiterate , and because you are troubled at it , i will persevere in it . the truth is , whether you will hear or whether you will forbear , whether it please or displease , we must warn you of the same sins , admonish of the same duties , bespeak you with the same counsels again and again . but it will be better for you , if you are not only content , but willing to hear the same instructions frequently urged : let it be true of vain pleasures , — commendat rarior usus . that the less they are used , the more they are commended ; far be such thoughts from us in reference to the sacred oracles . those gentiles when they had heard paul , besought him to preach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the same words the next sabbath day ▪ thus should you , if any doctrine have had a kindly influence upon your spirits , entreat the reiteration of it , who knoweth what a second birth may bring forth ? and if at any time you hear the minister beating upon the same anvil , pressing the same doctrine , or rebuking the same sin , reflect upon thy self , and say , surely i have not yet sufficiently learned this lesson , i have not enough repented of this sin , and therefore i will give new attention , though it be an old instruction . and thus much i have thought fit to discourse of this subject by way of apology , not for st john whose divinely inspired writings need none , but for my self , if in the handling of this epistle , i should sometimes have occasion to discuss the same things , and perhaps use the same expressions . more particularly in this ingeminated opposition , be pleased to observe , the sin specified , in these words , he that hateth his brother . the state of the sinner described in the rest of the words : and that imaginary wherein he supposeth himself to be , he saith he is in the light . reall in which indeed he is set forth in severall characters , in the end of the th , and the greatest part of the th . he is in darkness even untill now , and again , he is darkness and walketh in darkness , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because that darkness hath blinded his eyes . . the first of these is the hinge upon which the antithesis turneth , and therefore i shall be the more large in unfolding it . to which end i shall discuss it two waies , by way of restriction , and by way of enlargement ; and accordingly discover exclusively what hatred is not within the compass of this sin ; and then extensively how far this hatred reacheth , which is here declamed against . the exclusive restriction of this hatred will appeare in these insuing propositions . . there is a positive , and there is a comparative , there is an absolute , and there is a relative hatred . it is very observable , that jacobs loving rachel more then leah is called in the very next verse hating leah . that which we less love then another , we are said to hate in comparison of that love we bear to the other ; and thus it is not a ●●n but a duty to hate our brother , to wit , in comparison of christ . it is our saviours own assertion , if any man c●me to me and hate not his father , and mother , and wife , and children , and brethren , and sisters , yea , his own life also , he cannot be my disciple ; an expression seemingly very harst , but easily understood : if compared with the other evangelist st matthew , where he brings in christ , saith , he that loveth father or mother more then me , is not worthy of me , and he that loveth son or daughter more then me , is not worthy of me ; we ought then to hate our nearest relations , that is , not love them more , nay , ( which is the meaning of the phrase ) love them less then christ . hence it is , that when christs glory and truth cometh in competition with the dearest of our relations , we must neglect children , cast off parents , reject the wife of our bosome rather then deny christ , yea , we must be averse to them if they go about to direct us from christ . thus that devout paula ( as st hierome saith ) nesciebat se matrem ut christi probaret ancillam , that shee might approve her self christs handmaid , forgot that shee was a mother : and that same father else where asserteth it , pietatis genus est impiumesse pro domino , it is a part of piety to be in some sense impious , and out of love towards god , to hate our brother , and therefore this is not here to be understood . . it is one thing to hate our brother , and another thing to hate the sins of our brother , it is solidly determined by aquinas , love is due to my brother , secundum id quod a deo habet , in respect of that which is communicated to him by god , whither nature , or grace , or both ; but it is not due to him , secundum id quod habet a seipso & diabolo , according to that which he hath from himself , and the devill , to wit , sin and wickedness ; and therefore it is lawfull to hate my brothers sin , but not his nature , much less his grace : laudabile odium odisse vitia , faith origen , to hate evill is a commendable hatred , and that where ever we finde it not only in the bad but the good , the enormities of the one , but the infirmities in the other , not only in strangers and enemies , but kindred and friends , spying beames , nay , motes in these as well as those and abhorring them ; we must hate this serpent where ever we find it , though in a garden , nay , though in our own habitations : indeed as aquinas excellently , hoc ipsum quod in fratre odimus culpam & defectum pertinet ad fratris amorem , this hatred of the vice is an effect of love , to the person , so much is intimated when it is said , thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart , thou shalt in any wise rebvke him , and not suffer si● upon him , by shewing hatred to his sin in rebuking , we shew our love to him ; and if we wish good to him , we cannot but hate what we see evill in him . this hatred is so farre from being sinfull , that it is not only lawfull and laudable , but excellent , not a wicked but a pious , yea , a perfect hatred : according to that of st austin , perfectio odij est in charitate cum nec propter vit a homines ode●imus , nec vitia propter homines amemus , it is at once the perfection of hatred , and an argument of love , when we neither hate the man for the sins sake , nor yet love the sin for the mans sake , but fixe our love on the man , and our hatred on the s●nne . . there is odium abominationis , and odium inimicitiae , an hatred of aversation , and an hatred of enmity , by the one we flye from , by the other we pursue after , look as in love , there is a benevolence whereby we will good to , and a complacence whereby we take delight in another ; so in hatred there is a strangness whereby we avoid the society , and an enmity whereby we seek the mischief of another ; the former of these is not forbidden but required and practised : godly david saith of himself , i hated the congregation of evill doers , and will not sit with the wicked , and that of his practise was justifiable and imitable : since we must not only flie from the sin , but the sinner , yea , that we may shun the one ▪ we must avoid the other . timon was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a man-hater , because he kept not company with any man save ▪ alcibiades , and we should all of us be hatres of wicked men , shunning all needless converse and much more familiar acquaintance with them . it is st pauls counsell to the ephesians , have no fellowship with the unfruitfull w●●kes ( he meaneth workers ) of darkness ; yea , it is the strict charge he layeth upon the thessalonians , now we command you brethren in the name of our lord jesus christ , that you withdraw your selves from every brother that walketh disorderly , we ought as much to hate familiarity with the wicked , as to dread upon burning coals , or go into an infected house ; and therefore this kind of hatred is not here intended . . once more , all hatred of enmity in respect of others is not to be condemned if they be enimies , not so much to us , as to the church , yea , god himself , and this not out of ignorance but malice , and so implacable we may , we ought , to be enemies to them . holy david hath set us a pattern hereof , when speaking to god he saith , do not i hate them oh lord that hate thee , and am not i grieved with them that rise up against thee ? i bate them with perfect hatred , i count them mine enemies . hence no doubt are those imprecations and curses which we meet with in the psalmes , wherein we finde that holy man wishing , not only disapointment to the hopes , in●atuation to the counsels , but destruction to the persons of zions adversaries . and surely thus far we may and ought to imitate him as in generall to pray against , and wish the ruine of all the churches irreconciliable adversaries , though as to particulars we must take heed of going too far in this way , it being difficult if not impossible for us determinately to assert concerning any one that he is an implacable enemie of god and religion ; and yet when we see one who with julian hath professed himself to be a christian brother , and so far apostatizing as openly to prosecute christianity with utmost fury , notwithstanding manifold convictions ; or who still pretending to be a brother , oppugneth ( with no less virulency though more subtilty ) the christian religion in its orthodox profession , swallowing up her revenues , forbidding her publique services , stopping the mouths of her preachers , suffering blasphemies and heresies to obscure her , plucking up the pillars which should uphold her , and persecuting all that embrace her ; and all this against clear convictions which he either hath , or might have , did he not shut his eyes ; together with frequent and multiplyed admonitions , since we can have very little or no hopes of such a mans conversion , we may and ought to desire of god ( if he will not please to convert him ) to confound not only his devices but his person , and to cut him off from the land of the living ; only we must take heed to the frame and temper of our spirit , that this our hatred of , and wishing ill to him , purely proceed from a love to gods church , and a zeal for his glory , not out of any personall or private respect to our own revenge . . having thus dispatched the first way ● proposed to tread in , namely , the restriction and exclusion , i shall now step into the other path , and let you see the extent and enlargement of this sin in these following assertions . . there are two sins , namely , envy and malice , which are as it were the ingredients of this hatred : st paul seemeth to intimate so much , when he first mentioneth malice and envy as the species , and then hatred as the genus , living in malice and envy , hatefull and hating one another . and indeed since hatred ( being opposed to love ) is both a nilling good , and willing evill to our brother , it must needs include in it both these : for . envy is ( as aquinas from damascen well defineth it ) tristitia de alienis bonis , a sorrow for the good of another . to this purpose gregory nyssen , putting the question , what is the cause of this disease ? answereth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our brothers prosperity : for which reason plutarch compareth it , to a bleare eye which is offended with the light , and the envious man is fitly resembled to an archer , who hath still some white paper or cloth for his marke , at which he shooteth ; now whence doth this sorrow arise , but from the act of hatred which consists in nilling : since because i nill the good to my brother which he hath , therefore i am troubled that he hath it ; and hence it is , that the aegyptians envying the israelites multitude in aegypt , is called their hating them , when it is said , he turned their heart to hate his people . indeed envy is an affection made up of griefe and hatred ; griefe for the thing , and hatred of the person , and the hatred of the one , is the cause of griefe at the other . malice is ( as justinian well expresseth it ) improba adversus proximum cogitatio , a wicked thought against our neighbour , or if you will have it in fewer , yet fuller words , it is nocendi desiderium , a desire to hurt and injure our brother in any kinde , and this is the proper act of hatred , which as it doth connote a nilling good , so it doth principally note a willing evill . this is observable in esau , of whom the text saith , he hated jacob ; and if you will know how that appeareth , the end of the verse tels you , i will stay my brother jacob. in this regard , the fish among the aegyptians is made an hieroglyphicke of hatred , because of all creatures it is most greedy to devoure , and hatred fils the minde with injurious and devouring desires . . though the speciall object of our love be our brother by the second adam , yet the prohibition of hatred extends to our brother by the first adam ; we must not think that if we be kind to those of the christian religion , we may exercise hostility towards turks and pagans . it is true , the jews were enemies to the nations round about them , yea , did pu●sue them to an utter extirpation , but they had an express warrant from heaven for it ; and therefore their practice is no pattern till we can shew the like warrant : we cannot without breach at once both of equity and charity under any pretences whatsoever , invade the possessions , or destroy the persons of the most barbarous savages . but yet still in this as in other sins , the quality of the object addeth to the quantity of the offence ; and though it be a sin to hate any man , it is a greater sin to hate a christian , and the more of christianity there is in him , the more malignity there is in our hatred , since the better the object , the worse the act : and yet further , though it be an haynous sin to hate a christian upon any account , yet to hate him because he is a christian , or because he is a more exact and conscientious christian then our selves is the highest degree of this hatred , and that which borders upon the unpardonable s●n against the holy ghost . . this hatred of our brother which is here forbidden is not only of him whilst he is our friend , but when he becometh our ne● . indeed it is an high aggravation of our hatred , when it is of o●● that loveth us , but it is no excusation when of one that hateth us . to hate a friend is inhumane , to hate an enemy is unchristian , not only to retaliate good for evill , but evill for evill is against st pauls precept , and as well he that is second , as he that is first , in hating his brother is guilty , how consonant soever it may seem to corrupt reason , yet it is dissonant to true religion , for a man to pay another in his own coyn and return cursing for cursing ; nor is it enough for us not to offer an in●●ry , but we must not so much as return it , not only a velle laedere , a will to hurt , but vindicare to revenge an hurt , yea not only to will and endeavour a greater , but an equal , nay a less wrong to my brother then he hath done to me , is to hate him . . it is not only hurting but hating our brother which is prohibited . indeed on the one hand a man may hurt him whom he doth not hate , through meer casualty , and then it is no sin , or through carlesness , and then it is not so great a sin . again on the other hand a man may hate his brother , and yet through want either of ability , or opportunity , not hurt him , nor is his sin therefore the less . look as a rich man may relieve his brother , and yet not love him , and a poor man may love his brother , and yet not relieve him ; so a charitable man may hurt his brother , and yet not hate him , and a malicious man may be said to hate his brother , when he doth not hurt him : the outward execution is not a sin against charity , unless there be an inward intention , and the inward intention is a sin , though there be no outward execution . true it is , the further a sin proceeds , from thought to desire , desire to endeavour , endeavour to action , it is so much the worse , but still the very desire of injuring ( though it be not accomplished ) is a sin , and here called hating our brother . . yet lastly , whatever falleth short of the duty of loving , cometh within the compass of hating our brother . it is a moral axiome , omnis recessus à viriute est vitium , whatever ●ecedeth from vertue is a vice , it is true in this particular , every departure from love is a degree of hatred : the affections of love and hatred are like the qualities of heat and cold ; and look as the ceasing of heat is by an accession of cold , so where there is a defect of love , there is the infection of hatred . hence it is that an unj●●● or unadvised anger with our brother , is a degree of hating him , indeed not all anger ( for there is an anger of love as well as hatred ) but when it is an anger not of just reprehension , but vain contention , not with moderation , but excess , it is at least a disposition to hatred . hence it is , that not only willing evil , but not willing good to our brother , is an hating him : look as in point of equity , not dealing faithfully is cosening ; so in point of charity , not loving is hating . it is a vain fancy , yea a lying deceit , with which some men please themselves in respect of an enemy ▪ i do not hate him , and yet i do not love him , i will not do him any harm , but i will not do him any good ; the one is as well a sin , as the other ; and when our apostle here opposeth hating to loving , he seemeth to intimate , that if we do not love , we hate our brother . and now beloved , what great reason have all of us to reflect upon our selves first , and next on the men among whom we live , sadly observing and bewailing the general prevalency of this sin of hatred amongst us . to this end consider a few particulars ; . are there none who hate those most who are the best , to whom not only their brother , but his religious conversation is hatefull , therefore reviling , deriding , yea persecuting him because he maketh conscience of his wayes ? such are those sonnes of belial ( men at once both prophane and uncharitable ) who because they hate godliness , hate the professors and practisers of it , whoever will swear , and whore , and quaffe , run to the same excess of riot with themselves , is in their account an hatefull precisian : whosoever frequenteth gods house , observeth religious duties in his own house , taking all opportunities ( according to his place and power ) of instructing the ignorant , rebuking the obstinate , exhorting the negligent , is with them an abominable puritan . true it is , there are many , too many , nor were there ever more then in this age , whose dissimulation and hypocrisie are manifest , who are very strict in the duties , and zealous against the sins which respect the first table , and yet notoriously irregular in matters of the second table ; these are they whose practises are bewailed and abhorred by all good christians , and through the sides of these , religion is wounded by prophane atheists . indeed some ungodly wretches are apt to pretend when by occasion of such pharisees they inveigh against the strict profession of christianity , that it is not religion but dissimulation , piety but hypocrisie which they oppugn , but i shall only desire them to consider whether they be not thus invective against all that are zealous , as if they were hypocrites , though they know nothing by them ; whether it be not the very exercises of religion , their reading , praying , hearing , and the like , which they detest , since else why do they not imitate those good duties themselves , as well as abhor the hypocrisie which they lay upon those who performe them ; and yet once more , whether to hear of , or know any gross sin , by one who is carefull of these duties , be not an object rather of their joy then sorrow , as being glad when they can pick an hole in the coat of a professor ; and surely if their consciences accuse them as guilty in answer to these queries , whatever they may account themselves , they will be found haters , yea the worst sort of haters , because of the best sort of brothers . . are there none who are so ungratefull as to repay courtesie with injury , love with hatred , who instead of loving those that hate them , hate those that love them ? thus jehoram sought to slay elisha , who had been friendly to him : saul intended ruine to david , who had been faithfull to him : and the jews crucify christ , who came to save them . it is st austins complaint , alas , no wonder if we cannot perswade you to love your enemies , when you hate your brethren ! certainly they are farre from christian love , who are guilty of such unnatural hatred . . again how many are there whose hatred ( as solomon expresseth it ) i● covered with deceit , who have sharp ▪ teeth with soft gums , who ( like the panther which with sweet breath allureth other creatures to him , and then devoureth them ) speak fair , whilest seven abominations are in their heart ; and surely as divinity reckoneth the first sort , so morality these among the worst sort of haters , since a false friend is more pernicious then an open enemy , and ex magno appetitu ●●● m●●tat modum loquendi , it is the greatness of hatred , which puts him upon this pretence of love . . yet again are there not some whose hatred is so deadly to their brother , that they will be content to do themselves a loss , so they may do him a great injury ? that apolog●e of cupidus and invidus , the covetous and the envious man is very observable to this purpose . jupiter promised that whatsoever the one asked , the other should have double , whereupon they much strove one with the other who should ask first : the covetous man refused because he was desirous of the double portion , and the envious man was no less unwilling , as repining that the other should have more then himself : at length the envious man resolveth to be the first in asking ; but what did he ask ? that jupiter would 〈…〉 of his eyes , because he then knew the other must lose both . such malicious men there are , and that among christians , who care not to deprive themselves , if they may disappoint their brother . this is that hatred which is fetcht from hell , witness dives , who desireth not that he might come to lazarus , but that lazarus might come to him , as if he had rather lazarus should be miserable with him , then he happy with lazarus . but if there be ( as i hope there are ) many who can acquit themselves from these effects of hatred at the height , yet i feare we may observe those symptomes in the most , which discover them to be somewhat sick of this disease . when the eye is evill because god is good , doth it not discover that besides the black which nature hath put in the eye as the seat of its perfection , there is another black which envy hath put into it as a seat of corruption ? what doth the smoake of detraction , stander , calumnie , cursing , rayling , scoffing , back-biteing , which cometh forth at the lips of many men , but argue a fire of malice burning in their hearts ? whence cometh betraying , quarrelling , fighting , plundering ? yea , killing one another , but from this lust of hatred in mens minds ? indeed who can consider the hatefull practices which are continually acted among us , and not acknowledge the great predominancy of this sin ? drop down ye heavens , and let the skies poure down righteousness , saith the prophet : drop down ye heavens , and let the skies poure down charity and love , may we say ; for it hath left the earth , yea instead thereof the smoake of hatred ascending out of the bottomless pit , hath filled it . what calling or profession of men is free from this vice . i would to god the black coate were not besmeared with it . what state and condition of men is not guilty of it ? oppressours plainly tread in the footsteps of hatred , and i would to god sufferers did not harbour the lust of revenge . how needfull then is a dehortation to disswade you from this sin ; and indeed this very name brother if it be ( as you have already heard ) an argument of love , may well be a disswasive from hatred , if he be a brother in the highest notion , he is christs brother as well as thine , and wilt thou hate him whom christ loveth ? if in the lowest degree he is flesh of thy flesh , and wilt thou hide thine eyes ( in contempt and haired ) from thine own flesh : st paul saith , no man ever yet hated his own flesh , and wilt thou be so unreasonable ? but if this consideration be too weake , go on and view the description which followeth of the state of such a sinner ; and that is the next generall which god willing the next time shall be set before your eyes , that if possible this sin of hatred may be eradicated out of your hearts . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , . he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , is in darkness even untill now . he that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him . he that hateth his brother is in darkness , and walketh in darkness , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes . among the manifold excellencies of gods law this is not the least that it is according to st pauls phrase , a spirituall law , and that not only effective , because dictated by gods spirit , but objective , because extending to mans spirit . indeed it is one of the differences between humane and divine precepts , that those only reach the outward , these the inward man , those only order the conversation , these our cogitations ; finally , those take hold of words and works , these of thoughts and desires . this is evident in matters of religion towards god : man requireth the externall observance , but gods internall devotion ; man forbideth prophane oaths , but god blasphemous imaginations : nor is it less true , in regard of our duty towards man. humane commands inhibit the gross acts of uncleanness ; but divine , lustfull affections : and to instance in no more , whereas only actuall injuries of our brother , come within the compass of mans cognisance . god prohibits the very hatred and enjoyneth the contrary affection of love to him , as here we see in the words , he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , &c. having discussed the first generall part of the opposition ; namely , the sin briefly specified , he that hateth his brother , we are now to go on to the other which is the state of the sinner , as it is largely described in the th , and th , verses . . that which first occurreth in this description , is the sinners own imagination , what he fancyeth himself to be , he saith he is in the light . what is meant by this phrase of being in the light , needs not again to be insisted on . it is as much as to say he is in christ , he savingly knoweth christ , or he is in a state of grace . this is that which he that hateth his brother may say . indeed this cannot be in truth : for st john saith of him , he is in darkness , and to be at once in the light , and in the darkness is impossible : but yet he may say so , though it be not so , and that two waies ▪ namely , in opinion and profession . . he that hateth his brother may think himself to be in the light , and so say it in his heart : for . he may be acquainted in a great measure with the mysteries of christian religion , and much conversant in divine speculations , and for this reason imagine himself in the light . the pharisees though a generation of vipers for their venemous nature say it of themselves we see , and no doubt as to the letter of moses his law did see and know much , so may hypocriticall malicious christians be versed in the theory of christianity . . he may be frequent in religious performances , and upon this account fancy himself to be in the light ▪ those israelites whose hands were full of blood , and therefore their hearts full of malice , made many prayers , and offered multitudes of sacrifices . those gnosticks in the primitive times are characterized by st paul ▪ to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , despisers of those that do good , and so void of christian love , nay , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without naturall affection , to wit , towards their fleshly relations ; to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ fierce and cruell in their attempts , yea , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , very devils for the malice of their tongues , and notwithstanding they were such as had a form of godliness , in regard of externall observances , and so no doubt thought themselves in the light . . he may mistake his hatred of his brother , for zeal , his furious persecution , for a just prosecution ; and no wonder if he think in this respect , his very hatred to be an argument of his being in the light , when those wicked jews hate and pursue christ even to the death , they plead blasphemy as the cause , and so justifie the fact : when saul breathed forth threatnings , and made that havock of the church , he saith of himself , that it was in his opinion an act of zeal , concerning zeal , persecuting the church ▪ our blessed saviour acquaineth his disciples , that whosoever did kill them should think he did god good service ; and when men do in●●●●re c●●-rati●ne , nay , religione , rage against their brother , not only out of rationall but religious principles ; ( to wit , in their apprehensions , ) no wonder if their rage grow very high , and notwithstanding their opinions of themselves be very good . . and surely this being his opinion , no marvell if it be his profession wherein he glorieth , whereof he boasteth saying it to others , that he is in the light . indeed some there are , who say this in profession contrary to their own opinion , their consciences tell them , they are in the darkness of wickedness , and yet they say , they are in the light of grace , and why this , but that hating their brother they may with the more certainty and secrecy accomplish their malicious designs against him . but though ( i hope ) the number of these is very small , yet many , very many there are , who whilest themselves are black with hatred ▪ glitter in showes of holiness , and make great br●gs of their sanctity , ficta sanctitos oculas omnium perstring it , interim neglecta jacet charitas , ●aith ▪ calvin upon this text●● ●● their fancied piety ●● glorious in the eyes of all , whilest charity lyeth neglected . we shall do no wrong either to the papists on the one hand , or anabaptists on the other , if we assert them to be haters of their brethren ; the bloudy practices of both do loudly cry it in the ears of god and man ▪ and yet many of these think , all of them boast themselves to be in the light of sanctity , and that they are the churches of christ . you have heard what this hater of his brother saith , be pleased now to hear what he is , as his state is really & ●aithfully delineated by our apostle in three characters ▪ and yet before i en●er ▪ upon the particulars it will not be amiss to take notice in generall , how contrary the apostles desciption is to this hypocrites opinion , ●●e saith he is in the light , the apostle saith , he is in , and walketh in darkness : whereby it appeareth that his opinion is very false , because contrary to the judgment of truth ▪ and hence the greek scholiast here supplyeth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and st cyprian mentitur , he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother , lyeth ; whence it is easie to observe , that the estate of a man may be desperately bad when yet in his own opinion it is excellently good . a man may account himself silver , whilst god rejects him as dross ; he may in his own opinion be a member of christ , and yet in christs esteem a childe of the devill : and whilst he dreameth that he is in the book of life , he may be in gods account a reprobate . weake christians erring on the right hand , condemne themselves as if they were in the darkness of unregeneracy , when yet god seeth the light of his grace shining in them . presumptuous ▪ hypocrites on the other , applaud themselves as if they were in the light of grace , when yet god seeth them in the darkness of unregeneracy . the pharisee justifieth himself , and condemneth the publican , christ justifieth the publican , and condemneth the pharisee . men may be good in the estimation of other , yea , and that of good men , whilst in truth they are bad . so the angell of the church of sardis had a name that he lived and was dead . men may be saints in their own apprehensions , and yet devils in gods sight . so the angell of the church of laodicea said , he was rich and increased with goods , and had need of nothing , when as he was wretched , and miserable , and poore , and blinde , and naked . take we heed how we give credit either to the faire applauses of men , or the smooth dictates of our own hearts , which being deceitfull , sooth us up as if we were in the light , when yet we are , and walk in darkness . this being promised come we to a particuler view of the severall characters given to him that hateth a brother , by which three things are represented to us ; his wicked disposition , he is in darkness even till now , and again , he is in darkness . his vitious conversation , and walketh in darkness . his miserable condition , and knoweth not whither he goeth , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes . . that which first occureth is his wicked disposition ; wherein we have two things considerable . the quality , he is in darkness , and the duration , even untill now . . the quality of his disposition is described by that ingeminated expression , he is in darkness : for the fuller handling of which , take notice first of the emphasis , and then of the meaning of the phrase . . the emphasis of the phrase is double ; . it is observable , that our apostle doth not content himself to say , he is not in the light , but ( as zanchy well observeth , exaggerationis gratia , useth an exaggerrating expression , he is in darkness . indeed the one doth necessarily inferre the other , he that is not in the light , must needs be in darkness , since the remotion of the light is the position of darkness , and as the one goeth , the other cometh , but yet this latter is more full : and the apostle that he might let us see how grosly such a man is deceived , let us know that he is so far from being in the light , that he is in darkness , and therefore he is as much mistaken as if a man in a darke night should say it were noon-day . . it would yet further be considered , that it is not only said of such a man , darkness is in him , but he is in darkness , even he that loveth his brother , is not so in the light , but that there is a mixture of darkness ; but he that hateth his brother is in darkness , and so without any light . a man is then said to be in the water when he is covered over with , and so as it were under the power of it . so that the phrase of being in darkness is as much as being under the power and dominion of darkness : according to that phrase of st paul , where he saith , who hath delivered us from the power of darknesse . . and now the meaning of the phrase ( if we consider what is already asserted to be intended by light , ) appeareth in plain terms to be this , he that hateth his brother is in a state of sin , under the dominion of iniquity , a slave of satan , or in one word , an unregenerate man. to this purpose it is that st paul speaking of himself and the rest of the christians before their conversion , reckoneth up this as one of the black marks of that estate , hatefull and hating one another ; and among those many brands by which he characterizeth the wicked gentiles , this is one , that they were full of all maliciousness , which afterwards he cals malignity . the malicious man being the true malignant , and so deservedly accounted a wicked man. indeed this is such a sin as rendereth him in whom it raigneth , not only ●ess then a christian , but worse then a man. what st basil saith concerning anger , is doubtless much more true of hatred , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it maketh a man to degenerate into a wilde beast ; and therefore such sinners are compared in scripture to tigers , dragons , lions , wolves , and such like ravenous creatures : nay , indeed as marke the hermite observeth they are , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , more brutish then brutes , and unreasonable then those unreasonable creatures ; for whereas wolves devoure sheep , but not wolves ; yea , for the most part beasts of the same kinde in their way , converse lovingly together , he that hateth his brother hateth one of the same kinde and nature with himself , nay , to carry it one step lower , it denominateth them not only beasts but devils , yea , which is strange , worse then devils : and that upon this very account , since as alexander alensis hath observed , though a devill hateth a man , yet not a devill , satan is not divided against satan , whereas man hateth man , well might our apostle say of such a person , he is in darkness . this is that which would be so much the rather considered , because so many judge of themselves and others by a partiall rule , if they themselves be free , or they observe others to be free from those sensuall sins of drunkness , uncleaness , vain-swearing , and the like , they presently infer , that such persons are in a good condition , whilst yet in the mean time pride , lying , covetuousness , malice , and all uncharitableness have dominion over them , whereas in truth , these are no less workes of darkness then those : and therefore st paul reckoneth strife and envy , as well as chambering and wantonness , rioting and drunkenness , among the number . he that startleth at an oath , and yet belcheth forth lies , that abhorreth a dalilah , and yet maketh gold his darling ; he that will not be drunk with liquor , and yet is drunk with hatred , is nevertheless a wicked unregenerate person . the summe is swearing , intemperate , unclean christians are swine , and lying , covetous , malicious christians are dogs : far be it from me to justi●●e the former , nor will i the latter ; those are evill , and these are not good , for he that hateth his brother is in darkness . . the duration of this disposition is that which cometh next to be inquired into , in these words , even untill now , that is , sicut semper fuit sic est adhuc ; so zanchy , as he was ? so he is still : he remaineth in darkness , etiam sub christianismo : so aretius ; notwithstanding he liveth in the sun-shine of christianity . and there is a threefold reason may be given for which our apostle might annex this clause . . by way of prevention , to take off that plea which some would be apt to make against his accusation , dost thou say oh holy apostle , that we are in darkness , we have heard thy self and others preaching jesus christ , we believe in his name , embrace his doctrine , and is it possible we should be in darkness ? yes , saith our apostle , he that hateth his brother is in darkness untill now , not only while he was an heathen , but now he pretends to be a christian , he is still in darkness . though i have all knowledg , and faith , yet if i have not charity saith st paul , i am nothing , to wit , in esse gratiae , i have no being in christ , i am no body in gods esteem ; thus is it possible for a man to be in the light , and yet to be in darkness , to inioy the light of the gospell , and yet remain in the darkness of sin ; oh then boast not of , nor rest in externall priviledges , thinke not to say we have the ordinances of christ , we profess the name of christ ; we may for all this be as destitute of true christianity , as the very pagan . . by way of aggravation , to render such an one so much the more inexcusable . he is in darkness untill now , that is , though he have enjoyed the means of being in the light , yet he remaineth in darkness . indeed though these two be not incons●stent , yet they are very incongruous ; that a man in the night time should be in darkness is no wonder ; but to be in the dark when the sun is risen and shineth forth , is strange and sad : yea , and certainly it were far better never to have the light , then having it to abide in darkness : upon this account it is that our blessed saviour denounceth so severe a woe against capernaum and assureth her , it should be more tollerable for the land of sodom in the day of judgment then for her . in very deed , a christian hating his boother is far more vile and abominable then an injurious heathen ; and by how much his profession is the better by so much his sin is the worse , and his state the more wicked . . by way of dehortation , from any longer continuance in this sinfull state , he is in darkness till now ; and surely it is long enough , nay , too long to have been so till now , saltem nunc sapiat , saith danaeus , let him at length learn to be wise , and no longer continue in this estate ; so that our apostle here saith implicily what st paul saith expressly . and that knowing the time , it is high time to awake out of sleep , now that the gospell is published , christ is preached ; it is high time to come out of this darkness : and as st peter bespeaketh those to whom he wrote , for the time past of our life it may suffice to have wrought the will of the gentiles ▪ so st john seemeth to say to these malicious christians , for the time past whilst yet you were in heathenisme , it may suffice you to have been in darkness , will you continue in it still ; it is enough , nay , too much , that though the evangelicall light hath shone upon you , you have been in darkness till now ; let it be so no longer , breake of your sins by righteousness , your hatred by charity , your malice by love , else your state is as bad still as ever it was ; nay , far worse then it was in those times , when you heard not of christ at all . so much for the first character ; pass we on from his sinfull disposition to . his vitious conversation , in those words , and walketh in darkness . the full latitude of this clause will appeare in a two-fold parallel . . walking in darkness is a going on in the darke , and so intimateth a persisting in evill . this is the property of a malitious man to be obstinate in his wickedness ▪ anger is ofttimes sodain , and short , but hatred is setled , and confirmed , a passion saith st basill , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , such as will not admit of a cure . hence it is , that he who is possessed with this sin is seldome reclaimed from it , especially being one who maketh profession of christianity , and saith he is in the light ; for as solomon saith , there is more hope of a fool , then of him that is wise in his own conceit ; so there is doubtless more hopes of him that is an open prophane sinner hating his brother , then of him that saith he is in the light , and yet hateth him : for whereas the one may probably be brought to acknowledge that he walketh in darkness , and so be perswaded to return out of it ; the other supposing himself alwayes in the light , is deaf to all admonitions , and so walketh on in darkness . st austin pursuing this metaphor inreference to all sorts of sinners , saith elegantly , cum peccant , tenebrae sunt ; cum insuper non confitentur peccata , sed ea defendunt , tenebrant tenebras suas , when men sin they are in the dark , but when they will not confess but defend their sins , they darken their darkness . thus is it with this sort of sinners , every one that hateth his brother is in darkness , but he that hating his brother , saith he is in the light , and so instead of condemning , justifieth himself , both is and walketh on ( to wit obstinately ) in darkness . . men who walk in darkness , wander and stumble and fall almost every step they take , so do malicious men stumble and fall into manifold sins , and wander into severall by-paths of iniquity . that this is here intended , appeareth by the opposition ; for as where it is said in the preceding verse of him that loveth his brother there is none occasion of stumbling in him , it implieth not only that he abideth , but he walketh in the light ; so here , when it is said of the man who hates his brother that he walketh in darkness , it implyeth he frequently stumbleth at every thing . solomon saith of wicked men in general , their way is as darkness , not only dark in the concrete , but darkness in the abstract , nor only that they walk in the dark , but their very way is darkness ; it is true of him that hateth his brother in particular , every step he taketh is darkness , some sin or other . it is not unworthy our observation , that a troup of sins attend upon hatred in st pauls enumeration , variance , emulation , wrath , strife , sedition and heresies , all the cursed brats of this mother . to this purpose it is that cyprian saith of this sin , it is a seed of mischief , seminary of vice , and the matter of much evil ; it swelleth with pride , imbittereth with rage , prevaricateth by perfidiousness , burneth with anger , and foameth through impatience : hence avarice and ambition , whereby we desire to equall or rather exceed him whom we hate , in wealth and power : hence it is that the fear of god is contemned , the commands of christ are neglected , truth is adulterated , unity divided , heresies and schismes fomented , yea all manner of wickedness committed ; yea to carry it a little further , hence it is not only that he falleth into many sins , but stumbleth in his best actions , and those religious services , which sometimes he performeth , find no acceptance . it is observed in the levitical law , that among other fowls , the hawk which is the delight of princes , fed with cost , and kept with care , is forbidden in sacrifice ; and why ? but because it is of a rapacious vindictive nature : almighty god tells the israelites he will not hea● their prayers , yea his soul hated their assemblies : and why ? but because their hands were full of bloud : christ adviseth him who brings a gift to the altar , to go first and be reconciled to his brother whom he hath offended , doubtless thereby to teach us , that in this sense the gifts of those who live in enmity , are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , such as god will not accept . by all this it appeareth how sinfull the life of such a person is , all his actions being no better then works , and his wayes paths of darkness : and oh that the sinfulness of this sin might so much the more exasperate us against it . the name of this devill may well be legion , let us then be carefull to cast him out : indeed the saying of valens is in some respect true concerning anger , alienus ab irâ alienus à justitià , he that knoweth not how to be angry , will not care to be just , but in regard of hatred it is far otherwise , and we may say qui non alienus ab odio alienus à justitiâ : he that is a friend to hatred , must needs be a stranger to justice . oh let us conceive a pious hatred against this impious and injurious hatred , which whosoever exerciseth towards his brother must needs walke in darkness . . the last character of this sinner yet remaineth , to wit , his miserable condition , which is propounded in those words , and knoweth not whither he goeth . proved in those , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes . . the misery of him that hateth his brother is asserted though briefly , yet fully in those words , he knoweth not whither he goeth , it is a clause which sets forth the sad condition of this sinner both directly and collaterally . . directly , this is verified of every wicked man , and in particular of him that hateth his brother , he knoweth not whither he goeth , and indeed it necessarily followeth upon the former , since he that walketh in darkness cannot know whither ●e goeth . this is true as zanchy hath well observed in a double reference , ad viam , and ad terminum ; to the way , and the terme of his walke ; he knoweth not where nor whither , neither the badness of the path , nor the sadness of the end . the former solomon affirmeth of all wicked men , when he saith , their way is as darkness , and they know not at what they stumble ; the latter of the man , who is invited by an harlot , he knoweth not that the dead are there , and her guests are in the depth of hell. but it may be objected , that the person of whom the apostle here speaketh , is one who is in profession a christian , for he saith he is in the light , and no doubt is so far in the light , as that he cannot but see and know that hatred of the brethren is a deadly sin , and that whilst he continueth in it , he goeth down to hell , how then is it said of him that he knoweth not whither he goeth . to answer this briefly , it is one thing to know , that is , to apprehend ; and another to know , that is , to consider a thing ; indeed it is impossible but that such an one should know , and yet as god saith of israel in another case , israel doth not know , my people doth not consider ; so may it be said of this person , he doth not know , that is , he doth not consider whither he goeth : to this purpose is carthusians note , quantam damnationem meretur non pensat , he doth not lay to heart what damnation he deserveth , what a danger he encurreth . his judgment dictateth to him in thesi in generall , that hatred is a sin and leadeth to hell ; but when it is to passe sentence in hypothesi , in particular , it either denieth the action which is done against his brother , to proceed from hatred ; or that though it be a sin , yet it shall not prove deadly to him , because he is in christ already ; or because he intends to repent of it before he dyeth ; or else his judgement not at all taking notice of the obliquity of the work and misory of the wages , dictateth what the will is about to do , as expedient for the present satisfaction of that which it intendeth . sutable hereunto is that note of estius upon my text ; that no sin is committed , but through a praevious errour of the practicall judgment about that particular object which the will chooseth : therefore doth the malicious , yea , every wicked man commit and persist in his sin , because he noth dot weigh his actions in the ballance of right reason , nor duely ponder either what he doth , or whither he tendeth . i cannot let this go without this usefull inference ; sinners consider seriously what you do , and think sadly whither you go , whilst you go on in your sins . respice finem , look to the end , is a lesson which whosoever learneth not , will in the end prove a foole . no better way to deale by this serpent sin , then ( as god commanded moses in another case ) to take it by the taile . the verb beginning of repentance is at st peters question , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , what is the end of a wicked course ? but further , this phrase , not knowing whither he goeth , sets forth the miserable estate of this sinner collaterally , and by way of allusion . for . he that knoweth not whither he goeth is in an unquiet restless state , full of fears and cares , and his mind is never at quiet : a fit embleme of a wicked man whose name in hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth one that is unquiet , and whom the prophet compareth to the troubled sea. and especially is this true of the malicious hater , who alwaies carrieth about him that which tortureth him . indeed what is envy and hatred to the soul , but ( to use st bafils comparison ) as the fretting rust to the iron , and the consuming moath to the garment ? nay ( to borrow socrates his resemblance , ) what is it , but as a saw continually cutting , or ( to allude to that of our saviour ) a worme still gnawing ? in one word , to speak in the poets language , — vt aetna seipsum , sic se , non alios , invidus igne coquit : like to the mountain of aetna , the envious man hath a ●re alwaies burning within his breast , and so is never at ease . upon this account it is that gregory nazianzen saith of this sin , that it is both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , most unjust to him that is hated , and most just to him that hateth , in that disquietment , with which it perplexeth him . . he that knoweth not whither he goeth is usually deceived in his opinion ; when he thinketh he is walking eastward , he walkest westward ; and whilst he imagineth himself going forward he is going backward . thus he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is deceived : for whereas he supposeth himself in the way to heaven , he is posting on to hell ; and truly in this respect he is so much the more miserable , because he bringeth himself into a fools paradise , and dreameth that he shall be happy . . lastly , he that knoweth not whither he goeth cannot see to avoid , and so ofttimes sodainly falleth into bogs , pits , waters , by which he is destroyed and perisheth . such is the case of wicked , especially malicious men , they bring upon thewselves swift and sodaine destruction ; and which is very considerable , whilst they plot the ruine of others , they accelerate their own , and the very mischief which they designe for their brethren , falls upon their own heads ; and now putting all this together , tell me if he whose troubles are so distracting , hopes deceaving , and dangers destroying , be not a miserable man. . the proposition is dispatched , he knoweth not whither he goeth . the proofe felloweth , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes ; and now our apostle carryeth on the allegory to the outmost , therefore , he that is in darkness and walketh in it , cannot know whither he goeth , because , he cannot see his way ; and therefore he cannot see his way , because by reason of the darkness his eyes are blinded . for the better opening of this clause , i shall very briesly consider these particulars ; the part affected , his eyes . the disease , blinded . the cause , darkness . . his eyes , that is the part affected , by which no doubt is to be understood , the understanding . the eye in its proper notion is a part of the body , but metaphorically the soul hath its eyes as well as the body . it is olympiodorus his note , the members of the outward man are aequivocally attributed to the inward . as the excellencies of the greater world are after an higher manner in the less ; so the parts of the body are after a more noble way in the soul : what the feet are in the one , the affections are in the other ; what the stomach is in that , the memory is in this ; what the heart is in the one , the will is in the other ; finally , what the eye is in that , the understanding is in this . we need no better expositor then st paul , who unfolds the meaning of this metaphor when he saith . the eyes of the understanding . if you inquire after the analogies , they are both apt and obvious , which i shall only mention . the eye is situate in the upper part of the body , the head ; and in the upper part of the head : so is the understanding a faculty of the superiour soul , the rationall , and the superiour faculty in the rntionall soul . the eye is the chiecest of the senses , and the understanding is the choieest among the faculties , without which the will would be but a brutish appetite . the use of the eye is to see things visible , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , say the greek etymologists is quasi , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the chamber of vision . the understanding is that whereby we know and apprehend things intelligible : it is as it were the souls window , whereby it receiveth the light of knowledg . . finally , the office of the eye is to guide the motion of the body , to direct our hands in working , and our feet in walking ; such is the office of the understanding to order the will and affections , in their inclinations and aversations , to teach us what to choose , and what to refuse , what to love , and what to hate : you see how fitly the understanding of the mind , is compared to the eyes of the body . . the disease of this part here specified is blindness , the worst evill that can befall the eye ; as rendring it altogether useless , and the state of the person dangerous ; a dimme eye may do some service by preventing many fals , but a blinde eye exposeth to continuall hazards : well faith our blessed saviour , if the light ( meaning the eye ) that is in thee be darkness , how great is that darkness ? yet this is the state of every wicked , malicious man especially , his eyes are blinded , his understanding darkned , he knoweth nothing as he ought to know : indeed his left eye is quick sighted , but his right eye is starke blinde , he is wise to do evill , but to do good he hath no knowledg , — quantum mortalia pectora caecae , noctis habent ? saith the poet , how darke a night of ignorance overshadoweth the minds of mortals ? it is not seldome that this name of foole is given in scripture to an evill man ; and not without cause , since he is altogether destitute of right reason ; the prodigall repenting is said to come to himself , whereby is intimated , that whilst wandering , he was besides himself ; thus is the sinner a foole , a mad man , a blinde man , ignorant of the things which concern his everlasting peace . and surely if blindness of the bodily eye be sad , this of the spirituall is far more dolefull ; our bodily eye is common to us with beasts ; our intellectuall , that where by we partake with angels ; and by how much the eye of the minde is better then that of the body , by so much the blindness of this is worse . the bodies eye may be better spared then the souls ; yea , the want of corporall sight may be a meanes of spirituall good ; but the want of spirituall sight can be no way helpfull , but altogether hurtfull ; yea , which is so much the more sad , whereas the bodily blinde feeleth and acknowledgeth his want of light , the spiritually blinde man thinketh that none hath clearer eyes then himself . this , christ saith of the laodicean angell , he knew not that he was blinde : and this sinner in the text saith he is in the light , suam ignorans ignorantiam , not knowing his want of knowledg , oh learne we to be sensible of , and affected with the misery of this condition , to have our eyes blinded . but lastly , the cause of this pernicious disease would be searched into , which we shall finde to arise principally from our selves : it is true , st paul saith the god of this world ( who is the prince of darkness ) blinds mens eyes ; but chiefly it is the darkness of wickedness within us , that bringeth this evill upon us . wickedness ( saith the wiseman ) doth alter the understanding , and the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest : to which agreeth that of st chrysostome , sin doth so blinde the senses of the sinners , that seeing not the waies of falshood , they thrust themselves headlong therein . the truth is , as the serpent first wrought upon the woman , and by her upon the man ; so wickedness first worketh upon the affections , and by that upon the understanding ; nor is it any wonder that when those are perverted , this is blinded . who can see any thing in a troubled muddy water ? no more can the understanding discern aright , when the affections are stirred and mudded ; what mists & foggs are to the aire , darkning it , corrupt unruly passions are to the mind , blinding it . it were easie to instance in the severall sorts of those which the schooles call deadly sins , how raysing a commotion in the affections they obnubilate the judgment . olcot upon this account , compareth the luxurious man to blind sampson , the gluttonous man to him that was born blind , the sloathfull man to blind tobias , the covetous to the blind beggars , the angry to blinde lamech , the envious to blind ely , and the proud man to senecaes blind servant , who would not believe that shee was blind , but the house darke : certain it is , all of these seating themselves in some one or other of our passions , do not only reign in our mortall bodies , but domineere in our immortall souls , misleading its most noble faculty the judgment . oh what a slave is the minde of a covetuous , luxurious , malicious man to his affections , it must think , and plot , and dictate , and judge according as they please : well might our apostle say of him that hateth his brother , the darknesse blindeth his eyes . nor would it be passed by , how the bad effect of this spirituall darkness , exceeds that of naturall in this respect : for whereas the eye of a man may be as good , as strong , as clear in the darke , as in the light , only the darkness hinders the exercise of the sight ; the malicious man by reason of his darkness , hath the very sight of his understanding vitiated , indeed , whereas in naturals the sight is not blinded , but the medium is darkned , in spirituals the medium which is gods word is not at all darkned , but the organ is blinded , whilst the depravation of the passion , is the depravation of the understanding . as therefore we desire to have our minds savingly enlightned , endeavour we to have our lusts truly mortified , if we would have our judgments even and upright , let us not suffer them to be byased by any passion . to end all , what should this discription of a wicked malicious sinners misery , but serve as a disswasive from this iniquity ? let no violence be found in our hands , nor hatred in our hearts , especially considering , that we say we are in the light , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith one of the ancients , it is unbeseeming those who sing the songs of zion , to barke in rage , who are gods servants , to be slaves to envious lusts . i cannot expostulate better , then in the words of st cyprian , si homo lucis esse capisti quid in zeli tenebras ruis ? if thou art a childe of light , cast off as all , so especially this work of darkeness , walk no longer in this way of darkness in which if thou persist , what ever thy deceitfull heart may prompt thee , it will inevitably lead thee to utter darknss , from which good lord deliver us . amen . the first epistle of st john . chap. . , , . vers . i write unto you little children , because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake . i write unto you fathers , because ye have known him that is from the beginning . i write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one . i write unto you little children , because ye have known the father . i have written unto you fathers , because you have known him that is from the beginning . i have written unto you young men , because ye are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and ye have overcome the wicked one . among the many fimilitudes by which the office of a minister is represented in scripture , those two of a watchman , and a shepheard are very observable . indeed both of them are metaphors , by which god himself is pleased to describe his prophets , the one , when he saith to ezekiel , son of man , i have set thee a watchman to the house of israel ; the other in that gracious promise to his people , i will set up shepheards over them which shall feed them . the duty of a watchman is first to take , and then give notice of the enemies approach ; and it is no small part of our ministeriall imployment , to warne the people of those dangers , with which their spirituall enemies endeavour to surprize them . the work of a shepheard is to provide green pastures , still waters for the flock , and to take care , not only for the grown sheep , but the tender lambes ; and it is the chief task of a spirituall pastor to feed his people with knowledge and understanding , having regard to all persons , conditions , and ages . how fitly both these agree to this holy apostle st john , is easiy to observe in this epistle : like a vigilant watchman he warneth them in the latter part of this , and the beginning of the fourth chapter , of those imps of satan , antichristian hereticks , which did infest , and infect the church ; like a carefull shepheard , he giveth them wholesome instructions for the stablishing of their faith , regulateing their life , in the greater part of the epistle ; and here in these verses which i have read , he manifesteth the care he had , not only of the elder , but younger christians , i write to you little children , &c. in these three verses we have an answer to three questions , quid ? quibus ? quare ? what s john did ? to which the answer is returned in the word write . to whom he wrote ? the answer to which is given in the severall titles . why he wrote to all , and each of these ? the answer whereunto is in those various clauses ; which have a because prefixed . so that if you please , here are three generall parts in this portion of holy writ to be discussed , the persons characterized , little children , fathers , young men , little children . the act performed , i write , i have written . the reasons annexed , because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake , because you have known him that is from the beginning , &c. according to this proposed method , i am to begin at the middle of the verses , with the severall compellations by which our apostle bespeaketh those to whom he wrote . these i finde in the usuall greeke copies to be foure , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but in ou● translation three , little children , fathers , young men. st austin upon this place , seemeth to insinuate , that these titles are given by st john generally to all christians to whom he wrote , filij sunt , patres sunt , juvenes sunt : in filijs nativitas , inpatribus antiquitas , in juvenibus fortitudo : all believers are children in respect of their new birth , fathers in regard of their knowledge of the ancient of daies , and young men in respect of their spirituall strength . to this agreeth that of justinian , who saith , that therefore ou● apostle describeth all christians by these names , because he requireth the qualities of little children , fathers , and young men in all christians : but this interpretation though pious , seemeth not so congruous , it being improbable he should severally inculcate his writing together with the severall reasons of his writing to them , had he intended only christians in generall by all these compellations . the generality of interpreters most probably conceive these titles to have severall references , but yet with some difference , which ariseth from a double consideration of the first title , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , little children in the twelfth verse . . some conceive it to be of a particular concernment , and so to note a distinct sort of persons from fathers and young men. that which favours this interpretation is . . that hereby every one of the members of that division which our apostle maketh will be repeated . . that one greek manuscript reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the twelfth verse , and so it is the same with the word in the thirteenth . . that in the syriack and some greek copies the variation of the verb , from the present tense to the first aorist begins at the iteration of little children in the end of the thirteenth , and is in these the beginning of the fourteenth verse . and to justifie the order of enumeration which seemeth to be irregular in beginning with little children , grotius saith ; that the apostle first sets down the extreams of little children , and fathers , and then the middle , young men. . others conceive the first , little children in the twelfth verse to be a title by which the apostle bespeaketh all christians , and then in the thirteenth verse he severally addresseth himself to fathers , young men , little children ; and in the fourteenth verse ( not without speciall reason , as shall appear in its due place ) he repeateth his address to fathers , and young men : this last interpretation however soeinus is pleased to call it monstrous , seemeth to me especially according to our received greek copies ( from which i see no cause to recede ) the most genuine reasons briefly are these , . the originall word for little children in the twelfth , is different from that in the thirteenth ; whereas had the apostle intended the same thing , he would probably have used the same word in both places . . the originall word in the twelfth verse is the same with that in the first verse , where it is plainly spoken of all sorts of christians . . whereas the reasons specified in the thirteenth verse are commendations , and those sutable to the severall ages mentioned , as is obvious at the first view to any reader ; the reason in the twelfth verse is a consolation , and such as equally belongs to all christians . . lastly , according to this interpretation the order of setting down the severall ages is regular , begining with fathers , and proceeding with young men , and descending to little children . for these reasons i shall adhere to the latter interpretation , and accordingly here are two things observable , a generall denomination , little children , a particular enumeration , fathers , young men , little children . . the generall denomination is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by which ( as danaeus well observeth ) omnes aetates compl●ctitur , the christians of all ages are intended , it is a term which i have already had occasion to handle , and therefore shall now pass over with the more brevity . though it is true in a reall notion , yet it is more probable that our apostle useth it in a metaphoricall construction , and his design in it is double ; namely , that this appellation might be both a testimony of his affection towards them , and a monitor to them of their duty ; and in both these considerations there was a great deale of reason why our apostle should use this title of little children . . he calls them little children to testifie that fatherly affection which he did bear to them ; and this no doubt that hereby he might gain a filiall affection from them towards him , and an affectionate regard to his doctrine . it is no small piece of policy in an orator to make way for his instruction , by giving evidence of his affection , what appeareth to be spoken , is commonly taken in love : no wonder then if st john , ad majorem benevalentiam indu●endam filiolos appellat , as justiuian appositely , for the gaining of their good will to him , declareth good will towards them , by calling them little children . and truly so much the more cause had our apostle to endeavour this in respect both of what he had and was to deliver . he was now about to disswade them from loving the world , a lesson to which they might probably be very averse , it being so hard for us , while we are in the world , not to be intangled with the love of it ; nay , perhaps they might think he was an enemy to them , in requiring them to be enemies to the world , it being strange he should will them to contemn that whereof they had continuall use . now by calling them children , and thereby insinuating , that he spake to them as a father , they might justly perswade themselves that he advised them to nothing but what was for their good . our blessed saviour strongly argueth from the love of a father , if his son ask bread will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish will he give him a serpent ? a question intending a negation , doubtless he will not , nay , rather if he ask him stones or a serpent , he will give him bread or ●●sh . fathers do not use to give , nor yet to advise their children what is hurtfull , but usefull for them ; and therefore by calling them little children , he would let them know , that how prejudiciall soever this counsell of not loving the world , might seem to them , it was given by him as a father , and that which he knew would be beneficiall to them . again , he had but now sharply reproved those among them who did hate their brethren ; and least they should account him guilty of the sin he reproved , as if his reprehension of them , proceeded from hatred , he presently manifesteth his love , by this sweet appellation , little children . there is never more need of insinuating into auditors , an opinion of our candid affection towards them ; then when we use bitter invectives against their sins : men being very apt to misconstrue our hatred of their sins , as if it were malice against their persons : and truly what expression could more represent affection then this of children ? solomon saith , the wounds of a friend are better then the kisses of an enemy ; and good reason since there is more love in the ones wounds , then the others kiss ; and if the wounds of a friend , much more the reproofs of a father are from love ; if it be a rod , the childe must kiss it , because it is virga patris , the rod of a father ; and surely then , though it be a sharp rebuke , the childe must embrace it , because it is verbum patris , the word of a father : amor , saith the old man in the poet , est optimum salsamentum , love is that sauce which giveth a relish to things that are otherwise most distastefull and loathsome . brotherly love saith st austin , and it is no less true of fatherly , sive approbet me , sive improbet me , diligit me ; whether it approve , or reprove me , it still loveth me ; and where love is the sweet spring , though the waters be the waters of marah , i may chearfully drinke them . that therefore our apostle might render his severe reprehension the more acceptable , he would have them know it was from that sincere and tender respect he bare to them ; and that he might convince them of this cordiall respect , he bespake them as a father with this affectionate title little children . . he stileth them little children to minde them of that duty which concerneth all christians in becoming as little children , and according to his masters precept , whose language he much delights to follow . indeed it is that which is not to run parallel in all respects : and therefore saith jansenius , the imitation of little children is either good or bad , according to the things wherein we resemble them , st paul in one place bids us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , shew our selves men not women by cowardize , no nor yet children by inconstancy ; nay , he expresly forbids , be not children in understanding , and again , be no more children tossed to and fro , and carried about with every winde of doctrine , we must then be unlike and like to little children . we must not think like little children , for they only minde what is present , whereas wisdome teacheth to look afar off , and think of hereafter ; and yet we must think as little children , for their thoughts are not carking and distrustfull about what they should eat or drink , or wherewith they should be cloathed ; we must not desire as little children do , for they ofttimes desire things that may prove hurtfull and destructive to them ; and yet we must desire as little children , for their desires are earnest , and important after the dug : we must not understand as little children , for they are but weak and defective in knowledg : and yet we must understand as little children , for they are docile and facile to learn ; we must not speak as little children , for they speak rashly ; and yet we must speak as little children , for they speak truly : we must not like them speak all we think , and yet like them , we must speak nothing but what we think . in few words , would we know wherein especially we ought to be as little children , look backward and forward to the sins here forbidden , and we shall finde little children fit monitors of avoiding both ; and perhaps therefore our apostle maketh choice of this appellation , as very sutable to these instructions . . little children are innocent and harmeless , free from hatred and malice , they do not plot nor act mischief to others , they seek not revenge upon others ; and this is that wherein chiefly we must resemble little children . to this purpose st jerome , christ doth not require of his apostles that they should be little children in years but innocency : and theodoret on that in the psalms , out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength ; asking the question , who are those babes and sucklings ? answereth , qui lactentium puerorum innocentiam imitati sunt , they who imitate the innocency of sucking children ; what need we a better expositor then st paul , who admonisheth the corinthians , in malice be you children ? and in this respect ( as tertullians phrase is ) he would have the oldest men repuerascere , grow young again , and so in an excellent sense be twice children . indeed as clemens alexandrinus observes , concerning the prohibition of distrustfull care , so may i concerning this of hatred and revenge , he that indeavours to fulfill it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is a childe both in mens and gods account ; the world thinketh him a childe , yea a fool , to put up injuries , and god esteemeth him as a childe , yea , such a childe of whom is the kingdome of god. . little children are not covetous , nor ambitious , nor luxurious , they affect not variety of delicacies , they are not greedy of gain , nor puffed up with titles , si verberantur non afficiuntur odio , nec si laudantur arrogantiâ ; if corrected they hate not , if commended they swell not ; thus ought christians to deny worldly lusts , and to conquer all inordinate desires . holy david comparing himself to a childe saith , my soul was even as a weaned child , which is no more greedy of the dug , so ought every good man to have his heart weaned from all the honours , and pleasures , and profits of this transitory world . and surely well were it if even parents would in this regard go to schoole to their little children , and by their behaviour learn their own duty ; the truth is to a wise and understanding christian every creature is a preacher , and every day a sabboath ; with the bee he sucketh honey out of every flower , above , the starrs ; beneath , the fruits , abroad the beasts , at home the little children are his instructors of whom he learneth these excellent lessons to contemn the world , and to abborre malice : which that our apostle might the more strongly inculcate upon those to whom he wrote , he cals them little children : and so much be spoken of the generall denomination in the twelfth verse : passe we on to the particular enumeration , as it is set down in the thirteenth verse , fathers , young men , little children : i find among expositors a double reference of these expressions by some to severall degrees of grace , by others to severall ages of life ; according to the former construction , the words are to be interpreted metaphorically ; according to the latter , literally . oecumenus upon the place asserts that our apostle intends by these titles to express the different sorts of christians , who were to receive his epistle , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whose different progress in christianity , he sets down with allusion to the increase of naturall life : origen is express both in a negative and positive way , non corporales aetates , sed animae perfectionem differentia ponit , by this phrase the apostle designeth to difference christians , not according to the ages of their bodies , but the growth of their souls in grace ; and in another place he saith , this is so evident a truth that he thinketh none ever doubted it . though i am so far from excluding ( with this allegoricall father ) the literall construction , that i conceive it is most congruous ; yet i shall not altogether wave the metaphoricall sense . and thus there is a threefold degree of grace , which is shadowed by these three-ages of life . . incipie●tes , they who are ●●vices in christianity , incipients in grace , are represented by little children , and if we look into the metaphor we shall find the parallel fit and full . . little children are weak in body , they cannot go with strength , rnu with swiftness , act with vigour , but what they do , they do it weakely ; so is it with beginners in religion , they complaine of deadness , dulness , weakness , in performing holy duties ; instead of running it is as much as they can do , to go the way of gods commandments ▪ and in going , they often slip , nay fall , though not through willfullness , yet weakness . . little children are low of stature ; so are beginners in christianity , dwarfs in piety . to have our conversation in heaven , is a lesson long in learning , we cannot presently nor easily mount up with the wings of an eagle ; even they who loath sin , know not how to part with the world ; and it is by many steps that they ascend to an heavenly life . . little children are fed with milk , their stomacks being not fit to digest more solid food ; thus beginners in religion are to be instructed in the rudiments of christianity , as being uncapable of higher mysteries . christs disciples before the descens●on of the holy ghost , were but incipients , and therefore out saviour tels them , i have many things to say to you , but you cannot bear them yet , st paul speaking of those christians among the corinthians , who were babes in christ , i have fed you with milk , and not with meat ; for hitherto you were not able to bear it , neither yet now are you able . those little children in the text had some divine knowledg , but it was very dimme and imperfect ; and as yet they had but suckt in the first principles of christianity . . little children are fickle , and inconstant ; now this liketh them , and by and by it distasteth them , whatever you put into their hands they quickly let it fall , takeing no fasthold of it ; thus are weake christians carried to and fro with every winde of doctrine ; now this opinion pleaseth them , and anon it displeaseth them : and though the verities of christian religion are inculcated upon them , they hold them not fast , but suffer themselves easily to be spoyled of them . finally , little children are full of fears easily affrighted with any thing , so are spirituall babes , their faith being little , doubts arise , fears prevaile . wicked sinners are presumpteous , weak christians are timorous ; and as the devill luls those asleep in security , so he dismaies these with anxiety . . proficients , those who have made some progress in christianity are compared to young men : for . as youngmen have good stomacks whereby they both earnestly desire , and easily digest solid meats ; so it is with growing christians ; they receive the manna of the ordinances with attention , retaine it by meditation , and so turn it into good nutriment by practise , they are able to chew and feed upon evangelicall verities , to digest them in their understandings and memories : in which respect our apostle saith , the word of god abideth in them . . young men are active and vigorous , having strong bodies and nimble joynts , whereby they fulfill their imployments without weariness ; thus are spirituall proficients ready to every good word and work : divine commands are not grievous , christs yoake is easie to them , and they do the will of god with alacrity , for which reason our apostle saith of them they are strong . . young men are fit , by reason of their strength for military employments , and upon all occasions are called forth to service ; so are strong christians fit to encounter with temptations , afflictions , persecutions , and through divine assistance to conquer them , upon which account it is said of these young men , they had overcome the wicked one . . young men have their blood boyling in their veins , their naturall heat is sprightly in them ; so is it with proficients in grace , the supernaturall and spirituall heat of zeal is lively in their hearts , whereby it is that they boyle as it were in love to god , and rage against sin . . finally , young men are healthfull and lusty , and though they fall into a disease their bodies are able to wrestle with it , and nature gets the better ; so have spirituall proficients an healthfull frame of soul , whereby it is that they seldome fall into great diseases , i mean gross sins ; and if at any time they do fall , grace struggleth with , and prevaileth against corruption . ● . perfecti , they who are comparatively not only in respect of bad , but good , perfect christians , having attained large measures of grace , are resembled to fathers . . aged fathers know much by their own experience ; so do perfect christians , they are experienced in the subtilties of satan , and d●ceits ▪ of their own hearts , the workings of grace and stirrings of corruptions , the assistances of gods spirit , and manifestations of his love. . aged fathers know things that are done many years ago , and perfect christians ( according to our apostles phrase ) have known him that is from the beginning ; converse with the father of eternity , and so far as god hath unbosomed himself in his word , are acquainted with the thoughts he had from everlasting . . lastly , aged fathers are usually fathers of many children ; so are perfect christians , they make it a great part of their bui●●ness to admonish the negligent , support the feeble , reclaime the wandring , comfort the drooping , and by all meanes to convert , and confirme their brethren . to summe it up , habent omnes virtutes suas conceptiones , nativitates , incunabvla , aetatis incrementa , saith an ancient . the virtues have their conception , birth , and growth , and that from one degree to another : the seed of grace which fals upon good ground , bringeth forth in some an hundred , in some sixty , and in some but thirty fold ; all the israelites did not gather the like quantity of manna , some an omer , and some an epha , some much , some little ; it is no less true of the spirituall israelites in gathering grace . among the ungodly on jacobs ladder , some were above at the top , and others below at the foot yet all upon the ladder ; the like difference there is among christians in their spirituall ascents ; as in the heavens there are stars of severall magnitudes , in schooles there are schollars of severall so mes ; in houses there are vessels of severall bigness ; so in the church there are christians of severall degrees , for there are fathers , and young men , and little children . let not then those who are fathers grown up in christianity , disdaine the young men , who are growing , nor either fathers or young men contemn the little children . the time was when thou who art a father wast a young man , nay a little childe ; and the time may be , when they that are now little children , may come to be young men , nay , fathers : he that hath m●st grace , began with a little , and those we●k striplings may prove strong gyants in grace : if thou hast much , and others but little , thankfully acknowledg thy fathers mercy , but do not proudly scorne thy brothers infirmity . again , let not those who are as yet but little children be discouraged at , nor yet content with those small measures of grace they have attained . let them not on the one hand be too much dejected : he that bids peter feed his sheep , bids him withall to feed his lambes ; yea , he who is himself the great shepheard , taketh care of the little lambes , as well as the grown sheep ; when nicodemus came to christ with some few sparks of desire after him , our compassionate redeemer non delebat sed alebat , did not extinguish but cherish them . besides the covenant of grace is made with , and the promises of mercy are made to faith , not only in strength but truth . a little childe is as truly a man , as a young man , as an old man ; and a weake christian is as truly a christian as the most perfect saint ; conclude not too harshly against thy self from the praemises of weak gracè , qui non potest volare ut aquila , vole● ut passer , if we cannot mount with the eagle , soare with the larke , let us flye with the sparrow ; though we cannot with st paul set our feet in the third heaven , yet let us lift up our hands and eyes thither . in a word , let us neither measure our goodness by anothers want of it , nor our want of goodness by anothers abundance , as if we had no grace because but little , and not so great a measure as others . nor yet on the other hand , let little children or young men be contented with what they have attained . the stature which a christian is to strive after , is the stature of the fulness of christ ; and therefore we must never come to our maximum quod s●c , our full pitch . there is an holy and amiable ambition in christianity ; oh how good would a good heart be ! it looketh not only upon its sins , but graces with grief , and mourning ; as that it hath been so bad , so that it is yet no better , peto ut ac●ipiam & cum acceper● rursus peto , i aske to receive grace , and when i have received i aske again , nec ille deficit in dando ▪ nec ego satior in accipiendo , he is not weary of giving , nor am i satisfied with receiving . so st jerome . is then the foundation of piety layed , reare up the building every day higher then other , till it reacheth to heaven . is the light of grace risen in in thy soul ? let it shine more and more to the perfect day . finally , art thou a little childe , grow up to be a young man , yea , never cease till thou comst to be a father in christ . and so much for the allegoricall interpretation . it is a received rule in interpreting scripture , that the litterall sence is to be adhered to , as most genuine , unless necessity inforce to recede from it . for this cause i conceive it most congruous to embrace the plaine and proper meaning of the words , as they note the ages of mens life , though withall the other notion is here collaterally to be taken in ; those of these severall ages to whom st john writeth were converted to christianity , and proportionably no doubt as the little children were but weak , so as they grew up to be young men , and fathers , they gr●w in grace . for the better clearing of this construction , you must know that childhood , youth , and old age are the usuall distinctions of mans age . i know some make as it were seaven stages of the life of man , infancy , childhood , youth , manhood , mid●le age , old age , decrepit age : others reduce the seaven to foure , childhood , youth , manhood , old age ; the ●●rst whereof is reckoned to ●●fteen , the second to twenty five , the thir 〈…〉 to thirty seaven , and the fourth to the end of life : and these foure ages they resemble by the foure elements in the world , the foure seasons in the year , the foure h●mours of the body and the like ; and one upon my text finding foure words in these verses , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , fits them to those foure ages . david seemeth to comprize them in two , i have been young , and now am old , st paul to titus mentions only aged , and young men. but the most received distinction of mans age is threefold , as beza well observeth : correspondent to which was that song of the lacedemonian quire , placed in three orders , whereof the first who were the little children sang , quod estis erimus ; that which you young and old men are we shall be , the second who were the old men sung , quod estis fuimus , that which you young men and little children are we once were , and the third which were the young men sung , sumus quod alteri fuerunt & alteri futuri sunt , we are what you old men have been , and you little children are to be . according to this tripartite ▪ division of mans age ▪ our apostle reckoneth up fathers , young men , and little children . . he beginneth with fathers , by which he meaneth old men , for though the name father is properly vox naturae , a word betokening a naturall father , in which respect whosoever hath a childe is a father ; there are besides patres religione , fathers in respect of religion , so elisha called elijah father : who was a prophet● : and it is usuall to call bishops , nay , ordinary priests , and ministers fathers , patres dignitate , fathers in regard of honour and dignity : upon this account naamans ▪ servant call him ( being a great man ) father . senatours in rome were stiled patres fathers , and kings are called patres patriae , the fathers of the country , over which they rule . finally , patres aetate , fathers in respect of age , and so all who are stricken in years , are wont to be called fathers : in this sense it is manifestly here used by st john , and that honoris ergo by way of reverence , whilst he thinketh it not fit in plain terms to call them old men , but in testification of his respect to them fathers ; nor would it be passed by what this expression teacheth us : namely , that reverence is due from young to old men , as from children to their fathers : what the apostle saith of marriage , is no less true of old age it is honourable among all men : in scripture-heraldry the ancient and the honourable are put together ; yea the command is expresse , thou sha●t rise up before the hoary head , and honour the face of the old man. it is not unfitly observed that in the greek language , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , old age , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an honorary reward , differ nothing as to sound , and only in a letter as to writing , to intimate that honour is due to old age . it was one of chilons golden precepts , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to reverence old age . and phocylides his phrase is , — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 parents and old men are to have equall reverence . to this purpose it is that aulus gellius relateth concerning the ancient romans , that they did not more honour wealth or birth , then age , and the younger did reverence the elder , ad deum prope , & parentum vicem , as if they were their parents , nay gods ; and this ( saith he ) they learn't of the lacedemonians , who by ly●urgus his laws were enjoyned great reverence to aged persons . accordingly it is that both ovid and juvenal tell us , what great honour was of old given to the hoary head , and how hainous a crime it was accounted , as deserveing little less then death , if a young man did not rise up before the ancient . how justly will the heathens of those ages , rise up in judgement against the christians of this , wherein old age is become contemptible , and youth malapert : what more usuall then for green heads to contradict and vilifie gray hairs ? that brand which is set upon the nation , god was resolved to send against rebellious israel , is verified in too many , they respect not the person of the old . oh remember , antiquity is the image of eternity ! god is called the ancient of dayes , and though it is idolatry in the romanists to picture god as an old man , yet we need not doubt to affirm that an old man is as it were the picture of the eternall god ; and therefore as in despising every man , so especially an aged man , we despise gods image . learn we then how to account of old men , namely , as fathers , and accordingly to give them all due regard in words , gestures , and actions . it is a good saying of clemens alexandrinus , when a man by age draweth near his end , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he is so much the more highly to be honoured ; and antiochus assureth us , that to respect the ancient , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , very acceptable in the ●ight both of god and man. it is very considerable how st paul adviseth timothy though an elder in respect of office , yet being young in years , that he should entreat the elder ( to wit in age ) as fathers . and no less observable is this of st john , who to manifest his respect to old age , when he meaneth old men , useth this honourable term of fathers . . by fathers then he meaneth them who were about fifty years old , or more , in their declining age , and had lived to see many dayes , from them he descendeth to young men ; and though the word here used ( as p●llux affirmeth ) be especially meant of those who are in their fourth septenary , from one to eight and twenty ; yet here the extent of it is ( as estius well observeth ) a great deal larger , and comprehends all , qui exeunt ex ●phebis , who are past fifteen , till they come to the age of fifty . from young men , he cometh yet lower , to little children ; and though the diminutive word take in all litle children , ( whilest yet they cannot go nor sp●a● ) from their very birth , yet here doubtless it must bear date from the time in which a child begins first to be capable of rational knowledge ( it being not probable that st john did write to them who were in no capacity of reading or understanding what he wrote ) and beginning at those years , it comprizeth all who are in their nonage , and are not come to the years of one and twenty . that then which our apostle here intimateth is , that there were of all these ages among the christians . we read in the parable of the vineyard that some labourers were hired to work at the third , some at the sixth , and others about the ninth and eleaventh hour : thus doth christ call some little children with whom it is but the third , some young men with whom it is the sixth hour , some fathers with whom it is the ninth , nay eleaventh hour of the day . god in the law , saith damianus , made choice of bullocks and lambs to be offered in sacrifice to him , thereby intimating the diversity of those whom he brings home to himself : alij grandaevâ senectute maturi , alij juvenilis incrementi vigore robusti ; some being of ripe , and others of green years . look as in an orchard there are tender plants , midlings , and old trees , so are there in gods church persons of all ages . it is otherwise in this respect ( as well as others ) in the spiritual , then in the temporal warfare ; in other warres as priests are exempted by their calling , women by their sex , sick and impotent persons by their indisposition of body , so old men and children by their years ; but not so in this , to which children so soon as they begin to understand are engaged , and old men so long as they live . the hebrew proverb saith of golgotha , that there are in it skuls of all sizes ; and as in the church-yard there are dead bodies , so in the church there are living christians of all years ; as the devil hath his slaves among old men , young men , little children , for the prophet saith of the idolatrous heathen , that the fathers kindled the fire , and the women kneaded the dough , and the children gathered sticks to make cakes for the queen of heaven ; so god hath his servants , and christ his members , for st paul speaketh of faith dwelling in the grandmother lois , the mother eunice , and timothy the child . among old men and women , we read of abraham and sarah , zachary and elizabeth , paul the aged , and mnason the old disciple . among young men , we read of josiah the young king , and phineas the young priest , and daniel the young prophet . among little children , of samuel ministring before the lord from a child , and timothy instructed in the scriptures from a child , and the children crying hosanna to christ , when he came riding to jerusalem . sometimes god is pleased to instill grace into the hearts of little ones ; sometimes he giveth a stop to young men in their evil course ; sometimes he maketh old men the monuments not only of his patience in sparing them so long , but of his goodness in bringing them to repentance at last ; or else conferres upon towardly little children and vertuous young men , the reward of length of dayes in this life , whereby they come to be old . to draw to an end , i trust beloved it may be said of some , of many , of all these ages , in this city , parish , congregation , that they are among the number of those , who are ( at the th verse ) called little children , begotten again , and renewed by the holy ghost ; sure i am , it concerneth us all of all ages , to be of that number . it is high time for you that are fathers ( if you have not already ) now to bring forth fruit to god ; nor let the old man say in the eunuchs language , i am a dry tree , there is no hopes of my fruitfulness ; young devils may prove old saints : he that maketh dry bones to live , can make the dry trees to flourish : rather double your prayers and endeavours to bring forth much fruit in a little time ; and if you have been already planted in the house of the lord , be carefull still to bring forth fruit in old age . it is full time for you that are young men to study the divine art of christianity , though whilest you were children , you did , and spake , and understood as children ; yet now you are become men , put away childish things , minde what concerneth gods glory , and your own salvation . nor let little children say with those jews , it is not time to rear the building of religion . the work is long , and the time at longest but short ; you had need begin betimes , the journey is great , and the time but a day to goe it in , there is reason you should set forth early . in one word , let fathers be exemplary in piety , let young men be forward in grace ; let little children make haste , to be good , so shall there be still in the church of christ militant , fathers , young men , little children , till the last day come when there shall be neither old men , nor little children , but all shall be young men , of full stature and perfect age to all eternity in the church triumphant . the first epistle of st john . chap. . , , . vers . i write unto you little children , because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake . i write unto you fathers , because ye have known him that is from the beginning . i write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one . i write unto you little children , because ye have known the father . i have written unto you fathers , because you have known him that is from the beginning . i have written unto you young men , because ye are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and ye have ever come the wicked one . there are three things which commend the excellency and worth of any writing or doctrine ; purity of matter , antiquity of originall , and generality of use . indeed those doctrines which patronize any sin , are to be wholly rejected , which broach any novelty are justly to be suspected , and those which are only of some particular concernment are not generally to be regarded : but when the things delivered are pure , the authority of them unquestionable , and their utility universall , they cannot but challenge our attention and reception ; such is the evangelicall doctrine ; such are the apostlicall writings , such in particular is this epistle . to this purpose it is that in this very chapter st john asserts all these concerning his doctrines . their unspotted purity , verse first , where he saith , these things i write to you that you sin not . their unquestionable antiquity , verse seaventh where he saith , i write not a new commandment to you , but an old , the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning . finally , their generall extent in these verses , as reaching to all of all ages , i write to you , little children , &c. . having handled the first part of this scripture , namely , the persons specified : pass we on to the second which is the act performed by st john towards these persons , and that is writing , as it is often expressed in the severall verses . that i may give you a full account of this part , i shall consider the act here mentioned . . absolutely , and therein take notice both of the act it self , and the iteration of it . . relatively , in reference to the agent , who ; the subject , to whom ; and the object about which he writes . . in the absolute consideration we are to . begin with the act exprest in the word write . st john had spoken before , yea , no doubt by preaching the gospell to them , had been the means of their conversion ; ( whom therefore he cals in the first verse my little children , ) and now to his former speaking he addeth writing . thus calvin conceiveth that the prophets did write a summary or abridgment of those messages they delivered , which were for sometime affixed to the gates of the temple for the people to read ; and afterward taken down and laid in the treasury : and it is expresly asserted concerning god himself , that after he had given the law , speaking the ten words with his own lips , he wrote them with his own fingers in two tables of stone . if you shall inquire a reason why god would have his word not only spoken but written , and his apostles not only nephtalies , to give goodly words , but zebulons to handle the pen ; and not only orators , but secretaries ? i answer upon a threefold ground , drawn from themselves , their people , and the truth they had delivered . . in regard of themselves ; inasmuch as writing was a supply of their absence . the mother cannot be alwaies present with the babe to suckle it with the dug , and therefore she provideth a sucking bottle to refresh it in her absence ; thus the apostles , because they could not be in many places at once , and consequently not alwaies present with their scattered flock , vouchsafed to write to them , that their wrightings might be instead of vocall instructions . . in regard of the people , since these writings were an excellent means both of strengthning their memories , and confirming their faith . . the writing did bring to the peoples remembrance what the apostles had formerly taught them . this st peter asserteth as the end of his writing , to stir up the pure minds of the people by way of remembrance , it being a great prop to memorie , when those truths which have been sounded in the eare , are afterwards presented to the eye , whilst what was lost to the one , is restooed to the o●her , and so truth secured to the memory . . these writeings were no small confirmation of the people in the faith ; by speaking the apostles did as it were lay the foundation , and by writeing they reared the fabrick , by preaching they planted , and by writeing watered . finally by speaking they converted heathens to , and by writeing they corroborated the christians in the faith . . once more , in regard of the truths themselves , that they might hereby be perpetuated to posterity . to this purpose rivet asserteth the writings of gods word as not only profitable , but necessary , labili memoriae & posterorum successioni , as to help the weakness of memory , so to transmit revelations to after ages : aelian reporteth of certain frogs which taking a kind of reed into their mouths , save themselves from the water serpents that would devoure them ; thus the holy apostles by taking a pen into their hands , have preserved those pretious truths which the devill indeavoureth to swallow up . by which it appears , that the sacred writings though they were directed to them who then lived , yet they are intended for us . st paul saith of the writings of the old testament . that the things which were written aforetime , were written for our learning , the like may we say of the writings both of the new and old testament , they are for our use and instruction . and surely this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , cals for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , reading is the end of writing ; and since the apostles took the pains to write , it is but just we should bestow the time to read . it was a sad complaint of god himself against israel , i have written to them the great things of my law , and they have accounted them as a strange thing . oh that the like accusation might not be charged by christ upon us , i have written to them the great things of my gospell , but they have counted them as a strange thing , and are strangers to them ! how sad is it to think that whereas davids blessed man meditateth on gods law day and night ; with many of us , daies and nights , nay , weeks and moneths , pass away without reading and meditating on the sacred writings . oh let us wip● of the dust of contempt from the cover of our bibles , and recall them from the land of forgetfulness whither our neglect hath banished them . . it would yet further be taken notice of , that here is not only a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i write , in the thirteenth , but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i have written , in the fourteenth verse , the sense whereof is fitly rendred by estius to be scripsi iterumque scribo , i have written , and again i write . our apostle doth not only adde precept to precept , but line to line , concerning the same precept , and though he had written just before , yet he writeth again , nor are we to imagine it was through want of matter , but abundance of zeal that our apostle striketh a second time upon the same string ; that workman who would fasten the naile in the wall , must drive it home to the head , by repeated blows ; many times as second thoughts are better , so s●ond admonitions are stronger , and have a more prevailing influence ; some indeed awake at the first call , but the most have need of a second , nay , a third . calvin too rashly judgeth these repetitions in the fourteenth verse to be superfluous ; yet i would to god they were , but st john knew it otherwise : and we cannot but observe it in our own experience there is a great necessity , and therefore just reason that we should write and speak the same lesson once , and again ; and surely if it concerneth us to write , it behoveth you to read the same writings again and again , the one must not be grievous to us , nor the other tedious for you ; some things need to be read once and again that we may understand them , or if reading once we understand , let us read again that we may remember , and if we understand and remember , let us read again that we may finde our affections inlivened . . having viewed the absolute , pass we on to the relative consideration of this act , and that in reference . to the agent . that which here this holy apostle taketh to himself is onely the writing , not the enditing ; he was the scribe , but the spirit of god dictated , or if you will , he was the pen but the spirit , the hand that guided it . it is st peters generall assertion , the holy men of god spake as being moved by the holy ghost . and st paul is no less express when he saith , all scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of divine inspiration , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , inspiring , is gods part , and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , writing was the apostles . indeed we finde two expressions which seem directly opposite one to the other ; whenas in the tenth verse of the seaventh chapter of the epistle to the corinthians the apostle saith , i command you ; not i , but the lord , and in the twelfth verse , speake i , not the lord. but it will be easily salved , if we consider that st paul refers to the doctrine which the lord christ delivered himself concerning divorces , wherein though there is a generall prohibition ( except in case of fornication , ) yet there is nothing in particular concerning the case of difference in religion , when the one is a christian , and the other a pagan , and therefore whereas in the generall mandate st paul saith , not i , but the lord ; in the particular counsell he saith , i , not the lord , that is , the lord christ hath not said any thing expresly as to this present case , but still what st paul said in it , was by the dictate of gods spirit ; and therefore in the end of that chapter he closeth with this , i think also ( which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an emphaticall diminution expressing more then an opinion , a confident knowledge ) that i have the spirit of god. and surely this consideration is that which should oblige us to read apostolicall writings with reverence , looking beyond the penman to god who inspired them , far be it from any of us to think of these writeings , what julian said of certain papers , which were sent him in vindication of the christian religion , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i have read , i understand , i despise them , no , rather let us admire and adore them . the truth is in the very writings themselves , there is that verity , purity , and elegancy , which may render them acceptable ; but when besides we ponder their authority , they call not only for acceptance , but reverence . nor is it enough thus to read , but we must labour for a transcript of what we read , that what is written in the book , may be written in our hearts ; and truly not only the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in this sense belongs to gods spirit . the apostle may write to them , but it is the spirit must write in them . god appropriateth it to himself as his own act , i will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts : in reading therefore the sacred books , let us implore that spirit which dictated to the penman , to imprint upon our hearts , that so we may be transformed into the image of those truths we read , and have within us a coppy of the writing without us . . to the subject , fathers , young men , children , and here . it would be observed , that our apostle in writing contents not himself with generalities , but directs his diicourse particularly , like a good archer he doth not shoot at randome , but levell the arrow of his admonition at the severall marks , or like the master of a feast doth not only set whole dishes , but carveth to his severall guests . indeed as calvin well noteth , generalis sermo minus afficit , what is spoken generally to all , is too often looked upon as if it belonged to none : we are all very apt to put of rebuks and counsels as if they did not concern us ; and our question like that of peters is , what shall this man do ? not like that of the jayler , what shall i do ? and therefore it is a pious prudence in the minister , to bring home his discourse by particular application to the various conditions of his auditors . thus st paul in his epistle laid down instructions for men , for women , for the aged , and the young , for parents , for children , for masters , for servants : and here s● john writeth not only to all christians verse twelfth , but particularly to fathers , young men , children , verses thirteen , fourteen . . observe , st john in his writing exc●seth not old men , nor yet excludeth little children . . on the one hand st john writing to old men , intimateth that none are too old to learn divine doctrines ; and therefore they must not think scorne that the ministers of god should instruct them . elegant is that of seneca , tamdiu audiendum & discendum est quamdiu nescias , quamdiu vivas . we must hear so long as we are ignorant , and learn so long as we live : more appositely st austin , ad discendum & audiendum nulla aetas senex videri potest , no age exempts from instruction . since though it is more proper for old men to teach then learn , yet it is better for them to learn then to be ignorant . indeed st paul justly blameth those who were ever learning , and never came to the knowledg of the truth : but yet those who are come to the knowledg of the truth , must be ever learning even to their dying day . it is no other then a base pride of spirit which causeth men to account themselves either too wise or too old to be taught in the waies of god. it were a strange reasoning if an old man being constrained to take a tedious journey and not knowing the way , should say thus within himself , i know not where i am , but i will not ask the way because i am old ; and is not their folly great , who reason thus about the way to heaven ? indeed when we address our selves to the ancient , we must manage our counsels with respect , not imperiously commanding or malapertly reproving , but humbly intreating ▪ and meekly admonishing them , yet still neither must they think much to be minded of , nor must we neglect to acquaint them with their duty , for thus st john as he gives them the reuerent title of fathers , so he writeth to them for their instruction . . on the other hand , st john writing to little children intimateth that care ought to be taken for the institution of little children . indeed little children are most fit to be taught , citius assuescit omne quod tenerum , we tame a lion when it is young , heale a wound whilst it is green , break an horse whilst it is a colt , teach a dog whilst it is a whelp , bow a tree whilst it is a twig , and men as well as other creatures are most easily instructed whilst young . . besides what we learn whilst little children , as it is most easily received , so most firmely retained , altius praecepta descendunt quae teneris imprimuntur aetatibus , those precepts which are cast into the mindes of little ones take deepest root . that of the poet is well known , vessels keep the liquor longest with which they are first seasoned , and solomon assureth us , traine a childe in the way he should go , and he will not depart from it when he is old . . adde to this , that if children be not instructed in good , they will learn evill things ; mans mind is like the ground , into which if good seed be not cast , evill weeds will spring up ; or like a restless mill which cannot stand still , so that if it be not taken up with virtnes , it will imploy it self in vitious practices . indeed as the heathen saith truly , omnes praeoccupati sumus , we are all forestalled , and our minds are naturally inclined to what is evill , the more need to indeavour the plucking it up before it fasten too much in , and take too much hold upon us . upon all these considerations no wonder if s● john take little children as well as young men into his tuition by writing to them . and surely this is that which should minde parents to take heed of delaies in providing for the ingenious and pious education of their children , incourage schoolmasters to the discharge of their calling , which though conversant about little children is of great use and benefit . finally , advertise ministers to take care for catechizing the little children as well as instructing young men , and fathers . our blessed saviour had so great a respect for little children , that he blamed those who would have kept them from him embraced them in his arms and blessed them . david though a king disdaineth not to be a teacher of children ; many of the ancient fathers , clemens , origen , cyrill of jerusalem , gregory nyssen were cathechists , whose office is to instruct little children ; yea , here this holy apostle leaveth not out in his writings little children , and so much for the second . the last reference of this act is to the ob●ect whereabout this writing is conversant . it is that which is not expressed in the text , and therefore is supplyed by expositors , yet not without some differen●e . i ●inde among interpreters a threefold construction of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i write as to the matter of it . . some enlarge it as extending to the whole epistle , and so these verses are a digression from the pr●ceding matter , and they may well be called the epistle dedicatory ; wherein st john giveth an account to whom his epistle is written ; all christians in generall , and in particular to fathers , young men , and children . . others refer these verses to the duty of brotherly love before mentioned : and having commended the worth he here showeth the fitness of it to all ages of men . i write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , this commandment of love to you fathers , young men , children ; according to which construction these verses look backward and are a close of the preceding discourse . that which strengthens this reference is that it manifestly appeareth a great part of this epistle insisteth upon the duty of love ; and therefore no wonder if our apostle when first he speaketh of it both prefixeth a proaemium , declaring its antiquity and affixeth a peroration , discovering its congruity to all sorts of christians . finally , others refer these verses to that prohibition of worldly love , which followeth in the fifteenth , sixteenth , and seaventeenth verses ; and so it looketh forward , and is as it were an exordium to make way for that inhibition , which he knew would be so unwelcome to the most , though it concerned them all . and now though by what is already said , i conceive the middlemost of these most rational , yet since none of them are either improbable or unprofitable , i shall handle each . . if we extend this writing to the whole epistle , that which would be observed , is the community of the holy scriptures . this epistle was written by st john not only to strong but weak christians , to old but young men , nay little children ; and if it was written , certainly it was intended that it should be read to them publikely , and by them privately for their edification . nor is this less true of the other writings of this apostle , of the writings of the other apostles , and of the prophets ; and therefore vorstius layeth it down as a general doctrine from this text , sacra scriptura ●mnibus fidelibus cujusconque aetatis aut conditionis ( dummodo capaces doctrinae ) est destinata : the holy scripture is written for all ages and conditions of christians , who are capable of instruction . it is very observable to this purpose what care saint paul took for the publike reading of his epistle to the colossians , and not only to them , but the laodiceans , what a solemn charge and adjuration by the lord he gives , that his first epistle to the thessalonians be read to all the holy brethren . this practice of publike reading was used by the jewish church who had moses and the prophets read in their synagogues on the sabbath day , and accordingly it was followed by the christian church in the primitive times . justin martyr assureth us , that in the publike assembly on the lords day , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , some of the apostolical and prophetical writings were read to the people , and tertullian saith , convenimus ad literarum divinarum commemorationem , one end of our meetings is the commemoration of the holy scriptures . rhenanus quoting this passage in his annotations upon another book of that fathers , breatheth forth that pious wish , utinam redeat ad nos ista consuetudo , oh that this custome were in use among us . that note of st hierome upon those words of the psalmist , the lord shall count when he writes up the people , as translated by him , would not be passed by , dominus narrabit in scriptura populorum , the lord shall declare in the writings of the people , so he renders it , that is in scripturis sanctis , in the holy scriptures , so he glosses it , and presently adds , quae scriptura populis omnibus legitur , hoc est ut omnes intelligant , the scripture is read unto all the people , to the end all may understand it . nor are the sacred writings only to be read to , but by the people , of what age and condition soever . it is very observable to this purpose how the psalmist inviteth every man , and as st basil notes upon the place , ( he doth not exclude the woman ) to meditate day and night , ( which supposeth reading ) on the law of god by a promise of blessedness . nay st john in the beginning of that obscure book of the revelation asserts , blessed is he that readeth and heareth the words of this prophesit , as if by that assurance of bliss he would invite every man to the reading of it . indeed there want not express precepts in this kind ; it is our saviours command concerning the old testament , search the scriptures ; and saith st cyrill , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , christ gives this charge to the people of the jewes : nor is his assertion without plain proof . for those to whom christ speaks these words , were they who sent to john , and they who sent the priests and levites to john , were the common people of the jewes : nor are we to imagine this as a peculiar indulgenc● to the jewes at that time because of their incredulity , unless a preceding prohibition can appear , denying the search of the scriptures to them ; which since it is not to be found , we truly affirm it to be a general mandate . and origen inferreth thence an affectionate desire concerning christians , utinam omnes faceremus illud quod scriptum est , scrutamini scripturas , i would to god we would all follow that command , search the scriptures : s● paul speaking of the new testament , which is most peculiaaly the word of christ , adviseth the colossians , and in them all sorts of christians , let it dwell in you richly in all wisdome : and s● hierome notes on that place , in hoc ostenditur verbum christi non suffitienter sed abundanter etiam lai●os habere debere , hereby is asserted that the laity ought to have the word of christ in them not only sufficiently but abundantly : and s● chrysostomes exhortation upon those words is very generall , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hear all you that are employed in the things of this life , get bibles , at least the new testament ; nor are we to think that the fathers zeal transported him so far as to press that as a duty , which yet was not consonant to reason , or to put the people upon doing what the church forbad them . both these to wit the reading of the scriptures to , and by all sorts and ages of christians being clear , it will be needless to insist upon the necessity of translating them into the languages of several countries , since otherwise the reading of them to the unlearned would be in vain , and by them impossible . indeed when the church was confined to the nation of the jewes ( in whose language the old testament was written ) there was no need of translating it ; but since the christian church spread over all the world , there have been various translations of particular parcels , yea the whole bible into several languages , that those writings which belong to , may be in some measure understood by all . indeed when we seriously weigh those several metaphors to which the word is compared , especially those of a light , and food , and a sword , we may easily discern of how necessary use it is for all christians . david cals it a lanthorn to his feet , and a light to his paths , and surely then there is no traveller to that celestial canaan , but hath need of this light to direct him in his journey , and discover to him his way . what food is to the body , that is the word to the soul ; yea it is such as affoards both meat for men , and milk for babes , according to s● pauls distinction . est in illis ( saith saint austin of these writings ) quod perfectus c●medat , est etiam quod parvulus sugat ; there is in them what the perfect christian may eat , and what the weakling may suck . no wonder if that divi●e poet saith of the holy scripture , — nullis animis , nullis non congruit annis . it befits all minds and years . finally , s● paul reckoning up the pieces of our spiritual armour , calleth the word of god , the sword of the spirit ; and of all weapons , none more common then the sword ; no warriour , from the generall to the meanest officer , nay common souldier , goeth without his sword ; and since all of all ages are engaged to the christian warfare , there is great reason why this spiritual sword should be affoarded to them . by what hath been said , the practice of the church of rome in withholding the free use of the scriptures from the common people appeareth very unjust and impious . look as it is tyranny in the commonwealth ( to use chamier's comparison ) which causeth jealous rulers to deprive the people of their armor ; so is it superstition in the church which denyeth ordinary christians the reading of the word , which is their best piece of armour : indeed what do they by this meanes but render the bible useless , whilest it is a fountain sealed , or a treasury locked up , whence no benef●t can be expected ? the only plausible argument which the papists urge in defence of this practice , is that abuse which ignorant and prophane persons are apt to make of the scriptures , for the patronizing both of errours and vices , whereby it is that they wrest them to their own perdition . that thus it too often falls out , is not to be denyed , but that therefore the free use of the scriptures is to be interdicted , cannot be granted . when s● peter tels us , that unlearned and unstable souls did wrest many things in st pauls epistles and other scriptures to their own perdition , he plainly intimateth that there was then given a liberty to the unlearned of reading the scriptures , else how could they have wrested them ; nor doth he from the wresting infer a prohibition of reading , but only an advice to those to whom he writes , that they were not led away with the errour of the wicked . to clear this further , you may please to know that , . this perverting is only an accidentall consequent , not a necessary or naturall effect of reading the scriptures . st paul saith expresly , the whole scripture is profitable for doctrine , for reproofe , for correction , and for instruction in righteousness : for these ends it is intended by god , to these it tends in its own nature ; and if any contrary use be made of these books , it is an eveut , but not an effect , and they only a occasion , but no cause . . that the accidentall evill of what is in it self good , and by its proper efficacy produceth a good , greater or as great as the evill , is no just ground for the denegation of the good . true it is , evill must not be done that good may come of it , but it is as true , that good must not be left undone though evill come of it . the practice of that king was no way commendable , who cut down all the vines in his country , because some men were drunk with the wine . it would be a mad edict which should forbid men their meat and drink , because many surfeit through excess . hezechiahs destroying the brasen serpent because some men idolized it , had not been justified if there had been the like benefit by , and use of it in his as in moses his time . it is an excellent rule of tertullian , multum differt inter causam & culpam , statum & excessum ; non institutio bonae rei sed exorbitatio reprobanda est , to give you the sence of it in short english . the evill abuse of a good thing is no sufficient cause for the totall dis-use , especially where the use counter vaileth the abuse . that so it is in this present case is evident , the good which men generally reap by reading the scriptures being far greater then the evill which some men occasionally draw from it . if then this sword which is put into the hand of any christiah for his defence against his spirituall adversaries , be by some mad men turned upon their own and others breasts ; the guilt must lye upon the wicked abuser of this sacred weapon , nor must the rest of christs souldiers be debarred of it . indeed , this liberty which i have now pleaded for , must be both given and taken with a restriction by putting a difference between the reading and interpreting of scriptures , every one may read the bible , and every one must labour to understand what they read ; but every one may not , ought not to undertake the expounding of it ; none may be wise above what is written , nor must weak novices think themselves so wise , as to interpret what is written : little children and young men must ask the fathers , private christians must enquire of the pastours and doctors of the church , whom god hath appointed in a peculiar manner for that end . just therefore is that complaint which st hierome made of his times ; and i would to god it did not fit this present age , whereas in secular matters every man followeth his particular occupation , — tractant fabrilia fabri . as the poets expression is , the smith meddleth with his anvill , the carpenter with his rule , the shoomaker with his last , sola scripturarum ar● est quam sibi omne ▪ vendicant , the profound art of opening scripture is that which all sorts presume to assume to themselves . every pratling gossip , and doting foole , and malapert boy , will be medling with the scriptures , and instead of deviding , mangle it ; expounding , wrest it , taking upon them to teach , whilst yet they have more need to learn. politicians say that anarchie is worse then tyrany , and it were better to live where nothing , then where all things are lawfull ; and truly in the church it is hard to determine which is worse , the papisticall tyrannie of forbidding all to read , or the anabaptisticall anarchie of allowing all to expound the scriptures . to cl●st up this , how great is our happiness ( did or would we know ) who live in the bosome of such a church , which as she denyeth an unjust , so she indulgeth to us our just liberty ; and how great is both our unhappiness and wickedness , whilst some boldly intrench upon the one , and more carelesly neglect the other . let it then be the practice of all both old and young to read these holy writings ; thinke it not enough to hear them read in the church , but in domibus vestris aut uos legite aut alios legentes requirite , at home either read them your selves , or cause them to be read to you ; let not any excuse themselves saying , non sum monachus , i am no monke seculars are bound to this duty , non novi literas , i am not book-learned , the greater thine and thy parents negligence : and however , thou maist obtain to have them read to thee . and when in reading or hearing these sacred books you meet with difficulties , repaire to the priest , whose lips preserve knowledg ; knock once and again by prayer for the spirit of illumination , and in this case make use of solomons counsell leane not to thy own understanding . these things are written to you fathers , be not you strangers to them , exercise your selves in these books , make them with david your delight , and your counsellers : they are written unto you young men , follow the psalmists counsell , and by taking heed to this word , learn to clense your waies . they are written to you little children , do you begin to acquaint your selves with them . it is recorded for the praise of timothy , that from a childe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his first years , wherein he was capable of learning , and instruction , he knew the holy scriptures . it is observed that the th psalm is disposed according to the letters of the hebrew alphabet ; perhaps to intimate that children when they began to learn their alphabet , should learn that psalm . the jews ( as a learned popish bishop hath noted ) filios suos quinquennes ad saera biblia adaptabant , began to acquaint their children at five years of age with the bible , and pudeat christianos , what a shame is it for christians not to begin as early as the jews . it was the charge ignatius gave to the parents , that they should bring up their children in the nurture of the lord , and to that end , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that they should teach them the holy scriptures . what if children cannot for the present understand ? yet they can remember what they read in the scriptures , and the reading of them maketh such impressions upon their minds , which are of singular use to them afterwards ; nor is it any prophanation of those holy writings for children to take them into their mouths , though they cannot read them with that knowledg and consequently devotion as is required in , and expected from young men and fathers . it is very unlikely that those children knew the meaning of hosanna , whom yet christ forbade not to utter it . it is both piety and prudence to deal with little children according to their capacity ; let them first be accustomed to read , and then to remember ; and by this meanes in due time they will be brought to understand and affect those holy writings . though withall , prudence adviseth that in reading there be a graduall order observed , beginning with such parcels of holy writ as are most necessary and easie to be known ; the lords prayer , the commandments , the sermon of christ upon the mount , many of the psalms of david , proverbs of solomon , and such like portions of scripture , would first be taught to children , and young men would be advised to be conversant in , not attempting to look into the more darke and mysterious parts of scripture , till they have attained by being catechized , by hearing sermons , and other godly helps , some good measure of divine knowledg ; and then in reading what they cannot understand , with humility to admire , and modesty to enquire into the sense and meaning of such scriptures . . but further , if we refer this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i write , to that command of love which is prescribed in the preceding verses , that which is here intimated is , that love is such a command as belongs to all sorts of christians and ages of men. . it belongs to all sorts of christians , little children , weake christians are obliged to love : patience under the cross , joyfullness in tribulation , spiritualness in duty , and such like qualifications ; are not attained till we come to be young men , nay , fathers ; but brotherly love is to be practised by , and is expected of them who are but little children in christianity . indeed this is one of the first graces which discovers it self in a saint , and even then when a weak christian cannot say i beleeve in christ , yet he can say i love my brother . nor is this duty to be laid aside , when we come to be young men , yea , fathers ; strong , yea , perfect christians ; since as we abound in other graces , so especially we must abound in this ; and the perfecting of a christian , consists much in the perfecting of his love. indeed when many other graces shall cease , love shall remain , the great employment of glorified saints being to praise god , and love one another . . it belongs to all ages of men , none but ought to practice and have need to be admonished of it . the poyson of anger and hatred is apt to creep into us betimes ; little children are prone to fall out , and quarrel and fight one with another ; and young men being in heat of blood very often boyle over with rage ; yea , old men are apt to be peevish and froward , so that every age stands in need of this bridle of love to restrain their passion ; one of the first lessons a little childe is capable of learning is love ; and old men when they can do nothing else , yet may love ; it is that grace which is never out of season , it is that grace which will fit all sexes , all sizes , all ages , and is never out of fashion . . lastly , if we take this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i write , as a preface to the following dehortation , it implyeth the generall concernment of avoiding worldly love. . it concerneth all sorts of christians : the first part of that duty which the grace of god teacheth is , to deny all ungo●●●iness and worldly lusts . self-deniall which includeth a renouncing of the world , is the first step in the ladder of christianity which christ hath erected ; and yet withall , it is that which even young men and fathers grown perfect christians have need to be minded of . it is very hard to walk upon snares , and not be intangled ; nor have the best christians their conversations so in heaven , but they are apt to be enamoured with earth ; and whilst they find strength to deny ungodliness , they still find cause to complain of worldly lusts ; no wonder if st john write to all sorts , love not the world . . it concerneth all ages . love of the world is that which begins betimes to take hold of our hearts ; little children no sooner begin to know any thing , but they are taken with these present visible sensuall objects : young men that are as it were entring upon the world , have much to do in it ; and no marvell if they be too much taken with it ; nay , which is both strange and usuall , old men though they are going out of the world , do yet cling in their affections about the world ; herein their minds resemble their bodies , which the older they grow , still they bow down more towards the earth : one wittily compareth them to the rivers , which the nearer they come to the sea , which is their end , the broader they are , and the more water they suck ; oh how greedy are many old men of this world , as if they were to run a new race of fourscore years longer , when they are ready to drop into the grave ? quo minus viae restat , eo plus viatici quaerunt ; the lesse way they have to go , the more provision they crave for their journey . good reason then had our apostle , writing about this sinne , to admonish all ages to beware of it . and thus i have given a dispatch to the second generall part of this scripture , the act performed . the last and greatest part yet remaineth to be diseussed in the following discourses . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . . i write unto you little children , because your sinnes are forgiven you for his names sake . it was the peculiar prerogative of the disciples that they were fellows of christs colledg . it is the common priviledg of all christians that they are students in christs church . the studies wherein they are chiefly to be conversant are two ; namely , of faith and repentance ; how to obtain pardon of sin past , how to attain strength against sin for the fature . these studies are each of them very choice and excellent , and withall of that nature , that they cannot be severed : in vain doth he study for pardon who striveth not against sin ; and yet it is not future obedience will satisfie for former guilt . as therefore we must be solicitous for grace that sin may be prevented , so we must be studious for mercy that guilt may be absolved . to help us in both these studies , namely , to quicken our repentance , and to strengthen our faith , is the great designe of our apostolicall tutor in this epistle : in reference to the former he saith in the first verse , these things i write to you that you sin not , and in regard of the latter he saith in the twelfth verse , i write to you little children , because your sins are forgiven . the reasons of our apostles writing to all christians in generall , and each age in particular , are now to be handled . . that with which i am to begin is the reason of his writing to the little children , the christians in generall as it is expressed in the close of the twelfth verse , because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake . for the further discussion whereof , i shall consider it two waies , as a consolatory assertion , your sins are forgiven you for his names sake . as an hortatory reason , enducing them to observe what he wrote to them , in the word because . these words , your sins are forgiven you for his name sake , contain in them an excellent comfort , a singular blessing , concerning which we are to take notice of its quality , sins are forgiven , propriety , your sins , efficiency , for his name sake . of each in order , with all perspicuous brevity , beginning with . the quality of the blessing here assured , forgivness of sins ; it is the subject which i have already had occasion to discourse of in the former chapter , but considering both the sweetness and the largeness of it , i could not here pass it by . remission of sins is so sweet a comfort , that like a pleasant tune it affects the more by the iteration ; and yet withall , it is a doctrine of such ample extent , that notwithstanding what hath been already said , there is somewhat still remaining to be said ; yea , when i have said all i can , i must confess my self unable fully to explicate the nature of it . that i may give you a further account concerning this excellent benefit , you must know that sin is to be considered three waies , in it self , in reference to god , and to the sinner . . there are two things observable to our present purpose in sin absolutely considered , to wit ; its essence , and its property , the one whereof is constitutive , and the other consecutive , if it be allowable to make use of those phrases , when we speak of a privation . that wherein sin doth primarily consist , is the breach of the laws prescription ; that which doth inseparably attend upon it , is its desert of the laws curse ; now neither of these are properly the object of forgiveness ; and the reason is plain , because it is impossible , ex naturâ rei , and such as implyeth a contradiction that a sin should not be a breach of the law , or being a breach should not deserve the curse . indeed it is with the forgiven person in some respects , and as to some accounts quasi , as if his sin were no sin , as if the law had never been violated , nor the penalty deserved ; the breach shall not be imputed to , so as that the penalty shall be inflicted on him ; but the forgiven sin is in it self as truly a sin , and as deserving punishment after as before : it is one thing to acquit a malefactor as not guilty , and another thing to absolve him from the punishment due to him for his guilt : when god forgiveth a sinner , he cannot ( be it spoken with an holy reverence ▪ ) peccatum non peccatum facere , make a sin to be no sin ; and therefore those phrases which express forgiveness to be a taking away iniquity , so as though sin be sought for , it cannot be found ; yea , a making crimson , scarlet sins to be white as snow , and wooll , are not to be pressed too rigidly , but construed with a tanquam ; sin forgiven is as if it had never been and were utterly extinct . . in sin considered with reference to god there are two things further to be observed , namely , the aversation from , and the offence to god , which are its concommitants . . by sin we run away and wander far from god. some of the schoolemen define it to be an aversion from the creator to the creature , and the remedy of this is not remission but conversion ; indeed none have their sins forgiven , but they who turn from their sin to god ; yet the turning a sinner from his sin , and the pardoning to a sinner his sin , are distinct acts . . by sin we offend and displease god. indeed sin being against him cannot but displease him ; and being a breach of his law must needs incurre his wrath , insomuch that he is both offended with the sin , and the sinner for his sin . now in forgiveness . on the one hand , the offence against the sin is not removed . not gods toleration , no nor yet his absolution is any approbation . gods pure nature cannot but hate sin , and that in those to whom he forgiveth it ; far be it from us to imagine , that whilst god punisheth the sins of the wicked , he is well pleased with the sins of believers ; sin in whomsoever it is cannot but offend gods holiness . but yet on the other hand , the displeasure against the sinner is taken away , and every forgiven sinner is in a state of reconciliation . to this purpose it is that we find those two are joyned together , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god was in christ reconciling the world to himself , not imputing their trespasses , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he hath graciously accepted us , and we have forgiveness of sins , so that sin being forgiven , the sinner is reconciled to god. and yet this must be understood with a distinction of gods anger , into judicial and paternal ; when god forgiveth sin , he is no longer angry as a judge , but still he hath a fatherly anger , whereby it is that he ofttimes corrects those whom he forgiveth . true it is , those corrections which god inflicts on forgiven sinners , are called judgements , but not because they are layed upon them by him as a judge ( as a late writer inconsiderately glosseth ) but because they are moderated with judgement ; in which notion judgement is opposed to judicial anger , as appeareth by the prophets prayer , oh lord correct me , but with judgement , not in anger . to this purpose it is very observable that s paul saith , when we are judged , we are chastened of the lord , not when we are chastened , we are judged , where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , plainly noteth the chastisement of a child by his father , so that the apostles manifest assertion is , whatsoever judgement befalls believers for their sins , they are only the chastisements of a father , and so far distant from and preventive of the punishment of condemnation which he inflicts upon the world as a judge : and therefore we need not doubt that when sin is forgiven , gods judicial anger is appeased . . lastly , in sin considered with reference to the sinner , there are three things further observable ; the spot defiling , the guilt oblieging , and the punishment attending . . the spot or blot of sin is either in respect of the person who is thereby deprived of that state of innocency and purity wherein before he was , or in regard of the nature which is bereaved of that excellency and beauty which before it had . the former of these can never be taken away , it being impossible to affirm of one who hath sinned , that he is an innocent person ; for that were to say he is one who never sinned ; even of those who are glorified saints in heaven , it must be acknowledged that they were sinners upon earth , so that in this respect adam before his fall had that innocency which cannot be attributed to those who are invested with glory . the latter of these is that which is removed not by remission , but renovation ; justification , but sanctification , and therefore till sanctification be compleat , is not perfectly taken away . . the guilt obliging is that whereby the sinner is actually bound to undergo the punishment due to him by the law , and passed on him by the judge for the breach of it . this is that which is called by the schools the extrinsecal guilt of sin , to distinguish it from the intrinsecal , which is included in the deordination of the act , and which ( as is already affirmed ) is inseparable from the sin ; and if you would know wherein the nature of forgiveness immediately and primarily consists , it is in the taking of this obligation , and discharging the sinner from it . hence it is that the pardoned sinner is said not to be under the law , that is not under the curse , the sentence of condemnation belongs not to him . according to this notion all scripture phrases are to be construed , by which forgiveness is expressed : god when he forgiveth sin , is said to cover them , to remember them no more , to cast them behind his back , throw them into the depth of the sea , blot them out as a cloud , hide his face , turn away his face from them ; by all which expressions , we are not to think that god doth not know , se● , take notice of , or that seeing , he is not displeased with such sins , and believers for them ; but that he will not so take notice of them , as to enter into judgement with the persons for them ; so that the forgiven sinner is free from obligation of the punishment , as truly , as surely , as fully , as perfectly free , as if he had never committed the sin , but were altogether innocent : in which regard we may say with the poet , quem p●nite● peccasse penè est innocens , he that is paenitent , and so pardoned , is in a manner innocent , to wit in respect of his exemption from any obligation to the curse of the law , otherwise due to him for his sin . . and then which followeth upon the former ; there is the punishment it self . to open which briefly ▪ know , . that punishment is a natural consequent of sin , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vengeance dogs the sinner at the heels , the hebrewes by one word express both , they are so near a kin ; if thou dost ill ( faith god to cain ) sin , ( that is the punishment of sin ) lyeth a● the door , ready to seize upon thee . . that punishment which is the attendant on sin extensively reacheth to all the miseryes which men endure , but especially to the torments of the other world , as appeareth by the sentence denounced against the intruding guest , and the uncharitable servant , which chiefly respect the estate of the damned , and contain in them allegorical descriptions of hell . . finally , this punishment is not only for a time withheld , but wholly taken away when sin is forgiven ; a reprieve only suspends and deferr●s , but a pardon takes off , and prevents●●e ●●e execution . that which is most principally the punishment , to wit of the damned , shall never be inflicted , and whatsoever miseries and afflictions may befall a pardoned sinner , though they are materially , yet they are not formally punishments , because not for satisfaction of offended justice . and thus , with what brevity this weighty point would admit , i have discovered to you the nature of this mercy ; and surely by what hath been said , we may easily see how precious a blessing it is , as being eminently the queen of mercies , the ocean of blessings , the quintessence of comforts , and vertually all blessings whatsoever we can stand in need of , or long after . till sin be forgiven , no good can be expected , and therefore they are put together . take away all iniquity , and do us good : either god withholds mercy , or else the mercy proveth a curse to the unpardoned sinner ; sin being forgiven , there is no evill which we need to fear , not gods wrath , not the laws curse , not satans malice , not hels torments ; when the angell said of jesus , he shall save his people from their sins , he implyeth salvation from all evils , which are the proper effects of sin : since according to that known maxime , sublatâ causâ tollitur effectus , the cause being removed , the effects cannot but cease . and as there is no evill which we need feare , so neither is there any good which we may not hope . zanchy observeth upon the text , that by a synecdoche forgiveness of sins is here put for all blessings : sure i am , all good goeth along with pardoning mercy : it is not so in mens pardons , the forgiven malefactor is not therefore received into favour , or advanced to honour : but grace and glory , yea , all blessings attend those whom god forgiveth . indeed it is only sin which stops the current of mercy , no wonder then if sin being removed mercy flows in a pace . reconciliatio● to , acceptation with god , both of our persons and services , freedome of access to the throne of grace , and a mercifull audience of our prayers , supplies of all needfull comforts , and a turning of all afflictions to our good ; finally , the sonship now , and the inheritance hereafter , do all belong to him whose s●ns are forgiven . excellently fulgentius to our present purpose , non de re parvâ disserimus , nec vile aliquid quaerimus cum de remissione peccatorum disputamus , it is not a light matter , an unworthy subject we discourse of , when we speak of remission of sins ; by this we are freed from eternall punishment , that we may enjoy eternall bliss , by this that weight of ●●n which either by nature or life hath been contracted , is removed , and christ giveth ease to the weary and laden ; by this the ungodly is freely justi●●ed , his faith being accounted to him for righteousness . finally , by remission of sins men are graciously differenced from those who shall be eternally tormented with , and by the devill , and joyned to those who shall eternally reign with christ : oh then ( according to ferus his pious counsell ) hoc ipsum pro maximo dono & gratiâ repetimus : let us esteem this the highest favour , and the greatest gift whereof we can be partakers ; and withall , labour we to be among that number to whom this priviledg belongs . and so i am fallen on the propriety of the persons in the word , your . forgiveness of ●●ns , as you have already heard , is a great , but withall it is a speciall blessing . there are some benefits which are common to elect and reprobate , good and bad ; such is that whereby god doth spare sinners , and withholds the execution of punishment from them : for so st paul speaketh of goodness and forbearance to those who d●sp●se it . but then there are peculiar benefits which are the portion only of the good so confer'd o●● , as that they a●● confined to the regenerate , among which is this o● ●●rgiveness , and therefore it is said here your sins . forgiveness of sins may be considered three waies ; . in the decree and purpose of it , which was before the begining of the world , from all eternity . in the plenar● completion and open publication of it which shall not be till the end of the world , when time shall be no more . in the particular application of it to severall persons which is time by time in this present world , and is not vouchsafed to any till they are regenerated . to unfold this more fully , take this your both exclusivè and inclusivè , by way of restriction and inlargement , yours , that is , none but yours , yours , that is , all your sins are forgiven . yours and none but your sins are forgiven . this bread of life is for sons , not slaves ; this kiss of love is for favourites , not rebels ; this sunbeame of mercy for the children of the day , not the night . indeed we must distinguish between the collation and the oblation , the conferring and the offering of this benefit ; forgiveness of sins is offered to all , upon the condition of believing and repenting , but bestowed only upon them who actually believe and repent : and therefore in the publication of this mercy , ministers must write a bill of divorce to all wicked sinners , that so ( according to gods command ) they may seperate the precious from the vile , and in the applica●io● of it , every one must take heed lest he too rashly , hastily , and presumptuously lay hold upon it . blessed is that man ( saith the psalmist ) whose sins are forgiven ; ey but miserable is that man who thinketh his ●●ns forgiven when they are not ; yea , he is so much the more miserable , because he thinketh himself happy ; we need to be very cautelous how we pass the sentence of absolution , and you have no less reason to be carefull how you ●pply the promises of pardon least a vain presumptio●●f ●f mercy betray you to endless misery . . yours and all your s●ns are forgiven you , whither fathers , or young men , or little children : that is . in a literall sense , li●tle children having received baptismall regeneration , are cleansed from their originall sin ; young men turning to god , have the folli●s of their childhood pardoned ; yea , to fathers repenting the sins of their former ages shall not be mentioned . . in a spirituall notion , not only strong but weake christians are capable of this benefit : i will remember their iniquities no more , is a branch of the n●w covenan● , and truth of grace entituleth us to the covenant . indeed we must distinguish between the collation and the manifestation of this mercy , christians whilst they are but novic●s are weake in faith , nor can they clearly apprehend that their sins are forgiven , but still the benefit no less truly belongs to them , then to gro●n saints . as then before i disswaded the wicked from presumption , so now i must warne the weake of despaire , those are too apt to lay hold upon , and these are too ready to refuse pardon , nor is it more hard to driv● : these from , then to draw those to eate of this tree of life . but tell me oh drooping soul , why dost thou frowardly put that comfort far from thee , which truly belongs to thee ? though thou art a stripling , yet thou art a childe , why shouldest thou distrust thy fathers clemency ? true thy weakness exposeth thee to oftner faylings , but doth not debar thee from mercifull indulgence , which as it is confined only , so it is extended to all the children of god. . the efficiency of the benefit cometh last to be considered , as it is expressed in those words , for his names sake : f●● the better explication of which i shall briefly discuss it both negatively and affirmatively . . not for your own sakes , sin is not forgiven without our desiring , god will have us aske , and seek , and knock for it , it is one of the petitions our saviour teacheth us to use in his prayer , forgive us our trespasses ; but still it is without our deserving , their being nothing that is , or can be done by us in order to forgivness , which is in the least degree meritorious of it . do we confess , bemoane , and forsake our sins ? these are no compensations of the wrong we have offered by them to the divine majesty ; our sins deserve punishment , but ou● sorrow cannot satisfie for the offence , nay , could we for the future performe exact unsinning obedience , it is no more then what we are bound to observe , and therefore no satisfaction for the former breaches of the law. it is not then any thing in us which induceth god by way of merit to confer a pardon on us when he forgiveth sin , . for his names sake : where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , may have a double reference , either to god , or christ ; nor is it much materiall to whom we refer it ; indeed insomuch as christ is the proxime antecedent ▪ and withall it is usuall with our apostle , to speak of christ in the third person by one or other of these pronouns , it is most probably refer'd to christ , but yet i shall take in both considerations , as being neither improbable , nor unprofitable . . for his , that is , gods names sake , it is that which allmighty god himself asserts in this very perticular by the prophet isaiah , i even i am ●e that blotteth out your iniquities for my name sake , and accordingly it is that argument by which david pleadeth with god for remission , for thy names sake pardon my iniquities . and according to this reference , name may be taken in a double construction . . it is a very usuall notion by name to understand honour and glory ; when god saith to david , i have made thee a name like the name of men that are in the earth ; when the church saith to god , thou didst get thee a name as it is this day ; it is manifest that by name , glory is intended . sutable to this it is , that famous men are called by the hebrews , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the latins , virinominum , men of name , in which sense the poet adorneth it with these epithets , — magnum & memorabile nomen , of great and memorable . thus when god forgiveth sin , he doth it for his names sake , that is for his own honour and glory . indeed gods own glory is the ultimate end of all his actions , as he is the first , so he is the last , the efficient and the finall cause , nor is any thing done by him which is not for him . the end of our actions must be his glory , because both our being and working is from him , but the end of his work is his own glory , because his being and acting is of and from himself . among all divine works , there is none which more setteth forth his glory then this of remission : sin by committing it , brings god a great deale of dishonour , and yet by forgiving it , god raiseth to himself a great deale of honour : it is the glory of a man , and much more of god to pass by an offence ; as acts of power , so acts of grace are exceeding honourable . the attributes of gods grace , mercy , goodness , clemency , shine forth in nothing so much as in pardoning sins . st paul speaketh of riches , of goodness which attend gods forbearance ; how much greater riches must there needs be in forgiveness ? nay , indeed god hath so ordered the way of pardon , that not only the glory of his mercy , but justice ; yea , of his wisdome in the wonderfull contemperation of both these is very illustrious , nomen quasi not a men , quia notificat . the name is that which maketh one known , and by remission of sins , god maketh known his choice and glorious attributes , and for this end it is that he vouchsafeth it . it is a consideration that may be our consolation . since god forgiveth sinnes for his names sake , he will be ready to forgive many sins , as well as few , great as small ; indeed the more and greater our sins are , the greater ●s the forgivness , and consequently the greater is gods glory : and therefore david upon this consideration of gods name and glory , maketh the greatness of his iniquity a motive of forgivness . indeed to run into gross sins that god may glorifie himself by forgiving them is an odious presumption , but to hope that those gross sins we have run into , may , and will be forgiven by god to us , being truly penitent for his names sake , is a wellgrounded expectation , and such as may support our spirits against the strongest temptations to dispaire . . by gods name in scripture is sometimes understood his word , when david saith , i have remembred thy name oh lord in the night , and again , look upon me and be mercifull unto me as thou usest to do unto them that love thy name : no doubt we are most congruously to understand by it gods word , of which he discourseth throughout the psalm . and indeed so primarily doth this title of name agree to the word that the psalmist saith to god , thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name , and in this acceptation the sense is , that god forgiveth sins for his words sake . he hath been pleased to oblige himself by promise ( which he cannot falsifie ) to pardon the sins of his children , in which respect our apostle saith in the former chapter , he is faithfull to forgive ; and indeed both these acceptions of name are involved , are within the other since , god forgiveth sins for his words sake , because his glory is concerned in making good his word . . for his , that is , christs names sake , and thus there is again a double construction of the word name , to wit , for person , and ●or power . . name is sometimes taken for the person , thus where it is said , the number of the christians was an hundred and twenty names ; and again , thou ●●st ● 〈…〉 names in sardis , it is manifestly meant of perso●● ▪ sutable to this is that of the poet , — nomina magna , for great persons , and often in livie , nomen latimum , romanum , for a latine a romane : and thus frequently in scripture , the name of the lord and christ is as much as god and christ . calling upon the lord , is sometimes exprest by calling on the name of the lord , and blessed be the lord , by blessed be the name of the lord. when st peter saith there is no name under heaven but the name of christ , he explaineth it in the preceding clause of the person , neither is there salvation in any other , and when christ speaketh of for saking houses , land for his names sake , of being hated of all men for his names sake , of receiving his little ones for his names sake , it is as much as for his sake . in this sense we may take it here , and it lets us see in , and through whom remission is vouchsafed ; namely , ●n and through christ , commission of sin came in by the f●rst ad●● , and remission by the second : so st paul expresly , in whom we have redemption even the forgivness of ●●● sins , and again , god for christs sake hath forgiven you . . name is very frequently taken for power and strength , in thy name ( that is , by thy power ) we will tread down our enemies , saith the church . i come against thee in the name ( that is , in the might ) of the lord of hoasts : so david to goliah ▪ in the name ( that is , in the strength ) of jesus christ of nazareth arise and walk ▪ saith the apostle to the ●●ipple . finally , in my name ( that is , in my might saith chris● ) t●● shall cast out devils . in this sense it may well be ●●●-●red here , and so the meaning is , that through the virtue and power of christ this benefit of remission is obtained : so carthusian glosseth , virtute & merito christi , by the virtue and merit of christ . indeed there is a double power in christ procuring forgivness ; the one of merit , and that is in his passion which satisfied gods justice for our sins ; the other of intreaty , and that is in his intercession which pleadeth with god for sinners . by the one , remission is purchased for , and by the other it is applyed to us . for his names sake , for the merit of that blood which he shed , by the efficacy of that intercession which he ever maketh , our sins are forgiven , both which i have already had occasion to discusse . to winde it up therefore . in a sorrowfull sense of our manifold sins learn we . to call on , to aske in the name of christ for this mercy of forgiveness : it was the assurance our saviour gave his disciples , ( and in them us ) that whatsoever they did aske the father in his name should be given to them . when ever then we put up any prayer to god , and especially this petition for remission ; let us be sure to present it in christs name : it was in esaus name that jacob got the blessing , so must we this blessing of pardon in christs name . . to trust in this name of christ , as that which will undoubtedly procure our pardon , the name of the lord ( saith solomon ) is a strong tower , the righteous run unto it ( to wit , for protection ) and are safe ▪ the name of christ ( may i say ) is a strong tower , and the sinners , penitent sinners run to it , ( to wit , for remission ) and are glad . through his name ( saith the apostle peter concerning christ ) whosoever beleeveth in him shall receive remission of sins . all other props are bruised reeds , only the name of christ is a strong buckler to them who trust on it ▪ indeed whatever confidence is placed on god himself , his mercifull and gratious nature , for remission of sins ; if it be not with reference to christs name and merit , it will prove but a vain hope , since there is no mercy to be expected from god , but only through christ ; and surely much more vain will all that confidence prove , which is built upon the rotten foundation of our own righteousness , which is so far from being available to procure the forgiveness of our sins , that it self hath those sins accompanying it which need to be forgiven . . in a comfortable sense of the remission of our sins , learn we to give unto christ the glory due to his name . per cujus nomen , saith the father upon the text , through whose name are your s●ns forgiven ? through the name of austin or donatus ; no , ( who is augustin ? or who is donatus ? ) nor yet through the name of paul or peter , but only the name of christ ; and therefore not to us , not to us oh blessed jesus , not to our prayers or tears , not to our confessions or good works , but to thy name and merit be the glory of this grace whereby our sins are forgiven . having given you this account of the first consideration of the words , to wit , as they are a consolatory assertion it remaineth that i now proceed in a few words to the other , which is as they are an hortatory reason for so much the causall particle implyeth , i write to you , because your sins are forgiven you for his names sake , and here we shall take in the threefold reference of the act. . i write this whole epistle , the chief scope whereof is to perswade holiness of life ; because for christs sake your sins are forgiven . gods mercy in remitting sin , should not make us the more licentious in committing sin , because our old score is wiped off , far be it from us to encourage our selves to run upon a new one : no rather , since god for christs sake is so gracious as to wash away our former sins , we should be the more watchfull least we defile our selves again . what servant will not in reason think himself obliged to serve his master so much the more faithfully , when he hath passed over his former negligence , riot , and dishonesty , and is not the case the same between god and us ; it is true with ill minded and perverse natures , the forgiving of past injuries is an invitation to another , but that which clemency leads to , and works upon an ingenuous spirit , is a care not to offend any more . . i write to disswade you from the love of the world , because your sins are forgiven you for his names sake , pudeat quod factum infectum reddere : so beza . why should you ungratefully undo what god hath mercifully done ? those sins are remitted to you , which whilest you loved the world , were admitted by you . oh take heed that you do not forfeit your pardon by runing into the same sins again , vos am●te dimissorem iniquitatum vestrarum , so st austin , you are bound to love him who hath forgiven you your s●ns . so our saviour saith of mary magdalen , much was forgiven her , for ( which is no doubt there as much as therefore ) shee loved much , and quomodo poterimus amare deum si ama●us mundum ? how can we love god if we love the world ? can the world do that for us which christ hath done ? it draweth you into many sins ; but it cannot obtain the pardon of one sin . oh then shall we not adhere to christ , for whose sake our sins are forgiven , and forgo the world ? . lastly , and principally , i write to you this commandment of loving your brother , because your sins are forgiven for his names sake . indeed it is that which this argument presseth in three severall waies . . in a way of imitation , the brethren are gods darlings , he loveth all men so far as to forbear them , but he loveth them so as to forgive them ; and surely fit it i● , that where god forgiveth , we should ; and whom he loveth , we should ▪ besides god loveth us so as to forgive us , and forgiving , to give all blessings to us , and shall not we be mercifull , and kind , and loving to one another after his pattern . . in a way of gratulation , thus na●gorgeus urgeth it . so great a benefit as forgiveness , facilè persuadet ut e● benefaciamus , strongly perswadeth that we should returne somewhat to him , who , and for whose sake we are forgiven , non christo quidem sed membris , this we cannot to him in himself , but in his members ; quibus ille jussit , to whom he hath commanded us to shew our affections . indeed the good christian cannot but thus reason with himself . if god hath at my request forgiven me pounds , and given me talents , shall not i at his command forgive my brother pence , and give him mites ? that love he hath shewed to me is infinitely surpassing that love which he expected i should shew to my brother . so that it is impossible for him who is truly affected with his fathers goodness not to be inflamed with brotherly kindness ; as therefore the cold stone or iron being warmed by the ●ire casts forth and reflects that heat which it hath received , upon that which is adjacent to it ; so doth the sincere christian reflect the heat of gods love which is shed abroad in his heart , and sheds it abroad in love to his brethren . . in a way of impetration . the comfort of this benefit of forgiveness lieth in the knowledg of it . indeed whosoever hath his sins forgiven is really , but he only who is assured that they are forgiven is sensibly blessed ▪ a well grounded assurance cannot be obtained , but by finding those graces wrought in us , which accompany remission , amongst which , this of brotherly love is not the least . if i can justly say , that i love my brother for his names sake , then , and not till then , i can comfortably say , my sins are forgiven for his names sake when therefore we finde these passions of hatred , envy , ●●lice , and uncharitableness to boyle in our hearts against others , for tho●e injuries which either they have , or at least we concei●e they have offered to us : what better antidote can we use , then a serious meditation of gods free and full underserved and unmeasutable love towards us , notwithstanding our manifold sins against him ? which that we may duly imitate , for which , that we may be truly thankfull , and of which , that we may be comfortably assured it concerneth us : and accordingly st john writeth to us to love the brethren . the first epistle of st john . chap. . , . vers . i write unto you fathers , because ye have known him that is from the beginning . i write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one . i write unto you little children , because ye have known the father . i have written unto you fathers , because you have known him that is from the beginning . i have written unto you young men , because ye are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and ye have over come the wicked one . philosophy not unfitly distinguisheth of a threefold naturall life , vegetative , sensitive , rationall . the first discovereth it self by growth , and augmentation . the second by motion and sensation . the third by discourse and ratiocination . the first is only in plants , the first and second in beasts , all three in man : nor would it be passed by , how man doth as it were gradually put forth these severall lives , living in the wombe the life of growth ; so soon as he cometh into the world the life of sense , and after the expiration of some years , beginning to live the life of reason . and as thus there are three lives , so there are three ages of mans life , which are to be reckoned from that time he begins to act as a man , and make use of his reason ; namely , childehood , youth , old age ; our life is a day , whereof childehood is the morning , youth the noon , and old age the evening . after which succeedeth the night of death : our life is a journey which consisteth of three stages , childehood , wherein we go up hill ; youth , in which we run forward ; and old age , in which we run down hill to the grave . finally , our childehood is as a budding spring , our youth as a flourishing summer , our old age as a withering autumn , after which followeth the winter of death . with all these our apostle hath here to do ; and as every one of them is capable of instruction , he directeth his writing to them , not only joyntly bu● severally ; in the words now read , i write to you fathers , because ye have known , &c. the particular reasons why our apostle wrote to every one of these ages , do yet remain to be discussed ; and before i enter upon them in particular , there are two things i will briefly premise : . that two of them are repeated , namely , that which respects fathers and young men , whereas that to little children is only once mentioned , and if we well view it , we shall finde there might be good cause for the iteration of them , and so no need to blame the scribe , as if the fourteenth verse were beedlesly added . besides that one , namely , that which concerneth young men is not a naked repetition , but withall an amplification ; there is a double reason maybe assigned , why he writeth to fathers , and young men twice , and but once to children . . because his discourse was principally intended for fathers , young men ; look as in our preachings though sometimes occasionally we instruct little children ; yet we must frequently direct our discourse to those who are drawn up to years of discretion ; so no doubt our apostle designed this epistle for , and therefore directeth his writing to the young and old christians . . because the things about which our apostle writeth are such which young men , and fathers have more need to be minded of then little children . there is not so great danger of little childrens being infected with the world , because they know not what belongs to it ; whereas young men having so much imployments in , are apt to be entangled with the world , and old men having been so long acquainted with , cannot easily weane their affections from it . little children are not so sensible of injuries , and therefore not so apt to be enraged with hatred as young men and fathers are : no marvell if he write again and again inculcating the argument , by which he would perswade them to love their brother , and disswade them from the love of the world. . that all of them are laudatory characters , commending that good which he observed in them , the fathers for their knowledg of christ , the young men for their victory and spirituall strength , and the little children for their knowledg of the father . a fit pattern for all ministers , for all superiours , yea , for all to follow . indeed to flatter bad men in their sins is abominable ; god pronounceth a curse against such prophets , who daube with untempered morter , and by their smooth language strengthen the hands of evill doers ; but to commend good men for their graces is commendable , and hath not only the pattern of the apostle , but of christ and god himself to warrant it . the truth is , praise is a due debt to virtue , and therefore it is an act of justice : it is not unfitly observed , that our apostle joyneth these two together , if there be any virtue , if there be any praise , to intimate , that praise ought to attend on virtue . nor is it only a debt , but a spurre , and therefore an act of prudence . when a good man is commended , others are incouraged , and si non amore virtutis , at dilectione laudis accenduntur , many have been allured with the love of praise , whom the love of virtue could not perswade : however the person himself being commended is thereby animated , nor is it unlawfull for men to be moved in a subordinate way with a desire of praise , and much respect . st bernard upon those words in the proverbs , hast thou found honey ? eate so much as is sufficient for thee , saith potest in hoc lo●o non incongrue mellis nomine favor humanae laudis intelligi , in this place by honey may be understood not unfitly the favour of humane praise , meritoque non ab omni sed ab immoderato ed●lio prohibemur , nor are we prohibited all , but only an immoderate desire of glory : no wonder then if the ministers of christ whom he hath appointed fishers of men among others make use of this bait of praise , that commendation may make way for their commands , and a well - done may encourage their auditours to do better . this no doubt was the designe of st john , that by this artifice of praise , his instructions might have the stronger influence upon them to whom he writeth . come we now to the severall reasons by which he bespeaketh the severall ages : . the first respects the aged fathers to whom he wrote , because they knew him who was from the beginning , as it is expressed in the thirteenth and fourteenth verses . in handling of this character i shall consider the goodness and the fitness of it ; the goodness of it in it self , by inquiring what it meaneth ; and the fitness of it , both to the subjects to whom , and the objects about which our apostle wrote . . consider we this character in it self , and we shall finde it not only good but excellent . indeed in this one there are two characters , to wit , of christ and the christian , which offer themselves to our view ; of christ , that he is from the begining ; of the christian , that he knoweth him , who is from the begining : of each in order . . our apostle here affirmeth concerning christ that he is from the begining . indeed illyricus refers this to god , who is said to be from everlasting to everlasting , and to inhabit eternity : and is called by clemens alexandrinus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the most ancient of all things , because before all things , yea , the creator . and sutably plato putting the question , what is the most ancient thing ? answereth , god. but i conceive it is most sutable to the apostles scope to understand it with calvin , aretius , and the most , nay , best interpreters , of christ . and thus ( as zanchy well observeth ) this may be asserted of him in a double respect , quo ad virtutem salvi●●cam , and quo ad personam : in respect of virtuall efficacy , and personall subsistence . . christ is from the begining , to wit , ordained and purposed to be the mediatour of his church , in which sense he is called the lambe slain from the foundation of the world . whence it is that though he dyed in the fulness of time , yet the virtue of his death as it extendeth forward to the end , so backward to the begining of the world . . but principally , christ is said to be from the beginning , inasmuch as his subsistence is from eternity ; to wit , in respect not of his humane , but divine nature . thus st austin appositely , novus christus in carne , sed antiquus in divinitate , christ as to his manhood is new , but as to his godhead ancient : and oecumenius expressely , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , who is it that is from the beginning but god the word ? in this respect justly is the messiah called by the prophet isay , the everlasting father ; and the prophet micah saith of him who was to be born in bethlehem , that his goings forth have been of old from everlasting . upon this account the authour to the hebrewes asserts him to be yesterday , to day , and the same for ever ; where saith anselm , by yesterday is denoted the time past , and the vast space of eternity preceding ; by to day the time present ; and by for ever that which is to come . finally , unto this that metaphoricall character which our apostle giveth of christ , is plainly to be referred , where he saith his head ( that is his divinity , so pererius ) and his hairs were white like wooll , as white as snow , to which in regard of its antiquity , for so daniel calling god the ancient of dayes , presently addeth , the hair of his head was like pure wooll , namely for whiteness , which is the badge of old age . not to enlarge upon this point because it is only collateral in the text , i shall in a few words discuss these two propositions which are plainly intimated in this clause , and clearly , expressed in scripture . . that jesus christ had a being before he was born of the virgin mary ; indeed he then began to be man , but he did not then begin to be , when his mother conceived and brought him forth into the world . it was our blessed saviours positive assertion concerning himself , before abraham wa● i am , and if he had a being before abraham , certainly he did not begin to be when he was made man : that this was the meaning of our saviour , is clear in that it is returned by him , as an answer to the jewes objection , which is manifestly drawn from the short date of his personall existence , thou art not yet fifty years old , and hast thou seen abraham , to which christs words cannot be a full answer , if they intend not that he had a personal being before abraham , and so no wonder if abraham were known to him ; and that the jewes so understood him , is evident , in that they took up stones to cast at him , as conceiveing him a blasphemer , in so saying , upon which accoun● the father saith excellently ; ecce judaei intellexerunt quod non intelligunt arriani , behold the jewes understood that which the arrians will not , but fondly and impiously endeavour to obscure . very con●●derable upon this account is that of st paul , where he saith that being , ( or according to the force of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) subsisting in the forme of god , he took upon him the forme of a servant ; whence it plainly followeth , that before he took upon him the forme of a servant , he had a subsistence . it is not unworthy our observation to this purpose ▪ that christ when he was incarnate , is said to come down from heaven , and to come forth from the father ; whereby is manifestly implyed , that before his incarnation , he was in heaven , and in the bosome of his father . thus when we read , the word was made flesh , and god sent his sonne into the world , it is evident that he was the word and the sonne before , else how could he be capable of assuming flesh , and being sent into the world . it is a clear maxime , nothing can be predicated of nothing ; so that if he were not at all , till he was made flesh and sent , it could not be predicated of him that he was made flesh , or that he was sent by the father . . but further , that being which jesus christ had before his incarnation was , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from the begining , which we cannot better expound , then by that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the beginning , which we meet with in the gospel , and so the sense is , that when the world began to be , christ was , and so consequently from eternity , because before all time . express to this purpose is that prayer of our saviour , father glorifie thou me with thine own self , with the glory which i had with thee before the world was ; the genuine plain doctrine whereof is , that christ had a glory ( ●nd therefore a co-existence ) with his father before the world was . i am not ignorant how that samosatenian and socinian hereticks interpret this only of gods eternal purpose to glorifie his sonne , after he had finished his work upon earth . and truly it is worth our noting , how absurdly these pretended masters of reason construe ( as others ) so this scripture ; whilest they would have us to believe , that when christ positively saith he had this glory with his father before the world was ; he only meaneth by it , that his father decreed before the world was he should have this glory ; and so that which is averred of actual possession , must only signifie an intentional preparation , when yet it had been as easie for christ to have said ( if he had meant no more ) the glory which thou hast prepared for me before the world was ; yea whenas both christ and his apostles where they would express the decree of glory , still use the phrases of prepared , and layed up , and such like . no less doth it tend to the confirmation of this truth , that the evangelist saith concerning christ , all things are made by him , and without him was not any thing made that was made ; and therefore st paul having asserted that all things were created by him and for him presently addeth , and he is before all things . indeed as tertullian strongly argueth , non potuit c●rere substantiâ , quod tantas substantias fe●it , he that gave being to all things , could not himself want a being , and if all creatures receive their essence and existence from him , he must needs be before them . it would not be passed by to what a shift the forenamed hereticks are put to , for evading the force of these texts , whilest they would expound the making and creating all things , to be the making of new men , and the creating of a christian church ; for besides that the apostle manifestly speaketh not only of persons ( to whom the new creation belongs , but things , yea all things whatsoever ; and therefore the evangelist joyneth a negative to the affirmative , without him nothing ; and st paul maketh a distribution of the all into things visible and invisible in heaven and earth : whereby it appeareth the first creation is intended . it would yet further be considered , that the evangelist and apostle speak of this making and creation as a thing already past , yea as the context in the gospel sheweth , done in the beginning , which compared with moses his in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth , appeareth to be the beginning of the world : whereas the new creation was then , nay is still but in fieri , not in facto , nor shall be finished till the end of the world . to end this , let the meditation hereof confirme us in the faith of our saviours deity , which must necessarily follow upon the preceding doctrine ; for if christ is so from , as that he was before the beginning of the world , and so is eternall , he can be no other then the true jehovah , the most high god ; eternity being one of those incommunicable attributes of the deity , which cannot in its proper and adequate notion be predicated of any thing besides or below the godhead . and so much shall suffice to be spoken of the character which is here given of christ ; pass we on to the . character by which the aged christians to whom our apostle writeth are described , and that is that they know him which was from the begining . what it is to know christ , i had occasion heretofore to discuss , and therefore shall not insist upon it : only be pleased in brief to take notice that there is a threefold knowledg of him who is from the begining , comprehensive , intuitive , and apprehensive . . the comprehensive knowledg is that which is peculiar to himself , he who is from the begining , can only know himself from the begining . indeed it is impossible for any finite creature to comprehend the infinite eternity of christ ; himself as man could not comprehensively know himself as god. . the intuitive knowledg of christ in his person , natures , offices , is reserved for glory , when we shall see him as he is , so far as created nature is capable of . . that which then is here meant is an apprehensive knowledg , whereby it is , we are enlightned to discern the excellency of christ , together with the need we stand in of , and benefit we receive by him . that expression which we finde used by st paul , to know the love of christ , which passeth knowledg , is seemingly contradictory , but easily reconciled by this distinction ; as christ , so his love passeth knowledg , because the infiniteness of it is incomprehensible ; and yet we both may and ought to know , that is , in some measure to apprehend the love of christ to us . now this apprehensive knowledg is either nuda or conjuncta , naked , only scituate in the understanding , when we know what christ is , and what he hath done ; or else such as is conjoyned with faith , love , obedience . so to know him as to trust him to prize him , to imbrace him , and to obey him . this is that knowledg which as it is here the commendation ; so ought to be the endeavour of every christian . indeed knowledge considered absolutely is a rare and precious endowment , and that which a rationall nature cannot but set an high value upon , and industriously seek after . of all the trees of the garden none more desirable then that of knowledge ; such is its magicall sweetness , that we cannot but fall in love with it . what made the queen of sheba come from far to hear the wisdome of solomon , but that she might gain knowledge ? indeed what light is to the eye , that is knowledge to the mind , not only delightfull , but necessary , for as the eye cannot see without light , so neither can the minde judge and discerne of things without knowledge . knowledg at large is very amiable , but especially in reference to this object , in comparison ▪ of which all other knowledge is nothing worth . i may here very well allude to that of the wise man , many daughters have done vertuously , but thou surmountest them all . there are severall kindes of knowledge , and all of them delectable , but this transcendeth them all . no logick like to the knowledge of him who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the divine reason . the science of the stars is pleasing ; but far short of the knowledg of this star of jacob , the sun of righteousness ; the skill of lapidaryes is choice , but the knowledge of this pearl of great price is far above it . finally , to know antiquities is vety desireable , but much more to know him that is from the begining . let then no knowledge content us without this , and let us seek after this though we want other knowledg . indeed it is the excellency of this knowledg , that whereas ex quovis ligno no fit mercurius , every man is not fit to make a schollar , nor are some braines capable of all arts and sciences : this knowledge is that to which every man may , and ought attain in some measure ; and therefore wisdome inviteth the simple to turn into her schoole . indeed ( which is though a riddle , yet truth ) it is ofttimes seen that mean , vulgar , ignorant persons are better versed in the experimentall saving knowledge of christ then great rabbies , and learned doctors . let then none despaire , but all indeavour after this knowledge , and whilest some are for the earthy knowledge of secular affairs , others for the watry knowledge of humane arts ; and others content themselves with an airy speculation of divine things ; let us laboure for a fiery knowledg of christ , which may not only enlighten our mindes , but warme our affections , so as to make him who is from the begining , the end of all our desires , indeavours , the whole and sole object of our trust , and love , and service . . by this time you have seen somewhat of the goodness of this character , proceed we now to consider the fitness of it , and that in a double reference , to the subjects , and the objects of our apostles writeing . . to the persons to whom he writeth , namely , fathers , old men. it is that which i shall here once for all take notice of , that the characters here specified are such as belong to christians of all ages , fathers as well as young men must be strong and overcome the wicked one , young men as well as fathers must know him that is from the begining , fathers and young men as well as little children must know the father ; but yet withall , there is a peculiar apitude in each of the characters to the severall ages he mentioneth . this is eminently observable in this which is here given to the fathers : for . senibu● competit notitia , the act of knowing here specified is such as in a speciall manner belongs to old men , with the ancient is wisdome , and in length of daies understanding : so eliphas , in which respect the ancient and the prudent are joyned together , tum denique animus scientiâ floret cum corpus temporis longinquitate marcessit , saith damascen in his parallels , old men have o●t-times flourishing mindes , in withering bodies : and to use the phylosophers phrase , the eye of their soul is quick sighted when their corporall eyes are dull : for this reason it is that as quintilian observeth , militem eligimus juvenem imperatorem senem , a souldier should be young , but a generall old , and that city is said to be happy , where there are consilia senum , and hastae juve●um , old counsellers , and young warriours . knowledge , though not alwaies , yet for the most par● goeth on three legs , and seeth with four eyes : and it was a true saying of a learned divine , a few gray hairs will do more worke then many young loakes : and surely then st john could not give a fitter commendation of these fathers then that they were endued , non vulgari prudentiâ , with divine knowledge . . praecipu●m est aetate provectiori antiquiora nosse , old men are versed in the knowledge of ancient things , and therefore it ●s they love to discourse of things done long-agoe , and beyond the cognisance of those who are younger then themselves ; this then must needs highly commend these fathers , that their knowledge looked as farre as the begining , namely , to him who is from the begining , or if with some you will referre the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from the beginning , to the act that their knowledge of him was not of yesterday , but ▪ from the begining of their life they had been trained up in the knowledge of ●hrist . and now i would to god there were no cause of turning this commendation into condemnation . i said daies should speake , and multitudes of yeares teach wisdome said elihu of jobs friends . indeed so it should be ; but how seldome is it so , whilest many who have multitude of years , instead of speaking and teaching , have need to hear and learne divine wisdome , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he that is a childe of understanding , little differeth from a childe in years , saith basil the great : and alas , how many fathers are in that sense children ? turpis & ridicula res est senex elementaris , how ridiculous a sight is an old man going to schoole ? and yet how many old men have need to learne the a. b. c. of christianity . how fitly may i apply to such that rebuke of the author to the hebrews , for the time they have had they might have been teachers , and yet they need to be taught the rudiments of religion . it was the complaint of st bernard concerning many old men in his time , i wish it were not too sutable to ours , caput canum , cor cavum , facies rugosa , lingu● n●gosa ; notwithstanding their gray heads , and wrinckle faces , they have frothy tongues , and empty hearts . oh how many are there who do senescere , and yet both se & christum nescire , are ignoramuses , knowing neither christ nor themselves ; perhaps indeed they have attained some dexterous knowledge in the things of this life , they are well skild to get and keep their gold , heap up wealth ; but alas they have not yet learned what treasures of grace and wisdome are in christ . for one man that liveth to be old , how many dye young , and for one old man that knoweth christ savingly , how many are altogether unacquainted with him ? indeed if you question their faith you shall find them very strong in confidence of being saved by christ , and yet if you examine their knowledge , you shall finde them ignorant of that christ by whom they believe to be saved ▪ solomon saith , a poore wise childe is b●tter then an old and foolish king ; will not many knowing children rise up in judgement one day against ignorant fathers , whilest a childe of ten years old , shall give a better account of christian religion , then some old men of sixty . i know not whither i shall chide or weep , declaime against the folly , or bewaile the misery of such old men ; when i consider the dismall threatning uttered by st paul , that god will come in flaming fire , rendering vengeance to them that know him not ; and which will certainly render the account of these old men the greater , and vengeance hotter , who live within the pale of the church , in that they have not only had time , but meanes and opportunity of gaining this heavenly knowledge , but they neglect them . oh then you fathers receive a word of admonition , though whilest you were young men , you were careless of divine things , yet now surely it is time to look after them : it is one of st cyprians twelve horrid abuses , si sine religione senex esse inve●iatur , for an old man to be irreligious , and a stranger to heavenly things ; you are almost at the end o● your daies , on labour to know him which is from the begining ; your naturall life through gods goodness is prolonged . i but it must at length be ended , let nothing content you without the knowledge of the true god and his sonne jesus christ which is eternall life . why should you be as bad apprentices that having served seaven years , are still to learne their trade , heare so much , and so long , and yet know so little of christ ? assure your selves the only comforts of old age , are conscientia bene peractae vitae , & scientia christi experimentalis ; the conscience of a well lead life , when you are able to reckon not only daies and years , but good workes done in those daies , and filling up those years , and chiefly the experimentall knowledge of christ ; whereby as good old simeon you embrace him in your armes . this will be both your comfort and your honour , an hoary head being a crown when it is found in a way of righteousness and knowledge . as then god is pleased to adde to your daies , do you adde to your knowledge . and though old age cause your strength of body to cease , yet strive that souls may more and more increase in this and all other graces of the holy spirit . . there is yet another fitness which would be considered in this character , and that is in reference to the matter about which he writeth , especially the praecedent and subsequent doctrines ; that thereby we may see what influence the right knowledg of christ hath upon those excellent duties of contempt of the world , and love of the brethren . . because you have known him which is from the begining , love not the world . it is that which may very well be urged upon a double account , by an argument drawn . . ab indecoro , it is a very unbeseeming thing for you who have known him that is from the begining , and have been so long scholars in christs schoole to love the world . that they who know no better should soare no higher , it is no w●nder , and therefore if heathens , pagans , infidels , should be earthly minded , it is no more then what is to be expected , but for them who know christ , and knowing him , cannot but know what an excellency there is in him ; and what a vanity there is in the world to dote upon it is very incongruous . a bristol stone is very glorious in his eyes who never saw a diamond , but he would deservedly be accounted stupid , who should prefer a bristol stone before a diamond ; all christians especially aged ones cannot but experimentally know christs fulness and the worlds emptinesg ; and therefore it must needs be a very irrationall affection in them to love the world . . a cantrario , the knowledg of him that is from the begining ; and the love of these things that have both begining and ending ▪ are contrary to , and so inconsistent one with another ; and the reason is plain , because ( as hath been already intimated ) the true knowledg of christ is inseperably attended with love to him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , loving is caused by seeing , where the object is amiable ; christ is altogether lovely , so that it is impossible to see him and not to love him . the orator saith of virtue that it is so desirable , that if men could with bodily eyes behold it , they would be ravished with it ; sure i am , he that with spirituall eyes beholds christ , cannot but be enamoured with him . now the world must needs be vile to him to whom christ is precious ; if the knowledg of christ attract us to him , it cannot but weane us from the world ; so that whosoever professeth to know christ , and loveth the world , he giveth his profession the lye , and plainly discovereth his knowledg to be such , which though it have light , hath no heat , and is none of that knowledg which christianity cals for . . because you have known him which is from the begining , loue the brethren ; and this likewise is that which may be strongly pressed by a double enforcement . . ab object● , the knowledg of him who is from the begining , carryeth with it a knowledg of that love which he had from the begining toward us , and did manifest in the fulness of time to us , and no such obligation to love , as love , of our love to the brethren , as christs love to us . it is very observable how st paul perswading to walk in this path of brotherly love , doth not only direct but incite to it by christs example , but walk in love as christ hath loved us . indeed he that knoweth the love of christ , cannot but be in some measure sensible how free , and how full it is ; and surely that love which is both sine merito , and sine modo , ( to use st bernards phrase ) both undeserved and unmeasurable , may well engage to a return of love , in whatsoever way he who hath so loved us , should expect and direct i● . . ab effecto , inasmuch as brotherly love is , though not an immediate , yet a genuine effect of the knowledg of christ , the account whereof , take briefly thus . our brethren ( to wit ) by grace are christs brethren , and if we love christ , we cannot but love his relations . all christian brethren have the image of christ stamped upon them , and if we love christ , we cannot but love his image ; where then there is a true and sincere affection to christ , there cannot but be a love of the brethren , and where there is a saving knowledge of christ , there ( as hath been already manifested ) cannot but be a sincere love to him . that therefore it may appeare , our knowledge of christ is not meerly notionall , but experimentall , such a knowledge of him as is accompanied with a sense of his love to us , not barely speculative , but practicall ; such a knowledge of him , as is attended with our love to him , let us show it by love to our brethren . to close up this discourse , it is an excellent advice of st hierome , discite ●am scientiam in terris cujus cognitio perseverat in caelis , seek after that knowledg on ear●h , which will persevere in heaven , let us now begin , and not only begin , but according to st peters counsell , grow in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ , who is from the begining , which shall be consummated in the end , when we shall enjoy that beatificall vision , which shall need no increase , and know no end . the first epistle of st john . chap. . , . vers . i write unto you fathers , because y● have known him that is from the begining . i write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one . i write unto you little children ▪ because ye have known the father . i have written unto you fathers , because you have known him that is from the begining . i have written unto you young men , because ye are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and ye have overcome the wicked one . among others , there are two speciall qualifications of a good minister , the one , that he be faithfull , and the other that ▪ he be pr●dent . his faithfullnes● consists in delivering those things that are true ; and his prudence in making choice of such things as are fit . the fitness of a ministers discourse lyeth chiefly in a double reference . to the season and the persons . all both words and works receive ● great deale of beauty from their opportunity , it was not without reason that he said , omnium rerum est primum , the chief in all actions is the fit time : and solomon concerning a word spoken in due season , mentioneth the goodness of it with a question , as if it were beyond any positive expression . how good is it ? nor is there ●ess regard to be had to the condition of the auditors , then the fitness of the season : since hereby a discourse becometh not only seasonable but sutable . physitians , though ( unless necessity enforce ) they have a regard to the season , yet especially , and alwaies they have respect to the different constitution of the patients in administring their po●ions , and no less doth it befit us who are spirituall physitians to accommodate our doctrines to the condition and disposition of those to whom we preach . excellent to this purpose is that of an ancient , pro-qualitate audientium formari debet serm● doctorum ut per singul● singulis congruat & à commu●i ●dificationis arte nunquam recedat . the preachers sermon ought to correspond to the auditours condition , so as may best tend to edification . look as in musick all the strings of the instrument though they are touched with the same hand , yet not with a like stroake ; so in preaching , all sorts of persons are to be dealt with , but not in the same way ; aliter admonendi sunt viri aliter faeminae , aliter in opes , aliter locupletes , aliter juvines , aliter senes , as he excellently goeth on , one admonition is fit for men , another for women , one for the rich , another for the poore , one for the young , another for the old. this discreet application of our instructions , is that whereof the holy apostles set us a pattern : and among the rest st john , especially in these verses , wherein we may observe him bespeaking severall ages , and that in severall addresses sutable to those ages , i write to you fathers , &c. . the reason by which our apostle inculcateth his writing upon the fathers being already handled , that which we are next in order to insist upon , is that by which he presseth his writing upon the young men ; as it is mentioned in the thirteenth , and again , both repeated and amplified , in the fourteenth verse . to put them both together as expressed in these words , you are strong and have overcome the wicked one , and the word of god abideth in you . you may please to consider them two waies , absolutely , as a commendation , and relatively , as an incitation . consider the words as a commendation , and so that i may make use of the metaphor , in the text , be pleased to observe these foure particulars . the enemy , the conquest , the aids , and the combatants . the enemy is characterized by that term , the wicked one . the conquest is ingeminated in that phrase , have overcome . the aids are specified in these words , strong , and the word of god abideth . the combatants are included in the you , who are just before expressed to be , young men . . begin we with the enemy , who is called the wicked one . there are three grand adversaries of our salvation , and all of them have this epithet given to them : the world is called by st paul , an evill world , and the flesh which is the corruption of our nature , is called the evill treasure of the heart , and the devill frequently the evill one , the wicked one : in this respect zanchy conceiveth by the wicked one here to be understood synecdochtically , all our spirituall enemies ; but i rather incline to that exposition , which interpreteth the wicked one here mentioned to be the devill , he it is who not only here , but twice more in this epistle , is so called by our apostle ; and no doubt he learned it from his master , who giveth him this title in the parable of the tares ; yea st chrysostome and others of the fathers , are of opinion , that the evil from which our saviour teacheth us to pray , that god would deliver us , is the devil , and accordingly tertullian renders several places of scripture which mention the devil by malus , malignus , nequam , evil , wicked , malignant . it is a name which no doubt is given to the devil , antonomasticè , by way of eminency ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ saith illyricus is more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and noteth one who is exercitatissimus in omni malitiae genere , exercised in all kind of wickedness ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and noteth one who is insigniter improbus , infamously , notoriously wicked : as though holiness be a quality communicable to the creature , yet god and christ are emphatically called in scripture the holy one , because according to hannahs saying , there is none so holy as the lord ; ●o though there be many evil and wicked persons in the world , yet the devil is the wicked one , because there ●● none so evil as the devil ; and therefore st chrysostome g●eth this reason of the appellation , christ calleth hi● the wicked one , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , beca●e of that hyperbolical wickedness whereof he is gu●y . ●r the better explanation of this , i shall briefly resolv these two queries , how he came to be so ? ●here●n he appeareth to be so ? it ●ould be a little enquired into , how the person here s●ken of came to deserve this title , the answer to whi● i shall returne . . natively , he was not so by creation ? the devil , if you loo●●pon him in his first original was gods creature , and therefore good , yea in the highest form of creatures , an angel , and therefore excellent . indeed the angels are creatures whom god placeth near to himself , they stand about his royal throne , from whom he keepeth nothing but the regal diademe , and their nature most fully resembleth the divine , who is goodness it self . upon this account st austin asserts , and truly , ipsius diaboli natura in quantum natura est non est mala , the nature of the devil is still in it self good , yea very good , because angelical : the mani●hees and pris●illianists very confidently affirm , that the devil was created by an evil god , and so evil from the beginning ; but when our blessed saviour saith non stetit , it manifestly implyeth , a fuit in veritate , he did not stand , that he was in the truth , a state of goodness and integrity . to this purpose tostatus well observeth , that the devil is called the wicked one , not as if he were simpliciter & absolutè malus , absolutely evil ; god indeed is called the holy one , because he is so essentially not so the devil the wicked one ; and there fore , . affirmatively , it is not by creation but defecti●● and apostasie from that state wherein he was creat●● . that the devil is become so evil he may thank himself for it ; god made him an angel of light , but ●e hath made himself an angel of darkness . it is t●●e , god made him mutably good , inasmuch as he made his will free to choose or refuse , but this freedome was only the occasion , it was his own abuse of that li●erty was the cause of his wickedness . indeed to be by ●●ture unchangeably good , is an incommunicable prope●●y of the deity , and the reason is plain , because it ●● only the will of god , which is the adequate rule of go●dness , so that there is nothing good but what he wi●● , and whatever he wills is good ; no wonder then if th● creature whose goodness consists in a conformity to t●e will of god , be capable of a deflection from the rule , but still inasmuch as by creation it is invested with a power of willing a conformity to the rule , and walking according to it , this actual defection is not to be ascribed to god , but it self , which abusing its innate liberty , chose to swerve from the divine law , and so became abominably wicked . and now by how much the more excellent a creature the devil was at first , by so much the more vile and evil he is become : it is a known saying , corruptio optimi pessima , the best wine maketh the sowrest vinegar , quanto gradus altior , tanto casus grandior , the higher the place , the greater the fall ; and therefore the devil being by creation the best , must needs by transgression be the worst , and so deserve the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the wicked one . it would further be enquired , wherein it appeareth that the devil is so wicked ? the discovery whereof is manifest in these f●ve particulars . . he is the wicked one , because he is the first in wickedness , and the ringleader of rebellion against god , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. perditum illum & scelestum malorum inventorem , so justinian , the wicked one , that is the desperate inven●●r of all evil . observable to this purpose is it , that our blessed saviour calls him , the father of lies , he that is the first inventer of any thing , is in the hebrew phrase stiled , the father of it : jubal who invented musick is called , the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ , so is the devil the father of lies , because he made the first lie ; indeed if you survey the pedegree not only of that but all sin , you will find him to be the father of it : our first parents were great sinners , but yet they sinned by perswasion , eve by the serpent , adam by eves solicitation , but the devil had no tempter , the angels are said to leave their own habitation , net keeping their first state ( to wit ) voluntarily of their own accord , apostatizing from that state wherein god had created them , and so rebelling against the divine majesty . now look as it is a great honour to any one to have been the inventer of any thing that is excellent , the first in finding out any rare secret , so it is a great aggravation of the devils wickedness , that he was first in transgression . . he is the wicked one , because he is obstinately and immutably wicked ; so tostatus , quia in malo firmatus , and brugensis , cujus voluntas immutabilis à malo ad bonum , as he was the inventer of , so he is a persister in wickedness . by creation he was , and ( as hath been already shewed ) must be mutable from good to evil . by corruption he is become immutable from evil to good , god justly denying him that grace which should change his will. indeed we read in st james his epistle , that the devils tremble , to wit in respect of the punishment to which they know themselves reserved ; but we read not of their repenting , no not so much as relenting in respect of the sin they have committed , though they cannot but know and be fully convinced what they have done , and how repugnant it is to gods law , and consequently to right reason . . he is the wicked one , because he is malitiae studiosissimus , so illyricus , most industriously wicked , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , what pains and labour doth the d●vil take in wickedness . among other titles by which sin is called , this is one , that it is , the work of the devil , sin being indeed the devils work which he doth most unweariedly pursue . devil in our english language is qua●● , do evil ; indeed for this many thousand years it hath been his continual employment , never resting day nor night to perpetrate and promote wickedness . the most notorious wicked man is sometimes at rest , and alloweth himself at least a sleeping time , but the devil is alwayes active in sin ; and as he is never well employed , so he is never idle ; christ went about doing good , and he compasseth the earth doing evil : in one word , he is sins sworn servant , drudge , slave . it is true , sometimes this wicked one transformeth himself into an angel of light , maketh a show of holiness , but it is as true that then he is then most wicked ; nor is the devil more a devil at any time , then when he is wrapt in samuells mantle , hypocrisie being a duplicated iniquity . . he is the wicked one , because conatur malos efficere , so tostatus , he is a tempter to wickedness , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he is not content to be bad himself , but he draweth others to it ; being himself fallen into misery , he envied mans felicity , and therefore seduced him to impiety ; as he was the first sinner , so he was the cause of sin ; he tempts all persons at all times , in all places , and for no other end , but either to hinder them from good , as he did paul , who tells the thessalonians , he would have come once and again , but satan hindered him , or else to allure them to evil , as he stirred up david to number the people , and put it into judas his heart to betray chsist . indeed the devill is called in scripture both a tempter and an accuser , this being his method first to draw men to , and then to accuse men for sin . it was the brand set upon jeroboam , as denominating him a very bad man , that he made israel to sin , how abominably wicked then is the devil , who maketh persons , nations , yea the whole world to sin ? . and yet lastly , that we may take the heighth or rather fathome the depth of his wickedness , he is the wicked one , inasmuch as he vigorously pursueth and constantly persevereth in wickedness , because it is wickedness , not out of any pretended benefit which may accrue to himself , but because it is dishonourable to god , and injurious to man. indeed pleasure and profit and honour are the arguments by which he perswadeth , and the baits by which he catcheth the sinner ; but none of these are any motives in regard of himself : meerly the antipathy he beareth to god , and hatred he hath of goodness , putteth him upon endeavours to promote sin in the world ; therefore he delights in evil , because god abhorreth it ; therefore it is his joy , because it is gods dishonour ; finally , therefore it pleaseth his will , because it defaceth gods image . to live in any sin though because of a seeming advantage , is odious , but to be wicked because it is wickedness , is abominable ; no man ever came to such a state of wickedness , but he committed the sin against the holy ghost . how desperately wicked then must the devil needs be , who sinneth not only though , but because he knoweth it to be sin ? to wind up this then ; we all pretend to hate the devil ; oh then why do we love sin ! it is an argument which god himself useth to perswade to holiness , because it is his attribute , be you holy , for i am holy ; surely it should be a prevalent disswasion from wickedness , because it is the devils property ; as we abhorre to be like the devil , let us abhorre to be wicked . indeed we all defie satan as he is the pursuivant of divine justice , but yet i fear we dei●e him as he is the god of this world , and the head of the carnal state. oh remember if we do his lusts , we own him as our father , whilest yet we pretend to abhorre him as an enemy ! as therefore we would not be the devils children , let us cast away our sins . and especially take we heed of those degrees of wickedness which denominate him the wicked one : farre be it from us to make wickedness our trade , our business , by customary committing it ; as those do who are called workers of iniquity ; to make it not only the work of our hand , but our brain by inventing it , as they were whom the apostle characterizeth to be inventers of evil things ; yea not only of our heads , but our hearts by delighting in it , as they of whom solomon speaketh , that rejoyce to do evil ; and which is yet worse , to take the devils office out of his hand , by tempting others to sin , as elymas who stirred up sergius paulus against the truth , whom therefore saint paul called the child of the devil , and an enemy of all righteousness . in one word , let us be so farre from imitating the devil , as that we learn not to hearken to him , but rather when he tempts , to answer him in christs language , get thee behind me satan . be sure if the devil perswade thee to any thing , it is either in it self wickedness , or for a wicked end ; whatever show of amity he may profess , or promises of good he may make , yet believe him not ; he is thine enemy , and it is though an apparent good , yet a reall evil to which he sollicites thee : for he is the wicked one . . having given you a view of the enemy ; that which next cometh to be considered , is the conquest which all true christians have over this enemy , you have overcome the wicked one . to give you the full extent of this word , consider it two wayes . . as opposed to making peace ; it is not you have made a league with , but you have overcome the wicked one , since there is no way to deal with the devil but by victory ; indeed in temporal wars the case is different , bellum geritur , ut pax acquiratur , a good peace is the end of every just war ; yea and a peace where it may be obtained , is rather to be chosen then victory , that the effusion of bloud may be prevented ; but in this spiritual war with satan , nothing less then a conquest must suffice . the truth is , every christian souldier must either be victor , or victus , a conquerour over , or else conquered by the wicked one . the devil will not make peace with us upon any terms ; but that he may be lord over us ; all his fair promises are upon that condition he made with christ , if thou wilt fall down and worship me ; so that if wee make a league with , wee are overcome by the devil . . as more then fighting : indeed conquest supposeth a battel , and victory is preceded with a fight ; if it be not so alwayes in temporal warres by reason of the cowardize of the enemy , yet it is , in spiritual ; since the devil is too much a lion to be overcome without a combate , quid aliud quotidiè in mundo , quam pugna adversus diabolum geritur ? saith st cyprian , we must continually make account to be engaged in a war with satan : so that what is threatened to asa , may be justly said to new born christians , from henceforth thou shalt have war with the prince of darkness ; and indeed this is that which maketh for the honour of christian souldiers . for as maximus tyrius saith of hercules , if you take from him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the savage beasts , and cruel tyrants with whom he grappled , you deprive him of the reputation of his valour ; so the graces of a christian would not be so illustrious , were it not for the devils temptations . christians then are fighters , and more then fighters , for withall they are conquerours ; nay , if you will believe st paul , they are conquerours , and more then conquerours . indeed it may seem somewhat strange that our apostle should speak of this victory , as of a thing already accomplished , when as ( they of whom he speaketh being young men ) the war was as it were but begun . it is ( and justly ) accounted a presumption in other wars to sing a triumph before the victory , and promise a victory before the fight , like lucullus , who in the begining of his fight against tygranes and mithridates cryed out vicimus , and caesar , whose usuall boast was veni , vidi , vici , i came , i saw , i overcame . but in this war our apostle doubts not to affirme of those young souldiers , they had overcome , and that not without good reason : for . they are said to overcome the devill whilst they are yet in the fight , because they are sure to overcome , it is not unusuall in scripture to express , that as accomplisht which shall surely be fulfilled . thus the prophets often spake of christs sufferings which a long time after were to be undergone , in the present and preterperfect tense : for this reason might st john thus express this victory . indeed it is not so in other battels , alea belli incerta , the success of war is dubious , ofttimes the less number , weaker side , and worst cause gets the day , in this respect it is justly said , let not him that puts on his armour , boast as he that putteth it of , they that have gone into the field big with hope , have returned home with shame . but in this war it s no more but fight , and the conquest is certain : st james position is express , resist the devill and he will flie from you ; if we stand to it , he runs away , satan cannot conquer us without our own consent ; it was his word to christ , cast thy self down , he could not cast him down , we may give our selves into his hands , otherwise he cannot captivate us . indeed christ hath wrought the victory for us , so the first promise telleth of him , that he should breake the serpents head , that is , his power and policy : so the evangelicall history records , how he overcame in the wilderness satans impetuous assaults , ut oppressum atque contritum tradat discipulis concul●andum : as st hierome excellently , that he might deliver him bruised and subdued to be trampled on by his disciples . finally , so st paul asserts of him , he spoiled principalities and powers , and again , through death he destroyed him that had the power of death , to wit , the devill . no wonder then if all christians being ingraffed into christ , overcome by the blood of the lambe . it is safe fighting with a disarmed man and captivated enemy , well may we be sure of the day who wrestle with a conquered adversary . . they are said to overcome , because they have begun the conquest ; look how believers are said to have eternall life , because the spirituall life in them is the begining of eternall : so they are said to overcome , because they begin that conquest which shall never end . indeed the church triumphant is on the other side the sun , nor shall a compleat victory be obtained till this mortality put on immortality . the israelites march out of aegypt , was an emblem of our taking the field against satan : and when had they prevailed ? not till they lodged their colours in canaan . only glorified saints are above the devils reach ; but withall we must distinguish between satans commanding , and assaulting power ; every converted christian is delivered from the one , but not from the other ; satan is not so conquered , but that he still layeth siege , yet he is so conquered , as that he is turned out of the castle ; the devill still rageth , and more then before , but his dominion is taken away ; so that notwithstanding renewed assaults , and particular f●yles he hath no fixed rule in the heart . as therefore st paul who bids the colossians mortifie their earthly members , asserting of them just before you are dead , meaneth according to davenants gloss , mortifiecare caepistis , you have begun to dye : so st john intends by this you have overcome , that is , you have begun to overcome , yet so as that we must not be weary , but still prepare for more assaults , and so persevere fighting to the end . . they are said to overcome as inchoativè , so interpretativè . in gods account and estimation , our striving against the devill is a conquest over him ; look as abraham is said to offer his son isaack , when yet a ram was sacrificed , because his will to offer him was esteemed by god as if he had done it . so a christian indeavour to overcome the devill , ( though we cannot fully master him , nay , are sometimes mastered by him ) is accepted as if it were a victory ; when the childe taketh the bow in his hand putteth the arrow into the bow , and draweth as far as it can , the father accounts it as if the childe had hit the marke ; so doth our gracious god look on the strugling of his servants with satanicall temptations , and our continuing to combate is ( in his mercifull acceptation ) a gaining the conquest . to end this , what an incouragement should the consideration hereof be to us in our christian warfare ? what though the victory be difficult ; not to be obtained without sweat and bloud ? yet it is possible , nay , certain , if the difficulty discourage , let the certainty incourage . indeed there be many inducements to this combate . the authority of our call , having a commission from the king of kings , the justness of our cause , as being against him who is both ours and gods enemy ; above all the assurance of success as being such a fight as shall unquestionably end in conquest . the truth is on the one hand , if we yield to him he is an imperious tyrant ; and on the other hand , if we resist him , he is a timorous coward . the historian said of alexander , that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a formidable warriour , and a gentle conquerour ; but the devill is a cruell conquerour , and a faint warriour . this lyon to use st bernards expression , rugire potest , ferire non potest , may roare but cannot teare , rugiat quantum vult , tantu● non fugiat ovis christi , let him roar as much as he will , only let not christs sheep run away ; fight therefore ( according to st pauls counsell ) this good fight , which is good as in the cause , so in the event , pugnate ut vincatis vincite ut coronemini ( according to st austins exhortation , fight that you may conquer , and conquering be crowned : which that you may be enabled to do , furnish your selves with choice and excellent weapons : and so i am fallen on the , next considerable the helps whereby this victory is attained in these words , you are strong , and the word of god abideth in you . this wicked one in the text with whom we are to encounter , is such an adversary , as wants neither power nor policy , strength nor skill to set upon us , in regard of the one he is compared to a lion , of the other to a serpent , and truly in both these respects it may seem strange that we should overcome him ; but these words return an answer to such an objection , letting us see that true christians have that strength whereby they can grapple with the devils power , and by the word dwelling in them , they have that wisdome which can discover and defeate the devils subtilties . the participation then of a divine strength , and the inhabitation of gods word , are the two singular helps by which the wicked one is overcome . . begin we ( and at this time end , ) with the first of these as it is briefly couched in these words , you are strong . for the unfoulding whereof i shall briefly dispatch two things , namely , the necessity and nature of this strength . . you are strong , and great need there is you should be so , nothing more necessary for a souldier , then bodily , for a christian , then spirituall strength , and that especially on a threefold account . . souldiers are put upon long and tedious marches , which they cannot performe without strength ; it is no wonder if the weak sickly souldier throw down his armes , or lie down in the way , as being not able to march forward ; what else is a christians life but a journey , a march , wherein he is to continue to the last ? but alas how should he do this without strength ? among the many caveats given us in scripture , none more frequent then those against weariness and fainting in our minds , of back-sliding and drawing back from christianity , thereby intimating , how hard a work it is to performe , and how apt we are to fayle and faint : and therefore in this respect we have need of strength . . souldiers are exposed to the scorching heat , and the nights cold , to hunger , and thirst , and watching ; in a word , to much hardship , and this they cannot indure without strength : st paul asserts it concerning all who live godly in christ jesus , that they must suffer persecution , and elsewhere he reckons up a catalogue of evils very incident to christians , tribulation , distress , persecution , famine , nakedness , perill , sword ; and if we cannot do good , much less can we suffer evill without this strength ; it is the strong back that can beare an heavy burden , a strong ship which can abide blustering stormes , the strong christian who must take up his cross and undergo afflictions . . lastly , and most sutable to our present purpose , souldiers are to encounter with their enemies , receive and give assaults , and many times the enemy with whom they are to wrestle is very potent , so that without a considerable strength , there is no expectation of a victory : upon this account christians stand in greater need of strength , since he with whom they fight is ( as st john stileth him ) the great red dragon , yea , ( in st pauls language ) the god of this world . indeed when we consider , that this wicked one is for his nature a spirit , an angel , a creature which excels in strength , hath for number a legion of devils at his command , and if he please to beleagner one simple person wants not power ( if god let him loose ) to make use of all creatures , as the engines of his temptation , we cannot but acknowledge , his strength is great , and therefore there is no overcoming him without a greater and surpassing strength . . but that which would chiefly be considered is , wherein this strength of a christian lyeth , by which he overcometh the wicked one ? in answer to this know that it consists in three things . . in a due preparation , the strength of a souldier lyeth much in his weapons , so doth the christians . when our blessed saviour would let us see the devils might , he cals him the strong armed man , therefore strong because armed : and when st paul exhorts the ephesians to be strong , he presently adviseth them to put on their armour . indeed what hopes of conquest without our weapons over an armed adversary ? what the severall pieces of our armour are , we shall finde there reckoned up , but among them all , that which st paul bringeth in with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , above all , and which s. peter singleth out , is our faith , whom resist stedfast in the faith. indeed as the father excellently , increduli timent diabolum quasi leonem , in fide fortes despiciunt quasi vermiculum , whilst unbelievers feare the devill as a lyon , the faithfull contemn him as a worme . . in a firme resolution , strength of body , of armes will little privaile , where there is not strength of minde , and a magnanimous spirit , say to them that are of a fearefull heart be strong , that is , be couragious , and accordingly they are put together , be strong and very couragious , to which agreeth that of the apostle paul in his military precepts , quiet your selves like men , be strong , it is not all the wiles and assaults of the devill can beat off a fixed christian , he saith with christ , ge● thee behind me satan , or in words , much like those of david , depart from me thou uncleane spirit , for i will keep the commandments of my god : in one word , he that goeth out with resolution , and marcheth on with courage , holdeth out with constancy , and cometh off with conquest . . lastly , in the spirits assistance , it is very observable that the apostle when he would have us be strong , presently addeth , in the lord , and in the power of his might , thereby teaching us where , and in whom our strength lyeth . indeed the preparation we make for the battle is from the lord , and therefore our armour is called the armour of god , not only in respect of institution , it being that armour which he appoints us : but constitution , because it is that armour which he giveth us . besides this , that resolution that is in us , is put into us , it is god must strengthen our hearts , and when both these are wrought , there is still required the spirits concurring assistance to enable us in the resistance ; he that worketh in us to will , must also work in us to do , and he that helpeth us to put on , must teach us to use our armour : look as sometimes when the army which cometh against a city or country is numerous , there is a necessity of procuring forrain supplies ; so is it alwaies with a christian in his combate with satan , there is a necessity of calling in heavenly aide . to end this then , whensoever oh christian , thou art assaulted by this wicked one , what shouldest thou do but labour to strengthen thy self against him ? but be sure thou presume not upon thine own strength . remember peters deniall , and trust not to thine own ability , he is the best souldier in the spirituall warfare that fighteth upon his knees , seeking to god for grace . bewaile then thy own weakness , depend on divine strength , implore the spirits enablement , and doubt not bus he that begins will finish his good work , and as he cals thee to the fight by his command , and assist thee in it by his spirit , so he will crown thee with success and victory after it . the first epistle of st john . chap. . , . vers . i write unto you fathers , because ye have known him that is from the begining . i write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one . i write unto you little children , because ye have known the father . i have written unto you fathers , because you have known him that is from the begining . i have written unto you young men , because ye are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and ye have overcome the wicked one . this is now the sixth time that i have read this scripture in your ears , not that i like the humour of dwelling upon one text , when the sacred book affords so much variety , but because i have met with so much variety in this one text. indeed in these verses our apostle seemeth as it were to erect a schoole , wherein are three forms , the first of experienced fathers , the second of vig●●●u● young men , and the third of hopefull little children . and no wonder if it aske some time to examine these formes and instruct them in their severall lessons : or if you please , you may behold him building three taber●acl●s , or rather raising a fabrick of three stories , the uppermost whereof is of old men , the middlemost of young men , and the lowest of little children ; in each of which there are severall roomes and some of them very spacious . no wonder if it require many hours to walk through and take a view of them and their inhabitants . finally , i may call this scripture , a book consisting of three large and faire leaves ; for the instruction of old , young , and little ones ; well may it be often read and perused , i write to you fathers , &c. the reason why our apostle writeth to young men , is that which we are yet in handling ▪ in which ( considered as a commendation ) we have observed foure particulars , and that which is next in order to be discussed is the . second branch of the third particular , as it is expressed in these words , and the word of god abideth in you . it is a clause which must be looked upon two waies , in it self , and in its connexion . . look upon the words absolutely , and so they set before us the character of a true christian , he is one in whom the word of god abideth . and that you may see what this meaneth , take a short view of each word . . the word ] is s●t down indefinitely , it is i●●●●ded universally for the whole doctrine of the gospell which consists of precepts , promises , and threatnings . it is the prophets isaiah● invitation to the embracing of the evangeli●al● doctrine , come to the waters , buy wine and milke : and m●thinketh in these three metaphors are fitly shadowed the three parts of the word , the precepts are as water cleansing , the promises as milke nourishing , and the threaining as wine searching , all of which we must buy , and having bought , lay up or rather drinke in . indeed hypocrites only suck in the milke , lay hold on the promises refusing to drink the wine aud waters , but the true christian saith of every part of the word with hezekiah , good is the word of the lord , and accordingly hath regard to it . . of god ] therefore the word finds entertainment with a godly man , because it is gods word , it being divine authority which aweth the good heart , so that it dares not neglect , much less reject ; and hence it is that both whatsoever appeareth to be gods word , and only that which so appeareth finds acceptance . . abideth ] nor yet is it a slight entertainment which is given to gods word , it not only lodgeth for a time , but taketh up its constant abode , as it is received , so it is retained , according to that gloss of estius , fidem evangelis constanter retinetis , then the word of god abibideth in , when the faith of the gospell is constantly retained and maintained by us . . in you ] that is , within you , not only in the eyes by reading , ears by hearing , understanding by knowing but in the heart , the judgement by esteeming , the memory by remembring , the will by consenting , the affections by loving delighting , and the conscience by subjecting to it . i cannot better illustrate this character , then by taking a short view of those severall metaphors , by which it is expressed of hiding , eating , graffing , keeping , dwelling . david saith to god , i have hid thy word in my heart , where the hebrew word signifieth to hide as a treasure . conceive then the word as the treasure , the heart as the chest , this as the cabinet , and that as the jewell , nor doth the covetous man more carefully locke up his treasure or jewels then david did , and every good man doth gods word . jeremiah saith to god , thy words were found , and i did eate them . conceive then gods word as the souls food , which must be eaten , that is not only tasted by the mouth , which is hearing , but taken down into the stomach and concocted , which is meditation . our blessed saviour describing the good ground , and distinguishing it from the rest , sets it forth by this character , hearing the word of god with a good and honest heart , and keeping it . the word being as the seed which must not only be cast upon , but covered in the ground , and that is , when it is not only heard with the eare , but kept by the good heart . st james cals the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an ingraffed word , intimating , that as the graff is set into , whreeby it becometh incorporated with the tree , so ought the word to be received into our souls . finally , st paul exhorts the colossians , let the word of christ dwell in you , thereby teaching us , that the word must not only stand at the doore of our ears , but enter into the chamber of our hearts , and that not as a guest to tarry for a night , but as an inhabitant to dwell with us for ever , and then it is that the word not only is , but abideth in us . and now what should be the care of every one , but that this word may take possession of , and abide in our souls ; gods mercy hath hitherto continued the sound of it in our churches , oh let us labour to finde the power of it in our hearts ! since it will little benefit , may much prejudice us to have had it among us , if withall it abide not in us . if we would know whether as yet the word have thus far prevailed , it will best be discovered by reflecting on the forementioned metaphors . if the word abide in us as a treasure , it will inrich us with heavenly grace . if as food it will strengthen us to the performance of spirituall duties . if as seed it will make us fruit full in good works . if as a graff it will transforme us into christs own likeness . if as an inhabitant it will cast out sin and satan , and powerfully rule in our hearts ; oh let us indeavour to finde this effectuall operation of the word upon the hearts , and that it may be so , take notice , that there are foure things necessarily requisite . . apertio , the opening not only auris of the eare , ( concerning which david speaketh , and which is a necessary antecedent ) but cor dis of the heart , whereof the apostle speaketh concerning lidia . there can be no graffing without opening the tree , nor can the word enter till the heart be opened ; to which end there must be contritio a breaking of the heart ; as the earth is opened by plowing and breaking it into clods , so is the heart by contrition , which is a spirituall plowing ; the doore of the soul is so fast barred , that there can be no opening without breaking open . to him will i looke ( saith god ) that is of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at my word ▪ whereby is intimated , that gods word is most carefully received by the contrite spirit ; indeed a broken vessel lets the liquor go , but a broken heart is the best preserver of gods word . . purgatio , besides the opening of the heart by contrition , there must be a cleansing it by reformation ; whilst the stomach is full of ill humours , it either cannot receive , or else will presently cast up the best foode . gods word cannot indure a filthy heart , nor will a filthy heart indure gods word : no wonder if st james exhorts to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness , that we may receive with meekness the ingraffed word . . preparatio , nor yet is this all but the heart being opened and clensed , must be furnished and fitted for the entertainment of this heavenly guest . indeed what provision the shunamite made for the prophet , we must in a spirituall sense make for the word , a chamber , a table , a stoole , a candlestick , and a bed ; a chamber and that a large one , our whole soul , a table and that not of stone , an heart of flesh ; a stoole and that a low one , an humble spirit ; a candlestick , and that a bright one , an enlightned minde , finally , a bed , and that a soft one , even a tender conscience , so will this word vouchsafe to enter in , and dwell with us . . cautela , and yet once more there must be a diligent care that this word after it is received be not lost ; if we would have this word abide with us , we must according to st pauls phrase to titus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hold it fas● , to wit , against all opposition , whereby our enemy seeketh to despoile us of it , and according to that apostolicall caveat , take earnest heed to the things which we have heard , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , least ( as leaking vessels ) at any time we let them slip , and so instead of staying with us , like a flowing river they pass away from us . . having thus given you a positive aspect of this clause , be pleased to view it in reflection upon the victory here asserted , which lets us see that by the abiding of the word of god in us , we overcome the wicked one . among the severall pieces of our spirituall armour which st paul reckoneth up , the the sword of the spirit is not the least which is the word of god , because like a sword it cuts and woundeth the devill to the heart , and as the sword doth no execution unless taken into , and managed by the hand , so neither doth the word unless received into the heart . that encounter of david with goliah is a fit embleme of the christians combate with satan , and as he took five stones out of the brooke , by one of which thrown out of a sling he dashed goliah in the forehead , so must we have in readiness those five stones of promises , precepts , prohibitions , threatnings , , and examples , and throw them upon all occasions in the sling of faith , against the wicked one . indeed which way soever the devill sets upon us , gods word in the heart , is of singular use and service ; if as a lion by violent assaults , it is a chaine to fetter him ; if as a serpent by fraudulent wiles , it is a charme to disappoint him ; whatsoever satan tempts to , the word armeth us against it , since it is some sin or other to which he prompts us , and there is no sin against which it affords not powerfull antodotes . this the devill well knoweth , and therefore one of his principall designes , is to hinder us from hearing and receiving this word ; no sooner had god given a word to adam , but satan striveth to subvert his faith in the threat , and thereby divert him from obedience to the command ; no sooner were the tables of the law written , but the devill endeavoureth to have them broken ; for so some conceive that the devils aime in tempting the israelites to idolatry was , that thereby moses might be inraged , and the tables broken . those fowles of the ayre in the parable of the sower , what are they but the devils of hell , whose work it is to pick up the seed of the word which is sown among us , that it may may not abide with us , and all this because he knoweth it is our best both offensive and defensive weapon . it is true sometimes the devill striveth to turne this sword into a shield , alledging ( as he did to christ ) scripture for the justifying of his temptations , but how falsely and perversely is obvious in that perticular instance , but still the scripture verities are undoubtedly contrary to his diabolicall lies , discovering the subtilty and weakning the energy of his assaults . how carefull then should every one of us be both to get and keep gods word , whereby we may be enabled to resist the devils temptations . because he continually watcheth to devoure us , let us every day gird this sword upon our thighs , that he may never find us unprepared . believe it christians , gods word is the richest treasury to supply our wants , and the strongest armory to oppose our enemies . this weapon was that which the captain of our salvation made choice of , for so you finde him in the wilderness refelling satans renewed solicitations with a scriptum est ; and surely it is fit that we who are the common souldiers , should make use of the same defence , since christ purposely so dealt with the devill , that he might thereby give us an example . indeed as the doves ( to use st gregories compa●ion ) seeing the shadow of the flying hawks in the water , by casting themselves upon it escape their fury : so holy men beholding in gods word satanical subtilties , and addicting themselvs to those sacred counsels avoid his snares . and as those that live in royall towers , and armories ( to borrow s chrysostoms metaphor ) are secure from thieves and robberies : so where these spirituall books dwell , diabolicall power is weakned , and poyson expelled . the truth is , no arrow 's so sharp as those which are fetched out of the lords quiver , those darts which are taken out of gods armorypier●e deepest , and it is the sword of the spirit which cuts best ; and therefore however the devill change his weapons , yet let us keep ours , making use of this upon all occasions against all temptations . and so much shall suffice for the third considerable , namely the helps in the battell . . the last but not the least , nay chief observable is yet behinde , namely , the combatants in the you , to wit , young men whom he highly commends in that they were strong by the word of god abiding in them to overcome the wicked one : and here is something both implyed and expressed . . that which is implyed , is that the wicked one is especially an enemy to young men ; none are in greater danger then they , to be drawn to wickedness by this wicked one . . he well knoweth that young men are most capable of doing either god or him service ; then they are in the prime of their dayes , the faculties of their souls most vigorous , the members of their bodies most active , and so fit for employment ; no wonder if he chiefly strive to divert them from gods , and draw them to his service . . besides he subtily observeth , that that age of all others is most prone to corrupt affections and actions . when david saith , wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his wayes , whenas yet the question and answer belongeth to every man , what doth he imply , but that young men are very prone to defile their wayes ? when st paul exhorts timothy ( who yet was very weak● in body ) to flie youthfull lusts , what doth he , but intimate that lusts are especially incident to youth ? it is st ambrose his note upon those words of job , thou makest me to possess the sins of my youth , pul●hré id ●tatis arripit ad qu●relam , quae magis ad vitium lubrica esse consuevit , very fitly doth he complain of that age , as being most apt to fall into sin . in this respect youth is called by s austin , flos ●tatis , periculum mentis , as the flower of age , so the danger of the mind , the mind being then in danger ; ( as s hierome observeth ) now of dashing on the c●●ribdis of luxury , and then of being plunged into on the scilla of lust ; yea innumerable are the vi●●● which do cleave fast to this age . st austin comparing childhood and youth and old age together , well inferreth to this purpose ; if childish and old age be not free from temptations , of which the one is but entring into , and the other is going out of this life , that but now was not , and this ere long will not be , quid sentiendum est de flagrantiâ juvenilis aetatis , what may we thinke of young age , no mervaile if it be shaken with the windes and waves of various assaults . indeed those lusts which children are not come to , and old age is past , young men are prone to be carried away with : not much unlike is that observation of st ambrose , habet pueritia innocentiam , senectus prudentiam , &c. childhood hath innocence , old age prudence , only youth is rash in counsels , weake against temptation , and fervent in evill . thus as the boyling pot sendeth up most s●um , so in flaming youth are the strongest inclinations to passion , uncleanness , intemperance ▪ aristotle observeth of youth , that it is eager in desire , bold in enterprizes , changeable in minde , prone to anger , confident in hope , and presumptuous of its own knowledge , qualities which very much dispose them to evill , besides men in youth begin to embrace humane society , mutuall converses , and alas how easily are they entangled with evill company , and no wonder if the devill having so great advantages against , doth with the greatest violence set upon young men . it is a meditation which should teach young men to be so much the more watchfull , carefull , fearfull , least they be caught in the devils snares . indeed there is no time wherein we can be secure , but we have most reason to feare in youth , because we are then most in danger . this old serpent loveth to entwine himself about young men , this archenimy of man thinketh no triumphs like to those wherein he leads youth captive ; and therefore of all ages , let young men walke in an holy fear of , and vigilant preparation against diabolicall assaults . . that which is expressed is , that these young men to whom our apostle wrote , had prevailed against the devill , through the strength of gods word and grace . there are three excellencies which especially belong to young men , and whereof they much glory , to wit , strength of body , firmeness of memory , victory in war , and all these our apostle here attributeth to these young men in a spirituall and consequently most excellent sense . . adolescentes delectat & ornat fortitudo corporis , saith ferus upon the text , bodily strength is an ornament of , and delight to youth , the name for young men here used refers to it as justinian observeth , and it is solomons assertion , the glory of young men is their strength . lo here st john commends these young men , in that they were strong , and that not so much outwardly as inwardly , in body as minde , in might as grace . . it is a great honour to young men that they have as quick wits , so good memories , whereas children and old men are forgetfull ; it was the evcellency of these young men , that their memories were well imployed , to wit , about divine oracles , they had the word of god abiding in them . . the young is the warlike age , youth gloriatur in viribus gaudet in luctis , glorieth in strength and boasteth in combats , such was the romana juventus , the romane youth a people given to war , and delighted in victories . behold these young men are happily engaged in an incounter with the worst of enemies , over whom they obtain the conquest . and surely whilst valorous attempts and exploits in civill wars deserve due praises , spirituall victories challenge it much more . honourable are those young men , who are famous for the naturall endowments of strength and memory for the warlike atchievements of victories and triumphs , but happy , yea , thrice happy are those young men who excell in those heavenly ornaments of strength and grace , retaining gods word and victory over the wicked one . and n●w advos mihi sermo o juvenes ( to use st austins expression ) o young men let me address my discourse to you , you are strong in body , i but are you not weak in grace , you haue marrow in your bones , blood in your veines , i but have you gods were abiding in your hearts ? you are perhaps valorous and victorious in wars with men , but are you not cowards in resisting satan ; instead of being victors over , are you not slaves to him ; you delight in victories , but are they not such as proclaime you his captives ; the assaulting of beauties to overcome their chastities , the conquering of one another in cups and oaths , or such like impieties . there is no tempoation with which the devill doth more frequently beset young men , then that of procrastination . the devils voice is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so gregory nazianzen , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so basil the great : that vox corvina , as st austin calleth it , the crowes note , cras , cras , give me to day , let god have to morrow , give me the time present , let god be served hereafter ; and alas how are the greatest part of youth miserably overcome by temptation , whilest ( as clemens alexandrinus sadly complaineth ) whereas in other matters we are hasty , yea too oft precipitant , in business of serving god , we are very deliberate long before we resolve , and when we resolve before we put it in execution . oh that all young men would receive this seasonable word of exhortation ; begin betimes to acquaint yourselves with gods word , and ingage in the war with this wicked one . to this end ponder a while on these ensuing considerations . . possibly , nay probably you may not live to be old ; old age is that which none can assure himself of , and comparatively few do partake of it ; if the first death overcome us before we overcome the devil , we must needs be hurt of the second death ; and if we overcome not whilest we are young , death may prevent our being old , and so cut us off while we are in the devils jawes . oh who would run so desperate an hazard , considering to how many diseases , casualties , the young are subject ! . if you do live to be old ; yet consider , . the conquest over this wicked one will be the more difficult , by how much the longer it is delayed ; the proverb saith , a young saint , an old devil ; but i am sure , it is hard for a young devil to become an old saint . dost thou think it will be so easie to cast out this strong man , when he hath had so much time to fortifie himself ? wilt not thou every day become weaker and the enemy stronger , and must not then the victory be harder ? it was much ( saith st chrysostome ) that jonah after three dayes imprisonment escaped out of the whales belly ; but it is much more to see an habituated sinner extricate himself out of the devils snare . sin and satan are not like tenants at will , to be gone at a quarters warning , the best wisdome is to crush the ●ockatrice in the egge . oh take heed of accustoming thy self to the devils yoak , since then it will not be a facile work to throw it off ! nay further , . god may hereafter deny that grace to thee , which now thou● denyest to thy self , and then it will not be only difficult , but impossible to overcome him . it is a sad doom which god uttereth concerning ephraim , he is joyned to idols , let him alone ; what if god say so of thee , he is addicted to the devils service , let him alone ? it is but just when men give themselves over voluntarily , god should give them over judicially to satans power , and then there is no possibility of escaping out of his hands . me thinks it is very observable , that only he who first stepped into the po●l after the moving of the waters by the angel , was cured : post est occasio calva , time must be taken by the fore-lock . oh then make hast to list thy self a souldier under christs command , least if now thou maiest , thou wilt not ; when perhaps thou wouldst , thou shalt not . . if through divine grace thou shalt hereafter prevaile against this wicked one , yet oh what grief and anguish of heart will it be then to thee , that thou wast so long bewitched with the devils temptations ? how bitterly doth david deprecate allmighty god ? remember not against me the sins of my youth . no doubt out of the deep sense he had of , and sorrow for them . quae fuerunt inania juventutis gaudia , haec sunt acerba senectutis gravamina ; the vanities of youth will be the vexation of old age , and if the one be a comedy all upon pleasure , the other will prove a tragedy of sorrow . . finally , the only ●●t and most acceptable time for this spirituall conflict and conquest is the time of youth . it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth , ( saith the church ) indeed then he is most able to bear it . this yoke as st hilary excellently , non expectat frigescentis senectatis annos , nec emortuam jam aetatem pro vitiorum cousuetudin● , is not for the weake shoulders of old men , who are so much the weaker , because sin through custome is become stronger ; yea , as st ambrose truly , quid potest habere laudis ? what thanks is it , if when our body is enervated through pleasures ; and the cold frost of old age hath seased on it , we should then offer it to god as a sacrifice ? it is st basils note , that whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is an inscription prefixed before many psalms , it is omitted before the fifteenth , which is a breviary of morall precepts , the practise whereof must not be defer'd till the end of our lives . indeed mane as one wittily observeth is the devils verb , who tempts us to continue still in his service ; but gods verb , who expects the morning of our youth to be devoted to him . what the fat was in the sacrifice , that is , the strength of youth in gods service ; very acceptable to him , oh let it be offered by us . the truth is , a young christian souldier is both most terrible in the devils , and amiable in gods eyes ; the figtree putteth forth her green figs , and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell , they are christs words to his church . indeed no smell so sweet in his nostrils , as that which comes from the tender grapes : and withall ( as st bernard observeth ) hic odor serpentes fugat , venimous creatures cannot endure the sent ; but so soon as the vines put forth they remove , quod volo attendant novitij nostri , a comfort to young saints who pertake of that spirit whose first fruits the devils abhorre . in one word , as it is gods honour and the devils terror , so it will be our comfort . assure thy self oh young man , it will be no grief of heart to thee in thy old age , that thou didst begin in youth to engage thy self in this sacred war against the wicked one . temporis preteriti bene impensi suavis est memoria . oh how sweet is the remembrance of youth well spent ? what a joyfull harvest doth the old man reap from the seedtime of a religious youth , and with what abundant contentment doth he gather those ripe fruits of virtue which budded forth in his youthfull daies ? oh then be wise you young m●n and instructed , you that are of tender years for gods sake ; nay , for your own sake , for his glory , and for your own comfort and sa●ety , give no place to the devill , resist him speedily , resolutely , so shall you overcome him gloriously . and now if you be such young men as my text describeth , the instructions here given cannot but be welcome to you ; no wonder that our apostle by these qu●lifications as by so many arguments inciteth to the practice both of the precedent precept , and the subsequent prohibition . . love not the world because you are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and you have overcome the wicked one . he that is given up to the world is wicked , and he that is entangled with it is weake ; a strong saint is so far from loving , that he contemneth it , having his conversation in heaven ; they that by waiting on the lord renew their strength , mount up with wings as eagles , and so are free from deaths snares . worldly love will not suffer the word of god to abide in us . this diverts us from hearing and reading the word ; as the farme and the oxen kept them in the gospell from coming to the feast ; or if not so , it keepeth us from loving and conforming to it ; as the thornes in the parable did choake the good seed . herods lust of voluptuousness , judas his lust of covetousness , would not let the word take place in their hearts , though it entred into their ears ; indeed it is impossible that the heart which is clogged with the weight of worldly love should be lift up to gods commandments . . again , if we will overcome the devill , we must not love the world , there being no stronger engine by which the devill gets and keeps possession of our hearts . when he would allure us to any sin , what are his enchantments but the pleasures of the world ? when hee would affright us from any duty ; what are his weapons but the reproaches and persecutions of the world ? so that in order to this victory , nothing is more needfull then the alienating of our affections from the world . . love the brethren , because you are strong , and the word of god abideth in you , and you have overcome the wicked one . where there is strength of grace , there cannot but be fervent love , as to god , so to the brethren : it is for weake and sickly persons to be froward ; none are more prone to contention and faction , then those that are weak in grace and knowledge ; strong christians are ever studiou● of amity and unity . indeed this is the way to increase our spirituall strength ; and therefore when st paul adviseth to be strong , he presently addeth , let all things be done in love ; and charity is called by him the bond of persection . again , if the word of god abide in us , we cannot but love one another . charity is one of the principall fruits which this seed produceth , a lesson which this schoole master teacheth . excellent to this purpose is that saying of lactantius , da mihi hominem iracundum & uno verbo dei reddam placidum , ut ovem . this word turns leopards into kids , lions into lambes , and sweetly cements hearts together in one . once more , if we overcome the wicked one , we cannot but love our brethren ; the devill is that envious one who soweth the tares of dissention ; though he preserveth unity in his own kingdome , yet he endeavoureth to create and frame discord among men ; so that as we cannot more gratifie the devill then by malice ; so neither can we better overcome him then by charity . the truth is , every envious and malicious person is the devils slave , but the charitable christian is his conquerour . . having thus run through the reasons which our apostle alledgeth why he wrote to fathers , and young men , it now remaineth that we give a brief dispatch to the last which is the reason , why he wrote to little children , as it is expressed in the close of the thirteenth verse in those words , because you have known the father . in the handling whereof i shall briefly consider three things : the quality specified , to know the father . the energy intimated , knowing the father , is that which engageth not to love the world , but to love the brethren . the congruity to the persons mentioned , little children you have known the father . . having had occasion already once and again , to insist upon this grace of divine knowledg , it will not be needfull to enlarge : only know in brief that . it is no other then an evangelicall knowledg of god , which our apostle here intends : to know the father is to know god to be the father of christ , and in and through him a mercifull father to all true christians . it is one thing to know god as a creator , or as a law-giver ; and another to know him as a father : so only the gospell revealeth him , and accordingly we come to know him . . it is less then an operative knowledg , so to know the father , as to depend on him for fatherly protection from all dangers , and provision of all necessaries ; as to give him filiall love , fear , service , subjection , to all his fatherly commands , and submission to all his fatherly chastisements . they that know thy name ( saith the psalmest ) will trust in thee , and not only trust , but serve and honour thee . . it is not a graduall , but initiall knowledg . it is not unworthy our observation , that the knowledg of god and christ is a qualification attributhd both to the father , and the children . indeed god is both the ● , and the ● , the first and last ; and therefore he must be known by us in our first and last age ; but yet these two knowledges differ in degrees ; old christians have a deep draught ; whereas little chidren have but a taste of this heavenly nectar ; and therefore the expression is varied ; fathers are said to know him that is from the begining , as being well versed in the misteries of christian religion , whereas little children are only said to know the father , as having but some generall apprehensions of god reconciled in christ . . this knowledg of the father among many others cannot but produce these two choice effects , to wit , contempt of the world , and the love of the brethren . on the one hand as the twinkling stars are obscured by the light of the glorious sun ; and therefore they disappear in the day time ; so the beames of this heavenly knowledg darken all creature excellencies in our apprehension , and consequently our estimation of , and affection towards them must needs be diminished ; on the other hand , this fountain of celestiall knowledge cannot but send forth streams of love , and that as chiefly towards the father , so secondarily to all who are the children of this father , and so our brethren . . this qualification of knowing the father is very congruously attributed to the children . infantibus & pueris nihil magis necessarium quam ut patrem habeant & cognoscant saith ferus well ; nothing is more needfull for infants and children , then that they should have and know the father . the weakness of little children needs the conduct and government of another , they cannot consult for their own safety and benefit , and therefore their parents undertake it for them . by this means it is that the childe first taketh notice of his father and mother , according to that of the poet , incipe parve puer risu cognsocere matrem . and hence those pretty monosyllables by which father and mother are exprest , are first taught and learnt by their children so soon as they can speak . and surely as it becometh little ones so soon as they are capable to know and own their parents , so is it an amiable excellency in them to attaine some knowledge of god as their father : nothing more naturall to children ( when once reason begins to act in them ) then to defire knowledge ; no knowledge to which a childe sooner taketh , then that of the father : but oh how joyfull and happy a thing is it when through instruction they begin to apprehend him who is the father of us all , and this is the commendation of these children that they know the father . to winde up this , . it is that which should be in the first place an item to parents that they be carefull to traine up their children in the knowledge of the father . oh parents you are industrious to provide wealth and riches for your children , but why are you not more solicitous to obtain grace and knowledge for them ? you take a great deale of care to enrich their bodies , but why so little for the adorning of their souls ? what is this , but ( to use plutarchs comparison , as if one should be very curious about the shooe , and neglect the foote ; or exact id triming the glove whilst the hand is foule : perhaps you endeavour that your children may attaine some kinde of knowledge , to wit , in the tongues , or arts , and sciences , in a trade and calling ; and herein you do well , learning being a far better portion then riches , without which the wealthiest heire , is but an ass laden with gold ; but oh parents , why stay you here ? there is one thing more needfull then either of the other , and that is the knowledge of the father ; what difference is there between a pagan and a christian parent , if your only care be to acquaint children with secular affairs , or educate them in philosophicall studies : oh let it not suffice that your children are instructed in humane , whilst they are ignorant of divine learning . tell me i beseech you , is it not a sad thing , and yet i would to god it were not too common , that little children through your negligent education should swear so soon as they ean speak , and learn to blaspheme that god whom yet they have not been taught to know ; such parents ( saith s● chrysostome , ) are worse then homicides , nay , then parricides ; for these take away only the bodily life of their parents , but those do what in them lyeth to cast the souls and bodies of their children into hell ; and whilst by generation they were the instruments of their temporall life , through neglect of good education they become at least the occasion of their eternall death . it is a dolefull story which is reported by gregory the great to this purpose , of a childe of five years old , which being carelesly or rather wickedly brought up , was given to blaspheming gods holy name ; and being a little after smitten with death , the poore childe cryeth to the father , help , help , the moors are come to take me away , and so blaspheming god it died , no doubt to the horrour and perplexity of the wicked father . it is a sad thing when children in their old age shall have cause to complaine that their parents had no care to bring them up in learning ; but is it not far more sad , that children in hell shall cry out against their parents , because they had no regard to instruct them in the knowledg of god ? let then all parents be admonished of this necessary duty which they owe to their children . children are sometimes called pignora , pledges , so they are of gods love to us in bestowing them on us , so they ought to be of our love to god in consecrating them to him . they are compared to arrows as they are at first directed , so afterwards they fly● . oh let it be your endeavour that they may be directed upwards towards heaven by divine knowledg . it much conduced to alexanders prowess and victory in his wars that his father philip caused him to be brought up ( as it is were from his radle ) in military discipline : oh let it be the prudent piety of all parents to teach their children betimes the knowledge of the christian warfare , and to that end to begin with the knowledg of the father . . but secondly , let me turn my counsell from the parents to the children , whom i cannot better bespeake then in davids words , come ye children , hearken unto me , and i will teach you the knowledg and fear of the lord. you know your earthly parents , i but labour to know your heavenly ; you know the fathers of your flesh , ey but strive to know the father of your spirits ; you are expert it may be in homers odes , virgils ecl●gs , cicero's orations , oh but strive to get understanding in davids psalms , solomons proverbs , and the other plaine books of holy writ . manna was to be gathered in the morning , the orient pearl is generated of the morning dew , aurora musis amica , the morning is a friend to the muses . oh remember thy creator ▪ know him in the morning of thy childehood . when god had created the heavens and the earth , the first thing he did was to adorne the world with light , and seperate it from the darkness ; happy is that childe on whom the light of saving knowledg begins to dawn early . god in the law required the first born , and the first fruits , so he doth still our first daies to be offered up to him . they are wisdomes own words , they that seek me early shall finde me . where a rabbin observeth a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to the verb more then usuall , which in numbring goeth for fifty ; with this note that early seeking hath not only twenty , or thirty , but fifty , nay , indeed an hundred sold recompence attending on it . he that is long before he seeketh god , i will not say he shall not at all , but it may be long ere he finde him : oh begin early whilst yet you are children to seek the knowledge of god. the better to endu●e you hereunto consider my good children , . you were in your very infancy , almost as soon as born , dedicated to the father ; being baptized in the name of the blessed trinity , father son , and holy ghost : and will you not now that you begin to have the use of your understanding ; endeavour to know the father ? you are already his sworne servants , and souldiers , will you be ignorant of him to whom you are sworne ? . if you do not now begin to know the father , you will be less docible hereafter ; alas how hard is it to instill knowledg into old years ? can it be imagined that that tree which doth not bud nor blossome in the spring , should bring forth fruit in autumn , or should flourish in winter ? now in your childhood your wits are fresh , your apprehension quick ; oh imploy them in studying and gaining the divine knowledg , so much the rather , because hereby you shall put to shame those ignorant old ones : who have lived long , and yet with the ninivites know not the right hand from the left . . your parents may prove unnaturall and forsake you , however they are mortall , and when death comes , must leave you ; but your father in heaven liveth for ever , and if you know and serve him , he will love you , and take care for you , he will never leave you nor forsake you . the hen is not more tender of her chickens , nor the sheapheard of his lambes , then this universall father , ( as clemens alexandrinus cals him ) is of his little ones , towardly and hopefull children . you may guess at gods love by christs respect , who commanded little children to be brought unto him , and blamed those that kept them from him . it was davids comfort , when my father and mother forsooke me , then god tooke me up ; it may be yours my little children if you endeavour to know and love the father , when your parents either cannot or will not help you , he both can and will provide for you . once more , your dear redeemer and blessed saviour jesus christ began himself betimes , and was so well skild at twelve years old , that he disputed with the doctors in the temple ; hereby giving you an example , which though it cannot be expected you should equalize , yet it is required you should follow ; we finde in the gospell little children going before christ , and following after him with hosanna's : and it is the praise of jereboams childe , that there was found in him some good thing toward the lord god of israel . oh little children write after these coppies , so much the rather , because with jereboams childe , you may dye early , and what a comfort will it be to your selves and parents , if then there shall be found in you some knowledg , and love , and fear of your father which is in heaven ? to end all , what remaineth but that all of all ages , fathers , young men , little children , make use of this scripture , as a looking glass , whereby they may see what they are , at least what they should be , that they may be all according to the gracious promise taught of god , from the greatest to the least , eldest to the youngest ? and then the psalmists exhortation will be readily embraced , young men and maids , old men and children , let them praise the name of the lord from this time forth for evermore . amen . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , , . love not the world neitherr the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . and the world passeth away and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god abideth forever . the subject of this scripture is one of the chiefest and most needfull lessons in all practicall divinity , since it is removens prohibens , a document of removing that which is one of the greatest hinderances in the exercises of christianity . indeed what the stumbling block is to th traveller in the way , the weight to the runner in his race : or to use st austins comparison , limetwigs are to the bird in its flight ; that is , the love of the world to a christian in his course , either wholly diverting him from , or greatly entangling him in , or forcibly turning him out of it . this is one of the fetters which keepeth so many from entring into the path of piety . this is one of those suckers which hinder others from growth in godliness . finally , this is that which like a contrary winde to the ship , beateth back many from their former profession . the truth is , ( as calvin well observeth on this place , till the heart be purged from this corruption , the eare will be deafe to divine instructions . hercules could never conquer antaeus , donec â terrâ matre ●um levasset , till he had lifted him up above his mother earth ; no more can the spirit of grace subdue us to the obedience of the gospell , till he hath lifted up our hearts from earthly love. heavenly truths glide of from carnall mindes as water from a sphaericall body : no wonder then if the apostle paul exciting the hebrews to run he race which is set before them , adviseth them to lay aside every weight , to wit , of worldly care . and here the apostle john intending chiefly in this whole epistle to advance a christian conversation , indeavours in these words to take men off from worldly affections , love not the word , nor the things of the world , &c. the discourse of these words moveth upon two principall wheels , namely a command peremptorily inhibiting , which is propounded in the beglning of the fifteenth verse , love not the world nor the things of the world . expounded in the sixteenth verse , all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life . an argument strongly enforcing , which is drawn from two considerations ; the one in regard of worldly love , its direct contrariety to that which is divine as it is asserted in the end of the fifteenth verse , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . proved in the end of the sixteenth verse , for it is not of the father , but of the world . the other in regard of the world it self , its fleeting instability which is affirmed in the begining of the seaventeenth verse , and the world passeth away and the lusts thereof . amplified from its contrary , the permanent felicity of the religious , in the end of the verse , but he that doth the will of god abideth for ever . so that though the grand wheels of this period are but two , yet we finde many lesser wheels , yea , rotam in rotâ , every wheel having another within it . the first main wheel is the prohibition , and in that is another wheel , the exposition . the second wheel is the argument ; and in that two wheels , the double motive , each of which hath a wheel within it : whilst the first motive is backed with a probation , and the second with an illustration . may that blessed spirit of grace vouchsafe to drive the chariot of my discourse , which shall run in order upon these wheels ; and then i doubt not but we shall attain that which is , ( i trust ) the goale of my preaching , and your hearing , namely , our reformation and salvation . the prohibition is that which i am to begin with : and that . as propounded in these words , love not the world , nor the things that are in the world . this is in order the sixth step of that walking in the light , which ( i have heretofore told you ) is the chief design of this epistle to delineate . the first , whereof is a sorrowfull confession of sin past . the second , a cordiall forsaking it for the time to come . the third , an obedientiall keeping the commandment . the fourth , a sedulous imitation of christ . the fifth a christian law of the brethren , and now , the sixth is an alienation of our head from the world , love not the world , &c. what the intent of this prohibition is , will best apapear by inquiring what is the proper notion of the word world in this place . not to trouble my self and you with giving an account of its severall acceptions in sacred writ , be pleased to know to our present purpose . that ( to use st austins similitude ) as an house is taken sometimes for the wals , and roomes which constitute the house ; and sometimes for the family which inhabiteth the house : so by the world is meant sometimes , the things , and sometimes the persons of the world , and both these constructions expositors make use of here . some by the world understand the men of the world , and so conceive that which followeth the things of the world to be distinct from the world , and that this act of love is here forbiden about a double object . others by the world understand the things of the world , and accordingly conceive the latter to be an explication of the former that whereas when he said love not the world , it might have been inquired , what oh blessed apostle is this world which we must not love ? to prevent this objection he presently addeth , nor the things of the world . . the former of these interpretations is neither improbable , nor unprofitable , and therefore i shall not wholly pass it by ; love not the world , that is , love not the men of the world : for the right understanding of which prohibition observe these three things . . though world be here taken for the men in it , yet this must be construed not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , generally for all men , but with restriction to wicked and ungodly men : for in this sense it is frequently used by this writer , as it were easie to instance in severall places of his gospell , and in some of this epistle , especially the first verse of the next chapter , wherein i shall ( god willing ) enlarge upon this appellation , as given to the wicked ; for the present it may suffice to know , that if we here interpret the world of persons , it must be confined only to the unregenerate and ungodly of the world . . this world of the wicked men which we are not to love , is not to be understood of the men , but their wickedness ; when the devill is said to be the prince of this world , by our saviour ; and the god of this world , by st paul , it is no doubt intended as only of the wicked of the world , so in regard of their wickedness : and in the same restraint it must be here taken when we are enjoyned not to love them . look as when the apostle paul forbids us , to be conformed to the world , his meaning is , that we should not conforme to their sinfull manners , vitious practises : so when the apostle john forbids us to love the world , if we refer it to men , it is to be unnerstood as intending to forbid a love to their sins , not to their nature . the truth is , as men they are the works of gods hand ; and so to be loved on his score , they are our own flesh , and so to be loved upon our own account ; only as wicked they are the devils children , and so not to be loved but hated . very observable to this purpose is that expression of st paul to the ephesians , have no fellowship with the unfruitful workes of darkness , he meaneth , have no fellowship with the workers , but yet he very aptly saith the works , since it is in reference to their works , that we ought to avoide fellowship with the workers . . once more , we must distinguish of a double love , to wit , amor benevolentiae , & complacentiae , a love of benevolence , whereby we wish well to , and a love of complacency whereby take delight in another . the love of benevolence is commanded , and that in regard of wicked men , toward whom we must exercise compassion , for whom we must make supplication , desiring and endeavouring their eternall wellfare . but the love of complacency is forbidden ; since we ought to avoid , nay abhorre all familiar society with the ungodly ; and so this love not , may very fitly be expounded by that have no fellowship , not that all kinde of commerce and communion with the wicked is prohibited , but that this commerce must be a matter of necessity not of choice : we cannot but live among them , but we must not delight in them , we may upon just occasion have society , but we must not love the company of the wicked . this is that precept whereof holy david hath set us a pattern when he saith , all my delight is in the saints , and the excellent of the earth . again , i am a companion of all them that feare thee ▪ and again , depart from me you evill doers , for i will keep the commandments of my god. upon which the gloss well , abigit tanquam muscas molestas , he driveth them away as so many troublesome flies . thus must we keep at a distance from wicked men , and shun all familiar intimacy with them . and surely would we seriously●onsider ●onsider the great danger of loue to ▪ and familiarity with the wicked , not only in regard of suspition that we are as they , which brings a scandall upon our names , but of infection , and destruction : since we can hardly escape without being involved in their iniquities and calamities , it could not but be a strong inducement to the observation of this apostolicall canon , love not the world , that is , the wicked men of the world . but not to insist on this exposition , proceed we to the other which to me seemeth more genuine ; and that because both the distribution of this worlds love into severall sorts of lusts ; and likewise the arguments by which it is disswaded , especially that of the worlds passing away with its lusts , are most congruous to this latter construction , love not the world , that is , not the things of this world . in the unfolding whereof , i shall plainly proceed by these five steps . . when we are forbidden to love the world and the things of it , it is to be restrained to this sublunary and terrestiall world . mundi nomine intellige quicquid ad presentem vitam spectat . so calvin aptly , by the things of the world , we are to understand those things which belong to this present life . we cannot have a better expositor of st john then st paul , and then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , will be the same with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , elsewhere the things of the world , that is , the things which are upon the earth : those things which appertain to our animall and sensitive life , in opposition to heavenly and spirituall things , and if you please to distinguish the world and the things of it , you may with one upon the place by the world understand this life or our abode in this world , and by the things of it , all those contentments which this life can afford to us . . it is not unfitly taken notice of by ferus , that the apostle doth not say , exite mundo , but nolite diligere mundum , leave the world , but do not love it . excellent to this purpose is that of st gregory , sic teneamus ea quae sunt hujusmodi , ut tamenper ea non teneamur . we must so possess the things of this world , that we be not possessed by them . indeed for the leaving of the world , and the things of it ; we must have a just and speciall call , or else it becomes sinfull ; we must not go out of this world at our own pleasure , but waite gods leisure , saying with good old simeon , lord lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace . sapiens non debet fugerè vitâ sed exire , said seneca , a wise man must not breake prison doores , only be willing to go forth when they are set open . we cannot stay longer in , and we must not go sooner out of this world then god pleaseth ▪ we must not needlesly devest our selves of those comforts which god affoards us in this life ; since it were both unthankfulness to the giver , whom we basely undervalue by casting away his gifts , and an injury to our selves the receivers , who hereby should be difinabled from being so seruice●ble as we might in our generation . that forsaking of house , brethren , sisters , father , mother , wife , children , lands , to which christ promiseth an hundreth fold and eternall life is when it is for his names sake : so that either we must deny his name , or lose life , and leave these secular injoyments ; otherwise the generall prohibition is not , possess not , but love not . . it is very aptly observed by st austin , that the apostle doth not say , nolite uti mundo , but nolite diligere mundum , do not use the world , but do not love it . he that not loving the world useth it , useth it as not abusing it : inasmuch as he useth it not for it selfe , but in order to that which he loueth , as the father excellently enlargeth . so long as we live in , we cannot but have use of the world , and the things in it ; we stand in need of them , we cannot subsist without them , and consequently not only may , but must make use of them . but as ●eda well glosseth , vtamur mundo ad necessitatem & non ad volnntatem , use the world for the supplying your necessities , but not for satisfying your lust . with gideons three hundred souldiers we may lap the waters of this world with our tongues , but we must not with the rest bow down our bodies to drinke of them . one hath wittily observed of the three ages of man , that children ●reep on all soure , being unable to stand of themselves , young men go on two legs , and old men on three , being necessitated to use their staffe ; it may be here applyed , wicked men are wholly carryed downwars to this world : the saints in heaven trample upon the world , the godly whilst in this world use it only as a staffe for their necessary support . excellent to this purpose is that of st austin concerning these temporall things , his tanquam tabulâ in fluctibus bene utendo cavebimus , we must looke upon them as so many plankes in the waves , which we neither rest upon as firme , nor yet cast away as needless , but use as helps to carry us to the shore . . it is observed by suidas , that the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( which is the word in the text , ) hath two significations , the one whereof is generall , and the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , noting only an ordinary affection , the other speciall amounting to as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be so pleased with any object that we desire nothing else : according to this , that note of st austin upon the text is very apposite , non te prohibet deus amare ista , sed non diligere ad beatitudinem , it is not every kinde of love which is here prohibited , but so to love them , as to make them our chiefest good . for the further explicating of which be pleased to know : that . love , as an ancient hath well defined it , is delectatio cordis ad aliquid per desiderium currens per gandium acquiescens , the enlargement of the heart toward any object , so as to run to it by desire , and rest in it by delight . so that indeed love is a compounded mixt affection , made up of desire in craving , and joy in having the object we love : and accordingly some criticks observe of the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , here used , that it is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be very earnest after , and pleased with that which is beloved . . it is not unlawfull to look upon the world , and the things in it , as objects of our love , both in regard of desire and delight . when our blessed saviour command us to pray , give us this day our daily bread , by which syne●do●hically , all temporall conveniences are intended ; he doth hereby plainly intimate that we may desire them , prayer being an expression of desire . when solomon saith , ( and that not in the person of an epicure , ) there is nothing better for a man , then that he should eate and drinke , and that he should make his soul injoy good in his labour : what doth he but insinuate that to delight our selves in earthly things is allowable . indeed whatever is good may justly be the object of love , and consepuently when absent , of desire , when present , of delight : so that inasmuch as there is a goodness , and that originally implanted by god in those things which are the works of his hands , they cannot but rationally attract our love . . but then lastly , there is a great deale of difference between ordinata charitas , and inordinata cupiditas , an ordinate charity , and an inordinate love , and though that is commendable , this is to be condemned ; so that the true meaning of this prohibition will best appear in two propositions . . love not the world , nor the things of the world , that is , when you want them , desire not inordinately after them . desire them we may , but not . in an unjust way , so to covet these things as to seek them , perfasque , nefasque , by indirect and unlawfull meanes , that we choose rather to breake the rules of the word , then to want the things of the world is sinfull and abominable ; the streames of our affection may move towards the world ; but then it must be in the right channell in gods way , only in the use of those meanes which he alloweth us . . with an undue measure , so to long for any thing in this world , as that we will not be content without if ; like rachell that cryed , give me children or i die , nor yet content with it ; like the horse leech that still cryeth , give , give is immoderate and consequently inordinate ; the streame of our affections after this world , must not rise too high so as to overflow the bankes . . to an unfiting end , when we crave the things of this world , upon base and sordid accounts , asking ( as st james saith ) to consume them upon our lusts , our love is exorbitant , the streame of our affection toward the world , must not turn aside into by creeks , but run into the maine ocean of gods glory . . love not the world , nor the things of it , that is , when you have them , delight not inordinately in them . delight in them we may but not , sine deo , without god ; so as if we enjoy them it matters not for gods presence , supra deum , above god , so as to give the pith , the marrow , the cream of our affections to them , only propte● deum , in and for god. delight in them we may , but as the cisterns , not the fountains of our good , as they may be meanes , not as the chief end wherein our bliss consists : in one word , all the things of this world as they are benefits conferd by god on us ; and as they may be helps leading us to god , may be loved by us , but not under any other notion , for then it is irregular and cometh within the compass of this prohibition . . lastly , this of st john , love not the world , nor the things of the world , may very well be expounded by that of st paul , the world is crucified to me , and i to the world ; and if so , then there is more intended then expressed : this negative will include an affirmative , love not , that is , contemn , disdaine , scorne , hate the world and the things of it , when they would alienate thy heart from god. indeed then is the world crucified to a christian when it is to his heart what a crucified dead carkase is to his eyes , to wit , odious and loathsome . then is a christian crucified to the world , when he is as unwilling to move according to the solicitations of the world , as a crucified man is unable to stirre hand or foot ; and he that is thus affected , is so far from being in love with the world , or addicted to , that he is altogether estranged from , yea , enraged against it : and thus i have given you a short , and yet a just account of the design and latitude of this prohibition . to winde it up in a brief application . you see the sin forbidden , now view your practice . i would to god that all , even the best of us had not just reason to charge the guilt of this sin upon our selves . worldly love is an epidemicall disease , and such as good men sometimes fall sick of , even they who would not enjoy this world with the loss of a better , are yet unwilling to enjoy the other world with the loss of this : gladly they would have the honey and milke of canaan , and yet loath they are to part with the onions and garlick of aegypt . indeed some there are who raile upon this world , as a place of trouble and disquietment ; but yet still they love ; like the buyer who saith , it is naught ; it is naught , but when he is gone he boasteth ; to wit , how good a penyworth he hath got . if you aske any man whom he loveth best ? his answer will be , god ; and yet if many , nay most men would put the question seriously to themselves ; the answer must be the world ; yea , he that hath made the best progress in learning this lesson , will finde upon due search , that he loveth the world too much . the better to help you in this inquiry , be pleased to observe these ensuing particulars . . would you know your delectation , take notice of your meditation . david affirmeth of the blessed man , his delight is in the law of the lord , and he confirmeth it by this medium , and in his law doth he meditate day and night , it is his assertion concerning himself , o how i love thy law , and the proof followeth , it is my meditation all the day . the truth is , ubi amor , ibi oculus , where there is fervency of love , there is frequency of thoughts . oh then consider what is it your thoughts most run upon ; what are your morning and evening meditations ? do not the things of this world lye down in the evening , and rise up with you in the morning ? nay , walk with you all the day , whilest your minds are still busied either about getting , or keeping , or increasing them , and if so , can you acquit yourselves from this inordinate love ? . would you discern your affection , view your election ; our love saith st austin is never so fully tryed , as when two objects are proposed , whereof the one must be embraced , and the other refused , the one taken and the other left ; whilest two men walk together , you cannot tell whom the dog followeth , but when the time of parting cometh , then the dog manifesteth who is his master . put the case oh christian to thy self , what if the absence of gods love , and the enjoying of the worlds comforts come in competition , which wouldst thou cleave to ? certainly , eligere , and diligere go together , that which is thy choice is thy love ; oh how many with demas forsake the faith , that they may embrace this present world ? . would you finde out the mistresses haunt , trace her handmaids , fear and grief are the two attendants upon love . the poet saith res est soliciti plena timoris amor , doloris will stand in the verse too , and is as true of the thing . love is full both of feares and teares , afraid least it should loose , and troubled when it hath lost its beloved object . how solicitous was david for absoloms safety , and how perplexed at the news of his ruine , and whence this but from his indeared affection towards him . when christ wept for lazarus , the jews presently cryed out , see , how he loved him : and when we see men so fearfull of death , which taketh them out of this world , and if all those evils which spoile them of these present contentments ; yea , when we behold them so exceeding sorrowfull and heavy under outward crosses and losses , may we not justly say concerning them , see how they loved this world and the things of it . . would you know the frame of your hearts , observe the language of your lips , vbi amor , ibi lingua , as well as oculus , not only the eye , but the tongue are guided by the heart , out of the abundance of the heart ( saith our blessed saviour ) the mouth speaketh : and may it not be said to many as the maid did to peter , thy speech bewrayeth thee ; whilst their communication is earthly and sensuall , chiefly , nay , only about inferiour objects ? surely the things we are most frequent in talking of , we take most delight in . how great lovers must they be of the world , whose discourse tends to nothing else , yea , even upon holy daies , when they rest from servile workes , yet they will not cease from secular words ? indeed the worldlings breath●avoureth ●avoureth of earth ; you may trace his tongue from the market to the exchange , thence to the key or wharfe , thence to the custome-house , and thence to the ware-house , but seldome to the church . and doth it not plainly argue , the vessell of the heart is full of the liquor of worldly love when it runs so constantly over in worldly language ? . the fervour of our contention clearly manifests the intension of our love : it is st james his question and answer , whence come wars and fightings among you ? come they not hence , even from the lusts that war in your members ? and st austin is positive , qui de mundo contendit , perspicue ostendit , quod illum diligit , men do not use to contend about what they care not for , whilest your emulations , strifes , quarrels are so great and fierce one with another about worldly matters ; it strongly argueth , they have possession of your hearts : she for whom the gallant adventures his life in the field , is very probably concluded to be his mistris ; surely the world commands thy heart when it engageth thee in litigious quarrels . . lastly , you may very rationally judge of your affections by your actions , your love by your care , your delight by your service . when we read that jacob served an hard apprentiship to laban , and that no less then fourteen years for the gaining of rachell , we may certainly infer , that he loved her greatly : men would never lay out their time and strength so uncessantly in the worlds drudgery , were she not mistris of their affections ; yea , which doth the more fully proclaime their love , their labour is a pleasure ; they are never in their element , but when like the fish they are swiming in these waters , or like the mole they are digging in the earth . by all these considerations we may be able to discern whither our love be not inordinate towards this world , and the things thereof ; and therefore such as we ought to be deeply sensible of , affected with , and humbled for . and now what remaineth , but that to this word of conniction , i annex a word of dehortation , that we all endeavour to wean our hearts from the love of this world ? oh hearken , and again i say hearken to this sprituall and heavenly voice , ( as it is called by st cyprian ) love not the world , nor the things of the world . indeed as seneca saith of sorrow , i may say of love , i do not require that you should not love it at all ; but i earnestly intreat , take heed that you love it not too much : the truth is , our affections in regard of worldly matters are very prone to excess : in heavenly things it is impossible to exceed , in earthly things it is difficult not to exceed ▪ our grief quickly degenerateth into anguish , our fear into trembling , our desire into impatience , our delight into jollity , and our love into dotage . oh therefore be wise to watch the out goings of your hearts after worldly objects , and remember that as it is of the two best , when brotherly kindness erreth on the right hand , by louing too much , so when worldly love offends on the left hand by loving too little . oecumenius upon the text conceiveth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the apostle writeth , these things as to children , who are most apt to be taken up with ensuall objects : but doubtless as one well gl●sseth , optimè omnibus congruit , there are none of any age but stand in need of it . beware that you be not engaged and fettered with worldly love : we read concerning the living creatures mentioned by the prophet ezekiell , that the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calves foot . the caldee paraphrase readeth it like round feet , the feet are an emblem of our affection , and it is observed of sphaericall bodies , that if you set them upon the ground , they only touch it in one point ; so should our affections touch this world not too much cleaving to , or leaning on it . dioscorides maketh mehtion of an herh which he calleth the indian leafe , and observeth that it groweth in moorish fenny places , aquae sine ullâ radice ●nnatans , swimming in the water without taking any root in the bottome . let this herb be our emblem whilst we live in , let us not love the world ; and though we make use of it to swim in for a time , let not our hearts take root by an inordinate love . the main disswasives from this sin we shall meet with in the text ; only consider for the present , that this worldly love is unreasonable , injurious , ingratefull , and unchristian . . it is unreasonable , there are two eminent laws of love which are directly broken by this practice ; the one is simili gaudere , the other is diligentem diligere , like loveth like , and love requireth love : but alas when we love the world , we love that which is unlike ; there being no proportion between our noble souls and this worlds good . indeed our souls were made after the divine image and similitude , and therefore not made for the love of this inferiour world ; besides , when we love the world , we love that which as it doth not give , so neither can it repay love ; at the best it is only capable of serving , not of loving us , and why should we so pervert the nature of love as to love the world : but further . it is injurious to our selves , as well as incongruous to love , since by loving the world , it becometh our enemie ; it seems strange , yet it is a truth , the world is only a ●oe to them that love her , if we use her , she is an obsequious servant ; but if we love her , she is a malicious enemy : it is observed of the shadow , sequentem fugit , fugientem sequitur , if you follow it , it flyeth from you , if you flye from it , it followeth after you . it is proportionaby true of the world , if you contemn it , it will fear you , if you love it , it will domineer over you ; and that known proverb of fire and water may justly be applied to the things of the world , they are good servants , but bad masters : adde to this . it is ingratefull to god , as well as injurious to our selves ; all these things of the world are the largesses of gods bounty , the streames of his goodness ; and is it not an odious ingratitude to dote upon the gift , and neglect the donor ? very apposite to this purprse is st austins similitude , if an husband being in a far country should send a ring to his spouse out of his ardent affection to her , would he not , might he not justly take it ill at her hands if she should forget her husband and fall in love with the token ? thus do we when we cast god behind our backs , and set our eyes upon this world . finally , it is unchristian there being nothing more unbeseeming a christian profession , then a worldly conversation ; being christians we profess the faith , and hope of a better world , and shall we fall in love with this , we intitle our selves the children of god , and shall we live and love as the children of this world ? it is our saviours argument to his disciples , after these things do the gentils seek ; and because they do , we should not , at least wise not as they do it , with such immoderate affection : and therefore whilst mammonists like ravens feed on garbage ; like the lapwing , make their nest in order ; or like beetles , never sing but in a bed of dung ; let us have higher thoughts , nobler desires , purer joyes , learning of this holy apostle , not to love the world nor the things of the world . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , . love not the world neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . the passions of the soul in their own nature are neither ; in their exercise , are either morally good or bad . look as a painters colours , according to the severall pictures which they draw , represent a chast matron , and a wanton strumpet , or as the winds according to the severall corners whence they blow , serve to drieve the ship forward , and backward ; so the affections according to the object whereabout they are conversant become either helps or hinderances , virtues or vices ; yea , what the astrologers say of the planet mercury in the horoscope of mans nativity , if it be in conjunction with a fortunate planet it is the better , if with an ominous the worse ; is more truly affirmed of the passions , when they are joyned to good objects they advance virtue , and when to bad , they increase vice . no wonder then if the holy scripture take so much care about regulating our affections . indeed the stoicks would banish and extirpate them , and therefore say to them as abimelech to isaack , go from us for thou art much mightier then we , but the christian religion would only confine or rather refine them by defining their proper objects . there is no need of draining up these waters , only of diverting them into their right channell ; of plucking them up , only planting them in a good soile . we must not use them as joshuah was to deale with the amalekites , wholly cut them off ; but as he did by the gibeonites , make them hewers of wood , and drawers of water for the house of god. indeed as one wittily , man fallen , is the anagram of man created , his affections ( like letters ) misplaced , so that there is no need of blotting them out , only placing them in their right order . upon this account it was that we finde in sacred writ both precepts , and prohibitions , commands , and caveats , exhortations , and dehortations , in reference to the same affections , sometimes in the same verse ; so christ to the disciples , feare not , but feare ; to the women at the cross , weep not , but weep : ofttimes in the same chapter , as in this concerning the affection of love ; if you cast your eyes in the foregoing verses , you shall finde those two objects which we are to love . god and our brother , and here in this verse that single though comrehensive object which we must not love , love not the world nor the things that are in the world , &c. having dispatched the generall proposition in the begining of the fifteenth verse , we are now according to the proposed method to descend to the particular exposition , as it is set down in the former part of the sixteenth ; all that is in the world the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life . this clause which i call the exposition you see is a distribution , intended no doubt for a further and fuller explication of that prohibition ; but whether of the object or the act , is somewhat questionable ; since on the one hand the word world refers to the object , and on the other the word lust refers to the act. interpreters conceive that lust is taken metonymically for the object lusted after , and so account it a distribution of the object ; but withall it is of the object in reference to the act. and when i observe that this all is positively denied to be of the father , i thinke it more rationall to construe this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , all to be every lust that is in the world , and so take it as a distribution of the act : discovering the severall channels in which worldly love runeth . it is inquired by the schoolmen whither this distribution do compleatly enumerate the causes of all sin , and it is affirmatively resolved . calvin upon the text conceiveth it not much materiall , whether it be exact or no : no doubt these are the principall , and all sins may some way or other be reduced to one of these . if you please , take a short view of the severall references of these lusts whereby they are differenced one from another . serrarius upon the text hath thus ranked them : that good which is immoderately desired , is either such as is really received into us , about which is conversant the lust of the flesh ; or which is only transmitted by species to the sight , and so the object of the lust of the eyes ; or which is neither received by it self , or by species into us , but is altogether without us , and to this tends the pride of life . alexander hales , out of st austin goeth another , and in some respect a contrary way ; asserting exorbitant lust to be either about bonum inferius , some inferiour sensuall good , which is the lust of the flesh ; or exterius , some externall visible good , which is the lust of the eyes ; or interius , some inward opinionated good , which is the pride of life . aquinas distinguisheth the inordinate appetite of man to be after good , either as considered absolutely , or as it is attended with difficulty : the former is the inordination of that which is called the concupiscible appetite ; and this is either in respect of those things that please the body , which is concupiscentia naturalis , the naturall desire ; but in the excess , the lust of the flesh , or of those things , which by sight delight the imagination , which is concupiscentia animalis , an animall desire ; and in the excess , the lust of the eyes ; the latter is the irregularity of the irascible apetite , and is the pride of life . some not unfitly allude to that distinction of sins into carnall , spirituall , and of a mixt nature ; those sins which take sensible delight in sensible objects , are purely carnall ; and these belong to the lust of the flesh ; those which take mentall delight in mentall objects , are purely spirituall sins , and belong to the pride of life , those which take an inward delight in outward objects are of a mixed nature , and belong to the lust of the eyes . the most plain and usuall reference of them , is of the lust of the flesh , to sensuall pleasures ; of the lust of the eyes , to riches ; and of the pride of life to honours : and so the voluptuous , covetous , and ambitious are the sinners guilty of these lusts . this grotius looketh upon as the genuine meaning , and so much the rather , because he conceiveth this sentence to be borrowed from the ancient hebrews , whence pythagoras received it , and from him clynias who mentioneth these three as the cause of that unjustice among men , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , correspondent to which is that of philo on the decalogue , asserting it is the fountain of all wars among men to be , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the evill lust either of wealth , or honour , or pleasure . but what the large extent , and withall , the principall intent of these severals are , will best appear in the distinct handling of them . the number you see is threefold ; and before i go further , i shall a while d●seant upon them joyntly . if you cast your eyes upon the fifteenth verse of the third chapter of st james , you shall finde a tripartite division of worldly wisdome into earthly , sensuall , and devillish ; to which me thinketh very fitly corresponds this division of worldly love , the lust of the flesh being sensuall , the lust of the eyes earthly , and the pride of life devillish . we read in the foregoing verses of three ages of men to whom our apostle wrote , namely , children , young men , and fathers ; and each of these lusts is especially incident to each of these ages . men in the begining of their daies are most prone to the lust of the flesh , in the progress of their age to the pride of life , and in their old age , to the covetous lust of the eyes . in the close of the fourteenth verse of this chapter st john speaketh of overcoming the wicked one , that is , the devill ; and if you would know what are the chief temptations , with which he doth assault , and which if we repell , we overcome him , they are here presented to us . the fruit with which he tempted our first parents in the garden was good for food , that was a lust of the flesh ; pleasant to the sight , and so came in the lust of the eyes ; and to be desired to make one wise , and that was the pride of life . after foure thousand years experience the devill could not finde out better weapons , and therefore with these he sets upon the second adam in the wilderness , tempting him to the lust of the flesh , when he would have him turn the stones into bread to satisfie his hunger ; to the lust of the eyes , saith st austin , when he bid him cast himself down out of curiosity , say others : and more probably ( with the leave of that reverend father , ) when he shewed him all the kingdomes and glory of the world ; and to the pride of life , when he perswaded him to cast himself down , which was no doubt for that end , to lift him up with arrogant presumption . with these temptations it is that he doth still assault the children of men , so that i may not unfitly compare them to solomons threefold cord , by which he draws men to iniquity ; to the fleshooke with three teeth , by which the priests servant robd the lords sacrifice ; to hippomenes three golden apples , by which he indeavoured to hinder attalantas race ; to jobs three darts , by which he wounded absalon to the heart ; to the caldeans three troops , ( with st bernard ) by which they plundered job of his goods ; or to st johns three unclean spirits crawling upon , and defiling us . it is christs call to his spouse , come with me from lebanon , looke from the top of amana , from the top of shenir and hermon , from the lions dens , from the mountains of the leopards . ghislerius understandeth by these three mountains , these three lusts : the pride of life , by the mountain of lebanon , which is exceeding ▪ high , and upon which grow the tall caedars ; by the top of amana from whence they might see a great way , the lust of the eyes ; by the top of hermon a fruitfull hill , the lust of the flesh ; and these are the mountains on which wicked men range like leopards , and the dens of those lions , the devils . these are those lusts which oppose the three grand designs of our life , our own salvation , others good , and gods glory . whilest the lust of the flesh warreth against our soul , the lust of the eyes maketh us uncharitable to others , and the pride of life robs god of his glory . correspondent to these three great sins it seems not improbable that god hath appointed those three sore judgments . the famine as a punishment of the lust of the flesh ; the plague ( which causeth botches and sores ) of the lust of the eyes ; and the sword ( which bringeth nations low ) of the pride of life . as armour against these three darts , the papists superstitiously use a threefold annoynting in baptism , to wit , of the loyns , the breast , and the head ; but ( which is far better ) the grace of god teacheth to live soberly , in opposition to the lust of the flesh ; justly in opposition to the lust of the eyes ; and godly ( which is a walking humbly with god ) in opposition to the pride of life : and which is best of all , our blessed saviour prescribes three duties ( which by the schools are made the three parts of satisfaction ) fasting as a remedy of the lust of the flesh ; almes as an eye salve for the lust for the eyes ; and prayer as an antidote against the pride of life . to draw yet nearer . these three are all that is in the world , they are the worlds cursed trinity : according to that of the poet , ambitiosus honos , opes , & foeda valuptas ; haec tria pro trino numine mundus habet . which wicked men adore and worship as deities : in which regard lapide opposeth them to the three persons in the blessed trinity . the lust of the eyes to the father , who is liberall communicating his essence to the son , and the spirit ; the lust of the flesh to the son , whose generation is spirituall and eternall ; the pride of life to the holy ghost , who is the spirit of humility . that golden calfe , which being made , was set up and worshiped by the israelites in the wilderness ; is not unfitly made use of to represent these ; the calfe which is a wanton creature , an emblem of the lust of flesh ; the gold of the calf refering to the lust of the eyes , and the exalting it , to the pride of life . oh how do the most of men fall down before this golden calf which the world erecteth . if you please you may conceive the world as making a feast to entertaine her lovers ; and here are the three courses which she provideth for them ; the first for food , the lust of the flesh ; the second for sight , the lust of the eyes ; the third for state , the pride of life : or as entertaining them with a musicall consort , which is made up of three parts , the base , the lust of the flesh ; the tenor , the lust of the eyes , and the treble the pride of life . once more you may very well call these three lusts the elements of the sensuall world ; the lust of the flesh , being as the fire in regard of its burning violence ; the lust of the eyes , as the earth , because about things which the earth affoards ; and the pride of life , as the ayre , or winds which pufs or swels men up . not to inlarge further , the world is here represented to us as an hydea with three heads , or like cerberus that three headed dog , which the poets faine to be the porter of hell. worldly love is here set forth as a tree spreading it self into three main boughs , whence sprout forth the bitter fruit of all s●ns ; or as a mother bringing forth three monstrous daughters , with which the most of the sons of men fall in love with . at this time i shall only give you a view of . the eldest daughter which is the lust of the flesh ; for the better understanding whereof i shall discourse of it first in generall , then in particular . . in generall be pleased to take notice , . that this word flesh is used severall waies in scripture , as cassian hath observed . i shall not mention all its acceptions ; only know that it is taken in sensu optimo , possimo , medio ; in a good sense for a tender frame , and soft disposition of the soul ; whereby it is capable of receiving the impression of grace , and ready to yield obedience to gods commands : in this notion it is the matter of the promise , i will give you an heart of flesh . in a very bad sense for the native and inbred corruption which overspreads soul and body , whereby we become averse to all good , and prone to whatsoever is evill ; and of this st paul speaketh when he saith , in me , that is , in my flesh dwelleth no good . in a middle sense for the inferiour part of man , his body which chiefly consists of flesh and blood ; and thus we read of cleansing our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit , that is , of body and soul ; and in this sense calvin not unfitly here taketh it . . that the lust of the flesh is used in scripture two waies ; sometimes very largely , as comprehending in it all vitious lusts whatsoever ; in which notion flesh is to be understood of originall corruption , and is as the fountain of lust : and inasmuch as there is no evill , to which our naturall pravity doth not incline us , the lust of the flesh in this sense is as it were the genus , whereof , the severall evill desires which arise in our hearts , are the species : and in this notion is that of st paul to be construed , walke in the spirit , and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh . and indeed for the most part , where we read of the lust of the flesh , it is to be construed in this large acception . but in this place flesh being put for the body , and the lust of the flesh being a contradistinct member to the other two , it is doubtless to be restrained , and ( as estius well observeth ) signifieth desiderium eorum quae pertinent ad carnem , a desire of those things which belong to the flesh . so that flesh here is rather to be construed objectivè then effectivè , not as the principle from whence this lust flows , but the object whereabout it is conversant ; and thus all sinfull desires after bodily pleasures , especially those which the two sences of tasting and touching are taken up with , are they which our apostle designeth to comprize under this head the lust of the flesh . . that there is a double lusting after the flesh , and those things which are gratefull to it , namely ; naturall and sensuall : there is an appetite which ariseth meerly from natures indigence ; and this though vehement ( as in hunger and thirst ) is not sinfull : nature teacheth every living creature earnestly to desire the conservation of the individuum by nourishment , and of the species by propagation , and therefore this kinde of desire had been in man , even in the state of innocency . but then there is an appetite which sensuall indulgence exciteth , and this being alwaies immoderate beyond its due bounds is prohibited . indeed neither religion nor reason do abridg us of all bodily pleasure ; but they forbid us to serve pleasure , so as ( according to seneca's phrase ) to be perplexed in the absence , or strangled with the abundance of it : in one word , the desires which proceed from the want , the delight which tends only to refresh the flesh , is allowable , but all desires and delights which proceed from , and savour of wantonnes , are culpable and comprized under this head the lust of the flesh . . more particularly it will be needfull for the further discussing of this usefull truth , to set before you the severall kindes of this fleshly lust ; for though she be a daughter , yet withall , she is a mother of many brats , and it is such an arme of this tree of worldly love , as hath many branches sprouting forth of it , such as are incontinency , intemperancy , and idleness , . the first and worst of these lusts is incontinency , that which is called by st paul , the lust of concupisence , and by st peter , the lust of uncleanness , yea , the same apostle speaking of false teaches , that they allure through the lust of the flesh , and presently adding , through much wantonness , plainly intimates wantonness to be a lust of the flesh ; and inasmuch as he useth the plurall number , he insinuates that there are severall wanton and unclean lusts of the flesh . for methods sake be pleased to know , that this lust of the flesh , is conversant either about a wrong or a right object . . the chiefe excursion of this carnall lust is after wrong objects , concerning all which i shall in generall premise . that not only that wicked disposition of minde , which by st paul is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whereby men burne with impetuous desires after libidinous acts , resolving to lay hold of every opportunity of satisfying their lusts ; nor yet only all those contemplative delights , whereby men please themselves with inward fancies and imaginations of that wickedness which either for feare or shame , they dare not out outwardly commit : but also all kinde of desire , though not plenarily consented to by the will , nor fully resolved upon for the performance , yea , all those first motions which arise from the vitiated appetite , though not at all consented to , are within the compass of that which is called by st paul , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , inordinate affection , and here by st john 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the lust of the flesh . in particular , the object of this desire is irregular two waies . . when the object is such as doth privare ordine●● natura , transgress the order of nature , and this either . simply , and absolutely , and is most properly called unnaturall uncleanness , whether it be with our selves ( the sin of onan ) that secret pollution , which ( though hid from mans ) is open to gods eye , or with the same sex , men or women , dishonouring their bodies between themselves ( the sin of sodom , and those gentiles concerning whom st paul writeth ) both which are unnaturall , because contrary to natures end , to wit , generation ; or which is yet more unnaturall , because it tends only to a monstrous generation , that which is between rationall and meerly sensitive creatures , the bestiall sin of buggery , things that are as horrenda factu , so pudenda dictu , abominable to be done , yea , shamefull to be named . or as limited and restrained after the multiplication of humane nature . of this sort are all incestuous lusts after those neare relations , whether by affinity or consanguinity , such as are between brethren and sisters , vnkles and n●e●es , ants and nephews , parents and children , or grand-children , whether naturall or civill , all which are manifestly forbidden by the divine law , and repugnant to natures dictates . nor are they the less filthy , but rather the more odious when they are covered with the vaile of matrimony ; to which purpose st ambrose disswading the marriage of a brother with his sister's daughter , though by another mother thus reasoneth ; interdictum est naturae jure , interdictum est lege quae est in cordilus singulorum , interdictum est immutabili praescriptione pietatis & necessitudinis ; it is forbidden by natures law , by the law within every mans heart , by the inviolable praescription of piety , and that regard which is due to propinquity . nor will either the necessary examples of the first men , when brothers and sisters were inforced to marry for the propagation of mankinde ; or the example of the jews , in brothers marrying their brothers wife , to raise up seed by vertue of a speciall law ; or those heroicall examples ( as luther calleth them ) of any of the patriarchs in any of these kindes ( which being dissonant from the law , are not to be imitated by others ) be found sufficient warrants or excuses for them who shall give way to any incestuous conjunctions . . when the object is such as doth privare ordinem virtutis , transgress the order of the virtue of chastity , such are all lusts after any person , whom we may not justly call our own : and thus , . if it be after any more then one , though in a matrimoniall way , which is polygamy , it is unlawfull as being against the primitive institution by god , of one woman , for one man ( which the prophet malachy saith , was because he sought a godly seed ) and therefore not justifiable in the patriarchs , much less excusable in us by their pattern . . if it be without matrimony , any lust after any persons whether one or more , married or unmarryed is a lust of the flesh . and in the pursuit of any one of these , . when the one party is altogether dissenting it is a rape wherein only the agent is the guilty sinner , and the patient is an innocent sufferer . . when either both or one of the parties is marryed , it is adultery in that party . a lust so much the more vile , because it is a willfull shipwrack abroad , when there is an harbour and safe remedy provided at home . . when one of the persons is s●ngle , it is in that person fornication , and when both , it is that which is called simple fornication . indeed it is questioned by some whether this latter be a lust of the flesh or no ? and the most plausible argument which they alledge is , that in the decree of that apostolicall counsell ; fornication is reckoned with things strangled and bloud , which are in themselves of an indifferent nature . but how invalid this consequence is , will easily appear , if we consider that as aquinas hath well observed , the reason of joyning these together is not as if there were no more morall guilt in fornication then the rest , but because the rest would be offensive to the jews as well as fornication ; and so equally cause a rent in the christian church , which consisted of converted jews and gentiles . the truth is , though both persons are single , it is a breach of chastity , and consequently a lust of the flesh ; nay , yet more , though the persons are not only resolved upon marriage , but contracted each to other ; yet the desire of carnall copulation is a fleshly lust : for contract is but jus ad rem , it is matrimony giveth jus in re , contract bindes to marriage , but alloweth not to touch before ; contract is like articles agreed upon , but marriage puts to the seal , so that it is as the taking of possession of a mans own without due course of law , and therefore unwarrantable . . you have seen the principall outgoings of this lust , but withall you must know that the object may be right , and our desire in this kinde a lust of the flesh , when it is ( though between persons lawfully married ) either intempestive , or intemperate , in a season prohibited , in a measure not moderated , or a manner not ordained , or for an end not warranted : upon this account it is that st hierome saith , quoting the speech of a pythagoraean physopher , adulter est in suam uxorem amator ardentior , an excessive lover of , is an adulterer with his wife , and st austin quoteth it as a saying of st ambrose , uxoris adulterum esse qui in usu conjug ali verecundiae , temperantiae & honestatis nullam rationem habeat ; that he is an adulterer , who useth the marriage delights without regard to modesty , decency , and temperance . i confess these are harsh expressions , since a man can no more be an adulterer with his own wife , then a thief with his own goods ; and adultery according to the notion of the latine word is , ad alterius thorum accessus , the coming to anothers not his own bed . but yet it is thus far true , that its a breach of the seaventh commandment , which is exprest by that phrase , thou shalt not commit adultery : for though conjugium purum , marriage be an undefiled estate ; yet conjuges impuri , the marryed persons may be uncleane , and so guilty of the lust of the flesh . . the second sort of fleshly lust , is intemperance , which is the excess of the appetite in reference to meat and drinke , and is called by st paul , gluttony and drunkenness . very fitly is this annext to the former , since , the satiating of intemperate is the exciting of incontinent lusts ; according to that of the israelites , they did eate and drink , and rose up to play ; irrigata corporis nostri terra spumis libidinum germinabit ; the soyle of our body being too much ●atred sends forth the weeds of luxury , venter benè pastus cito despumat in libidinem , the full fed belly boyleth over with the s●umme of uncleanness . isidore pelusiota being asked by thalass●us the monke , why s. paul seemeth to call esau fornicator , when no such thing is mentioned in the old testament , answereth , that he is branded for a glutton , and thence we may easily infer he was a fornicator . indeed fasting spittle is the best cure of this itch , according to that known saying , sine cerere & baccho friget venus , if you will know where lady venus liveth , it is at the signe of the ivye bush , gula vestibulum luxuriae , intemperance is her gallery , through which she walketh to her bed of sensuall pleasure . and now as the former respecteth the pleasure of the touch , so this of the taste , and because the inordination of this lust is in most things of the same nature , both in regard of eating and drinking , i shall handle these two sins of gluttony and drunkenness together . among all these secular things none are more necessary , for mans preservation then meat and drinke , since without them we are not able to subsist a few daies ; hence it is that nothing is more naturall , then a desire of those comforts , nature inclining every thing to desire its own preservation . but the truth is , we are very prone to unlawfull desires about lawfull objects ; nor do we more frequently or heinously offend then in these things which are so needfull for the body ; not that the food , but our appetite is in fault , not the naturall appetite ; for a little satisfieth that , but our sensuall desire which is very prone to exceed . st gregory enumerating severall waies whereby the lust of intemperance puts it self forth , enlargeth them to five ; isidore hispalensis reduceth them to foure ; i conceive we may very rationally contract them into three heads ; namely , the quality and quantity of that which is eaten and drunke , and the time of eating and drinking . our desire after meats and drinks is then a fleshly lust , . in respect of quality , when not contented with common wholesome food , we long for strange delicacies , and must be fed with dainties ; thus the israelites are fed with heavenly bread by a miraculous providence , and yet they fall a lusting after quailes , which god gave them , but in wrath . indeed it sometimes so falleth out , that the choice of meat and drinke ariseth from the weakness of the stomach , as in sickly persons , that the earnest desire of strange food is that which nature prompts to , as in women with childe ; that the use of various and costly both meats and drinks is convenient for that state and place wherein god hath set men , as at the table of kings , nobles , and great ones , all which are allowable ; but when it is meerly the wantonness of our appetite , which calleth for delicacies , spreading its net ( as clemens alexandrinus his phrase is ) over the whole world , causing sea and land to be ransakt for its provision , yea , engaging art continually to invent new drinks , new dishes for its delight , this is justly to be condemned as a lust of the flesh . and which is yet a further degree of this lust , when it is after a frequent use of such meats and drinks as serve to be incentives of sin , provocations of uncleanness ; especially in young men whose bloud is boyling , and most especially when it is for that very end , that thereby they may be the more fit for wanton sports , it is very odious and abominable . . in regard of the quantity , when our lust is not satisfied with a competent measure of meats and drinks , but puts us upon feeding to fullness , and drinking to excess , so as we may be said rather to swallow then drinke , devour then eate . indeed there is an extream desire after meat , which is called by physitians , the dog-like appetite , and after drinke which is called the dropsie ; and these arise a malis humoribus , from bad humours in the body , and are diseases not sins , unless when ( as too often ) they proceed originally à malis moribus , from intemperate manners . and when not the distemper of the body , but the disorder of the minde , engageth men to an immoderate use of these creatures , it is a fleshly lust . for the understanding whereof it will be needfull to enquire , wherein the inordinate use of meats and drinks doth consist . in answer whereunto , you must know in generall , that the proportion which temperance requireth is not rei but personae , in respect of the things , but the persons ; since according to the constitution of mens bodies , that which is too much for one , may be too little for another . but more particularly , eating and drinking is excessive in any : whenas . it oppresseth nature : to eate and drinke more then the stomach can well digest , and that not through any accidentall distemper of the stomach , or venemous quality , or antipathy in the food , but only the great quantity ; so as either it is thrown up again , or with a great deale of trouble concocted , is undoubtedly excessive , since whereas the proper end of eating and drinking is to repaire ; this tends to the impairing of nature . . it disturbeth reason , to eate or rather to drinke ( for this more especially concerneth drunkenness ) so much as wholly devesteth us of the use of reason ( as in men that are dead drunke ) or subjecteth reason to any passion either of anger and rage , or mirth and jollity , or lust and venery , ( as in men that are mad drunke ) is unquestianably excessive : the worst degree of drunkness is to intoxicate , and the next to that to inflame : since whereas the principall end of eating and drinking is to render us the more fit for gods service , by this means we are more unfit both for the duties of the generall and particular calling . nor must i here forget to adde , that they who are mighty to drinke wine , and men of strength to mingle strong drinke ; though they do not manifestly either overcharge their stomachs , or overturn their brains , are in gods account drunkards , and have therefore a woe denounced against them ; but yet this is only true where either it is an acquired strength by frequent compotations , or being naturall , it is made use of customarily , to the devouring of great quantities , and which is worst of all to the triumphing over weake braines . in summe , sicut aeger ad medicinam sic ad sumendas dapes debet unus quisque accedere , non in illis voluptatem appetens sed necessitati succurrens , is the rule of the father ; every one must look upon his food as his physick , seeking in meat and drinke not what may please the appetite , but supply necessity . after the example of that temperate person mentioned by socrates , let us use our meat and drinke , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not as a set busines , but only a triviall matter not worth the expending much time upon . nor yet would i hereby forbid all use of these comforts beyond what nature requireth for its necessary sustenance , as being a rigidity which neither religion nor reason exact . it is very probable at that marriage feast where christ was present , as variety was provided , so they did eate plentifully ; and it is more then probable , that they had well drunke before christ miraculated wine in the vessels : nor is it to be imagined that christ would have wrought that miracle ( though it were for the glory of his power , ) had it been unlawfull for the guests to drinke it , when as yet necessity of nature did not , could not require it . to eate and to drinke therefore at some , particularly , festivall times , not only for the support , but refreshing of nature , for necessity , but hilarity , is allowable ; yet with a great deale of circumspection , especially in drinking , least hilarity exceed the bounds of sobriety , and become a slippery step to ebriety : and when our desire after these creatures carryeth further then moderate refreshment , so as either for the meats and drinkes , or companies sake to indulge the over free use of them , it is a sensuall sinfull lust of the flesh . . in respect of the time , and it is a lust of the flesh , when our desire after meats and drinkes is such , as that . . we will at no time forbear the totall use of them ( though yet the strength of nature will bear it , ) no not for religious ends . . we indulge to our selves a liberall use of them at such time when the churches distress calls for fasting , weeping , and mourning . . finally , we expend too great a part of our time on them ( with the rich glutton , ) faring deliciously every day , feasting too often , with those princes , eating in the morning , beginning too soone , and with those israelites rising up early that we may follow strong drink and continuing till midnight , staying too long . it is very observable , that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , excess of wine , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , banquetings and drinkings are reckoned among the lusts in which the gentiles walked , though we do not eate till we are so pursie that we cannot go , or drinke till we are so giddy that we cannot stand , yet if we delight so much in , and have such a desire after , that it causeth us to spend too much time in comessations , and compotations , it is a lust of the flesh . solomon blameth them who tarry long at the wine , when men dine all day , and sup all night , eate and drinke away a third part , nay , the better halfe of the time . these men according to the vulgar translation of the wisemans forementioned expression , student calicibus epotandis , make their cups their books and drinke their business , meditate nothing but their trenchers , and lock up their souls in the kitchin , and the cellars : according to st gregory nyssens phrase , they have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , their reason in their throat , or to use tertullians phrase , agape in cacabis fervet , fides in culinis calet , spes in ferculis jacet ; their love boyleth in their caldrons , their faith is warme in their kitchins , and their hope lyeth in their dishes . like the serpent ( to allude with st ambrose ) they creep upon their bellies , yea , with that fish whereof clemens alexandrinus speaketh , they have their heart in their belly , as if like bonosus , they were borne not to live , but to drinke , or like the megarenses , they did not eate to live , but live to eate . . besides these which are the principall branches of this arme ebullitions of this lust of the flesh ; there is yet a third which must not be passed over in silence , and that is idleness , a lust which renders men lyable to temptations of the former kinde , incontinence and intemperance are no strangers to an idle bosome . the poet gives this as the reason , why aegistus was an adulterer ? — in promptu causa est desidiosus erat . because he was sloathfull ; standing water putrifieth , so doth the lazie person , he that loves to doe nothing will soone doe worse then nothing . now this lust of idlenesse ▪ expresseth it selfe two waies , by an inordinate desire of sleep , of play : of each a word . . it is a true saying of st austin , god hath given to man sleep , quo reparentur membra corporis ut p●ssint vigilantem animam sustinere , by which the strength both of body and minde may be repaired . indeed sleep loveth mans nature , chearing , refreshing , coroborating it , but yet man must not love sleep too affectionately : it is the cry of the sluggard in the proverbs , yet a little sleep , a little slumber , a little folding of the hands to sleep , which the syriack readeth , ponit manum super pectus , he puts his hand upon his breast , shewing how dear and pleasing his sleep is to him . if more particularly you would know what love of sleep is immoderate ? i answer , ● . when we are so greedy of , that we will not sometimes interrupt it for acts of devotion , after the example of david , who rose at midnight to give thanks to god , and of christ , who sometimes prayed all night ; nay , we suffer sleep to interrupt us whilst exercised about religious duties , like eutyches upon whom an heavy sleep fell whilst paul was preaching , and an heavy ▪ hand of god whilst he was sleeping , a sad warning for all church-sleepers , to all whom me thinketh christ saith as he did to peter , could you not watch with me one houre . . when we give such way to sleep on our couch by day , or our bed by night , that it is rather sepultura suffocati , then requies lassi , a suffocating then a refreshing of the spirit , a dulling , then a quickning of the body . it is st ambrose his assertion of the blessed virgin mary , non prius dormire cupidit as quam necessit as fuit , she was rather inforced then willing to sleep . indeed vigilancy teacheth not to sleep sooner nor longer then ●eed requireth , and it is chrysologus his advice , indulgendum somno ut corpus reparet non resolvat ut vires revocet non enervet , sleep must be indulged to so far as may repaire nature , and recall not weaken strength , or else it is a lust of the flesh . . as to sports and pleasures it is not to be gain said , but that there is a convenient use of them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith aristotle truly , it is impossible that the bow should be alwaies bent , and therefore pindar fitly calls play , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the best ●ure● of our labours , but yet excessively to love it is a lust of the flesh ; in which respect saith the greek father excellently , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i do not forbid relaxation , but i condemn want of moderation now our lust after sport is inordinate . . for the matter or object of it , whenas we love to sport with things unlawfull , which are impious , or cruell , or dishonest , or of bad report among judicious and sober christians , ludus noxius in culpâ , they are fools ( saith the wiseman and justly ) who make sport of sin , and they are unwise who prefer their sport before their credit . . for the manner , when as men pursue their play with too much earnestness , and unrestrained enlargement , as if it were to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the end of their desire . it is a good advice of st ambrose , caveamus ne dum relaxare animum volumus solvamus omnem harmonians , we had need take care least by letting the strings down too loose we spoile the harmony ; we may take recreation as sauce , but not be as greedy of it as if it were our meat ; it is excellent to make our bus●ness a play ; but infamous to make play our business . . for the time when men are so eager ; that according to seneca's phrase , agitur vita per ludum , they play away their lives , squand●ing dayes and nights , moneths and yeares in play ; and take so much time , that they rob god of his due , neglect their calling , play when they should pray , and sport when they should work . cicero saith divinely , we must not indulge to our sports , priusquam gravibus seriisque rebus satisfecerimus , till we have discharged more serious and weighty affaires : in which respect aristotle adviseth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make choice of fit opportunities for recreation . and thus with what perspicuous brevity , these various & serious subjects would affoard , i have unfolded the latitude of this evil , which is here called the lust of the flesh . to winde up this discourse in few words . how great a predominancy this lust of the flesh hath in the world , the gluttonies , drunkenness , and uncleane practices of the most do sadly proclaime . seneca complained that the men of his time were inter vinum & oleum occupati , altogether taken up with wine and oyle . i would to god such were only to be found among pagans , but alas these swarme in the christian world , nay , which is yet more sad in the reformed protestant church of england : oh that papists and sectaries had not too just cause to say , a great part of the english protestants are uncleane , adulterous , gluttonous epicures , quaffing drunkards , riotous gamesters , so that whilest they profess the purest faith they leade the most debauched lives . for these bastard sons doth their mother the church mourne , and suffer at this day : and yet , as if all her sufferings were not worth their pitty , they still renew and multiply these sins to the dishonour of her profession , and the prolongation of her miseries . indeed according to that known proverb , venter non habet aures , the belly hath not ears ; voluptuous persons are deafe to divine instructions : and as st hierome truly speaking of these sins , eò deponere est difficilus quò eis uti est dulcius , they are therefore very difficult to leave , because so sweet to enjoy : so that as solomon observeth of the adulterer in particular , it is too true of all those sorts of sinners , they are hardly , and therefore rarely reclaimed , but yet i will not wholly despaire even of their conversion ; however for others prevention i shall propose these following considerations ; the lust of the flesh is defiling , debasing , destroying , and consequently not only to be abandoned , but abborred . . it is defiling , true it is as our saviour saith , that which goeth in at the mouth ( the object of these lusts ) doth not defile a man , but it is as true , that which cometh from the heart ( the lust after these objects ) doth defile . indeed all sin is of a polluting nature , but especially these ; and therefore one of these lusts in a pecular manner is called impuri●y and uncleanness . the gross acts of these sins defile the body , and the very lust after them defileth the soul . . it is debasing , indeed nothing is more naturall then a desir● after these objects , but yet nothing is more unnaturall then the inordinate lust after them ; and what a shame is it that the grace of god should not teach us to deny these lusts , which the light of nature teacheth heathens . it is observed that of all living creatures , man hath the narrowest wombe , and the straitest throate , as if nature would thereby teach us to be the most abstemious . the truth is , the lust of the flesh is not only unchristian because contrary to the precept and practice of our lord and master , but inhumane because opposite to the dictates of ●eason , so that we may truly affirme , men by the fulfilling of this lust , become like the beast that perisheth , whilest gluttony transformeth them into tygars , drunknness into swine , uncleanness into goats , sloth into dormouses , and laziness into asses ; nay , shall i adde , they are worse then the beasts , for whereas these creatures cannot be made to eate , or drinke more then their naturall appetite requireth , and observe their usuall times of conjunction ; voluptuous men regard neither season nor measure in the satiating of their lusts . add to all this , . it is destroying , and here i might enlarge in severall respects , this lust of the flesh , being that which destroyeth the credit , the state , the body ; yea , ( without sincere repentance ) the soul of him that indulgeth to it : solomon saith of the adulterer , and it is as true of the glutton and drunkard , a wound and dishonour shall be get , and his reproach shall not be wiped away ; sensuall lusts whilest they please the flesh , blot the name , and though the execution of them content the sinners taste and touch , they make him to stinke in the nostrils of god and man. again the wiseman warning the young man not to lust after the whorish woman in his heart , saith , that by meanes of an whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread , and elsewhere in one verse he tels us , that the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty , and drousiness shall cloath a man with rags . the full cup makes an empty purse , and the fat dish , a lean bag , a soft bed , a thin shop , and the costly mistris , a thredbare servant ; yet again solomon saith of the adulteress , she hunts for the precious life , it is no less true of banqu●tings , drinkings , revellings and such like . it is not seldome seen that men by satisfying these carnall lusts , endanger their lives , ruine their healths , and hasten their ends . finally , the wiseman saith of the unclean sinner , that he destroyeth his own soul , and it is verified of the rest . the gluttons table is a snare as well to his soul as his body ; the drunkards cup spoileth him of grace as well as wit ; the gamester staketh his soul as well as his state ; and the sluggard by consulting his bodies temporall ease , hazardeth his souls eternall rest . and now my brethren , if upon all these accounts you are at last willing to bid farewell to this lust of the flesh , remember what is hinted in the begining of this discourse , namely , that it is a fire , and therefore you will do well to take the same course in subduing this lust , which men do in putting out a fire . more particularly take notice of these foure directions . . extinguish it whilest but a sparke , least when a flame , it become too powerfull ; resist the very beginning , since if you give the least way to , you will be entangled by it ; verecunda peccati initia , sensuall desires at first are modest , but if consented to , and delighted in , are more and more craving , yea , at last commanding . indeed sensim sine sensu , by little and little insensibly this lust gets ground of us , therefore let us be watchfull betimes to espye and prevent it . . substract the fewell which feeds and increaseth it . s● peters counsell is , abstaine from fleshly lusts , which is best done by taking away that which foments them : what st paul saith of the legall ceremonies , touch not , taste not , handle not ; that i may fitly apply to sensuall lusts , take heed of the occasions inducing to them ; eradenda sunt pravae cupidinis alimenta , if you would not have lust to fatten , do not feed it . not to launch out into those many particulars which might be reckoned up in this kinde , beware especially of evill company . it is solomons advice , be not amongst wine bibbers , amongst riotous eate●s of flesh ; the way not to be of them , is not to be one among them ; men seldome imagine till they finde it by woefull experience , what an infectious breath there is in evill society , to corrupt their mindes and manners . . poure out water , even the water of the penitent tears for thy former impurities . the heads of dragons are broken in the waters , draconum capita vitia capitalia , the heads of dragons are capitall sins , among which incontinency and intemperance are the chief ; and look as the greater the flam● , the more water must be poured on ; it is not drops but buckets , nay , flouds of water must quench the raging fornace : so according to the greatness of thy sins proportion the multitude of thy tears , and if thou hast been a notorious offender in this kinde , thou must be a dolorous mourner ? . lastly , strive to blow out this fire of lust by the breath of thy prayers , solicit the throne of grace for chastity , sobriety , vigilancy , temperance , those virtues which are directly opposite to this lust , yea , beseech the spirit of god that he would breath into thy soul , and thereby extinguish the flame of thy lust . indeed the breath of the evill spirit maketh this fire the hotter , but a blast of the good spirit will put it out , at least much slacke it , and therefore laying hold on the gracious promise of giving his spirit to them that aske , give not over praying till thou hast obtained the spirit of grace , whereby thou maist mortifie this lust of the flesh . amen . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , . love not the world , neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . that god of this world , prince of darkness , and arch enemy of mankinde , the devill , as he wants not virulency , so he is full of subtilty . indeed it is his most usuall practice to take sinners in the snares of temptations , nets of circumvention , and ambushes of destruction ; no wonder if st paul mindes the corinthians of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , devices as well as strong holdes . among all his cunning stratagems , none more politique and prevalent then those by which he taketh advantage from our selves against our selves . to this purpose it is that he observeth the age of our lives , quality of our outward condition , the complexion and constitution of our bodies , the abilities and endowments of our mindes , dispositions and inclinations of our hearts , and accordingly fits his temptations , whereby too often he overcometh us . the last of these and not the least st basill taketh notice of where he saith , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he useth our own lusts and desires as weapons to fight against us . and no wonder if the winde of his temptations blow us on amain when it joyneth with the tide of our own desires . good reason had st john , having encouraged young men , and in them all christians to battle with , and a victory over the wicked one , to warne them of those lusts , which if not mortified , would be prejudiciall unto them , and serviceable unto him , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life . we are now in order to proceed to a second daughter of worldly love , namely , the lust of the eyes ; but what st john meaneth by this expression admits among expositors of severall constructions . illyricus conceiveth that our apostle intendeth , potissimum libidinosos aspectus , chiefly lust full lookes , uncleane aspects , wanton glances . this was that with which st peter charged the false teachers , that they had eyes full of adultery ; and of which our saviour affirmeth that to looke on a woman ( so as to lust after her ) is a committing adultery with her in the heart . but since this more properly is referd to the forementioned lust of the flesh , and withall is too narrow a restriction of the apostles meaning , i shall pass it by . there are two interpretations , the one whereof is st austins and venerable bedes , the other most generally received by ancient and modern authors , both of which being probable i shall reject neither . indeed i think we shall do best with aquinas to look upon them as two members of one exposition , and so if you would know what this lust of the eyes is ? the answer is , curiositas , and cupiditas , a desire of knowing , and of having curiosity and covetousness , the latter of which i shall insist upon , because it is that which i incline to as most genuine . . by this lust of the eyes , we may very well understand curiosity , or an inordinate desire of knowledge ; and whereas there is a double knowledg , to wit , intellectuall and sensitive , both which may be inordinately desired , this lust of the eyes may very well include both ; inasmuch as the minde hath its eyes as well as the body , and so this lust is both of the mentall eyes after intellectuall , and of the corporeall after sensitive knowledg . . there is a lust of the eyes after intellectuall knowledge , not but that knowledg is sutable to , and consequently des●rable by the minde of man ; nor yet is every earnest desire after knowledg , to be charged with curiosity . indeed it is such as cannot be had without , and therefore must be ●ought for with diligence ; but if you would know when it is a lust of the eyes ? i answer , the inordination of this desire is discovered severall waies . . when it is a desire after knowledg for a bad end . st bernard observed in his time , and it is still true , sunt qui scire volunt tantum ut sciant , some desire to know that they may know , and such a desire is irregular because it maketh knowledg and end , whenas it is designed to be a meanes of a furrher , and better end . aquinas observeth that there are two accidentall effects of knowledge which are very evill , namely , to puff us up with pride , and make us expert in wicked-ness ; and when those accidentall effects of knowledg are the intentionall ends of our desire , it is a lust of the eyes ; the truth is , knowledge is desirable chiefly in order to practice , and that of good , and therefore to desire it only as fuell for our self conceit , or which is far worse , as an help to wicked devices , that we may be wise to do evill , it is deservedly censured as exorbitant . . when it is a desire after knowledg by magicall arts and diabolicall helps . it is far better to be ignorant , then to go to schoole to the devill . that knowledg we gain by him is far fetcht , because from hell , and deare bought , because with the hazard of our souls . . when by desires and endeavours after the knowledge of the things that are less needfull , we are hindred from the knowledg of what is more needfull ; thus when men preferre humane before divine , and in divine , speculative before practicall knowledg , it is justly blameable . they who are diligent searchers into natures secrets , undervaluing the mysteries of religion : they who content themselves with the knowledge of creatures , but are not by that led to know the creator : they who are desirous rather to breake their teeth against the bones of difficulty , then feed their souls with necessary truths ; who are inquisitive after the manner of the ●reatures groaning , but little desirous of experiencing those groanes of the spirit in their own hearts which cannot be uttered ; who are more solicitous where the soul of lazarus was , whilest his body lay in the grave , then where their own souls shall be when their bodies must dwell in the dust ; when and where the last judgement shall be , then how they shall appear in that day with boldness , are most deservedly charged with curiosity . indeed as eagles when they rest , and lions when they walke , pull in the one his tallons , the other his claws , to keep them sharpe against such time as they meet with a prey ; so it would be our wisdome to reserve our wits and studies for things of most weight , and not busie them in matters of less concernement . . lastly , when we desire to know what is without our spheare , and above our reach . for illiterate mechanicks to busie themselves in expounding the darke places of scripture , in fathoming the depth of theologicall controversies : for the most learned doctors to be wise above what is written , to endeavour to make windows in gods closet , and unclaspe his secret books , and so seek after the knowledg of what god hath concealed , it is no other then a lust of curiosity . and therefore st austins counsell is very prudent , compescenda est humana temeritas , id quod non est non quaerat , ne quod est non inveniat ; we must bridle our temerity , and check our curiosity , least whilest we pursue what is not revealed , we finde not that which is . take we heed of soaring too high , least we be scorched , and wading too deep least we be drowned ; there are some things we may nescire sine crimine , not know without blame , which we cannot scire sine discrimine , know without danger : and in respect of these , a learned ignorance is to be preferred before an ignorant learning . . there is a lust of the eyes after sensitive knowledg : and thus we may extend it to all the senses ; curiosity studying to please them all in their severall waies ; and so the eyes being the most noble sense , the lust of the eyes may ( synecdochically ) comprehend the rest . we read concerning the sinners in sion , that they did lye upon beds ( or bedsteds ) of ivory , by which their eyes were delighted ; stretch themselves upon their couches , for the pleasing of their touch , eate the lambes out of the flocks , and the calves out of the midst of the stall , and drinke wine in bowles , to the satiating of their taste ; chant to the sound of the viall , and invent to themselves instruments of musick for the ravishing of their eares ; and annoint themselves with the chief oyntment , that their smell might have its sweet savour ; so curious are sensuall men in giving content to all their senses . but seeing according to this notion , the lust of the eyes will in some sort comprehend the lust of the flesh ; i conceive it will be better confined to that particular sense , and so denoteth a curiosity of seeing . in reference to this notion it is that this lust of the eyes is phrased , nugacitas spectaculorum , the vanity of seeing showes , the affection of delectable sights . this seemeth to have been the curiosity of eve in looking on the forbidden fruit , of lots wife in looking back on flaming sodom , and of dinah in going forth to see the daughters in the land. not that all desire of seeing rare and pleasant objects , whither of nature or art is unlawfull , but when our desire and consequently our delight is too passionate even to admiration , and that joyned with forgetfullness of the great artificer , when it is not carried ad aliquid utile , imò ad aliquid noxium , ( as the schooles determine it ) to such sights as may occasion good , yea , rather in●ite to evill in any kinde , it is no other then a lust of the eyes : upon which account seneca said truly , nothing prove●h more prejudiall to good manners , then vain and foolish sights , by which vices steale into the minde . as an appendix to this , is that curiosity of trying ( to see being as much sometimes as to make tryall , ) whereby men will needlesly put themselves or others upon such experiments , as may probably prove prejudiciall in any kinde , which is no less then a tempting of god ; to this the devill tempted our saviour , when he bad him cast himself down from the pinacle , which is referred by st austin , as hath been already observed to this head , the lust of the eyes . . but the other branch of the interpretation seemeth to me most probable , and therefore upon that i shall insist , which by the lust of the eyes , understandeth covetousness , that is , the inordinate desire of gold , silver , goods , lands , houses , and all possessions , which denominate men rich in this world . and now for the better discovery of this it will be needfull to resolve two queries . why this lust is called the lust of the eyes ? when our desires of these things becometh the lust of the eyes ? . it may not be unfitly inquired , why our apostle calleth covetousness the lust of the eyes ? to which a double answer may be returned , because the eyes are both the inlets and the outlets of this lust ; by the eyes as a doore , this lust gets into , and by the eyes as a window it looketh out of the soul . that expression of solomon , ( whatsoever mine eyes desired , i kept not from them , ) may at first sight seem strange , the heart being the seat of desire , and yet it will appear very rationall , if we consider that the eye is the instrument of desire , by which it is first excited and then cherished . . this lust enters in at the eyes . it is that indeed which is true of other desires as well as this . the ●●e is the souls burning glass , in which the beames of visible objects , being as it were contracted , the fire of lust in several kindes is kindled in the soul : in which respect the eyes are well called by seneca , irritamenta malorum ducesque scelerum , the ringleaders of evill and incentives to wickedness . when the wiseman forbids to looke upon the wine when it is red , when it giveth its colour in the cup ; he thereby intimateth , saith cassiodorus , that not only dulcedo , but pulchritudo , its sweetness to the taste , but pleasantness to the eye is apt to allure to excess . this job was aware of in regard of the lust of uncleanness , and therefore he saith , i made a covenant with my eyes , that i might not looke upon a maide . and yet more particularly the eyes are usuall and prevalent meanes of stirring up covetous lusts . when solomon speaking of riches puts the question , not why wilt thou set thine heart but thine eyes ? when yet he meaneth the heart , what doth he but imply that by our eyes our hearts become enamoured with them ? you know the story of achan , who seeing the wedges of gold , and the babilonish garment was bewitched with , and laid hold upon them . indeed there is a strange attractive force both in gold and silver , being looked upon to gaine desire , for which reason perhaps it is that the hebrews derive the noune , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth silver , from the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to desire . . this lust goet● out at the eyes . covetous men very much please themselves in beholding their riches : and indeed this is in a sort peculiar to this lust . for though the objects of the lust of the flesh , be visible and delightfull to the eye , yet the other senses of taste , and touch are chiefly pleased , and the lust after them rests not till those senses be pleased , as well as the eye ; whereas riches are so the objects of the eye , that the other senses have no carnall pleasure by them ; yea , the greatest satisfaction a covetous man giveth his lust , is looking upon them : hence it is that he so often when alone , openeth his chest that he may look upon his white and yellow earth ; like that roman emperour who had his severall houres in the day of telling over his money , and carrying it from one chest to another ; or like the covetous old man in plautus , who could never indure to have his pot of gold out of sight , for this cause it is that he loves to walke in his garden , ride through his lands , that he may take a view of his possessions ; so good reason had our apostle to phrase it the lust of the eyes . indeed there is an objection here started by a schoolman , to wit , how the covetousness of a blinde man , can be said to be the lust of the eyes . to which the answer is easily given , by reassuming that forementioned distinction of the corporeall and intellectuall eyes , since as he well observeth , licet color non possit pervenire ad visum , tamen cognitio hujus visi potest pervenire ad oculum mentis interioris , though the colour of the gold and silver cannot come to his outward eye , yet the knowledg of th●se visible objects may come to his inward eye , and so he feeds his lust by the contemplation of his wealth . having cleared the passage by giving an account of the first , we may now more easily proceed to a discussion of the second and principall question , which will give further light to the reason of the appellation , and so to the resolution of the former ; and if you would know when our lust after wealth is a lust of the eyes , and so irregular , be pleased to know that this lust must be considered in a double reference , to wit , respectu acquirendi and retinendi , in regard of getting and keeping wealth , craving and saving it . indeed as the grave is said to have both a mouth , and an hand in scripture , so hath this lust of the eyes a mouth to receive , and an hand to retaine , and accordingly it is made up of two ingredients , rapacity , and tenacity . . rapacity , which is the lust of getting riches offends either respectu objecti , or mensurae , in regard of the matter or the measure . . the desire of getting is the lust of rhe eyes , when it is conversant about either aliena , or superflua , those things which duly belong to another , or those things which are superfluous and needless for our selves . . to lust after other mens estates is undoubtedly sinfull , and not improperly called , a lust of the eyes , since ( as zanchy observeth , ) such persons , quicquid bonorum mundi vident cupiunt & sibi usurpare student , like longing women , they lust after whatsoever they see , and though it belongs to another , strive to make it their own . thus ahab seeth naboths vineyard , and presently is sick for it , nor can any thing cure his distemper but naboths dispossession : this is that which is expresly forbidden in the last commandement , and that in a most extensive phrase , thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbours . indeed there are some things of this world that are as common as the ayre , and water , wherein all men partake without prejudice one to another ; but there are some things proper , as lands , monies , goods , in which every legall possessour hath a peculiar interest , and to which he hath a just right ; and when we look upon others enjoyments , not only with an evill , that is , an envious eye , repining that they are theirs ; but with an evill , that is , a covetous eye , wishing they were ours , that is a lust of the eyes . the rabbins have an excellent saying to this purpose ; he that saith , mine is thine , and thine is mine , is an idiot ; he that saith , mine is mine , and thine is thine , is moderate ; he that saith , mine is thine , and thine , is thine is charitable ; but he that saith , thine is mine , and mine is mine , is wicked : i though it be only saying it in his heart to wish it were so . not beloved that all desire of what is at present anothers , is a covetuous lust ; but when as i desire that from another which is as expedient for him , as it can be for me , or which he taketh delight in , and so is unwilling to part with , or which if it were my own case i should be loath to forgo to him or any other that should desire it of me in the like kinde , it becometh a sinfull desire of the eyes . . not only to lust after what is anothers , but after what is superfluous is the lust of the eyes , and fitly so called , inasmuch as what is more then for our just use , is only for our eyes : covetousness is not simply a desire of having more , and therefore more must be added to its definition ; it is plus velle quam sat est , a desire of having more then is enough , not for our desire , but conveniency : observable to this purpose is that prayer of agur , give me neither poverty nor riches , but feed me with food convenient for me ; where the right object of a lawfull desire is food convenient , and consequently a desire of riches , that is , a greater measure of wealth then is convenient , is sinfull : if gods providence cast super abundant riches upon us in the exercise of our callings , we are gratefully to accept them : but we may not desire and seek after them . sutable to which is that gloss of estius upon these words of st paul , they that will be rich , it is not they who are rich , but they who will be ; cupiditates accusat non facultates , saith st austin , riches are gifts in wisdomes left hand , not the having , but the craving them is blame worthy . congruous hereunto is that of reyn●rus , there are some who have them , but love them not ; and others who neither have nor love them : both these especially the former are to be commended . again , there are some who have and love them , and others who want and love them , and both these are to be condemned , not the one , for the having , or the other for the wanting , but both for the loving them . the only question which is here necessary to be resolved is , what are those superfluous riches which we ought not to desire ? the answer to which will be best returned by the resolving of another question , namely , what is to be accounted necessary and convenient ? the measure of which is taken from a double reference , to wit , to our selves and others ? in regard of our selves , there is a threefold necessity . . naturae , what is requisite to procure foode , rayment , and habitation , without which we cannot subsist ? . personae , what is needfull to provision , for those who belong to us , wife , children , and servants ; who are to be accounted as it were a part of our selves ? . statûs & conditionis , what is competent to , and convenient for the place to which god hath called us , and station wherein he hath set us . in regard of others , there is a double necessity , to wit , . publica , what is needfull to render us subservient to the maintenance of the magistracy and ministry of church and common-wealth ? . privata , what may enable us in some measure to releive the indigence of those poor persons amongst whom we live ? and now to desire more then what may fit us for a convenient discharge of these severall obligations , is an unlawfull lust , inasmuch as it carryeth us after a wrong object . . the lust of getting is a sinfull lust of the eyes , when as it is excessive in measure , which we may well call the greedy eye , according to the derivation of atarus from ave , and aurum : and this excess appeareth especially in three things : when as it is . resolute , or rather absolute ; that we will have these things ( as it were ) whither god will or no ; this seemeth to be the emphasis of that forementioned phrase , they that will be rich , that will be so by any meanes , all is f●sh that cometh to their net , though it be a snake instead of a lampr●y ; they will attempt any exploits , be they never so unlawfull , rather then not obtain their desire . . hasty , impatient of delay , that we will not wait gods pleasure , or stay his leisure . the poets faine , that when plutus which is riches , was sent from jupiter he limpeth away , goeth slowly ; but when from pluto ( which we may moralize to be the devill ) he runneth : no wonder if solomon saith , he that maketh haste to be rich , shall not be innocent ; he that hasteth to be rich , hath an evill eye . indeed evill men usually for haste leave the kings high way , and leap over hedg , and ditch , take indirect courses , and ofttimes the more haste , the worst speed . . discentented , so that if our desires succeed not we are froward and peevish like jonah ; or heavy and melancholy like ahab ; grieved , nay , mad , that we cannot have our will especially , when being crossed in our designs , we shoote the arrows of our rage against heaven and repine at god himself . and thus i have given you an account of the first branch of this lust of the eyes . . this sinfull lust discovereth it self no less by tenacity , then rapacity . to understand which aright know , . that all desire of keeping is not culpable ; we may , nay , ought to be carefull of provision , not only for our present but future uses ; it is the ants wisdome which solomon would have us imitate , in summer to lay up for winter : more especially if god bless us with posterity , we are bound to endeavour the keeping in stone , a proportionable competency , that they may have wherewith to subsist when we are gone . for to this no doubt that of the apostle extends , he that provideth not for his family ( to wit , as he is able ) is worse then an infidell . if therefore you would know what desire of keeping is tenacity ? i answer . when we are impatient at the loss o● riches : alexander desiring to know whither apelles was in love with campespee , caused a ●oy to come in whilest they were discoursing , and cry out , apelles , your shop is on fire , at the hearing of which he presently cryed out , if the picture of campespee be burnt , i am undone , by which he knew he vvas in love with her : so are vve with riches , if upon the loss of them , we thinke our selves undone , and are so far from learning with job to bless god , as that according to his wifes counsell , we curse him in our hearts , because he taketh these things away from us . . when we thinke our treasure is never full enough , laying up abundance , that we may leave our children a vast estate , which too often proves a lure for birds of prey , betraying them to the fauning of flatterers , embracing of harlots , society of the riotous , so that what was niggardly kept by the one , is as prodigally spent by the other : and much more when having no posterity , a man layeth up wealth only that it may be said he died rich . this is he of whom the wiseman speaketh , there is one alone , and there is not a second , yea , ●e hath neither childe , nor brother , yet is there no end of all his labour , neither is his eye satisfied with riches , neither saith he for whom do i labour and bereave my soul of good ? . chiefly when we are loath to part with our estates upon fitting occasions . it is the psalmists caution , if riches increase , set not your hearts upon them ; and this we do when we are not willing to expend them for good uses , and are so solicitous for the future , that we lay out nothing for the present , caring for wealth , as ( our own ) earnestly , using it ( as anothers ) sparingly . indeed whereas the wise graecians call riches , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to use , covetous men , looke upon them as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ to possess . . some there are who out of great estates will not part with any thing for necessary uses , such are they who will not affoard themselves conveniences , parv● vivunt sordissimè vestiuntur , they fare hard and go meanly , and so are in debt to back and belly ; the covetous man corpus extenuat ut lucrum extendat , keeps his body empty , that his purse may be full : and so to use the greeke poets comparison , he leads a mules life , or if you will , an asses life , who being laden with gold , feeds on hay . little better are they who grudge to maintaine their relations in such a way as is convenient both for their comfort and their own honour ; denying to their wives fitting supplies , suffering their ●hildren to go in rags , feeding their servants with mouldy crusts , more fit to be thrown to dogs , then set before men. . others there are who will not expend their estates in just uses , who though they have money in their chests , yet will not pay caesar his tribute , nor the minister his tithes , the creditor his debts , nor make restitution to those whom they have injured , till they are enforced . . finally , very many there are , who though they are willing to expend for necessary and just , yet will part with nothing , or at least nothing proportionable for pious and charitable uses : like the ground whence their gold and silver is dig'd , they are barren of good works : out of their thousands they hardly part with hundreds , no nor scores of pounds , for the relief of their indigent brethren . la●an and nabal are one the anagram of the other , both covetous churls , the one whereof would not part with his sheep to jacob , though it was in point of honesty according to his own agreement ; and the other would not give his bread and wine to david and his men , when in great distress . and this was the avarice of the rich man in the gospell , who though he laid out his estate for his own dilicious food , yet would not allow poore lazarus his crums ; these men if they exchange their money for oyle to make their own countenance chearfull , yet they will not for wine to make glad the hearts of the afflicted . all of these are justly to be charged with tenacity . for whereas the two chief ends of riches ( as aristotle observeth ) are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , discharging of costs , and conferreing of guifts , these do not employ them for either , at least not for both ; and indeed as the former , so this is very fitly called the lust of the eyes , that the lust of a greedy , and this of a needy eye , which thinketh not abundance a sufficiency , and therefore though it have much , will part with nothing ; by which means it is that such men solos oculos pascunt , instead of feeding their own and others bellies , only feed their own eyes , and have no other use of all their wealth , but to behold it : so that as asterius hath well observed , whereas no man goeth to sea , for it self , but to fetch or traffick ; no man tills the ground for it self , but to reap a gainefull harvest ; a covetous man gets wealth for it self , not to expend but keep , do good with , but look upon : so that according to the poets phrase , — pictis tanquam gaudere tabellis ; he maketh little other use of his coyne , then men do of their pictures , which only serve to please the eye : in reference to which we may apply that of solomon , what good is there to the owner thereof , saving the beholding of them with their eyes ? and now beloved , i could wish that my discourse of this subject were impertinent , and of no concernment to any here present ; but as when our saviour bad him that was without sin among the people cast the first stone at the woman taken in the act of adultery , they went out one by one , so that christ and the woman were left alone , being as the text tells us convicted in their own consciences , to wit , that they were all sinners ; so i doubt were this congregation put to the test , they would go out one by one , as forced upon due search to confess themselves guilty of this lust . the truth is as many wear gods livery , who yet are none of his servants , so there are many servants of this lust who yet will not weare its livery . all will acknowledg covetousness to be a sin , but not themselves to be covetous ; and whenas the lusts of the flesh carry their names in their foreheads , avarice weareth the badge of good husbandry , the complexion of frugality , whereby it is that men excuse themselves from the guilt of it . but whilest , if every man were his own judge , no man would be nocent , i fear the great judg will scarce finde any man innocent . oh who almost is not bitten with this mad dog. some are given over t●o , and most are given to this lust . one would thinke rich men should not be troubled with it , and yet you may as soon put out fire with fuell , as covetousness with riches : one would scarce imagine old men should be infected with it , and yet ( an ancient observeth ) dum membra frigescunt , cupiditas calescit , care senescit , affectus juvenescit , finis vitae vix imponit finem avaritiae ; the desire after gaine is young and hot , whilest the man groweth old and cold , nor doth this lust extinguish before life . if we look into the scripture we shall not finde any good man taxed with avarice ; noah was drunke , l●●●●cest●ous , and peter treacherous , but not ( as judas ) out of covetousness , whereas in this age none more greedy then they who call themselves the godly . the truth is , though the power of godliness be opposite to , yet the form of godliness will easily consist with it : no wonder if it too often lurke under holy garments and rellgious shows . indeed this disease is become epidemicall , both poore and rich , young and old , prophane and hypocrites , are sick of it . for your further conviction , give me leave to put a few queries to you concerning this particular . . perhaps you do not use unlawfull means to be rich , but are you not discontented because riches do not flow in upon you ? you covet not what is unjust , but do you not crave what is superfluous ? you do not avidè rapere aliena , greedily snatch at what belongs to other ; but do you not cupidè servare vestra , too niggardly lock up what is your own ? many think they cannot be too blame for saving their own ; but men sin as well in not giving what they should , as in getting what they should not : and there is little difference in making wine of another man● grapes , and being drunke with our own . perhaps you are not as bad as vespasian , who exacting tribute of the people for urine said , bonus odor lu●ri e● re qualibet , gain is sweet ovt of any thing . yet is not the gaine of wealth more sweet , to you then that of grace , and your desires far greater , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , after gain then after christ ? . you are not such hold-fasts as to abridge your selves of conveniences ; but do you not forget the necessities of others ? you say , you are only good husbands , but whilest you pretend to be good husbands , are you not bad christians , neglecting gods service to follow the world , scraping all you can for your relations , and imparting little or nothing to christs members ? were these questions duly pondred , i feare few would be able to acquit themselves from this lust , and whilest there is no christian but condemneth covetousness , covetouseness will condemn many , nay most christians . suffer then i beseech you a word of dehortation , ne cor tuum terrae vivus infodias , bury not your selves alive in earthly desires . this world is as the high way , and it sounds but ill for one to be buryed in the high way : whip this mammon out of the temple of your hearts , and let not the lust of the eyes have dominion over your s●uls . indeed there is none , not the bes● of us but by what you have already heard , stands in need of this counsell , especially when riches flow in upon us , oh how hard is it to enjoy this worlds goods , and not dote upon them ! happy is the man who ( to use gregory nyssins comparison ) is like the sea which notwithstanding the greatest flowing in of riches keepeth its bounds which god hath set it , keeping his affection in a due moderation in the midsts of earthly abundance . to induce you hereunto , consider . the lust of getting is insatiable , there is no such word as enough in the worldlings dictionary , as it is the sinne of the covetous , so it is his punishment that his desire cannot be replenished : it is solomons assertion , he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver , and he that loveth abundance with increase : sutable to which is that in ecclesiasticus , a covetous mans eye is not satisfied with his portion , and that of the poet ; crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit ; a covetous man ( to use antiochus his comparison ) is like the sea , into which many rivers poure themselves , yet it is still receiving . to those three things which are never satisfied , and foure that say it is not enough ; the grave , the barren wombe , the dry earth , and the fire ; we may well adde as a fifth the covetous heart . it is strange , and yet true of such an one , his medicine is his malady , that which should quench doth increase his flame , whatever he gets is but like the putting of water into a vessell with holes ; the punishment of danaus his daughter , and though his desire be to get wealth , yet the wealth he gets doth but augment his desire . . the lust of keeping is unprofitable , it swels the principall to no purpose , and lessens the use to all purposes . the covetous man pretends to hoard up much for fear of want , and yet after all his pains and purchase , he suffers that really which before he feared vainly , and by n●t using what he gets , he maketh that to be actually present , and necessary which before was but future , contingent and possible . hence it is that according to that knowne saying , deest avaro tam quod habet quam quod non habet ; a mammonist wants as well what he hath , as what he hath not ; as he wants who hath meat and doth not eate it , as well as he who hath no meate to eate . he is one , quem ubertas sterilem , abundantia inopem , inhumanum copia , divitiae fecere mendicum ; whom plenty maketh needy , abundance indigent , fortune , unfortunate , riches a beggar , and for feare of being miserable hereafter , he maketh himself miserable for the present , so justly is he called in our english language a miser . such a man is like one who hath a treasure delivered him , locked up and sealed with the royall seale which he dareth not touch , or like those sisters which had an eye in their box , and yet in the meane time saw nothing , or like tantalus , he hath water running , apples growing by him , and yet drinketh not of the one , or feedeth of the other . socinius hath in this well observed that this phrase the lust of the eyes , serveth to show the folly and misery of the covetous , who take a great deale of pains in heaping up riches and have no benefit , but only the seeing of them : in this respect they are as so many wards , who have titles to great possessions , but not the actuall enjoyment of them ; or as the patriarchs sacks that had in them both corn , and coyn , but of no further use then to be worne out in keeping them . . this lust both of getting and keeping , is . enslaving , the proverb saith , all things obey money , and too often , they who possesse it . what drudges are covetous men to their wealth ? they have riches saith seneca excellently , sicut febrem habere dicimur cum illa nos habeat , as a man is said to have a feaver , that is , his feaver hath him : whereas they should ( to use st hieromes phrase ) distribuere ut domini , distribute their wealth , as masters of it ; they do custodire ut servi , keep it up as its servants : for which reason gold and silver to such men , are said by st cyprian , to be preciosa supplicia , glorious fetters : and by diogenes to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , golden halters : and most aptly by prosper , ferreum jugum , an iron yoke : which will the better appear , if you consider further , that this lust is , . tormenting . the covetous muckworme is distracted with cares , disquieted with feares , perplexed with continuall thoughts , how he should keep what he hath got : what he shall do when he is old ? how he may adde to his heaps ? this lust of the eyes will not suffer his eyes to sleep , nor his eye lids to close , pauper erat ( saith austin ) & secur è dormiebat , somnus facilis accedebat , when he was poore he slept securely , his sleep came upon him easily : but now he can take no rest day nor night , it bereaves his mouth of food , his body of ornaments , yea , his eyes of sleep , and his heart of joyes ; so that in the midest of his silver chests and golden bags , he is as at a funerall feast , where though there be abundance of cheare , there is no mirth . i and which is yet saddest of all , all these , as isidore pelusiota well observeth are but the beginnings of future torments : in which respect the covetous man is in a farre worse condition then the voluptuous , for whereas the voluptuous man hath an heaven of pleasure now , though an hell of torment hereafter , the covetous man hath a double hell ; an hell of vexing care , gauling feare in this world , an hell of unspeakable horror , and anguish in the other . adde to all which that this lust is . infatuating : it was a miracle that our saviour wrought upon the blinde man to restore his sight by clay , sure i am , white and yellow clay , instead of opening , blinde most mens eyes . the latins say that avidus is a non videndo , and covetous m●da● who fondly desired , that whatsoever he touched might be gold , is so called in the greeke quasi , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from seeing nothing . if sampsons eyes had not been boared out by the philistims , he would never have been their miller ; nor would men grinde in the mill of this world , exhaust their strength , their time in scraping a little pelf , were not their mindes blinded with the love of money : in one word , this lust is not onely foolish , but . cursed , as being directly opposite to all those virtues which our saviour hath reckoned up as giving a title to blessedness . the mammonists hunger and thirst is not after righteousnesse , but gold , instead of a pure heart , he hath a foule dirty soule , he is a mourner , but it is only when his trading doth not thrive , and riches increase ; he careth not for poverty of spirit , but fullness in his purse , all his mercy is to pitty and spare his gold ; he is so farre from being a peacemaker that he will go to law for a penny , and he resolveth to suffer no persecution , but what is from his own fretting and raging lust . indeed the one of these qualifications is true , but it is only in part , men revile him and speak evill of him , but it is not falsely but justly , for christs sake , but his monies sake , and therefore his reproaches are so farre from rendring him blessed , that they make him the more cursed ; and however this wretched catiffe like him in the poet , applaude himself while the people point and hisse at him , yet the time will come when god shall upbraide him with his folly , laugh at his calamity , and then though too late , he shall bewaile and abhorre , and condemne himselfe . what now remaineth , but that since the denying this worldly lust appeareth so reasonable we resolve upon it , and for our better execution of this resolution remember these lessons ; . get a contented minde : the author to the hebrews hath aptly joyned them together , let your conversation be without covetousness , and be content with such things as you have . requiring no doubt the latter in order to the former : what are all of us in this world , but as so many strangers and pilgrims ; why should we care for more then money to defray our charges ? we are under the providence of a gracious father , why should we not be content with what he seeth convenient for us ? certainely that shooe is not best which is the greatest , but which is fittest for the foote , nor that garment which is longest or most gorgeous , but that which sets closest to the body ; let our portion content us , and then the lust of the eyes will not domineer over us . . labour for a charitable heart , make not the mammon of unrighteousness your friend by loving it , but make you friends of the mammon of unrighteousness by giving it , one desire will thrust out another , the good lust of giving and distributing will expell the bad lust of getting and keeping : st austins counsell concerning riches is excellent , si absint ne per mala opera quaerantur in terra si ads●nt per bona opera serventur in ●aelo ; if they be wanting , seeke them not in earth by evill workes , if they be present , lay them up in heaven by good workes ; if you will needs be laying up of riches , let it be in the safest place in heaven ( as our saviour directeth us ) and that is by laying them out for the poores relief ; if you must needs see your riches , let it be upon the backs of the naked , and the tables of the hungry , this is the only commendable lust of the eyes . . judge righteous judgement concerning those things with which you are so enamoured ; to which end , shut the eye of your sense , and open the eye of your reason . tully writeth of a people , who when they went to the field , were wont pugnare clausis oculis , to fight with their eyes shut ; it might be cowardize in them , it would be wisdome in us , to shut our eyes , not to look too much on those objects , least they ensnare us . when the devill thought to tempt christ to the utmost , he shewed him all the kingdomes and glory of the world ; it is ill looking on the world , especially when it putteth on its holy-day apparell . no wonder if david when he desireth that his heart may not be inclined to covetousness , prayes also , turn away mine eys from beholding ●anity ; or if you will looke upon these things , let it be with the eye of reason , or rather faith to see the vanity and vexation of them ; looke not upon ther pompous outside , but their rotten inside , and then you will finde them like hangings , which on the one side have pictures of kings and queens curiously wrought , but on the other side rags and patches . . finally , lift up your eyes to heaven , by a due meditation of things above . anatomists observe , that there is a muscle in mans eye , more then in any other creatures , by which he is able to looke up . man in the greeke language is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and plato saith , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one that lifts up his countenance : to which agreeth that of the poet ; os homimi sublime dedit — oh let our bodily constitution minde us of an heavenly disposition ▪ terram despicit qui coelum aspici● , he will have earth under his foote , who hath heaven in his eyes . in one word , as moses , so let us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , looke off from this land we possess , to the promised land ; that having respect to that recompense of reward , we may disrespect the treasures of aegypt ; and taking daily walkes upon mount sion , all these things , silver , gold , houses , lands , goods , riches , may be little and vile in our eyes : so shall we be delivered from this second venemous corruption , the lust of the eyes . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , . love not the world , neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . among those many excellent rules , which belong to the divine art of preaching , this is not of least concernment , that ministers should not content themselves with generalities , either in disswading evill , or perswading good . virtues and vices are then rightly handled , when our sermons are not like shadows which represent obscurely , and confusedly , but as glasses , or rather pictures setting them forth in their distinct lineaments . it is a known maxime in logick , latet dolus in universalibus , there is a great deale of ambiguity , and consequently deceit in universall propositions . and though exhortations at large to serve god , mortifie the flesh , and contemne the world , are in themselves true and good ; yet if not more particularly discussed , the auditors will be too apt to deceive themselves , by imagining they have learnt those lessons to which perhaps they are meer strangers . for this cause it was that s● paul exhorting the colossians to mortifie their earthly members , proceeds to a punctuall enumeration of those members , and not only those of the grossest and worse sort , but those which seem at least in mans eye of less guilt ; and to instance no further for this very reason , no doubt it was that our apostle contents not himself in generals to dehort worldly love , but annexeth a speciall discovery of the severall lusts , by which it reigneth in the hearts and lives of the wicked ; love not the world , for all that is in the world , lust of the flesh , lust of the eyes , &c. the third and last of these lusts is that which now cometh to be handled . for the unfolding whereof i shall discuss the quid nominis ? and the quid rei ; the reason of the phrase , and the nature of the thing . . in reference to the phrase here used , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the pride or ●stentation of life , there are three queries to be resolved , . why doth not the apostle continue the same phrase of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it being a sinfull lust which is reproved in this , as well as in the former ? to which i conceive may rationally be answered , that it would have been too narrow an expression , since the seat of pride extends it selfe further then the desire , whereas the lust of the flesh lodgeth in the sensitive , pride is in the rationall part ; and whereas the lust of the eyes resideth in the affective , pride ( as will appear in handling ) is as well in the intellectuall , as in the affective faculty . . why doth not the apostle rather make choice of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a word that signifieth the inward as well as the outward pride , then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which ( as we shall afterwards finde ) most properly points at the outward . to which may be returned , that it is not as if the inward pride were excluded , which is indeed chiefly intended , but probably because this ●in is of such a nature , as it usually loveth to shew it selfe : nor is it satisfied , unless others take notice of it ; men are for the most part ashamed of the lust of the flesh , and therefore either they restrain or as much as they can conceale the actings of it , and the lust of the eyes loveth to lurke in corners , but pride knoweth not how to forbeare the discovery of it self to others ; she delights not to stay at home , but walketh abroad to be seen of others , even then when she counterfeits humility , it is usually so gross , that it appeareth to be counterfeit . . once more it may be inquired , why it is called not barely pride , but the pride of life ? in answer to which interpreters do somewhat vary . the note of salmeron is too much strained , who would have it called the pride of life , because pride commands even life it self , and maketh men willing rather to lose their life then their greatness . sure vvhat s● paul saith of his religious glorying , the proud man saith of his vaine glorying ; it were better for me to dye , then that my glorying should be void . alexander hales his fancy is , that since per sevivere , to live of ones self is proper to an intellectuall creature and only an intellectuall creature is capable of pride , therefore it is called the pride of life , but this is too far fetched . possibly there might be the same reason of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , therefore the pride of life ; because this sin though it have its rise from the heart , yet it appeareth in the life . some conceive it is called the pride of life , because semper vivit vigetque , it is a sin that is alwaies lively and vigorous , from first to last , from the cradle to the crutch : there are some sins that are peculiar to severall ages , but this first saluteth , and last leaveth us . our saviour , set a little childe in the midst of his disoiples , to teach them humility ; sure it was a very little one , for even children are apt to be proud , and as we grow in years , pride gets head , nay , it then flourisheth when the body withereth . but lastly and chiefly , therefore the pride of life , quia quaesunt in presenti vitâ bona de quibus homo superhit , they are commonly the things of this life , which are the fewell of pride : to this agreeth the syriack version , the pride of this life , and that animadversion of vorstius , who observes , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifying both life and wealth , which is of greatest concernment to this life : it may be rendred either way , since as they are the things of this life , so wealth is that especially in which men are most apt to pride themselves . indeed there is a spirituall as well as a carnall pride ▪ and this is a secret venome subtle evill ( as the father calls it ) being as a moath in our graces , and the rust of our virtues : in this respect it is truly said , that as repentance is the best fruit of the worst root sin ; so pride is the worst fruit of the best root grace ; but usually birth , beauty , strength , wit , learning , lands , honours , and such like , become the incentives of our pride : thus herod was proude of his eloquence , achitophell of his policy , goliah of his might , nebuchadnezzar of his palace , senacherib of his victories , and haman of his honour . that the things of the other life , the graces of the spirit occasion pride , it is altogether accidentall , since in their own nature they prompt to humility , and therefore as boughs which are most laden with fruit , hang down their heads ; and vessels that are fullest , make the least noise , so they that are richest in grace , are poorest in spirit ; indeed it is rather the shew , then the truth , the appearance then the reallity of grace which lifts men up . they are the things of this present life , which as in their own nature they are apt , so through the compliance of our nature , they frequently do ingender pride , and thus not one or few but many ; all the things of this life are such as men pride themselves in , the lust of the flesh is limited by its end , which is to content the flesh , the lust of the eyes by its instrument , which is the eye , but pride of life is of an universall and illimited influence . this whole life with all the things in it , is but spheare enough for pride to move in , the other lusts have their particular objects ; the lust of the flesh , sensuall pleasures , the lust of the eyes wordly riches , but pride of life , though it principally look at honours , yet it runs through the objects of the other lusts : men being apt to glory in their furnisht tables in their replenisht coffers , yea , in every good thing they enjoy : so great need is there of the prophet jeremiah's caution , let not the wise man glory in his wisdome , nor the strong man glory in his strength , nor the rich man glory in his wealth . and thus i have given a dispatch of the quid nominis , the reason of the phrase , which was the first thing proposed . . proceed we now to that which is the principall , the quid rei , the consideration to the thing ; and inquire what this sin of pride is in its utmost latitude ▪ for so we are here to look upon it , being set down as one of the three capitall lusts , which infect the race of mankinde . for the resolution of which , i must make use of that distinction , which peraldus hath framed to my hand , and hath been already intimated . pride is either internall or externall , that is , ( properly ) the pride of the heart , this the pride of life , that is , both in the understanding and the affection ; and this ( especially ) in the words of the mouth , and the apparell of the body , all of which are within the compass of that which is here called the pride of life . . begin we with internall pride , and that . as situated in the understanding , and so it is nothing else but a false opinion , and surpassing estimation of a mans own excellencies . this is observable in the etymologie of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , when a man appeareth to himself ( and would to others ) above what really he is , and of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( the word in my text ) which is from α , epitaticum , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sumo , when a man doth assume to himself what belongs not to him . in this respect pride may well be called an unnaturall tumor , puffing a man up as if he had eaten a spider . indeed what winde is to the blather , leaven to the dough , and poison to the body , that is pride to the minde , swelling it up with high conceits of its own worth in the apprehension of what it either hath or doth , enjoyeth or performeth . more particularly this overweening opinion is as the schooles from st gregory well observe , either . ex parte rei , in regard of the things themselves , whenas we thinke our selves to have that excellency which indeed we have not , to wit , either not at all , or else not in that measure which we fancy . . some are so proud , that they attribute to themselves what is no way theirs ; like the flye in the fable , which setting on the axle-tree of the coach wheell , cryed out what a dust do i raise ; this was the laodicean temper , which said , she was rich , and increased with goods , and had need of nothing , when as he was miserable and wretched , poore , and blinde , and naked . what is this but as if a blackmoore should fancy her selfe a beauty , and a pigmye imagine himselfe to be a giant . . others , yea very many looke upon themselves in multiplying and magnifying glasses , whereby it is that their pence seem pounds , mites talents , and according to the proverbe , geese swans ; this was the pharisees pride , who thought himself holier , and rabsakehs who accounted himself mightier , then indeed he was . the truth is , an error in the defect is pardonable , to thinke more meanly , but in the excess abominable to thinke more highly of our endowments or enjoyments , then they deserve in themselves ; for what is it but as if a novice should pretend himself to be a doctor , nay , as if a peasant dreame that he is a monarch . . ex parte causae , in regard of the causall influence upon whatsoever excellencies is in , or belonging to us : and this is when men account themselves either as the principall efficient , or as the meritorious causes of any good . . some are so proud as to sacrifice to their own nets , and look upon themselves as the originals of their own welfare . god complaineth of the israelites , she did not know that i gave her corn , and wine , and oyle , reproving her ingratitude : but the proud man goeth further , and owneth himself as the author of his enjoyments , and atchievements . is not this great babell which i have built saith nebuchadnezxar . dextra mihi deus & telum — said mezentias , my own right hand got me the victory . . more are so proud as though they acknowledge their good things to be of gods communicating , yet so , as that they are of their own deserving ; these thinke god rather beholding to them , then they to him , and look upon all blessings , not as the gifts of bounty , but rewards of service ; like to that proud fryer who said , da domine quod debes , lord pay what thou owest me , even when he desired admission into those heavenly mansions . . besides this pride of the minde , there is yet further considerable a pride in the passions , of hope , love , and desire . . pride as in the passion of hope is that which we call presumption : indeed presumption of gods mercy is a fruit of infidelity , because we do not rightly conceive of gods attributes , nor firmely believe his threatnings ; but a presumption of our own ability , is a branch of arrogancy and pride : it is no wonder if self-conceit be accompanied with self-confidence , and he that assumeth too much to presume too much upon himself . hence it is that men thinke with those babell-builders , they can reare a fabrick as high as heaven ; or with antiochus , that they can saile on the earth , and walk on the water ; do things which are impossible , far beyond the reach of their power , as if a fish should attempt to flye , or a beast to speak . . pride as in the passion of love is a fond dotage upon our own excellencies : and this by st austin is set down as the definition of that , which most properly is called narcissus-like , to be enamoured with our own shadow , and admire our own beauty . indeed to be well pleased with our own condition whatever it is , is an act of humble contentation , and very commendable : but to be carried with an affectionate admiration of our own endowments , as if none were like them , is an act of proud affection , and justly blameable . . pride as in the passion of desire is nothing else in generall but an inordinate and perverse appetite after excelling and going beyond others . indeed in some kinde this desire cannot be perverse , though it be vehement : namely . when it is in spirituals , a desire to go beyond others in virtue , to excell them in graces , is praise worthy ; we must strive to be as holy and religious , as just and charitable , as sober and temporate as the best ; and it is a commendable emulation to vie one with another in these practises . . when it is in mentals , in matters of knowledge ( so it be not like adams desire to be as god ) we may desire and endeavour to outstrip others , to be as subtle as the acutest sophister , as intelligent as the profoundest doctor , as eloquent as the politest oratour , is a lawfull endeavour . but in temporals and externals , a desire of surpassing others in any kinde , is very prone to be inordinate ; and when it is so , deserveth no better a name then this of pride . in particular there are two principall branches of this pride in desire , when it is of dignity above , and authority over others , or of praise and glory from others ; the former of which is called ambition ( and so st cyprian reads the word here ) and the latter vain-glory : of each a word . . the pride of ambition is an exorbitant desire of power and greatness . indeed we may accipere , receive that dignity , which is cast upon us ; but we must not arripere snatch at , and be greedy of preferment : it is not to be denied , but that there is a lawfull desire of power and place : st paul saith , he that desireth the office of a bishop , desireth a worthy worke : and no doubt it is a worthy desire , if rightly qualified . but it is then the pride of life , . when as it is only praeesse , but not prodesse ; that we may be great , but not that we may do good ; only of the dignity , and not of the duty which attends it : or . when men of low deserts have high desires of grasping that scepter , which they are not fit or worthy to manage , soaring high , when yet they want wings . or . when no place will content us , but the highest ; so that we will not indure either superior or equall ; as alexander who told darius the heaven had but one sun , and the earth must have but one alexander ; this being the temper of a proud man , when he is got up to the top to pull up the ladder , that none may come after him , but that he may rule alone , and have all in his own hands . . or which is yet worst of all , when this desire puts men upon evill waies , and unlawfull meanes of attaining , making that of the poet their principle , violandum est jus regni gratiâ , right may be dispensed with , where it is to gain a kingdome . . the other branch of this pride , is the desire of vain glory , from which the apostle dehorts the galathians . indeed it is one thing to desire glory , and another to desire vain glory ; great men may lawfully expect that honour and respect from others , which is due to the place and station , in which god hath set them . every man may desire praise and commendation from others , for those good actions that are done by him : st paul plainly alloweth it , when he assureth eternall life to them who by welldoing , seek for honour and glory . but if you will know when it is a desire of vain glory , and so pride of life ? i answer , with the casuists , that the sinfullness of this desire is considerable three waies , . ex parte ejus qui , in regard of him who desireth it : whenas . he maketh it his principall aime terminating in himself : it is one thing to do good workes , so as they may be seen , another to do them that they may be seen ; it is one thing to do them that they may be seen for our own glory ; it is another to do them that they may be seen for gods glory . finally , it is one thing to make our own honour a subordinate incouragement to , and another to set it up as the ultimate end of our good actions : the former is allowable , but the latter abominable . . his desire after it is accompanied with a peevish anger at those who give him not the praise and honour he expects ; like haman , who was mad because he could not have mordecays knee : and achitophell , who is so discontented as to hang himself , because his wisdome was undervalued in the not following his counsell . indeed the proud man , contrary to st pauls rule of giving , is altogether for taking honour ; and which is very absurd , though he will not give honour to others , yet he taketh it very ill , if others give it not to him . . ex parte ejus de quo , in regard of that for which he desireth glory : thus . when men according to st pauls expression , glory in their shame , expect to be applauded for their evill deeds , and gather the grapes of praise upon the thornes of vices . . or when they desire more commendation then their actions ( though good ) deserve , thinking that others should value them , as they do themselves ; as if not the merit of our workes , but the estimation we have of them , were to be the rule of others judgement . . ex parte ejus à quo , in regard of him , from whom we desire praise : and thus . when according to the character , ( which is given of the hypocriticall jew ) our praise is not of god , but of men , we regard more to approve our selves to the world , then to god ; whereas our aime should be to find approbation , first in the court of god , then of conscience , then of men. . when among men , we desire praise not of the learned , but the ignorant , who are no competent judges ; not of the good , but of the bad , whose praise indeed is a dispraise ; and by speaking well of us , disparage us . and thus i have given you an account of the first kinde of pride , which i proposed to handle ; namely , internall : by which it appeareth , that her charret is drawn with foure horses ; selfe-estimation , arrogant presumption , ha●ghty ambition , and vain-glory . . pass we on to the other sort , which is called externall pride . not to enlarge in all those waies , whereby pride doth manifest it self , i shall only insist on two , which are most usuall , and to which indeed the word in the text prompts us , namely , in language and apparell . . pride having her imperiall throne in the will , commands the whole man , especially the tongue , to vent her swelling words . one of the characters , which st paul giveth of the men of the last times , is that they shall be boasters : where the word is from the same root , with this in the text : sutable to which it is that the greeks tell us he , is properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , who useth stately language , and a vain pomp of splendid words , in proclaiming his own worth and abilities . now this is either in praising or promising . . to praise our selves for what we either have or do , except when it is in way of a just and needfull apologie , is no other then the language of pride ; and therefore it was good counsell of solomon , let another mans mouth praise thee , and not thine own . in the law every open vessell which had no covering found upon it , was unclean ; an embleme of the proud person , qui per studium ostentationis patens , nullo velamine taciturnitatis operitur : who hath an open mouth to vent and vaunt his own virtues , though hereby he doth not , nay undoth what he is doing , discommending himself by his self-comendation . those words of holy job , if my mouth hath kissed my hand , are not unfitly moralized to this purpose , our mouth kisseth our hand , when ( like hens which cackle when they lay ) our tongue blazons our own actions . indeed sometimes pride puts men upon dispraising and undervaluing themselves : but even then they put praise to usury , it being for this end that they may receive it from others with advantage . . it is no less evidently , a badge of pride , when men are golden tongued , and leaden handed ; make large promises of things , which they are no way able to performe ; learning herein of their father the devill , who showing christ the kingdomes and glory of the world , told him , all these will i give thee , when yet none of them were in his power to give . to this ( as vlpian tells us ) the signification of the greek word here used , extends ; indeed such kinde of promises argue men at the worst deceitfull imposters ; at the best , vain glorious boasters . . besides this pride of language , there is another , which is farre more frequent ; to wit , the pride of apparell . indeed it is strange that any should make apparell the fewell of their pride : we all know that garments are but things about us , not inhering in , but adhering to us ; so that to be proud of that , is as if an horse should be proud of his trappings ; nay , more we are beholding for them to other creatures ; sheep for the wooll , wormes for our silke , and the like : so that to be proud of them , is as if a man should be proud of anothers parts ; nay , which is yet worse , they were occasioned by sin : in which respect the hebrews derive the noune , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a garment , from the verbe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to deale perfidiously ; so to be proud of them , is as if a thief should be proud , because he is burnt in the hand . what more absurd , then to boast of what is extraneous , nay borrowed ; nay to glory in that which is a monitour of our shame ? and yet what more usuall then this kinde of pride ? which would therefore so much the rather be reproved , because it is so commonly practised . nor shall i swerve from my text to meet with this sort of proud persons , since the peacocks pride which is in her gaudy feather ; according to that of the poet laudatas ostentat avis junonia pennas , is an embleme of this pride in apparell : and the greeke epithete , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which they give the peacock on this account , is neare a kin to the word in my text. for the better understanding of this sort of pride , whereby we may pass a just censure upon our selves : ( for i would have none too forward in judging others , upon this or any other account ) be pleased to take notice of these particulars , . it is not to be denied but that apparell in it selfe is of an indifferent nature , either as to morall goodness , or badness , whither it be of this or that matter , forme or colour ; though garments came in by sin , yet they are not in themselves sinfull . . it is very laudable for some persons to weare costly apparell . god hath stored the wardrobe of nature , not only with induments , but ornaments , which may no doubt be accordingly made use of . when st peter adviseth women that their adorning should not be the outward adorning of plaiting the haire , of wearing of gold , or putting on of apparel , it is not to be understood as an absolute , but a comparative prohibition : otherwise , no doubt it is necessary to put on apparell , and lawfull for some women to weare gold , and use outward adorning . . it is not unlawfull in some sort to conforme to the fashion of the place , wherein we live ; when s● paul would not have us conforme to the world , he meaneth in things sinfull , not indifferent . the truth is , there is a possibility of pride in not following the fashion , to wit , when it is through affectation of singularity , and there may be a following the fashion without pride , to wit , when it is only to avoid being singular , yea in one case it may be necessary ; namely , where there is an intervening injunction of a superiour , ( as king , husband , parent , or the like ) in reference to any fashion which is otherwise indifferent . . but still there is nothing more true then that there is a great deale of pride in apparell , and that both in the costliness and fashionableness of it . . in the costliness : if you ask what is worth most and cost least ? i answer humility ; if what is worth least and cost most ? i answer pride . the proud man expends so much upon his cloathing , that whereas our saviour saith , the body is more worth then raiment , it may be said of him , his raiment is more worth then his body ; like the bird of paradice , whose feathers are of more value then the carcase . more particularly this costliness of our apparell is a signe of pride ; whenas it is . above the measure of our estate : when they that are not able to buy cloth will weare silke , nay they will starve their bodies , to adorne their backs ; and rather then this shall want superfluities , the other shall want necessaries . . above the quality of our state : soft cloathing is for them that are in kings houses ; it is not for peasants to weare robes , nor them that sit on the dunghill to be cloathed in scarlet : in which respect st hierome lookt upon it as a thing worthy of laughter , or rather sorrow , the handmaides went finer then their mistresses . . in the fashionableness : and thus to be curious and speedy ; in following , much more to be ring-leaders and inventers of fashions , yea to conforme to any which are beyond the bounds of modesty and decency , is at best a badge of pride . and here i cannot but condemne all such fashions as are the attire of harlots , or garbes of ruffians , as tend to make us appear of another sex , or complexion , colour , shape ; then indeed we are , to be at least indecent if not immodest , and so sad signs that i● not wantonness , yet pride dwelleth within . i have at length drawn before you those severall lines which meet in this center . and now i would to god there were not just cause of a generall humiliation for this sin of pride , it being that poyson which infects almost all of all sorts . the question of solomon , who can say i have made my heart clean , i am pure from sin ? may be truly put by every one to himself concerning this sin ; he that saith he is pure from it , is probably most guilty of it . that in the psalmes of sitting in the seat of the scorners , is read by the vulgar latine , in the chaire of pestilence : upon which s t austin ingenuously observeth to our present purpose , the seat of the proud scorners , may well be called the chaire of pestilence , because that disease is infectious , and commonly proveth epidemicall , ita ferè nemo est , qui careat amore dominandi , & humanam non appetat gloriam , there is scarce any man , who is not in some kind or other desirous of preheminency and glory . there want not some wicked men who are proud of their vices , please themselves in , and would have others applaud them for their black spots ; and even good men are too often proud of their virtues : in which respect prosper observeth , that they who have overcome other lusts , are yet foyled with this , whilst after their best deeds they are apt , in se potius , quam in domino gloriari , to glory not in the lord , but in themselves . the schollar is proud of his learning , which like wine fumeth into his head ; and the foole is ofttimes proud and self conceited notwithstanding his ignorance . pride ( especially that of apparell ) hath been heretofore the sin of women ; thus the prophet taxeth the haughty daughters of sion ; but in our daies it is no less the crime of men ; the male being as much if not more phantastick then the female . finally , not only masters and mistresses , but as the poet complained maxima queque domus servis est plena superbis , even servants who are in a low condition , yet have high minds . we have all too great reason in this particular to cry guilty . oh let us accuse , abhorre , and condemn our selves for this sin , and at last learn to be meek and lowly within , in our thoughts and desires ; without , in our language and deportment . the more effectually to disswade from this lust ? consider we how boundless , devilish , and deadly a sin it is . . what hath been already observed of avarice , is no less true of pride , it is never satisfied ; whence those so often renewed fashions in our garments , but because pride will not be long contented with one ? what is the reason men never think they are valued by others according to their worth , nor advanced according to their deserts , but because pride is aspiring , no staire pleaseth the ambitious man , whilst there is an higher ; he is no sooner laid in his bed of honour , but he dreames of greater preferment . how obvious is this in all kinds of advancement , ecclesiasticall , civill , military ? take an instance in one for all . the officer must be a captaine , the captain a collonell , the collonell a generall , and then he must have an higher title ; to which end , he leapeth from martiall to civill honour ; nor will any thing less serve him at last then a crown : nay then not content to rule at home , he will stretch his power as farre as the indies , ye he would be honoured and adored as a god ; and still he is discontent because he is not omnipotent , and cannot do all his will , which is , were it in his power to depose the supreame monarch of heaven and earth . thus the proud minde knoweth no limits ; and what wiseman would give way to that which being boundless must needs be restless , and create continuall cares , fears , and troubles to the minde ? in which regard it is called by st bernard aptly , ambientium crux , the cross and torment of those who pursue it . . besides which may render this lust so much the more hatefull to us , is , that it is the sin wherein of all others the devill is most delighted . indeed the proud man like a mountain between the sun and the valley , umbram facit diabolo , maketh a shadow , wherein the devill loveth to repose himself ; and no wonder since it is most properly his lust : in which respect st bernard saith of the proud pharisee , ( who said of himself ) i am not as other men , therefore as the devills : and to the same purpose st gregory , he that will not be like , but above other men , becomes like the apostate angels . . lastly , where pride is in the saddle , shame and ignorance is in the crupper : proud men like chaff flye aloft , till at the length the winde of gods wrath scatter them ; pride cast the first of creatures ( angels ) out of heaven ; the first of men ( adam ) out of paradice ; and the first israelitish king ( saul ) out of his throne . they say of the raven , that she carrieth the nut on high and then by letting it fall , breaketh it ; so doth the world , erigendo dejicere , destroy the proud man by advancing him : he ascends by little and little , but cometh down with a vengeance , and the higher he climbeth over others heads , the sooner he breaketh his own neck . it is the temper of pride , it loveth to go before , and so it shall ; but as solomon truly prognosticks , pride goeth before destruction , and an haughty minde before a fall . witness ambitious haman , arrogant nebuchadnezzar , vaunting goliah , vain glorious herod , blaspheming rabshakeh , gorgeous dives , and painted jezabell . humble thy self therefore oh man , least god humble thee , in thy highest estate ; keep thy heart lowly , ever remembring that humility is both thy honour , and the security of that honour . to this end , be perswaded to looke upon your selves . as men , quid superbis terra & cinis ? why shouldst thou , who art earth at first , and ashes at last , be proud ? it was well spoken by him to king philip after a great victory , that if he did measure his shadow , he should finde it no longer then it was before ; and it was well done of that king , to appoint that one should often sound in his eares , remember you are a man. . as christians , and so obliged to conforme to christ , who in particular calls upon us to learne of him , because he is meeke and lowly . why art thou so gaudy in apparell , when thy saviour was content with a plaine coat ? why shouldst thou exalt thy self , when as thy redeemer humbled himself ? finally , why shouldst thou aspire to be a lord , when christ took upon him the forme of a servant ? and because notwithstanding all these considerations , we are still apt to be ensnared ; let us according to that excellent counsell of our saviour , watch and pray ; ever suspect thy deceitfull heart , and take heed of every thing thou either hast or dost , least it puffe thee up . plato being mounted upon an horse , and judging himself a little touched with pride upon it , presently lighted off , and would ride no surther : st hierome tells us of hilarion , that having done many excellent cures , for which the people flocked after him , he wept , least by this meanes he should grow proud , and so lose his reward . oh let us watch our hearts in all our enjoyments , in all our atchievements , earnestly imploring the renewed assistance of grace against all temptations to this pride of life . having given you this particular account of these severall lusts , i shall now looke upon them together , and winde up all with a three fold observation . . this all in the world , which our apostle here mentioneth , concerneth only the flesh , and the eyes , and this present life . whence ferus hath ingenuously taken notice , this world hath nothing which can satisfie the soul ; meats and drinks , can no more feed the soul , then painted dishes can the stomach ; non corpus aurâ , non cor aurô , the body may as soon be filled with aire , as the minde with gold ; you may as soon finde an arme full in a shadow , as an heart full in honour . . not only the outward workes , but the inward lusts are prohibited ; many there are who refraine from the action , and yet retain the affection : some externall motives impede the doing , whilst yet they burn with desire . but alas how vaine and insufficient is this reformation ? to what purpose are the branches cut off , whilst the root remaineth ; or if the fountain be defiled , how can the streames be pure ? it is gods call to jerusalem , wash thine heart from wickedness ; and st james would not only have sinners to cleanse their hands , to wit , from externall workes ; but the double minded to purifie their hearts , to wit , from internall lusts . in one word , had we only to do with men , it might suffice to have a care of our words and workes , but since we have to do with god , there must be a regard of thoughts and desires . . lastly , it is not the lust of the flesh , or the lust of the eyes ; but , and , to intimate to us , that any one of these denominate a man a lover of the world ; and therefore it is not enough that we are free from one , but we must be without any of these lusts , to wit , raigning and ruling over us . i have read a story of an holy man , to whom an angell came with this message , veni , & ostendam tibi operva hominum , come and i will shew thee the workes of the sonnes of men . to this end , he leads him first to a field , where he shewed him a man gathering sticks , making a bundle , and taking it on his shoulder to carry it ; but finding it too weighty , he layeth it down and gathereth more , but then he could not so much as stirre it : then he leads him to a river , where he shewed him a man taking up water , and pouring it into a leaking vessell , which let it out as fast almost as it was put in . then he led him to a temple , where he findes two men carrying a piece of wood cross , whereby neither could get into the temple ; whereas if one would have permitted the other to have gone before , both might have entered in . in these three sights we have a representation of these three lusts , the springs of those workes : the first of the voluptuous , who continually gather sticks of the tree of pleasure , and are so bewitched , that they leave not gathering , till the burden of them become at last intolerable . the second of the covetous , whose insatiable desire is like a vessell full of holes , which yet he is still endeavouring to fill . the third of the proud , who whilest they will not suffer another to go before them , hinder each other from entring into that caelestiall temple . some there are who prostitute themselves ( so farre as they are consistent one with the other ) to all these lusts . it is observed of the swanne , that he hath a threefold habitation , the water , the earth , the aire : a fit embleme of many sinners , who swim in the water of sensuall pleasure ; walke upon the earth by the feet of covetous affections , and flye in the aire with the wings of pride . others there are , who are only addicted to one of these lusts , whilst they are free from , nay haters of the other . thus the voluptuous epicure hateth to be covetous , the covetous mammonist abhorreth to be voluptuous , and some proud men hate both ; we all ( saith the prophet ) like sheep have gone astray , and turned every one to his own way . though all naturally go in a bad way , yet not in the same ; some in the path of pride , and others of curiosity , others of avarice , and others of sensuality . but , if the enemy enter in at any one of these gates , he gets the castle , ●e that goeth in any of these paths , is in the broad way , and he that is caught by any of these nets , is the devils slave . it will little availe the sensuall man to say , i am not proud or covetous , or the proud man to say , i am not covetous or sensuall ; nor the covetous man to say , i am not sensuall or proud . that threatning against israel , him that escapeth the sword of hazael shall jehu slay ; and him that escapeth the sword of jehu shall elisha slay , may be here fitly alluded to , and is too often verified : him that escapeth the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes slayeth : and him that escapeth the lust of the eyes , the pride of life slayeth . it is ofttimes in this case according to that of the prophet amos , as if a man did flee from a lion , and a beare met him ; or went into the house , and leaned his hand on the wall , and a serpent bit him . many a man that abhorreth the lust of the flesh , is ensnared by the lust of the eyes : and some as st ambrose observeth , quos nulla potuit vincere luxuria , nulla avaritia , subruere , ambitio facit criminosos , whom neither luxury nor avarice could overcome , pride hath surprized and subdued : and therefore let our abstinence be universall , or else it cannot be effectuall . thus did moses , when he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , then to enjoy the pleasures of sinne , which are but for a season ; when he esteemed the reproach of christ , greater riches then all the treasures of aegypt ; when being come to years , he refused to be called the sonne of pharaohs daughter . thus did christ when to satisfie his hunger , he would not command stones to be bread , when he would not fall down and worship the devill , to gain all the kingdomes of the world , when he would not vain gloriously cast himselfe down from the pinacle , to shew himself the sonne of god. thus must every christian do in some measure : then and not till then are we good schollars in the schoole of grace , when we have learnt to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts , namely , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . . love not the world , neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . what was the saying of those jews upon the hearing of christs discourse , i doubt is the thought of many christians upon the reading of this scripture ; this is an hard saying , who can heare it ? promises of mercy tickle , but precepts of duty ( such especially as are contrary to our lusts ) grate the ears ; the very hearing is irksome , but the practising much more . this is an hard saying , who can hear it ? it is harder doing , who can performe it ? true , the worke is excellent , but withall difficult : it is a matter of moment , but not acted in a moment . to divert our corrupt natures from worldly love , is no less then to turne a streame ; and that will aske no little time and paines . no wonder then if our apostle contents not himself with the bare mention of this duty , but withall annexeth strong inducements to the performance of it ; that hearing , not only what we are to do , but what great reason there is why we should do it , we might with the stronger resolution set about it : love not the world , for if any man love the world , &c. it is that part of the text i am now come to ; namely , the argumentation which our apostle adjoyneth to his dehortation ; which consists of two parts , or rather presents us with two arguments . . the first whereof is drawn from worldly love , its contrariety to that which is divine ; and this is both asserted in the end of the fifteenth , and proved in the end of the sixteenth ; so that in this part there are two things offer themselves to our discussion . an eminent point , an evident proofe ; or , if you will , here is a double confirmation ; the one principall , which is the reason of the dehortation , in these words , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . the other collaterall , which is a reason of the reason , and is expressed in those words , is not of the father , but of the world . at this time of the first , the principall confirmation ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him ; which words are so a proofe , that they are withall a point well worthy my discussion , and your attention . they are an universall negative proposition , wherein we are to take notice of the subject , and the praedicate , of whom , and what it is , that is here denied . . the subject of this proposition is every lover of the world ; it is that i shall not need to insist upon as having been already handled at large in the prhibition ▪ only give me leave to minde you in a few words , that . on the one hand this is to be restrained to the immoderate lovers of the world , who wanting , excessively desire after ; or having , unmeasurably delight in it . indeed it cannot be denied , but that the very having of this world is dangerous , and therefore our saviour asserts , its difficult for rich men to enter into heaven ; and st paul saith , not many mighty are called . a large portion of worldly things , is like a long garment , which reaching to the foot , retards men in their walking ; nay ▪ sometimes maketh them stumble . but still , only the loving , not the having of this world ; no nor yet the love of the world which is subordinate , but only that which is co-ordinate , and so inordinate , is inconsistent with the love of the father . it is an excellent saying of st bernard , sic vult amari deus , ut cunctae res simul am●n●ur cum ipso , & sic vult amari ut nihil praeter ipsum ametur : god will be so loved , that all things else may be loved with him ; and yet so loved , that nothing be loved besides him ; that is , ( as he fully explaineth it ) he will have every creature to be loved , as from him ; and it is himself , he will have to be loved in every creature ; and only such a love of the world , as is in , and for god , consists with the love of god. . on the other hand , this is to be enlarged to all those severall lusts , which grow out of this root of worldly love : to wit , gluttony , ebriety , luxury , rapacity , tenacity , and curiosity , self conceitedness , ambition , and vain glory : all of which where ever they are entertained , whither joyntly or singly , will not suffer divine love to have any roome in the heart ; so that these words , if any man love the world , may be thus paraphrased , and are accordingly to be understood , if any man inordinately lust after and take delight in the pleasures , riches , or honours which this world affords : or if you will more particularly , if any man live in gluttony , and drunkenness , chambering , and wantonness , sloth , and idleness , rapine , and covetousness , pride and ambition . . but that which is here especially to be unfolded , is the predicate which is denied concerning all worldly lovers , to wit , the love of the father . the better to make way for the handling of this , be pleased to know , that the love of the father may be construed either actively , or passively : actively , the father is the subject of this love , and him the object ; passively , the father is the object , and him the subject , and so here is a double negative in this one . . the worldly lover hath no intrest in the fathers love ; he may be in the warme sunshine , but it is without gods blessing ; or rather he may have the moon light of outward comforts , but he wants the warme sunshine of gods favour . st paul saith of the widow that liveth in pleasure , that she is dead whilst she liveth ; so are all voluptuous epicures , as so many dead , nay , loathsome carkases in gods account . the psalmist mentioning the covetous , fasteneth this brand upon him , whom the lord abhorreth : he that sits in the heavens , spurneth at them , who creep upon the earth ; finally , st james speaking of the proud , asserts , that god resisteth him , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a military phrase ) he setteth himself as it were in battle-array , bidding open defance and proclaiming war against the proud . in a word , he that will be the worlds darling , looseth a friend of god. a sad truth , and such as may justly strike terror , and horror into the heart of every worldling . indeed however men sooth up themselves in their present prosperity , not regarding gods favour , whilst they enjoy the worlds treasure : yet the day is coming when they shall know and acknowledge how infinitely miserable their condition is , for want of a smile from heaven : yea , when they would purchase a beame of gods love ( were it possible ) with a totall and finall abdication of all secular contentments . alas , poore wretches , notwithstanding all the comfort they have for present , it is but night with them ; and when the time comes , that the moon and stars shall hide their heads , lose their light ( methinks they should tremble to consider ) in what a black night , of worse then aegyptian darkness , they shall be for ever involved , and that because the sun will deny his golden beames , god will eternally withhold his favour from them . . but though this be a very usefull meditation , yet i conceive it is not here intended , since it is not said , the love of the father is on , but in him : and so the negation here asserted is , that the worldly lover hath no love of the father in him . before i proceed further in the discussion of this point , it will be needfull to take notice of the fitness of the phrase , which our apostle useth , when he saith , the love of the father . that by the father is meant god , i suppose is obvious to every eye ; nor would it be passed by that god is emphatically called the father . look as though there are other lives , yet the life to come is sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , called life ; so though there are other fathers , yet here god is stiled the father , as he to whom this primarily belongs . other fathers are but the instruments , he is the principall efficient of our being . they are the fathers of our flesh , he is the father of our spirits : they are but earthly , he is our heavenly father ; finally , they provide for us only for a time , he taketh care for our eternall wellfare , and therefore eminently the father . again , it would not be passed by , that our apostle saith , not your , but the father : since though he is a father , yet not to them , who love the world . indeed they are ofttimes so presumptuous as to call him father , but they are none of his children . these lusts where-ever they rule , are not the spots of gods children . but that which would be here especially observed is , that our apostle speaking of the love of god , calls it the love of the father : nor is it without good reason , and that upon a double account . . to informe us under what notion chiefly god is the object of love . true indeed in himself , he is good , nay goodness , which is loves object ; but yet this goodness is known to us by its communication ; and it is good as known which causeth love ; so that we love god chiefly under those mercifull relations in which he stands to us ; nor is there any relation of greater goodness towards man , then that of a father . he is our king , our master , our judge : but under these notions he is especially to be feared ; as he is our father , principally he is to be loved . . to insinuate how greatly we are obliged to love god , rather then the world . the world , at the best is but a servant , at the worst our enemy ; as our servant , it is to be used , not loved ; at least not with a choice love : as our enemy , it is to be , not loved , but hated , and trampled on . now god is our father , and there is a naturall affection due from children to their parents , whom should we love if not our father ? so that to love the world before god is , as if one should preferre his servant , nay his enemy before his friend , his lord , his father : then which what can be more monstrous ? and when i find the apostle here disswading from worldly love , upon the account of its inconsistency with the love of god ; i am apt to believe that he purposely phraseth it , the love of the father , to render the love of the world , which is so repugnant to the love of god , so much the more odious to us . but to let go the phrase , the design of this proposition is manifest ; there is no positive love of god in him , in whom there is a superlative love of the world ; he that loveth the world chiefly , doth not love god truly ; he that is a lover of pleasure , or wealth , or honour more then god , is not at all a lover of god. indeed a worldling may be in shew a saint , and ( as farre as words will go ) a friend of god ; so may an harlot seem kinde to her husband ; but as she who giveth her heart to another , beareth no reall love to her husband ; so he who loveth the world hath no sincere affection to god. upon which account st james calleth worldly sinners , adulterers and adulteresses ; so that to speak after our apostles phrase elsewhere , he that saith he loveth the father , and yet loveth the world , is a lyar , and there is no truth in him . it is that indeed which holds true , both waies ; as it is with a paire of scales , the one goeth up , the other goeth down , so it is with these two loves . . on the one hand , the negation holds firme , the proposition being inverted , if any man love the father , the love of the world is not in him . moses rod swallowed up the magicians ; so doth the love of god all other loves . it is observed of the sun beames , that if they shine bright and hot upon the fire , they put it out ; so do heavenly affections extinguish earthly ; postquam amarillis nos tenuit , galatea reliquit . when divine love enters in , carnall goeth out . the command of love to god , is of a large extent , thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart , with all thy soule , and with all thy might : and if the love of god take up the whole , there is not so much as a corner for left worldly love . st bernard commenting upon that precept thus expounds it , and that aptly to our present purpose , thou shalt love god withall thy heart , soul , might , that is , dulciter , prudenter , fortiter , sweetly , wisely , strongly , and where this love is predominant , ( as that father hath excellently observed ) there is no roome for worldly lusts ; he that loveth god sweetly withall his heart , tasteth no sweetness in carnall things , which is the lust of the flesh ; he that loveth god wisely with all his soul , is not curicus , or covetous of temporall things , which is the lust of the eyes ; he that loveth god strongly , so as to indure all things for him , regards not honours , which is the pride of life . nor is it less true in the direct , then in the inverted notion , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . indeed one who hath been a lover of the world , may be won to be a lover of god ; yea , he who loveth the world in the second , may love god in the first place : but as st gregory hath pithily and aptly exprest it , utraque s●mul & aequaliter amari non possunt , both cannot together be equally loved ; when the inferior sensitive powers of the soul are vehemently affected , the superior rationall faculties are hindred in their operations ; so is spirituall love by carnall . the trees which spread in breadth grow not in height ; those who extend their love to the things below , ascend not in love to the things above . pharaohs leane kine did eate up the fat ; so doth the pining love of the world devoure the love of god , which is the fat and marrow of the soul . it is very observable , that st paul describing the wicked conversation of false teachers , brands them with these three lusts , whose belly is their god , the lust of the flesh ; who glory in their shame , or as some read it , whose glory is their shame , the pride of life ; who minde earthly things , the lust of the eyes ; to all which he opposeth that one character of himself , and the rest of the teachers , but our conversation is in heaven , thereby intimating , that they who give themselves to worldly lusts , are strangers to an heavenly conversation , and consequently to divine affection , by which especially we climbe to , and converse with god in heaven . to give you yet more fully the sense of this proposition , if you compare it with parallel scriptures , you shall finde it will admit of a double enlargement , to wit , in regard of the predicate , and the copula ; the thing denied , and the manner of denying it . . the love of the father is not in him , nay the hatred of the father is in him : so st james his assertion runs , know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god , and that he might bring the charge home to their consciences , he repeats it with the change of the abstract into the concrete , whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world , is an enemy of god. it is true ( as hath been already intimated ) he may be a seeming friend , but he is a reall enemy , and so much the worse enemy , because a seeming friend . i know if this question were put to many lovers of the world , do you hate god ? they would say in hazaels language , am i a dead dog , that i should do this thing ? i say my prayers , frequent the church : and thinke you i hate , nay do i not love god ? but oh vaine man , do not deceive thy self ; whosoever is the worlds friend , is at least virtually gods enemy ; and so farre from loving , that he doth in effect hate him ; and all his servioes , are no better then a mocking ( as much as in him lieth ) of the sacred deity . . the love of the father is not ; nay not only is not , but cannot be in him ; our blessed saviour is express concerning obedience ; you cannot serve god and mammon ; and it is no less true of love , you cannot love god and the world , much less the world and god. the impossibility of the consistency of these two , will appear if you consider . the nature of love , it is an ingrosser appropriating the heart to the object ; love saith to its beloved , i am thine , to wit , wholly , soly ; and therefore it cannot be anothers ; when the streame runs into one channell , then it runs violently ; vehement affection admits not of division . it is as possible for a direct line to terminate in two points , or for one member to serve two bodies , as for love intensively at once to minde two objects . . the contrariety of the obiects ; god and the world , in the very next verse , they are set one in opposition to the other . the father is above , the world is below ; so that to use a comparison of an ancient , the same eyes may as well at the same time behold heaven and earth , as the same affection be carried towards god and the world . god is light , and the world is darkness ; fieri non potest ( saith damascen ) it cannot be that divine and worldly love should cohabit , no more then that light and darkness should reside together . two contrary formes may as soon at once informe one and the same matter , and two contrary intense qualities meet together in the same subject , as the love of the world , and the love of the father dwell in the same heart . if i love another mans enemy and that as he is his enemy , i must needs be an enemy to him ; the worldling loveth the world , not as in subordination to , but competition with ; and therefore he can be no other then an enemy to god ; so true is this of our apostle , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . that it may yet more plainly appear , that there neither is nor can be any true love of god in the worldling : take notice of these ensuing particulars . . can there be any love of the father in him , who hath no love to his name , especially his word which god hath magnified above all his name ? and yet this is evident in worldly lovers ; their lusts like thorns choak the good seed of the word , that it can take no root in their hearts ; their proud necks will not stoop to put on this sacred yoake ; the voluptuous mans eare is deafe to this heavenly charme ; and when the spirituall fishers would catch the covetous , he slippeth ( with the eele ) into the mud of the world , and so renders all their pains useless . . can there be any love of the father in him , who doth not cleave to him with full purpose of heart , and will renounce his religion , rather then suffer persecution ? if any man draw back , my soul ( saith god ) shall have no pleasure in him ; and it is as true , his soul hath no pleasure in god. now the love of the world causeth men to grow lukewarme , nay at last , quite cold . st paul observeth it , as the ground of demas his apostacy , he hath forsaken me ( and with him christ ) having embraced ( to wit , with the armes of love ) this present world . what made judas so frozen , so false hearted to so gratious a master , but the love of money ? had not moses instead of loving despised the pleasures and honours of pharaohs court , he had left the people of god. danger and nakedness , want and penury , reproach and infamy , will quickly affright that man from his christian profession in whom the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life raign . . he that hath any true love of the father , will call the lords day a delight ; loves to converse with god by prayer and other holy ordinances ; but the worldly lover either wholly casts off holy duties , holy daies , holy things ; or else he takes no joy in the performance of them ; no time being worse spent in his esteeme , then that which is in gods courts . worldly men in heavenly duties are like a fish upon the shoare , they faint and gaspe , and are never well , till they returne to the muddy waters . when will the sabboath be gone , that we may sell and get gaine , saith the covetous ; that we may take our pleasure , saith the voluptuous ; that we may pursue our politique designs , saith the ambitious ? nay it is not seldome seen , that every one of these will not stick to fulfill their own lusts even when they should be imployed in gods service . . it is impossible that the love of the father should consist with sacriledge . no man ever looked upon a thief as his friend ; to live in any sinne , much more in such a sinne as reflects upon god , must needs be repugnant to the love of him . now worldly love puts men upon the commission of this great wickedness . every proud man is a sacrilegious thief , robbing god of his glory , which he will not give to another ; and it is not seldome seen that covetous and voluptuous men rob god of his revenues . belshazzer prostitutes the vessels of the temple , to the lust of the flesh , by quaffing in them . achan through the lust of the eyes , alienateth the devoted gold , and garment ; wicked worldlings will not stick to be not only sellers and buyers in , but of the temple , taking the houses of god into their possession . . finally , he that setteth up any thing in the roome of god , cannot have a sincere affection towards him . the cursed idolater as much as in him lieth , dethroneth the divine majesty , which surely cannot consist with amity . and yet it is an undoubted truth ; every worldling is an idolater , to wit , in a spirituall sense , bowing down though not with his knee to an idoll , yet with his heart to the world . st paul speaking of epicures , who are given over to the lust of the flesh , giveth them this brand , whose belly is their god , and consequently their kitchin is their temple , table their altar , and cooke their priest . the same apostle mentioning covetousness , presently addeth which is idolatry . indeed with a covetous man , seulpture is his scripture ; bills and bonds are his bible ; the exchange his temple , and gold his god ; as he saith to it , thou art my love , so likewise thou art my hope , my trust ; the proper acts of naturall worship , which are due only to the deity . he dealeth with it ( as the two giants sometime did with mars , ) first he looks it fast , and then worships it . finally , the proud man worshippeth ( though not images , yet ) his own imaginations , and sets up himself in gods roome , admiring and adoring his own ( though but sometime fancied ) excellencies ; nay , which is yet worse , he so sets himself above , that he sets himselfe against god ; for so the prophet accusing m●a● of pride , and haughtiness ; proveth it by this medium , thou hast magnified thy self against god. in this respect it is enquired and resolved by the schooles , that pride is the greatest of s●ns : for whereas in other lusts , there is directly a conversion to the creature , in this there is a direct aversion from the creator ; by all which it appeareth , how injurious these lusts are to the father , and therefore incompatible with the love of the father . to what hath been already said concerning the express and positive truth of this clause , i must not forget to adde , that there is another implicite and consequentiall truth wrapped up in it ; namely , that if any man love the world , the love of the brethren is not in him . indeed the s●nse of these words , the love of the father , may be rendred , the love which the father requireth , and so it extends to botherly love . besides , the connexion seemeth to intimate , that loving the world is forbidden as an enemy to brotherly love , which is discussed a little before . finally , omne majus continet in ●se mi●●s , the less is involved in the greater : so that as e●ius well notes , since the love of the father ( which is the greater ) the love of the brethren ( which is the less ) is also to be denied of him , who loves ●he world , s paul speaking of charity saith , shee seeks not her own , whereas the worldling is altogether for himself , and therefore hath no affection to others ; though to speake truth , as he is nomini bonus , good to no man , so he is sibi nequam , worse to himselfe . to enlarge upon this a little , consider the worldly lover , in reference to his superiours , inferiour , equals , and you shall finde he hath no love to any . . he is so farre from loving , that he envieth those that are are above him , in place , in wealth , in power . to use the phrase of the text , the love of the father is not in him , not of the politicall father , against whom he will not stick to rebell , when opportunity is offered . the proud man grudgeth subjection ; the covetous man tribute ; and the epicure obedience to his laws : not of the ecclesiasticall father , whom worldly lusts prompt him to undervalue ; yea if he reprove him to spurne against ; nay ofttimes not of the naturall father , whilest they who are tainted with these lusts , like esau , wish , the daies of mourning for their father were at hand ; nay some like absolom consult their fathers ruine , that they may enjoy their honours and estates . . as for those who are under him , he is very apt to trample them under his feet ; and if they be in want , very backward to reach forth an hand of succour to them . the voluptuous layeth out so much upon his pleasures ; the ambitious wants so much for the maintaining of his honours , and the covetous layeth up so much for the satisfying of his eyes , that they have little or nothing to spare for the needy ; nay that too often they oppress and grinde the faces of the poore . . instead of loving his equall , he is apt to contend and quarrell with them , whence come wars and fightings among you ? saith st james , and answering his question he addeth , come they not hence , even of the lusts that war in your members ? omnia perfecte in pace consisterent si hominem imperandi cupiditas non teneret , said valerius truly . it is the desire of being above others , that hindreth us from living in peace with others ; and speaking of covetousness , he asserts , hinc pullulare odiorum causas & amicitiarum faedera dissipari , it to be the breaker of amity , and begetter of enmity amongst men ; nor is it less true of sensuall lusts , which very often blow the fire of discord into a flame . in one word , what wrong will not men do to their neighbours in their relations , names , estates , by fraud and treachery , by violence and cruelty , in words and works , for the base love of wealth , of honour , or pleasure , all which are directly repugnant to brotherly love ? to close up with some usefull inferences from the consideration of what hath been handled : learne we . how desperate and dangerous a sin is worldly love . one upon this clause hath well observed , lenis oratio , sed plena aculeo , it is seemingly a gentle speech , but carryeth a sting with it . for in saying there is no love of the father , and consequently not of his brother , in him that loveth the world , he saith in effect , he is one that breaketh all the commandement ; for if love be the fullfilling of the law , to wit , love to god of the first , and love to our neighbour of the second , he that neither loveth god nor men , must needs breake both . it is very observable , that david praying god to incline his heart to his testimonies , presently addeth , and not to covetousness ; thereby implying , that if he were inclined to covetousnes , he could not love or keep gods testimonies . moses brake the table in pieces out of a zealous anger at the golden calfe ; and the worldling will breake the laws written on those tables , for the gold upon the calfe . the love of money , i and of honour and pleasure , is the rot of all goodness , and the root of all wickedness , the moath of sanctity , the rust of virtue , the breeder and the feeder of vice . ungodliness and worldly lusts are coupled together by st paul ; abstaine from fleshly lusts , and having our conversation honest , are joyned together by st peter : there is neither honesty nor piety to be found , where worldly love raigneth . . how great is the folly of hypocrites , who thinke to joyne what here st john hath opposed ) the love of the world , and the love of the father together . many there are ( saith isidore hispalensis truly ) who will flye to heaven by a divine conversation , but yet they are loath to leave earthly contentments ; provocat eos amor christi , sed revocat amor seculi ; the love of christ puts them a little forward , but the love of the world pulls them backward : and so ( as erasmus is painted by the romans ) they hang between heaven and earth . there is a city in germany , which belonging to two governments , was called mindin , which is ( according to the s●gnification of it in the germane language ) mine and thine . thus the hypocrite saith to god , thou art mine , and to the world , i am thine : in which respect he is called a double minded man , and is said to have an heart , and an heart ; like the samaritans who feared the lord , and served idols , the israelites who halted between god and baal ; those in the prophet zephany , who did sweare by the lord and malchom , and those lukewarme laodiceans , who were neither hot nor cold . but alas how vainly do such men deceive themselves ! indeed the false mother of the childe would have it parted between them , but the true mother would have all or none . the world is content to have a corner in thy heart , but god will have thy whole heart . the arke and dagon cannot stand together in one temple ; and therefore when the arke is brought in , dagon falls down ; no more can god and the world in one soule : and therefore if we will set up god in the throne , the world must be cast down , nay out . the spouse in the canticles is said to wound christ with one eye , quia alterum non habebat , because she had no other ; christ calls upon us in the gospell , to cut off one foot , one hand , and to pluck out one eye : the heart in all languages is a monasyllable , unum uni , the one heart must be dedicated to the one god. in the meat offering god required all the frankincense , and in the sacrifices all the fat ; to teach us that the intention of our minde and affection of our heart must be wholly carryed towards god. among the pythagoreans the duall number was infamous ; sure i am , the double minded man is odious to god , so odious that he threatneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to cut him asunder , a punishment very sutable to his fault ; like that which the king of the albines inflicted on the king of the romans , when he caused him to be tied to two horses , who by drawing contrary waies , tore his body in two pieces . . lastly , how just and necessary it is to cast the love of the world out of the hearts , in order to the entertaining of the love of the father . indeed as st gregory and leo have both well observed , the reasonable soul cannot be all together without delight and void of love . aut infimis delectatur , aut summis ; so the one aut , dei amator est , aut mundi ; so the other , our delight must either ascend or descend , our love must either be set upon god or the world . how impossible it is for these two to dwell together , you have already heard ; so that either we must hate the one , or love the other , or hold to the one , and despise the other , as our saviour tells us ▪ and now as eliah said to the israelites , if the lord be god , follow him ; but if baal be god , follow him ; so let me beseech you , if the lord be god , love him ; if the world , love it . if the world have as much excellency in it as god hath ; if the world have as much right to you , as god hath ; if the world can do as much for you , as god can and will , then love it . but alas , whatever good is in the world , is but a ray of that sun , a drop of that fountaine derived from , and infinitely inferiour to the goodness of god ; in which respect saith st austin excellently , pulcher est mundus , sed pulchrior à quo factus est mundus , the world is beautifull ; surely then he that made it so , is farre more beautifull . besides , the world was made for us , and therefore only to be used , whereas god is our creator , master , father ; and therefore to be feared , and honoured , and loved . methinketh , the father saith to us concerning the world , as saul to his servants concerning david , will the son of jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards ? will or can the world do that for you , which i will do , give you grace and glory , felicity and immortality ? nay , let me adde a word more , the world would infect and infest us , instead of doing us good , bring us into temptations and snares : and tell me then , whither the father be not to be preferred in our estimation and affection before the world ? infine , that god should have our love we cannot but acknowledge most reasonable ; and therefore what remaineth , but that every one of us take up firme resolutions of rejecting the world ; love both we cannot , one we will , god we ought ; and to that end , we must leave the world , that we may cleave to god. no doubt the world is , and will be a very earnest and importunate suiter to us for our love ; and too often she so far prevaileth , that we consent ; but remember i beseech you our father forbids the banes , and shall we match against our fathers consent , nay let me tell you , if we marry the world , the father will disclaime and disown us as none of his children , and therefore if we call on the father , let us renounce the world . believe it , an ill match is better broken then carried on , and so much the rather , because whatever promise we make to the world , it is a breach of the first vow we made to god in our baptism , and therefore to be disannulled , as inconsistent with our former obligation . to end all : i cannot better press this then in st austins language , who calls these words verba extirpantia , words of extirpation ; if you finde a weed you grub it up , that you may sow good corn ; so must we pluck up worldly , that we plant heavenly love . vas es ( saith that father ) si plenum , effunde quod habes , effunde amorem saeculi , ut implearis amore dei. thy soul is a vessell , if it be full , ( as indeed whose is not ? ) empty it , poure out the love of the world , that thou maist be filled with the love of god , which otherwise is impossible . for if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . , . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . and the world passeth away and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god abideth forever . a naked command from god is a sufficient ground of obedience from man , no doubt st paul so accounted it , and therefore exhorting the thessalonians to abstaine from fornication , useth this as a strong inducement ; for this is the will of god. the truth is , obedience is most ingenious when least discreet , it being very reasonable that we should obey god without asking a reason of his precept . it was the praise of caesars souldiers , quod imperium potius quam consilium sequebantur , that they executed their generalls injunctions , without inquiring into his consultations . it is the character of a good christian to believe , because god asserteth , and obey , because he requireth . but see the condescention of our mercifull god , who is pleased not only to command by his authority , but teach by his grace : so st paul saith , the grace of god teacheth us to deny worldly lusts ; not only to require , but to intreat ; so st peter , dearly beloved , i beseech you abstain from fleshly lusts . finally , not only to prescribe , but perswade , and therefore as he enjoyneth a duty , so he adjoyneth a motive , and that drawn from the necessity , equity , and utility of observing the command , whither it be to avoid or do . this is evident in the prohibition here given by st john concerning worldly love , which he contents not himself barely to propound , but strongly presseth as necessary , because else we cannot love the father ; and as just , because this world is of a short continuance . for all that is in the world , &c. and the world passeth away , &c. in handling the argumentation , we have dispatcht the maine of the first reason , to wit , the principall confirmation which is drawn from the incompossibility of the love of the father , with the love of the world ; and now because this may seem a very strange assertion , our apostle doth not only assert , but prove it in the close of the sixteenth verse , which i am in order to discuss : and it is that which i call the collaterall conformation , as it is set down in those words , is not of the father , but is of the world ▪ for the fuller handling whereof , i shall consider it both absolutely and relatively , . if we look upon this clause absolutely , we shall finde the design of it to discover the principle and originall of the all that is in the world , and that both negatively and affirmatively . . negatively , the all in the world is not of the father . indeed if we understand this all of those things which are the objects of our lusts ; this negation must have a limitation . . pleasures , riches , honours , must be considered either in themselves and their own nature , or as they allure through their externall beauty to inordinate lust ; in which latter respect they are not of god , since they were never made by him for that end , to be as it were the ba●ds of lust . . either as lawfully or unlawfully acquired ; in the latter notion they are not of the father , except that it is by his permission they are enjoyed , which is no less true of all wickedness that is acted ; in the former they are blessings of god , yet of his left , not his right hand ; and so are dona dei , the gifts of god , but not patris of the father . there are some things which god giveth as a father in speciall love only to his children , such are grace and glory . there are other things which he giveth as a god , out of common bounty to enemies as well as children , and such are food and rayment , wealth , and preferment ; in which respect ( at best ) in a strict sense they are not of the father . but i rather conceive that this negative is to be understood of the lusts after these things : to which agreeth that of st austin , we know that the apostle did not meane this world , the heavens and the earth with the things in them , when he saith , all that is in the world , is not of the father . indeed the poyson is not in the flower , but in the spider which sucketh it ; nor are the things themselves , but the lusts after them evill , and consequently not of the father ; nor yet is all lust after those things to be denied to be of the father . there is implanted in every living creature an appetite after those things which are sutable to its nature . now the nature of man being partly angelicall , and partly bestiall : spirituall in its upper , and sensuall in its lower faculties ; there could not but be in man as created , inclinatio ad sensibilia , an inclination to sensible objects . but withall , this lust was such as was neither in it selfe evill , nor did of it selfe incline to evill . i know i am here fallen upon a controverse , whilst it is affirmed by the romanists with others , that man in puris naturalibus , in his pure naturals , had ex necessaria materiae conditione , from the condition of his matter , such a concupiscence , which rendered him prone to evill , and did need supernaturali quodam fraeno , a golden bridle of supernaturall grace to restraine it . it being here urged upon them , that this concupiscence being naturall , is of god ; and if it need a bridle , it is apt to be irregular and exorbitant , which exorbitancie must needs reflec● on god himself , who made man of such a temper : their only evasion is , that it is from the condition of the matter , praeter intentionem divinam , besides the intention of the maker ; by which means , whilst they endeavour to vindicate gods purity , they calumniate his wisdome , it being no other then the voice of folly , to say , non putaram , i did not thinke of or intend such an event . i cannot therefore but look upon it as most safe to assert with the orthodox , that mans naturall concupiscence was not apt to be irregular , nec fraenum nec calcar desiderabatur . there was no such tardity in the sensitive part as should need a spurre , nor yet any such impetuousness as should require a bridle . for the clearing whereof know , that the sensitive appetite of man being borne , sub regne , under the dominion was to be governed sceptrotionis , by the command of reason , so that whereas it is ranaturall in a bruit to be carried towards sensuall objects , juxta impetum , in a way of violence ; it is naturall to man to bend towards them , juxta imperium , according to the dictate of reason . upon this account even by the philosopher , sensuality in man is asserted to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , reasons servant , and accordingly damascen is express , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the rationall part doth naturally rule the irrationall , so that though in man there be a necessary desire of things sensible , yet it is , ( as aquinas well ) secundum modum & ordinem rationis , in that measure and order which reason prescribeth ; the sensitive powers being not factious or rebellious , but readily subject to the higher powers , that is , the intellectuals . the proneness therefore of the sensitive appetite to extravagancy is not naturall but contranaturall , not from the creation , but by transgression : and of those lusts which the vitiated concupiscense in fallen man doth send forth , is it here affirmed , that they are not of the father . indeed that any sinfull lust should be of the father , is inconsistent with the. . purity of his nature which cannot endure , must less effect the least in . . verity of his word which prohibiteth and threatneth all sin , and either those threats are not the declarations of his reall intention , ( which is blasphemy to imagine ) or he cannot be the author of any wicked inclinations . . equity of his punishments , it being ( as fulgentius excellently ) most unjust for god not to cleare the guilty , if he made them so . and therefore for the preventing objections , and further evidencing of this truth be pleased to know , . it is one thing to make use of mens lusts , and another to stirre up those lust in men . it pleased god to accomplish his own ends by pharoahs proud lust in punishing israell , and judas his covetous lust in betraying christ , but he was no way the cause of these lusts . thus whilest the holiness of the father abhorreth evill , the wisdome of the father draweth good out of it . . it is one thing extrà elicere quod intus latitat , to draw forth that lust which is in the heart by proposing objects , and another , pravis suggestionibus solicitare , to instill evill lusts into the heart by seducing suggestions . it cannot be denied , but that gods providence is pleased ( according to that expression in the prophet jeremiah ) to lay stumbling blocks befor men , that is , such objects as prove stumbling blocks , yea that god doth purposely present such things to try but not to seduce them ; nor is god therefore any more guilty of these lusts , which those objects kindle , then a master is of his servants theft , when he layteh a bagge of money in his way , to make tryall of his honesty . that expression in the psalmist concerning god in reference to the aegyptians ( i confess ) is very harsh where it is said , he turned their heart to hate his people , and to deale subtilly with his servants , but if you observe the story and looke upon the preceding verse , you shall finde it was only by increasing his people , and making them stronger then their enemies god doth good to the israelites , and this becometh accidentally an occasion of envy in the aegyptians , in which respect only it is true , he turned their hearts to hate them . . it is one thing for god to give leave to men whereby they have opportunity of , and another to incite them to the fullfilling of their lusts . when we read concerning david , that the anger of the lord was kindled against israel , and he moved david to number the people , either ( comparing it with the parallel place in the chronicles ) we must expound that he to be satan , or else we must construe that he moved , to be no more but he permitted satan to move david to that proud lust . thus when it is said by david of shemie , the lord hath bid him curse me , jussit is no more but concessit , he hath bid , that is , he hath given him leave ; and that expression , go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets , is not to be understood as a commission , but a permission , as granting a warrant , but only giving him leave to seduce the prophets , and by them ahab . and though the not restraining sin when it is in mans power , involve him in the guilt , because he is bound to hinder all sin to his utmost ; yet this can no way be charged upon god , who is no way obliged to bridle mens lusts , and yet withall never suffereth them to breake forth , b● when he hath designed to make them serviceable for some glorious ends . . once more , it is one thing to give up men to their own lusts , and another to infuse lust into them ; the former is a judiciall act which god doth , only by withdrawing or withholding from impenitent sinners , that grace which they have abused or refused . thus when those israelites would not hearken to gods voice , and would have none of him , he gave them up to their own hearts lusts , and they walked in their own counsels . and when those heathens , knowing god glorified him not as god , neither were thankfull , god gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts . it being most just with god to let loose the reines to those sinners who will not be bridled , where by their lusts hurry them to destruction . but still notwithstanding his objective proposals and wise disposals , permissive concession and poenall tradition , these lusts are not of the father , he is not an instiller or inciter of , nor an inducer , or rather seducer to them . i end this with that caution of st james , let no man say when he is tempted , he is tempted of god. it is useless to cast the blame of our lusts upon others , but blasphemous to cast it upon god. it is a great sin to arrogate the good we do to our selves , but a far greater to attribute the evill we do to god. indeed it is such a sin ( according to st basils observation ) as borders upon atheism , all the difference between them consists in this ; the atheist saith , god is not , and the blasphemer saith , god is not good ; which latter plutarch asserts to be worse then the former , making the case his own , i had rather ( saith he ) one should say there never was such a man as plutarch , then that he was a bad man ; and i account it worse to affirme that god is the author of vice , then to deny that there is a god. oh then take we heed how we tread in the steps of our great grandfather adam , who to excuse himself , translateth ●he crime , though not explicitly , yet implicitly upon god , when he saith , the woman which thou gavest me , gave to me , and i did eate . we cannot do a greater dishonour to god , then to spit , nay cast dirt upon the face of his purity , by charging him with the least iniquity . and now if you please to know whence these lusts have their originall , pass we on to the other clause wherein it is expressed . . affirmatively , but is of the world , the conceptions of interpreters are somewhat various about this clause , yet all such as are most true , and seem to discover the spring of these lusts . . of the world , that is , saith justinian , ex pravâ illâ affectione & vitio hominum naturae indito ob primi parentis lapsum , from the corrupt and vitious inclination which is in mans nature , through adams fall . all these evill lusts are the ebullitions of our naturall corruption , which renders us both backward to whatsoever is good , and forward to all evill : according to that of st james , every man when be is tempted , is drawn aside , and enticed of his own lust . were it not for this , all externall temptations would ( as balls thrown against a stone wall ) make no impression , or as sparkes cast into the sea be presently extinguished , it is our inbred vitiosity which maketh us like tinder , ready to catch fire at every sparke . but though this interpretation best agree with the thing , yet it is somewhat aliene from the phrase , there being no parallel place in which by world is understood originall contagion . . of the world , that is , saith oecumenius , of the god of this world , not of the father of believers , but the father of the wicked , that is , the devill , these lusts are they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whereof satan is the sower and the planter . he it was who under the shape of a serpent enticed our first parents : no wonder if he seduce us to these lusts . indeed the pride of life only , is his lust subjectivè , since he being a spirit is not capable of the other two , but all these lusts are his effectivè , because he is a suggester of , and inticer to them , his temptations are the bellows which blow the fire of originall lust to a flame , but this interpretatation is also incongruous to the phrase , and therefore i pass it by . . be pleased then to remember what i have already told you that world may be either understood of persons or things , and accordingly both constructions may here not unfitly be made use of . . of the world , that is saith st austin , ab hominibus mundi dilectoribus , of those men who are the worlds darlings , and thus these lusts are said to be of the world , as a pattern or exemplary cause , inasmuch as to walke in them , is according to the apostles phrase , to walke according to the course of the world . the truth is , we are very apt to learn of , and conforme to the corrupt lusts and practises of the world . we do not with the pelagians ( farre be it from us ) say , that sin came in only by imitation , but yet withall it is an undeniable truth that imitation is a cause of much sin , that corrupt nature which is with in us rendring us prone to follow others in their evill waies . this is that which those dehortations both of st paul , and st peter plainly intimate , this i say and testifie in the lord , that ye henceforth walke not as other gentiles walke ; so st paul , for the time past of our lives may it suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles , so st peter . both imply , that we are very ready to walke in the way , do the will of the wicked among whom we live . . but that interpretation which i look upon as most genuine is by the world , to understand the things of the world , and therefore these lusts are said to be of the world , because by reason of our inbred corruption , these worldly things become occasions and inciters of lust to this purpose it is that st paul calls these lusts , worldly lusts not only because they are conversant about the world : but because the world is in some sense a cause that is an externall moving cause of them . the father of these lusts is the devill , their mother the flesh , the world is a midwife to bring forth , and a nurse to bring up these monstrous brats , no wonder if upon this account it is reckoned as one of the three grand enemies of mans salvation . learn we then that excellent admonition of st james to keep our selves unspotted of the world . the truth is , mundus immundus , the world is uncleane and filthy , and if we take not heed , it will defile and besmeare us , if we be not very carefull where we tread , we shall soon step into a dirty puddle , if we be not very wary where we walke , we shall quickly be caught in a snare . oh how hard is it to looke upon these things , and not long after them , to use them and not love them , to have them in our eye or hand , and yet keep them out of our heart ? oh therefore watch and be sober , so often as you are engaged about worldly things , keep a godly jealousie over your hearts , least they go out too much after them , for the world is very insinuating and too often creepeth into our hearts , the presence chamber of the king of glory , in which respects these lusts are most truly said to be of the world . and so much for the two branches of this clause absolutely considered . . pass we on now to a relative view , and thus it may have a double reference . . some conceive it as an argument why we should not love the world , and the things of it ; and truly whither we understand the subject of this proposition , all that is in the world is not of the father , but is of the world , of the things themselves or the lust after them , it will hold good . . love not the things of the world , because these things are not of the father but of the world , qualia sunt haec , saith zanchy aptly , how low poor things are these , how unworthy of a christian love ? these are from an earthly extraction an inferiour principle , set your affections ( saith st paul ) on the things that are above , and not on the things that are upon the earth , if you will love , let it be those things above that are of the father , of a noble divine originall , not these earthly things which are of the world . . love not the things of the world , because those lusts which are conversant about those things , are not of the father but of the world , the strength of which argument will better appeare if we consider who they are , namely , believers , such as are not of the world but of the father , to whom this dehortation is given , it being very unreasonable that they who are not of the world but of the father , should harbour those lusts which are not of the father but of the world . when therefore oh christian any desires arise in thine heart , put these two questions to them , whither tend they ? and especially whence are they ? if they be of the father , and so consequently tending upwards , embrace them , but if of the world , and so necessarily bending downwards refuse them . . but though i do not reject these interpretations , yet i rather adhere to that exposition which looketh upon this clause , as a reason of the reason preceding , why the love of the world and the love of the father are inconsistent , and the strength of the argument may be drawn out two waies . . these worldly lusts are not of the father , and therefore not to the father . things move in a circle where they begin , there they end . rivers come from , and return to the sea. these lusts the being not of the father , cannot be toward him , nay indeed are against him , and therefore cannot consist with the love of him . the love of the father carrieth the heart towards him , these lusts being not of the father , turn away the heart from him , how can they agree together ? . where there is a love of the father , only that which is of the father , will finde acceptance , yea whatever is not of the father , the soul that loveth him cannot choose but abhorre ; he that loveth god truly hath a sympathy and antipathy correspondent to his ; what god loveth he loveth , what god hateth he hateth ; and therefore since these lusts are so far from being of the father , that they are of the world , yea the father instead of an authour or an abettour of them is an abhorer and opposer of them ; no wonder if there be no sincere love of the father , where the love of the world is predominant . and this shall suffice to have been spoken of the first branch of the argumentation drawn from the love of world , its repugnancy to the love of god. it now remaineth that we proceed to , the other branch which is taken from the world it self , its short continuance as it is set down in the seaventeenth verse , for the world passeth away and the lusts thereof , but he that doth the will of god indureth for ever ; where there are two generall parts occurre to our observation , to wit , a thesis or proposition , for the world passeth away and the lust thereof , antithesis or opposition added by way of amplification , but he that doth the will of god endureth for ever . . begin we with the proposition , into which if you please to looke narrowly , you shall finde these three assertions . of each in order . the world passeth away , the lust after the world passeth away , the worldly lover passeth away . . the world passeth away : in severall places of scripture we finde a division of worlds , into that which now is , and that which is to come ; as for that which is to come , the author to the hebrews plainly intimateth , that it is a continuing city , where he saith , we have no continuing city , but we seek one to come , of this present world therefore is this assertion to be understood . and thus if we take this world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in its largest and most comprehensive notion , for the whole fabrick of the visible heavens and the earth ; it is true , the world passeth away : yea , as grotius noteth upon the text , eâ lege factus ut aliquando pereat , it was created corruptible , and is as sure to perish , as that it once began to flourish . this is affirmed by the psalmist , of old thou hast laid the foundations of the earth , and the heavens are the worke of thy hands , they shall perish , yea all of them shall wax old like a garment , as a vesture shalt thou change them , and they shall be changed . by our saviour himself , heaven and earth shall pass away , and by st peter , both the things and the meanes of accomplishing it are indicated . the heaven and the earth that n●w is , are reserved to fire ; and yet more fully , the day of the lord shall come as a thief , in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise , the elements shall melt with fervent heat , the earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt up . this witch ( for so shee is indeed to the greatest part of men ) shall be burnt up with all her baggage . this world ( to use isidore pelusiot as comparison ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , reeleth to and fro like a drunken man , till at last it falldown . so true is that of st cyprian , haec sentent in m●nd● data , ut omnia orta occidant , this doome is inevitably passed upon the world , that as it had a beginning , so it shall have an end . i am not ignorant that there is some contrarierty among divines about the nature of this passing away , whither it shall be substantiall or accidentall . some expounding this of st john , the world , by that of st paul , the fashion of this world passeth away , affirme the passing away to be only accidentall : and to this purpose s t gregory is express , vtraque haec ( speaking of the heavens and the earth ) per eam , quam nunc habent imaginem , transeunt ; sed tamen per essentiam sine fine subsistunt , both these pass away as to their present shape , but in their essence they shall endure for ever . others conceive , that since at the last day the wicked shall be banished into everlasting flames , and the godly received into the kingdome prepared for them , this present world will be useless as an house , wherein there is no inhabitant , it shall be puld down , and the very materials of it annihilated . but after all debates upon this question , it will be a presumption to determine it , because the scripture is silent . i could wish as this , so many other disputes of the like nature , were either wholly silenced , or more calmely discussed . why should we contend one with another about the manner , so long as we all believe the thing ? but that to which i rather incline , is to understand the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in a morall notion , for those things of the world which are the objects and allurements of these lusts , it being most rationall to take the world in the motive , in the same sense in which it is understood in the dehortation ; so that the plaine scope of our apostle in this clause , is to assert , that all these things of the world with which the children of men are so apt to be in love are of a fading , transitory nature . indeed the greek word here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , admits of severall acceptions , each of which may very well be admitted in this place . . if we look to the derivation of the word ( from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ) it is most properly rendred , transversum agit , the world carrieth its lovers headlong contrary to the dictates of gods word , and right reason . we are all travellers , the world is an horse , which whilst a man rideth with the bridle of moderation , it serveth to carry him on his journey ; but when through too much love he layeth as it were the reines upon its neck , it carrieth him into cross waies , over hedg and ditch , till at last it throweth , yea overthroweth him . we are all saylers , this world is as the sea , and our affections as the windes , which being set upon the world , like a contrary blast , drive the ship of the soul upon rocks and sands , till it split and sinke into ruine . sutable to which is that of st austin , ama saeculum , & absorbebit te , amatores suos novit vorare non portare , love the world and it will drown thee , it knoweth how to swallow , not to beare its lovers . . the greeke word among prophane authors is used sed to signifie as much as to deceive or seduce by faire promises : and in this sense it is true of the world , which by its specious shews and subtle insinuations , deceiveth the fond lover . the world pretends to be a kinde nurse to her children , but if you draw her two dugs , instead of milke , you shall finde nothing but the water of vanity in the one , and the winde of vexation in the other . no wonder if st hierome compare it to nebuchadnezzars golden image , into which whosoever looketh will finde only an empty hollowness , and st gregory to a rotten nut , which how faire soever it seemeth , if you open it with the knife of truth , you shall finde it only full of wormes . one being invited to a covetous mans house , who had a stately gate and an empty hall , wondred that there should be so much without and so little within : a fit embleme of these worldly things , which promise much , and performe little : very fitly saith seneca , ( alluding to the stage ) omnium personata est faelicitas , all the comfort of these worldly enjoyments , is only personated , not reall . they seem to be what they are not , and to do what they cannot . in one word , the world is the greatest bankrupt , and at best doth but compound with its lovers , not satisfying the halfe of what it promiseth . . but the most usuall signification of the word especially in sacred writ , is to pass away : that it is so to be taken here , appeareth in that it is opposed to abiding in the next clause , and therefore in this notion , i shall now handle it . . it is that which is true of these things considered absolutely in themselves , they are of a fading nature : according that of st paul , the things that are seen are temporall . indeed as gregory nyssen well observeth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which is of slender substance must needs be of short durance , in vaine is perpetuity expected from vanity , and this all according to solomons assertion is , vanity , yea vanity of vanities , where the hebrew word signifieth a breath , yea the breath of an infant which is scarce perceiveable . it is very considerable to this purpose , that the wise man saith of riches , they are not , and our saviour implicitely asserteth as much of honour , where he saith to the sons of zebedee , hitherto you have asked me nothing , when yet they had petitioned the one to sit at his right hand , and the other at his left hand : upon which st austin note is , solum bonum spirituale estimari debet aliquid , only that which is spirituall , is reall ; as for riches , honour and all worldly things , they are nothing , because of no intrinsecall worth , nor lasting continuance . heraclitus compareth them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to the running water which is still passing , so that we cannot go twice into one and the same water . st gregory to those treasures of snow mentioned in job , which after a great deale of pains in gathering together melt away . this world is not quercetum a thicket of oakes , which stand long , but arundinetum , a place of willows , which soon bend . the garden of eden ( which may well be called the diamond of the worlds ring ) was situated by the land of nod , which signifieth instable , thereby intimating the tottering condition of all worldly excellencies . it is storyed of edward the first , that after all his famous victories , he died on the borders of scotland , at a place called furbis sands , wherenote saith the historian , upon how sandy a foundation all worldly greaness is built . no wonder if that which hath a weake and infirme foundation , do not long continue . . besides whilst these things in themselves continue , they pass away from their possessors , and change their masters . nothing more usuall then for worldly things to pass like wild foule , from one mans field , or like the river , from one mans banke to another . the apostle paul calls them uncertain riches , ( it is no less true of honours and pleasures , ) because we have no certain tenure of them . the utmost we can injoy them , is durante vitâ , during life , when the worldly lovers breath expireth these things to which he hath cleaved will leave him ; but alas we are not sure to enjoy them so long : the marriage between the world and its lover is not like that between husband and wife , to have and to bold till death part , no nor yet is the possession of them certain , quam diu quis bene se gesserit , so long as a man useth them well : they pass away from good as well as bad , so that the term of our tenure , is only durante beneplacito , so long as god pleaseth . and if you look upon the dispensations of divine providence what frequent changes may you observe it to ring in the steeple of this world , soone turning plenty into scarcity , wealth into want , glory into ignominy , and honour into contempt ? . thus doe these things pass away , and that ( as zanchy well observeth upon the words ) instar rapidissimi fluminis , like a swift running river , or as ( st austin allegorizeth that in the psalmes , he shall drink of the brook in the way , ) a violent and impetuous torrent . we read concerning the tempter , that he showed christ all the kingdomes and glory of the world in a moment : upon which st ambrose excellently , non tam conspectus ●●leritas indicatur quam caduca fragilitas potestatis exprimitur , not so much the sodaineness of the sight , as the transitorines of the things themselves is thereby intimated , worldly power and honour passing away in a moment . the wise man saith of riches , they take them wings ( not feet only ) and flee away , to wit , speedily , sodainly , before we are aware . worldly wealth ( as st gregory excellently ) difficile habetur , cito amittitur , is hardly got , and easily lost , like the cobweb , far longer in the spinning then it is in the sweeping down . the spaniard proverbe saith of sickness , it cometh on horse-back , and goeth away on foot , but wealth cometh on foot , and goeth away on horse-back ; creepeth along like a snaile , but flyeth from us like an eagle . that similitude of the psalmist concerning the grass , which in the morning groweth up and flourisheth , but in the evening is cut down and withereth , is a fit embleme of all worldly enjoyments , and the vulgar latines reading which is with a double transeat intimateth , that it is passing from morning to evening ; and in that the condition of these things is so much the more represented , which are continually in motion from first to last : and as st austin excellently , quò magis celeriter crescunt ut sint ; eò magis festinant ut non sint , the longer they are enjoyed , the neerer they are to decaying . in one word , what st gregory observeth of secular glory is true of all the rest . dum nitet ●adit ; dum extollitur , repentino interrupta fine terminatur , whilest it glittereth and shineth gloriously , on a sodaine it vanisheth away . like eares of corne , which the higher they grow , the sooner they hang down their heads . indeed ( to use gregory nazianzens comparison ) what is this world , but a shew , a scene , a representation , which having pleased our eyes for a few minutes , is presently removed ; agreeing with that parallel place of st paul , the fashion of this world passeth away , and thus i have given you a short view of the worlds passing , which is the first branch of the position . . the next followeth , which is , that the lust of , or after the world , and the things of it passeth away . indeed those who understand the world in the former clause largely , for the whole visible fabrick ; expound this lust metonymically , for the things of this world lusted after , and so the sense is , that as the whole world in generall , so in particular the most desirable and amiable things in the world passe away , not only the field , but the flower of the field withereth . but i know no reason to recede from the plaine meaning of the word , and therefore i shall so discuss it ; the lust , the desire after , and delight in worldly things passeth away . this is that which is true in a double consideration , to wit , whilst we live , and when we die . . whilst men live their lusts pass away in a double sense , . they pass away , that is , they are abortive , as having no strength to bring forth : it is the difference between heavenly or earthly , spirituall and carnall desires : those shall certainly be sasisfied , but these are frequently disappointed ; these for the most part end in a shamefull sadness ; those in a gladsome success . god many times is pleased to blast the hopes , cross the desires , and evacuate the hopes and endeavours of wicked men in their sinfull waies , according to that threat in the psalmes , the desire of the wicked shall perish . hence it is that their desires create a great deale of sorrow and perplexity to them ; and who would give way to such lusts , which prove so often suecessless , and being disappointed , end in grief and impatiency . . they pass away , that is , being fulfilled , they are soon glutted : in this sense , worldly men like children are soon weary when they have what they desire . it is an excellent saying of st austine , laetitia seculi cum magnâ expectatione speratur , ut veniat ; praeterit , cum venerit ; men are big with hopes of a great deale of content , and joy in the accomplishment of their desires , and alas delight is no sooner come but it is gone : and to the same purpose seneca saith of worldly pleasures , fluit & transit , & paenè , antequam veniat , aufertur ; it is of a fluid transient nature , and is taken away almost as soon as enjoyed . the truth is , many times whilst the things themselves stay with us , our lust to , love of , and delight in them ceaseth : in which respect the world may fitly be compared to the grass , and our lust to the flower of the grass : for as the flower fadeth away before the grass , so our lust passeth away whilst yet the worldly object continueth ; yea , ofttimes our longing is turned into loathing , and our love into hatred ; witness the story of amnon and thamar . that observation of st gregory is very apt to this purpose , concerning the difference between corporall and spirituall delights , these cum non habentur , in fastidio , cum habentur , in desiderio , whilst we want them they are loathed , when we have them they are loved , but those cum non habentur in desiderio , cum habentur in fastidio , whilst we want them , are desired , when we have them , they are loathed . hence it is , that as weake stomachs must have choice of diet , so worldly desires call for change of objects . why did solomon study such variety of pleasures , but because they soon satiate , and the wanton appetite is still calling for a new object ? nothing more easie then to surfeit of earthly enjoyments , and for those things which being absent , were our earnest desire , by their continued presence , to become an heavy burden . oh let us learn to abhorre these lusts which will of themselves at last end in abhorring . . once more , whatever enjoyment we may have of , or contentments in these lusts whilst we live , they shall all cease when we dye : when death cometh , the covetous man shall graspe no more wealth , the ambitious shall gape no more after honour , nor the luxurious neigh after his dalilah . as there is no wisedome nor counsell , so there is no desire or delight in the grave whither we are going . these lusts will leave thee when thou dyest , how much better is it for thee to leave them whilst thou livest . . there remaineth yet one branch more of the position , and that is , though not exprest , yet implyed concerning the worldly lover himself . for in the other clause the person who doth gods will is said to abide for ever , and so by way of analogie , this passing away must be understood , not only of the things and the lust , but the person who lusts after these things . indeed we are all in this world , as in a ship , not only the ship it selfe moves , but the passengers are carried away in it ; yea which is the riddle , the passengers go faster then the ship , since even whilst the world continues , the inhabitants pass away . paulinus desired st austin to write somewhat de statu humanae vitae , of the state of humane life , he presently corrects him , telling him he should have said , de cursu humanae ●itae , of the course of humane life , our life being a swift race to the goale of death . and well were it if we would still joyne in our meditations , our own , and the worlds passing away together . if these things do not leave us , yet we must leave them , and as esau said , i dye , and what good will my birthright do me ? so let us often thinke , i must be gone , and what good will my honours , riches , pleasures do me ? it is the question and answer of st james , what is your life , it is even a vapour , which appeareth for a little while , and then vanisheth away ? some expositors observe an emphasis in the your , you that are so much in love with this life , and the things of it , how brittle , fraile , and transitory , are they and it ? nor yet is this all that is here implyed , since not only that which is common to worldlings with other men is here asserted , to wit , the passing away by death , but such a passing away , as is peculiar to him , in opposition to the happy estate of them that love god , and then the meaning is this , he passeth away , not only by a first , but a second death , he loseth this life , so as never to enjoy another ; he so passeth away , as to perish , not by annihilation , but by condemnation , he passeth from the worlds joyes to hells torments . oh the dismall change which a worldling maketh , when he dyeth , all his good things are taken from him , and horrour , anxiety , despaire , and everlasting misery seize upon him : so true is that of an ancient , amor mundi non solum peritorius sed peremptorius , worldly love is not only vain , but deadly , killing not only the body , but soul of the sinner to all eternity . to bring this home in a brief applecation , . oh that every one of us would be convinced of the worlds instability . indeed in this ( as well as in many others ) the world is a juggler , that though it be so inconstant yet it promiseth continuance . fully to this purpose st gregory , the vaine joyes of this present life , quasi manendo blandiuntur sed amatores suos citò transeundo decipiunt ; flatter us as if they would stay with us , and on a sodain by passing away they cheat us . looke as the sun , moon , and stars , ( to borrow that similitude of philo the jew ) though they move with a most swift and rapid motion , seem to the vulgar eye to stand still , at least move slowly ; so do these sublunary things in a worldlings eye . that rich man in the gospell who said to himself , soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years , take thine ease , eate , drinke , and be merry ; is called a fool , for so saying , a foole he was in many respects , in that he thought his soul could take any concent in his barnes , in that he expected to finde ease in the things of this world , which are as thornes , in that he supposed those things were only given him to eate , drinke , and be merry with , but the worst foole of all , in that he imagined he should enjoy these goods for many years . such fools were those drunkards who say , we will fill our selves with strong drinke , and to morrow shall be as to day , and much more abundant : and those mammonists of whom the psalmist saith , their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever , and their dwelling places to all generations . but oh when will we believe that which we so often see and heare , and acknowledg what daily experience confirmeth , that this worlds goods are ( as they are called ) moveables , yea all these worldly things mutable and inconstant . alas my brethren , the time will come when ( too late ) we shall see their vanity and instability , vilia & sluida esse cognoscit amissa ( saith st gregory ) quae , duri aderant magna & mansura videbantur . when we are strip● of all , the vain fugacity of these things ( which whilst we enjoy , are so glorious and permanent in our eyes ) will appeare . but oh how much better will it be for us , whilst yet they are present with us , to looke upon them as parting from us . to this end , pray we for a spiritually enlightned minde . it is the saying of jamblicus , if a man could behold this world in the light of divine knowledge , he will finde it to be a vanishing shadow , and plato etymologizing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifieth wisdome , saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a due apprehension of the fluid motion of these terrene contentments , oh let us implore this wisdome from above . that blind man in the gospell whose eyes christ opened , saw at first men walking like trees , an argument of the weakness of his naturall sight , but in a mysticall sense ( saith chrysologus ) it argueth the strength of spirituall sight , to see all the things of this world , not as pillars , but as trees , and those not standing but walking in a continuall motion . it is very observable with what a different aspect our blessed saviour looked upon the stones of the temple from the standers by , they beheld them as goodly stones , but christ saw one stone not left upon another , thus whilst these worldly objects appeare amiable to a carnall eye , the spirituall christian beholds them as those which in a little time will perish and come to nought . . being throughly perswaded of this truth , it will ( i trust ) make way for that which is the maine designe of our apostle , namely , to disswade us from the love of the world , because it passeth away . it was a notable speech of lacon●u● in plutarch , when he was told of a ship richly laden that was come into the port , i am not ( saith he ) much moved with that prosperity which hangeth upon ropes . oh then why are we so much taken with this world , which is so uncertaine , quid strepis oh munde immunde , saith st austin , oh thou filthy world , what a noise dost thou make , how would men dote upon thee if thou wert lasting , who love thee so well , though thou art fading . alas beloved , you may as well stop the running streame with your hand , blow back the winde with your breath , or cause the sun to stand still , as hinder the passing away of these worldly things , and why will you hold that fast in affection , which you cannot long in possession . swallows ( they say ) will not build their nests in an house which is ready to fall , which of you if the carpenter should tell you your house would drop down within few daies , would not presently remove from it ; oh let us leave this world , before it leave us , and possesse it as though we possessed it not , because ere long we shall be dispossessed of it . we sometimes laugh at children that are pleased with paper castles , which may be philipt down in a moment ; have we not more reason to weep over our selves , who hold fast deceit , and set our hearts on those things which are so easily and sodainly snatched away from us . what is pleasure , wealth , honour , but as the sand ; ( so gregory nyssen aptly ) and you know when children have been running up and down in the sand , so soon as they are gone , no footsteps remaine of all their toyle . the truth is , how wise soever worldly lovers may account themselves , they are notorious fools even upon this account , that they leane upon a broken reed , feed upon the winde , and graspe at a shadow . let therefore the counsell of devout anselme be acceptable to us , nolite constanter mundum , diligere quando ipse quem diligitis non potest constare . incassum cor quasi manenter figitis dum fugit ipse quem diligitis , why should we so constantly love this world , whenas this world which we love is so inconstant , let not our foolish heart thinke to fix it selfe on that which is still ready to flye away . tell me i beseech you , would any of you weary your selves in scraping up wealth , in compassing honour , pursuing pleasure , did you certainly know , that before to morrow , either you should die , or those enjoyments should be taken away from you ? can any of you secure your selves that it shall not be so ? yea , is there any thing more possible then that these things may presently or more certaine then that they shall ere long pass away ? and therefore since the world passeth away from us , let us according to leo's counsell resolutely pass by the world , so as it may be only viaticum itineris non illecebra mansionis , a subservient handmaid , not a domineering mistress . and now that this argument which our apostle here useth , may have the stronger influence upon us , to disswade from worldly love , let me intreat you seriously to ponder upon these foure particulars ; . what a disproportion there is , and that upon this very account between this world and our soules . it is a rule in marriage , that there should be a fit proportion as in other things , so in yeares between the persons , how unfit then is it for thy soul to be married to this world , whenas the world is transitory , and thy soul is immortall , canst thou be so sottish as to thinke that god did breath that immateriall spirit of thine into thee , to have only the happiness of a muckworme , which breedeth and feedeth in dung , or at best of an indian emmet , which glittereth in golden dust about it ? dost thou imagine what that soul of thine which is glued to this world , will do when this world shall be taken from it ? surely as philip said to his son , par tibi regnum quaere , seek a kingdome sutable to thy greatness , so let me say to thee , seeke an object proportionable to thy soul , and that cannot be the world , for it passeth away . . this world as in it selfe it is transitory , so it passeth away soonest from them who set their hearts upon it . i have read of certaine flitting islands , which seem continually to move in the sea , and if you saile towards them , the nearer you approach to them , the further they remove from you . a fit embleme of these worldly things which many times are farthest from them , who seek most after them . in this respect what is observable of the shadow , sequentem fugit , fugientem sequitur , may be applied to the world , it often followeth him that flyeth from it , and flyeth from him who followeth it . very apt to this purpose is that similitude of water , which the faster you thinke to graspe it in your hands , slideth away the sooner from you . thus are covetous , ambitious , and voluptuous men frequently deceived in their expectations of enjoying this world , which they so dearely love . indeed it is the usuall dispensation of divine providence , to take away from men those comforts which he seeth to steale away their hearts from him . it is high time for the mistress to turne the maide out of doores , when shee findeth her husbands affections taken off from her , and set upon the maide ; what more just then that god should pluck away those deligths from us , which alienate our hearts from him , so that in one word , the way to enjoy a comfort is to be willing to lose it , and the way to lose it is immoderately to love it . . this world passeth away from its lovers when they have most need of it ; solomon saith of riches , and it is true of honours and pleasures , they profit not in the day of wrath , and then it is we shall be in greatest want of comfort and support . when absolom is caught in the thick bows of a great oake , and is taken up between the heaven and the earth , the mule that was under him went away . absoloms mule is a fit embleme of this world , which then leaveth us when we are in the greatest streights . that similitude which job applyeth to his deceitfull brethren , may no less aptly be used in reference to these worldly things , as the streames of brookes they pass away , for as these vanish away in the heat , so that the thirsty traveller which cometh thither for relief , is confounded because he hoped ; so do those faile us in the day of distress , and shame sets upon the faces of those who loved and trusted in them . . lastly , the world passeth away , with its lust , but the sting remaineth : the pleasure vanisheth , but the torment abideth . all these delights like the candle , burne for a time , but when they go out , they leave a stinke behinde them : and oh how miserable is the worldlings condition , who when these things take their leave of him , hath nothing left but a dispairing remembrance of , and sorrowfull regret at his folly , in being bewitched with , and spending so much time upon these perishing contentments . who would drinke of such waters , which though sweet as honey in the mouth , are bitter as gall and wormewood in the belly . when therefore you finde these worldly objects alluring your hearts , look upon them not as venientes sed abeuntes , coming , but going , flourishing , but withering , and then i am confident , your hearts will be weaned from them . oh remember at the best they are but fading flowers , at the worst , they are pricking thornes , they are chaff , in the hand , light , in the eye , troubling ; never any grasped them with affection , but found woe and vexation . what therefore now remaineth , but that upon all these urging considerations , we every one at last resolve to bid this world farewell . say then ( oh my soul ) ▪ hence you vanishing pleasures , i will no longer repose my selfe under your shadowes . adie● you flying riches , i will no longer seeke for covert under your wings , farewell fading honours , i will no longer gaze upon your beauty ; be gone all you gilded follies , your seeming splendor shall no more deceive me ; it is now high time for me to looke after my soul , and i am sure you cannot make that happy ; if i do not now leave you , i know ere long you will leave me , and if i make not provision before hand , what will then become of me ? henceforth i shall use you as servants , but never more love you as friends ; why should i forsake my own mercies , to observe lying vanities ? and thus i have dispatched the proposition of the worlds passing away , and hastening to an end ▪ i should proceed to the opposition , but the houre is passed away , and bids me end my discourse for this time . the first epistle of st john . chap. . vers . . and the world passeth away and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god abideth for ever . it is a known maxime in morality voluntas non fertur nisi in bonum ▪ the will is not carried towards any object , but under the notion of good ; yet it is as true , that the good which the will embraceth , is many times not verum , but apparens ; good in the reality of the thing , but only in the opinion of the person , to whose misguided judgment , it appeareth of another nature , then indeed it is . this is that which is evident in pleasures , riches , honours , about which the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life are conversant . by their lovers they are esteemed not only good , but the only good things , in the fruition of which they place their happiness ; and yet alas how miserably do their fond imaginations delude them ; since those things ( at best ) are but in the lowest ranke of good ; yea they rather have a shew , a shadow , a semblance , then any reality , solidity , or substance of good in them . this it is whereof our apostle endeavoureth to convince the worldling in this verse , and that by an undeniable argument , namely the short and fading continuance of all these things ; whose goodnness ( to borrow the prophet hoseas similitudes ) is like the morning cloud , and like the early dew , it vanisheth away : for the world passeth away and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god , &c. having dispatch the position , in which the maine force of the argument consists , that which now remaineth to be discussed is the opposition annexed by way of amplification . but he that doth the will of god abideth for ever . for the better handling of which clause , i shall consider it first in it self , and then in its connexion , with that which precedeth . . that which this clause presents us with , considered by it selfe , is the permanent faelicity of an obedient christian , and in it are two particulars considerable ; the qualification or duty required , implicitly in these words , he that doth the will of god , the remuneration or mercy assured in these , endureth forever . . that which first occurreth to our discussion is the qualification , for the handling whereof two things would be opened ; what will of god is intended ? what doing of his will is required ? . in answer to the first , be pleased to know , . that will may be taken two waies ; either for the faculty and act of willing ▪ or for the object , o● thing which is willed . when st paul saith , god hath predestinated us according to the good pleasure of his will , it is plainly meant of the faculty and act of willing , which in god is the same with his essance . but in all those places where the scripture speaketh of doing gods will ▪ it must be referred to the object of his will , and meaneth a doing of the thing ▪ which god willeth to be done . . in respect of the things which god willeth to be done , know further , that his will is secret , or revealed : gods secret will , is his eternall counsell and purpose , either of permitting or effecting , either immediately or mediately , whatsoever is done in the world . this is that which is called by the schools , voluntas efficax , that will of god which is alwaies done according as he saith himself , my counsell ▪ shall stand ▪ i will do all my pleasure . indeed in this notion these two are convertible , whatever god wils is done , and whatever is done god wils ; if it be evill , he wils to suffer it , if it be good , he wils either by himself , or his creatures , to effect it . and the reason is plain , because if any thing could be done , deo nolente , against gods will , it must be either because he did not know of the doing it , and then he were not omniscient ; or because he did know , and could not hinder the doing of it , and then he were not omnipotent ; to deny either of which , is to deny him to be a god. according to this construction , the truth is , even wicked men do gods will ; whilst their designe is to fullfill their own mischievous lusts ; they accomplish gods righteous pleasure , whilst they intend to oppose the will of god which they know , they effect his hidden counsell . but since ( as god saith of the king of assyria , he meaneth not so ) it is against their will , that they do gods ; yea their intention is to cross his , even when they do it ; such a doing his will is no virtue , and therefore not the secret , but the revealed will of god is here intended . . be pleased further to take notice , that the things which god revealeth to be his will , are of two sorts ; either such as are to be done de nobis , upon us ; or a nobis by us . . gods revealed will concerning the things to be done upon us , is either pro , or contra ; for or against us : and is manifest , either by the predictions of his word , whither promissory , or minatory ; or by the execution of his workes , whither in mercies or judgements ; and this will of god calls for the practice of severall graces , according to its various dispensation , both in regard of good and evill . . the revelation of gods will for us , is considerable , either as it is in the promise or the performance : as it is in the promise , it is that we are to hope and pray for , to trust in , and rest upon . thus david , i have hoped in thy word : and again , deale bountifully with thy servant according to thy word , that is , thy promise , which is a revelation of gods gratious will. as it is in the performance , it is that we are to praise him for , and walke worthy of ; nothing being more equall , then that when it pleaseth god to do us good , we should give him thankes , ascribing what we enjoy , not to the worthiness of our worke , but the goodnesse of his will : according to that angelicall hymne , when the pleasure of the lord was accomplished in the incarnation of christ , glory to god on high , good will towards men. . the revelation of gods will against us , is likewise to be considered , either as it is in the threatning , or in the inflicting ; as threatned , it is that we are to feare ; when inflicted , it is that we are to beare . before we know it to be his determinate pleasure , we may pray against it , so soon as it appeareth to be his pleasure , we must submit to it . thus did ely , when upon that dolefull message iterated by samuell in his eares , he saith , it is the lord , let him do what seemeth good in his sight . thus did job , when being spoiled of all , he saith , the lord giveth , and the lord taketh away , blessed be the name of the lord ; yea thus did that divine philosopher epictetus when he said , i have submitted my will to gods ; if he will have me burne with a feaver , or labour with any misery , i am willing . indeed the name of that deacon to whom st austin wrote , quod vult deus , ought to be the temper of every christian ; what god will ; that we may be able to say in his severest dealings with us , what harpalus said , when he was invited to a feast by astyages , whereof one dish was the head of his son baked , and the king asked him , how he liked it ? what pleaseth the king , pleaseth me . but this is the will of god which we are to suffer with patience and chearfullness : and therefore . it remaineth , that the will of god here intended is his revealed will of those things which are to be done by us , that will in regard of which we are not to be passive , but active ; to which we owe not patience , but obedience ; a voluntary submission , but ready subjection . this is that will of god which is called voluntas imperans , or praeceptiva , gods prescribing or commanding will , because it is revealed in his commands ; and these both affirmative and negative , enjoyning what is good , that we may practice it ; and inhibiting vvhat is evill , that vve may avoid it ; so that if you vvill explaine one vvord by another , that vvhich in this and such like scriptures , is called the will of god , is the same with that , which is called the law of the lord : and so much in answer to the first question . . that which cometh next in order to be inquired , is , what doing of gods will is required ? ●n answer to which take notice , . that it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he that knoweth , but he that doth the will of god. indeed we cannot do gods will ( at least not as gods will ) till vve know it : in vvhich respect that apostolicall counsell is very necessary , be not unwise , but understanding what the will of the lord is ; and to this end , vve must according to our saviours advice , search the scriptures vvhich are the records of his will ; and for this reason , no doubt , david so often prayeth , teach me thy statutes , shew me thy waies , make me to understand the way of thy precepts . but still the end of our knowing must be doing , and therefore god bids moses teach the israelites his commands that they might do them ; and our saviour tells his disciples , if you kn●w these things , happy are you if you do them ; it is st james his caution , be not hearers but doers of the word , deceiving your own souls . sitting mary , and stirring martha , are emblemes of contemplation and action , and as they dwell in one house , so must these in one heart : beautifull rachell , and fruitfull leah , are emblemes of knowledg and obedience , and as jacob was married to both ; so must the christian , only with this difference , whereas jacob was first married to leah , and then to rachell ; the christian must first be married to knowledg , and then to obedience . in one word , doing cannot be without knowing , and knowing must not be without doing . . but further , it is not every kinde of doing gods will which is the qualification required ; our saviour hath taught us to pray , that gods will may be done on earth , as it is in heaven ; the most genuine sense whereof no doubt is , that men may do gods will , as it is done by the angels , and he that partaketh with them in the felicity , must imitate them in the duty . more particularly there are two properties of doing gods will , to wit , integrity , and alacrity . . the will of god must be done fully , not in respect of exact performance ( that is only for angels not for saints , till they are glorified ) but of sincere endeavour . to fulfill every tota of divine precept is impossible ; to have respect to every precept is needfull for every man who will be happy . the truth is , he that doth gods will with exception , doth not gods will , but his own ; hence it is , that when gods will crosseth his , he crosseth gods will , and who can esteem him a good servant , who will do his masters injunctions , no further then it agreeth with his inclination . to do gods will aright , is to do it as his will ; and , à quatenus ad omne valet consequentia , saith the logician , he that performeth any duty under this notion , that it is the will of god , will for the same reason account himself obliged to the performance of every thing vvhich he knoweth to be gods will. . gods will must be done chearfully , to bring gods will to ours is abominable , to bring our will to gods , praise worthy ; and thus vve do , vvhen our will freely consents to , nay maketh choice of gods will for its rule . thus did david vvho saith of himself , lo i come to do thy will , and again , i delight to do thy will oh god. thus our blessed saviour saith , it was his meat and drink to do his fathers will ; never vvent the hungry or thirsty man with a better will to his meate and drinke , then christ did to do his fathers pleasure . and truly when all is done , it is the will god looked at in doing his will , when the will is present , the deed will follow , if there be opportunity and ability , else it is a wishing , not a willing , and if the deed be performed , without the free and full consent of the will , it will nothing availe ; yea whereas sometimes , and in some cases the will is accepted and rewarded without the deed , the deed is never without the will , so that not only to avoide , but abhorre whatsoever god forbids , not only to act , but effect whatever god enjoyneth is to do the will of god. and now before i go further , here is a double consideration , offereth it selfe to enduce the doing gods will ; namely , cujus , and qualis , whose , and what will it is ; the former is expressed , the latter is easily inferd from the former . . it is the will of god to whom we owe whatever we are or can do , and shall we not do his will. he is our master , our father , our king. solomon saith , where the word of a king is , there is power , much more where the word of a god is . he is the supreame majesty , having , absolute soveraignty , and therefore his will is most justly a law , shall we refuse to do it ? god himselfe reasoneth , if i be a father , where ●● my honour , if i be a master , where is my fear ? nature teacheth children to do their fathers will , pater est , etsi paterna esset , said he in the comedy , it is my father , otherwise i would not yield : and the very notion of a servant is to be at the will and command of his lord : in which respect service is defined by cicero , to be obedienciae animi arbitria carentis suo , the obedience of a minde , destitute ( as it were ) of its own free will ; if therefore we will approve our selves faithfull servants , obedient children , loyall subjects , let us do his will : so much the rather considering that . being it is his will , it cannot but be most just and equall . it is impossible god should will us to do any thing which is not most agreeable to right reason , since he doth not will any thing because it is right , but it is right , because he wills it . st paul's epithets of the will of god are good , perfect , acceptable , indeed since whatever god wills us to do , is not only good , but perfect , well may it be acceptable . the prophet micah puts these two together , he hath shewed thee oh man what is good , and what the lord thy god requireth of thee ; thereby intimating , that god requireth nothing of us but what is good , and therefore most fitting to be obeyed . by what you have already heard , it plainly appeareth , that the doing gods will is very reasonable : but if this will not prevaile , behold here is a further inducement in the text. the doing gods will is not only reasonable , but profitable . and i trust if the beauty of this virgin obedience cannot attract you , yet her dowry will invite you , which is no less then eternall happiness : and so i am fallen on the . remuneration , as it is set forth in these words , abideth forever . an assertion , which at first view seemeth false , at least defective . . it seemeth false , since obedient saints dye , as well as disobedient sinners . indeed the good angels doing gods will endure for ever , but good men notwithstanding their obedience , are liable to a dissolution . it is gods decree that his servants as well as his enemies should walke through the shadow of death , and their doing his will of command cannot exempt them from fullfilling his will of decree . it was the prophet isaiah's complaint in his time , the righteous perisheth , nay whilst the wicked continue , the righteous are taken away ; your fathers , where are they , the prophets , do they live for ever ? is the prophet zachariahs question , intending a negation . the prophets though such as both did , and declared gods will , yet lived not for ever . abraham was a pattern of obedience and conformity to gods will , and yet he escaped not the axe of death . but to all this the answer is easily returned , and that two waies , . he abideth forever , not in this , but the other world . this world passeth away , ( as he saith just before ) and good as well as bad are only passengers through this vvorld , but in the other vvorld they shall have a durable habitation . in which respect death is no impediment , but rather an help to put them in possession of that eternity : and therefore saith the apostle , if this earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved , we have a building made without hands , eternall in the heavens . consonant hereunto it is that christ saith of the believer , he hath eternall life , and i will raise him up at the last day , to wit , to the actuall fruition of that life in another , which he had only by faith and hope in this vvorld . . or we may thus expound it , he abideth for ever , to wit , in his soul . when our saviour saith , god is the god of abraham , isaack , and jacob , and presently addeth , god is not the god of the dead , but of the living ; he seemeth to intimate , that those patriarchs do now live , to wit , in their souls ; and we read expresly that st john saw the soules of them that were slaine under the altar , that is ( as some gloss ) with christ , who is the christians altar , so that it is true both waies , he abideth in his soul for ever , without any interruption , and though he must go out of this world , he abideth for even in his person in the world to come . . but it may yet further be objected , that this is a defective assertion , for what is there in this of reward to continue for ever . are not the souls of the wicked immortall as well as of the godly ? shall not the bodies of the bad be raised as well as of the good ? will not the state of the disobedient in the other world be eternall as well as of the obedient ? and how then is this annexed as a promise to the doer of gods will , that he abideth for ever ? but to this it is justly answered , that more is intended then is expressed , it is not a meer continuance of being , but an eternity of well being ; you have need of patience ( saith the author to the hebrews ) that after you have done the will of god , you may receive the promise ; and will you know what the promise is , our apostle tells you in this chapter , it is eternall life , so that we must expound this by that , it is not only abiding , but living for ever which is here assured . indeed though the wicked shall continue for ever , yet when the scripture speaketh of their future state , it is called a perishing for ever : if you would know where are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the many mansiens or abiding places ; christ tells his disciples , it is in his fathers house , that is , in heaven , in gods presence ; so that to abide eternally in the beatificall vision , in the place and state of happiness , is that which is here intended by our apostle . if any shall aske a reason how it cometh to pass , that by doing gods will , we obtaine an eternity of bliss ? i answer both in regard of god , and his will , or word , . st cyprian quoting this text , addeth by way of explication , quomodo deus manet in aeternum , he abideth for ever as god abideth for ever . and that this is implyed , will appear by the connexion , for as there it is expressed , that the world passeth away ; so here it is implyed , that god abideth for ever , the comparison being made both between god and the world , and the lovers of god , and the lovers of the world . so then god is α , and ω , the beginning and the end , he inhabiteth eternity , and with him is no variableness or shadow of changing . and though eternity in its most comprehensive notion be peculiar to a deity , and incommunicable to any creature , yet eternity a parte post , is that which god hath made rationall creatures capable of , and as he abideth for ever , so will he grant to them that do his will , to abide with him for ever . . danaeus commenting upon this clause thus paraphraseth , sicut voluntas dei est aeterna , ita qui facit voluntatem dei , as gods will is eternall , so he that doth it , must needs be eternall . st peter having illustrated the frailty of man , by the resemblance of the grass and the flower , presently addeth , but the word of the lord ( which is his revealed will ) endureth for ever . now gods will and word is said to endure for ever , not only because it is of eternall verity in it selfe , but because it maketh them ca●able of eternity who obey it : and the apostle in the same place a little before affirmeth of believers , that they are borne again , not of corruptible seed , but of incorruptible , by the word of god which liveth and abideth for ever , to wit , not only subjectivè in it selfe , but effectivè , making them who are borne again of it , eternall ; and if you would know how we are borne again , our saviour tells us when he saith , he that doth the will of god , is my mother , my brother ; to wit , by this new birth . for this reason it is that christ calls his word the meat that endureth to everlasting life , because being eaten by faith , and digested by obedience , it nourisheth the soul to eternity : no wonder that our apostle here asserteth , he that doth the will of god abibideth for ever . and now brethren , if this consideration cannot induce us to the doing gods will , what will ? if any man should come and pretend to tell us how we might abide for ever in this world ; we would readily receive , and speedily follow his advice . but alas the most learned and experienced physitian though he may prescribe rules , de servandâ valitudine , of preserving health for a time , cannot give any de tuendo à morte , for the escaping of death . whereas we set before you the way to an eternall durance , in a farre better world , and are forced to complaine with the prophet isaiah , who hath believed our report ? is there any of us so brutish , as not to desire participation of a blessed eternity . surely as paul said to agrippa , believest thou the prophets , i know thou believest , i may say in this , desirèst thou to be happy , i know thou desirest it , and if so , see here by doing gods will , thou shalt have thy own ; if thou endeavour to fulfill his commands , he will satisfie thy desires . doing gods precepts for a time on earth , will obtaine the enjoying gods face for ever in heaven . what then was maries e●mmendation , let it be our imitation , shee chose that good part which shall not be taken from her , that is saith grotius , cujus fruc●us perpetuò mansurus , whose benefit should remaine for ever ? and will you know what that good part was , it appeareth by the context , to be sitting at christs feet , for this end , no doubt that she may first learne , and then do gods will. learne we to do likewise , let our first care be to know , and our next to do what god hath required , that so we may now comfortably hope , and at last , happily enjoy what he hath promised , an eternall mansion . and so much shall suffice to have been spoken of the clause considered in it self . . that which next presents it selfe to our meditation , and would by no meanes be left out , is the relative connexion of this with what precedeth . and here both parts of this clause would be looked upon ; and it is not unworthy our inquiry , how and upon what account they are brought in ? . it may at first view seem somewhat strange , that this qualification of doing gods will , should be here inserted , as seeming to have little or no affinity with what precedeth ; had the apostle said , but he that loveth the father ▪ or had he said , but he that denieth these worldly l●sis , it would have been very congruous , but how this cometh in , ●e that doth the will of god is not so obvious . yet i● you please to looke into it a little more narrowly ; you shall finde it very sutable to the apostles scope , and farre more emphaticall , then if he had used either of the above mentioned phrases : for . in saying , not he that loveth the father , but he that doth the will of god , the apostle sets down that which is the most reall character of a true lover of the father . there is nothing wherein men more deceive themselves , then in this grace of loving god , there is scarce any man but layeth claime to it , and is ready to say , i love god with all my heart ; so that if st john had only said , he that loveth god abideth for ever , every man would have flattered himself with the hopes of this eternity . but in saying , he that doth the will of god , he hereby puts our love of god upon the triall , and that by such a character , as ( if we impartially examine our selves by it ) i am afraid the love of most christians towards god , will be found base and counterfeit . . true love is not only affective , but active , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , say some , is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as fire is the most active element , so love is the most working grace , amor si non operatur non est , saith st gregory , if love act not , it is no love , so that what st james , saith of faith , may as truly be applied to love , shew me thy faith , thy love , by thy workes . . again , true love conformeth it selfe in will , affection , action , to the object loved . how fearfull are we to offend ? carefull are we to please whom we love ? if a mans beloved bid him come , he cometh , go he runneth , do this or that , he doth it . in which respct isidore saith truly , qui dei praecepta cantemnit deum non diligit , neque enim regem diligimas si odio ejus leges habemus , he that contemneth gods precepts , doth not love him , no more then ●e doth his king who hateth his laws . the voice of love is , i am my beloveds , wholly at his command , and that not only in a complement , but reality . what wilt thou have me to do ? is loves question , be it never so difficult love accounts it easie , and the very labour is beloved . would we then know whether we love god ? here is the triall , what do we ? where is our obedience to his laws ? our conformity to his will ? is it possible we should love him , and yet offend , grieve , dishonour him , and cast his commands behind our backs ? if you love me , saith our blessed saviour , keep my commandements ; and again , you are my friends , if you do whatsoever i command you : i love my master , and i will not go free , saith the servant in the law. oh let us approve the sincerity of our love , by the reality of our obedience . for which cause no doubt it was that our apostle saith , not he that loveth god , but he that doth the will of god. . in saying he that doth the will of god , our apostle saith as much as he that denieth the lust of the eyes , the lust of the flesh , and the pride of life , and somewhat more ; so that as in the former consideration , it appeareth to be a discriminating , so in this we shall finde it a comprehensive character : for . sui repudium christiani praeludium , the first step in doing gods will , is denying our own , and these lusts are the ebullitions of our own corrupt wills . to do gods will , is to obey his prohibitions , and these lusts are the principall objects of those prohibitions , so that the renouncing worldly lusts , is plainly implyed , in this of doing gods will. . to do gods will is of a larger extent , inasmuch as it super addeth the practice of the graces , contrary to these lusts . sobriety and chastity , justice and charity , modesty and humility , are but severall branches of gods will ; and these are manifestly opposite to the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life ; and therefore in saying he that doth gods will , he saith , he that is temperate , and mercifull , and humble ; and calls not only for a forsaking evill lusts , but a performance of the contrary graces . so that hereby our apostle teacheth us , that to attaine eternall felicity , it is not enough to be free from these lusts , but we must exercise our selves to virtue , to cleanse our selves from filthiness , but we must perfect holinesse ; and the reason is plaine , since we cannot be happy but by doing gods will : gods will is expressed , not only by prohibitions of evill , but prescriptions of good ; and therefore we cannot do gods will unless we act what is commanded , as well as shun what is forbidden . so that whether you take this qualification as in opposition to those lusts mentioned in the sixteenth verse , or as an explanation of the love of the father , mentioned in the fifteenth verse , it appeareth to be very fitly made choice of . . but that in which the connexion chiefly lyeth ( and which will more easily appeare ) is the remuneration that enduring for ever , which is promised to him that doth gods will. and doubtless , there was a double reason why our apostle having spoken of the worlds transit●riness , addeth by way of amplification , this clause of eternall felicity . the one in regard of the world , that it may appeare so much the more transit●ry ; the other in regard of the worldly lover , that his f●lly in setting his heart upon the world , may appeare so much the more foolish , yea abominable : and of each a word . . the world considered absolutely is transitory , but if compared with eternity it is momentany . surely as st paul speaking of the afflictions of this present time , in comparison with that exceeding eternall weight of glory , affirmeth them to be light , and but for a moment ; so may we upon the same ground of all the enjoyments of this life . as all the splendor of this world , in respect of that felicity , is but as the light of a gloworme to the sun ; so the longest continuance of this world , in regard of that eternity , is but as the drop of the bucket to the ocean . suppose the time of the worlds continuance to last a million of yeares , yet that million is but a moment to eternity . indeed a million of yeares is farre lesse in comparison of eternity , then an houre is in comparison of a million of yeares ; and the reason is plaine , because eternity infinitely exceeds a million , whereas a million doth but finitely exceed an houre ; you may easily count how much longer a million is then an houre , but you can never reckon how much eternity is longer then a million ; so that our apostle could not have found out a fitter way of illustrating this truth then this . there are many things which he might have compared the world to ; we meet with them often in scripture , and indeed they are very significant ; but this that he compareth the present world with that to come , serveth farre more clearly to represent it . indeed as a dwarfe placed by a gyant , seemeth exceeding little ; or as a mite weighed in the ballance with a talent , is exceeding light : so these worldly , when set by heavenly things , appeare exceeding base , vile , and transitory . oh then let it be our frequent practice to meditate on the things above , deliberately to ponder their excellency , eternity , that so the things below may seem so much the more perishing and contemptible in our eyes . the first thing god made in this circular world was the heavens , and the last was man in a circle , the beginning and the end meet and close together ; so should man and heaven ; and as to him that stands on an high hill , giants seem dwarfes , so to the man whose conversation is in heaven , the greatest things of earth cannot but appear small . it is observed of abraham , that addressing himselfe in prayer to god , he calleth himselfe dust and ashes ; no doubt in consideration of the divine glory and majesty : and to him who duly considereth that incorruptible inheritance , immarcessible crown , and never fading paradice , all the riches , honours , and pleasures of this world , must needs seem of a short , very short continuance , such indeed as is not worth the naming . . and as the worlds fugacity , so the worldlings folly , becometh hereby the more manifest . to build upon the sands is foolish , but to preferre the sands before the rock , is yet farre more foolish to settle upon that which is flitting , argueth want of wisdome , but to do it with the contempt of that which is lasting , argueth most desperate folly ; yet thus doth the worldling , an happy eternity is offered to him , upon the termes of doing gods will , and yet to fullfill his own lusts , he maketh choice of this temporall prosperity . like that wretched duke , who would not change paris for paradice , he had rather have a short life and ( as he calleth it ) a sweet one on earth , then an happy and everlasting life in heaven . in one word ( to use gregory nazianzens comparison ) he fixeth upon that which is transient , and passeth by that which is permanent , and can there be a greater madnesse ? indeed it discovereth him void , not only of grace , but reason ; that whereas the apostle saith a little before , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him , we may adde , if any man love the world , the reason of a man is not in him . and more truly may every such man take up that concerning himselfe which agur said , i am brutish and have not the understanding of a man , angustum est cor , ( saith gillebertus ) that heart is too narrow which confineth it selfe within the bounds of temporall pleasures , but that is too narrow an expression , it is an argument not only of a narrow heart , but a frantick braine , to dote on toyes , and neglect pearls . oh then learne we at last to be wise , and set a right value upon things . seneca saith excellently , it is a matter of no small concernment , pretium rebus imponere , to put a just estimate upon things ; and one , nay the chief rule by which the worth of things is to be measured , is their durance . id bonum cura , saith the same author pithily , quod vetustate fit melius ; covet that good which the older it is , the better it is . who would not prefer golden and silver before earthen and glassie vessels ? and that as for others , so this reason , that these are soon broken in pieces , but those are little the worse for using . oh that this reason might sway with us to take off our affections from earth , and place them in heaven . whenas lysimachus being very thirsty , had parted with his kingdome for a little water , he cryeth out , ob quam brevem voluptatem summam amisi faelicitatem ? how great a treasure have i lost for a short pleasure ? could you but lay your eares to hell , you might heare the like despairing moanes from those damned spirits ? what an eternity of bliss have we lost for a momentany contentment ? fools , mad men that we were , to pursue those delights which are now ended in torments , and neglect those joyes which we might now have possessed for ever ! but oh how much better were it for us now to be convinced of , and reclaimed from this brutish simplicity ? excellent to this purpose is that of st bernard , ne casuri gloriam mundi quasi stantem aspiciatis , & verè stantem amittatis , &c. oh you mortals , do not look upon the glory of the world as abiding , and in the mean time , lose that which abideth for ever . let not your present prosperity so far bewitch you , as not to regard that future felicity , nor yet to take notice of that endless misery which is the end of it . that bruits which are led only by sense , should minde nothing but what is before them , is no wonder but god forbid that men whose reasonable souls are capable of seeing a far off , should only regard what is present . that pagans who know little or nothing of the future eternity , should busie their thoughts , desires and endeavours about these perishing comforts , is no wonder : but as leo well , ad aeterna prae electos peritura non occupent , far be it from us christians to regard these objects , who are not only acquainted with , but ordained to eternall bliss . when alexander heard of , and was resolved for the riches of india , he divided macedonia among his captaines ; and shall not we who hear of , and hope for a glorious mansion , contemne these worldly cottages ? when serapion read in the bible of the joyes of heaven , he left his earthly possessions saying , hic liber me spoliavit , this book hath spoiled me . in that his zeale was too rash ; but the assurance we have of those eternall joyes , should engage us ( though not wholly to relinquish , yet ) not to love these temporall contentments . quis alius noster finis ? ( saith st austin ) quam pervenire ad regnum cujus non est finis ? what is our ultimate end , but to come to that kingdome , whereof there is no end ? and shall we so live in this world which shall have an end , as if the world were to be our chief end ? farre be it from us . so often therefore as the vanities of earth affect us , let our meditations flye upwards to the glories of heaven : and according to the fathers counsell , let us begin to be there now in our thoughts and desires , where we hope at last to be in our persons . to draw to an end . in this scripture our apostle seemeth to put us to our choice , setting before us vanity and verity , instability and premanency ; nay in effect , perishing misery , and abiding felicity . and now to use st austins interogation , quid vis ? what wilt thou ? whither wilt thou love the temporals and pass away with time ? or not love this world , and live for ever with god ? the truth is , as that same father elegantly , talis est quisque , qualis est dilectio , every man is such as his love is ; if he loveth earth , earthly ; if heaven heavenly ; if the perishing world , thou shalt perish , if the eternall god , thou shalt live eternally . love is an uniting , mingling affection , and according to that with which it is mingled , it is either pure or impure ; so that look as silver if mingled with lead , is debased , if with gold , advanced ; so thy soul , if by love mingled with the world , must perish , but if united to god , for ever happy . oh therefore let it be the serious purpose of every one of us from henceforth to leave the world , and cleave to god , to abhore the lust of the one , and do the will of the other , that so in the end of this life , we may have the inchoation , and in the end of the world , the consummation of that happiness , which though it have a beginning , shall know no ending . and thus i have at length ( through divine assistance ) finished this golden period worthy to be engraven upon the tables of epicures , the chests of mammonists , and the palaces of great ones . and though i have done with handling , yet i trust you will not with reading , remembring , and pondering it ; yea i would to god that every morning before you go about your worldly affairs , you would revolve this scripture in your minde with a prayer to god to imprint it on your hearts : love not the world , neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world . and the world passeth away and the lusts thereof , but he that doth the will of god , abideth for ever . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . , . vers . little children , it is the last time , and as yee have heard that antichrist shall come , even now are there many antichrists , whereby we know that it is the last time . they went out from us , but they were not of us , for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us , but they went out , that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us . this present world is not without just cause branded as one of the greatest enemies of our salvation , and that especially upon a double account ; in as much as the things of this world by alluring our wills lead us into vice , and the men of this world by perverting our judgements draw us into errours : both of these are so dangerous that it is hard to determine which is the worst . st. pauls epithites of lusts are foolish and hurtful , st. peters character of here sie is damnable ; these as well as those drowning men in perdition and destruction , no wonder if this holy apostle caution those to whom he wrote , of both these rocks ; and as in the fore-going verses hee warneth them of being defiled with the mud of worldly lusts , so in these he taketh care that they might not be infected with the veno●e of antichristian doctrins ; little children , it is the last time , &c. the subsequent part of this chapter , from the eighteenth verse to the nine and twentieth , hath a special reference to , and dependance on the exhortation which is mentioned in verse the four and twentieth , iterated , verse the eight and twentieth , and is in order the seventh step of that light some walk which our apostles chief design is to delineate in this epistle , namely a stedfast perseverance in the doctrin and faith of christ , in order to this it is that here are three things discussed . periculum , the great danger they were in of being with-drawn from the truth , by reason of the many antichrists , which ( this being the last hour ) were now among them , who taught abominable lyes , denying both god and christ , and this is handled in the eighteenth , nineteenth , and again in the two and three and twentieth , and again in the six and twentieth verse . auxilium , the chief help which god had afforded them against this danger , that sacred unction which did inform them fully of the truth , and thereby was able to preserve them from errour , and this is in the twentieth and one and twentieth , and again inculcated in the seven and twentieth verse . motivum , the strong inducements to perswade their constancy in the faith , that hereby their fellowship with god and christ might bee continued , the promise of eternal life obtained , and their confidence at the comming of christ strengthened , and this is enlarged in the four , five , and eight and twenty verses . in these two verses which i have now read , the scope of our apostle is double , namely , to discover a danger , that they might not be ensnared by , to prevent a scandal , that they might not he offended at those false teachers which were among them , the former in the eighteenth , and the latter in the nineteenth verse . in handling the eighteenth verse , which is the discovery of the danger , that we may proceed according to the order of the words , be pleased to observe these three parts : an appellation , little children . an affirmation , it is the last time . a confirmation , in the rest of the verse , and as you have heard , &c. a word of the first , the appellation , or title here used , little children . it is sometimes used as a word of imperfection , whether in regard of age , denoting such as are not come to maturity of years , or in regard of grace , such as are weak in faith , and in this sence beza here construeth it ; indeed this caveat is very needful for such , who being children are apt to bee tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrin , but yet not only for such ; and when i finde the apostle commending ( and that doubtlesse without flattery ) those to whom he writeth , for their knowledge of the truth , i cannot imagine that he intends the word children in this notion . rather with danaeus , as i conceive , omnes cujuscunque atatis hic monet , he speaketh to all of all ages in christianity , not only to children , but young men , and fathers , and so the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is of the same notion with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the beginning of the chapter . suitable whereunto it is that the syriack useth the same word in both places ; and as grotius well observeth , it is blanda appellatio , a word of affection , by which our apostle would let us see , that parents are not more desirous of their little childrens safety , and studious of their welfare , than he was of theirs , and that tender love and parental care which hee had over them , induced him to warn them of those antichrists , which would infest and infect them ; but having once and again handled this title in this notion , i shall insist no longer upon it , but passe on to the affirmation , as it followeth in the text , it is the last time . the only question here to be resolved , is in reference to what our apostle asserts the time , in which hee lived , to be the last . the general opinion of divines referre it to the world , and so this clause seemeth to bee a proof of what is asserted in the former verse , the world passeth away , for even now is the last time of the worlds duration , beyond which it shall not continue . in this sense the whole space of time from christs first to his last coming is the last time ; those are the last days concerning which joel prophesieth , that in them god would pour out his spirit on all flesh , for in the very beginning of the evangelical times the apostle telleth us , that prophecie was fulfilled ; these are the last days in which the author to the hebrews saith , that god who spake to the fathers by his prophets , hath spoken to us by his son , who coming in our flesh , revealed his fathers will to the world ; and in this notion the assertion is true , that even in st. johns days it was the last time of the world . this being taken for the meaning of the clause , it would rationally be enquired , upon what account this space of time ( which hath already continued so long , and when it shall expire is unknown ) may be called the last . oecumenius giveth a double answer , but neither satisfactory . he saith , it is called the last , because the worst , as lees and dreggs are in the bottom of the liquor : but though possibly the last time may be the worst , yet is it not therefore the last because the worst , or the worst because the last . he addeth , that if we divide time into the first , the middle , and the last , whatsoever time is after the middle is the last , and accordingly all the time before christ may be called the first , and since his coming the last . but though we read that god sent his son into the world in the fulnesse of time , yet not that it was in the middle of time , and whether the world shall not last longer after , than the time of its continuance before the messiahs incarnation is a question , which though some have rashly undertaken , yet i am sure none can justly resolve . as for that opinion , that as the world was six days in making , so it shall be only six thousand years in lasting , it is but a rabbinical conceit , and a groundless dream ; nor doth st. peters assertion , that a thousand years is with the lord as one day , at all favour this opinion , since it seemeth rather to bee uttered on a contrary design , namely , to let us know , that how many thousand years soever the world shall last , yet god is not therefore slack , since with him they are but as so many days . that indeed which seemeth the most rational account of this phrase in this notion is , that it is the last time , because it is the last period of time , and the messiah being come , there are now no more changes or alterations of the external administrations in religion to be expected . the life of man , the little world , is a fit embleme of the duration of this great world , and look as there are three ages of mans life , youth , manhood , and old age , so the world hath three periods , from adam to moses , from moses to christ , from christs first to his last coming ; and as old age ( though it many times be as long as either , nay it may be as both ) is called the last age , because death is that which next succeeds after it , so this period of the evangelical time how long soever it may bee , is the last time , because that which closeth it is the day of judgement : in which respect st. austin saith truly , ipsa novissima hora diuturna est , sed tamen novissima hora , the last time is long , but yet it is the last time . look as the time of jobs continuance upon earth after his restitution to a prosperous estate , which was an hundred and forty years , and so a large part of his life , is yet called the latter end of job , so may this of the evangelical administration , though of a long durance , be stiled the latter end of the world . and upon this account it may serve to discover the folly of that generation of seekers , which among the numerous brood of heresies hath sprouted forth amongst us ; in vain doe they expect a new church , new ordinances , new administrations , when as this is the last time . st. paul plainly tells us , that the christian church by administring the holy sacrament must shew forth the lords death till he come , that is , to judge the quick and the dead , and surely by way of analogy it holds true of all the evangelical institutions ; there is nothing to be expected but the glorious appearing of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ in the end of the world . but though this interpretation may be true , it is very harsh , especially considering that the word which we translate , time , signifieth that which is one of the shortest durations of time , an hour ; and it may be very well looked upon as incongruous , that so large a space of time should be called an hour . i know expositors endeavour to salve this , by telling us , that it is but an hour , comparatione futuri saeculi ( so carthusian ) in comparison of the duration of the other world ; and to the same purpose calvin , siregni dei ●ternitas , &c. if we revolve in our minds the eternity of gods kingdom , the longest continuance will seeme but a moment ; but though this be in it self an undeniable verity , yet it is not any more a reason why the time from christs first to his last advent should be called an hour , than why the whole time of the world from the first to the last man should be so called . upon this consideration perhaps it was that cajetan conceiveth st. johns meaning might be , that the time wherein hee lived was like to the last hour , and as it should be at the end of the world , so it was then : but this construction is too forced , nor is it rational to imagine that when st. john saith , it is , and again , by this wee know it is the last hour , he meaneth only a resemblance . if then there be something else ▪ to which this last hour may upon a more just account bee referred , doubtlesse that must needs be the most genuine interpretation , and this we shall finde to bee not the world , but the jewish church and state , whose end was then at hand ; i confesse socinus is the first in whom i meet with this construction , but i shall not refuse to take up a pearl though i finde it in a dunghil , and as i shall never receive , so neither will i reject any exposition because of the person that bringeth it . besides him , that learned mr. mede occasionally speaking of these words , conceiveth it to bee the last hour of daniels seventy weeks , and so consequently of the jews common-wealth ; suitable whereunto is the annotation both of h. grotius , and dr. hammond , to whom for their excellent illustrations of many scriptures , this age is , and future will bee much beholding . the only objection that can lye against this interpretation is , that this epistle was written after the destruction of jerusalem , but this can only be said , not proved . true , st. john out-lived that desolation , but this epistle might bee written before it , yea this text renders it very probable , and accordingly mr. mede conceiveth it might be written in the last of daniels weeks , about which time jesu ananiah began that woful cry , woe to jerusalem , woe to the temple . taking the clause in this construction , the emphasis of this word hour will prompt two things to our meditation , that the time of the jews ruine was a set time , and a short time . an hour is a measured part of time , consisting of a set number of minutes , whereby is intimated , that the time of jerusalems ruine was fixed , and her years numbred , it is that which would be considered in a double reference ; to wit , as the jews were a nation , and a church . consider them as a nation and people , and wee may see in them this truth exemplified , that to all nations , there is an appointed time how long they shall continue ; hee that sets bounds to the sea , hithert● shalt thou passe and no further , sets periods to all the kingdoms of the earth , thus long they shall flourish and no longer . the signification of that word mene , which the hand wrote upon the wall concerning belshazzar , god hath numbred thy kingdom and finished it , carrieth in it a general truth concerning all monarchies , kingdoms , states , the number of the years for their continuation , and the term of time for their expiration , is determined by god. what is become of the assyrian , persian , grecian , and roman empires , whose glorious splendor in a certain space of time vanished away ? indeed according to the poets expression , momento permagna ruunt , summisque negatum stare di● — though some nations flourish longer than others , yet all have their autumn as well as spring , winter as well as summer , and when the time registred in heaven is accomplished on earth , the most potent politick kingdoms moulder away in a moment . consider them as a church , and gods people , it lets us see , that as kingdoms , so churches have their periods ; indeed the universal church shall not fayl , god will have if not in one place , yet in another , an orb wherein the light of his truth shall shine ( though not always with the same clearnesse ) to the day of judgement , but still particular churches have their doleful eclipses , yea their dismal settings , by the removing of the sun of the gospel from them . those seven churches of asia are deplorable instances of this doctrin , who though once golden candlesticks holding forth the word of life , are now inveloped in mahumetan darknesse . oh see my brethren , what sin will doe to nations , to churches , for though it is god who determineth , yet it is sin which deserveth their ruine . that which moveth god to remove the candlestick from a church , is their contempt of the light ; that which provoketh god to put a period to a kingdoms prosperity , is their heightned iniquity : and therefore when we behold ( as wee of this land at this day sadly doe ) a flourishing church withered , a goodly kingdom overturned ; oh let us so acknowledge gods hand , as to blame our own demerits , since it is upon fore-sight of a peoples transgression , that god prefixeth a time for their destruction . an hour is a short space of time , there are many parts of time longer , days , weeks , moneths , years , jubilees , ages , but there is only one shorter , to wit , minutes , nay the shortest time by which men commonly reckon is the hour , with its several parts , so that where our apostle saith it was the last hour , he intends that it was but an hour , that is , a very short time , and jerusalem should be destroyed . look as when the duration of an affliction is set forth by an hour , it noteth the brevity of its continuance ; so when the coming of an affliction is measured by an hour , it noteth the celerity of its approach ; in the former sense we read elsewhere of an hour of temptation , and here in the latter , that it is the last hour . indeed if wee look upon the jewes at this very time , we shall find they were very secure , not dreaming of so neer and great a destruction . the characters which st. james giveth of the rich jewes are , that they heaped treasure together , they lived in pleasure , were want●n , and nourished their hearts as in a day of slaughter , they indulged to their covetous and voluptuous lusts , putting the evil day farr from them , and yet those were the last days , as that apostle calls them , nay the last hour in our apostles language . in this respect it is that our saviour speaking of this destruction , fore-telleth it should be then as it was in the days of noah , when they ate and drank , married , and gave in marriage , till the day that noah entered into the ark , as being over-whelmed with a general security , when ready to bee over-whelmed with the floud . thus may judgement be at hand , when men think it farre off , and the judge stand at the door , when the thief imagines hee is many miles distant ; when they shall say peace and safety , then sudden destruction comes upon them , as travel upon a woman with child , and they cannot escape , is the sad threatning which saint paul utters against presumptuous sinners ; wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest , and destruction is never nearer than when they are most secure . indeed when men through infidelity contemn , it is high time for god to execute his threatnings , that by hastening his wrath he may justifie his truth . it is but reason that they who will not beleeve should feel , and what they would not learn by the word , they should finde in their own sad experience ; take we heed therefore how wee look at the wrong end of the perspective , which makes the object seem at a greater distance than it is . alas , how soon may the brightest skie bee over-cast . voluptuous epicures , ( saith job ) spend their dayes in wealth , and in a moment they goe down to the grave . when judgement cometh , it cannot be avoyded , and too often it surprizeth men before it is expected . whilst the wicked jewes were encompassed with plenty , and promised themselves tranquillity , st. john fore-tells their misery , and that as approaching , it is the last hour . to close up this clause with a moral application . m●net hoc verbo apostolus , ut omnem horam veluti novissimam reputemus , saith ferus piously ; our apostle doth here admonish every particular man , that he should still think every hour to be his last ; indeed the time of every mans life is fixed in gods eternal councel , it is jobs divinity , and that not only in regard of himself , but man indefinitely , or rather universally considered ; is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? and again , his dayes are determined , the number of his moneths are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot passe ; nor is it any long time which is allotted , and therefore the swiftnesse of mans life is elegantly set forth by several metaphors , both in the book of job , and other places of scripture ; indeed if the longest life be considered in reference to the eternity of that other life , it is but a day , nay an hour , a minute ; that it cannot be long we are sure , and yet when it will expire we are not sure , and because wee know not how soon , we should make account of it continually , and though we cannot say of every hour , this is or shall be , yet to say , this may be my last hour ; and if you mark it , this is prompted to little children , who ( as grotius well observeth ) are apt to think they have time enough before them , and yet even with them it may be the last hour , since though the old must , the young may dye ; no wonder if he speak to children ( saith saint austin ) ut festinent crescere , that they make haste to grow in grace . that word in the chaldee which signifieth an hour , is derived from a verb , which signifieth to have regard to , so ought every man to observe the hours of his life how they passe , there being none which might not be his last . and truly this consideration would have a great influence upon the precedent dehortation of not loveing the world , as oecumenius observeth ; a dying man is not at all taken with the choycest dainties , richest treasures , highest dignities , no more would wee if wee did still look upon our selves as dying . hee will not trifle away his hours in pursuing worldly vanities , who considereth how quickly they passe away , and how soon they may be at an end . in one word , happy is that man who so thinketh of his last hour , as that hee doth that every hour , which he would be found doing in his last , at least who doth nothing in any , which hee durst not be found doing in his last hour . and so much for the second general part , the affirmation , it is the last hour . i now hasten ( lest i should exceed the hour ) to the last part of the text , the confirmation , as it followeth in the rest of the verse , and as you have heard that antichrist shall come , even now are there many antichrists , whereby we know that it is the last time . before i enter upon the severals of this general , it will bee needful to spend a little time in clearing the sense of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the antichrist here spoken of . the generality of interpreters observing the article prefixed before the noun , conceive that the apostle intends by this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same with st. pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , him who is transcendently antichrist ; and should i trace this exposition , i must fall upon another inquiry , in the solution of which divines are of various opinions , namely who is this , the antichrist . the ancients generally conceive that antichrist shall come towards the end of the world , whom christ shall destroy by the brightnesse of his coming . some late writers imagine that the antichrist came soon after the plantation of christianity in the world , and fix it , some on simon magus , others on barchocebus , others on claudius , and nero , emperours . a great part of the reformed assert the succession of popes from the time that the bishop of rome usurped the title of universal , to bee the antichrist , which began about six hundred years after christ , and according to that prophetical account of one thousand two hundred and forty days , they suppose the continuance to bee so many years . did i conceive that our apostle designed this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie an antichrist which is so above all other hereticks and enemies of christ whatsoever , yet positively to determine who he is , i should not undertake , only thus much i look upon as rational , that according to the definition which our apostle himself giveth of antichrist a little after , he who most directly , expresly , vehemently denieth jesus to be the christ , and accordingly denieth both the father , and the son , hee is the antichrist . but that i may speak my thoughts freely , i can by no means be induced to beleeve that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the antichrist , is here to bee taken singularly , and determinately , but indefinitely , and collectively ; for the clearing whereof , observe , that it is very usual for a word of the singular number to denote a multitude , yea not only without , but with the article ; take one instance among many , that of st. paul , where he saith , the scripture is given by inspiration of god , and is profitable , &c. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the man of god may be perfect , whereby is not understood some one that was so eminently , but indefinitely any , or rather universally every man of god , and it seemeth our translators understood this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no otherwise , since both here and in other places they render it not the , but an , as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a lyar , suitable to which it is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is presently explained by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he , that is , whosoever denieth . that our apostle in the very next clause enlargeth this singular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the antichrist , by that plural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , many antichrists , as in the next epistle at the seventh verse , he contracts the plural , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , many deceivers , into the singular , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a deceiver , and an antichrist . i well know , that the antichrist , and many antichrists are by most interpreters severally referr'd , but withall in so doing they force the sense , whereas if both bee referr'd to the same , the construction is plain , for by this means the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , even now there are , answereth fitly to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as you have heard , the latter clause testifying the impletion of the prediction alledged in the former ; nay more , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that followeth , by which we know it is the last hour , can have no solid strength in it , if the former be not thus interpreted , since unlesse that which our apostle alledgeth as fore-told , that antichrist should come , to wit , ( before the last hour ) were then accordingly accomplished , and so attested , when he saith , even now there are many antichrists , it could have been no symptome by which they could conclude that it was then the last hour ; that which serves further to justifie this construction is , that our apostle , as here he asserteth the fulfilling of the prediction by the plural , there are many antichrists , so in this epistle elsewhere he affirmeth in the singular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , this is that spirit of antichrist , which you have heard , shall come , and is now already in the world ; i shall only adde , that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which you have heard , is , if not only , yet without doubt principally to be referrd to that of our saviour in the gospel , wherein we find nothing concerning the great antichrist , but only those antichrists which either were to precede , or else immediately to follow the destruction of jerusalem . no doubt then the plain design of this part of the verse is this , our apostle having before affirmed , that it was the last hour of jerusalems ruine , hee confirms it by this strong medium , that which our blessed lord fore-told as an immediate fore-runner of that destruction ( to wit , the coming of antichrist ) was now already fulfilled in the many antichrists which were among them . according to this construction there are three things observable in this part of the text . a prediction , whereof they are minded , you have heard that antichrist should come . an impletion of that prediction assured , even now there are many antichrists . the significancy of that impletion expressed , whereby we know that it is the last hour . our apostle mindes those to whom hee writeth , of our saviours prediction , that antichrist should come , whereby the great care of this chief shepheard of the sheep appeareth , in fore-warning them of those wolves which would devour them ; it was that which christ was pleased to doe upon a double account . the one in regard of his apostles , who were to be the leaders of his church , that they might bee so much the more vigilant in observing the rise of seducers , and diligent in confirming the people in the orthodox faith ▪ for this reason no doubt it was that st. paul gathered the elders of the ephesian church together , and minded them of those perverse teachers which would ere long infest the church , and accordingly the inference hee draweth thence is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , therefore watch . the other in regard of the whole church , and every member , that they might not be too much troubled when false teachers shall arise , tela pr●visa minus feriunt , darts fore-seen are lesse terrible and hurtful . all evils are then most grievous when unexpected ; that danger whereof we are fore-warned , may either bee more patiently sustained , or prudently avoyded . for this reason christ fore-tells his disciples of those persecutions which would befall them in particular , that they might not think strange at the fiery trial ; for this cause he foretold them of those seducers which would endeavour to pervert christians from the faith , that they might be lesse offended at them ▪ and the more carefully take heed of them . thus after christs example , let all who are spiritual watch-men bee vigilant in giving notice to the church militant of the approach of her enemies , that being fore-warned shee may bee fore-armed to encounter with them . what was thus fore-told by christ is accordingly come to passe , even now there are many antichrists . before i goe further it will not bee amisse to stay a while in this general meditation , to wit , the verity of divine predictions , as you have heard , it is now come to passe ; it is that which is , and shall be true of whatever hath been fore-told by god , by christ , and his prophets , till heaven and earth passe , one jot , or one tittle shall in no wise passe from the law , till all be fulfilled , so saith our blessed saviour ; where the stability of the laws prediction is compared with , and exalted above the stability of the heaven and earth , for the heaven and the earth though lasting in their duration , shall passe away at last , but whatever is threatned or promised in the law shall infallibly receive its suitable accomplishment . among those many glorious attributes whereby god hath made known himself to the sons of men , that of his truth and fidelity is not the least , which then shineth forth in its brightnesse , when he fulfilleth what hee hath said , since as the prediction giveth testimony to his praescience , so the impletion to his faithfulnesse . oh then with what fear and reverence should wee receive his threats ? with what hope and confidence should we embrace his promises ? with what faith and credence should we adhere to all his praedictions ? you have heard , that god will come in flaming fire , taking vengeance on them that know him not ; that neither fornicators , nor idolaters , nor adulterers , nor effeminate , nor abusers of themselves with mankind , nor theeves , nor covetous , nor drunkards , nor revilers , nor extortioners , shall inherit the kingdom of god ; that at the last day christ will say to all the workers of iniquity , depart from me yee eursed ; oh ●eleeve , and tremble , for the time will come that all impenitent sinners shall say , as we have heard , so we find ; wee sadly feel the execution of that vengeance which wee proudly contemned when denounced . again , you have heard that sweet voyce , come unto me all you that travel and are heavie laden , and i will give you rest ; that evangelical charter , god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , that whosoever beleeveth in him shall not perish , but have everlasting life ; that comfortable promise , unto them that look for him , hee shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation . oh be not faithlesse but beleeving , for the day will come , when all beleeving penitents shall say , as wee have heard , so we have seen . indeed it were easie to multiply instances of this truth , how not only the substance , but the circumstances of scripture predictions have been exactly accomplished , as well in regard of the time as the thing ; but what need we goe further than the text , wherein wee have the punctual impletion of our saviours prophecie , concerning the rise of antichrists before jerusalems fall asserted ? even now there are many antichrists . more particularly in this assertion , wee are to take notice of the quality , and the quantity , the temper , and the number of those seducers which were in st. johns time . for quality , they are described to bee antichrists , a word which according to a double acception of the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , may admit of a double construction , the one restrictive , the other extensive . the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sometimes signifieth as much as in the stead or place of , thus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is one that falsly calleth himself a king , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is one that sets himself up in the generals room ; in this notion , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is one that pretends himself to bee christ , and is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a false christ . that such should be , our saviour had told them , where he saith , many shall come in my name , saying , i am christ . that such were ( as theudas , whom fadus discomfited , and that aegyptian mentioned in the acts , with many others ) josephus testifieth in several places , and to these our apostle here might have an eye . it lets us see how prone men are to arrogate to themselves that which they are not , whom the apostle taxeth under the name of boasters ; yea , to what an height of impudence such men sometimes grow , as to assume to themselves what is gods , and christs peculiar . but if it be odious for one who is of a base extraction to usurp dominion , and being born a beggar , to make himself a king , it is no less than blasphemy , for base mortalls to take upon them the name and authority of the messiah . the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most properly signifieth as much as against , so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an opposition , or one axiome set against another , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is one who sets himself against another , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is one who withstandeth and oppugneth christ ; this sort was also fore-told by christ , where hee saith , many false prophets shall arise ; and that our apostle chiefly intends , these , appeareth by the definition he giveth of these antichrists , that they were such who denied jesus to be the christ , which many did , who yet did not assert themselves to be christs : and to that apostolical definition i shall referre the larger prosecution of this subject ; passe wee on therefore from the quality , to the quantity , in that it is not said , as you have heard that antichrist shall come , even so now he is come , but now there are many antichrists ; indeed our saviour speaking of both sorts , useth this very epithite , many false christs , and false prophets . there were several primipili , or antesignani of these black regiments , as epiphanius , and st. cyril have recounted them , simon magus , cerinthus , menander , carpocrates , with many others ▪ and each of these had many followers ; for christ like wise fore-told they should deceive many , and st. peter , that many shall follow their pernicious wayes . indeed heresie is of a spreading nature , so much st. paul intimateth , when he saith of heretical teachers , their word will eat as doth a canker , or gangrene , which stops not till it have infected and destroyed the whole body . a thing saith estius so well known by sad experience , that it need not many words to attest it . there is but one truth , but there are many errours ; there is but one christ , but there are many antichrists . false teachers are compared by st. john to locusts , a sort of creatures of which salomon observeth , that they goe forth by bands , yea the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a locust , is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifieth to multiply , intimating the great multitudes of locusts , in which respect they are a fit embleme of false prophets . our blessed saviour speaking of such , implicitly , resembleth them to thorns and thistles , and the similitude holds in this , that as thorns and thistles grow every where in great numbers , so doe these abound in every place ; of old there were four hundred lying prophets which deceived ahab , to one micaiah that told him truth ▪ four hundred and fifty prophets of baal ▪ to one el●jab ; in the primitive times , there were a multitude of a●rian bishops to one athanasius , and thus stil , numerous pejor major , the antichristian party is the greatest . take we heed then how we doe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( according to gregory nazianzens phrase ) define the church of christ by multitude , certainly if number may carry the cause , antichrists synag●gue will farre out-vie the christian churches , and therefore it is st. hieroms saying to a pelagian heretick . multitudo sociorum nequaquam te catholicum sed hereticum esse monstrabit , the multitude of thy fellows doth not prove you a catholick , but rather an heretick ; that way in which the most walk is for the most part , to be suspected as a false path , for wide is the gate , and broad is the way ( saith our blessed saviour ) which leadeth to destruction , and many there be that goe in there at . indeed , when the number of the orthodox increaseth , and prevaileth , it should be our joy , but if the number of the heterodox be greater , it need not be our wonder , only let our care bee , that as ( according to moses his precept ) we doe not follow a multitude to doe what is evil , so neither to beleeve what is false ; and so much for the second particular . lastly , by the coming of these antichrists , according as they had heard , they might know it was the last hour , and that jerusalems destruction was then at hand . to illustrate this briefly , know that there are three sorts of signs . some are memorative , to mind us of what was long ago accomplisht , for which end god hath set his bow in the clouds ; some are demonstrative , to discover something that is newly existent , such was that of a child lying in a manger to the shepheards , in reference to the messiahs birth ; finally , some are prognostick● , to foretell something which is to come to passe ; now of this sort some are only probable , as a red evening of a fair day ; others are certain , as jonahs coming out after hee had lain three days and three nights in the whales belly , of christs resurrection ; by those we only think and imagine , by these we know and are sure that the thing shall be effected . again , some are remote and at a great distance , such was that which god gave abraham , of delivering his seed above four hundred years after out of aegypt . some are nearer hand , and immediately preceding that whereof they are signs , as that to hezekiah of his recovery ; by those we see it shall be , but not yet , by these that it shall be ere long ; of this latter sort was the coming of these antichrists in reference to jerusalems ruine , for since christ had fore-told it , as that which should a little precede that great desolation , it ( being now come to passe ) became not a probable , but a certain , not a remote , but an immediate sign , by which they did not only rationally conjecture , but infallibly know , and that not only that there would bee such an hour , but that then it was jerusalems last hour . to wind it up , it is no small mercy of god to a people , that when as he intends to bring ruine on them , before hand he giveth them warning . among his many waies of warning , this is one , that hee fore-tells , and accordingly sends such signs which are fore-runners of their desolation , his design in which is , partly in regard of the wicked , that if possible their sleepy consciences may bee awakened to see , and by repentance to prevent that approaching ruine ; and oh how happy might jerusalem have been , had they made use of these signs , partly in regard of the good , that they being hereby admonished might bee the better fitted to undergoe the temporal calamity , or ( if godopen a way ) provide for their own safety , as the story tells us , many of the godly jewes did , by flying to pella , before the city was sacked by the romans . and now ( my brethren ) though we have not , nor must expect particular predictions , or signs given us of destructive judgements , yet a wise observer and comparer of gods word and works together , may bee able to discern what is likely to come upon the place wherein he liveth , it is solomons general assertion , the prudent man foreseeth the evil , this being that which every spiritually wise man may attain to in some measure , and accordingly ought to endeavour after . now the best means of obtaining this fore-sight is to observe what have been the signs and fore-runners of gods judgements on other nations , especially those in holy writ , as in particular concerning jerusalem , and if we finde the like to befall in our dayes , we may thence , if not undoubtedly , yet rationally , conclude our own destruction to bee at hand . among others , there were two very observable signs of jerusalems destruction , the one great warrs and rumours of warres , the other multitudes of false christs , and false prophets ; and as we have for many years felt the one , so who doth not see the other ? wee need not goe to rome to find out antichrist , wee have swarms of antichrists among our selves , so that this age , and land , and city of ours , is become a sink of filthy and loathsome heresies , yea which is the worst kind of antichristianism , pseudochristianism is the brand of our times , whilst all these antichrists pretend themselves to bee the only christians , yea some of them assert themselves to be christified and deified , nay one of them is so sacrilegiously impudent , as to stile himself the christ . what christian heart bleeds not to hear of these heresies , blasphemies ? and that as chiefly because of the dishonour done to christ , so secondarily of that sad presage which they give of the mournful down-fall of this once flourishing church , kingdome , and city ; but i would not bee a prophet of misery to my native country , yea i should be glad to prove a false prophet , and therefore instead of a doleful prediction , i shall close up with an earnest supplication , that all these antichrists may be either reclaimed , or suppressed , that the orthodox faith may be maintained , the church restored , our warres ended , our sins reformed , and so our ruine prevented . amen . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . they went out from us , but they were not of us , for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us , but they went out , that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us . the gospel had no sooner ascended the horizon of the gentiles , and dispelled that universal shade wherin they had been be nighted , but the prince of the air raised the clouds , or rather fogs and mists , of heresy , to obscure the lustre thereof . no sooner had those apostolical merchants erected factories in several parts of the world for the advancement of christian religion , but the devil had his emissaries in all places to interrupt the trade of truth . this our apostle well knew , and therefore armeth those to whom hee wrote , both against the peril , and the scandal of antichristian teachers : when the market is full of adulterous wares , counterfeit coines , specious falshoods , there is great danger of being deceived , and therefore it concerneth us to be so much the more careful what wares and commodities wee take , what doctrins wee receive as true ; when the brats of ugly errours are laid at the door of the christian church , satans design is to bring her in disgrace , and men are too apt to fancy her the mother of such monsters ; great reason there is to take heed we be not offended , yea , through our ●incogitant precipitancy stumble and fall at this block . the prevention of the former of these , namely , the danger , is the design of our apostle in the precedent verse , and now in this verse hee goeth on to remove the scandal , letting the christians know , that they went out from , but they were not of them , for if they had been , &c. in the words these two particulars are plainly considerable . the occasion , and the remotion of the scandal . the occasion of offence , set down in these words , they went out from us . the remotion of this , as being no just cause , in the rest of the words , but they were not of us , &c. begin wee with that which first occurreth , to wit , the occasion of the offence , they went out from us ; in which words there is something implyed , and something expressed . that which these words imply , as calvin , danaeus , with others observe , is , that those antichristian impostors , had been in the bosome of the church , and imbraced the christian profession . thus wee read of simon magus , one of the chief ring-leaders , that hee beleeved and was baptized ; and nicolaus was one of those seven deacons upon whom the apostles laid hands ; and epiphanius affirmeth cerinthus to have been very conversant with the apostles and elders at jerusalem ; and s. paul tells the pastors of ephesus , that men speaking perverse things should arise of their own selves : so that in this case that often falls out , a mans enemies are those of his own houshold . the churches seeming members prove her worst enemies . as a lilly among thorns ▪ so is my love among the daughters , saith christ of his spouse , where it is observed by st. austin , that it is not said among strangers , that were no great wonder , but among her daughters , even they who profess the church to bee their mother , prove thornes to vex her , not onely they who are without ( to wit , the pale of the church ) as having never received the christian faith , such as were jews and pagans , but many who are within , become false brethren ; not only the wild boar out of the forrest endeavours to lay waste gods vineyard , but there are foxes within to pluck off , and spoil its grapes ; nay , as st. austin well observes , multae foris oves , multi intus lupi , many without are sheep , such as belong to , and are at last brought into the fold , whiles many within are wolves , though in sheeps clothing , whose aim is to deceive and destroy . even in jerusalem , that is , the church ( saith origon ) are many jebusites ; in gods field , there want not tares sown by the envious man. the visible church is as a net , wherein are bad as well as good fish ; a garden , wherein are weeds as well as flowers ; as rebecca's wombe , in which are two sorts of people strugling , to wit , ( as st. austin moralizeth it ) spiritual and carnal . in one word , to use st. pauls comparison , in this house of the church , there are as golden and silver , so earthen and wooden vessels , of which sort were hymineus and philetus . to end this therefore , it is a consideration which indeed may bee matter of sorrow , that there should bee such chaff among the wheat , such canaanites among the people of israel , such vipers in the bowels of the church , but yet it is no more than what hath been in all ages . god in wisdom permits it , the devil in malice contriveth it ▪ that antichristian teachers should grow up among the christians , non mirandum quod exurgant sed vigilandum , ne noceant , is st. austins excellent advice , wonder not that they do arise , beware that they do not hurt , and though they are mingled with us , let us take heed wee bee not partakers with , and so infected by them . but that which is here expressed , and would chiefly bee considered , is , that these antichristian teachers went out from the apostles ; for the unfolding whereof i shall discuss these two things . what this going out imports ? whence it comes to pass ? the first question to be resolved is , what this going out imports ? to which end observe , it is one thing to go out by vertue of a commission , and another to go out in a way of desertion . wee read of the king , that hee sent his servants , and bid them go out into the high waies , to wit , to invite guests to the wedding , thus did the apostles go forth from christ as being sent by him to preach the gospel : but in this sense it cannot bee here understood , as if these antichrists ; went forth commissioned from the apostles , because that to these words , they went out from us , are opposed those , they would have continued with us . now continuing with the apostles if taken in opposition to going out from them with commission , had been a crime , and would have deserved that check , why stand you idle ? whereas nothing clearer than that this continuing with them is here intended , as that which was their duty to have done , and consequently the going out can bear no other sense than their forsaking the apostles . it is one thing to bee cast out , and another to go out , the former is a punishment or censure of the church , consisting of various degrees , according to the quality of offences , some being ●ast out è coetu participantium , of the number of the communicants ; others not only so , but è coetu procumbentium , from prayers , as well as sacraments : others è coetu audi●ntium , nay fidelium , not suffered so much as to hear the word , or to converse with the faithful . these censures ( though none more deserve them than those my text speaks of ) may for some gross mis-demeanours be inflicted on those who yet are true members o● the church ; indeed this judicial casting out is that which is done by the governours of the church , not onely as an act of justice , but mercy , with charitable and compassionate intentions , that the casting out may prove the casting down of the delinquent ; and that casting down may tend to the raising up , and receiving in again of the penitent . but this going out is the act of wicked apostates , a sin of a very deep dye , and hainous nature , nor can they who thus cast themselves out , ever call themselves in , yea , they are seldome , if ever , called in again . this sin of apostacy in going out from the church is committed two waies , viz. by heresy and schism , a going out from the faith , and from the fellowship of the church . indeed heresy and schism like abortive twins in many particulars are coincident , and like jacob and esau one holds fast by the others heels . haeresies in point of faith do easily produce a separation in the use of ordinances , and formes of worship . so the arrian heresy brought in a different doxology : and schism in point of communion , frequently induceth into heretical doctrins , ut rectè ab ecclesiâ discessisse videantur , as st. hierom excellently , that the schismatick may thereby the better maintain his unlawful separation ; and by both these waies did the antichrist go out . they went out , that is , they apostatized from the faith which was once delivered , and had been by them professed . that expression of the apostle , the door of faith , intimateth that faith is the door of the church ; so that by embracing , we enter in , by deserting the faith we go out of the church . thus st. paul saith of hymeneus and philetus , that concerning the faith they made shipwrack , that is , as marriners in a storm cast their wares over board , so did they cast away the orthodox doctrine of christianity ; such were those whom the apostle peter chargeth for bringing in damnable heresies , destructive to the foundamentals of religion , and the salvation of the people , against whom therefore the apostle jude exhorteth sincere christians to contend earnestly . they went out , that is , they departed from the fellowship of the apostles , with whom they had held communion before . having endeavoured to deprave the churches truth by heresy , they disturb the peace by schism , rending themselves from that body of which they professed themselves members , such were those some whose manner st. paul tells us , was to forsake the assembly , and this is one of those brands which st. jude marketh the false teachers with , that they did separate themselves , not willing to bee confined within the limits and bounds of the churches communion . once more , this phrase they went out from us is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , more being intended than is expressed , not only that they went out from , but that being gone out they did set themselves against the church , and therefore hee calls them in the former verse antichrists , which is far more than apostates : their separation was not onely negatively a nen-communion , but positively a direct opposition , gathering to themselves parties , erecting , as it were , a church against a church , an altar against an altar , they did not onely forsake their colours , but did fight under the enemies banner , and charge desperately in their forlorn ; in one word , not onely a falling from the doctrine and communion , but a rising against both , through an internal malicious d●testation , is that which is the extent of the accusation , which our apostle intends by these words , they went out from us . the next question which would bee resolved , is , how this came to pass that these schismatical hereticks went out from the church ? nor need we goe further for an answer , than the fore-going verses , where the apostle first dehorts in general from the love of the world , and particularly from the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life ; all of which wee shall find to have a great influence upon antichristian apostates . they went out from the church , because they loved the world ; it was st. pauls charge against demas , hee hath forsaken us , having loved this present world . that heart which is tenacious of the world , will easily let goe its hold of truth . our apostle saith a little before , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him ; it is as true , the love of his mother ( the church ) is not in him . indeed in the primitive times , it so fell out , that by reason of persecution , they could not cleave to the church , unless they were willing to leave the world : and no wonder if the love of the world caused many of them to leave the church . but more particularly . the lust of the flesh was a special cause of their apostacy , the churches bounds were too narrow , her lawes too strict for those licentious antichrists . indeed it is frequently observable , that the great rabbies against the church , are extraordinary chaplaines to the trencher . st. paul describing those false teachers saith , they were such as did serve their owne bellies ; nay more , whose god is their belly : st. peter characterizeth them to bee such as did count it a pleasure to ryot in the day time , having eyes full of adultery , that cannot cease from sin , such as did allure through the lust of the flesh , through much wantonnesse ; in a word , hee compareth them to doggs and swine , and calls them , the servants of corruption . finally , st. jude affirmeth of those separatists , that they were sensual , so great affinity hath epicurisme with antichristianisme , and sensuality with heresie . the lust of the eyes ( and that in both notions ) is no less an incentive of this sinful departure . for , curiosity hath ever been a nurse of error , prurigo sciendi scabies ecclesiae , the itch of knowing more than wee should , proveth too often an heretical scab ; when men are not content with truths revealed , no wonder if they wander into by-paths , and lose themselves in a maze of folly . melior est fidelis ignorantia quam temeraria scientia , was a good saying of the master of the sentences , a modest ignorance is better than a presumptuous knowledge ; as we must not be too credulous in receiving what is delivered , so neither curious in prying into what is concealed ; it is not seldome seen , that as thales gazing on the starres fell into a pit , so men that meddle with divine secrets , fall into the pit of errour . but that which hath ever proved the most usual source of apostacy , is avarice ; observe the apostolical character of the antichristian teachers , and you shall still finde this to be one , they are destitute of the truth , ( saith st. paul to timothy ) supposing that gain is godlinesse ; and again , the love of money is the root of all evil , which while some have coveted after , they have erred from the faith . they teach things which they ought not ( saith the same apostle to titus ) for filthy lucres sake . through covetousnesse , they with feigned words make merchandize of you ( saith the apostle peter ) and again , an heart they have exercised with covetous practices , which have fors●●k the right way , and are gone astray , following the way of balaam the son of beor , who loved the wages of unrighteousnesse . thus ignatius , st. johns contemporary complained of some , that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , rather merchants of christ than christians indeed carrying about the name of christ fraudulently , handling the word of christ deceitfully , mingling with smooth words poysonous errours . thus st. cyprian accused that apostatizing heretick novatus , of whom he saith , that hee was avaritiae inexplebili rapacitate furibundus , not only covetous but ravenous , and insatiably greedy of gain . and isidorus observing , that the novatians stiled themselves the pure , saith , mundams se potius quam mundos vocarent , they should have called themselves not puritans , but mammonists . and however the antichristian apostates of our age have other pretences , to wit , of purity and godlinesse , yet who so diveth into the bottome of their departure from the church , shall finde it to be the enriching themselves , especially with the sacrilegious spoyls of her lands and revenues . it is a notable saying of salust concerning avarice , that it subverts fidelity and honesty , it teacheth men to neglect god , and make sale of every thing ; and what he found true in the common-wealth , we may in the church , that the love of gain causeth men to renounce the faith , and they stick not to sell their religion , their consciences , their souls for money . adde to the two former , that which must by no means in this case be left out , as having a great hand in it , namely , the pride of life , and that double . an arrogant self-conceit too often causeth men to depart from the church ; one sort of the hereticks in the apostles time were the gnosticks , who were so called from their vain affectation , and opinion of their owne knowledge ; no wonder if st. pauls advise is not to think of our ownselves more highly than wee ought . it is the observation of the reverend and learned hooker , that the chief cause of those heresies which infected the easterne church , was the restlesse wits of the graecians ▪ ever more proud of their owne curious and subtile inventions , which having once contrived , they knew how plausibly to vent : and eusebius informeth us of that fore-mentioned heretick novatus , that he was a man blown up with pride and self-conceit , and vincentius lyrinensis of nestorius , that such was his scelerata presumptio , daring boldnesse , as to boast himself the first and only man. thus doe hereticks and schismaticks go out from , because they account themselves above others , above fathers , councils , antiquitie , authority , church , scriptures , all , according to that proud speech of abailardus , omnes alii sic , ego autem non sic , all others think thus , but i think not so . an haughty desire of honour and greatnesse , which because they cannot obtain in the church , they seek after by going out of it . that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as eusebius calls him ) ring-leader of heresy , simon magus , would bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , some great one , and therefore broached those hellish doctrines ; diotrephes loved the preheminence ▪ and that opens his mouth in prating against s. john. it were easy to instance in donatus , arrius , and others , who aspiring after dignities , and being discontented , the one that cecilian bishop of carthage , the other that alexander bishop of alexandria , were preferred into those seats which they aimed at , did thereupon desert the catholick church ; look , as through ambition it was that the devil himself stood not in the truth , so hee still carrieth his instruments to this pinacle , whence hee throweth them down into errours . and thus i have given you a brief portraicture both of the crime and its causes , of which these antichrists are accused , they went out from us . this heinous charge is , that which the papists at this day draw up against us , because wee have deserted them , condemning us as hereticks , schismaticks , apostates , and such as have forsaken the communion of the christian , catholick , and apostolick church : but how causless and unjust th●s accusation is , hath been both of old and latter daies fo abundanly discovered by many learned pens , as that i shall not need to inlarge , onely give mee leave in a few words , to let you see how vast a difference there is between our going out from them , and the going out of these hereticks from the apostles . these antichrists in going out from the apostles , and their followers , went out from the whole christian church , that had been planted by them in several parts , whereas wee in going out from the roman , go out onely from a particular church . i well know the papists proudly arrogate to themselves the title of catholike , but without the least show of reason ; nay , it is with as great absurdity , as if a man should say , a part , nay a less part , is the whole : the number of christians being far greater which renounceth , than that which imbraceth the popish doctrin . these antichrists , in going out from the apostles , went out from those ecclesiastical governours , to whom they owed subjection : but wee owe no obedience to the bishop of rome , and therefore have justly cast off his yoak . indeed hee most presumptuously assumeth to himself the title of universal bishop , and maketh himself the vicar of christ , upon the account that hee is the successor of st. peter . but as it is no way to bee evinced from scripture , that s. peter had any more power communicated to him than what the other apostles had , so neither can any reason bee given , why this power ( if granted to s. peter ) should bee derived to his successor at rome , rather than at antioch ; nay , why it should not have devolved from him to the apostle s. john , who out-lived him , and so to his successors ; that this universal power therefore belongs not to him of right , is manifest , and it is no less clear , that , defacto , it was never exercised by any roman bishop , for more than six hundred years after christ , boniface the third being the first who obtained of that wicked emperor phocas , the title of universal bishop . and whereas the pope claimeth a peculiar right to our obedience , upon the score of having planted christianity amongst us , and having had a concession of it from some kings . to the former it is answered , that this island was converted to the faith of christ long before augustines , preaching to the saxons , either by joseph of arimathea , or simon zelotes , as our annals tell us ; and secondly , that though augustine whom the pope sent over , had been the means of our conversion , yet that is no argument for our subjection to the pope ; for by the same reason all the nations converted by s. paul and his ministry , are in all ages obliged to bee subject to that chair where s. paul sate at the time of his sending out , or going himself to convert them ; which as it hath no truth in it self , so would it bee very prejudicial to s. peters pastor-ship . to the latter it is returned , that either this power of that concession , was so originally vested in our kings , that they might lawfully grant it to whom they pleased , and then as one king conceded it , another may recall it ; or else , if it were not , then was the grant invalid , & being but a robbery in the giver , can devolve no right to the receiver . by all which it appeareth , that we have made no schism in with-holding obedience from the pope . chiefly these antichrists in going out from the apostolical , went out from a pure church , in which there neither wanted sound doctrin , nor good discipline : but wee in going out from the papists , go out from a church degenerated , and polluted with damnable heresies . to clear this , know that when any church or number of christians are grown so corrupt a body , and so far infected , that wee canno communicate with it , without manifest sin , wee not onely may , but ought to go out from them . indeed ▪ it is necessa●y both by vertue of that precept which calls upon gods people to ●ome out from babylon , and likewise as a means of preservation from that contagion , wee otherwise must needs receive : so that it is as needful to separate from such a church in order to the souls safety , as it is for a man to go out of an infected house , or abstai● from a lepers company , in order to his bodily health . that the church of rome at that time , when we went out from her , was , and still continueth , a very corrupt church . many of her doctrines directly contrary to the scriptures , not heard of in the primitive church , yet imposed as articles of faith ; her wo●ship superstitious , ridiculous , incongruous to right reason , apostolical practice , yea , d●vine precept , and yet pressed as necessary to bee performed ; by which means it is , that they put upon us the sad dilemma of going from their communion , or going against the clear light of divine truth shining from gods word upon our consciences , in which respect wee justly say , they , not wee , have made the separation , and so the schism lyeth at their door . to shut it up , what s. austin said to the donatists , wee say to the romanists , tollatur paries erroris , simul sumus , let the partition wall of imposing unreasonable opinions and practices upon us , bee taken away ; and wee are ready to unite with them ; wee divide not from them as they are a part of , but so f●r as they are divided from the catholike church ; wee have done our part in reforming our selves , and it is their fault , that upon this followeth a breach of communion with them , who will not reform . they , not wee , are gone out from the ancient primitive and apostolical church , in which respect they are justly termed antichristian ; nor do we any further go out from them , than in those things wherein they are gone forth from the apostles . when jeroboam with others of the children of israel revolted from their lawful king , and gods instituted worship , some of the p●iests , l●vits , and others , left their habitation , and went to judah , that they might serve god , and their king , surely , not those who went , but those who stayed , were the rebels and the schismaticks : thus are the romanists guilty for leaving the footsteps of the apostles , not wee , for leaving theirs to follow the apostles . finally , wee still hold communion with them in votis , earnestly desiring that those just causes they have given of our non-communion with them , by their popes usurpation of supremacy and infallibility , by their superstitious innovations , both in matters of doctrine and practice , may bee removed , and to this end , that a general council might bee lawfully called , and freely act , to whose determination wee are willing to submit , and therefore can acquit our selves from schism , in the sight of god and man. but whilst the papists unjustly revile the church of england , i am sure shee hath had cause of weeping over the multitudes of those who in this apostatizing age have gone out from her ; how justly may shee take up a complaint in gods owne language ? hear o heavens , and give ear o earth , i have nourished and brought up children , and they have rebelled against me ; they that have been baptized in her font , educated by her pastors , and sucked what knowledge and grace they have ( if yet they may be said to have any ) from her breasts , have now forsaken her , yea are risen up against her , viper-like eating out her bowels . oh what sad breaches have been made in the doctrine and disciplins of the church by those wilde beasts ( socinians , familists , anabaptists , quakers , and such like ) who being made to goe out of the field , have trampled down the hedge , endeavouring to lay all waste ? and now , i would to god that all sectaries would at length sadly consider these two things , how causelesse , yea how cursed this their departure from the church of england is . how causelesse their going out is , were easie to make appear by an induction of the several particulars , which are alledged as pretences , such as are infants baptisme , episcopal ordination , and jurisdiction , administration of the lords supper to all baptized persons of age , not convicted of any scandalous offences ( which they call mixt communion ) as also those harmlesse , yea useful , because significant ceremonies , which our church retained , all which ( though by them declaimed against as popish ) will be found upon due inqniry , some of them apostolical , all of them ancient institutions , and practices of the catholick christian church ; though yet should wee grant some of them to bee pollutions , and spots in our church , it would only inferre a lawful desire and endeavour of reformation , not warrant a schismatical separation , since no corruptions in any church can give allowance of going out of it , unlesle they be such as strike at the very foundation of christian doctrine and worship . it may perhaps bee here pleaded , that as wee forsook the communion of the roman church , because we apprehended it guilty of such erroneous doctrines and practices with which wee could not communicate without sin , so doe the sectaries upon the same apprehension of the like in our church , forsake ours , and therefore if their separation from us bee causelesse , ours from the papists may seeme to be as unjust . but to this we return , that neither have we given them the like cause , as the church of rome gave us , not have they the like rational conviction as wee had : wee impose nothing to be beleeved in doctrine as necessary to salvation , which wee doe not demonstrate to have been the doctrine of christ and his apostles , and the catholick church , and so ought to bee beleeved ; wee require nothing to be done in matter of practice which is not of ancient usage in the christian church , and in its owne nature is at least indifferent , and so may bee done without sin ; and therefore it is not a just conviction , but at best a deceiving perswasion , at worst a wilfulresolution , which causeth their separation , and so it is in truth causelesse . . adde to this , that other consideration , namely how cursed it is , which is evident in several respects . of christ and his spirit , who is hereby grieved . it is very observable , that they who are said in this verse to goe out from the apostles , are called in the verse before antichrists ; whilst wee goe from christs church , wee goe against christ , and by rending from his body , wee grieve his spirit , and therefore st. ambrose calls schism a sin against the holy ghost . of the church which is hereby weakned ; the taking of any stones out of the building lesseneth the strength of the whole fabrick ; if one souldier break his rank the whole company is disordered by it : thus doe they who goe out of the church , ruire the church it self , interrupting her unity , which is at once her strength and beauty : upon this account it is well observed , that whereas other sins are , contra sngulos , against particular persons , this of schisme is , contra universos , against a generality ; so that as much as community is above a person , so much is schisme above other sins , yea , as much as a sacred is better than a civil command , so much this sin is worse than that of sedition . of others , in as much as by this means , those that are malicious enemies against the church , have their mouthes opened to calumniate her , and all that are strangers without the church , are hindred from coming in to her . clemens alexandrinus repeateth the saying of one to this purpose , who cryed out , you christians have so many sects , let my soul bee with the philosophers . those who are within the church , in as much as some ( to wit , the weak ) are stagger'd , and ready to question which is the true church , nay whether there be any church at all ; and others ( to wit , the strong ) are sadded , whilst for these divisions of ruben are great searchings of heart . . lastly , of themselves , who by their back-sliding separation hasten upon themselves perdition ; a branch plucked from the root must needs wither , a member ●●● off from the body dyes , and those that leave the church , perish . nos tentat d●abolus ut lupus ovem a grege , saith st. cyprian , as the wolf tempts the sheep from the fold , so doth the devil men from the church ; and why this ? but that he may worry and devour them , discedentes ●● ecclesi● ( saith ireneus ) de fonte spiritus sancti non p●tant , they that leave the garden of the church cannot drink of the fountain of the spirit . what became of those who were out of the ark when the ●loud came ? they must needs perish in the waters ; no lesse miserable is their condition , who goe out of the church . yea , which renders their condition so much the more desperate is , that they who once goe out of the church , doe seldome return to it . that of the poet , quis peccandi sibi finem possuit , is as true ●rrandi , both sin and errours are boundlesse ; in this respect among others , the wandring , as of sinners , so hereticks , is like that of a lost sheep , which strayeth from pasture to pasture , but never of it self goeth back to the fold ; the path of errour is a going down hill , in which men goe , nay run from errour to errour , till at last they fall into the pit of destruction . and now ( my brethren ) think i beseech you , that the church of england bespeaketh you this day in those words of our saviour upon a like occasion , will you also goe away ? nor can we return a better answer than that which st. peter , in behalf of himself , and the rest , gave to christ , whither shall wee goe ? thou hast the words of eternal life ; in this church is the orthodox dispensation of the gospel , the faithful administration of the sacraments , and the primitive apostolical discipline established , and therefore whither shall we goe ? here it is that christ feedeth his flock in green pastures , by still waters , why should we be as they that turn aside ? oh let us pitty the seduced multitude , who have left churches for conventicles ; judicious preaching , for ignorant prating ; their learned pasters , for illiterate mechanicks ; and their true baptisme in the font , for a vain dipping in a pond , yea let us not only weep over , but pray for them , ( as our mother the church hath taught us in her excellently composed letany ) that god would bring into the way of truth all such as have erred , and are deceived . however ( if they will not return to us ) let us take heed we goe not forth to them ; rather let us blesse god , that hath caused our lot to fall within the bosome of so pure a church , and let us earnestly beseech him to strengthen us by his grace , that we may continue in her communion to the end , so may we confidently and comfortably take up those words of the author to the hebrews , but wee are not of them who draw back unto perdition , but of them that beleeve , to the saving of the soul . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . they went out from us , but they were not of us , for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us , but they went out , that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us . that general assertion of god himself by the prophet isaiah , my ways are not as your ways , neither are my thoughts as your thoughts , is not unfitly exemplified in the state of the militant church ; our thoughts are , that the church of god even on earth should be without spot or wrinkle , without fear of danger ; that gods house should neither bee infected with the contagion of errour , nor infested with the breach of schisme ; that christs flock should bee securely free from wolves , or though the sheep be among wolves , yet that there should bee no goats among the sheep . but see how farre distant gods thoughts are from ours , who so ordereth it , that the churches splendor here below shall not be like that of the sun , but the moon , borrowed and imperfect , that her condition should bee like that of a ship tossed with the waves of persecution , yea , sometimes like the earth rent asunder with the winde of division ; and surely to use s. pauls expression , the foolishnesse of god is wiser than the wisdome of man , and therefore let us give him leave to know what is fitter for his church , than wee ; far bee it from us to repine at his purposes , because they agree not with our projects , rather let us subseribe to the prudence of his determinations , as in governing the world , so in ordering his church , whilest for excellent and admirable ends , hee permitteth heretical and schismatical apostates , to obscure her doctrin , and disturb her peace ; a pregnant instance whereof wee finde in the primitive church , even whilest s. john lived , by reason of those many antichrists which did arise ; concerning whom hee saith here , they went out from us , but they were not of us , &c. having dispatched the concession which intimateth what was the occasion of the scandal , they went out from us , pass wee on to the correction , which removeth that occasion , by discovering it to bee no just cause , and that two waies . by a negation , in respect of the persons , who went out , that indeed they never were members of the church , which is asserted in those words but they were not of us . proved in those , for if they had been of us , they would have continued with us . by an affirmation , which declareth that the going out of those antichrists was permitted by god for a very good end , to wit , that they might appear to bee but hypocrites , but they went out , that it might bee manifest they were not all of us . begin wee with the negation . and before i enter upon the particulars , i cannot but take notice of that injurious interpretation , which socinus puts upon this clause , on purpose to evade that argument , which is drawn hence for the doctrin of perseverance , and amounts to this sense , that whereas these antichrists though gone out of the church , might pretend , that they were still of the same faith with the apostles ; s. john lets them know , that though they had been , yet now ( to wit , a little before , or about the time of their going out from them ) they were not of them , of which their leaving communion with them , was a sufficient argument . in opposition to which interpretation , i shall offer these three things . it doth not appear , nor is it probable , that these antichrists , when gone out from the apostles , did still pretend to the orthodox faith , and therefore no need for the apostle to make any provision against it . nay , it is plainly intimated by the following discourse , that these antichrists being gone forth did set themselves expresly , directly , against the orthodox , denying that jesus ( whom they did professe ) to bee the christ , and therefore the design of this clause is most rationally conceived to bee the prevention of that scandal which their horrid apostacy might give to weak christians , nor could any thing more effectually prevent , or remove it , than to let them know , that these antichristian apostates were never true stars in the firmament of the church , but onely blazing comets , as their falling away did evidently demonstrate . that the words , they were not of us , import an absolute denial , so that to put a limitation is to put a sence upon them , and if that which this interpretation offereth were the apostles meaning , it had been more proper for him , to have said , because they ceased to be of us , than to say , they were not of us ; nor will that slender grammar prop of the preter-imperfect-tense support this glosse , nothing being more usual , than even by that tense to take in the whole time past ; and look as when a man speaking of any place , saith , i was not there , he is understood , to mean not that hee was not there just before , or that when hee left the place hee was not there , but that hee was not there at all . so when our apostle saith , they were not of us , his meaning doubtlesse is not , they were not of us at the time when they left us , but they were not at all of us . that if this which hee pretends were the apostles meaning , the addition of a reason to confirm it were supervacaneous , it being as needlesse to prove that these antichrists were not , about the time when they deserted the apostles , of the same spirit , and faith with them , as to prove , that they who run from their colours were not just as they run away , of the same minde , and for the same cause with those who valiantly fight . having thus blown away that light and empty exposition , come wee now to handle the clause , as it is both generally and rationally interpreted . to this end consider wee the negation . as asserted in those words , but they were not of us . for the right understanding of which clause , it will not bee amiss to make use of that distinction of zanchy between these two phrases , esse in , et de ecclesia , to bee in the church , and to bee of it , the former being of a far larger extent than the latter , since though all that are of the church are in it : yet all that are in the church , are not ▪ of it . all that take upon them the profession of the true christian faith , and communicate with the visible society of the faithful in evangelical administrations , are justly said to bee in the church , onely they , who being before all time graciously elected , are in due time effectually called , and so united to christ by a lively faith to their fellow-christians by a cordial love , are truely said to be of the church . this will the better appear by taking notice of another phrase , which we meet with in this very epistle , namely , to be of the world , aliud est esse in mundo , aliud esse de mundo ; there is a vast difference between these two , to be in the world , and of it all who live , and move , and have their being in the world , are said to be in in it , onely those who delight in , and set their hearts on the world , are said to bee of it : look then how good christians are said to bee in the world and yet not of it ; so wicked antichrists may bee said to bee in the church , but not of it , no not even whilest they continue in it , for that no doubt is our apostles design , to acquaint us , that even before they went out , whilest yet they were among , they were not of them , according as st. austin excellently glosseth , quando videbantur in nobis non erant ex nobis , when they seemed to be , they were not of us . look as on the one hand it may bee said of many ; who are not among us , they are yet of us , because their names are written in the book of life , in which sense paul was of the church , whilest a persecutor against it , because a chosen vessel , separated ( as hee saith himself ) from his mothers womb . so on the other hand , it may bee said of many who are among us , they are not of us , quia non erant in christo electi ante mundi constitutionem , saith s. austin , because they are not eternally elected , nor effectually converted . indeed to use spalatensis his phrase , they may be said to bee de ecclesiá praesumptivè , sed non realiter , non veraciter , of the church in their own and others opinion , but they are not so really : so long as they outwardly professe the true faith , without open scandal , charity presumeth them to be of the church , but verity denyeth them to be so . the learned davenant well argueth . nothing is that truely and formally , which it is said to be with the addition of a term of diminution , as a dead man is not a man , but a carkasse : now wicked men , whilest yer in the bosome of the church , they are but dead members , branches in christ , not bearing fruit , according to our saviours expression , they are not partes , but pestes ; not membra , but mali humores . ( so s. austin , ) not parts , but pests of the church , not members of , but ill-humores in the body . very apt to this purpose is that similitude which the same father borroweth from an house , in which there are rubbish and cobwebs , but they are none of the materials which constitute the fabrick of it . in one word , what st. austine saith concerning judas , un●● erat numero non merito , specie non virtute , commixione corporali non vinculo spirituali , he was one of the apostles in number , not merit , by corporal conversation , not spiritual conjunction ; that may no lesse justly bee asserted of all hypocrites , of whom bellarmine himself saith in st. austines language , adecclesiam pertinent numero non merito , they fill up the number of visible professors , but want the reality of true beleevers . thus as the romans said of that traytor to the city , iste non est noster , non est romanus , sed paenus , hee is none of ours , hee is not a roman , but a carthaginian , or as homer of the cowardly grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , oh gracians , you are not gracians ; so here the apostle of degenerate christians , they were no christians , they were not of us , as being destitute of a true and genuine faith . and now what should the consideration hereof teach us , but , not to content our selves that wee are received into the church by baptisme , and partake of its external priviledges , multi qui non ex nobis recipiunt sacramentum , &c. saith st. austin upon the place , many that are not of us doe yet communicate with us ; st. paul saith of a jew , he is not a jew that is one outwardly , nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh . the like may i say of a christian , he is not a christian that is one outwardly , nor is that baptisme which is outward in the body , frustra miscetur caetui sanctorum in temple manufact● qui submotus est à consortio dei & ab universo corpore mystico christi , saith st. cyprian excellently , in vain is he joyned to the society of visible professors , who is dis-joyned from christs mystical body , and hath not communion with god. not to be much offended , when we see some within the church going out of it . indeed it should bee our grief , but not our scandal , mourn wee ought for their sin in going out from the church , but still so as to comfort our selves with this meditation , they never were true members of the church . avolent quantum volent paleae leves , eò purior massa frumenti , in herdeum domini reponetur , so tertullian , let the light chaffe fly away whither it will , the good corn will bee layed up so much the purer in gods barn ; quand● evomuntur mali humores relevatur corpus , so st. austin , when the ill humours are vomited up , the stomack is eased , and the body releeved . the departure of wicked men from the church , is like the flying away of the chaffe , and the casting out of bad humours , and though it bee a woeful decession to them , it is a good riddance to the church , nor doth she lose any from her , but those who were never of her ; the truth of which will more evidently appear , if you take a view of the argument annexed , whereby this negation is proved , in those words , for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us . the strength of the proof is obvious to every capacity , that there will bee no need to insist upon it , for if they who are of the church doe continue in it , it must necessarily follow that they who doe not continue , but goe out of the church , were never of it . that therefore which we are a little to inquire into is the truth of the point , that they who are of the church , doe undoubtedly continue in it . it is a doctrine i shall have frequent occasion to discusse in my progresse through this epistle , and therefore i shall so handle it , as to reserve something to bee said hereafter . for the present i shall propose and resolve these two queries . how farre , or in what sense , this is verified ? vpon what ground the truth of it is founded ? to unfold the meaning of the position , know , that continuing with us is here to bee construed in opposition , not to all going out , but that which is malicious and impenitent , for such was the apostacy of those antichrists . they who are of the church may bee for a time seduced from the church , from her truth to errour , from her unity to schisme ; but , they goe not out totally , though from a particular , yet not from the catholick church , though from some truths which are as superstructures , yet not from those which are at least fundamentally , and absolutely necessary to salvation ; and though perhaps sometimes they may doubt of them , yet not so as to deny them , or if sometimes out of fear and infirmity to deny , yet not wilfully and resolvedly to oppose them . those instances of peter and judas doe very well illustrate the difference in this particular , between the departure which is incident to a true christian , and an hypocrite . peter indeed sadly apostatized , when he not only forsook , but denied his master , but it was against the bent of his heart , which was to professe christ , though all others forsooke him , as appeareth by his owne expression , in which regard tertullian saith of him , fidei robur fuit concussum non excussum , fides mota , non amota , the strength of his faith was moved and shaken , but not the truth of it removed and thrown down ; and st. gregory , that his faith that herb of grace was not withered , but rather trodden down with the foot of fear ; and to the same purpose the greek father , though the wind of satans assault had blown down the leaves , the root was alive ; whereas judas betrayed his master , out of a deliberate and wilful resolution , as appeareth by the contract hee made about it before hand ; thus whilst hypocrites wilfully make shipwrack of the faith , true beleevers are against their wills , through the violence of temptation , dashed upon a rock . they goe not out finally , so as never to return to the truth and unity of the church , vel rarò cadunt , vel dei beneficio resurgunt , saith daneus , they seldome fall into grosse errors , and when they do , they rise again by repentance ; though these sheep may sometimes wander out of the fold , the shepheard brings them back again . very suitable to this purpose , is that allusion of s. cyprian , to the dove and the crow , both of which went forth from the ark , but the dove returned , whereas the crow never did . the ark is a fit embleme of the church , the dove of a seduced catholick , and the crow of an obstinate heretick and whereas the heretick having left the church , goeth still downward to the gates of destruction , the catholick , though he may go out , returneth with prayers and tears . in this respect that observation of cicero , concerning the corinthian brass , that it doth not gather rust so soon as other , and is more easily scoured than other , is fitly applicable to the true members of the church , who are not presently with-drawn , and speedily recalled . that continuing with us , which is here asserted , is to bee understood , not in reference to their own strength , but divine power ; they that are of the church ( if left to themselves ) would soon leave her . temptations from the world and the devil , are so frequent and violent , grace in the best , so weak and defective , that were is not for that manutenentia dei , gods upholding mercy , it were impossible they should not bee drawn aside ; surely if the angels and adam ( who yet had no inherent cortuption to by as them ) soon left that state of integrity in which god created them , the best christians ( having the remainder of sin ) must needs bee more apt to turn aside from god ; but saith the apostle peter , wee are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation , that effectual grace saith austin , quae facit ut accedamus , facit ne discedamus , which causeth us to draw neer , keepeth us from drawing back , so that as in regard of our own weaknesse , it is impossible wee should continue of our selves ; so in regard of divine power , it is impossible but we should continue . by all which , the meaning of our apostle in these words , appeareth to bee briefly this , that they who are true members of the church , are undoubtedly so far preserved by gods power , that either they shall not go out , or if they do , they shall return , and so continue to the end . this is that truth which is shadowed forth in the psalmist , by the resemblance of a tree planted by the rivers of waters , which bringeth forth fruit in its season , whose leaf shall not fade ; in the gospel , by the similitude of an house built upon the rock , which falls not , though the winds blow , storms rage , and the waves beat against it . we read concerning the temple of solomon , that it was made of the wood of lebanon , which ( they say ) never corrupts ; upon which s. gregory thus moralizeth , secundum praescientiae suae gratiam sanctam ecclesiam de in aeternum permansuris sanctis constituit ; the materials of the spiritual temple are persevering saints , according to which , is the promise of christ to every true beleever , under the title of a conquerour , him that overcommeth will i make a pillar in the temple of my god , and hee shall go no more out . having unfolded the genuine sense of this position , it now remaineth that wee inquire into the grounds upon which the truth of it is established , which wee shall find to bee four , two in regard of god , and two in regard of christ . in regard of god , the certain continuance of the true members of the church , depends upon the love of his election , and the fidelity of his covenant . it is impossible that any of those whom god hath from all eternity chosen to salvation , should perish ; now out of the church , there is no salvation , and therefore it is impossible , they who are of the number of the faithful , and chosen of god , should utterly go out of the church , this is that which our saviour himself , speaking of those false christs , and false prophets , which should arise , and shew great signs and wonders , intimateth , as that , which secureth true beleevers from being seduced by them , because they are elected ; for when hee saith , insomuch , that if it were possible , they should deceive the very elect , hee manifestly implyeth , that since they are elected , it is impossible that they should bee deceived , to wit , so as utterly to renounce the christian faith . indeed , look as the passing of that bitter cup of the passion , was impossible , not simply in it self , but in respect of gods decree , so the seduction of the elect to a total and final apostacy , is , though very possible in respect of the devils power and policy , of the elects infirmities and corruptions , yet is impossible in regard of gods decree to glorify them , and in order to that to preserve them . to this purpose is that of st. paul , who having mentioned the woful apostacy of hymeneus and philetus , presently addeth for the comfort of sincere beleevers , nevertheless , the foundation of god standeth sure , having this seal , the lord knoweth them that are his , where by foundation is not improbably understood , that decree of election which is unchangeable , and they who are his , that is , in a peculiar manner , as being chosen by him , are known to him , to wit , by a special knowledge , so as to take care of them , that they shall not make such a ship-wrack of their faith as to sink into perdition . the covenant which god hath made with the elect in christ , doth not only promise a reward to them which continue , but the grace of continuance , and not onely the grace whereby they may continue ( if they will ) but that grace whereby they shall , at once bee both able and willing to continue ; what can bee clearer to this purpose than that of god by the prophet jeremy , to the elect jews , and in them to all his chosen ? i will make an everlasting covenant with them , that i will not turn away from them to do them good , but i will put my fear into their hearts , that they shall not depart from me . indeed these last words they shall not , are not directly according to the hebrew , yet they expresse the sense , which can amount to no lesse than a certainty of the event , for since the grace of fear promised is a sufficient means of not departing , and the promise of putting his fear into them for that end , argueth , that it was his intention they should not depart , this event could not but infallibly be produced , in as much as divine intention , seconded with sufficient means to produce the effect , cannot possibly miscarry . in regard of christ , the certain continuance of all the true members of the church depends upon the energie of his death , and the efficacy of his intercession . though the design of christs death was in some respect general , namely to purchase a possibility of salvation for all , upon the conditions of faith and repentance , yet i doubt not to assert , that besides this , there was a particular design of his death , which was to purchase a certainty of salvation by faith and repentance for some , to wit the elect , this being the most rational way of reconciling those scriptures which doe enlarge christs death to the whole world , with those that restrain it to his church . indeed , if there be not some who shall be actually saved by christs death , his death will be in vain : if there bee not some for whom christ hath purchased more than a possibility of salvation , upon condition , it is possible none should bee actually saved by it , especially if ( as those who deny this peculiar intention affirm ) the performing of the condition depends so on the liberty of our will , that notwithstanding the influence of grace , a man may chuse or refuse to doe it , for then it is as possible that every man may not beleeve , as that he may , and consequently it is possible no man may bee saved by christs death , and so christs death in vain , as to that which was its primary end , and consequently his intention frustrated ; it remaineth then , that as christ intended his death to be sufficient for all , so that it might bee efficient to some , in order to which it was necessary , that for those persons hee should purchase grace , yea not only grace , but perseverance in grace till they come to glory . among those many things for which christ intercedeth with the father in behalf of his members , this is not the least , that they may be preserved to his heavenly kingdom , and to that end that the holy spirit may be conferd on them . that prayer of christ on earth is generally acknowledged as the summe of what he intercedeth for in heaven , and if you peruse it , you shall finde him praying , not only for the apostles , but all that shall beleeve through their word , that the father would keep them through his owne name , from the evil ( to wit , of this world ) so as they may be with him where he is ( to wit in heaven ) and behold his glory . that promise which christ made to his disciples on earth , hee made good in heaven , i will pray to the father , and hee shall give you another comforter , that hee may abide with you for ever ; nor is this prayer made only for the apostles , but for the whole church , and every particular member , on whom by vertue of christs intercession , the spirit is in some measure bestowed , and that for this end , to bee an exhorter , a comforter , an instructer , an upholder of them in the way , till they come to the desired end ; so that now put all together , since all sincere members of the church are such , whom god hath freely predestinated to salvation by sanctification , and with whom he hath made a gracious covenant in christ to give them grace and glory ; since they are a purchased people , for whom christ hath given himself to redeeme them from all iniquity , to bring them to felicity and glory ; to which end , as he once shed his bloud , so still hee maketh intercession for them , and communicateth his spirit to them ; well might the apostle assert that , if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us . to apply this . doe we see any who having made ( though never so glorious ) profession of the truth , degenerate into blasphemous heresies , and impieties , and utterly fall away , we need not fear to conclude , that they never were what they seemed to bee ; if the seed which is cast into the ground doe not fructifie , we may safely inferre it is not the good ground ; if the house fall through the violence of the storms , we may truly deny that it was ever built upon the rock ; if when the wind of persecution cometh , any professors vanish by an utter apostacy , wee may justly assert they were not wheat , but chaffe . it was our blessed saviours plain assertion , if you continue in my word , then are you my disciples indeed ; whereby is implyed , that total and final apostacy is an argument of hypocrisie , and therefore whereas it it said , many of his disciples went away from him , st. austine saith , discipuli appellan●ur , & tamen non erant verè discipuli ; quia non manserunt in verbo ejus , secundum id quod ait , si manseritis in verbo meo verè discipuli mei estis , though they were called disciples , they were not so indeed , because they did not continue in christs word , according to that in the gospel , if you continue in my word , you are my disciples indeed , in reference to which it is , that he saith a little after , tune verò sunt quod appellantur , si manserint in eo propter quod ●ic appellantur , then , and then only are they that which they are called , christs disciples , if they abide in that for which they are so called . let all true members of the church rejoyce in this comfortable doctrin ; that phrase of st. paul , the grace of god wherein wee stand , is taken notice of by s. chrysostome , as very emphatical , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , very aptly it is said , wee stand , for the grace of god knoweth no limits , hath no end , and whereas earthly dignities are quickly lost , because the favour of princes is changeable , yea , however , though none else , death will put a man out of the highest office ; by the grace and favour of god wee stand so fast , that nothing can wholly divest us of this glorious priviledge to bee a member of the church . herein it is that our estate by conversion , is far better than adams by creation , hee indeed was in a state of perfect purity , but with all in a state of mutability , and though placed in paradise , yet so as that hee might , nay , did forfeit it to the utter ejection of himself , and his posterity ; wee being through regeneration grafted into christ , attain by his grace , though not exact innocency , yet a kinde of immutability , and are so planted in the garden of the church , that wee cannot be plucked up . this consideration is that which should inlarge our spiritual joy , but yet not diminish our prudential fear , and therefore wee should do well ( according to the psalmists advice ) to rejoyce with trembling . it is not to bee denyed , but that this doctrin being abused may become to some an occasion of security , but withall , it is onely so to them whom it concerneth not , the false , not the true members of the church , and it is onely so , because mis-understood , not in its own nature . indeed , were this the doctrin , that they who are of the church shall continue in it , though they live never so loosely , and go on in their sin impenitently , it would bee not onely an occasion , but a cause of presumptuous security , but the intent of this doctrin is onely to assure those who are of the church , that through the spirit of christ , by the use of those means god affordeth , and exercise of those duties hee requireth , they shall bee so far preserved , as that either they shall not at all go out of , or if through the enemies subtilty , and their own infirmitie , and inanimadvertency , they are seduced , they shall at length return by weeping-cross into the bosome of the church , and what place is here left for sloth and negligence , for presumption and security ? the truth is , it is no easy matter , on good ground to assure our selves , that we are of the church ; many not only in others , but their own opinion are of the church , and yet are not in reality , and if wee bee not indeed of the church , wee cannot continue . in this respect that counsel of st. paul is very needful , examine , prove your selves , whether you bee in the faith , use all diligence and faithfulnesse in searching out your spiritual estate . if wee bee of the church , wee are not so secured , but that wee may fall scandalously , and for a time go out from her communion ; sad experience maketh it good at this day in many , who have wretchedly forsaken the truth , and the church , for whose return wee pray , and of which wee are not altogether without hope , since wee trust , some of them are gone astray , not through wilfulnesse and contempt , but ignorance and weaknesse , and therefore not onely hee that thinketh hee standeth , but hee that doth stand , had need to take heed lest hee fall . finally , there is no assurance of continuance to the true members of the church , but in the use of means ; wee are kept by gods power to salvation , but it is through faith , and so likewise through fear and watchfulnesse , and humility , and obedience , and prayer , and attending on the word , and sacraments , and therefore they who are real christians , will not dare to neglect their duty in a fond presumption of gods upholding mercy . the summe of all is , our first work ▪ must bee to make it sure on good grounds , that wee are indeed members of the church , being in some measure assured of that , our next care must bee to apply our selves to a conscientious use of all the waies and helps which may preserve us in it ; and then though still wee must bee diffident in regard of our selves , as being conscious of our own impotency , yet in regard of god , wee may , wee ought to bee confident , that hee who hath begun his good work in us , will perfect it to the day of jesus , and having effectually called us into his church militant , that he will mercifully conduct us to his church triumphant . having dispatched the negative , it now remaineth that wee proceed to the other way of removing the scandal taken at the apostacy of these antichrists , to wit , the affirmative , which assigneth the end , for which god permitted it , but they went out from us , that it might be manifested that they were not all of us . these words , they went out from us , are not expressed in the original , but are necessarily implyed , and therefore fitly supplyed by the translator . these words , they were not all of us , seeme to intimate , that some of these antichrists who went out were of us , but the true sense of that clause will bee easily understood , if either according to the hebrew manner of speaking , wee read non omnis , nullus , they were not all , that is , none of us , suitable to which , is that of st. paul to the romans ▪ fetched from davids psalms , all flesh shall not bee justified ▪ that is , no flesh ; or if after , they , wee adde , who were among us ▪ for so it amounts to this , that all who are joyned to the society , are not of the number of the faithful , and that they who were not so , might bee discovered , was the reason why god suffered them to go out . congruous to this , is st. austins gloss upon this text , intus cum sint , non ex nobis sunt , non tamen manifesti , sed exeundo manifestantur , whilst they were among us ▪ they were not of us , but they were not manifested till they went out ; so that by their going out , they did not so much fall away from what they were , as make known what they were not , and that they were far otherwise than what they seemed to be . indeed , there is a double manifestation which god aimeth at in permitting the apostacy of hypocrites . the one of the sincere-hearted , that their integrity and constancy may the better appear ; this s. paul asserts , where hee saith , there must bee heresies , that they which are approved may bee made manifest . that question of our saviour to peter , and the rest , will you also go away ? seemeth to intimate , that then when so many went from him , was a time of discovering what metal they were made of , and then their true-heartednesse to their master had an opportunity to show it self . had it not been for those heretical and schismatical apostates of old , those ancient fathers , both of the greek and latine church , had not been such illustrious stars in the firmament of the church ; were it not for those of our latter daies ▪ and here among us , our church would not have had so much to glory of her cranmer , latimer , ridley , jewel , whitaker , whitgift , and the rest , who were so famous in their generation , for their magnanimity in maintaining the truth against apostatical opposers . the other of the false-hearted , who by going out shew themselves in their colours ; this is that which divine providence bringeth about for a double end . for the shame of themselves , ut quod occultaverunt ingenium nudarent , so lorinus , that their evil disposition , which before lay hid , may bee laid open to their disgrace ; whilest these men are in the church as gilded postes , painted sepulchers , whited walls , they seem beautiful , but when they go out , the gilt , and paint , and white , are as it were washed off , whereby their shameful rottenness appeareth , and according to s. pauls phrase , their folly is made manifest to all men . this is that which must fully bee accomplished at the last day , when the separation between the sheep and the goats , the orthodox and the here tick , godly and wicked , shall be most perspicuous ; and shame shall cover the faces of all apostates , but sometimes it is that which divine providence ordereth to fall out in this world , and that as for their greater ignominy : so for the safety of others , ut à fidelibus vitari possint , so estius ; ne alios corrumpant , so daneus ; that being discovered they may bee avoided , and their infection prevented ; whilest the wolf is covered with a sheep skin , hee is not so easily discerned , but when the skin is plucked over his ears , the true sheep can far better beware him . to winde up this , learn wee hence , to adore , admire , and extol the wisdome , mercy , and justice of our god , in discovering hypocrites by their apostacy . it is that wee have so much the more reason to take notice of , because wee see it so much fulfilled in our daies . the times wee live in have been times of tryal , god hath as it were by a fan winnowed us , whereby the chaffe is discovered , as by a winde shaken us , so that the rotten boughs , and fruit , fall off . how many , who whilest the church had the reigns of government in her hands , embraced her doctrin , reverenced her clergy , conformed to her discipline , have now made manifest , that though among , they were not of us ? their factious schismatical spirits , which fear then bridled having now had an opportunity , show themselves openly . oh let us blesse that divine providence which hath suffered it thus to be , as in justice to them for their detection , so in mercy to the church for her purgation . to beware how wee please our selves with hypocritical shows ; nemo diu ingenium abscondit , wee cannot long conceale our temper ; though the ape bee dressed up in a mans habit , it will upon any opportunity discover its apish nature , cito ad naturam ficta redierunt , what is feigned is forced , and cannot bee lasting ; besides , it is the just judgement of god on all hypocrites , sooner or later to discover them ; they may for a time couzen men , but god cannot bee deceived , whilest yet they remain in the church , they are known to him , as judas was to christ , and though hee wink at them for a time , yet in due time hee will pluck off their mask , and so order it , that they shall be made manifest : for so it fell out here with these antichrists , who ( saith the apostle ) went away from us , that it might be manifest they were not of us . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . , . vers . but yee have an unction from the holy one , and yee know all things . i have not written unto you , because yee know not the truth , but because ye know it , and that no lye is of the truth . it is not unfitly observed , that in those colder and frosty countries of the east , there are plenty of beasts , which afford furrs to keep mens bodies warm ; that in the beginning of the spring , when serpents peep out of their holes , the ash puts forth , which is a present remedy against their sting and teeth : no lesse , yea , far more considerable is the care of god in reference to his church , who as hee permits heresies and schismes to disturb her , so hee hath provided helps to perserve her . for this end hee hath appointed her his written word , as a sure canon , a safe guide , and an unerring rule ; for this cause hee hath given some apostles , and some prophets , and some evangelists , and some pastors and teachers , to build her up in the orthodox faith . finally , to this end , above all , he hath given her his holy spirit , whose illuminating and sanctifying grace , is sufficient for her ; of which it is our apostle here mindeth the christians . but you have an unction from the holy one , &c. in these two verses , we have two generals . a remedy prescribed , or rather described against the antichristian poyson , but you have an unction from the holy one , and know all things . an apology annexed , whereby an objection is prevented , which otherwise might have been made , i have not written unto you , because yee know not the truth , but because you know it , and that no lye is of the truth . begin wee with the remedy , as it is set down in the twentieth verse ; concerning which wee may take notice of four particulars . the quality , what it is , an unction . the community , whose it is , you have an unction . the originality , whence it is , from the holy one. the efficacy , what it doth , and you know all things . if you please to reduce the four to three , take notice of , the nature of the antidote , it is an unction . the author of it , who is called the holy one. the worth of it , by it wee know all things . once more , reduce the three to two , and then here is observable , doni collatio , a gift conferred , you have an unction from the holy one. beneficii illatio , a benefit inferred , and you know all things . in the handling of the former of these , wee shall consider these three things . the matter , or thing given , an unction . the recipients , to whom it is given , you have . the donor , by whom it is given , the holy one. the thing given as an antidote or remedy against the poyson of antichristian doctrin , is an vnction ; a metaphorical and allusive expression . annoynting most properly is with oyl , or else with oyntments , in which usually oyl is the chief ingredient ; but metaphorically annoynting is with the spirit , which is as oyl and oyntment . thus wee finde the prophet saying , concerning himself literally , and christ mystically , the spirit of the lord is upon me , because the lord hath annoynted me , to wit , with his spirit ; more plainly the apostle peter , god annoynted jesus of nazareth with the holy ghost ; and st. paul sufficiently intimateth it , when hee saith concerning christians , god hath annoynted , and sealed us , and given us the earnest of his spirit in our hearts , the spirit being as the earnest , so the seal and the oyntment : and accordingly the generality of expositors doe here interpret the spirit of god , with his gifts and graces to be this unction . st. austine among many others is expresse , unctio spiritualis ipse spiritus sanctus , the spirit of god is the spiritual unction . and accordingly this is one of the titles which are given to the holy ghost in that divine hymn , the fountain , and the lively spring , of joy celestial , the fire so bright , the love so clear , and unction spiritual . that the fragrancy of this metaphor may the better appear , give me leave to break the box , and let you see how fitly it is applicable to the blessed spirit ; to this end it will not be amisse to confider the properties , and the uses of oyl and oyntment . there are three eminent properties of oyl , which fully agree to the holy ghost , purity , permanency , and excellency ▪ oyl is of such a nature as that it will hardly mingle with other liquors , and whatsoever liquor you mixe it with , it still is uppermost . in this a fit embleme of the spirit , especially in respect of its sanctifying grace , which will not mixe it self with any sin , and where-ever it is , keepeth corruption under . indeed wine and water will easily incorporate , but oyl will not ; natural and acquired habits may consist with the predominancy of some lust , and therefore it is , that acutenesse of wit , strength of memory , depth of judgement , readinesse of elocution , skill in arts and sciences , and such like excellencies are to be found in wicked men , but those spiritual infused habits of grace will not admit the dominion of any sin , so that though sin still remain , yet it doth not , cannot rule in the regenerate . oyl is of a lasting durance , it is not as the water , evaporated by the scorching heat , or congealed by the freezing cold ; whereby is shadowed the perpetuity of the spirits renewing grace , notwithstanding the heat of persecution , and the cold of temptation ; the hypocrites fruit withereth , when the sun scorcheth ; like the standing pool , he is dry in the heat of summer , his courage faileth , grace decayeth ; whereas the true christian retaineth his integrity in the worst adversity ; when the northern wind of diabolical temptation bloweth upon an hypocrite , his zeal cooleth , his grace freezeth ; whereas sanctifying grace in the heart of the regenerate keepeth its vertue . oyl is of great worth , it is reckoned up as one of those choise blessings which god confer'd upon israel , i gave her corn , and wine , and oyl , and multiplied her silver and gold ; it was one of the precious things in hezekiahs treasury which he shewed to the king of babylons messenger , the silver , the gold , the spices , and the precious oyntment , where it is observable , that besides it is numbred among the precious things , it hath also the epithite of precious in particular annexed to it ▪ as also by salomon , where he saith , a good name is better than precious oyntment . but surely as there the wise man preferres a good name , so much more is the spirit and his grace to be preferred before it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith the greek father ; in very deed the holy spirit is a precious thing ; this oyl is invaluable , this jewel incomparable , and if the soul which dwelleth in our bodies be more worth than an whole world , this spirit which dwelleth in our souls must needs be of an infinite and transcendent value . besides these properties , there is a double use of oyl , to wit , for eating , and annointing , and the operation of oyl in both these uses , aptly sets forth the spirits efficacy . oyle , being eaten is sweet to the palate , and therefore manna , for its pleasant taste , is compared to it ; wholesome and nourishing to the body , and therefore joyned with fine flour and honey ; it was by meal and oyle , that the widow was preserved alive in famine : besides , it helpeth digestion of other meats , and therefore it is eaten with raw herbs , and such like cool things ; nay , more than so , though a man have swallowed poyson , being taken into the stomack , it will expell it , and preserve the body from death . all which are true of the spirits graces , by which wee are enabled to digest the word of god , not only its promises , but threatnings , the poyson of sin is expelled out of the heart , so far as it shall not hurt us , our spiritual taste is delighted , yea , our soul is nourished to eternal life . but i must remember the word in my text is unction , and therefore it is most suitable to consider oyl , as it is of use in annointing , and thus the parallel will hold in several respects , some whereof are more general , and others more special , both very significant to our present purpose . the more general uses of annointing with oyle , are these six . annointing wounds with oyle healeth them , upon which account the samaritan poured in , as wine for cleansing , so oyle for healing the wounded man ; nothing more frequently used by apothecaries and chirurgions , than oyles , and oyntments : this is the spirits efficacy , who is therefore called the comforter , viz. against all those disquietments , which unsettle the minde , and wound the conscience . the prophet isaiah , speaking in the person of christ , saith , the spirit of the lord was upon him , to heal the broken-hearted ; indeed , in regard of the wicked , hee is a reprover , to wound , but in regard of the weak , hee is a comforter , to heal . annointing tumours with oyle softeneth them ; to this , the prophet alludeth , where speaking of the diseases of israels common-wealth , hee saith , they have not been mollified with oyntment : this is the spirits operation , to soften the obdurate , and proud sinner , and therefore when almighty god promiseth to take away the stony-heart , and give an heart of flesh , he presently addeth , i will put my spirit within you . annointing the joynts with oile suppleth them , whereby they are nimble and active ; for which cause it is , that runners and wrastlers , were used to annoint themselves before hand : thus doth the spirit by his graces , strengthen us with all might , to run the way of gods commandements , and to wrastle with our corruptions . it is the prayer of david , establish mee with thy free spirit , whom hee calls by that epithite , no doubt , for this reason , because it is the spirits work to set us free from the setters of sin . upon the same account , hee is called by the prophet , the spirit of strength , and by the apostle , the spirit of life , in as much as hee strengthens us in our christian race , and quickens us to spiritual performances , unctio spiritualis gratiae adjuvat infirmitatem nostram , saith the latine father , the oyntment of the spirits grace helpeth the weaknesse of our flesh , and the greek father aptly , wee are inabled , not onely to do , but to suffer , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by the efficacy of the holy ghost . annointing the face with oyle , puts as it were a gloss and beauty on it ; of this the psalmist taketh notice , where hee saith , oyle to cause the face to shine ; naomi bids ruth , before shee went to boaz , to annoint her self ; and those virgins which were prepared for the persian king , did use oyle of myrrhe , which hath an abstersive vertue , getting wrinkles out of the skin , and beautifying the face : so doth the spirit by his graces , put a beauty upon the soul , whereby it becommeth amiable in gods eies ; thou art fair ( saith christ of his spouse ) which as it is true chiefly in regard of his imputed , so secondarily , in regard of the spirits imparted righteousness . all the wrinkles of sin spots of the soul , are in part , and shall bee fully done away by this oyntment , which can turn ethiopians into nazarites . annointing the body , especially the head with oyle , is a great refreshment , in as much as it maketh way for the emission of noxious vapours , and the free passage of the spirits . there are three qualities of oyle , laevor , nitor , odor , a smoothnesse to the touch , brightnesse to the sight , fragrancy to the smell , and so gratifying the senses , it must needs cause delight to those who are annointed with it . upon this account , do doubt it was used in feasts and banquets ; so much david intimateth , when hee joyneth annointing his head , with preparing his table ; and our saviour , when hee joyneth washing the face , and annointing the head. to this solomon alludeth , when perswading to a chearful life hee saith , let thy head want no oyntment ; and the prophet amos , when describing the jollity of those epicures , hee saith , they annoint themselves with the chief oyntments : to which agreeth that of wisdome , come , let us fill our selves with wine and oyntment . how fitly doth this represent the spirits unction , which alone can rejoyce and exhilarate the soul ? for this reason it is , that the holy ghost is called the oyle of gladnesse , and joy is called the joy of the holy ghost , and is reckoned up as one of the fruits of the spirit ; that joy which doth not proceed from him , is a worldly madnesse , not true joy ; the heart cannot bee really merry , till it is annointed with the grace and comfort of the spirit . lastly , and most suitably to the text in hand , annointing the eies cleareth them , so much is intimated in the counsel of christ to the laodicean church , annoint thine eies with eie-salve , that thou maiest see : so doth this spiritual unction inable the minde to discern spiritual objects ; and whereas other ointments may help the dimme sight , this opens the blinde eies ; this is that which is illustrated by the penetrating vertue of oile , when applyed to any part of the body , which is by opening the pores ; what other is the spirits illumination , but a sacred penetration , by opening the understanding ? to this purpose is that allusion concerning oile , that it feedeth the lamp , and so maintaineth the light , which otherwise would go out , for which reason , oile was prepared for the light of the sanctuary : thus doth the blessed spirit , first cause ( which oil cannot do ) and then preserve a divine light , in the soul , to guide its feet into the way of peace . wee finde in the ancient hieroglyphicks , the olive to have been an embleme of wisdome , true wisdome is from above , and drops down from that olive tree , the sacred spirit . in one word , as the dove bringing an olive-branch to noah , assured him that the waters were abated ; so the spirit bringing an olive-branch of peace to the soul , enableth it to know , that the waters of gods wrath are abated , than which , no knowledge more desirable . the more special use of annointing with oile , is for the consecration , or setting persons apart for some eminent office ; more particularly , there were three offices to which men were with oile annointed , to wit , that of a king , a priest , and a prophet . we read in the ceremonial law , of an oile , which by gods direction , was first to bee made , and then poured on aaron , and his sons the priests ; it was the command of god to samuel , that hee should take an horn of oile , and annoint david king , the like ceremony wee finde used in solomons inauguration , god bid elijah , to annoint elisha the son of shaphat to be prophet in his room . to this practice calvin conceiveth that the apostle alludeth in this place ; indeed , by this unction it is , that wee are consecrated kings , to captivate our lusts , moderate our passions , and order our conversations ; priests , to keep our selves unspotted of the world , to sacrifize our bestiallusts , and to offer up prayers and praises to god ; finally ▪ ( and most congruously , to our apostles scope ) prophets , to understand in some measure the spiritual mysteries of salvation . what now remaineth for the closing of this particular , but that wee look upon this word unction , as a word of security , of humility , of dignity , of hilarity , of faelicity , and of duty ? it is a word of securitie . indeed , that is the design of our apostle , to point out to us , what is our best safeguard against the blows , refuge from the storm , & antidote against the poyson , especially , of hereticks and heresies , so much the adversative particle , but , intimateth , that this unction is opposed as a preservative against heresie . that promise of god to his people , concerning the assyrian , his burden shall bee taken from thy shoulder , and his yoak from off thy neck , because of the annointing , is no less true of this unction , by which our necks are freed from the yoak of destroying errours . warriours of old , that they might make their armour glister , and render themselves formidable to their enemies , used to annoint it with oile , to this the prophet alludeth , where hee saith , arise you princes , and annoint the shield . loe here an annointing , which is our shield , whereby wee become terrible to satan and his instruments ; so that in vain do antichrists set themselves against those who are guarded with this unction . of humility , letting us see what wee are , in , and of ourselves , how hard our hearts , dead our affections , blind our uderstandings , how destitute of grace and peace , and joy , yea , all heavenly good ; else what need were there of this unction , to soften , enlighten , and inliven us ? the truthis , as the box hath no fragrancy in it self , but what it receiveth from the ointment that is in it , no more have wee any excellency , but what wee receive from the spirit ; abrahams faith , solomons wisdome , jobs patience , davids zeal , noahs obedience , were all but as so many drops of this oile ; and therefore let us learn to bee vile in our own eies , taking nothing to our selves , but ignorance , and f●lly , and wickednesse . of dignity . glorious things are spoken of beleevers by the apostle peter , where he saith , they are a chosen generation , a royal priesthood , an holy nation , a peculiar people , and these priviledges they partake of by vertue of this unction . greater honour there cannot bee , than those of royalty and priesthood ; kings are honourable , and priests are venerable , kings are the greatest of men , priests are men of god ; such honour have all they to whom this sacred unction is given . wicked men have low thoughts of beleevers , it is because they perceive not this unction ; but it matters not to bee despicable in the worlds , whilest wee are honourable in gods eies . of hilarity . indeed this oile is called by the psalmist , the oile of gladnesse , in as much as it fills the heart with spiritual joy . there is as bellarmine well observeth , an oile of sadnesse , which is used at funerals , and there is an oile of gladnesse , which is used at festivals , and to this is the spirit compared ; none are more chearful in all conditions , than the annointed ones ; this oile so mitigateth the asperity of affliction , that those who have it are exceeding joyful in all their tribulations , in which respect st. jerom saith excellently , multi vident crucem nostram , sed non vident unctionem nostram , many see our affliction , but not our unction , our troubles , but not our comforts , our tribulation , but not our consolation , which far exceeds them . of felicity . indeed as the annoynting of david by samuel assured him of the possession of the crown and kingdom in due time , so doth this unction ascertain all beleevers of the kingdom , which was prepared for them from the beginning of the world ; to this purpose it is , that the spirit which here is called the unction , is elsewhere by st. paul stiled the earnest of our inheritance , and as receiving the earnest entituleth to the inheritance , so doth the receiving of the spirit , thus by what we have , wee conclude what wee shall have , and the participation of the unction giveth a firme expectance of the coronation . of duty , which lyeth in two things . making use of this unction for those choyse and excellent ends to which it is designed . it is not the oyntment in the bon , but applied to the part , which becometh effectual , what will the most precious unguent avail him that hath it , but doth not use it ? oh therefore christians be wise to improve this unction to the best advantage . when then at any time we feel our consciences wounded , our spirits dejected , have recourse to this unction for benefit and comfort , if , as oh how oft , thou perceivest in thy self an bardnesse , and dulnesse , rendring thee unprofitable under the means of grace , and unfit for holy services , make use of this unction to soften and quicken thee . walking worthy of , and answerably to this unction . it is an undoubted truth , where much is received , much is expected , the greater helps are afforded , the greater performances are required ; god looketh for more from them to whom he hath given his written word , than from those who have only the light of nature , and he looketh for yet farre more from them to whom he giveth an internal vnction , than those who have only an external revelation , and therefore as st. paul exhorts the thessalonians , to walk worthy of their high and heavenly calling , so let me exhort christians , to walk worthy of this high and heavenly unction ; and so much for the matter of the gift ; passe we on to the recipients of this gift , in the pronoun you , not only we apostles , but you christians , and so this appeareth to be a priviledge belonging to all that are effectually called to christianity . it is st. pauls universal negative , if any man have not the spirit of christ , he is none of his , in which is included that universal affirmative , all that are christs have his spirit . to open this briefly , you must distinguish , between the miraculous and the gracious unction ; some expositors conceive our apostle here referres to that unction of the apostles in the day of pentecost with extraordinary gifts , whereby the truth of evangelical doctrin was confirmed : but had this been his meaning , hee should rather have said , wee have an unction ; for though the sent and perfume of that unction filled the whole church , and so it was for the benefit of all christians , establishing them in the faith , yet the oyl it self was poured upon the apostles , and therefore that sense of that phrase seemeth much strained , you have an unction , that is , we have an unction for your good . it is true . that in the primitive times the miraculous unction was not only conferr'd upon the apostles , but upon many christians , but yet since our apostle affirmeth it indefinitely of those to whom he wrote , i rather conceive that here he intends that unction of illuminating and sanctifiing grace , which every christian is partaker of , and by which he is enabled to know , and beleeve to salvation ▪ for though every beleever is not annoynted with the holy ghost and power , yet hee is annoynted with the holy ghost and grace . between the possession and the manifestation of this unction ; it is one thing to have it , and another to know we have it ; there may be a presence of the spirit , and yet not a sense of that presence ; a man may have a treasure in his field , and not know it ; all christians have this unction from their first conversion , though perhaps they are not presently apprehensive of its vertue and operation . between the droppings , and the pourings out of this unction ; it is one thing to have the spirit , and another to be filled with the spirit . this unction is variously distributed , to some in a greater , to others , in a lesser , but to all christians in some measure ; it is not for every christian like st. stephen , to bee filled with the holy ghost , and yet there is no christian of whom it can bee said , as st. jude of those false teachers , not having the spirit . to wind it up , if we pretend to christianity , where is our vnction ? where are the vertues and efficacies of our unction ? the holy ghost who is here called an unction , is elsewhere compared to a seal , and as men use to set their seals on their own wares , so doth god his spirit upon them that are his . oh let this bee the chief of our desires and endeavours , that god would make us his sealed , his annoynted ones , and whilst others count it their happinesse when they can say , we have lands , and houses , and riches ▪ wee have swords , and scepters , and robes ; we have dainties , and musick , and all sort of delights ; let us esteem it our blisse , and make it the height of our ambition to say , we have an unction ; and so much for that . ▪ the last particular remaining to be discussed in this general , is the donor of this gift , namely the holy one . by which some understand the third person in the sacred trinity , to whom this character so fitly agreeth , that he is usually set forth by this title , the holy ghost ; but the scripture phrase is not annoynting from , but with the holy ghost , by which is intimated , that the holy ghost is the unguent itself , and therefore it is more rational to understand by the holy one , christ , from whom it is wee have the unction of his spirit ; so that in the handling of this part , i shall first give you an account how fitly and fully it agreeth to christ , and then reflect upon the unction , how justly it is affirmed to be from christ . it would not be passed by , that the apostle mentioning christ , describeth him by holinesse , it is the title by which he characterizeth himself in the beginning of his epistle to the church of philadelphia , these things saith he that is holy ; and that he spake no more than truth of himself , you may hear the same from the mouth of his , and our grand adversary the devil , i know thee who thot● art , the holy one of god. our apostle here sets it down very emphatically , the holy one , that is , singularly , eminently , perfectly holy , or in daniels phrase , the holy of holies , which our translators fitly render by the superlative degree , the most holy one ; look , as a little before the devil is called the wicked one , because hee is extreamly wicked , so christ is called the holy one , as being transcendently holy . it is that which is true of christ in reference to both his natures , as god , and as man. holinesse is the inseparable property of a deity , it is as it were the excellency and perfection of the god-head , and crown of all the attributes ; now christ is gods own son , to whom hee communicateth himself , and so this holinesse . the angels in isaiah , and the beasts in the revelation , giving glory to god , three times iterate , holy , holy , holy ; with reference , as some conceive , to all the three persons , holy father , holy son , and holy spirit , and thus christ , as god , is holy in his nature , in his decrees , in his word and works , and eternally holy in all he is and willeth , he saith and doth , according to that of the psalmist , he is holy in all his works . as man , he is the holy one , and that both in respect of his conception , and conversation . his conception was holy , because of the holy ghost , who over-shadowed the virgin , purifying that part of her substance of which christ was born , whereby hee was free from all that corruption which is by adam propagated to his posterity . to this probably referrs that phrase , the holy childe jesus , and certainly that of the angel to the virgin , the holy ghost shall come upon thee , and the power of the highest shall over-shadow thee , therefore the holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god. true it is , christ took upon him the reality of frail flesh , but only the likenesse of sinful flesh , and though he assumed our natural , yet not our vitious defects . his conversation was holy . indeed how could any impure stream flow from so pure a spring ? his nature being holy , his life could not be unholy , and there being an exact integrity in the one , there must needs be a spotless innocency in the other ; on the one hand he was to bee a pattern of holinesse , after whose copy all christians are to write , good reason it should be exact without the least blot ; on the other hand , he was to be a sacrifice for sin , which he could not have been , if hee had not been without sin , and therefore it behoved him to fulfill all righteousnesse , by a full conformity to that exact rule of gods law. nor is he only holy , but the holy one , in respect of both his natures . in regard of his divine nature , in as much as he is essentially , infinitely , originally , and immutably holy ; essentially , because his holiness is not an accident to him , but his very essence ; infinitely , because his holiness is not only without imperfection , but limitation , originally , because his holiness is from himself , & he is the cause of all holinesse in the creature ; immutably , because it is altogether impossible he should cease to be holy , for then he must cease to bee god ; well might hannah say , none holy as the lord ; and indeed this phrase is most properly verified of him in this regard ; for as aristotle , though he call other things good , yet when he speaketh of the chief good , he calleth it by way of eminency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the good ; so though the creature may bee said to bee holy , yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy one , most properly belongs to god , though yet secondarily , and in a comparative sense , not only with all other men , but angels , christ in respect of his humane nature is the holy one , and that upon a double account . the one , because the holinesse of his humane nature farre surpasseth that which is in any other creature , and that in as much as it was presently to bee united with the god-head , and if some measure of holinesse bee required in all that approach god , how unmeasurable and perfect must be that holinesse of christs humane nature , which is united with god , and in whom the fulnesse of the godhead dwelleth bodily ? the other , because , whereas all other creatures have holinesse only for themselves , and cannot convey it to others , in which respect st. austine saith of holy parents , they beget their children , non è principiis novitatis , sed è reliquiis vetustatis , not from the principles of the new man , but the remainders of the old man , and so cannot communicate their holinesse to their children ; christ is a son of righteousnesse , imparting holinesse to his church ; a root of holinesse ( as the first adam was of wickednesse ) giving the sap of grace to all his branches , in which regard st. paul saith expresly , he is made to us of god sanctification . o then let us learn to magnifie christ in and for his holinesse . that phrase in moses his hymn , who is like to thee o lord , glorious in holinesse , what doth it intimate , but that holinesse calls for glory and praise ? worthy then is he who is the holy one to bee honoured and adored by us . that expression of the psalmist , holy and reverent is his name , plainly teacheth us , that sanctity calls for reverence ; oh let us reverence the person , and hallow the name of christ , because he is the holy one ; what the romanists doe parasitically to the pope , christs pretended vicar , calling him superlatively , most holy father , and abstractively , his holinesse , that we need not fear to doe religiously to christ himself . and since we call our selves christians , oh let us account our selves engaged to the study and exercise of holinesse ; it is st. peters reasoning , since hee which hath called you is holy ; nor is the argument lesse valid , hee by whose name you are called , is holy , be you holy in all manner of conversation , because it is written , be you holy for i am holy . how unsuitable are unholy members to an holy head ? and therefore how abominable must prophane christians be to this holy jesus ? certainly the holy one is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ( to wit , without fury ) in any , and much lesse in his own followers ; and as moses saith , god will bee sanctified in those who draw nigh to him , so let me tell you , christ will bee sanctified by those who professe his name , and therefore either disclaim christianity , or embrace sanctity , that you may be in some measure like him , who is here stiled , the holy one . having given you this view of the title by which christ is called , be pleased now to look upon this person so called , as he is affirmed to bee the donor of the vnction , for so the text runs , you have an unction from the holy one , that is , from christ . it is that which is true of christ in a double causality . meritorious , in as much as hee was at the cost to purchase this unction , and that at no lesse a rate than his own bloud ; the apostle paul speaking of christ saith , not only that in him wee have redemption through his bloud ; but a little after , in whom you were s●aled with that holy spirit of promise , the donation of the spirit being one of those precious benefits which christs death hath procured for us . efficient , in as much as having on the crosse purchased this unction for us , he rose from the grave , and went up into heaven , for this cause among others , that he might actually conferre it on us . it is said , there was in rome , at the day of christs birth , a fountain of oyl which sprang forth ; sure i am ▪ this unction of the spirit is given to christ , not only for himself , but his church ; and as the oyntment trickled down from aarons head to the very skirts of his garment , so the oyl of the spirit is diffused from christ to all his members . those two olive branches mentioned by the prophet zachary , are by some expounded of christ his two natures , and of them it is said , they empty the golden oyl out of themselves , to note that communicative influence from christ to the christian , whereby he partaketh of this unction . it pleased the father ( saith the apostle ) that in him should all fulnesse dwell , not only plenitudo abundantiae , but redundantiae , vasis , but fontis , an abundant fulnesse , as in a vessel filled up to the brim , but a redundant fulnesse , as in a fountain , whose streams make glad the city of god. thus , as it is said in the psalms , he received gifts , so in the epistle , hee gave gifts , intimating , that he received gifts , not only for himself , but his church ; that as he received from his father the spirit without measure , so we might receive from him the spirit by measure ; no wonder if the spirit be called in scripture , the spirit of christ , and the spirit of christ jesus , and the spirit of the lord. if any shall ask why the apostle did not say , you have an unction from him , or from christ , but from the holy one ; the answer may probably bee returned , that it is to intimate the nature of this unction , which is an holy oyntment , and for that end it is chiefly given by christ , namely for the renewing and sanctifying of our natures ; that as the oyntment which god appointed to be made by moses did sanctifie the things , and persons , which were annoynted with it , so doth this unction confer holiness on those to whom it is given , upon which account it is called , the spirit of holinesse ; and thus it is universally given to all beleevers , for the preserving them , both from sin , and errour . to end this point , and so this discourse . you who are christians only in name , and want this unction ; you who are christians indeed , and would have this unction more abundantly , learn whither to repair for it . it is our saviours advice to the laodicean church , and in her to all christians , i counsel thee to buy of mee , this choyse commodity is no where else to be had , and though it cost him dear , yet he sells it us cheap , our buying is only begging , our paying praying ; and therefore acknowledging , as all our comfort to be in him , so grace to be from him , let us continually depend on him , earnestly seek to him , that as he hath shed his bloud for us , so he would shed his spirit on us . amen . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . but yee have an unction from the holy one , and yee know all things . the christian religion , as it imposeth difficult precepts , so it proposeth pretious pr●mises , and though it put the professors of it upon frequent dangers , yet it withall assureth them of glorious priviledges . among those many promises and priviledges , none of more special concernment than this of the holy unction , the spirits donation by which wee are enabled to all duty , and confirmed against all perils . there are two things especially , by which the christian church , and her members are endangered , namely , violent persecutions , and virulent heresies , these corrupt our mindes , those perplex our hearts , these cheat us of , those affright us out of truth ; but this spiritual unction is both our consolation and illumination , the latter of which it is that our apostle acquaints us with in the text , but you have , &c. the second part of this verse , is that which i am now to handle , namely , beneficii illatio , the benefit conferr'd on all true christians , by vertue of this unction , as it is set down in those words , and you know all things . for the fuller discussion whereof , bee pleased to consider it both absolutely and relatively , inclusively and exclusively ; by the one wee shall see the nature of the benefit , wherein it consists , how far it reacheth , and by the other , its original whence it floweth , and on what it dependeth , namely , the holy unction . begin wee with the absolute consideration of the benefit , and inquire what is involved in this , you know all things . there is some little difference in the reading of one word in this clause , which would not bee omitted , the syriack reads it as if it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , you know all men , and so the benefit here intended , is that which is called by s. paul , discerning of spirits , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith theophilact , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , to know who is spiritual , and who is not , who is a prophet , and who is a deceiver ; nor is this reading here unsuitable ▪ because the apostle just before speaketh of antichrists , between whom and the orthodox s. john might look upon the christians , to whom hee wrote , as able to judge . now this gift in the primitive times was double , the one more special , onely conferred by the spirits extraordinary unction upon some eminent persons , whereby they were able to dive into the very hearts of men , and could positively conclude them ( as the apostle peter did simon magus ) to bee in the gall of bitternesse , and bond of iniquity , notwithstanding their fair professions , and specious pretences . the other more general , and to which all christians by vertue of this unction were enabled , namely , to know all men by their fruits , according to that rule our saviour giveth concerning false teachers , who being ravenous wolves , came in sheeps clothing , by their fruits , ( that is , by their works and conversation ) or rather by their fruits , ( that is , by their doctrins and positions ) you shall know them . a gift , which if every christian might not in some measure attain to , that counsel of trying the spirits , which our apostle giveth in this very epistle , would bee in vain . but the greek lection is our best rule , which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and accordingly our english version is most genuine , you know all things ; for the fuller opening of which , take notice of the extent of the object , all things , and the intent of the act , you know . begin wee with the extent of the object , and this is set down in a word of the utmost latitude , all things , but yet a limitation must bee annexed to this latitude , and this universal particle restrained . it is the observation of a learned divine , that god admits into his own names and attributes , that addition of universality , omne , as though hee would especially bee known by that ; thus he is said to bee omnipresent , omnisussicient , omnipotent , and omniscient ; and indeed as an ubiquitary existence , illimited fulnesse , infinite power ; so an universal knowledge is reciprocal with the deity , and therefore incommunicable to any creature , so that though there be not expressed , yet it must bee supplied , a qualifying word . they are quaedam omnia , some certain all things , which christians do know by vertue of this unction . more particularly , there is a threefold limitation of this all things . all divine things . we are not to imagine that this unction maketh all christians acquainted with the secrets of nature , mysteries of trades , axiomes of arts , idioms of languages , for then every christian should bee an orator , philosopher , artificer , expert in all manner of knowledge . indeed , if the spirit pleased , hee could inspire such a knowledge into the minds of beleevers , and wee finde particular instances of those to whom he hath extraordinarily given knowledge in humane things , when it hath been in subserviency to some divine ends . so bezaleel is said to bee filled with the spirit , and skilled to do the work of the sanctuary , thus the illiterate fisher-men were furnisht with the gift of tongues , to speak to the people in their several languages , the mysteries of the gospel ; but yet this is not the spirits ordinary way , who leaveth humane knowledge to the acquisition of humane industry , and consequently it is onely the knowledge of divine things , which is here meant . all divine things revealed . that speech of moses , secret things belong to god , revealed things to us and to our children , plainly intimateth , that there are some things which god in wisdome keepeth hid from the sons of men ; and as hee in plutarch , answered the man which asked him , why his basket was covered ? because he should not look into it ; so hath god therefore concealed those things , that wee should not pry into them . it was the fault of our first parents , that they desired to know more than god would have them ; as wee do not , so wee must not desire to know hidden mysteries . indeed , the psalmists expression is , the secret of the lord is with them that fear him , but what that secret is , appeareth in the very next verse , hee will show them his covenant , which is revealed in his word , and is onely secret , because hid from them that perish . true it is , where this unction is extraordinarily conferred upon prophets and apostles , they have been so inspired , as to discern , and accordingly to utter strange things , such as were to come to pass many ages after , but still the ordinary influence of this unction enableth only to know those things which god hath revealed in his word . all divine things revealed , that are necessary to bee known , omnia necessaria cognoscendis antichristis , et cavendis illorum insidiis , so beza and grotius , all things necessary for discovering these antichrists , and avoiding their snares ; omnia quae ad salutem pertinent ▪ so bernard and ferus , all things which are necessary to salvation . we are not to imagine , that this unction inlightneth every christian to understand the whole scripture , so far as to interpret its dark sentences , aenigmatical phrases , abstruse prophecies ; but ●o far as is needful in order to preserve us from damnable heresies , and the attaining of eternal salvation , this unction enableth to apprehend the will of god , revealed in his word . with these limitations , wee may very well enlarge the all things , to god , christ , our selves , sin , satan , the law , the gospel , grace , and glory ; christians know god his unity and trinity , his mercy and faithfulnesse , power and wisdome , justice and goodnesse ; they know christ , his person , his nature , his offices , his benefits , and that love of his , which passeth knowledge ; they know themselves , how wretched , and miserable , poor , blinde , and naked ; they know the sinfulnesse of sin , the devices of satan , the deceitfulnesse of their own hearts ; they know what it is god requireth of them , and what hee hath promised to them ; they know the things that are freely given them of god , and the things that are mercifully prepared for them ; in a word , whatever things pertain to life and godlinesse , ●o glory and happiness , are in some measure made known to them ; and thus you have a short account of the large extent of this object , pass wee on to the intent of the act , you know . now that knowledge which this unction effects in the mindes of beleevers , hath these three properties , it is certain and establishing , it is not a conjectural opinion , but a confident perswasion , which christians have of divine truths , non levi quâdam et perfunctoriâ , sed solid â cognitione rerum imb●ti est is , so grotius glosseth ; it is not a sleight , and perfunctory , but a solid and evident knowledge ; so that neither the subtilties of antichristian teachers , nor the violences of antichristian persecutours , can withdraw such an one from the truth hee hath embraced . wee beleeve , and are sure , ( saith s. peter , in the name of himself , and the rest of the disciples ) that thou art that christ the son of the living god. indeed there are different degrees of this certainty , according to the different dispensation of this unction , but every one who is taught of god , and annointed with the holy ghost , hath some measure of certainty , as to fundamental verities : when perhaps his head is too weak to grapple with some kinde of heretical arguments , yet his heart is strongly resolved to hold fast the evangelical doctrines , and though hee cannot dispute , yet hee will beleeve ; and though they bee things not seen by sense or reason , yet his faith being built on a divine testimony , maketh them clear and evident , so as hee dares venture his soul on them . savoury and relishing . hee that hath this unction , so knoweth , as to taste a sweetnesse and excellency in divine things , insomuch that with st. paul , hee accounts all other things as dung and losse in comparison of the excellency of this knowledge . there is a great deal of difference between that knowledge a man hath of countries , by a map ▪ and that which he attaineth to by travels . it is one thing for a man to hear a discourse of the beauty of colours , or the sweetnesse of honey , and another for a man to see the one , and taste the other . oh taste and see ( saith the psalmist ) that the lord is good ; so doth every christian , his knowledge in divine things is like the eye to colours , and the taste to meats ; hee so seeth , as to bee enamoured with the beauty , hee so tasteth , as to bee well pleased with the sweetnesse of them . the needle which is tou●hed with the loadstone , doth not more naturally move towards the pole , than a soul touched with the blessed spirit moveth towards heavenly objects . in one word , this knowledge , like the light , not of the moon , but sun is ever attended with heat , and so doth not onely inlighten the minde , but inliven and inflame the affections . operative and transforming . wee all ( saith the apostle ) with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the lord , are changed into the same image ; in other sciences a man may bee exact at the theory , and unskilful in the practick , but in divinity , that onely is the right knowledge , which mouldeth a man into the frame of what hee knoweth . we read of jacob , that upon the agreement between him and laban , hee took rods of green poplar , and the hasel , and chesnut-tree , and peeled white strakes in them , and made the white appear that was in the rods , and set them before the flocks , in the gutter , in the watering troughs , when the flock came to drink , and conceiving before the rods , they brought forth ring-striked , speckled and spotted ; the like efficacy , hath a true sight and apprehension of evangelical truths upon every christian , inabling him to turn words into works , and show forth a conformity to them in his life ; hee knoweth god and christ , so as to trust in , and become like to them ; the precepts , so as to observe and obey them ; sin and heresies , so as to abandon and abhor them ; for which cause perhaps it is that the gospel is called a doctrin according to godliness , not onely because it teacheth godliness , but being rightly known , it enableth men to live godly . e●napi●● , in the life of porphiry , speaking of his master longinus , saith , that hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ a living library , a walking study ; so is the annointed christian , having digested the sense of scripture into vital blood , and commenting upon scriptural doctrin by a practical conversation . to shut up this first consideration in a double meditation . how glorious a priviledge is it to bee a christian , and partake of the unction ; what is more valued by a rational creature than knowledge ? and by vertue of this unction wee attain the knowledge of all things ; i mean those all things which are the onely things , and without which he that hath the tongue of men and angels , and hath the exactest insight into arts and sciences , may yet be said to know nothing , nothing of that which he ought chiefly to know , and which every true christian in some measure attaineth to . how clear and quick-sighted is a spiritual inlightened eye ? it seeth not onely things that are neer , but a far off , present , but future , things below , but above , looking even within the veil , into the holy of holies . the christian knoweth those things which others are meer strangers to , hee knoweth those things hee did before , after another and a better manner . that blasphemous expression of the familists , that a christian is deified , may in some sense receive a fair construction , whilest every christian hath a kinde of omnipotency and omnisciency , the former is by st. paul asserted of himself , i can do all things , to wit , through christ that strengtheneth me , and the other is here affirmed by s. john of the christians , you know all things , to wit , having received the unction . how great will the capacity of our knowledge bee when we come to heaven ? what a surpassing brightnesse shall then encompasse our souls , when wee shall see all truth in him who is truth it self ? that phrase of st. paul , we know in part , seemeth directly opposite to this of st. john , you know all things , but yet they are easiy reconciled , by observing st. pauls scope in that place , which is to compare our knowledge for the present , with that which we shall have hereafter ; in reference to which the largest measure of knowledge we attain here is but a narrow scantling ; the knowledge we have here is an integral knowledge , extending it self to all things necessary , as a childe is an integral man , having all the faculties and members of a man , and therefore truly saith our apostle , you know all things ; but yet with all it is a gradual knowledge , rising by degrees , as a childe groweth stronger and taller , and is so imperfect , that in comparison of that knowledge wee hope for , justly said st. paul , we know in part ; indeed our present knowledge is but sci●tilla futur● lucis , a spark to that flame , a drop to that floud , a beam to that splendor we shall then enjoy ; so that though in it self it be an extensive , yet in this respect it is a defective knowledge which wee now attain ; then , and not till then , it is that wee shall know all things which a rational creature is capable of , wee shall swim in a vast ocean of divine knowledge , wee shall be surrounded with such a glorious light , whereby wee shall exactly , perfectly know what ever may conduce to make us happy ; oh! how few are the all things wee see now , in respect of the all things wee shall behold then ? how many things are now hid from us , which shall then bee discovered to us ? and surely that little taste wee have now of divine knowledge , cannot but make us long for that state wherein wee shall have our full draught . having dispatched the absolute , pass we on to the relative consideration of this benefit , as it is an effect of that unction mentioned in the former clause , and that such an effect , as can flow from no other cause , so that the affirmation intendeth a negation , and when it is said , you have an unction , and know all things , it ▪ implyeth , that without this unction you cannot know any thing , to wit , of those things , and with that knowledge which is here intended , and hath already been unfolded . indeed , as to corporeal sight , there are among others two things especially required , to wit , an eye within , and a light without , and therefore if either adest lumen , et desunt oculi , light bee present , but the visive faculty absent , or adsunt oculi , et deest lumen , the visive faculty be present , but the light absent , there can bee no sight : so is there required to spiritual knowledge , an external revelation , and an internal illumination , the one whereof sets the object before us , and the other elevateth the understanding within us , and both of those are from this unction . by the extraordinary unction of the holy ghost , the apostles were inspired to reveal , both by their tongues and pens , evangelical doctrin , and had there not been this revelation of it , wee could never have known it . it is not once , but often that the gospel is called , a mystery , yea , saith s. paul , without controversy it is a great mystery . now a mystery , as s. chrysostome well observeth , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , something unutterable , admirable , and unconceivable , so that it could never have been found out by us , had it not been made known to us from above . as for humane & natural things reason is conversant about them , and yet ever in these it is many times nonplus'd , as being not able to fathome the depth of them ; but as to divine things , reason is not onely dimme , but blinde . indeed , there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , some common principles of divinity , and morality , religion , and honesty , still remaining in our nature , but evangelical verities , are such as reason could never have prompted to us , so that what our saviour said to peter concerning the particular article of his being the son of the living god , flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee , may bee asserted of all the doctrins of the gospel , they are such as natural reason could never have revealed to us . true it is , reason , that candle of the lord , as solomon calls it , affords so much light , even to pagans , as will render them inexcusable , since their not walking according to reasons dictates shall be their condemnation , but it is christ , the sun of righteousnesse , as malachy calls him , who giveth us that light , by following of which , wee may attain salvation , for no man knoweth the father ( whom to know is eternal life ) but the son , and him to whom the son revealeth him . but this is that truth , which is agreed to on all hands , even pelagians , and socinians , acknowledging the necessity of divine revelation in order to the acquisition of happiness . bee pleased therefore to know further , that by the ordinary unction of the spirit , which is conferred on every christian in some degree or other ; there is a spiritual illumination of the minde , whereby natural reason is elevated to a right apprehension of evangelical doctrines , and this is no lesse needful than the former ; to which purpose is that gloss of calvin upon the text , non acumine proprii sensus rectè sapiunt homines , sed illuminatione spiritus . it is not by the sharpenesse of our own understanding , but by the inlightning of the spirit , that wee savour divine things . to this truth s. paul giveth a most clear and full evidence , where hee saith in expresse words , but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god , for they are foolishnesse unto him , neither can hee know them , because they are spiritually discerned ; where the chief question to bee resolved in order to the genuine interpretation of the words , is , who is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , natural man , concerning whom this is said , that he receiveth not , and cannot know the things of the spirit of god. some affirm the natural man to bee the weak beleever , but how weakly , will appear , if wee observe the opposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is not to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one who is perfect , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , every one who is spiritual , which though it bee more eminently true of the strong , yet it is verified of every true christian , hee is one who hath not received the spirit of the world , but the spirit which is of god , and so is among the number of the we mentioned in the twelfth verse of that chapter . and which fully cleareth it , that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here cannot be the weak christian , is , that the things of the spirit are said to bee foolishness to him , which cannot bee affirmed of any true christian , though never so weak , who hath learned to adore and admire those divine mysteries , which hee cannot apprehend ; suitable hereunto it is , that the apostle in the eighteenth verse of the former chapter , saith , the preaching of the crosse is foolishnesse , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to them that perish , whereas the weakest christian is among the number of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the latter clause of that verse , them who are saved , to whom therefore it is impossible that the things of the spirit should bee foolishnesse . others there are who by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 understand the man who is altogether destitute of the helps of ingenuous education , and divine revelation , whereas our apostle plainly tells us in the former chapter , that they were the wise disputers of the world , to whom evangelical doctrin ( when revealed ) did seem no other than folly , and therfore when paul preached at athens , a place of literature and knowledge , arts and sciences , the cry of those sophies is , what will this babler say ? once again , some there are who interpret this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to bee one who is given to sensual lusts , and so hath his reason clouded by carnal affections ; but it should then have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , between which suidas and isidore peleusiota ( from whom probably the other borrowed it ) make this distinction , that the carnal man is one who serveth the flesh , and suffereth himself to bee guided by his corrupt affections , and the natural , or animal man , one who builds upon humane reason , thinking by his ra●i●cinations , disputations , and syllogismes , to finde out what is just and profitable , not craving , or admitting the influence of the spirit . the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then here mentioned , is every man who ( though otherwise well furnished with intellectuals and morals , having all those improvements of reason which all kinde of philosophy can afford him ) is yet altogether destitute of the inlightening and renewing grace of the holy spirit ; nor is this my distinction , but st. judes , who in the characters hee giveth of those false teachers , puts these two together , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , explaining the former by the latter , and letting us see that all such who have not the spirit are meer natural men . of this natural man st. paul plainly and positively asserteth , hee receiveth not the things of the spirit of god , indeed there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some things of god , which a natural man may know , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the things of the spirit of god , to wit , the truths which are purely evangelical , hee receiveth not , nor is it said , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he doth not finde them out , but when they are found out and revealed to him , hee doth not receive them ; nor is it only a reception of them into his will , but understanding which is intended , for it followeth , hee cannot know them ; nor is it onely said , hee doth not , but hee cannot , it being impossible for him meerly by the help of natural reason to attain the knowledge of them , and this because they are spiritually discerned , that is , the spirit of god which revealeth them must also inable to discern them . indeed , socinus would explain the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee receiveth not , that is , hee findeth not out the things of the spirit of god ; but this notion of the word findeth no parallel in the new testament , nay , is against the nature of the thing , for receiving supposeth some thing offered , which when it is applied to doctrins , the offering is the revealing them ; nor is it lesse incongruity to interpret this of st. paul , hee receiveth not , that is , hee findeth not out , than if one should expound that of s. james , receive the ingrafted word , that is , finde it out , which will so much the more appear , if you observe the reason annexed , why the natural man receiveth them not , to wit , because they are foolishnesse to him , and if these things were to bee found out , how could the natural man apprehend them to bee foolishnesse ? i have been so much the longer in the explication of this scripture , because it is an explication of the text , and the truth in hand . for the prevention of those objections which may bee made against , and the further confirmation of this position , be pleased to know , that , the reasonable creature is the subject of evangelical doctrin , this spirit doth not bestow his oile upon trees and plants , beasts , or birds , nor doth hee raise up of stones , and blooks , children to abraham ; all divine knowledge is grafted upon the stock of natural reason . by that native light of reason within us , wee may attain the knowledge of many things delivered in the gospel , those i mean which are common to the holy scripture with other writings . how many things historical , moral , speculative , practical , are there in the sacred books , which wee meet with in heathen authors ? our gracious god would not so over-whelm humane infirmity in the patefaction of evangelical mysteries , that there should bee nothing for reason to fix upon , and yet withall hee would not have all things so suitable to reason , that there should be no need of faith . the litteral sense of the scripture words may through industry bee attained to by the help of reason . skill in the tongues , though it was for a time immediately and extraordinary conferred upon illiterate persons by the holy ghost , yet is such a gift as may bee attained to by common helps , and the same industry which renders a man expert in giving the grammatical sense of other authors , may no doubt inable him to do the like , in reading the books of the sacred pen-men , nay more , the spirit of god in scripture , doth not affect that obscurity of language which some other writers do , and so the sense of it may more easily bee gathered . the spirit of god inlightening us to understand those truths which are purely evangelical , maketh use of reason , this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , flower of the soul is not blasted , but rather the more opened by the blowing of the blessed spirit ; when a man commeth to bee initiated into the school of christianity , hee is not commanded to throw away his reason , onely to subjugate it . indeed , every christian must deny his reason , but that is , as hee must deny his affections ; as it is not the extirpating , but the moderating of his affections , so it is not the casting away , but the captivating of his reason to the obedience of faith , which christian religion requireth . in one word , whilest the spirits grace is acknowledged to bee principium , the principal efficient cause , i shall not deny reason to bee instrumentum , an instrumental cause , whereby wee come to the knowledge of divine things . and therefore lastly , this still remaineth as a sure maxim , that natural reason , by what helps soever improved , is altogether insufficient , without the spirits grace , to the savoury apprehension of those supernatural and purely evangelical verities , which are revealed in the holy scriptures . it is not unfitly observed , that as nature hath its secrets , and arts their crafts , so all religions have their mysteries , which are not known but to them who are brought up in them . it were easy to instance in the persians , indians , syrians , grecians , egyptians , romans , who had their mysterious rites , which the devil taught them , and accordingly were taken up in imitation of the true religion , which both in the jewish and christian church , never wanted its mysteries , such as none can comprehend , neither can any apprehend , but those who are taught by the blessed spirit . this is expresly asserted by christ himself , when hee saith to his disciples , it is given to you to know the mysterys of the kingdome , vobis datum , non vobiscum natum , this knowledge is not born with you , but given to you ; if then innate reason were sufficient , what need it bee given ? nor is it onely by outward revelation , for so it was to those scribes and pharisees , the wise and prudent , from whom yet those things are said to bee hid , to wit , because their eies were not spiritually inlightened to discern them ; if you would know what it is that was given to these disciples , let one of them , the beloved disciple , inform you , and that in this very epistle , where hee saith , the son of god is come , and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true ; so that not onely the revelation of that we are to know , but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 understanding it self , whereby wee know , was given by christ , and this as a peculiar grace conferred on some , whilest it s denied to others . to this purpose tend those metaphors of opening the eies , and opening the heart ; plainly intimating , that in the work of conversion , there is not onely an outward , but an inward work ; nor are evangelical truths onely revealed by the word , but the rational faculties are rectified by the spirit ; what more pregnant instance of this truth , than nicodemus , to whom the evangelical doctrin of regeneration was preached by christ himself , and yet by whom it was not understood for want of the spirits illumination ? no wonder if gods promise to his people runs , i will give them an heart to know mee ; without which , though hee had showed his word and statutes to them , they would still have continued ignorant , as to any spiritual and saving knowledge . it is a known axiome in philosophy , that there must be a due proportion between the faculty and the object , and therefore as sense cannot apprehend the things of reason , so neither can reason the things of the spirit ; there being no proportion between natural reason and spirtual verities . indeed , reason in it self is a thing spiritual , as spiritual is opposite to material , but not as it is opposed to natural ; and it must bee a spiritual , that is , a supernatural quality infused by the spirit , which can inable us to apprehend supernatural objects ; suitable hereunto is that distinction in the schools , of a three-fold light , of nature , of grace , of glory , one whereof is far short of the other , and as the light of grace is not proportionable to those beatifical objects of glory , so neither is the light of nature to the spiritual objects of grace , and therfore most justly is this affirmative , you have an unction , and know all things , construed , as including the negative , if you had not this unction , you could not know any thing . to conclude then , let the consideration hereof learn us a double lesson , to wit , of humility and prayer . let it abase us in our own estimation , notwithstanding our choicest natural or acquired abilities ; vain man ( saith eliphaz ) would bee wise , though hee bee born like a wilde asses colt ; men would bee masters , not onely of natural , but divine knowledge , but they become vaine in their imaginations . in reason , as corrupted , there is a direct enmity against the gospels simplicity , yea , the line of reason at the best , is too short to fathome the depth of evangelical mysteries , and therefore if any one would bee wise ( let him according to s. pauls counsel ) become a fool , that hee may bee wise ; he only is in a fit capacity for divine knowledge , who humbly acknowledgeth his own inability of himself to attain it . as wee desire to know all things needful to salvation , pray wee for the spirits illumination ; it is strange , and yet true , to consider how simple idiots are able more divinely to discourse of gospel verities , than some learned clerks , and whence this , but from this special unction of the renewing spirit ? and when wee hear wicked christians sometimes fluently uttering divine knowledge , whence is it but from the common unction of the illuminating spirit ? there is no unfolding samsons riddle , unlesse wee plow with samsons heifer ; no understanding the things of the spirit , but by the grace of the spirit , and therefore i shall end my discourse with the beginning of that excellent hymn . oh holy ghost , into our wits , send down thy heavenly light kindle our hearts with servent love to serve god day and night . amen . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . i have not written unto you , because yee know not the truth , but because yee know it , and that no lye is of the truth . this verse may well bee called a religious complement , inserted by the apostle , no doubt for this end , that hee might the better gain upon those to whom he wrote . that piece of oratory which teacheth captare benevelentiam , to seek the good will of auditors , is of good use in divinity . they are too mor●se and rigid , who account all civil language in a pulpit , da●bing with untempered mortar . st. paul doubtlesse did not court agrippa with a falshood , when hee saith , beleevest thou the prophets ? i know thou beleevest them ; nor did hee gild rotten posts , when hee saith to those hebrews , i am perswaded better things of you , though i thus speak : far bee it from st. john who declaimeth against hars , at the same time to bee guilty of flattery , which is no better than lying ; to sooth up our hearers in their wickedness , is abominable , but to smooth them with oyly language , and silken words , that they may bee more pliable to what is good , is allowable , whilest herein wee trace the footsteps of the penmen of holy writ , particularly s. john , and that in this verse , which is as it were an insinuating parenthesis , i have not written unto you , because yee know not the truth , &c. in which words there are three general observable . i a delineation of the gospel , by a double character . principal and ●rect , ●n that it is called the truth . coll●●eral and co●seque●●ial , when it is said , no lye is of the truth , ii a commendation of the christians to whom the apostle wrote , by removing ignorance from them , attributing knowledge to them , in those words , not because you know not the truth , but because ye know it , &c. iii an anticipation of an objection which might be made against his writing to them who were thus knowing , in those words , i have not written unto you , &c. begin we with the delineation , and therein , the principal character , which though comprized in that one word truth , carrieth in it a great deal of weight . not to trouble you with the philosophical distinctions of truth , be pleased to know to our present purpose , as there is a double word , so there is a double truth , to wit , personal and doctrinal ; our blessed saviour saith of himself , i am the truth , and some interpreters conceive that by truth here , the apostle meaneth christ ; when our saviour prayeth for his disciples , sanctify them through thy truth , hee presently addeth , thy word is truth , and accordingly others expound truth here to bee the evangelical doctrin . to this latter interpretation i rather adhere , because it is most probable that st. john understands the same by truth in this verse , which he intends by all things in the former , and those are all things revealed in the gospel . truth may bee construed in a double opposition , either to that which is typical , or that which is false . sometimes the truth is opposed to types and ceremonies ; thus when wee are required to worship the father in spirit , and in truth ; as the former is opposed to hypocritical , so the latter most rationally to ceremonial worship ; and when it is said , the law came by moses , but grace and truth came by jesus christ , wee may probably conceive the sense to bee , that whereas moses onely delivered precepts to bee done , christ giveth by his spirit grace to do them ; and whereas the ceremonial law consisted onely of types and shadows , the truth , that is , the impletion of all those , is now performed by christ ; accordingly the gospel is the truth , because it revealeth the body of those shadows , the mystery of those figures , the substance of those types , and to this zanchy conceiveth , the apostle paul might have respect , when hee calls it , the word of truth . sometimes the truth is opposed to falshood and lies , for that is the most genuine signification of the word , and withall the most rational interpretation of it in this place , where wee finde a lye expressely set in opposition to it ; upon this account no doubt it is , that the gospel is so frequently stiled the word of truth , and the way of truth , and the truth . to this purpose is that metaphorical●hrase ●hrase of s. peter , where he calls it , the sincere milk of the word , to wit , without any base mixture of falshood indeed , there are some doctrins of the gospel , which are nor verisimilia , probable to our reason , but still all of them are verissima , of most certain verity . for the clearer manifestation whereof ( which was never more needful , than in this sceptical , yea , atheistical age ) and that in opposition to all other doctrins whatsoever , bee pleased to consider the matter , the witnesses , the miracles , and the success of the evangelical doctrin . the matter of the gospel proclaimeth it to be the truth , inasmuch as it layeth down surer principles , purer precepts , and higher promises than any other doctrin whatsoever . this is that doctrin which maketh full provision for our comfort , by teaching us how god and man may bee brought together , how justice and mercy may meet each other , by proposing to us such a reward , which for its excellency and perpetuity is every way adaequate to a rational desire . this is that doctrin which giveth full direction for our obedience , by injoyning such duties as are most just and pure , and so most consonant to right reason . the testimony given to the historical part of this doctrin , especially that of christs resurrection ( which if acknowledged true , there will bee no reason to deny the truth of any thing revealed in the gospel ) is so valid , that there need not , could not bee a clearer evidence . for however they were persons tenuioris fortunae , of a mean estate , yet they were inc●lpatae famae , of unblemished credit ; nor was it onely one or two , but a great number of men and women , who testifyed the truth of it , and this not upon hear-say , but as that which they had seen with their eies , and their hands had handled , nor ( which would not bee left out ) was there any hope of profit or preferment which might induce them to attest a falshood . . the miracles which accompanied those oracles were such as abundantly confirm their truth , for though it is true ; the publishers of lying doctrines have by the devils help wrought wonders , yet either they were ( as st. paul calls them , lying wonders ) meer delusions , making things appear which are not , by corrupting sometimes the fancy , sometimes the sense , sometimes the air , and sometimes the object ; or if they were true wonders , yet they were not miracles properly so called , because , not above the power of nature , onely the devil , either by his agility removing of , or bringing on objects upon the stage in a moment ( as it was probably in the magicians imitation of moses , when hee turned rods into serpents ) or by his sagacity , discovering the secrets of nature , oft times effects such things as to us being unknown , are wonderful , though indeed they are but natural . but the wonders which were wrought by the preachers of the gospel plainly appear to bee such , as either no created power can at all effect , as raising the dead , curing the blind , lame , and deaf , which were so out of a natural defect in the organ , and are reckoned among those total privations , which in course of nature , admit of no return to the habit , or which if a natural virtue can effect , yet not in that way and time , as the healing of the sick by a touch , by a word , at a distance , in an instant , and therefore were no other than divine miracles . so that , unless were will suppose that the true god would confirm a lye , by signs and wonders , wee must needs acknowledge the truth of the gospel . . lastly , the wonderful success which this doctrine hath had in the world , may very rationally evince its truth . it is a known saying , veritas magna & praevalebit , the power of truth is unconquerable , and though sometimes it may bee suppressed , yet it cannot bee extinguished : indeed it is not true reciprocally , that though truth will preval at last , yet every doctrine which prevaileth for a time , is truth ; if this plea were sufficient , nakedly considered , the mahumetan doctrine would challenge this title of truth , as having gained upon the greatest part of the habitable world for many hundred years ; it is not therefore simply the strength , but the strangeness of the gospels prevalency , which argues its verity . that the mahumetan doctrine should bee generally embraced , is no wonder , partly because it is a doctrine congruous to mans corrupt inclination ; it was at first propagated , and is still maintained by force of arms : but that the evangelical doctrine which teacheth lessons contrary to flesh and blood , liberality to a covetous , humility to a proud , piety to a prophane , and righteousness to a cruel world , which was so much opposed and persecuted by the wise and great men , the princes of this world , should bee published by twelve illiterate , unarmed men , who had not spears , but onely staves in their hands , not swords , but scrips by their sides , and were as a few sheep among a multitude of ravenous wolves , and yet the publishing should bee so effectual , as to gain a multitude of disciples in all parts , and those such as did many of them lose their liberties , states , and lives in defence of it , is so strange a success , as may very well bee a strong argument to testifie the truth of the gospel ; by all which it appeareth what good reason st. john had to call the gospel , the truth , in opposition to falsehood . but yet this is not all which this type prompts us to , for in that the apostle doth not say , the true doctrine , in the concrete , but the truth , in the abstract , so that whereas there are many other truths which every art and science teacheth , hee seemeth to appropriate it to the evangelical doctrine , as if that onely deserved the name of truth , is very emphatical , and no doubt his intention hereby is to let us see that the gospel is eminently and transcendently true : indeed veritas consistit in indivisibili , one thing cannot bee truer than another , but yet one truth may bee of greater eminency than another ; such is the doctrin of the gospel , whose excellency will appear , if you consider that it is a divine , an universal , and an effectual truth . well may the gospel bee called the truth , in as much as it is , the divine truth , which was dictated to those who published it by the spirit of god ; i grant as st. ambrose saith , omnis veritas à spiritu sancto , all , even humane truth , is from the divine spirit ; in which respect , truth is called by the greek poet , the daughter of god , but still it is onely scriptural truth , which is of immediate inspiration ; all truth calls god father , but this is his reuben , his first-born , these things saith hee that is true ; and again , these things saith the amen , the faithful , and true witnesse ; so run the prefaces of the two epistles to philadelphiae , and laodicea , and accordingly st. peter , they spake as moved by the holy ghost . indeed , if you please to review three of the fore-mentioned arguments , to wit , the matter , the miracles , and successe of this doctrin , you shall find them proving as well the divinity , as the verity of the gospel . an universal truth , such as containeth in it all truth needful to bee known in order to salvation : indeed , there are many natural truths which are below the majesty , and beside the scope of the gospel , and therefore are not contained in it , but all saving truths either formaliter or reductivè , in expresse words , or plain necessary consequences , are revealed by the gospel ; hence it is that this doctrin is as it were a rule or standard , by which all doctrines must bee tryed , so that , if an angel preach any other gospel he is ac●ursed ; for which reason no doubt , it is called a canon by st. paul , where hee saith , as many as walk according to this rule ( or canon ) peace bee upon them , and upon the israel of god. lastly , an effectual truth , the truth which of all others hath the most powerful operation ; indeed as it was first inspired by , so the preaching of it is still accompanied with the holy spirit , whereby it hath a far greater efficacy , than any other truth whatsoever ; for whereas other truths have onely an influence upon the understanding , this , together with the understanding , hath an influence upon the will and affections ; other truths may make us wise , but this will make us both wise and better ; glorious things are spoken of thee , oh thou coelestial truth ▪ the truth shall make you free , sanctify them through thy truth , they are christs own words , ●● his own good will begat hee us by the word of truth , so st. peter ; all truth is gods daughter , but this is as it were his spouse , by which hee begets sons and daughters to himself . in one word , it is this truth , and this alone , which doth so inlighten the minde , as to incline the will , regulate the passions , comfort the conscience , renew our nature , and sanctify our whole man ; no wonder , if our apostle call it abstractively truth , and emphatically , the truth . having given you this account of the principal , it will bee easy to infer the collateral character of the gospel , where it is said , no lye is of the truth : in the greek it seemeth to bee a particular proposition , every lye is not of the truth , but it is equivalent to an universal , and therefore is fitly rendred , no lye is of the truth . to open the sense briefly . there is a threefold lye , verbal , practical , doctrinal ; verbal is , an untrue narration , when wee either affirm what is false , or deny what is true ; practical is , an unsuitable conversation , when wee unsay with our lives , what wee say with our lips ; doctrinal is , an erroneous position concerning matters of faith or practice , and though it bee true of all sort of lies , yet no doubt it is the doctrinal lye which is here chiefly intended . whereas it is possible upon false hypotheses to inferr true conclusions ( whence it is usual in astronomy , by supposing things that are not , to demonstrate the truth of things that are ) it is impossible from true positions to infer a false conclusion . indeed , too often wicked hereticks fasten their lyes upon the evangelical truth , and for this reason probably st. john inserted this clause ( which at first may seem supervacaneous ) that whereas the antichristian ▪ teachers might pretend to boast of the truth , our apostle assureth those to whom hee wrote , that the truth did not , could not father any such lyes . the truth is , when hereticks indeavour to prove their doctrines by scripture , they deal by it as caligula did by the image of jupiter olympiacus , when hee took from it its own head , which was of gold , and put upon it one of brass , they spoil truth of its genuine sense , to put upon it a corrupt glosse ; it being as possible for cold to come from heat , or darknesse from light , as any lye from the truth . nor yet is this all that this clause imports , minus dicit , plus volens intelligi , saith estius , our apostle intends more than hee speaketh , for whereas he saith , no lye is of the truth , hee meaneth , every lye is against the truth . indeed , some lies have a semblance of truth , and are so bold as to claim kindred to it ; but notwithstanding their seeming consonancy , there is a real repugnancy , and they are so far from being of , that they are contrary to the truth . to close up this first general ; since the gospel is the truth , and consequently no lye is of it , learn wee to embrace it with those two armes of faith and love . let us stedfastly beleeve it ; the heathen had an high opinion of their sybils , as appeareth by that of the poet , credite me folium vobis recitare sybillae , and shall not wee yield a firm credence to the gospel ? st. paul saith of the thessalonians , that the gospel came not to them onely in word , but in power , and in the holy ghost , and in much assurrnce , intimating , that they had not onely a conjectural opinion , but a full perswasion of the truth of the gospel ; let the same confidenee be in us . it is the truth , and therefore wee may infallibly venture our souls upon it , heaven and earth shall pass away , before the least jot of it shall be found false and lying . let us affectionately love it , so as not onely to yield obedience to , but contend in the defence of it , whensoever wee are called to it . the heathen in their sacrifices to apollo , cryed out , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , truth is sweet . let us say with david of this truth , oh how sweet is it to my taste ? it is sweeter than the honey and the honey combe ; veritas christianorum incomparabiliter pulchrior helenâ graecorum , saith st. austin , the christians truth is incomparably : fairer than the hellen of greece and if the grecians so hotly strove for the one , how zealously should wee contend for the other ? wee may venture our souls on it , and we must be willing to venture ou● states and bodies for it , and as he said , though upon another account , amicus plato , amicus aristoteles , sed magis amica veritas ; plato and aristotle are my friends , but truth much more : so let us in this , my liberty , my life , is dear to mee , but the truth of the gospel is far dearer ; and that wee may thus beleeve and love , let us bee careful to know it , for which it is that our apostle praiseth these christians , and so i am fallen on the commendation , not because you know not the truth , but because yee know it , whence it will not bee amiss to observe in general , that this holy apostle is not awanting in just praises of those to whom hee writeth ; very often in this epistle hee calls them , little children , and in this hee dealeth with them as with little children , who are best won upon by incouraging commendations . it was one of st. jeromes counsels to laeta , about the bringing up of her daughter , laudibus excitandum est ingenium , that shee should excite her by praises . when the school-master by commending his scholar for doing well , le ts him see , that hee hath a good opinion of him ; it is a notable spur to put him upon preserving and increasing that good opinion , by doing better ; what the blowing of the horn is to the hounds in their chase , and the sounding of the trumpet to the horse in the battel , that is praise to men in their prosecution of vertue , and opposition against vice . and therefore let all ministers learn to take notice of , and incourage the forwardnesse of their people , and let them be no lesse careful to extoll their virtues , than to reprove their vices ; when the people do what is commendable , it is but just wee should commend what they do ; and if they finde matter , let not us want words , in giving them their deserved praises , according to the pattern which here st. john sets us . in special , take a view of the commendation here given , which is first by way of remotion , acquitting them from ignorance ; they were not like st. pauls silly women , which were ever learning , and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth , not like those hebrews , who , whereas for the time they ought to have been teachers , they had need that one teach them again , which bee the first principles of the oracles of god , they were not such as did not know the truth . and then by way of attribution , asserting that they were such who did know the truth ; yea , that they had a distinct knowledge of it , whereby they were able to distinguish ▪ between truth and falshood , for that you know is very fitly by interpreters supplyed in the last clause , you know that no lye is of the truth . our blessed saviour speaking of his sheep , saith , they know his voice , and that so , as to distinguish it from the voice of strangers , for so it followeth , and a stranger will they not follow ; thus doth s. john here commend these christians , not only for a true , but a clear knowledge , whereby they were able to judge aright , and discern between things that differ : indeed , according to that known maxim , rectum est index sui et obliqui , that which is true , discovers not only it self , but that which is false , and therefore he that knoweth the truth , knows that no lye is of it . that it may the better appear , how high a commendation this is , it will bee needful to discusse a little on the one hand , the evil of ignorance ; and on the other , the good of knowledge . not to know the truth is a sin sadly to bee bemoaned , and such as contracts not onely guilt , but shame upon the person . indeed this is not true of all kinde of ignorance . there is an ignorance which is commendable , not to know what god hath kept secret , because hee would not have us know ; it s no shame for a man not to know that which is not in his possibility , and such are all those things which god hath not been pleased to reveal . there is an ignorance which is excusable , to wit , when it is of such truths , which are without our sphere , and therefore have no need to know them ; when it is of such truths as are polemical , problematical ; which partly by reason of the difficulty of the matter , and partly by reason of the imbecillity of our understanding , wee cannot attain to a full knowledge of ; when though it be of the evangelical truth , yet it is either through a defect of revelation , which is the onely means whereby wee can know it ; as in pagans , who never heard of the gospel , and therefore shall not bee condemned for not knowing and beleeving it ; or through a natural incapacity , as in infants , and fools , and mad-men , who being not able to make use of their reason , cannot attain to this knowledge . but not to know in some measure the necessary truths of the gospel , notwithstanding the opportunities and means of knowledge afforded to us , is an ignorance deservedly blameable . indeed , it is negligentia non impotentia , incuria non incapacitas , not an impotent incapacity , but a retchlesse negligence , it is not an invincible , but a vincible , not a negative , but a privative , not an involuntary , but a wilfull ignorance , not of one who would , but cannot , but of one who may , but will not know the truth . and now to bee thus ignorant , is our sin , our shame , our ruine ; what a travellor is without his feet , a workman without his hands , a painter without his eies , that is a christian without knowledge , unable to do the will of god : what danger a ship is in that wants a rudder , ballasse , anchors , cables , sails , the like is hee in who wants knowledge . how easily is hee tossed up and down with every winde of doctrin ? how unable is hee to stear a right course towards heaven ? how quickly is hee overturned into a gulf of errors , and vices ? no wonder if god complain by the prophet hoseah , my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge . our proverb saith , the blinde man swalloweth many a flye , and catcheth many a fall ; it is no lesse true of an ignorant christian , hee swalloweth many an errour , and falls into many a sin ; this jaw bone of an asse , i mean ignorance , hath slain its thousands , laying heaps upon heaps : in a word , almighty god is so far provoked with affected ignorance , that hee threatneth by his prophet , it is a people of no understanding , therefore hee that made them will not have mercy on them , and hee that formed them , will shew them no favour , and by his apostle , that the lord jesus shall beerevealed from heaven in flaming fire , taking vengeance on them that know not god. to know the truth , and that no lye is of it , is a virtue highly to bee commended . indeed , there is an excellency in all kinde of knowledge ; it is a pearl despised of none but fools , knowledge having no enemy but the ignorant . alexander was wont to say , hee had rather excell in knowledge , than bee great in power . indeed , what the eie is in the body , that is knowledge in the minde , that the choycest member of the one , this the noblest ornament of the other ; but surely this knowledge whereof my text speaks , is far more excellent than all other knowledge whatsoever , for wheras by knowledge it is that a man differeth from a beast , by this knowledge it is that a christian differeth from other men , nullus omnino cibus suavior quam cognitio veritatis , saith lactantius , no sweeter food to the minde , than the knowledge of truth , and especially of this truth . what the foundation is to the building , the root to the tree , that is this knowledge to the soul , the beginning of all grace and goodnesse ; what the sun is to the world , that is this knowledge to the minde , to inlighten , inliven , and rejoyce it ; if that philosopher when hee had gained a new notion in astronomy , was so ravished , that he cryed out , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i have found it , i have found it ; how much greater joy hath the christian , knowing supernatural truths ? in a word , this knowledge is not onely that which leads to grace and joy , but glory . s. paul hath put them together , when he saith , god would have all men come to the knowledge of the truth , that they may bee saved ; no wonder , if st. john account those christians praise-worthy , for this , that they did know the truth . and now i would to god , that wee could say the same of all our hearers ; but i fear , in regard of too many , wee may instead of commending , condemn , of praising complain , that they are not such as do know the truth , but do not know it ; our language may not be this of s. johns , but that of s. paul , some have not the knowledge of god , i speak this to your shame : indeed , a shame it is that any among us should bee ignorant , for to allude to the apostles phrase , have they not heard ? yea , the sound is gone throughout all the land , all means of knowledge , preaching , catechising , writing , are plentifully afforded ; god may say to us , as he did to his people of old , have i been a wildernesse to the house of israel , a land of darknesse ? and yet how many remain destitute of saving knowledge ? it might have been said of this land for these many years , in regard of the gospel , what is said of rhodes in regard of the sun , semper in sole sita est rhodos , it is alwaies in the sun-shine ; the light of truth hath shone gloriously among us ; and yet how many owls fly up and down in this bright-firmament ? how many beetles in this goshen land of light ? lactantius observeth , that there was never lesse wisdome in greece , than in the time of the seven wise men ; and they say of the indians , among whom all the gold is , that none are more meanly clad than they : oh that even in this land , which hath equallized , if not excelled all other parts of the christian world for perspicuous instruction , there were not to bee found many grosly ignorant . the truth is , some , though they bee strangely ignorant , are highly conceited of ( than which no greater enemy to ) their knowledge . the opinion of having attained knowledge , as it is an argument that a man hath not attained , and therefore saith st. paul , he that thinketh hee knoweth any thing , knoweth nothing as hee ought to know ; so it keepeth a man from endeavouring to attain , and therefore saith solomon , seest thou a man wise in his own conceit , there is more hope of a fool than of him . some who are sensible of their ignorance , are yet ashamed to discover it , and therefore they seek it not at the priests lips ; hence it is , that whilest you frequently consult with the lawyer , to know the certainty of your evidences ; and with the physician , to be informed in the state of your body , yet you seldome or never repair to the minister , to inquire of , and be informed by him in the things that concern your souls . too many look upon divine knowledge as a thing to which onely the divine is obliged , they need not trouble themselves about it . if the merchant can but know how to keep his accounts , how to import and export his wares ; if the trades-man can but skill how to buy and sell , and get gain ; if the husbandman can but learn how to mannure his ground , it matters not for the mystery of godliness , and knowledge of the truth . nay , i would to god there were not some , who do not only neglect but reject this knowledge , saying , with those prophane atheists , to god , wee desire not the knowledge of thy waiss , and that they may continue in their ignorance , they either content themselves without any , or with some blinde guide , who instead of teaching others , had need himself to be a catechumenist . suffer , i beseech you , the word of exhortation , to answer the means with some measure of knowledge . philip rejoyced that alexander was born in the daies of aristotle : let us blesse god , that wee are born in the times of light , and since god is not awanting to us , let not us bee awanting to our selves ; wait at the posts of wisdomes house , sit at the feet of your teachers , and inquire what you know not , from their mouths ; diligently peruse the holy scriptures , the rich cabinet in which this jewel , the knowledge of the truth , is to be found , purge your hearts of arrogant self-conceit , taste the sweetnesse of divine truths , obediently practise what you know , so shall you more and more know what to practise ; above all , according to solomons advice , cry after knowledge , and lift up your voice for understanding ; what st. paul praies for the ephesians , beg of god for thy self , that the eies of thy understanding may be inlightened . and when thou hast attained the knowledge of the truth , bee not proud , but humble , still acknowledging thy need of further helps , by the tongues and pens of gods ministers , as st. john here intimateth , in that hee saith , i have written unto you , because you know , which leads to the anticipation of an objection , which might arise in their mindes from that which is asserted in the preceding verse , if wee have an unction , by which wee know all things , to what end , might they say , or at least think , is your writing ? which objection hee prevents , by adding , i have not written to you because you do not know the truth , but because you know it . some expositors conceive these words to bee an apology for his writing so little , alioqui largiore vobiscum usus sum sermone , so grotius , if you had not known the truth , i would have written more largely to you , but verbum sapienti sat est , a word is enough to the wise ; and doubtlesse , it is a peece of prudence in a minister , to make a distinction between auditories , when they speak to the simple and ignorant , to use more plain , large , and loose expressions , but when to intelligent christians , more concise , pithy , and exact . the generality of interpreters conceive this an apology for his writing at all , which might seem supervacaneous to those , who by vertue of a divine unction knew so much already , wherein our apostle lets them know , that notwithstanding the knowledge they had attained , it was still needful to write to them , and that because they had attained this knowledge . in particular , there might bee a threefold reason of st. johns writing to those knowing christians . in memoriam revocare , to bring that truth to their memory which had been already imprinted in their understanding , upon this account , as st. john here , so elsewhere , the other apostles expresly apologize for themselves , i will therefore put you in remembrance , though you once knew this ; so st. jude . i will not bee negligent to put you alwaies in remembrance of these things , though yee know them , and bee established in the present truth , so st. peter . and i my self also am perswaded of you my brethren , that yee also are full of goodnesse , filled with all knowledge , able also to admonish one another , neverthelesse brethren , i have written the more boldly unto you in some sort , as putting you in minde , because of the grace that is given to mee of god , so st. paul. the truth is , wee are very apt to forget what wee know , yee have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children , saith the apostle ; our memories are like sives that let go the flower , and retain the branne , wee remember what is to bee forgotten , and forget what is to bee remembred , need there is wee should bee minded . scientiam a●gere , to increase our knowledge ; the truth is , the greatest part of the things wee know , is the least part of what wee do not know ; no truths are so well , but they may bee better known ; every command is exceeding broad , and every article very deep , no● can any say , there is nothing contained in either , which i do not fully know ; disce docendus adhuc , was good counsell , bee still willing to learn : luther confest himself catechismi discipulum , a scholar to the catechisme ; the most knowing christian hath need to bee instructed even in the things he knoweth . in veritate confirmare ; to confirm us in the truth we know , notitiam vobis concedo , sed de constantiâ vestr â sollicitus sum , so aretius glosseth , i grant you are knowing christians , but i am sollicitous for your constancy in the faith ; wee are but too prone to waver in our profession , and too weak hold-fasts in spiritual truths , etiam currentibus addenda sunt calearia , though wee run well , wee need sp●rring to make us ●old out , or else wee should grow dull and weary ; so that in all these respects there appears sufficient reason why our apostle wrote even to them that knew the truth . i end all . take heed how any of you vilify the ministry of the word either preached or written . they are words too often in many mens mouths , i know as much as the preacher can tell mee ; doest thou so ? i rejoyce in it , but still the preacher may remember thee of , and confirm thee in what thou knowest ; and perhaps thou mayest learn from him to know it better ; beleeve it , there is use of evangelical preaching , and apostolical writing , not only to inform the simple , and instruct the ignorant , but to minde the forgetful , strengthen the weak , and supply defects either of knowledge or affection , or both , in the most knowing christian , which made our apostle thus be-speak the christians in his time , i have not written unto you because you know not the truth , but because you know it . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . , , vers . who is a lyer , but hee that denieth that jesus is the christ ? hee is antichrist that denieth the father , and the son. whosoever denyeth the son , the same hath not the father , but he that acknowledgeth the son , hath the father also . the knowledge of the disease is the better part of the cure , and therefore the physicians skill is more seen in discovering the malady , than in prescribing the remedy . the greatest danger of a ship at sea , is by reason of unseen shelfs , unknown rocks , and therefore the pilots chiefest care is by his own and others experience , to learn upon what coast they lye . finally , an enemy discovered is half vanquished , and therefore it is the saying of chabrias in plutarch , hee is the best general , who is most acquainted with the designs and motions of his enemy . upon this consideration , no doubt it is that our apostle having before in general admonished those to whom hee writeth , of these antichristian enemies , doth here more particularly discover their heresies , to us , whereby they might at once bee more easily discerned and avoided , who is a lyar , but he that denieth that jesus is the christ ? in these two verses wee have two generals . a description of the hereticks in st. john daies , in the two and twentieth verse , who is a lyar , &c. an amplification of that description as to the latter part of it , in the three and twentieth verse , whosoever denieth the son , &c. in the description wee shall consider a double appellation , with which he brandeth them ; in those words , who is a lyar ? and he is antichrist . double accusation , which hee chargeth upon them , of denying that jesus is the christ , and denying the father and the son. begin we with the appellations , which are two , lyar and antichrist . the latter of these is , that which hath been discussed alr●●dy from the eighteenth verse , and therefore shall now bee only touched . that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not here design that person or party , to which this title is by divines particularly attributed , will sufficiently appear by what is already said in the forementioned verse , and accordingly calvin is express , the apostle speaketh not here of that man of sin who shall sit in the temple of god. so that it is most rationally conceived as a title given to those many heretical teachers , which were apostatized from the church , even in the apostles daies . there are christiani sine christo , christians without christ , such are all they who professing his name , have no real interest in him ; but here are christiani contrae christum , christians against christ , so far degenerated from their christian profession , as to set themselves in direct opposition to christ ; that the jews and heathens should bee antichrists , is no wonder , but that such who had been baptized into christ , yea , had preached christ , should apostatize to a renouncing of him , ●enders them so much the more antichristian , and perhaps for this reason the apostle prefixeth the emphatical article ; for whereas the jews and heathen were antichrists , because not knowing , they never owned , but opposed him , these were such as knowing had professed him , but either through fear of men , or love of the world , or which is worst of all , desperate malice , not onely deserted , but rejected him . the former of the titles is not onely asserted , but as gualter well observeth , by way of interrogation amplified , it is not , hee is a lyar , who denyeth ? but , who is a lyar , but hee that denyeth ? which is as much as to say , if hee bee not a lyar , none is , according to that expression which wee sometimes use ( as estius well observeth ) by way of aggravation ; what is wickednesse if this bee not ? so that our apostle hereby affirmeth of these antichristian teachers , that they were egr●gi●●● ▪ not●rious lyars , for so beda glosseth , in hujus comparatione mendacii , c●tera , aut parva videntur , aut nulla , in comparison of this lye , others are small , or none at all . there are two things which denominate a man an odious lyar , the one , when that which is affirmed or denyed , is evidently contrary to truth , and the other , when the thing so asserted is injurious and pernicious to them that beleeve it . and truely , both these may justly bee charged on the lyars in the text , for they denyed that which was in it self manifest , yea , which they themselves had been convinced of , and that which they denied tended to no lesse than the utter subversion of the christian faith , and the destruction of those who adhered to it , and therfore no wonder if st. john by way of question , accuse the hereticks in his time , of lying , who is a lyar ? &c. that which i shall briefly observe from both these titles , is the zeal of this holy apostle in reproving these hereticks ; lyars , are execrabile hominum genus , a most execrable sort of men , hated and abhorred of all ; nor is a lyar more odious among all men , than an antichrist is among all christians , so that our apostle could not well have branded them with names more odious than these . the truth is , two sorts of sinners are severely to bee rebuked , hypocrites , and hereticks ; an example of the former , wee have from christ himself , who reprehending the hypocritical pharisees , calls them fools and vipers , and of the latter in st. john , who gain-saying the heretical teachers of his time , calls them antichrists and lyars . indeed , in one of those titles , is a latent reason of his bitternesse against them , namely , because they were against christ ; had they been onely his antagonists , no doubt , hee would have been milde and gentle , but his masters honour was concerned in the quarrel , no wonder if hee bee so zealous ; moses the meekest man upon earth in his own concernments , is so inraged against the israelites for their idolatry , that hee breaketh the tables of the law. the historian observeth of caesars souldiers , that they pursued their generals engagements with vigour , whilest they were cool and temperate in their own concernments ; and surely , though towards our own adversaries wee must show meeknesse , yet when they are not onely ours but christs enemies , it becomes us to testify our love to christ by our indignation against them . it was an excellent saying of guevara , in an epistle to the emperour charls the fifth , christianus nullâ re magis dignosci potest , quam si de● factas contumelias et blasphemias severissime ulciscatur , suas obliviscatur , there is no better character of a right christian , than to forget the injuries done to himself , but to be angry at the blasphemies against god and christ . and which serveth so much the more to justify our apostles severity in reproving those false teachers , is , that they were not obliquely , but directly opposers of christ ; they were such who did not onely indeavour to lop off the branches of christianity , but to pluck it up by the roots , to deface the building of religion , but to destroy the foundation ; as there is a difference in sins , so in errours ; all diseases are not alike malignant , nor all errours equally pestiferous ; every heterodox opinion is not a sufficient warrant to brand a man with these appellations of lyar and antichrist ; but when they were so heretical as to deny jesus to bee the christ , no marvail if this holy apostle , not out of a rash bitternesse , but a well-grounded zeal , use these harsh invectives . it is a frame of spirit which wee finde in other servants of god , as well as s. john ; the apostle paul having to do with elimas , spares him not , but calls him a childe of the devil , an enemy of all righteousnesse ; and writing to the philippians concerning heretical teachers , calleth them the concision , and compareth them to dogs ; no lesse satyrical was that of polycarpus to marcian , agnosco te primogenitum diaboli , i know thee to bee the devils first-born ; let the same spirit bee in us in oppugning the authors and abetters of damnable heresies . the visible descending of the holy ghost upon the apostles , was in fiery tongues , such tempers had they , yea , all their successors , the bishops and pastors of the church , ought to have tongues set on fire from heaven , which may flame forth in vehement increpations , as of notorious sinners , so of venomous hereticks . from the appellations , proceed wee to the accusations . i. the first whereof we find to be denying that jesus is the christ , in which words there is , a truth implicitely asserted by the apostle , jesus is the christ . an heresy explicitely charged on the false teachers , namely , the denial of this truth , he that denyeth that jesus is the christ. when our apostle saith , who is a lyar but hee that denyeth ? what doth hee but tacitely assirm this to bee a truth , that jesus is the christ ? and because it is a fundamental truth , upon which the whole fabrick of christian religion standeth , give mee leave a while to insist upon it , not as questioning , but for the further streng thening your assent to it , so much the rather , because of the multitude of jews , which are at this time crept in among us , whom though i have little hope to convince , yet i would strive to prevent in those secret indeav●rs ( which probably they use ) to sedu●e christians from the faith of christ . that there was such a man as jesus of nazareth , born and living among the jews , is an history so authentical , that there will bee no need of spending time about the proof of it . it is acknowledged by the jews themselves , witnesse josephus in his jewish antiquities , where he maketh an honourable mention of him , in these words , at that time was jesus , a wise man ( if it be lawful to call him man ) &c. it is confessed by pagans , suetonius in the life of claudius , speaketh of him by the name of chrestus , tacitus , and pliny the younger , acknowledged him by the name christus ; and surely that which not onely his followers , but his enemies confess , may well be taken for granted . the only difficulty is to make it appear , that this jesus that then lived , is the christ , that is , the person whom moses and the prophets foretold to bee the messiah . to this end , the onely thing to bee done , is an inquiry into the praedictions concerning the messiah , which , if they bee found verified in this jesus , and no other person can bee assigned , in whom they are verified , it will bee clearly manifest , that jesus is the christ . this way of arguing , i so much the rather make choice of , because it is that to which christ himself directs us , when he bids the jews to search the scriptures , that is , the old testament , ( which then was the only written word ) upon this account for they are they that testify of me , therby putting the controversy to this issue , that if he were not the person of whom the scripture did testify as the messiah , let him be accounted an impostor and deceiver . accordingly it is , that his apostles in their discourses concerning him , still have recourse to the prophetical writings . thus st. paul saith of himself , that hee was separated unto the gospel of god , which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures , and concerning his doctrin , that hee said no other things than those which the prophets and moses did say should come ; for this reason it was no doubt , that st. peter wills those to whom hee writeth , that they should take heed to the sure word of prophecy , as to a light that shineth in a dark place . in this comparing of the prophecies concerning the messiah , with the history of jesus , i shall not mention all , nor yet largely insist on th●se i shall mention , so as to vindicate them from all cavils , since then , this one discourse would swell to a volume , and besides , it hath been abundantly done by the learned already ; onely i shall run over the principal , and that in such a way as ( i hope ) will strengthen the christian , if not convince the gainsayer . the prophecies of the messiah , which wee meet with in the old testament , are such as concern his birth , doctrin , miracles , offices , sufferings , and exaltation , all which will , upon due search be found true in jesus . concerning the messiahs birth , there are four forts of predictions , referring to the time , the place , the tribe , the manner . the first prophecy we meet with concerning the time of the messiahs comming into the world , is that of jacob , where he ●aith , the scepter shall not depart from judah , nor a law-giver from between his feet , until shiloh come , and unto him shall the gathering of the people bee . that by shiloh is meant , the messiah , may appear , in that it is so rendred by the three-fold targum of o●kelos , jonathan , and hierusalem ; and withall the periphrasis annexed ( to him shall bee the gathering of the people ) can agree to none but him . now that which jacob asserteth concerning the messiah , is ▪ that there should not be a total extirpation of all civil power in the tribe of judah , before the messiah came , and thence it necessarily followeth , that the extirpation of the civil power is a sure note of the messiahs being come . another prophecy concerning the messiahs advent , wee meet with in daniel , and it is uttered by an angel , seventy weeks are determined upon thy people , and upon thy holy city , to finish the transgression ▪ and to make an end of sins , and to make reconciliation for iniquity , and to bring in everlasting righteousnesse , and to seal up the ●●sion and prophecy , and to annoint the most holy know therefore and understand , that from the going forth of the commandement , to restore , and to build jerusalem , unto the messiah , the prince , shall bee seven weeks , and threescore and two weeks shall the street bee built again , and the wall , even in troublesome times , and after threescore and two weeks shall messiah bee cut off , but not for himself , and the people of the prince that shall come , shall destroy the city and the sanctuary , and the end thereof shall bee with a floud , and unto the end of the war , desolations are determined ; where the angel plainly assirmeth , among many other things , that the messiah should come , and bee cut off before the destruction of the city and the sanctuary , whence it is naturally inferred , that the actual overthrow of the city and sanctuary , is an undoubted sign of the messiahs being come . parallel to this are those two prophecies , the one in haggai , and the other in malachy , the prophet haggai brings in god himself , thus saying , yet once it is a little while , and i will shake the heavens , and the earth , and the sea , and the dry land , and i will shake all nations , and the desire of all nations shall come , and i will fill this house with glory , yea , the glory of this latter house shall bee greater than of the former , saith the lord of hoasts . that this is a prediction of the messiah , will appear among others , by this one irrefragable argument ; the latter house , which is here spoken of , was far short of the former ; and in particular , there were five things awanting in it , the urim and thummim , the ark of the covenant , the schechinah , the fire from heaven , and the spirit of prophecy ▪ now there cannot any thing bee rationally affirmed , as that which notwithstanding those defects should render this latter house more glorious than the former , but onely the messiahs presence . finally , the prophet malachy , in the name of god , saith , behold , i will send my messenger , and hee shall prepare the way before mee , and the lord whom you seek shall suddainly come to his temple ; even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in , behold , hee shall come ; where those words , the lord whom you seek . are no other then a periphrasis of the messiah whom the jews expected , whom this last of the prophets fore-tells , not onely to come , but to come suddainly , and that with a double behold , to intimate both the certainty and propinquity of his comming ; by both these predictions it is elearly manifest , that the time of the messiahs comming was to bee , whilest this latter temple was standing , and therefore the destruction of the temple is an undeniable note of the messiahs being come ▪ by what hath been said from these prophecies , one would think the jew might bee convinced of his folly , in still looking for a messiah , when as it is so many hundred years since the jewish government , together with the city and temple of jerusalem was destroyed . and that the jesus whom we professe to be the christ , was born before this utter dissipation , is an history so clear , that i suppose none will question it . indeed , many learned christians have taken great pains , and to good purpose , exactly paralleling the time of the comming of jesus , with the prophecies of christ , and especially with that which is the most punctual prophecy , to wit , daniels , referring the going forth of the commandement , not to that which was given by cyrus , but by artaxerxes longimanus , in the twentieth year of his reign ; yea , some among the jews ( as rabbi n●hemiah , who lived fifty years before jesus ) did affirm , that the messiah should come at that time when jesus was born : nay , porphiry , that bitter enemy of christians , saw the history of jesus so clearly corresponding to the prophecy in daniel , that his last refuge is , to deny those prophecies to bee daniels . but not troubling my self or you with chronological computations , it is enough for our present purpose , if it bee granted ( which i see not how it can bee denyed ) that jesus was born whilest yet the temple and city of jerusalem was standing , and about the time of the utter departure of the civil government from judah . besides , the sacred history of the gospel , the testimony of josephus the jew , and the letter sent by pilate a roman to tiberius ( to which both tertullian and justin martyr appeal ) do sufficiently evince that there was such a person at that time born and living in judea , and at last crucified by the jews as to the place where the messiah was to be born , the prophet micah is express , where hee saith , but thou bethlehem ephratah , though thou be little among the thousands of judah , yet out of thee shall hee come forth unto mee that is to bee ruler in israel , whose goings forth have been from of old , from everlasting ; from which scripture it is , that the pharisees gave their answer upon herods inquiry concerning the place of his birth , in which respect the prophet and evangelist are fitly reconciled , while one calleth it the least , and the other saith , it is not the least , to wit , because of the greatness of the person born in it . now that jesus was born in bethlehem , we have no meaner testimony than that of an angel , in his message to the shepheards , to you is born this day in the city of david a saviour , which is christ the lord ; nor would it be passed by the strangenesse of that providence ▪ which brought it about that hee should bee born there , for whereas joseph and mary dwelt in nazareth , ( twenty miles distant from bethlehem and it was far besides their thoughts to go to bethelhem ) it so falleth out , that in a peaceable time , the present emperour imposeth an universal tax upon the jews among others , by which means every one is to go up to the city of their tribe , and so those of the house of david to bethlehem the city of david , & this fell out to be the very time when the daies of mary were accomplished that she should be delivered , and this was done that the prophecy should be fulfilled . the tribe of which the messiah should come , was that of judah , and more particularly , the house of david . this is intimated by jacob , when hee foretelleth the comming of the messiah under the name of shiloh , which some interpret his son , to wit , judah , and in ▪ as much as this prediction is inserted in the benediction of judah , which can bee for no other reason , but that the messiah was to come of him . more plain , and particular is that prophecy of isaiah , there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of jesse , and a branch shall grow out of his roots , where the chaldee paraphrase , expresly testifieth by that rod to bee designed the messiah , who should spring forth of david , who was a stem of jesse ; yet more punctually doth this appear , in that promise made to david , by god , of the fruit of thy loins will i set upon this throne , and again , i will set up thy seed after thee , which shall proceed out of thy bowels , and i will establish his kingdome for ever , the former of which is expresly applied to the messiah , by s. peter ; in reference to this , it is , that we read of the sure mercies of david , yea , by jeremy and hosea this name of david is applyed to the messiah , they shall serve , or seek the lord their god , & david their king , which cannot bee meant litterally of david , who fell asleep long before , and therefore is mystically expounded of the messiah , who is called david , because he was to come from his family . this truth was so known among the jews , that when jesus asked the pharisees , what think you of christ ? whose son is he ? they say to him , the son of david . now that our lord sprang out of the tribe of judah , is affirmed by the author to the hebrews to bee evident , and he is said by st. paul expresly , to be of the seed of david ; remarkable to this purpose are his own words , where hee saith , i am the root , and the ofspring of david , to wit , according to his two natures , in respect of his god-head the root , and his man-hood , the ofspring of david , by which that riddle is unfolded , of his being both the lord , and the son of david . as for his legal father , joseph , it is 〈…〉 by st. matthew , that hee was of judahs tribe , and jesus being born of mary after her espousals to joseph ▪ is upon that account to bee reckoned of the tribe of judah : for if when the brother did raise the seed to his brother , by marrying his widow , the first-born was to succeed in the name of the dead brother , and consequently reckoned as his son ; well might maries son whom shee miraculously conceived by the holy ghost overshadowing , bee reputed josephs , to whom shee was espoused ; and it being the custome of the jews to derive the genealogy from the fathers , in which respect it was a proverb among them , the mothers family is no family , jesus is justly asserted to bee of his fathers tribe , though hee was not his natural , but onely his legal father . though withall there is nothing rationally to contradict , that mary was of the house of david , of the tribe of judah ; it is true , elizabeth who was of the house of aaron , the tribe of levi , is called her couzen , but inasmuch as it was lawful for the tribe of levi , having no possessions of their own , to marry into any tribe , it may bee probably conceived , that either some of the virgin maries ancestors married a wife of levies tribe , or some of elizabeths ancestors did marry a wife of judahs tribe , and so either way there might bee an affinity between the virgin mary and elizabeth . besides this , that there is no convincing reason against it , there are good arguments inferring it , for since upon that particular occasion of zelophehads daughters , there was a law enacted of every daughter marrying in her own tribe which had an inheritance , and if ( as casaubon argueth ) the blessed virgin were though in a mean condition , yet heir to an estate , it is very probable that shee was of josephs own tribe , since hee hath the testimony of a just man , and therefore one who would not violate so manifest a law. adde to this , that those words in st. luke , of the house of david , may as well bee referred ▪ ●he virgin espoused to joseph , as to joseph , and then it becommeth a positive assertion , that mary was of the house of david ; and yet once more , if ( as spanhemius strongly urgeth ) st. lukes genealogy giveth us the linage of mary , it is without all doubt , that both by father and mothers side , jesus was of the tribe of judah . the predictions concerning the messiah , assert that hee should bee born of a virgin. the prophet isaiah is express , behold , a virgin shall conceive , and bear a son , and though the hebrew word may signify any young woman , yet that there it should bee rendered virgin , even this consideration will evince , because it is ushered in with a behold of admiration , and it is intended as a sign for confirmation of ahaz , whereas it were no wonder , and therefore not fit to bee a signe , that a young woman should conceive , and bear a son ; being then a prophecy of a son to bee brought forth by a virgin , it is no other doubtlesse , than the messiah , whose birth is there intended ; and the very name immanuel , by which hee is to bee called , intimateth as much , it being a name too high for any person , except the messiah . what in this prophecy isaiah spake plainly , in the fifty third chap. hee utters allusively , where speaking of the messiah , ( for that that chapter is to be understood of him , is so evident , that hee who runs may read it ) hee saith , he shall grow up as a tender plant in a dry ground , that is ( say some not improbably ) of a virgin , without the help of a man : now that jesus was born of mary whilest yet a virgin , the evangelical history plainly affirmeth ; nor need it seem impossible either to jew or pagan . as for the jew , why may hee not beleeve , that the same divine power which caused old sarah to conceive , and bring forth , when shee was as good as dead ? which made aarons rod to bud , blossome , and bring forth almonds ? yea , which formed the first man adam without the help of woman , could enable a virgin to conceive and bring forth without the help of man ? as for the pagans , they affirm that venus was engendred of the froth of the sea , animated by the warmth of the sun ; that pallas came from joves brain , and bacchus from his thigh ; that some of their heroes were begotten by their gods , upon mortal creatures ; hercules , on alemena , by jupiter ; pan , on p●nelope , by mercury ; romulus , on rhea , a virgin , by mars ; and why is it not credible , that jesus should bee born of the virgin mary by the overshadowing of the holy ghost ? and thus i have given you a brief account of the parallel between the prophecy of the messiah , and the history of jesus , as to his birth . the prophet isaiah speaking concerning the messiah , tells us , that the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him , the spirit of wisdome and understanding , the spirit of counsel and might , and the spirit of knowledge , and of the fear of the lord ; that this spirit did rest on jesus appeareth , both by the oracles hee spake , and the works , especially by the miracles , hee wrought . it was the testimony the people gave of him , that never man spake like him , by which it appeareth , that the spirit of wisdome and knowledge did rest on him , never did any so clearly reveal the will of god to the people as hee . the glorious promises were never so unveiled as by him , and by him the precepts of the law were most exactly interpreted . that the spirit of might did rest on him eminently , appeared in his wondrous miracles , which were not done in a corner , but openly before the people , who cryed out , wee never saw it on this fashion . that miraculous works were expected by the jews from the messiah , when hee should come , appeareth by the question , when christ commeth , will hee do more miracles than those which this man hath done ? and accordingly when john sent to jesus , art thou hee that should come , or do wee look for another ? hee returneth this answer , go , and show john again , those things which you do hear and see , the blinde receive their sight , the lame walk , the lepers are cleansed , the deaf hear , and the dead are raised up , all which could not have been done by him , if hee had not been annointed with the holy ghost , and with power . concerning the messiah , we finde a three-fold office to which he was annoynted , to wit , of king , priest , and prophet ; moses fore-tells him to be a prophet , where he saith , a prophet shall the lord your god raise up unto you of your brethren ; david mentioneth him under the offices of a king , and a priest , yet have i set my king upon my holy hill of sion , and , thou art a priest for ever after the order of melchisedeck . this was that which was peculiar to the messiah , for though david was a king and a prophet , samuel was a prophet and a priest , and melchisedeck was a king and a priest , yet only the messiah was a king , priest , and prophet ; accordingly it is that we finde jesus as a prophet , teaching the mysteries of the kingdom , as a priest , praying , yea dying for the people , and acknowledged by the magi to be king of the jews . once more , it is fore-told in the psalms , and the prophets , concerning the messiah , that hee should bee a man of sorrows , despised , and rejected of men ; yea that he should bee cut off from the land of the living , that hee should be taken from prison and judgement , that having drunk of the brook in the way , hee should lift up his head ; that hee should not see corruption , and sit at the right hand of god. and now that all these things which were written concerning the son of man were accomplisht , the evangelical histories doe abundantly testifie ; it were easie to trace out an exact parallel , not only as to substance , but circumstances , concerning the humiliation and exaltation of christ . as for that pretence of the jewes , opposing our saviours resurrection , that his disciples stole him away , it is so frivolous and absurd , that no rational man can beleeve it , yea that dilemma of st. austine abundantly confuteth it , if the souldiers were not asleep , when the disciples stole his body , why did they permit them to doe it ; if they were asleep , how could they affirm it to be done ? by all these considerations put together , it cannot but appear an undeniable truth , that jesus is the christ ; and however it may bee alleadged , that some prophecies which concern the glory and power of the messiahs kingdome seem not yet to bee accomplished ; the answer is justly returned , that it is not an outward and visible , but an invisible and spiritual glory and power which is in those prophecies intended , and that is continually fulfilled in the preaching of the gospel ; and withall they may very rationally be extended to his second coming , when he shall appear in glory to judge the world , and when every knee shall bow to him , and every tongue shall confesse ( what now perhaps it denieth ) that jesus is the lord , the christ , to the glory of god the father ; and so i have given a dispatch to the truth implicitly asserted , passe we on more briefly to the heresie explicitly charged on the false teachers , namely , denying that jesus is the christ . if wee render the words exactly , according to the greek text , it is , hee that denieth that jesus is not the christ , but yet the not is justly left out in our translation , because according to our way of speaking , hee that denyeth that jesus is not the christ , is he who affirmeth jesus is the christ , which is the truth ; whereas in the greek language , gemina negatio fortiùs negat , a double negation denieth more vehemently . parallel to this is that speech of our saviour to peter , the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me ; where in each clause the greek useth two negatives for the greater emphasis . wee cannot better expresse the force of the greek phrase in our english language , than by supplying a word after denieth , namely thus ; who is a lyar but hee that denieth , saying that jesus is not the christ ? and surely , if the affirmative be the truth , as hath been already proved , hee must needs be a lyar , who asserteth the negative . that this then is a lying heresie , appeareth by the preceding discourse ; that which only remaineth to bee inquired , is the truth of the charge , that these false teachers did deny jesus to be the christ ; indeed as justinian well , hoc maximè faciebant judai , this was that which the jews did most expresly deny , but yet withall there were judaizing false teachers among the christians , such was simon magus , menander , ebion , and cerinthus , with others , upon whom this was justly charged . simon magus taught , that it was he who appeared among the jews as the son , in samaria as the father , and to the rest of the nations as the holy ghost ; menander , that he was sent from the invisible powers a saviour for the redemption of men ; and so affirmed themselves to be the christ , and in that denied jesus to be the christ . valentinus , ebion , and cerinthus , affirmed jesus to be a meer man , begotten by joseph , conceived and born of mary after the ordinary way , and that christ was another person who descended on him in the shape of a dove , when he was thirty years of age ; and that it was not christ , but jesus who dyed upon the crosse , and was buried , and rose again ; and what did these but in effect deny jesus to be the christ ? and now if any shall say , this concerneth not us , for wee doe heartily acknowledge , and openly professe , that jesus is the christ ; i shall desire such to consider , that there is a direct , and a collateral , a dogmatical , and a practical denying jesus to be the christ . hee who acknowledging jesus to bee the christ , doth yet detract from any of his offices to which he was annoynted , vertually and collaterally denieth him to bee the christ ; upon this account , both socinians and papists are justly charged by the orthodox as antichristian lyers . the socinians indeed acknowledge christs regal , prophetical , and sacerdotal offices , but yet they confound the regal and the sacerdotal ; they detract from the regal , taking the rise of it from his resurrection , when as the angel saith of him , as soon as born , hee is christ the lord ; and chiefly from his sacerdotal , whilest they acknowledge his intercession , but deny his sacrifice , and assert his death to bee onely a consecration of him to his priesthood , which ( say they ) hee only exerciseth in heaven . the papists likewise do ascribe those three offices to him , and yet they detract from every one of them ; from his prophetical , by denying the written word to be a sufficient and perfect rule of faith and manners ; from his sacerdotical , in both the parts of it , by their superstitious sacrifice of the masse , and praying to saints and angels , to bee their intercessours . finally , from the regal , by setting up the pope as head of the church , and giving him that power of supremacy and infallibility , which hee never derived from christ . but to bring it yet a little nearer to our selves , he who professedly assents to this truth , that jesus is the christ , and yet is not guided by him as a prophet , governed by him as a king , and rests not on him as his priest , practically denyeth him to bee the christ . very apposite to this purpose is that of st. austin , quiescat paululum lingu● , interroga vitam , quisquis factis negat christum antichristus est , let thy life speak rather than thy tongue , whosoever denyeth christ in his works , is an antichrist . if any provide not for his house , saith st. paul , hee hath denyed the faith , that is , done an act inconsistent with the christian faith , whereof he maketh profession , which is in effect to deny the faith ; thus hee whose life dishonours christ , who giveth not up himself to the rule and government of christ , who sayeth in his actions , i will not have this man to reign over mee , in truth denyeth christ , and is no better than an antichrist ; and oh how many antichristian christians then are there ? in one word , whatever profession wee make of christ , and our faith in him , whilest by our envy , and malice , pride , and covetousnesse , rapine , and oppression , intemperance , and prophanenesse , wee walk directly contrary to the law. and life , the command , and example of our holy , humble , peaceable , and charitable 〈…〉 s , we do that in our actions , which the false teachers did in their doctrins , deny jesus to be the christ ; and thus much shall suffice for the dispatch of the first-branch of the accusation ; the time being expired i shall put off the further prosecution of the charge against these antichrists , till another sessions . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . , , vers . who is a lyer , but hee that denieth that jesus is the christ ? hee is antichrist that denieth the father , and the son. whosoever denyeth the son , the same hath not the father , but he that acknowledgeth the son , hath the father also . ovr blessed saviour calling those two sons of zebedee , james and john , to bee his disciples , gave them the sur-name of boanerges , which signifieth , a son of thunder ; mutatio nominis d●ni alicujus spiritualis significationem habet , where names are changed , some spiritual gift is conferred ; it was so no doubt , upon those apostles , to whom christ gave eminent abilities of asserting truth , confuting errours , reproving sin , perswading repentance , in such a way , as might like thunder awaken the dull and drowsy world . that st. james was such a thunderer , appeareth by his sufferings , it being very probable , that his powerfull preaching of the gospel , was the occasion of herods malitious persecution , and that the liberty of his tongue cost him his life . that st. john was one who did not onely lighten in his conversation , but thunder in his doctrines , appeareth by his writings , and more particularly , this epistle , wherein hee cryeth aloud , and lifteth up his voice like thunder , against both the hypocrites and heretickes of his time , against those , in the former chapter , these , in this , and more especially in these verses , who is a lyar , &c. the latter branch of the accusation against the antichrists in s. johns daies , is that which now commeth to bee discussed , as it is propounded in the end of the two and twentieth , and proved in the three and twentieth verse . begin wee with the charge it self , hee is antichrist that denyeth the father and the son. these words are looked upon by expositors in a double notion , either as a distinct accusation , or as an aggravation of the former charge . serrarius upon this clause , saith , altera haeresis est negantium patrem et filium , in these words another sort of hereticks are charged , who denyed the father and the son , inasmuch as they feigned another father ; so did basilides , and saturnius , as epiphanius and irenaeus informs us . such also were those hereticks , who confounded the father and the son , as if they were one and the same persōn , to whom tertullian applyeth this very clause , where hee saith , negant patrem dum cundem et filium dicunt , et negant filium dum eundem patr●● credunt , dando illis quae non sunt , auferendo quae sunt , they deny the father , in asserting him to bee the son , they deny the son , in affirming him to bee the father , ascribing to both what they are not , and taking from them what they are . to this may bee referred those fabulous things which were broached in those heretical schools of simon , and others , concerning god introducing a multitude of rulers , under the names of barbel , abrakan , karlakan , &c. by whom the world was governed , which was indeed to deny the father . but that which seemeth to me most rational , is to look upon this clause as an aggravation of the former charge , letting us see what followeth upon denying jesus to bee the christ , namely , a denial of the father and the son , and consequently how pernitions this antichristian doctrin is : for whereas levius videri poterat , it may seem a small thing to deny jesus ( who appeared in the form of a servant ) to bee the christ , addit quid gravius , hee addeth that which might justly startle them , that how little account soever they made of it , it was no other than to deny the father and the son , and so in effect the denying this man to bee the christ , is to deny god himself . to open this distinctly in its full latitude , wee shall finde a threefold charge in this one . hee that denyeth jesus to bee the christ , denyeth the son of god. i begin with the son , though the father be the first person , because hee is most directly denyed . this will bee the more easily understood , if wee consider what our apostle taketh here for granted , that christ is no other than the son of god. how , and in what respect hee is the son of god , i shall have more full occasion to discusse at the ninth verse of the fourth chapter , it shall suffice here to take notice ▪ that the messiah was looked upon as having the neer relation to god of a son. s. peter in that excellent confession of his faith , puts these two together , thou art the christ , the son of the living god ; nay ▪ the very devils who came out of them that were possessed , ●cknowledging him to be the christ , do withall declare him to bee the son , thou art christ the son of god ; and that this was a received opinion among the jews , appeareth by that question which the high priest put to him , art thou the christ the son of the blessed ? yea , as grotius well observeth , apparet hoc cognomen vulgo messiae datum , it appeareth to have been a name of the messiah , well known among the vulgar , by that of the very seamen ; who beholding the miracle wrought by him on the winds , cryed out , of a truth thou art the son of god , that is , the messiah . suitable to this it is , that the ancient hebrews did mystically interpret those words in the psalmes , thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee , of the messiah , by which it is evident , that to deny him who is the christ , is no other than to deny gods son. hee doth not only deny the son , but the father ; for the relation between the father and the son , is very neer , no wonder , if the injury done to the son , reflect upon the father ; it is thus among men , much more in the deity , where the son is consubstantial and coeternal with the father . being the son , hee is the brightnesse of his fathers glory , and expresse image of his person . so st. paul characterizeth him , for which reason it is that all men should honour the son as they honour the father . so our saviour himself expressely asserteth and thence inferreth ▪ he that honoureth not the son , honoureth not the father . the father it is who sends his son into the world , and to deny him who is sent , what is it but to deny him who sendeth ? to deny ( saith grotius ) is sometimes as much as authoritatem alicui detrahere , to detract from ones authority , and to deny the person sent , is in effect to deny the authority of the sender ; in this respect it is , that in the scripture but now quoted , those words are added , that sent him , and to this purpose that of our saviour elsewhere , is very apposite , hee that despiseth you , despiseth mee ( to wit , because they were sent by him ) and hee that despiseth mee , despiseth him that sent mee , to wit , the father , by whom christ was sent . the father having sent his son , was pleased to give testimony to him . they are christs own words , the father himself which sent mee hath born witnesse of mee ▪ accordingly if you look into st. matthews gospel , you shall finde , that at his baptisme , a voice was heard from heaven , saying , this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased ; and again , at his transfiguration on the mount , behold , a voice from the clouds , which said , this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased , hear ye him , to which last st. peter alludeth , where he saith of christ , hee received from god the father honour and glory , when there came forth a voice to him from the excellent glory , so that god having given this testimony ( than which what can bee more full or immediate ) of the messiah , that he was his son , whosoever denyeth the christ the son of god , giveth the father the lye , according as our apostle more fully expresseth in the close of this epistle . hee that beleeveth not god , hath made him a lyar , because hee beleeveth not the record that god gave of his son. lastly , though it bee not expressed , yet it would bee supplyed , hee denyeth not onely the father and the son , but the holy ghost ; for as in the first chapter , where out followship is said to bee with the father and his son , the holy ghost is included , so here doubtlesse , the third person is implyed , who is no lesse denyed than the other two , by them who deny jesus to be the christ . the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , commeth from the verb which signifieth to annoint ; now to this annointing , all the three persons did concur , there is persona ungens , uncta , and unctio , the father annointing , the son annointed , and the holy ghost the ointment , and therefore hee that denyeth the christ , denyeth all three persons ; it was by no other than the holy ghost that jesus christ did all his glorious miracles , his mighty works ; in which respect , the pharisees denying jesus to bee the christ , became guilty of the sin against the holy ghost ; and thus this heresy is no lesse than a denial of the blessed trinity . to shut up this clause , learn wee hence , when wee receive any doctrins , to consider what consequence ; do naturally flow from them . i have so much charity as to think , that many of the jews , and some of the followers of those antichrists , did not think , that by denying jesus to bee the christ , they were guilty of such a blasphemy against the deity , as to deny the father and the son , but yet so it was , as appeareth by what hath been already said . i have the same opinion of many seduced persons in this age , who are not so considerate , to weigh the evil inferences , which are justly deducible from such praemises which they embrace as truth . indeed we must distinguish between natural and forced deductions , some like spiders suck poyson out of flowers , like bad stomacks , turn the best nutriment into ill humours , perverting the soundest doctrins by fallacious paralogismes . if wee are made sinners by one mans disobedience , then say some , god is unjust , in charging adams posterity with his guilt ; if justification bee by faith alone , then say others , what need of good works ? if christ bee the propitiation for the sins of the world , then say others , wee need not fear though wee adde sin to sin ; and thus the most pretious doctrins of the gospel , are abused to patronize horrid conclusions ; but how irrationall they are , easily appeareth to any who shall judiciously examine them . nor doth this hinder , but that many specious doctrines have a sting in their tayl , and how amiable soever they seem in their direct aspects , yet they will bee found very detestable in their reflection . the antinomian , in denying that god seeeth any sin in justified persons , or is at all displeased with them when they sin , denyeth that hee is omniscient , not knowing all things , and that he is a pure , and holy god , hating sin where-ever hee findes it . the socinian , in denying that christ did expiate sin , and satisfy justice , denyeth the merit of his death , the dignity of his person , and justification by faith in his blood . many instances of this kinde might bee brought in several erroneous positions , both of these , and other hereticks ; the truth is , according to that known saying , uno dato absurdo mille sequnntur , one absurdity being granted , a thousand follow , and such as were they apprehended , would doubtlesse be abhorred , though not by those who broach , yet by many of them who entertain such positions , and therefore let it bee our wisdome to examine whither this or that doctrin tends , to what it leads , and what must necessarily follow upon it , for so doth s. john here , in which respect hee chargeth them who deny that jesus is the christ , with denying the father and the son. the proof of this latter part of the charge , is that which now followeth in the next verse , whosoever denieth the son , the same hath not the father , but hee that acknowledgeth the son , hath the father also . i call this a proof , and not without reason , since the argument is strong , hee that hath not the father denyeth him , hee that denieth the son hath not the father , and therefore he denieth the father and the son. the verse consists of two clauses , the latter whereof is not in our ordinary greek copies , and therefore is left out by calvin , and is conceived by daneus to have crept out of the glosse into the text. but beza assureth us , that hee saw it in two greek manuscripts , it is also in the syriack and vulgar latine , and inserted ( though in another character ) by our translators . if wee peruse the writings of this apostle , wee shall finde no way of illustration more frequent than that which is by contraries , whilest sometime the affirmative is amplified by the negative , and then again the negative by the affirmative , in which respect it is not improbable , that this affirmative might here bee annexed by the apostle . but since i shall have a more fit occasion of handling the duty of confessing christ , when ( by gods grace ) i shall come to the second and thirteenth verses of the fourth chapter , and withall ( there being the same reason of contraries ) the unfolding of the one is virtually an explication of the other . i shall not inlarge in a distinct handling of these clauses . that which would here bee principally inquired into , is the notion of this phrase , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to have the father , of which interpreters give a threefold construction . that phrase in the first commandement , of having none but jehovah to bee our god , may give some light to this ; for as there habendi verbum pro credere , intelligere , usurpatur , the word having is as much as knowing and beleeving ; so here ; and then the design of our apostle in these words , is to let us know , that all jews and others , who deny the messiah , however they pretend to beleeve in , and give worship to , and have the knowledge of the true god , in truth , they are ignorant of him , and so neither beleeve nor worship him aright , because they do not know , beleeve , and worship him as the father of our lord jesus christ . indeed , this is to bee understood ( as to the explicit notion ) with a limitation in reference to christ already come . as for the jews before christ ( though the godly among them had some glympse of this , for otherwise they could not have beleeved in the messiah , which was to come ) yet it was not expresly required of them to invocate god as the father of christ ; but god having now sent his son into , and by him revealed himself unto the world , hee can no other waies bee rightly adored , and invocated , but as his father . to this purpose it is that christ is called by the apostle , the image of the invisible god , which though it bee true of him , as hee is the son of god , in respect of his eternal generation , by which the divine essence being communicated to him hee is the image of god , that is , ( personally taken ) god the father ; yet in that the apostle saith not onely , the image of god , but of the invisible god , there seemeth to be a tacit antithesis , and so it is to bee understood of the son of god made man , who by his incarnation is become a visible image of the invisible god ; for this reason it is , hee saith himself elsewhere , if yee knew mee , you would know the father also ; and indeed , as wee cannot comfortably see the sun with a direct aspect , but in its reflexion , so neither can wee rightly know the father , but in christ , who is his visible image : suitable hereunto it is , that our saviour expressely saith , no man knoweth the son but the father , neither knoweth any man the father but the son , and hee to whomsoever the son will reveal him ; and among other constructions of those words , you beleeve in god , beleeve also in mee , this is one , that if they did not beleeve in him , they could not beleeve in god : so that from hence wee may infer , that not onely the barbarous pagans , who worship the sun , the fire , or any other creatures of gods making , or stones , and images of their own making , but the mahumetans , and the jews , who worship the great creator , inasmuch as those onely worship him , as revealing himself ( in their fanatick opinion ) by mahumet , and these worship him , onely as he was pleased to reveal himself of old by moses , but not as now hee hath manifested himself in his son jesus , nay , both of them denying his son jesus , are therefore most justly looked upon , not onely as false worshippers of a true god , but in some sense as worshipers of a false god , because they have not , that is , they know not , neither do they beleeve and worship the father of christ , to wit , not formally , though materially , adoring him who is , but not as he is the father . that phrase of st. paul , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , we have the minde of christ , may serve as a paraphrase upon this ; to have the father , is to have the minde of the father , which is else where called , his good , acceptable , and perfect will. this will or good pleasure of the father , is the redemption of the world , which he sent his son , both to accomplish and reveal , in this respect st. basil upon these words , hee that hath seen mee , hath seen the father , thus glosseth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not the figure or form of the fathers essence , which is most simple and uncompounded , but the goodness of his will , and therefore hee who denieth the son cannot have , but is either altogether ignorant of , or apostatized from the doctrin of the father ; of which latter the apostle especially speaking , the notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is taken as if it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( for so it is many times used ) to hold , and accordingly grotius glosseth , non tenet quae sit voluntas patris , hee doth not hold fast the good will of the father , which is published in the evangelical doctrin . and no wonder , for hee that hath not , holdeth not the foundation , cannot have the superstructure . now this thesis , that jesus is the christ , is the very foundation of that gospel-truth which the father hath by christ imparted to us , and consequently the denial of this cannot consist with having the father , that is , with holding the will and minde of the father declared in the gospel . lastly , that glosse of st. cyprian , would by no means bee left out , non habet patrem benevolum , he hath not the father benevolous and propitious to him , and so wee may construe this phrase by that in the first chapter , of having fellowship with the father ; and whereas it is said in the former verse , hee denyeth the father , this carrieth more in it , namely , that the father denyeth him . indeed , all that love the father hath to us , and fellowship we have with the father , is through his son. whence it followeth , that every one who hath not the son , but much more hee who denyeth the son , hath not the father , yea , the father is highly displeased and enraged against him . when theodosius would not bee intreated by amphilochius , to suppresse the arrian hereticks , who denyed christ to bee the eternal son of god , that godly bishop ( saith theodoret ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , found out a memorable stratagem to convince him of his fault , for going into the palace when theodosius , and his son arcadius were together , hee saluteth the emperour with his wonted reverence , but giveth no honour to the son , the emperour supposing it was a forgetful neglect , puts him in minde of it ; to whom his answer was , it was enough that hee had done obedience to him , at which the emperour being greatly offended , the good bishop thus bespoke him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , you see o king how ill you take it , that your son should bee dishonoured , how angry you are with mee for not giving him reverence , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . beleeve therefore , that the great lord of the universe , cannot but abhor those who blaspheme his onely begotten son. of this number were these antichrists , concerning whom st. john plainly asserteth , that denying the son , they have not the father ; no true knowledge of him , nor of his doctrin , nor can they expect his love and favour towards them . what now remaineth but that wee take heed least we bee found among the number of them who deny the son : nor is this caution unseasonable , for , there want not among us , such ( the socinians i mean ) who affirm ( with those hereticks of old ) christ to bee onely man , and these however they pretend to acknowledge , yet consequentially deny him to be the son of god , for saith the author to the hebrews , vnto which of the angels said hee at any time thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee ? and if not to the angels , surely , not to a meer man , who is lower than the angels . it would not bee passed by , that a little after in that very epistle , jesus whom the apostle had proved to bee far higher than the angels , and that in this very particular of being gods son ) is said to bee little lower than the angles : and that this is to be understood in respect of his man hood , appeareth by the scripture , just before quoted , what is man that thou art mindful of him , thou hast made him a little lower than the angels , the litteral sense whereof is , to assert the humane nature inferiour to the angelical ; surely , then in respect of that nature wherein hee is below , hee cannot bee far above the angels , and therefore to assert him a meer man ( though never so highly honoured ) is to deny him to bee the son of god in the apostles sense , that is , so as by reason of that sonship to bee higher than the angels , for to allude to s. pauls expression ( though they are called gods , whether in heaven or in earth ; as there bee gods many , and lords many , but there is but one god the father ) so though there bee that are called the sons of god , whether angels or men , yet there is but one who is the begotten son of god , which is so high a dignity , that hee must bee more than man or angel , who is capable of it , and consequently to assert him a meer man , is to deny him to be gods son. besides , wee may bee orthodox in our judgement , concerning the son of god , and forward in our confession of him , and yet interpretatively deny him , and that especially two waies . when wee detract from the al-sufficiency of his merits ; upon what is it , that the infinite vertue of our saviours death did chiefly depend , but this , that hee is the son of god ? so that hee that doth not relye on the virtue of his death , denieth him to bee gods son , and yet how apt are many to offend in this kinde ; by either a total despairing of salvation through christ , or a part al-joyning of other saviours with him , and to say , that either christs blood cannot at all , or that it cannot alone ( to wit , as a meritorious cause ) expiate sin , is to say , it is insufficient ▪ and consequently it is not the blood of the son of god , which may justly bee interpreted , a denial of the son of god. when we refuse to hear , and obey the word of god , who at sundry times , and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets , and hath in these last days spoken to us by his son. of this son the voyce said twice hear him , and not to hearken to him when hee speaketh to us , is in effect to deny him ; who is it but the son that wooeth us in the ministry of the gospel , to accept of mercy , pardon , and salvation , upon the terms of faith , repentance , and obedience , and if wee say no in our hearts , is not this to deny him ? how often ( saith christ to jerusalem ) would i have gathered thy children together , as un hen doth her chickens under her wings , but you would not ? may hee not take up the same complaint of us ? see that you refuse not him that speaketh , ( saith the author to the hebrews ) for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth , much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven ; where the two words of refusing and turning away are very emphatical , the one signifying to pray against a thing , for so oft-times wee refuse with a god forbid , and so it noteth a refusal with indignation , the other importing an alienation of the heart from a thing , since we turn away from what wee cannot endure , and so intimateth a rejection with detestation , and have not wee need of this caution ? since though ( being the son of god ) he came and spake from heaven , yet wee reject his sayings , and is not this to deny him ? adde to this , that christum deserit qui christianum se non asserit , hee that doth not professe himself a christian , denieth christ ; not only those who wilfully , professedly , maliciously , and so at once both inwardly and outwardly deny the christ , the son of god ; but those who whilst inwardly they beleeve in him , doe yet refuse ( if called to it ) openly to own him , either through fear , or shame , or both , are vertually deniers of him . it is very observable , that what is here called a denying of the son , is elsewhere phrased a not honouring the son ; that whereas in st. matthew it is , whosoever shall deny me , in st. mark it is , whosoever shall bee ashamed of mee ; that in st. pauls epistle to timothy , denying christ is opposed to suffering for him . finally , that here is no medium in the text , between denying and acknowledging the son. by all which it appeareth , that though we doe not wretchedly oppose , and gain-say the son of god , yet if wee doe not honour him , and that as we honour the father , with the same adoration both of soul and body , if we are not ready upon all occasions to acknowledge him , if because of reproach we are ashamed to own him ; nay if we refuse ( being called ) to suffer , though it be death it self , for his name , we are no other than deniers of him . and now beloved , though at present there bee neither disgrace , nor danger in acknowledging the messiah the son of god , nay indeed , quaestuosa res est nomen christi , it is both gainful and honourable to bee a christian , and therefore it is little thanks to own christ , yet what think you if wee had lived in the pagan persecution , or if god should ( which his mercy avert ) let loose the turk to invade christendome , or suffer the socinian heresie to over-spread the world , as once the arrian did , have wee ready hearts , willing mindes to contend for the saith ; nay rather would wee not wretchedly renounce , at least cowardly conceal our christian profession ; certainly my brethren , they who now deny obedience to his call , will then deny the profession of his name ; they that will not hear the son speaking to them in his word , will never bear reproaches and persecutions for his sake . upon all these considerations , it is an useful admonition to us , that we doe not deny , but acknowledge the son. it is the psalmists advice even to kings , well may wee follow it , kisse the son lest hee bee angry ; kisse him with a kisse of affection , of subjection , be ready to testifie your faith in him , reverence of him , love to him , upon all occasions . the more to inforce this upon us , take notice who it is , the son , and that in a double notion . being the son , he thinketh it no robbery to be equal with god , in as much as according to the athanasian creed , he is god of god , light of light , very god of very god , being the son he is heir of all things , lord of heaven and earth , and shall we in any kind , or for any cause deny him ? this is that which st. jude brings in as an aggravation of the sin of these very antichrists , whom hee calls certain men crept in unawares , they denied the only lord god , and our lord jesus christ ; where though some take the words dis-junctively , applying the first clause to the father , and the second to the son , yet since there is no article in the greek between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god and lord , to divide them ; yea the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in that parallel place of st. peter , is evidently used of christ , and withall the heresies of those times more directly struck at christ , than at god the father ; it is not improbable that st. jude intended here only to set forth christ in his natures and prerogatives , whom he calls the only lord god ( as elsewhere the father is stiled the only true god ) not in exclusion of the other persons , but of all false deities . and now when we set before us the divinity , majesty , soveraignty , and authority of christ the only lord god , how must the sin of denying him appear beyond measure sinful ? this glorious and eternal son of god was pleased to undertake and accomplish the work of our redemption , and it would bee no other than a monstrous ingratitude to deny him ; upon this account st. peter speaking of these very antichrists under the name of false teachers , aggravateth their denial of christ , in that it was of the lord that bought them ; there cannot bee a more execrable villany , than for a slave to disown his lord that hath ransomed him ; who would not cry shame on that son who should deny his own father ? and may i not say of the son of god in moses his language to every one of us , is not he thy father that hath bought thee ? what is there thou canst bee in danger of by acknowledging him , which hee did not actually undergoe to redeem thee ? is it losse of estate , he was poor ; of credit , hee was reviled ; of liberty , he was bound ; of life , he was crucified ; and shall any of these dishearten us from honouring or enduce us to deny him ? when therefore any temptations shall assault us ( as once they did peter ) to deny him , let us remember what he is in himself , and what hee hath done for us ; let us consider his greatnesse , and bee afraid ; his goodnesse , and bee ashamed ; for fear , or shame , or any cause whatsoever to deny him . that i may drive the nayl to the head , let us often set before our eyes that dismal commination so often denounced in the gospel by the son of god himself against those who shall deny him , whosoever shall deny mee before men , him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven ; and again inculcated by st. paul , if we deny him he will deny us ; a threat then which none more just , and yet withall none more terrible ; just it is , in that it is the retaliation of like for like ; what more rational than that despisers should bee despised , forsakers should bee forsaken , and denyers should bee denyed ; and how terrible it is will soon appear , if you consider that the son of god will then deny us , when he shall appear in his glory , that he will deny us not only before men , but angels , nay his father ; that if he pronounce upon us an , i know you not ( which is to deny us ) wee are the cursed of the father , he will not acknowledge them for his adopted children , who durst not here own his begotten son , and whom his son will not then own for brethren , yea which consummateth the misery of such apostates , they must have their portion with hypocrites , having denied christ , and being denyed by him , they must depart from him into that fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels , there being no reason that they should bee neer to christ hereafter , who follow him a far off , nay , run away from him here . with these meditations let us arm our selves against this heinous sin ; that we may be the better strengthened . labour wee to be throughly established upon good grounds in this fundamental doctrin , that jesus is the christ the son of god. he that imbraceth christian religion upon the account onely of the publike law , or private education , will in time of tryal renege it . let therefore our assent to this doctrin rest upon these sure pillars , primarily the authority of scriptures , and secondarily the catholike church , and then we shall not easily deny it ; nor let us content our selves with a conjectural opinion , but strive for a firm and settled perswasion , a stake in the ground may bee quickly plucked up , but a tree rooted in the ground abideth unmoveable ; he that doubteth may soon be brought to deny , but a well grounded perswasion will not quickly bee moved , much lesse removed . learn we according to our saviours precept , to deny our selves , since oft times , self and christ come in competition , so that one must be denyed , and if we have not in some measure taken out this excellent lesson of self denial , we shall soon deny him ; no wonder if an ancient saith ingenuously , christiani praludium sui repudium , the first step in the ladder of christianity , is self-denial . nor must we forget that advice of st. paul , to deny worldly lusts , for if wee take not our hearts off from the world , the world will take them off from christ , it is very observable that our saviour had no sooner threatned this sin of denying him , but hee presently forbids , loving father or mother , son or daughter more than him , intimating how prone the inordinate love of worldly things is , to alienate us from him . finally , strive for a real union to christ by a lively faith , hee who is but a visible christian , may cease to be so much as visible , but the spiritual union , will not endure a dissolution , much lesse an abnegation , maintain and increase familiar communion with him , that thou maiest more and more taste the sweetnesse that is in him , and then no allurement or affrightment shall cause thee to deny him . i end all , as we desire not to be found deniers of the father , son , and holy ghost , as wee desire to have the father , propitious towards us , and christ to own us before the father at the last day , let us dread to deny , let us be ready to acknowledge , with our hearts , lipes , lives , jesus the christ , the son of god , to whom with the father , and the holy ghost , be ascribed honour , and glory , now , and for ever . amen . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . & . let that therefore abide in you , which ye have heard from the beginning ; if that which yee have heard from the beginning , shall remain in you , yee shall continue in the son , and in the father . and this is the promise that hee hath promised to us , even eternal life . zeal , sincerity , and perseverance , are not so much particular graces , as each of them necessary ingredients to every grace ; zeal being the fervor ; sincerity the truth ; and perseverance , the duration of all graces ; of these three , the last is not the least needful , since constancy is the best evidence of sincerity ; nor will fervour avail without permanency ; no wonder if it be called by bonaventure , conditio annexa cuilibet virtuti , an inseparable condition of every vertue , and by aquinas , donum que caetera servantur d●nae , that gift which preserveth all the rest : without perseverance , our love will prove not a star but a comet ; our devotion not a flame , but a flash ; our repentance not a river , but a pond ; our hope not a staff , but a reed ; and our faith not a sub - stance , but a shadow . and since this grace of faith last mentioned , is indeed the first , the root , the mother grace , constancy is not more needful in any than this . the truth is , there is no grace more oppugned by the devil than our faith , hee well knoweth , that if hee can undermine the foundation , hee shall soon overthrow the building ; for which reason , having obtained leave to sift s. peter , our saviour prayeth for him , that his faith may not fail , upon this account it is , that more or lesse in all ages , the devil hath raised up false teachers in the church , whose indeavour it is to with-draw the people from the ancient catholick , and apostolick faith , and for this cause no doubt it is , that one of the chief designs of the holy apostles in all their epistles , is to stablish christians in the faith . a pregnant instance whereof wee have in this epistle , particularly in these verses , whose scope is , by most obliging arguments , to perswade a stedfast adherence to the truth which they had embraced , let that therefore which you have heard from the beginning , &c. which words do plainly part themselves into two generals , a mandate and a motive , a command and a comfort , an exhortation and an incitation . the exhortation enjoyneth a needful duty , let that therefore abide in you which ye heard from the beginning . the incitation adjoyneth a powerful motive , drawn from the present comfort and future blisse of persevering saints , if that which you have heard from the beginning , shall remain in you , yee also shall continue in the son and in the father ; and this is the promise which he hath promised , eternal life . begin wee with the duty , which wee shall finde to bee in order the seventh step of that lightsome walk the delineating whereof i have once and again told you , is the principal design of this epistle . the first word wee meet with in the greek , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , seemeth here to be superfluous , as also in the beginning of the seven and twentieth verse ; but whether wee look upon it as transposed , or put absolutely , it will bear a good construction . by way of transposition , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , thus our translators here read it , let that therefore which you have heard , and also in the other verse , the annointing which you have received . absolutely taken both here and there , it is an ellipsis , and the sense is as much as , as for you therefore , as if hee should have said , however others fallaway , yet let that which you have heard abide in you . these antichrists ( with their followers ) forsake , but do you continue in the apostolical doctrin ; nay , therefore because they are fallen , do you stand the more firmly . in this sense the apostles counsel is much like joshuahs resolution , but as for me , and my house , wee will serve the lord. indeed , it is the glory of a christian , like fish , to keep fresh in salt waters ; to professe christs name where satans throne is , and like stars in a dark night , to shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation ; the truth is , to bee antichristian among antichrists is usual , to bee a christian among christians is laudable , to bee antichristian among christians is abominable , but to bee a christian among antichrists is admirable ; no such tryall of constancy , as in times of apostacy ; vertue is never more amiable in gods eies , than when shee is out of fashion in the world ; it is said of noah , that hee found grace in the eies of the lord , and the next verse tells the reason , he was perfect and upright in his generation : grace , though onely in the heart , finds grace in gods eies , but especially in the life , and more especially when ( like noah ) it is in a degenerating generation ; had peter done as hee said ( though all me● should bee offended , yet will not i ) hee might well have challenged the priviledge of being christs beloved disciple . oh let us fix in our mindes this holy purpose of cleaving to christ and his truth , though others leave it ; yea , let their defection by a kind of antiperistasis corroborate our resolution of continuing in the doctrin wee have received . more particularly , in the exhortation , wee shall take notice of the object , which it concerneth , and the duty which it requireth ; the object proposed , is that which they had heard from the beginning , the duty required , is , that it abide in them . the matter spoken of is , that which they had heard from the beginning . by beginning in this place is to be understood the beginning of the preaching of the gospel to them , ex quo institui coepistis , so beza glosseth , since you began to bee instructed in christianity , for it is not said , let that abide in you which was from the beginning , then the date might have been taken from the beginning of the world , since so soon as adam fell , the gospel was preached , but that which you have heard from the beginning , and though at the seventh verse the phrase of an old commandement gave just occasion to refer that from the beginning , to a further distance , and so of interpreting there you by your ancestors , yet here there being no such reason enducing wee are not to recede from the most plain meaning of the letter , especially when wee consider that the exhortation , let that abide in you , most rationally refers to what they themselves had heard , and therefore in this place , those words from the begnining , refer to the time of their first reception of the faith . if you ask what it was that they heard from the beginning , the answer is returned , either particularly , primarium dogma de christi divinitate , so justinian , the fundamental verity of christs divinity , or generally , the whole evangelical doctrin of salvation by christ , which had been preached to them by the apostles . if you ` ask ' , why it is thus phrased , not , let that which the gospel revealeth , but that which you have heard from the beginning . i answer upon a double account , to let us see . what is the true doctrin , namely , that which was delivered from the beginning , for though it is possible for falshood to bee ancient , yet truth is alwaies first . the envious man may sow his tares , in the field where the good seed was sown , and possibly the tares may grow so fast as to hide the wheat , but still the good seed was first sown ; prime antiquity is a sure note of verity . the primitive times and truths , were of all other the purest , like the clear water at the spring-head ; but of this i have spoken heretofore . by what means they received the evangelical doctrin , namely , by hearing . among those several senses , with which god hath invested man , i know not any more needful than that of hearing , in what capacity soever you consider him , especially as hee is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by nature , a reasonable , by converse , a sociable , and may be by grace , a new , a divine creature . reason is the perfection of man , and hearing is the improvement of reason . auris , say some , quasi hauris ab hauriendo , the ear being the sense by which wee suck in knowledge , in which respect the son of syrach saith , god hath given man ears , and an heart to understand . knowledge is as the liquor , the soul the vessel , and as the tongue is the tap to let it out , so the ear is the tunnel to let it in . whence it is that learners are called auditores , hearers . upon this account perhaps it is , that whereas other parts have their shuts , sometimes to close them up , the eies , lids like curtains , to draw over those christaline windows , and the tongue encompassed with an ivory wall of teeth , only the nostrils and the ears be alwaies open , those for breathing , these for hearing , that man which is ever learning , might be ever hearing . society is the delight of man , and hearing is the sense of society , auribus alienas sermones admittimus & mente recondimus , saith a rabbin , by hearing wee have converse each with other , wee injoy the comfort one of anothers advice , discourse , conference . a deaf man is as a dead man to others , and liveth onely to himself , as being unfit either for company , or traffique , or magistracy , and therefore the ancients , though they painted their judges without eies , because they should not respect persons , and without hands , because they should take no bribes , yet not without ears , nay , with both ears , because they were to hear both parties , so needful is this sense , for all civil transactions . but lastly , hearing is not onely sensus discipline et societatis , but fidei et religionis , the sense of discipline , and converse , but of faith and religion , in which respect st. paul is expresse , faith commeth by hearing , aurium sensus ideo datus est , saith lactantius , ut doctrinam dei percipere possimus , for this cause chiefly is our hearing given us , that wee may receive divine truths , suitable to which is that of tertallian , vera ornamenta aurium dei voces , gods words are the best jewels wee can hang at our ears ; indeed such is our present state , that wee receive the greatest spiritual advantages by hearing , oculus organum patriae , auditus viae , when wee come to our country , wee shall use our eies , but whilest wee are in the way , our chiefest use is of the ear ; faith ( saith the apostle ) is the evidence of things not seen , and wee are most properly said to beleeve what wee do not see , but still wee beleeve what wee hear , and by hearing wee come to beleeve ; at s. pauls conversion there was a light seen , and a voice heard , the light astonished , but the voice converted him , and in this respect wee may call the ear the in-rode and thorough-fare of grace , the souls custome-house for her spiritual traffique in divine wisdome , the matrix or wombe of our new-birth , the pale into which is put the milke of the word , the still or limbeck of the dew of heaven , the window to let in the light of the gospel , the channel of the water of life , the pipe for the conveyance of faith ; in a word , the orifice or mouth of the soul , by which it receiveth spiritual food , for by this means it was , these christians did partake of the gospel . that which you have heard . but yet this is not all that is intended in this phrase , for in as much as by hearing we are brought to beleeving , therefore hearing is used to connote beleving . thus timothy heard the form of sound words from the apostle paul , that is , so as to embrace it , and therefore he exhorts him to hold it fast , in this sense no doubt it is here to bee understood , for in that our apostle would have it to abide , it intimateth they had heard , so as to receive it , so that wee are here implicitely taught , wee must so hear with our ears , as to beleeve with our hearts , evangelical doctrins . this is the character which our saviour giveth of the good ground , that it heareth the word with a good and honest heart , which is , when the heart doth firmly assent and consent to that which is heard . it is the counsel of solomon , keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of god , and bee ready to hear ; the latter words in the hebrew are , and near to hear , which being joyned with the former clause , seem to intimate , that the foot should bee near to hear , and indeed hee onely heareth aright , who heareth with his foot and his heart , as well as his ear ; hee heareth with his foot who so heareth as to obey , and hee heareth with his heart , who so heareth as to beleeve . i shut up this with that usual close of the epistles to the churches of asia , he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear , though all men have ears , yet all have not ears to hear ; there are too many idol hearers , of whom it may bee said , as the psalmist saith of idols , ears have they , but they hear not , audientes videlicet corporis sensu , non audiunt cordis assensu , as st. austin elegantly ; hearing with the sense of the body , they hear not with the assent of the mind . oh let us beg of god that which solomon telleth us , is onely in his power to give , the hearing ear : indeed , whether we understand it in a corporal or a spiritual notion , it is gods gift , hee rightly disposeth the organ , and it is hee who fitly qualifieth the minde , the former whereof maketh it an hearing ear in a natural , and the latter an hearing ear in a supernatural sense ; our ears in reference to the word of god and christ , are stopped , not with wax or wool , or frankincense , but earth , let us beseech god to open them , they are dull and heavy , let us pray him to awaken them , that wee may bee diligent and attentive hearers , and having by the door of our hearing admitted the gospel into the closet of our souls , that which will be most needful to press upon us , is the duty here required , let that which you have heard abide in you . a duty which may bee capable of a double notion , either as injoyning a careful remembrance of , or resolute adherence to that which they had heard from the beginning . let that which you have heard abide in you , by a faithful recordation . to this st. jude exhorts , but beloved remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our lord jesus christ . our memories must bee store-houses , and r teasuries of pretious truths , and holy instructions , and like books in a library must bee chained to them : with this agreeth that advice of our saviour to the angel of the church of sardis , remember therefore how thou hast received , and heard , and hold fast , by hearing wee receive , and by remembring wee retain and hold fast evangelical doctrins . nor is this exhortation needlesse , when wee consider the badnesse of our memories in divine matters , we ought to give ( saith the author to the hebrews , ) the more earnest heed to the things which wee have heard , lest at any time we should let them slip , tacitly resembling our crasy memories to leaking vessels , out of which the water of life soon slips , if they bee not stopped . perhaps , like sieves , whilestthey are in the water , they are full , but no sooner are they taken forth , but all runs out presently ; we can remember somewhat whilest wee are hearing , but soon after we are gone out of gods house , what wee heard is gone out of our minds , in this sense therefore it is needfull counsell , let that abide , &c. but that which i conceive is the duty here perswaded , is , let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning , by a constant adhesion to the end ; ad fidei constantiam hortatur , is calvins glosse , it is an exhortation to constancy in the faith , wee may very well expound it by that of st. paul to the colossians , if you continue in the faith grounded and settled , and bee not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard , where the two words grounded and settled , are metaphors borrowed the one from building , the other from a chair ; so that as buildings which are upon rocky and firm foundations , are not quickly thrown down ; or as men that are fixed in their chair , are not easily moved out of their place ; no more must wee christians , bee withdrawn from our assent to , and love of those truths wee have heard . this is that which is expressed by those phrases of standing fast in the faith , like a souldier which keepeth his ground , of keeping the faith , as a commander keepeth a castle , and of holding fast , by which three greek words are translated , and all of them very emphatieal , hold fast that which thou hast , saith christ to the angel of the church of philadelphia , where the greek verbe is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that signifieth strength , and intimateth holding fast with a strong hand , by force or might , as wee do one that would get away from us ; hold fast that which is good , is st. pauls advice to the thessalonians , where the word is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which noteth a firm holding with both hands , and is used of them that are violently held in prison . holding fast the faithful word , is st. pauls word to titus , where the greek verbe is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by which the seventy render the hebrew verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and which according to its derivation , signifieth to hold fast against opposers ; thus must wee by divine streugth so hold that which wee have heard , as resolving not to let it go whatever befall us . nor is it without cause , that our apostle adviseth to this stedfast retaining of the evangelical doctrin , if wee consider what danger they were , and more or lessc christians in all ages are , of being deprived of it . that which wee have in possession may bee taken from us three waies , rapto , furto , dolo , by manifest theft , by subtle fraud , and by violent force , by all these means do our spiritual enemies endeavour to bereave us of that which wee have heard . very often the lusts of the flesh , and the delights of the world , steal away that which we have heard , out of our hearts , as the fowles of the air plucked up the seed which fell by the high-way side . oh how many are so bewitched with carnal pleasures , that they let go spiritual truths ? like the dog , who lost the flesh in his mouth , by catching at the shadow of it in the water . not seldome false teachers by their fair pretences of divine revelations , sublime notions , gospel - light , endeavour to cheat us of that wee have heard from the beginning . s. pauls phrase is very apposite to this purpose , where hee speaketh of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the sleight of men , tacitly comparing them to false gamesters , who have devices by cogging a dye , to deceive the unskilful ; nothing more usual , than for hereticks by subtle insinuations to be guile the unlearned and unstable of those pretious truths which they had before received . sometimes the devil stirreth up wicked persecutors , who set upon us with open violence , to make us let go our hold of the gospel , and as lactantius well , haec vera est constant●a , ●t nullus terror à deo possit avertere , then doth that wee have heard abide in us , when no terrors can divert us from it ; that is a truely heroical spirit , which will not bee dared out of his religion , which determineth to let go estate , liberty , nay life it self , rather than that which it hath heard and embraced ; it was a brave resolve of the spartan , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , either to bring back his buckler , or to be brought back upon it ; such should bee a christians resolution in point of religion , either to defend it , or dye for it , we know not what storms and tempests may arise , needful it is wee should be unmoved , like the rocks , in the midst of opposition . but oh what cause is there of bemoaning the unsettledness of many in matters of religion ? pliny reports of a swimming island , which never appeareth in the same place one whole day together , and carystius of a flower that changeth colour three times in one day , how fit emblemes are these of the professors of this age , who are ever and anon changing their religion , like the ship without an anchor , that is tossed to and fro in the sea , or like the chaff that is carried up and down with every blast ? let any one start up , and broach some new doctrin under the mask of a glorious truth , and how do the giddy multitude run after him , forsaking those orthodox doctrines in which they were heretofore instructed ? what went you out for to see , a reed shaken with the wind ? too many such reeds may be seen every where in these apostatizing days , men as of barren lives , so of fickle mindes , unprofitable in their conversations , and unstable in their judgements . and especially if any thing of self-interest , as to profit , or honour , or pleasure , come in competition , oh how easily are they removed from their former profession ? no wonder if when danger approacheth and looketh them in the face , their trembling hands let go their hold , and they forgoe the truth . in few words , some are so foolish , as to bee cheated , more are so careless , as to bee robbed , the most are so cowardly , as to bee frighted out of the truth which they have heard and professed . receive then a word of admonition , to retain and maintain the ancient catholick and apostolick faith . indeed it is that which by way of analogy may be pressed upon the ministers of the gospel , let that abide in them which they have taught from the beginning . in the law , the shoulder of the beast that was sacrificed was the priests , and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an embleme of strength . the first priests name aaron , signifieth a mountain of strength ; and the altar was called ariel , the lyon of the lord , by all which is intimated how valiant they should bee for the truth , who serve at the altar , and are the priests of the most high god. it is set down by the apostle as one of the characters of a bishop , holding fast the faithful word , for this the angel of the church of philadelphia is highly commended , and comforted , because thou hast kept the word of my patience , and it is the apostles charge to timothy , that good thing which is committed to thee , keep . indeed , the evangelical doctrine , is a sacred depositum , which christ hath left with the bishops and pastours of the church , to us ( saith the apostle ) is committed the word of reconciliation . oh let us not bee so unfaithful , as to betray our trust . but yet it is not onely the ministers , but all christians who are concerned in this duty ; as that must abide with the preachers which they have taught , so that must abide with the people they which have heard from the beginning . this was that which st. paul , and barnabas perswaded the jews and religious professors , which followed them , namely to continue in the grace of god , for this end they returned to lystra , and iconium , and antioch , to confirm the soules of the disciples , exhorting them to continue in the faith . it is sage counsel of the wiseman , buy the truth , but sell it not , buy it at any rate , but sell it at none ; truth , as it is the ministers trust , so it is the inheritance of all christians ; say wee therefore with naboth , god forbid i should sell the inheritance of my father . beloved , now is the time of trial , whether we will dye like souldiers , or run away like cowards ; whether we will quit our selves like men , or bee tossed to and fro like children . god , angels , men , are spectators to see how wee will acquit our selves , and whether we will adhere to the truth we have embraced . and truly , when wee consider how tenacious hereticks are of their novel errors , it may put blushing into our faces , who are so apt to bee withdrawn from primitive truths ; besides , what will it avayl us to have heard , and that so as to beleeve , if that which wee have heard doe not abide ? if you continue in my word ( saith our blessed saviour ) then are you my disciples indeed ; as vertue , so truth saith to us , either never chuse me , or never leave me , fides , non accepta sed custodita vivificat , it is not the receiving , but the keeping of the faith which entituleth to life . indeed , as the pilot keeping the ship is kept by the ship , so by the gospels abiding in us , it is that we are preserved to life eternal . in one word , that which you have heard , is the faith which was once delivered to the saints , once for all , unalterably , unchangeably , as it hath been delivered to , let it be preserved by you ; wee cannot alwayes remain with you , but oh , let that which you have heard from us remain with you , and as you have heard it from the beginning , so let it abide with you to the end . that this counsel may bee the better followed , observe these short directions . strive for a well-grounded knowledge ; he that embraceth the truth , he knoweth not why , will leave it , hee knoweth not how ; the ship that is not well ballast may soon be overturned , silly women are easily captivated , by crafty teachers ; let that which hath been heard by you , be assented to upon good grounds , and then it will abide with you . keep the mind lowly . ignorance is a spunge to suck in , and pride is a bawd to vent error ; none more likely to fall , than he that proudly leans to his own understanding ; nor are any hearers more foolishly fickle , than they that think themselves wiser than their teachers . love the truth affectionately ; hold fast ( saith st. paul to timothy ) that which thou hast heard of mee in faith and love ; these are the two hands by which wee both receive , and retain what we hear ; love is the best key to open the heart for receiving gods word , and the strongest lock to keep it in when we have received it ; the reason why they of whom st. paul speaketh were carried away with delusious , is , because they received not the truth in the love of it . love saith to truth , as ruth did to naomi , where thou goest , i will goe , nothing shall part thee and me but death . practice what you have heard ; that meat which turneth into good nourishment stayeth with us ; hee that digesteth the word by obedience , retaineth it by perseverance . st. paul saith of them who put away a good conscience , that they made shipwrack of their faith ; a good conscience is as the bark , and faith as the commodity ; if the bark miscarry , the commodity cannot bee safe . be strong in the lord , and in the power of his might ▪ neque enim quae habemus ab eo , servare , aut tenere possimus sine eo , saith st. bernard ; truly what wee receive from him we cannot keep without him ; as the hearing ear , so the holding hand is his gift . finally , fixe your eyes on the advantage of christian constancy both here and hereafter , as it is set forth in the text , which leads me to the motive , by which the duty is inforced , and that in respect of the present comfort which attendeth upon them , in whom what they have heard abideth , as it is exprested in this verse , if that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you , you also shall continue in the son , and in the father ; in which clause are considerable , the condition required , and the benefit assured . the condition required , is the same with the duty prescribed in the fore-going clause , and therefore will not need any further explication , only the different manner of proposal would not be passed by , that it may appear the repetition is not needlesse . that which is before expressed as the matter of a precept , is here repeated as the condition of a promise ; whereby is intimated to us , a double necessity of this , as indeed of all other duties , namely , according to that known distinction in the schools , praecepti & medii , of the precept , and the means . the necessity of the precept , is that whereby every creature is obliged to obey the command of its creator ; wee have an usual proverb , must is for the king , much more for the king of kings . it is said by the historian , of caesars souldiers , imperium potius quam consilium sequebantur , receiving a precept they needed not perswasion ; not , why but what is the question which every inferiour ought to make in reference to the supream power , and upon this account the duty of perseverance in the faith , though there were no benefit accruing to us , is necessary , because required by him . but loe yet another necessity of the means , which is in order to the obtaining of an end , that which is called a conditional necessity , and is true of all such means , without which it is impossible the end should bee accomplisht ; if a man will goe to an island , he must passe over the wa●●r ; if he will preserve his life , hee must eat and drink ; if we will continue in the father , and the son , that which we have heard must abide in us . thus is almighty god pleased to enforce that upon us for our own sakes , which we ought to doe for his sake , herein condescending to our infirmity , which stands in need of manifold obligations to our duty . from the condition proceed wee to the benefit , and therin take notice of these two things ▪ its proportionality , how suitable , its excellency , how pretious . how suitable is the benefit to the condition ? here is continuance recompensed with continuance , the remaining of the word in us , that is the duty , remaining in the father and the son , that is the mercy . it is that which is not onely here but elsewhere , and that very often to bee observed . indeed , that which is called a geometrical proportion , not onely of quality , but equality , is onely to bee found in threatnings , between the sin and the punishment , ( since the largesses of mercy are far beyond our performance● ) and this not in all threatnings neither , onely in those which denounce eternal vengeance . but the arithmetical proportion which is of quality , by way of analogy , is that which wee finde , as in threatnings , so in promises , between the service and the reward , and this expressed two waies . sometimes one contrary is promised as the recompense of another ; to the mourners is assured comfort ; to the hungry , fulnesse ; to the humble , exaltation ; to the poor , a kingdome ; and to them that sow in tears , a joyful harvest ; in all which how great a congruity there is , is obvious at the first view . sometimes like is promised as the reward of like , thus wee read of honour to them that honour god , and love to them that love him , of giving to them that give , forgiving to them that forgive and mercy to them that are merciful , of eternal life to them that continue in well doing , and here of eternal life , and continuing in the father and the son , to them that continue in what they have heard . how pretious is the benefit considered in it self ? you shall continue in the son and in the father , that is , saith the greek father , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and so the same in substance with that in the former chapter , our fellowship is with the father and his sonne jesus christ , onely the manner of expression is somewhat more ●mphatical , whilest the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in noteth the propinquity , and the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the permanency of this fellowship . that question why the holy ghost is not mentioned , is thus resolved by estiu● , quia de eo non erat oborta questio , because as yet there was no controversy raised , and so no need of mentioning him . if it bee asked why the son is put before the father , the answer is well returned , because the apostle had just before inveighed against those , who though they pretended to acknowledge the father , yet deny the son. though withall there may besides bee a double reason assigned . the one to insinuate , that the son is not lesse than the father , but that they are equal in essence and dignity , upon this account , most probable it is , that the apostolical benediction beginneth with the grace of our lord jesus christ , and then followeth the love of god the father . the other , because as beda well glosseth , no man commeth to ; or continueth in the father , but by the son ; who saith of himself , i am the way , the truth , and the life . to draw it up , lo here , eximia laus doctrinae , an high commendation of evangelical doctrin , that it leads up to christ , and by him to the father ; the water riseth as high as the spring , from whence it floweth , no wonder , if the gospel which commeth from god through christ , lead us back again through christ to god ; and as by hearing and beleeving this doctrin , we are united to , so by adhering to , and persevering in it , wee continue in the son , and the father . suitable to this is that promise of our blessed saviour , if any man love mee hee will keep my word , and my father will love him , and wee will come to him , and make our abode with him ; if wee not onely receive , but keep christs word , he and the father will not only come , but continue with us . they who never heard nor received the gospel , are without god , and without christ , so st. paul saith of the ephesians , whilest they were in their heathenish condition . they who having heard the gospel , and for sake it , are far from god and christ , god himself saith , if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him , but if that which wee have heard abide with us , wee shall continue in the favour and affection of , in ●nion and communion with christ and the father . and now beloved , if the psalmist said , blessed are they that dwell in thy house , much more may i. blessed are they that continue in the son and in the father , if s. peter said of being on mount tabor with christ at his transfiguration , it is good for us to be here , much more may we say , it is good for us to be with the son and the father . if hee that was asked , where his treasure was , answered , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , where cyrus was his friend , well may the christian , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , place his wealth , in the friendship of , and fellowship with the son and the father . let me then be speak you in those words of st. jude , keep your selves in the love of god , which though it be chiefly understood in the active sense , keep in you a love to god , yet withall it may admit a passive interpretation , keep your selves in gods love ; not is there any better way than by keeping gods word in our selves , if christs word dwell in us , he himself will dwell with us , the ark was a blessing to obed edoms house , so is the gospel to the place where it is preached , much more to them who so hear as to receive , and so receive as to retain it . let that therefore abide in you which you have heard , that you may continue in the son and the father , so much the rather when we consider what followeth in the next verse , an assurance that this continuance shall know no end , but being begun on earth , it shall be perpetuated in heaven to all eternity , for this is the promise which he hath promised ●● ▪ eternal life , which god willing , in our next discourse , shall bee unfolded . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . . vers . and this is the promise that hee hath promised us , even eternal life . as there is in bad men an aversnesse from , so there is in the best , a backwardnesse to their duty . the one through wickednesse have an antipathy , the other through weaknesse an inability to what is good , corruption is so prevalent in those , that they will not receive , and so remanent in these that they have much ado to retain either truth in their minds , or grace in their hearts . for this reason no doubt it is , that almighty god is pleased by his sacred pen ▪ men , not onely to impose services but propose rewards , and to enforce his commands by arguments . among those many arguments by which our duty is perswaded , none more effectual than those which concern our selves , there being in us all such a principle of self-love as puts us upon seeking our own advantage , and of all those advantages which allure to the doing our duty , none equal to that recompence of reward , that eternal life which is laid up for , promised to , and shall be conferr'd upon us . how fitly hath our apostle here coupled together , a difficult duty , and an excellent motive , perseverance , whether in well beleeving , or well-doing , is no easy task , the hands of our faith and obedience like those of moses , are apt to grow heavy , and have need of the stone of a promise to bee put under them , that they may bee steady to the going down of the sun of our lives , and a sweeter fuller promise there is not in the whole book of god , than that which wee are here put in minde of . and this is the promise which he hath promised us , even eternal life . in which words wee have four particulars worthy our observation . an excellent benefit , eternal life . a sure conveyance , hath promised . an eminent author , hee . the peculiar persons , us . all which when i have severally unfolded , i shall joyntly apply , and that especially with reference to ( that which our apostle here intends ) the duty of perseverance . the excellency of the benefit , though it bee last in the verse , would first be considered , as it is delineated in those words , eternal life . if wee here examine the grammer of the greek text , wee shall finde it incongruous , the accusative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , put for the nominative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but that which is called in rhetorick , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the putting of one case for another is not unusual , and withall it is very frequent to put the antecedent in the case of the relative , as appeareth by those two instances among many others , the one virgils , urbem quam statuo vestra est , and the other terences , populo ut place●ent quas fecissent fabulas , so here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the emphasis of the article prefixed before both the substantive and the adjective , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , would not bee passed by , since as one well , magnum pondus addit orationi , it addeth a great deal of weight to the expression , intimating that it is not an ordinary kinde of life , but that which is most transcendent , whereof the apostle speaketh , and withall that the eternity is that which addeth much to its excellency . that which is especially to bee inquired into is , what is the benefit which is represented under these characters , and why it is so represented ? that happy and glorious estate which shall hereafter be enjoyed , is without all doubt that which is here and else where intended by this phrase , eternal life . it may perhaps bee here objected , that eternal life in a strict and proper notion may bee affirmed of the miserable condition of the wicked , as well as the blisseful state of the godly , for the resurrection shall bee general , and the term of that resurrection shall bee an union of soul and body , and that union shall bee inseparable , which denominateth it eternal , in which respect st. austin saith expresly of the damned , in eternum cruciari non poterint nisi vixerint in eternum , they could not be for ever tormented , if they did not live eternally . but to this it is well answered , that this word life is not alwaies taken pronudâ existentiâ , a bare existing in , but foelici conditione , an happy condition of life , non magnum est din vivere ; aut semper vivere , sed magnum est beaté vivere , saith st. austin . it is no great matter to live long , or alwaies , but to live happily . that loyal prayer , let the king live ( in every language ) imports a prosperous estate , when the psalmist saith , who is the man that would see life ? hee explaineth himself presently after by good daies ; vivere among the latines , is sometime as much as valere , to live , is as much as to be well , and upon this account it is , that as on the one hand the scripture calls the state of the damned , an eternal death , because their life is onely a continuance in misery , so on the other , the state of the blessed an eternal life , because it is a perpetual abode in felicity . having found out what is the benefit intended , i shall now go on to inlarge in the description of it . indeed , eternal life is a subject so sweet and pleasant , that you cannot want patience to hear of it , though withall it is so sublime and transcendent , that i want a tongue to speak of it , acquiri potest , exprimi non potest , it is our comfort wee may attain it , but our defect that wee cannot conceive , much lesse expresse it ; when wee come to the fruition of this life , wee shall not say with those in the psalm , as wee have heard , so wee have seen , but with the queen of sheba , the one half was not told us , all that can bee said of that joyful eternity , being but as stilla mari , a drop to the ocean , or scintilla igni , a spark to the flame . but though a perfect discovery of this blisse bee impossible at such a distance as earth is from heaven , yet in the scripture lineaments we may behold it , and that so much of it ( if wee seriously view it ) as that wee cannot choose but bee enamoured with it : nor shall i go further than my text , wherein wee finde a description consisting of two words . a word of quality , and praelation , life . a word of quantity and duration , eternal . because men love to live , promissa est illis vita , saith st. austin , life is promised to them , and because they most fear death , promissa est illis aterna , eternal life is promised . what doest thou love ? to live , this thou shalt have ; what doest thou fear ? to dye , this thou shalt not suffer ▪ it is life eternal , of each a word . that future state is described by life ▪ and if you please to examine it , you shall finde two things shadowed forth by it , namely , wherein that blisse consists , and how far it surpasseth all other injoyments . inasmuch as it is called life , it intimateth wherein that happinesse consists , to wit , in the beatifical vision . to clear which you must know , that , nat●ral life is the union of the soul with the body , and accordingly supernatural life is the union of the soul with god ; and look as the body being united to the soul liveth , because the soul is the principle of life : so the soul ●nited to god must needs live much more , because god is the living god , the fountain , and original of life . this union of the soul with god is double , and accordingly with st. austin wee distinguish of a double supernatural life , ●na fide , altera specie , una in tempore peregrinationis , altera in eternitate mansionis , there is a mediate union , wee have with god in this pilgrimage , by faith , and there is an immediate union wee have with him in that mansion , by sight ; that is the life of grace this the life of glory , when s. paul saith , wee walk by faith , and not by sight , hee expresseth the former , and withall intimateth the latter life , when wee shall walk by sight and not by faith , thus whereas god himself told moses , no man can see mee and live , it may in this respect bee inverted , no man can live without seeing god , since by seeing it is the saints have an union with , and fruition of god , and so live , to which those words of the psalmist are fitly applicable , thou wilt shew mee the path of life , in thy presence is fulness of joy . in that it is called life , it inferreth its surpassing worth and value . to illustrate this , it would bee considered that life is the most pretious treasure , and choicest p●●rl in the cabinet of nature : though a lyon bee a farre more noble bruit than a dog , yet such is the excellency of life , that a living dog is better than a dead lyon ; though the sun bee so glorious and splendent a creature , yet mus●●●nimae praestantior sole , the little fly in respect of its life , is more excellent than the sun. and as life is in it self , so is it in mans estimation among all outward blessings of greatest worth ; skin for skin , ( or as it may bee better rendred ) skin after skin , one thing after another ) and all a man hath ( till hee bee stript to his skin ) will a man give for his life , saith the father of lies truely , a man will part with his honours , his wealth , suffer bondage and pain to save his life . the woman in the gospel , spent all shee had upon physitians , and why , but to perserve her life . had hamans design been onely to make the jews staves , hester would have been silent , but when their lives were concerned , shee resolveth to petition the king. this was the singular boon which the king requested of god , hee asked life of thee , and thou gavest it him . in a word , who is the man that would see life saith david , and who is the man that would not see life ? scarce any man ( if not besides himself ) but would choose to live , though it were in poverty , exile , trouble , and misery , rather than not to live at all . by all this the pretiousness of life appeareth , and in that respect how fit an emblem of the state of blisse , which is infinitely beyond all earthly comforts , yea , in comparison of which this life ( which i have told you , is of so great a price ) is yet vile and base , and therefore it is that this life is sometimes called life without any additament . so by our blessed saviours answering the young mans question , what shall i do that i may inherit eternal life ? saith , if thou wilt enter into life , as if there were no life besides that , or at least as if this life were not worthy to bee called so in comparison of that . it is well observed by an ancient , that cum varia et multa seculi sint bona illorum usus et participatio variis nominibus exprimitur , so great is the variety of the good things of happiness , that it is expressed by several names , and those you will finde allusive to what things are most amiable , and desirable on earth , thus it is called a rest for the people of god , the joy of the lord , the glorious liberty of the sons of god , it is stiled paradise , a crown , a kingdome , an inheritance , a weight of glory , but of all expressions , none so frequent as this , that it is called life : yea , as if this were the we●ghtest and choicest thing , by which the worth and value of that blisse could bee set forth , when it is compared to other things , still life is annexed ; if to water , it is the water of life ; to a tree , the tree of life ; to light , the light of life ; to a crown , a crown of life ; finally , if to an inheritance , it is of the grace of life . the sum is this , so manifold are the comforts of that state , that all similitudes are too narrow to expresse it , and therefore the scripture useth not one , but many , and among all these things to which it is compared , life is to bee preferred far before them , and therefore not once but often , i think i may say more often , it is called by this name life , than by any other . . as the state of blisse is called life , so this life is said to bee eternal ; for the opening whereof i shall briefly discuss three things . in what sense this life is eternal . why it must be eternal . why so often called eternal life . in answer to the first , you must know that there is a double eternal life . the one , that which is so , both à parte ante , and à parte post , having neither beginning of daies , nor end of time ; and in this notion it is the incommunicable property of the deity , who liveth from everlasting to everlasting , and as himself is the beginning and end of all things , so hee hath neither beginning nor end . the other , that which is so , à parte post , but not à parte ante , hath a beginning but no ending , and this is that life which is communicab●e to the holy angels , and glorified saints , the greatnesse of this life is unmeasurable , the worth of it inestimable , the joies of it innumerable , so the duration of it is interminable , vitae illius cursus erit sine termino , usus sine fastidio , refectio sine cibo , adjutorium sine defectu , saith the father elegantly , that life shall bee maintained without any aliment , sustained without any defect , retained without any loathing , and once obtained , shall know no ending . that this life must bee in this sense eternal , there needs no other medium to prove , than that it is a state of blisse , which could not bee , were it not eternal . this will easily appear by a double argumentation , the one of st. austin , the other of aquinas . st. austin thus argues , if that life should end , it must bee either with or against , or neither with nor against the will of him that enjoyeth it ; that hee should lose it with his will , is not imaginable , because hee had it not against his will , yea , it is impossible that life should bee happy , which hee that injoyeth desireth to be rid of ; nor can hee lose it against his will , since that life is not to bee accounted happy , which though it bee in a mans will , yet it is not in his power to keep ; nor yet is it to bee imagined , that a glorified person should bee indifferent whether hee have it or no , since if good bee that which all de sire , the chief good which is blessednesse , must bee desired with vehemency of affection , and therefore he that is once , is for ever possessed of this life . aquinas thus reasoneth , beatitudo debet quietum reddere appetitum , that onely is a blessed state which quieteth the appetite , and satiateth the desire , which no state can do , though never so glorious , if it bee not eternal ; it is not the meer fruition of the most splendid condition , which contents the minde , without an assurance of its continuance , since the very thought and fear of future losing , would much take off the joy and blisse of present enjoying ; no wonder , if happinesse bee defined by boetius to bee interminabilis vitae tota simulet perfect a possessio , a total , si●●ultancous , perfect and interminable possession of life . it is not unworthy our observation , that by whatsoever resemblance that future state of happinesse is illustrated , eternal and everlasting is still annexed as the adjunct ; thus wee read of an house eternal in the heavens , an everlasting kingdome , an eternal glory , and everlasting joy , an eternal inheritance , and everlasting salvation , and very frequently eternal and everlasting life ; nor is it without good reason , that this epithete is made so much use of , and that especially on a double account . propter eminentiam , to advance the excellency of this life . st. austin enlarging in the praises of this life , heapeth up a multitude of excellencies , the life saith hee which god hath prepared for them that love him , is , vita vitalis , beata , secura , tranquilla , pulchra , munda , casta , sancta , a lively , happy , secure , peaceable , amiable , pure , chaste , and holy life but stil that which crowneth all is its eternity , and therefore the father goeth on , ignaramortis , nescia tristitiae , it is a joy which cannot be interrupted with any sorrow , and a life which is altogether ignorant of death , it is sine labe , sine dolore , sine anxietate , sine perturbatione , corruptione , et mutatione , without spot , or wrinkle , without sorrow , or vexation , without change , or corruption . look as in respect of divine attributes , eternity is that which runs through , and puts a lustre upon them all , so that it were little to say of god , hee is holy , wise , just , good , nay , that hee is omnipotent , omniscient , omnipresent , unlesse wee could say hee is eternally all these : so is it in respect of the excellencies of that other life , they could afford little comfort were they not eternal . propter differentiam , to difference it from , and set it in opposition against this present life . this life , how sweet soever , is but short ; that life is not onely sweet but lasting , yea , everlasting . this life , as to many acts of it , is suspended by sleep , and at last wholly taken away by death ; that life knoweth no cessation , nor interruption , but shall bee one continued act . here orimur , morimur , wee no sooner begin to live , but wee hasten to death ; our life is like an hour-glass , which is no sooner turned up , but it begins to run out , or like a lease , which is no sooner taken , but it begins to expire ; the longer our time past hath been on earth , that to come is so much the shorter , and the more wee grow in life , the nearer wee are to death : but there the sun riseth and never setteth , continually shining in its full spendor , that estate is not a lease for years , but an inheritance for ever . this life is a fading flower , a flitting shadow , a vanishing vapour : but that is a flourishing laurel , an induring substance , a fixed star. finally , this life is so short , that it may bee measured by months , by daies , by hours ▪ but that is so long , as it cannot bee measured by years , nor jubiles , nor ages , since , when those happy saints have lived , so many millions of ages , as there are piles of grasse on the earth , drops of water in the ocean , sands upon the sea-shore , or stars in the firmament , their life shall bee as new to begin , and as long to continue , as at the first moment when they entered into the possession of it ; and thus i have given you an account of the excellency of the benefit , pass we on to the certainty of the conveyance , in those words ; this is the promise promised , the explication of this branch will be dispatched in two queries . what this meaneth , that eternal life is said to be promised ? why it is so emphatically called , the promise ? inquire wee a little into the import of this word promised , and this will the better appear by considering it in a fourfold opposition , to wit , twofold in reference to him by whom , and twofold in respect of us to whom it is promised . in regard of him by whom it is promised , wee may very well consider it as opposed to a bare intention , and a meer declaration . eternal life is promised , not onely purposed . i confesse ▪ in one scripture , promised is no more than purposed , to wit , where st. paul to titus saith of eternal life , it was promised before the world began , but according to the common notion , and usual acception , promised is more than purposed . a purpose is onely the thought of the heart , a promise is the fruit of the lips ; a purpose is secret and hidden , a promise is open and manifest ; finally , a purpose is onely an intention of the minde ; but a promise is the revelation of the intention . this eternal life was from all eternity purposed , and being purposed , could not but bee accomplished , for the decrees of god must stand : but had it not been promised as well as purposed , wee might at last have injoyed it , but in the mean time could not have known it , it would have been as a treasure hid , a fountain sealed , a spring shut up . gods purpose then is the emanation , and his promise is the signification of his will , whereby it becomes manifest unto us . nor yet is this all , but promised is more than declared , it is one thing to reveal , and another to promise , that onely m●keth known , but this maketh sure ; that giveth notice of , but this an interest in , when therefore eternal life is said to bee promised , it doth not onely mean that it is intended , but that it is manifested , yea , not only that it is manifested , but that it is assured , god hath not onely set before the sons of men this eternal life as a thing in it self real and excellent , no , nor yet onely as that which may possibly yea , probably bee attained , but hee hath promised , that is , he hath in his word given an undoubted assurance , that hee will bestow it , and this is the meaning of , hath promised . nor yet is it a simple naked promise , but such as is attended with an oath , so the author to the hebrews expresly , god willing more abundantly to show unto us the heirs of promise , the immutability of his counsel , confirms it by an oath , that we might have strong consolation , who have fled for refuge to the hope set before us ; which hope is no other than the thing hoped for , eternal life ; yea more than this , both the word and oath are upon record in holy writ , and all this hath a seale annexed to it , both the privie seal of the spirit , and the broad seal of the holy sacraments , for our further confirmation . if then you will have the import of these words , be hath promised , in reference to god , it is , that hee hath not only resolved , but spoken it ; not only spoken of such a life ▪ but said hee will give it us ; yea not only spoken , but sworn , and this not only with his lips , but it is as is were under hand and seal . in respect of us to whom it is promised , wee may look upon it in a double opposition , to actual possession , and due desert . eternal life is promised , yet not possessed ; the promise is past , it is the preterperfect tense , hath , the possession to come . st. paul useth the future tense , shall give . it is not unfitly observed , that it is the wisdome of divine dispensation , first to make a promise , and afterwards to give the thing , partly in regard of himself , ut in iis quae non habemus largitorem habeamus debitorem , saith st. austine excellently , that where hee is not a donor hee may become a debtor , and may glorifie not only his goodnesse in giving the thing , but his faithfulnesse in making good his word ; partly in regard of us , that he may give us occasion of exercising our faith , hope , and patience ; since on the one hand , if it were presently given , there were no use for hope to expect , and patience to wait ; and on the other hand ▪ if it were not promised , there were no ground for faith to beleeve . eternal life is promised to , not deserved by us . i confesse these two are not necessarily opposed , there is a promise which is an act of justice ▪ as when a debt●r promiseth the payment of his debts , or a master promiseth the labourer his hire , the servant his wages ▪ but withall there is a promise , which is an act of grace and mercy , as when a king promiseth a malefactor a pardon , or a friend promiseth another a courtesie , and of this latter sort are all gods promises to us , especially this of eternal life , which is infinitely beyond whatever wee can , or whatsoever he requireth we should doe , or suffer ; ireckon ( saith st. paul , and i hope he is not out in his reckoning ) that the sufferings ( surely then the doings ) of this present life are not worthy the glory which shall bee revealed ; devout anselme said truly , si h●mo mille annis serviret deo ferventissime , non mereretur ex condigno dimidium diei esse in regno caelorum , if a man could serve god most fervently a thousand years together , it would not deserve one half days , much lesse an eternal fruition of that life ; indeed the promise being past , it is just with god to perform it , in which respect st. paul expects this crown from god as a righteous judge ; but withall , since meer mercy moved him to promise , and what we doe as the condition is no way equivalent to the reward , it is a gift of meer grace ; and therefore our saviour teacheth his disciples to expect it from god , as a merciful father , it is your fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom ; and the same st. paul expresly calls it a gift , eternal life is the gift of god through jesus christ our lord ; and so much in answer to the first question . if it shall in the next place be enquired , why eternal life is called the promise ? the answer is given by st. peter , where speaking of the promises of eternal life , hee calls them exceeding great and precious . the promise , because an exceeding precious promise , all other promises whatsoever being put in the one scale , and this in the other , this will infinitely preponderate them ; look what the paper and pack-thread are in respect of the commodity for which wee bargain , that are all the promises of this life , in respect of those which concern that to come , circumstantials , and of no value . not only so , but the promise , because an exceeding great promise , it is as it were the center in which all other promises meet , it is such a promise as without which all the other would afford little comfort ; what a figure is to the cyphers , that is this promise to the rest , without which they signifie nothing , it is the fundamental promise , upon which all the rest are bottomed ; because god hath promised eternal life , therefore he will not stick at any thing else , yea whatsoever promises he hath made are in order to this ; therefore hee promiseth earthly things , that they may help us to heavenly , nor are temporalls any further within the promise than they are subservient to eternal , therefore hee promiseth his spirit , and the graces of his spirit , that by them we may be fitted for glory , therefore he promised to send his only begotten son , that wee might through him obtain eternal life ; and since it is as it were the alpha , the first , the chief of all promises , yea the omega , the end to which they lead , it may well bee called the promise . and so you see the second particular unfolded , which is the certain conveyance . the eminency of the author by whom this promise is made , cometh next to bee considered , in the relative , he. if you cast your eyes on the preceding verse , you will finde the antecedent to this relative , namely , the father , and the son ; our saviour tells the disciples , it was the fathers good pleasure to give them the kingdom ; and it is his good pleasure in the mean time to give them the promise of it ; but because the father promiseth it by the son , therefore interpreters look upon the son as the antecedent , so much the rather , because throughout this epistle , when the apostle useth this pronoun hee , hee meaneth ▪ christ . indeed a caution must bee here inserted , that if wee understand this hee to bee the son , wee doe not so construe it as if eternal life were not promised before christ came . as the father hath spoken to us in these last days by his son , so he spake to them that were before , at divers times , and divers manners , and that concerning eternal life . i well know that the socinians positively assert the first promise of eternal life to be made by christ , and it is not to bee denied , but that some of the fathers seem to incline to this opinion ; st. hierom , where hee saith , the kingdom of heaven was not promised in the old testament ; theophilact , who maketh this distinction between the law and the gospel , that to the law only temporal promises are annexed , but in the gospel eternal promises are revealed ; but how improbable this opinion is , will appear by several considerations . the author to the hebrews saith of the patriarcks , abel , enoch , noah ▪ abraham , that they desired a better country , that is an heavenly ; and could they have desired it if they had not known it , and could they have known it if god had not revealed it ? in the same chapter it is said of abraham in particular , that he looked for a city which hath foundation , whose builder and maker is god. is not that city the jerusalem which is above , and could hee with any confidence have looked for it , if god had not promised it ? that recompence of reward which moses had an eye to , when hee forsook the honours and pleasures of pharaohs court , to suffer affliction with the people of god , was certainly more than temporal , for otherwise how could it have justly preponderated the contentments he might have had , or recompenced the sufferings hee made choyce of ? nor could he have had respect to it , if it had not been set before him . not to enlarge , when our blessed saviour referres the young man to the law of moses , for answer to the question , what shall i doe to inherite eternal life ? and when he exhorts the jewes to search the scriptures , for in them you think to have eternal life ; doth he not plainly intimate , that in the law of moses , and scriptures of the prophets , eternal life is made known , together with the way that leads to it . in one word , the resurrection of the dead , the term whereof is eternal life , is expressely called by the apostle paul , the promise of god made unto the fathers . this then is the promise which hee hath promised , not that it was not at all promised before , but not so fully , so clearly ; eternal life was promised in the old testament , rather typically than litterally , in general phrases , than in expresse terms , and hence it is that they were but a few comparatively , who understood any thing by those promises concerning it , whereas now , according to st. pauls expression , christ hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel , which plainly maketh it manifest to us , in which respect the promises of the gospel are called by the author to the hebrews , better promises ; not as to the things promised , which are the same for substance , but as to the easiness of the condition , and chiefly the clearnesse of the revelation . it will not now bee amiss to consider a while who this hee is , by whom this promise is so punctually promised , nor need wee any further character of him than what is given before in this very chapter . it is hee that is righteous , and therefore cannot deceive . it is hee that is the holy one , and therefore cannot lye : so that since it is hee that hath promised , it must bee performed . it is hee who is an advocate with the father to plead for our admission into heaven , who is the propitiation for our sins . to wit , by his blood , which is also the purchase of this life . it is hee who is the christ , annointed to the office of a prophet , that hee might reveal to , of a priest , that hee might obtain for , and of a king , that hee might conf●r on us this eternal life . finally , it is hee who is the son , and being the son , is the heir , and being the heir , hath a title to this life , not onely to injoy it himself , but impart it to us . by all which it appeareth , that whereas men oftentimes promise those things which they have no power or right to give , yea , sometimes , they promise what they never intend to give , and hence it is that their promises are vain , lying , and deceitful , hee that hath promised hath power and will to give it , hee saith nothing , but what hee really intends , and will certainly fulfil ; and now if you would know to whom this promise belongs , go on to a view of the next and last particular , which is , the propriety of the persons , in the pronoune us . it is that which may be looked upon , both in a way of inlargement , and of restriction . in a way of inlargement , us , not me onely , the pro●ise was not peculiarly to the apostles , but to all true christians , upon this account st. paul elsewhere speaking of this benefit , under the name of a crown of righteousness , saith , it is that which the lord the righteous judge will give mee at that day , and not me onely , but all them that love his appearing . in other races , though never so many run , yet only one obtains the prize , but this prize is given to all christian runners ; that which intituled st. john to this life , was not his new office of an apostle , but his new birth as a christian , so much the apostle peter implyeth , when hee saith , blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ , who hath begotten us to a lively hope , to an inheritance , and the meanest christian is begotten of god , as well as any of the apostles ; it is not grace in strength , but truth , which is the condition of glory , and therefore this us taketh in all those sorts of christians before mentioned , not onely fathers , but young men , nay , little children . in a way of restriction , us , not all , but us , who are thus and thus qualified , and if you please you may take in all those who are before expressed , in this chapter , us , who keep his commandements , for the promise and the precept are knit together , nor can any partake of the one , who do not keep the other ; us , who walk as christ walked , for wee cannot expect to attain the end which hee hath promised , if wee do not walk in the way which hee hath walked in , and which leads to the end ; us , who love our brother , this being the old and the new commandement , must bee obeyed , if wee will enter into life ; us , who love not the world , nor the things of the world , for hee is unworthy of the life in that world to come , who doteth with the love of this ; us , who acknowledge the son , since onely hee that hath the son , hath life . finally and principally , us , in whom that abideth which wee have heard from the beginning . indeed , if you mark it , you shall still finde the promises of eternal life made to perseverance , to them wh● by patient continuance in well doing , seek for glory , honour , and immortality , eternal life , so st. paul to the romans ; i have fought the good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith , henceforth is laid up for mee a crown of righteousnesse ; so the same apostle concerning himselfe ; not to multiply instances , in those seven epistles to the seven angels of the churches of asia , we find eternal life promised under several metaphors , but still the condition prefixed , is to him that overcommeth , not to him that fighteth , but who continueth fighting till hee overcome , so true is that of st. bernard , whereas all the vertues run in the race , it is perseverance alone which carrieth away the reward . and thus i have given you an account of all the parts of the text. i close up all in one word of application , and that in general , is there an eternal life promised ? why then do wee not beleeve it ? and if wee do beleeve it , why do we not prize it ? and if we prize it , why do we not seek after it ? were it possible that men should be so much in love● with this life , did they beleeve there were another ? or could they dote so much on a frail fading life , did they beleeve there were one that is eternal ? if we view the practises of the sons and daughters of men , wee may sadly observe , that this life is ever providing for , as if it should never end , and that life is never prepared for , as if it should never beginne , whereas this life shall soon end , but that never . we see saith st. austin the lovers of this present life using their utmost care and cost to preserve it , and all they can doe is onely ut differant , non auferant mortem , to delay that death which they cannot prevent ; if men are solicitous , ut aliquantulum plus vivatur , that they may live a little longer , quomodo agendum est , ut semper vivatur , how studious should they bee , that they may live for ever ? oh that wee would at length , bee effectually convinced of the certain and infallible verity of this promise in it selfe , and then there would bee little need to perswade our indeavours , to make sure our own interest in it . cleombrotus reading of this future immortality , though but darkely delineated in platoes writings , by casting himself into the sea , dispossessed himself of this life , that hee might bee the sooner possessed of that ; far bee his practice from our imitation , wee are taught to wait gods leasure for the accomplishment of this promise , but surely the due consideration of an eternal life will teach us to make a preparation for that , the main business of this life , ever remembring , that this moment is given us by god to bee the onely opportunity of gaining that eternity . in special , memoria promissae mercedis perseverantem te faciat in opere , since eternal life is promised by him to us , let that which wee have heard from him abide in us . true perseverance in the faith is very difficult , and sometimes proveth dangerous , but it s as true , eternal life is very excellent and advantagious . videamus quid promisit , saith st. austin , let us seriously view , what it is hee hath promised , not gold or silver , houses , lands , or any earthly possessions , and yet what will not men indure for the gaining of these ? shall not eternal life , have a stronger influence upon us ? oh consider on the one hand what is it thou canst probably gain by forsaking the truth , perhaps favour with great ones , large revenues , stately palaces , honourable titles ; but tell mee in good earnest , can these countervail the loss of eternal life ? undoubtedly they cannot . on the other hand , what is it thou canst possibly lose by retaining the truth ? perhaps thy estate , thy liberty , thy life ; i but , what thinkest thou ? will not eternal life make amends for all these losses ? certainly it will. as therefore the runners of old were wont to engrave the reward upon the palmes of their hands , that when they began to faint , the fight of that might revive them ; so let us incourage our selves to a patient abiding in the doctrin which wee have heard , notwithstanding all opposition , by a serious remembrance of the promised remuneration , eternal life , and so much the rather , because it is promised upon this condition , and is no otherwise to bee expected . to end therefore , hast thou begun well by imbracing the faith , lose not the reward for want of adhering , but hold it fast to the end , that thou maiest receive in the end , this life , which shall be without end . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . , , . these things have i written unto you concerning them that seduce you . but the annointing which you have received of him abideth in you , and yee need not that any man teach you , but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things , and is truth , and is no lye , and even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in him . and now little children abide in him , that when he shall appear yee may have confidence , and not bee ashamed before him at his coming . if you compare these three with the eight foregoing verses , you shall finde them to bee a summary repetition of what it there more largely delivered . there are three hinges upon which the precedent discourse turneth , namely , the peril of antichristian doctrin , the benefit of the spirits unction , the duty of perseverance in the christian faith , and these three are inculcated in these verses . indeed , where the danger is very great , the admonition cannot bee too frequent ; when the benefit is of singular advantage , it would bee often considered , and a duty which must bee performed , cannot bee too much pressed ; no wonder , if st. john propose them in this gemination to our second thoughts . and yet it is not a naked repetition neither , but such as hath a variation and amplification in every particular . the duty is re-inforced at the eight and twentieth verse , but in another phrase , of abiding in christ , and with a new motive drawn from the second comming of christ. the benefit is reiterated , and much amplified in the seven and twentieth verse , as to its excellency and energy . finally , the danger is repeated , but with another description of those by whom they were in danger , whilest as before hee had called them antichrists for their enmity against christ : so here , for their malignity against christians , hee calleth them seducers , these things have i written to you concerning them that seduce you , &c. by what you have already heard , you see the scope of those verses , which ( according to their number ) divide themselves into three generals . a caution , these things have i written , &c. a comfort , but the annointing which you have received , &c. a counsel , and now little children abide in him , &c. begin , and at this time end wee with the caution , which is given in the six and twentieth verse , these things have i written unto you concerning them that seduce you . as it is in the world , so is it also in the church . in the world all good and useful things have their contraries . there are fruitful showres , and there are harmful storms ; there are refreshing dews , and infecting vapours ; there are wholesome herbs , and there are noysome drugs ; there are tame living creatures , and there are wild beasts . thus in the church , there are sound , and there are rotten professors , true and false prophets faithful and deceitful apostles , and if you look upon this verse , you may find a brand set upon the one , and a character given of the other , - whi●e●t the two parts of the text are , the mischievous design of the antichrists , which was to seduce , them that seduce you ; and the pious care of st. john , which was to give warning , these things have i written to you concerning them . in handling the former of these , i shall take notice of these three things . the who ? them , whom ? you , wha ? seduce . if you inquire who these seducers were , wee shall find two things not unworthy our observation . that their names are not mentioned . it may perhaps bee asked , since the apostle doth not name them , how should they know them , and if they could not know them , how should they avoid them ? but to this it is easily answered , that hee had sufficiently described them before by their antichristian doctrin , so that of whomsoever they heard such positions , they might conclude them to bee the persons , and since in this respect there was no necessity of mentioning , it is justly looked upon as an act of prudence , his concealing their names . indeed , wee finde this apostle in one of his epistles , expresly naming diotrephes , and st. paul naming himeneus , and alexander , phygellus , and hermogenes , in his epistle to timothy . there may bee sometimes urgent reason of mentioning names : but for the most part both these apostles are silent in this particular , and those other apostles , st. peter and st. jude , though they are large and sharp in their invectives against those hereticks , yet they name not any . the reason of this is not unfitly given by lorinus upon the text , to wit , ne magis irritarentur , to avoid all exasperation , and it is a good note hee inferrs upon it , abstineudum quoad fieri potest à cujusquam publicâ not â. as much as may bee , wee must abstain from throwing dirt in the faces of particular persons , though they bee flagitious in life , or erroneous in doctrin ; very apposite to this purpose is that gloss of theophilact , on these words of st. paul , many walk of whom i have told you often , &c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee intimateth who they were , in saying , i have told you often , but he doth not nominate , lest hee should provoke them . in that parabolical narration of dives and lazarus , the rich mans name is not mentioned ; the reason whereof is generally conceived to bee , that our saviour thought him not worthy the naming , upon which account ignatius would not insert , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the faithless names of certain hereticks in his writings . but that note of maldonate may very well be allowed , and is very suitable to the present matter , it was the prudent moderation of our saviour , ut pauperem quem laudaret nominaret , divitem quem vituperabat non nominaret , to mention the beggars name whom hee did commend , but to conceal the rich mans whom he did condemn . that rule which is given , though not so well observed by the epigrammatist , is fit to bee followed by all preachers and writers . parcere personis dicere de vitiis . to reprove sins and spare persons , to confute errours and conceal names . that character of the philosopher , insectatur vitia , non homines , he inveighed against vices , not men , well befits a preacher . when wee praise and commend the good , it should bee with reflexion on persons , and that by name , for their greater incouragement , but when wee reprove or condemn the evil , it should bee ( unlesse for some weighty reasons ) without naming persons , to avoid provocation , whilest those who on such an occasion are named , are apt to suppose it as an argument of ill will , and so instead of being bettered by the reproof , to be imbittered against the reprover . their office ( to which probably some of them were called , and which no doubt all of them pretended ) was to teach and instruct the people . thus in all ages there have not wanted seducers , among the teachers of the church . god complained by his prophet isaiah , the leaders of this people caused them to err , so by jeremiah , i have seen folly in the prophets of samaria , they have prophesied in baal , and caused my people israel to erre ; upon this account the pharisees are called by our saviour , blinde guides , and those seducers , by st. paul , false apostles , and both by st. peter and st. john , false prophets . and truely , though this bee too common , it is very sad ; what more incongruous than blindnesse in a guide , injustice in a judge , ignorance in a scholar , and heresy in a teacher ? those sheep must needs wander , which either are without a shepheard , or whose shepheard misleads them . oh what need is there of earnest prayer , that god would give us pastours after his own heart , which may feed us with wisdome and understanding ? and so much for the who. that which next commeth to bee considered , is , the whom , you , that is , saith grotius , judaeos , ex quorum gente vos estis , many of the jews , whose country-men you are , who were seduced by them ; but more rationally say others , you , that is , you , who have received the unction , and abide in the faith , to whom i have written this epistle . but if those were the you , how is it that these false teachers , are challenged with seducing them , since they were not seduced , but continued stedfast in the faith ? the solution of this objection is presently made , by distinguishing between the intent and event , the indeavour and the effect ; these false teachers did seduce them in design , who yet were not actually seduced by them , and because they did indeavour to do it , therefore they are charged as if they had done it . it is a note not unworthy our observation before we go any further , that whatsoever evil is inchoated by a resolved indeavour , and onely impeded by divine prevention , is a● if it had been consummated by a compleat execution . true it is , the sin is the grosser ▪ and the guilt the greater , when a wicked attempt is accomplished , but still the very intent , much more the attempt , denominateth a man guilty . hee that solliciteth a womans chastity , though he never commit the outward act , is an adulterer ; hee that contriveth and striveth to take away a mans life , though hee do not kill him , is a murtherer ; and hee that preacheth false doctrin to the people , with an intent to deceive them , is a seducer , though his hearers are not infected by him . we see in mans law , hee that breaketh open a mans house , though his stealing bee prevented , is looked upon as a theef . hee that plotteth a treason against his sovereign , though hee do not execute it , is adjudged as a traitor , and surely it must much more hold true in gods law , which is therefore more strict , because more large in its extent than mans . nor is it without just reason that thus it should bee , since he that endeavoureth , would accomplish , were he not hindred , and that the act is not correspondent to the design , is not for want of will , but power ; it was no thanks to bal●c , or balaam , that the people of israel were not cursed , nor to saul , that david was not destroyed , nor to haman , that the jewes were not cut off ; now that wherein the sinfulnesse of sin consists is in the voluntarinesse of it , and therefore as where the act is done against the will , it is excusable , so where the will is bent , though the act be not done , it is culpable ; who would not be enraged at him , who knowing himself to have a plague-sore running about him , should run into every house , and thrust himself into every company , and censure him as worthy of punishment , though ( perhaps ) through gods mercy none were infected by him ? oh let us repent , not only of our evil deeds , but our wicked attempts , and accuse our selves , as well for what we would have done , as what wee have done . and withall it is that which holds true on the other hand , and would be taken notice of for the comfort of the good , mens boni stud●● ac pii voti e●iamsi effectum non invenerit habet tamen praemium volunt at is , saith salvian excellently , in all honest and pious endeavours , though the work bee not effected , the will shall bee rewarded ; when the childe taketh the bow into his hand , puts the arrow into the bow , draweth it as farre as he can , the father accepteth it , as if he had drawn it to the head , and h● the mark . it is said of abraham , by st. james , that he offered his son isaac upon the altar , when yet not isaac , but the ram was offered , and good reason , since on abrahams part there was nothing wanting ▪ according to gods command , he rose up early in the morning , sadled his asse , took isaac his son with him , clave the wood , went to the place , built an altar , prepared the fire , laid the wood on the altar , isaac on the wood , took the knife to slay him , and had not an angel from god prevented him , he had actually slain him . where god denieth ability , or opp●rtunity , he alwayes accepts the will for the deed . it is that which may more particularly bee taken notice of , for the comfort of the ministers of the gospel , who sincerely indeavouring the conversion of sinners , though they prove not successeful , shall be looked upon by god as if they were . a pilot ( saith quintilian ) cannot be denied his lawful plea , though the ship miscarry , whilest he holdeth the helm aright , and sayleth by the compass ; nor shall hee who carefully steereth the course of his ministry by the compass of gods word , bee found guilty , though the ship whereof he is pilot sink into perdition ; that promise in the book of da●i●l ▪ they that be wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firma●●nt , and they that turn many to righteousnesse as the stars for ever and ever , is probably to be understood in the first clause , of all the godly who are most truly wise ; and in the second , of the prophets of god , who are said to turn many to righteousnesse ( even when perhaps they doe not turn any ) in respect of their cordial ▪ desires , and earnest labours , as here false prophets and teachers are charged to seduce them , whom yet they did not seduce , because of their design and indeavour . the last and chief thing considerable in this part of the text is , the what , the act , in that word seduce ; indeed venerable bede by these seducers understands all those who by fair or foul means draw men to any evil , and thereby hinder them from partaking the promise of eternal life mentioned in the former verse ; but i rather with the stream of interpreters , expound these seducers to bee the heretical antichrists spoken of before , though in the handling i shall reflect on all that seduce to any evil . the greek word here used , most properly belongs to travellers , when they wander out of the way ; from thence it is applied in the first place to erring , which is a wandring from the way of truth ; so in that of st. james , doe not erre my beloved brethren ; and in the next to seducers , which is a causing others to erre ; so here , and many other places ; indeed aretius on the text taketh in both , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , id est qui errant , & alios in errorem trahunt , them that seduce , that is , them who erre themselves , and draw others into it . that which would here bee observed , is the evil temper of hereticks , who having espoused an error , are very solicitous to be get children , by causing others to erre ; for this cause they are compared by st. jude to wandring starres , by which we are not to understand the planets in the heaven ( which are so called , because by reason of their various motions they seem in the eye of the vulgar to wander ) but the fiery meteors in the air , which are called starres , for that resemblance they have to starres in outward appearance , which being hurried up and down by the wind themselves , doe oft-times misguide the unwary traveller into boggs and fens ; thus having before borrowed a metaphor from the air , resembling these false teachers to clouds without rain , for their vain-glorious boasting ; from the earth , comparing them to withered trees , for their barren conversations ; from the water , resembling them to the raging waves of the sea , for their furious cruelty ; so taking in all the elements , he borroweth a metaphor from the fire , comparing them to wandring starres , or meteors , because of their mischievous mis-leading ; for as these ▪ especially the ignes fatui ( as they are called ) foolish fires , being carried up and down by the wind , have themselves an uncertain motion , and mis-guide the traveller into a wrong path ; so did those hereticks , having themselves forsaken the right way , entice others to follow them ; in which respect st. paul saith of these seducers , that they wax worse and worse , deceiving , and being deceived . nor is this lesse observable in other sorts of sinners . jeroboam having set up calves at dan and bethel , ingageth the people to worship them . absolom having a rebellious design against his king , and father , david , attempts to steal away the hearts of the people from him . the harlot resolving to prostitute herself , goeth forth to inveagle the next young man shee meets , to her wanton imbraces , and those bloody miscreants call upon others , saying , come let us lye in wait for blood . thus there is in wicked men , a kinde of itching desire to make others as bad as themselves , and perhaps this is the meaning of the phrase in the prophet , they draw iniquity , to wit , by drawing others to iniquity . indeed , here in they follow the suggestion of that prince of darkness , for as it was christs charge to peter , being converted , strengthen thy brethren , so it is the devils to his agents , being perverted , pervert thy b●ethren , nay , hereby it is they do not only obey the command , but imitate that pattern of their father the devil , who not standing in the truth , with too happy , or rather unhappy a successe , endeavoured mans fall , that as hee with his evil angels were thrown out of heaven , so adam with his posterity might bee cast out of an earthly , and kept out of ●n heavenly paradise . and now i would to god all hercticks would consider how great an evill this is , to bee a seducer . it is bad to bee an actor of evil our selves , but far worse to be an inticer ; it is bad to bee seduced by , but much worse to bee a seducer of others ; wee seldome finde jeroboam the son of nebat mentioned , but with this mark , that made israel to sin , no doubt for his greater infamy . when elimas indeavoureth to turn away the deputy from the faith , st. paul is inraged with an holy zeal , and in him giveth every seducer his due brand , thou full of all subtilty and mischief , childe of the devil , and enemy of ●ll righteousnesse . wee are not able to answer for our own sins , wee had not need contract upon us the guilt of others ; wee cannot pay our own scores , there is no reason for us to make others debts ours . god knoweth we have sinnes enough ( as so many sons ) of our own , why should we adopt others ? yet so doth the seducer ( whilest without timely repentance ) hee must give an account for all those souls , which hee hath either in design , or effect , seduced ▪ either to errour of doctrin , or evil of manners ; and surely , if they who turn many to righteousness , shall shine as the sun in heaven , they who turn many from it , to errour and wickedness , shall burn as coals in hell. but i fear seducing hereticks , whilest they have open mouths , and n●mble tongues to the perverting of others , have their ears heavy , nay , closed , lest they should bee converted themselves , and therefore though i shall not cease to pray for , i shall forbear any longer to speak to them . the improvement that should be made of this doctrin by the godly and orthodox , is , that wee take heed of going amongst , or conversing with hereticks , lest wee be seduced by them . indeed , it were ground enough of abstaining their society , lest wee should bee thought such , but much more lest we should prove such . this holy apostle would not stay in the bath with that arch-heretick cerinthus , out of a just indignation against him ; we should not frequent the company of such , out of a wise circumspection in reference to our selves . the orthodox hearers of athanasius forsook the church when lucius the arrian bishop came to preach ; both the private society , and more publique meetings of hereticks , should bee avoided by us ; it is ill coming within the breath of such rotten persons . there is not more danger of being burned by comming too neer the fire , of being defiled by touching pitch or dirt , and of being infected , by comming neer one that is sick of the plague , than of being seduced by hearkning to , and having familiarity with hereticks . it is that indeed which may bee extended , and i would to god were observed as a general rule in regard of all wicked company , come out from among her my people ( saith god concerning babylon ) lest thou bee partaker of her sins . depart from me you evil doers , ( saith david ) for i will keep the commandements of my god. wicked men will strive to make us like themselves , nor have wee any promise of assistance against their inticements , if wee needlesly associate with them . the psalmist saith , blessed is the man that walketh not after the counsel of the ungodly , nor standeth in the way of sinners . indeed , he that would not walk in the wickeds counsel , must not stand in his way , lest if the wicked finde him in his way ▪ hee entice him to go along with him . that they obliquely imitate these seducers , in striving to make others , as sound in the faith , and conscientious in their lives , as themselves , why should ( and yet how often is it so ) the devils instruments be more forward than christs servants , his messengers more active than christs ministers ? did heliogabalus take care to make his son like himself , luxurious , and shall not religious parents endeavour that their children may serve the lord ? did the pharisees compass sea and land to make a proselite , and shall not christs apostles do as much to make christians ? are the wolves ranging up and down to worry , and shall not the shepheards bee watchful to preserve the sheep ? are hereticks industrious to seduce from , and shall not the orthodox be solicitous to reduce to the truth ? god forbid . oh let the heavenly stars as readily give forth their light to guide the people into the way of truth and peace , as those fiery meteors are to lead them into the bogs and ditches of sin and errours . them that seduce you . but this is not all that our apostle intends by this expression . the word here rendred seduce , is elsewhere in this epistle , yea , generally through the new testament , translated deceive , and accordingly planus which is derived from it , is used by the latine poet to signify an impostor , now decipimur specie recti , wee are deceived by specious pretences , and accordingly such a kinde of seducing , which is , by making us beleeve wee are in the right , when we are in the wrong way , is that which is here meant . it lets us see what is the cunning of heretical seducers , st. paul saith of them , that by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple ; like the hyaena , which when shee intends to devour , feigneth a mans voice . st. austin observeth , that the devil seeing his temples forsaken , altars demolished , and oracles silenced , by christs comming into the world , to make a new supply of his kingdome , stirred up certain hereticks , ( of whom christ himself foretold , and whom no doubt our apostle here meaneth ) qui sub vocabulo christianae doctrinae resisterent christianae , who under the name of christian doctrin should oppose christianity , like pyrates , who hang out their colours , whom they mean to surprize . indeed , it hath ever been the practice of false teachers , to lead into errour by a pretext of truth , like those ( to use irenaeus his comparison ) who give lime mixed with water , instead of milk , deceiving by the similitude of the colour , herein as st. paul observeth , learning of their master the devil , who though the prince of darkness , oft times transformeth himself into an angel of light. the truth is , as the forementioned father observeth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , errour loveth not to appear naked , as being foul and ugly , no wonder if she cover her self with borrowed robes , that she may be the more amiable . it will not i suppose bee a digression from the text , nor losse of time , to inquire into the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( to use st. pauls language ) sleights and methods of errour , whereby these seducers lye in wait to deceive , and these wee shall finde to bee of many sorts . hereticks ( proteus like ) make use of several shapes under which they delude many . in particular we my observe them seducing by the mixtur of some truths , the promise of much liberty , the plea of long tradition , and the shew of glorious miracles , under the veil of an outside religion , the vernish of humane reason , the colour of divine revelation , the glosse of sacred scripture , & the name of the true church . a mixture of truth with errour is an usual trick of these impostours , herein doing like those who put off lead or brass in coines with the mingling of silver , or who convey poyson in milk , or some such wholesome food . this st. gregory took notice of when hee saith of hereticks , miscent recta perversis , ut ostendendo bona auditores ad se pertrahant , et exhibendo mala latenti peste corrumpant , they joyn right doctrines with perverse , that by an open publication of the one , they may secretly instil the other ; even these antichrists did acknowledge some truth , preaching a christ that came from heaven , but withall denying jesus to be the christ . a promise of liberty , is another cheat of these jugglers , as well knowing how suitable liberty is to mans corrupt nature . hereticks ( how rigid soever they may bee upon design in their personal practice ) yet are commonly libertines in their doctrin , indulging to their followers a lawlesse licentiousnesse . this st. peter and st. jude observed in these antichrists , of whom the one saith , they did promise to the people liberty , and the other , that they did turn the grace of god into lasciviousnesse . the plea of tradition is much used by hereticks , all nations and persons , both jews and gentiles , being very tenacious of those things which they have received from their ancestors . by traditions it was , that the pharisees in christs time indeavoured to make the law of god of none effect , and with traditions it was , that the hereticks in the apostles time did spoil the people of the truth , for so much st. paul intimateth , when hee giveth that caveat , beware lest any man spoil you through vain deceit after the traditions of men . not that all sorts of traditions are to bee sleighted , yea , the traditions which have been delivered and received in the universal church from age to age , are to bee regarded by us next to the written word , but not in opposition against , or in competition with it , such vain superstitious traditions were those which the apostle condemned , and which the hereticks made use of . a show of miracles , is that which is sometimes made by these deceivers . look as of old , when moses and aaron wrought miracles , jannes and jambres the aegyptian sorcerers , imitated them . so in the beginning of christianity , as god confirmed it by real miracles , so the devil opposed it with lying wonders . this was our saviours prediction concerning these antichristian seducers , wherof my text speaketh , there shall come false christs and false prophets , and shall shew signes and wonders , so st. mark ; great signes and wonders , so st. matthew , to seduce and deceive if it were possible the very elect ; and thus the comming of the man of sin is said by st. paul to bee after the working of satan , with all power , and signs , and lying wonders , where that epithite of lying would not bee passed by , those wonders which the devil worketh by hereticks , being lying , not onely because they accompany doctrins of lies , but likewise because they are for the most part delusions , not realities , nor are the greatest of those wonders , above the power of nature , and therefore though they are matter of wonder to us , who oft times cannot understand how they are wrought , yet they are not so in themselves . but surely there is no device more subtle and prevailing than this , men being very apt to beleeve , that their words are oracles whose works are miracles ; and indeed were they so really , it were a sufficient ground of beleef , but as they are , to wit , onely so in appearance , they have too great an influence upon the vulgar . a veil of religion , is many times put on by these cheaters , their garb , their look , their language , speak nothing but holinesse , whilest their doctrins breath nothing but heresy . as too many of the orthodox dishonour their teaching well by living ill , so do many hereticks credit their ill-teaching by well-living . it is one of st. pauls characters of seducers , having a shew of godlinesse , and gregory nazianzen , saith of the macedonians , that their life was admirable , whilest their doctrin was abominable . thus as harlots paint their faces , and perfume their beds , to allure . hereticks feign godliness , and profess religion to seduce . a vernish of reason , is drawn over false opinions , by these seducers , because that is very taking with a rational creature . this st. paul intimateth in that fore-mentioned caution , beware , lest any man spoil you through philosophy , and vain deceit . accordingly tertullian observeth , that the ancient heresies concerning the ae●nes , were fetched from plato's ideaes , the equality of the first matter with god , from zeno , the death of the soul , from epicurus , and the denial of the resurrection of the body , de unâ omnium philosophorum scholâ , from the schools of all the philosophers . upon this account it is , that the father elsewhere asserts philosophers to bee the patriarks of hereticks , and that all heresies are founded upon , and supported by the rules and dictates of philosophy , not that philosophy and natural reason is to bee rejected by the orthodox , as of no use , nay , indeed it is an help to divinity , when in its right place , but our divinity must not bee regulated by philosophy , and our religion bounded by reason . the orthodox use her as an handmaid to wait , but the heterodox make her a mistress to seduce . the colour of a revelation , is oft times used to set off lying doctrin . when st. paul saith , if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel , let him bee accursed , hee intimateth that some might pretend to bring another gospel from heaven , and indeed such there were who broached fictitious gospels , as if they had been divinely inspired . simon magus pretended himself to bee the holy ghost , so did montanus , and vented the dreams of his whores , priscilla , maximilla , and quintilla , for prephecies . indeed , divine revelation is the proper ground of faith. no wonder if hereticks , that they may gain credit , and so seduce the people , lay claim to it , the glosse of scripture is very oft times put upon false opinions , by the assertours of them , to delude the people . in this , as st. hierome well observeth , they trace the devils footsteps , who quoted scripture , thereby fondly imagining hee might delude christ himself . thus the judaizing false teachers in the apostles time , made use of the old testament scripture , quoting moses and the prophets ; and irenaeus observeth of the hereticks of those times , that they dealt by the sacred writings , as a graver doth by the goodly image of a king , which by altering the form , hee turneth into the likenesse of a dog or wolf , and then affirmeth it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be the lovely image of the king , they take the words of scripture , and put upon them their own sense , and then say it is scripture , it is so indeed materially , but not formally , as the metal is the kings , but the stamp is a wolf ; so the words are scripture , but the sense the hereticks . to all these i may add , the name of a church is no small bait whereby hereticks allure and catch the simple in their snares ; our saviour tells us what their sayings should bee , lee here is christ , and there is christ , in this conventicle , and that meeting , by which they withdraw many from the apostolical assemblies . in this respect st. judes character of them , is , that they did separate themselves , to wit , from the apostles , and ( which must needs follow ) they no doubt assumed to themselves the title to the true church of christ ; and thus did the novatians in st. cyprians time , and the donatists in st. augustines time , fighting against the church under the name of the church . by all this wee see how antichristian hereticks abuse the best things to the worst designs , truth , liberty , tradition , miracles , holinesse , reason , revelation , scripture , the church , are all of them of singular concernment and advantage to the orthodox christian catholick religion , but yet even these are falsely pretended by hereticks , and by the feigned semblance of these , it is that they indeavour ( and oft times with too much success ) to seduce their auditors from the faith . these seducers have been more or lesse in all ages , but i think i may safely say never more than in this , and if you mark it , you shall finde the old cheats still practised . the papists on the one hand pretend to the church , traditions , miracles , and a formal sanctity . the socinians boast much of reason . the antinomians of liberty . the anabaptists , quakers , and such like , of enthusiasms , a light within , breathings , impulses , and discoveries of the spirit . all sects have some mixtures of truth , and would father their errours upon the scriptures . and now being encompassed as it were with such subtle sophisters , crafty seducers , what need is there of a prudent vigilancy , lest wee bee insnared by them , according to that excellent advice of st. peter beware lest ye also being led away , with the errour of the wicked fall from your own stedfastnesse . behold , saith our blessed saviour to his disciples , i send you forth as sheep among wolves , bee yee wise as serpents , and innocent as doves , wise as serpents , to defend themselves , innocent as doves , in not offending others , or ( as prosper to our present purpose ) innocent as doves , in not circumventing any , and wise as serpents , in not suffering themselves to bee circumvented ; and surely this serpentine wisdome is that which concerneth all christians in some measure to attain , so much the rather , because these wolves , as our saviour elsewhere speaketh , come in sheeps cloathing , for this reason , saith optatus , ut prius ovis mordentem lupum sentiat quam praesentiat venientem , that they may seize upon the sheep before it can perceive them comming . hee that walketh among snares , had need bee cautelous , and no less reason have we to bee circumspect , who are in the same danger which those christians were in , of them that would seduce then , and so much shall suffice to have been spoken of the first general , namely , the mischievous design of the false teachers . i go on to a more brief dispatch of the other , which is , the pious care of true apostles , these things have i written to you concerning them . for the full discussion whereof , i shall look upon the writing here mentioned in a double reference , namely , as it was a result of the spirits dictate , and as it was an argument of st. johns care . as a result of the spirits dictates , for st. john and the other holy men of god spake and wrote as moved by the holy ghost , and so wee are here to take notice , that the divinely inspired writings are of excellent use against seducers . indeed , as a straight line discovers what is crooked , and the clear light dispells darknesse , so the word of god serveth to discover who are seducers , and to dissipate their clondy errours ; you erre ( saith our blessed saviour to the sadduces , ) not knowing the scriptures ; tacitly teaching us , that the scriptures well known , and rightly understood , are a guard against errour . the whole scripture , saith st. paul , is of divine inspiration , and is profitable , as for reproof of sin , so for the correction of errour . let it therefore bee our business , especially in such erroneous times as these , to study the scriptures , and not onely to bee well versed in the letter , but acquainted with the meaning of them , that as our saviour refelled the tempter , so wee may bee able to refute seducers with a scriptum est . no darts pierce so deep , as those which are taken out of the lords armory ; no arrows hit the mark like those which are drawn out of gods quiver , nor is any sword so sharp as that of the spirit , and therfore as david hid gods word in his heart , that hee might not fall into sin , so let us , that we may not run into errour . but that which would bee chiefly taken notice of , is , that his writing these things concerning seducers , was an argument of his care , that the people might not bee deceived by them . it is that which wee finde to have been not only the care of this , but the other holy apostles ; the greatest part of st. judes epistle , and of st. peters second epistle is concerning these seducers ; frequent caveats wee meet with in st. pauls epistles , to the same purpose , witnesse his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the col●ssians , beware lest any man spoil you ; nay , his threefold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the philippians , beware of dogs , beware of evil workers , beware of the concision , and to name no more , his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the romans , beseeching that they would mark and avoid such . it were easy to let you see how the fathers of the church , have in this particular traced the footst eps of the apostles . ignatius bespeaketh the christians of antioch , in words much like those of st. paul to the philippians , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. beware of dogs , serpents , dragons , aspes , bazilisks , scorpions . st. cyprian in his epistle to all the people , is very urgent with his ●r● vos fratres , and again with his admone● pariter et consulo , advising , admonishing , intreating , that they would not beleeve the smooth words of false teachers , lest they did mistake darknesse for light , night for day , and poyson for a remedy . irenaeus in his preface to his first book against heresys , saith , this was the reason of his writing those books , that the wolves might not devour the sheep of christ through his default ▪ for the same cause were those things written by epiphanius , athanasius , st. augustin , and many others , which are extant concerning heresies . nor was it without a great deal of reason , that those holy men were , and in particular here st. john was , so careful to write concerning seducers , and that both respectu populi , in regard of the people , for the preservation of their safety , and respectu sui , in regard of himself , for the discharging of his own duty . in respect of the people , st. john well knew , that all men are naturally prone to errour , their understanding ( as well as will ) being corrupted ; yea , that the best being but men , may through want of judgement , and partiality of affection , bee led aside . the bad through wickedness , and the good through weaknesse , sometimes like sheep have gone astray . that the errours to which these antichrists did indeavour to seduce them , were in things fundamental , for so it appeareth by the charge hee laiet● against them , which is , that they denyed the father and the son , that they denyed jesus to bee the christ , a doctrine upon which the whole christian religion is founded . st. hierom upon that o● our saviour , bee wise as serpents , observeth , serpentis astutia ponitur in exemplum , quia toto corpore occul●at capu● , ut illud in quo vita est protegat , the serpent is therefore mentioned , as an example of wisdome , because it is careful to hide the head , wherein its life lyeth , with the whole body ; christ is the head of the church , and the errours of these seducers did strike at the head , no wonder if the apostle wrote concerning them . that to bee seduced , especially in such errours , is dangerous , and destructive . it was the prophet isaiahs sad complaint , the leaders of this people cause them to erre , and they that are lead of them are destroyed ; and st. peters epithite , which hee giveth to these h●resies , is no●lesse than damnable , or ( according to the greek phrase ) heresies of perdition . to this purpose tends that phrase of st. paul , when hee calleth seducer● , spoilers , where the greek word alludeth to theeves and robbers , or to souldiers and plunderers , who take the cattel of their enemy , and carry it away as a prey , for such are false teachers , the devils agents , to lead captive poor souls , that they may bee the devils prey . it is not unworthy our observation , that the apostle having in the verse before , mentioned the promise of eternal life , hee presently addeth this caveat concerning these seducers , intimating , that the flatteries of these seducers if hearkened to , would deprive them of the promise of eternal life , so that it was no lesse than their everlasting welfare , which was endangered . good reason had the apostle upon all these considerations , to write concerning these seducers , to the christians , in respect of their safety . besides this , there was an obligation in regard of himself , that hee might perform his duty . so lorinus glosseth upon the text , videtur fidem suam liberare , ac suo se functum munere protestari , by this writing hee dischargeth that office to which hee was called , and that trust which was reposed in him by his lord and master . indeed , if the minister of christ warn the people of seducers , though they miscarry , yet he shall be acquitted , but à pastore exigitur quicquid per inertiam non custoditur , saith st. cyprian truely , if the sheep wander through the negligence of the shepheard , it will bee exacted of him , according to that of god himselfe , i have made thee a watchman unto the house of israel , and therefore hear the word at my mouth , and give them warning from mee , when i say unto the wicked , thou shalt surely dye , and thou givest him not warning , nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wickednesse , to save his life , the same wicked man shall dye in his iniquity , but his blood will i require at thine hand , yet if thou warn the wicked , and if hee turn not from his wickednesse ▪ nor from his wicked way , he shall dye in his iniquity , but thou hast delivered thy soul . to close up this with a threefold inference . see hence what is the reason why diotrephes prated against this apostle ( as himself tells us ) with malicious words , and why it is that seducers ( with their followers ) rail at the ministers of the gospel , namely , because they preach and write concerning them . for this cause it is , that in all ages they have been , and still are , so solicitous to stop the mouths and pens , to take away the livings and lives of the orthodox , as well knowing , that else they cannot have the opportunity of sowing their tares , at leastwise , not with so good successe . it was no sleight policy of philip , to offer the athenians peace upon condition of delivering up their orators to him , whom demosthenes answered with an apologue very suitable to this present matter , the wolves were willing to make an agreement with the sheep , provided they would deliver up their dogs . the truth is , seducing wolves are most afraid of , and angry at , the ministers of the gospel , whom that great shepheard of our souls hath appointed to watch his flock . learn hence how unlike those ministers are to this apostle , who are dumb dogs in the midst of ravening wolves , and thereby suffer the sheep of christ to bee worried ; what a shame is it , that the heterodox should bee bold , and the orthodox cold , the seducers clamorous in conventicles , and the catholicks silent in churches ? oh let all the ministers of the gospel learn their duty , especially in such times as these , which is not only oves aggregare , to gather together the sheep , but lupos abigere , to drive away the wolves ; wee must not onely bee as mercuriuses to the traveller , which point out the right way , but as sea-marks to the mariner , which warn him of shelves , sands , and rocks ; we are called in scripture , both guides and watchmen , to teach us , that as we ought to lead the people in the truth , so to give them notice of hereticks ; nor can wee bee fa●thful and wise servants , unlesse wee as well admonish the people of their danger as instruct them in their duty . finally , let not the care of those ministers ( who after st. johns pattern ) preach and write concerning seducers , bee dis-regarded by , but let their caveats bee acceptable to , the people . hee will easily open his ears to seducers , who shuts them against true teachers . obey them ( therefore ) that have the rule over you , and watch for your souls , bee guided by their advice , so shall you not be led aside of hereticks by their devices . but above all , seek after , and pray for that unction , which will arm you against errour , whereof our apostle treats in the next verse , and shall ( god willing ) bee discussed the next time . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . but the annointing which you have received of him abideth in you , and yee need not that any man teach you , but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things , and is truth , and is no lye , and even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in him . the virulency of persecution , and the subtilty of seduction , are the devils two great engines , by which hee hath still endeavoured to batter down the church of christ ; sometimes hee is a raging spirit in the hands of cruel tyrants to destroy , and sometimes a lying spirit in the mouths of false teachers to deceive the orthodox professors of the christian religion . by the latter of these it is that hee hath done more mischief than the former : for whereas in the one , hee acteth openly , as an enemy , in the other hee worketh closely , as a seeming friend ; and whereas the blood of martyrs , ( though against the will of their persecutours ) hath been a means to propagate and increase , the poyson of hereticks hath too often prevailed to the infection and damage of the church ; no wonder then , if one of the designs of this holy apostle in this epistle , bee to write to the christians concerning seducers , and to minde them of the great goodness of god in providing an antidote against this poyson , in those words , but the annointing which you have received of him abideth in you , &c. having in the former discourse handled the caution , that which next occurreth to our discussion is the comfort , which is not onely mentioned , but inlarged upon , in these words , but the annointing , &c. the right understanding of this whole verse , depends upon the genuine notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the annointing , once and again here spoken of . in order to which it will bee needful to inquire , to what this annointing alludeth ? what it doth import ? and wherein the analogy holdeth ? the jesuits in their comments , would have us beleeve , that st. john alludeth to the annointing which is used in their church at the sacrament of baptism , before , in the breast , and between the shoulders , and after , on the top of the head . but though i cannot deny , that the use of annointing in baptism , is very ancient , as finding it mentioned not onely by st. augustine , but st. cyprian and tertullian , yet sure i am it is no where spoken of in the new testament , as either instituted by christ , or preached by the apostles , in which respect it cannot rationally bee conceived that st. john alludeth to it . indeed wee finde in st. james an annointing of the sick with oil , to bee then practiced , though ( by the way ) that of a far different nature from the popish extream unction , for wheareas the papists annoint the sick in order to their better passage out , the annointing then used was in order to their recovery , and longer continuance in this world. but as there is no reason to imagine that st. john had any eye to st. james his unction , so much lesse can hee bee supposed to allude to an vnction which was not at all used in his time . if therefore you would know from what this phrase is borrowed , the answer is , that very probably the apostle had an eye to that unction which was in use under the law , the ingredients and composition whereof you have set down at large by moses ; and so much the rather , because , as that is called the holy oil , so this annointing is said before to be from the holy one. the socinians inquiring into the meaning of this metaphor , understand by it the evangelical doctrin , construing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the annointing in this , by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hat which you have heard , at the four and twentieth verse , and conceiving it to bee called the unction , because that by that wonderful effusion of the holy ghost , the apostles were inabled to publish it , for which reason they suppose it is elsewhere called the spirit , and the ministration of the spirit ; with this interpretation some of our late orthodox writers accord , though upon a far different reason ; for whereas the socinians falsely denying any need of the spirits illumination , to bee conferred upon every christian , but onely of that revelation which was at first vouchsafed to the apostles , and by them to the world , endeavour to evade the argument which is brought against them , from this scripture , by this exposition ; the orthodox justly denying any new revelation , or extraordinary inspiration now to bee expected , answer the argument which euthusiasts bring from this scripture , by this interpretation . for my own part , i am very unwilling , ( without great cause ) to recede from the generally received exposition of any scripture . and as to this particular text , i finde the annointing by the far greatest part both of ancient and modern , protestant and popish commentators to be expounded the holy spirit , suitable to which it is , that the latter annoynting is read spirit in the aethiopick version , his spirit teacheth you of all things . there are several considerations which render the common exposition most rational , in as much as usually where the scripture speaketh of annoynting , it is meant of the spirit , as appeareth in the former discourse upon the twentieth verse . it is not here said , the annoynting which wee ( to wit apostles ) have received of him , for then it might most probably have referred to the visible descension of the holy ghost upon them ; nor yet is it said , the annoynting which you have received of us , for then it might justly have been construed as the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which you have heard , this evangelical doctrine which was delivered by the inspired apostles ; but in as much as it is the annoynting which you have received of him , it is most rationally construed of that spiritual illumination which every christian receiveth in some measure from christ. adde to this , that our apostle in this verse manifestly intends to mind the christians what a singular help christ had provided for them against seducers , whereby they might be enabled to continue in that which they had heard , and therefore it cannot rationally be looked upon as one and the same with that which they had heard , but rather the enlightning grace of his spirit is to bee understood , than which there cannot be a stronger antidote against errour . finally , as by this exposition this scripture becometh a sharp sword against the socinians , so ( as shall appear in the handling ) it will not hereby become a buckler for the anabaptists , and therefore i shall acquiesce , and adhere to it as most genuine . as to the last enquiry , how fitly the spirit of god is compared to , and resembled by , oyl , and annoynting , the answer hath been already returned in the discourse upon the former clause of the twentieth verse , whither i referre the reader ; nor shall i adde any thing further , but only , that as the holy oyntment was made of several spices mixed with the oyl , & whatsoever things or persons were annoynted therewith , were legally sanctified by it ; so we are here to understand by this annoynting , not the illumination of the spirit , which is oft-times found alone , and is vouchsafed to the unregenerate , but that which is as it were made up of the several graces of the spirit , whereby not only the minde is enlightned , but the whole man is sanctified . having given you this account of the annoynting , which is as it were the hinge upon which the whole verse turneth , it now remaineth that i goe on to consider what is here affirmed concerning this unction , and because i have already traced the metaphor of oyl , and our apostle is pleased to insist upon another similitude of teaching , i shall follow that , and accordingly you may conceive the spirit of god , who is the annoynting , to bee likewise here represented as a school-master , whose excellency is set forth by four characters , namely , his residency , sufficiency , fidelity , and efficiency . his residency , permanent , in those words , the annoynting which you have received of him , abideth in you . sufficiency , abundant , in those words , and you need not that any man teach you , but as the same annoynting teacheth you of all things . fidelity , eminent , in those words , and is truth , and is no lye . efficiency , evident , in those words , and as it hath taught you , you shall abide in him . begin we with the residency of this school-master , as it is set forth in the beginning of the verse , the annoynting which you have received of him abideth in you ; and here we have something supposed , and something proposed ; that which is supposed is his presence , the annoynting which you have received of him ; that which is proposed is his residence , abideth in you . that which is here supposed concerning this unction , cometh first to be considered , and shall be dispatched in three propositions . that this annoynting is not in us of our selves , but received by us from another . it is st. pauls question , and though it be occasioned by a discourse of those extraordinary gifts , yet it holds true in reference to all , what hast thou that thou hast not received ? the sins which wee commit are our own , but the grace to subdue them is received ; though wee are sometimes subdue into errour , yet wee are apt to fall into them our selves , but the unction which armeth us against those errours is received . it is a meditation which should keep the best christians lowly in their own eyes ; hast thou this annoynting , whilest others want it , or hast thou it in a greater measure than others ? be not proud , but humble , for though it be in thee subjectively , yet it is not from thee effectively , and therefore no just cause of self-exaltation ; it is st. pauls inference upon the fore-mentioned question , if thou doest receive it , why doest thou glory as if thou hadst not received it ? where the manner of proposal by way of question intimateth ( as musculus well glosseth ) the impudence of this arrogance , ridiculum planè est de alienis bonis superbire , it is a ridiculous thing , with aesops crow , to bee proud of borrowed feathers ; in one word , as to boast our selves of what wee have not is abominable , so it it little less odious to boast of what wee have , as if it were our own , when as it is only received . that this annoynting is received of him , that is christ ; it was at first received by christ himself , to wit , as man in his human nature , but he received it not so much for himself as us , voluit accipere , ut potuit tribuere , he would as man receive , that as mediator hee might convey it to us . indeed it hath pleased the father , ( saith st. paul ) that in him should all fulnesse dwell ; to wit , as water in the fountain , light in the sun , wine in the grape , and oyl in the olive ; and accordingly saith st. john , of his fulnesse wee all receive , and that , grace for grace . what the head is to the body , that is christ to the church ; and as the members receive sense and motion from the head , so doth the church this unction from christ . learn hence how greatly we are beholding to christ , of whom it is that we receive whatsoever measure wee have of this spiritual unction ; the truth is , whatsoever spiritual benefit we receive , it is only in and through christ . the remission of sins , and adoption of sons , the justification of our persons , and sanctification of our natures , the donation of his spirit , and acceptation of our services , the redemption of our bodies , and salvation of our souls , are all received through christ ; so justly doth st. paul say , he hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in christ jesus . what need wee have to bee ingrafted into christ , since as wee can receive nothing but of him , so neither can we unlesse we first receive him . to as many as received him ( saith the evangelist ) to them he gave power to become the sons of god , and to as many as receive him it is that hee giveth his spirit ; no wonder that st. paul praying for the ephesians , that they might be strengthened with the spirit of christ , prayeth also , that he might dwell in their hearts by faith , since it is by our faith in christ that wee receive him , and consequently his spirit , which is this annoynting . lastly , this receiving of the unction from him is by way of gift . indeed receiving in its largest extent is the correlative , both of debitum and donum , a debt and a gift , what is duly paid , and what is freely given , both are said to bee received . but when it is used in reference to god and christ , it cannot relate but onely to a gift , since whatever wee receive of him , and much more the annointing of the spirit , is given of his meer mercy . indeed in respect of himself , it may bee called a debt , hee having pleased by his promise to make himself a debtor , and accordingly it is that the spirit is called the spirit of promise , because promised both by the father and the son , for so wee finde the expressions varyed , the comforter whom my father will send , and i will give you . but still in respect of us , it is a free gift , it was love moved him at first to promise this unction to , and since to confer it on , us , in which respect it is called the gift of the holy ghost . true it is , this annointing was received by christ from his father , as purchased by his pretious blood , but it is received by us from christ , as bestowed by his free grace . it is a consideration which should so much the more oblige us to thankfulnesse for this unction , it being but reason , that when wee receive wee should acknowledge the donor , and that what is received freely , should bee acknowledged the more gratefully , wee have received the spirit of god , ( saith the apostle ) that wee may know the things which are freely given us of god , among which the spirit himself is not the least , and who so knoweth them to bee freely given , cannot but bee greatly thankful . holy jesus , wee could do nothing that is good , nor avoid what is evil , did wee not receive this unction from thee , nor do we receive this unction as a reward of our merit , but a fruit of thy bounty . wee are unworthy to receive the annointing from thee , but thou art worthy to receive from us glory , and honour , and praise , now and for ever . that which is next in order to be discussed , and is more directly expressed , is the residency of this schoolmaster , the abiding of this unctio● . things that are ●●id in oil are most lasting , this sacred annointing is prmanent . it is that which is true in respect of the church in general , and each christian in particular . this annointing abideth in the church . that holy spirit who is here set forth under the notion of a teacher , is by our saviour described as a comforter , concerning whom hee tells his disciples , that hee shall abide with them for ever , which promise was made to them , as the then representatives of , and so in them to the whole church , accordingly it is , that the spirit hath been resident in all ages with the christian church , to teach , and comfort , and perform all other offices , whereof shee stands in need . christs presence with his disciples was temporary , in which respect st. johns word is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee dwelt among us , so our translation reads it , but as in a tabernacle , so much the force of the greek carrieth in it , hee onely sojourned for a time with his disciples , but his spirit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , abides with his church from one generation to another , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so theophilact glosseth , for his presence is not as christs was , onely for a season . true it is , christ is said to be in the midst of the golden candlesticks , but that is by his spirit . in respect of his corporal presence , hee saith in one place , the poor you have alwaies with you , but mee you have not alwaies , in regard of his spiritual presence , it is that hee saith in another place , loe i am with you alwaies , even to the end of the world . as this annointing , which wee receive from christ , abideth in the church , so doth it in all the chosen and faithful members of the church . it is said of the apostles , that when this unction visibly and gloriously descended on them , there appeared cloven tongues , as it were on fire , and sate upon each of them ; sitting is a fixed posture , and noteth permanency , it doth so in some , though not the same measure and manner upon every true beleever . at the eighth verse of the next chapter ( where i shall god willing , inlarge upon this subject ) it is resembled to seed , and that such as is not onely cast into , but remaineth in the ground ; by our blessed saviour it is compared to water , and that river water , which is continually running , and therefore said to bee living ; and again it is said to bee a well of water , springing up in the heart of a beleever to everlasting life . finally , by john the baptist it is likened to fire , and such a fire it is , which like that under the altar never goeth out . the consideration hereof may serve , to rectifye our judgements in the true estimate of , and accordingly to quicken our indeavours in the ardent pursuite after , this unction . ah lord ! how eager are men in scraping the things of this world , which when with difficulty obtained by us , are easily snatched from us ? how much rather should wee seek after this annointing , which being received , abideth in us ? labour not ( saith our blessed saviour ) for the meat that perisheth , but labour for the meat that indureth to everlasting life , thereby plainly intimating , that perpetuity is that which much advanceth excellency ; every thing being so much the more amiable , by how much it is the more durable ; no wise man but would prefer lasting brass , before fading gold , a constant table , though of a few dishes , before the largest feast which should only last for a few daies ; and surely then , when wee consider how much this , and all other spiritual blessings transcend corporal , both in their nature and durance , we cannot but judge them worthy our highest esteem , and choicest indeavour . a good name ( saith the wise man ) is better than pretious ointment ; but this pretious ointment is better than a good name , and much more than wealth and pleasure , or whatever it is that this world can afford . this is one of those gifts to which st. james giveth those epithites of good and perfect . every gift is good , though but temporall , but spiritual gifts being of a never ●ading durance , are both good and perfect , great reason have wee to beg these above all others . oh let us not cease in asking , seeking , knocking , for this unction , which being given to us ( like maries good part ) shall never be taken from us . to comfort those who have received this unction , when they consider its perpetual duration . habet oleum deus , habet et mundus , saith hugo , god hath his oil , and the world too , oleum mundi in vasis deficit , oleo dei vasa deficiunt , the worlds oil faileth in the vessels , but the vessels fail for gods oil ; the one , nunquam sufficit , will never satisfy , the other , nunquam deficit , will never waste ; whatever worldly comforts wee receive , our fear of losing allaieth the sweetnesse of enjoying ; but it is not so with the grace of the spirit , which being received , abideth with us . though withall a caution must bee annexed ; that wee use our indeavour to preserve and maintain this oil in the lamp of our souls . this schoolmaster is willing to reside with us , but then wee must remember st. pauls caveat , grieve not the holy spirit of god , whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption , for if we grieve him he will at least for a time withdraw himself from us . this fire is of a lasting nature , being once throughly kindled , but then wee must observe that other injunction of the apostle , quench not the spirit , for though it bee not wholly put out , it may bee much quenched by our negligence . this annointing is abiding , but then wee must take notice of our saviours assertion , to him that hath shall bee given , but from him that hath not , shall bee taken away that which hee hath . wee must make use of , and improve this holy oil , concerning which that riddle is a truth , the more wee spend , the more it increaseth ; the oil in the widows vessel , ceased not so long as shee poured it out ; this holy oil is best preserved by using it to the glory of god , our own and others advantage ; and thus much shall suffice for the first character of the residency of this schoolmaster , proceed wee to the next , which is the sufficiency of his instruction , as it is set forth affirmatively , in those words , the same annointing teacheth you of all things . negatively , in those , and you need not that any man teach you . begin wee with the assirmative part , and therein consider the latitude of the object , all things , and the quality of the act , teacheth . the object is expressed in the same latitude at the twentieth verse , where hath been largely discussed , how , and with what restrictions it is to bee interpreted . it was the promise of our saviour to his disciples , that his spirit should guide them into all truth , nor was this confined to them , but is here assured to all christians , that the annointing should teach them all things , all things , that is all truth , truth being the proper object of the understanding , which is that faculty whereby wee are capable of teaching ; nor yet must this bee extended as far as the spirit is able to teach and lead , but onely as far as was requisite for them , and is for us to know , and understand ; thus the spirit led them into all truth , whereby they were able to propagate christian religion in the world , and hee teacheth every christian all truth which is needful in order to the prevention of fundamental errours , and the salvation of his precious soul . it would not bee passed by , that our apostles phrase is at once both extensive and restrictive , it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee teacheth all things , but of , or concerning all things , that is , something of all things . these all things are not taught simultaneously , but successively ; fully , but gradually : the disciples themselves were taught by degrees , and did not know all things at first , nay indeed , not exactly at the last ; it is but a partial knowledge , the best have of these all things ; but yet all those things which conduce to the strengthening us against error , and the guiding us in the way of truth , are in some , though not the same measure , taught by this unction . the chief thing here to be discussed is the quality of the act , what kind of teaching it is that is here attributed to the spirit , whereof all christians participate . for the better understanding hereof , take notice of a double distinction . the teaching of this unction , is either extraordinary , or ordinary , that peculiar to some , this common to all christians ; in reference to the extraordinary teaching it is that st. gregory saith excellently , ungit spiritus iste sanctus citharaedum , & psalmistam facit , ungit pastorem , & prophetam facit , ungit piscatorem , & praedicatorem facit , ungit persecutorem , & doctorem gentium facit , ungit publicanum , & facit evangelistam , the annoynting of this holy spirit maketh an harper ( so was david ) a psalmist ; a shepherd ( so was amos ) a prophet ; a fisher-man ( so was st. peter ) a fisher of men , by preaching ; a publican , ( so was st. matthew ) an evangelist ; finally , a persecutor ( so was st. paul ) a teacher of the gentiles . but it is the ordinary , not that peculiar and extraordinary way of teaching which is here intended . the ordinary teaching of the spirit is either external , or internal , and both these are no doubt included . the outward teaching of the spirit is by the ministry of the word , and preaching of the gospel , which is contained in the holy scriptures ; look as the holy writings were at first inspired by the holy ghost , so by them he still teacheth his church . accordingly it is that all saving truths were dictated by the spirit to the pen-men , and are fully , faithfully delineated in sacred writ . it is a form of sound words every way compleat , explicating , ( as gregory the great saith ) all the divine mysteries of religion , and delivering all precepts for moral practice , quibus quidem duabus partibus omnis nostrae salutis & faelicitatis ratio continetur , in which two consists the whole doctrine of attaining true happinesse , and therefore in this respect this of the apostle is verified , the annoynting teacheth us of all things , to wit , in the external ministration of the word . besides this outward there is an inward teaching , which the spirit vouchsafeth to the church , and every true member of it , and is here principally aymed at . this is that teaching , which being the secret work of gods spirit , is not so visibly discernable ; the more things are abstracted from sense , the more mysterious they are , no wonder if it be difficult to apprehend what this teaching is , which according to st. gregory is , allocutio intimae inspirationis , an inward inspiration , or spiritual allocution . it is a question much controverted in the schools , how the angels being spiritual substances impart their conceptions to one another , and surely it is much more hard to know how the spirit imparts his divine learning to the soul , even they who are thus taught are sure of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that so it is , but are not able to unfold the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , how it is so . and yet that wee may in some measure apprehend what we cannot fully conceive , i shall in a few words acquaint you with that notion of this teaching which the scripture is pleased to give us , and accordingly if you ask what this inward teaching is whereof the apostle speaketh , i shall return the answer in the words of the prophet jeremy , or rather god by the prophet , it is the putting his law in our inward parts , and writing it in our hearts . indeed , as we say in general , the scripture is the best interpreter of it self , so in this particular , the prophet is the best commentator on the apostle ; and therefore that wee may more clearly understand the one , it will bee needful more particularly to comment on the other , and let you see what this putting this law in our inward parts , and writing it in our hearts meaneth , by which wee shall the better perceive what this teaching is ; in reference to which i shall lay down a double conclusion . that which the spirit teacheth inwardly , is the same with that hee teacheth outwardly , and therefore that which he is said to write in the heart of man , is no other than that law which is written in the book of god. as the minde of the spirit in one parcel agreeth with the minde of the spirit in another parcel of holy writ ▪ so the impressions of the spirit on the soul , answer to the dictates of the spirit in the scriptures . it is very observable that christ tells his disciples , the spirit should bring all things to their remembrance ; as if the chief end of the miraculous descension of the holy ghost upon them , were not to teach them any new doctrine , but to bring to remembrance what christ had before taught them ; surely then the inward teaching of this vnction whereof all christians participate , doth not reveal any new mysteries which are not already delivered in the word . among other resemblances , the spirits working upon the soul , is said to be a sealing , and among other reasons , for this , because as the seal maketh no stamp upon the wax , but what is answerable to that which is upon the seal ; so whatsoever the spirit teacheth the heart , is answerable to what it teacheth in the word . the inward teaching , or writing of the spirit , is the imprinting of scripture-truths upon the soul . conceive then the soul as the paper , the truths revealed in gods word , as the letters , the spirit of god , as the scribe , and the ayl of his grace , as the inke , by which there is an impression made of the letters upon the paper , truths upon the soul . for the more particular opening hereof know : that this teaching is not a naked motion , but a real impression ; not a superficial wetting , but a deep soaking . many there are to whom the spirit vouchsafeth some taste , yet never drink a full draught , who have some gliding aspects , but no direct beams of the sun of righteousnesse shining on them ; it is one thing to hear the voyce of the spirit speaking , another to find the pen of the spirit writing ; that teaching which is here meant , is such as confirmeth against error , and therefore doth not glide off like water , but abide like oyl , slightly move , but strongly work upon the soul . that this impression of the spirits teaching is upon the whole soul ( more especially ) the two chief faculties of the soul , the understanding , and the will ; so much seemeth to be intimated by that double character of the subject ( the inward parts , and the heart ) which wee finde in the prophet ; as of old the law was literally written by gods finger in two tables of stone ; so it is spiritually written by gods spirit in two tables of flesh , the mind and the heart . this annoynting then teacheth , illuminando intellectum , by enlightning the understanding , to see and discover those things which are revealed in the word ; the first work of the spirit in conversion answereth that first word and work of god in the creation , let there be light ; by this light it is that the darknesse of ignorance is expelled , and the eyes of the minde are opened , to apprehend divine writings in their own lustre and beauty . it is observed of paper , that being oyled it is thereby made bright , and so fitter to receive the beams of the sun , and conveigh the light into the room ; so is it with our minds , which being annoynted with this oyl , are thereby fitted to receive that heavenly light of evangelical doctrin ; and whereas the oyl which is put to the lamp feeds it when it is kindled , but cannot give light to it ; such is the excellency of this unction , that it giveth the light of saving knowledge to them who are altogether destitute of it . nor is this all , but further , inclinand● voluntatem , by inclining the will to embrace the goodnesse , and taste the sweetnesse of those truths which are understood ; this oyl doth not only cherish the light of the lamp , but softens the hardnesse of the tumor , remove the darknesse of the understanding , but mollifie the perversnesse of the will. as for the manner of the spirits operation upon the will , it is not to bee disputed , many controversies which trouble the church would easily be reconciled , were the modus layed aside . i suppose none will deny , but he who made the will knoweth how to perswade it without coaction , and incline it without compulsion , and therefore we need not fear to affirm , that the annoynting teacheth , by inclining the will ; the truth is , were it not that this teaching had an influence upon the will , as well as the understanding , it could not guard against error , and preserve from apostacy , nothing being more usual than for those who are taught outwardly , and not inwardly , to reject those truthes whereof they have been fully convinced , for want of a kindly influence upon the will , by which they should constantly adhere . to summe up this point , and there-with this discourse . see the excellency of the spirits teaching beyond all others ; other school-masters set only truths before us , but cannot put them into us , they present them to our eyes , or ears , but cannot write them upon our hearts , only this school-master can , and doth , not only by his word speak to our ears , but by his grace to our souls ; oh therefore let us implore this sacred unction , that he would vouchsafe to become our teacher ; let us begge of him , that he would first give us flexible spirits , and decible mindes , whereby wee may bee willing to bee taught , which is to take away the heart of stone , and give an heart of flesh ; and then that he would make us to know and embrace divine truths , which is to write his law in our hearts . and withall take we heed how we grieve this school-master by a carelesse neglect of his instructions . if at any time hee bee pleased to put any good motions into our mindes , let us cherish them , and let us beseech him , that to those motions hee would adde his powerful impressions , and if wee be thus taught of him , we are well taught , so well that we need no other teacher ; which leads me to the other branch of the sufficiency of his instruction , in the negative expression , you need not that any man teach you . but the time being expired denyeth any further progresse at present , and therefore the discussion of that , with the other parts of the verse , must be referred to the next opportunity . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . but the annointing which you have received of him abideth in you , and yee need not that any man teach you , but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things , and is truth , and is no lye , and even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in him . this whole world may not unfitly bee resembled to a book , whereof the cover is the heavens , whose gilded imbossements are the glittering stars , letters are the elements , words are the several creatures , compounded of those elements , sentences are the motions , and actions of those creatures , and periods are its various ages . this is the book which almighty god hath given all mankind to read , and there is in every man a natural reason , which serveth as a candle , whereby wee may discern the characters engraven on it , and as a schoolmaster , whereby wee are instructed in the lessons to bee learned from it . but besides this school of the world , in which the creator hath appointed to train up all men ; there is another school of the church , which our redeemer hath designed for the education of christians , in which respect one of the names by which they are frequently called , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the disciples or scholars of christ . the book wherein they are to learn , is no other than the holy scriptures of the old , and ( more espeoially ) of the new testament . the ushers or inferiour teachers are the ministers , whose lips are therefore said to preserve knowledge , and at whose mouth wee must seek the law. and if you would know who is the head-master in this school , let st. john give you the answer in the words of the text , it is no other than the holy spirit of god , here called the annointing , but the annointing which you have received of him , &c. the sufficiency of this unction in teaching christians , is that part of the text i am now in handling , and having discussed the affirmative assertion , in that it is said to teach all things , i am now in order to proceed to the negative amplification , which is expressed in those words , and you need not that any man teach you . the apostle peter speaking of the unlearned and unstable , telleth us , that they did wrest , as many things in st. pauls epistles , so likewise in other scriptures , to their own perdition , where the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as gerard well observes , is a metaphor borrowed from those who put men upon the rack ▪ whereby they oft times force them to speak things against their knowledge and conscience , for so do hereticks impose upon the scripture a sense contrary to what the spirit of god intended . an instance hereof wee have in this text , particularly in this clause , which ( together with those parallel words of the prophet jeremy , quoted by the apostle paul : they shall not teach every man his neighbour , and every man his brother , saying , know the lord ) is wrested by the quakers , and such like sectavies among us , as it was by the enthusiasts heretofore , to the undervaluing of the ministry , as needlesse in the church , yea , of the holy scriptures themselves , whilest pretending to a light within them , which is communicated by this unction , they think they need no light without them , no not that which shineth from the sacred writings . for the proof whereof they thus argue from this text. all who are taught by the unction , need not that any man should teach them , and consequently not the holy men of god. but all christians are taught by the vnction which they receive from christ , therefore , &c. that this syllogism , how rational soever it may seem , is but a paralogism , and particularly , that sophism , which is called by logicians , fallacia à dicto secundum quid , ad dictum simpliciter , a fallacy arguing from that which is spoken onely as to some respect , as if it were to bee construed in its utmost latitude , will plainly appear in the following discourse . and that i may at once both refell this argument , and unfold the clause , i shall first demonstrate , that those words , you need not that any man teach you , cannot with any show of reason , nor yet without apparent contradiction , bee intended by s. john as an absolute negation ; and then i shall acquaint you with those constructions which are probable , and which of them i conceive most natural . in pursuance of the negative part of the explication , i shall promise something by way of prevention ; and then propose somewhat by way of confutation . by way of prevention , take notice of these particulars , which cannot but be granted . without doubt there will bee a time when gods annointted ones shall not need the teaching of any man , and that is in the other life , when glorified saints shall behold , in the vision of gods face , all things which may conduce to their happiness . it is a true rule in divinity , promissiones novi futurâ . evangelical promises have some impletion in this life , but their completion in the other . accordingly it is , that those words , they shall teach no more every man his neighbour , and every man his brother , saying , know the lord , for they shall all know mee from the least of them to the greatest , are by some of the fathers understood of that knowledge which wee shall have in the countrey ; and though i look not upon this as the genuine scope of these words , yet doubtless then , & then only it is that those words shall most exactly be fulfilled . to the two states of this , and that other life , no doubt st. paul referreth under the resemblance of a child , speaking , doing , and understanding as a child , and of a mans putting away childish things , intending not differrnt degrees of grace , but the difference between grace here , and glory hereafter . we are not such grown men whilest on earth , that wee should look upon the external means of grace as childish things , to bee put away , it is the sole priviledge of heaven ( where wee shall know as wee are known ) that there all helps of humane instruction shall bee supervacaneous . indeed , as aquinas excellently argueth , it is a sign of perfect knowledge , acquisitâ scientiâ , and therefore in that state of perfect knowledge , no wonder if all teaching cease . in respect of our present state in this life , know further , that on the one hand it is an undoubted truth , that notwithstanding wee are taught by men , there is great need of the teaching of this unction , so great , that without it all other teaching is in vain . every instructor saith to his auditors , in words , much like those of the king to the woman ▪ how can i help , except god help ? how can i teach , except the spirit teach . st. gregory upon those words of our saviour , concerning the spirit , hee shall lead you into all truth , inlargeth very excellently to this purpose , vnlesse that divine spirit bee present to the heart of the hearer , the word of the teacher is to no purpose , let therefore no man attribute it to the man , who teacheth , that hee understandeth what hee saith , because , nisi intus sit qui doceat , doctoris lingua exterius in vacuum laborat , except there bee a teacher within , the preachers tongue laboureth outwardly in vain ; behold ( saith that father ) you all alike hear the same voice of him that speaketh , and yet you do not alike perceive the sense of what is spoken , cum ergo vox dispar non sit , cur in cordibus vestris dispar est vocis intelligentia ? seeing therefore the same voice sounds in all your ears , why is there not the same reception into all your hearts ? were it not that there is a master within , who is pleased peculiarly to teach some the understanding of what is generally spoken to all . whereupon hee quoteth this very text with this glosse , per vocem non instruitur , quando mens per spiritum non ungitur , when the minde is not annointed by the spirit , it is not instructed by the voice . to the same pupose , and no lesse full , is that discourse of st. austin upon this place , behold , my brethren , a great mystery , the sound of our words beateth the ear , the master is within . do not think that any man learneth any thing from any man , wee may admonish by the noise of our voice , but in vain , if the spirit teach not inwardly ; you all now hear my sermon , and yet alas how many go away untaught ? quantum ad me pertinet omnibus locutus sum , sed quibus unctio illa intus non loquitur , quos spiritus sanctus intus non docet , indocti redeunt , so far as concerneth mee i have done my part in preaching to all , but to whom the unction doth not speak , whom the spirit doth not teach , they go home untaught . the instructions and admonitions of men are extrinsical helps , cathedram in coelo habet qui docet cor , his chair is in heaven who teacheth the heart , therefore hee himself saith in the gospel , call no man your master on earth , one is your master , christ . and a little after , the words which wee speak outwardly , are to you as the husbandman to the tree , who planteth , and watereth , and pruneth it , but doth hee form the fruit , or cover the tree with leaves ? who doth that ? hear that husbandman st. paul , and see what wee are , and hear who is the internal master ; i planted , apollo watered , but god gave the increase ; neither is hee that planteth any thing , nor hee that watereth any thing but he that giveth the increase is god , that is , his unction teacheth you of all things . thus as the prophets staff could not revive the childe , but the prophet must come himself : so mans teaching cannot instruct , but this vnction must teach us ; and therefore , whensoever wee come to hear the word , let us withall pray for the spirit , that the ministration of the one may bee accompanied with the operation of the other ; that of ferus being most true , docet spiritus sanctus , sed per verbum , docent apostoli , sed per co-operationem spiritus sancti . the spirit teacheth , but by the word , and the apostles taught not but by the co-working of the blessed spirit . on the other hand , it cannot bee denied , but that as mans teaching is nothing without this unction , so this unction can , nay , hath taught without the help of man. there is no question , but that hee who at first created man after his own image , could have repaired the decaies of that image in man without the ministry of man. humane teaching is not a necessary , but arbitrary instrument of the spirit , not without which hee cannot , but ordinarily hee will not teach us . this unction needs not the teaching of any man to joyn with it . those first planters of the gospel were immediately taught by this unction , and had it s● pleas●d god , all christians might still have been taught by an inward inspiration , without any outward instruction ; look as in governing the world , god vouchsafed to make use of second causes , but not out of any necessity , as if hee could not govern without them ; so in teaching the church , the spirit of god maketh use of men as his ministers , but not as if hee could not teach without them . these things being premised , that which i shall by way of confutation , assert and prove , is , that this unction doth not , will not ordinarily teach christians , so as that whilest they are in this world , they shall not need the help of mans teaching . though mans teaching is ineffectual without the presence of the unction , yet the unction doth not exclude the presence of mans teaching . for the clearing whereof , in few words , you must know , in general . that our lord christ hath instituted a certain order of men in the church , whose office it is to teach and instruct men in the faith . this is plainly implyed in that commission given by christ to his apostles , of discipling all nations , by baptizing and teaching them , to which is annexed a promise of being with them alway even to the end of the world ; both which considered together , inform us , that that commission was not to expire with the apostles , but that they should have successors in those sacred offices , to the end of the world , with whom christ would bee present by his spirit . congruous hereunto it is , that st. paul expressely saith , faith commeth by hearing of the word of god , and that from a preacher who is sent for that end . but most apposite and clear is that of the same apostle to the ephesians , where hee saith , christ gave some apostles , and some prophets , and some evangelists , and some pastors and teachers , which surely hee would not have given , had there been no need of them . very observable to this purpose it is , that at the conversion of cornelius , in the vision which hee had , hee was directed to send for peter , that hee might tell him what hee ●ought to do , and whereas the spirit might himself have opened isaiahs prophecy to the eunuch , hee giveth philip command to go , and interpret it , and preach jesus to him ; yea , though christ himself converted saul by an immediate appearing , yet hee sent ananias to the finishing of the work ; and surely , if to extraordinary , much more to ordinary conversion , the teaching of man , of those men whom christ hath for that end appointed in his church , is necessary . that the pastors and doctors of the church are not only designed for initiating , but the perfecting of the saints , they are st. pauls own words in the forementioned place . for this cause it is , that they are resembled , not onely to fathers who beget , and mothers who bring forth , but nurses who bring up the children ; not only to planters , but to waterers , till the tree come to its full growth . and they are as so many builders , not only to lay the foundation , but to rear up the fabrick of grace and knowledge in the hearts of christians ; surely then , till we come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of christ , which shall not be till we come to heaven , we have need that man should teach us . in particular , as to this scripture , it cannot bee st. johns intention , by these words , how express soever they may seem ; to exclude mans teaching . excellently st. austin to this purpose , if this be true you need not that any man teach you , why do we teach you ? if that annointing teach you all things , wee labour as it were without cause ; why do wee not leave you to that unction , that it may teach you ? but now i put the question to my self , et illi ipsi apostolo facio , i may put it to the apostle himself , let the holy apostle vouchsafe to hear a little one inquiring of him . they to whom thou writest , had this unction , thou hast said it , the unction which you have received teacheth you of all things , ut quid talem epistolam fecisti ? quid illos tu docebas ? quid instruebas ? quid aedificabas ? why hast thou written this epistle to them ? why doest thou instruct and edify them ? indeed it cannot be imagined that st. john should teach them by writing to them , if hee did intend by these words , to assert all mans teaching uselesse . and therefore caveamus tales tentationes superbissimas take wee heed of spiritual pride , in fancying to our selves such a measure of the spirits unction , that wee need not the ministers instruction . our blessed lord himself , who had the spirit above measure , was very lowly , and bids us to learn this vertue of him ; surely then , the greater measure wee have of this unction , wee should bee so much the lesse conceited of our selves . the good spirit doth aff●are , breathe grace into us , but it is the evil spirit which doth inflare , puff men up with the winde of pride ; it is the poyson of the serpent swells us , not the oil of the spirit of god ; and truely , there cannot bee an higher degree of pride , than to undervalue the means of instruction . hee who is thus arrogant , argueth himself greatly ignorant of the delusions of satan , and the deceitfulnesse of his own heart . it is very observable , how st. paul joyneth those two caveats together , quench not the spirit , despise not prophecying , the latter being the ready way to the former . if thou hast received this unction , it is , as that apostle tells the galatians , by the hearing of faith , and by the same means it abideth with , and is increased in , that it was first conveyed to us . the plain truth is , hee that is above ordinances , is below grace ; nor can there bee a worse fool than hee who thinketh himself so wise , as not to need the ministers teaching . nor would it be passed by , that those very sectaries who deny the ministry and scriptures , do yet teach one another , all the rest attending , whilst any one of them who pretends to a revelation , speaketh , and therefore i shall not need to spend time in confuting them , who by their own practice confute themselves . having in some measure cleared the quid non , what is not , cannot bee the meaning of this clause , it now remaineth , that i indeavour to unfold the quid est , what is the genuine sense of it ; and since by what hath been already said , it appeareth that it must bee interpreted . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , with limitation , that which is to bee inquired and resolved , is , in what respects this is true , that hee who is taught by the unction , need not be taught by any man. for the unfolding whereof , there is a double way proposed , both of which are very rational and satisfactory . the particle of denying not , is not to bee taken absolutely , but comparatively , not that they did not need any man to teach them at all , but they did not need it so much as others . for the further clearing of this , it would bee observed , that in several scriptures this particle not , is a note , not of irrespective , but comparative negation . when god saith by his prophet , i will have mercy and not sacrifice , hee cannot mean that hee would not have sacrifice at all , for then it was a part of his worship , but yet then hee would not have it in comparison of mercy . when st. paul saith , i am sent , not to baptize , but to preach ; hee cannot mean a denial , for hee was sent to baptize , his commission was the same with the rest of the apostles , which was to baptize all nations ; but hee was rather sent to preach than baptize . that of our blessed saviour , labour not for the meat that perisheth , if taken negatively , will contradict st. paul , where he saith , he that will not work let him not eat , and therefore no doubt onely meaneth , that wee should chiefly labour for the meat that indureth to eternal life ; and yet once more , that saying of his in another place , my doctrin is not mine , but his that sent me , should we take it as a direct denial , would be contradictory to it self , my doctrin , and yet not mine , and therefore is to bee construed , it is not mine so much as his whose i am , and whose my doctrin is , his that sent mee . agreeable hereunto it is , that wee expound this of s. john , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , you have no need , that is , not so much need that any man teach you . according to this interpretation , it would further bee inquired , in comparison of whom this negation is to bee understood , to which a double answer may bee returned . in comparison of the jews before the comming of christ , it is true of all christians , they need not so much as those jews did , that any man should teach them . this is that which i look upon as the most genuine construction of jeremiahs prophecy concerning the church of the new testament , for though the precepts are expresse in several epistles , of teaching and admonishing one another , of exhorting one another , and of provoking one another to love and to good works , yet the christians need not teach one another , as the jews of old needed : for whereas the worship of god under the law was so ceremonial , & obscure , that children needed to ask their parents , and every man his neighbour , what was the meaning of this or that rite , that so hee might know the lord , the precepts of the gospel are so plain and rational , that every one may understand them ; and whereas this unction was then but sparingly given , both in regard of latitude , as to the subject , and fulnesse , as to the degree , ( some few extraordinary persons excepted ) it is now so universally poured out , and that in so far a greater measure , that in respect of them , the christians now need not that any man teach them . a consideration which should lay upon us christians so much the greater obligation of gratitude . time was , when the jews could say , hee hath not dealt so with any nation , as hee hath done with us , neither have the heathen the knowledge of his law , but now wee may say , he did not deal so with the jews , as hee hath with us , neither had they either such clear prescripts for gods worship , or such a plentiful effusion of his spirit , and oh that wee would so thankfully consider this , as withall , to remember that to whom much is given , of them much shall bee required . more congruously to this present scripture , these christians to whom st. john wrote , did not need that any man should teach them , in comparison of these who either were but newly initiated into , or had been seduced from the doctrin of christianity . to this purpose is that glosse of beza's , ha● res non tanquam ignot as proponit , sed tanquam cognitas inculcat . the ignorant must be taught what they knew not before , and the seduced must be taught , to return from whence they have apostatized , but these christians , being neither ignorant nor seduced , had no need so bee so taught , though still as to their confirmation , and growth in grace , and the knowledge of christ , they needed instruction . wee may very well construe this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in opposition to that , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of st. paul. as hee chiding the hebrews saith , when for the time you ought to bee teachers , you have need that one teach you again , which be the first principles of the oracles of god ; so our apostle commending these christians , saith , you need not that any man teach you ; so that as cameron well glosseth it is hyperbolica loc●tio , an hyperbolical expression , in way of commendation , and so the design of it the same with that complement hee useth a little before , i have not written to you because you know not the truth , but because you know it . very observable to this purpose is that of the apostle paul to the thessalonians , where hee saith touching brotherly love , you have no need that i write unto you , for you your selves are taught of god to love one another , yet in the very next verse there followeth , wee beseech you brethren to increase more and more . by which it plainly appeareth , hee did not intend that there was no need at all to write to them , but that they did not need it so much as others , having in a good measure learned that lesson already . suitable to this is that of the same apostle to the corinthians , where hee saith , as touching the ministring to the saints , it is superfluous for mee to write to you , when as in that very chapter hee useth many arguments to incourage them to that very duty , and therefore cannot bee supposed to mean , that it was altogether superfluous . and surely as the design of st. paul in bespeaking the thessalonians and the corinthians after this manner , was to stir them up to a ready performance of those duties , by taking notice of , and commending them for what they had done in that kinde already , so no doubt the scope of our apostle was to animate them against antichristian seducers , by praising them for their proficiency in the orthodox faith. that which wee may learn from hence is , that provided it bee not out of flattery , and for base ends , we may upon just occasion , not onely commend , but inlarge , and as it were hyperbolize in the commendations of them that are good . indeed , to flourish with rhetorical exaggerations , in laying open the faults of others ( except of such crimes as are very open and hainous ) is uncharitable , but to expatiate ( though it bee with hyperboles ) in the praises of others for their vertues , is very allowable , as being that which this holy apostle giveth as a pattern of in this high e●comium , you need not that any man teach you . there is yet another way of giving the sense of this clause , which to mee seemeth most genuine , and that is , by construing those words , you need not that any man teach you , with the following , but as the sume annointing teacheth you of all things , which being put together , doe onely deny any need that any man should teach them any other doctrin than what this annointing had taught them . all things ( to wit ) necessary to salvation , this unction had taught them , and therefore no need of any man to teach them any thing besides these all things . to this purpose is that glosse of heinsius , who conceiveth , that the conjunction but is to be here taken in the same notion , in which it is used by the chaldee and syriack ; those words , there is no god besides mee , are read by the chaldee , there is no god but i. thus in this place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , you need not that any man teach you , but as , that is , except those things which the same annointing teacheth you . with this sense that gloss agreeth in effect , which i finde among some expositors , who refer the man here mentioned to the seducers before spoken of . there is no need of any new masters , that any of those seducers concerning whom the apostle had discoursed should teach them any new doctrin . very apposite to this purpose is that excellent saying of tertu . nob is curiositate opus non est post jesum christum , nec inquisition● post evangelium , nil desideramus ultra credere , hoc enim prius credimus , nil esse quod ultra credere debemus , christ being now revealed in his gospel , it is curiosity to make further inquiry , wee desire not to beleeve any thing more , for this wee first beleeve , that there is nothing more to be beleeved . there is need indeed that the orthodox teachers should inculcate upon the people what this unction teacheth , but as for any doctrin besides , there is no need of , nor regard to bee had to it , or him that bringeth it . it is very probable , that those seducers did teach their new doctrins as things necessary to bee known and beleeved , in reference to whom our apostle assureth them , that whatever those hereticks might pretend , they were already sufficiently instructed in all things needful for them to know . according to this notion , this very scripture , which is made use of by euthusiasts , as a buckler to defend , proveth a sword to cut asunder their opinion ; for what other must their pretended revelations bee , but vain and foolish ? if there bee no need of any thing to bee taught us by any man , but what this unction teacheth ( to wit , as it hath been already explained ) outwardly by the word , and inwardly by grace . the truth is , wee need not that any man , no nor yet any angel should teach us , and if any angel from heaven should come and teach any other doctrine , than what this unction hath already taught the holy apostles , and by them us , let him bee accursed ; nor is this more than what st. paul hath given us warrant for ; and let this suffice to have been spoken of the sufficiency of this schoolmaster . passe we on to the next character , which is his fidelity , as it is set down in those words , and is truth , and is no lye : the first , which is the affirmative expression according to the greek , is to be read in the concrete , and is true ; and the latter , which is the negative , in the abstract , and is no lye ; our translators finding the latter to be the abstract , read the former so too , though it may seem more rational to read the latter , as if it were a concrete , finding the former to be so . but as to the rendring it , it is not much material , whilest the sense is the same ; which is , that this annoynting is true , without the mixture of any falshood in his teaching . the more fully to expresse this , it is that our apostle speaketh the same thing twice , first by affirming , and then by denying the contrary , that look as when in the former chapter he would set forth gods purity to the full , as being free from the least pollution , he saith , he is light , and in him is no darknesse : so here , that he might expresse the veracity of the spirits dictates , as being without the least errour , he saith , it is truth , and is no lye . the devils answers which he gave those who consulted him , were so dubious , that they could not tell which way to construe them , and so were deluded by them ; but the spirits dictates are certain and infallible . the devil is a lying spirit , the father of lyes , and his suggestions are lyes , and no truth , but the spirit of god is a spirit of truth ; so our saviour calls him once and again , yea he is truth and no lye . true it is , hereticks the devils instruments , doe sometimes speak truth , but it is in order to the advancing of some lye ; yea , it is usually mixed with lyes . but the spirits pen-men deliver truth , and nothing but the truth , so that wee may venture our souls upon their writings . indeed , it is not so with us , who expound and preach upon their writings , since we have not so full a measure of this unction as they had ; in which respect st. hier ome saith , aliter habere apostolos , aliter reliquot tractatores , illos , semper vera dicere , istos , ut homines in quibusdam aberrare , that there is a great deal of difference between the apostles and other preachers , those alwayes write truth , but these erre in many things ; but withall , it is then when they are not led by the spirit , who being wisdome cannot be deceived , and being truth cannot deceive . keep wee therefore close to the dictates of this unction , and that as they are set down in the word . since they are truth , and no lye ; let us beleeve , and not doubt ; trust , and not waver ; left if we receive not the truth in the love of it , god give us over to beleeve a lye , it being just that they who will not bee taught by this unction , which is truth , and no lye , should bee fooled by delusions , which are lyes , and no truth . there is only one clause of the verse to be dispatched , in those words , and even as it hath taught you , you shall abide in him , where the verb abide according to the different greek copies is in the future tense of the indicative , and so rendred you shall abide , and in the imperative mood , and rendred abide in him , and accordingly it may be looked upon , either as a promise , or a precept , according to the former , it lets us see the efficiency of the school master , and according to the latter the duty of the scholar ; but because i finde this given as a precept , in the very next verse , i shall here only consider it as a promise , and so a further commendation of this unction . those words you shall abide , are conceived by some to be only verba sperantis , words of one that hopeth well concerning them ; but i rather take them to be a promise , assuring them of the vertue of this unction , which being received by , and abiding in them , would enable them to abide as it had taught them . the pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the end of the verse , may be construed in a double reference , either to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to the thing , or the person , and so may be read , you shall abide in it , that is , in the unction , or you shall abide in him , that is , in christ , from whom you received the unction . indeed , in the next verse it is manifestly belonging to the person , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , being no doubt the same with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee that shall appear ; but here it may very rationally bee referred to both , and accordingly i shall speak a word of each . even as it hath taught you , you shal abide in him . that which this unction chiefly teacheth , is to abide in christ ; suitably the arabick readeth it , as it hath taught you to abide in him , and in this sense it lets us see the excellency of this school-master , above all others ; they may teach what to doe , but cannot enable to doe what they teach ; but this unction , as it hath taught you , so you shall doe ; it hath taught you to abide , and you shall abide in him ; this voyce saith behind us , this is the way , walk in it ; and it withall giveth us feet to walk in that way . look as when our blessed saviour said to lazarus , come forth , there was a power accompanying that voyce , which enabled him to come forth : so when this unction , as it were , saith to us , abide in him , there is grace communicated , strengthning us to abide in him . very congruous to this purpose is that discourse of st. austin against pelagius and celestius , sic docet deus eos qui secundum propositum vocati sunt , simul donans quid agant scire , & quod sciunt agere , god so teacheth those who are called according to his purpose , that they both know what to doe , and doe what they know ; whence st. paul thus speaketh to the thessalonians , you are taught of god to love one another ; and that he might prove they were taught of god , hee presently addeth , for indeed you doe it towards all the brethren ; tanquam hoc sit certissimum signum quod a deo didiceritis , si id quod didiceritis feceritis , as if this were the most sure sign of being taught of god , to doe what they were taught ; after this manner were all the called according to purpose , as it is written in the prophets , taught of god ; but he that knoweth what he ought to doe , and doth it not , hath not yet learned of god according to grace , but to the law , not according to the spirit , but the letter ; and a little after bee addeth , of this manner of teaching our lord saith , whosoever hath heard and learned of the father , cometh to me , he therefore that doth not come to him , it is not truly said he hath heard and learned , for if , as hee who is the truth saith , every one who hath learned cometh , he that cometh not hath not learned ; so that as hee presently addeth , not only the power , but the will is assisted by this teaching ; for if it had been only an ability were conferred , our lord would have said , every one that hath heard , and hath learned of the father , can or may come to me , but it is he cometh , ubi jam & possibilitatis profectus , & voluntatis affectus , & actionis effectus est , by which is intimated , a c●llation of power , an affection of the will , and the effect of the action . hitherto the words of st. austine , whose expressions both here , and a little before in this discourse ( as also st. gregories ) i have the more largely rehearsed , that the doctrine of the necessity and efficacy of the spirits grace may appear to bee no new doctrin ; nor shall i need to adde much more in this particular . indeed , that prayer of the spouse would not be omitted , draw me , and we will run after thee ; whereby is intimated , that when the spirit of christ draweth , though it be not a forcible , yet it is an effectual operation , it is not such a drawing as maketh us goe whether we will or no , but as maketh us of unwilling , willing , not only to goe , but run the way of gods commandements . agreeable to which , it is here not only said you may , but you shall abide in him . nor would the other reading bee left out , even as it hath taught you , you shall abide in it , that is , in the doctrine which this unction hath taught you , whereby is intimated , that the grace of this unction is not only i●uminating , but corroberating , and as it teacheth us , so it strengthneth us to continue in what it teacheth . as oyled paper doth not only let in the light of the sun , but beat back the violence of the wind ; so doth this unction , not only enlighten its scholars , whereby they understand the truth , but also enable them to withstand the opposition of errours . this confirming energie of the spirit , st. paul hath elegantly set forth by several metaphors , where hee saith , hee which est ablisheth us with you in christ , and annoynteth us , is god , who hath also sealed us , and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts , manifestly comparing the spirit to an earnest , to a seal , to an oyntment ; and as the earnest assureth the bargain , the seal confirmeth the grant , and the oyntment strengtheneth the part : so doth the spirit stablish the heart in a firm expectation of divine promises , assurance of divine love , and a stedfast adherence to divine truth . and now putting all together , what great cause of gratulation , and ground of consolation doth this verse afford us ? wee are infinitely beholding to our blessed jesus , in that hee shed his bloud for us ; and wee are no lesse engaged to him for giving his spirit to us , since as by the one hee purchased salvation for us , so by the other it is hee preserveth us to salvation . had not this unction revealed the things wee are to know in order to salvation , wee must have continued ignorant ; but blessed bee god , this unction teacheth us of all things . though wee bee instructed in the things of our peace , yet wee are very apt to bee with-drawn from them , especially by the cunning of seducers ; but blessed bee god , this unction abideth with us , and enableth us to abide . oh let us herein rejoyce , that the wisdome of our saviour hath so fully provided for our safety , and let it bee our daily prayer , that this holy unction would still vouchsafe to remain with us , so as wee may bee instructed , confirmed , and preserved by it to everlasting life . amen . the first epistle of st. john . chap. . vers . . and now little children abide in him , that when he shall appear , wee may have confidence , and not be ashamed before him at his comming . many are the diseases to which the inward , as well as the outward man is subject . the feaver of luxury , the surfet of gluttony , meagrom of drunkennesse , lethargy of sloath , and ague of idlenesse , ( all which are involved in the lust of the flesh , ) the itch of curiosity , and the dropsy of covetousnesse , ( which are the lusts of the eies ) the tumor of arrogancy , and the timpany of ambition , ( which are the fride of life ) are not more common than dangerous sicknesses ; no wonder if our apostle , being a spiritual physician , cautioneth us , and prescribeth in this chapter an excellent antidote against them , of not loving the world and the things of the world. but besides these , the consumption of envy , the frenzy of malice , the giddinesse of inconstancy , and falling-sicknesse of apostacy , are no lesse deadly , and farre more spreading ; for this cause it is that our apostle throughout this whole epistle , very much insisteth upon brotherly love , the only cure of malice and envie ; and in the latter part of this chapter , earnestly perswadeth a firm adherence to the christian faith , the proper remedy of inconstancy and apostacy , the close of which discourse is in the words of the text , and now little children abide in him , &c. in which verse there are three things offer themselves to our observation , ●●e manner , the matter , the motive ; the manner ●●●●et , the matter ser●us , the motive strong . the manner rhetorical , the matter theological , the motive logical . the manner vehement , the matter important , the motive urgent . finally , the manner in the compellation , little children , the matter in the exhortation , and now abide in him . the motive in the incitation , that when hee shall appear , we may have confidence , and not bee ashamed before him at his coming ; of each of which with brevity and perspicuity . begin we with the compellation , which having had occasion once and again to handle , shall bee quickly passed over , only i cannot but with ferus , take notice of the excelleat artifice of our apostle , who calleth them to whom he wrote , little children , ut oftensione affect us sui fortius moveat , thatby discovering the dearness of his love towards them , they might bee the more easily perswaded by him . st. paul writing to the romans concerning false teachers , saith , they did deceive the simple by fair and smooth words . surely the ministers of christ should be no lesse artificial in perswading , than they are in deceiving , and to that end use smooth and fair words . me thinketh those words of our saviour to his disciples when so many forsook him , carry in them a great deal of passion , will you also goe away ? and no doubt they made a suitable impression on them , witnesse peters answer , lord , whither shall wee goe ? what affectionate straines are those of st. paul , and st. peter ? i beseech you brethren by the mercies of god , so st. paul ; dearly beloved i beseech you , so st. peter ; and if wee well weigh it , wee shall finde as much , nay more in this of st. john , and now little children ; the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which answers to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the greek , is not only an adverb of time , but a particle of beseeching , and this title , little children , seemeth to intimate , that our apostle beseecheth them , per eam paternam benevolentiam , by the love of a father , yea by the bowels of a mother . you that are parents know with what tender affections you speak to your children , when you disswade them from evil , or perswade them to good ; the same spirit was in this holy apostle , mira & sollicita de suorum salute cura , it was a strange solicitous care , and desire , which he had , of their salvation , which put him upon this earnest way of exhorting them to perseverance . oh that all the ministers of the word would learn to fellow this pattern . i told you in the last lecture , it is only god that can speak to the heart inwardly , and effectually , but certainly that minister shall soonest convey as it were his words into the heart , who speaketh with his heart , yea rather speaketh his heart ; whose expressions manifest his affection , as to the things concerning which , so to the persons to whom he speaketh ; and this shall suffice for a brief account of the compellation . proceed we to the exhortation , in those words , and now abide in him . before i discusse the nature of the duty , it will not be amisse to observe , that what is assured in the end of the former verse , you shall abide in him , is prescribed in the beginning of this , abide in him ; abiding in christ is the matter of both , a promise , and a precept , it is that which wee shall finde verified in other duties as well as this , i will put my fear in their hearts , so runs the promise , fear the lord , so frequently the precept . a new heart will i give you , and a new spirit will i put within you , so god promiseth ; make you a new heart , and a new spirit , so hee commandeth . the lord thy god will circumcise thine heart to love him , is the promise , and in the same chapter , i command thee this day to love the lord thy god. indeed , there may seem some kind of incongruity in this at the first view , for what need is there of commanding us to doe what god promiseth hee will enable us to doe ? but in truth there is a sweet harmony between precepts and promises of this nature , whilst these serve to strengthen our confidence , and those to quicken our diligence ; when on the one hand we are exhorted to abide in christ , wee may be ready to say , but how shall i bee able to perform this duty ? my enemies are so strong , and grace so weak , that i fear i shall let goe my hold , and as david once said , i shall one day fall by the hands of saul ; so the weak , though willing christian , is apt to say , i shall one day fall by the power and policy of the devil , and notwithstanding all my resolutions and endeavours , i fear my deceitful heart will bee with-drawn from christ . but loe , for our comfort and encouragement , here is a promise , that by the vertue of this unction wee shall abide . on the other hand , when we meet with these , and such like promises of perseverance , we may be ready to flatter our selves , as if we cannot miscarry , and once being in christ , we shall abide , though we be never so carelesse and secure , and therefore to prevent this supine lazinesse , here is a precept annexed to the promise , which minds us , that something is to bee performed on our part , as well as gods. this unction enableth to abide in christ , but withall wee are required to make use of the grace which this unction giveth for that end ; and as the promise assureth us of the one , so the precept puts us on the other . it is a known saying of st. austin , hee that made us without our selves , will not save us without our selves , wee can doe nothing without him , hee will not doe it without us . the unction teacheth , and that so as to give strength to fulfill , yet still our part is to put forth that strength for that end for which it was given us , and though it is the grace of this unction which doth not only prevent us , by giving ability , but excite us to , and assist us in actuating that ability , yet it is incumbent on us , by the help of preventing , exciting , and assisting grace , to exert those acts of faith , and courage , and constancy , whereby we abide in him . this being premised , come wee now to consider the duty to which wee are exhorted , and here wee finde something substantial , and something circumstantial ; that in the verb , abide ; this in the adverb , now . the substance of the duty is in the word abide , a word which as lapide well observeth , our apostle very much delighted to use , no lesse than seven times wee meet with it in this chapter ; nor is it any wonder , since it was his masters word , and that in his last dying farewell sermon , if you cast your eyes on the fifteenth chapter of st. johns gospel , you shall finde this phrase of abiding in him , used by our saviour five several times in four verses , and as hath been already observed , this holy apostle loved to tread in his masters steps , yea to speak in his masters language . he that exhorts to walk as he walked , will not only doe so , but talk also as he talked . no doubt , as hee was his lords darling , so hee had a dear affection to him , and those whom wee love , wee would resemble , not only in greater , but lesser matters , in garb , and gesture , in discourse and language . and as for this reason he maketh so frequent use of the phrase , so likewise he so often inculcateth the duty , because it was his masters counsel to him , and the rest of the disciples . hee well knew he could not give better counsel to the people than christ had given to him , hee followed it himself , and found it good advice ; no wonder if hee commanded it to others , abide in him . for the unfolding of this duty , know there is a three-fold abiding which is required of every christian , in the church of christ , in the doctrine of christ , and in christ himself ; all of these we meet with in this chapter ; the first in the nineteenth verse , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they had continued with us , to wit , the apostles of christ , who were then the rulers , and representatives of the church . the second , in the four and twentieth verse , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you , to wit , the evangelical doctrine ; and the last in this verse , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , abide in him . by all of these , no doubt , one and the same grace of perseverance is meant , yet not without some difference , one rising higher than the other ; the lowest st●p is abiding in the church , which is opposed to a schismatical separation ; higher than that is abiding in the doctrine , which is opposed to heretical defection ; the highest , is abiding in christ himself , which is opposed to an hypocritical profession . a man may abide in the church , and ●et fall from truth to error ; he may abide both in the church , and in the doctrin of christ , so farre as to outward profession , and yet not be really united to , and abide in christ himself . but on the other hand , hee who spiritually abideth in christ , cannot but abide in his doctrine and church : if you abide in me , and my words abide in you ▪ saith our blessed saviour ; where the latter is joyned with the former ; christs words cannot but abide in them who abide in him ; nor will he who hath a real . union with christ , make a wilful separation from his church , since the members which adhere to the head , cannot forsake the body ; no wonder if our apostle adde this to the two former , as that which will both engage and enable us to them ; and accordingly , that wee may continue with the orthodox christians , and that which we have heard from the beginning may remain in us , let us abide in him . in regard of this union and communion which wee have with christ ; there is a three-fold phrase , which wee meet with very frequently in the new testament , comming to him , being in him , and abiding in him ; coming to him is st. peters phrase , to whom coming as to a living stone ; being in him , st. pauls , if any man bee in christ ; abiding in him , st. johns , both here and before in this chapter . and here we may observe a gradation , coming to him is the beginning ; being in him , the progresse ; and abiding in him the perfection of christianity ; we must come to him , or we cannot be in him ; wee must be in him , else we cannot abide in him ; it is not enough to come to , but we must be in ; nor to bee in , but wee must abide in him . to come to christ , is renouncing our selves , to embrace christ , as our lord and saviour ; to be in him , is to trust in him ( whom wee embrace ) for salvation ; and to abide in him , is to persevere in this adhaesion , to the end . if yet you desire a more plain account of the true meaning , and full latitude of this phrase of abiding in christ , i answer , it is when as having received christ jesus our lord , and that both as our lord and jesus , we doe not , will not suffer our selves , either by the allurements , or affrightments of the world , solicitations of the flesh , and temptations of the devil , to be with-drawn from the profession of his name , observance of his precepts , recumbency on his merits , imitation of his graces , and communion with his person . having given you this account of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , abide in him ▪ it will not bee amisse to cast an eye upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and now ; though it may be looked upon only as formula concludend● , a winding up of the discourse , as if he had said , in salomons language , this is the conclusion of the whole matter , yet since the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is properly an adverb of time , we shall so consider it , and finde a great deal of emphasis in it , in as much as this now seemeth to have a double aspect . upon the antichrists which then abounded , in which respect there was so much the more need at that time , to take heed they were not with-drawn from christ , and therefore saith the apostle , now abide in him . here is the faith and patience of the saints , saith st. john of persecuting times , here is the faith and constancy of the saints , may wee say of heretical times , then to abide in , when many goe from christ , cannot but be very acceptable to him ; for this he commended the angel of the church of pergamus , i know thy works , and where thou dwellest , where satans seat is , and thou holdest fast my name , and hast not denied my faith ; it is a small matter to be faithful to christ in those dayes , and places , where christianity flourisheth , but the trial of our faithfulnesse is , when we are in the midst of apostates and seducers . he is the loyal subject who is true to his prince in rebellious times , and hee is the sound christian , who abideth in christ in antichristian times ; where heresie and tyranny prevail , there is satans seat , or rather throne , and to adhear to christ as our king , where satan hath his throne , is constancy indeed . surely what is said of pergamus , may too truly bee affirmed of england at this day , it is the place where the devil playeth rex , mis-leading by heretical seducers multitudes into damnable errours ; and now ( beloved ) to abide in christ , and cleave to the truth , will be both his and our honour . upon the christians who had already embraced , and hitherto adhered to him , whom therefore the apostle bespeaketh , now abide in him , that is , still continue faithful , and hold out to the end ▪ hee had told them before it is the last hour , and hee would not have them fail at last . that coat which joseph had from his father , is called by st. gregory , talaris tunica , a coat down to his heels ; such must the coat of perseverance bee , not to the knees or legges only , but to the very heels . hee that begins a race , nay that runs three parts of the way , will yet lose the prize if hee give over before hee come to the goal ; as st. james saith of patience , so say i of perseverance , let it have its perfect work . oh my brethren , i fear it may bee said to too many amongst , us in the language of st. paul to the galathians , have you suffered so many things in vain , if it bee yet in vain ? have you so long , maugre all opposition , adhered to the truth , and will you now by a cowardly faintnesse lose the glory and reward of all your former services ? know you not , that the grace of the theater is the last scene ? and it is the evening that crowneth the day ; cast not away therefore your confidence , but as you have hitherto , so now abide in him ; and which would not be passed by , it was not long that this time of trial should last , it was but for an hour ; and since they had been faithful so long , he would have them hold out a little longer ; could you not watch with me one hour , said christ to his disciples ? shall wee not abide in christ one hour ? i have served my jesus ( said polycarpus ) these many years , shall i now desert him ? it is but for a while , a very little while , as here in st. johns phrase ; a moment in st. pauls , and therefore now abide in him . to bring this part of the text to a period . that wee may bee enabled constantly to abide in christ , there is need especially of two graces , namely a strong faith in , and an ardent love to christ . hee that is fully assured that christ , and christ alone is the root of all graces , the fountain of all happinesse , the foundation of all good , and that as st. peter expresseth , there is no salvation in any other , will certainly abide in christ whatever befall him . hee that hath an endeared affection to christ , whose soul cleav●th to him as the soul of jonathan did to david , will not leave him , nor suffer himself , either by fair or foul means , to bee withdrawn from him . where there is a voluntary separation between man and wife , wee may safely conclude there is want of affection to each other , in both , or either , since love being a desire of union , cannot admit of a dis-junction , and therefore let our prayer & indeavour be , that our faith may be strengthened , our love inflamed , and thereby our perseverance lengthened . of how great concernment it is that we should abide in christ , himself hath told us in that fore-mentioned place of the gospel , where hee fully sets before us the advantage on the one hand , and the damage on the other ▪ if we abide in him ▪ he will abide in us , if we abide in him , we shall abide in his love , if wee abide in him , we shall be enabled to bring forth the fruit of good works , to his fathers glory , and consequently our own foelicity . but if wee do not abide in him , wee shall bee barr●● and unfruitful , cast out and withered , and our end at last will be to be burned . but what need i go further than the text ? wherein wee meet with a very strong and pressing motive , which is the last part , and cometh now to be handled , as it is laid down in those words , that when hee shall appear &c. in which there is something supposed , namely , the comming and appearance of christ , when hee shall appear , and again at his comming . implyed , namely our appearance at that day , in that it is said , before him . expressed , namely , the confident appearing before christ , of those who abide in him , that we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his comming . that which is here supposed by our apostle , is , that there is another comming of christ , when hee shall appear . that the hee here spoken of is christ , is so evident , that it needs no discussion , and that you may know of what comming and appearance st. john speaketh , take notice of a threefold comming of christ . virtual , spiritual , personal , of his power , of his spirit , of his person . whensoever our blessed lord is pleased to make known his power in the deliverance of his church , and vengeance on his enemies , hee is then said to come and appear ; and of this comming , wee finde mention both in the gospels , and epistles : many places there are which may , and some which must bee so understood . thus when christ saith , there are some here standing which shall not taste of death , till they see the son of man comming in his kingdome ; and again concerning the beloved disciple , if i will that hee tarry till i come , what is that to thee ? it cannot bee rationally construed of any other than his comming , to destroy the jews that crucified him , and deliver the christians that worshipped him . whensoever our blessed jesus is pleased , by his holy spirit to manifest himself to the soul of a beleever , inlightening the minde , comforting the conscience , inlarging the affections ; hee is then said to come and appear : so runnes the promise in the gospel , if a man love mee , hee will keep my words , and my father will love him , and wee will come in to him , and make our abode with him ; in the epistle to the angel of the laodicean church , behold , i stand at the door and knock , if any man open the doo● , i will come in to him ▪ and sup with him , and hee with me . besides both these , there is a personal comming of christ , and this is double , for so wee read , hee shall appear the second time . indeed , the jews fancy two messiahs , o●e of the tribe of ephraim , the other of the tribe of judah , one the son of joseph , the other of david ; wee no where read of any messiah , of any other tribe than that of judah : but that which was the occasion of their errour ▪ is a certain truth , namely , that there is a double comming of the messiah . one of the titles of the messiah , is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hee that is to come , and it is that , which as it did from the beginning ▪ so it will till the end of the world , belong to him ; for though the first comming bee long since past , in respect of which this very apostle saith in the next chapter , the son of god was manifested , yet there is a comming to come , in reference to which , hee saith a little before in that chapter , hee shall appear . and indeed though the late learned annotatour , refer the appearing in my text , to that virtual comming of his , when jerusalem was overthrown , yet since there is no reason necessitating to restrain it to that , and so soon after , ( namely , in the second verse of the next chapter ) this appearing is mentioned again , where it must bee understood of that second and last comming , i conceive it most congruous , with the generality of interpreters , so to understand it here . this is that comming of christ which was prophesied long agoe . enoch , the seventh from adam , mentioned this advent , saying , the lord commeth with thousands of his angels ; and daniel , where hee speaketh of the son of mans comming with the clouds of heaven . of this comming the new testament maketh frequent mention . it is foretold by christ himself , i go , and prepare a place for you , i will come again . by the angels , this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven , shall so come in like manner , as you have seen him gone into heaven . by the apostles , the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the arch-angel , and with the trumpet of god , so st. paul. bee patient brethren unto the comming of the lord. so st. james . which if immediately it respect the virtual , yet is to bee extended to this personal comming . finally , there shall come in the last daies scoffers , saying where is the promise of his comming , so st. peter . that hee shall come again is an article of our creed , founded upon many pregnant testimonies of holy writ . to determine the time of his comming , is without the compass of our knowledge , because not within the spheare of scripture-revelation ; wee have lived to see those men found lyars , who have audaciously presumed to set the time . let us desire to know no more than god hath revealed , and that is , that it shall bee the last day . at this comming , whensoever it is , bee shall appear , to wit , in splendor and glory , so it is called by st. paul , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the glorious appearing of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ. and herein lyeth the difference , between the first and second comming of christ , primus adventus ejus occultus , secundus manifestus , saith an ancient , his first comming was hidden , his second shall be manifest , quum conspicuus factus erit ; so beza readeth my text , when he shall appear conspicuously ; his first coming was in the form of a servant , his second shall bee in the splendor of a king ; at his first comming , hee was meek as a lamb , at his second , hee shall bee terrible as a lyon ; at his first comming , hee was accompanied with mean men , at his second hee shall bee attended with mighty angels ; at his first comming hee rode upon an asse , in his second , hee shall ride upon the clouds . finally , his first comming was in meanness and ignominy , his second shall bee with might and majesty . this comming , i trust beloved , wee all beleeve , and let us all be exhorted more and more to confirm our faith in it . indeed , a sure beleef of this second advent , is of urgent necessity , in order to an holy life ; since nothing maketh the servant more diligent in his business , than a certain expectation of his lords return : hence it is that one character of a true christianin the new testament , is , to look for christs appearing , which implyeth a stedfast confidence , that hee will appear . it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , si , but cum , if hee shall appear , as if it were a thing dubious , or onely probable , hee may come , or hee may not come , but when hee shall appear , as a thing certain and indubitable , and taken for granted by our apostle , that they to whom hee wrote were fully convinced of , and so shall i now charitably judge of you , and proceed to the next particular which is implied , and that is our appearance , in those words , before him . the first comming was to save sinners upon the terms of faith and repentance , his second shall bee both to save and destroy ; to destroy the incredulous and impenitent , to save the beleeving and penitent sinners . in order to this , it is , that whereas his first comming was to bee judged , and so condemned and crucified ; his second comming shall bee to judge , both by absolving , and condemning . that hee may perform this office of a judge , there must bee a general citation , and consequently appearance of all men before him , when hee shall descend from heaven , all shall ascend out of their graves . wee shall all stand ( so saith st. paul to the romans ) wee must all appear ( so is his phrase to the corinthians ) before the judgement seat of christ ; nor is this universallity onely in respect of all sorts of men , but of all persons , quicquid hominum universis seculis toto orbe progenitum , as leo hath fully expressed it , whatsoever man hath been , is , or shall bee born in any age , or part , time , or place of this world , hee must necessarily come before this judge at that day . indeed , some shall have boldnesse , and some shall bee ashamed , but all shall appear before him . hee telleth us himself , that all nations shall bee gathered before him , both sheep and goats , good and bad . the wicked indeed shall not stand in the judgement , that is , they shall fall in their cause , but they shall stand in their persons ; desire they will bee to bee hid , though with the fall of heavy mountaines upon them , but hid they shall not , cannot bee . every one shall then appear , and that in his own colours , the hypocrite shall appear , not as hee seemed to bee , but as hee is , his vizard shall bee plucked off , and his paint melt away , and hee shall bee stripped of his sheeps cloathing . according to what really wee have been and done , so shall we in that day appear , and so shall wee bee judged , for hee shall reward every man according to his works . oh then ( my brethren ) since these things shall bee , both that christ will appear , and then wee must appear , how holy ought wee to bee in all manner of conversation ? it will bee a sad day with us , if at once it shall bee latere impossible , and apparere intolerabile ; impossible to bee concealed , and yet intollerable to appear ; if as wee shall not bee able to hide , so neither to hold up our heads ; in a word , if as wee shall have no opportunity of running away , so wee shall have no courage to stand . oh then ! let it bee our wisdome before hand , to make account of , and preparation for that appearance . and if you would know how it shall bee with you then , often examine how it is with you now . erect a court of judicature in thine own soul , summon thy self before thy self , if thou beest not able to answer thy conscience , thou wilt bee less able to appear before this judge , according as this apostle tells us in the next chapter , if our heart condemn us , god is greater than our heart , and knoweth all things . oh then keep a good conscience , and lead a good life . order thy steps according to gods word , and gain by faith , an interest in christs merits , having begun , continue in the faith , and obedience to the death ; and being in christ , abide in him to the end ; so shalt thou appear with joy , and not with sorrow , with boldness , and not with shame , before him ; and so i am fallen upon the last particular , which is expressed , namely , the confident appearing before christ of those who abide in him , that wee may have confidence , and not bee ashamed before him at his comming , wherein wee shall more particularly take notice of the excellency of the benefit , in those words , have confidence and not bee ashamed , and the extent of the persons to whom this benefit redounds in the pronoun we . the benefit which cometh by abiding in christ is set down according to our apostles usual way of speaking , both affirmatively and negatively , nor was it without a special reason , namely , that hee might at once set before us both the advantage of perseverance , and the danger of apostacy , inasmuch as here are two plain assertions , the one , that they who abide in christ shall hav econfidence . the other , that they who abide not in him shall be ashamed before him at his comming . on the one hand , the persevering christian shall have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , confidence before christ at his comming . i shall not here trouble you with the various significations of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , especially , since it is so fully done to my hand by the late critical annotatour . here it is not unfitly rendered confidence , or boldnesse . it is by our saviour expressed in those two phrases of lifting up the head , and standing before the son of man ; shame causeth a man to hang down his head , but confidence lifts it up , fear maketh a man run away , but boldness encourageth him to stand , this confident boldnesse shall they then have , who now abide in him . it may perhaps bee here demanded , how can any , yea , the best christian have confidence before christ at his comming ? st. basil weighing the severity of that day , saith , that even abraham the father of the faithful should then tremble , and indeed considering the exact inspection of the judge , and the manifold infirmities of the strongest christians , it may very well be wondered how any of the sons of men should be able to appear then with boldnesse ; but beloved , notwithstanding this , there are three things which shall make the persevering christian , confident at that day , namely , the testimony which his own conscience shall give him of his sincerity , in die judicii , qualem unusquisque habet conscientiam , talem judicem habebit , saith st. bernard truely . one of the books , which shall at that day bee opened , and according to which wee shall bee judged , is that of conscience , and as our apostle saith in the next chapter , if our heart condemn us not , then have wee confidence towards god. there is no surer argument of sincerity , than constancy , these two are joyned together , their heart was not right with him , neither were they stedfast in covenant ; their unstedfastnesse argued their unsoundnesse ; surely then the conscience of a persevering christian , cannot but bear witness to him of his uprightness ; with what confidence doth the church go to god , when shee is bold to appeal to him in her affliction , and say , all this is come upon us , yet wee have not forgotten thee , neither have wee dealt falsely in thy covenant , our heart is not turned back , neither have our steps declined from thy way . thus can the faithful christian plead for himself , blessed jesus , though the world hath flattered and affrighted mee , the devil tempted , and solicited mee , yet have i not forgotten nor forsaken thee ; i have had many failings in my course , nor can i acquit my self from infirmities , but through thy grace my heart hath not been turned back , nor have my steps declined from thy waies . this is our rejoycing ( saith st. paul ) yea , this shall bee our rejoycing , at that day , the testimony of a good conscience . but yet let mee tell you , this is the weakest prop of a christians confidence , and therefore , that which in the next place will embolden him , is , the right hee hath to the promise , even that promise which is mentioned a little before of eternal life , fidelis est qui promisit , non te fallet , tantum tu noli deficere , sed expecta promissorem . hee is faithful that hath promised , and cannot , will not deceive thee , do not thou faint , and hee will not fail thee ; good reason then hath he who in some measure fulfilleth the condition by abiding in christ now , with confidence to expect the promise then . though it is far from him to say in the language of that proud fryer , da domine quod ego merui , lord give me what i have deserved , yet he will say with an humble boldnesse , da domine quod tu promisisti , lord give mee what thou hast promised , having confidence not in the merit of his own works , but the fidelity of christs word . adde to this in the last place , the interest which he hath in the judge ; hee that is to come to judge the world , is the head of his church , and consequently all who abide in him are his members . hee that then shall appear as the judge , now appeareth in heaven as an advocate for all beleevers . finally , hee that shall bee the judge , is a friend , a brother , an husband ; they that abide in him , are the children of god , and so hee and they brethren , are beloved of him , and so hee is their friend , married to him , and so he is their husband , well may they with confidence appear before him . being thus married to , and abiding in christ , their sins are washed away in his bloud , their persons are invested with his merits . and thus through him it is , that abiding in him they have confidence before him . on the other hand , they who doe not abide in him , shall be ashamed before him at his coming . i find among expositors a three-fold glosse upon this , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ashamed before him . erasmus conceiveth the sense may bee , ut illum non pudeat nostri , that he may not be ashamed of us . this is that which himself threatneth , by way of retaliation to all them who are ashamed of him , and his words ( and consequently doe not abide in him ) that when he shall come in the glory of his father , hee will bee ashamed of them . they who now will not own christ , at that time would gladly bee owned by him , but hee shall dismisse them to their place , with a n●scio vos , i know you not . but though this be true in it self , yet the phrase of the text will not well bear it . the syriac and vulgar latine read it , as if the preposition were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and so the sense is , ne nos aeternae infamiae damnet , that we may not bee doomed to eternal infamy , with that ite maledicti , goe yee cursed . all impenitent sinners , and especially apostates , shall in that day , by christ , bee put to , and cloathed with shame . thus what they seek to avoyd , falls upon them , and that in a worse kind , apostates deny christ to prevent shame , and because of their apostacy they suffer perpetual shame . the most genuine notion of the phrase is rendred by grotius , ne pudeat no● ab illo conspici , that wee may not be ashamed to be seen by him . the wicked , especially apostates , shall bee ashamed at that day before the godly , whom here they despised ; so the author of the book of wisdome brings them in , saying within themselves , this was hee whom wee had sometimes in derision , and a proverb of reproach , we fools accounted his life madnesse , and his end to be without honour , how is he numbred among the children of god , and his lot is among the saints ? but which is farre worse , they shall be ashamed before christ whom here they deserted , and not bee able to look him in the face . thus shall all that for sake christ bee ashamed before him , in respect of their odiou● nakednesse . time was when bodily nakedness was our honour , but now it is so shameful , that wee need garments to cover us ; and surely if the nakednesse of the body be shameful , that of the soul is farre worse . how can the apostate choose then but bee ashamed before christ , whilst by c●sting him off , hee hath thrown away that whiteraiment which should cover him , and his shameful nakednesse must needs appear . grosse hypocrisie . the cheating impostor when discovered , and brought before the judge , is ashamed ; the apostate proclaimeth to all the world , that his profession was but a cheat , his devotion a lye , and must hee not needs be ashamed when he shall appear before christ ? vile unfaithfulnesse . hee that hath broke his word , is ashamed to look him in the face , to whom hee made the promise ; the servant that hath not discharged his trust , is ashamed to come before his master ; with what face can that woman look upon her husband which hath been unfaithful to his bed ? apostates are spiritual adulterers , forsaking christ for other lovers ; false servants , not keeping that good thing which is committed to them , yea perfidious in their promises , renouncing their baptismal vow . sure they cannot but be ashamed before christ . great unthankfulnesse ; hee that having received kindnesse , returneth injury , may well blush to look his benefactor in the face , non referre gratias de beneficio , turpe est , saith seneca , it is a filthy , and consequently shameful thing , not to render thanks for benefits conferred , much more to repay them with injuries . no wonder then if the apostate be ashamed before christ , whom hee hath most ungratefully forsaken , renouncing allegiance to this king of glory , not only notwithstanding his own oath , but many and great favours conferred by this king upon him . manifest folly ; all acts of inconsiderate folly are grounds of shame ; that language of the fool , non putaram , i did not think , may well be uttered with blushing ; what blushing shall then sit upon the faces of apostates , at that day , when they shall too late see how they were cheated by the sophistries of the devil , enchantments of the world , and fallacies of their own corrupt hearts , so as to forsake the fountain of living waters , for a broken cistern , and to chuse death rather than life ? oh that all back-sliding apostates would think they heard this judge upbraiding them at that day , with this or the like language : what didst thou mean , oh thou naked , hypocritical , perfidious , ingrateful , foolish sinner , to goe from me ? did not i offer my self , my merits , my righteousnesse to cloath thee ? but thou hast cast away my righteousnesse , wouldest have none of mee , and now thou art shamefully naked . didst thou not for a time make a large profession of my name , and truth ? but without any just reason thou hast relinquished it , whereby it appeareth thou wert no other than a whited sepulchre . didst thou not by thy sureties promise at thy baptism , and afterwards at my table engage thy self to my service ? but none of those oathes have been cords strong enough to hold thee . could i doe more for thee than that i did , in laying down my life for thee , and is this thy requital , to deny me , and by that denial to crucifie me afresh ? doest thou not see what thou hast done , by leaving me to embrace this present world , made a cursed exchange of gold for drosse , pearls for pebbles ; thy pleasures are vanished , thy hopes disappointed , and thy self shamefully deceived . and now , oh that we would all lay to heart , quae tunc erit fidei gloria , quae poena perfidiae cum judicii dies venerit ; to use st. cyprians language , what shall bee the glory of the faithful , and the ignominy of the perfidious ; the honour of constancy , and the reproach of apostacy in that day ? what a dark , gloomy , dreadful day it shall bee to them that forsake christ ; what a bright , splendid , joyful day it shall be to them that abide in him ; and which is better , judge you . it is before christ himself , and that as sitting on his throne of glory , we must then appear ; and what a sad thing will it be , to have shame and confusion then sit upon thy face ? if therefore thou wouldst stand then , doe not run away now ; if you would then lift up your heads , doe not now turn your backs ; now abide in him , that you may have confidence , and not be ashamed before him at his coming . there is only one thing remaineth to bee dispatched , and that is , the extent of the persons , in that the verb is in the first person plural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee may have , i and you , whereby the apostle intimateth , that his confidence or shame at christs coming , did much depend upon their abiding , or not abiding in him . on the one hand , the peoples constancy shall then bee the pastors glory , in which respect st. paul calleth the philippians , his joy and his crown ; and hee saith of the thessalonians , for what is our hope , our joy , our crown of rejoycing , are not even yee in the presence of our lord jesus christ at his coming ? for yee are our glory , and our joy ; they were not only his joy , but his glory ; not onely his glory , but his crown of glorying ( for so the greek is best rendered ) of whom hee should glory at the last day as his crown ; labor discipuli in opere bono coronam dat magistro judice christo , saith st. ambrose , the scholars labour shall bee the masters honour in the judgement of christ . on the other hand , the peoples apostacy shall then be the ministers ignominy ; a foolish son saith the wise man is a calamity , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so the septuagint reads it , a disgrace to his father ; so are a foolish giddy people to their spiritual father ; indeed if the minister discharge his duty , he shall not have any cause of shame as to himself , as if he had been negligent or unfaithful ; but he shall be ashamed of the people , and as it were unwilling to own them . the barren tree reproacheth the gardner , the ignorant scholar disgraceth his teacher , and though the righteous judge will not lay the peoples apostacy to the charge of the faithful minister , yet thereby his glorying is made voyd . and therefore my dearly beloved , if you have any reverence to the judge before whom you must appear , if you have any respect to your minister , who would gladly then have cause to boast of you , and if you have any regard to your own comfort , honour , happinesse , in that day when you shall appear before christ , i exhort , intreat , beseech you , that you would adhere constantly to , and abide firmly in him whom you have beleeved , to the end of your days . and thus through divine assistance , i am come to the end of this excellent period . there is indeed another verse in this chapter , but as beza well glosseth , it is , transitio ad sequentem exhortationem , a passage to the following exhortation , and begins that discourse which is prosecuted in several verses of the next chapter , and therefore with cajetan , i shall look upon it , rather as the first verse of that , than the last of this . nothing therefore now remainteh , but that as i trust you have hitherto , so to beg of you that you would still renew your prayers to god for me , that ( if it be his will , and may be for his glory , and the churches good ) i may make further progresse , and in due time finish this work of expounding this epistle . and may both you and i so walk in those steps of this way , namely , confessing and forsaking our sins , keeping christs commandments , and imitation of his pattern : love of our brother , contempt of the world , and perseverance in the faith of christ , that when he shall appear , we may have confidence , and not be ashamed before him at his coming . amen , amen . an alphabetical table of the chiefest things handled in the book . a the abuse of a thing is no just reason of a total disus● . page abiding in christ , see perseverance . adultery a lust of the flesh . the affections are in themselves indifferent . . the age of man threefold . in what sense be leevers know all things . ambition a great sin . . one cause of heresy . gods anger against forgiven sinners is not judicial , but paternal . to desire what is anothers , how lawful , and unlawful . annointing , see unction . antichrists foretold by christ . . two sorts of them . . many of them in the apostles time . who is so most properly , antiquity is that which is from the beginning . , apostacy , its causes , . how far incident to the true members of the church . , . if total , an argument of hypocrisie . . by it men are discovered to bee hypocrites . . it is either from the faith or communion of the church . , . wee should not bee much dismayed although we behold men apostatizing . . apostates shall bee ashamed at christs coming . , . apparrel in it self indifferent . . when too costly , too fashionable , sinful . . a base thing to bee proud of . appearing of christ , see coming , when hee shall appear , wee must all appear before him . , arrogancy puffeth men up with self-conceit . , . a cause of heresie . assurance a reflex knowledge , . is onely in respect of our selves . . it is not meerly conjectural , nor yet perfect , . many have it not who yet are in christ it is attainable , and being attained exceeding comfortable . , . by what means . , , b. boasting of our selves an effect of pride . blasphemy worse than atheism . brother , in what sence all men , and more especially all christians are brethren . , . more particularly ministers and people . , brotherly love , see love , c. children , how great care ought to bee taken for their instruction . , , , . ought to know their heavenly father , and why . , . in what respects wee must bee like them , and in what not . , christ , a perfect pattern of grace . . in what sence the image of god. . how from the beginning , to . the holy one . , . his great love to us . , christians how said to bee in christ , . and to abide in h●m . , . the faelicity of their being and abiding in him , . they are in vain so called , who are not like to christ . . they are of different degrees . . b they have an unction . . their state far better than that of the jews . ● . church , many in it who are not of it . , . many in it who depart from it . , . the degrees of casting out of it . . particular churches have their periods . . multitude no note of a true one . commands given by christ as well as promises . . they must bee obeyed because they are his . , . in what sense impossible to bee obeyed . . why they are called his word . . coming of christ three fold . . his personal double . . one end of his first , is to bee an example . . the difference between his first and second coming . company evil to bee avoided . , , . especially that of hereticks . confidence whence that ariseth which persevering beleevers shall have at the last day . self-conceit , see arrogance . concupiscence , see lust . confession of christ when called to it , necessary , and why . , , constancy , see perseverance . contempt of the world required of christians . . contentation with our condition a choice virtue . covetousnes why called a lust of the eyes , in what it consists . , to . an universal disease , , . insatiable , , . enslaving , , opposed to all the beatitudes , . breaketh all the commandements , , . a cause of heresies . creatures all of them may be our teachers . . b. curiosity of knowing of seeing , condemned . . &c. one cause of heresy . d. death puts an end to all worldly lusts . . befalleth the righteous as well as the wicked . . ought to bee daily meditated on , and that by the youngest . delights , the difference between spiritual and carnal . . they end in misery . denial of christ how many waies . , . it is a denial of the whole trinity . . how denied as the son of god. , desire after the things of this world when inordinate . the devil is subtil as well as malicious . , . his aim is to hinder us from the word . . hee taketh advantage against us from our selves . . hee stirreth up evil lusts in men . . hee is the wicked one , how hee came to bee so and in what respects hee is so . , &c. wee ought to fight with him . . our best weapon against him is faith . doctrines must bee examined in their consequences . , drunkenness a lust of the flesh , wherein the sin consists . , e. envy , see hatred . epicures please all their senses . epistle the first of st. john a touch-stone . , eternity puts a value upon things , , . this world so much the more transitory when compared with it . . christians of all others obliged to seek after it . eternal life two fold . . why that life must bee so . . it is the choice excellency of that life . . it is the promise , . made by christ most clearly , . to them that persevere . examination of our selves is that in which wee ought to bee very serious . examples , we are apt to follow bad ones . excelling , when the desire of it is sinfull . , f. faith why called knowledge . , . it uniteth us to christ . . it produceth three sorts of effects . . in exercising its reflex act wee must not neglect its direct . . of great use in resisting the devil . opposed by the devil . . it cometh by hearing . . falling away , see apostacy . father , god cannot bee now rightly worshiped but as the father of christ , . in denying the son , the father is denied . . several sorts of fathers . . perfect christians compared to fathers . b. flesh , a three-fold acception of it . . several lusts of the flesh . , to forgiveness of sin taketh off the obligation to punishment . , . may bee considered three waies . . a special mercy . . a great honour to god. . hee is engaged to it by promise . . it is for christs sake . , . an obligation to repentance and love . , to fornication a sinful lust of the flesh . g. gluttony a sinful lust of the flesh . god from the beginning . gospel hath law in it . , . the true light , and why . , . the truth . of divine original . . leadeth us to christ , and by him to god. grace , if true , cannot consist with the dominion of any sin . . it is of great worth . . to bee preserved and imployed by us . , , . wee must concur with it . ● . it is not alwaies discerned by them who have it . . it may be known whether true or counterfeit . , . all graces are connexe . , . wee must not bee proud of it . . a little must not content us , nor yet discourage us . . wee must grow in it . , h. happiness of that other life cannot bee expressed . hatred of our brother an hainous sin , wherein it consists . , to . he that is guilty of it may yet think his estate good , . but hee is really very bad . heresy , the cause of it . . those which are fundamental are to bee most opposed . hereticks being erroneous themselves , seduce others . . they are cunning to seduce . , . very tenacious of their errours . . they are lyars and antichrists . hearing , the sense of knowledge , faith . . it must be with our heart and foot , as well as eare . humility , wee are obliged to it both as men and christians . hypocrites pretend to great measures of illumination . , i. idleness a sinful lust of the flesh . jesus , that such a person there was . . that hee is the christ . , to ignorance , several kinds of it . , . the causes of it . . most odious in old men . illumination of the mind , no less needful than the outward revelation . , imitation of christ hath a limitation . , . how far extended . . it cannot bee exact . . ought to bee endeavoured . , . our relation to , and union with christ , obligeth to it . , imputation of christs righteousness to us , how it cometh to pass . incest a sinful lust of the flesh . inconstancy in religion bemoaned . interpretation of scripture not to bee attempted by every men . joy , three things concur to it . judgements , god giveth warning of them , before he sends them . k. kingdoms have their periods . knowledge very amiable . , . especially that of christ . , . what it imports to know christ . , . twofold . , . how differenced . . if onely speculative , it is not right , and will but aggravate our condemnation . , . it must bee joyned with obedience . , , . if right , it is the mother of obedience . . puts us on love to christ . , . in what sense christians know all things , and with what knowledge . , . the means of attaining it . . wee still need instruction . l. last times , those from the first to the second comeing of christ . , . we must look upon every day as our last . law , in comparison of the gospel , darkness . life , why that future bliss so called . . that far excels this , . this transitory , . too much doted on . . three-fold . love , the nature of it in general . love of god twofold . . the effect of a right knowledge , , . it renders our obedience acceptable , . what perfection of it is attainable , , . hee is to bee loved chiefly as a father , . it cannot consist with , but casts out the love of the world . , love of our brother , the old commandment , , . nothing added to it by christ , , to . in what sense a new commandment , , to . it prevents many sins , and scandals , to . he that loveth is in the light , . wherein brotherly love consists . , love of the world , see world. lust three-fold , . that which was in us by creation , was not prone to irregularity . . forbidden as well as the outward act , . after worldly things many times disappointed , and if fulfilled soone glutted . lye , threefold . , . lyars the vilest of men . m. malice , see hatred . marriage may bee unlawfully used . memory apt to forget divine things . . wee must not onely hear ●ut remember . ministers , how they and the people brethren , , . must have a futherly affection to the people , , &c. they are watch-men , and shepheards , . must be faithful and prudent , . must preach particularly , , , . seasonably , suitably to their auditors conditions , capacities . . make a distinction between hearers , . warn the people of seducers , , . commend what is good in their people , . must win upon them by expressing love , . their endeavour shall bee accepted , . no need of them in heaven , . they are instituted by christ to continue in the church to the end of the world , . their teaching cannot avail without the spirit , . they must bee constant in the faith , . their peoples constancy their honour at the last day , . they must live their sermons . , miracles , by true ones the gospel was confirmed , . the shew of them made a prop of heresy . multitude no note of a true church . n. name , its several acceptions , . when changed in scripture , some spiritual gift conferd , the names of those whom wee reprove , not to be mentioned . , necessity twofold . neutrality , and lukewarmness condemned . novelty a badge of errour , affecting it dangerous . , to , , o. obedience cannot bee without knowledge , . the way to increase knowledge , , . it is according to our knowledge . . negative not sufficient , , . must bee universal , , , . cheerful , . by it wee know our interest in christ , , . it cannot be exact , . a bare command should bee enough to oblige to it , . it is the best tryal of our love to god , , . and perfects it . , old-men , why called fathers , . to bee reverenced , . they had need to bee good , . not too old to learn , . ignorance in them inexcusable , . they must labour to know christ . , tovercome , in what sense wee are said to overcome the devil now , . wee are not compleat victors in this life , . how it is to be done . , p. pardon of sin , see forgiveness . perfection twofold . . perfect christians compared to fathers . . b. perseverance in adhering to christ , the church , the truth received , , . it must bee to the end , . most commendable in apostatizing times , . it is not by our selves but gods sustentation , . the doctrine of it upon what grounds built , , . no true cause of security , . an attendant of true grace . play how unlawful . polygamy a lust of the flesh . prayse due to virtue . , , preacher , see minister . predictions , the verity of those which are divine , . especially concerning christ . , presumption of an interest in christ , , . of our own abilities . priviledges , the enjoyment of them should not content us . pride loveth to show it self . . why called pride of life , . its several kinds , , to a general sin , . maketh a man like the devil . . it is attended with shame . promises divine are sometimes matter of precept , . suitable to our necessities , . most faithful . . the promise is eternal life , . first promised and then given , . to them that persevere , . promised before christ , but not so clearly as by him . . humane oft-times larger than their performances . , protestants injustly charged by the papists as schismaticks . , q. quakers how irrationally they decry the ministry , and blasphemously they wrest scripture . , r. reason , of what use in divine things . insufficient without an higher light , . pretended to by hereticks . regeneration compared to light . remission of sin , see forgiveness . repentance abstaineth from all sort of lusts , , . the delay of it dangerous . repetition of one and the same thing frequently used in holy writ , and why . , to reproof ought to bee with expression of love , . a. and yet sharp against notorious sinners , . but yet without naming the persons . , resolution necessary in a christian , to his combat with the devil . riches , when got and kept sinfully . , to s. sacrament of the lords supper , what gesture was used by christ is not certain , if it were , wee are not bound to follow it . , saints , their security , dignity , and felicity , by reason of the annointing . schism , the causes of it , . a great sin , . un ustly charged upon the protestants by the papists , . justly by us upon the sectaries . scripture , why god would have his word written , . man the pen-man , gods spirit the author , . to bee read by and to all , , . with reverence , . quoted and wrested by the devil , . by hereticks , , . a special weapon against seducers . sectaries justly accused as schismaticks . security greatest , when judgement is neerest . seducers , they often prove such who should be teachers , . the several wayes of seducing . . &c. sights wanton forbidden , . as also such as curiosity prompts to . , signes , three sorts of them . sin , god cannot bee the author of it , , . men are apt to transfer it on god , . it maketh us like the devil , , . it ruineth churches , and kingdoms . . how many waies to bee considered . , sleep , when a lust of the flesh . soul , no proportion between it and the world , . hath its diseases as well as the body . son of god , christ was in such a way as proveth him higher than men , nay angels , yea the high god. , . hee that denieth christ , denieth gods son , . how much god is offended with it . , spirit of god compared to oyl , and why , , &c. given by christ , , . the author of scripture , . is not onely illuminating but confirming . . his grace needful to overcome the devil ▪ his teaching extraordinary and ordinary , internal and external , , . his inward teaching agreeeth with that in the word , . it is faithful , . effectual , . how hee concurreth to assurance . , strength spiritual , needful to our fight with the devil , . wherein it consists , strong christians compared to young-men . , superfluity , what measure of riches is so . , superiours ought to bee exemplary . t. teaching , see spirit . ministers . tempting god a great sin . types fulfilled in christ . truth of the gospel proved . , v. vain-glory a branch of pride . victory , see overcome . unction of the sick in the primitive times , for another end than that of the papists , . in baptisme , ancient but not apostolical , . spiritual is not of our selves , abideth in the church and every true member . union with christ intimate and indissoluble , , to . expressed by three phrases . unregeneracy a state of darkness . . of walking in darkness . w. weak christians , in what respects compared to little children . , will both in good and evil is looked upon , though there bee no deed , , , . of gods decree done by wicked men against their will. . of his command ought to be done by us willingly . , wisdom divine teacheth the vanity of the world . world taken two wayes . . a book , . it passeth away . . an impostor , . it seemeth permanent in our eye , . a dangerous enemy . worldly things , the haveing them dangerous . . occasions of lust . . to be used , not loved , . they passe away in themselves from their owners , and that suddainly to they leave us when most need , . how of god , how not . worldly love , wherein it consists , . how discovered . , to . an epidemical disease , . unsuitable to a christian , . cannot consist with the love of god , . hardly subdued , . hindereth the efficacy of the word , . a cause of apostacy , prophaneness . word of god , consists of three parts , . it must abide in us , and how wee may know whether it doe , . overcometh the devil . writings , what commendeth them , , . why god would have his word written . y. years , there are members of the church of all years . young-men , the devil a great enemy to them , . prone to many lusts , . put off the serving of god , . perswaded to resist the devil . , finis . books printed for , and sold by , joseph cranford , at the sign of the kings head and bible in st. pauls church-yard . books in fol. the works of joseph hall , bishop of as's divine weeks and works . lexicon anglo-graeco-latinum , nov. test . or a compleat alphabetical concordance of all the words contained in the new testament , both english , greek , and latine , in three distinct tables , viz. the english , whereby any greek and latine , greek , word may be english & latine , latine , rendred into greek and english . together with the several significations , etymons , derivations , force , and empha●is , and divers acceptations in scripture of each word , as also the diverse readings in english , greek , and latine , each annexed to their proper tables . by andrew sympson . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or divine characters , in two parts , accutely distinguishing the more secret and undiscerned differences , between the hypocrite in his best dress of seeming vertues , and formal duties , and the true christian in his real grace , and sincere obedience ; as also between the blackest weeds of daily infirmities of the truly godly , eclipsing saving grace , and the reigning sins of the unregenerate , that pretend to that godliness they never had . by samuel crook , b. d. late pastor of wringeton in somersetshire , the author of the guide to true blessedness . remains of the reverend mr. william fenner , minister of rochford in essex , being a continuation of his alarm to drowsie saints . a treatise of effectual calling . the killing power of the law. the spiritual watch. the new birth . a christians ingrafting into christ . a treatise of the sabbath . in quarto . jus divinum ministerii evangelici , or the divine right of the gospel ministry ▪ by the provincial assembly of london . bethshemesh clouded , or animadversions on the rabinical talmud of rabbi john rogers , wherein you have his spirit anatomized , principles examined , and reasons in some measure refuted . by zachariah crofton , minister of the word at buttolphs algate , london . ●efreshing streams flowing from the fulness of jesus christ , in several sermons . by william colvit , minister of gods word in edenburge . the husbands authority unveiled , wherein is moderately discussed , whether or no it bee lawful for a good man to beat his bad wife . crucifying of the world by the cross of christ . by richard baxter . a treatise of self-denial . by tho. wilson . the crown of righteousness , a sermon at the funeral of tho. hedges esq by th● . watson . a late great shipwrack of faith , a sermon preached by daniel cawdry , of great billing in northamtonshire . a sad prognostick of approaching judgement , a sermon preached at st. gregories . by nathanael hardy , minister of st. dionys . back-church . self-denial , a sermon preached to the assembly of divines . by edward reynolds d. d. peace of church , a visitation sermon . by edward reynolds d. d. animalis homo , sive concio lat . habita ad academicos oxonienses . edwardo reynolds . the quakers jesus , or the unswadling of that babe james naylor , which a wicked tolleration hath midwiv'd into the world , discovering the principles of the quakers in general ; a narrative of the substance of his examinations , and his disciples , as it was taken from his own mouth in their answer before the magistrates of bristol , also the management of it in parliament . by william grigg● , citizen of bristol . an exposition , with practical observations on the eighteenth , nineteenth , twentieth , and one and twentieth chapters of the book of job , being forty two lectures delivered in magnus church near the bridge . by jos . caryl preacher of the word , and pastor of the congregation ▪ there . a dispute between walter roswel and richard coppin . large octavo . enchyridion medicum , containing the causes , signs , and cures of all those diseases which doe daily afflict the body of man , together with a treatise , de facultatibus medicamentorum & dosibus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the summe of practical divinity preached in the wilderness , and delivered by our saviour in his sermon on the mount , being observations on the fourth , fifth , sixth , and seventh chapters of st. matthew , to which is prefixed prolegomen● , or a preface by way of dialogue , wherein the perfection and perspicuity of the scriptures is vindicated from the calumnies of anabaptists , and papists . by tho. white , preacher of gods word . pis●at●r i● omnes pauli epistolas . gods fearers are gods favourites , several sermons . by antho. tucker . a practical discourse of prayer . by tho. ●obb●● . records arithmetick . small octav. a treatise of the power of godliness , consisting of three parts . wherein it consists . cautions against , and discovery of several mistakes and hinderances most common to the people of god. several means and helps for the attaining of it . by tho. white . directions and perswasions to a sound conversion , for prevention of that deceit , and d●mnation of souls , and of those scandals , heresies , and desperate apostacies , which are the consequents of a counterfeit and superficial change , being the first of those books mentioned in the call to the unconverted . by richard baxter . confirmation and restauration the necessary means of reformation and reconciliation , for healing of the corruptions and divisions of the churches , sub●issively , but earnestly tendered to the consideration of the soveraign powers , magistrates , ministers , and people , that they may awake , and bee up and doing in the execution of so much as appears to bee necessary , as they are true to christ , his church , and gospel , and to their own and others souls , and to the peace and welfare of these , and as they will answer the neglect to , &c. at their peril . by richard baxter . a prospect of eternity , or mans everlasting condition , opened and applied . by john wells , minister of ol●ves j●wry , london . ovids festivals . the arcadian princess . by rich. brathwait esq truths manifest . the golden mean , or some serious considerations for a more full and frequent administration of , though not free admission unto the sacrament of the lords supper . by stephen geere , minister of abinger in surrey . in large twelves . b●ccace's tales , or the quintessence of wit , mirth , eloquence , and conversation , framed in ten days out of an hundred curious pieces , by seven honourable ladies , and three noble gentlemen , preserved to posterity by the renowned john boccacio , the first refiner of the italian prose . a pattern of patienc● in the example of holy job , being a paraphrase on the whole book , as an expedient to sweeten the miseries of these never enough to bee lamented times . the abridgement of christian divinity . by wolleb ▪ englished and enlarged by alexander rosse . the vanity of the creature . by edward reynolds . in small twelves . a call to the unconverted , to turn and live , and to accept of mercy whilst mercy may be had , as ever they will finde mercy in the day of their extremity , from the living god. by rich. baxter . souls solace . the summe of all . by chibbal . helvius colloquies . protestants practice , or the compleat christian , being the true and perfect way to the celestial canaan , necessary for the bringing up of youth , and establishing the old christians in the faith of the gospel . by a reverend father of the church of england . a method and instruction for the art of divine meditation , together with instances of the several kinds of solemn meditation . by tho. white . there is now in the press a practical commentary on the whole seventeenth chapter of st. john , by master george newton of taunton , in somersetshire . errata . page . line ● . r. the , p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , p. . l , . r. the , p. . l. . blot out is that , p. . l. . blot out en , l. . r. considerat : p. . l. . r. intimate , p. . l. . after offended r. at , p. . l. . r. tas , los , p. . l. . after genuine a ( . ) and add my , p. . b. l. . ● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , l. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , l. . r. differentem , ● . l. ●● , after christ , r. saith , p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , p. l. . r ding , p. . l. . r. that they , p. . l. . for the r. a , p. . l. . r. unprofitable , p. . l. . r. reputemus , p. l. ● . r. most , l. . r. grown , p. . l . r. in which respect , p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . . l. . for which , r. wit. . l. . blo● out to , . l. . r. non , ● . l. . after that , r. your , . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , . l. . r. single , . l. . r. assists , . l. blot out on , l. . after by , r. this , . l. ● . r. adverb , . l. . r. no less , . l . r. heart , . l. . for should , r. shall , . l. . for if r. of , . l. . r. ois , l. . r sensual , . l. . r. up those trees , . l. . blot out it is , . l. . r. teachers . . l. . blot out as , ▪ l. , for to r. of , ● . l. . r. she , . l. . for ● r. ● , . l. . ● for ● , . l. ●● . in s : not , . l. . r. left for , . l. , make a ( , ) after one , and blot out the ( , ) after out , ● . l. ● . r. rationis , l. . blot out ra , l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , . l. . r. then , . l. . r. controversy , . l. . r. spanish , . l. . r. looketh , l. . r. affect , . l. . r. pater non , l. . r. arbitrio , . l. ● . r. even . . l. . for type r. title . . l. . r. marcion . . l. . for a ( . ) make a ( , ) l. . after sin in s . and ▪ . l. . r. os . . l. . r. which they , . l. . r. ma. . l. . after saints insert as , . l. . r. is , . l. . r. what . take notice , that the pages , , ▪ are double , the latter of which have a b. annexed to them in the table . as also that the figures , ● , &c. to the end of that sheet● should be , , &c to . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e ep. . v. hieron . ep. ad demetri . id. ibid. ambros . ep. ad de●etri . id. ibid. ep. . v. . vers . ▪ ▪ , ● . ▪ notes for div a -e oecum . in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . coloss . . , . theoph. ibid. psal . . . joh. . . greg. naz. orat. . audiendo praecepta dei illuminati non sunt faciendo illu●ati sunt . greg. hom. in evang. . id . ibid. ezek. ● . . quid per manus nisi activa vita ; & quid per pennas nisi contemplativa signatur . greg. in ezek. hom. . id . ibid. ad monet non ●tiosam esse dei notitiam , &c. calv. in loc. john . . beza in loc. rev. . . luk. . . exod. . . hos , . . mat. . . ovid. agnoscendo eum . tirin . joh. . . mal. . . isa . . . rom. . . tim. . . rom. . . hier. contra . lucifer . fulgent . contr . arrian . heb. . . joh. . . greg. m. in evang. hom . . l. . isa . . . rom. . . . . james ▪ john . . col. . . sciendi seu cognoscendi sermo in scripturâ divinâ praecipuè , non semper notitiam manifestat , nisi experimentum alicujus rei habere , &c. didym . in loc . eccl. . . cor. . . phil. . . oecumen in loc . job . . aret. in rom. . . isai . . . pet. . . rom. . . matth. . . luk. . . vide chrisost . hom . de virtut . & vit . gal. . . mat. . , . prov. . . psal . . . joh. . . vide aug. ibid. psal . . , . vers . . phil. . . vide beza ib. aug. in joh. . tim. . . rev. . . vide zanch. in loc. cor. . . act. . , . psal . . . . notes for div a -e quem qui non cognoscit , licet viderit caecus , audiat surdus , loquatur elinquis , lact. de vero cultu , l. . c. . john . . fer. in loc . gualt . ibid. zanch. in loc . tit. . . aret. in loc . isai . . , . hos . . , . mat. . , . calvin in loc . acts . . thes . . . lor. in loc . rom. . . vide menoch . in loc . vide zanch. in loc . psal . . , , . greg. in ezek. hom . . l. . jer. . . hos . . . sam. . . jer. . , , . lor. in loc . ne quaquam mens fallat & se existimet deum cognoscere , &c. aug. de fide & oper . c. . calv. in loc . deut. . ▪ matth. . , . vide voss . pelag . histor . s. . joh. . . illyr . in loc . aug. man. c. . fer. in loc . mat. . . cor. . . pet. . . lor. ibid. exod. . . mat. . . ideo verbum quia respicit legem dilectionis . aug. serm. . de trin. sen. ep. . plin. l. . c. . ambros . in psal . . serm. . leo quinquages . serm. . ps . . . rom. . . exod. . . matth. . . hiereme adv . pelag. ambrose de offic . l. . c. . lor. in loc . vide bed. in loc . vide beza in loc . oecumen in loc . cor. . . jam. . . aquin. ibid. joh. . . . notes for div a -e jud. . . matth. , . ▪ . act. . . col. . . rom. . . ephes . . . cor. . . orig. aug. de verb. dom . serm. . joh. . , . ephes . . . cor. . . vt doceret ar●●iorem esse communiorem christi nobiscum , quam viri cum 〈…〉 . calv ibid. joh. . . verse . chap. . ver . . rom. . . psalm . . eph. . . col. . . daven . ibid. see ch . . v. . zanch. in loc . psal . . . aug. in loc . aug. de sanctâ virgin . c. . eph. . . tim. . . gal. . . ennod. bern. in cant. serm. . tertul. in marc. l. . c. . cres●de virtut . lucian dialig . athanas . orat . contra gent. bas . ascet . joh. . . pet. . . tert. de resur . l. . c. . prosp . sent. aug. in ep. arnulph . ep. jer. . . matth. . . ephes . . . paulin. ep. . heae . . . cor. . ult . mac. hom . . phil. . . leo de resur . l. . c. . consid . . tert. de patient . cypr. de zelo & livor . joh. . . eph. . . leo serm. . de jejun . mi mensis . aug. de vitâ christianâ tr . . c. . jamblien . pythag . l. . c. . bern in cant. serm. . iren. l. . c. . notes for div a -e joh. . . gal. . . joh. . . mat. . , . pet. . . . . . . . . pet. . . cor. . . anselm in corinth . aug. de trin. l. . c. . heb. . . pet. . . thes . . . daven . determ . . gen. . . virgil. pet. . . . cor. . . phil. . . tit. . . gers . par . . comp . theol. de delect . cen. . . luk. . . . joh. . , . pet. . . cor. . . rom. . , . beza in loc . aug. de trin. l. . c. . id . in ps . . rom. . . . . gal. . . cor. . . bern. serm. . in cant. notes for div a -e tim. . . theoph. in loc . gen. . part . qui de charitate praecepta traditurus erat à charitate non alienus . justin . in ep. pet. . . cor. . , 〈…〉 . deut. . . mosch . de vit . patr . l . c. . cor. . . phil. v. , . cor. . . . thes . . . ambr. serm. . de temp. act. . . heb. . . gen. . part . didym . in loc calv. in loc ch. . ver. . ep. . ver. . ● . rom. . , , . gal. . . jam. . . gal. . ▪ pet. . . tit. . . pet. . . thes . . . . micah . . mat. . . . greg. hom . in evang. . tim. . . king. . . . tert. de praescript . adv . haer . prov. . . zanch. in loc . vincent . lyrin . adv . haer . c. . jude . id . ibid. id . c. . psal . . . iren. l. . c. . aug. opusc . de util . ●●ed c. . orig hom . . in matth. tertul. adv . mar● . mat. . . ghisler . in cant. prov. . , , . salazar . ibid. gal. . . calvin in l●● . herodot . chrysost , orat . . suid , in dicti . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . notes for div a -e mat. . . brug . in mat. hilar. in mat. cant. . . ambros . in ps . . oct. . tert. contr . marc. l. . c. . id . ibid. vide tert. contr marc. l. c. . see bp vshers answer to the jesuites challenge . tim. . , , , . tit. . . rev. ch . . & . vide eusob . eccles . hist . ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem accepit parvulis dare baptismum . origen . in rom. consuetudo matris ecclesiae non spernenda nec omnino credenda . nisi apostolica esset traditio , aug. de gen. ad lit . c. . cypr. ad fid. ep. . vorst . in loc . ab exordio quum christiani estis effecti . carthus . cum primum nomina christo dedistis justin . heb. . . ab mitio evangelij est . a primo religionis ingressu , calvin . mat. . , . joh. . , . oecu . in loc . aret. in loc . fer. in loc . grot. in loc . heins . in loc . grot. ibid. mat. . . mat. . , . lev. . . joh. . . psalm . . r. kimchi . mat. . . mat. . . quantum ad traditionem scribarum . tostat . in matth. . . aug. l. de ser. dom . in mont . ● . . hilar. in mat. oecumen in loc . spanhem pars ult . dub . . pro. . , . rom. . . exod. . , . matth. . . exod. . . sam. . . cass . l. . c. . oecum . in loc . justin . in loc . aret. in loc . joh. . . lor. in loc . psal . . . . . mat. . , . novum quia aliter à christo explicatum aret . heins . in loc . illyr . in loc . spanh . l. d. eph. . . . orig. in num. dyd . calv. fer. in loc . rom. . . arnold adv . racchov . cat. maldonatin . johan . aug. in loc . bern. de caenâ dom . serm. . aret. in loc . est . in loc . notes for div a -e part . zanch. in loc . lorin . in loc . gag . in loc . loquitur flagrans joannes amore christi . lor. ibid. joh. . . substantivè acceptum . menoch . non tam preceptio quam res ipsa hic describitur . grot. ch. . . fer. in loc . beza in loc . rev. . . tit. . . pet. . . bern. in psal . qui habet . hier. adv . jovin l. . istd . pelus l. . ep. . tim. . . vide primas . ibid. cass . collat . . c. . matth . . greg. mor. . . rom. . . lev. . . isid . pel . l. . ep. . steph. cant. bern. in cant. serm. . rom. . . psal . . . dies diei , i. e. christi anus christiano , nox nocti , i. e. judaeus judaeo . ambrose hortat . ad virgin. col. . . tim. . . luke . . heb. . . ps . . prov. . . pet. . . john . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gret . in loc . john . . . . aug. contr . faust . l. . c. . ham. in loc . col. . . vide daven . heb. . . numb . . . greg. mor. l. . c. . cor. . . psal . . . cor. . . rev. . . cor. . . gen. . , . cor. . . acts . . col. . . eph. . . zanch. in loc . qui diligenter considerat quid sunt , tenebrae nil aliud inveniet , quam absentiam lucis . aug. de gen . ad lit . pet. . . eph. . . cic. rev. . . cor. . . gal. . . pet. . rom. . . notes for div a -e exegesis & ipsius praecepti , quod superius commendavit expositio , dan. gen. . aug. de doctr . christ , l. . c. . v. . vide na●g●rg . in loc . v. . quest . . zanch. in loc . arist . ethic. lib ▪ . cap. . amor affectivus amor effectivus biel. in . . sert . dist . art . cor. . . jam. . . cor. . . rom. . . , . col. . . gal. . . thes . . . cor. . . quest . . mar. . . deut. . . act. . . tert. apol. c. . aug. de temp . serm. . estius in loc . dan. in loc . gr. mor. hom . . in evang. tim. . . carthus . in loc . aug. de temp . serm. . id. ibid. luk. . . tert. ad scap . rom. . . prov. . . . vat. ibid. gregor . naz. orat . . ●et . . ▪ . gal. . . tit. . . pet. . . . . clem. alex. stromat . lib. . tert. apolog ▪ cap. . chap. . . . . ●e● . . . gal. . . inter fratres communis debet esse metus gaudiam dolor . tertull. perfectior est fraternitas spiritualis , quam carnalis , &c. ambros . ser. aug. serm. ▪ de verb. apost . act. . . gen. . . hierom. ep. rom. . . tertul. adv . marc. l. . apolog. c. . heb. . . zanch. in loc . ver. . cor. . . justin in loc . in splendore gratiae gratum facentis . carthus . ch. . . amare amantem , naturae , inimicum charitatis est . aquin in cat. sup . matth. . vide hierom. in matth ▪ . carth. in loc . aret. in loc . est . in loc . gualt . in loc . phil. . . aug. de perfect . justitiae . rom. . . ●or . . . rom. . . prov. . . zanch. in loc . grot. ibid. cor. . . aug. in ep. pet. . . prov. . . grot. in loc . id . ibid. ambrose in ps . . prov. . . hugo ibid. chrisost . hom . . in ep. ad corinth . & . in ep. ad heb. prov. . . notes for div a -e ch. . v. , . v. , . psal . . . matth. . . ● luke . . prov. . , ▪ . . bulling . in loc . eccl. . . joh. . . phil. . . ezek. . . eccl. . . tert. apolog. cap. . phil. . . pet. . . nunquam nimis dicitur , quod nunquam satis discitur . se● . ep . . act. . . gen. . , . luke . . matth. . . hier. ep. . c. . hier. ep. . ad hetrod . aquin da dae quest . . art. . orig. in rom. id. ibid. levit. . . aug. in ●● . . psal . . . cic. de amicit. ephes . . . operibus , i. e. oper●●ribus . thes . . . ps . . . ps. , , ▪ ▪ , . tit. . . aquin. greg. nyss . plut. mor psal . . . gen. . . pier. hieroglyphick , l. . c. . aug. in loc . prov. ael . lib. . c. . luk. ▪ ● isa . . . notes for div a -e rom. . part . non est sed qui dici . zanch. in loc . isa . . . tim. . . phil. . . john . . calv. in loc . oecumen in loc cypr. adv . jud. rev. . . . zanch. in loc . beza in rom. . . col. . . tit. . . rom. . . bas . de ira hom . . marc. erem . in b. p. al. al. de invid . rom. . . zanch. in loc . aret. ibid. cor. . . aquin. ibid. matth. . . dan. in loc . rom. . . pet. . . bas . de iraâ . aug. in ps . . . prov. . . gal. . . cypr. de zelo & livore . levit. . . isa . . . matth. . . zanch. in loc . prov. . . . . isa . . . non attendit tristem exitum illyr . in loc . carthus . ibid. est . in loc . pet. . . isa . . . bas . hom . . socrat. in d●og . laert. ovid. metam . greg. naz. orat . olympiod . in eccles . eph. . . matth. . . jer. . . ovid. rev. . . cor. . wisd . . . chrysost . in mat. . hom . . cypr. de zelo & livor● . notes for div a -e ezek. . . jer. . . gen. . aug. in ep. has omnes propri t●tes in omnium fidelium ment b●s in●s●● ma●im● desid●r●bat , &c. justin . in loc . grot. ibid. justin . vori. dan. in loc . see part . . p. . justinian . in loc . matth. . , . prov. . . aug. consess . l. . c. . matth. . . jans . harmon . cor. . . cor. . . eph. . . non praecipit apostolis ut aetatem habeant parvulorum sed innocentiam . hier. in matth theod. in psal . cor. . . tertul. adv . valent. . semel senex bis puer . cl. al. poedagog . l. . c. . avend . in mat. psal . . . oecumen in loc . orig. in numer . hom . . h●m . . in cant. lap. in l●c . john . . cor. . . orig. in num. aug. hier. ad ctesiph . adv pelag . interp. . aret. in loc . psal . . . tit. . . beza in loc . justin . in loc . heb. . . isa . . . lev. . . cognata sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eustath . phoc. aul. gell. l. . c. . magna fuit quondam capitis reverentia cani . ovid fast . l. . credebant tunc grande nefa ▪ & morte pi an dum . si veteri juvenis non assurrexerit , &c. juvenal . sat. . deut. . . dan. . . clem. alex. paedag . l. . c . antioch . hom● ● . tim. . . vide ▪ casaub exercitat . est . in loc . mat. . . . . pet. dam. l. . ep . . je● . . , . tim. . . chron. . sam. . tim. . . mal. . , . notes for div a -e verse . verse . calvin praefat . in ●s . quest . answ . pet. . . aelian . histor . animal . rom. . . psal . . . est . in lo● . calv. in loc . pet. . . tim. . . cor. . , . non dominus sc . expressè sive totidem verbis , sive suo ipsius ore . slat . ibid. mat. . , . verse . id. ibid. bas . epist . . calv. in loc . john . . acts . . sen. ep. . aug. ep. ad hier. pelag. ad demetr . quint. instituto , l. . c. . quo semel est imbuta recens . — horat. ed. . prov. . . sen. ep. . mark . . psal ▪ . . calv. in loc . beza zanch. justin . in loc . est . in loc . dr hamm. paraph. vorst . in loc . col. . . just . mart. apolog . . tertull. apol. b. rhenan . annot . in l. de coronâ militis . hier. in ps . psal . . . bas . in ps . . rev. . . joh. . . cyr. alex. in joh. vide cae●ar . arelat . episc . hom . . in bibli . pat . t. . orig. hom . . in es . col. . . hieron . ibid. chrysost . hom . . in col. psal . . . aug. ep . . ad volusian . prudent . cham. de canone disput . pet. . . tim. . . tertul. adv . marc. l. . hieron . ep. ad paulin. horat. aug. serm. . de temp. damasc . de orthod . fide. l. . c. . prov. . . tim. . . chrysost . ibid. espenc●us in tim. ignat. ep. ad philad . notes for div a -e vide zanch. miscell . l. . de stud . christ . part . consid . . see part . . p. . cor. . . eph. . , . cor. . . psal . . . isa . . . mic. . . heb. . . sen. trag. gen. . . mat. . . . . see this enlarged in p● . p. , . hos . . . mat. . . zanch. in loc . fulgent . de remiss . peccat . l. . c. . fer. in loc . part . rom. . . jer. . . psal . . . heb. . . isai . . . psal . . . gen. . . psal . . . ps . . , . psal . . . joh. . . sec. the first part . acts . . rev. . . joel . . job . . acts . . mark . . eph. . . . ult . psal . . ▪ sam. . . acts . . matth. . . carthus . in loc . see part . p. . and p. . prov. . . acts . . aug. in loc . consid . . beza in loc . aug. ibid. l●ke . . naogorg . in loc . notes for div a -e zanch. in loc . phil. . . gr. mag. mor. bern serm. . ex parv . illyr . in loc . cl. al. p●d . l. . c. . calv. in loc . aret. in loc . zanch. in loc . rev. . . aug. in loc . oecumen . ib. joh. . . isa . . . mic. . . heb. . . anselm . ibid. rev. . . perer. ibid. dan. . . joh. . . v. . aug. in joh. tract . . phil. . , . joh. . . gal. . . joh. . . mat. . . col ▪ . . tertul. in prax . eph. . . est . in loc . prov. . . calv. in loc . est . in loc . job . . isai . . . damasc . parallel , l. . c. . socrat. in symp. ●lut . mr gataker . job . . bas . m hom . . sen. de tranquill . l. . c. . heb. . . bern. in lo● . eccl. . . thes . . . cypr. abus . grad . joh. . . vide chrysini . ps . . eph. . . notes for div a -e prov. . . ra● . maur. de instit . l. . c. . consid . . gal. . . mat. . . zanch. in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost . in orat . dom . tertul. de pat . c. . de cultu faem . c. . de ●uga in persec . c. . illyr in loc . chrysost . ibid. quest . . aug. de civit . dei , l. . c. . tostat . in mat. quest . . justin . in loc . joh. . . tostat . in mat. brug . in mat. illyr . in loc . tost . in mat. thes . ● . . rom. . . prov. . . act. . . cypr. de mort. rom. . . non tam ad spiritualem pugnam incitat quam certam illis victoriam pollicetur . fer. in loc . infirmus hostis qui non potest vincere nisi volentem . hier. ad demet diabolus suadere & sollicitare potest cogere omnino non potest non enim cogendo sed suadendo nocet nec extorquet a nobis consensum sed petit . aug. l. . hom . . jam. . . matth. . . hier. ep. . ad demetr . col. . . heb. . . vide chrysol . serm. . aliud est iutra regnare aliud est extra oppugnare . aug. in john tract . . daven . ibid. col. . . bern. in psalm qui habit . serm. . aug. in loc . gal. . . heb. . . tim. . . rom. . . psal . . . rev. . . eph. . . eph. . . bern. isai . . . josh . . . cor. . . psal . . . notes for div a -e isai . . . est . in loc . psal . . . jer. . . luke . . jam. . . col. . . psal . . . acts . . isai . . . james . gen. . . vide rivet . in exod. ideo jesus omnes tentationes solis sacris scripturis vicit ut doceret nos sic pugnare & vincere . cajet . gr. m. in cant. ●hrysost . hom in matth. nulli aetati ita insidiatur diabolus , ac adolescentiae . fer. in loc . beza ibid. psal . . . cereus in vitia flecti monitoribus asper . horat. tim. . . job . . ambr. de inter . job l. . c. . aug. de temp. serm. . hier. ep . . aug. l. d. fer. in loc . justin . in loc . prov. . . aug. de temp. serm. . naz. orat. . bas . m. in eos qui differunt paenit . aug. serm. . ad fratres in ereme . cl. al. hort . ad gentes . chrysost . ad pop . antioch . festinare debet unusquisque ad deum ne si dum potest noluerit omnino cum voluerit non possit , aug. ps . . . ambrose . lam. . . hilar. in psal● . lit . ee●h . ambros . ibid. bas . m. de inscrip . cant. . . bern. serm. . in cant , consid . . phil. . . isa● . . ult . cor. . , . col. . . lactant. psal . . . fer. in loc . cualt . in loc . dan. in loc . lor. in loc . plut. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chrysost . l. . in iaud . vitae monast ▪ gr. m●dial . l. . c. . ps . . . ps . . . prov. . . cl. al. paedag . l. . c. . ps . . . ▪ king. . . isai ▪ . . ps . . . notes for div a -e est quod ad 〈…〉 profectum amatur & est quod ad impedimentum amatur . quod ames in terrâ impedimentum viscus est pennarum spiritualim , &c. aug. de diversis , serm. . calv. in loe . heb. . . gen. . chap. . . . . . . . aug. in johan . zanch. in loc . didym . ibid. interp. . joh. . . . . si naturam spectes , diligendi : si vitia non item . justin . joh. . . cor. . . rom. . . eph. . . psal . . . . , . interp. . calv. in loc . col. . . fer. in loc . gr. m. hom. . in evang. mat. . . aug. l. . contra . julian . cuncta temporalia usu non affectu possideamus . g● . m. in ezek. hom . . l. . beda in loc . judg. . , . aug. mus . l. . c. . suid. in dict . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aug. in loc . lib. de substantiâ dilectionis . in aug. t. . matth. . . eccl. . . gen. . . prov. . . jam. . . gal. . . prov. . . psal . . . . . aug. in loc . tim. . . john . . mat. . . james . . aug. in loc . cypr. de discipl . & habitu . sen. ep. oecumen . in loc ▪ justin . ibid. ezek. . . dioscord . aug. in loc . matth. . . notes for div a -e gen. . . exod. . . josh . . . verse . verse . concupiscentia pro re concupiscibili . zanch. in loc . al. alens cum alijs . serrar . in loc . al. al. pt. a. . . aquin. t a. ae . . . art. . vide grot. in loc james . . gerard. de consummat . saecul . gen. . . aug. de ve●â re●ig . c. . bern. a. pasch . serm. . rev. . . cant. . . ghisler . ibid. al. al. ps . ● ta . lap. in . loc cass . collat. . c. . ezek. . . rom. . . cor. . . calv. in loc . id. ibid. gal. . . est . in loc . cum natura poscit supplementa quae desunt non vocatur libido sed fames aut sitis , &c. vide aug. contr . julian . l. . c. . s●n. l. de vitâ bea●â . c. . ambros . de offic . l. . c. . thes . . . pet. . , . al. al. pt. ● . . . membr . . gen. . . ambros . l. . ep. . luth. in gen. c. . mal. . . acts . . aquin. a. ae . . . art . hier. l. . contra jovinian . aug. l. . contra julian . rom. . . aug. serm. . de temp. hier. in ezek. . heb. . . isid . pelus . l. . ep. . gr. m. sup . gen. . isid . hispal . de conflictu . virt . & vit . cl. al. paedag . l. . c. . august . socrat. hist . l. . c. . john . . luk. . . eccl. . . isai . . . pet. . . prov. . . vulg. greg. nyssen . in eccl. hom. . tertull. adv . psych● . c. ult . ambros . l. de parad . c. . aug. in ps . . prov. . . chrysost . serm. . aristot . eth. l. . c. . pind. gr. nazant . orat . . ambros . offic. cic. offic. hieron . prov. . . prov. . . . . . . pet. . . prov. . . notes for div a -e bas . m. hom . . illyr . in loc . pet. . . matth. ● . . beda in loc . aug. in loc . & l. . confess . & de relig. c. . aquin. a . ae . . . bern in ca●t . serm. . aquin. a . ae . . . aug. contra manich. l. . c. . amos . , , . gen. . . sen. ep. . eccl. . . sen. de remed . fortuit . prov. . . cassiod . l. . var. . job . . ex visu nascitur amor . prov. . . aquin. t● . ae . . . al. al. ps . a . . ● . aquin. a . ae . . . art. . zanch. in loc . kings . . exod. . . paulus fagius sentent . heb. prov. . . tim . . est . ibid. aug. hom. . prov. . . eccl. . . bellarm. cont . ● aristot . eth. l. . c. . aster . hom . de avaritiâ . horat. sat . l. . eccles . . . joh. . , . aster . l. d. greg. nyss hom . . in ●ccl . ambros . l. de jacob. c. . eccl. . . eccl. . . antioch . hom . prov. . , . chryss . ser. . sen. ep. . hieron . ep. cypr. ep. . p●●sp . de vitâ contempl . l. . c. . aug. serm. de temp. isid . pelus . l. . ep. . mat. . , . heb. . . fortunam velut tunicam proba magis concencium quam longam . ap●l . mat. . . plut. in crat. heb. . . notes for div a -e col. . , . al. al. l. d. salmer . al. al. l. d. riber . bern. in psal . qui habet . jer. . . perald . de virtut . & vit . greg. mor. . aquin. a . ae . . . art. . rev. . . hos . . . aug. de civit. dei. l. . c. . ambiti● saeculi . cypr. tim. . . gal. . . laym . theol. mor. l. . art. . phil. . . rom. . . tim. . . prov. . . job . . manus symbolum operationis . pined . pet. . . digna res risu imo planctu dominâ ancilla procedit ornatior . hier. ep. ad demetr . aug. in ps . . prosp. ep. isai . . innocent : de contemptu mundi . l. . c. . bern. ad eugen. l. . bern. apostatae angelo similis efficit●● , qui similis hominibus nolit esse . greg. m. adam dum rapere voluit divinitatem , amisit faelicitatem . id. prov. . . hierom. in vitâ hilarion . mundus nihil habet , quod animae accomodare possit . fer in loc . bibl. patr. apothegm . chrysost . hom . . in matth. king. . . amos . . heb. . , , . matth. . , notes for div a -e john ▪ . . gen. . bern. in coenâ dom . serm. . tim. . . ps . . . james . . patris i. e. caelestis patris dan. james . . divinus amor ubi venerit omnes captivat affectus . bern. serm. . in cant. greg. mor. l. . c. . phil. . , . james . . mat. . . . abusionum gradus in cypr. aug. damasc . par . l. . c. . tim. . . vide cypr. de ●● . martyr . jer. . , , ● . aquin. a . ae . l. d. est . in loc . sixt. pap . l. de divitiis . valer. hom . . de arasit . lor. in loc . tim. . . titus . . pet . . bern. in psal . qui habit . munst . cosmog . king. . , , . zeph. . . sivis esse templum veritatis , fuge idolum falsitatis , &c. aug. serm . in festo sanct . greg. mor. l. . c. . leo serm. . septimi mensis . aug. in loc . sam. . . aug. l. d. notes for div a -e thes . . . tit. . . pet. . . gen. . aug. adv . jul. l. . c. . vide bellarm. de amiss . gratiae l. . c. . aristot . eth. l. . c. . damasc . de orthod . fide . l. . c. . aquin. part ia . , . art . . justitia ea non est si puniendum reum non juvenisse sed secisse deus dicatur . fulgen. psal . . . verse . sam. . . chron. . . psal . . , . rom. . , , . james . . bas . m. hom . quid deus non est autor mali . plut. mor. justin . in loc . james . . oecumen . in loc . aug. in loc . eph. . . pet. . . tit. . . james . . zanch. in loc . col. . . dan. in loc . grot. in loc . ps . . , . mat. . . pet. . , . isid . pelus . l. . ep . . . cypr. ep . ad demetr . cor. . . ambrose ibid. gr. m. job l. . c. . aug. thucyd ▪ hierome . greg. m. cor. . . eccl. . . greg. nyss . ibid. aug. tract . in joh. . job . . greg. m. ibid. cypr. de laude martyr . gen. . . tim. . . zanch. in loc . aug. in ps . . luke . . ambrose ibid. psal . . . vulg. lat. aug. confess . l. . c. . greg. m. l. . ps . . . aug. in john tract . . sen. consol . ad polyb . c. . aug. ep. ad paulin . james . . greg. m. l. . bern. c. . philo l. de confus . ling. luk. . , . isai . . . ps . ● . . gr. m. l. . c. . jambl. plato . chrysol . serm. . luke . . plut. ap●t●●g . aug. serm. . de verbis dom . in mante . greg. nyss . hom . in eccl. ans . in rom. leo serm. . de jejun . m i mensis . sam. . . drogo host . in serm. de dom . pals . job . , bern. de fallacia presentis vitae . notes for div a -e hos . . . isai . . . psal . . . luke . . sam. . . epictet . arr. est . in loc . psal . . . . . deut. . . matth. . . psal . . . john . . cic. parad . rom . . micah . . isai . . . zach. . . cor. . . agitur de vitâ animae . dan. matth. . . rev. . . agitur de faelici & gloriâ mansione . dan. est . heb. . . verse . john . . cypr. de discipl . & ●ab . pet. . , . luke . . john . . isai . . . luke . . greg. m. cor. . . gr. naz. orat . . gillebert . serm. . ●n cant. sen. ep. bern. ep. . leo. serm. de resur . aug. inci pe esse ubi futuruses . id. aug. in loc . notes for div a -e tim. , . pet. . . beza in loc. vers . . dan. in loc. grot. ibid. probat quod dixit . lap. joel . . acts . . heb. . , . oecumen . in loc. pet. . . aug. in luc. job . , carthus . & calv. in loc. socin . in loc. mede apostacy of latter times . joseph . jud. bell. . . job . . dan. . . claud. revel . . jam. . . matth. . thess . . job . f●r . in loc. job . . . gr●● . in loc. aug. ibid. occumen . ibid. iren. greg. m. hierom. gro● . dr ha● . cal. jun. polan , &c. tim. . vers . . & john ep. . . chap. . matth. . acts . . matth. . thes . cor. . , matth. . . joh. . . heb. . . psal . . . matth. . . acts . . joseph . antiq. l. . c ▪ . bell ▪ iud. l. . c. . tim . . matth. . . epiphan . haer. cyr ▪ catech. . tim. . . esto . ibid. revel . . . prov. . . mat. . , king. , . . . hier l , . adv . pelag. matth. . . gen. . . isa . . joseph . antiq. prov. . . james nayler . notes for div a -e gen. . calv ▪ in loc . dan. in loc . act . . epiph. haer. . act. . . c●nt ▪ ● . . non dictum est in medio alienarum sed in medio filiarum . aug. in psa . . aug. in joh. tr . . orig. in josh . hom . . aug. quaest . super ge● . . et ser. de temp. . tim. . ▪ mat . . pelluntur excommunicati , schismatici discedu●t , ●●retici exeunt . lor. act. . tim. . . ● . pet. . jud. vers . hierom ad tit. c ▪ . heb. ▪ jude . vers . , . tim ▪ . . rom. . . phil. . . pet. . ▪ , , ▪ jude , v. . p. lomb. l. . dist . . tim. . . . . tit. . . pet. . . . . ignat. ep. ad trall . cypr. ad novat . isi . orig. ● . . avaritia fidem & probitatem subvertit ac deum negligere & omnia venalia habere docuit . sal. de conj . catil . mater omnium b●retico●um superbia . aug. epi. . rom. . . hook. eccles . pol ▪ . c. . euseb histo● . l. . c. ● . vincent . lyr. c. ● bern. ep. euseb . l. d. act. . . john ep. . . ●asson ▪ in vit . bonif. isa . . . cl. al. padag . cypr. de vnit. eccles . iran . adv . haer. joh. , . heb. . . notes for div a -e isa . . . cor. . . soein . in loc . zanc. in loc . serrar . in loc . vers . , . aug. l. de cor. et grat . gal. . aug. l. de bono persever . c. . spalat . l. . c. daven . deter . joh. . ● aug in loc . aug. de bapt ▪ contra . donat. l. . c. . aug. tr . in johan . bellarm. de gem. col . l. . c. . aug. in loc. rom. . . cypr. de duplici matryr ▪ tertul. de prescript . c. . aug. in loc. tertul. greg hom. . in ezek. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theoph. in luc. dan. in loc . cypr. adv . novat . gen. . , cic. tuscul . pet. . . aug. de bono persever . c. . psa . . mat. . last . greg m. in . l. reg. rev. . ● mat. . mat. tim. . . jerem. . joh. . . . . . joh. . . tentatio probat quia non sunt ex nobis quand● illis tentatio venerit velut occasione venti volant foras quia grana non erant . aug. in loc . nemo aestimer b●nos de ecclesia posse discedere , triticum non rapit ventu● , nec arborem solida radice fundatam procella subvertit . inanes paleae tempestate jactantur , invalidae arbores turbinis incursione evertu●tur , ex nobis exierunt sed non fuerint ex nobis , &c. cypr. l de simplic . praelat . ioh. . . . . aug. de cor. et grat . c. . rom. . chrysost . ibid. psa . . cor. . phil. . rom. . . cor. . . lor. in loc . tim. . separatio perspicuè in die judicii futura est . aug. dan in loc . est . in loc . notes for div a -e gener. . part. isa . . . acts . cor. . , aug. in loc. ezek. . esa ▪ . cy● . catech . . ezek. . numb . king. . luk. . . isa . . . isa . . ▪ ezek. . , psal . . isa . . rom ▪ . bern. cyr. cat psal . . ruth . esth . . cant. . psal . . mat. . eccl. ● . amos . wisd . . . psal . . rom . gal . rev. . exod. . . exod. . sam ▪ . king. . . calv. in loc . isa . . isa . . ▪ pet. . bel. cone . . bernard . eph. . . thes . . rom , . . acts . jude . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 interpretor de christ● . dan. grot. revel . . mark . dan. . isa . . revel . . vide damasc . de orth●d . fide . l. . c. psal . acts . . luke . sam . aug. adv . pelag . pet. . levit. . ephes . . , psal . . zach. . colos . . psal . . ephes . . cor. . phil. . rom. . exo. . . notes for div a -e syr. cor . . vide theoph. ibid. act. . ● mat . . dr. donne . exod. . deut. . psal . ● ▪ ● beza in loc . grot. in loc . fer. in loc . bern. serm. . de pentecost . g●●t . in los. joh. . . heb. . . psal . . cor. . . gen. . , , . phil. . . cor. . chrysost in ● cor. hom. . matth. . prov. . mal. . matth. . calv. in loc . cor. . vers . cor. . act. . . suidas in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 issid . p●lus . l. . ep . . james . . mat. . . joh. . act. . . . joh. . ierem. . job . . cor. . . notes for div a -e valent ●ac ad conciliandam benevlentiam magnopere . l●r. in loc . vide calv. in lo● . act. . . heb. . . gen . joh. . . . joh . . . eph. . . zanch. ibid. col. . . ●im . . pet . . pet . . see more of this part . pag. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pind. olymp. rev. . . pet. . last . gal. . . . . joh. . . . . james . est . in loc . juvenal . thess . . angest . gen. second . hier. ep ad l●● . tim. . heb. . . joh. . , . hos . . . isa . . . thess . . . plut. apophth . lactant. instit . l. . c. . tim. ● cor. . rom. . jer. . lactant. cor. . prov. . job . prov. . eph. . . gen. third . grot. in loc . illyr . in loc . carthus . in loc . jude vers . . pet. . . rom. . , heb. . aret. in loc . notes for div a -e plut. apophth calv. in loc . gualt . in loc . est . in loc . beda ibid. act. . . phil. . joseph . antiqu. l. . c. . sueton. l. . tacit. l. . plin. jun. l. . ep. . joh. . rom. . act. . . ▪ pet. . gen. . dan. . , , . hag. . , , mal. . tertul. apolog. c. . micah . luk. . ● gen. . . isay . psal . . sam. . . act. . . isa . . jer. . hos . . mat. . heb. . tim. . rev. . deut. . . luk. . numb . casaub . exercit. luk. . . spanhem . dub . evang. isa . . . isa . . isa . . joh. . mark . joh. . . mat. . , , deut. . psal . . . . isa . . ▪ psa . . . vide episcop . pag. . luk. . justin . in loc . euseb . hist . l. . c. . iren. l. . c. , idem . l. . c. & l. . c. aug in loc . tim. . notes for div a -e mark . brig . ibid serrar . in loc . epiphan . adv . haeres . l. iren. l. . c. tertul. adv . prax. c. . eorum crimen amplificat . matlor . mat. . luk. mark. . grot. mat. . heb. . joh. . grot. in loc . luk. . joh. . mat. , . pet. . joh . calv vid. dan. beza in loc . exod. ● . col . joh. . mat. . joh. . musc . ibid. ● cor. . basil ad . amphilech c. cypr. exhot . ad martyr . theod. eccle. hist . l. . c heb. . heb. , , , , cor. . . heb. . mat. . heb. . joh. . mat. . mark . tim. . psal . . phil. . jude , vers . pet. . deut. . mat. . tim. . . mat. . tit. . ma● ▪ . , . notes for div a -e bonavent . in sent . dist . . aquin. ª ae quaest . . ar . gen. . josh . . rev. . gen. . mat. . beza in loc . justin. ibid. eccl. . l. gersh . rom. . lactaut . l , . c. tertul. scorp . c. . act . tim. . luk. . eccl. . psal . . ▪ aug de bono persever . l. . c. . prov. ▪ zech. . isa . . jude v. rev. . heb. . calv. in loc . col. . vide daven . ib. cor. . tim. . rev. . thes . . tit , . mat. . eph. . . vide erasm . ib. tit. . . rev. . tim. . cor. . prov. . ▪ act. . ● . . . joh. . cypr. l. . ep. . jude v. . thess . . tim. . bern. serm. qui habit . gen . tacit. mat. . , , james . psal . . sam. . ioh. mat. . luk. . mat. . rom . occumen . in loc est . ibid. joh. . eph. . psal . . xenoph. cyr. jude v. notes for div a -e exod. . virg. tereat . beza in loc . aust . de civit . dei l. . c. . id ▪ de verb. ●●● serm. ● . psal . . ● psal . . . chron. . aug de verb. dom. serm. ● aug. cor. . exod. . psal . . eccl . ▪ job . mark. . est . . . psal . . mat. . , andr. caesar . hebr. mat. ● . ● uk . . rom. . luk. . ● pet. . ▪ cor. . pet. . rev. . , . . august . de civitate dei. l. . c. . aquin. ª ae . quaest . . art. boet. de consol . cor. . pet. . tim. . isa , . heb. . isa . . tit. . gal. . aug. meditat . l. c part second . tit. ▪ . heb. . , . tim. . august . anselm . tim. . luke . rom. . pet. . hier. l. . adv . pelag. theoph. in luk. . heb. . vers . . vers . . luk. . joh. . act. . tim. . heb. . tim. . vers . vers . . vers . . vers . ● . vers . . vers . rom . . tim. . , bern. aug. de verb. dom . serm. . aug. in loc . et in evang. joh. tract . . notes for div a -e par. . ep. ● tim. . . , . lorin . in loc . theoph. in phil. ignat. ad smyrn . ep. . mart. epigr. isa . . . jer. ● . mat. . pet. . joh . grot. in loc . salv ▪ de guber . iam . gen. . ● . quintil. declain . l. . dan. . bed. in loc . jam. . aret. in loc . iude v. . tim . prov. . . . . isa . . . act. ● . ● rev. . . psal . . . psal . . ep. . . . horat. rom. . ang. de civit. ● i. mat. . iren. ad . haer . l. . c. cor. . id. praefat . l. . eph. . greg. mor. l. . c. . pet. . jude v. col. . mark. . . matth. . thess . . tim. . gr. naz. orat . . col. . . tert. praescript . adv . h●● . l. c. . l. contra herm● . gal. . apolog. hier. contra lucif . iren ▪ l. . c. mat. . iude v. . fet. . mat. . optat. contra par● . l. . gen. second . mat. . tim. . psal . ● . col. . . phil. . rom. . ignat. ad antioc . ep. . . cypr. ep. . iren. praefat . l . adv . haer. hieron . in mat. isa . . pet. ▪ col. . zanch. ibid. daven . ibid. lor. in lo● . cypr. de pastor ▪ cur . ezek. . . . . ep. . . heb. . notes for div a -e cypr. ep . tertul. de re● . carnis . aug. de trinit . l. . c. exod. . cor. ● . . aug. in lo● . greg. mor. . . cal in lo● . illyr in lo● . lap. in lo● . lor. in lo● . aethiop . s●● the th . l●● . gen. . cor. . musc . in loc . col. . ioh. . joh. . ephes . . , eph. . . joh. . . act. . . cor . . ioh . ioh . ● . theoph. in ioh. rev. . . mat. . . . . act. . . ioh. . ioh. . ▪ mat. . ioh. . eccl. . luk. . hug. card. eph. . . thess . . mat. ▪ ● ioh. . greg. mag. ier. . ioh. . gen. . notes for div a -e particul . pet. . gerard. ibid. ier. . . hebr. . camer . myroth . aug l. de sp. e● lit c . anselm . in heb. cor. . . aquin. par. ● . q. . art . . king. . . gr. m. in evan. ●om . . joh. . . aug. in loc . mat. . . cor. . fer. in loc . mat. . . rom. . . eph . . act . , . . act. . ● . aug. in loc . d●● . in loc . thes . . , g● . . hos . . . cor. . joh. . ● thess . . joh. . col. . heb. . . psal . . beza in loc . heb. . ●● . vers . ▪ thess . ▪ , cor. . heins . in loc . l●rin . in loc . s●●r● . in loc . aret. in loc . tertul. de ●●● . script ad v. ●●● . c. s. gal. . . joh. . iren. prae●at . adv . haer . hieron . ad theo. aug. l. . de grat . christi contr . pelag. c. , . thess . . , joh. . , cant. . cor. . , notes for div a -e fer. in loc . rom. . ●oh . . rom. . pet. . est . in loc . aret. in loc . ier. . . psal . . prov. . ezek. . . . deut. . . verbo ma●e●di gaudet apostolus . lap. in loc . jo● . ▪ , , , . vers . . . . joh. . pet. . cor. . joh. . eccle. rev. . rev. . greg. in gr. iam. . gal. . acts . ioh. . , part . mat. . ioh ▪ . ▪ ioh. . rev. . . heb. . ▪ chap. . ● . . jude vers . . dan. ▪ , . joh. . act. . ● . theff . . . ia● . . . ● pet. . ● tit. . juan . carnot . ep. serm. beza in loc . heb. . phil. . ● rom. . cor. . . leo serm. mat. . psal . . . joh. ● . ● . dr. ham. annotat . on the seventh chapt . of st. john. luk. . . bas . hexam . hom . . bern. de modo bene viv . serm. . joh. . psal . . . , . cor. . aug. in loc . eras . in loc . luk. . ● syr. vulg . lat . beza , ibid. grot. in loc . wisd . . ▪ , sen. l. de benef . cypr. ad demetr . phil. . thes . . , ambrose . prov. . beza in loc . cajet . in loc . the arraignment of licentious liberty, and oppressing tyranny in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of peers, in the abbey-church at westminster, on the the day of their solemn monethly fast, febr. . / by nathanaell hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the arraignment of licentious liberty, and oppressing tyranny in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of peers, in the abbey-church at westminster, on the the day of their solemn monethly fast, febr. . / by nathanaell hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by r.l. for nathanaell webb and william grantham ..., london : . reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. eng bible. -- o.t. -- hosea v, - -- sermons. fast-day sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no the arraignment of licentiovs liberty, and oppressing tyranny. in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of peers, in the abbey hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die jovis , , febr. . ordered by the lords in parliament assembled , that mr. hardy is hereby thanked for his great pains taken in his sermon preached yester day before their lordships in the abbey-church westminster , it being the monethly fastday : and hee is hereby desired to cause the same to be printed and published , and that no person whatsoever doe p●esume to print or reprint the same , but by warrant under his own hand . john brown cler. parliament . i do appoint nathanael webb and william grantham , to print my sermon . nath. hardy . the arraignment of licentiovs liberty , and oppressing tyranny . in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of peers , in the abbey-church at westminster , on the day of their solemn monethly fast , febr. . . by nathanaell hardy , mr. of arts , and preacher to the parish of dionis-back-church . i will get me to the great men , and will speak unto them , for they have known the way of the lord , and the iudgement of their god : but these have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds , ier. . . they chose new gods ; then was war in the gates , iudg. . . pertinet ad innocentis magistratus officium , non solùm nemini malum inferre , verùm etiam à peccato cohibere , & punire peccatum , aut ut ipse qui plectitur corrigatur experimento , aut alti terreantur exemplo . aug. disciplina est magistra religionis , magistra verae pietatis , quae non ideo increpat ut laedat , nec ideo castigat ut noc eat . idem . remota justitia , quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia , quia & ipsa latrocinia quid sunt nisi parva regna . idem . london , printed by r. l. for nathanaell webb , and william grantham at the signe of the grey-hound in pauls church-yard , . to the right honorable the house of peers assembled in parliament . thrice noble worthies : if any thing were presented in this subsequent sermon , meriting your honours acceptance ; it must be that despised jewell of plain-dealing . the truth is ; considering on the one hand , the auditors dignity to whom i spake , my desire was to avoid rudenesse of expression ; remembring , on the other , jehovah's majesty in whose name i spake , my endevour was to use faithfulnesse in admonition . i well know , reprehension to great men must be wrapped up ( as wee do pils ) in sugar , that it may more easily be swallowed , and work before they think on it . we must come to your lordships byssinis verbis with soft and silken phrases , as the mother of cyrus charged him who was to speak to the king . but yet withall , the great god who hath advanced you to nobility , hath engaged us to fidelity : it is no time for ministers to be cold or silent , when sins are bold , and sinners impudent . that commission given to the prophet isaiah , and in him to all gods messengers , was never yet revoked : cry aloud , spare not , lift up thy voice like a trumpet , to tell judah of her sins , and israel of her transgressions . it is true , preachers by their faithfull boldnesse will find enemies as moths to their persons , and worms to eat up their credits ; but by their treacherous silence they shall procure a worse moth to their souls , and worm to gnaw their consciences . freenesse in speaking truth , may occasion hatred from men without ; but it will certainly procure love from a gracious god above , and peace from a serene breast within . my lords ; it was the unhappy lot of this discourse , when preached , to meet with many auditors whose eares were hedged about with thorns , and tongues have since been sharp as swords : these have branded both it : and the author , ( probably in your honours hearing ) with the scandalous reproach of malignancy , and what else might render the one fruitlesse , and the other odious : for what reason i know not , except ( that for which st. paul was accounted an enemy by the galathians ) telling the truth : as if flattery were the badge of amity ; and they who are faithfull to your souls , must therefore be reckoned as false to your cause . but sure i am , in the end , these seeming friends will appear your worst enemies , who would tickle your honours with flatteries to the death ; whilst your seeming reputed enemies will approve themselves your best friends , who by gentle blows of reproof on the eares , endevour to rouse you out of the swound of security . for my own part , i hope i shall ever abhorre as well verball , as reall symony ; and rather choose , proveritate convitium , quàm pro adulatione beneficium ; to expose my self to byting detractors , than incurre the just censure of a fawning flatterer . for these envious whisperers , i shall become an hearty petitioner in my saviours words , father , forgive them : and if by my removall , yea , ruine , ( though too unworthy ) any thing may be contributed to the setling of sions bound , i shall thank them for doing me such a favour against their wils ; and my hope is , their wrathfull calumny poured out like mud to defile my name , shall prove like water to clense my ways the more . for your honours , i blesse god that you were the eare-witnesses and judges of my doctrine ; neither doubt i but your wisdoms will discern malice to be the spring of those slanders cast upon my self . as for these labours , ( which if weighed in the ballance of a severe judgment , i confess are too light ) it hath pleased your lordships to allow them some grains of your charity , in a favourable construction ; and find them weight , to set the stamp of your authority upon them , and make them currant coyn for the presse . them , together with my self , i lay at your honours feet , and in submission to your command have committed to the worlds eye . some illustrations of the text , which i then omitted , lest i should tyre your patience , i have now inserted , lest i should injure the sermon . give mee leave ( my honoured lords ) to end with one request to you , for god ; to god , for you. to you : that however i may deservedly be cast out of your memories , yet the sacred truths herein contained may be imprinted on your breasts . for you . that the lord of lords would strengthen your honours hearts and hands , to the preservation of purity and restauration of unity : that so in your noble persons and families , you may be the happy subjects ; to the church and kingdome , honourable instruments , of many choice and precious blessings . to which he shall ever say amen , who is , your honours vnworthy , yet faithfull servant , nath. hardy . the arraignment of licentiovs liberty and oppressing tyranny . hosea . , , . the princes of judah were like them that remove the bound : therefore i will poure out my wrath upon them like water . ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement , because he willingly walked after the commandement . therefore will i be unto ephraim , as a moth , and to the house of judah as rottennesse . a sharpe and harsh scripture , unsutable therefore may some perhaps say for a noble auditory , great mens delicate eares cannot endure scratching expressions , it is granted , yet their corrupt hearts have need of searching instructions ; and every good preacher must act the part , not so much of a cook to dresse savoury meat for the palate , as of a physitian to prescribe wholsome ( though bitter ) potions for the soul . ● , but it is a terrible threatning text , unseasonable , may others say , for these conquering times . nothing more unwelcome then in dayes of serenity , to sound out woes of severity ; when god seems to open his hand in blessings , that ministers should open their mouthes in menacing , what more di●●as●full● it is true , but yet what more needfull ? we must not think ( with the athenians ) that we have clipt the wings of victorious prosperity , so that it cannot flie from us ; or with david , that our mountain is so strong it cannot be moved ; that our nest● is made in the stars , and our 〈◊〉 exa●ted above the region of mutability : no , ( beloved ) deceive we not our selves with vain dreams ; god hath not poured out so many favours upon us like oile , but the sins of princes and people may after all provoke him to poure out wrath like water ; and though the violent effusion of bloud be ceased , yet the fretting moth of division remayns . deservedly therefore doth the magistrate renew these fasts , and no lesse justly ought the minister facere opus dei in die suo on these days of humbling to use means of humbling , both by tart reprehensions of sin , & smart denunciations of wrath , that the one may be repented , the other prevented : which was the ayme of god by the prophet , in the words now read ; the princes of judah , &c. it is the observation of learned rivet on this booke that hosea in its severall parcels puts on the habit of various persons , vati● , praeconis , patris , 〈◊〉 , judicis , of a prophet foretelling , herald proclayming , father chiding , friend counselling , and judge censuring ; this latter hee seemeth in gods name to take upon him here , not only bringing in as a plaintiffe a bill of indictment against , but passing as a judge an heayy sentence upon both judah and ephraim . so that the words naturally fall asunder into these two branches : accusatio vera . comminatio severa . an accusation of sin . a commination of punishment . a charge full of verity . a doom full of severity . the charge is laid against the two tribes , and the ten : the two under the name of judah , the ten under the name of ephraim , so called synedochically , because that was tribus amplissima & regia , the greatest and the highest tribe ; the princes of the one , yet so as that the people are not exempted : the people of the other , yet so as that the princes are not excused . the former in the beginning of the tenth verse , the princes of judah were like them that remove the bound . the latter in the end of the th . verse , because he willingly walked after the commandment . the doom is as ample as the charge , pronounced severally against judah and her princes in the close of the th . verse , i will poure out my wrath upon them like water . against the people of ephraim in the first clause of the th . ver. ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment . joyntly , against both ephraim and judah , vers. th . therefore will i be unto ephraim as a moth , and to the house of judah as rottennesse . and now ( mee thinks ) my text like an ingenuous picture looks upon all here present , in which both nobles and people may behold their sin and danger represented . in the description of which it shall be my endevour to be brief , and plain ; brief , that i fall not into the errour of the text , and be like them that remove the bound of the time ; plain , that not the meanest auditor be opprest and broken in his judgment ; and let it be the prayer of us all that the grace of the spirit may be poured on us like water , so as we may willingly walke after the commandements which shall from god be delivered to us , and the word of the lord ( so the cald●e reads it ) may be as a moth to our sins , and rottennesse to our corruptions . and so i begin with the first generall , to wit , the charge , and that as it is drawn up concisely , yet fully ; first , against iudah and her princes ; the princes of iudah , &c. this prophet was one of the sharpest preachers that ever god sent to his people ; his commission was primarily intended for ephraim , yet collaterally extended to iudah ; his sermons contain plain detections , full convictions , and impartiall arraignments , of all sorts of sinners , none are spared , neither prince , priest , nor people ; hee summons all three , verse the first , and chargeth the chief in this , even the princes of iudah . a pattern worthy of imitation by all gods messengers ; those who are fishers of men must catch as well great as small fishes in the net of reproof ; faithfull ministers must not despise the meanest for the sins sake , nor spare sin in the highest for the mans sake ; it is gods command to ieremiah , that hee should not be afraid of any of their faces to whom he sent him ; chap. . . the truth is as mauritius said of phocas , si timidus est homic●●a est , if we feare their faces , wee kill their souls ; if we flatter their sins , we murther their persons ; of all places a parasite worst becomes the pulpit ; for a minister then to pick feathers off great mens coats , and sow pillows under their elbows , when he should be shooting arrows at their sins , and pricking their consciences with the needle of rebuke , what more odious ? of all persons , nobles stand in most need of plain ( though humble ) admonitions these are the best dainties wee can present them with , as being novelties all the yeere long , since , whilest they abound in the confluence of all other things for the most part they want faithfull reprovers . let therefore the philosophers resolve be taken up by all preachers , mori malo quam simulare , rather to dye then to dissemble , ever remembring that as philosophy , so divinity , stemma non i●s●icit , must know no man after the flesh ; accept no mans person , but impartially divide to every one their portion , reproof to whom reproof belongeth , yea , though they be princes , for so doth our prophet here accuse the princes of iudah . but what is the offence that these great delinquents are charged withall ? they were like them sayth the text , that remove the bound . saint hierom calls hos●a , vatem commaticum & per senten●ias loquentem , one whose expressions are both sententious and aenigmaticall , couching much in a little ; such is this , i have now in hand : i will not waste my precious time , nor tyre your honourable patience vvith the various conceits expositors have upon this clause ; give me leave only to present you with a double construction , the one literall , the other metaphoricall , both probable and profitable for our instruction . those that literally understand the words , read the particle caph as a note not similitudinis , but veritatis , of likenes , but truth , as the greeks somtimes use for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and so the fault here taxed is avaritia principum the covetousnes of the princes in that they were , in alienas fortunas invadentes , unjust usurpers of other mens rights and possessions . how hainous a sin this is appears by that strict prohibition which god himselfe gives against removing of neighbours landmarks , deut. . . backt with an execration , chap. . . and that seconded with a woe by the prophet isaiah . . a vice so injurious that it was odious to the heathen , and therefore the romans condemned the meaner sort who were guilty of it to the metall houses , and banished the better sort with the losse of the third part of their estates : so that i cannot but wonder with what face our anabaptists assert , and i fear if ( permitted , would endeavour ) a community of goods . i grant the primitive christians had all things common , but that was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in regard of use , not right , and that by voluntary consent , not necessary command ; the truth is that morall prohibition of stealing must be abolished , and the evangelicall precept of charity is needlesse , if eyther men might not erect bounds of their possession , or others might lawfully remove them at pleasure . a crime then it is , and that most incident to princes , it too often falling out that potentiae incrementum sceleris occasio majoris , the greatnesse of their power seems to warrant the vastnesse of their desires : two instances among others are most remarkable ; the one in sacred , the other in prophane story , the one of ahab who fals sick for naboths vineyard , and at last determines to burn the bees rather then lose the honey , cruelly writing his title to the land in the owners bloud . the other of alexander — cui non sufficit orbis , whose triangular heart the round world cannot fill , and therefore weeps that there was no more to conquer , to whom that pyrate wittily replyed when checked by him for pillaging ships at sea : & cur tu orbem terrarum ? why do you ransack the whole world ? indeed that proverb of the sea is too often verified of great men , that they are ill neighbours , their covetous desires being aptly resembled by saint basil to fire which burns from house to house , and wood to wood , while there is any materials to feed it . o beware we of this caninus appetitus , dog-like greedines to swallow up all we can ; if dives is tormented quia cupide servavit sua ; what shall be his portion , qui avidè rapit aliena ? if those fists which too closely keep their own , shall be cut off , what shall become of those hands that are opened to grasp other mens estates ; we see all creatures know and keep their bounds , fishes the water , beasts the earth , birds the aire ; let men learn of them , and especially let magistrates remember that note of cajetan upon exod. . . though it might suffice a private man not to be covetous , yet it is required of them to be haters of covetousnesse . i end this with one short consectary , if it be a sin with an anathema to remove our neighbours , what is it to alienate the churches bounds ? solomons proverb resolves it fully , it is a snare to him who devoures that which is holy , chap. . . o take heed of a sacrilegious surfet , a disease so perilous , that envy it self cannot wish a worse to an enemy . cecil lord burleigh gave advise to his sonne , that hee should build no great house upon any impropriation , wel-knowing it would be built upon a sandy foundation ; surely for the spoyls of the church , private families , yea the whole kingdome mourns . may this parliament so f●r honour god , rather god so far honour this parliament as not to be removers , but restorers of these bounds . the other interpretation , though metaphoricall in regard of the phrase , yet is most proper in respect of the sence , sutable to the note of similitude , and generally received by expositours , for the better understanding whereof wee shall enquire what this bound is , and wherein the sin of removing it consists . for the former wee must know that after the ten tribes revolted from god , only the two were as his field and possession ; the bound of this field considered as a state , was those rules of equity and justice ; as a church , those precepts of true religion and worship which was given to their fathers by god : those in the judiciall , these in the ceremoniall , both summarily and substantially in the morall law . pareus seems to understand it of the latter only , zanchius chiefly , yet comprising both , and not without good reason , since not only the names ( which in the latine are derived from binding ) but the natures of religion and law have analogy with a bound ; for as without bounds no man would know his own , or if he did know it , not retain it , or if retain it , not in quiet , so neyther can a people without gods true worship and good laws . the bound is segregans distinguishing between meum & tuum , one mans possession from another ; so do wholsome laws civill nations from barbarians ; by them were the jews severed from all the people of the world . so doth the true religion ; by it were the jews known from the apostate israelites and the idolatrous heathen , in which regard , god sayth of them , i have severed you from other people that yee should be mine . levit. . . and this it is which separates us protestants from papists and pagans , hereticks vvithin , and ethnicks vvithout the pale of the church . the bound is conservans , preserving mens rights that one may not injure another ; the romans esteeme terminus as a god to vvhom they committed the safeguard of their lands , and in honour of vvhom they kept feasts ; and surely it is the lavv vvhich administers too , and upholds every one in their due , that might overcome not right , upon vvhich ground the philosopher was wont to say we must fight for our laws rather then cur walls , since a city may be safe without these , but not without them . much more is this verified of religion which plato divinely calls , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the foundation of all laws , and preservation of all society . sine religione non princeps officium suum non subditi facient ; it is true devotion towards god that keeps us in orderly relation one to another . the bound is pacifica●s , that which prevents controversies ▪ and so preserves peace ; it is true of good laws which end all quarrels , most true of religion which as it binds man to god in duty , so man to man in unity : while the twelve tribes continued one in religion , they remayned one in affection and subjection ; peace is both the nurse and daughter of piety . no knot so firm as that which this tyes ; so true is that of saint james , the wisdom from above is first pure , then peaceable , chap. . . you have viewed the bound , now see the fault of the princes in reference to this bound , for which i shall make use of a double translation . first , some read it transferentes or moventes terminum , according to our english translation , they did remove or take away the bound , and thus the crime reproved is socordia prinoipum , the princes extreame sluggishnesse in not administring justice and maintayning gods worship according to his laws , neglectis legibus neglectoque cultu divino {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} induxerunt , they cast off all care of equity and piety , quod libuit licuit , every man did what was right in his own eyes . and surely the accusation of the princes for this as an iniquity , is a plain intimation of the contrary , as a duty , that they ought not only ( which few deny ) to uphold civill laws but ( which many in this scepticall age impugne ) to command gods worship . it is the command given to all kings and iudges of the earth , serve the lord in fear , psal. . . upon which saint augustine well observes aliter servit qua homo , aliter quarex , a magistrate must serve god , not only as a a man , but as a ruler ; and when is that , but as the same father excellently , cum bona jubeat , mala prohibeat , non solùm quae pertinent ad humanam societatem , verùm etiam quae ad humanam religionem ? when they both command those goods things , and forbid the evils which appertain as well to divine worship , as to humane society . among those many offices which plato conceives belonging to magistrates , hee mentions this as the chief ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to take care of gods service . indeed strange it were that those who are expresly styled gods , should have nothing to do in the matters concerning god , or that this care should lesse concern christian governours ( which some affirm ) then the jewish kings . it is prophesied of the church of the new testament , that kings should be their nursing fathers , and queens their nursing mothers , isa. . . sure then the child of religion is intrusted to their charge . that which s. paul requires to be the end of the peoples prayer for the magistrate , ought doubtlesse to be the end of the magistrates care for the people , namely , that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godlines & honesty , tim. . . i grant , as law is the bound of a commonwealth , so right reason is the limit of law ; and as religion is the bound of a church , so scriptures are the limit of religion , beyond which nothing ought to be required as essentiall and necessary : yet this hindereth not but that magistrates through their own industry , and the advice of learned councels or synods , ought to find out and establish that religion which is most consonant to sacred writ . it is true , mens consciences cannot be compelled to embrace the faith professed ; no more can their hearts , to the love of morall vertues : yet in regard of outward conformity , they may and ought to be enjoyned the frequenting of gods publike worship and ordinances , the means of both . it is better to be compelled to a feast , then run to a fray ; and it is a just quaere , whether they who would not have the magistrate compell them , ( had they power ) would not compell the magistrate ? wee must indeed distinguish inter violentam conscientiarum coactionem , & publici exerciti● prohibitionem . that all mens judgments should in every thing assent to the rule established , cannot be expected ; that none should dare publikely to practise the contrary , ought to be required . the power of religion lyes in its purity , and purity in its unity : divers kind of grain in one ground , of beasts in one yoke , of clothes in one garment , are forbidden in the law ; and shall divers religions be allowed in the gospel ? i have read indeed of a turk who resembled the diversity of religions in his empire , to the variety of flowers in a garden ; but christian magistrates must account them as weeds , which if not pluckt of , will soon overtop the flowers of orthodox doctrine : so true is that saying religionem ●vertit , quisquis religionum varietat●m inducit ; mixtures in , are the undoubted bane of sincere worship . a strict obligation of weaker consciences ●o things meerly indifferent , may prove injurious : sure i am , a free toleration of divulging errours in matters necessary , will prove pernicious . nullum pejus malum libertate erran●● . what more dangerous for the ship then to sayle with every winde , since it must needs dash upon the rock ? for the sheep , then to wander through every pasture since it will quickly be devoured of the wolves ? and what then can be more perillous for the people , then to have liberty , or rather a licentiousnesse of transgressing religions bound , to the eternall hazard of their souls ? it is the offenee here charged upon the princes of judah , they were like them that remove the bound . secondly , others read it mutantes , as those that change the bound : and so the sin condemned is instabilitas principum , that not being content with the worship which god had delivered to , and was received by their ancestors , they went to the israelites bounds of bethaven , yea , to the heathen at damascus , and imitated their idolatry . an hainous and pernicious sin in magistrates , to affect novelties in religion . true it is , the bound of humane laws is alterable , and yet not easily ; salvenda , non rumpenda consuetudo ; customs must be moved , before they be removed : but it is otherwise with religion . stand ye in the wayes , and see and aske for the old paths , where is the good way , and walk therein , and you shall find rest to your souls , sayth the lord by the prophet , jer. . . st. paul willeth timothy to avoid {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; st. ambrose reads it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : they are neer a kin : novelties for the most part prove vanities , not verities . i deny not but the fringe of divine worship may be variable ; and yet in this , venerable antiquity is not to be forsaken for novell fancy : however , the garment of truth never waxeth old . guevara sayth , a wise man is a friend to old books , and an enemy to new opinions . solomon adviseth his son , not to meddle with them that are given to change , prov. . . it is the crime that is here charged upon the princes , that they were like them that change the bound . but was this only the princes fault ? nay , the sin was epidemicall ; the generality of the people disregarded equity , followed idolatry . non excusat populum , sed ostendit principes corruptissim● status fu●sse autores & praecipuè reos : the prophet doth not altogether excuse the people , but chiefly accuse the princes as being the authors , and so guilty of the peoples sin . guilty they were , conticendo , by conniving at and suffering them in their idolatry . qui peccata-non corripit aliena , facit sua ; hee that having power , corrects not others faults , contracts them to himself . it is a witty and true conceit a rabbin hath upon these words , taking them in a literall sense : the princes were like them that remove the bound , because they did not censure those who removed their neighbours bounds . that apothegme of king lewis is most memorable : the prince who can punish a fault , and doth not , is no lesse guilty then the offender himself . it was a serious speech a jester used to the king who pardoned one of his courtiers , saying , it was the third murder that he committed ; nay , replyed he , this petitioner committed but one , the second and third was thine ▪ had justice been executed at first , he would have done no more . it is but equall , the fault of the inferiours should be imputed to , when they are not impeded by their superiours . praecipiendo , in that some of them did not only permit , but command the removing of the bound . so we read , that wicked king ahaz sent a pattern of the altar at damascus to uriah the priest , enjoyning him to build one according to it , and offer on it , kings . , . when subjects doe evill by precept , they increase the rulers sins so fast , as they increase their own . if saul charge doeg to kill the priests , jezebel require the nobles to stone naboth ; and ahaz , uriah to alter gods altar ; they may well be taxed as deeply engaged in those sins . praecedendo , by not only conniving , but commanding , nor commanding only , but practising themselves the violation of this bound , being like those kings of the earth , mentioned psal. . . who said , let us break their bonds asunder , and cast away their cords far from us . it is the unhappy priviledge of greatnes , to warrant by example , as wel others as its own sins ; whilst the unadvised vulgar take up crimes on trust , and perish by credit . actions of rulers are rules for the peoples actions ; their both good , and ill patterns , become usefull , and hurtfull to those that are under them . if the mountains overflow with waters , the vallies are the better ; and if the head be full of ill humours , the whole body fares the worse . vita principis censura , princes lives are more read then their laws , and their exmple passeth as currant as their coyn : mobile mutatur semper cum principe vulgus . if nero like musique , all rome will turn fidlers : the egyptians , if their kings be lame or blind , will maym themselves . let but a pharisee say , christ ought to dye , the vulgar dare blaspheme themselves to hell . if a peasant meet luxury in a scarlet robe , he dares be such , having so fair a cloak for it : the common people are like tempered wax , easily receiving impressions from the seals of great mens vices . the truth is , a wicked magistrate , tantis obest quanti● praeest , injurieth as many as hee governs : qui in conspectu populi malè vivit , quantum in se est omnes se videntes interficit ; by licentious living ; he proves oftimes a murtherer , little better then a basilisk , only this kils by seeing others , hee by being seen of others . no wonder then the prophet puts the peoples sin on the princes account , chiefly complaining of them , that they were like those that remove the bound . to end this part of the accusation , in some neerer application . oh that there were not too just cause of removing the bound from judah to england ! shall wee reflect upon the former times ? might wee not then have beheld in the commonwealth the bound of legall rule too much changed into arbitrary government ; in the church , the bound of orthodox protestant religion grosly invaded and innovated ? what else meant the open allowance of sabbath prophanation , the manifest connivance at preaching , nay printing arminian , yea popish doctrines ? the illegall introductions of superstitious ceremonies , tables removed , crucifixes erected , adoration towards altars practised ? so truly was it then said ( by a reverend divine now with god ) england was a little place , but a great deal of rome in it . and oh that principes judah , i. e. ecclesiae , ( so ribera allegorizeth the text ) the then governours of our church , had not through their allowance and practice been the fautors , yea , authors of these abuses . but to come neerer to these days : is not the bound still removed in families , city , countrey , yea , the whole kingdom ? the well compacted hedge of our laws is trodden down ; so true is that maxime , inter arma silent leges , the voyce of law cannot be heard for the noyse of drums . the well-wrought vestment of our religion rent ( with jeroboams garment ) into twelve , nay , indeed into a hundred peeces , by schismaticall sectaries . there were some amongst the philosophers of old , qui jactabant solaecismos suos esse laudes & gemmas philosophiae ▪ who accounted their rude barbarismes as the ornaments of philosophy . such are our new opinionists , who present their vain fancies as the exquisite patterns of gods minde . how are our pulpits made stages , for every man to act his humour in ; and our presses market-places , for men to vent their false wares and counterfeit doctrines ? they all pretend to set the right bound , build the lords house ; but it is babel , not bethel , if wee may guesse by the division of their languages ; and whilst they pretend to depart from a mysticall babylon , they run into a literall one , i mean that of confusion : our women are not more sick for new fashions , then both men and women are for new opinions . shall i sigh out my sad thoughts in that patheticall complaint of vincentius lyrenensis ? the raging madnesse of many mens minds , impiety of their blinded eyes , and itching humour after errours , cannot be sufficiently wondred at whilst not content with those beams of divine truth that have shone among us , they daily seek for new lights ; yea , too many make it their only study how to adde , or change , or detract somwhat from our religion . and now , ô yee sons of the highest , be pleased to call your selves to an account ; remember you are not now in the house of lords , but in the house of the lord ; not sitting to judge others at your bar , but to judge your selves at gods bar. as for mee , i censure you not ▪ lest i be found amongst judes filthy dreamers , who despise dominion and speak evill of dignities . only suffer a word of seasonable exhortation , that ye would be pleased to set the bound , to your selves and your own families : reprehension is most naturall , when it begins with modesty at the inferiours ; reformation is most effectuall , when it begins with majesty at the superiours . pareto legi , quisquis legem s●nxeris : nothing more unjust , than that they who place bounds to others , should exempt themselves . it was a good answer solon gave , when asked how a commonwealth might be safe , si populus magistratui obediat , magistra●us autem legibus ; when the people are regulated by the magistrate , and the magistrate by the law , you must not think loosnesse and licentiousnesse to be the proper fruits of greatnesse , to swallow up your sins in your wide titles , as though authority did consist in nothing but giving men liberty to do what they list . it was a prophane speech of him in the tragedian , that holinesse , piety , and fidelity , are for private men , not princes : nay , rather , in maxima fortuna minima licentia , the higher you are advanced , the more you are obliged ; they had need goe more warily who ride upon the ridge of a hill , than those that travell on foot below . that which is a mote in other mens , is a beam in your eyes . quò grandius nomen , eò grandius scandalum ; i , and eò gravius peccatum . the eminency of your honour aggravates others offences against you , and yours against god . as he said of ill christians , so may we say of bad great ones : ideo deteriores estis , quia meliores esse debetis ; they are by so much the worse , by how much they ought to be better : and the day is comming , when every licentious nobleman shall cry out ( as leo the eleventh said to his confessor , quam melius fuisset mihi si mon●st●rii quam coeli claves tenuissem ? how much better had it been for me to have climbed the ropes , then sate at the stern ? to have been confined to a cottage , then inherited a palace ? o then , though you are exalted above others , be not carried beyond your selves : consult not what may stand with the might of your greatnesse , but the authority of your place . say to your selves , o ye princes of the earth , with nehemiah , shall such an o●e as i flie ? shall i whom god hath honoured so much , dishonour him by oaths so greatly ? who am placed in an higher sphere then others be either a dim , or a wandring star ? shall i who am most obliged to god by the bonds of wealth and power , exceed the bounds of truth and justice ? whom he hath made a ruler of the people , not rule my self and my own family ? god forbid . to the land and kingdome . improve your place and power ( my honoured lords ) that the bound of law between people and people may be mayntained , without which a common-wealth is but a wilde forrest , wherein like beasts one devoures another ; or a pond , wherein the greater fish swallow up the lesse ; non populus , sed turba , not a building , but a heap of stones . endevour ( what lyeth in you ) that the limits between king and people may be preserved , so as neither royall majesty may invade the subjects liberty , nor the subjects liberty intrench too far on royall majesty . but i will not looke into whirl-pooles of state , lest my head turn giddy : religion is my errand , that the bound thereof may be upheld against errour and prophanesse ; those pyramides which are reared up in the ayre , and support nothing , are the vain testimonies of frivolous mens inventions , but pillars are raysed up to uphold somthing . o! remember you are the pillars of the earth , and religion can neyther be despised without danger , nor supported without reward . right honourable , our mother the church is now in sore travell , you are her midwives , the childe shee brings forth will be eyther ichabod or a benoni , if it prove the ichabod of a toleration , the glory will depart from her ; but if the benoni of reformation , the father god will call it benjamin , the son of his right hand . me thinks ( most noble patriots ) i see religion like a forlorn damosell in ragged attyre , with her disheveled haire , weeping eyes , and bleeding wounds lye prostrate at your feet ; crying out like that woman of tekoah , help o ye nobles to rescue me from those wolves and foxes , hereticks and schismaticks that prey upon me ; oh be pleased to take her by the hand , rayse her up ; set her upon her legs : place a guard about her , and drive away her enemies . farre be it from christian rulers , so much as to think what tiberius said deorum injurias diis curae esse , let god revenge his own injuries ; nay , rather doe you vindicate his truth , that hee may your honour . remember i beseech you , you are within the bounds of a covenant ; for what ? a toleration ? no , an extirpation of all heresies , schismes , and prophanenesse ; what if while the arke was floating on the waters of strife , you were inforced to entertain wolves and lambs together , yet now that the waters are abated , and the arke in some measure setled , send out the wolves from the fold ; oh let your thankfulnesse to god for preserving the bounds of your possessions appeare , by your mayntaining the bound of his worship , suffer not your selves i beseech you by selfe-respects and politicke principles to be withdrawne from this worke ▪ hee that pieceth gods providence with carnall policy , is like a greedy gamester who having got all his game in his owne hand , steals a needlesse card to assure himself of winning , and thereby looseth all . it is an hard question , whether is greater idolatry to preferre reasons of state , before principles of piety , or to worship a golden calfe . oh let policy ever give place to piety , your private aff●ctions be swallowed up in the common cause , as small rivers lose their name in the ocean . that practice of pompey deserveth your observation and imitation , who when his souldiers would needs leave the campe , threw himself down at the narrow passage , and bid them goe , but they should first trample upon their generall . oh let hereticks tread down your honours , ere you permit them to throw down the bound of gods worship ; it was the ennobling epitaph of rodolphus , ecclesiae cecidit ; may it be your glory in after ages that you were the guard of good laws , champions of justice , promoters of peace , and patrons of religion . for the better preserving of this bound be pleased to incourage and enlarge the disciplinary power of the church ; let not her shepherds want sufficient means to keep out the ravening wolves , and fetch in the straying sheep . effectually prohibit all from entring into the work of the ministery but by the doore of ordination ; let not those be admitted to sit in moses chair , who have not first sate at gamaliels feet ; it is true , the vineyard of the lord wants labourers ; but i hope now the kingdome is in some measure established , those may be re-admitted , whom not scandall , but conscience made uncapable for a time , may it never be the reproach of this once famous church of england , that her priests were made the lowest of the people , and the lowest of the people made her priests ▪ that her grave and learned preachers were forced to turn mechanicks , and simple ignorant mechanicks entertained to be her preachers . speedily appoint due penalties for those who wilfully remove the bound , such as are odious blasphemers , obstinate hereticks , and notoriously prophane persons . my lords , you have done worthily in appoynting a solemn fast for that invasion which heresies have made of late upon the bound of our religion , but as you take with you words , so take to you the sword , and thinke god sayth to you as he did to joshua , wherefore lie you on your faces ? up and be doing , take away the accursed ●●●ours from among you ? that of saint bernard is true , if taken cum gr●no s●lis , fides suadenda , non imponenda , faith is wrought by perswasions , not compulsions ; yet that of tertullian is as true , durities vincenda non suadenda , obstinacie must be forc'd , not wooed ; it was a divine speech of seneca , violatarum religionum apud diversas gentes diversa statuitur peena ●pud●mines aliqua , divers nations appoint various punishments , all some , for those that violate religion , tell me , i beseech you , it is a capitall crime to speake treason against the three estates of the land , and shall it deserve lesse to belch out blasphemy against any of the three persons in the sacrd trinity ? is it an offence worthy of punishment to abuse the sonne of a king , and is it lesse to dishonour the sonne of god ? shall they who rob your houses be condemned , and those that rob your souls escape ? are those women which adulterate their husbands b●ds justly sentenced , and shall those that adulterate gods sacred word goe free ? fidem ●e servare deo levius quàm homini ? is it a more veniall offence to breake faith with god then man ? i speake not this to cast a blemish upon your honours ; i have learned so much state-divinity as to distinguish between voluntas sign● & beneplaceti , i well know the by●s'd boul may fe●ch a compasse to touch the jack ; dumb zach●●y begat him who was the voyce of a cryer , neither doubt i but your former silence will end in a loud decrying of all hetrodox opinions and practises ; my onely ayme is to add spurres to your pious intentions , that they may appeare by such peremptory actions , as the people may not deceive themselves with vain hopes of unsufferable liberties . it is to be supposed that as in the sweating sicknesse in england , the sick persons , when beaten on the face with sprigs of rosemary by their friends ▪ would cry out , oh you kill me you kill me , whereas indeed they had killed them in not doing it , for had they slept , they had dyed ; so those whom the sicknesse of errour hath surprised , being suppressed , will exclaime and say , oh you persecute them , you persecute them ; whereas indeed it is not a persecution that lets out the life bloud , but a prosecution that lets out the corrupt bloud : oh happy violence which puls men out of the fire , blessed bonds that tye men to christ , comfortable fetters which keep our feet in the way of peace : let this work be wisely , faithfully speedily accomplished , so shall the power of religion be advanced , the name of god honoured , the mouthes of your enemies stopped , the feet of wanderers reduced , the hearts of the gospels friends comforted , and gods ministers have no cause to complaine of england's as here the prophet did of judahs princes ; they were like them that remove the bound ; and thus i have given a dispatch to this first branch of the charge , referring to the princes of judah , to which as being most sutable to the auditory , i have allowed an elder brothers portion of time ; i hasten now to a brief discussion of the second branch relating to the people of ephraim in the close of the eleventh verse , because he willingly walked after the commandement . the last word of this clause is variously rendered ; the read it as if it were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vanity ; the vulgar latine as if it were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that signifieth filthinesse ; by both expressions they understand idols , which the scripture thinks worthy of no better names ; in regard of the former they are somtimes called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} not gods , without strength , or rather from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} nothing , of no value ; so true is that of saint paul , an idoll is nothing in the world ▪ in regard of the latter they are elswhere styled {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a stercus , dunghill-gods sending up an unsavoury smell in the nostrils of the true jehovah ; and thus the phrase is most usuall in scripture of walking af●er idols , and going after vani●y , in both which constructions the accusation seems to be framed against the kings as well people of israel who were guilty of grosse idolatries . the most received reading is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} praecepit according to our translation , the commandement , and so the fault was the peoples in walking after it ; what this commandement was , you may read kings . . the occasion and matter of it was this . jeroboam being the head of ten rebellious tribes , thinks it not safe that they should go up to heirusalem to worship ; his suspitious heart , no doubt , told him that religion is a friend to loyalty , and if they still continued to worship the true god , they would ere long have embraced their right king ; what then ? rebellion against the king must be attended with defection from god ; his politick braine findes out two neerer , and as he pretends , fitter places within their own territories dan and bethel ; there hee sets up golden calves for them ; makes woden priests ; and invites the people to worship them ; thus one sin draws on a greater ; cains anger is seconded with murder ; ahabs covetousnesse attended with cruelty ; peters deniall backt with an oath ; and jeroboams rebellion with idolatry . but in what posture is the people ? the text tels you , they willingly walke after his command ; in the originall there are two verbs , the former whereof hath a double signification and translation . coepit , so the vulgar , he began to walk , the old way of worship was superannu●ted , and like an old almanack grown out of date ; a new invention is but presented , and the giddy people begin to walk after it ; nor is it any wonder that ivit followeth coepit ; having began , they walk on ; sin is of a pleasing nature ; especially idolatry ; the prophet cals idols delectable things ; which being once imbraced are not easily rejected . — facilis discensus — sed revocare gradum — it is a swimming down the stream ; to stop is difficult ; it is good advice therefore , principiis obsta crush sin in the egg , and dash these babylonish infants against the stones . voluit , lubens ivit , the most generall and sutable reading ; he willingly walkt . [ jeroboam coyns religiō in the mint of his own brain , sets the stamp of a command upon it , and it passeth with the people for currant , he 〈◊〉 golden calves , & the brutish vulgar like an herd of beasts run lowing after them . it is no marvell , where voluit goes before , that ivit comes after ; that ephraim being willing , resolves to walke : the hebrews say that this verb is never without another at his heels ; sure i am , the will ne●ver wants attendance , what the primum mobile is in the heavens , that the wall is in the soul , carrying all the faculties about with its own motion : the brain is a projector , the eye an intelligencer the tongue an orator , the hand a factor , and the foot a lacquey to the wil : where she commands , the head plots , the mouth talks , the eye looks , the hands worke , and the feet walke . he willingly walked . ] the prophet layes the accusation against ephraim in this form , for these two reasons : . ut omnem excusationem tolleret , that their fig-leaves of excuse might be pluckt off . it is not seldome seen that people devolve their faults upon the princes , subjects on their kings : so it is likely did this people upon jeroboam ▪ and say , it was his invention to erect the calves , his prescription 〈◊〉 required us to worship . but here the prophet silenceth all such objections : true , he commanded ; but you soon imbraced ▪ hee set them up but you fell down before them . it would not serve eue's turn , that the serpent seduced her ; nor adam's , that eve beguiled him , since the true cause in both , was the abuse of their own free-will : nor doth it excuse ephraim , that jeroboam chalked out the way , since he willingly walked in it . ut duplicatam culpam ostenderet , that they might appear beyond measure sinfull : though it be not essentially the nature of sin , yet circumstantially it is an high aggravation of sinne , when it is committed wilfully ; the more sin pleaseth us , the more it displeaseth god , & eò plus malitiae quò plus complacentia , the more complacency we take in , the more maliciousnesse goeth along with any wicked action . the word here used notes a fulnesse of consent to , and acquiescencie in any object , their obedience was not a mixt act of the will , partly forced through feare ; here was no fiery furnace , nor roaring lyons prepared to awe them , only a bare command , with a plausible pretence of ease , it is too much for you to go up to hierusalem ; and the people are well pleased with it , rest satisfied in it . learned zanchius upon the text makes three degrees of voluntary sins . the lowest , is when the will consents , but drawn with fear , and forced with apparent dangers . the next , when the will consents freely and fully , upon a meer command from another . the highest , when the will plenarily consents to what corrupt judgement dictates onely upon diabolicall instigation . the former of these excuseth in part , but not wholly ; the latter greatly aggravate . the first was peters case , whom carnall feare induced to deny his master . the second was ephraims sin , to whom no sooner doth jeroboam hold out his finger , but he puts forth his feet to follow idols . the last was the crime of jeroboam himself , who through the devils perswasion invented and pursued idolatrous worship . the king goeth before , and the people are not far behind ; hee was the father , and they are nurse of a monstrous childe , which afterwards proved the death of both : the principall blame was his , yet they are not at all excusable , since it was not compulsio , but electio ; they chose to imbrace the kings command before gods , and willingly walked after it . oh see how forward the vulgar are to receive injunctions from their rulers ! the most ( as themistius sayth ) purp●●ram pro deo colunt ; are like the indians , that worship a rag of red cloth : every man will be of the kings religion : if governours prove nursing fathers to piety , the people will love the child for the nurses sake ; and if they countenance a new worship , these care not to sin by subscription , and damn themselves with authority ; thou art my king o god , sayth david , thou art our god o king , is the voice , at least the thought of the multitude . oh what heed ought magistrates to take of what they establish as a law , since as the first sheet is composed , all the rest are speedily imprinted . finally , in ephraims sin let us see our duty , in matters of religion , no further to walke after rulers command , then they walke after gods ; fatherly power is the rice of all authority ; and yet our saviour tels us , he that loves father or mother more then him , is not worthy of him ; mat. . . amandus generator , sed praep●nendus creator , parents must be honoured , but god preferred ; it is as true in regard of regall as paternall authority ; the instances of the hebrew midwives , the three worthies , and daniel are obvious to all . that epithete that was given to bacon of doctor resolu●us , in this case well becomes every christian ; it was a just resolve of luther in divine matters , cedo nulli , a remarkable speech of socrates though an heathen {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} not much unlike that of the apostle . we ought to obey god rather then men , it is true , when the supream authority injoyns what god inhibits , we must patiently undergoe the punishment inflicted . but not willingly walke after the commandement prescribed ; it was a pious speech of king henry the eighth to sir thomas more when he made him chancellor , looke first at god , then at me . saint austins rule is excellent , contemne potestatem timendo potestatem ; the supreme power hath a superiour in heaven : for feare of this we must contemne that , that may threaten the prison , but this hell . in a word , neither must princes leave the people to their own will , nor the people conforme themselves to the princes will , but both to gods will in matters of religion , lest other ways both prince and people be consumed : which leads me to a compendious discourse of the second generall , to wit , the severity of the doom , and that as it is pronounced severally . against the princes of judah , in the end of the tenth verse , i will poure out my wrath upon them like water . an heavie burden ▪ ( so the prophets use to call threatnings ) non tam verba quam tonitrua , to use st. hieroms expression ; every word breaths terrour into the bosome of degenerate princes : whether you look , upon the matter or thing threatned ; it is wrath , here taken for revenge , inflicted by an incensed god ; and this not an ordinary , but the utmost degree of anger : the hebrew word notes a boundlesse wrath , quae nullis repagulis possit contineri , which knows no limits but those of his own mercies . the seventy translate it by a word as emphaticall , being a military expression , noting that violence which the souldier useth aga●nst a city scaling the w●lls , batt●ring the forts , till he hath force● a passage . divine wrath is not lessened , but augmented by opposition : so true is that of the psalmist , who may stand in thy sight when thou art angry ? psal. . . it is not unworthy your observation , the fit analogie between the sinne and the punishment ; no bounds could keepe them from sinning , and therefore gods wrath knows no bound in punishing ; as their transgression was above measure , so gods judgment is without measure . it is st. chrysostoms note concerning that fiery s●owre ▪ which god rained upon sodome : that as the sodomites inverted the course of nature , by seeking woman in man ; so god changed the order , by showring down fire in stead of water . thus doth the almighties justice ever proportion the smart to the fault : so that here we may at once behold the greatnesse of the sin , in the punishment ; and the fitnesse of the punishment , to the sin ; boundlesse wrath , for boundlesse transgressours . or secondly , on the manner of executing this wrath : i will poure ▪ ] gods administrations of judgements are various , his justice walks not always in the same path , nor with equall pace . god hath vials and vessels of wrath ; out of them hee drops , out of these hee poures : dropping is a gentle successive act ; such is gods anger to his children when they offend him : pouring is a violent and simultaneous act ; such is gods wrath against the wicked . nay more ; i will poure it like water . ] i finde one upon the text , taking the metaphor in way of mitigation : aqua est mundare sordes ; as though the wrath here spoken of , were not so much revenging , as correcting ; to clense their sinnes , not drown their souls . in which regard he propos●th this as a pattern to all magistrates , whose ayme in punishing offenders should be , ut el●●nt , non obruant , to purge them from their faults , not overwhelme them in ruine . a conceit witty indeed , but not we●ghty . i rath●r take it by way of aggravation ▪ further expressing the fiercenesse of his anger . effusio aquae symbolum abuntiae ; it is usuall in scripture to represent abundance by water : when christ , in the person of david , would expresse the extremity of his sorrows , hee sayth , i am poured out like water : when the church would aggravate the cruelty of her enemies , she sayth , they shed the saints bloud like water round about ierusalem . and here when god would delineate the severity of his wrath , he threatens to poure it out like water : conceive the allusion to the pouring out of a vessell ; that of water , is the most absolute ; wine poured out leaves a scent , milk a colour ▪ honey a taste ; but water , nor scent , nor colour , nor taste behinde it . conceive the allusion to the floud , when the windows of heaven were opened , the fountains of the great deep broken up , and the whole face of the earth cover●d with waters ? what more violent ? in which neyther men nor beasts ( but those in the ark ) escaped , a further demonstration of gods inevitable and irresistable wrath : you have somtimes seen a little river stopt for a time by a dam , never ceasing till it hath got the mastery , and then setting ( as it were ) its foot upon the dams neck , leaps into the channell , not without some noyse of triumph : a petty embleme of gods conquering anger , which over-runs all ob●●acles . imagine rather you saw , in that universall deluge , the amazed people climbing to the tops of houses , scrambling up the height of mountains , and yet there overtaken by the churlish waters , and swallowed in the depth . a fit description of gods over-topping wrath poured out on the highest mountains , as well as the lowest vallies ; the greatest , as well as meanest offenders . to apply this : oh let licentious princes tremble at this indignation ; they would have others feare their wrath ; let them stand in awe of gods , though they care not for the wrath of any man , yet let them tremble at gods anger . oh you that have danaes golden showers poured into your bosomes , think on gods wrath ready to be poured upon your heads ; you whose houses are paved with pearls and walled with diamonds ; remember you have no roof , but are open to heavens thunder . artemon's servants in plutarch , when he went out , carried a canopy over his head , lest the heavens should fall upon him ; fond man , no canopy can keep the showers of heavens wrath from falling on us ; it is the custom of greatnesse to challenge to its selfe impunity ; when as indeed potentes potenter mighty sinners shall be mightily punished ; let then the councell of the psalmist be acceptable to all kings and judges of the earth ; kisse the son with a kisse of affection and subjection ; hang at his lips for the rule of your life , depend upon his word for your religion ; exalt his scepter above your own honours least he be angry and yee perish from the right way ; when his wrath is kindled , yea but a little , blessed are all they that put their trust in him . let both princes and people endeavour by all good means to prevent the effusion of this wrath ; to this end : learn we to poure out our tears like water . tears of compassion like strong water ; to comfort the hearts of our distressed brethren ; our shewing mercie to other , will mittigate gods fury to us . tears of devotion like sweet water in the nostrils of god , when we seeke him weeping , we shall finde him smiling . above all tears of contrition like clean water , to wash away those sins which have provoked his anger ; that wrath which is here sayd to be poured out like water , is elswhere said to be poured out like fire and no way to quench it ; but by these tears artificers use to fasten marble statues upon their bases with molten lead , no better way to fasten our kingdome , and cities , families , upon a sure foundation , then by melting ourselves into tears of repentance . poure out our hearts like water in humble supplications at the throne of grace , both for pardon of sinne and preventing of judgement , fervent prayer keeps the keys of heaven : both opening the treasury of love , and looking up the armory of wrath ; let us then not only say a prayer , but poure out a prayer ; and not only our words , but our hearts before god , that hee may not poure out his anger on us . saepe jovem vidi cum jam sua fulmina vellet mittere thured to sustinuisse manum . when we open our mouthes in humility , god withholds his hand of severity ; it was the way prescribed the men of athens by the oracle for the removing of a great plague duplare aram to double their sacrifices on the altar , indeed oratio posita est per quamira dei suspenditur , venia procuratur , poena refugitur , & praemiorum largitas impetratur , devout prayers are the best means of appea●ing anger , procuring pardon , avoyding punishments , and obteining mercie at the hands of the almighty . poure out our sins like water , to wit , speedily , as in pouring , the drops of water run one upon another . willingly , as in pouring , the water runs out without any opposition . universally , as in pouring , the water ceaseth not till all be out . finally , as the water that is poured on the earth can never be gathered up again , thus let us poure out all our sins , and god will not poure out all his wrath , let us speedily cast away the filth of our transgressions , and he will soon stop the current of his indignation ; let us chearfully reforme , and he will not willingly afflict ; let us having cast away our sinnes never more return to them : and then though his anger have been poured out on us , he will graciously return to us . in a word , repent we of our provocations , and he will repent of this commination , to poure out his wrath like water . i have done with that ; and hasten to the second part of the doom , uttered against the people of ephraim . ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement . the seventy read the words actively , understanding it of jeroboams wars with rehoboam , in which he oppressed him . idolatry and cruelty are two usuall companions ; it is no wonder that they who offer injury to god use violence to man : ieroboam walks after idols ▪ and therefore oppresseth his neighbour king . the hebrew participles are of the passive voyce , and so better rendred , ephraim is opprest , &c. according to which version they admit of a three-fold reference ; to their domestick governours , forraign enemies , and god himselfe . ephraim was oppressed by his governours , oppresserunt ●um reges , & deceperunt ; so aben ezra : their kings by violence oppressed , and fraud deceived them . it is the prophet micahs complaint of the head● of the house of iacob , and the princes of the house of israel , that they abhor judgement , and pervert all equity ▪ chap. . . in this sense the chaldee reads the whole verse : inique premuntur vir● ephraim , & apprimuntur judiciis suis , qui●●e verterunt judices eorum , ut errarent post mammona iniquitatis : their heads judging for hire , injured the people , being more pleased with receiving rewards , then doing right . it is the complaint of israel , in the verse of the former chapter , that her rulers with shame doe love , [ give ye ▪ ] no marvell if bribes obstruct the course of justice , and covetousnesse prove the mother of oppression . a sore judgement upon any people , when their princes are not shepherds , but wolves ; rulers , but ruiners ; bucklers , but butchers of the people ; when they who should support , supplant ; underprop , undermine ; dresse destroy the vines of the commonwealth . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , injustice is the root of all mischiefs . the word which we translate broken , notes a crime peculiar to inferior officers , who oft-times affright the people with the magistrates power , that they may extort money from them for their own profit . the other word which we read oppressed , notes a fault in superior judges : the signification of it is large referring both to words , and actions ; to open , and secret enterprises , either for withholding from others what is due to them , or withdrawing what they duly possesse : such is the too usuall course of men in autho●i●y , to ma●e the inferiour sl●ves to their covetous and malicious wils ; sometimes by stout words and violent practises , somtimes by soft speeches and fraudulent pretences , taking from those under them what they have ; or detaining what they ought to have . all which the sinnes of a people oft times bring upon them . secundum merita subdi●orum disponuntur acta regentum , saith gregory . extorting magistrates are used as whips to scourge the wickednesse of the multitude : and as , for the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof , so those may become injurious and destructive to the land . how much england hath groaned under the burdens of oppressions by the violence of former courts , and still sighs under the irregular practises of present committees , your honours cannot be ignorant : the number of our samuels is very small that can say to the people ▪ behold , here i am , witnesse against me before the lord and before the parliament , whose oxe have i taken , or whose ●ss● have i taken , or whom have i defrauded , whom have i opprest or of whose hand have i received any bribe to blinde mine eyes therewith ? however , i could wish they would take up the last clause , and say , i will restore . i am affraid it hath been cause enough to bring many sheepe to the slaughter , because they were fat : yea ▪ some amongst us have been no better then bushes or brambles to teare off the fleece of innocent sheep , who have come to them for shelter ; that complaint o● the prophet micah being too plainly verified , the best of them is a briar , and the most upright sharper then a thorn-hedge , chap. . . but let such oppres●ors know , that as for the present they have been instruments , so one day they shall be subjects of gods wrath . the same word in hebrew signifies both a wedge of gold , and a tongue ; and some say that the wedge of gold that achan stole , had the shape of a tongue . sure i am , bags of gold unjustly gotten c●y loud in gods ears against those that hoard them up . as for you , my noble lords , let your ears be open to the cries of the oppressed , let your eyes be open to take notice of these oppressors : remember you are the shield of the earth , to protect the people from injury ; and let alfonsus his emblem be yours , a pelican feeding her young with her own bloud , with this motto , pro rege & grege . i say no more , but know , the acceptable fast to god , is to loose the bands of wickednesse , to undoe the heavie burthens , and to let the oppressed goe free , and that you breake every yoke . others refer this oppression to a forreign enemy , to wit the assyrians , by whom they were carryed captive , used as slaves , & omne judicii levamentum periit , and all the doors of justice were shut upon them . this though it came not upon the israelites till afterwards , is ( according to the propheticall manner ) set down in the present tense , to note the certainty of the accomplishment . destruction is inseparably linked to corruption . god is as true in his threatnings , as he is faithfull in his promises . christ sayth of the unbeleever , that he is condemned already , to wit in divine decree , and the certainty of the execution : and here the prophet sayth , that ephraim is opprest ; so surely should it come to passe , as if it had then been inflicted . captivity is the usuall wages of idolatry : it was so threatned by moses , that if israel would not serve the lord in abundance , they should serve their enemies in cold , hunger , and nakednesse . it was afterwards frequently verified upon them in the time of the judges ; we find god selling them into the hands of spoilers , even their enemies round about , because they forsooke him to follow idols . the midianites oppressed & broke them seven yeers ; the philistines and ammonites vexed them yeers , and after that they were delivered into the hands of the philistines yeers : & in the time of their kings , when ephraim walked after idols , god often sent the assyrians to ride over them . the word oppressed according to the chaldee , is read praedae expositus , ephraim became a prey ; not only their goods , but themselves were spoiled by the enemy . the vulgar read it , calumniam patiens : indeed what greater disgrace , then that ephraim , gods own people , should be opprest by heathen , that were worse & viler then themselves ? it is the heighth of reproach a father casts on his childe , when he commands his slave to beat him . of all outward judgements this is the sorest , to have strangers rule over us , as being made up of shame and cruelty . if once the heathen come into gods inheritance , no wonder the church complaineth , her blood is shed round about jerusalem , and she becomes a reproach to her neighbours , a shame and derision to all round about her . it was not without just cause that david being put to his choise by god , resolveth rather to fall into the hands of god then man . strange invaders can never finde in their hearts to say that to themselves , which god did to his destroying angel , it is enough , put up thy sword : yea , even their tender mercies are cruell ; the greatest kindnesse they shew , is but a lesser kinde of cruelty . to close up this : what singular cause have we then to magnifie the goodnesse of our god , who in the midst of our home insurrections preserved us from eternall invasions ! that when we were unnaturally tearing each other in peeces , a third party came not to devoure us both , what was it but his mercie ? how should we say in davids words ▪ blessed be the lord that gave us not as a prey to the teeth of other nations ! what a prevailing motive ought this to be against all sin , especially idolatry ? when the people of israel had made them gods to goe before them , the text sayth , they were naked among their enemies ; wanting the protection of the almighty , which is the only garment of defence to any people . when phocas had built a strong wall in his palace , hee heard in the night a voice thus saying , o king , though thou build as high as the clouds , the city will easily be taken , for the sin in the city will marre all . oh let us not flatter our selves in our strong castles , mighty bulwarks , potent navy ! idolatry and prophanesse will weaken all . barbarus has seges — sin wil pluck up our hedges , lay waste our fields for strangers , like ravenous beasts , to come and devoure all . the ruined monuments , battered walls of many depopulated cities , seem to tell the passengers , hic fuit hostilitas , here hath been an oppressing enemy ; and do they not withall tell , hic fuit iniquitas , here hath been ruining iniquity . and while our idolatries ( though not so much corporall as spirituall , in worshipping not images , but imaginations ) cry loud in gods eares what can we expect but that god should lift up an ensigne to the nations from far , and hisse unto them from the end of the earth , that they may come with speed to destroy us ? let us therefo●e by timely repentance break off our sins , that we be not broken in judgment ; let us suppresse our prophanations , that no enemy may oppresse our nation ; and let it be our earnest petition to the almighty , that however he deal with us , hee would not sell us into the hands of barbarous turks , or idolatrous papists ; that he would be a wall of fire round about our land , a wall to defend us ; and a fire to consume those that shall approach to hurt us . in a word , let us all on our bended knees , with weeping eyes , lift up our voices and cry ▪ from further civill dissentions at home , and cruell invasion of enemies abroad , ( if it be thy blessed will ) good lord deliver us . some referre it to god himself , who by the unjust and tyrannicall judgements of men , is oft times pleased to execute his own justice . but what , may some say , is oppression no sin ? or can the p●re god be the author of sin ? i answer : as god is holy , and therefore cannot authorize sin ; so he is wise , and therefore hath a hand in sin ; a hand not only in permitting sin to be acte● , but ordering it for his own most sacred purposes , yea ●ssisting to the action , but not the evill and maligni●y of it . thus did god not only suffer the assyrians to oppresse ephraim , but gave them that strength that did overcome , appointed the time how long , and the measure how great their oppression should be , making all to serve for his own ends , and the manifestation of the glory of his justice in correcting a rebellious people . besides , this oppression , though in regard of the enemies it was a sin , and so to be imputed to their malice , yet in regard of ephraim it was a punishment , and so to be ascribed to gods justice . observe the story of job : you finde god , satan and wicked men concurring in his oppression ; res una quam fecerunt , causa non una ob quam fecerunt ; they all concurred in one action , the taking away jobs goods , yet upon a different ground . the devill instigates the sabeans , out of malice ; they surprised his possessions , out of covetousnesse ; god permitted and ordered it in wisdom and justice ; so that neither did the enemies partake of gods righteousnesse ; nor he of their cruelty . the case is a like here : ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement : the judgement of his princes , through their covetous desires ; of his enemies , through their inveterate hatred ; and of god , through his just severity . indeed what more just , then that god should make princes as devils to that people , who set up their princes as high as god ; that they who left him to serve strange gods , should be forced to serve strangers ; and whilst they made a prey of gods honour by their idolatry , god should give them as a prey to their enemies malignity ? oh let us remember this in all oppressions wee meet with , that they fall not upon us without divine providence . what eliphaz sayth of affliction in generall , is true of oppression in particular ; it comes not forth of the dust , neyther doth it spring out of the ground . joseph , though sold by his envious brethren into egypt , sayth , god hath sent me hither . david being railed upon by shimei , said , god had bid him curse . job being robbed by the sabeans , said , god hath taken away : and concerning the israelites bondage under the egyptians , the psalmist sayth , he turned their heart to hate his people , and deal sub●●lly with his servants . let us not therefore with the foolish dog bark at the stone , but rather look at the hand , acknowledging god in all . as for oppressing adversaries ( whether domestick or forreigne ) let them not account themselves safe , because they execute gods judgement ; since though they act his secret will , they contradict his revealed will , the only rule of our actions : the truth is , they perform his will against their will , their ayme being to fulfill their own lusts , not his pleasure . so god himself sayth of the assyrian , he meaneth not so , neither doth his heart thinke and therefore resolveth after hee hath performed his whole work upon mount sion and jerusalem , to punish the fruits of the stout heart of the king of assyria , and the glory of his high looks . the just reward of unjust oppressours . finally , whatever injuries are brought upon us by man , let us acknowledge them as deserved punishment of our sin , in regard of god . though we have given no cause to the one , and so are innocent , yet we have given just cause to the other , and so are nocent ; and therefore as the athenians , when an oxe was killed for sacrifice , condemned the sword , but acquitted the priest ; so let us , whilest we accuse the cruelty of our enemies who are the instruments , excuse the severity of god who is the efficient of all those evils ( as they are punishments ) which fall upon us ; ever saying with mauritius , justa , domine , judiciatua , thy judgements ( o lord ) are just and righteous altogether . and so i passe to the last , and fatall doom , which was denounced joyntly against both the kingdoms , in the th . verse , i will be unto ephraim as a moth , and unto the house of judah as rottennesse . the originall wants the verb , which is easily supplyed by interpreters , onely with this difference ( which is not materiall ) some render it i have been ; others , i will be : non quod deus tinea aut putredo sit , sed quod sustinentibu● poenas talis videatur , sayth hierome well : not that god is , but seemeth to be as a moth and worme in his punishment ; it is a good note of pareus , that it is not only sinam , but ero , i will suffer , but , i will be ; since god is not otiosus spectator , but operosies effector , not an idle spectator or bare permitter , but powerfull worker and wise appointer of those calamities which befall a people . the much vary in the translation of the words , mistaking and misplacing , and so read for moth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth a trouble ; and for rottennesse {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a prick : losing hereby the emphasis and energie of the prophets expressions which consists much in the resemblances here used , and therefore well rendred by our translators , i will be a moth , and as rottennesse . the words you see are metaphoricall , the one taken from garments which are subject to be eaten of moths ; the other from bones and trees , which are apt to be rotted by worms : both which doe ap●ly represent the qualities of divine punishments , and in them , many of his choise attributes ; such as are , misericordia in tarditate , the sweetnesse of gods mercy in the slownesse of his judgements ; the moth is long in consuming the garment , so is god before he destroy a people : citò struit , tardè destruit ; hee was longer in marring one city ; to wit jericho , then in making the whole world ; hee finished this in six daye● , he accomplished that not untill seven : when he went to receive the penitent prodigall , the text sayth he ran ; but when he went to passe the sentence on our rebelling parents , he is said to walke : god is swift in shewing mercie , but slow to wrath . oh let magistrates learn to write after this copy ! the romans axe which was carried before the consul , had a bundle of rods tyed about it , that while it was unloosing he might bethinke himselfe of the sentence past . the ancients fained the chariot of justice to be drawn by two women , una fractum ensem portabat , altera conto nitebatur ; whereof the one carried a broken sword that that cut but slowly , the other leaned upon a long pole which is moved but easily ; to intimate how slow judges ought to be in execution of judgement . potentia in efficacitate , the greatnesse of his power in the prevalencie of his punishments . trees and bones are of a stronger nature then garments , and yet the worme eats them out ; the stoutest spirit cannot stand before gods judgements ; he is wise in heart , and mighty in strength ; who hath hardened himselfe against him and prospered ? let magistrates remember this , to be not only tineae , but teredines , moths to the meaner , but worms to the greater sort . rulers laws should be like vulcans iron-net , that caught the gods ; censuring the highest as well as lowest . besides , a moth is a small creature , the least touch kils it , and yet it will destroy the garment : such is gods power , that by an host of lice , an army of frogs , a few poore worms , he can subdue the mightiest princes . sapientiain vari●tate , the fulnesse of his wisdome in the variety of his judgements . the moth consumes faster then the worme . ephraim sinned before judah , and therefore is sooner punisht : a good item for governours , vari●m delinquentibus poenam imponer● , pro criminum varie●ate , to make a just distinction between delinquents out of malice and conscience , principals and accessaries , ringleaders and followers . ira in occultatione , the harshnesse of his anger in the insensiblenesse of the misery . tinea damnum facit , s●nitum non facit ; the moth frets secretly , the worm eats insensibly , so doth god destroy a people ( nemin● observant● aut cavent● ) by those wayes and meanes which they least thinke of ; divine justice winks many times , when it doth not sleepe ; and then gives the greatest blow , when it makes the least noise . what they say of little sinnes , that being the lesse sensible , they are more dangerous ; is true of punishments : diseases which wee least feele , we have most cause to feare ; the silent arrow doth many times more mischiefe then the roaring cannon ; still rain sinks deeper then violent showres ; and those judgements which proceed slowly and secretly , strike both surely and sorely . justitia in aequitate , the clearnesse of his justice in the equity of his punishments . the moth is bred of the garments filth which is devoured by it , the worme of the tree which is rotted by it . the vulgar reade the last clause of the former verse , he walked after filthinesse ; and so very fitly follows the resemblance of a moth which is caused by filth , even the filth of that vestment which it ea●s . cognatum ▪ imò innatum , omni sceleri soeleris supplicium ; punishment is the daughter of sin ; and sometimes the daughter is so alike the mother , that you may read ab● sin in the punishment . god is unwilling to destroy — s●d nos per-nostrum non patim●r sce●u● ●racundia jovem p●n●●e ●ul●●ina . but wee compell him through our sinfulnesse to deale severely with us : so true is that of salvian , a deo p●nimur , sed ipsi facimus quod p●nimur ; he striketh , but we provoke ▪ he inflicts , we deserve ▪ j●lian gave for his arms in his escuchion , an eagle struck to the heart with a shaft feathered by his own wings ; and the motto , pr●pr●is configimur alis . it is our own iniquities that prove our ruine . the hedg-hogs ( say naturalists ) make that urine which disarms them of their prickles ; no man is hurt ( sayth the morali●t ) but by himself . great states , as buildings , ( say politicians ) are crushed with their own weight ; persons and kingdomes are destroyed ( sayth the divine ) through their own wickednesse ; so true is that of the prophet , thy destruction is of thy self , ô israel , hos. . . it is farther observed of the worme ▪ that it is br●d of juci● trees , especially when cut in the full moon . jud●hs outward felicity became the occasion of her misery . bees are many times drowned in honey , ships cast away on the soft sands , birds caught in twig-lime , and people strangled by prosperity ; too many of the worlds dar●●●g● ma● cry out as the sick woman in the fable , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} woe to us , the good things we enjoy wound ●s by their embraces : it was judahs prosperous state occasioned her forgetting god . agur seemeth , in this respect , to make riches worse then poverty , since this causeth to steale from man , but that to deny god . and no wonder , if her riches cause her to deny god , god be provoked to forsake her , and so all evill come upon her . by all which resemblances we may pick out the prophets meaning to be thus much : that ephraim being first in sinne , should be first in punishment ; yet judah being like to him in sinne ; should be like in suffering : that both judah and ephraim ▪ notwithstanding their prosperity , because of their iniquity , shall by little and little be secretly and certainly ruined . and now if any aske when , or how this was verified ? i answer , god was as a moth to ephraim partly by those many intestine conspiracies among themselves , and partly by the frequent invasions made upon them by the ass●rians , till at the last samaria was taken , and the israelites were carryed captive by salmanasser . god was rottennesse to the house of judah ; in the assaults made upon them partly by their brethren the israelites , chiefly by the kings of assyria and babylon , till at length jerusalem was besieged and taken , the temple burnt , and the jews captivated by nebuchadnezzar ; the stories of both you may peruse , kings , from the th . chap. to the end of the book . to draw to a conclusion — give me leave to change the scene , from ephraim to england ; and the two tribes of iudah , to these two adjoyning famous cities ; that we may see how farre this threatning is denounced against , and inflicted on us , that god is as a moth and rottennesse to us . it is not long ( beloved ) since god was a lyon , when two armies were roaring one against another in the noise of cannons , yee tearing each others bowels in pieces : oh how then did gods wrath poure put our blood like water ! but is there not yet a secret veine inwardly bleeding , and though the bloudy issue be stopt , are we not still sick of a consumption ? consider , i beseech you , is not god as a moth to many countries , by the quartering of an army , who , though friends yet are wasting ? is he not as a worme to the kingdome , in our renewed taxations , which though just , yet are impoverishing ? i mention not these , to blame the wisdome of that authority which sees cause still to continue both ; reasons of state are without my spheare ; only i am bold , as a divine , to tell you , that god is by them as a moth , secretly , and not altogether insensibly ▪ consuming us . again tell mee , is not god a moth to the state , in the generall decay of trade , especially that staple-trade of the kingdome , by which so many poore are mayntained , and merchants enriched ? is hee not as a worme to the church ▪ in the impayring and with-holding of our ministers mayntenance ? it is hard to say whether was the worse ▪ julians persecution , who substracted fuell ; or diocletians , who threw on water . the links of this chain are inseparable ; religion upholds the commonweal●h , ministers propagate religion , and mayntenance incourageth ministers , guesse then your selves , whether the substraction of this will not prove a worm to the land . once more , who is there that with weeping eyes beholds ou● bleeding divisions , in the body of the state ▪ by a too long and unhappy separation of head from members , till the re-union of whom neyther can be happy ; in the wombe of the church , by the strugling of her untoward chil●ren viper-like eating out her bowels ; and not say , that god is a moth and rottennesse to us ? it is true , there are some particular persons , privatins degeneres in public●m exitiosi , qui nihil spei nisi per discordias habent ; who have weaved for themselves garments of fair estates , and probably out of the threds that others have spun . these ( no doubt ) like a chyrurgeon more corrupt then the soare hee dresses , would prolong the kingdomes cure for their own gains : but sure i am , the garment of the church , and land in generall , is exceedingly moth-eaten and ready to fall in pieces . accept therefore of a word of exhortation . in speciall . let not my noble lords be angry , and i will speak but this once more ; humbly to beseech , that you would improve the utmost of that power god hath put into your hands for ●ebrushing away of these moths , and killing these worms . it is true , these things befall us not without divine providence , yet god expects our endeavour to remove them by humane prudence . be pleased then to consult in your wisdoms , a safe and speedy way for easing the countrey of quarters , and the kingdom of taxes ; that our swords may be turned into plough-shares , and our speares into pruning-●ooks , and every man may sit under his own vine and under his fig-tree , and none make them afraid . let not industry be disheartned , when the reward of that , and idlenesse , through the weight of taxations , shall prove alike ▪ beggery . be sensible of , and apply all good meanes presented by petitioners , or invented by your wisdoms , to the cure of that wound which the decay of clothing hath made . nor let the church be altogether forgotten ; suffer not any to cut off the flesh of her honourable maintenance , pretending to cure her of a timpanie of superfluities . what if some have turned the spur of vertue into a st●●rop of prid● , y●t let not the bees starve , to punish the drones . shall other sciences have a portion , and must divinity be put off only with her beauty ? nay rather , if it seeme not good to allow her her dowrie , afford her a faire jointure in lieu of it . above all , let your plous thoughts , best wishes , and most serious endeavours bend themselves to an happy union of our ecclesiastick , an honourable accommodation of our civill dissentions ; so as the purity of truth may be preserved , and the prosperity of peace res●ored . then shall milo's lo● ( whose hand which he thrust in a cleft oake to make it bigger , by the closing thereof was caught , and himselfe devoured of wild beasts ) be the portion of all malignant incendia●i●s , whilest the whole kingdom shall build up altars to the lord and call them jehovah shalom , saying , the lord hath blest his people with peace . in generall . what counsell more sutable to the text or time , then that of repentance ? our sins have been a moth to the land , let repentance be a moth to our sinnes , every day gnawing our corruptions till they die . peccatum ●ristitiam peperit tristitia peccatum conteret ; let our sins cause sorrows , and godly sorrow will kill our sins : this is the best daughter of the worst mother , the sweet fruit of the root of bitternesse . oh remember , for this end is god a moth in his judgements , consuming slowly , that we might repent speedily ; and therefore doth he retard his corrections , that we might hasten our conversions . deus cùm beneficia infert , supplicia offert ; while god holds his rod in the one hand , hee offers mercie with the other , desiring rather that we should return and live , then go on and perish . oh let us not frustrate gods expectation , lest we more provoke his indignation . say then to thy selfe ; as caesar did , méne servare ut sint qui me perdant ? shall i hug a snake in my bosome , to poyson me ? nourish wolves young ones , to teare me ? shall i imbrace that in my soule which will be a worm to gnaw my conscience , and a moth to devoure my estate ? god forbid . oh let such meditations as these worke us to holy resolutions , saying of our lusts as the philosopher did of his gold , mergamte , ne mergar à te ; wee will crucifie them , that they may not damnifie us . to end all : i have read of the picture of a godd●sse in a c●rtain temple so contrived ▪ that shee frowned on her worshippers as they came in , and smiled on them as they went out . such i desire this scripture may be , that though it hath frowned upon you in its menaces , yet it may end in smiling promises , that it may be a plaister not only corrosive , but incarnative , that it may prove to you like josephs coat to his father , wherewith he was at once both grieved and comforted ; or like a cloud which seems to be composed both of envy and bounty ; envy , in hiding the suns golden beams from the earth ; bounty in dropping down golden showres to refresh it . know therefore that in the cragged shell of these threatnings are contained the pearls of pr●cious comforts , mutatus mutatum inveniet : if we change our sinning into repenting , god will change his thunderbolts of anger into shining beams of love . let our pri●ces establish gods bound , and he will maintain their honour : let the people prefer his precepts before mens inventions , and hee will preserve their estates from mens oppressions . in a word , let both prince and people , by a penitent reformation , be moths to their sins , and worms to their corruptions , and then he will not poure out his wrath , but his mercy like water ; we shall no longer be opprest and broken in judgement , but he will breake the yoke of our oppressors ; he will no more be a worme to consume , but a sun to revive the once flourishing tree of this kingdom ; he will no longer be a moth to consume our garments , but he will put upon us new garments of joy and praise ; when wee shall see plenty triumphing over famine in the country , riches over poverty in the city , justice over tyrannie in our courts , reformation over toleration in the kingdome : finally , when we shall behold the king rejoycing over danger , in the loyalty of his subjects ; the people over fears in the fidelity of their soveraign ; the parliament over their troubles in the settlement of the land ; the church over her adversaries in the unity of her government ; and which is above and beyond all , christ over antichrist , in the purity of his gospel among us and our posterity for ever . which god of his mercie grant us , &c. london , printed for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at the signe of the grey-hound in pauls church-yard . mdcxlvii . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- obiurgationi semper aliquid blandi commisce ; sacilius penetrant verba quae mollia vadunt quam quae aspera . sen. isa. . . praedicator veritatis tacens confumitur ; flagellat con s●ientia usque ad consumptionem illum qui homines quando opus est vetatis verbere non fl●gellat . lyr. interveteres philosophos verbum non vulgariter celebratum , tres deform●s filias à tribus sormosis matribus oriri , à p●ce otium , familiaritat● contemptum à veritate odium . gal. . . haec est conditio ve●itatis , ●● eam semper inimicitie consequuntur , sicut per adulationem pernitius●e amiciti●e conquiruntur ; l●bent●r quod d●●ect●● auditur , & offendit omn● quod nolumus . hier. infoelix amicitia quae illum quem diligit , ta cendo trad●t diabolo . carthus . magis amat obiurgator sana●s , quàm ●dulator dissimulans . aug. notes for div a e- zanchius . verbumautem meum erit quasi tinea , &c. tharg . quid deest omnia possi●entibus ? ill● qui verum dicat . sen. quamvis sufficiat homini privato esse avarum non sufficit tamen principi autiudici sed oportet tam alienum esse ab avaritia ut oderit ipsam . cajet. religio à religando . lex à ligando . inde datae leges ne sortior omnia posset . ovid . cives non minùs oportet pugnare pro legibus quam pro moenibus ; absque legibus nullo pacto possit esse civitas incolumis , absque maenibus possit . heracl . zanch. par. in loc. psal. . . luke . . gerard . mars . ficin. florent . august . ●ald . a vera & a●ita religione disc●ssi●uem uotat . vir bonus est qui● ? qui consulta patrum , qui leg●s iuraq●e servat . virg. tim. . . veritas nunquam senescit . rivet . in loc. plin. paneg. claud. diod. sic. mr. jos. shute . vix satis possumus mirari quorundam hominum insaniam , excaecatae mentis impietatem , & errandi libid●nem , qui non contenti divinitùs tradita & semel accepta fide , indies nova ac nova quaerunt , & aliquid gestiunt religioni addere , mutare , detrahere . vinc. lyren . sanctitas , fides , pietas , privata bona sunt ; quà lubet regeseant , sen trag. salvian . king jaemes to his son . salvian . nehem. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept. post sordes . vulg. levit. . . cor. . . ezek. . . per contemptum . iun. qui soetore suo deum offendunt . iob . . king. . . deut. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isa . . ovid . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} semper habet post se verbum . praeoccupatter-giversationem populi . par. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} significatin requapiam , acquiescere , eamque tot● voluntate amplecti . mas. in iosh. . a tanto , non à tot● . exod. . ▪ dan. . . & . . acts . . . . severally . ira metalepticos provindicta abirato deo inflicta . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} transire . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ab {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , imp●tus . allusio ad crimen . guadulp . in loc. psal. . . . psal . . dan. . . isa. . . psal. . . ovid . cass. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} chron. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} concussus . haec vox in usu apud jureconsultos . est au●em concussionis crim●n cum quis ab co quem magistratus terrore a●●cit , eius periculi devitandi causa pecuniam extor●uet riv. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} significat opprimere verbis & factis , vi & fraude . prov. . . psal. . . isa. . . fractis iudiciis , nempehos●ium . par. prophetico more participium praeteritum pro futuro ad rei certitudinem significandum . rivet . deut. . , . iudg. . , . chap. . . . . . . psal. . . . sam. . . verse . exod. . . cedren. hist. ier. . . zech. . . judicio dei iusto . zanch. saepè peccatum est poena peccati . iob . . gen. . . sam. . . iob . . psal. . . isa. . . verse . ioyntly . fui . rivet . ero. par. intelligi debet metonymicè , cum effectus nomen causae tribuitur . riv. vide river . in loc. ios. . luke . . gen. . . iob . . greg. plin. plato . prov. . . isa. . . mic. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the th. day of iune, . intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit, dr. of divinity, and late minister there hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h a estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the th. day of iune, . intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit, dr. of divinity, and late minister there hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed, and are to be sold in st. paul's church-yard, london : . attributed to nathaniel hardy by wing (cd-rom edition). reproduction of original in the william andrews clark memorial library. eng hewit, john, - -- early works to . bible. -- o.t. -- isaiah lvii, -- sermons -- early works to . funeral sermons -- th century. a r (wing h a). civilwar no a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the th. day of iune, . intended for the funeral solemnization of io hardy, nathaniel c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - robyn anspach sampled and proofread - robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon , preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the th . day of iune , . intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit , dr. of divinity , and late minister there . london , printed , and are to be sold in st. paul's church-yard , . the mourning bush . a funeral sermon upon isaiah . . the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and mercifull men are taken avvay , none considering that the righteous are taken avvay from the evil to come . the induction . our prophet isaiah in the chapter of this prophecie vers. . makes mention of a day wherein the lord of hosts doth call to weeping and to mourning . and beloved , although there is no day wherein we are without sin , and so confequently no day wherein we should be without so now ; yet there are four speciall dayes wherein our lord god expects this duty from us , viz. the day of any heynous wickednesse comitted by our selves or others . the day of any grievious judgement , whether personall or national inflicted . the day wherein the wicked prosper and the ungodly triumph . finally the day wherein any of gods eminent and faithfull servants are snatch't away by death ; it is not many dayes since there was such a day amongst us ; and of such a day my text speaks of ; and the want of a due sence and sorrow , and mourning when such a day comes , is that which the prophet bemoans in the words of my text . the rightous perisheth & no man layeth it to heart , &c. this text is a sorrowfull and dolefull complaint in every part and clause of it , and looketh . wayes . . upon the good , and bemoans their misery . . upon the wicked , and bewailes their obstinacy . it complains of the righteous , that their persons are destroy'd . it complains of the wicked , that their hearts are hardned . the former complaint is purely from grief , the latter is from grief mixt with anger , both are very vehement and fervent . witness the reiteration of the words in both parts . the former in three clauses . the righteous perish . mercifull men are taken away . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . the latter in two clauses , no man laying it to heart , none considering it . in which we may see what an holy passion our holy prophet was in ; and i pray god grant that we may resemble him in grief and sorrow , when we heare both of the righteous , and of the wicked . first of the complaint the prophet makes concerning the godly . the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come ; and this complaint concerning the righteous you have it first propounded , and then mitigated . first ' it s propounded in the two clauses , ( which are for substance and sense one and the same ) the righteous perisheth , and mercifull men are taken away . but withall secondly , the complaint is in the latter part of the verse , leviated & mitigated , where 't is said . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . look upon the matter of the complaint it self as set down in these two clauses . the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . first , where you have set before you both their disposition and their condition . their disposition is very good . their condition is seemingly very bad . their pious disposition . their miserable condition . the characters of the one , viz. their disposition are these two , righteous , and mercifull men . the other viz. their condition is set forth in these two characters , perishing , and taking away . first we will take the character , that sets down their disposition . the righteous and mercifull men , those that the prophet bemoans are said to be righteous and mercifull men . the first word is singular in the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} where interpreters , glossing upon the text , suppose it to be some particular person that the prophet points at , and the glosse understands it of christ himself , whose passion he foresaw , and consequently foretells : and these titles most strictly and fully belong to him who is called the son of righteousnesse , malachy . v. . all others are but stars of righteousnesse , & their lights borrowed from him : he it is who is compleatly righteous , and of him it was verified , he perished and was taken away , none laying it to heart . but we must not confine it to christ ; for although the first word be singular , the second is plurall . the mercifull men , and men of mercy , which is meant of those righteous ones that were cut off & distroyed by manasses that fill'd ierusalem with bloud . but that you may see how justly these characters belong to those persons ; take them a sunder ; first he call's them righteous and the servants of god . ministers or others may have this name given them in a qualified sense , for there are none righteous , no not one , ( save him that i named even now ) not but that it may belong to them too , for they are righteous , really , interpretatively and comparatively . they are righteous really , in as much as their persons are justified before god , through our lord jesus christ , who is called by the prophet ieremy , the lord our righteousnesse . ierem. . v. . who is said to cover us with a robe of righteousness isa. . who is said by s. paul to be made to us righteousness , and that we are righteousness in him . thus they are righteous because justified , and not onely so , but also because their natures are renewed after the image of god , that is cretaed in righteousnesse and true holinesse , in which respect they are partakers of the divine nature : and also righteous in ordering their lives according to the rule of the word , which all gods servants sets before them , and seek to live according thereunto , that they may give god his due , and men their due ; and thus it is true of the servant ▪ of god , they are righteous really . and interpretatively they are so , for as much as god is pleased to accept them notwithstanding their weaknesses , when abraham was to offer up his son isacak , it is said , he offered his son , in regard he was willing to do it , it was therefore interpretatively so . so the servants of god in as much as they are lovers and followers of god , and strive after righteousnesse , not allowing themselves in any wickednesse , making conscience of all known duties , so that god accepts them as perfectly righteous . and comparatively they are righteous , though not absolutely , yet comparatively in respect of others , as it 's said of those worthies st. ambross speaks of . the righteous if compared with the wicked of the world are worthies , so they are righteous compared with the ungodly . in the foregoing chapter vers. . the prophet speaks of certain epicures and others , which say , we will fill our selves with strong drink , and to morrow shall be as this day , and much more aboundant . so in respect of sinners , the servants of god may have the appellation of righteous , and not righteous onely , but merciful men , or as the hebrew hath it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} men of mercy : which may admit of a double construction , whether taken in a passive or active sence ; in a passive sence they are men of mercy : or as the hebrew word will further carrie it men of good will or favour , they are men to whom god bears a singular favour , an especial love ; there is a philanthropie which god hath to all men , and though he hates the work of their hands , yet he loves the work of his own hands : but god here speaks of a favour and good will , which he hath to his servants , and you have it fully and summarily set down in the th psalme latter end ; the lord god is a sun and a shield , the lord will give grace and glory , &c. and according to this construction it may be taken : the prophet isaiah speaking of the righteous , how that they are taken away by men of crueltie , intimates though they are hated by the wicked , they are men of love , in respect of god : whilst the world reproches and reviles them , yet god loves them , though they perish and are taken away we must not think that god hates them , they are his favorites . some men think god should not let the wind blow upon his servants : but it is not that of a mother , but a fatherly love , with which god loves his children , nor was benjamin the lesse beloved because the cup was found with him . the righteous they are still men of mercy , yet i rather conceive we ought to take it in the active sence , they are men that love mercy and shew mercy , and to this i encline in regard of that paralell place the . micah . . the good man is perished from off the earth , &c. so here men of mercy , that is , men that are practisers and lovers of mercy . mercy is a condolencie of others misery , and withall an endeavour to deliver them out of it , so that there is both pittie and bountie , bowels of mercy and works of mercy , thus a righteous man is a mercifull man : the wise man joines them both together prov. . and . and indeed they never goe asunder : our saviour hath coupled them together , blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness , for they shall be filled , then it followes blessed are the mercifull , &c. the righteous have bowels of mercy , their inwards are troubled at the miserie of others , and hence their heads consult which way they may do them good : the liberal man devises charritable things upon his bed , and their hearts ake for their brethren , they inquire how , what , which way , to do them good , they are stil going out of their doores in mercy , their eyes behold which way they may do acts of mercy , their ears listen to their complaints , and their hands are ready to relieve ; it would be too much time spent to let you see how this spiritual river overflowes , by giving and forgiving , by vouchsafing to our brethren spiritual and corporal almes , that concerne their souls and bodies , by remitting all those injuries they do against us : and thus it is true , they are men of mercy as for the wicked , solomon saith , their very mercies are cruel , when they pretend mercy it is in crueltie , nay they shew mercy that they may be wicked , but the righteous he shews mercy even to his beast , it runnes down even unto them , and hence it is here called mercifull men , or men of mercy : but now look upon the complaint it self , and that sets forth their seeming miserable condition , the one , of perishing . the other , of taking away . the righteous perish , the mercifull men are taken away : the first of these is very strange and hard , especially of the righteous that he is said to perish ; perish is capable of various acceptations . . there is a perishing that neither seazes on the righteous nor the wicked . . there is a perishing befalls the wicked and not the good . . and there is a perishing befalls both the godly and the wicked . . there is a perishing that befalls neither the righteous nor the wicked : a perishing of totall destruction and annihilation . the psalmist saith : wicked men are like the beasts that perish . sensuall men are so in their dispositions , but not in their natures : the beast perishing dissolveth into his first being to nothing , and happy were it , if it were so with the wicked , that there were annihilation . . and then there is a perishing that befalls the wicked and not the righteous : the memory of the wicked shall not , but it shall not be so with the just ; no dying , no marrying can obliterate their names : but the wicked , their names perish , & which is worse there is a perishing in the soul , and it is that perishing which is opposed to good , to eternall good , the righteous is scarcely saved , it is not almost , they do not perish hereafter , but the wicked perish eternally . but then , . there is a perishing that is common to the righteous with the wicked : will you know what it is ? understand it either of the miseries of this life ( as s. paul saith ) if i perish , i perish . whatever hazard we run or fall into , it may be termed a perishing , or chiefly , perishing by death , this is common to all : the prophet michael tels us the good man is perished out of the earth ; that is he dies : when he perisheth it is a relative to perishing in this world , in this present life . so when the righteous die he perisheth , therefore it was that the prophet made use of this word , to let them see what the wicked thought , that the righteous perisheth , it is not so in reallity , and that we might not be troubled at the harshness of the phrase in the first clause . go on to the second , taking away . god hath given most members double ; two hands , two feet , two eyes , two eares , that if one faile the other may supply , & so the spirit of god gives two phrases often in scripture , that if the one be obscure , the other may make it plain so it is here , least the one should be too hard , here is another to explain it , when he saith , perish , he means onely taking away from the society of men , that is ail , as we may very well read the words , the mercifull men are gathered , as the hebrew will carry it , they perish not but rather are gathered to their fathers , as that expression in ecclesiastes , the body goes to the grave , and the soul to heaven , or to him that gave it , it is that they may be gathered to the innumerable company of angels , to the spirits of just men made perfect , to the beatificall vision ; all this is meant in this one expression , taking away . and the summe is , the righteous ones , & the mercifull ones were taken away by death , perished from the earth . and so this is true in respect of a naturall death , the righteous as well as others perish , because of the same nature and constitution , and also the remainders of the same corruptions that are in them ; therefore they must die and perish as well as others , but that which the prophet aimes at is perishing in a violent sense , and the phrase taken away hints as much , they are taken away and cut of ( as ' it s spoken of the messias ) from the land of the living . these candles do not go out of themselves for want of that which should give them life , but are blown out by a violent wind ; and very well it may be so , because of their enemies , david saith ; the wicked watch the righteous , and why do they watch him , but to take advantage to slay him , and this many times befalls the godly ones , and that in great wisdome , even that the glory of gods power may appeare , his power in sustaining and upholding them , when by death he brings them to himself , especially strengthning them in the hour of a violent death , and his power will appear , in raising of their vile bodies , that shall be in the dust : in raising them , when their vile bodies shall be changed and made like the glorious body of christ , & he will have it so that their graces may appear , & that their faith may be more eminent : if god should translate them as he did eliah from earth to heaven , there would be something to appear of glory , but nothing of strength , and therefore that the faith and courage of his servants may appear , he thus takes them away , and chiefly that they may be conformable to christ , and that he may make the members like unto the head , and go , as he did , by a violent death , they must drink of the brook and after lift up their heads , therefore this is a just complaint , the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . the consideration of this may serve partly to inform , partly to instruct . first to inform us , that there is another world , and day of judgement , that there is a time wherein god will put a difference between the godly and the wicked , between him that swears , and him that fears an oath , between him that serves him , and him that rebells against him : i say there must be a time of retribution ( or he could not be a righteous and mercifull god ) when there must be a recompence to godly men , you see how the righteous perish as well as the wicked , you see the same lot befalls the one , as well as the other , it assures us therefore that there is another day comming , when it will appear that there is a reward to the godly . and it should , secondly instruct all righteous ones that they should make use of this kind of death , for the glory of gods name , and the good of his own brethren . how should all of us magistrates , ministers and people approve our selves in the discharge of our duty , and especially mercifull men by shewing mercy , multiplying mercy , when the mercifull man is taken away , then all is taken away there is no more work , nor almes , nor mercy for us to do in the grave where we are a going . and further it should instruct us , that we should make use of , and make much of the righteous men , that are in the midst of us , because they must perish and be taken from us : these candles must go out , nay they may by a blustering wind be blown out , make use of them while you have them . our saviour bids us , walk in the light while you have the light : so do you , whilst gods righteous servants and ministers are amongst you , make the best use of them you can ( as our saviour said , me you shall not have alwayes with you : so these you shall not have alwayes with you , therefore endeavour to reap all the benefit , and profit from them you can . finally let us not think the worse of them because they are taken away , we are ready to be frighted , because of the trouble that befalls them , but let us remember , that the righteous whatever trouble incompasses them , they are delivered from it by death , nay that taking away of theirs , is a benefit to them , for it is a taking away from the evil to come . and that leads me to the other branch , which mitigateth the complaint in the close of the verse . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . taken away from the evil to come is a phrase which admits of a double construction , we may understand it of being taken away from the evil to come upon themselves , they are taken away from those future evils that ( if they had continued longer upon earth , ) should have befallen them , thus they are taken away from criminall evils , and poenall evils . . from criminall evils they are taken away , and thereby prevented from those sins , they might otherwayes have fallen into , for the righteous are not altogether free from sin , while herebelow ; and therefore it is that they are delivered from that which is a great grief unto them , ever to sin against their father . . from poenall evils , from those miseries and troubles that do befall them in this world : many are the afflictions of the righteous , but god delivers them out of all : pain , penurie , aches , sicknesse , &c. and when the righteous is taken away , he is taken away from all these . but that which is the principal meaning of the word is , they are taken away from the evil of the place wherein they live , from the common calamitie that is to seize upon the people : therefore you find in the . isa. . where the prophet saith come my people , enter thou into thy chambers , and shut thy doors about thee , hide thy self as it were for a little moment untill the indignation be overpast : some understand those little doors and moments , places and chambers , to be meant of the grave , yet there god hides his people , he puts them in the grave where they are quiet : when he intends to send a blustering tempest , and a storm upon the earth . thus god prepares a zoar for lot when he brings destruction upon sodom , and an ark for noah , when he brings a deluge upon the world : so god prepares a grave for the righteous , when he intends to bring evil upon the earth : but this is not alwaies so , for god will somtimes keep them in the midst of trouble , he sets a mark upon their forehead , as in the . ezek. . and the lord said unto him , go through the midst of the city , through the midst of ierusalem , and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh & that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof . and sometimes god makes them sharers and sufferers in the evils , because they have not mourned for the sinnes of the times and places where they live ; therefore god makes them partakers of the miserie ; but god many times takes them away from the evil to come . thus josiah is taken away from the evil that was to come upon the jews : and st. austin's prayers were heard , god taking him away before hippo was taken , whereof he was bp : and luther was taken out of the world before the desolation came that fell upon germany : thus is gods dealing in the taking away of his servants , and that upon a double account . . in regard of themselves . . in regard of others . . in regard of themselves : that they may not only not see , but also that they may not suffer in the evil that is to come : and this is the very reason why josiah was cut off , that he should not see that general devastation that should come upon his native countrie , and that they may not see the evil , he hath taken them away . ly . the chief account why he takes them away , is , that they may not keep of the evil that is to befall any people : for the righteous and mercifull men are the chariots & horsmen of israel , that do defend the places where they live ; the angel told lot he could do nothing against the citie until he was out of it : & you know what god said to moses , let me alone , &c. a good man ( as it were , ) ties gods hands that he cannot bring evil upon a place , one righteous man may do more with god by prayer , then a thousand men by armes : there is a great prevalencie in the prayers of the righteous , and when god will bring evil upon a place , he first takes away the righteous , that they may not keep it off : as when a man will take down a house , he first takes away the pillars and supporters thereof : so when god intends to destroy a people , he remooves the pillars that support them ; god takes away the righteous , as on the one hand they may not see ; so on the other hand they may nor prevent the evils he intends to inflict . to wind up this in a word of use . look on the one hand as there is little cause for the wicked to insult over the righteous when they are taken away , ( rejoyce not over me , o mine enemy ) saith the church ; i say little cause have the wicked to rejoyce for the taking away of the good , because it is a sad presage to the bad . the righteous being taken away , if such things be done to the green tree , what shall be done to the dry : if the righteous scarcely be saved , where shall the wicked appeare ; if that the righteous be taken away from the evil to come , it is that the evil may come upon a place : it is an undeniable consequence if god deal severely with his own : the wicked must exspect his cup to be filled to the full . if these perish for a time , those for ever : therefore let not the wicked triumph , and as there is no reason why the wicked should rejoyce , so no cause why the friends of the righteous should be too much troubled when they perish by what hand soever ? for all the righteous servants of god when they are to be taken away , say to us ( as our saviour said to the woman , weep not for me , ) weep not for us , weep for your selves , and as they are taken away from evil , so they are received unto good ; they are taken from a prison to be seated in a palace ; they are taken from a wildernesse to be transplanted into a garden ; they are taken away from earth and carryed unto heaven ; no reason therfore to weep for them , but for your selves : the evil to come cannot light on them ; but on us ; but let them not be disregarded by us , we are not to be stupid under such a divine providence , least we incurre the sin which the prophet here complaines of : and so i come to the complaint of the prophet against the wicked , bewailing their obstinacie , the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart : & mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come : no man layes it to heart , no man considers it ; the phrases which the prophet makes use of , are very emphatical . the first phrase according to the hebrew is , no man puts it upon his heart ; and the latter , no man doth understand or seriously weigh , or dewly consider : so that one phrase hath reference to the affections , the other to the judgement : no man laies it to heart , so as to affect it , no man considers , it so as to understand it , and these two well agree together , and the one infers the other : that which a man laies to heart , he will consider , if the heart be affected , the understanding will be imployed : a man cannot but revolve that which he is cut and strucken with ; by considering it we lay it to heart : while i muse the fire kindled : there is an affection in the mind toward the object , if it be of delight it brings joy , if sadness it brings sorrow , and these two phrases are very fruitfull exprest here , no man lays it to heart , no man considers it , and observe what the sin is that the prophet charges with , and complaines against : it was not a sin of commission , no , it was a sin of omission ; it was neglect of duty : it is as horrid impiety to omit what god commands us to do , which he forbids ; remember we do provoke god as much by omitting to do good , as by doing those things he hath forbid . many men please themselves pharasaically . when the sinfull neglect of any known duty , being judgement , as soon as the doing of a known sin , i say it is the not doing of our known duty makes us culpable , and that sin here charged on us is not the rejoycing , and triumphing when the godly are taken away , but the not laying it to heart that argues a man to be in the depth of wickedness , to come to sit in the seat of the scorners , to deride at the calamities of the godly , and make their tears his drink , and their ruins his play and sport , this is the depth of wickednesse when men rejoyce at the miseries and ruins of the righteous , but it is not considering , or laying to heart the miseries of the servants of god that is here onely meant , though you will find that a great sin , the not laying to heart their being taken away . one would think it but a a small thing , but you will find it a great sin , not to lay it to heart when the rightous are taken away . for . take notice it is the perishing of the righteous . when any man dies , the living will lay it to heart , saith salomon : and shall not the living lay it to heart , when not an ordinary man but a good man , one of the prophets of god and those righteous , mercifull and eminent ones are taken away . shall such stars fall from the firmement , and no eyes behold it ? no heart consider it ? put those altogether , it was the righteous that is perishing : and besides , when we consider , it was not an ordinary but a violent death . when a good man dies naturally , the living will lay it to heart , much more when cut of , when he might have lived longer : and then consider all oportunities of doing good is taken away , and when not an ordinary person , and that not by an ordinary death , perishing , and more then so , taken away , and when this perishing and taking away of the righteous was a prediction that concerned themselves of their ruin , their judgements , was at hand , and ready to overtake and overthrow them , and they not to consider it : & adde to this that this shall be so , and that there should not be a man to consider it , not as if there was none at all ; there were some though , the number be but very small that did bemoan and lay this thing to heart , yet it is usuall in scripture to expresse where there is but a few , as if there was none at all , as in the psal. . ierem. . because there is but a very few , therefore it is expressed as if there were none at all : there was but a few zealous in regard of the multitude and generally it they did not consider that the righteous perish , and they did not lay it to heart , the mercifull men are tak●n away from the evil to come . i say these things being put together you will find it was noe small sin , and that the prophet hath noe little reason to complain , that they did not lay it to heart , if you consider it in reference , . vnto god . . vnto them . . to our selves . . in reference unto god ; this was a great work , and aspeciall work of gods provience , that he was pleased to suffer his righteous ones to p●rish , and be taken away . it is a very great sin not to observe gods dealing ; they are equally bad , when gods word sounds in our eares , his works appears in our eyes , and neither is regarded by us . as the psalmist complains in the psalm . this is great impiety that god should passe by us in a speciall providence , and we not take notice thereof : if not a sparrow fall to the ground without his knowledge , nor a hair of our heads fall to the ground , much lesse our heads , they cannot perish but by a speciall providence : and they should be taken notice of when god intends to take them from us ; and as it impiery against god , so likewise it is a sin against them , it argues that as we want piety , so pity , as purity , so bowels , when those that are our fellow-members , righteous ones especially : nay when in a higher , rank then our selves , ministers or others are in misery , and we are not troubled at their sufferings , this argues we want much pity : they are but glasse eyes that weep not for such a losse , and it is but a woodden leg that is not sensible , what the rest of the members endures . and as it is a sin against them , so likewayes it is an evil against our selves , it argues a stupid mind , a secure heart , and an obdurate spirit that is not moved with such providentiall dispensations against us , especially when it presages judgement and misery to come upon a people , and yet it should not work upon us . all this considered you will find it was a just matter of complaint , which the prophet takes up , the righteous perish , and no man layes it heart , &c. i beseech you in the fear of god , let us learn to practise the contrary , and to lay to heart the miseries , distresses , and perishings of the servants of god ; but especially when they die by a violent death , the sun daily shines and noe man regards it , but when once it is in an eclipse , then every eye will be upon it , neither do men mind the high mountains when standing , but if it chance to fall then every eye consider it , and shall we not take notice of the eclipses of gods faithfull servants , and so lay them to heart by remembring to register the deeds of gods faithfull servants . how , and when taken away , and withall bemoaning , and bewailing both the miseries they suffer , and the calamities we are like to suffer , by reason they are taken away from the evil to come , and by imitating their vertues following their graces , setting before us their exemplary lives , and treading in their steps , so as to prepare for dying , for suffering , in the like or any other kind , that death may not find us unprovided : and if we do live to prepare for the evil to come , judgement is at hand . let us be making our peace with god by repenting of our own , and the sins of the land , that when the evil comes it may not come upon us unprepared , and though we be taken away , we may be but taken to the fruition of glory and happinesse ; and that i may not be guilty of this sin , i here declaime against it . i dare not but stir up my self and you , sadly and veriously stir up you and me to lay to heart this mercifull man of god , this righteous man that hath been lately taken from us , i hope none will envy his character : if we look no further then his death , it was a violent death , but as for the cause of his death it concernes not me , it must be referred to that great day , the day of judgement , i hope without offence to any here , i may look to the manner of his death , the righteous are said to be bold as a lyon , and hath hopes in his death , and what is this but the serene consequence of a well led life , that made him meekly bold , and humbly confident , and chearful at his dissolution : of all acts of mercies none is greater then that of forgiving enemies , which that he did , witnesse those lines , those excellent lines read at his interrment , or those gracious charitable words , and prayers he uttered upon the scaffold , which proclaims him a man full of grace & mercy , i want time , and tongue to go over his life ; and al that knew him will acknowledge this , that the whole course of his life was a constellation of graces and vertues , both as he was a christian , and as he was a minister . this righteous man is now perished , this mercifull man is now taken away . but i trust nay i have some measure , of confidence he is but perished from the earth , taken from us and removed to a better habitation , to enjoy a safer , a more glorious life : and i hope though he be out of sight , yet he is not out of mind , and will not be forgotten , especially by you among whom he hath been a faithfull , and painfull laborour , he having spent his time , strength , and labour for your souls good , therefore do you lay his death to heart . remember how often ▪ you have behold him from his sacred oratory how often you have heard him dropping , nay overflowing with faithfull reproofes , sweet comforts , wholesome admonitious : remember all those savery instructions you have heard from him , remember and practice them , that will be the best way to lay to heart the losse of this viagilant and faithfull minister , and lay to heart your own barrenesse , and unfruitfullnesse that hath provoked god to deprive , and rob you of such a iewell , lay it to heart , that you have been no more bettered , and mended by those saving doctrines ; and not onely you , but all of us lay it to heart , this and all others of gods servants that have been taken from this city , not many years ago , which is a sad persage , that the ruine thereof is at hand , if a timely repentance and amendment of life prevent not ; which is the end of our discourse , that all of us may be brought to a serious repentance , as to lay to heart the perishing and taking away of the righteous ones , so not to murmur , and repine at those that have been the instruments of our losse , but to repent of our sins with grief and sorrow , as the cause thereof by contempt of the word and sacraments , having used all means to provoke god to take them from us . let us for the time to come , so repent , that if it be possible gods wrath may be appeased , his judgements diverted , and those faithfull ones that are yet among us , may be continued , and that more faithfull messengers may be sent into his harvest , which god of his mercy grant , amen . finis . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony : characterized in a sermon occasioned by the late nuptialls between mr. william christmas and mrs. elizabeth adams / preached by nathanael hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony : characterized in a sermon occasioned by the late nuptialls between mr. william christmas and mrs. elizabeth adams / preached by nathanael hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by t.c. for nathanael webb and william grantham, london : . reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. eng wedding sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony. characterized in a sermon occasioned by the late nuptialls between mr william chri hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - melanie sanders sampled and proofread - melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony . characterized in a sermon occasioned by the late nuptialls between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams . preached in st. dionis backe-church by nathanael hardy , mr of arts and preacher to that parish . collos. . , . wives submit your selves to your own husbands , as it is fit in the lord . husbands love your wives , and be not bitter unto them . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. hom. . in ephes. quoniam una natura in viro & faeminâ est , idcirco vir quasi seipsum ita mulierem diligere commonetur ; mulier autem quia persona inferior est conditionis causâ non naturae viro subjecta , timere cum jubetur . ambros. in ephes. london , printed by t. c. for nathanae webb and william grantham , and are to be sold at the sign of the black bear in s. pauls church-yard near the little north door . . to the generous mr william christmas merchant , and the vertuous mrs elizabeth christmas his wife , many comfortable dayes and a blessed eternity . worthy friends , pardon me that i joyn you together in one dedication , since god's ordination , and your mutual affection have made you one . it was your undeserved respect honoured me to be the instrument of accomplishing your nuptials . it was my cordial desire of testifying my gratitude , and promoting your welfare , made me so bold as to become your humble remembrancer of those duties , which i doubt not you both knew , and resolved to practice before . finally it was your unexpected acceptance and approbation of my weak labours put you on requiring , and me by that means on effecting the publication of them . what hath caused my delay in fulfilling your desire , i suppose you already know : being now through god's wonderful mercy raised from my sick nay almost dying bed , i have made what hast i could to finish the work . this plain and home-spun piece , such as it is , i present sir , to your candid eye , madam to your fair hands , together with my humble thanks for your noble favours . as the hearing it did affect you , so i hope the reading it will profit you , and not you alone , but others who shall vouchsafe the perusal of it . and now courteous friends , my hearts desire and prayer to god for you is , that you may be ravisht each with others love , that your quiver may be full of those harmlesse arrowes , to wit , children ; that peace may be within your walls and plenteousnesse continue in your habitation : finally that you may live long together in earth , and for ever in heaven . i rest , yours to be commanded in the lord , nath. hardy . to the right worshipful thomas adams , formerly alderman and lord mayor of this anciently renowned city of london , saving health , sweet contentment , eternal felicity . right worthy sir , did not speaking or writing truth of them that are alive incur a suspition of flattery , had not the beames of your graces been abundantly resplendent to this whole city from those orbs of authority wherein you were justly placed ; finally , were it not that i know how repugnant the publication of your worth is to the humility of your mind , who desire laudanda facere non laudata audire , to doe things praise-worthy , not to hear or read your own praises ; an encomium had been the proemium of this dedication . but though upon these considerations i shall forbear to characterize those eminent vertues , by which you oblige all that know you : yet give me leave ( honoured mecaenas ) to make a publique acknowledgement of those munificent favours by which you have engaged me , since i had the honour and happinesse of enjoying you as a parishioner ; an ingenuous recognition being as the least so the utmost payment that i can return . in testimony of my gratitude , and observance of your desire , i here present to your judicious eye what not long agoe was offered to your religious ear . what should render this unpolished discourse acceptable to you i cannot conceive , unlesse it be the special interest you have in the joyful occasion of it ; namely the happy marriage of your deservedly beloved daughter . indeed matrimoniò prospicere , to provide fit matches for their children , is the last but not the least care that lieth upon the parents : well may it be a just cause of singular joy , when a marriage is consummated with the parents consent and to the childes content . may your joy be still multiplied in their mutual loves , prosperous estate , and an hopeful progeny descending from their loyns . and now worthy sir , give me leave in few words to tell you what great things the lord hath done for me . it is not many weeks since by a violent fever i was brought low , very low , so that my soul drew nigh to the grave : but it hath pleased the powerful mercy , and merciful power of my gracious god to deliver me from going down to the pit , so that my life seeth the light ; and ( praised be his goodness ) i am in some measure restored to health . god hath done his work of mercy , mine of duty remaineth , to be thankful and fruitful . it is no small piece of christian skill , rightly to improve mercy when conferd ; this is my task , which that i may be enabled to perform , i earnestly desire both yours and the servent prayers of all god's people . i have nothing further to add , but only my prayers for you , which shall never be wanting at the throne of grace , that your days on earth may be lengthened , external enjoyments sanctified , spiritual graces increased , inward comforts enlarged , and your good works at last rewarded with a crown of glory . so prayeth your affectionate servant in christ , nath. hardy . eph. . . neverthelesse , let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself , and the wife ( see ) that she reverence her husband . among the many commendable excellencies of holy writ , this is none of the least , that it is a treasury of all kind of learning both divine and humane , supernatural and natural , theological and moral . in this regard it is not unfitly compared to the sea , since as all rivers come from the sea , so all sciences and arts from the scripture . indeed where shall we find more logical arguments and rhetorical strains then in these writings ? what deep secrets of natural philosophy , sublime notions concerning the heavens and the stars may we read in many of these pages ? finally , no such characters of ethical vertues , sound rules of state-policy , choice precepts for oeconomical practice , as these holy lines afford . astronomy the queen of mathematicks , logick and rhetorick the chief of arts , yea both natural and moral philosophy may by an intelligent reader be found graven upon the bible in their several characters : one of these , to wit , moral philosophy in the oeconomical part of it , is that which our apostle teacheth in the close of this epistle . there are three combinations which concur to keep up a compleat family , husband and wife , parents and children , master and servants ; all of which s. paul though succinctly yet distinctly and fully here instructeth in their several duties : the two latter in the beginning of the following chapter , the former in the latter part of this , and that most compendiously in the last verse which i have now read unto you , nevertheless , &c. before i enter upon the text it will be needful to take a little notice of the context , the connexion which these words have with the preceding , and that is implied in the particle which begins the verse , nevertheless . indeed because the apostle in these words concludes his former argumentation , beza renders it it aque , therefore , as if it had vim illativam , the force of an illative conjunction ; but this is a needless straining of the word contrary to its proper signification : the generality of interpreters retain the native sense of the word , whom our translators justly follow , reading it as an exceptive conjunction ; and so it hath vim , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a force of recalling the apostle from insisting any longer upon the great mystery before mentioned . if you cast your eyes on the fore-going verses , you may observe the example of christ and his church , brought in as a pattern for men and wives to follow , whereupon s. paul digresseth into an excellent discourse of that spiritual union which is between christ and his church , making use of marriage as a representation of this sublime mystery ; and now in the close he recalleth himself to his first design , letting them know that though what moses relateth concerning adam and eve was mystically applied by him to christ and the church , yet the literal sense of it was in force to them , nor must his allegorical hinder them from a moral application of what he had said concerning marriage . a good item for us in reading the scriptures to take the sense of them in the fullest extent . of many passages in holy writ , there is both a literal and a spiritual , a mystical and a moral use to be made ; and it is our duty both to search out the sweetness of the mystery , and observe the plainness of the letter ; and as we are taken with the comforts of the one , so not to neglect the duties of the other . having briefly viewed the context , come we now to the text it self , wherein are three general parts worthy your serious consideration . the particular relations whom it concerneth specified , to wit , husband and wife . the several obligations laid upon each unfolded , on the man , that he so love his wife as himself , on the wife , that she reverence her husband . the punctual application to be made by every one of those duties to himself , let every one of you in particular . these are the three precious fruits we are to gather from this branch of the tree of life , and though in hearing they may not be sweet to your taste , yet i am sure if well eaten and digested by meditation and practice they will yield wholesome nutriment to your souls . begin we then with the relations concerned in this scripture , to wit , husband and wife . almighty god though he is a lover of unity , yet not of singularity ; himself is but one , and yet he is not alone from all eternity , there is a trinity of persons in the unity of essence . and if we look into the creation we shall find though an harmony yet a plurality , or rather a duality ; the world consists of an heaven and earth ; in the celestial part there is a sun and a moon , in the terrestria● part land and sea : and yet further if you look upon the little world of man , you may take notice of a soul and a body ; in the soul , of a rational and a sensitive part ; in the rational of an understanding and a will ; in the sensitive of an irascible and concupiscible appetite : and in the body most of its parts are made in pairs , two eyes , two ears , two nostrils , two lipps , two arms , two thighs , two legs , two feet . finally , man being thus made , god said of him , it is not good he should be alone , and therefore as he had made other living creatures male and female , so he provided a woman for man , makes her out of him , joyns her to him , whence sprang this relation in the text of husband and wife , the man ( so soon as the woman was made ) becoming an husband , and the woman a wife . this pair is primum par & fundamentum omnium parium , the first pair and the original of all others ; those various relations of parents and children , master and servants , king and subjects do all spring out of this . prima naturalis humanae societati● copula vir & uxor , man and wife are the first link of humane society , to which all the rest are joyned , families , cities , countreys , nations , the whole world , yea , the church militant , nay , a good part of the triumphant depend upon this pair of husband and wife . multitudes flow from this relation , but the relation it self is only between two ; it is not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} nor {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , man and wives , wife and men , but man and wife , unus , unam , uni . the one god hath appointed one woman for one man . it was so in the institution , and the prophet malachy's ratiocination from it , is both plain and strong , did not he make one ? yet had he the residue of the spirit . he could have made more then one eve for adam , yea if at any time , then it might seem most necessary for the speedier peopling of the world to have multiplyed his wives , but wherefore one ? because he sought a godly seed , that is , a seed arising from godly means : nor is that argumentation invalid which upon this subject theodorus urgeth to the saracen in point both of pleasure and peace . adam in paradise no doubt wanted nothing that might be for the fulnesse of his content and comfort ; and yet he had but one , whereby it appeareth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the pleasure of having one wife surpasseth that of many . again , where there are many wives there cannot but arise violent and deadly contentions , which the man having but one wife prevents , and therefore is most conducible to that most desirable good in all relations , namely peace ; from which with other arguments he justly concludeth , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , monogamy is more comfortable and honourable then polygamy . indeed he qui unam costam primus in duas divisit , to use s. hierom's phrase , who first ( as we read of ) divided the one rib into two parts , was lamech a wicked tyrant ; and it is observable that the name of his second wife zillah signifieth a shadow , such an one being only the shadow of a wife . the truth is polygamy even in the patriarchs was at the best but an infirmity , which though connived at was not allowed of by god , and therefore not to be imitated by us . that marriage is nearest to the primitive institution , surest of divine benediction , which is only between two persons , who thus united are here called husband and wife : and so much be spoken of the relations . passe we on to the . obligations laid upon them , these are summed up by the apostle in two words , and those may very well be exprest in two monosyllables love and fear ; that , the sugar to sweeten all the duties of authority belonging to the man ; this , the salt to season all the duties of subjection belonging to the wife . both , the marks which they must severally shoot at in all their carriages and behaviours one towards another . the mans duty is set down first , and indeed fit it is the man should be first in the practice of his duty : precedency cals for presidency , priority of place priority of duty ; the inferiours are best encouraged to do their part when they that are above them become exemplary to them in performing theirs : the man would be accounted , nay indeed is , superiour to the wife ; but then he must go before her in a good example ; that by the doing of his she may be animated in performance of her duty . in the duty of the man there are three things worthy our observation . . the quality of the act , love . . the propriety of the object , his wife . . the energy of the rule upon which it 's grounded , by which it 's measured , so as himself . first , the act required is love , in the handling whereof i shall endeavor to resolve a double quaery , namely , . why this duty is particularly mentioned . . wherein the practice of it consists . . it 's a question not unfitly moved , why the apostle makes choice of love , to express the mans duty by , since there are many duties which the man oweth to the wife as well as love ? to which i answer , that it is not without speciall reason both in regard of the present fitnesse and the comprehensive fullnesse of this duty of love . . the fitnesse of expressing the mans duty here by love will appear , whether you looke backward or forward . . the apostle a little before cals upon the wives to submit . now indeed that which belongs to the man in most direct opposition to submitting , is governing , but men are apt enough to exercise their authority without bidding , and besides , this was already implyed in the womans duty of submitting ; letting that go therefore he rather chooseth to call upon the man for love , both because that men are most apt to be defective in this , and likewise that this will teach them how to use their authority . for though it is not love but fondnesse which makes a man forget himself , and that power god hath given him over the wife , yet true love will learn him to exercise this power sparingly , mildely , and affectionately . it is too often seen that men because of their superiority insult over their wives , and why this ? but for want of love ; no marvel if authority degenerate into tyranny where this moderator is absent ; for this cause it is that the apostle supposeth the power of governing , and requires love as potestatis temperatum , that which should temper and moderate the use of that power . . in the following clause s. paul mindes the wife of reverence , and therefore the man of love , to intimate that his expression of love is the best way to gain reverence from the wife , in which respect the scholiast saith excellently , if thou wouldst have thy wife to reverence thee , do thou love her . to force a fear from the wife by an austere , churlish , and surly carriage , is that which neither befits the husbands place to exact , nor the wives to yield : the woman must be not drawn but led , not forced but wooed unto her duty by love . . as this duty of love was the most fit to be here mentioned , so is it the most comprehensive of all other duties ; so that in naming this he implies all the rest . what the greek orator answered when asked what was the chief thing : in an orator , first action , secondly action , thirdly action , the like may be returned to any that shall enquire what is the prime duty of an husband , first affection , secondly affection , thirdly affection ; and as love in general is said by the apostle to be the fulfilling of the law , in which respect it is fitly resembled to davids instrument of ten strings , and wittily called a good catholick , so love in particular is the fulfilling of that law wherein the duty of the man to the wife is required , which that it may the better appear passe we on to the . quest . namely , wherein the exercise of this love consists ; to resolve which we must consider it in its antecedent , concomitants and consequents . . the antecedent of this love is a due estimation of the wife . judgement is the source and spring of affection from which it proceeds , and according to which it is proportioned ; what the mind esteems not the heart affects not , whereas what we highly prize we dearly love . the love then of a man to his wife supposeth in him a singular accompt and an high valuation of her . thus every man ought to esteem of his wife as donum dei , god's gift , and that choice and precious , such a present as the whole world cannot afford him the like . and yet more particularly the man ought to look upon his wife under that notion which was the special end of god's giving her , namely , as an help meet for and sutable to him . the wife since the fall is appointed for three ends , ad remedium , ad sobolem , in adjutorium , for a remedy against fornication , for the procreation of children , and for helpful communion ; this last was no doubt the first in divine intention , and so ought to be in the mans apprehension . he that taketh a wife only as a remedy will love her but as men do physick , for use , yea , for meer necessity . he that marrieth onely for posterity will love her as a mother not as a wife . he onely can rightly love a wife who looketh upon her , and accordingly taketh her for a oke-fellow and companion . the right estimation then of a wife is to account her as next to himself , and so above either children or servants . thus the father willeth the man to consider , that by marriage he becomes not a master but an husband , and taketh not an handmaid but a wife ; in this respect the psalmist comparing the wife to a vine , placeth her by the sides of his house , not in fastigio on the top of an house , nor in pavimento by the floor of an house , but in lateribus by the sides of the house , a middle place between both : lateribus sibi junguntur qut pariter ambulant , they that go by our sides are our companions , such is the wife to the man , and so ought to be in his esteem . indeed the formation of woman out of mans rib clearly represents this truth . on the one hand she was not made of the head , and therefore not domina , she must not rule over the husband ; nor yet of any anterior part , and therefore not praelata , she must not be before the husband : on the other hand she was not made of the foot , and therefore not serva , to be kept under as a servant ; nor yet of any hinder part , and therefore not postposita to be put behind as a child ; but she was made of a rib in his side , and therefore socia , to be esteemed and used as a fellow-helper . . the concomitants or ingredients of this love are desire and delight . the moralists distinguish of a double love , to wit , amor benevolentiae and amor complacentiae , a love of benevolence , whereby we heartily wish and accordingly endeavour the good of another , a love of complacency whereby we are well pleased and satisfied in the enjoyment one of another . both of these make up the mans love to his wife , namely a cordial desire of her welfare , and an affectionate delight in her society . the most proper act of matrimonial love is complacency , in which respect this loving is called elsewhere a rejoycing , and the wife is called the wife of the bosome , the desire of the eyes . the bosome is a place of repose , and the things we put in our bosomes are such as we take delight in ; for this cause christ is said to be in the bosome of the father , to note that it is he in whom the father is well pleased ; and john is said to lean on jesus bosome , because the disciple whom jesus loved , and in whose converse he was singularly delighted . the desire of the eyes is that which in the absence we long for , and the presence of which we behold with joy ; so that both these expressions do plainly intimate what contentment and satisfaction the man ought to take in the converse and enjoyment of his wife . and therefore it is solomon's counsel , let thy wife be to thee as the loving hinde , and as the pleasant roe , or according to the hebrew , an hinde of loves , a roe of favours : the mates of those females are the hart and the roe-buck , which as naturalists observe are of all other creatures the most inamored with their mates , to instruct the man what an affectionate wel-pleasednesse he should have with his wife . . the consequents of this love are chiefly protection , provision , and toleration ; love is ever active , being like the fire , which where it is sends forth light and heat . indeed exhibitio operis probatio amoris , action is the most real proof of affection , only that love being true which is not otiosus but officiosus , in word but in deed : thus the husbands love to his wife must manifest it self . . in protecting her to his power from injuries : it is the psalmists expression , thou lord wilt blesse the righteous , with favour wilt thou compasse him as with a shield . love alwayes improves what ability it hath in being a shield to what it affects ; so ought the husbands love to expresse it self in defending his wife from wrong . it is well observed that the rib of which woman was made , was taken from under the mans arm , to teach him , that as the use of the arm is to keep off blowes from the body , so the office of an husband is to ward off dangers from his wife . it is the speech of ruth to boaz , spread thy skirt over thine handmaid : the hebrew word which we render skirt , properly signifieth a wing ; and so the metaphor is borrowed from birds who spread their wings over their young ones , to preserve them from harm ; this was that boaz owed to ruth as a kinsman : but much more when an husband , it being the mans part to spread the skirts or wings of protection over his wife . that expression which abimelech used to sarah concerning abraham , behold he is to thee a covering of the eyes , is very considerable to this purpose , since as ainsworth hath well observed , it denoteth not only subjection on the womans , but protection on the mans part . . by providing for her conveniencies : love is full of care , and care is diligent in providing : such a provident care the man oweth to his wife ; and that not onely so far as is necessary , this being due to the meanest servant in the family , but as is convenient and sutable both to her relation as a wife , and to his place and condition ; this duty is that which the apostle expresseth a little before in two significant words of nourishing and cherishing , the former whereof as one hath well observed referreth to food , the latter to raiment , both which in a plentifull measure the man according to his degree and estate ought to afford his wife , and the latter word being a metaphor borrowed as another hath observed from the hens sitting upon her egges to keep them warm , and thereby to hatch her brood , doth elegantly expresse what a tender cherishing care matrimoniall love obligeth a man unto . indeed when the man marrieth a wife , she leaveth her friends with whom she was educated , and her friends commit her to her husbands custody , good reason he should have a special care to provide for her ; and because this love must be christian as well as conjugal , this care ought to be conversant not only about her bod● , but her soul : in which regard the apostle peter willeth husbands to dwell with their wives as men of knowledge , instructing them in the things which concern their everlasting welfare . . by bearing with their infirmities : s. paul speaking of charity , among other properties , telleth us she is not easily provoked , she beareth all things , and s. peter that she coveerth a multitude of sins ; though love be not blind , yet oft-times she winketh , as not willing to take notice of the wrongs that are done : thus ought the husband to expresse his affection to his wife . indeed this is the trial of his love , not to be stirred up to wrath , when yet provocation is given , but silently to passe by and patiently bear with her failings : every one will love when he is pleased ; but that is love , to bear when provoked : this is that which the apostle intendeth when to this precept of love he addeth a prohibition of bitternesse ; husbands love yove your wives and be not bitter against them , that is , ob leves causas exasperari , upon slight causes , small offences , to have their love abated , or wrath exasperated . this the heathen philosopher saw , who therefore willeth husbands to passe by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} their wives infirmities . and thus you have beheld the several lines of the mans duty meeting together in this one center of love . what now remains but that all men learn to square their practice by this precept ? but alas how just cause is there given by a great part of men for a sad complaint , or rather a sharp reproof ! i would to god there were not some who in stead of affecting abhor , loving , loath their wives : and the most though not guilty of the contrary vice , yet are too defective in the exercise of the vertue ; they do not hate , and yet they do not love their wives , and in this the bare want of love is no small sinne . be pleased to consider a while in particular the contrarieties between the rule and mens practices ; how many husbands have base and unworthy esteems of their wives , as if they were their drudges , being more kinde to their servants then them ? little better are they who with that emperour imagine wife to be a name dignitatis not voluptatis , as if it were enough for wives that their husbands vouchsafe to honour them in marrying them , and in the mean time they may indulge themselves the licentious liberty of voluptuous conversing with other women ; whence it is their wives society is rather a burthen then a pleasure to them . no lesse justly are they to be condemned who prodigally consume that estate in riot and luxury by which their wives and family should be maintained with needful conveniences : surely in such men nec amor viget mariti nec fides christiani , there is neither the faith of a christian nor the love of an husband . finally , how deservedly are they to be blamed who put a sinister construction upon all their wives actions ? if she be devout , she is an hypocrite ; if grave , she is melancholy ; if chearful , she is wanton ; if she stay at home , she is a drone ; if she go abroad , a gadder ; so that , nothing their wives doe can please them : whence it is that they are apt to quarrel with them de lanâ caprinâ , upon every trifle , and are often enraged without any just occasion . by these and several other waies do men discover a great defect of this duty which our apostle here calls for ; but i wish that such would sadly consider how repugnant these courses are to christianity , since what s. john saith in another case , i may no lesse truly say in this , if a man say i love god , and hateth his brother , he is a liar ; for if he loves not his brother whom he hath seen , how can he love god whom he hath not seen . in like manner , if a man say he loves god and hateth his wife , he is a liar ; for if he loves not his wife whom he seeth , how can he love god whom he hath not seen ? be we therefore all of us exhorted to a careful and chearful performance of our duty ; and as the apostle elsewhere adviseth in the general , let all things be done in charity , so shall i in this particular , let all things a man doth to his wife , be done in love ; his looks , his speeches , his carriage , his actions , his familiarity , yea , his authority ; his admonitions , yea , his reprehensions , let all be sweetned with love : as the salt is first set on and last taken off from the table , and is eaten almost with every dish ; so let love accompany him in the whole course of his behaviour towards her . thus ought conjugal love to be extended , but withal it must be limited to the right object , his wife ; which leadeth me to the propriety of the object , thy wife . to clear this , be pleased to distinguish of a three-fold love , spiritual , natural , and matrimonial : spiritual love is that we bear to a woman as she is a christian , and so where there are the greatest measures of grace , there ought to be greater degrees of love ; and in this respect another woman may deserve love when a mans own wife doth not , because she may want those impressions of grace which others have : natural love is to a woman as woman , and thus a man may love other women besides his wife , but still he must love his wife before other women : matrimonial love is of the wife as she is a wife ; and this is solely and wholly due from every man to his own wife . the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} here used signifieth as much as {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( which is by some therefore made the etymology of it ) such a love whereby a man rests satisfied in the object loved ; this is that which solomon requireth where he saith , let her breasts satisfie thee at all times ; and the contrary to this the law forbiddeth , where we read , thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife . a fault too common though very hainous , as nadab and abihu offered strange fire in the censer ; so a great many harbour strange fire in their hearts , i mean love to strange women : yea , with such a spirit of lewdnesse are some possessed , that they therefore cannot love them because they are their wives . it is an expression which ( though odious ) some mouths have not been ashamed to utter , i could love her were she not my wife ; as if a man should say , i could love these lands , these goods , but that they are mine , which how unreasonable a reason it is cannot but be obvious to every man . oh far be this distemper from us : learn we therefore as to refine our love that it be not sensual , so to confine it that it be not extravagant . it was the praise of constantine that he was juvenis uxorius , though young , devoted in his love only to his wife , let him be our pattern . the ring given in marriage is but one , to teach the man that his love must be singularly contracted to the person of the wife . the truth is , that love which is as it were cut into many rivulets must needs run weakly , nay , he that giveth not all his love to his wife indeed giveth none at all ; besides that is most true in this sense , deus amat cor extensum non divisum , the husbands love must be extended but not divided ; a heart and a heart is hateful in god's sight , nor can such expect his benediction . it is well observed that in the beginning whilest the waters were over the earth , there was nothing but barrenness ; but when they were gathered into one place , the earth brought forth fruits , and the sea fishes : that love will be most fruitful , which is only setled upon the wife , and therefore let this counsel be acceptable to all men ; cause the stream of thy affection to run in one channel , the lines of thy delight to meet in one center : love as intirely as thou canst so it be thy own wife , and so much the rather because she is thy self : which leadeth me to the energy of the rule upon which this love is grounded , and by which it must be measured , as himself . it is a question here moved by some , why the apostle having proposed so excellent a pattern already as that of christ's love to his church , should now add another of a far inferiour nature , to wit , our love to our selves ; to which this answer is fitly returned . this pattern of self-love is annexed , not as if the other were not abundantly sufficient both to perswade and direct to the duty , but because this , as s. chrysostome saith excellently , is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a more domestick and familiar example . the love we bear to our selves is plainly felt and discerned by us ; not so christ's love to his church , it being a love which passeth knowledge : every man knoweth how he loveth himself ; only the spiritual man knoweth , and that but in a scant measure , how christ loveth his church : besides , our love to our selves as it is better known , so more easily imitated ; whereas christ's love to his church is both so transcendent in its own nature , and so far remote from our apprehension , that though we must follow after it , yet we may despair ever to come near it . but it may be further objected , is not self-love a vice ? are not those hypocrites branded for this among others , that they are lovers of their own selves ? how then comes it to passe that self-love is here set down as the rule of a mans love to his wife ? to which it is easily answered , that it is not self-love but the exorbitancy of it , which is elsewhere condemned as a vice , and it is not an inordinate but a regular self-love which is here commended as a rule . the first and primary object of our love is god himself , and as he is a superexcellent good , so our love to him must be a superlative love , such was david's when he cried out , whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that i desire besides thee ; not goods , nor children , nor wife , no nor self may be loved as god . next to , and under god comes in self , there being nothing except god which can or ought to be dearer to a man then himself , this is that love by which in general the love to our neighbour , and more particularly the love to the wife ought to be regulated ; for so our apostle here proposeth it , that a man should love his wife as himself . this as in the text may very well admit of a double construction , there is a sicut similitudinis and veritatis , an as of likenesse and resemblance , and an as of verity and samenesse ; both these may be here used , and accordingly it representeth two things in order to conjugal love , namely , modum and motivum , the manner how , and the reason why the man should love his wife . . the most proper and frequent acception of this conjunction as , is only to note likeness , and thus the meaning is , that a mans love to his wife should be like that he bears to himself , so that by tracing the similitude we shall learn much of the manner how this love is to be performed , and that in these following parallels . . a mans love to himself is cordial without dissimulation . though a man may seign amity to others , yet no man ever in this kind dissembled with himself ; such should a mans love be to his wife ; not an outside but an inside , not a feigned but a hearty love . the poet calls love {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a fire that burns withinin ; and plutarch saith of friendship , that as minerals are hid in the bowels of the earth , so this must be seated in the bottom of the heart . and surely much more true ought this to be of the love between man and wife , who as they are one flesh , so should their hearts be joyned together in one , and as it was said of jonathan that his soul was knit to david , so ought the soul of the husband to the wife . the ring in marriage is put upon the fourth finger of the left hand , concerning which aulus gellius acquaints us from appion , that the aegyptians in anatomizing mens bodies , observed nervum quidem tenuissimum ab eo uno digito ad cor hominis pergere ac provenir̄e , that singer of all the rest to have a small nerve passing from it to the heart , the truth of this i leave to skilful anatomists to determine : the moral use which the man ought to make of it is good , that putting the ring on such a finger he be admonished of that neer union there ought to be between , and dear affection in his heart to his wife . . a mans love to himself is constant . no man in his right minde was ever brought to hate himself ; such ought his love to be to his wife : not like nero's quinquennium , for a short time , a few years ; but as long as the relation so long must the affection continue , even till death do part them . the ring given in marriage is of a circular figure , and a circle is the image of constancy , to teach the man how perpetual his love should be . this latter will follow upon the former , since quos verus amor tenuit tenebit , that affection which is unfaigned will not be fading . and yet more particularly , look as though a man see others stronger , healthier , handsomer then himself ; yet he doth not therefore fall in love with them to slight himself , or wish his head upon their shoulders : so though other women be more beautiful and lovely then his own wife , yet must he not dote on them and neglect her , or so much as wish an exchange . and yet further , as nothing can make a man to be out of love with himself though he be deformed or by some sad accident maimed and debilitated ; so neither ought any natural defect or accidental mischance cause a remission , much lesse a cessation of the mans love to his wife . . a mans love of himself is tender ; no man can handle one so tenderly as he doth himself . if thou hast a blear eye , a lame foot , or any other member afflicted , wilt thou presently pluck it out , or cut it off , or wilt thou not rather use it with the greater regard ? such must a mans affection be to his wife , expressing it self in gentle and tender dealing with her : how chary are men of their glasses , because as they are bright so brittle ? the woman is the weaker vessell , which must not be a cause of contempt but respect ; and the more weak she is by reason of any sicknesse or distemper whatsoever , so much the more tender care ought to be had of her . indeed i read of some who in stead of tendernesse have been cruel to themselves in cutting and lancing , but they were either idolatrous , as baal's priests , or daemoniaacks , as he in the gospel ; and surely we may account them either besotted in their minds , or possessed with a divel who lay violent hands upon their wives . the husband indeed is to govern the wife , but consiliis non plagis , with counsels not stripes ; neither divine nor humane law intrusts the man with a power of castigation over his wife ; yea , the civil law alloweth her a bill of divorce , si probare possit maritum verberibus illam assecisse , if she have evidence that her husband striketh her ; and the reason is added quia verbera sunt ab ingenuis aliena , stripes are for flavish not ingenuous persons : yea , even among the heathen we finde not any unlesse mad or drunk , practising this unnatural cruelty . . a mans love to himself is industrious , whilest his head is ever contriving and his hand acting what may do himself good ; nor doth he account the greatest study or pains too much for his own advantage ; nay , what is not a man willing to part with , lands , goods , all he hath for the preservation of himself ? such ought his love to be to his wife , parting with , going about any thing which may conduce to her comfort , and this not grudgingly but freely : right love is not in verbal complement but real implement , ; nor need beneficence be squeezed as wine out of the grape , but it floweth naturally from love as water from the fountain ; thus doth the loving husband prevent his wives desire in seeking and endeavouring her good . . the love of a man to himselfe is pure , not for base and sinister ends , it is not himself as thus or thus accomplished , but purely himself that he loveth ; such ought a mans love to be to his wife , not because she is rich , or young , or fair , but because she is his wife . when martia cato's daughter was asked why she did not marry , she answered , non se invenire virum qui se magis veliet quam sua , she could not finde a man that would love her more then hers . i wish it might not be charged on too many men : they love only with their eyes and their fingers , because of the beauty they see in , or the money they receive with their wives ; not with their hearts , out of an ingenuous or rather pious respect , to that relation of a wife wherein they belong to them . . and lastly , a mans love to himself is superlative ; proximus quisque sibi , charity ever beginneth at home ; and self-love surpasseth a mans affection to any other whatsoever : thus ought his love to his wife transcend his love to all other relations , exigit vehementissimam dilectionem , quia non potest esse vehementior quam sui ipsius dilectio ; our apostle in this expression cals for vehemency of affection because self-love is of such a nature . the ring given in marriage is of gold the choicest among mettals , to intimate that the dearest affections belong to the wife : for this cause ( saith moses ) a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife , not as if marriage engaged men to put off naturall affection to their parents , and when they begin to be husbands they must cease to be children , this is a glosse fit for none but a pharisee to put upon that scripture ; but conditionally , if they shall seek to alienate his affection from his wife , and comparatively if a man be put to that sad strait that either his wife or his parents must perish , he ought first to relieve his wife ; and if you will know the reason of all this , it is because she is himselfe , which bringeth me to the . consideration of this as under the notion of identity , as , that is , being himself : it is that acception in which this conjunction is sometimes taken , where it is said concerning christ , we saw his glory as of the only begotten son of god , it noteth not a likeness but a reality , being the onely begotten sonne of god ; and in the same construction is that commendation given of the thessalonians for receiving the word as ( that is , being indeed ) the word not of man but of god ; the same sense is here to be given , as , that is , not only , non minus quam seipsum , not lesse then himself , but quia illa est altera ego , because she is a second self : to this purpose is that of s. jerom , who maketh it to be a sicut non similitudinis , sed ponderis ; and thus where a little before it is said , he that loveth his wife loveth himself , the meaning is not only that he doth good to himself , but that she is himself . the truth of which will easily appear upon a double consideration , of her original by creation , being made of a rib which was a part of the man ; so that when a man taketh a wife reparat latus suum , repetit costam suam , he repaireth his side , regaineth his rib , and laieth her in his bosome who was taken out of his side . in that expression in genesis of making an he'p meet for him , the last words for him are fitly rendred according to the original coram ipso , that is as a glasse that reflecteth upon him his own image , ipse coram se himself before himself , that which he seeth being taken out of himself . chiefly of her neer conjunction by marriage with the man ; in which respect as they are one flesh , so the law maketh them one person . man and wife , what are they , but as two springs meeting and so joyning their streams that they make but one current ; so that the water of the one and the other cannot be severed : or as those two branches in the prophets hand enclosed in one bark ; and so closing together that they make but one piece and the same fruit cometh of either . indeed so close and near is the communion , that as to use they have all things common , bodies , children , houses , conditions of prosperity and adversity . and now what improvement should all men make of this consideration but to enlarge and encrease their affections towards their wives ? indeed it is a most unnatural thing for a man not to love himself ; it is no lesse not to love his wife : even irrational creatures teach a man to love himself , and in that to love his wife : a man loveth his goods , because sua his own , parents love their children as suos being their own , much more should he love his wife as seipsum being himself : though a mans own goods be not so wealthy , children so comely as anothers , yet the nearness of relation engageth to affection . nemo patriam amat quia magnam sed quia suam , every mans countrey is most acceptable to him , because though not so great or fertile as others , yet it is his own , his native soyl . be thy wife far inferiour in riches , beauty , and such like ornaments to other women , yet this obligation lieth upon thee to love her , because she is thine ; yea , so much thine as that she is thy self . and thus i have given a dispatch to the mans duty ; i now proceed with lesse brevity , but no lesse fidelity to the womans part , as it followeth in those words , and the wife ( see ) that she reverence her husband . we are not here to imagine that when the apostle calleth upon the woman for reverence he excludeth love ; love is no less the wives duty then the mans : conjugal affection must be mutual and reciprocal : the husband must love his wife as himself , and the wife love her husband as her self ; so that whatsoever hath been said concerning the man in this respect , must and ought likewise to be observed and practised by the woman . hence it is that elsewhere this is expressed concerning the younger women , that they love their husbands : the truth is , the apostle here requireth love and somewhat more from the wife , such a love as expresseth it self by fear , such an affection as yieldeth chearful subjection : the wife see that she do not only love , but reverence her husband . to this purpose theophylact saith aptly , the wife must love her husband as a member , and fear him as the head : the man indeed being the superior is only bound to love , but the woman being imperfect and inferior is obliged to fear . it is an observation not unfitly taken notice of by the golden mouth'd father ; and therefore not to be passed by , that the apostle enlargeth about love , and only mentioneth fear {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he setteth down the extent of love in leaving father and mother and cleaving to the wife , the manner , by christ's love to his church , and a mans to himself ; not so of fear : and he giveth this reason , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because he would have love especially to prevail both in man and woman , since whereas fear will not cause love , love will produce fear . upon the same ground i have in imitation of the apostle , spent the greatest part of the time in handling love , allotting to it an elder brothers portion , though withall i must not neglect in some measure to prosecute this of fear , which particularly belongs to the wife . if we cast our eyes on the . verse of the following chapter , we shall find the apostle setting down fear as a chief ingredient in the servants duty : and here a verb of that noun is used to express the wives duty to the husband ; but though there be this agreement in the word , yet there is a great deal of difference in the thing ; and therefore the scholiast speaking of servile fear maketh this exception , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , this is not that fear which is enjoyned the wife . the fear of a slave and a wife differ specifically ; the slaves fear is only of the rod not the person , the wives only of the person not any rod . the slaves fear is oft-times accompanied with hatred of his master , the wives fear is alwaies attended with a love of her husband . the fear of a servant and a wife differ gradually , since according to the measure of the distance so is the degree of the fear ; and thus the servant being in a far lower condition , and so at a greater distance from the master then the wife from the husband ; his fear must be of a more aweful and submissive temper : in which respect the apostle useth two words , the one expressing an high degree of the other , to wit , fear and trembling , such a fear as is joyned with trembling ; whereas the wives fear is only so much as doth declare that the man is superiour ; nor must it be of that nature as to cause a trembling at , but rather a delighting in her husbands presence ; not such as maketh her to quake when she seeth him , but only keepeth her from rising up against , contradicting of , and insulting over him . to unfold more particularly both the intent and extent of this reverence , which is the wives debt to the husband , be pleased to know that there is an inward and outward reverence due from all inferiours , and in special the wife ; the intent of this fear wherein it consists , we shall finde in the inward ; the extent of it how far it reacheth , we shall see by the outward acts . the inward reverence carrieth in it an act both of the judgment and the will ; of the judgement , dictating the husbands superiority ; of the will dreading to doe any thing which may displease him . . this principle must be firmly asserted to and acknowledged by the wife , that the husband is her superiour ; indeed there is a double priority belonging to the man , . in respect of sex he being the male , and the woman the female , upon which difference the man is called the image and glory of god , and the woman the glory of the man ; man god's image and glory , because in him a resemblance of god's dominion and majesty , as being lord of the world ; and the woman the mans glory , it being an high honour to the man that so noble a creature as the woman should be inferiour to him . . nor is this all the ground of his superiority , since not only as man he is before the woman , but as an husband he is over the wife ; and therefore as in respect of sex , so much more of relation and office , is the mans authority to be asserted . in which regard those titles of head and guide are given to him : since what the guide is to the traveller , and the head to the members , that is the husband to the wife for direction and government . indeed this truth is so clear in sacred writ , that it cannot be ignorance but arrogancy , want of sufficient information but peremptoriness of pride that causeth in any a denial , or so much as a doubt concerning it . that pattern of women , sarak , acknowledged this , when not out of a feigned flattery but a just humility she called her husband lord ; and this is the first step of that reverence here commanded and commended to all the daughters of sarah , that they cordially assent to the husbands primacy and authority over them . . from this naturally floweth in the will an aversation from what offendeth her husband , whereby out of an awful respect to his power and place she dareth not displease him ; yea , in consideration of which she abhorreth it as the greatest evil next to the breach of god's precepts , to contradict her husbands will . hence it is that as the apostles expression is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} she taketh care , and that a serious thoughtful care which way she may please her husband , so as it is her joy when she can give him content , and her grief when any thing falleth out that crosseth his will , and proveth distasteful to him . thus as the iron is drawn by the loadstone , the marigold openeth and shutteth with the sun , and the glasse reflecteth the form and figure , the posture and motion of the body ; so doth her will conform it self next under god's to her husbands pleasure . . upon both these followeth that outward reverence in her . first , gestures , when by her respectful carriage and observant demeanour towards him she testifieth her reverent regard of him : in token of this it was that rebeccah when she saw isaac , lighted of her camell , and covered her self with a veil : this is that fear which s. peter mindeth the wives of in those words , whilest they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear , it being such a fear he there calleth for which is exprest in their conversation ; and that such as others may behold , to wit , in their reverent deportment towards their husbands . thus as the moon though when the sun is absent she govern the world by her influence , yet when the sun appeareth she veileth her light : so the wife though she be ruler of the family in her husbands absence , yet when he is present she must declare her reverence by giving place to him . secondly , speeches , and that both to and of him ; to him , when he is with her , fairly entreating , modestly answering , mildely perswading , humbly admonishing ; and when occasion is , wisely forbearing to retort upon his passionate expressions . of him , when he may be far from her , having the fear of him before her ; and therefore not mentioning his name without respect , and avoiding any expressions which ( though out of his hearing ) may betray any contempt either of his person , or power , or place . thirdly , actions , when her reverence of him causeth her willingly to doe what he requireth , and abstain from what he forbiddeth . indeed reverence is the rise of obedience , and obedience the best testimony of reverence : that subjection cannot be voluntary which is not the effect of reverence ; nor can that reverence be real which doth not put upon subjection . it is very observable in scripture that the fear of god and keeping his commandments are frequently joyned together , to intimate the inseparable connexion between them , since whoso feareth god cannot but keep gods commandments ; and he cannot keep god's commandments that doth not fear him : it is no lesse true in this of the wife to the husband , who ought to manifest her fear of him by her obedience to his desires . and now beloved , i could wish there were not cause given by wives as well as men of a deserved accusation and a severe increpation . indeed some kinde of fear is too prevalent in many women ; nor are the men in this to be exempted , i mean a fear of suspicion and jealousie in regard of each others fidelity . a crime that for the most part is found in them that are guilty themselves : as charity prompts good men to think others are as faithful and just as themselves ; so lust maketh evil ones surmise others to be as vicious and licentious as they . a sin which cannot but be an enemy to the duties here enjoyned , since jealousie must needs expel love out of the mans heart towards his wife , and hinder the woman from yielding that reverential fear she oweth to her husband . finally , a fault which like envy carrieth with it its own punishments , guawing the bowels , distracting the thoughts , and tormenting the spirits of them who give entertainment to it : in which respect wise persons are unwilling to harbour it even when there may be too just ground and reason for it . but to return to the fear my text calls for , though there be too much oft-times of that other , yet too little of this fear is to be found in most women : how true this charge is let the carelesse irreverent carriage of many wives testifie . solomon in the proverbs mentioneth , an eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother : indeed by the eye it is that the soul doth much expresse it self in mocking and despising , and there are too easily to be observed eyes that despise their husbands . women of proud and scornful behaviour not only towards their neighbours but husbands . nor are only the eyes but the tongues of many in fault , by reason of sharp , passionate , presumptuous and impetuous speeches , whilest they speak either chidingly like jezabel , railingly like zipporah , scoffingly like michol , or reproachfully like job's wife ; nay , so little regard have they of their husbands , that they care not in discourse before others to divulge their faults , and ( it may be ) load them with calumnies : so that what jacob saith to his sons simeon , and levi in regard of their cruel exploit , you have made we to stink amongst the inhabitants of the land , may many men say to their wives , you make me to stink amongst my neighbours and friends by your reviling words and opprobrious speeches ; yea , to carry it on a little further , i would to god there were not a generation of women in the world who tread antipodes to this duty , instead of fearing their husbands they would make their husbands stand in fear of them ; whose study is not to please but crosse their husbands wills , who will either have the mastery , or wage a continual warre with them ; aspiring shoulders that will not content themselves to have a room below their head ; monsters of their sex inverting the order in which nature or rather the god of nature hath set them , as if the woman were not made for the mans comfort , but the man to be at the womans command . but i am perswaded better things of you , though i thus speak , only i beseech you accept a word of exhortation to the practice of this duty . our english translation here supplieth a word see , which is not in the original ; but yet it is implied in the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that she reverence , before which is supposed a verb that must signifie as much as see , let the wife look to it that she fear her husband . it is then a strict charge that is here laid upon the woman by the apostle , give me leave from him to give it you . have a care that this duty of fear be not omitted ; it is not an arbitrary thing which you may doe or leave , but a necessary work to be performed by you ; i know you are ready to say with them in the gospel , this is an hard saying , who can bear it ? but be it never so hard in your apprehention , it is but just and right according to god's ordination , and to repine at it is no lesse then to murmure at god himself . oh therefore see , beware that you grudge not at this precept ; and again see , look that you cheerfully perform it : and indeed were it seriously considered that it is not a servile but an ingenuous fear which is here commanded , and that this fear from the wife is allaied with a precept of honour from the husband , nay , that where this is practised , it doth regain a mutual respect from the man , whilest by obeying she commands , for so the mother told her daughter , do thou minister to thy husband , and he shall do the like to thee ; be thou his handmaid and he shall be thy servant ; and thus as sarah called abraham lord , so he called her sarai , as much as my mistris : these meditations could not but sweeten the bitternesse of this precept to them . in a word , let there be but a cordiall love in the wife to her husband , and this command of fear will not be grievous to her : as fear is the spring of subjection , so love is the rise of fear ; in which respect the scholiast saith fitly , if love be present , fear will follow after it and attend upon it ; and as the mans love engageth him to honour and protect , so the wives will no lesse oblige her to fear and subjection . i shut up this , yea both the man and the womans part with one admonition to them both : as the one desireth to love his wife , and the other to fear her husband , let both strive to have the love and fear of god rooted in their hearts . it is very considerable , that fear god and the king are put together by solomon , and fear god and honour the king by s. peter , to intimate , that the former always inclines to the latter : the like i may say here , fear god and thy husband , fear god and honour thy wife , since he that is faithful in his duty to god , cannot but be careful of his duty to man . the rabbins have observed , that if the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth god , be taken out of the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth man and woman , there remaineth nothing but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth fire ; nothing but the fire of malice in the mans heart , the fire of pride in the womans , and the fire of contention between them both is to be expected , when god is not loved , feared , served and honoured by them . and thus much be spoken of the second general , the obligation layed upon the man and the wife . i hasten in a word to the punctual application to be made of these duties , let every one of you in particular . and this is done two ways : by a word of generical comprehension , every one ; and words of individual specification , of you in particular : both which though expressed only in the mans part , yet are by a parity of reason to be supplied the wives , every one in particular , both man and woman being obliged to the practice of their duty . . the first word is of a generical comprehension , every one , of what degree , quality , condition soever is concerned in these precepts ; yea every one is bound to their several wife or husband , be their condition or qualification what it will . it is , though very sad , yet too common for both sexes to plead excuses for their non-observance of these divine injunctions . on the one hand many a man is apt to say , i could love my wife were she a person of quality , but she was my servant ; were she wealthy , but she brought me nothing ; were she meek and quiet , but she is froward and perverse . it is true indeed wisedom teacheth thee beforehand to take care that there be virtuous qualities , and some proportionable equality of estate and degree in the person whom thou choosest for thy wife ; but having once entered into that relation , justice obligeth thee to give her the love due to a wife . on the other hand many a wife is ready to pretend , i could reverence my husband were he not a mean person , one whose fortune hath been raised by my estate ; not considering , that how superiour soever she were before , yet by marriage she becometh his inferior : and again , i could reverence him were he not a man of a debaucht , prophane and vicious life . indeed i could wish that many men did not give too much occasion by their loose lives of that contempt they finde in the eyes not only of wife , but servants ; but still be the husband never so faulty , and his practices licentious , yet in respect of his place and relation , the wife oweth him reverence : the truth is , nemo excipitur , none is excepted , let none of either sex dare to exempt themselves . . because what is spoken to every one , is accounted as spoken to none , our apostle bringeth down the general to individuals , every one of you in particular ; or according to the greek , one by one : take this as spoken to him and her , and so each apply their own duty to themselves . it is that which concerneth ministers in all their doctrines , not to shoot at randome but aim at the mark ; like david's , thou art the man and s. peter's , you have crucified ; and here s. paul's , you in particular . it is that which all hearers are enjoyned , to mix faith with what they hear , and that by a particular application of the word to their own hearts and lives ; and yet more closely to the text , it is that which man and wife , each one in regard of themselves ought to take notice of , and square their own practice by . and well were it if this were duly thought upon , and accordingly perfomed . but alas , we every one look to anothers , not our own duty ; and to speak my thoughts freely , i fear this will be the use or rather abuse which too many will make of this sermon . it is very likely that when you come home , the husband will read his wife a lecture of her duty , and the wife ring a peal in the husbands ears concerning his , and so whilest each upbraid the other , both forget what belongeth to them in particular . oh how preposterous a course is this ! as if a scholar should only minde how his schoolfellow learneth his lesson , and not look on his own : or a man should take notice what is good for his neighbours , but not his own disease ; and therefore whereas the apostle in another case most justly adviseth , look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others , my counsel in this case is , look not so much on the duties of others , as every man on his own . and so much the rather would this be considered in the present matter , because it is so frequent for both the man and the wife to excuse their own neglect by the others default . what apologies more usual then these ? the man saith , i could love my wife did she reverence me ; and the wife i would reverence my husband did he love me : both are ready to say , let him do his , or she her duty , and i will doe mine . but oh how vain is this plea , since neither is the man only obliged in case the woman perform hers , nor the woman if the man perform his part , but both because god hath enjoyned each particular to fulfill their own work whatsoever the other doe . excellent counsel to this purpose is that which a greek father giveth , where he puts the question and answers it , what if the woman do not fear thee , yet do thou love her , and so perform thy part ; and likewise the woman though she be not beloved , yet let her reverence her husband : surely , as our blessed saviour was used to say , it is better to give then to receive , so in this case it is better to pay then to require ; if another fail in duty to thee it is thy crosse , but if thou fail in duty to another it is thy curse : assure thy self oh man or woman , it is more acceptable to god and commendable amongst men , that thou shouldst doe thy own part , then challenge that which is anothers towards thee : and let me add one word more , that man or woman who seeth not more faults in themselves then in the other , is either arrogant , or ignorant , or both . to end all : though we must every one apply to our selves , yet we may every one exhort each other ; the husband the wife , and the wife ( with a due regard ) the husband . though our application must be peculiar , yet our supplication ought to be mutual ; the husband for the wife , the wife for the husband , both together that they may know and practise their duties . let us therefore pray one for another , and let it be my prayer for you all here present this day , who are knit together in the matrimonial bond , that every husband may love his wife as himself , and every wife reverence her husband as she ought : and yet more especially for that worthy pair , whose nuptials have been lately solemnized , that by the practice of their duties each to other , they may be happy each in other ; and the blessing of heaven may be upon them both , even a peaceable tranquility , hopeful posterity , abundant competency , with length of days here , and a never fading glory , an eternal felicity hereafter . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- prov. . . psal. . . . . notes for div a e- sicut è mari omnia flumina , ita è divina , scriptura omnes humanae disciplinae oriuntur . mend . t. . p. . initio versiculi non converti {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} veruntamen sed igitur , quòd omnino videatur esse in his verbis conclusio superioris tractationis . beza in loc. revocat apostolum haec particula a praedicti mysterii fusiori consideratione . bod. in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. ibid. non impedit praeceptum expressum quod de typica adumbratione dixi . aret. gen. . gen. . ● . aug. de bon● conjug. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . hieroc . de nupt. conjugium principium urbis est & quasi seminarium . cic. de offic. l . bern. mal. . . nec artifex nec materia defecisset . tertul. exhor . ad castit . theod. opusc. in bibl. patr. t. . gr. lat. hieron. numerus conjugii a maledicto viro incepit , primus lamech duabus maritatus tres unam carnem fecit . tartul . ibid. in ea sope deficimus licet domini satis studiosi . aret. in loc. rigorem virilis legis emollit , neu potestate quae praevalet nimius quis sit in dominatu uxoris . amb. in col. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oecum . ibid. demosth. rom. . . non es dominus sed maritus , non ancillam sed uxorem sortitus es , & gubernatorem te voluit esse deus muliebris sexus , non praepotentem . amb hexam . lib . cap. . psa. . . aug. de bon● conjug. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. rhet. l. . c. . pro. . . deut. . . ezek. . . john . . mat. . . joh. . . joh. . . prov. . . diligendi vocabulum tum ad affectum sum ad effectum referre oportet . daven. in col. . . psal. . . ruth . . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} propriè alam significat buxt. gen. . . eph. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , primum ad alimenta alterum ad vestimenta referendum . zanch. significat gallinarum more incubare , & calore foetum partut idoneum reddere . aret. pet. . . cor. . , . pet. . . charitas amat quos tolerat , tolerat quos amat . greg. meg. in ezek. sialienos , multo magis uxorios debes tolerare & emendare mores . ambr. lib. . in loc. cap. . col. . . daven. aristot. aelius verus . joh. . . cor. . . d . part. prov. . . exod. . . exod. . . gen. . . and . , . d. part. quest . answ. chrys. in loc. eph. . . obj. tim. . . sol. psal. . . sam. . . aul. gell. l. . c. . sen. tract. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. in loc. pet. . . king. . . mar. . . god . l. . tit. . hier. contra jovinian . marlo● in loc. gen. . ult. john . . . thes. . . hier. idid . ver . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} chrysost. hom. . in ephes. gen. . . quos nec ipsos singulos condidit deus & tanquam alienigenas junaeit , sed alteram ex altero creavit signans etiam vim conjunctionis in latere unde illa detracta formata est . aug. de bon. conjug . ezek. . . sen. ep. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} theoph. in loc. tit. . . eph. . uxorum timere est cum timore , diligere , virorum autem tantum diligere , quia dilectio perfectorum est . ambr. in cass. chrystost . hom. . in ephes. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oecumen. in eph. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. in loc. congruit vi●● dilectio , mulieri timor : servo vero non solum metus sed & tremorjungitar . hier. in loc. cor. . . prov. . . cor. . . pet. . . non blandiendi consuetudinesed hujus subjectionis testificandae voluntate . daven. cor. . . gen. . : pet. . . nunquam erit voluntaria subjectio nisi precedat reverentia . marlor . in loc. deut. . . eccles. . . sancti caeteros de suo affectu aestimant , & quia ipsis est amica veritas mentiri neminem putant , libenter credant quod ipsi sunt non possunt suspectum habere quod non sunt . ambros. l. . de offic. . prov. . , gen. . . john . . casta ad ●irum inatrona parendo imperat . publ. ser. sapiens quaedam dicebat filiae suae eam cum duceret ad thalamum , mea filia , sta coram viro tuo & ministrae ei ; si fueris ei ancilla , ipse tibi servus erit , &c. in lib. nus . c. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . occum . ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost hom. . in ephes. . gen. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . qud voles aptè nubere nube pari . ovid . epist. quam male inaquales veniunt ad aratra juvenci . tam premitur magno conjuge nupta minor . id. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sam. . . acts . . heb. . . phil . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . bas. hexam. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph in lo● . acts . . death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece. a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of mr. isaac colfe, formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex, and late wife of mr. richard smith of london, draper) who dyed the th. day of novemb. . and was buried the th of the same moneth. by nath: hardy, mr. of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece. a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of mr. isaac colfe, formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex, and late wife of mr. richard smith of london, draper) who dyed the th. day of novemb. . and was buried the th of the same moneth. by nath: hardy, mr. of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by j.g. for nath: web, and will: grantham at the sign of the bear in s. paul's church-yard neere the little north doore., london, : . annotation on thomason copy: "december. .". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng smith, mary, d. -- death and burial. bible. -- n.t. -- mathew xxiv, -- sermons. funeral sermons -- th century. death -- early works to . sermons, english -- th century. a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece.: a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion death's alarum : or , secvrity's warning-piece . a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church , at the funerall of mrs. mary smith ( daughter of mr. isaac colfe , formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex , and late wife of mr. richard smith of london , draper ) who dyed the th . day of novemb. . and was buried the th . of the same moneth . by nath : hardy , mr. of arts , and preacher to that parish . revelat. . . behold i come as a thief , blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments , lest be walk naked , and they see his shame . greg. mag. hom. . in evang. horam ultimam dominus noster idcirco voluit nobis esse incognitam , ut semper possit esse suspecta , ut dum illam praevidere non possumus , ad illam sinc intermissione praeparemur . london , printed by j. g. for nath : web , and will : grantham at the sign of the bear in s. paul's church-yard neere the little north doore . . errata . page . line . read from , p. . l. . blot out the fig. . l. . for foremarning r. forearming , in marg. bl . out est . p. . l. . for soules r. skulls , p. . l. . for so r. to , l. . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , p. . l. . after readiness adde consisteth , p. . l. . before sense r. high , l. . blot out high . to the reverend mr. abraham colfe , minister of lewisham in kent : after the numbring of many yeares on earth , yeares without number in heaven . worthy sir , upon your first motion of publishing this sermon , i took it into a serious review , and finding the notions very common , and the expressions home-spun , i adjudged it unworthy to survive ( except in the memories of the auditors ) that houre wherein it was preached : but being loath to deny your desire , i resolved to deny my owne judgement , and withall , hoping it may prove usefull ( though not to informe the judgement , yet ) to awaken the conscience of the reader , i am willing to hazard my owne reputation , if i may advance the edification of others . that which ( reverend sir ) i conceive to be a subordinate end in your intention , is to testifie your abundant ( yet deserved ) respects to your deceased neece , in taking care that whilest her body rots her name might live ; and surely , since the memory of the just is blessed , an endeavour to perpetuate it is pious . praise-worthy then is your regard of her memory , but much more commendable is that course which you have taken for preserving your owne , by an eminent and lasting * act of charity , for which the generations to come shall call you blessed . indeed by this worthy work you have honoured the parish whereof you have been , and are a carefull watchman ; the church of england , to which you have been an obedient son ; the gospel , of which you have beene a laborious preacher ; and protestant religion , of which ( i trust ) you are a sincere professor . and truly , both the present and future ages will be very ingratefull , if they shall not highly honour so munificent a benefactor . however ( i hope ) you have so learned christ , as not to make mens applause the scope at which you aime , or marke whereat you shoot , well knowing that vaine-glory sullyeth the splendour , and evacatueth the reward of our best actions , turning christian charity into pharisaicall hypocrisie . to gods mercifull acceptation ▪ and gracious remuneration ( i doubt not , good sir ) but you commend your pious and charitable designe , who ( though men should ) will not be unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love . to his powerfull protection and most wise direction , i commend both you and your endeavours , who will not forsake you now you are aged , but preserve you to his heavenly kingdome . to whom be glory for ever and ever . amen . i subscribe my self ( sir ) a cordiall honourer of your vertues , nath : hardy . math : . . therefore be ye also ready , for in such an houre as you think not , the sonne of man cometh . this chapter is a sermon , the preacher whereof was no other than the lord of preachers and great prophet of his church : the theame whereabout it is conversant is his coming , and that in a way of judgement . and those two genuine parts of a sermon , explication and application divide the chapter : the former describeth the signes and manner of his advent , from the first verse to the . the latter prescribeth an expectation of , and preparation for it , from the . to the end . the text i am now to handle lyeth within the compasse of the latter and most practicall part of the sermon : in which , ( the designe of our blessed saviour being to urge a watchfull readinesse for his coming ) he pursueth a double metaphor ( couching logicall reasons under rhetoricall allusions ) the one in the following verses , the other in the foregoing . the subsequent similitude is borrowed from a servants behaviour in reference to the coming of his lord . no topicks more prevailing , especially with vulgar judgements , than those which are drawne à commodo & incommodo , from the danger or benefit , detriment or emolument that accrueth by the neglect or performance of that to which we perswade , upon which account it was that catiline said to his souldiers , quem neque gloria neque pericula movent , nequicquam hortere , that man is unperswadable who can neither be affrighted nor allured : both these arguments christ is here pleased to make use of , at once representing the comfortable felicity of a vigilant , and the dolefull , nay dismall misery of a secure servant , when their lord shall come . the precedent resemblance is seemingly very harsh , and yet really very fit , wherein you find mention made of an housholder and a thief , yea ( which is the riddle ) christ compared to the thief , and his disciples to the housholders . that those who are ( most justly ) afterwards called servants , should here be termed housholders , is somewhat strange , and yet this in some respect is very congruous ; since every mans body is an house wherein he dwelleth , his thoughts , words , and actions , are as his family , which he must governe , and his soule , more worth than a world , the treasure which he is to take care of . but though this part of the comparison may admit of a favourable construction , yet the other seemes altogether incompatible . methinks when i read christ resembling himself to a thief , i am ready to say , as once s. peter in another case , be it far from thee , lord , this shall not be unto thee . blessed jesus , thou thinkest it no robbery to be equall with god , and dost thou here , as it were , equalize thy selfe to a robber ? thou callest thy self , and not without good reason , a little after this , lord , and can the lord of the house become a thief , the owner a robber ? thou didst tax the multitude for coming against thee as a thief , and doest thou here speake of thy selfe as if thou wert a thief ? it was an high affront , when the jewes numbred thee with thieves , nay preferred a thief before thee , and art thou so injurious to thy self , as to cloath thy self under the appellation of a thief ? rather ( to allude to s. paul's expression ) let christ be true , and every man a thief . indeed , well may the thief lye at our doores ; our first parents were robbers in eating the forbidden fruit , and wee , their unhappy progeny , are no lesse guilty , not onely in their loynes , but in our owne persons , by uncharitablenesse , by sacriledge , by idlenesse , and prophanenesse : but as for the innocent messiah , what hath he done that may deserve the title of a thief ? to all this the answer is easie , if we consider that it is not a charge or accusation , but onely an allusion or comparison . christ doth not make himselfe the same with , because he likens himselfe to a thief , nor indeed , is it himselfe ▪ but rather his advent , which is here compared to the coming of a thief . but it will still be objected , how can this be verified ? we elsewhere finde christ plainely opposing his to a thiefe's coming , the thief cometh not but to kill and steale , and destroy , but i come , saith christ , that they may have life . true , but that is spoken of his first coming , which was in mercy . it may be replyed , this cannot be asserted of his coming in displeasure , since the coming of a thief is to take from men their owne , to doe wrong , to injure the innocent ; whereas the coming of christ is , like that of a iudge , to give every man his owne , to doe right , to punish the nocent ; and these two are so far from being like , that they are directly contrary . to unfold this riddle , therefore , you must know , that this expression is parabolicall ; and parables , like knives , cut onely in the edge , to wit , the scope : now his aime in likening this advent●o that of a thief is onely to take in the consideration of the time . excellent to this purpose is that of simon de cass●a , similitudo christi ad furem non est personae ad personam , nec negotii ad negotium , sed temporis ad tempus , the parallel here holdeth not between person and person , or businesse and businesse , but betweene time and time ; and therefore the apostles , paul and peter , though ( after christs example ) they are bold to use this allusion , yet with an explicatory addition , where they say , the lord cometh as a thief in the night ; and thus it fitly agreeth , since as the coming of a thief in the night is unexpected , because the good-man of the house is then asleep , & thinketh not of it ; so is oft times , especially to wicked men , the coming of christ ; and that this is the meaning of the protasis in the former , appeareth by the apodosis , or reddition of the similitude in this verse which requireth our constant preparednesse , because of his sodaine coming , be you therefore ready , for in an houre , &c. the words ( if taken in their fullest latitude ) present us with foure considerables : here is , . an advent supposed in the last word come , and what coming of christ is here intended would be a little enquired into : to cleare which we must distinguish of those severall comings which are attributed to him in scripture , nor can they ( in my weak capacity ) be more clearly differenced , than by considering a salvificall and a judiciall advent of christ , and each of these as both visible and invisible . christs coming to save is either in the flesh , or in the spirit ; his first coming into the world , and his daily coming into our hearts , are in their prime intention salvfiicall ; his visible coming was to be the sonne of man , that in our nature he might purchase salvation for us ; his invisible is by his spirit , to make us the sonnes of god , and thereby apply this salvation to us ; but neither of these can be here meant , since his coming in the flesh was already past , whereas he speaketh of a future advent ; nor can wee make our selves ready against his coming in the spirit , but it is the coming of the spirit which must inable us to make our selves ready . passe we on therefore to his judiciall coming , which is either generall or speciall , personall or virtuall , and so visible or invisible . there shall be at the end of the world , a glorious coming of christ in person , to execute a manifest and righteous judgement upon all mankinde , rewarding every man according to his works ; in the meane time , christ cometh in his power by secondary instruments to every particular man , and sometimes to whole nations : in which respect , when by plague , famine , and warre , kingdomes are destroyed , and when by casualties , or sicknesse , persons are cut off , christ is said judicially to come to them : now all these , after a sort , and in some sense , may be here understood , that coming of christ , which is literally and most properly meant , is , doubtlesse , his coming by titus vespasian against jerusalem , to overthrow it , and thereby bring vengeance on the iewes , for their most unjust and ungratefull murther of him . but though this be the literall and primary sense , yet it will not ( i conceive ) be denyed by any , but that many of the things mentioned in this chapter are , or at least , may be applyed to that last coming of christ , since we may look upon that destruction of ierusalem as an emblem of the worlds judgement ; and yet ( to draw nearer this present occasion ) the latter part of this chapter , and so this verse may morally be accomodated to the particular coming of christ , by death , to every person : in reference to which , the counsels here given are very pregnant and apposite . . next to the advent supposed , is observable , the person characterised , by this appellation , the son of man , a title which our blessed saviour very often giveth to him selfe , thereby setting us a pattern of humility , in having low conceits , and using mean expressions concerning our selves . but that which would here be considered , is upon what account he calleth himselfe by so mean a title , when he speaketh of so glorious a coming . if you cast your eyes on the . verse , you shall there finde him using the magnificent title of a lord , a terme , as most truly agreeing to him , so best fitting his advent , wherein he manifested himselfe as a lord punishing his rebels ; but yet it is not without a reason , that having called himselfe lord , before , he stileth himselfe , the sonne of man ; here , namely , to prevent the scandall which might be taken at the meannesse of his present condition : likely it is that the tenuity of his externall aspect rendered his prediction contemptible . what need we regard the words , or feare the threats of this carpenters sonne ? might the iewes say , at least within themselves . to prevent which , christ is pleased to call him selfe the son of man , as if he would say , in answer to such an objection . however , i am a poore weak man , yet the day is at hand when i will come in might and power , to avenge my self upon my enemies . . the third observable is the time of this persons advent specified , and that to be both speedy , and sodaine , in an houre when you think not ; speedy , because in an houre , one of the shortest dimensions of time ; it may be long before christ come , but when he cometh he will not be long about it , and therefore he saith , not in a yeare , or a moneth , or a day , but an houre ; nor is it onely speedy , but sodaine , because in an houre men think not of , and by this , an addition is made to the preceding expression , in that parallel verse , there it is , you know not in what houre , and that lets us see how secret death is from , and therefore how uncertaine it is to all men ; here it is in an houre you thinke not , which lets us see how sodaine , and therefore unexpected it is to many men . . the last particular ( according to this retrograde , yet logicall order ) considerable is , the inference deduced , what conclusions must be drawne from these premisses , what effect these considerations of the thing , person , and time , ought to work upon us , and that is in these words , be ye therefore ready , namely , to have all things fitted before christ cometh , that we may have nothing to doe when he cometh , but to meet him . that which he calleth for in the forementioned verse , is watching , that which he requireth here is readinesse ; two phrases , one whereof explaines the other . on the one hand , lest the command of watching alwayes might seeme impossible , christ sheweth , that the continuall watching he expects , is onely so farre as to put our selves in a ready posture , that we may not have grace to get when we should spend it . on the other , lest we should think it enough to watch , that is , think of his coming ; he calleth upon us not onely to watch , but to be ready , injoyning such an expectation of , as leads us to preparation for his coming . . time will not give me leave to insist on each of these particulars , and therefore i shall contract the foure to two , and dichotomizing the text , here is observable in it , praedictio eventus , a prediction of something to come to passe , in an houre you think not , &c. praescriptio operis , a prescription of something to be done , be you therefore ready : or , if you will , here is praemonitio periculi , a danger forewarned , in an houre you think not , &c. admonitio officii , a forewarning advised , be you therefore ready : yet once more , the two important truths of this scripture , are , inopinatus christi adventus , the sodainnesse of christs coming , in an hour you think not , &c. necessarius christiani apparatus , the necessity of the christians preparing , be you therefore ready . between these two i shall divide the following discourse , beseeching this son of man that he would in this houre , by his spirit , come into our hearts , that every one of us may be swift to heare , and ready to receive these divine lessons : and so i begin with the sodainesse of christs coming , in an houre which you think not the sonne of man will come : this is that truth which s. paul excellently exemplifieth , when they shall say peace and safety , then sodaine destruction cometh upon them , as travell upon a woman with childe ; when men say peace and safety , they little dreame of warre and ruine , paine cometh oft-times upon the woman in the street , at the table , in an houre when she least thinketh on it . such is christs coming , especially to carelesse and secure sinners : that expression of the prophet jeremy may not unfitly be made use of to this purpose , by way of illustration , when he saith , death is come up into our windows ; the true man cometh in at the doore , but the thief at the window ; coming in at the doore is usuall , but coming in at the window is unexpected ; so is christs coming to men by death in such a way , at such a time as is unlooked for ; this truth is that which our lord himselfe elsewhere illustrateth by the metaphor of a snare , and that day is said so to come , for its secrecy and unexpectednesse ; agag flattereth himselfe , that the bitternesse of death is past , and then samuel giveth order to hew him in pieces before the lord in gilgal : and usually , when men think death the farthest off , it is the nearest to them . to inlarge this more particularly , be pleased to take notice , that there is a foure-fold hour wherein men usually make no account of christs coming by death , and yet in which christ frequently cometh to men , to wit , hora carnalis voluptatis , mundanae prosperitatis , corporalis sanitatis & juvenilis aetatis , the houre of carnall pleasure , of worldly prosperity , bodily health , and youthfull age . . the houre of carnall pleasure is a time wherein death is scarce at all thought upon . while the ambitious statist is climbing high , he dreameth not of falling low into a grave ; whilst covetous mammonists are heaping up thick clay , they think not of being themselves made an heap of dust ; and whilest voluptuous epicures are feeding on dainties , and dallying with dallilah's , they seldome make account of conversing with , and being fed upon by wormes ; in this respect , no doubt it is , that our saviour warneth his disciples , take heede to your selves , lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkennesse , and cares of this life , and so that day come upon you unawares , thereby intimating that this day cometh unawares upon them , who are plunged into the cares and delights of this life , and yet even in this houre the sonne of man is pleased to come and arrest presumptuous sinners . belshazzar is quaffing in his cups , carousing with his companions , when as in that selfe-same hour came forth the fingers of a man writing upon the wall the destruction of him and his kingdomes . herod is glutting his aspiring humour with popular applause ( forgetting in the pride of his heart , both god and himselfe ) when as by a strange judgement he is immediately devoured by worms alive , and giveth up the ghost . finally , worldly men spend their dayes in getting wealth , and in a moment they goe downe to the grave . the coming of the floud upon the old world is a litttle before made an emblem by christ of his coming , and ( that as the amplification demonstrateth ) in this very particular , as the floud came upon the old world , when they were so farre from fearing ruine , that they were eating , and drinking , and giving in marriage : so doth christ seize upon sinners in the midst of their delights , whilst they are indulging to their lusts . . the houre of worldly prosperity is a time wherein men are very regardlesse of christs coming : in affliction and misery many wish for death , but in enjoyments and prosperity they scarce think of it ; when the sun shone so bright upon sodome in the morning , they little expected to be consum'd by a dismal fire from heaven before evening : when the world is flowing in upon a man , it is very hard to intertaine thoughts of going out of the world . if the mountaine be strong , even david is ready to say , i shall never be moved : no mervail if presumptuous babylon being in her chaire of state , say , i sit a queene and am no widdow , and shall see no sorrow . but yet very frequently , this is the houre wherein christ cometh ; so the threatning runneth against both literall and misticall babylon , evill shall come upon her in a moment , in one day : and so it was verified in the rich fool , who bidding his soul to take its ●ase , by reason of his worldly abundance , had that very night his soule required of him , and carryed to torment . . the houre of bodily health and strength is a time in which men cast the thought of death behind them , whilst they have colour in their faces , agility in their joynts , appetite in their stomacks , health in their bodies , how rare are their meditations on death ? go preach your lectures of mortality ( say they ) to the weake , and the lame , and the sick ; as for us , wee have no reason to trouble our selves with such melancholly thoughts : what do you tell us of dying and rotting in the grave ? whilest our bones are moystned with marrow ? we feel no infirmity , and therefore feare not mortality : and yet how often doth christ come by death in such an houre ? one dyeth ( saith job ) in his full strength , being wholly at ●ase and quiet , his breasts are full of milk , and his bones are moystned with marrow : how many valiant and stout men hath death laid upon their backs , on a sodaine tripping up their heeles ? have you not sometimes seene a sturdy oak quickly blown downe by a violent winde ? a strong and tall vessell presently sunke by a leake ? so are oft-times men snatched away in the strength and vigour of their body , by death . . the houre of youthfull age is a time wherein few make account of dying ; it is soone enough ( say young men ) to thinke of our death in the day when desire shall faile , to look for a grave , when they that looke out at the windowes are darkned , and to feare the approach of both when the keepers of the house shall tremble : these gravecloths are too sad for the freshness of our life , we are young , and may see many a fair yeare passe over our heads before death cometh , and therefore think not that like the mad man in the gospel we will spend our life among the tombs . but alas ! how frequently , even in this houre , doth the sonne of man come : in golgotha ( saith the hebrew proverb ) there are soules of all sizes , and our weekely bills , for the most part , afford a greater numbers of dead children than aged men . the poets have a fable , that death and cupid lodging together at an inne , exchanged their arrowes , whereby it hath since come to passe , that many times old men dote , and young men dye . the truth is , death doth not summon us according to our yeares , even the blossome is subject to nipping as well as the flower to withering . that threat which almighty god denounceth by the prophet amos , is very often in this morall sense made good , i will cause the sun to goe downe at noone ; nay , not onely so , but even in the morning of youth doth the sunne of many a mans life goe down . to apply this , let it then be the care of every one of us that christs coming may not be to us in an houre wee think not of , and to that end , let no houre , at least , day of our life passe without a serious thought of the day and houre of our death ; larkes in theocritus are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} because they carry the forme of a sepulchre upon their heads . such should all christians be , having permanent impressions of death , not on but in their heads and hearts . the indian gymnosophists were so much in love with these thoughts , that they caused their graves to be made before their gates , so as both at their going out and coming in they might be put in minde of their death : and truly , however the most men in the days of their vanity , account a life spent in meditation of death to be a miserable life , a death rather than a life ; yet when the time of their death approacheth , they will change their note , and say as dying theophilus did of devout arsenius , beatus es abba arseni , qui semper hanc horam ante oculoshabuisti , they are happy men who set death daily before their eys . indeed , by this meanes the coming of christ , as it will not be altogether sodaine , so neither terrible to us , nor can any man ( so use s. cyprians words ) receive comfort at his death , who did not before make account of dying . a late writer hath , in this respect , piously fancyed , that clocks were invented to minde us not so much of the sunne 's motion in the heavens , as the passing of our life here on earth : since the sounding of the clock telleth us that the past houre is as it were dead and buried , which at some time , or hour of some day or other , must be our lot . oh then , what ever our present condition is , let us still entertaine thoughts of our latter end : art thou in health and strength , remember , a wise and good man , even then ( as gregory nazian. saith ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} will looke both upwards to heaven , and downewards to his grave . doest thou enjoy the pleasures of life ? learn of joseph of arimathea to make a tombe in thy garden , and season thy delights with thoughts of thy dissolution . finally , art thou advanced to an high estate in this world ? forget not how low thy highnesse must come ere long , and what one was appoynted to have in his hands at the inauguration of the graecian emperours , namely , in the one a burning firebrand presently consumed , and in the other a vessell full of ashes , and dead mens bones , have thou in thy heart by renewed meditations of thy mortality . to close up this part , it is reported concerning the maids in the isle of man , that the first thing they spin is their winding-sheete , which they weare about them as a girdle at their feasts : well were it , if we would in the midst of all our enjoyments , gird our selves about with our winding-sheets , fixing our thoughts upon our end , that so by this meanes we may not have cause at last to sigh forth the foole's words , non putaram , i did not think my death had been so neare : blessed is that man , whom christ , when he cometh by death , shall finde , not as jaell did siserah , asleep , but as jonathan's arrow came to david standing in the field , and looking for it , yea , so looking , as to bee fitting himself , which leads to the preparednesse required in every christian for this coming , be you therefore ready . for the better and clearer dispatch of this , i shall endeavour both to unfold the nature , and press the practise of this duty . . to illustrate the nature of this preparation , be pleased to observe both the intent of the thing , and the extent of the time ; by the former we shall see wherein this readinesse , and by the latter when it ought to bee performed . . the duty it self being of very weighty importance , it should be a little inquired into , what things are requisite to denominate a man ready for christs coming . the severall metaphors of a bridegroome , of a lord , and of a thiefe , under which the coming of christ is represented to us , may very fitly be made use of to this end and purpose . . they are ready for the coming of the bridegroom , who have on their wedding garment . and this is no other in a spirituall sense than that white rayment , to wit , of christs righteousnesse , apprehended by faith , which our blessed lord adviseth the church to buy of him : indeed , when death ▪ cometh it will strip us of all other induments ; job saith of himselfe ( and it is no more than what every man shall finde true ) naked came i forth of my mothers womb , and naked shall i returne thither , onely of this garment it cannot bereave us ; and he alone , who is thus clothed , may , with comfort , look death in the face . . againe , he is ready for the coming of his lord , who hath discharged the trust reposed in , and improved the stock left with him by his lord . indeed , thus to doe in reference to god exactly , is impossible , but yet this to endeavour is necessary : and he onely is fit for death , who hath beene carefull in life to employ his talents for gods glory , and to keep a good conscience in all things . when the lord cometh he expects an account of the servants receipts , and disbursments , and how unfit will the idle or wastfull servant bee to make up his account ? that life must needs render a man unprepared for death , which is spent in doing nothing , or that which is worse than nothing , in abusing the mercies we receive , to the dishonour of him , who hath bestowed them on us . finally , he is ready for the coming of a thief , who keepeth himselfe and his family waking , hath his doore locked , bolted , and barred , and is furnished with weapons both of defence and resistance ; so must we prepare our selves for christs coming , by awaking our soules out of carnall and sensuall security , by keeping our hearts with all diligence , and by putting on the whole armour of god ; the condition of that man will be very sad , whom death findes asleep in sinne , without a spirituall guard , and destitute of those graces , which should arm him against its venomous sting . if you desire a more distinct explication of this preparation , let christ be his owne expositor in that elegant scripture , where he adviseth his disciples to have their loynes girt , and their lamps burning ; the worke of preparation for death is both privative and positive , in removing what may hinder us , and procuring what may enable us to meet christ at our death , with comfort . both these we are taught under those metaphoricall allusions , the former in the girding of our loynes , the latter in the burning of our lamps . . to be ready , is to have our loynes girt ▪ where by loynes we may very well understand , our affections and lusts , which are to be girt , by repentance and mortification . the sting of death , saith s. paul , is sinne , so that we are never fit to dye till we have taken out the sting by subduing sinne ; he that liveth in any lust is so farre from being armed for death , that he armeth death against himselfe ; death is a journey , called therefore a going to our long home ; but how shall he be fit to go this journey , who hath not laid aside the weight of sinne , and girded up his loynes , which will be a sore impediment to him ? more especially , this girding of loynes may referre to the expelling of worldly love out of our hearts . to this purpose , both that action of christs drinking vinegar , and those words of his , it is finished , immediately before his death , are not unfitly moraliz'd , to teach us that by despising the world as vaine and bitter , we are more prepared for the finishing of our life . oh how unwilling is he to goe out of the world , whose heart is glued to it ? and therefore let it be our wisdome to hang loose in our affections from all earthly relations , that as seneca divinely , if we be called to it ; nihil nos detineat , nec impediat quo minus parati simus , quod quand●que faciendum , statim facere , no worldly thing may hinder us from being ready to do that presently , which must be done at some time . . to be ready , is to have our lamps burning , to wit , the lamp of our soule , burning with the graces of gods spirit ; the lamp of our life , burning in the exercise of good works towards god and man . certainly he is very unfit to dye , who hath not yet begun to live ; thy condition must needes be desperate , if the lamp of thy life be put out before the lamp of grace be kindled : s. john saith of them who dye in the lord , their works follow them , to wit , those good works which have gone before their death in the course of their lives ; he onely is fit to meet christ in death , who can say to him in hezekiah's words , remember , lord , how i have walked before thee in truth , and with a perfect heart : a renewed nature , and a reformed life are the best preparatives to a comfortable and happy death . . you see the duty it selfe : the next thing to be considered is , the time when we should make our selves thus ready ; it is that which must by no meanes be left out , since though we all agree about the thing , yet we differ about the time , we must be ready for christs coming , that is acknowledged , but when we should goe about it , is not so easily determined . the answer to this is not expresly given in the text , but yet manifestly implyed in the context , since the housholder no● knowing when the thief will come , & knowing he will come , is alwayes expecting and providing for him : and indeed this we shall finde in the ●parallel scripture expresly supplyed , where our saviour bids his disciples to watch and pray {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} alwayes . it is that then which ought to be the wisdome of every christian , alway to be in a readinesse for the coming of christ : suitable to this is that resolve of holy job , when hee saith , all the dayes of my appointed time i will wait till my change come ; not onely one , or a few , or some , but all his dayes were dayes of watching for the approach of his change , according to which is that counsell of s. basil , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we must every day of our life be in a posture ready to goe out of this life , if our lord require us . to cleare this more fully in two particulars : . we must begin betimes to make our selves ready . it is an undoubted maxime , in re necessaria non d●u deliberandum , where the matter is clearly necessary to dispute much , or deliberate long about it , is both needlesse and dangerous ; nothing of more needfull concernment or greater importance to every one of us , than the being ready for christs coming : surely then , just it is we should set about it presently , and make it our first businesse . almighty god in his sublime speech to job , saith , concerning the warlike horse , that he smelleth the battell afarre off ; what nature teacheth him , let grace us , to smell that encounter we must have with death afarre off long before ( at least in probability ) it will come , and that is , in the dayes of our youth . the life of man is not without good reason compared to a night : now among the jewes there were foure watches in the night , the first was called conticinium , when all things are silent ; the second intempestum , the unseasonable time of midnight ; the third gallicinium , which began at the cock crowing ; the last antelucanum , about break of day : by these foure watches of the night are morally resembled , the foure ages of mans life , child-hood , youth , man-hood ▪ old age , and it is worth our observation , that when christ speaketh of our being ready for his coming , he mentioneth onely the second and the third watch : thophilact's reason , i confesse , is most probable , because the second and third watches are , as it were ; the dead time of night , when most men are in their soundest sleep , so that he that is wakefull in those watches , may be presumed not to sleep in the first and fourth , and so to be ready in the second and third , is as much as to be alwayes ready ; but there may be another apt allusion to our particular purpose ; as for the first watch he mentioneth it not , because child hood is in no capacity of performing this duty ( though even then it concerneth parents to make their children ready , by bringing them to the holy sacrament of baptisme : ) and as for the fourth watch of old age , he specifieth not that neither , because rarissimi sunt qui ad extremum vitae differentes bene operari , inveniuntur ita facientes , they are very rare who are found ready at christs coming , and yet have not begun before the fourth watch : let it then be our care to begin at the third watch of man hood , nay , sooner ▪ at the second watch of youth , to prepare and provide for christs coming . happy is that man who fitteth himself for dying , so soon as he cometh to know that he liveth , and consecrateth the beginning of his rationall life to a religious meditation of his mortall end . . we must hold out to the end of our dayes in this ready posture , daily endeavouring greater measure ▪ of preparation . those two excuses will be found alike invalid whensoever christ cometh , fuisse & futurum esse , i resolved to be ready hereafter , and i was ready heretofore ; since it is neither what thou wouldst be , nor what thou hast beene , but what thou art ; when death cometh unbend not then the bow of thy pious endevor , till the string of thy life break ; cease not running the race of piety till thou art put out of breath ; be alwaies preparing to meet christ till he come to thee . it is to this purpose well observed , what a difference there is between the other life and this ; as to that life , it will be sufficient , bene incipere , to begin well ; if we can but enter into that joy of our lord , it is enough ; he that is once entred into a possession of that blisse , shall goe no more out , but as to this present life , the great care is bene finire , to end well , since incassum bonum agitur si ante vitae terminum deseratur , that work is begun to no purpose , which is left off before it is finished ; no● can this work of preparation be finished , till life be ended . but it may , perhaps , and not improbably , be objected , even by good christians : alas , the practise of this duty in this extent , is impossible ; who is there that can at all times so order his conversation , as to be ready for his dissolution ? we meet with many remora's to stop us in , many avocations to turne us aside from this work , the labour of our callings , the care of our families , lawfull recreations , many worldly businesses take up our time , so that we cannot alwayes be at leisure to thinke of , and so provide for christ's coming . to resolve which doubt , be pleased to take notice of a double preparation for the coming of christ , to wit , habituall and actuall . actuall readinesse consists in the exercise of those spiritual graces , and practise , of those religious duties , which are fit for us to be conversant in at the time of our death , such as are selfe examination , penitent humiliation , believing invocation , charitable condonation , and the like ; and truly thus to be alwayes ready , is not possible , nor requisite : it is not possible , for our natures , which at best are but in part renewed , to be wholly taken up with divine performances ; nor indeed is it requisite , since god hath given us time for secular as well as spirituall businesses , yea , for recreation as well as devotion ; and if christ shall come by death to us when about our civill callings , or lawfull refreshings , our condition were not therefore to be adjudged desperate . indeed , on the one hand , because death may come at such times , it should be our endeavour , as much as may be , to carry about us heavenly hearts in our earthly employments ; and on the other hand , because the best of us are too deficient in this kinde , we may , nay ought to beg of god ( if it be his will ) that death may rather finde us praying , than playing ; in our chambers , than in our shops ; about devout exercises , than worldly businesses . in this respect , that prayer of the church ( from sodaine death good lord deliver us ) which by our arrogant novelists , among other passages of the lyturgie , is causelesly denyed , is fit to be made , not onely by the worst , but by the best of men , to whom death may be , and many times is so sodaine , that they cannot be in an actuall readinesse for it , and therefore if it be ( as doubtlesse it is ) a very desirable thing to have space before our death of renewing our faith , repentance , and charity , yea , and of expressing all these for the comfort and benefit of others that belong to us , it must needes be a fit request for all christians to put up , that they may be delivered from sodaine death . but besides this actuall , there is an habituall readiness , which referres not to the action but the disposition ; the exercise , but the state of the person ; so that he , who is by faith engrafted into christ , and by the spirit regenerated to a lively hope , and so in a state of grace , is habitually ready for the coming of christ , according to this sense brugensis with others giveth the interpretation of this text , paratus est qui semper eo statu consistit , quem dominus requirit , qui semper eum vitae tenet statum qui deo gratus , he is ready , who is in that estate which is required by , and will be acceptable to christ when he cometh to call him . and thus it is our duty to be alwayes ready , not daring to live in a state of impenitency , yea , to give god and our selves no rest , till we have in some measure made our peace with him , through christ : looke as when we are enjoyned to pray continually , the meaning is , not that we should be alwayes upon our knees in the continued exercise of that duty , but that we should be frequent in the work , and have a minde disposed to pray upon all occasions ; so when we are enjoyned to be alwayes ready for death , it is not that we should be continually in the practise of those duties , which are proper for a dying man , but that we should every day set some time apart for those exercises , and alwayes be in a regenerate condition , having the graces of faith and repentance really wrought in our souls . by this time , i hope , you see what the duty is , which here our blessed lord calleth upon his disciples to perform , what remaineth , but that i now , after christs example , endeavour to presse the practise of it upon you : and indeed , so much the rather , because it is that wherein i feare the most of us are miserably deficient . it was tertullian's character of the christians in his time , that they were expeditum morti genus , a sort of people prepared for death , and that not onely naturall , but violent , and so in that sense which s. paul speaks of high concerning himselfe , when he tells his disconsolate friends that he was ready , not onely to be bound , but to die for the name of jesus , act. . . but alas , of how few christians in our dayes can this be truly said , and that in the lowest sense , the most being so farre from a readinesse to lay down their lives in suffering for christ , that they are not in a readinesse to meet christ , if he should come in an ordinary way to take away their lives . alexander cashiered that souldier , who had his weapons to sharpen when he was to goe to fight : but lord , how many christians ( in name ) have the worke of preparation to begin , when their lives are almost at an end , never thinking of doing good , till the opportunity of doing it be past . suppose , beloved , our lord christ should now come against this city , as he did once against hierusalem , to take vengeance on it and destroy it , in what an unprepared condition should he finde the greatest part of the inhabitants ? some sporting with their wantons , others burying themselves in their chests of gold , some quaffing in their riotous bowles , others belching out blasphemous oathes , the most wallowing in some wickednesse or other ? nay , to come nearer , suppose christ should come by death to any of us here present , this night , this evening , this houre , are we ready for him ? could we give up our accounts with joy , and look him in the face with comfort ? i feare the most of our consciences tell us we should not be able to doe it . receive then ( i beseech you ) a seasonable word of advice , and think ( for so indeed it is ) that what christ here saith to his disciples , he saith to all , bee you ready , and ( which should render this duty so much the more acceptable to us ) it wants not a therefore to enforce it , indeed there are many and those weighty motives , which may very well inferre the performance of this duty , as not onely usefull , but needfull to be done , and that at all times . for , consider . the son of man will certainly come at some houre or other ; bee you therefore ready . in other matters we provide for those things whereof we have at most but a probability , no certainty . the husbandman plougheth , and tilleth , and soweth his ground against the next yeare , when yet he is not sure to reap the fruit of his labour ; parents lay up riches , purchase lands , build houses for their children , though they are not sure they shall enjoy them ; shall we provide for what onely may be , or at most , is but likely to be , and take no care to prepare for what shall certainly be ? that rich man in the gospel might well be called a foole , when as he took so much care to build large barnes , and lay up goods in those barns as a provision for the uncertaine years of his life , but regarded not to make ready for his grave , which he knew to be certain , and proved to be so near . oh let not us incur this brand of folly by the like incogitancy . . at what houre the son of man will come , you cannot certainely know ; bee you therefore ready ; nay , alwayes ready . it is true , christ will come ; nay , he hath told us he will come ( no doubt for this reason ) that being praemoniti we may be praemuniti , having notice of , we may provide for it ; but when he will come he hath concealed from us ( and doubtlesse for this cause ) that we might alwayes stand upon our guard , and be ready for him . if thy enemy shall say to thee , at such a time , in such a place , i will meet you ; it were enough to be ready at that time ; but if he say , where , or whensoever i meet you , i will set upon you , it concerneth to be alwayes armed for him : such indeed is both the wisdome and goodnesse of our blessed lord , that he hath forewarned us of the thing , not of the time , that knowing he will come , and not knowing when , we may be continually prepared . it was the policy of julius caesar , never to acquaint his army before-hand with the time of their march , ut paratum , momentis omnibus , quò vellet , subito educeret , that they might be ready to march upon all occasions : such is the wise dealing of christ with us , and that for our good , not revealing to us the time of our death , that we may never be secure . and therefore ( to use aulus gellius his comparison ) as a fencer not knowing at what part of his body the antagonist will aime , composeth his body and holdeth his weapon , so as he may readily defend any part ; so must we , not knowing in what day of our life christ will come , so order our wayes , that we may be fitted whensoever he shall come unto us . . there is no houre of your life wherein you can assure your selves that the son of man will not come : indeed , as no place can exempt from death's approach , it may come to thee in the church , in the street , in the shop ; in the field , as well as in the bed ; so no time can priviledge from death's arrest , in the night as well as in the day , in youth and manhood , as well as old age , christ may send it to seize upon thee : hast thou not need then to be every where , and at all times prepared ? consider this ( oh vain man , whoever thou art ) that puttest off thy preparation in hope that christ will delay his visitation ; thou purposest to be ready when thou art old ; i , but what if christ come whilest yet thou art young ? thou promisest to prepare thy self to morrow ; but what if thou diest to day ? oh beware that thy promises beare not a date far longer than thy life . it is storied of ambitious archyas , that having by fraudulent and unjust courses , at length compassed the government of thebes ; he with his complices kept a riotous feast , in the midst of his intemperance a messenger cometh to him with a letter from a friend , importuning him speedily to peruse it , but he slighting the admonition , and putting it under his pillow , said , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} serious things to morrow , when as the thing , which the letter concerned ▪ was effected that night , to wit , deprivation at once , both of his life and dignity , by a combination of the citizens . this , this ( my brethren ) is , i feare , the dolefull case of too many who purposing to be serious and pious hereafter , are snatched away before that hereafter come . couldst thou , oh man , assure thy selfe ▪ the continuance of thy life for a day , a moneth , a yeare , thou mightest with more pretence of reason defer thy preparation so long ; but cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum , saith the heathen orator truly , who can assure himselfe he shall live till evening ? nay , who can justly promise to himselfe the next moment ? be not then so foolish , nay mad , nay bruitish , as ●o live an hour , a moment in the estate wherein thou wouldst be loath to dye . . that hour , in which men make least account , is commonly the time of the son of man's coming , be ye therefore ready . whilest the croc●dil being asleep openeth his mouth the indian rat getteth in and cateth up his bowells ; whilest the theban centinel was nodding , epaminondas came and thrust him thorow ; when men are secure in their sins , death stealeth upon them unawares . at what gate there is the least guard , smallest strength , the besieger maketh his onset , and endeavoureth entrance : oh feare , lest in that day death approach to thee , wherein thou art most regardlesse of death . . all the time alotted you before christs coming , is little enough for this great work ; be you therefore alwayes endeavouring to make your selves ready . tota vita discendum est vivere , said the philosopher , we scarce learne to live well in the whole space of our lives ; nay , totâ vitâ discendum est mori , saith the divine , our whole life is scarce sufficient to learne the art of dying well . were a short prayer , or a single sigh , a god forgive me , or lord have mercy upon me , a valid preparation for christs coming , the work were easie , and a little time might dispatch it ; but be not deceived , god is not mocked . this great work is not so facile a taske . doe but ask the servants of god , who have taken much paines , and spent many yeares in this work , and you shall hear them complain , that to this day , notwithstanding all their prayers , teares , fastings , watchings , and struglings , they finde themselves very unready for death ; and is it not a wretched presumption in any man , to think he can fit himselfe for death , as it were at an houres warning ? . when the son of man cometh , there will bo no opportunity for the doing of this work : be you therefore ready . likely it is , at the approach of death , many men w●ll be earnest suiters , in davids words , oh spare me a little , one moneth , one weeke longer ; but in vaine ; their request cannot be granted , nor the time delayd . very apt to this purpose is the story of s. gregory concerning ond chrysorius , a man as full of sin as he was of wealth , who on his dying bed , in a bitter agony of spirit , cryed out , inducias vel usque mane , inducias vel usque mane , truce but till the morning , stay but till to morrow ; but with these very words he breathed his last . christ may sometimes stay long before he cometh , but when he comes he will not stay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} — saith s. basil excellently , learne to be wise by the foolish virgins example , for whom the bridegroome being come , would not stay a moment , and onely they that were ready went in with him to the marriage . . your preparation for , will be no acceleration of christs coming ; and therefore be you ready . it is the fond conceit of many , that if they think of , and prepare for death , death will presently come to them ; upon which ground it is , that they put off the setting both their house and soule in order ; but let not vain feares beguile thee , thy death is not the nearer , but onely it will be the sweeter , graemeditati mali mollis ictus , the blow will not come the sooner , but it will be the easier ; nay , indeed , by being ready to die , thou art the fitter to live , and both thy life and thy death will be the more comfortable . . finally , the sonne of man's coming will be most dismall and exitiall to all unprepared persons ; be you therefore ready . s. chrysostom , upon these words conceiveth , that christ representing his coming under the resemblance of a thief , checketh our ●luggishness , who are less carefull to be ready against christs , than the housholders is against the thiefe's coming , whereas the housholder's danger is onely the loss of his goods , or money , or jewels , but ours of our precious souls : oh , my brethren , if christ , when he cometh by death , finde us unprepared , wo to us that we were born , our case will be like that of the foolish virgins , against whom the doore of heaven was shut , and no intreaty could prevaile for the opening of them ; nay , like that of the man , whom when the king came in , he found at the feast without a wedding garment , who was bound hand and foot , and cast into utter darknesse ; yea , like that of the evill servant in the end of this chapter , when his lord coming , cut asunder , and appointed him his portion with the hypocrites , there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . and oh that any , or all of these considerations , might awaken our security , and quicken our industry . this son of man hath been pleased to call upon us often for the performance of this duty : perhaps he will come to some of us before the next call : oh then , delay no longer , but be we ready whilest it is called to day , and whilest this day he vouchsafeth to call upon us . it was an excellent saying of an ancient , when his corrupt heart tempted him to procrastination , i will make use of the day to repent in , and leave the morrow to god , so do thou say , christ may come to morrow , i will be ready for him to day . thus let the remainder of out mortall life be a preparation for death , and then our death shall be a preparation of us for an immortall life . to close up all , with reference to this dolefull occasion , the interring of our diseased sisters corps . in respect of her deare friends , i may very well take up the latter part of this verse , in an houre when they thought not , the son of man came to her ; yea , even then , when they seem'd to hope and say , the bitterness of death is past , the danger of her child-bearing is over , death seized upon her : but though her dissolution was at this time unthought of by them , yet i have good reason to believe it was neither unlooked nor unprepared for by her , partly because as shee , many moneths before , knew what an hazardous condition she was to pass thorow ; so charity bids me hope that she made use of that time to provide for the worst , chiefly because her foregoing life , as to the general tenure of it was unblameable & vertuous , et illi mors improvisa , cujus vita f●it provida , even sodaine death cannot be a sad consequent , when a good life was the antecedent : her education , no doubt , was religious , being the daughter of a reverend minister , now with god , and her conversation every way corresponding to that education : much of her time she employed in the pious services of reading , meditation , and prayer , not neglecting the publique ordinances , those duties which belong'd to the relations in which god had set her , of a daughter , a wife , a mother , a mistress , sister , neighbour , friend , she did not more intelligently know , than conscienciously performe . in a word , like good mary , she chose that good part , whilest her adorning was not that outward adorning of plaiting the hair , wearing of gold , putting on of apparrell , ( in which she onely regarded decency , not affecting curiosity : ) but to use tertullian's allusions , sericum pietatis , byssinum sauctiatis , purpura pudicitiae , the fine linnen of purity , the silke of sanctity , the purple of modesty ; or to follow s. peter's expressions , the hidden man of the heart , and the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which as in the sight of god is of great price ; so it was the grace wherein she surpassed most of her sex . thus she both lived and dyed like a lamb , lived meekly , and dyed quietly , lived obediently ( in some measure ) to gods commands , and dyed submissively to gods decree . let not then her affectionate consort , and loving allyes , mourn over her grave inordinately : she dyed young indeed , but yet not before her time , because not before she was ready for death ; she was cut down betimes , but yet not before she was ripe for the harvest . rather then do you , nay let all of us here present , thinke with our selves ( to imitate s. peters words to sapphira ) that the feet of them which has brought her to her long home , are at the doore of our houses , to carry us out also , and therefore every one so to lead our lives , and order our conversations aright , that at what time soever christ shall by death approach unto us , his coming may not be unexpected to us , nor we unprepared for his coming . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- prov. ▪ . * the building and endowing a free grammer school by , and writing-school in the town of lewisham , together with an annuall maintenance for . schollars to be sent from thence to the university . hebr. . . tim. . . notes for div a e- salust . bell. catilin . math. . . phil. . . mat. . ● . . . rom. . . john . . cass l. . c. . thes. . . pet. . . cum inferre de be●et vi●ilare ●ontim ò id omi●it ne intolerabile quid praecipere videretur sed estote parati , ad significandum continuam vigilantiam esse paratam . avendan : in math. quod superius dix●rat {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} illud jam exponit per {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ille enim vere vigilat qui semper paratus est . gerard ▪ contin . st . gen. thes. . ● . je● . . ●● . significatur inextectata & improvisa chald●●orum in jerusalem irrup●io ●● ▪ pot● qui n●● per portas , in quibu● sunt vigiles , fed per ●urorum foenestras clan ▪ culum instar furis irrumpant lapid in h●er . luke . . tanquā laqu●us ●cil . propter non apparentiam & impraemeditationem . eu●h . in ma●h. luke . . dan. . . acts . . job . . verse . psal. . . revel. . . isa. . , , . revel. . . luk. ▪ ▪ . ●ob . , . eccles. . , . sic mo●itur juvenis sic moribundus ama● . dices ●u qui ●● juvenis kondu●●●n●c●ui , noki ergo decip● , non d●●●●itur mors ce●to tempore aetatis , neque ●i●●t co● qui sunt in ipso fine ●tatis . g●●g nys●ad● ▪ e●s qui ciff . bapt. orat . bibl. patr. t. ▪ ap●th●g● . nec dignus est in morte acc●p●re solatium qui s● non cogitavit esse moriturum . cypr. ep. . chrefol . mystagog . greg. naz. orat. . d . gen. revel. . ● . j●b . . per primum prae●●pium jubemur c●hibere nos à malo & impedimenta removere : per sccundum excitamur ad bene operandum . tole● in luc. quid est lumbos ac incto● ? declina a malo : quid lu●●rnas ardentes habere , hoc est & fac bonum . aug. serm. . de verb . dom . succ●●gere debemus lumbos id est expediti esse ab impedimentis lasciviosae vi●ae & implicitae . tertul. contr. marc. l. . . ut divinum illud moriendi exemplum nos admonere● , humanarum rerum contemptum & amaritudinem morti praeire debere ut consumma●i ad mortem obeundam esse videamur . velasq. in phil. c. . v. . annot. ● . sen. epist. . lucernas ardentes habere , id est mentes a fide accensas & operibu● veri●atis relucentes . tertul. contr. marc. l. . c. . rev. . . isaiah . . luke . . job . . bas. hom ● . job . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. theoph. in luc. tolet ibid. ho● diff●rt vitapraesens ab illa quam expectamus , quo●a● totum bonum futurae vitae consistit in hoc quod est recte illam incipe●e praes●ntis vitae bonum : è contra consisti● in rect● finiendo illam , &c. avend . in mat. cap. . greg. mag. brugens . in loc. qui rogat semper roge● , etsi non semper precatu● , paratum semper habeat precantis affectum . ambr. in ps. . serm. . tertul ●●de spectac . cap. . impii runquam didicerunt bona facere , nisi c●m jam non est tempus faciendi . o ▪ cast . multi domos aedifican● , cum tamen n●sciant an per unicum diem ea debeans colere , ad incertam vitam parantur , certam mortem non curantes . stella in lu● ▪ si inimicus tuus fic tibi minaretur in tali borá te expecto , sufficeret tibi usque ad illam horam quiescer● : tamen si sic dixisset observa me , nam ubicunque te inv●n●ro te totis viribus invadam ●am tunc nullum tibi qui●tis dabatur tempus avend . in math. aul. gell l. . c. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . bas. hom . plurarch . in pelopid . ci● . de s●nect stultum in tali ●ta●u vivere in quo quis non aud●● mori . aug psal. . . greg dialog. l. . c. . bas. ●om . ● . math. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in loc. math. . . . . ver. . hodie poenitentiam ago , craft●num deo relinquo . apothegm . in bibl. pat . m. isaac col●e . luke . ● . ● pet. . , . acts . . the hierarchy exalted and its enemies humbled a sermon preached on the first sunday in advent, being the d day of decemb. : after the consecration of the right reverend fathers in god, john, lord bishop of durham, william, lord bishop of st. davids, benjamin, lord bishop of peterborough, hugh, lord bishop of landaff, richard, lord bishop of carlisle, brian, lord bishop of chester, and john, lord bishop of exceter in the abby church of st. peters westminister / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the hierarchy exalted and its enemies humbled a sermon preached on the first sunday in advent, being the d day of decemb. : after the consecration of the right reverend fathers in god, john, lord bishop of durham, william, lord bishop of st. davids, benjamin, lord bishop of peterborough, hugh, lord bishop of landaff, richard, lord bishop of carlisle, brian, lord bishop of chester, and john, lord bishop of exceter in the abby church of st. peters westminister / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by abraham miller for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- revelation iii, -- sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - melanie sanders sampled and proofread - melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the hierarchy exalted and its enemies humbled . a sermon preached on the first sunday in advent , being the d. day of decemb. . after the consecration of the right reverend fathers in god , john lord bishop of durham . william lord bishop of st. davids . benjamin lord bishop of peterborough . hugh lord bishop of landaff . richard lord bishop of carlisle . brian lord bishop of chester , and john lord bishop of exceter . in the abby church of st. peters westminster . by nathanael hardy d. d. chaplaine in ordinary to his majesty , dean of rochester , and rector of st. dionys. back church london . london , printed by abraham miller for joseph cranford , at the castle and lion in st pauls churchyard , . imprimatur . m. franck reverendo in christo patri gilberto episcopo lond. à sacris domesticis . martij . . to the reader . when that bright sunne ( of glorious memory ) having been for many years clouded by an unnaturall warre , did at last through an unparalleld treason set in our horizon , it was a red and bloudy evening . after that evening , followed a black and dismall night , where in the ravening wolves and beasts of prey domineered , worrying the estates and lives of those who were loyal and orthodox . that night hath by gods just indignation against us , been measured to us , not by hours but years , and stretched out to a long continuance . about the beginning of the twelfth year of that night , a morning star appeared , and that not from the east , but north , to whom it was the unanimous cry of all countries , phosphore redde diem . that he would be an happy instrument ( under god ) to turn our night into day . through the tender mercy of our god , and his prudent conduct , our desire was fulfilled . not the same sun indeed ( he shineth in the heaven of the blessed ) but another ( he who of right ought to succeed him ) arose as it were from the sea , gilding our desolate land , with his radiant beams . his amiable light hath ever since increased , and he is now near the meridian of his coronation ; where being in the zenith , may he ( like joshuahs sun , ) stand still , and that not for a few hours , but many , many years , to the amazement of the eyes of rebells , and refreshment of the hearts of all loyal subjects . by the benigne aspect and influence of this sun , it is , that the firmament of our church is now again bespangled with stars , and those fixed in their various orbes . after the joyfull appearing of those two stars of the first and second magnitude , we have beheld three severall constellations , of six , and seaven , and four stars ; of whom i may justly say in these words of our saviour , concerning john baptist. they are burning and shining lights , and i pray god , both we and our posterity may have continuall cause of rejoycing in the splendor of such eminent lights . as for this ensuing discourse , it was only a broken eccho to that voice whith distinctly and learnedly asserted episcopal authority , from that power saint paul gave to titus , when he left him in crete . it was designed for no other end , but to be a congratulatory appendix to the solemne consecration of those seaven bishops : and as it was preached upon short warning , so it had never been exposed to publick view ; but that it was required by them , and particularly by my lord bishop of durham , whose judgment i had great reason to prefer before my own ; nor can i but account it an high honour to be in any kind owned by him , who hath so resolutely owned this church of england , both at home and abroad , asserting her doctrine against the papists , and discipline against the schismaticks . the multiplicity of other urgent affairs , hath for a time retarded my performance of the command i received from , and promise i made to that reverend prelate , for which i humbly beg his lordships pardon : and now having made these weak labours publick , i intreat thy candid censure of them , together with thy earnest prayer for me , who am thine in our common saviour , nath. hardy . the hierarchy exalted . revel . chap. . verse . behold i will make them of the synagogue of satan ( which say they are jews and are not but do lie ) behold i will make them to come and worship before thy feet , and to know that i have loved thee . these words are part of an epistle to the angel of the church of philadelphia . it hath been controverted whether by the angel in the inscription of these severall epistles , be meant one bishop , or many presbyters . but if a multitude had been intended , the plurall number might as easily have been used , as the singular . i deny not , but many things written in these epistles , concerned not only the bishops , but the inferiour clergy , yea and the laily ; and therefore in one place we read , i say to you and the rest in thyatira ; but this hinders not that what was designed for the benefit of the whole church , might be directed to him , who was chief in place and office . sure i am st. ambrose expounds the severall angels to be rectores ecclesiarum , the particular governours of those churches . and st. austins gloss is angelo , i. e. episcopo illic constituto , to the angel that is there placed . yea irenaeus and eusebius , with other ecclesiasticall writers of good note , have given us the names of some of the persons who were at that time bishops of those churches ; and therefore i shall not doubt to affirm , that as the rest , so this epistle was sent from jesus christ the chief shepheard and bishop of our souls , to the bishop of the church of philadelphia . if you please to take a particular view of this epistle , you shall find the greatest part of it to be consolatory , as being most suitable to the condition both of the angel and the church . in the foregoing verse christ tels the bishop , behold i have set before thee an open door , and no man can shut it ; by which i conceive is meant that opportunity and liberty which was given him of exercising his episcopall function . and whereas there were two sorts or adversaries with which the primitive bishops and christians were molested , to wit jews and pagans , our blessed lord comforts this angel against the fear of both , letting him know in the next verse , that he should be kept from the persecution of the pagans ; and here in this verse , that he would remove the opposition of the jews , behold i will make them which are of the synagogue of satan , &c. in which words are two severall parts observable ; a sharp and severe censure of the angels enemies , them which are of the synagogue of satan , who say they are jews , but are not , and do lie . a sweet and gracious promise to the angel himself , behold i will make , behold i will make them to come and worship before thy feet , and to know that i have loved thee . begin we with the first of these , wherein are two particulars considerable . the false opinion which these persons had of themselves , they say they are jews and are not . the true judgement of christ concerning them , that they were liars , and of the synagogue of satan . the false opinion these persons had of themselves was , that whereas they were not , they said they were jews . our late learned annotatour conceiveth the them here spoken of , to be gnosticks , who said they were jews by their compliance with them , in observing their jewish rites , and persecuting the orthodox christians . the generality of interpreters understandeth the them to be such as were of the nation and people of the iews ; but then the difficulty will be in what sense our saviour denieth them to be iews , and chargeth them for saying they were so . to which the answer is fitly returned , by distinguishing between a iew according to the flesh , and according to the spirit . he is not a iew saith st. paul , which is one outwardly , neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh , but he is a iew which is one inwardly , and circumcision is that of the heart . in this notion he that is not a iew , may truly say he is a iew , and he that saith he is a iew , may be truly said to be none . they which are of the faith of abraham ( saith the apostle ) are the children of abraham , though not descended from his loyns ; and if you were the children of abraham , you would do the works of abraham , saith christ to those who were of his lineage . in vain therefore did these in the text say , ( and saying boast ) that they were iews , whenas they were so unlike to their godly progenitors . that christ whom their fathers expected , they rejected ; and whereas the end of moses his rites was to lead them to , these set up moses in opposition against christ. it will yet further serve to clear the meaning of these words , if we interpret iews metonymically , pro unico dei populo , for gods only people ; so indeed the iews were before the coming of christ , to whom saith st. paul pertained the adoption , and the glory , and the covenants , and the giving of the law , and the service of god , and the promises ; and such did these iews glory themselves still to be , but in truth they were not ; yea they were so far from being his only people , that they were not his people at all ; loammi were become ammi , and ammi loammi ; the gentiles who were not , become his people by the reception , and the iews who were of old , now were not his people , through their rejection of christ. that which i shall here take notice of in brief , is one speciall character of an hypocrite , namely to say , he is that he is not . the greek word for hypocrite is used concerning a stage-player , who in acting puts on the person of another ; and it is his fit emblem , as being one , who careth not to appear as he is , nay appeareth what he is not . singuli caetus haereticorum suam esse catholicam ecclesiam putant , was lact antius his observation in his time . and to the same purpose st. austin , omnes haeretici se catholicos dicivolunt . and it is still verfied , hereticks would be accounted by others , and esteem themselves to be catholicks , and their conventicles to be the true , nay only churches of christ. believe not fair showes and specious pretences ; all is not gold that glistereth ; many faces seem beautifull , which are but painted . you read in the ninth verse of the former chapter of pseudo-apostoli , those who say they are apostles but are not ; and here of pseudo-iudaei , those who say they are iews , but are not , whom therefore our blessed lord brands with these two black characters ; they are of the synagogue of satan , and do lie , which is the next particular ; christs true judgment and censure concerning them . . the first brand which christ sets upon these persons is , that they were of the synagogue of satan ; and what here he saith of them , is no more than what he said to them , when he tels them to their faces , you are of your father the devil . indeed when you consider who they were , namely a people whom god had separated from all the nations of the earth to be his , it cannot but seem strange that they should deserve such a mark as this : yet thus it was , and too often is ; the faithfull city proveth an harlot ; bethel becometh bethaven ; the temple is made a den of theeves ; and gods church is turned into a chappell for the devil . how far may both persons and churches degenerate both in doctrine and manners ? they who were orthodox , haereticall ; apostolicall , apostaticall ; and divine , diabolicall ? nor was this charge how severe soever it may seem , unjust or untrue , if you consider their inveterate malice against the preachers , and professours of christian religion . the name satan here used , is derived from a verb that signifieth to hate ; nor is any thing more diabolicall then hatred . he is called in this book the accuser of the brethren ; and wll might these jews be stiled his synagogue , of whom we read in the acts , that they were hatefull accusers , and violent opposers of the apostles and disciples of christ. . the second mark of infamy upon them is that they were liars . nor is this less true then the former , since to affirm what we know to be false , or deny what we know to be true , is to lie ; and these in the text affirm themselves to be , what indeed they were not , and either they did , or might have known it themselves . liars they were , and that of the worst sort ; pernicious liars , boasting themselves to be what they were not , that thereby they might withdraw others from embracing christianity , to the ruine of their precious souls . this is not unsitly annexed as a justification of the former ; for since as our saviour tels us in the forementioned scripture , the devil is a liar , and the father of it , all liars are justly charged to be the synagogue of satan . and now to close up this first part of the text ; though the blessed jesus delights in the still voice ; yet see what sharp language he useth towards these enemies of his church . in the like manner he dealt with the scribes and pharisees , whom he cals ravening wolves , and a generation of vipers , hereby setting a pattern to all his ministers , when they meet with obstinate sinners , gross hypocrites , and malicious adversaries , to rebuke them sharply . it is a known proverb , malo nodo ▪ malus cuneus ; not the axe but the wedge must be used in knotty pieces of wood . plutarch observeth of physicians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they use strong potions in violent diseases . god bids the prophet cry aloud and not spare , to wit his vehement increpations . provided our reproofs arise not from anger , but zeal ; ill will to mens persons , but hatred of their sins , we cannot be too severe . nor need we fear that such a spirit is incongruous to the evangelicall dispensation , whenas we find not only john the baptist , peter , paul , john , the apostles , but even christ himself as elsewhere , so here declaiming against these persons with so much acrimony , them that are of the synagogue of satan , which say they are jews but are not , and do lie . from the bitter censure of the enemies , pass we on to the sweet promise made to the angel , as it is expatiated in the greatest part of the verse , behold i will make , &c. a promise of very great importance , and well worthy our most serious attention , as being ushered in with an ecce , behold ; and that not only mentioned , but ingeminated , of which what the peculiar emphasis is , will best be reserved to the close of my discourse . though the word make be twice repeated in our english translation ; yet in the greek the words are different verbs , whereof the one is in the present tense , and may be rendred i do give , and the other in the future , and is fitly rendred i will make . the former of these words is sometimes used for as much as to give leavs or permission , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is translated in the acts , thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption . and when it is said of the beast in the revelation , that it was given to him to make war with the lamb , it meaneth god permitted him . in this notion some conceive the word may be here taken , i give leave to thy enemies to molest and persecute thee . whatever wicked men act against the church and her angels , as it is by satanicall instigation , so not without divine ordination . the devil himself could not vex job without leave from god ; much less can his instruments . if jacob be given for a spoil , and israel to the robbers , it is the lord who doth it . thou couldst have no power ( said christ to pilate ) except it were given thee from above . and the people of israel who gathered together against thy holy child jesus , did what soever gods hand and counsell determined before to be done . with this meditation david quieted himself , when shimei railed upon him , the lord hath bid him . and this i doubt not hath been the consolation of gods suffering servants among us ; and especially the angels of our churches , that in all the persecutions which have befallen them , there was gods hand permitting and appointing , or rather appointing to permit it . though this be an usefull truth , yet i rather adhere to the generality of interpeters , who refer both the verbes to that which followeth , of worshipping at this angels feet . but then the question is , what this meaneth , since it may very well admit of a double notion , to wit , in reference to a forced or a voluntary subjection ? in the former sence the text is so a promise to the angel , that it is a threat against his enemies ; in the latter it is a promise to both , intending the conversion of the enemies , as well as the exaltation of the angel. when the spirit of god would set forth the compleat victory of christ over his enemies , he maketh use of the similitude of a footstoole , the lord said unto my lord , sit thou at my right hand , till i make thine enemies thy footstoole . in like manner , by this phrase of worshipping at the angels feet , may very fitly be understood that conquest he should have over those his adversaries , so that though against their wills they should submit unto him ; it being usuall with conquerours to make their captives lie down at their feet . the church and her angels are never so low , but the divine power can raise them up , nor are their enemies at any time so high , but that the same power can cast them down . wicked mens presumptuous hopes , commonly end in despairing fears ; they who insolently commanded , are ofttimes made shamefully to supplicate ; and though for a time , they are tyrants riding on the heads , yet in the end they become slaves sprawling at the feet of gods servants . but the most received exposition of these words is of a milder notion , and understandeth a voluntary subjection in the same sense , which that promise to the church is understood , where it is said , the sonnes of them that afflicted thee shall come bending to thee , ( to wit , of their own accord ) and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down ( not be bowed down ) at the soles of thy feet . according to this construction of the words , that which is here assured is the happy conversion of these adversaries , wherein more plainly observe . the efficacious agent , i will make . the notorious subjects , them that are of the synagogue of satan . the evident sign , to come and worship at thy feet ; and the singular effect of this conversion , and shall know that i have loved thee . . the efficacious agent , is expressed and inculcated in these words , i will make , i will make . . i , who , he that is described in the beginning of this epistle to be holy and true , and to have the keys of david , who is no other than the eternall sonne of god. the same i , who did at first make the beasts and fouls to come unto adam in acknowledgment of his dominion over them , made these brutish enemies of the angel , to come and worship at his feet . the same i , who shall at the last day make all knees in heaven , in earth , and under the earth to bow at his name , made them to submit to this angel , and bow at his feet . indeed these acts of coming and worshipping were done by them , but it was christ who inclined their wils to these acts . appositely to this purpose st augustine , certum est nos velle , cum velimus , sed ille facit , ut velimus ; certum est nos facere , cum facimus , sed ille facit ut facimus , it is we that will and do , but it is he maketh us , or according to st pauls language , worketh in us to will and to do what is good . . i give , so the first verb is most properly rendred , and noteth the freenesse of christs grace in the work of conversion , without any desert of ours . indeed quibus datur , ex gratuitâ gratiâ datur , quibus denegatur justo negatur judicio ; to whom it is denied , it is denied justly , and to whom it is given , it is given freely ; none but christ could effect this work , and he worketh it saith st paul , of his good pleasure ; st james , of his own good will , saint peter , according to his abundant mercy , and here his own language is , i give . . i will make , so the latter verb is rightly translated , and as the former noteth the gratuity , so this the efficacy of the grace of christ. when a sinner is converted , the promise is made good , i will take away the stony heart , and when the actuall stubbornesse and resistance of the will is taken away , no wonder if conversion be effectually wrought . indeed this efficacy is such as doth not infringe the natural liberty of the will , by putting any force or violence upon it ; and therefore it is said , i will make them to come , and elsewhere , draw me and we will run after thee ; he so maketh us , as that we come , draweth us as that we run of our own accord . i know i am here fallen upon a knotty controversie , but i professe my self to be one of them , who earnestly desire , that all those disputes ( having caused so great animosities both in the reformed , and romish church ) might be buried in silence , and in particular this . why should we so notly contend de modo , about the manner how christ maketh us to come , whilst we all agree de re about the thing it self , that it is he that doth make us , and that all the glory of our conversion belongs to his grace ? . once more , i will make , but by what means ? it is not expressed , yet may be supplied from those words , i have set before thee an open doore , which are partly understood of the freedome which this angel now had to preach the gospell , by which his enemies were wrought upon so as to come and worship at his feet . that fiction of taming wild beasts by the musick of orpheus his harpe , was in some sort verified of the ministry of this angell ; by which these jews of fierce became gentle . true , this happy alteration was principally wrought by the internall operation of christs spirit , but instrumentally by this angels preaching ; and as the naturall heat of the body , though in it self but a quality , yet being the souls instrument , so concocts and digests our meat , that it turneth into our substance : so the ministry of the gospell , though dispensed by a frail man , being actuated by the holy spirit , becometh the power of god , to the conversion of the most obstinate : which leads me to the consideration of the notorious subjects , them , such as were maliciously and devilishly wicked . grievous sinners may become gracious penitents , and proud opposers , humble suppliants . god wants not mercy to pardon the greatest sinnes , nor grace to reclaime the greatest sinners ; as the bloud of christ is omnisufficient to wash away the fowlest spots , so his spirit is omniefficient to knock off the strongest fetters of sinne . we are apt to say of the conversion of obstinate transgressors , what that nobleman said in another case , if god should make windows in heaven , might this thing be ? not considering that divine grace can break the stony heart , and bend the stiffe knee . it is foretold by the prophet isaiah in one place , that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb , and the leopard shall lye down with the kid , and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together , and a little child shall lead them : those who are ravenous like wolves , petulant like calves , and fierce like lions , are made gentle by grace . to this purpose is tha other prophecy of bringing the mountains low , making the crooked straight , and rough places plain , which is made good when the proud and presumptuous are subdued to the obedience of the gospel , and this is that which these converts did testifie by that evident sign of coming and worshipping at the angels feet ; which is the third particular , and cometh now to be discussed , and that according to a double interpretation . . shall come and worship ( me ) before thy feet , so some expound these words , inserting the pronoun it ; so the worship here intended is sacred and religious , of the same nature with that which is mentioned by saint paul , where he saith of the unbeliever , that coming into the christian assemblies , and falling down on his face , he will worship god , and report that god is in them of a truth ; and then the meaning of the words is , that these jews , who had looked upon christ as an impostor and seducer , and used him as a notorious malefactor , should come to the congregations of christians , and joyn with them in worshiping that jesus whom they had crucified . more particularly , here are two properties of that worship which these converts should performe unto christ , insinuated in the two verbs , come and worship , namely , alacrity in the one , and humility in the other . . they shall come and worship , not be forced or driven , but come of their own accord , voluntarily resigning up themselves to christ. it is prophesied concerning the gentiles by the psalmist , that they should be a willing people , and by the prephet isaiah , that they should not onely come , but run unto christ. we must not take up christs yoak as the cyrenian did his cross , unwillingly but chearfully undertake his service . upon which account , though our worship be a due debt , it is called a gift , give unto the lord , glory and strength , give unto the lord the glory due unto his name . . they shall worship , to wit , with a lowly reverence , for so much the greek word imports , and the nature of the thing requireth ; and therefore the psalmist in one place fitly joyneth worshipping and falling down together , and in another , expoundeth worshipping by bowing down . those seraphins which stood before the throne of god are said to cover their faces and fete with wings , to wit , in reverence of the divine majesty : in like manner do true converts abase themselves before christ in their approaches to him . i deny not but there may be , i fear too often is prostration of body , where there is no consternation of mind ; but certainly whosoever worships christ with his soul , will express ( so far as may be ) his inward subjection by outward incurvation . . but i see no reason why we may not refer this worship to the angel of the church , since though religious adoration is peculiar to god , & so belonging to christ as god ; yet there is a reverential submission due to his ministers . and this was the evidence which those jews should give of their conversion , that the bishop of this church who had been abhorred by them as a devil , should be reverenced as an angel , & their haughty spirit so far humbled as that they should worship at his very feet . this is that which we find to be the temper of other converts in holy writ . the shunamite fell at the feet of the prophet elisha , and so did cornelius at the feet of the apostle peter . how beautifull are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace , and bring glad tidings of good things ? saith the apostle from the prophet , to which question this text returneth an answer , how beautifull ? so beautifull in the eyes of all true christians , that they worship at their feet . more particularly , there are three things which this phrase of worshipping at the angels feet may intimate . . a reverentiall esteem of his person , the feet are the lowest part of the body , and such a respect have these converts unto the angell , that they fell down as low as his lowest part : and no wonder , since they looked upon him as a spirituall father ( for so have bishops been ever accounted ) and what more reasonable , than that the childe should reverence the father ? it is gods own argument , if i be a father , where is my honour ? nay and his precept , honour thy father , which extends to civil and ecclesiastical , as well as the natural father . . an obedientiall submission to his doctrine . mary sate at the feet of jesus to hear his word . paul was brought up at the feet of gamaliell as being taught by him , and thus these converts lay at the angels feet to receive his instructions . true penitents account the ministers of the gospell as ambassadors , for , and from christ , and therefore with all humility entertain their message . . a paenitential acknowledgment of their own unworthiness , by reason of their former contempt ; they were so sensible of the injuries and affronts they had offered to this angel , that they now think they cannot abase themselves enough ; and therefore worship at his feet . as peter in the sense of his own unworthinesse fell down at jesus his knees . so these converts in the sence of their vilenesse , worship at the angels feet , to intimate , that they deserved to be trampled upon as the mire in the street . it is the disposition of every true penitent to think basely of himself and highly of christs ministers , to judge them worthy of double honour , and himself unworthy of any respect . an instance of the one is holy job , who saith , i repent and abhor my self in dust and ashes , of the other , the jaylor who came in trembling and fell down before paul and sylas ; of both in these penitents , who considering how ill they had deserved of the angell , and how well the angell had deserved of them , come and worship at his feet . i end this part of my text with this short observation , true conversion is alwayes attended with a manifest alteration . the penitent is not what he was , nay , he is contrary to what he was ; no wonder , if repentance be called by st. paul a metamorphosis , be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind . there is not a greater change made in the air from darknesse to light , when the sun ariseth , than there is in the sinner from sinne to grace , when christ that sun of righteousnesse shineth upon him . the wolf doth not only dwell with , but is turned into a lamb , the heart of stone is changed into an heart of flesh , the converted sinner , of proud becometh humble ; of rebellious , obedient of covetuous , charitable ; of cruell , mercifull ; what ; before he hated , now he loveth , whom before he despised , now he honoureth ; so did these converts , worship at the feet of that angell , who had been contemptible in their eyes . the last considerable in the text , is the effect of their conversion , expressed in these words , and shall know that i have loved thee . it is a clause that looketh two wayes , to the angell , and tels him that he is christs favorite ; to his enemies , and foretelleth that they should know it . . christs love to the angell , will the better appear by this following gradation . . great is that love which christ hath to the whole race of mankind , whom he came to seek and to save : in respect of which st paul saith , the kindness and love of god our saviour towards man appeared . . greater is that love which christ beareth to his church , whom he culleth out of , and therefore hath a dearer affection to , than the rest of mankind . hence those affectionate appellations , my sister , my love , my dove , my undesiled one . . greatest is that love , which christ hath to the angels of his church , the vigilant pastors and governours thereof . it is said of him , in the beginning of the former chapter , that he holdeth the seaven stars in his right hand , and walketh in the midst of the seaven golden candlesticks ; where by the candlesticks are meant by the churches , and by the stars the bishops of those churches . he walketh indeed among the candlesticks by his speciall presence of grace and mercy , but the stars are in his right hand , as vouchsafing a more speciall affection to , and protection over them : his hand in which he holdeth his ministers , is nearer his heart than his feet , by which he walketh among his people , and accordingly it is an higher measure of love , which he beareth to the one than the other . will you see yet more particularly how he loveth the angels of his church ? he so loveth them , as that he reproveth even kings for their sakes , saying , do my prophets no harm ; he so loveth them , that he accounts what is done to them , as done to himself : for so he tels his disciples , he that heareth you , heareth me , and he that despiseth you , despiseth me . he so loveth them , that he will recompence the meanest courtesie which is vouchsafed to them , though it be but a cup of cold water which is given to a prophet in the name of a prophet , it shall not be unrewarded . finally , he so loveth them , that though in this world he sends them forth as sheep among wolves , yet he will not suffer the wolves to worry them ; and though for a time they may be persecuted , yet they shall at length be delivered , and when their course on earth is finished , whereas others are only stones , he will make them pillars in his celestiall temple . . the love of christ to this angell , is that which his enemies should at length know , that is , ( according to the usual notion of the word , so as to acknowledg and own him . being converted to christianity , they were brought to know christ as their only lord and saviour , and knowing him , they acknowledg the angel as sent from , and beloved of him ; and ( which is the latitude of this word knowing , as elsewhere , so here ) that so as to love and honour him with their souls , which as it is the effect of their conversion ; so it was the cause of their prostration and worshipping at his feet . thus was the proverb of solomon verified , when a mans wayes please the lord , he will make his enemies at peace with him , yea of enemies to become friends . and oh that all the enemies of the church and her angels , would in time be brought to this acknowledgment . it is that , which against their wills , they shall do at the last day , when they shall behold those who were so vilified by them , magnified by christ , and be ashamed of their envy and malignity against them . oh how much better will it be for them to do that now freely , which they shall do then forcedly ; and repenting of their former rage and bitterness , after the pattern of these converts , to know and embrace the angels of the church , as the friends and favourites of christ ? by this time you see the extent and meaning of this promise , and in that , what great reason there was for a behold , yea a double behold to be prefixed , since it is such a promise , as cals for both admiration and exultation . . here is a behold of wonder , it being a thing deservedly to be admired , that there should be such a change wrought in the enemies of this angel. when god sent ananias to find out saul of tarsus , he addeth , for behold he prayeth ; and well is behold prefixed , since it was no less then a wonder to find him penitently praying , whom he had known cruelly persecuting . the like is the emphasis of this behold in the text , it being almost incredible and therefore admirable , that such proud enemies should come and worship at the angels feet . indeed the behold serveth at once both to strengthen the angels faith , and enlarge his wonder . it was not so strange as true , and therefore behold and believe ; though true , yet it was very strange , and therefore behold and admire . . here is a behold of joy as well as wonder , since this happy change was that which could not but glad the angels heart . the righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance ; but much rather when he seeth repentance . there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , saith our saviour . indeed there is joy both in heaven and earth ; in heaven by the angels those heavenly ministers ; and in earth by the ministers those earthly angels . and so much the more ought they to rejoyce , because they are the instruments by whom this work is wrought . the reclaiming of these obstinate adversaries was that which this angel desired in his prayers , endeavoured by his preaching , and therefore could not but be exceedingly rejoyced at , when it was accomplished . and thus i have given you an account of the whole , and every part of this text : nothing now remaineth , but to bring it home by a particular application to the present occasion . some interpreters have conceived these seven churches of asia , as typicall of the christian churches , which should succeed in severall parts of the world . one of our late writers , out of his bitter zeal against this church of england , charging her with lukewarmness in religion , ( because she is unwilling to recede from the romish , but in what she recedeth from the catholike church ) maketh laodicea to be her type . but when i behold the brotherly love which is begun , and i both pray and hope will every day more and more encrease among us , i may upon far better ground look upon it as typified by this church of philadelphia . and what in this verse was written to the angel of the church , seemeth at this day to be spoken by our blessed lord , to the severall angels of our church . there hath been a generation of men among us , whom ( without breach of charity ) i may justly charge to be of the synagogue of satan . indeed they say they are the godly party , and their conventicles the purest churches ; but they are not , and do lie . yea their pride and arrogancy ; bloud and cruelty ; malice and oppression ; treason and rebellion , proclaim to all the world that they are not bees but wasps ; lambs but wolves ; doves but hawks ; the best of saints , but the worst of sinners ; and give their verball profession the reall lie . by these men the church of england hath been for many years sorely persecuted ; her lands and revenues sacrilegiously alienated ; her liturgy and worship causlesly extirpated ; and her angels not only of the lower but higher order contemptuously abused . but whilest men have hated , i may truly say christ hath loved them , and after their grievous afflictions , testified his singular affection towards them . he hath so loved them , as to preserve well nigh a third part of our worthy prelates alive , like so many sheep or shepheards rather in the midst of wolves ; so that they have all attained an old , and some a very old age , and live to see the church in an hopefull way of restauration . and as he hath preserved some , so he hath raised up others of choice abilities and integrity , to fill up the vacant seas . what he saith to this angel in the former verse , he saith to ours at this day , behold i have set before thee an open door , for the consecration of archbishops and bishops ; and by them , for the apostolicall ordination of priests and deacons ; and loe on this very day a number of angels , equall to that of those bishops over the asian churches , set in the heaven of our church . what was here promised to the angel of this church , is through gods mercy vouchsafed to our angels . some of those who despised and derided , do cordially honour them , and humbly worship at their feet , as being ashamed of , and grieved for those former contumelies , which they have cast upon them . and even those who continue obstinate , are in some measure subdued , and will i trust ( if they can by no fair means be inclined ) be by just rigour enforced to submit to their government and discipline . and whatsoever others do , yet we i hope will learn our duty , in yielding all due obedience , as next under god , to our dread soveraign , the father of our countrey ; so next under him , to the most reverend and right reverend fathers of our church . i end all with that excellent exhortation of ignatius , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . let our people submit to the priests and deacons ; the deacons to the priests ; priests to the bishop ; i adde , the bishops to the king ; and the king ( yea all ) to god ; so shall this distracted church and kingdome be happily re-established , to the envy of her enemies , and joy of her friends , who will not cease to say amen , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e titus . . notes for div a -e rev. . . ambros. in apoc. vers. . vers. . gen. . partic. . rom. . , . gal. . . ioh. . . rom . . lactant. aug. rev. . . partic. . ioh . . rev. . . ioh. . mat. . . . . plut. mor. isa. . . gen. . act. . . rev. . . isa. . . io● . . . acts . , . sam. . . interp. . psalm . . interp. . isaiah . . partic. . aug. phil. . . phil. . . james . . pet. . . ezek. . . cant. . . verse . partic. . kings . . isaiah . . isaiah . . parti● . . cor. . . psalm . . isaiah . . psal. . , . psalm . , . psalm . . . . isaiah . . kings . . acts . . rom. . . isaiah . . mal. . . exod. . . luke . . luke . . job . . acts . . rom. . . partic. . titus . . cant. . . rev. . . psal. . , . luke . . matth. . . rev. . . prov. . . act. . . psal. . . luk. . . ignat. ep. . ad philip. safety in the midst of danger a sermon preached in the church of alhallowes barkin, jan. , : upon the anniversary commemoration of the dismall fire which happened in the said parish, on jan. , / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) safety in the midst of danger a sermon preached in the church of alhallowes barkin, jan. , : upon the anniversary commemoration of the dismall fire which happened in the said parish, on jan. , / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by j. g. for john clark ..., london : . errata: p. . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng bible. -- o.t. -- exodus iii, -- sermons. a r (wing h ). civilwar no safety in the midst of danger. a sermon preached in the church of alhallowes barkin, jan. . . upon the anniversary commemoration of tha hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion safety in the midst of danger . a sermon preached in the church of alhallowes barkin , jan. . . upon the anniversary commemoration of that dismall fire which happened in the said parish , on jan : . . by nath : hardy minister of the parish of saint dionis back-church . sedul. carm. lib. : ignibus innocuis flagrans apparuit olim non ardens ardere rubus , nec juncta calori materies alimenta dabat , nec torrida virens sensit damna frutex , sed amici fomitis aestu . frondea blanditae lambebant robora flammae . london , printed by j. g. for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under st. peters church in cornhill . . to the vvorshipful henry hunter , esq. mr. james man , merchant . mr. abrahamperret , gent. mr. john wood ; merchant . mr. thomas salmon . mr. henry marchant , and mr. samuell burrell , gent. worthy friends , it is the psalmists assertion concerning god , he hath made his wonderfull workes to be remembred , or ( as ainsworth tracing the footsteps of the originall more closely , readeth it ) he hath made a memoriall of his marvellous workes . indeed as god expects that men should , so ( knowing our dulnesse ) he hath taken care himselfe that the remarkable dispensations of his providence shall not be forgotten . divine workes are of two sorts , either blazing comets , or shining starres , blustring stormes , or gentle showers , wofull desolations ▪ or mercifull preservations . those are acts of justice , these of mercy , both of power , and god hath made memorialls of both . that his exemplary justice on seditious corah and his complices might be perpetually remembred , he commands their censers to be made broad plates for a covering of the altar , ( for so it followeth ) and they shall be a signe ( to wit , rememorative , and thereby commonitory ) to the children of israel . that his eminent mercy to the israelites in the wildernesse , when raining bread out of heaven , he give them ( to use the psalmists language ) angells food , might be recorded to posterity . moses ( as the lord commanded ) bid aaron take a pot , and put an omer full of manna therein , and lay it up before the lord ( for so the reason is expressed in the next words ) to be kept for their generations . this extraordinary event which happened , was doubtlesse a speciall effect of providence , and that such as was mingled with severity and clemency , severity to them who were consumed in , clemency to you ( my honoured friends ) and the rest who were delivered from , or snatched out of the flames . and surely your anniversary commemoration of so notable a worke , deserveth singular commendation , that being thankfulnesse indeed which consults for renewed prayses , by repeated memorialls . in pursuance of this pious designe , i conceive it is , you have desired this sermon to be made publique , that being ( according to gods command concerning israels deliverance , and amelek's discomfiture ) written ( yea printed ) in a book , time ( which is so great a devourer ) might not consume the memory of this consumption . and printing ( which is so faithfull a register ) might preserve the memoriall of this preservation . in order to this end , i have concurred with your desires , and caused this imperfect piece to see the light . commending it to gods benediction , you and yours to his protection , i subscribe my self , as your many favours oblige me , your faithfull servant nath : hardy . exod. . . the latter part . and behold the bush burned with fire , and the bush was not consumed . the text you see presents us with a sight , and a sight , it is which this day minds us of . that in the text was of a fire , a burning fire , such was this of the day . that in the text such a fire as never was before , nor hath been since ; this of the day such as the like every way hath seldome been before , and as yet hath not been ( god grant it may never be againe . ) finally , that in the text , was of a fire burning , but not consuming ; and this of the day of many , who were plucked out of the burning , and not consumed : i will now turne aside ( saith moses in the next verse , to wit , from the flock which he was feeding ) and see this great sight . the like soliloqute i believe you here present had every one with himselfe this morning , i will now turne aside for one houre from my secular imployments , to heare of that great sight which was beheld this day , at once both with sorrow and joy . welcome good christians , i trust your expectation will not be disappointed , i shall ( god assisting ) set both sights before you , the miracle of the one , the wonder of the other , but first begin we with this in the text ; and behold the bush burned with fire , &c. the words offer two generalls to our view , here is a miraculous preservation described , the bush burned with fire , and the bush was not consumed , and a serious observation required , behold . the miraculous preservation of the bush , is that which would first be handled , the object being in order of nature before the act , for the better discussing whereof , we shall consider : the strange event which happened . and the choice intent for which it was designed . the event is , that a bush burning with fire was not consumed . this phrase , the bush burned , is not to be taken strictly , for then it must have been pabulum ignis , fuell for , and so consumed by the fire ; thus wood is said to burne when ( the fire having taken full hold of it ) it sends forth flames from it selfe , till it be wholly turned to ashes : we must know therefore , that the holy scripture ( as lapide well observeth ) oft-times speaketh of things , not as they are in themselves , but as they appeare to outward view , and so this bush is said to burn , because whosoever had seen it , would have thought it to burne , and though the burning was onely in appearance , yet the fire was no doubt reall ( else it had been no miracle ) and was within , and round about the bush , notwithstanding which , it was not consumed . that so it was , is plainly asserted , and therefore not to be doubted ; how it came to be so is concealed , and therefore not to be curiously inquired . when god divided the red sea , the scripture tells us , it was by a great eastwinde , but when jordan was divided , we only reade that it was done , but not how it came to passe , and so here , in which respect , though the meanes of effecting it may be conjectured , yet it cannot be determined . certain it is , it was an effect of omnipotency , besides , above , against the ordinary course . a thing to reason incredible , because to nature impossible , and such as since neither our power can accomplish , nor our knowledge comprehend , it is but just we should admire . the more to raise our admiration , and withall the better to informe our apprehension of this miracle , be pleased to consider it in a double reference to the fire , and to the bush . . to the fire , they are known maxims in philosophy , all naturall agents produce their effects necessarily . and therefore act with their utmost vtgor : hence it is , that fire naturally cannot but burne , and burning ( if the matter be capable ) consume ; surely then that this fire should be in a bush ( which is so easily capable ) and not consume , it was not onely super , but contra-naturall , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to use s. cyrils phrase , a matter indeed of astonishment ; the fire forgets its naturall quality , and sitting upon the bush , instead of consuming , cherisheth it . doubtlesse it was no other then the first and supream cause , which did as it were inhibit and lay a restraint upon the fire , that it should not act according to its proper and naturall instinct , the voice of the lord ( saith the psalmist ) divideth the flames of fire , yea , here the voice of the lord divideth the flame from the fire , and hindereth its consumptive operation . as in that fiery fornace , god did as it were lay a charge upon the fire , that it should not so much as scorch those three salamanders , so here that it should not consume the bush . if any shall further inquire , how god did restrain the fire , i answer with tostatus , that it was by withholding his providentiall concourse . it is a received maxime in the schools , that the continuance of second causes in their being and working , depends upon the renewed influxe of conserving providence , in which regard saint gregory is expresse , that all creatures would returne to their first nothing ( nisi operatione divinae virtutis conservarentur in esse ) were they not preserved in their being by the influence of divine power . nor is it lesse true in regard of working then being , if the first wheel stand still , the rest cannot move . true , there is in every creature implanted a naturall power which it receiveth , together with its existence of producing its proper effect , but it cannot exerere aut exercere , ( to use gerards phrase ) put forth and exercise that power , unlesse actuated by god ; what more naturall to the sun then to arise ? and yet our blessed saviours words are expresse , he maketh his sun to rise : what more naturall to man then to move ? and yet saint paul saith , in him we move . i cannot better illustrate it , then by aquinas his comparison , sic se habet omnis creatura ad deum , sicut aer ad solem illuminantem ; as it is with the aire , in regard of the sun , so is it with every creature in regard of god ; and as the aire can no longer communicate light to the world , then the sun doth communicate light to the aire , no more can any creature any further put forth its effecting vertue , then it partaketh of divine influence , and hence it is , that as when the sun withdraweth its light , the aire becometh dark , so when god is pleased to suspend his influence , the creature becometh unable to produce its effect ; for this cause our blessed saviour asserteth , man liveth not by bread onely , but by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of god , hereby intimating , that though the bread have in it selfe nutritive vertue , yet it cannot be exerted for the sustaining of mans life , unlesse a word proceed from gods mouth . the suspension then of this word , the withholding of divine concourse , may very fitly be looked upon as that which did restraine and hinder the fire from its naturall operation of burning , so as to consume . nor yet ( as tostatus well observeth ) did it cease to be fire , since the forme and the operation of a thing are really distinct , and though the operation cannot be continued without the forme , yet the forme may be conserved without the operation . i cannot let this goe without taking notice , . on the one hand , of that authority and soveraignty which god hath over all creatures , as being monarch of the earth , and possessor of heaven , supream prince of the fire , the aire , & lord high admiral of the seas , yea , so absolute in his dominion over all , that he hath a negative voice . he commandeth the sun and it riseth not , and sealeth up the stars , saith job , if he forbid , the glorious luminaries vaile their brightnesse , and hide their splendor . he rebuketh the winde and the seas , saith the evangelist concerning christ as god , and there was a great calm , the roaring waves , and impetuous blasts ceasing their noise and rage at his word . finally he commandeth the fire and it burneth not , it consumeth not , its mercilesse heat being kept in by his mercifull power . oh what a god doe we serve , in whose hands are all the corners of the earth , and things in the world ! whence should the servants of god feare destruction , where need they doubt protection , as being under his armes , who is over all ? . on the other hand , of that obedience and subjection which all creatures give to god , and that not onely according to , but against their naturall instinct . the psalmist saith , that the fire , hail , snow , and vapour , and stormy windes fulfill his word ; yea , even then when his word is contrary to their nature : thus the sun stands still , nay , goeth backwards , the waters divide , the iron swimmeth , finally , the lyons devour not , the whale swalloweth and killeth not , and the asse openeth his mouth to speak at his command . oh what shame may sit upon our faces , who though of all creatures we are most obliged to , yet are least forward in serving god . excellently origen to this purpose , hi , qui prudentiae & intellectus expertes sunt , inclinantur jubenti , &c. these creatures which are void of wisdome and understanding , that have neither speech nor language observe his commandements . he chideth the windes and they are still , he speaketh to the sea and it obeyth , onely men who are made after gods image , to whom he hath given both reason and language are contumacious and rebell against him . how shall the whale , the lions and the asse unreasonable creatures , the fire , the water , and the sun inanimate creatures , one day condemn men for their disobedience ! yea i would to god the best of us might not justly accuse our selves as below them in subjection to that god , who hath dignified us so much above them in our creation , whilest though we obey god in some things , yet in those which are contrary to our reason and will , we resist him , making his law our rule , no farther then it may consist with our will . surely as solomon sends the sluggard to the ant to learn diligence , so may we be sent to school to the fire to learn obedience . . but further , this miracle is no lesse considerable in regard of the bush , it being a thing deservedly admirable , that a bush should have a fire in the midst of it , and yet not be consumed by it . of all materialls , wood is most susceptible of the impressions of fire , and is farre more easily consumed then stone , brasse , brick , or such like things . of all wood , none more easily combustible then bushes , the fire is farre longer in taking hold of an oake , and such like trees , then bushes , which are so much the more easily burned , because even in our , much more in those hotter countreyes , they have dry sticks among the green , which quickly take fire ; nay , yet further , of all bushes a bush of thornes is most apt to be consumed , and yet behold , a bush , yea ( as the word signifieth ) a thorny bush burneth with fire , is not consumed . indeed as if the holy ghost would point to us wherein the greatnesse of the miracle lyeth , this word bush is twice mentioned , the bush burned , and the bush was not consumed . what more probable , then that a bush on fire should be turn'd into ashes ? how nigh is a flaming bush in every mans opinion to consuming ! but divine power preserveth the bush in the midst of the burning . when destruction may be to the eye of man very neer , and most likely , gods power can , and many times his providence doth prevent it . indeed every deliverance is so much the more , both honourable and amiable , by how much the danger seemeth more unavoidable , to be at the pits brink , and yet saved from falling in , to be under the lions paw , and yet kept from the devouring of his teeth ; finally , to be snatched as a brand out of the very fire , are glorious preservations , and such , as well beseeme the greatnesse and goodnesse of a deity to effect . when therefore danger approacheth , and desolution is at hand , probabilities of ruine are greatest , and troubles neerest , take courage , by remembring and believing the good will of him who dwelt in the bush . if any shall be curiously inquisitive by what meanes the bush was thus preserved ? it may not unfitly be conceived , that there was , as a restraint of the fire , so a consolidation the bush , whereby the fire could not work upon it ; look as when peter walked upon the water , it is rationally conjectured , that miracle was wrought by congealing , ( as it were ) the water whereby ( as any water when frozen ) it did beare up his body , so might it here , the bush by divine power was so coroborated , that it was able to withstand the violence of the fire . indeed philo goeth further , and seemeth to assert , as if there were a transmutation of natures ; that the bush did burne as if it had been fire , and the fire was burned and consumed as if it had been the bush , but moses asserts not that the fire was consumed by the bush , only that the bush was not consumed by the fire , and accordingly we may probably imagine , that the bush was so strengthened , that the fire could not pierce it . naturall histories report of the salamander living in the flames , and of a stone which is therefore called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because the fire hath no power to dissolve it . experience tells us that gold though cast into , is not wasted by the fire ( for this cause not doubt ) as being of all mettals the most solid , and surely then it is not incredible , that by supernaturall strength the bush should be so consolidated as that though burning in the fire , it was not consumed . i end this with a short note , what god might doe to this bush no doubt he doth to his servants , so steele and harden them as it were with aequanimity , nay magnanimity , that their fiery trialls which befall them , have no power over them . hence it is that martyrs have been so couragious in the fire , and triumphant at the stake , whilst that fire which consumed their flesh , could not daunt their spirits . indeed it is that which is very strange , and admirable to consider , with what contentednesse , nay cheerfulnesse , christians have endured the worst of torments , how like impregnable forts they have withstood fiery assaults , like mount aetna , ( which therefore pindar calls an heavenly pillar ) they have not been consumed in flames ; in a word ( to use saint bernards phrase ) with what exultation they have beheld their blood gushing forth out of those wounds which the iron hath made in their bodies . it were easie to instance what pleasant smiles have set upon the faces , yea what resolute words have flowed from the lips of tortured christians : among many others , that chalenge which aldhelmus tells us was made by jocunda a virgin martyr to her tormentor , would not be passed by , applica ignes , saxa , gladios , flagella , fustes & virgas , quot tu paenas intuleris , tot ego glorias numerabo , make use of rods , clubs , whips , swords , stones , fire to torment me with . how many punishments thou dost inflict upon me , i shall number them as so many glories . and would you know the reason of all this ? that prayer of s. paul for the colossians renders it , strengthned with all might , according to his glorious power , unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulnesse ; therefore the christians have suffered so much , so long , so joyfully , because divine power hath strengthned them with all might . feare we then none of those things which we may be called to undergoe ; if it be permitted to our enemies to molest , it shall be given to us to suffer , as here , he that sent the fire into the bush , preserved the bush from being consumed in the fire ; and if the burden be laid upon our backs , we shall be so fortified , as not to sinke but stand under it ; as here it is conceived , the bush was so consolidated , that the fire could not penetrate it : and so much be spoken of the first thing proposed to be handled , the strange event which happened , passe we on to the choice intent for which it was designed , that as we have beheld the kind and nature , so we may take a view also of the end and scope of this miracle , and having taken notice of the quid , what was done , or rather not done , we may finde out an answer to the quare , why it thus came to passe . i am not ignorant that the antients have allegorized this history many wayes , nor shall i wholly bury their allusions in silence , since ( at least ) they may afford profitable meditations , those i meet with are of two sorts , some mysticall , others morall . . mystically , this miracle is applyed both to christ and the virgin mary ; it is not unfitly made an embleme of christ in his incarnation , passion , and resurrection . the bush ( saith saint ambrose ) is christ as man , the flaming fire represents his divinity , and the bush burning but not consumed , figureth the assumption of the humane nature , into unity of person with the divine , yet so as that neither was changed into the other , nor was his humanity swallowed up by his divinity . to the same purpose saint cyrill , the holy scripture ( saith he ) frequently compareth the divine nature to fire , and men to trees , grasse , thornes , and as the thornes cannot endure the fire , no more can man to approach the deity ; but in christ this was effected , the fulnesse of the godhead dwelt in him bodily , humanity becometh capable of an union with the deity , and so the bush was not consumed by the flaming fire . besides the incarnation , we may observe in this burning bush , a representation of the passion . those manifold sorrowes and sufferings which christ underwent in the garden , on the crosse , notwithstanding all which , he was not consumed , whilst none of his miseries drew him to the least iniquity , yea ( as aquinas his phrase is ) summè patiebatur & summè fruebatur , he had in his greatest extremity a sweet serenity . nor doth this miracle less aptly shadow forth the resurrection of christ , as that forementioned father hints in the same place , for as the combustible bush burned in the fire , and was not consumed , so christs corruptible body , lay in the grave and was not corrupted , according to that of the psalmist , thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption . and as this burning bush is made a figure of christ , so likewise it is not incongruously applyed to the blessed virgin , that bush of moses sending forth flames and not consuming , what did it portend ( saith saint bernard ) but mary bringing forth without sorrow ? more appositely gregory nyssen and saint ambrose , we may ( saith the latine father ) by the bush burning and not consuming , understand the blessed virgin mary , which brought the son of god forth of her wombe , and yet lost not her virginity . and to the same purpose the greek father as there , a bush burned but was not consumed , so here , a virgin brings forth a childe and is not deflowred , that a miracle , this a greater , the holy ghost who is as fire over shadowing her , she conceiveth and beareth a son , whereby she became a mother , and yet remained a virgin . besides these mysticall , there wants not a morall application of this miracle , s. austin makes it a resemblance of the ingratefull israelites . as the bush ( though the fire was in the midst of it ) did not take fire , so notwithstanding god strove with them by his spirit , yet their sin was not destroyed . s. gregory , ( with whom accords chrysologus ) understandeth likewise by the bush the people of isreal , but by that fire the law , which is called a fiery law , and as the fire could not consume the bush , no more could the law of god consume the thornes of their sins . de la haye conceiveth the bush and the fire to be emblems of mercy and severity , both which ought to meet together in every good ruler , so as that pitty may not consume justice . once more , lapide compareth originall concupiscence in the regenerate to the bush , for as that burned but was not consumed , so this is weakned , but not destroyed , subdued , but not extirpated . but to beat that bush no longer . the designe of god , no doubt , in working this miracle , was partly in respect of moses , and chiefly in regard of israel , for the confirmation of moses his faith , and the representation of israels deliverance . . it is not unworthy our observation , that almighty god intending to send moses as a deliverer of his people out of aegypt , confirmeth him before hand with a manifest signe , and that not onely in respect of the people , representing their rescue out of pharoahs hand , but himselfe assuring him , that though he might be cast into many , he should not be over-whelmed by any straits . indeed the end of this glorious apparition was partly to beget in this holy man , an awfull reverence of that divine majesty which appeared to him . but chiefly to strengthen his confidence , in accomplishing the worke about which god was pleased to send him , that neither he nor it should miscarry . and surely we have herein great cause to take notice of gods gracious condescension to his servants , who is pleased by visible signes to support the weaknesse of their faith . this was the course he took with abraham , to whom he gave not onely a promise but a signe of that mercy , he had intended to his posterity , and the like is evident in his dealing with gideon , to whom he gave the choyce , of what signe he pleased to desire , for the encouragement of him in that service to which he called him . it were easie to multiply instances in this kinde , which run parallel with this in the text . indeed it is that which though not in the same miraculous , yet in no lesse gracious a way , god is still pleased to doe whilst he hath given us those visible signes of water in baptisme , of bread and wine in the supper of the lord , to strengthen our faith in christ . the truth is , we are at best slow of faith , especially if we want the help of sense . with thomas we know not how to believe unlesse we see , and therefore divine wisdome and goodnesse hath made provision for our weaknesse , that by the obviousnesse of the signes to sense , the things may be more manifest to faith . besides the imbecility of our faith , there is oft times a difficulty in the objects , they being of such a nature , as it is very hard to believe the accomplishment of them . how incredible was it that such miserable slaves as the israelites were in aegypt , should be set free and enstated in a land flowing with milke and hony ! nay yet more incredible , that so weak an instrument as moses , should bring to passe so glorious a worke as israels deliverance ; no wonder if to prevent the staggering of his faith , he giveth him this eminent signe . and truly to a wounded sinner , the belief of an interest in christs merits is very difficult , so that it is well if he can believe when those externall elements are offered to , or taken by him as pledges of his redeemers love ; oh let us with thankfulnesse acknowledge that mercy of divine dispensation , which provideth as it were a staffe to uphold our feeble knees , a paire of spectacles to strengthen our weak eyes , and a stone to put under our heavy hands , for such was this bush to moses his faith . . but doubtlesse the primary intention of this miracle was to represent that glorious deliverance , which was now to be wrought for the children of israel ; to this purpose philo hath well observed , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. the bush was a symbole of the oppressed israelites , the fire of the oppressing egyptians , and the not consuming of the bush , the not perishing of the israelites ; not much unlike is junius his interpretation , the signe fitly correspondeth to the thing signified , for flamma ignis , afflictiones israelitarum , rubus israelitarum corpus , integritas rubi in media flamma , stabilitatem populi ex veritate promissionum dei adumbravit . the bush shadowed forth the body of the people , the fire their affliction in egypt , and the not consuming of the bush in the fire , their preservation in , liberation out of egypt . to illustrate each briefly . . the people of israel are shadowed by the bush , and not unfitly upon a double account ; . a thorny bush wounds with its prickles those who handle it , so doth gods israel , or rather the god of israel those who persecute her . to this purpose is oleasters note , observe ( saith he ) why israel ( that is the church of god ) is signified by a bush , ut scilicet ostendat omnes , qui tangent eam à spinis pungendos , to intimate , that she hath thornes wherewith justly to vex those who injuriously touch her . certainly never any offered wrong , or acted evill against the church , who did not sooner or later meet with proportionable sufferings . it was our saviours item to furious saul , it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks , to wit , and not hurt thy selfe . the angry boar running his head against the tree wounded it , so doe wicked men by persecuting the church , bring mischiefe upon their own heads ; what got pharoah by pursuing israel through the red sea , when the waters overtook and overwhelmed both him and his hoste ? it is a maxime in phylosophie , omne agens agendo repatitur , in every action there is a passion , and that as well in respect of the agent , as the object : it is a truth in divinity , every persecution at last reflects ruine on the persecutor . as no man can touch pitch , and not be defiled , be friendly with the wicked , and not be infected , so no man can handle thornes and not be pricked , exercise enmity against the godly and not be recompensed . . but though this allusion be true and ingenuous , yet that which i conceive more congruous to the designe of the miracle , is to understand this thorny bush , as an embleme of the meane , and despicable estate of the people of israel in egypt ; a bush is low in stature , so was israel low in estate , a bush is barren in fruits , so was israel of outward comforts , the bush is easily trodden down , so was israel trampled under foot . parallel to this is that metaphor of a worme , which god himselfe is pleased to use by the prophet isaiah , feare not thou worme jacob , which creature more vile and contemptible then a worm ? every foot treadeth upon it , every bird picketh it up . it lets us see what is many times the estate of gods church in this world . our blessed saviour calls his flock a little flock , a word not onely of quantity because the number is small , but of quality , because their condition is meane . indeed for the most part the wicked are lofty pines , tall cedars , whilst the godly are as low shrubs , and thorny bushes . it is a strange fancy of the romanists , who would entayle outward splendor upon the true church , it is that indeed which conduceth to the well-being , but is no way essentiall to her being . it is her honour , when she is as a city upon a hill , conspicuously visible , but it is often her lot to be as a village in a valley , scarce discernable ; let us not be discouraged by , or scandalized at it , ever remembring that she is not the lesse amiable in gods , because so despicable in mens eyes , as if she were no better then a thorny bush , . the fire with which this bush burned , sets forth the oppression which the israelites endured in egypt from pharoah and his taskmasters , when they imposed upon them heavy burdens , and doubled their labours . indeed it is an usuall metaphor to represent , as love , so anger , by fire , the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and the latine excandescere , signifie to burne with anger , and especially that rage , which is in the mindes of wicked men against the godly , is compared to fire , among other reasons , chiefly for this , because it is insatiable , for as the fire never goeth out , so long as there is any fuell , nor ( unlesse restrained as here ) doth it cease burning , till it have consumed all to ashes , so doth the wrath which is kindled in wicked persecutors break forth upon all occasions , and that to utter ruine , whilest nothing lesse then blood can quench it . with this fire the bush of the church oft-times burneth . it is her complaint in the psalme , we went through fire and water . s. peter speaketh of a fiery triall , which hapned to the believers in his time . the spouse saith of her selfe in the canticles , i am black because the sun hath looked upon me , thereby intimating that she was scorched with the heat of persecution . when the tryall was made between jehovah the true god and baal , it was by the coming down of fire upon the altar ; if we would know which is the true church , it is that ( for the most ) on which the fire of tribulation cometh . let then the people of god continually make account of , prudently prepare for , and patiently undergoe this fire , it was the antidote our saviour prescribed to his disciples against the crosse , so persecuted they the prophets which were before you ; why should that which is common to the saints seem strange to us ? sometimes indeed this fire is as it were hid in the embers , and then the saints have a little refreshment ; but the devill hath his bellowes still in readinesse , and watcheth all occasions to blow the sparks , till they come to a flame ; yet let us not be dismayed , ever remembring , that though satan and his instruments are malicious to destroy , god is gracious to preserve . for , . the bush burned with fire , and was not consumed . the israelites , though oppressed in egypt , could not be suppressed , notwithstanding all the projects and endeavours of their enemies to crush them , they were preserved , and at the due season delivered . with this holy exultation the psalmist bringeth in israel triumphing , many a time have they afflicted me from my youth ( may israel now say ) many a time have they afflicted me from my youth , but they have not prevailed against me ; and with this meditation the prophet micah bringeth in the church , quelling the surious insultation of her adversaries , rejoyce not against me oh mine enemy , though i fall , i shall arise , and though i sit in darknesse , the lord shall be a light to me . this vine may be cut down , and the branches burnt with fire , but the root cannot be plucked up . this house which is built upon a rock may be moved and shaken by the winde , but it cannot be blown down : finally , this ship may be covered over with the waves , but it cannot sinke into the bottome . daniel is cast into the den , but not torne in pieces ; jonah is swallowed by the whale , but not drowned ; and though crosses may encompasse , they shall not overwhelme the people of god . look as wicked men , though spared by gods patience for a time , are not exempted from the destructive stroke of his vengeance , so good men , though vexed by mens rage for a while , are yet preserved by divine goodnesse . indeed this fire which seizeth upon the church , is not consumens , but separans , to consume , but seperate the drosse from the gold , the hypocrites from the sincere , that it may appear who are true , and who are false-hearted . what saint paul saith of heresies , is true of persecutions , they are for this onely , that they which are approved may be made manifest . it is not consumens , but purgans , consuming but refining , to destroy , not the persons , but their corruptions ; o god thou hast tried us as silver , saith the church , non sicut foenum , sed argentum ; so saint austin , not as stubble which is burnt to ashes , but as silver which is melted and purified in the fire . finally , it is not consumens , but consummans , to perfect their graces , and make them fit for glory . and now if you shall aske the reason of this , the answer is in the former part of the verse , the angel of the lord was in the midst of the bush , therefore the bush burned with fire , and was not consumed . there were they in great feare ( saith the psalmist meaning the wicked for god is in the generation of the righteous , and surely the same for which puts the wicked in feare , puts the righteous out of fear , even when they may be in the midst of troubles . it is the promise of god to his church , ( alluding no doubt to this miracle ▪ when thou walk●st in the fire , thou shalt not be burnt , neither shall the flame kindle upon thee , and no wonder , since he assureth her , in the beginning of the verse , i will be with thee . this is the implicite acknowledgement of the church , where she saith , we went through fire and watter , but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place . thereby insinuating , that when they went into the fire of adversity , god as it were , went with them , carryed them on , and at length brought them forth into a sunshine of prosperity . indeed ( as the psalmist excellently ) the wrath of man shall praise god , and the remainder thereof he will restrain , what ever fire of rage is more then will tend to the glory of god , that is , to the injury of his church , god will restraine that it shall not take effect , no mervaile if the bush burne and be not consumed . and surely the consideration hereof is that which should both abate the fury of the enemies , and mitigate the sorrow of the church ; philo the jew , dilating upon this scripture , frameth a speech which this miracle as it were made , both to the israelites , and the aegyptians , doe not faint ( oh israelites ) this your weakness is your power whereby many shall be pierced and wounded . they who desire to destroy you , against their wills shall save you , you shall escape safe out of all their wiles , and when your destruction shall seem the neerest , your glory shall be the greatest . you also ( to wit aegyptians ) who for cruelty are like to the devouring fire , boast not too much of , trust not too much in your strength , and considering how the mightiest forces have been subdued ; learn to be wise . why then ( on the one hand ) doe the heathen rage ? that which they imagine is but a vaine thing , because such as they cannot effect , their designe is to root out religion , and ruine the church , but it shall prove abortive ; god may suffer them to grow big with hopes of accomplishment ; yea , and to goe out the time they prefix , but when they are come to the birth , there shall be no strength to bring forth that monster of totall destruction to sion and her friends . why ( on the other hand ) should the israel of god despond ? as christ said to lazarus , this sicknesse is not to death , but to the glory of god ; so may i say of the churches sufferings , they are not to her destruction , but gods exaltation . he that permits the fire to burne , will not permit it to consume ; it is gods wisdome which brings his servants into , and his goodnesse which brings them out of their distresses . how well doe those couragious expressions befit the mouth of saint paul , and not of him onely , but of all gods faithfull ones ! we are troubled on every side , but not destressed , we are perplexed , but not in despair , persecuted , but not forsaken , cast down , but not destroyed . let us then never , oh never cast away our confidence , but in our saddest streights , and greatest storms expect a providence to bring us safe to shore . to this end , let us often remember what moses saw , and though he alone , by the eye of sense , yet let us as well as he , by the eye of faith , behold this miracle to our comfort , the bush burned with fire , and the bush was not consumed ; and so i am fallen upon the second part of the text , to wit , a serious observation required in the first word , behold . this word behold is such as deserveth a behold , as being alwayes like john the baptist a forerunner of , or like the starre to the magi , a guide to something that is excellent . if we observe the use of it in scripture , we shall finde it to be alwayes in things that are both certain and weighty ; sometimes in things that are sodain , joyfull , and wonderfull . . when ever this ecce is used it is , . in certis , in things of unquestionable verity , and is an ecce of faith , and credence to that which followeth , whether it be an assertion of something already done , or a prediction of something to be done . thus when christ would terrifie the jewes , with the certainty of the approaching desolation , he prefixeth a behold , your house is left to you desolate , and when solomon would gaine beliefe to his positive doctrine of the worlds vanity , he ushereth it in with a behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit . . in seriis , in things of weighty importance , and serious concernment , and is an ecce of attention . to this purpose it was , that our blessed saviour began his parable of the sower , with behold a sower went forth to sow , and saint paul speaking of the time of the gospel , which god affords , prefixeth a behold now is the acceptable time , behold now is the day of salvation . . this ecce is sometimes used , . in subitis , in things that are sodaine and unexpected , and is an ecce of observation ; so jephtahs unlooked for , meeting of his daughter , the angells unwonted appearing to joseph , and the unexpected storme which befell the disciples at sea , are all attended with a behold . . in laetis , in things that are matter of joy and comfort , and is an ecce of exultation , so the prophet foretelling and the angell proclaiming christs joyfull advent , doe both speak of it with a behold . . finally , in miris , in things that are great and wonderfull , and is an ecce of admiration . thus the strangers at jerusalem being amazed to hear the apostles speak every man in his own language , cry out , behold , are not all these which speak galtleans ? and the lord christ appearing to ananias , and acquainting him with sauls devotion tells him , behold he prayeth , as a thing greatly to be wondered at , that he who was so lately cursing should now be praying . and truly in all these respects may the ecce in the text be taken . the miracle being such as was in it selfe certaine , and yet strange , to moses unexpected , but comfortable , and the signification of it very important . the usefull note which this word prompts us to , is , that the wonderfull workes of gods hand , ought to be the singular objects of our eye , when god speaketh ; it is reason we should heare , and when he acts , that we should behold . all gods actions deserve our observation , but his eminent workes are specially remarkable . though common people goe along the streets unregarded , yet if a royall prince passe by with his noble traine , every one runs to his door to behold him ; and if we be so carelesse as to take little or no notice of gods daily administrations , yet surely when he is pleased to passe before us in glorious manifestations of his power , or justice , or mercy , we should be spectators of them . nor is it enough for us to cast a glance , to view in transitu , but we must sit downe to draw the pictures of gods workes before our eyes in their severall lineaments . it is the psalmists call , come and see ( not onely see as you goe , but come on purpose to see ) the workes of the lord , what desolations he hath wrought in the earth ; and to this purpose is samuels advice , consider what great things the lord hath done for you . indeed it is that to which there is great need we should be excited , the most of us being so apt to neglect this duty . it was the prophets complaint of the wicked in his time ; lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see , were it onely gods finger , we should regard it , so did david , i consider thy heavens the worke of thy fingers ; but much more when it is his hand . every stretching forth of his hand should be observed , but much more the lifting of it up , it being so much the more visible , by how much the higher it is lifted up . well doth the prophet say of them , they will not see , since they could not but see , did they not wilfully blinde their eyes ? oh that this charge might not too truly be drawn up against us , gods hand is lifted up sometimes in wrath , and sometimes in love , now upon others , and then upon our selves , and yet who is a diligent observer of it ? we cast , as his word , so his workes behinde our backs , and set light by his dispensations . let then this behold serve as a bell , to awake our sluggish drowsinesse , that we may open our eyes to see and consider divine operations . indeed this is that whereby we shall manifest our selves to be both grateful and prudent . beholding puts upon thankfulnesse , and thankfulnesse puts upon beholding ; the grateful soul being so enamoured , especially with choice mercies , that it knoweth not how to look off ; and withall , this is no small piece of prudence , since it engageth god to doe grea●er things ; no wonder if the prophet assert , the man of wisdome shall see thy name . i end this with that sweet close of the psalmist , after his enumeration of various providentiall workes , who so is wise , and will observe these things , even they shall understand , ( to wit , experimentally ) the loving kindnesse of the lord . and thus the text leadeth us to the duty of the day ; which is to behold that worke of god , which some yeares agoe , on this day of the moneth , was wrought in this parish . a worke in some respects unlike , and in some respects like to this in the text . indeed if we take a view of what then fell out , we shall finde there was both a burning and a consuming , and in that a dissimilitude ; there was a burning , but not a consuming , and in that a similitude , and both call for an ecce , behold . . there was a burning and consuming , and that both of ehings and persons . barrells of gunpowder casually taking fire , blew up houses , burn up goods , consume much substance to ashes , by which meanes many families are impoverished , and they who before had but little , had then nothing left , neither house to cover them , nor garments to cloath them , nor necessaries to relieve them , and truly this sad event calls for a behold of commiseration and reliefe ; blessed is he ( saith the psalmist ) who considereth the poor , that is , so as to pitty and succour : indeed , if the eye affect the heart , the heart will open the hand ; and what poor should be thus considered , if not those whom providence is pleased to make so , by such a sodain accident . where god sheweth severity , there he expecteth men should have pitty , and whilest he exerciseth with correction , he would have us expresse compassion . nor did this fires consuming stay here ; not onely houses and goods , but men , women and children , are burnt to ashes ; some siting in their owne houses , others met together in publique houses , all probably about their secular occasions , are unexpectedly snatched out of this world , their soules seperate from their bodies , their members rent one from another , their flesh and bones a prey to the mercilesse flames ; and surely this dolefull stroke calls for a behold of expectation and preparation . what then befell them , may by the like , or any other accident happen to us . alas how little did any of them imagine , when they rose in the morning , that they should before the next day make their beds in the dust , and become an heap of ashes ? oh what need is there ( though we cannot foresee the time , meanes , and manner of our death yet ) at all times to make account of , and provide for death , which may come in that time , by that meanes , and after that manner , whereof we are least aware ! how should every one of us upon the hearing of this sad blow , entertaine these or the like serious thoughts ? this day sixe yeares a fire devoured my neighbours houses , perhaps a like may this day burne downe mine . this day , was then the last day of life to many , who might else in probability have been now alive ; and why may not this day be my last ? they perished by fire , so may i , or be drowned in the water , or killed by a thousand other accidents ; why should i live a day , an houre , a moment , in that state wherein i would not dye , since in a day , an houre , a moment , death may seize upon me ? . i have shewed you the dark side of that cloud of sulpheurous smoak which then covered this parish , yea , this place where we are now assembled , i meane the hurt and mischiefe which came to passe by this terrible fire . but withall let me set before you the light side , that mercifull preservation from this desperate danger , which many of you here present experienced . some there are among you , who very probably might have been in this burning , but providence prevented it . you who not long before were passing by this place upon your imployments , you who intended at that very time to have been in some of those houses upon severall businesses , but were diverted , cannot but acknowledge you escaped a great danger . some of you were in the burning , and yet so farre from being consumed , that you were not scorched , the fire flaming over your heads , the timber and other materialls encompassing about your bodies , and yet not the least hurt in any part , and surely you must needs be sensible of a great deliverance . finally , some of you were scorched , burnt , wounded and bruised in your bodies , who yet were not consumed , but have recovered your former strength and health , and certainly you cannot but confesse you were wonderfully preserved . and surely beloved , all of you have great reason to be put in minde of this ecce , behold , and againe i say , behold with joyfull gratulation this signall goodnesse of god towards you . that passage of our saviour in his propheticall sermon , two shall be in the field , the one shall be taken , the other left , two women shall be grinding at the mill , the one shall be taken , the other left , may very fitly be applyed to this present subject , two were in one house , in one room , in one bed , the one taken , the other left , the one preserved , the other destroyed ; and shall such a mercy be forgotten ? it may be thou who didst escape that danger , wert then in a very unfit posture for death , nor would that stroke , had it seized on thee , have given thee the time of saying , lord have mercy on me ; and then alas the consuming would too probably at once have seized on soule and body , and should such a preservation be slighted ? god forbid . tell me ( i beseech you ) when you heard that dismall noise of the gunpowder , beheld the dreadfull flashings of the flames , felt the heavy load of the rubbish , so that you were buried ( as it were ) alive , and had no part to help you , onely your tongues to call for help , what were then your thoughts , your purposes , your promises ? did you not vow to god ( if he would rescue you out of that danger ) thankfulnesse , repentance , obedience , and shall such obligations be cancelled ? far be it from us . me thinkes every one concerned in this dayes deliverance should now break forth into these or the like expressions , lord who am i , that my house was onely shaken , whilest my neighbours was blown up , my goods were onely removed , whilst my neighbours were consumed ? what did i deserve more then my friend , my companion , my husband , my servant , that he was thus sodainly snatched away , and i still survive , an unworthy monument of thy mercy ? hast thou oh god given me my life as a prey , and shall not i give it thee as a sacrifice ? in great love to my soul thou didst deliver me from the dreadfull burning , and shall i still tempt thy patience by grievous sinning ? surely my tongue shall blesse thee , my heart shall love thee , my life shall magnifie thee , i will call upon thy name as long as i live , and i will praise thee whilst i have a being . to end all . the behold in the text is that , which not onely you , who were more immediately concerned , but every one here present ought to put in practice , partly in reference to this providentiall occurrence , so as to weep with them that weep , and rejoyce with them that rejoyce , to commiserate them that were impoverished , and congratulate them that were delivered , and partly by way of reflection upon gods former providences towards our selves , either in preventing such dangers that they have not come neer us , or preserving us when we have been neer to , and inclosed in the like dangers , every one of us gratefully acknowledging in the words of the church , it is of the lords mercies that we are not consumed , because his compassions faile not . finis . errata . pag. . lin. . read and 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . marg. ●aqua . p. . l. . r. and taken . p. . l. . r. wounds it . p. . l. . r. most part . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- psal. . . ainsw. ibid. num. . . ●●hem . . psal. . . ●xod . . . exod. . . notes for div a e- ver. . gen. . consid. . s. scriptura saepè , praesertim in phoenomenis loquitur de iis , non ut in se à parte rei sunt , sed prout apparent . lap in loc. exod. . . josh. . . omne agens naturale agit necessario , cause naturalis agit ad extremum potentiae suae . cyr. glaph . ib. ●bod . psal. . . desistendo ab influentia in ignem . &c vide tostat. in loc. greg. mor. l. . ger. ● . com . de provid. math . . act. . . aquin. part. . q ▪ . art. . mat. . . vide tostat. l d. iob. . . math. . . psal. . . orig. hom. . in divers . prov. . . eò majus erat miraculum , quòd spinae facilius flammas conc ipiunt , &c. river . in exod. see this doctrine enlarged upon , in my sermon , called mercy in her beauty . mat. . tu praecipe & illico solidabuntur aequae . hier. in math. vide & just . mart resp. ad qu●● . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . philo de vita . moys. lib. . pind. ode . stat martyr intrepidus & triumphans toto licet lacero corpore . &c. bern. serm . in cant. aldhelm . de verg. c. . colos. . ambros. in cap. . aporal . cyr. gleph . in exod l . vide porrect . in pentat . aquin. ps. . q. ● . art. . cyril d. psal. . . quid rubus ille quondam mosaic●● portendebat , &c. bern. hom. . super missus est . possumus per rubum qui flammas ex se producebat & non comburebatur , &c. ambros. in c . apocal. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. gr. nys. in natal . aug. serm. de temp. . divinum rubus pertavit non concepit incendium , &c. chrysol. greg. in ezek. hom. . de la haye lapid. in loc. hoc viso deus ipsum mosen , initio vocationis suae confirmare voluit . river . in loc. gen. . . judg. . . philo de vitâ moys. l. . jun. analyt . expl . in exod : oleast . in loc. acts . . isa. . . luk. . . psal. . . pet. . . cant. . . mat. . . psal. . . micah . . cor. . . ps. . . aug. ibid. psal. . isa. . . psal. . . philo l. d. john . . cor. . , . gen. d . mat. . . cant. . . mat. . . cor. . . judg. . . math. . . . . zech. . . luk. . . act. . . . . psal. . . sam. . . isa. . . psal. . . micah . . . ps. . . psal. . . math . . . lam. . . mercy in her beauty, or, the height of a deliverance from the depth of danger set forth in the first sermon preached upon that occasion / by nath. hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : or : a) mercy in her beauty, or, the height of a deliverance from the depth of danger set forth in the first sermon preached upon that occasion / by nath. hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by j.g. for nath. web and will grantham, london : . copy on reel : appears as first sermon in the author's two mites. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. eng bible. -- n.t. -- philippians ii, -- sermons. a r (wing h ). civilwar no mercy in her beauty: or, the height of a deliverance from the depth of danger. set forth in the first sermon preached upon that occasion, by hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - melanie sanders sampled and proofread - melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mercy in her beauty : or , the height of a deliverance from the depth of danger . set forth in the first sermon preached upon that occasion , by nath : hardy , master of arts , and preacher to the parish of s. dionis back-church . psal. . , , . i shall not die , but live , and declare the works of the lord . the lord hath chastened me very sore , but he hath not given me over to death . open unto me the gates of righteousnesse , i will goe into them , and i will praise the lord . basil. mag. hom. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aug. in psal. . quia magis crebra sunt mala , dulcior ●rit misericordia tua . etenim scriptum est quodam loco speciosa misericordia domini in tempore tribulationis , sicut nubes pluviae in tempore siccitatis . london , printed by j. g. for nath : web and will : grantham , at the black beare in st. paul's church-yard , neere the little north-doore . . sermons preached and printed by mr nathanaell hardy m.a. and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church . jvstice triumphing , or the spoilers spoiled : a sermon preached on the th of november in the cathedrall church of st pauls . the arraignment of licentious liberty and oppressing tyranny , in a sermon at a fast before the lords in parliament ; in the abbey-church at westminster . faiths victory over nature , a sermon preached at the funerals of mr john rushout junior . the safest convoy or the strongest helper , a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sr thomas bendish barronet , his majesties ambassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople . a divine prospective representing the just mans peacefull end , a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sr john gayr knight . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony , a sermon occasioned by the nuptials between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams . divinity in mortality , or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty , a sermon at the funerals of mr richard goddard minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls . printed , and are to be sold by nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north-door , . to the right worshipfull , worshipfull , and wel-beloved , the inhabitants of the parish of s. dionis back-church , health and wealth , not only in this life , but chiefly in that which is to come . worthy friends , it is a full decade of yeers since i first was called by divine providence to begin the work of my ministry among you : and it is not yet half so many months , since in humane probability both my ministry and life seemed to be at an end : but the wise and gracious god ( in whose hands all our times are ) hath mercifully lengthned my dayes ( blessed be his name ) for the greater good of my own , and ( i hope ) of your souls . these sermons which upon this comfortable occasion i lately preached , were by some of you desired to be made more publique , which i have fulfilled , so much the more willingly , that i might testifie before the world , first , my infinite obligation to almighty god for so remarkeable a deliverance ; and withall my manyfold engagements to a great part of you for your affectionate love , and multiplyed courtesies . and now ( my dearely beloved , and longed for in the lord ) give me leave ( having this opportunity ) to acquaint you with my serious thoughts and earnest desires , and i trust through gods grace that the transcript of them before your eyes , will helpe to make a deeper impression of them upon your hearts . and first , i thanke my god through jesus christ for your stedfastnesse in the faith , and your mutuall amity , whereby you become exemplary to many parishes in this wavering and contentious age . oh that not onely you , but all the people of this land were alike minded , one towards another according to christ jesus . next , let me in the bowels of our common saviour beseech you , and if this will not prevaile , charge you before god and the lord jesus christ , who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and his kingdome ; that as you drinke in the heavenly raine which commeth oft upon you , so you endeavour to bring forth herbes meet for the great husbandman who dresseth you . i beare you record ( and that without flattery ) you are attentive hearers , oh that you may be all forward doers of the word . there are some amongst you whose love towards me hath been , not onely in tongue and in word but in deed , and that in a more than ordinary measure . but yet , let me freely tell you . there is nothing ( if i know my owne heart ) would so rejoyce me as to see the fruit of my weake labours , in the holinesse of your lives . beleeve it , this is the greatest kindnesse a people can show to their minister , since whereas by a liberall contribution they adde to his comfortable subsistence upon earth , by a religious conversation , they increase his eternall reward in heaven . and now brethren , i commend you to god , and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up , and to give you an inheritance among them which are sanctified , humbly intreating you to strive together with me in your prayers to god both for me and your selves , that i may so preach and live , you may so heare and doe , as that we may behold each other , and all of us our redeemer with joy in the last day . so prayeth your faithfull servant for christs sake in the gospel , nath : hardy . phil. . . the former part . for indeed he was sick , nigh unto death , but god had mercy on him . if you please to peruse the five last psalms of david , you shall finde them beginning and ending with an hallelujah : praise ye the lord , being the alpha and omega , the prora and the puppis , the first and the last words of each . not much unlike is saint pauls practise in the epistle to the romans , who almost in the very entrance placeth an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i thanke my god through jesus chrict , and closeth with a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to god onely wise bee glorie through jesus christ . in imitation of these patternes i shall place thanksgiving , both in the front and reere of my discourse . indeed what fitter prooemium to a gratulatorie sermon than a benedictus ? blessed therefore be god , who kept his unworthie servant from falling into the grave , a land of silence and forgetfulnesse , and hath now vouchsafed him the libertie of entring into his house , the place of prayers and pr●yses . blessed be god , who hath brought my feet from lying in a sick bed to stand in this holy mount . finally blessed be god , who hath given me a joyfull occasion of handling , and just cause of applying this scripture to my selfe , by changing the third person unto the first ; for indeed i was sick nigh to death , but god had mercy on me . this text naturally spreadeth forth it selfe into two maine boughs , each of which have three branches sprouting from them . here is observable a distresse , and a deliverance ; a danger , and an escape , an affliction , and a liberation : the former in those words , he was sick nigh to death ; the latter in these , but god had mercy on him . in the distresse we have observable , the . quality of the danger what it was , in the word sick . . extremity of the measure , how great it was , in those words nigh unto death . . eminency of the person , whom it befell , in the relative hee . in the deliverance we have considerable , the . efficiency of the author , by whom it was conferred , in the word god . . the excellency of the benefit , how expressed , in those words had mercy on him . . the opportunity of the time , when vouchsafed , in the exceptive but . these are the severall branches of this ●acred tree , into which i have climbed by the ladder of humane industry , from which by the hand of divine assistance i have gathered , and by the same hand shall now scatter among you such fruit as hath refreshed my owne , and ( i hope through gods blessing ) will nourish your soules ; and so i begin with the distresse , he was sick nigh to death ; and therein the quality of the danger in that word sick . the philosopher , observing the property of mans constitution , describeth him by risibile , to be a reasonable living creature , that hath the onely power of laughing ; but the divine considering the misery of mans condition no lesse , aptly characterizeth him by flebile , an unfortunate wretch , that hath the most cause of weeping : in this respect it is not unfitly taken notice of , how the new-born babe commeth into the world crying , as if by the language of its present tears , it would foretell the sadnesse of its future sorrowes . among those many evills with which the life of man is beset , this of sicknesse is one . one to which all are subject , quis non aegrotat in hac vitâ ? quis tanguorem ●on experitur ? nasci in hoc corpore mortali incipere aegrotare est : who in this life doth not more or lesse tast of sicknesse ? yea from the cradle to the crutch , birth to death , wombe to the tombe , we are continually liable to it . one of which we may say , as leah of gad , a troop commeth , and to which that devils name in the gospel may fitly be applyed legion : the poet instancing in one kind of disease , speaketh of a band of feavers , nova sebrium , terris incubuit cohors : and galen reckoning up the diseases to which one part of mans body , the eye is subject , numbreth . how great an army then must this commander have , who begirteth this castle of the body in every part and corner , and that with severall souldiers ! no wonder if the holy tongue , as it calleth men {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth dying men , because they are continually under the power of death , so it styles them {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sickly men , because they are exposed to such variety of sicknesses . finally one which exceedeth all those other miseries of this present life , what dissention is in a city , discord in a family , surfetting to the stomach , ignorance to the minde , that is sicknesse to the body , disturbing and oppressing it ; yea , it is the worst evill of cold , hunger , and nakednesse , of heat , thirst , and warmnes , that they hasten upon us sicknesse and death . that i may the better open this distresse , give me leave to delineate it both in the effects that flow from it , and the cause from which it floweth . there are two grievous attendants which sicknesse commonly bringeth along with her , namely paine and weaknesse ; by paine it taketh away the comfort of all enjoyments , even of life it selfe ; barzillai being old , said to the king , can thy servant taste what i eat , or what i drink ? can i heare any more the voice of singing men , and singing women ? wherefore should thy servant be a burden to my lord the king ? not much unlike may it be said of the sick man , can he eat , or can he drinke ? can musick , or any other pleasures then delight him , when he is a burthen to himselfe ? and as by reason of paine , it renderth life uncomfortable , so by reason of weaknesse , unserviceable , disenabling the body from the performance of any work : alas , how can the clock go when the weights are plucked off ? or the watch move right , when the wheels are out of order ? both these sad effects are fitly expressed by two words , the one in the hebrew , the other in the greek tongue , and it is the word which our apostle here useth . the hebrew word — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifieth both doluit and aegrotavit , to be sick , and to be sorry : well are they expressed by one word ; since they commonly go together , both smarting paine in the ●●dy , and dolorous anguish in the mind being caused by sicknesse ; in this respect the english word disease , is very apposite , because it diseaseth and disturbeth the person ; of this david complained in his sicknesse , when he saith , my bones are vexed , and my soule is also sore vexed . the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} implyeth both aegrotari , and imbecillem esse , to be sick , and to be weak , and therefore the noun of this verbe is elsewhere rendred infirmity : this inconvenience likewise david found by his disease , when he said , i am feeble , and sore broken ; weaknes being the inseparable concomitant of sicknes . meditations , wch ( i would to god ) were more deeply imprinted on the mindes of men , those especially , who put off their repentance , and the working out of their salvation till a sick bed , as if when they are in pain , they could repent with the more ease , or when they are weakest , they were strong enough for this work : alas , doe you not know how unfit such a time is for any , but much more a religious employment ? this no doubt is one reason why saint james , who in other afflictions adviseth men to pray for themselves , in sicknesse counselleth them to call for the elders of the church to pray over them , because then for the most part they are unable to pray themselves : in this respect it was ( as i have read ) the saying of a vertuous gentlewoman upon her sick bed , let none defer their preparation nor their prayers unto the bed of their sicknesse , for then the minde is too much troubled with grief of body to be employed , as they ought , in spiritual exercise . tell me , whoever thou art that delayest till this time , how knowest thou , but such a sickness may seize upon thee as in a moment , may take away thy life ? or if not , bereave thee of thy senses ? or it may be so painfull , that it is all thou canst do to wrestle with the paine ; nay , let me tell thee , for the most part such procrastinators , when that time commeth ▪ either repent not at all in their sicknesse , or it proveth but a sickly repentance . oh then ( my brethren ! ) be wise in time , doe not lay the greatest load on the feeblest horse , put not the weakest servant to the hardest labour , put not off the maine businesse of thy soules health to the dolefull time of thy bodies sicknesse . you have heard what sicknesse doth , or rather undoeth ; it would not be amisse to enquire whence it came , and how it was brought into the world . indeed ( as christ saith in another case ) it was not so from the beginning . man in innocency was created with a body of so equall and lasting a temperature , that ( had he not sinned ) it had neither been taken downe by death , nor put out of frame by sicknesse . sinne it is which is fons mali , morbi , mortis , hath brought in evill instead of good , death of life , and sicknesse of health . the physitian being asked the cause of diseases , answereth , and most truly , mali humores , evill humors in the body . but the divine resolveth it more fully , mali mores , ill manners in the life . phylosophy teacheth , and experience confirmeth it , that passiones animae sequuntur temperamentum corporis , the mindes passions much follow the bodyes temper . divinity preacheth no lesse truly , that the disorder of the body followeth upon the distemper of the minde ; mans soule was first sick of sinne , and so the body becommeth infected with sicknesse for sinne . it was the first sinne of adam which brought forth , and it is our owne actuall sinnes that nourish this degenerate brat , wherewith mankinde is so miserably infested . a meditation , which ( if well pondered ) would learne us to beare sicknesse whensoever it commeth upon us without murmuring , and yet with mourning . . why shouldst thou repine at god when any disease seizeth one thee ? true , he is the efficient , but thou art the meritorious cause ; he inflicteth , but it is sinne that deserveth ; he punisheth , but it is not till thou hast provoked him , blame not his justice , but thank thy owne wickednesse , the moth that frets the garment is bred of it ; the tree giveth life to that worme which killeth it . thy sicknesse , oh man , is of thy selfe , and thy owne wayes and doings are they which procure these things to thee . . when sicknesse smiteth thy body , let repentance smite thy thigh ; when the disease rageth in thy members , let thy soule be angry at thy sinne , and as thou complainest of the effect , so labor to be sensible of the cause : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} saith the divine excellently , sicknes is an wholsome discipline , it is so when it teacheth us to know our folly . happy disease which openeth our eyes at once to see , and weep for our sinnes ; oh my soule , it is sinne hath caused thy body to feele sicknesse , let sicknesse cause thee to feele the weight of sinne ; it is wickednesse hath brought this weaknesse , let this weaknesse bring thee to a sight and sense of thy wickednesse , why shouldst thou hold that sword in thy hand , which hath so sorely wounded it ? or hug that serpent in thy bosome , which hath so painfully stung thee ? rather since the fruit is so bitter , pluck up the root , and let not sin reigne any longer in thy mortal body , seeing it hath made thy body so mortall . and so much for the quality of the danger : i pass on to the extremity of the measure , nigh unto death . it is that , which in some sense is true of every man alive , this world is a region of ghosts , dying men , yea , young men in the prime of their dayes , strong men in the full vigour of their age , are nigh to death , because death may then be neer to them . the philosopher being ask'd what he thought of life , turn'd him round and vanished out of sight , thereby intimating , how easily and speedily life may be taken away : and some of them have no lesse truly than aptly represented the distance between life and death by oculus , apertus and clausus , an eye open and shut , which is done in a moment . but though this in some respect be verified of all men , yet it is more especially true of two sorts of persons , to wit , old men , and sick men , since old age is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a naturall disease , and a disease is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} an accidentall old age , both must needs tend and hasten to death . as for old men , they are so nigh to death , that the proverbe saith , they have one foot in the grave , young men may dye soon , but they cannot live long ; the dimnesse of light in their eyes , and vapours that sometimes are drawne up into their braines , argue the sun of their life to be setting , the hoary frost , or rather white snow upon their heads , proclaimes that the winter of their deaths is approaching . the more strange it is to see them doting on , who are going out of the world , and as if they could set up under ground , their mindes are most earthly whilest their bodies are ready to drop into the earth : the more sad it is to think how both unwilling and unfit they are to die , who yet are so unlikely to live ; and as if with the eagle they could renew their youth , they flatter themselves in hope of life , when yet they are as it were within sight of death ; how short are such men of that heathen seneca , who said of himselfe , ante senectutem curavi bene vivere , in senect ute bene mori , my care in youth was to live , but in old age to die well , then no doubt perceiving his death to be at hand . as old men , be they never so well , so sick men , by they never so young , are nigh to death ; what anacharsis said of sea-men , that he knew not whether to reckon them among the living or the dead , is no lesse true of sick men , who indeed are not dead , because they breath , and yet not living because not lusty ; every man carrieth death in his bosome , but the sick man at his backe , or rather in his armes before his face . in summe there is a three-fold propinquity of death , possible , probable , certaine ; it is possible the healthiest , strongest , and youngest may dye quickly ; it is certaine old men ( though they out-live far younger ) cannot live long ; and it is probable that the sick mans death is at hand . but yet this in the proper sense is not true of all sicknesses , that distinction of sinne cannot hold in divinity , according to the popish acception , that some are veniall , others mortall , since s. paul saith indefinitely , and meaneth it universally , that death is the wages of sin , but analogically it is true in physick of diseases ; some are onely painfull , others mortall , the gout in the toe , a pain in the teeth , a prick in the finger ; these , though they cause pain , yet are not in their owne nature deadly , nor is the patient accounted the neere● death for them . besides , of mortall diseases there is a difference , some are a long time untwisting , others in a short time cut asunder the thread of life : thus the dropsie is a great while in drowning , the palsie in shaking downe , and the consumption in drying up the body , whilest the feaver in a few dayes burneth , and an apoplexie , or aposteme in a few houres suffocate it . and yet once more in violent diseases , there is a difference , we do not say of every man whom a feaver smiteth , that he is presently nigh to death ; whilest the body is vigorous , the physick prosperous , we account the patient hopefull ; but those , in whom the virulency of the disease so farre prevaileth , as that both the strength of nature , & skill of art seem unable to grapple with it , are only and justly looked upon as nigh to death . such , no doubt , was epaphroditus his case , for though some conceive this danger might arise from stripes and scourges , which nero should command to be inflicted on him at rome , yet it is more rationally and generally concluded , that some violent sicknesse , by reason of a long journy , had seized upon him ; and though it is likely this good man was not negligent ( according as ability and opportunity was afforded ) to use meanes , yet the disease did so increase , that as to life his condition was desperate , and therefore s. paul saith of him he was nigh unto death . to this low and weake estate is god pleased many times to bring men among others , chiefly for a double end , and that he may minde them of their dissolution , and quicken them in their devotion . of all things we are very prone to forget our latter end , and therefore god by sicknesse puts us in minde of it , we are apt to put death farre from us , and therefore by some grievous disease god bringeth us nigh to death ; a presumption , we shall not dye yet , maketh us not think of dying at all , and whilest marrow is in our bones , colour in our faces , appetite in our stomachs , strength in our joynts , health in our bodyes , we easily perswade our selves we shall not dye yet ; no mervaile , if to fixe our eyes upon the grave , god chasten us with paine upon our bed , so that our life abhorreth bread , our flesh consumeth away , and our soule draweth neare to the grave . it was the confession of alexander , when let bloud with an arrow : all men call me jupiters sonne , but this wound proclaimes me a mortall man : and yet more divine was that of antigonus , who acknowledged his disease to be sent as a monitor , lest otherwise he might have growne insolent through the forgetfulnesse of mortality . sicknesses especially , when desperate , are warning peices to tell us the murdering peice of death is ready to destroy , every ach tolls the bell , but these , as it were , dig the grave , and cry dust to dust ; and good reason it is , that when we cast the thought of death behinde our backs , death it selfe should by these diseases looke us in the face , and as it were , pluck us by the throat . . in health we are no lesse apt to forget god than our selves , but sicknesse mindeth us of him , in prosperity perhaps we mumble over a pater noster , but adversity teacheth us to cry abba father : lord , saith the prophet , in trouble have they visited thee , they who before were strangers , now would bee familiar with god , and give him a visit ; they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them , it may be before they did say a prayer , but now they poure out a prayer . though man by the formation of his body be made with an erect countenance , yet he seldome looks up to heaven till some disease hath laid him upon his back ; nor yet many times will a slight sicknesse prevaile : god promiseth himselfe concerning his people , in their affliction they will seeke me early , but for the most part it proveth otherwise ; ubi desinit medicus , ibi incipit theologus , the divine's work begins not with many till the physitian 's is done , it is late enough not to seeke god till affliction comes , and yet we seeke god not early , but late in affliction . the woman in the gospell sick of a bloudy issue , goeth not to christ till she had spent all ( and that to no purpose ) upon physitians , the prodigall thinketh not of going home to his father , till he is brought so low , that he would faine be fed with husks , but cannot get them : nor doe many lift up their eyes or hands to heaven , till they are scarce able to lift up either . indeed necessity is an excellent mistris , especially of devotion : most men will not pray till they must , it is misery , which like jonahs fish , puts them upon humble supplication , who never thought of god under the gourd of prosperity . in which respect , that latine proverb was not taken up without just cause , qui nescit orare , discat navigare ; he that knoweth not how to pray , let him turne mariner : and no doubt those violent stormes , which make the seas to roare , will teach him to pray . when those young persian gallants being beaten and pursued by their enemies , came to the river strymon , which was so frozen that their boats could not launch , and yet it began to thaw , so that they feared the ice would not beare them , then ( though the day before they reviled both god and his providence ) most timorously they fall upon their faces , and ardently beg of god that the river might beare them over from their enemyes pursuit . the smart lasues of gods rod drive them home , and draw them neare to him , who before were farre from him . the greekes aptly expresse the declining estate of a kingdome by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} falling upon the knee , and its ruined estate by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} falling upon the mouth ; expressions , which though they principally referre to the condition , yet withall intimate the disposition of men in an afflicted condition , they whose knees in health were like elephants , without joynts , could not , or rather would not bend , in sicknesse fall upon their knees , nay , when nigh to death , fall upon their mouthes in humble adoration and earnest invocation upon god . and for these causes , that men may both looke forward to their end , and upward to their god ; he is pleased to bring them downeward , almost to the gates of death , and chambers of the grave . to end this , let us all make account of , and prepare for straights . in health , expect sicknesse , in sicknesse looke for death , or to be brought nigh to it . diseases may come unsent for , let them not come unlook'd for ; if they happen not , thou art not the worse , and it is labour well lost ; if they doe , thou art the better fitted , and it is time well spent . doe not flatter thy selfe in health , as if the mountaine of thy body were so strong that it could not be moved : alas , one blast from heaven cannot onely move , but remove , shake , but overturne it , rather even then when thou art fed with fat pastures , cleare waters , thy table spread , thy cup full , thy body hayle , often thinke of walking through the valley of the shadow of death : happy is that man , whom when sicknesse arresteth , and death approacheth to , can say , and say it truly , this is no more then what i have looked and provided for all my dayes . and so much be spoken of the second particular , pass we now to the third . . eminency of the person , whom this extreame disease befell in the relative he. if you would know who this he was , be pleased to cast your eyes on the . verse of the chapter , where you finde his name to be epaphroditus , one that was not onely a good man , but a man of god , not onely a servant , but a minister of christ , and one so eminent , as that saint paul dignifies him with the titles of his brother , and companion , and fellow-souldier ; and yet of him it is here said that he was nigh unto death . saints as well as sinners , ministers as well as the people , are liable to desperate diseases . in respect of temporall evills they have no more priviledge than others : and no wonder , since . that which is the cause both of sicknesse and death , remaineth in them , to wit , sinne : indeed the power of sinne is weakened , therefore they cannot be hurt of the second death , but the being of it remaineth , and that necessitateth the first : they are so freed from the guilt of it , that they shall not taste the torments of hell , but yet they may drinke deepe of the miseries of this life : sinne will not leave the best man till it hath brought him to his grave , well may it bring him to his sick bed . . in respect of their bodily constitution , they are earthly houses , that will moulder away , till at last they fall : earthen vessels subject to flawes and cracks , till at length they breake . the saints are the sonnes of god by grace , but still the sonnes of adam by nature , the ministers are angels in respect of their office , but still they are men in regard of their persons , and being of the same mould , and subject to the same dangers with others . . more specially , the very calling and employment of ministers is such , as exhausteth their spirits , weakeneth their bodyes , and accelerateth both diseases and death : our apostle saith of epaphrodit ▪ that for the work of christ he was nigh to death ; v. . the worke he there meaneth is most probably conceived to be the travelling of this good man to rome , with supplyes for his wants , ( to relieve a christian , especially a messenger of christ , is the work of christ ) but it is no lesse true of the worke of christ , which is p●culiarly the ministers , since the pains they take in preaching , oft times christ brings them nigh to death . it was said of archimedes , studiis quibus obtinuit famam amisit vitam , the studies which got him credit lost his life ; and it may be said of many ministers , the fastings , watchings , labours preachings , by which they profit the peoples soules , hurt their bodyes . thus like the candle they waste themselves that they might enlighthen , yea , like the salt they dissolve themselves that they may season others . . finally , god hath choice and singular ends at which he aimeth , when he bringeth his owne servants or ministers into such desperate sicknesses , and that both , in regard of sinne and grace . . in regard of their sinnes , that they may be either purged or prevented , by which means their sicknesse becomes their physicke , and the malady it selfe a spirituall remedy . it may be they have fallen into some grosse sinne , and therefore they fall into some grievous sicknesse : so was it with those unworthy communicants , concerning whom saint paul saith , for which cause many of them were weake , many sick , and some slept . it may be god seeth them prone to commit some hainous fault which he restraineth them from by some dolorous sicknesse , as s. paul had a prick in his flesh that he might not be puffed up in his minde : so god sometimes wounds his servants bodyes , as knowing , that otherwise they would have wounded their consciences . . in respect of their graces , that the truth of them may be tried , the acts of them renewed , and the strength of them encreased . god hath many wayes to try men , among which sicknesse , especially if dangerous , is a sor●tryall , and therefore when the devill , by gods leave had tryed job in the losse of his cattell , servants , and children , he obtaineth licence to inflict sores upon his body , making this his last ( as accounting it his fiercest ) onset , indeed then is the triall of a mans faith , when god seemeth as if he would slay him , of his hope when all things are desperate , of his love when god frowneth upon , nay beateth him , of his patience when the paine is sharp , of his courage when the sorrowes of death compasse him , of his perseverance , when he holds fast his integrity to the death . to close up this , let it be a lesson of comfort , of charity , and of diligence . . of comfort , when any sicknesse seizeth on thee , remember whose lot it hath been as well as thine , and be not discouraged . when christ would encourage his disciples against sufferings , he useth this argument , for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you : mat. . . it is that meditation which may revive us when we are in pain and misery , so it fared with others of gods faithfull ones before me . that argument of eliah indeed was somewhat passionate , king. ● . . it is enough now , o lord , take away my life , for i am not better than my fathers ; but it is a pious reasoning for every christian to say , i am content lord , if thou take away my health , exercise me with diseases , i am not better than job , david , hezekiah , epaphroditus , and others of thy faithfull servants and ministers ; who am i , that i should think much to pledge those holy men of god , though in a bitter cup ? . of charity , and that both to thy selfe and others . . condemne not thy selfe as if god hated thee , because he corrects thee , or as if he were more angry with thee than others , because he chastiseth thee more severely then them . indeed it is good in a time of sicknesse to reflect upon thy selfe , examine thy wayes , and if conscience accuse of some great misdemeanour , to humble thy selfe , and acknowledge thy disease the just reward of thy offence , but otherwise , do not conclude thy owne guilt or gods hatred meerely from the premisses of sicknesse , though virulent . . censure not others as if they were therefore the worst of sinners , because in their bodyes the greatest sufferers . this is ( indeed ) that hard measure which gods people and ministers often meet with : when the barbarians saw a viper upon paul's hand , they presently condemned him as a murtherer ; and david complaineth of his enemies , that when he was sick , they spake mischievous things against him : nay job's friends ( though good men ) were deceived with this fallacy , and accuse job of hypocrisie because of his calamity . and thus it is still , if a zealous christian , or faithfull minister be visited with a dolefull sicknesse , his religion must be no better than dissimulation , and his doctrine heresie : but surely it is either ignorance , or malice , or both , that filleth mens mouthes with such censures . it is true , there never was sicknesse without sinne , but the sicknesse is not alwayes proportioned to the sinne : these things come alike to all , was the wise mans observation , nor doth any sicknesse befall any man which may not befall the best man . i know some assert a saint to be plague-free , grounding it upon the promise in the psalme , that no plague shall come nigh his dwelling : but you must know , this is onely a temporall promise , and therefore ( as indeed all such ) hath a double condition annexed unto it . the one ex parte personae , on the saints part , which is to make the lord , even the most high , his habitation ; if then good men , in pestilentiall times , through a distrustfull feare , make the creatures their refuge , no mervaile if the plague infect them and their dwellings . the other ex parte rei , in regard of the thing it selfe , which is onely assured so far as it may make for gods glory and his peoples benefit . we read in the former part of the tenth verse there shall no evill befall him , whereby is intimated that the plague shall not then come nigh to , when it is evill for a good man , but if at any time god see it good , either for the manifestation of his owne glory ( to wit , of his justice in so severely punishing his owne , of his power and mercy in delivering from so deadly a disease ) or for the spirituall advantage of his people ( in humbling them for some scandalous sinne by so smart a chastisement , in exercising the strength of their patience by so sore a tryall ) not the holiest person is in such cases exempted from the plague , nor is it improbably conceived that job's botches , hezekiah's boyles , davids sores were not much different from , if not altogether the same with the plague , who yet all of them were choice and eminent saints . oh then , let us take heed how we lay the load of heavy censure upon the backs of gods ministers and servants . . of diligence , that . we who are ministers , improve the time of our health in feeding the flocks of christ , since when sicknesse cometh , we shall be disenabled from our employments : nay perhaps we that have taught others , may then have need to learne our selves . you who are the people , get all the good you can from us , whilest we are in a capacity of doing good to you , ere long the candle of our lives may burne dimme by reason of some sicknesse , yea , be blowne out by death , and then we can no longer give light unto you . oh therefore walke in the light while you have it , be willing to learne while we are able to teach , account our labours precious , and let them be profitable to you , whilest god maketh us able to bestow them among you , which we shall not be , when that befalls us which did epaphroditus in the text , to be sick nigh unto death : and so i have given a dispatch to the first generall , namely the distresse : i now proceed to . the deliverance , and therein the . efficiency of the author , god . indeed both life and death , health and sickness , are in gods hand : that of the poet , vna cademque manus vulnus opemque tulit , may in this respect be fitly made use of ; the same hand of divine providence is that which maketh and closeth the wound : he killeth , and maketh alive , he bringeth downe to the grave , and bringeth up , so singeth hannah . i forme light , and create darknesse , i make peace , and create evil , i the lord doe all these things , is gods owne saying by the prophet . thy head cannot ake without his leave , nor leave aking without his help ; but though both are from him , yet with some difference . of sicknes , he is onely the efficient , sinne is the meritorious cause . of health he is so the efficient , as that his mercy is the impulsive cause , for which reason perhaps it is here said , god had mercy ; that which moveth him is his pitty , and that which helpeth us is his power . true it is , god is for the most part pleased to make use of meanes in effecting health , but this ariseth from the greatnesse of his goodnesse , not any defect in his almightinesse , as aquinas pithily . that he needeth not meanes , appeareth in as much as he sometimes worketh without any . such were the cures christ wrought upon peters wives mother , the centurions servant , and the impotent cripple , whom his word onely restored to health . nay many times the meanes he useth are improbable , yea , of their owne nature apt to produce a contrary effect . what vertue could there be in the waters of jordan to cleanse naamans leprosie ? or in the lump of figgs to heale hezekiah's sores ? yea , the spittle and clay which christ made use of , were more likely to put out a seeing , than recover a blinde mans eyes . he standeth not in need of meanes ; but the most probable meanes stand in need of him . it is to put honour on the creature that god vouchsafeth to use it as an instrument ▪ and when the creature becometh an instrument of any good , it is onely as in the hand of god , working with , and by it . for , tell me , when any are recovered , who is it that put the medicinall quality into the drugs which heale them , but the god of nature ? who giveth that wit and skill to man which findeth out their qualityes , and accordingly maketh use of them , but the god of knowledge ? finally , who is it that commands a blessing upon , and giveth successe to the meanes , but the god of power ? man liveth not by bread onely , nor is the patient cured by physick onely , or chiefly , it is a word proceeding from the mouth of god that maketh the one effectuall for continuation , and the other for restauration of health . to apply this in a three-fold admonition : . art thou wicked ? as thou desirest health to be preserved , or renewed , make thy peace with god by repentance : it is the ground upon which the jewish converts mutually exhort each other to this duty , come let us returne unto the lord , for he hath torne , and he will heale us , he hath smitten , and he will binde us up , though it be that indeed , which god out of his philanthropie sometimes vouchsafeth , yet it is a fond presumption for any to expect that he should be a physitian to them who are enemies to him . me thinks an ungodly wretch should imagine that god speaketh to him in the words of the prophet , when thou cryest let thy companions deliver thee ; or , as he saith to the children of israel , when they committed idolatry , goe and cry unto the gods which you have chosen , the lusts which you have served , let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation . had that accusation of rabshakeh been true , his argumentation was solid , when he sent that message to hezekiah , but if thou say to me , we trust in the lord our god , is it not hee , whose high places , and whose altars hezekiah hath taken away ? and surely the conscience of a wicked man ( if not seared ) cannot but check him in the like expressions , wilt thou say i trust in god for health , or recovery ? is it not he whose name thou hast blasphemed , patience thou hast abused , and worship thou hast neglected ? be wise therefore , oh ye sinners , and instructed ye wicked of the earth ! make him your friend who must be your refuge , offer the sacrifice of righteousnesse , and then , not till then , put your trust in the lord . your life , your health is in his hands ; looke that your doings be right , and then your persons shall bee precious in his eyes . . art thou sick ? learne whom to invocate , and on whom to depend for health , upon no other than god . far be it from any of us in sicknesse ( with saul in danger ) to run to the pythomise , and seek help of the devill . satans best cures are deadly wounds ; it is far better to continue sick , then by such meanes to get health . since whilst thy mortall body is for a time restored , thy immortall soule is desperately endangered . nor yet let us with the papists seeke to any saints as mediatours with god for our recovery . whilest they have their severall saints for severall diseases ; sebastian for the plague , anthony for the gangreen , patronilla for agues , and benedict for the stone : let us have recourse to the one god in all diseases . whilst they thinke it too great saucinesse to be their owne spokes-men to god ; and therefore go to saint somebody to preferre their petitions for them : let us hold it the best manners to go our selves of our owne errands to god , not doubting but that he , who bids us come , will bid us welcome . finally , let us not ●read in asa's foot-steps , who sought not to the lord , but to the physitians ; nor yet let us tread antipodes to him in seeking to the lord , and not to the physitians , whilest he affoards them : but as gideon commanded his souldiers to cry , the sword of the lord , and of gideon ; so let us ever say , the blessing of the lord , and the skill of the physitian . indeed where opportunity is vouchsafed , those two must not be severed . god will not usually help without meanes , and therefore they must be used ; the meanes cannot possibly help with●ut god ; and therefore in the use of them his blessing must be implored . they are equally bad to neglect and to rest on second causes , to expect succour either from them originally , or without them instrumentally , to rely on god without meanes , or trust to meanes without god . surely , what the king said to the woman , if the lord doe not help thee , whence shall i help thee ? that all creatures say to us in any distresse , if the lord help not , whenc shall we ? except the lord build the house , they labour in vaine that build it , except the lord keep the city , the watchman watcheth but in vain , saith the psalmist . indeed he doth not say quia , because the lord buildes the house , but uisi , as excluding ●umane diligence : but except the lord build , thereby including divine providence : nor doth he onely say , nisi d●minus consenserit , adjuverit , but nisi aedificaverit , custodicrit , unlesse the lord consent , ( a word which onely implyeth his will ) or unlesse the lord help , which extendeth to any kinde of assistance ( the meanest thing that concurreth to any work , being causa adjuvans , an auxiliary cause ) but unlesse the lord build and keep , which imply the concurrence of his power , as well as will , and that as the principall agent in the building and keeping : the same assertion is no lesse true in this pres●nt case , except the lord heale the patient , the physitian admnistreth but in vaine . heal thy self , is only true of that physitian , to whom it was spoken : no other physitian can of himself either heale himselfe or others . tangit te rex , sanat te deus , was no lesse truly than humbly spoken when the royall touch was given , the king toucheth thee , god cureth thee . it is so here , the physitian prescribes the medicine , but god by that commands health . oh therefore that physitians in administring , patients in receiving , would onely depend upon , and sue for divine benediction , when the one writes a recipe with his pen , let him pray with his heart ; when the other receiveth the potion into his stomach , let him lift up his eyes to god , who saith of himselfe , i am the lord that healeth thee . . art thou recovered ? know whom to praise , and to whom to ascribe the cure : could the ingredients of thy medicine speak , each would say of health , as the depths and the seas , of wisdome , it is not in me : it is , i am sure , the voice of all pious physitians , non nobis , not to us ( oh man ) not to us , but to god be the praise of thy recovery . and therefore whilst the atheist looketh no further than nature and art , let the christian look higher at god and his blessing : and as he must not forget that respect which is due to the physitian , as the instrument , so let the chiefest honour be given to god as being the principall efficient . the truth is , for the most part , such is our foolishnesse , that whilest we fix our eyes upon the blessings we receive , we turne our backs upon the god that bestoweth them , and we are more ready to father them upon any other than him , who is the true donor of them . oh let not onely gratitude but justice , teach us to give god his due , when we gather the fruit let us cast downe our eyes on the root from which they sprout , when we feed upon the acornes , let us lift them up to the tree from whence they fall , and being refreshed by the flowing streame , let us reflect upon the springing fountaine . oh my god , it is in thee that i live , let me live to thee ; from thee i have received health , to thee i returne praise ; i have the comfort , take thou the glory of thy great mercy . and so i passe forward to the . excellency of the benefit , how expressed , in those words , had mercy on him . in mercy there are two things considerable , affectus , and effectus , the passion , and the action , the inward pitty , and the owtward bounty , that is in the heart , this in the hand ; that the bowels of mercy , this the works of mercy ; that called by the greekes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and both these , though not in the same sense , are attributed to god , and here to be understood . . in mercy there is a laying of anothers misery to heart , the gre●ke word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is derived from the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth ejulare , plangere , to bewaile and lament : a condolency with our brothers calamity , being a choice ingredient of mercy . this is that which the holy ghost asserteth of god in scripture , where it is said , in all their afflictions he was afflicted : and againe , my bowels are troubled : and againe , like as a father pittyeth his children , so the lord pit●yeth them that feare him : but withall , we must know , that in these phrases the most high is pleased to condescend , and speaking to men , to speak of himselfe , as if he were a man . there is not then any sorrow or compassion in him who is impassible , but by this is represented his good will towards his people , whereby he is propense to succour them . and because the afflicted person findes oft times much ease and solace in that sympathie , which another expresseth towards him , that we may know the like solace is to be found in god , this compassion is attributed to god ; and indeed is , though not formally , yet aequivalently , nay eminently verified of him . to bring this home , in that god is said to have mercy on dying epaphroditus , it implyeth thus much , that god beholding and taking notice of , was as it were affected with his imminent danger , having after a sort a friendly pitty , and motherly yearning , or rather a fatherly good-will towards him . but this is not all that mercy includeth , and therefore know , . in mercy there is an indeavour to relieve him whose misery it condoleth , as she suffereth with , so she doth for , and ( according to her ability ) either helpeth him to beare the burden by putting under her shoulder , or wholly ●aseth him of it by removing it from his shoulder . hence the definition of mercy is well given to be such a compassion of anothers misery , as puts upon a cheerfull imploying our power for the sustaining him under , and delivering him ●ut of it . this is that which in a proper and genuine sense agreeth to god , whose property is to deliver his out of their afflictions , and preserve them from destruction : and this no doubt , is that which our apostle here especially intends in this expression , god had mercy on him , that is , he did remove his misery , and prevent his death by curing him of that sicknesse which had brought him nigh to it . let the same minde be in us that is in god : when our brethren are under sicknesse , or any other distresse , to have mercy on them . it was our blessed saviours reasoning with the ph●risees , though not altogether to the same purpose , which of you shall have an asse or an ox fall into the pit , and will not straightway pull him out ? surely one man is of more worth then many asses ; and shall we not , in what we may , succour him when fallen into some grievous sicknesse ? that good samaritan in the type is no other than christ in the truth , who pityed and healed man when dangerously wounded by sinne , and as it was the designe of his death to cure mankinde of his spirituall sicknesse , so his practise in the course of his life to go about doing good and healing . if we call our selves christians , whom should we imitate but christ , by performing all offices of love to the sick ▪ which lye within our spheare ? and if we have no o●le but that of compassion , no wine but teares and prayers , let them be poured into the wounds and diseases of thy neighbour ; so shall we bee disciples of christ . but the text leads us yet one step higher from christ , as man , and as god-man , to christ as god , acquainting us with gods mercy to a sick man : and what more befitting man then to imitate god by practising this god-like worke of mercy . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a mercyfull man is great and honourable , and that for this reason chiefly , because he is like to god , in which respect gregory nyssen , and nazianzen call such a man a god , as having stampt upon him the character of a deity . bee yee therefore followers of god as deare children , is saint paul's counsell in generall , be you mercifull , as your father also is mercifull , so our blessed saviour adviseth in speciall : and yet more particularly , as god had mercy on sick epaphroditus , so let us on our sick neighbour , by visiting him , ( if we can by our skill or counsell doe him good ) however by compassionating him , and interceding with god in his behalfe . and because this duty is that which ( though so honourable ) we are averse from ; give me leave to carry it a little further , & let you see it is profitable , as well as honourable . not only that you may follow god in mercy , but that you may upon the like occasion obtain mercy from god , shew mercy to ot●ers . it is a sweet promise to feed on in a time of sicknesse . the lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing , thou wilt make all his bed in his sicknesse . that bed must needs be easie which god maketh , nor can he faint , whom god strengtheneth , but to whom is it made ? him and none but him who considereth the poore , so our translation , b●t the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} may as well be rendered sick , one that is weakned by a disease : he who considereth others in their sicknesse , shall be supported by god in his . which of us , beloved , doth not desire that god may shew that mercy to us in our distresse , which he did here to epaphroditus ? but how can we except god should grant that to us , which we deny to others ? blessed are the mercifull , saith christ , for they shall obtaine mercy : be then oh man to thy selfe , a patterne of mercy , and shew with that speed , and in that degree , mercy to thy sick , weak , languishing neighbour , which thou wouldst have god vouchsafe to thee in the like condition . but a little more to unbowell this clause . the mercy here intended ( as you have already heard ) was the prolongation of life , and restauration of health to epaphroditus : and here a double question falls in to be resolved , how this can be called a mercy ? and if a mercy in it selfe , yet how a mercy to him ? qu. . it is a plausible objection which is made , that life prolonged is no mercy , because it is a calamitous continuance in an evil world : what is this world but a coffer of sorrows , labyrinth of troubles , schoole of vanity , market of fraud , theater of tragedyes , floud of teares , and map of ruines ? and can it be a favour for a man to continue long in a place of miseries ? the earth we tread on , the aire we breath in , are as a sea , wherein windes and stormes are ever blowing ; and can it be a favour to be still tossed up and downe upon a blustering tempestuous sea ? finally , this life is not a life but a calamity , yea , rather a death then a life , because so miserable : to live long is to be long tormented , and can this be a mercy ? answ. to all this it is briefly , but fully answered . that though there be many evils in the world , yet the world is not evil , nor is it evil to abide in the world . these miseries are only accidental to life , and so hinder not , but that preservation from death is a mercy . and therefore the greek fathers upon this scripture do hence most rationally confute the manichees , who affirme the world in its owne nature to be bad , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} so st. chrysostome , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . so theophilact in particular . what sayest thou to this , oh hereticall manich●e ? if the world be wicked , and the life which we now live in it , how doth the apostle call this a mercy of god , that he lengthened epaphroditus his dayes ? the other life is better than this , surely then this must be good , an immature death is threatned , and inflicted as a judgement , surely then the continuance of life must be a mercy , as those forementioned fathers excellently argue , life is a mercy , and yet health is a greater mercy . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} was written upon the porch of apollo's temple , health is the princesse of earthly blessings : and plato tells us that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} was sung by every one to his harpe at the schooles , and at festivals . beauty , riches , health , were the three things pythagoras said should chiefly be implored of the gods ; but among them health the chiefe : indeed , it is that which maketh life it selfe to be a mercy , since non est vivere sed valere vita , to live is not so much to breath , as to be well . mercies then they are ( especially ) when conjoyned , and being so in their owne nature , ought so to be esteemed of by us : in which respect we ought to pray and give thanks for them as blessings . it is no lesse a fault to undervalue , then to over-prize our lives and health : this latter ( i confesse ) is the more common , but the former is no lesse culpable : we must not be so much in love with life as to dote upon it , because it is short , yet we may so farre love , as to desire , and endeavour that it may , yea , with the apostle here , account it a mercy , when it is prolonged . i end this , if deliverance from death be a mercy , how great a mercy is deliverance from hell ? if it be a blessing to have the danger of a mortall disease prevented , oh what is it to have the guilt of our deadly sinnes pardoned ? finally , if the health of the body be a favour , how choice a benefit is the soules health ? surely by how much hell is worse then death , sin then sicknesse , yea , by how much the soule is better than the body , by so much is the one to be preferred before the other . oh my soule , thou wast sick , desperately sick of sinne , so sick that thou wast not only nigh to death , but dead in sinnes , and trespasses ; but god had mercie on thee , he hath sent his sonne to heale , to revive thee , by being himselfe wounded , nay , slain : and his spirit to cure , to quicken thee by killing thy sinne , and renewing thy nature . thou art indebted to thy god for temporall , much more for spirituall : blesse the lord , oh my soule , for thy life of nature , health of thy body ; but let all that is within thee praise his holy name for thy life of grace , and eternall salvation . qu. . but it is further inquired , though this recoverie were a mercy in it selfe , yet how could it be so to epaphroditus a godly man ? had it been deliverance by death , this were a mercy indeed ; but deliverance from death seemeth rather an injury than a courtesie , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we may easily refell the heretick , but how shall we answer the christians who desiring to be dissolved knoweth not how to esteeme the deferring his dissoluttion a mercy ? had epaphroditus been a wicked man , it had been a great mercy to spare him , that he might make his peace with god by the practice of faith and repentance ; but to him , whose peace was alreadie made , what advantage could the prolonging of his life afford ? death it selfe to a good man is a deliverance , a totall , finall deliverance from all sorrow and misery for ever : and can that be a deliverance , which keepeth off our deliverance ? per augusta pervenitur ad augusta , this red sea leads to canaan ; through the valley of death we passe to the mount of glory : and can that be a mercy which retardeth our felicity ? is it a courtesie for a man to be detained from his wages , and held to labour ? to be hindred from rest , and called to worke ? to be withheld from his country , and wander in a wildernesse ? finally , to be kept out of a palace , and confined to a prison ? and yet , all this is true of a godly man , who when nigh to death , is called back againe to live longer in this world . answ. to answer this , though upon those forementioned considerations , it cannot be denyed but that death is a mercy to a saint ; yet those hinder not , but that in other respects the continuance of life is a mercy , even to a godly man . as for that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which the greek fathers speak of , as if saint pauls language were more according to custome than truth , and that when he calls recovery a mercy , he rather speaketh as men doe account , than as it is indeed , it seemes to me somewhat harsh , that to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the opportunity of gaining more souls to god , which this preservation afforded him , is a farre more rationall solution . upon this account it was saint paul looked upon the prolongation of his owne life as needfull : so he expresseth it in the former chapter . and here , for the same reason , he calleth the restauration of epaphroditus to health a mercy . to this purpose saint hieromes note upon the text is very apposite , misertus est ejus ut majorem docendo colligat fructum , god had mercy on him , that he , being a minister , might by the preaching of the gospel , gather in more soules , and doe more good . obj. but you will say , this seemes not to be a full answer : indeed , had the apostle said , but god had mercy on you , namely the philippians , this would be very suitable ; the recovery of a faithfull minister is , no doubt , a mercy to the people ; but still it remaineth a doubt , how the apostle could say , as here he doth , god had mercy on him , to wit , epaphroditus . repl. to which i reply , that the opportunity of this service was not onely a benefit to the church , but a mercy to him , in as much as by this meanes . . he became a greater instrument of gods glory ; it is an high honour , which god vouchsafeth to that man , whom he makes use of to serve and honour him ; and to a pious soule nothing is dearer than gods glory , desiring rather to glorify god than to be glorifyed with him : this saint paul declares to his hope , yea , his earnest expectation , that christ might be magnifyed in his body whether by life or death . no wonder then , if considering how much epaphroditus his life might conduce to gods glory , he reckoned it as a mercy . besides , . he increased his owne reward ; the longer a good man , especially a goood minister liveth , the more sinners he converteth , and they that turne many to righteousnesse , saith daniel , shall shine as the starres for ever and ever , nay , every soule that a faithfull minister winnes to god , is as a new gemme added to that crown , which shall one day be put upon his head . thus then the case stands ; epaphroditus indeed , by dying , had received his reward , but by living he did the more service ; by dying he had obtained glory from god , but by living he brought glory to god : and our blessed saviour saith , it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive ; by dying he had enjoyed his recompence sooner , by living he made it greater , that would have accelerated , but this augmented it , so that even in respect of his owne future happinesse he was no loser but a gainer by the prolonging of his life , and therefore most justly doth saint paul say , god had mercy on him . briefly , and yet clearely to state the whole matter . life and death may be considered and compared foure wayes , . in their formall nature , and so death is a privation , life a position of good ; and therefore death evil , and life good , . in their causes , death is a fruit of sin , life an effect of love ; our wickednesse deserved the one , gods goodnesse conferreth the other ; in which respect , death is threatned as a punishment , life promised as a reward . . in their naturall and proper effects , death bereaveth as well godly , as wicked men of the society of friends , possession of their estates , yea , all the comforts which this world affords , whereas by life we have the fruition of them continued to us , so that in this regard also , life is farre better than death , even to a good man . . lastly , in their accidentall consequents , when a wicked man dyeth there followeth torment , but whilest he liveth there is hope of his repentance , yea , many times it so falls out , some come into the vineyard at the eleaventh houre , and to such life is a choice mercy indeed : when a godly man dyeth he is carried into abrahams bosome , placed in a state of blisse ; but by living longer he honoureth god , edifieth the church , worketh out his salvation ; he gaineth both the more time to prepare himselfe for , get assurance of , yea , make an addition to his future glory , and therefore in this likewise , and so in all comparisons life hath the preheminence , and the continuance of it is justly called by the apostle a mercy . to close up this , life continued , health restored , are mercies ; oh let not us by abusing them to sinne turne them into judgement , who can believe it ? and yet we may often see it , men change blessings into curses by their iniquities , and as parisiensis excellently expresseth it , ipsa beneficia sibi faciunt poenalia & instrumenta contra seipsos divinae justitiae , they make benefits to become punishments , and the fruits of gods mercy instruments of his justice . the truth is , it was not so much life as the right use , saint paul conceived epaphroditus would make of his life , which moved him to call it a mercy , multis periculo & pestilens sanitas fuit qui tutius aegrotassent : indeed these things are good or evill to us according as we imploy them . it had been a greater mercy to many impenitent sinners that they had continued sick , or dyed , then that they were recovered . let us therefore lay out our life , our health , according to our severall places , in gods service , so shall it prove glory to god , benefit to others , and a mercy to us : oh my soule , thou hast received , as it were , a new life , improve it in new obedience ; health is restored to thy body , imploy it in the service ef thy god : why should thy honey be turned into gall , thy shield into a sword , thy delicates into poyson ? oh let thy life be expended by thee , as it was intended by god ; so shalt thou have cause to take up the apostles language ; god had mercy on me . and thus much shall suffice for the second particular , i hasten to the . opportunity of the time , which is the last branch implyed in the ex●eptive but . and a comfortable but it is ; indeed , the sicknesse , like a floud was carrying him away , god puts in a but and stops its current ; epaphroditus was falling into the pit , but ▪ god reacheth forth an hand to uphold him . god doth not so preserve him that the sicknesse should not come , nay , when it is come he doth not hinder it from increasing , but when it is come to the height , then he rebuketh the disease , and saith , hitherto th●u shalt come and no further . all hopes of his recovery in mans eyes are perished , and lo , he is raised by the hand of god . means either are not afforded , or however unable to help . god becommeth his physitian , and commandeth the cure . it lets us see thus much , that when all hopes are livelesse , and helps seem fruitlesse , then is the season of gods deliverance . that childs condition is very sad , whom the father and mother forsake ; but then the psalmist finds god ready to take him up : and the causall particle in the originall is very considerable , not onely when , but because he was as a forsaken babe , god vouchsafeth to protect and provide for him ; our extremity being not onely the opportunity when , but a motive why god will deliver . it was a dolefull complaint which the poore creeple made to christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i have not a man to put me into the poole , but even that narration is an efficacious prayer ; the absence of mans help , being the season of christs presence and succour . saint paul speaking of our blessed saviours incarnation , saith , it was when the fulnesse of time came ; if you will know when that full time was , the evangelist answereth , it was in the dayes of herod the king : and if with chrysologus you looke into those dayes , you shall find them dayes of extreame misery to the jewis● nation , their temple profaned , liberty suppressed , worship abolished , and the whole state full of confusion . in those dayes was the fulnesse , because indeed the fitnesse of time come for him , who was the redeemer , to appeare ▪ and the horne of salvation to be raised up . in which respect the messiah is called by moses a fit man , or according to the originall , a man of opportunity . thy way oh god is in the sea , and thy paths in the great waters , saith the psalmist . by which expressions no doubt he chiefly intends ( as appeares by what followeth ) to note the imperceptible secrecie attending upon many of gods dispensations , so that we can no more discerne the reason of them , than we can any impression of a ships passage in the sea , but yet withall it is not an improbable allusion to understand sea and great waters representing doleful and perillous distresses : gods usual course being to manifest himself not in the shallow river of a slight trouble , but the deep sea of some desperate calamity . the disciples enter into a ship , but christ come not , the sable mantle of the night covers them , and christ cometh not , the winde bloweth , the storme rageth , the waves arise , and yet christ appeareth not , but when they have rowed . or . furlongs , being farre from land , and in the depth of danger , then they see jesus walking on the sea , and drawing nigh to the ship to succour them . to this purpose is s. cyrills observation upon this storie , christ doth not presently at the beginning of the storme appeare to his disciples , but when they had rowed far from land . christ is not alwayes at hand upon the first onset , but when through prevailing fear , & almost over-whelming danger , our spirits begin to fail , then he breaks forth as it were in the midst of the waves , calming the storm , expelling our feare , and preventing our ruine . it is very observable in that hundred and seventh psalme , when the prophet celebrateth gods goodnesse to severall sorts of men in their dangers , that their deliverance was not vouchsafed till their danger appeared remediless : of travellers it is said , they wandered so long in the wildernes , till by reason of hunger and thirst their soule fainted in them , and then , not till then upon their crying the lord delivered them ; the captives are said to sit in darknesse and the shadow of death , by reason of their b●nds , yea , to fall downe and none to help them , and then this want of help obtaineth help , at their earnest cry god saveth them out of their distresse ; when sick , men are brought so low that their soule abhorreth all manner of meat , and they draw nigh to the gates of death , then god sendeth his word and healeth them : finally , the seamans soule is melted because of trouble , they reele to and fro , and stagger like a drunken man ; yea , are at their wits end , not knowing what course to take , ere god begins to make the storme a calme , and so bringeth them out of their distresse . thus god , as he can , so usually he doth help at a pinch , when jacob wants bread at home , joseph is heard of abroad : when the prodigall wants abroad , he is minded of going home ; and when we looke with david on the right hand , and there is no man , yea , on the left hand , nay round about us , and all refuge faileth us , restat iter coelo , we may looke up to god , and god is ready to looke downe from heaven and help us . and now if you shall inquire why god is pleased to cull out such a time of succour , when in extreame perill , of curing , when sick nigh to death : i answer , it is both in reference to himselfe and us . in regard of himself , . partly that it may appeare to be his worke , those effects in the production of which , god is as it were causa socia a copartner , making use of probable meanes , too often the instrument is more looked upon than god ▪ but those effects wherein he is causa solitaria , the sole agent ( effecting them as it were by his owne hand ) enforce men to acknowledge it is his doing . quando humana omnem spem negant , tune divina dispensatio clare fulget , in the day-time , when other starres appeare not , we know the light which shines is onely from the sun ; so when secundary meanes succeed not to whom but god can the patient ascribe his recovery ? and for this reason , ne opus coelestis dextrae assignaretur virtuti humanae , that the creature may not rob him of his glory , he chuseth that time to deliver when the creature can afford no succour . . chiefly , that in such works he may appear to be a god , in as much as his almighty power and mercy , hereby become illustrious : it is the prayer of david , shew thy mevailous loving kindenesse ; the septuagint and vulgar ( agreeing in this with the hebrew ) render it , make thy mercyes wonderfull , and surely when our misery is most dolefull , gods mercy is most wonderfull , and therefore , saith saint gregory , we most admire gods benignity , when we call to minde our calamity : indeed god bringeth us nigh to death , that we may know our selves how fraile and mortall we are , that he may know us , or rather make knowne to us and others our graces , and when we are nigh to death he hath mercy , that we may know him , not onely speculatively , but experimentally , how great and mighty , how good and gracious he is : the truth is , omnipotenti medico , nullum vulnus insanabile , no wound is incurable to this omnipotent physitian : and that he may appeare to be so , he often deferreth the cure till humane skill and helpe faileth . in such deliverances , the characters of gods almighty goodnesse are plainly written so , that the blind egyptians can read them ; and therefore seeing the israelites escape an imminent danger they acknowledge the lord fighteth for them . in respect of us , that the deliverance may be the more acceptable to us , as well as honourable to him , to every thing , saith solomon , there is a season , and indeed it is the season that putteth a beauty upon every thing ; in this regard , that of the prophet quam speciosi , how beautifull are the feeet of him that bringeth good tidings , is rendered by tetullian , quam tempestivi , how opportune , that which is seasonable being ever beautifull ; indeed in every opportune mercy there is a double beauty , the one in the thing conferred , the other in the time of conferring it . it is the prayer of the church to god , gird thy sword upon thy thigh with thy glorie and thy majesty , which latter words the vulgar latine reads cum specie tua & pulchritudine tua , that is to say , with thy beauty and thy beauty : and this is then most fully verified , when god girds his sword to defend his church in her lowest misery , and offend his enemies in their highest insolency . it is a sweet and choice expression of the prophet , the lord will wait that he may be gracious , which though it be chiefly intended of his forbearing judgement , yet it is no lesse true of his withholding mercy : god therefore oft times delaying , that he may appeare the more gracious in bestowing deliverance ; so true is that of the father , deus cum differt non negat sed commendat dona , god in suspending intends not to deny , but onely to commend his mercy . abrahams childe was more welcome at seaventy , than if he had been given at thirty , and the same isaac had not beene so precious , had he not been as miraculously restored as given . in fine , the language of a depopulating warre is the best rhetorick to extoll the blessing of peace , how welcome is a calme to the marriner after a blustering storme ? and health is never so amiable , as when it brings letters of commendation from a long and dangerous sicknesse . to apply this , it is a meditation which should encourage us , to trust in god , even when things are at the worst , and though all other succours faile , not to let goe our hold of him : as appelles striving to paint a drop of foam falling from a horses mouth , after long study , despairing , let his pencill fall , and that fall did it , quod assequi non potuit casus expressit , effecting by chance what he could not by art , and when both nature and art can goe no further , divine providence undertaketh , nay , effecteth the worke , and therefore , as the apostle saith of joy , i say of hope , hope alwayes in the lord , indeed , magnae indolis est sperare semper , it is an argument of an heroick minde , to hope alwayes , and of a pious minde to place that hope on god ; david saith of himselfe , i have hoped in thy word , the septuagint read it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and the vulgar latine accordingly super-speravi , which as s. ambrose interpreteth it , is ad sperandum semper crescere & spem spei adjungere , to add hope to hope , & that even then when affliction is added to affliction : excellent to this purpose is that counsel of the greeke father , when externall means are least , let thy confidence be greatest , for then god displayeth his power most , not at the beginning , but when things are desperate , for this is the season of divine help . it is our great fault that in dismall dangers we open the eye of sense , and onely pore upon the extremity of the trouble , whereas it becometh a saint , even then to open the eye of faith , and lo●ke upon the energy of gods power . and to carry it one step further , let even the depth of misery be an incouragement to our confidence , in as much as that is a time of deliverance : when the night is at the darkest , we know day-break is nearest , the lownesse of the ebbe argueth the flowing in of the tide to be at hand : so may we conclude divine succour approaching from the premisses of a grievous calamity encompassing . we read in the vision of the wheel , which ezekiel laid him by the rivers brinke with no other shelter but an arke of bulrushes : how likely is this helplesse babe to be starved with cold , or tumble into the river , or be devoured with a wild beast ? but behold , whilest the childe is in this imminent danger , and the parents in perplexing feare , providence so ordereth it , that pharaoh's daughter becometh as a mother to the child , and the childes mother is appointed to be his nurse , whereby his life is preserved . how nigh in all probability was the israelites destruction , when before them a sea , through which there could be no wading , on either side mountaines , over which there was no climbing , behinde them a mighty hoste , with whom there is no contesting , and yet from whom no meanes left of escaping . but loe , in this depth of misery god hath mercy on them , even to a miracle ; the sea divideth , and at once becometh the israelites passage , and egyptians grave . how small did the distance seeme betweene jonah and death , when the mercifull marriners were enforced for saving their owne lives to cast him into the mercilesse sea , and yet there he sinketh not , a divine hand as it were holding him by the chinne , when in the sea swallowed by a greedy whale , and there hee dyeth not ; god would not deliver him from the tempest , he will from the whale ; that which was most likely to consume him becometh the means to preserve him , within three dayes the whale delivereth him safe , whole , and alive upon dry ground . who ever thought to have seene those three worthies alive after they fell downe bound into the midst of a fiery burning furnace ? but behold a martyrdome effected without dying , whilest a fourth like the sonne of god appeareth , at whose command the fire forgetteth to burne , or so much as scorch . who did not expect but that daniel being cast into a denne of ravenous lions , should be devoured before the next morning , nay , the next houre ? but see , the lyons mouthes are stopped by an angel , and since they cannot feed daniel , are forced to keep a fast with him . were not paul and his company in great jeopardy of death , when the thick clouds had for many dayes obscured the light of sun and starres from them , the violent stormes exceedingly tossed the ship , enforced them to cast out the goods , yea , every moment they expect themselves to be made a prey to the roring waves , all hope that they should be saved being taken away ? but behold , that night an angell of god standeth by paul , and from god assures him of his and their preservation . to come yet nearer to the instance of the text : it was no slight sicknesse afflicted david , when he said , my heart panteth , my strength faileth me , as for the light of mine eyes it is gone from me ; the disease ( it seemeth ) had seized upon all his spirits , his animals in the dimnesse of his eyes , his naturall in the failing of his strength , his vitall in the panting of his heart ; and surely then it must needes bring him very nigh to death ; yea , it seemeth david feared it , which made him so earnestly pray against it in another psalm : but when death is near , god is neare too , hearing his prayer , and preserving his life . it is said of hezekiah , that he was sick unto death , the disease was such that he reckoned his bones should be broken , and an end made of him , yea , he received a sentence of death from god by the prophet , set thine house in order , for thou shalt dye and not live : but that threat was onely like abrahams precept , not a declaration of what god intended to doe , but onely a probation to try what hezekiah would doe ; and therefore notwithstanding the disease was deadly , god becometh his physitian , prescribeth a plaister of figgs , and hezekiah is healed . the centurions sonne is visited with a feaver ; that feaver bringeth him to the very point of death , when as at the centurions intreaty , christ with a word commands his recovery . that womans condition was desperate , when she was at once brought low in estate and body : her goods are gone , her disease continueth , the physitians have emptied her purse , but cannot stay her flux , nor is there any likelyhood but that this sickness will at length bring her to her grave . but her deplorable state is a fit occasion for christ to magnifie his mercy , whilest by a believing touch of his garment he maketh her perfectly whole . finally , martha sends christ word ●hat lazarus is sick ; christ delayeth to come , onely lets her know this sicknesse should be for gods glory : being sick he dyeth , dying is buried , and having been some dayes buried he rotteth , nay stinketh in the grave ; and now is the time come for christ by his powerfull voice to raise him from the sleep of death , and bed of the grave . loe here , more than a jury of textuall witnesses , to which many more might be added ( besides this in the text ) all asserting this truth , and thereby assuring our faith of gods deliverance in the worst extremity . to all which give me leave to adde one more , even my owne late experience of gods marvailous kindenesse vouchsafed to me . it is not many weekes agoe since it pleased the wise god to visit me with a sore and violent feaver ; that feaver so exhausted my spirits , and enervated my body , that i might well take up davids expression , there was but a step betweene me and death : much about that time when the dayes of the yeare are at the longest , the dayes of my life seemed to be at the shortest . thus was the first part of this text verified , i was sick nigh to death , indeed so nigh , that i was as a dead man in the opinion of the learned , yea , actually dead and buried in the report of the vulgar , and truly i had ere this beene not onely foure dayes with lazarus , but more than four weeks putrifying in the grave , had not divine goodnesse prevented : but god had mercy on me , and so the other part of my text is likewise fulfilled : when the sicknesse had almost weighed me downe into the pit , god was pleased to put a graine of mercy and turne the scale , so that i am here ( beloved ) this day , before god , angels , and men , as a bird escaped out of a strong snare , as a prey plucked out of the jawes of a devouring lion , as a brand snatched out of the fire of a burning feaver . what therefore remaineth , but that as in the beginning , so now in the close of this discourse i take up a gratulation , bless the lord oh my soul , and let all that is within me praise his holy name ; when i forget to mention this deliverance , let my right hand forget its cunning ; when i cease ( as opportunity offereth it selfe ) to publish this mercy , let my tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth ; nor yet would i be ●●one , in this work of praise ; do you ( all you here present ) joyne with me . i doubt not but many , the most , nay all of you in some kinde , at some time or other , have had experience of eminent deliverances : oh call them now to mind , & let your gratefull remembrance come up as a memoriall before the lord : i doubt not but many of you , yea , very many , did put up prayers , fervent prayers at the throne of grace for this mercy ( which i now celebrate ) my recovery . indeed brethren , i look upon my health , as s. paul on his preservation , as a gift bestowed on me by the meanes ( to wit , for the sakes and prayers ) of many ; and surely as prayers have been made , so fit it is thanksgiving should be returned by many on my behalfe , it were a shame to be zealous in begging and cold in blessing ; to cry aloud give us our dayly bread , and onely whisper hallowed be thy name . blessed therefore be the lord god of his unworthy servant , who alone doth wondrous things ; yea , blessed be his glorious name for ever , and let all that have beene petitioners for me say with me at least in their hearts , amen , amen . and now my dearly beloved parishioners , and freinds in the lord , what is my desire , but that you may have cause in allusion to the following words of this verse , to say , god had mercy , no● on him onely , but us also ; that my preservation may be for your edification , as well for my consolation : that you , who have already found benefit by my weak ministery , may be more strengthned ; and those , who have heretofore been unprofitable , may now be bettered . which that it may be so , it shall be my endeavour ▪ let it be your prayer for me , that i may doe this worke of christ more diligently and faithfully than ever ; it shall be my prayer for you , let it be your endeavour to heare the word of christ more attentively and obediently for the time to come . so shall you have cause to blesse god for me , and i to blesse god for you . yea at that last and great day you shall have joy in me , if my preaching become a means of your conversion and salvation ; and i shall have joy in you , whose conversion and salvation shall prove an increase of my reward , and an addition to my glorie . which god grant , &c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- psal. . . rom. . . tim. . heb. . . jam. . . joh. . . act. . . rom. . . notes for div a e- rom. . , . gen. . vagiluque locum lugub●i compl●t ut aequum'●● , cui tantum in vit● r●fiat tra●sire malorum . lucr. aug in ps. gen. . . mark . . horat. od. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . pythag. apo. in iambl . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . s●m . . tria haec in ●mni m●rbo g●avia sunt , m●tus mortis , dolor corporis , intermissio voluptatis . sen. ep. . psal. . , . mat. . psal. . . quando haec tam gra●●ia fa●iet vicino jam exitu , etiam à medi●c●ium actione exclusus fa●isc●●te jam corpore ubi ex●rcebit districtionis officium censor animus salv. ad ec●l . cathol. ● . . iam. . langhorn's ●un . se●m. of m. s mary swaine . quia deus non irridetur , ipse se decepit qui mortem multis temporibus vixit & ad quaerendam vitam semivivus assurgit & tu●c officio●us app●rct quando dominica saervituti omnia corporis & anima subt●●huntur officia . faust . epist. prma . mat. . . gum omnes homine● velint poevitentiam in sine vitae suae accipere , v●x paueo● videmus ●am secundum quod desiderant adipisci . elig . de caex . dom : hom sext . nihil est quod de calamitatibus nostris deo imputare possumus , nos calamitatum nostrarum auctores sumus . salvide gub. l. à deo punimur sed ipsi facimus ut puniamur . id ibid. jerem. . . gr. naz epist . mort●m omni aetati commun●m ●ss● sentio . cic. de sen●ct . tun●●repida●●● cum pr●pè a vobis credimus ●sse morte● , à quo propè non 〈◊〉 . parata omnibus lo●is 〈◊〉 . sen ep●st . tres sunt nun●ii ●●rtis , c●su● , infirmit●s , se ●●ctus , casus nuntiat mortem late●tem , infirmit●s ap●●●●tem , senoctus p●aescut●m . hugo de . s. vict. de claust . an. nihil habet qu●d spere● quem senectus ducit ad mortem sen. ep. quemadniodum s●nectus adolescentiam s●quitur , ita mors senectutem . i● . ibid ped●te●●●m morior dixit alexis ●en●x lente incedens . ch●ron me momordit dixit daemonax sen●x pro cane , innuens s●nectutem morti vicinam . erasm. apoth. l . & . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} crat. antiph . juvenibus incer●us hujus vitae terminus insta● , senibus vero cunctis maturior ex hac luce ●xitus breviter concordat cypr. de . abus. saec . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . diog laert. l. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . g● . naz. o●at . . forsita● quia verberatus est ab infi●●elibus in m●nisterio . anselm . in loc. ch●ysost . in v. . humana ●rugaelita●is nimia in pr●sp●ris r●bu● oblivio est . q● . cu●t . l. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. iob . . . . omnes ( inquit alexander sagitta ictus ) jurant me jovis esse filium , sed hoc vulnus homin●m esse me cl●mat . ●en . ep. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut. apoth. is● . . . hos. . ult. luk. . . luk. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in psal. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . suid. dr. jer. tay. sermon . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chryso . in psal. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . psal. . . ver. . ibid. p●ccatum separan● inter nos● & deum peni●●us auferri non pot●st , donec liberemur a corpo●e . b●rn . de . in adv. serm. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oecumen. ib. causa morbi suit n●mia diligentia in me curando , in doc●ndo evangelio , in d●f●nd●●dá m●á causá , in vigil●is j●jun●o , lucub●ationibus , &c. aret. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . cor. . . cor. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ▪ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. t. . de morb. & med. quo●dam p●cscicus deus peccare posse , in salutem flagellat cos infirmitate co●poris , ne peccent : ut cis utilius sit fra●gi languoribus ad salutem , quam remancre in●olumes ad d●mnationem bern. de int. dom. cap. . probationes diversae sunt credentium , alius por aegritudinem , alius amissione charorum , alius per damum pecu●iae probatur . ambr. in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. t. . do morb. & med. act. . . psal. . . quàm praeposterum judicium corum qui ex variis malis , quibus nonnulli magni viri & doctores ecclesiae laborare nonnunquam solent , finistre de illorum doctrina & salute judicare . zanch in loc. eccles. . . psal. . . ver. . gen. part . ovid . sam. . : isa , . . sunt aliqua media divinae providentiae , nox propter defectum suae virtutis , sed propter abundantiam suae bonitatis , ut dignitatem causalitatis etiam creaturis communicet . aquin. part . q. . a●t . luk. . . . . john . , . kings . . isa. . . iohn , . mat. . . hos. . . creatorem nobit p●●pitium redda●us , qui pot●●s est nos cum morbis ●ffligere , tum sana●e . ephe. de vi● . spirit . t. . isa. . . iu●ges . . isay . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in psal. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. t. . de morb. & med. chron. . kings . . psal. . . frustra ●st ●mul● humana d●lig●ntia nisi divina a●●●dat provid●ntia . m●●c . ibid. id ibid. luke . . ezod. . ● . iob . . peter . . faciem quodamodo ponentes ad ea quae fecit , dorsum ponimus ad artificem qui fecit . si quando nobis prosperi aliquid praeter spem nostram & meritum deus tribuit , alius ascribit hoc fortunae , alius ●ven●●t , alius confilio , nullus d●o . salv. de cub . l. . misericordia nonnullis quod mi●●rum cor faciat . aug con●r . adv. leg. l. ● . c ▪ . misericors dicitur aliquis si qua miscrum cor hab●ns . aquin p●r . prim q. . art . . isa. . . i●rem ● . . psal. ● . . n●bis non sibi loquitur , atque ideo nostris u●itur in loquendo . hil●r . in ps {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . mise●icord●a est ali●rae miser●ae in co●d ●ostro comp●ssi● qu● uti●●● ( si possimus ) subven●●e compellimur . aug. de civit . dei . l . c. . tristari de miseriâ alterius non competit deo , sed rep●ll●re miseriam alicri●s hoc m●ximè ei competit . aquin. par . prim . qu. . a●t . . nomen misericordiae pro op●re . zanch. in loc. dicitur misericordia , quod miseriae ●●jusdam est remotio , est. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . &c. greg. naz. orat. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . athanas. qu. . de parab. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . a ch●isto dicti es●is ch●istiani ; 〈◊〉 eá viá qua christus ambularet , & vos d●betis ambulare . bern. ser ad p●st . pr. . . sep● . v●re magnus qui divini ●peris interpres est ut imitatur amb. in ps. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. nys. de beat. or. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat. . eph. . . luke . n●hil digniu● quam u● homo sit autoris sui imitator , & secundum modum propriae facultatis div. ni ●it ●peris executor . leo de quadr . serm. . psal. . prospicit p●uperi , aegro aegroto , attenuato . vatabl ibid. improbus petito● , qui quod aliis negat sibi postulat , homo esto tibi misericordiae forma , si● quomo do vis , quan●um vis , quam cito vis m●sericordia● tibi sieri , tam cito alii , tantum , tali●●r ipse m●sercre . chrysol. serm. . mat. . . vita mari est similis , namque ut mare vita pro●cllas : haec habet & v●ntos naufragiumque f●equ●●s . an●h sacr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . philem. yant●●st tribu , lat●o h● jus mis●rae vi●ae , ut nec vita fit dicenda , sed potius mors , vel qu ppiam aliud morte detertus . idiot de pati . qu●d est di●i viv●re ●isi di● torqueri . aug. de verb . dom . serm. chrysost. in loc. theoph. in loc. o●cum . in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. ibid. aristot. eth●l . . c. plat. in gorg. ma●t . ep. . l. . una est catena quae nos allig nos ten●t , amor v●tae qui ut non est abujiciendus , ita miu●ndus est . sen. ep. . corpus infra animam est & quaevis anima vilis excellentissi●o corpore excellentio● invenitur . aug in ps . ch●ys●●n loc. mors po●it finem omnibus , malis in h●ic vit● , da● terminum malis in hoc sae●ulo , ●●imit omnem calam●tatem . be●n . de mod . viv . se●m . m●ritur quide● justus sed secure , quippe c●jus mors ut praeso●t●● exitu● est vit● , ita i●troitu● meli oris . id . ep. ● . erit janua vitae , initium refrigerii erit , sanctae illius men●is sca●a & ingressus in locum tabernaculi . id. in serm. chrysost. in loc theoph. in loc chrisost. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oecu . in loc. phil. . . hieron. in loc. considerandum est non esse parvam dignationē quum se deus in nobis glorificat . calv. in lo. phil. . . qui christo vivunt , salicit●r in spem gloriae coelest●s exercentur . calv. ibid. dan. . . act. . . qui● hoc credere queat , mutamus naturam rerum iniquitatibus nostris , &c. salv. de gub. l. . paris . de universo prim . part pars tertia . c. . petrarch dial . de valet . corp. est perniciosa s●nitas qu● ad inobedientiam ducit . bern. de interdom . jo. . . en horam tuam domine , ades enim deus cui homo deest . velasq. in phil. herodes g●ntis judai●ae invasit regnum , libertatem sustulit , prophanavit s●ncta ; quicquid cultu● est , abolevit , merito ergo genti sanc●ae quia ●umana desunt , divina succurrant . chrisol . serm. . psal. . . ioh. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . cy. alex. in joh. psal. . , , . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. nyss. tract in ps. ver. , , . ver. ● , . ver. . , , . psal . ● . velasq. in phil. permittit deu● crescere pericula ut periclitan●ium merita augeantur : extremè autem periclitantibus opem f●rt ut suam pot●ntiam demonstret . mend in lib. . reg. cap. . n. . psal . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept. mirifica misericordia● tu●● . vulg. tunc nol is m●●sericordiae dei mirifica●tur cum nobis ad memoriam miseriae nostrae revocantur . g●eg hom . in ezech. n●h●l extat quod dei pot●ntiam vincat , nih●l quod omnipotenti illi nutui obsistere v●leat . sophr. arch. hom in bible pat . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. orat . isa. . . te●tul . contra . mar. l. . c . psal . . . isa. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . cyr. alex. in joh. . . erasm. fimil . phil. . flor. l . c. . just●s s●mper sperat & in adversit positus & fre●●●●ibus afflictu●●rumni● d●spera●c●o●●ovit ▪ ambr. in ps. . oct. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . &c. chrys. in psal. . ●zek . . . quid mirabilius ●●ll●inger● po●uit illa , quae cum dolor● pnerum ●xposucrat , nunc cum gaudio cum recipit . fer. com. exod . exod . aquae quae timebantur dextr● laevâque famulis dei murus eff●ctae , non solum perniciem nesciunt , sed & munimen exhibent . orig. hom in exod. patien●er susti●uit abs●rb●ri jonam à ceto non ut absorberetur & in totum periret , sed ut evomitus magis , subigeretur deo , & plus glorificaret deum qui i●sperabilem salutem ei d●●●ss●● . ●raen . adv. haer. l. c ▪ . o martyrium & sine passione perfectum , satis p●ssi satis exusti sunt , quos propt●rea d●us texit , ne potestatem ejus ●en●●ri vid●rentu● tertul. scorp . cap. . venit leo & l. b●ravit leonem ●b or● l●onis : rab. in lap. super loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in act. quod genus morbi & naturae vires attinet prorsus esset moriturus nisi singulari dei consilio servaretur . musc. in loc. solo jussu salu●ë reddidit qui voluntate omnia creavit . greg. mag. in evan. hom . post certamina desperata medicorum post medicami●a sumptu●sa , post inanem & e●tiquissimā curam ubi ars et peritia dese ●rat jam curantum ubi languentis omnis jam consumpta fucrat substamia ipsi authori reverendum vulnus non casu sea divinitus occurrit , ut quod humana arte tot annis curari n●n potuit , sola fide & humilitate cura retur . chrysol. serm. . videtis quemadmodum dat locum morti , licentiam dat sepulchro , corruptioni posse permi●tit , negat nil put edini , nil foe●tori : atque ut tartarus vapiat , trah●t , ●abeat , admittit , atque agit , ut hum●●a spes tota pe eat , et tota vis mun lanae d●speration●s accedat , quatenus qu●d facturus est divinum 〈◊〉 , non humanum . chrysol. serm. . sam . . june the . my disease was at the highest . psal. . . . , . cor. . . psal. . , . wisdomes character and counterfeit deliniated in two sermons : the one on the epistle of st. james, chap. . ; the other on the gospel of st. matth., chap. . / by nath. hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) wisdomes character and counterfeit deliniated in two sermons : the one on the epistle of st. james, chap. . ; the other on the gospel of st. matth., chap. . / by nath. hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , [ ], p. printed by j.g. for john clark, and are to be sold at his shop ..., london : . first sermon has running title: wisdomes character ; second sermon has running title: wisdomes counterfeit. second sermon has special t.p. and separate pagination ; t.p. reads: wisdomes counterfeit, or, herodian policy, unmasked in a sermon ... added t.p. reads: wisdomes character, or, the queen of graces, set forth in a sermon preached at the assizes holden at aylesbury for the county of buckingham, on friday march ... . dedicated "to the worshipfull george tash, esq. high sheriff of the county of buckingham ..." reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng god -- wisdom. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion vvisdomes character and counterfeit . deliniated in two sermons . the one on the epistle of st. james , chap. . . the other on the gospel of st. matth : chap. . . by nath : hardy , minister of gods word , and preacher to the parish of st. dionis back-church . job . . behold , the feare of the lord , that is wisdome , and to depart from evill , is understanding . psal. . . the feare of the lord , is the beginning of wisdome , a good understanding have all they that doe his commandements ; his praise endureth for ever . london , printed by i. g. for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under st. peters church in cornhil , . vvisdomes character : or , the queen of graces . set forth in a sermon preached at the assizes holden at aylesbury , for the county of buckingham , on friday march . anno dom. . by nath : hardy , minister of gods word , and preacher to the parish of st. dionis back-church . prov . . . wisdome is the principall thing , therefore get wisdome , and with all thy getting , get understanding . bern. serm. . de nativit . christi . sola quae ex deo est sapientia salutaris , qua secundum b. iacobi definitionem primum pudica , deinde pacifica est ; nam sapentia carnis voluptuosa est , non pudica , sapientia mundi tumultuosa est , non pacifica . london , printed by i. g. for john clarke , and are to be sold at his shop under st. peters church in cornhil . . to the vvorshipfull , george tash , esq. high sheriffe of the county of buckingham . the blessings of wisdomes right and left hand . sir , at your command this small barke was first launched into the river , and is now put forth to sea ; i know the season is perillous , and perhaps she may meet with a contrary winde , but her anchor of truth will preserve her from sinking in the sharpest storme . she is no man of warre , nor intends offence to any , onely a merchant man , designed to advance the spirituall traffique , her outside is plaine , but her lading is rich . the commodities which she bringeth are the incomparable jewell of wisdome , the amber of purity , the gold of peace , the silkes of gentlenesse and tractablenesse , the oyl of mercy , all sorts of pretious fruits , the diamonds of impartiality , sincerity , and these fetched not from the uttermost indies , or any places of the earth , but the uppermost heaven of heavens . to your coast ( honoured sir ) she first putteth in , not doubting the harbour of a favourable protection , since , though i was the unskilfull carpenter , you are the owner ; and besides you have a considerable share in her goods , your prudent , peaceable , gentle , mercifull , just and upright conversation , being evident to all who know you . onely give me leave ( worthy friend ) to advise , that you would continue and encrease this heavenly trade . true , you have experienced through divine providence , blessing your ingenious industry , the advantage of traffiquing in those remoter parts of the world ; since your returne to your native countrey , the same providence hath found out for , and conferred on you an invaluable jewell ( a consort decked with all wisdoms ornaments ) and by her hath blessed you with those pearles ( children ) which no riches can purchase . but in the midst of all these enjoyments , forget not what solomon saith of wisdome ; the merchandise of it is better then the merchandise of silver , and the gain thereof then fine gold ; she is more pretious then rubies , and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her . i have nothing more , but to declare to the world , how much i am engaged to your selfe , and vertuous second self , for multiplied courtesies ; to supplicate the great god , for the accumulation of his mercies both celestiall and terrestriall , on you and yours , and subscribe my self your most affectionate servant , nath : hardy . jam . . . but the wisdome that is from above , is first pure , then peaceable , gentle , and easie to be intreated , full of mercy and good fruits , without partiality , and without hypocrisie . of all graces , none of more singular worth , and universal extent then that of wisdome ; if you take the altitude of its dignity , you shall finde that what the sun is among the planets , and gold amongst the mettalls , the minde among the faculties , & the sight among the senses , that is prudence amongst vertues . hence it is not unfitly called , cardinalium cardo , the hinge upon which the other cardinall vertues turne , giving rules to justice , setting bounds to temperance , putting the reynes upon fortitude , yea it is the salt which giveth a seasoning to all our graces . if you measure the amplitude of its utility , you shall finde that it observeth all seasons , ordereth all actions , and regulateth us in all conditions . some graces are excellent in their nature , but confined in their use , repentance to sinne . patience to affliction , gratitude to mercy , obedience to duty : but this grace is that which subdueth corruption , sustaineth affliction , improveth mercy , manageth duty ; in one word , what the wise mans proverb saith of money , may more fully be applyed to wisdome , it answereth all things . this encomium might very well serve as a proaemium , both to justifie my choyce of , and gaine your attention to my discourse upon this scripture . but besides both the goodnesse and fulnesse of this grace , there is yet another consideration , which may render it very acceptable at this time , namely the fitnesse of it , both to the occasion and persons . the occasion of this present meeting you all know , is to hold a grand assizes for the righting of the injured , punishing of offenders , deciding of differences , and redressing disorders in the county ; nor is there any grace more needfull to the accomplishing of these weighty workes , then that of wisdome . the persons to whom i am now to speak are of seveverall degrees , offices , vocations , and no grace more useful for them all in their severall spheres , then this of wisdome . this was king solomons choyce for himselfe , and such a choyce as god highly approved of , give thy servant an understanding heart . this was his father davids advice to all kings and judges of the earth , be wise and be instructed . finally , this was moses his wish for the people of israel , oh that they were wise ! and surely then it cannot be unseasonable , or unsuitable for me at this time to set before you this excellent description of wisdome , which our apostle hath made to my hand in the words of my text , but the wisdome which is from above , is first pure , then peaceable , &c. the wise man speaking of wisdome calleth her a tree of life , and there is one word ( fruits ) in the text , which giveth a fit occasion of using that metaphor ; conceive then wisdome here compared by our apostle to a tree , whose root is not ( as other trees ) in earth , but heaven ; in which respect ( to use the philosophers expression concerning man ) she is arbor inversa , a tree turned upwards , her fruits are both wholsome and toothsome , and those of severall sorts : st. john saith of the tree of life , in the street of the new jerusalem , it bare twelve manner of fruits ; loe here eight severall fruits reckoned up as growing upon this tree of life , nay our apostle tells us , this tree is full of good fruits , to wit , of all kindes . it will not then i hope seem tedious to you to sit for one houre , under the shadow of this tree , and feed upon the fruits that fall from it , which being eaten and digested will nourish your soules to eternall life . againe , me thinketh our apostle presents wisdome to us , under the forme of a beautifull virgin . that he may wooe and win us to her espousals , he delineateth both her parentage and her person , the eminency of the one , and the excellency of the other . her parentage is sublime , she being of a noble , royall , yea divine extraction , for she is the wisdome from above . her person is altogether lovely in every part . the candour of purity adorneth her breasts , the honey of peace drops from her lips , an amiable gentlenesse smileth in her countenance , the jewell of tractablenesse hangs at her eares , bracelets of mercy and good fruits deck her hands , and she walketh upon the two even feet of impartiality and sincerity , who can look upon her , and not be ravished with her ? if she were in oculis , surely she would be in osculis , and the true reason why men are no more in love with her , is , because they doe not know her : be pleased then for one houre to take a view of her picture , as it is here drawn by our apostle to the life , in its severall lineaments . once more , we have wisdome represented under a double notion , as a daughter and as a mother ; as a daughter , and that of no lesse then a king , the king of glory , yea the king of kings . so alphonsus was wont to call her filiam dei , gods daughter , for she is the wisdome from above ; as a mother , fruitful of many , and those sweet children , the eldest whereof is purity ; or to use more proper termes , here is wisdome set forth as an effect , and as a cause , as an effect of the best , the first cause ; as a cause of the best and choycest effects ; so that the words naturally part themselves into these two generalls : dignitas originis , the dignity of wisdomes originall whence it is , it is the wisdome from above . utilitas effectus , the utility of the effects which it produceth , in as much as it is first pure , then peaceable , easie to be intreated , full of mercy and good fruits , without partiality , and without hypocrisie . of both which , whilst i shall speak , and you shall hear , let us all implore this wisdome from above , that i may deliver my message without partiality and hypocrisie , you may be gentle auditors , and easie to be intreated , so as we may henceforth lead more pure and peaceable conversations , being full of mercy and good fruits , and so i begin with dignitas originis , the dignity of wisdomes originall whence it is , in those words , the wisdome that is from above . interpreters doe here observe an ellipsis of the participle , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but it is easily supplied from the . verse of this chapter , where it is expressed . if you enquire what this meaneth , that it is from above , s. james himselfe giveth the answer , where he saith in generall , every good gift , and every perfect gift is from above , and cometh down from the father of lights , therefore is wisdome said to be from above , because it is one , yea the brightest of those lights whereof god is the father . among other attributes of god in scripture , he is said to be the onely wise god , both because he alone is perfectly , exactly , throughly , infinitely wise in himselfe , in which respect the best of men are rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , lovers of wisdome then wise , and likewise because as the sun is the fountaine of light , the sea of water , so god is the original of that wisdome which is in the creature . to clear this briefly , be pleased to know there is a threefold wisdome , namely carnall , humane and divine , of the flesh , of the head , of the heart , the first is abhominable , the second is laudable , the third is admiraable . carnall wisdome is the cunning , which is in the children of this world , whereby they are wise to doe evill ; this our apostle divideth in the preceding verses into earthly , which is a moth-eaten policy sensual which is a voluptuous provision ; and divelish , which is a mischievous subtilty , all which he plainly denyeth to be from above . naturall is that s●gacity which more or lesse is in every rationall creature , to discerne of naturall things , and manage secular affaires , instances hereof we finde at the third and fourth verses of this chapter , the riders skill in bridling the horse , and the pilots in turning about the ship. this though it be naturae bonum , yet it is dei donum , implanted in nature by a divine hand ; and though it is improved by education , idustry , art , yet it depends principally upon a divine influence . it is by men that many rare crafts are found out , but as lactantius truly , god gives men the wisdome by which they finde them out , they are gods own words . behold i have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire , and that bringeth forth an instrument for his worke ; and the prophet isay speaking of the husbandman , saith , his god doth instruct him in discretion , and doth teach him ; and daniel saith of all humane wisdome . he giveth wisdome to the wise , and knowledge to them that know understanding . sacred is the wisdome either of science , or of operation , the former is that whereby the minde is savingly enlightned , to discerne the things of god , and the mysteries of salvation , sapientia quasi sapida scientia , a savoury , and cordiall knowledge of supernaturall objects , doth well deserve the name of wisdome : the latter is that whereby a man is enabled to fixe a right end of all his actions , and to make choyce of the fit meanes conducing to that end , this is called by the latines prudentia , and though the other be not excluded , yet doubtlesse this is principally intended in this scripture . concerning this wisdome , our apostle saith most justly it is from above , in a peculiar manner , owing its originall to god , and that in two respects . . in as much as it is no where taught but in gods word , the schools of philosophers give many excellent documents of morall prudence , but religious wisdome is onely to be learned in the school of the scriptures . to aime with a single eye at gods glory , and our own salvation as the supream end , to walke in those paths of faith , repentance and obedience , selfe denyall , induring the crosse , and imitation of christ , which lead to these ends , are lessons onely to be found in holy writ , these are they ( saith the apostle paul ) which are able to make wise unto salvation ; no wonder if he exhort the colossians , let the word of christ dwell richly in you in all wisdome ; this water of life being to be had in no other well but that of god ; word . . in as much as it is a singular gift of the sanctifying spirit , the epithite by which saint paul characterizeth this wisdome is , spirituall , and that for this reason ( saith the learned davenint ) quia per spiritum christi generatur , non ingenio nostro comparatur , because it is not acquired by our wit , but infused by gods spirit . there is a spirit in man saith elihu ) and the inspiration of the almighty giveth understanding ; mans spirit is able to understand much , but to the understanding of divine things , there must be an inspiration of the almighty . the truth is , whereas humane is attained deo aspirante , god assisting , this divine wisdome is onely to be obtained deo inspirante , god inspiring with an especiall grace . i shut up this with that counsell or our apostle , if any of you lack wisdome , let him ask of god it cometh down from above , let us lift up our eyes , and hands , and hearts above for it . this wisdome ( as clemens alexandrinus elegantly ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is not sold on earth but in heaven , and if you will know the price it is prayer . solomon in his proverbs saith in one verse , the lord giveth wisdome , and in the next , the lord layeth up sound wisdome ; the treasury wherein he layeth it up is his word , the treasurer is his spirit , and the key that unlocketh this treasury is prayer ; aske and he will give , let our requests ascend to him , and his wisdome will descend on us ; and as the rivers that come from the sea , return thither , so this wisdome coming from god , leads us back to him ; by working in us those graces of purity , peace , mercy , which resemble him . and so i am faln upon the utility of wisdomes effects , it is first pure , then peaceable , &c. the number of these effects is by some reduced to seven , and so they oppose them to the seven deadly sins , compare them to the seven gifts of the spirit , resemble them to the seven pillars which wisdome heweth to build the house where she vouchsafeth to dwell . by others the number is inlarged to eight , and so they observe a fit correspondency in them to the eight beatitudes , four of which , ( to wit ) pu●ity , peace , meeknesse , mercy , are here expresly mentioned , and the rest may be easily parallel'd , as if all the qualifications fitting for blessednesse , were so many maids of honour attending on this queen of wisdome . if you desire a logicall disposing of these effects , you may consider wisdome in reference to god and men , in regard of god she is pure , in regard of all men she is peaceable , distressed men , mercifull , in her carriage towards enemies , gentle , love of friends without hypocrisie , towards good men , full of good fruits , and in her censures of evill men , without partiality . but i shall in handling them follow the order in the text . and as printers first set the severall letters , and then clap on the sheets , or as gardiners first gather the flowers apart , and then binde them together , so shall i distinctly unfold , and then joyntly apply them with all possible brevity and perspicuity . . that which first occurreth to be handled is wisdomes purity , for so is the order of the words , the wisdome from above is first pure . indeed when we observe what precedeth , we may well infer that which followeth , wisdome being from above , must needs be pure ; such as is the cause , such is the effect ; it is impossible the least darknesse should proceed from the father of lights , and as no unclean thing can ascend thither , so neither can it descend thence . it is observable in nature , that all things as they are higher , so they are purer , the water then the earth , the aire then the water , the fire then the aire , the stars then the fire ; how pure then must wisdome needs be which is from above the stars , even from the highest heavens ! the adverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , first , here prefixed , would not be passed by , as intending not onely a priority of order but honour ; indeed purity is the chiefest lesson in wisdomes school , the richest jewell in her cabinet , and the sweetest flower in her garden ; if you observe , you will finde it both the α , and the ω , the first and the last of wisdomes lineaments ; purity is opposed either to mixture , so we say pure wine which is not sophisticated , or to filthinesse , so we say pure water which is not mudded : in the former sence it is that which ends , in the latter it is that which begins the description ; because free from mixture , she is without hypocrisie , because free from filthinesse , she is said to be pure . and truly all the intermediall properties are such , as would be no praise of wisdome , if purity did not accompany them ; without purity , peaceablenesse is pusillanimity , gentlenesse stupidity , tractablenesse simplicity , mercifulnesse foolish pity , yea our best fruits but sodom apples . in a word , purity is wisdomes best friend , and choycest companion . the greek word which we render pure , properly signifieth chaste , and accordingly some refer it to that particular grace ; indeed on the one hand , as uncleannesse is folly , and therefore often called by that name , and the young man whom the harlot tempts to her wanton embraces ; is said to be void of understanding ; yea saint chrysostome compareth him to the mad daemoniack in the gospell , who dwelt among the tombes : so on the other hand , chastity is a blessed effect of wisdome , and therefore it is the wise mans advice , my son , say unto wisdom , thou art my sister , and call understanding thy kinswoman , that they may keep thee from the strange woman , from the stranger which flattereth with her words . but we must not confine our apostles meaning ; though if you please , with brockman , we may make use of the emphasis of the word , and conceive wisdome as a chast virgin , espoused to christ the king of glory , to whom having plighted her faith , she proveth faithfull , renouncing the pleasures of the world , contemning the dalliances of satan , defying the lusts of the flesh , that she may approve her fidelity to her husband christ. that wisdomes purity may the more fully be characterized , observe briefly these particulars : . there is a purity of doctrine , and a purity of practice , the one from error , the other from sin : wisdome is both orthodox and orthoprax , maintaining the one , attaining the other ; that which christ hath intrusted with her , his truth , she keepeth pure from heresie ; that which she hath dedicated to christ , her soule , she keepeth pure from iniquity . some are zealous against errors , and yet slaves to their lusts , other are sober in regard of sensuall delights , and yet intoxicated with erroneous opinions , neither of these are wisdomes children , who accounts them equally bad , a vain minde and vile affections , and therefore according to saint pauls counsell , she holds the mysterie of faith in a pure conscience . . there is a purity of heart , and a purity of life , both these our apostle enjoyneth in the . verse of the next chapter , cleanse your hands you sinners , and purifie your hearts you double-minded ; and saint paul , when he exhorteth to cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit : nor doth wisdome neglect either ; some pretend to have good hearts , and yet lead bad lives ; but what a folly is it to thinke the sap in the root can be sweet , when the fruits that grow from it are bitter ? others refraine from impure actions , whilst they retain sinfull affections : but what a madnesse is it for men to content themselves with washing the outside of the cup or platter , whilst the inside is full of filth , nay poyson ? true wisdome taketh care both of the inward disposition , and the outward conversation . so much is intimated according to some expositors by christs geminated phrase concerning his spouse , behold thou art fair , my love , behold thou art fair . . there is a purity of contrition which looketh backward , washing the soul by godly sorrow for sinne past , and a purity of conversion which looketh forward , cleansing the soule by a reall forsaking of sinne for time to come , & wisdom joyneth these two together . some resolve to turne from sin , and yet have never truly mourned for it , and what is this but meer folly , to thinke of building a fabrick of reformation , without laying the low foundation of humiliation ? others mourne for their sins , but still returne to them ; unwise men , who begin to build and doe not finish it . that is wisdome indeed , which both mourneth for , and turneth from all iniquity . when the sinner with the prodigall cometh to himself , begins to be wise , reflects on his past life , and weepeth bitterly , this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , wisdomes after wit , and having bathed himselfe in his teares , he walketh circumspectly that he be no more defiled , and this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , wisdomes fore-wit . wisdome openeth the eyes to see the vilenesse of sinne , and seeing the flyeth from it , as from a snare that would intangle her , mudde that would defile her , poyson that would destroy her , she maketh a covenant with her eyes , setteth a watch before the door of her lips , taketh heed to her feet , and keepeth her heart with all diligence , that it may be a place for god , an habitation for christ , a temple for the holy ghost to dwell in . in one word , knowing how foolish it is to stop many leaks in a vessell , shut many gates in a city , and yet leave any one open , that a short dagger may prove as fatall as a long sword , a small pistoll as destructive as a great canon ; finally , how expedient it is for him that will avoid falling into the pit , not to come neer the brink , she is carefull to avoid not one , or many , but all sins , as well smal as hainous secret as scandalous crimes , yea not only to abstain from sin , but the occasions that lead to it , and as the poet aptly , — plurima faelix paulatim vitia atque errcres exuit omnes prima docens rectum sapientia — by little and little she casts off all those filthy rags of sinne and wickednesse . indeed thus to doe , is by the sons of beliall accounted folly , puritas virtutis fatuitas creditur , & omne quod innocens , stultum reputatur ; innocency with them is reputed foolish simplicity , repentance a peevish melancholy , and conscientiousnesse a nice scupulofity ; but in the end it will be found that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an unblameable life is the best wisdome , according to this of our apostle , the wisdome that is from above is first pure . . having thus practised purity , wisdomes next study is peace , for so it followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , then peaceable , and here both the nature . and the order of this property would be considered : . wisdome is peaceable . there is pax numin is , a peace with god reconciled in christ. and this wisdome prizeth above all ; there is pax pectoris , a peace of conscience in the sense of that reconciliation of minde in the harmony of the passions with reason , and this is wisdomes continuall f●ast ; finally , there is pax temporis , a peace with men , and this is wisdomes endeavour , and of this no doubt here our apostle speaketh . it was our blessed saviours advice to his disciples , have salt in your selves , and peace one with another . salt is an embleme of discretion , which leadeth to peace , for as salt prevents putrefaction , so doth wisdome , contention . if salt be thrown into the water , it kindly melteth ; if into fire , it crackles till it vanish , so is wisdome pleased , when in the water among peaceable , but grieved when in the fire among contenticus spirits . indeed knowledge too often is contentious , as being accompanied with pride , quaeinflat , which puffeth up , but wisdome is pacificous , as being attended with charity , quae aedificat , which edifieth . it is observed of solomon , that he was both the wisest , and the most peaceable king , no greater friend to peace than wisdome . the place whence wisdome cometh ; jerusalem which is above , is the vision of peace ; the god from whom she is sent , is the god of peace ; christ the wisdome of the father , is the prince of peace ; the spirit who is the donor of wisdome , is the spirit of peace ; the word wherein she is taught , is the gospel of peace , no wonder if she be a mother and nurse to peace . peace is musick to the eare , honey to the taste , beauty to the eye , sweetnesse to the sent , smoothnesse to the touch , and joy to the heart of a son of wisdome ; where peace is , it is her care to preserve it , and where it is wanting , to obtaine it ; if peace be hid . she secketh to finde it , if it come , she embraces i● , and if i● fly from her , she followeth it . her motio● 〈◊〉 that of david , i am for peace , in the church , in the state , in the neighbourhood , in the family ; nor hath it onely her tongue , but her hand , using all means to accomplish and maintain it . she is studious of ecclesiasticall peace , to that end she knoweth how to distinguish between substantialls and ceremonialls ; nor dareth she rent christs seamelesse coat because the ●ringe is not every way compleat . between fundamentalls and circumstantialls , matters fidei cathol●cae , & scientiae theologicae , necessary to be believed , and problematically disputed , allowing a latitude of opinion in some things , to those who hold the foundation ; in a word , she abhorreth , as to injure the truth of christ by errour , so to disturbe the peace of the church by schisme . she is solicitous for civill peace , to that end , she resolveth to keep the rank , in which god hath placed her , knowing that è sede itio , will prove seditio , where there is no order , there can be no peace ; and if at any time she be enforced like those angels , to appeare in a military habit , her song is , pax in terrâ , peace on earth , and whilest the sword is in her hand , the motto upon her sword is , sic quaero pacem , by this meanes i seek for peace . she is industrious for private peace with , and among her neighbours , yea , as much as in her lyeth with all men , and to that end she will not injuriam inferre , offer any the least wrong to others ; though she be like the serpent for ingenious prudence , yet she is also , according to our saviours counsell , like the dove for harmlesse innocency , nay she will injuriam ferre , suffer much wrong from others , and put up many affronts , and when she is compelled to recover a just title , or repaire an intollerable losse by law , it is with a minde willing to be reconciled ; yea , she is so great a lover , that she is a peace maker among the litigious , & when she seeth variance , steppeth in to make up the breach , though oft-times ( to use gregory nazianzens phrase ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , she incur the displeasure of both parties . finally , she is desirous of domestick peace , as she would have her house to be a temple for piety , an academy for knowledge , so an army for order , and a quire for harmony ; to this end , she winketh at what may provoke her , avoideth what may offend others , and teacheth every relation to keep its own station . by all these just and good meanes , she seeketh peace , and if at any time her endeavours want successe among men , she then resolveth , pacem spirare & suspirare coram domino , to knock at heaven gates , earnestly beseeching god to heal breaches , compose differences , settle distractions , saying with the church , give peace in our time oh lord . wisdome is first pure , then peaceable . you may take the connexion two wayes ; . wisdome is peaceable , because she is pure , the apostle puts the question , and answereth it in the first verse of the next chapter : from whence come warres and fighting's among you , come they not hence , even from your lusts ? and that of the orator fitly correspondeth with it , ex cupiditatibus , odia , dissidia , discerdiae , seditiones , bella , nascuntur , the bitter fruits of hatred , variance , discord , sedition , warre spring out of the root of evill desires ; indeed relegion and reformation are oft-times the pretended , but ambition , covetousnesse and revenge , are for the most part , the reall causes of warre and commotion . true , there is a purity which is the mother of pride , and so of contention , i mean pharisaicall , selfe conceited purity , but that is the fools p●rity ; he that is pure in his own eyes , is wise too , but it is onely in his owne eyes , and so in the wise mans verdict worse then a fool : i shall ever suspect that purity which inclineth to separation in the church , and sedition in the state. wisdomes purity inclineth to humility , ●mity , unity and concord ; yea , therefore she desireth peace , that she may preserve purity , as well knowing , that warre was never yet a friend to vertue , nor contention to religion ; the truth is , as lusts cause warres , so warres cherish lusts. what purity can be expected from them whose hands are defiled with blood ? inter arma silent leges , neither gods law , nor mans can easily be heard , when the noyse of trumpets and drums prevaileth ; no wonder if wisdome being pure , is likewise peaceable . . wisdome is peaceable , so farre as consists with purity , she is a friend to peace , but only usque ad aras according to saint pauls caution , if it be possible , that is , consistent with gods glory , and so consequently with the purity of religion and conversation ; indeed it is a foolish bargain to venture purity , that we may bring home peace , to break our peace with god , that we may keep or make peace with men , no wonder if wisdome abhor it : she well knoweth , that that peace which is founded on impure principles and practises , is built on a sandy foundation , and cannot long stand , is onely the skinning of the sore , not the healing it , which by reason of its corruption must needs fester and rankle . hence i● is that ( though she admit of many inconveniences , yet ) she dares not of any sinne , no not to make peace , her maximes are those of gregory nazianzen , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a commendable war is better then an agreement which seperateth from god ; and again , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a religious quarrell is better then a vitious peace . in one word , she earnestly desireth and endeavoureth both purity and peace , purity as wine to make glad the heart , and peace as oyle to make the face to shine ; the gold of peace to beautifie the altar of purity , the altar of purity to sanctifie the gold of peace : but if it so fall out , that these two must be severed , she prefers the altar before the gold , she chooseth rather to live in the water of trouble , then in the mud of sinne , in one word , she leaveth peace to embrace purity , because she is first pure , and then peaceable ; and thus i have discussed the two principall effects of wisdome , i see the time , and i know the occasion call for a dispatch , and therefore i shall onely give you an account of what might be said of the rest , and so shut up in a briefe but suitable application . . the next effect of wisdome is gentlenesse , a vertue which is temper in the minde , tendernesse in the heart , calmenesse in the affections , smoothnesse in the language , and sweetnesse in the behaviour : it is opposed to that , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which examineth all things by the rule of extream right , and is far distant from that austerity which will bear with nothing . it teacheth the judge an aequitable moderation of the letter of severe lawes , the creditour a forbearance of due debts , where there is not ability to pay ; as that king did by his servant in the gospel , the plaintiffe not to prosecute his suit to the utmost , and exact the rigor of what law may afford . finally , it inciteth to a candid interpretation of dubious words and actions , it perswadeth to a meek toleration of humane frailties and infirmities , and restraineth from an over-hasty provocation by injuries . this grace of gentlenesse is the sister of modesty , mother of patience , and daughter of wisdome . moses as he excelled in wisdome , so he was the meekest man upon the earth , what the poet saith of the ingenious arts , — ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes , emollit mores nec sinit esse ●eros ; may more truly be affirmed of this divine wisdome , she turneth lions into lambes , leopards into kids , and hawks into doves ; there is no vineger but oyl mingled with her sallets , no crabs but sweetings grow in her garden , no blustring windes but a gentle aire breathes in her climate . there is much spoken of a fools anger in the proverbs , yea it is called by the name of folly : every man is so far a fool , as his anger domineers , & a fool is never more foolish then in his anger , but wisdome giveth a check to passion , allaying and moderating its fierceness with this gentle grace , which whilest the world counts an effeminate softnesse , a tame sheepishnesse , our apostle calls the meeknesse of wisdome . if you shall aske the reason of wisdomes gentlenesse , the foregoing word giveth an answer , she is therefore gentle , because peaceable , she considereth , that wrath engendereth strife , and therefore with soft answers she pacifieth wrath , that hard and hard cannot make a wall , and therefore among hard stones , she becometh soft morter , and to use saint gregories phrase , concerning athanasius , she is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an adamant to them that smite her , and a loadstone to them that dissent from her : she is so much in love with peace , that ( as abraham did by lot ) she is oft-times willing to recede from her right , and so ( according to the etimologie of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cedo ) gently yeeldeth when she might rigidly require , that she might preserve amity . but still this gentlenesse is to be constrned salvâ puritate , with respect to purity , and therefore though wisdome be not furious , yet she is zealous . in matters of secular concernment she is a yeelding willow , but of religious importance a stiffe oake . moses , a pattern of meeknesse , is yet incensed against the israelites idolatry , and will not condescend against gods commandement to pharoah , so farre as to leave an hoof behinde . caesars souldiers were milde in their own quarrels , but resolute in their generals engagements , and the wise christian is bold as a lion in those things which respect gods glory , though meek as a lambe in his owne concernments : so that to end this in one word . the wisdome from above , that she may preserve peace , and so far , as is consistent with purity is gentle , not easily provoked , nay which next followeth , . easie to be intreated . it is but one word in the greek , yet capable of a double construction , to wit , both active and passive . . wisdome is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in an active sence , in as much as her way of teaching is not compulsive , but perswasive . non vi & contentione sed suavitate , & ratione , & quasi blanditiis utitur ; she had rather lead then draw , allure then enforce . romish policy teacheth her schollars to conclude their syllogismes in barbara and ferio , but divine wisdome instructeth her children in that of the poet , cuncta prius tentanda — to use all faire meanes of perswasion : she well knoweth that most men are like the herb basil , which if gently touched sendeth forth a pleasant smell , but if roughly crushed , breedeth scorpions . that ingenious natures are sooner drawn with cords of love , then haled with chains of iron , and many whom reason might soften , rigour hardens , and therefore ( according to s. gregories advice ) she doth blandimentis non asperitatibus studere , study soft and smooth blandishments . . our translators , and most suitably , render the word passively , easie to be intreated , and thus : . if any just or charitable request be presented to wisdom , she is easily intreated to hear it , and according to her power to grant it ; she hath not , as aristippus said of dyonisius , aures in pedibus , her eares in her feet : she saith not as philip to the woman , i am not at leisure to heare complaints , but like vespasian , who was therefore called deliciae humani generis , she is facile in accepting requests , and bestowing favours , and no wonder she is so forward to heare others requests , when she findes her gracious father so ready to hear her prayers . . if any information be presented to her concerning any truths , whereof she was ignorant , or controversie about which she was mistaken , she is easily intreated to receive it . indeed it is the simple who believeth every word , being led aside with smooth speeches : but a wise man will hear ( to wit , sound reason ) and so increase learning . true wisdome is willing to learne any , though unwelcome truth , and unlearn any , though darling errour , nor doth she thinke it a d shonour to strike sayl to convincing reason when it is laid before her . that of the wise man , with the lowly is wisdome , may well be inverted , with the wise is lowlinesse , and the lowly minde will not scorne to light her candle at anothers torch , and so ( as hugo well ) makes that common to her , which before was proper to another . indeed ( according to saint jeromes expression ) he is ineruditè sapiens , ignorantly wise , or ( according to horace his phrase which he there quoteth ) prudens pravè , wickedly prudent , who will not learne what yet he doth not know : divine wisdome is not ashamed to confesse her ignorance , acknowledge her mistake , and when the dictates of right reason are set before her , she is ready to yeeld up her judgement to them . . if any good counsell be offered her for the managing of her affaires , she is easily intreated to follow it , as knowing that aliquando bonus dormitat homerus , and according to our english proverb , two eyes can see more then one . this made jethro's counsell so acceptable to moses , and taught david not to despise the advice of abigail . ah dictum sapienti sat est , said he in the comedian , which our proverb well englisheth , a word is enough to the wise , to divert him from any thing that is evill , or direct him in what is good ; yea as venerable bede observeth , mos est sapientum , ut dictis majorum auscultent , aliquando minorum , a prudent man regards the admonition , not onely of superiors , but sometimes even of inferiors . and no wonder if wisdome be so tractable , since she is gentle . man naturally is compared by zophar to an asse , a wild asse , nay a wild asses colt , as being fierce and so indocible ; but when he is spiritually wise , his heart becomes an heart of flesh , and being mollified by grace he is easie to be perswaded , the foole is like the stone , of a rough substance , whereby it is hard to engrave upon , but the wise man is like the soft waxe , easily receiving the impression of the seale . but withall it is to be remembred that wisdome is first pure , and therefore is easie to be intreated onely to what is good , for which reason the vulgar here addeth , bonis consentiens , saith justinian . indeed the foole is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , easily seduced to what is evill , so was the young man by the whor●sh woman , but hardly drawn to what is good , so that though you bray him in a morter ( as solomons phrase is ) yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him , whereas the truly wise man is deaf to all satanicall suggestions , fleshly solicitations , and wicked insinuations , but whatsoever things are true , honest , just , or charitable , he readily hearkens to , and freely complyes with . that which next followeth in the order of wisdomes effects , is mercifulnesse . mercy in its proper notion is a compass onate sence of our brothers evills , and this by the stoicks is counted a piece of folly , both because it argueth a man subject to passion ; which is by them accounted aliene from a wise man , and likewise because it renders a man doubly miserable , first with his own , and then with others misfortunes ; but divine wisdome , as she permits the use of passion , so she prescribeth the exercise of compassion , nor doth she account it an addition to her own burden , if by her pitty she may ease another . she well knoweth , how infinitely she is beholding to god for his mercy , and therefore is no niggard of hers ; but as she desireth to finde from god , so she is ready to shew to others mercy and compassion . and as mercy is the quality , so fulnesse is the quantity , whilest though it be cheefly seated in the will , which sympathizeth by willing anothers good , and nilling his evill , yet it hath an influence upon the minde and memory , by continuall presenting his dolefull estate , and contriving the best wayes of his succour : nor doth it confine it selfe to the chamber of the heart , but looketh out at the windows , the eyes by seeing the necessities , the eares by hearing the plaints ; yea goeth out at the door by speaking , and acting ( according to its ability ) for its miserable neighbour , so that wisdome is mercy throughout in every faculty of the soul , and member of the body , and having filled the inward man , it runs over in the outward . more particularly , expositors conceive that the mercy here intended , respects rather them that doe , then them that suffer evill , and accordingly the act of this mercy is , not donare , but condonare , to give to the indigent , but pardon the delinquent . hence it is , that if wisdome dwell in an equall , she inclineth to mutuall forgivenesse of injuries , and if in a superior , she perswadeth to a gracious remitting of offences , and this not once but often , a few , but many , as being full of mercy . tacitus saith of agricola , non paenâ semper , saepè penitentiâ contentus fuit , he did not alwaies exact the punishment , but sometimes accepted an humble acknowledgment . the like is every wise christians temper , who as he abhor●eth revenge , so he delighteth not in the rigour of justice , but joyneth the raine of clemency with the lightning of severity . but yet this mercy is still with respect to purity . hence it is that wisdome distinguisheth between offences , some are light stains , and others foul spots , & though she conniveth at those , yet she punisheth these between offenders , some are bruised reeds , penitents , others like heart of oak obdurate , and though she spare those , she will not these . she well knoweth , that insceleratos lenitas , is in bonos crudelitas , lenity to he bad , is cruelty to the good , and to let notorious malefactors goe free , is that foolish pity which spoileth a city , and therefore if a just power be put into her hand , she will not , she dareth not let the sword of justice rust in her scabbard , but draweth it forth to the punishment of those who persist in notorious crimes , though in respect of them who offending in lesser matters , especially of ignorance and weaknesse , expresse remorse and sorrow , she is very compassionate , and if she use her sword , it is the flat , not the edge , for correction , not destruction ; and thus according to our apostles character , she is first pure , then full of mercy . . adde to this that which is coupled with it , wisdome is full of good fruits . fruit is a metaphoricall expression , by and it , though sometimes the reward is signified , according to which notion in the next verse , we read of the fruit of righteousnesse , yet usually ( and so here ) it signifieth the worke . thus thoughts are as the blossomes , words the leaves , and works the fruits : true wisdome is never idle , nor is she meerly speculative , but operative , as she hath an eye to behold , so she hath an hand to doe , and like the angels on jacobs ladder , she is alwaies either ascending by contemplation , or descending by action . indeed sometimes she imposeth silence on the tongue , but she never permitteth idlenesse to the hand ; she remembreth that he who came to the figtree , will one day come to her , seeking fruit , and she trembleth to hear that sharp check , why stand you all the day idle in the market place ? nor yet will every kinde of fruit serve her turne , she accounts it as good to be idle , as to be ill imployed , nay better to doe nothing , then that which is worse then nothing , and therefore she looketh that her fruits be good , beautifull to the eye , pleasant to the palate , and nourishing to the stomach , such as may honour god , and edifie man , and so be both acceptable and profitable . nor is it a berry here & there , a few good works will content her ; but she bringeth forth good works , as the vine doth grapes in clusters , she is full in every branch , of all sort of fruit , which she yeeldeth all the year long . she aboundeth in workes of piety , of equity , of sobriety , and of charity , to which last our apostle more especially refers . divine wisdome hath not only pity but bounty , viscera but opera , bowells , but workes of mercy , and as quoad affectum , in regard of affection , she is full of mercy , so quoad effectum , in respect of action , she is full of good fruits , ready to performe all offices of love and mercy to her neighbour . indeed when she observeth how the sun diffuseth his beames , illuminating and fructifying these inferior bodies with his parentall light and heat , and how the earth laieth not up her treasures within her coffers , but sends forth herbs for the use of man and beast , she thinketh it a shame to her , if she should not ( according to her abilities ) be alwaies doing good to those among whom she liveth , and with whom she converseth . . that which our apostle next affirmeth concerning wisdome , is , that she is without partiality . the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is capable of severall constructions , each of which may not unfitly be made use of . . some read it passively , and so it is true of wisdome , she is not judged , that is , she valueth not what others judge of her wayes , and approving her selfe to god , she accounts it a small matter to be judged of men , or else she is not judged , that is , she is not , cannot be valued by the estimation of our judgement , according to her reall worth and excellency . . the most suitable reading of the word is active , and yet this with some variety , according to the severall significations of the verbe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , especially those four of wavering , disputing , judging , and making a difference . . the late learned annotator , accounteth the most genuine notion of this word in this place , to be as much as absque haesitatione , and so the same with that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first chapter , without wavering and inconstancy . in this sence it is well joyned with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , inconstancy being the daughter of hypocrisie , nil fictum diuturnum , paint is easily washed off , and that which is fained must needs be fading ; besides this is a proper effect of wisdome , that she is stedfast in her profession , and maintenance of the faith , notwithstanding the greatest persecution she abhorreth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the gnosticks , who hold it an indifferent thing to forswear christianity in time of persecution , and therefore having chosen the way of truth , she resolveth with david , to stick to gods testimonies . indeed she is deliberate in her choice , and will not fixe without just reason , but she is no lesse resolute then deliberate , and what she embraceth she retaineth . ut luna mut●ri , to be changed as the moon , is the fools property , whereas you may sooner stop the sun in its course , then divert the wise man from his pious purpose , the one like the ship is tossed up and down upon the waves , whilest the other is like the house that is built upon the rock unmoveable . . others conceive the sence of this word to be as much as sine disceptatione , without disputing , or ( as it is in the margin ) without wrangling ; and thus it is a truth , divine wisdome , though she will admit of calme debates , yet she is an enemy to brawling disputes , as being fully assured , that jangling controversies tend not to edification , nay for the most part end in contention and confusion . . some render the word by absque dijudicatione , and so it lets us see a speciall propertie of wisdome , to abhor rash judging , and impetuous condemning of others ; it is one of those three things which wisdome hateth , as destructive to humane society , odious comparisons , malicious contradictions , and censorious judging . indeed she is not ( to use saint bernards ex pression ) aut curtosus explorator , aut temerar●us ●udex , either a curious inquirer into other mens faults , or a captious censurer of their actions ; a fool is easily induced to condemn all besides himselfe , but a wise man is loath to condemn any but himselfe , he hath so much to doe at home , that he hath no leisure to look abroad , and when he seeth any thing amisse , he resolveth to judge the best he can , yea though he cannot but censure the sin , yet he dareth not passe ( at least ) a finall sentence upon the person . . once more , our translators read the word , as if it signified sine discretione , without partiality , by having respect of , and putting a difference between persons . this is that which is directly contrarious to charity and equity , no wonder if it be odious to wisdome . indeed there is a different respect of persons , which civility requireth , and prudence alloweth , namely a reverence of men according to their place and dignity ; but that respect of persons , which floweth from partiality , and consists in aggravating or excusing faults , extolling or extenuating vertues , according to the qualification of the person , this she abhorreth . and hence it is she dareth not take part with what is evill in a friend , no not in her selfe , nor yet despise what is good in another , no not in an enemy , she will not commend sin or errour in the greatest , no nor yet the holiest , nor will she condemn truth and vertue in the meanest or the wickedst . in this notion that expression of s. bernard , concerning obedience , may not unfitly be made use of concerning wisdome ; she is indiscreta licet prudentissima , indiscrect though most prudent , and as that puts no difference between commands , so neither this between persons . taking the word in this sense , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is fitly joyned with it , since wisdome is therefore without partiality , because without hypocrisie . indeed partiality is the daughter of pride and hypocrisie : pride ever looketh at a mans own party with favour , and at the opposites , either with envy if they be above , or scorne if they be below : and how can such a man choose but be partiall ? hypocrisie looketh upon it selfe and party in a flattering , upon the opposites in a disfiguring glasse , baulketh beames in its owne , and spyeth motes in anothers eye , no wonder if it be partiall , ●ut wisdome being both humble and upright , will not admit this mischievous vice of partiality to dwell with her . if you please put the two last constructions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together , and read it without partiall judging : that charge which saint paul layeth upon timothy may well strike all both civill and ecclesiasticall gevernors with awe . i charge thee before god and the lord jesus , and the elect angels , that thou observe these things , without preferring one before another , doing nothing by partiality , and no grace more requisite to the fulfilling of this charge then wisdome . this it is which teacheth a judge both to have eyes , and no eyes , whilest she furnisheth him with eyes to see and discerne the cause , and yet closeth up his eyes that he cannot behold the persons . all sinfull respect of persons in judging , floweth from some sinister affection ; especially those of carnall pitty , or carnall feare , the one saith , he is a poor man , the other saith , he is a great man , and so the current of justice is stopt : but wisdome is an excellent bridle of all carnall and corrupt affe●tions , and so enableth to discerne and judge aright between person & person , laying aside all externall respects . . finally , ●hat which is asserted in the close concerning wisdome , is , that she is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , without hypocrisie ●he greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is properly used de histrionibus , of stage-players , and indeed a stage-player is a fi embleme of an hypocrite , especially in two things , both which wisdome abhorreth . . a stage player puts on the shapes of severall persons and callings , according to the part he is to act , so doth an hypocrite take upon him severall formes , according to those times he lives in , and indeed this he accounts his policy to sayle with every winde , and proteus like , to transforme himselfe into any shape as occasion requireth . but true wisdome , though she be a time-observer , is no time server , her figure is not round but square , and her motto , semper eadem , alwayes the same . . a stage-player seemeth to be what he is not , he appeareth oft times as a lord , a king , when he is but a servant , a beggar ; so doth the hypocrite personate himselfe a saint , when he is a devill , a friend when he is an enemy , and indeed he applauds himselfe in this his subtilty , to thinke how he deludeth the vulgar , and with his fayned sh●wes carryeth his designes ; but divine wisdome accounts sincerity the onely true policy , and hypocrisie a meer folly . indeed she sometimes forbeareth , to shew her selfe what she is , namely , when on the one hand danger threatneth , and on the other religion requireth not an open declaration of her selfe , but she never doth , or dareth to shew her selfe what she is not ; she well knoweth that the hypocrite , though he may cozen the dim sighted world , yet he cannot delude gods piercing eye , that whilest he cheats others , the worst cheate is of himselfe , and therefore in the end , he must needs appeare to be a foole , when his counierfeit devotion , affection , shall meet with a reall hell of torment . and thus i have shewed you wisdome in the abstract , whence and what she is , but alas where shall we finde it in the concrete ? it is our apostles question at the thirteenth verse of this chapter , who is a wise man , and indued with knowledge among you ? and the questionary proposall argueth , that such men are very rare . indeed st●ltorum numerus innumerus , the world is peopled with fooles ; but truly wise men are vix totidem quot thebarum portae , rarely to be found . wisdome is said in the text to be from above , i would there were no cause to bewaile that she is gone , whence she came , and as he said of justice , — terras astraea reliquit , she hath forsaken the earth . if we may conclude the absence of wisdome by the want of her hand-maids , i am sure there will too just cause appeare of this complaint ; for tell me i beseech you ; when we see prophanenesse in the church , wantonnesse in the chambers , cozenage in the shops , drunkennesse in the streets ; when we heare the vaine and cursed oathes , which are belched from the black mouthes of common swearers , the da●nable positions , and horrid blasphemies which are uttered by the poysonous lips of false teachers , may we not conclude there is none of that wisdome which is first pure ? againe , when we observe what a spirit of division is gone forth into the christian world , how many not troubled ( would god there were more of them ) but troublous spirits there are among us , who would be accounted angells , though it be but for troubling the waters , what betraying , backbiting , slandering and devouring there is one of another , so that men are not men , but wolves , tygers and dragons each to other , may we not infer there is none of that wisdome which is first pure , and then peaceable and gentle ? againe , when we take notice how presumptuous and selfe-willed the most are , how tenacious , some of erroneous opinions , and others of vitious practices ; those shutting their eyes against cleare convictions , and these stopping their eares against moving disswasions , so that you may as well speak to a deafe adder , or a dead man , it is not manifest there is none of that wisdome which is easie to be intreated . further , is there not a great want of that wisdome , which is full of mercy among us , when men are so severe to those whom they account offenders , and heard harted to them whom they cannot but see necessitous , yea i would to god there were not many , to whom it is a ●oyfull spectacle to behold men of their owne nation , religion , function , exposed to misery and ruine . yet further , is there not a sad decay of that wisdome which is full of good fruits , when as there are so few good works , either of piety or charity visible among us ? nay , i would to god that the good fruits which our ancestors planted , were not plucked up , and made sweet ●●●sels for greedy mouthes to devour . finally , is there not an evident dearth of that wisdome , which is without partiality and hypocrisie , when as indeed these are become epidemicall diseases , and the predominant sins of the age we live in ? it was the charge almighty god once layed against israel , when i looked that it should bring forth grapes , brought it forth wilde grapes ? for indeed the question is but a more vehement accusation , and therefore it is both properly and positively expressed afterwards , he looked for judgement , but behold oppression , for righteousnesse , but behold a cry . may not god take up the same complaint against the inhabitants of this land ? i looked for purity , but behold uncleannesse ; for peaceablenesse , but behold contention ; for gentlenesse , but behold fiercenesse ; for tractablenesse , but loe obstinacy ; for mercy , but loe cruelty ; for good fruits , but loe barrennesse ; for equity and sincerity , but behold partiality and hypocrisie : so that there is little or no true wisdome and knowledge of god in the land. true it is , there are in this age many ( never more ) pretenders to this wisdome , these talke much , nay brag and boast of it , yea they would confine it to themselves and their own fraternity , as if all others were but fools in spirituall matters : but their impure , contentious , obstinate , cruell , unjust and hypocriticall lives proclaime them strangers to it , to whom i may justly say in the words of our apostle , to the arrogant believer , shew us your wisdome by your workes . what then remaineth , but that every one of us , according to solomons counsell , cry after this wisdome , and lift up our voice for understanding , that we seek her as silver , and search for her as for bid treasure , and having found her , let us according to our apostles advice , shew out of a good conversation our works , even those workes which may testifie that our wisdome is of the right stampe , ever remembring that of gregory nazianzen , as that beauty is best , not which is painted with speech , but seen with the eyes , and those riches , not which our dreames fancy , but our hands hold ; so that wisdome , not which glittereth in smooth words , but is evidenced by our good works . i end all with a more particular and suitable application of this scripture to the present occasion . justice and clemency are as it were the judges two lips , by which he is to pronounce sentence , his two hands by which he executes judgement : indeed then he is in his robes , when he is clad with the rich scarlet of equity , and the white fur of pitty . on the one hand a judge must be impartiall in his distributions having no respect of persons , saying with levi to the greatest , the richest , the nearest , the dearest , nescio vos , i know you not ; on the other hand a judge must be compassionate , mitigating the severity of the law , putting a difference between offenders , being unwilling to punish , where he may spare without injurie . may but wisdome stand at the judges right hand , and it will prompt him to both these , as being full of mercy , and without partiality . the great imployments of inferiour justices of the peace , is , to incourage godlinesse and virtue , discountenance vice and wickednesse suppresse riots , and tumults , compose differences among neighbours , take care that the lords day may be observed , his house frequented , his name not blasphemed , the poor fed and imployed , and that houses of disorder , ( the springs of those filthy waters which defile the land ) may be either wholly stopped up , or throughly purged , to all this doth the wisdome in my text engage , as being pure and peaceable . let the lawyers make this wisdome which is without hypocrisie their counsellor , and then i am sure they will not dare either to put a soule glosse upon a fair text , or a fair glove upon a foule hand , by calling good evill , or evill good , putting darknesse for light , and light for darknesse , bitter for sweet , and sweet for bitter . were but this wisdome , which is pure , and without partiality , fore-man of the grand inquest , and all other juries , i am sure they would not for feare or favour connive at grosse offences , or bring in unjust verdicts . were this wisdome which is without hypocrisie , set as a watch before the door of their lips , who are to give evidence , they would not dare to speak any thing but what is truth , and be so far from uttering any thing against , that they would testifie nothing , but what is according to their knowledge . let the subservient officers of the court follow the dictates of this wisdome , which is , full of mercy , and without partiality ; and then they will not either grinde the faces the poor through exacting of fees , not yet take bribes of the rich , for expedition of causes . finally , would all that are plaintiffs in any court consult with this wisdome , which is , peaceable , gentle , easie to be intreated and full of mercy , they would not quarrell de lanâ caprina , goe to law for every trifle , they would be willing to withdraw their actions upon reasonable offers , and hearken to moderate termes of reconciliation , whereby judge and jury might be saved a great deale of trouble . in one word , may this oyntment of heavenly wisdome run downe from the head to the beard , and from thence to the skirts , from the greatest to the least , and then , not till then , will purity and piety be restored , partiality and hypocrisie banisht , justice and mercy maintained , and peace with truth established , which almighty god grant in his good time for jesus christ his sake . finis . vvisdomes counterfeit : or ; herodian policy . unmasked in a sermon preached at oxford on act sunday , ann. dom. . in the parish church of st. aldats . by nath : hardy , minister of gods word , and preacher to the parish of st. dionis back-church . prov . . . there is no wisdome nor understanding , nor counsell against the lord. aug. de sanctis innocent . serm. . quam caeca ferit as , quae credebat quod deprehendere dominum fraudibus posset ? london , printed by i. g. for john clarke , and are to be sold at his shop under st. peters church in cornhil . . to his singular friend , alexander burnet , doctor in physick ; health externall , internall , eternall . it is an experienced truth , that the devill is gods ape , and the dissembler a mimick saint ; whatever graces gods children have in substance , hypocrites ( the devils first borne ) have in semblance . thus superstition putteth on the shew of devotion , faction of zeale , and subtilty of wisdome . but as the dulnesse of common glasse is conspicuous , when set by the transparent christall , and a bristol stone , when compared with the sparkling diamond , loseth its lustre , so these mock vertues are found too light , when weighed with solid graces in the ballance of the sanctuary : for this reason it is , that i have annexed this ensuing to the precedent discourse , that earthly and heavenly wisdome , being set together , it may the better appeare how great a distance and dissonancy there is between them , notwithstanding their seeming allyance . and now ( worthy sir ) not either to put my selfe out of debt to you , which cannot be without an adaequate retaliation , and much lesse to put you in debt to me , which cannot be , without a worke of supererogation , but to make a publick acknowledgement , how greatly i am indebted to your goodnesse , is the designe of this dedication . indeed were i to write of you , and not to you , i should ( as justly , i might ) exspatiate in the character of your worth ; but , on the one hand , those choyce abilities wherewith god , nature , education and industry , have furnished you for the discharge of your vocation , those morall excellencies of prudence , temperance , humility , affability and charity , which adorne your conversation , are such , as envy cannot blast , nor need i to blazon . and on the other hand , as i abhor to speak what is evill ( especially if false ) of another behinde his back , so i would be sparing to mention what is good ( although true ) of another to his face ; since as that incurreth the guilt of detraction , so this the suspicion of flattery . onely ( to avoid the odious blot of ingratitude ) i cannot , i must not bury your many favours in the grave of silence , having so fit an opportunity to publish them . indeed that amicable society as a neighbour , cordiall fidelity as a friend , gratuitous care as a physitian , and bounteous love as a parishioner , which you have expressed to me , are singly , much more joyntly strong obligations : for all which , accept ( good sir ) my hearty thanks , together with my earnest prayers , that god would crown your skill with successe , your estate with prosperity , your life with old age , your minde with tranquility , your soul with his grace , and that grace with glory . yours most cordially to serve and honour you , nath : hardy . mat. . . and he sent them to bethlehem , and said , goe and search diligently for the young childe , and when you have found him , bring me word againe , that i may come and worship him also . this chapter beginneth with the blest news of a new borne saviour proclaimed to the wise men of the east , by a coelestiall tongue ; and surely this clear revelation of the messtah to them , is no small consolation to us . christ borne and not known , would have been as a book clasped , fountain sealed , and treasure hid , no comfort in , nor profit by him : or had this light ( though come into the world ) only shined in jury , we must still have sate in darknesse , and the shadow of death . but behold ( the evangelist would have us doe it , and well we may ) behold with joy and wonder , a star appeareth to the wise men in a far countrey , and this no ordinary , but extraordinary light ; not by natures course , but divine appointment , made onely for this end , to be the morning star to this sun of righteousnesse . this star proveth a load star , seeing they follow it , following they come to jerusalem , and coming enquire for this royall babe . vae torpori nostro ; oh our sluggishnesse ! one star is observed and followed by the magi , whilst we , instead of following , endeavour to extinguish those many starres , with which the heaven of our church is bespangled . but how could they be assured this starre was christs ? and by its appearing conclude his comming ? doubtlesse as they had a starre without , so they had a light within , the spirits revelation accompanyed the starres apparition , upon which they are resolved on their journey , and emboldned in the enquiry , saying , where is he that is born king of the jewes ? they askt not whether , but where he was born , not doubting of the thing , though ignorant of the place ; and , which argueth the strength of their faith and boldnesse of their spirits , they enquire of him as a king of the jewes , and publish their intent to worship him . here was faith of the right stamp ; not suppressed in their bosomes , but expressed to the world : i believed therefore i spake , saith david ; and these wise men , not onely believe with their hearts , but confesse with their mouthes christ jesus the lord. this strange newes of their coming , and stranger erraud is brought to herods eares , and speedily flyeth through the whole city , whereat both he , and all jerusalem is troubled : herod for fear of losing his kingdome , jerusalem for fear of new commotions ; he , lest he should be dispossessed of his throne , they , left they should be disquieted in their peace : but why ( o herod ) doe those timerous thoughts perplexe thee ? it is true , a king of the jewes is borne , but such an one whose kingdome is not of this world , one that here was to have no other crown then of thornes , not scepter but a reed , nor throne then a crosse. one that is come , non reges destituere , sed constituere , not to depose , but stablish king ; in their lawfull rights , whose commands excite not rebellion , but require allegiance ; one whose intent is to purchase an heavenly , not take away earthly kingdomes . indeed his false apprehension concerning christ , was the true cause of his perturbation . the greatest enmities have for the most part arose from causelesse fears , and groundlesse jealousies , and mis conceits have still been guilty of all wrongs and persecutions . but though herod were troubled ( as tyra●●ie is ever suspicious , and guilt jealous yee why jerusalem ? who had more reason to rejoyce at the opportune approach of her redeemer . alas they had already been warn out with changes , and over toyled with troubles , no worder , if now being somewhat setled in a condition quietly euill , the newes of a better , probably trouble some , prove an welcome . thus he who was the angles song , the magies joy , and israels consolation , becometh herods feare , and jerusalems terrour . yet herod determineth to use wit in his anger , he suppresseth his trouble , dissembleth his intention , and according to lysanders maxime , covereth his lyons with a foxes skin . he conveneth an assembly of the chief priests and scribes of the people , acknowledgeth a christ the lords annointed , and religiously demandeth of them the plate of his birth . being informed by them where this sun should arise , with the same shew of devotion he enquireth of the wise men , when the star appeared , and without any more adoe , dispatcheth them away about search of the person ; so it followeth in the text , and be sent , &c. the summe of the verse is herods politique compliance with the wise men , and his crafty endeavour by their means to get christ into his owne hands . wherein we have considerable these generalls : . his ready mission , and he sent them to bethlehem . . his subtile commission , saying , goe search diligently for the young childe , and when you have found him , bring me word againe . . his ample promission , that i may ( which is as much as , then i will ) come and worship him also . these are the plain parts of that sacred message , with which god hath sent me to you this day , into which i have laboured by divine light to search diligently , what profitable lessons are contained in each , i am come by divine assistance to bring you word ; through each of these , i shall goe with speed and plainenesse , heartily desiring that the end of our coming hither this day to worship god , may be glory to him , and profit to our selves . beginning with , his ready mission , and he sent them to bethlehem . in which part we have three circumstances observable : quò , whither ? to bethlehem . quis , who ? herod . quos , them . . the magi , seeking christ come to jerusalem , but they are sent to bethlehem . where ( might they well imagine ) was it more likely to finde the jewes king , then in the royall city ? but alas there is great deceit in probabilities , especially when we meddle with divine matters . god usually goeth a way by himselfe , neither are his thoughts as our thoughts . jerusalem was to be the place of christs death , bethlehem of his birth , that of his passion , this of his incarnation , that of his setting , this of his rising , he sent them to bethlehem . the ubi then where herod sent them was right , there surely and only was this new-born king to be found . bethlehem was the town of david , & this king was the son of david . bethlehem by interpretation is the house of bread , & christ is the bread of life . at bethlehem was heard the first newes of the temple , and he is the lord of the temple . finally , bethlehem was novissima oppidorum , the least of townes , and the messiah was , novissimus virorum , the lowest of men ; what could better fit his humble state , then so meane a place ? and truly to bethlehem we must still be sent , if we intend to finde christ : as he made choice of a little village to be born at , so of lowly spirits to dwell in ; as he came forth of a poor city , so he resideth usually among the poorer sort . seek not then for christ among the great , but little ones of the world , look not for him on the mountaines , but the vallyes . in this sorry despised village is the messiah born . . he sent them , it would not here be omitted that he , though a wicked person , directs the wise men to christ : bad men may instruct others in good . how often have you seen a leaden cisterne convey pleasant water , an iron key open a golden treasury , and choice fruit served up in a woodden platter ? god sometimes maketh use of a balaam to point at the star , of a raven to carry eliah his food , and here of an herod to send the wise men to bethlehem . despise not then the honey combe , because found in a lyons carkase , refuse not the curious picture , because drawn by a crooked painter ; contemne not wholsome directions , though given by a foul mouth . we like not the sun the worse when it breaketh through a dark cloud , nor gold the lesse , though sent in a leatherne purse , nor a friends letter the worse , because brought by a dirty carrier , though the man be an herod , yet if he send thee to christ , follow his advice . but that which is especially considerable is the serviceableness of herod , to the magies designe , he resolveth their doubt , acquainteth them with the place , instructeth them in the way , and incourageth them to the journey , so much beza conceiveth included in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , blandè iter commonstrasse , that in a friendly manner he furthered their progresse , directed them to bethlehem , and by this means helped them in their pious endeavours . ita etiam impii suis conatibus prodesse bonis coguntur ; thus are the wicked though against their wills , assistant to the godly . there are two things which ungodly men are forced to serve , gods sacred decrees , the saints godly purposes . dei consili● humana facta etiam tunc congruè serviunt , cùm resistunt . gods counsells are then effecting , when most opposed , and though his enemies meane not so , they are full accomplishing his worke . and as gods ends are alwaies fulfilled , so good mens aimes are oft-times furthered by the wicked . and whilst intentionally they drive on their owne designes , accidentally they are assistant to the saints enterprizes . those carpenters in noahs time aimed only at their owne gaine , yet they built that arke which saved his life . lahans , intentions in allotting jacob the speckled shee● , were not cordially good , and yet by that meanes jacobs labours are prospered , and his store increased . little thought pharaohs daughter of rescuing the children of israel from her fathers yoak , and behold she chertsheth that childe , who proved their deliverer . pharaoh himselfe let the israelites goe out of no good meaning , witnesse the speedy pursuit , and yet thereby a passage is opened for fulfilling both gods promises of , and their desires after the land of canaan . oh let us behold with joy and view with wonder the over-ruling wisdome of the almighty , which maketh his and his servants adversaries , instrumentall both of his glory and their good . when a mans wayes please the lord he maketh his enemies , not onely to be at peace with , but subservient to him , and as christ caused the fish ( though unwittingly ) to bring him money in its mouth for paying tribute ; so god maketh the wicked ( though unwillingly ) contribute assistance to his people in their holy undertakings . so did herod in the text , his aime in sending the wise men to bethlehem , was to compasse his owne mischievous designe , of killing , and yet by sending them he furthered their religious desire of finding and worshiping christ. . he sent them , i might here take notice of the impiety of herod , in that he sent ethers , but went not himselfe ; he sheweth them the ready way to christ , but sets not a foot forward himselfe . thus they may lead others to heaven , who yet neglect it themselves . the whetstone that sharpeneth the knife remaineth blunt it selfe , the bell calleth others to heare , and yet is deafe it selfe , the signe sheweth the passenger an inne for harbor , whilst it selfe is weather-beaten , the nightingale that is restlesse her selfe , sings another into a sweet sleep , finally , the statue points a traveller his way , but stirreth not it selfe , and many who care not for christ themselves , may be instrumentall in bringing others to him . some there are so vile that they will neither goe themselves , nor send others ; such was our saviours just complaint of the pharisees , that they would neither enter into the kingdome of heaven themselves , nor suffer others . the most are so bad that they will not act themselves , though they are so good , as to permit , yea , excite others to the worke of finding christ. but surely , non meretur christum invenire qui per alios quaerit , this sacred service cannot be performed by a proxie , nor shall he ever finde christ , who onely sets others about it , as herod in the text , he sent them to bethlehem . but that which is especially observable in this particular of his sending them to christ , is , how herods policy failed him . subtilty would have taught him not at all to have sent them , but others , why did he not imploy his owne courtiers , rather then trust strangers ? why did he not rather prevent their journey , then hazard his own disappointment ? or , if his detaining them might have raised a suspicion , yet since the matter so neerly concerned him , and the journey was so small , why did he not goe himselfe with them ? or if not so , why did he not , together with them , send messengers of his owne , of whose fidelity to his designe , he might have assured confidence ? nothing had been more easie and plausible then sub officii praetextu , in a way of complement , under pretence of courtesie , to have sent some assasinates with them , who might have dispatched the childe immediately ; some say the reoson of all this was to avoid suspicion . but doubtlesse herein the wisdome of god was remarkable , who so far blindes him , ne consilium quod ante pedes erat , arriperet , that he did not lay hold on so obvious and probable a way of accomplishing his designe . divino nutu actun● ut herodes confideret in simplicitate magorum , gods providence so ordered it , that herod should confide in the wise mens returne , and so deceive himselfe . had either herod or any of his instruments accompanied them , either they must not have found the childe , or these must have found him also ; that had been inconvenient for them , this had been dangerous for christ. divine prudence provideth against both , by infatuating herod in his plot , in which , whilst he carryed it on with various policy , he discovered a sottish simplicity . such a fool is the craftiest politician , when god will defeat him . the germanes have a proverb , when god intends to destroy any man , he first closeth up his eyes , agreeing with that of the poet , quos jupiter vult perdere dementat ; so he did by herod , he doth oft-times by the wicked , shut their eyes that they shall not see the things which make for their greatest advantage . the verity of this doctrine be pleased to observe in a double parallel , the one eminent in sacred , the other in prophane history . let the one be jezabell , a woman of no lesse politick a brain then haughty spirit , and yet in that passage concerning eliah , she at once discovered both abundance of fury , and defect of subtilty . how deep her malice was , let the message speak , wherein she threatneth the prophet with losse of life , and that with a curse upon her selfe , if her intent were not performed ; how shallow her wit was , let the sending of a messenger and her delay of execution speak . what policy more plaine and common then to strike before we speak , and seize on an enemy unawares ? whereas she ( befooled no doubt by god ) warned him both of the thing and time , whereby he had opportunity , and found meanes of escape . let andronicus be the other , who though he caused the royall blood to be let forth of the veynes of many , to get and preserve the kingdome , yet suffered it to run in isaacius his body , who at length dispossessed him of his usurped empire . thus the most expert gamesters doe sometimes oversee , and the most cunning polititians are oft confounded by god in their own devices . see then the truth of eliphaz his assertion concerning god , he taketh the wise in their craft , and the counsell of the froward is carried headlong ; so that what jethro affirmed concerning the aegyptians insolent carriage towards the israelites , may be applyed to the fraudulent practices of the wicked against the church , in the thing wherein they dealt proudly , and those deal wisely , god is above them . let not then any divellish achitophels flatter themselves in their dark designes , close contrivances , as if there were no power to crosse their projects , or wisdome to defeat their counsells . while they conspire on earth , god laugheth in heaven ; while they sooth up themselves in their subtilties , god mocketh at their simplicity . the foolishnesse of god ( saith st. paul ) is wiser then men , and the wisdome of men is foolishnesse with god ; nay , when they thinke all the crannies are stopped , a wide door is left open for gods providence to evacuate their policies . we have a common proverb , when men thinke to doe for the best , it commonly falls out to be the worst : it may fitly be applyed to crafty machiavelians , when they suppose that they have done the wisest , they prove themselves starke fools , so was it with herod in sending these magi , ( without associates ) to bethlehem . and so i passe from his ready mission to his crafty commission , goe and search , &c. in this part of the text , two things offer themselves to our consideration . de quo , and quid . the person to whom these magi are directed . the errand about which they are sent . whom the commission concerneth , the young childe . what it requireth , goe search diligently , and bring me word againe . . the person they are sent to enquire after is the young child . and if you please a while let us leave hunting the foxe , and view the lineaments of this childe . a young childe indeed he is called by herod , but such a childe as never any was before him , nor will be after him , like to him ; consult the prophet isay , and you shall finde a glorious description of this childe , such a childe as is a son , maryes childe , but gods sonne ; such a childe who is a father and that of eternity : a childe , but of no meane ranke , no lesse then a prince of peace : a childe indeed in yeares , not in understanding , for he is a counsellour ; in summe , a feeble childe , and yet a mighty god , well may he be called wonderfull . o let us admire with thankfulnesse the gracious condescension of our redeemer , who being so high , vouchsafed to stoop so low , qui fecit nos , quantillus factus pro nobis ? he that made us , how little is he made for us ? majesty is cloathed in vilenesse , power appeareth in weaknesse , the founder of heaven is rocked in a cradle , and he that swayeth the world , is swathed in clouts . was there ever humility like this ? that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the great god , a little childe , the ancient of dayes , a tender infant , he who is immensè magnus , so great , as that he fils heaven and earth , to be palmaris , a child of a span long . finally , that he who is regens sydera , should become sugens ubera , the governour of the stars to be nourished by a dug . o the depth of this abasement● the height of this lowlinesse ! behold and wonder . but to return to herod . it is a note not unworthy our observation , that whereas the magi call him a king , herod onely stileth him a childe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he could not bear the thing , not brook the title . — nec caesar ferre priorem , pompeiusve parem , — royalty cannot endure a partner , no more then love a corrivall . no doubt in his heart he conceived him a king , else why so perplexed at the newes of his birth ? why so jealous of the losse of his crowne ? had he fancied the wise mens words as fables , either that no childe was born , or if born , not a king , he would never have harboured so ill a ghest as feare in his breast . but see , though he know , he will not acknowledge ; though he strongly imagine , he will not expresse his thoughts , nor give him the title of a king , as fearing , no doubt , lest by this meanes he should obscure his own honour . and truly i am afraid , we are too many of us of herods temper , in this regard , backward to acknowledge the dignities , and publish the excellencies of others . there are two things we are loath to confesse , our own infirmities , others eminencies , our defects and their worth . the truth is , our proud natures thinke that others beames darken our light , their excellencie staineth our beauty , and their vertue eclipseth our splendour ; hence it is , peacock like , we spread our own gay feathers , pharisee like , we boast of our own perfections , but as for the dignities of others , we either speak of them with an undervaluing diminution , or bury them in a neglectfull silence . oh beware of inordinate selfe-love , which maketh us speak too highly of our selves , and exorbitant pride , which maketh us speak too meanly of others , as herod here did of christ , affording him no other appellation then this of a young childe . . the charge he giveth them about this child is double , sedulous inquisition , goe and search diligently . speedy information , and bring me word again . . goe and search diligently , the originall words want not a singular emphasis , the verbe signifieth such a search as is used , examinibus & questionibus , by putting interrogatories , asking questions ; the adverbe noteth accuracy in the search , going to the utmost of a thing ; it is as if he had said , let there be no delay in your journey , nor default in your inquiry , leave no stone unrolled , way unassayed , meanes unattempted to finde out the young childe . how zealous herod seemeth in a good worke , how industrious would he have the magi in the search , when as his end in all this was desperately wicked ! thus may hypocrites be very earnest in promoting , and performing good actions for bad ends , and selfe respects : who more vehement then jehu in execution of justice on baals idols , ahabs posterity ? but his aime was onely to establish himselfe in the kingdome . who more forward then absalom to heare causes , doe the people right ? but his intention was thereby to thrust his father from his throne : finally , who more zealous then the pharisees in good duties ? but their end was onely to be seen of men . oh remember , non actibus sed finibus pensantur officia , our actions are measured by our intentions ; it is not quid agas , but quid quaeras , our doing , but aime in doing , that is regarded . if the eye be single , the whole body is full of light , saith our saviour ; the father moralizeth it aptly to this purpose , oculum debemus accipere ipsam intentionem quâ rectè agimus quicquid facimus , by the eye we are to understand the intention , according to which , our performances are either rejected or accepted . before i leave this branch , i cannot omit the significancy of the praeposition , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is not interrogate puerum , but de puero , seek the childe , but concerning the childe , that they should throughly inquire all circumstances about the childe , of what parents , in what family , after what manner , the reason whereof is rendred by one to be this , ut uno christo comprehenso reliquae multitudini parceret , that he might surprize him and spare the rest . rather then his perplexed minde should not be satisfied , all the children of the messiahs age must be sacrificed to his malice . but yet so bloudy a designe could not but startle his conscience , est impiis morsus quidam conscientiae , even wicked men have sometimes secret bitings , this sacred monitor will speak in bad mens eares , though against their wills ; a tender conscience scrupleth at the least sinne , and obdurate mindes have some kinde of remorse at great sinnes . it is true , they lull their consciences asleep , at last , as being resolved to goe through with their designes in despite of law , conscience , yea god himself . thus herod , when disappointed of his plot , maliciously murdered all the innocents in bethlehem ; but such mischievous attempts are seldome brought forth without some throws of conscience , and pangs of terrour , these it is likely this bloody monster felt , which made him desire so particular a search , that sparing the rest , he might single out christ , as the prime object of his envy . . and bring me word againe , the word here used is applyed to ambassadors returning back with their message . about this imployment herod pretended to send these magi , with a command to return with an account of their journey , and it is observable that he saith not bring word onely , but bring me word , he would not have them divulge it among the people , but first come and acquaint him with the newes ; for this reason doubtlesse , that the childe might be slain before it should be certainly known that he was borne . and now before i close up this part of the text , i cannot but present you with a double observation . . see how exquisitely herod layeth his plot , he desireth them to enquire of the childe throughly , and then to informe him privately ; which desire of his , had it been fulfilled by them , his enterprize had in a short time been accomplished without any hinderance ; by their diligent search , mistake would have been avoided , in regard of the childe , by bringing word first to him , all opposition would have been prevented , in regard of the people . how fitly may that terme be applyed to him , which christ gave another of that name , goe tell that foxe . thus witty and cunning are wicked men to doe mischiefe , hence it is , their plots are called devices , a word in the originall very significant , noting not onely cogitation , but excogitation , naturall but artificiall thoughts , it s elsewhere used to expresse the skill and curiosity of water workes , so some translate it pooles artificially made , and the exquisite embroyderies of the priests girdle , so that it signifieth the very spirits and quintessence of sinfull wit , drawn out for the devising of evill : and as their plots are called devices , so themselves are stiled crafty , being the seed of the serpent , the most subtill of all the beasts of the field ; for this reason they are resembled to fowlers , who use both secrecy and subtilty in catching the birds , and oft-times the snare is so closely laid , that there is no escape , but by breaking through . it is the expression of jeremies enemies , come let us devise devices against jeremiah , a significant expression , noting more then ordinary skill in the black art , as to worke a worke intimateth exceeding industry , so to devise a device , surpassing subtilty ; the venemous spider spins not a finer thred out of her bowels , then malicious men doe out of their braines . but oh let such remember , that to be wise in doing evill , is the worst wisdome , it is better to be a meer fool then so wise ; every sinfull act , the more skill there is in it , the more sinne ; and wit , which sets off other things , maketh sinne the more ugly . . see how dangerously the wise men were ensnared , how cunningly herod had almost drawn them into his designe , so that in all probability , had not a gracious warning by a dream diverted them , these friends of christ had betrayed him into his enemies hands . observe what a piece of service the wise men were to have done for herod , they should have been his spies , in searching out , and his informers in bringing word ; they should have taken a great deale of paines in going , seeking , returning , and thereby ( though ignorantly ) have furthered herods bloudy intent , and hazarded the childes life . thus are the good sometimes abused by the crafty , and pious men apt to be ensnared by specious pretences , into desperately wicked designes . credulity is the fault of honest hearts , because they are single themselves , they look to find all so too ; nay , the best men are soonest deceived , being apt to think all gold that glistereth . it is not seldome seen that over-much charity betrayeth well-meaning men into a good opinion of others , and so by being too charitable to others , foolishly ensnare themselves . though charity be not with bartimaeus starke blind , yet many times with leah she is bleare-eyed , st. paul saith of her she beareth all things , believeth all things , hopeth all things , and in this she sometimes erreth on the right hand , believing and hoping too much of them , who indeed deserve little credit . these wise men might very well have suspected herod in the secrecy of his dealing , in his negligence to goe himselfe , in the mean title he gave the messiah , but their charity too much eclipsed their wisdome , and so not misdoubting his intentions , they purpose to fulfill his charge . nor was this like to have been their unhappy fate alone , it is too often seen , that through too much familiarity with , credulity of , charity towards dissembling hypocrites , persons really well affected , are not onely brought into an high conceit of their persons , but partnership in their designes . we need not goe farre for instances , the sad experience of these times may produce many , and those not onely simple but knowing , whom the faire words of herodians , and their own facile beliefe hath involved in mischievous undertakings . . to end this , censure not , as all to be hereticall , who may be seduced to erroneous opinions , so neither all as rebellious , who may be accessary to traiterous practices . hast thou been preserved from the inchantments of seditious korahs ? blesse god , but be not too unchariable towards those that have been deluded ; some of them may possibly ( with these in the text ) be both good and wise men . nothing more easie then for those who can make religion , oathes and lawes , the covers of oppression and rebellion , to deceive , and that the best of men , and therefore while we abborre those , let us pitty these , whom not w●lsuinesse but weaknesse hath betrayed ; not badnesse of intention , but want of consideration hath made contributary to , and assistant in violent and virulent designes . . learne we all that admonition of our saviour , to be wise as serpents , and innocent as doves . let us earnestly beg of god , that wisdome from above , whereby we may discerne of things that differ . let us not be so simple as to believe every word , and let us walke circumspectly , that we be not entangled with specious wickednesse , and so much the rather let us feare and beware , considering how good men have been caught in such snares . prophane story tells us of theodorus , a godly and learned bishop , whom andronicus a wicked usurper won by faire shewes to be of his party , and the text of wise men , who receive a commission from herod , and ( had not god prevented it ) would have executed it , to the ruine of christ eventually , though not intentionally , and all because of their inconsideration , and his faire promise , which leads to his ample promission , that i may come and worship him also . in which part of the text , we have two considerables : . a racile insinuation of the wise mens piety . . a plain demonstration of herods hypocrisie . . the kind of the argument here used by herod , is very observable . how doth he wo●e the magi to a returne , not by promise of ample rewards upon the faithfull discharge of their commission , nor by threats of punishment upon their neglect , either of them might have begot a strong suspicion of the plot , but mentitus pietatem , captat magorum benevolentiam , promising imitation of their vertues , he winneth upon their affections , this being that which would more rejayce them , then any gifts , to see herod with them a worshiper of christ. it is indeed , next to gods glory , and his own felicity the singular desire of a pious soule , that he may draw others to christ. sinne is infectious , and grace is communicative , wicked men would have others as bad , the saints others as good as themselves ; paul wished that all were like him in his piety , though not in his sufferings : the pharisees compasse sea and land to make a proselyte , the wise men would willingly goe to bethlehem , and returne to jerusalem to make herod a christian. the saints account it their honour , know it their duty to gaine soules , and therefore cause the light of their good workes to shine before others , that their feet may be directed into the way of peace . . but to let this goe , that which in this kinde of argument chiefly presents it selfe to us , is not the wise mens piety , but herods hypocrisie . that i may come and worship him , who could have said better ? what could the wise men desire more ? words smooth as oyle , sweet as butter , if you please we will enlarge them in this paraphrase ; welcome you devout strangers , whom piety towards christ hath brought from a farre countrey to my territories , your devation is worthy not onely of commendation , but imitation ; acceptance , but resemblance ; and as for my selfe , i am resolved to tread in your steps , and write after your copy , onely i would not be mistaken in my homage , and worship i know not whom . in what place to finde the childe i have been instructed by my learned counsell , it is bethlehem ; which of the children in bethlehem is he , let it be your care to know , throughly informe your selves , and then acquaint me , and i shall readily follow your pattern , and though my selfe a king , become with you a fellow subject to this childe . these were his words , but what was his aime ? cast your eyes on the thirteenth verse , and you shall finde the angel declaring it to joseph , herod will seek the young childe to destroy him , nascenti mortem , scelus pio , nudo gladium , soli milites , vagienti necem praeparat , he intends death to this new-borne infant , and prepareth a sword for this innocent childe : the words which came from his mouth , never entred into his heart ; yea , while butter is in the one , gall is in the other . cogitabat jesulum non colere , sed tollere , non adorare , sed necare , his purpose was not as a saint , to worship him , but like a wolfe to worry him , devotionem promittebat , gladium acu●bat , whilst he promiseth devotion , he purposeth destruction ; praetendit cultum , praeparat cultrum , he pretends homage , and yet prepareth a knife , his aime being not servire , but saevire , service , but slaughter . dissembling herod , hew grosse was thy lie , odious thy hypocrisie , and divellish thy deceit ? thou sayest thou wilt come , thou meanest to send ; thou sayest thou wilt worship , thou meanest to murder ; thy pretence is adoring , thy thought abhorring ; thy promise is to give him honour , thy purpose is to take away his life ; thy pretext amity , thy designe cruelty ; thy expression religious , thy intention impious ; thy profession to feare him as a king , thy resolution to execute him as a traitor . thy device was incomparably foule , thy pretence speciously faire , thy deceit must needs be unmeasurably great , in saying , bring me word that i may come and worship him also . to draw it forth in a three-fold observation : . in generall , observe how seldome hypocrites tongues and hearts goe together , aliud corde tegit , aliud ore simulat , saith one upon the text ; herod meaneth one thing , faineth another : so doe all hypocrites , sapientia hujus mundi , cor machinationibus tegere , sensum verb is velare , quae falsa , vera ostendere , quae vera , falsa demonstrare ; it is esteemed by wicked men as a piece of policy to use hypocrisie , and ever to keep a distance between intima cordis , and extima oris , their inward thoughts and outward speeches ; so that whereas our saviour saith , out of the abundance of the heart , the mouth speaketh : hypocrites speak not out of , but contrary to the abundance of their hearts . it was the brand set upon alexander the sixth , and the duke of valentia his son , that the one never spake what he meant , and the other never did what he spake , so truly did they , & all dissemblers do , deserve the psalmists epithetes , of lying flattering , and deceitfull lips . there are some indeed who tell us of piae fraudes , a godly dissimulation , i like well the christian , but not the sir name , and i wonder how any dare joyne them together , when the parties are not agreed . it was not rebeccahs aime , though pious , to obtain the blessing for jacob , nor jehues pretence , though zealous , to doe execution on baals priests , will excuse either of them in their lyes , and make the meanes they used for accomplishing their designes to be lawfull ; and surely if officious lyes be not warrantable , pernicious must be abhominable , such as hypocrites usually are , and herods was . indeed we must distinguish between concealing truth , & speaking falshood , it is one thing cum silendo absconditur verum , to keep in a truth , another , cum loquendo , promittitur falsum , to belch out a lye . i am not bound to say all i thinke , and yet i must thinke all i say ; the tongue is but the hearts herauld , and must proclaime the senders message ; he that speaketh all he knowes is not wise , but he that speaketh what he doth not meane is not honest . i would not have my heart too near my mouth , lest i speak rashly , nor yet too farre from my tongue , lest i speak falsely . indeed were there no god to search the heart , he were a foole that would not dissemble ; but seeing there is , he is a fool that will. oh let us take heed of committing this folly with our lips , rather let them be like the spouses in the canticles , which are resembled to a scarlet thread , in allusion ( say some ) to the thread which rahab hung out at the window , as a token of her fidelity in keeping promise with the spies , such let our words and promises be . it was good advice which fredrick gave the senate , that simulation and dissimulation should be left at the door when they entred into the senat house ; far be it from religion to allow of either . let good david be our president , whose minde was the secretary , and tongue the pen , or if you will , the virgins that follow the lambe , who have no guile in their mouths , or rather the lambe it selfe , the young childe in the text , of whom the prophet saith , there was no deceit in his mouth , not herod whose expressions are not onely besides , but contrary to his intentions . . more particularly observe , the matter of his promise is a courteous friendly visit , that i may come , whereas the intent of his minde is a cruell bloudy act to destroy . such is the usuall practice of wicked men , to v●ile their enmity with a shew of amity , to put goodly paint on a rotten post , to hide then sharp teeth with soft gums , and deadly poison in a gaudy box ; pacis verba ferunt & caedibus omnia miscent . their pretences are a lasting peace , whilst their designe is a lingring warre , like absolom , whose name signifieth a father of peace , and yet his endeavour was to be a fautor of rebellion against his owne father . thus joab takeing abner aside , in dolo to talke with him , pulls out dol●nem a dagger to kill him , and maketh a kisse the preface to his stab of amasa : thus judas , dum mulcet , mordet , by a courteous salute betrayeth his master , and nero kisses his mother with his lips , when he intends to wash his hands in her blood ; so true is that of all hypocriticall friends , mel in ore , verba lactis fel in corde , fraus in factis , whilst honey is in their mouth , gall is in their hearts , and venome in their hands . indeed it is the policy of the wicked , though malice boyl in their hearts , to let no scumme run over their mouth , nay to have lips burning with affectionate expressions , and wicked hearts full of evious cogitations , mens atra , lingua alba , their tongues flame as the fire in charitable words , whilst their mindes are black as the coale with mischievous plots : what a friendly proffer was that which saul made to david of his daughter , upon the slaughter of an philistims , and yet his aime and hope was by that means ●o have dispatched him , and instead of a marriage , solemnized a funerall . herod in the text was used to this dissembling art , he caused aristobulus to be drowned , after a courteous invitation to a banquet : and nicanor whom he received peaceably , to be slain secretly ; indeed in all ages there have been , and will be ravenous wolves in sheeps cloathing , such as are neroes within , and catoes without , such as according to the morall note , on that of wearing linsey wolsey garments , under expressions of civility , hide intentions of cruelty . what counsell therefore can be more fit in this case , then that of our saviour , beware of men , a duty not more needfull then difficult , it being hard to discerne an enemy masked with friendship : a dog that barketh may be prevented before he bites , the serpent that ●●sseth before he stings , and the fire that smoaketh before it burn ; it is easie to avoid a known enemy , but difficult to discover a seeming friend . learne therefore the advice of solomon concerning such , when they speak faire , believe them not , for there are seven abominations in their heart ; faire speech is oft times a strumpet , and maketh belief as light as her self ; but remember that as too much suspicion is a badge of feare , so over-much credulity is a signe of folly . many there are whose words speak them viros , men , affable men , who in their thoughts harbour virus , deadly poyson ; and believe it that hatred is most venemous , which is covered with deceit , aperta malitia is hurtfull , but operta most dangerous ; no malice so cutting as that which is smiling . pessimum inimicitiae genus ( saith cassiodorus ) it is the worst kinde of enmity to be an adversary in heart , and a friend in word , nothing so much to be abhorred , as inimica amicicia , this envious amity , and therefore when such say ave , thinke on cave , when their salute is domine , remember it is but nomine ; fistula dulce canit , volucrem dum decipit auceps , if the fowler play sweetly , it is but to deceive the silly bird ; the panthers skin is fair , but his breath infects ; & the friendship of hypocrites is fatall . i shut up this with that short and fit prayer ; a joabi eloqui● , thyestis convivio , iscariotis ave , herodis redite , libera nos domine , from joabs conference , thyestes his banquet , iscariots salute , and herods promises , good lord deliver us . . most especially observe , this worship which herod here promiseth , was not onely a civill reverence , but a religious adoration : it cannot be imagined , herod would have gone to worship another king of the jewes , whilst himselfe sate upon the throne , unlesse as apprehending him more than a king. the worship which here he professeth , is probably the same with that which the magi practised , and that was no lesse then divine . and herein was the height of his hypocrisie , that while mischiefe was his errand , religion is his messenger , and piety is made the mask of his cruelty . the act he intends is bloudy , no lesse then the babes life will cure his jealousie , and bloudshed is a crying sinne , it was plotted against no other then a king , and that highly aggravateth the offence ; and that there might be nothing wanting to compleat his wickednesse , religion shall be the cover , and under the shew of worshipping , he resolveth to destroy him . as spiders suck poyson out of the sweetest flowers , so wicked men abuse the best things to the worst ends . salus populi , the publique good , then that , what more fit to be indeavoured ? and yet caiaphas the high priest , made this a pretence for murdering the prince of life , it is expedient that one should dye for the people . execution of justice on offenders , then this , what work more acceptable to god and good men ? yet under this colour jezabel falsely accuseth and condemneth innocent naboth to death . liberty of the people , a pleasing pretext , and then just liberties , what more desirable ? but under this vizard a family in florence raised a mutiny against their lawfull governour . charity towards the poor , then this , what more commendable ? and yet under this mask , judas hides his covetous desire of that oyntment , which the woman poured on christs feet . piety towards god , then this , what more amiable ? and yet luther tells us of the anabaptists in germany , that abusing the name of god , and pretending the sincere doctrine of the gospell , they conspired the overthrow of magistracy . this last , is doubtlesse of all others the most odious , and yet no lesse usuall then the rest , to make religion a pander to all vices . consult either sacred or prophane stories , and you shall finde pride and ambition , covetousnesse and oppression , malice and revenge , bloudshed and murder , conspiracy and sedition , have still shrouded themselves under a religious babit . how oft hath ambition caught hold of religion , and made it a stirrup whereby to mount into the saddle of honour ? absalon hath a great minde to graspe the scepter , maketh himselfe strong by popular insinuations , assuring the people of justice , if he were ruler ; and finding it expedient to retire for a while from court , that he might look better at a distance , he calls in a religious pretext to his aide , the performance of a vow at hebron . anastasius being suspected of heresie by euphemius , patriarch of constantinople , seemingly turneth catholick , through which meanes he advanced himselfe ; and afterward cast out the orthodoxe patriarch ; and it is a known story of the monke , who being a fisher-mans son , had a net still spread over his table , in a pious remembrance of his meane originall , till at last hereby advancing to the highest dignity , he threw away his net , saying , the fish was caught ; the morall is verified by too many , who onely spread the net of religion , to catch the fish of preferment . and as ambition hath advanced , so hath covetousnesse advantaged it self by a seeming religion ; demetrius the silver-smith becomes zealous for diana , but it was to prevent the decay of his trade ; and simon magus , though he seem very desirous of the gift of the holy ghost , by the imposition of hands , that rather then misse , he will give money for it , yet it was but that he might make money of it . nor hath covetousnesse onely , but oppression , marched under the banner of religion . jezabel maketh use of a fast to feed her husbands humor , of getting naboths v●neyeard : the pharisees under pretence of long prayers , devoure widdowes houses : and salvian tells us of an oppressor , who scrupled the restitution of ill-gotten goods , because of the obligation of an oath . will you see rebellion weare the livery of religion ? observe corah , datha● and abiram , murmuring against moses his dignity , under pretext of pleading for the peoples sanctity . will you see revenge in a religious habit ? view simeon and levi , who upon condition of circumcision , offered the marriage of their sister to hamor , when they intended a bloudy sacrament , and a deceitfull marriage , hiding their cruelty with policy , and their policy with piety . finally , will you see murder the extremity of malice , and bloudshed the height of oppression , washed over with a zealous paint ? call to minde jezabels taking away naboths life , under the shew of vindicating gods honour ; horod making john baptists head pay for the liberty of his tongue , with a pretence of keeping his oath , and this herod endeavouring through the fained promise of worship , to make this young childe a bloudy sacryfice . thus hath this grave matron been made prostitute to all villany , as if she were a common strumpet , this beautifull virgin been defloured , and made to serve every base designe ; so true is that common saying , in nomine domini incipit omne malum . what sin hath not been masked with religion ? and what part of religion hath not been used as a cover for sinne ? let jezabels fast , herods oath , absaloms vow , simeon and levies sacrament , the pharisees prayers , and herods worship here abundantly testifie . and truly no wonder they are such proficients in these black arts , who have the devill to be their teacher ; satans best trading is by metamorphoses , and mutations , he once changed himselfe from an angel of light to a devill , ●nd now many times he transformeth himselfe from a devill to an angel of light , it was the course he took with christ , endeavouring to make him tempt and dishonour god , under pretence of manifesting himselfe to be god , if thou be the son of god , cast thy selfe downe , and no wonder if wicked men being of the devill , both learne his skill , and fulfill his lusts . besides hypocrites well know , that this is the surest way to speed their designes , g●liah his sword lyeth wrapt up in an ephod , no sword to that , no cruelty to an hypocrites , whose sword lurketh in an holy garment , and malice is cloathed with seeming devotion ; indeed this is that which both renders them in accomplishing more successefull , and when fulfilled the more plausible . sedition , oppression , murder , are so foul faced and ugly in themselves , that every one who seeth them , would cast a stone at the actors of them , and therefore they never appeare but in the borrowed shapes of religion , and a seeming zeal of reformation . but surely no devill to the white devill , and if it be possible for him to be worse then himselfe , it is when he cometh in samuels mantle . and let all such complexion-makers who daub over , not withered faces , but deformed vices with false colours , know that jezabels paint maketh her the more ugly : sinne the better it sheweth , the worse it is , and so much the more odious in gods sight , by how much the more it is adorned . and however vain men may thinke by these pretences to cozen the purblind world , yet they can never stop the mouth of conscience , when god wak●neth it , no● blind the eyes of heaven before whom all things are naked , and the day is coming when all these vizard , shall be pulled off , this paint melt away at the fire of that great day , and all their villanies be laid open to the view of men and angels . to winde up this discourse with this three-fold consectary : . let not religion be despised , because she is thus abused , nor all that professe it , contemned , because some have perverted it . it is a bad consequence , many professours are hypocrites , therefore i will be prophane ; i confesse it is a sad stumbling block in wicked mens way to heaven , when they see men seemingly religious , abhominably vile , and under the pretence of reformation , contemne all divine and humane lawes ; but oh remember it is not religion , but the shew of it , which such men take up , since true religion would learn them better lessons . let this therefore be the conclusion thou makest from such praemises , abhor to be pious onely in appearance , hate to make a shew without reality , let thy actions and thy profession accord , and ( as paulinus told severus , when he sent for his picture , erubesco pingere quod sum , non audeo pingere quod non sum ) be ashamed to appeare what thou art not . it was an excellent reply of livius drusius to the architect , who said he would build him an house free from all mens sight , nay rather , saith he , make it such as every man may see into it : oh let us so order our words , according to our thoughts , our professions suitable to our intentions , and conversation answerable to our religion , that we need not care though all men see , as being sure that god seeth into our inmost thoughts . . what christ had found from herod , but that god prevented it , persecution under the shew of adoration , let the church expect from her adversaries , both on the right and left hand ; it is the note of musculus upon the text , speaking of the wicked one , cupit nocere ecclesiae , simulat profectum ecclesiae , cupit extinctam gloriam dei , & simulat studium gloriae , cupit è medio sublatum cultum dei , & simulat promotionem cultus . the devill and his instruments are so politique , that when they endeavour the ruine , they pretend the purging of the church , and when abolition is aimed at , reformation is professed . indeed as pyrates hang out their colours whom they intend to surprize , so hereticks and schismaticks , when they would destroy , lay the greatest claime to religion . the adversaries of judah and benjamin , say , come let us build the house of god with you , when as their designe was to pull down . celsus and amtiphon writing against the truth , set forth their treatise cum titulo veritatis , and conradus vorstius entituleth his book de deo , which is full of atheisme and blasphemy against god. the papists under the name of the church , fight against the church ; the brownists , whilst they gather churches into a seemingly purer communion , spoyl the church of its union , and scatter it with division . it is a sad complaint of dr●go hostiensis , how many are there that say they are of the house of christ , and the church , and yet are of caiphas ! quod petrus negando , hoc illi faci●nt affirmando , they dishonour christ , by professing him , god is in their mouths , and the devil in their hearts ; under the name of christs spouse , they act the part of a filthy harlot , and herod like , they pretend to advance religion , that they may more closely and effectually destroy it . . what herod promised , let us performe , what he said deceitfully , let us act really , come and worship christ. oh let us have high thoughts of this little childe , accounting him a great god , and therefore to be honoured and adored by us . we reade of a childe an yeares old , this childe is as old as eternity , born in time , but begotten before all time . oh let us all reverence in our thoughts , embrace with our affections , serve with our soules , and adore with our bodies this holy childe jesus . let us worship him , not as herod , but as the wise men , goe we with them to bethlehem , the temple where the bread of life is distributed , follow we the star of gods word , and finding him let us fall downe before him . let us offer with them the gold of charity , frankinsence of devotion , myrrhe of contrition , in auro regem , in thure deum , in myrrhâ hominem confitentes , gold as to a king , frankinsence as to a god , mirrhe as to god-man . let our care be adorare corporibus , venerari officiis , honorare muner●bus , to honour him in our gifts , serve him in our worship , adore him with our bodies , glorifie him with all ; so shall we demonstrate our selves , not foxes but sheep , not subtill herodians , but wise men , not verball , but reall servants of christ , every one of us saying from the bottom of our hearts , to this childe of mary , yet son of god , little babe , but great jehovah , together with the father and the holy ghost , be honour , glory , praise , service and obedience yeilded of us , and the whole church throughout all generations . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e prov. . , . notes for div a -e eccles. . . kings . . psal. . . deut. . . prov. . . rev. . . gen. . chap. . . ver. , . lact. de fal●a relig. l. . c. . isa. . . chap. . . dan. . . col. . . colos. . . dauen . in coloss . job . . james . . cl. alpoed . l. . c . prov. . , . . gen. judg. . . prov . . chrysest . hom . . ●dpop . camana , quafi costae mentes . prov. . . brockm . in loc . tim. . . chap. . . cane . . . bed. cum . 〈◊〉 . iuven. greg ▪ m ▪ greg. n●● . orat. . mark. ▪ greg. naz. orat. . cic. de finib . l. . prov. . . rom. ● . . greg. naz. orat. cap. . mat. . . numb . . . ovid. prov. . . . . james . . prov. . . greg. naz. ora● . . gen. . . lor. i● 〈◊〉 . ovid. greg. m. prov. . . prov. . . hogo victor . l. . didose . hier ! apol. adv . ruff. terent. job . . 〈◊〉 . prov. . . erga non tam egenos quam errantes . brockm . in loc . ver. . luk. . . math. . . james . . psal. . . . vide bern. de assumpt . b. v. serm. . et verè ●i te vigilanter homo a●ten●as ●●●um est s● ad 〈◊〉 um unq●●m in ●nd● b●●● . ●e g●●d ●umil & de in●er : ●omo cap. . bern lib. de vita solitar . tim. . . vide bern. serm. supe● : g●nt . vér . . is. . . jam●s . prov. . , . videgr●g . naz. orat. . notes for div a -e magnifica coeli lingua . aug. de temp. serm. . ver. . apparuit stella non volens , sed jussa ; on coeli 〈◊〉 , sed divini tatis impulsu ; non lege syderum sed novitate fignorum . ch ysol . serm. . ver. . psal. . . ver. . joh. . . granat . iu loc . non cripit mortalia qui regna dat coelestia . chemnit . ibid. ubi leonina pellis non sufficia assuenda est vulpina . lysand. ver. . ver. , . ver. . i. gen. luk. . . psal. . . mich. . . isa. . . vulg. en rex impius pio magorum studio licet aliud agat bactenus inservit , ut lo●ū illis nati regis indicet . musc ; gullia : in loc . musc. ibid. greg. mat. . . novar . in loc . par. in loc . par. ibid. cajet . in loc . non omnia mali●iosa pe●●i●ie deus diabolo . nat. com. in loc . r●g . , . job . . exod. . . cor. . . . gen. isa . . ch●yse theoph cy●●ll . in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . leigh . crit. mat. . . aug. de serm. dom. in mons. musc. in loc . ibid. renun●iate mibi . luk. . . job . . cant. . . ainsw . exod. . . psal. . . jer. . . vide chrysost. i● loc . cor. . . mat . . gen. guiliaud . in loc . ver. . chrysol . guill . in loc . chrysol . psal. . . ● . . greg m. cant. . . josh. . . psal. . . apoc. . . isa . . m●litiose cogitabat ut ad consequendum hoc matrimonium david audaciùs se periculis expon●●et & si● periret . lyr. vestem ex lino la●áque ●oni●xunt , qui sub locutione innocentiae , intus sublimitatem celant . malitiae . bed. mat. . . prov. . . joh. . ● . king. . . john. . 〈◊〉 sam. . . acts . . acts. . . audit a religio sis●imi sceler●● ratione discessi . salv. mark. . . numb . . . gen. . . mark. . . math. . . musc. in loc . ezra . . . ecclesiae nomine armamini & contra ecclesiam dimicatis . aug. hil●● . aug. a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end. in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. . . at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipfull and truly religious, sir john gayr, knight: deceased july . . / by nathaniel hardy, m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end. in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. . . at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipfull and truly religious, sir john gayr, knight: deceased july . . / by nathaniel hardy, m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed for john clark, and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhill, london : . the last leaf is blank. annotation on thomason copy: " ber [i.e. september] ". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng gayer, john, -- sir, d. -- early works to . sermons, english -- th century. funeral sermons -- th century. a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end.: in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. . . at t hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - simon charles sampled and proofread - simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a divine prospective : representing the just mans peacefull end . in a funerall sermon preached at katherine creechurch , aug. . . at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipful and truly religious , sir john gayr , knight : deceased july . . by nathaniel hardy , m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church . prov. . . who so walketh uprightly , shall be saved : but he that is perverse in his wayes , shall fall at once . esay . . the worke of righteousnesse shall be peace , and the effect of righteousnesse , quietnesse and assurance for ever . lactant . sicut vita ipsa bonum est si cum virtute vivitur , malum si cum scelere : ita & mors ex preteritis vitae actibus ponderanda est . ambr. pretiosum est videre virum justum , ut videas eum secundum imaginem dei : quod foris est nihil prodest , quo lintus est sanat . london , printed for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhill . . to the vvorshipfull , robert abdy , esquire , son-in-law : together with his vertuous consort , and the rest of the hopefull sonnes and daughters of the right worshipful , sir john gayr , prosperity on earth , and felicity in heaven . to preserve the precious names , perpetuate the pious memories , and publish the eminent graces of dead saints , is a due debt from the living . the glory which from hence redounds to god , the benefit which hereby accrueth to the church , the respect which herein we manifest to them , are all severally , much more joyntly , strong obligations to this service . no fitter instrument for such a work then the pen , which surpasseth the voice in this double excellency , that it both extendeth farther , and continueth longer , according to that knowne expression of the poet , vox audita perit , littera scripta manet . these i doubt not ( worthy sir ) were the impellent causes moving you to desire a publication of this imperfect piece , in which , if there appear any lustre , it is no other then what it receiveth from the beames of his virtues , whom it represents . indeed , what s. bernard said of his friend malachy , i may justly apply to your deceased father ; he was , while he lived , lucerna ardens & lucens , a burning and a shining lamp : and by death , non extincta sed admota , not so much put out , as removed to glory . the light of his good words is still left behinde him , and now set on a candlestick to enlighten with its splendour this declining age of the world . the character here given to this faithfull servant of god , may by some ( who throughly knew him ) be justly accounted deficient ; by others , ( through envy , or ignorance at best ) be unjustly censured as exuberant . to the former i shall apologize in the words of the oratour : pictoros pulchram absolutamque faciem rarò nisi in pejus effingunt , an exact face is seldome drawne but with much disadvantage . to the latter , s. bernards expression shall be my answer , testimonium veritati praebeo non affectioni ; my conscience witnesseth to me , that my testimony concerning him , was not byass'd by affection , but measured by verity . to your candid acceptance and patronage ( honoured sir ! ) i present these unpolished lines : the truth whereof i know you can fully , and will freely attest . i have nothing more to adde but a gratefull acknowledgement of your many immerited favours , and my incessant supplications at the throne of grace , that both your self , who esteeme it an happinesse to have been grafted into the stock of that worthy family , and all the naturall branches of that choice root , may be daily watered with the plentifull showers of divine blessing , continually grow up in a resemblance of these pretious fruits which he brought forth : and finally , be transplanted into the paradise of blisse , where , together with him you shall be flourishing trees of righteousnesse for ever . so prayeth he , who is yours in all affection and service , nathaniel hardy . psal. . v. . mark the perfect man , and behold the upright : for the end of that man is peace . this psalme is one of those seven , which we finde to be composed according to the hebrew alphabet : what was the reason of this order , i am not curious to enquire , since the scripture is not pleased to expresse : some onely account it of musical concernment , others look upon it as an help to memory . ainsworth conceives it to be an indication of more then ordinary weight and worth in the matter , this as in the rest , is eminently observable in this psalme , which is both of singular use and value . indeed it may well be styled , the good mans cordiall in bad times : a soveraigne plaister for the plague of discontent : or , a choice antidote against the poyson of impatience . it is a truth evident in experience , that gods dispensations towards the righteous and the wicked in this life , are like jacobs dealing with josephs sonnes , crosse and strange : for as he laid his right hand on the younger , and his left on the elder , so doth god oft-times , for the present , distribute with his left hand crosses to the good , and with his right hand favours to the bad ; not only in a litterall sense , as our saviour speakes , he maketh the sun to shine , and the raine to fall upon the just , and the unjust ; but in a metaphoricall sense he causeth the sun of prosperity to shine upon the unjust , and the raine of adversity to fall upon the just : hence it is , that both the sanctity and the equity , the holinesse and justice of god hath by many been called in question ; it being a probable argument to carnall reason , that god , in prospering the bad , approves of their wayes , and so is unholy ; and in afflicting the good , renders not according to their deeds , and so is unjust : hence it is , that in such times the wicked swell with the timpany of pride , and the weak pine away in a fretting consumption ; those are impostumated with selfe-conceit , and these are inflamed with passion : the cure of both , especially the latter , ( to wit envious fretting at the wickeds prospering ) our prophet indeavours in this psalme : the medicine which he prescribes , is made up of various ingredients , amongst which , none more operative then a due meditation of gods finall retribution , both to the godly , and ungodly : which as it is principally insisted on throughout the whole ; so is it elegantly recommended in the close , and in particular the quiet end of the just , both asserted and assured for our support , and incouragement in the words of the text , mark the perfect , &c. which words may fitly be divided into two generalls , and each of those sub-divided into two particulars : here is , officium & motivum . . a duty enjoyned , marke the perfect , and behold the upright . . a motive adjoyned , for the end of that man is peace . in the former of these we have considerable , . objectum propositum , the object proposed to our view , the perfect and upright man , a choice and rare sight both amiable and admirable , well worthy our aspect . . actus requisitus , an act required with gemination , to marke and behold this man where ere we meet him . in the latter of these is observable , . beneficii collatio , a precious benefit conferr'd upon the perfect and upright man , which should move us to behold him , and that is peace . . temporis specificatio , the speciall time mentioned when this benefit shall be conferr'd , and till when we must marke the perfect man , and that is the end , for the end of that man is peace . or , if you please , take notice in the text of these two parts : here is . ampladescriptio , a full and pithy description of a good man , and that both , à qualitate & felicitate , from the quality of his disposition , he is perfect and upright . from the felicity of his condition , the end of that man is peace . . apta prescriptio , a fit and sutable prescription in reference to both these , that we should marke , and behold him in himselfe , and in his end mark the perfect , &c. and in this method i shall now handle the text , craving divine inspiration , and your attention , that i may so speak the words of truth and uprightnesse , and you may so marke , and behold what shall be spoken , that the end of the sermon may be glory to god , peace and profit to every one of our souls : and so i begin with the . generall of the text , the good mans description : and therein . the quality of his disposition in that double expression , perfect and upright , two words not much different in sense , yet both emphaticall in phrase , and will require a distinct explication . the first tearme we meet with is perfect : but where shall we find the man to whom this character belongs ? sure the psalmist rather describes what the good man should be , then what he is , if we look upon the most eminent saints in scripture , we shall find not one of them daring to assume this title unto themselves : job saith of himself , if i say i am perfect , it shall prove me perverse , chap. . . paul plainly denies it of himself , not as , though i had already attained , either were already perfect , phil. . . et quis id sibi arrogare andet , quod paulus ipse fatetur , se non comprehendisse ? saith saint bernard excellently ; and who is so arrogant as to think himself more holy then this chief apostle ? but yet let god be true , and every man a lyar , who affirmes that of job , which he denies of himself , that he was a perfect and an upright man ? chap. . . let not saint paul , who was immediately inspired , be thought to contradict himself , who in the forementioned place , ver. . reckons himself among those that are perfect , let us , as many as be perfect be thus minded , that therefore these seeming contrarities may be reconciled , and the nature of this perfection unfolded : be pleased to observe these distinctions . . divines well distinguish of a double perfection , it is absoluta , or comporata . that is absolutely perfect , to which nothing ( that may be accounted truly good ) is wanting : and thus he onely is perfectus who is infectus : god , who made all things and himself is not made , only injoying an all-sufficient perfection , in , and of himself . that is comparatively perfect , in which , notwithstanding some wants , there is a fulnesse compared with others . thus every saint is perfect , in comparison of the wicked , among whom he liveth . in this respect it is said of noah , that he was a perfect man in his generations , his grace compared with the wickednesse of the old world , well deserving the name of perfection ; indeed every upright man is perfect in comparison of them who are openly bad , or but openly good ; stained with wickednesse , or but painted with holinesse . thus one saint may be perfect , if compared with another , the strong christian in respect of the weak , whom he out-strips in grace and piety : such saint paul meanes , when he saith , we speak wisdome among them that are perfect : that is , such as have attained to greater measures of grace then others . it was said of benajah , he was more honourable then thirty , but he attained not to the first three ; and though no saint can ever attaine to the perfection of the first three , the blessed trinity : yet many saints may be honourable amongst thirty , perfect in comparison of those among whom they live . . we must further distinguish of a double perfection ; it is extrinseca and intrinseca . extrinsecall perfection , so called because by imputation , is that which every beleever is partaker of through the perfect righteousnesse of christ , whereby all his imperfections are covered : in this respect , the author to the hebrewes tells us , that by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified : and s. paul tels the colossians , that they were compleat in him , meaning christ . indeed , omnia dei mandata tunc facta deputantur quando id quod non sit ignoscitur : divine commands are then in gods account fulfilled , when our defects for christs sake are pardoned : and the evangelical perfection of a christian consists not in perfectione virtutum , sed remissione vitiorum , in the completion of our graces , but remission of our sinnes . intrinsecall perfection so called because by inhesion , is no lesse rationally then usually thus distinguished , there is perfectio partium and gradium : he is said to be perfect , cui nihil de est , eorum , quae ad statum salutis necessaria , who wants no graces that accompanie salvation ; or he is perfect , cui nihil deest in gradibus gratiarum & virtutum : who is not defective in the measures of those graces : both these are frequently , and firly illustrated by the resemblance of a child , and a grown man ; the one whereof hath all the essentiall and integrall parts of a man , the other a compleat use and measure of those parts . if we speak of the latter kind of perfection , there never was , nor shall be , nor can any meer man in this life attaine unto it ; indeed the spirits of just men in heaven are perfecti , made perfect , but on earth they are only perficientes , striving to be perfect ; our perfection here , is in fieri , non facto , accomplishing , not accomplished . non plonam induimus perfectionem , donec totam exuimus infectionem , we cannot wholly put off the ragges of corruption , and therefore not fully put on the robes of perfection : we may be sine querela , not sine culpa , without blame in regard of grosse enormities , not without blemish in respect of sinfull infirmities . true it is , the scriptures call upon us to be perfect , as our father in heaven is perfect . non ut tantum p●aestari possit quantum suadetur , not that we can fully acquire what is required , but to shew quousque conari oportet , at what our desires must aime , and to what our endeavours must tend . this perfection is not patriae , but viae , reserved for the country , not to be attained while we are in the way ; in this regard all our perfection here consists in these two things : . a penitential acknowledgment of our imperfection : as the best wisdome is to see our folly , so the highest perfection is to bewaile our deficiency ; and therefore we shall still find those that have been in the highest forme of grace , most sensible of the want of grace , poverty of spirit being an inseparable attendant of the riches of piety : this made job abhor himself in dust & ashes . david pray , lord enter not into judgement with thy servant : and paul acknowledge himselfe to be lesse then the least of all the saints . excellent to this purpose is that of saint austine , advirtutis perfectionem pertinet etiam ipsius imperfectionis , & in veritate agnitio & in humilitate confessio : an humble confession , and a faithfull acknowledgement of our imperfection conduces much to our perfection : and the same father commenting upon that of the apostle , as many as are perfect , thus illustrateth it , qu●t qu● perfecte currimus , hoc sapimus , quod nondum perfecti simus , sed illia perficiemur quò perfectè currimus , as many of us as run perfectly the race of piety , are sensible of this , that as yet we are not perfect , but shall then be perfected , when we come to the place to which we run . . a zealous progresse to , and endeavour after this perfection : so aquinas expounding that exhortation of saint paul , be you perfect , renders it tendatis ad perfectum , tend to , and strive after perfection : indesinens proficiendi studium , & jugis conatus ad perfectionem , perfectio reputatur , a continued desire of increase , and daily endeavour after perfection , is accounted as our perfection : god herein dealing with us as an indulgent father with the child that drawes the arrow as far as he can to reach the mark , esteeming it as if he had drawn the arrow to the head , and hit the marke : in this sense it is , that as god doth repute the saints , so the saints have reckoned themselves amongst the number of the perfect . magnum illud electionis vas perfectum abnuit , pr●fectum satetur , saith saint bernard concerning paul , that chosen vessell , a●counted his perfection to be his profection , pressing towards the marke , for the price of the high calling of god in christ jesus . indeed the papists supercilliously assert a possibility of perfection to every christian in an exact observance of the whole morall law ; nay , to some , as their monasticall votaries , a possibility of that perfection , which according to their tearmes is not onely precepti , but consilii , a fulfilling of precepts , but councells , whereby they performe workes of supererogation , and so contribute to others , as well as their own salvation ; nor doe we want those among our selves , who fondly dream of an unspotted purity , and perfection , attainable in this life , but to these i may fitly apply those words of saint james , ye rejoyce in your boastings , all such rejoycing is evill ; these vaunting brags are an argument not of strength of grace , but height of pride : oh let us never account our selves to have attained sufficiency , but still endeavour to be proficients , ever remembring that it is with our graces , as with numbers , no numbers so full , but still more may be added ; no measure of grace so great , but its capable of further measure . but then , . if we speak of a perfection in the former sense , to wit , of parts : so it is true of every saint , he may , nay he must be perfect , though not as touching exact performace continually , yet as touching constant resolution habitually ; though not throughout sanctified , yet sanctified throughout in spirit , soul , and body ; and in this construction the later word is a fit explication of the former , perfect being no more but upright ; thus hezekiah in that prayer upon his sick bed joynes these together , in truth , & with a perfect heart , thereby intimating that perfection which he had attained , was not in regard of degrees , but truth of grace , accounting his heart perfect because upright : upon this ground it is , that asa , david , and others , are said to have their hearts perfect , notwithstanding their lives were in some particulars scandalous , divine mercy passing by their defects , and accepting the uprightnesse of their intention , instead of perfectnesse in action . that charge against the church of sardis is very observable to this purpose , i have not found thy works perfect before god , which were it to be understood of exactnesse , according to the rigour of the law , might be an accusation against any , even the purest church to whom christ wrot , and therefore is to be constru'd a want of sincerity , which is perfection according to the tenour of the gospell : yea , which is further considerable , this makes our workes perfect before god , because so accompted in his esteeme , it being uprightnesse that fills up both our graces and duties . hence it is that in some places of scripture , the word which is here read perfect , is rendred upright ; so in that counsell of god to abraham , walk before me , and be upright . and that assertion of the wise man , he that walketh uprightly , walketh surely . and of this text it selfe i finde one translation reading it integrum , another simplicem : whereof the one is opposed to rottennesse , the other to double-mindednesse . so that the perfection which the text requires is a freedome , not from all sinne , but from hypocrisie : the perfect is no more then the sound , or single hearted man ; and so the same , with upright , which is the second tearm to be considered . i am not ignorant that some interpreters reading the first word , innocentem , and this latter , rectum understand both in reference unto men ; expounding him to be innocent , who doth no injury , and him upright that observes equity among men . others referre the first word to god , the latter to man ; restraining the sense of this word upright , to the integrity of our dealings with those , among whom we converse : and thus 't is an undoubted truth , the good man is both perfect towards god , and upright towards men ; giving as god , his right , so man his due . piety is ever a friend to equity , and religion to justice ; the whole law is copulative , and obedience conjunctive . 't is observable , that saint james defining , or rather describing , pure and undefiled religion before god ; makes mention of those duties of visiting the widow , and the fatherlesse , which belong unto the second table : indeed , he cannot be a right worshipper of god , who is not upright , and charitable in his conversation towards men . but i rather conceive , both the tearms are of equall extent , the latter being added exegetically for the unfolding of the former : t is a word both extensive , & exclusive ; exclusive of the hypocrite , extensive to the weak ; t is a bar to keep out the one , and a key to let in the other : none are on the one side more ready to boast of perfection than hypocrites , that generation being commonly pure in their owne eyes ; but , indeed , they are so much the more imperfect , because , notwithstanding their pretences to singular purity , they are full of odious hypocrisie . on the other side , weak saints being conscious of their own defects , are apt to exclude themselves from the number of the perfect : and therefore , that they might not be too much discouraged , the psalmist joynes to this harsh terme , perfect , the milde phrase of upright ; that we might know by the one , what he meanes by the other , and when the sense of our infirmities forbids us , the sight of our integrity may encourage us to account our selves perfect because upright . it will be needfull then a little to enquire , who is this upright man . the originall verbe from whence the word in the text comes , signifies in kal , rectum esse ; in pihel , complanare : and the noune notes such a man , whose heart is right , and wayes are plaine : particularly there are two things which make up the frame of an upright spirit ; to wit , measuring all our actions by a right rule , and levelling them at a right end . first , the upright man squares all his actions by a right rule ; carnall reason cannot by as him , corrupt practice cannot sway him , but gods sacred word directs him : hence it is , that his respect is universall to all divine precepts , avoyding all evil , performing all good , without exception . this was the character of josiah , of whom its said , he turned to the lord with all his heart , with all his soul , & with all his might , according to all contained in the law of moses : indeed , the upright man with david , esteemes gods precepts concerning all things to be right , and therefore is carefull to observe them . hence it is , that he 's the same man at all times , in all places : what the phylosopher sayes of a good man is true of him , he is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , like a cube , or square , or like a die , that falls alike every way , because at all times , and in all societies , he acts by one and the same rule ; 't is a good saying of one that pretends to be saint cyprian , ea non est religio , sed dissimulatio , qua per omnia non constat sibi ; that is not piety , but hypocrisie , which is not in all things like it selfe , since the upright man measures every action by the straight line of divine prescript . and . he levells all his actions to a right end ; where integrity is in the heart , gods word is in the hand , and his glory in the eye , as zeal is the intention and fervour of every grace , so sincerity is the intention and bent of the heart in every duty ; the load-stone of an upright soul is not self-interest , but gods honour ; he casts no squint-eye at by-respects , but lookes directly forward at his creatours glory ; it was the blemish which satan thought to cast upon job , that his obedience was mercenary ; and therefore , he saith , doth job fear god for nought ? but it plainly appeared , that , though gods blessings were incouragements to , yet not the principall end of his service , and therefore god gives him the character of an upright man . it is observable in that counsell god gives to abraham , these two are joyned together , walk before me , and be upright : since the upright man ever walkes before god , and that not onely because he walkes as under gods eye , but as having his eye upon god , desirous to magnifie him in all his actions . that resemblance of pachomius an abbot is remarkable to this purpose , who digesting his numerous monkes into various classes , according to the letters in the greeke alphabet , suited the names he gave them to the natures he observed in them : thus those whom he found politicians and dissemblers , he compared to the letters ● and ● , which are full of crooked turnings ; those whom he observed to be plaine-hearted and upright , to the letter ● , which is carryed right upwards . so indeed is the sincere saint in all his actions , fixing his eye upon the glory of god ; and the man who is thus qualified , is he to whom this tearme of upright may fitly be applyed . to wind up this first branch in a briefe application . it is a note not unworthy our observation , that the psalmist in the following verse makes mention of the wicked in the plurall number ; but in this verse , speaking of the good , useth the singular to intimate to us , there are many transgressors to one perfect ; many wicked , to one upright man . the prophet bids us behold the upright ; but alas , where shall we finde one upright man to behold ? it is storyed of diogenes , that at noone day he went about the streets with a candle lighted ; and being asked , what he did ? returned this answer , hominem qu●●● , i seek for a man : meaning one that might deserve the name of a man . and we finde that it was gods command to the prophet , that he should run to and fro through the streets of jerusalem , and seeke in the broad places thereof , to finde a man that executed judgement . should we take the same course to finde the perfect and upright man in the text , how long should we be in seeking ? pretenders to perfection , professors of sanctity , this age swarmes with , but few practicers . facings of religion were never more in fashion , but the linings of piety never more out of request . that subtile malu●… secr●●●●… virus latens venenum , as chrysologus fitly termeth it , lurking snake , subtile evill , and secret poyson of hypocrisie hath stung , surprized , and infected the most among us . of old , a third part of the inhabitants of britains were called pieti , in a morall sense it is a word may well fit the greatest of this generation , since what our saviour said of the pharisees , is true of most among us , they are like to whited sepulchres , which indeed appeare beautifull outward , but are within full of dead mens bones , and of all uncleannesse . how justly might i here expatiate in a bitter complaint of the raigning hypocrisie in this age ; but the truth is , none are more deafe to reproofes then hypocrites ; and therefore leaving them to their delusions , i shall close up this with a word of exhortation : nor can i doe it better , then according to the translation which the septuagint and the vulgar give of this clause , who render the first word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in the most common acception , which is to keepe , or preserve , and take the concrete as put for the abstract , perfect and upright for perfection and uprightnesse . oh let us keep innocencie , and look to equitie ; embrace perfection , and follow uprightnesse . it is good counsell saint cyprian giveth to this purpose , let us consider the titles christ giveth his people , and by them learne our duty . oves nominat , & innocentia christiana ovibus aquatur ; agnos vocat , & agnorum naturam simplicem simplicitas mentis innitetur : he calls us sheep , oh let us resemble them in innocencie ; he styles us lambes , oh let us be like them in simplicity . indeed no man more amiable in gods eye then the upright . david knew this well , which made him say , behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts . it is fitly to be noted , that the word jesurun , which is given to israel , and is derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} upright in the text , is rendred by the lxxii . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth beloved : and the verbe {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifieth both rectus fuit , and placuit , especially when in construction with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} according to the latine phrase , rectum esse in oculis , it is as much as placere , all intimating , how acceptable sincerity is in gods sight . nor is it more pleasing unto god , then profitable unto us : this is it which enlivens our graces , inlargeth our comfort , and obtaines a reward . nihil simplice corde foelicius , none more happy then the upright soule . keep innocencie , and it shall keep thee . preserve integrity , and it shall preserve thee . so true is that of solomon , he that walketh uprightly , walketh surely , security is ever the attendant of sincerity . there is no such way to stand firmly , as to walk uprightly . in a word , let uprightnesse be thy path , and then gods spirit shall be thy guide , his angels thy guard , his word thy light , and peace thy end , which leads me to the . branch of the first generall , namely , the felicity of a good mans condition , for the end of that man is peace . the vulgar following the septuagint , read this clause in a 〈◊〉 different translation , quoniam sunt reliquia homini pacifice , because there is a remainder to the peaceable man . nor is this construction altogether incongruous to the hebrew phrase , and therefore give me leave a little to prosecute it . and here we meet with another character of a saint , he is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a man of peace . those beasts that were wild in the field , became quiet in the arke . the church is a shulamite , a mother of peace , called hierusalem , a vision of peace , and all her members must be sons of peace . it is written in the law of mahomet , that god made the angels of light , and the devils of flame . sure i am , they are devilish spirits that delight in the flame of contention : angelicall men , who love the light of peace . melchisedech , that signifies king of righteousnesse , was king of salem , that signifies peace . indeed nothing more inclines us to peace , then grace . saint james describing the wisdome from above , saith , it is first pure , then peaceable , jam. . . and s. paul joynes together peace and holinesse , heb. . . since there cannot be a right practice of holinesse , without a sedulous pursuit of peace . no man more after gods heart then david ; and if you would observe his temper , view the character he gives of himselfe , psal. . . i am for peace ; or as the hebrew expresses it more emphatically , i am peace , as if he were made up of peace . indeed hypocrisie is ever accompanyed with pride , and no wonder , if ( according to solomons proverbe ) by pride commeth contention , whereas sincerity is ever attended with humility , which is the nurse of peace . nothing more usuall with hypocrites , then under pretence of advancing holiness , to foment divisions ; but the upright man endeavours to build gods temple without the noyse of axes or hammers . so fitly doth this expression agree to him , he is a peaceable man . to this man of peace , sunt reliquia , saith the vulgar , there are the remainder : that is , say some , of a prosperous posterity , a blessing which god is often pleased to confer upon his saints . and in this construction we find the hebrew word sometimes rendred , so psal. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the same word with this in the text , is translated posterity . with these arrows god vouchsafeth to fill the just mans quiver , these olive plants he sets round about his table , they are the heritage of the lord , and that reward which he sometimes gives to the upright . this is that blessednesse which david promises to the man that feares the lord , his seed shall be mighty , and his generation blessed . some men count children , bils of charges ; but god puts them on the accompts of mercies . 't was a pretty answer that cornelia gave a noble lady , who lodging in her house , shewed her all her jewels , with a desire to see her riches ; she bringing forth her children which were newly come from schoole , said , hi unicè mihi sunt thesauri , these are my onely treasure . such indeed are children , no small riches , where god sends them ; which made the comoedian to say , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a numerous progenie , contributes much to temporall felicity . and this is promised to the upright and peaceable man , as his remainder . others conceive this remainder to be understood of a good name , which the just and peaceable man leaves behind him . it was a true saying of him in plautus , si bonam famam servasse sat , dives ero , to obtaine and preserve a good name , is riches enough . yea solomon compares it with , and extols it above a precious ointment . this is that blessing which usually attends upon the good . so true is that of the poet , et memorem famam qui bene gessit habet . which if you please you may english by that of the psalmist , the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . when socrates was asked , how a man might get and keep a good report ? he returned this answer , si talis esse studeas , qualis haberi velis , by endeavouring to be indeed , what he would be accounted . such is the practice of an upright man , and as none lesse lookt at , so none is more blest with a good repute among men then he : that of solomon being ever verified in experience , the memory of the just is blessed . finally , some understand this remainder to be of a glorious reward which all just & peaceable men shall be partakers of , a construction that may well fit the originall , which sometimes is put for a reward : so pro. . . it is most aptly read , surely there is a reward , and thine expectation shall not be cut off . never any man kindled a fire in vaine on gods altar . so true is that of the wise man , he that sowes righteousnesse shall have a sure reward , prov. . . dionisius causing musitians to play before him , promised them a great reward ; having plaid a long time , they expected their pay : but he told them , they were paid already , since , as they had pleased him with musick , so he them with hopes of reward . but , god deales not so with his servants , he feeds them not with vain hopes , but sure accomplishment of his gracious promises . there remaineth a rest to the people of god , saith the apostle , heb. . and reliquiae sunt , saith the vulgar here , there is a remainder of blissefull recompence to the peaceable man . to end this therefore , quarite pacem ut inveniatis pra●…ium , let peace be our work , that glory may be our wages ; ever remembring , that while the rough esaus of the time hunt after venison , it is the smoothplain-hearted , and quiet jacob , that carries away the blessing . but to handle the words according to our translation , as being most consonant to the sense , and sutable to the originall , the end of that man is peace . a clause wherein each word is emphaticall , and deserves a serious view . the end , indeed the beginning , and middle of the upright mans dayes are full of trouble , but his end is rest : the life of a saint is a continued warfare , with satans temptations , his own corruptions , & the worlds persecutions , but at his death he shall enter into peace : for the present , none under worse slavery then the good , but at the last there shall be a year of jubilee : we are here in this world as upon a sea , continually subject to stormy winds , and rouling waves ; but when we come to the haven , there shall be a serene calme . it is not unworthy our observation , that the hebrews use this word in the text , to signifie both a reward , and an end ; thereby intimating to us , that the reward is not given till the end ; when the evening was come , then the labourers received their wages ; and at the end of our lives , shall be the collation of our recompence . of that man , to wit exclusive of him , and none but him , fine discernuntur reprobi ab electis ; it is the end makes the difference between the wicked and the good : indeed , solomon affirmeth , that there is one event to the righteous , and to the wicked , to the cleane , and to the uncleane ; to him that sacrificeth , and to him that sacrificeth not ; but that respects the matter , not the manner of their end , both end by death , but not alike ; and though the one as well as the other , must die , yet the one doth not die as well as the other : indeed , to the bad , primum optimum , to the good , vltimum ; the wicked mans wine is best at first , the good mans at last : the devill deals by the one as jaell by sisera , speaks them fair at first , til he hath lulled them asleep in security , and then he involveth them in misery . but god doth by us , as the hebrew was to doe by the captive woman which he marryed : at first he appointeth us a time of mourning , but afterwards he vouchsafeth us the fruition of himself in glory . the freshest rivers of carnall pleasure shall end in a salt sea of dispairing tears ; whereas the wettest seed-time of a pious life , shall end in the sun-shiny harvest of a peacefull death . in a word , the transgressour , how pleasant soever his beginnings be , his last shall be dolorous ; but the upright , how troublesome soever his life be , his death shall be joyous , for the end of that man is peace : this word peace , you may please to look upon in a double acception , . more specially for the particular blessing of peace , which ever accompanies the upright mans end : indeed , both victory and peace wait upon the just man at last . what cyrus said of abradatus , when he saw him lie dead in the field , that his end was honourable , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because he dyed a conqueror , is true of the christians end , who dyeth a victor over all the powers of darknesse , sinne and satan , hell and death , being all subdued under him , and as his end is victory , so peace . the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , from whence the noun {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in the text comes , signifies in pi●el , both perficere and retribuere , the perfect man shall be recompenced . in kal , both perfici , and pacem habere , qui perfectus fuit , pacificus erit , the perfect mans recompence shall be peace . peace with god , who is reconciled to him in the bloud of the lamb ; peace with men , no out-cries of the oppressed upon him ; peace with himself , no perturbations within him , indeed , this peace of conscience he enjoyes in life , but especially at his death . oh what serenity and calmnesse , tranquility and content , possesses the dying saint ; when being come to his haven , the musick of a well-tuned conscience welcomes him to the shore : then it is that he becomes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a teacher of tranquillity to all that behold him ; then it is that being come to the last act of his life , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he is filled with sacred exultation in a sense of his reconciliation with god : what saint bernard saw in holy gerrard , is frequently observable in upright men , actitus sum ego ad id miraculi , videre exultantem in morte hominem , & insultantem morti : i beheld him , saith he , exulting in death , and insulting over death . thus do good men die triumphing in their victory , and rejoycing in their peace . so that what gregory nazianzen saith , concerning his sister gorgonias death , may be applyed to every perfect man when he dieth : it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , his dying day is his holy-day , and his funerall his festivall . in a word , what simeon desired of god , and god promised to abraham is performed to every upright man , he departs hence , and goes to his fathers in peace , for the end of that man is peace . . the word rendred peace in the text , is sometimes taken more generally for prosperity , safety , and all good things ; in the extent of its signification it notes perfection , to which is required a confluence of all good , and in this latitude we may take it here . so one paraphrases upon the text , tandem post varias calamitates eripitur ut sit beatus & felix , his end is peace : that is , at length he is delivered from afflictions , and invested in an estate of blisse and glory . such indeed is the upright mans condition in the end , when he shall arrive at that place , vbi nullum deerit bonum , nullum aderit malum , where there shall be an absence of all evill , and a concurrence of all good , where that shall be verified which is promised , rev. . . god shall wipe all teares from their eyes : and there shall be no more death , neither sorrow , nor crying , neither shall there be any more paine : for the former things are past away . in a word , where there shall be , vita aterna , beatitudo perfecta , summa voluptas , as saint bernard sweetly ; fulnesse of joy , perfection of blisse , and eternity of life : vbi juventus nunquam senescit , decor nunquam pallescit ; amor nurquam tepescit , salus nunquam marcessit , gaudium nunquam decrescit , & vita terminum nescit , as saint austin elegantly , where there is youth ever flourishing , beauty never fading ; love ever constant , safety never wanting ; joy alwayes exceeding , and life never ending . 't was a custome among the athenians at their marriages , that a youth of known ingenuity , carrying a van full of corne and akehornes , should solemnly pronounce these words among the people , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i have escaped bad , and found better . how joyfully shall the saints in that last day , when they shall be called to the marriage supper of the lamb , take up the like acclamation , we are passed through all our troubles , and have found durable joyes ; we have escaped out of an egypt of bondage through a wildernesse of sorrowes , unto a canaan of blisse . nautae dulcia patriis oscula littoribus figunt , liberatos se periculis , absolutos erroribus gratulantes : the marriner that hath been preserved from many violent stormes , and outragious tempests , does not with more full contentment kisse his native shore , then the upright man after various sorrowes here indured , enters into the joy of his lord . so true is this of the psalmist in the largest sense , the end of that man is peace . to end this in a profitable use to our selves : . si vis in pace mori●sis servus dei ; as we desire to have peace in the end , let piety be our race . 't was marcus aurelius his dying counsel to his son commodus , that if he would live quietly , he should live justly . let me a little alter it , if you would die peaceably , live uprightly . the pythagoreans did promise a good hope to them in the end , who studyed philosophy : we have a surer word of promise , that peace shall be at last to them that study perfection . socrates was wont to say , that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , good souls do goe hence with hope : indeed they , and none but they , whose hearts are upright can depart hence in a sure expectation of blisse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a truly serene death is asserted by the stoicks to be the onely portion , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} of good and virtuous men : and we see the spirit of god in this scripture appropriates it onely to perfect , and upright men . it is a fond presumption of those , who live in hope to die happily , though they live wickedly . doe men gather grapes of thornes , or figs of thistles ! saith our blessed saviour . it s in vaine to expect the grapes of peace , and figs of comfort upon the thornes and thistles of wickednesse : we never read of one that lived well , and dyed ill , and but of one who lived ill , and died well . what madnesse were it for a man that soweth his field with cockle , and tares , to look for good corne at the harvest ? no lesse desperate is their folly , who think to reap peace and glory from the seeds of sinne and hypocrisie . be not deceived , god is not mocked : for whatsover a man soweth , that shall he also reap . it is the ●●●●…tion of god himselfe , there is no peace to the wicked . true it is , for the present , they have a senslesse stupidity , but tranquillitas ista tempestas , their sleepy consciences shall at last awake , and bite : and though not alwayes sensibly , yet certainly , not in their owne apprehension , yet in gods determination the end of the wicked is destruction : as therefore wee desire our end may be everlasting life , let us now bring forth fruit unto holinesse . . let the upright learn , with patience , to waite for their peacefull end : working righteousnesse , is called in scripture a sowing , among others no doubt for this reason , that as there is a space between the seed-time , and the harvest , during which the husband-man waits , so is there between the work , and the reward . the prophet tells us , he that beleeves makes not haste . faith is sure of the thing , and therefore is content to stay the time ; for the most part , our expectations are too short breath'd , and as we post-date our duties , so we ante-date our mercies : we doe in this case as the unjust steward , who , when an hundred should have been set down , caus'd the debtour to take his bill and write fifty . when mercy is to be vouchsafed an hundred dayes hence , we take our bill , and write down fifty . oh let us take heed of limiting the holy one of israel ; that must be patiently expected , which is not presently to be conferr'd : the time of bestowing this peace is at the end , doe thou hold out waiting untill the end . ne deeris deo in fide , & non deerit tibi in opere , be not thou a wanting to god in expectance , and he will not be wanting to thee in performance . in the mean time , let the upright man learn to run with patience , the race that is set before him . to bear quietly the afflictions that are laid upon him , fortiter malum qui patitur , post potitur bonum , he that endures evill chearfully shall at last enjoy good certainly , the end wil make amends for all . oh let the sweetness of the recompence mitigate the bitterness of our sufferings ; the cloudiest morning may have a red evening a pleasant spring follow a sharp winter , the most blustring storme end in a quiet calme , and the sadest trouble of the just , not onely may , but shall be swallowed up at last in fullest joyes . what the poet spake concerning the fabrication of the world , and truly , not much unlike moses description of the creation . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the skie , and the day sprang from the night , may here fitly be applyed to the upright , there ariseth the light of comfort , sometimes in , alwayes after , nay , out of the darknesse of his sorrow . it was a pretty device of one giacope sanzaro an italian , who having been long in love , and much crost , fill'd a pot full of little black stones , and one white , saying , there will come one white day , ( meaning that of marriage ) which will make amends for all my black dayes . let the perfect man comfort himself in this assurance , that though the kalendar of his life , may be full of miserable dayes ; yet the day of his death shall be full of joy , and the end of his life , a beginning of that blisse which shall never end . in fine , that councell which solon gave to croesus in the midst of his glory , let me give to the godly man in the midst of his sorrowes , respire finem , observe the end . indeed this is that which may both darken the lustre of wicked mens prosperity , and qualifie the sharpnesse of good mens afflictions . and as it concernes the perfect man to consider his own end , so doth it behoove us all to regard the perfect mans end : and so i am fallen upon the . generall of the text , which is the fit prescription of a duty to be performed in reference to this perfect , and upright person , in those words , marke , and behold . in the two verses immediately preceding , david records his owne experience of the wicked , and from thence incourageth us to observe our own experiences of the good : thereby intimating unto us , that as the way of the just , and the unjust , is directly opposite , so their end shall be manifestly contrary . and withall , that what he saw in his time , might be observed , and should be made good in the experience of all times , god is the same yesterday , to day , and for ever . the same , not onely in his essence , but in his operation , in his being ; but in his working , what he hath done , that he still does , and will doe : divine providence ever acts like it selfe , and though it vary in particular circumstances , yet ever keepeth the generall course of rewarding every one at the last according to their workes ; and therefore former experiences are just grounds of future confidence , those dispensations , of god towards the righteous , & the wicked , which holy men of old have registred , may encourage us , to expect the same , to which end it is david here called upon us in the words of the text , marke and behold . the duty here required we see is ingeminated , not onely marke , but mark and behold : the reason whereof , we may very well conceive to be both fervency in the pen-man , and necessity in the matter . indeed these two do well together , where the duty is needfull , zeal becometh the preacher ; that cannot be too often prest , which must be perform'd ; 't is like the frequent knocking at the doore , that it may be sooner opened , the renewed strokes upon the naile which drive it in the faster . thus the prophet zephany perswading to that needfull part of repentance , which consists in self-examination , not onely propounds , but repeats it , gather your selves together yea , gather your selves together . and the psalmist here seeing a necessity of this duty , to prevent those dangerous mis-constructions , which otherwise carnall reason might be apt to make of gods proceedings ; not only sets it before us , but presseth it upon us in this double expression , marke , and behold . but this is not all the reason that may be given of this gemination , we may very well apply a double object to this double expression of the act , and both out of the text , to wit , the upright man , and his end ; what he does , and how he fares ; mark his way , behold his end ; mark his action , behold his retribution : both call for our consideration . first , marke the upright man himselfe in the course of his life , indeed his intentions are onely known to god , but his actions are visible unto men : true grace , where ever it is , may be seen , felt , heard , and understood , 't was our saviours precept to his disciples , that their light should so shine before men , as they might see their good workes : and surely , if good men must doe their workes so as to be seen , we must see their good workes when they are done : and in this respect we must take notice of the upright man for a double end : first , vt honoremus , let us mark him , that we may honour him , and those graces of god which are manifest in him : indeed the world lookes on the saint with a scornfull eye , because with a carnall ; they say of him , what those jewes did of christ , he hath no forme or comlienesse : and when we see him , there is no beauty that we should desire him . let us view him with a spirituall aspect , and we shall finde that worth which deservedly calls for our esteem : indeed the upright , as david well calls them , are the excellent ones of the earth : though men cast them out as drosse , yet they are the finest gold ; though men trample them under foot as pebles , yet are they pretious pearles : they are so in gods account , let them be so in our esteeme . secondly , vt imitemur , let 's mark the upright man so as to imitate him , eye his steps , so as to tread in them : 't is gods goodnesse to afford , and should be our wisdome to make use of the godly , tanquam statuas mercuriales , as travellours doe of those statues which are set to point forth the way unto them . saint paul calls the saints of the old testament , a cloud of witnesses ; alluding , no doubt , to that pillar of a cloud which went before the israelites in the wildernesse to lead them the way . so should our eye be fixt on those saints that are gone before us , or that live amongst us , as a cloud for our direction in the way to heaven . 't was s. pauls request to the corinthians , be ye followers of me ; we must be so of every upright man , and to that end marke him . secondly , behold the upright man in the close of his death , and this is that i conceive the psalmist chiefly aimes at : so tremellius his reading plainly manifests , observa integrum , & aspire rectum , finem illius esse pacem : observe the perfest , and behold the upright , that the end of this man is peace . he calls for , not a transient view , but a permanent aspect ; as an archer having shot an arrow , takes not off his eye untill he sees it fall , so must we with a fixed eye behold the upright , til we see what becomes of him . this was that the apostle james wills those to whom he wrote , to doe in reference to job ; both to look upon him in that way of patience wherein he trod , you have heard of the patience of job : and withall in that end which happened to him , and have seen the end of the lord . indeed , this is that duty which concernes us in reference both to the good and bad , to look upon them not in their present , but future state . this world is as a stage , whereon both the vpright , and the hypocrite ; the perfect , and the wicked , are actors and that which in both of these we ought chiefly to be spectatours of , is their exit : not so much how they come on , as how they go off : in regard of the wicked this was it which moses wish'd the israelites to fasten their eyes upon , and therefore , when corah , dathan , and abiram , had rebelliously conspired against him and aaron ; he calls the people to a consideration of their end , if these men die the common death of all men , or if they be visited after the visitation of all men , then the lord hath not sent me . and in regard of the good , 't is that which here david would have us chiefly to take notice of , his end is peace ; not is it without good reason , since by this meanes we shall best rectifie our judgements , and avoid false censures : so that these two words , marke and behold , are , as it were , a bridle to keep us in from running head-long into rash judgings , when we see the upright encompassed with afflictions ; and thus we must behold the upright mans end , to restraine us from passing wrong sentence both upon god , and the good ; upon god , as if he were unjust : upon the good , as if they were the most miserable . first , we must behold his end , in regard of god , ne iniqu●… p●…tetur deus , dum favet impiis , & justos affligit . lest otherwise we account god unequall in his dispensations ; as indeed , who would not think it strange , to see the godly corrected , whilst the wicked are spared ; those cast down with sorrow , whilst these are lifted up with prosperity : but the glorious end of the saints calamitous life abundantly cleares divine justice , and stops the mouth of blasphemy ; though now god afflict the righteous , and the wicked , yea , many times the righteous , and not the wicked , yet in the end he will put a difference between the righteous and the wicked , whereby the glory of his equity shall evidently appeear , and therefore behold the upright . secondly , in regard of the good , lest we condemne him as miserable in those afflictions he undergoes : what saint paul sayes in another case concerning the saints , if in this life onely we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable : may with a little variation be used in this , if we judge of good men according to their condition in this life , we shall account them of all men most wretched ; but let us stay our censure till the last , trace the saint to his journies end , and then we shall freely confesse , that none are more blessed then the vpright , or happier then the perfect . to shut up this in a word of usefull application . 't is the generall assertion of solomon , the wise mans eyes are in his head , but the fool walketh in darknesse . let us in this particular shew our selves wise men , by having our eyes in our head , to marke , and behold the upright mans end . let not the beames of the ungodlies prosperity dazle us , but rather wait a while til their dismall end , when we shall see their sun set in a cloud , their candle go out in a snuffe , and their hope sink into despaire . let not the clouds of misery , which , for the present , hang over the upright , darken our eyes ; but stay till the comfortable end , when he shall break forth a● the sun in his splendour , and shine as the stars in glory . 't was moses his advice to the israelites in their greatest strait , that they should stand still , and see the salvation of the lord . indeed , those two are well put together , stand still , and see , whilst a man moves swiftly , his eyes dazle , but when he stands still he sees clearly . let us doe so , patiently expect , and diligently observe , that salvation which god in the end will work for his servants . that counsell which christ gave to the church of laodicea , let me give to you , in reference to this duty , annoynt your eyes with the eye-salve of the spirit , that you may rightly discerne , and wisely judge of gods proceedings . look backward by the eye of experience , and see how god hath dealt with upright persons in the end ; & then look forward by the eye of faith , and conclude what god will vouchsafe to his people at the last . this done , i doubt not but you will both acknowledge gods justice , and admire his wisdome ; you will follow the good mans steps , and desire his end . in a word , you will preferre afflicted godlinesse , before pleasurable wickednesse ; persecuted religion , before prosperous rebellion ; and despised piety , before advanced iniquity . finally with moses , you will esteeme the afflictions of gods people , sweeter comforts then all the pleasures of sinne . the reproaches of christ greater riches then all the treasures of aegypt , having a respect to the recompence of the reward , that blissefull peace which in the end shall be conferred on all them who walk before god in truth , and with a perfect heart , according to this of the psalmist in the text , mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . i have done with my text , but i must not end here . behold , another text lies before us fit to be read , and perused by us . heredotus maketh mention of a custome among the aethiopians , to set the dead bodies of their friends in glazed sepulchres , that their proportions might be obvious to the passengers ; how needlesse soever that custome was , 't is doubtlesse no more then just , that the pious lineaments of their mindes who die in the lord , should be presented to the living in the mirrour of art . indeed commendation after death , is the tribute of a religious life : good works are jewels , not to be lockt up in a cabinet , but to be set forth to publique view . if christ would have maries name remembred in the gospell unto the worlds end for one box of oyntment poured on his head ; we cannot imagine that he would have the many pious and charitable deeds of his servants to be buried in oblivion . consult the scriptures , and you shall scarce finde any godly man laid in his grave without an epitaph of honour . view the fathers , & you shall observe it their practice to honor the death of the good , by giving them their deserved praises : so did ambrose to theodosius , nazianzen to athanasius , hierome to nepotian ; and bernard to malachias , and gerard . the truth is , in reciting the vertuous acts of dead persons , we doe not so much advantage them , as benefit our selves . what doe they need glory on earth , who are glorified in heaven ? nostrâ interest non ipsorum , it s our interest , not theirs , since by their examples we are provoked to good workes : nay , let me tell you , in rehearsing their graces , we doe not so much honour them , as glorifie god . 't was the greek fathers apology for himselfe , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in praising vertue , i extoll the god , who is the donor of it . it cannot then ( at least justly ) offend any religious ear , if i shall endeavour to delineate the singular worth of this illustrious knight , whose funeralls we now solemnize . and here it fares with me , as with a man in a garden , full of choice flowers , that knowes not where to pick : abundance of matter , making me almost barren of expression . as for a compleat enumeration of his virtues , 't is a work which neither my scant abilities can performe , nor will the scantling of time permit . it cannot be expected , that a good life , which hath been weaving a piece of graces for threescore yeares , and upward , can be spread before you in a few minutes . besides , the history of his life , and narration of his worth , calls for a livie rather then a florus ; a demosthenes , rather then a phocion to undertake it . i want time to draw his picture to the length , and skill to doe it to the life : yet , ex pede herculem , spare me but your patience a while , and i shall ( though rudely ) draw some few lineaments , by which you may guesse at the rest . let it not then be accounted flattery , if i take up the first part of the text , and apply it in particular to him : mark this perfect , and behold this upright man . mark him in his life , how exemplary ? behold him in his death , how happy ? not to expatiate in the characters of his life , i shall limit my discourse , by a double consideration : mark him as a magistrate , behold him as a man ; mark him as a publique governour , behold him as a private christian ; and in both ( setting aside humane frailties . ) you shall finde him well worthy these characters in the text , perfect , and vpright . . to make up a perfect and upright magistrate , two things are especially requisite : wisdom in discerning , impartiallity in judging : both of which were eminent in this worthy , whom god indued with a perspicacious eye , to discerne between things that differ ; and a resolute heart to doe justly , without any respect to persons . he was farre from casars temper , who said , melior causa cassii ; sed denegare bruto , nihil possum : cassius his cause is better , but i cannot deny my friend brutus . private respects could not sway him in publique censures ; he put off all relations to a friend , when he put on the robes of a magistrate ; he was neither backward to encourage virtue , nor yet to punish vice , and though otherwise , of a tender , and melting disposition , yet in matters of judicature he was wont to say , a foolish pitty , is cruelty . in summe , the integrity of his spirit , in administration of justice was so evident , that i doubt not , but many in this congregation who sat with him in publick courts can abundantly attest it : it pleased this city to put him upon severall places of great trust and honour ; & not many years since , he was thought worthy to be invested with the highest office of dignity and authority ; in which he behaved himself so faithfully , couragiously , & discreetly , that i may justly say , his place did not so much honor him , as he his place . a true patriot indeed he was , losing , for a time , his liberty , hazarding his estate , shall i say his life ? for the defence of this city , which he then conceived to be surrounded with dangers . . you have seen his steps as a magistrate , behold him now as a christian : a perfect , and an upright saint is one , who , though not exactly , yet intentionally observes the precepts of both tables ; giving ( at least in desire , and endeavour ) to god and man , that which of right belongs unto them . of both these , we shall finde him a most conspicuous patterne . . behold him in his religion , he was one who copied out his life , according to the old way of christianity ; wherein he writ so fair a hand , that i believe few come near him . in his devetions he was neither foolishly factious , nor popishly superstitious : he worshiped god in that way , which the papists call heresie , and schismatiques call popery . his delight was fervent in , and therefore his repaire frequent to the house of god ; esteeming ( according to the hebrew proverb ) those garments most gay , which were sullied with the dust of the temple . and as his often addresses to these publique places of worship whilst he lived : so the large summes of money he gave to the edifying , and repairing of them when he died , fully proclaime that to be true of him , which david said of himselfe , the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up . singular was his reverence in attending to gods word , and affectionate his respect to the dispensors of it , esteeming them highly in love for their workes sake ; among whom i must gratefully acknowledge my self ( though the unworthiest ) to be one , who had no small share in his favour . this cordiall love of his to gods messengers , was so much the more to be commended in him , by how much it is so rarely practiced among us . that complaint of the prophet jeremy , being too much verified in this our age , they respect not the person of the priest : and withall , it was so much the more imitable , in that it was not onely verball , but reall ; in expression , but action ; in respect , but relief of those whom he thought orthodox , & found necessitous , to whom ( besides many particular , and liberall supplies in his life ) he hath bequeathed an hundred pounds at his death . adde to all this , that which indeed denominates him the vpright man in the text : he gave meales of private devotion to his soul . 't is a good saying of the father , non est vera religio , quae cum templo relinquitur . that religion is not sincere , which leaves a man at the church doore ; if you will find out a mans integrity follow him home , trace him to his closet ; observe his conscientious regard of secret devotions : this ( i am certainly informed , by them that intimately knew him ) was his practice , often retiring himself in secret : vbi lacrymas non hominibus offerebat , sed deo , where he poured forth teares to his god , for his own , and the sinnes of the nation : yea , not onely in the day , but night , in his closet , but on his bed he sought his god : often expressing to his no lesse dearly , then deservedly beloved soninlaw , how glad he was of his frequent wakings in the night , since thereby he had opportunity to praise his god , and pray for the settlement of this miserably distracted church and kingdome . . you have seen him in relation to god , behold him in reference to men , and truly , in what relation soever you please to view him , you shall find him praise-worthy . whilst blest with a consort , he was an affectionate husband . towards his children a tender father . to his servants , a loving and helpfull master . to his acquaintance a faithfull friend , and in his commerce with all men , a just dealer . i cannot stay to inlarge on any of these , onely let me present to you , that grace of charity wherein i am confident he out-stript many , though otherwise of equall rank with him . as god had blessed him with a fair estate , so he gave him a large heart : nor was he more carefull by industry to get , then forward by charity to give . he had learnt the best derivation of dives from divid● , dividing much of his estate among those that were indigent ; besides , those pious uses formerly mentioned , he hath contributed much to charitable ends . to the towne of plymouth , which had the honour to be the place of his birth , five hundred pounds , for the yearly cloathing of their poore . to this parish , whereof he was a principall member , two hundred pounds ; besides various other gifts to severall hospitalls ; for the releasing of prisoners , and the like . and that which was most deservedly imitable in him , was that he 〈◊〉 the light of his good workes to be carried before , as well as behind him . he made his owne eyes the over-seers , and hands the executors of his charitable minde : witnesse , besides many private , and personall reliefs , that ample guift of five hundred pounds which in his life he bestowed on christs hospitall , of which he was sometimes a president . and which was no small incouragement to him , and may be to others , in shewing workes of mercy , he found that he gathered by scattering , his store encreased by distributing ; and that bread againe in his cupboard which he had cast on the waters . considering all this which hath been said , ( whereof not one tittle is more then what i either knew my selfe , or have beene credibly informed of : ) i think envie it selfe cannot deny him ( in an evangelicall sense ) the title of a perfect , ( or if that may be too much , yet of an vpright ) man . there is yet one character more , which the vulgar reading affords , and i cannot omit , it so fitly agrees with him : and that is , vir pacificus , he was a man of peace ; he much desired unity in affection , where there was diversity of opinion ; and therefore he was wont to say , there should be more love amongst us : if my friend differ from me in judgement , let me shew love to his person , though i dislike his opinion ; and let me pray that god would direct him in the right way . neither his prayers , nor counsells were wanting to the peace of church and state : which peaceable disposition , however in this our contention ; age it be accounted a crime , yet , i am sure in gods esteeme , 't is a pearl of great price ; and whilst men look upon such as their enemies ; god reckons them as his children . to shut up this , it was a notable speech of antigonus when zeno died ; quale theatrum amist ? meaning that in his life he beheld a representation of many excellent virtues , with which he was inamour'd . the like complaint may all who knew this worthy knight , take up concerning him : what a looking glasse of virtues , theatre of graces have we lost ? one , in whom there was a rare combination of severity , and meeknesse ; gravity , and courtesie ; charity , and frugality ; zeale , and discretion . i cannot better resemble him then to the stone garamantides , which , though it cast no great lustre outwardly , tamen intus habet aureas guttas ; yet hath golden drops within ; his delight being more in internall sincerity , then in externall showes . to draw to an end , his end must needs be comfortable , whose life was so profitable ; and indeed so it was ; there were a paire of virtues , worthy our observation , which he express'd in his sicknesse : patience , and confidence . a quiet submission to gods will , and a sweet repose in gods mercie ; both which , though opportunity favour'd not me to be a personall witnesse of , yet i doubt not but my reverend brother ( who officiates in this place , and was often with him ) can sufficiently attest . the pangs of his disease ( which could not but be grievous ) he under-went with a quiet cheerfulnesse . and when his friends that stood by him , minded him of making his peace with god ; he returned this answer , ( worthy to be written in letters of gold , and fit to be engraven on all our hearts ) remember thy creator in the dayes of thy youth ; old age and sicknesse are no fit times to make peace with heaven : blessing god that his peace was not then to make . so that now i may very well take up the latter part of the text , and assert it of him , the end of this man was peace . he dyed in that peace , which was promised to abraham , before that utter ruine comes , which seemes to hang over his native countrey . he dyed in peace , in his owne house , not in a prison , after all his sufferings , quietly breathing forth his last , in his owne bed . and which was best , he dyed with a quiet mind , in that comfortable sense he had of his reconciliation to god , through faith in the merits of his saviour . nor must i forget to apply the vulgar reading of this latter clause in my text , to him , there are remainders to this peacefull man ; the relict of an hopefull posterity : god lengthning his dayes so far , as to see not onely his children , but his childs children : upon whose heads , i doubt not , but his graces , through gods mercy , will procure a plentifull showre of blessings to be poured down . and not onely so , but to him likewise there was the remainder of a good name ; like a taper of pure wax , he burn'd clearly in his life , and hath left a sweet savour behind him at his going out . and as i hope his soule now partakes of that glory which is prepared for the saints ; so to his body that must now be-laid in the grave , there is the remainder of a glorious resurrection , to that immortall blisse which is reserv'd in heaven for all them that love the appearing of christ . let not then his children or allies grieve beyond measure , because not without hope : let them not spend too many teares in vaine upon his grave , but rather let them , and all we who know him , esteeme his memory blessed ; and though we can now no longer marke him going before us , or behold him conversing among us , yet let us still remember him , and that so , as to resemble him : let us so imitate those graces which here he practised , that we may come at last to be with him , in that glory whereof he is now possest for ever . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- plin. . notes for div a e- musc. in loc. mol. in loc. gen. . mat. . . . bernard . rom. . . gen. . . cor. . . 〈◊〉 . . heb. . . collos. . . august . ●● . heb. . . mat. . . aug. job . . & . psal. . . ephes. . . aquinas in cor. . . 〈…〉 bernard . bernard . phil . . james . . thes. . . isay . . . kings . christus non loquitur de infirmitatibus sanctorii communibus , sed accusat singularem episcopi hypocrisin . opera igitur plena non absolute perfecta , sed siv●●ra negat in illo se in v●●●sse , par. in loc. rev. . . gen. . . prov. . . musc. foelix . simplex in unoquoque genere est perfectum . prior abstinentiam damni , posterior collationem boni denotat , hug. nulli 〈…〉 preximo agendo . lvr. resp●●● inno●●●●… deum , aquit●● proximus , hug. james . . king. . , . psal. . . arist. auct . de duplici martyrio . job . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} jer. . . mat. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept custodi innocentiam & vide aquitatem . vulg. psal. . . levit. . . . . reg . . greg. prov. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} prov. . . illud pro certo habemus esse reliquies homini pacifico hominem integrum qui cum omnibus pacifice versatur reliquias & posteritatem & successionem generis hab●●…rii . agell . in loc. dabit deus homini pacifico , ut relinquat silios post ●● . lor. in loc. psal. . . reliquit justus post mortem suā memoriam justitiae suae bo●am , & deus fibi reliquit prami atcrna . aug. eceles. . . ovid . psal. . . prov. . . reservat reliquies paradis● gaudium aternum . hug. praemia aterna deus justis reliquit . lor. moll . eccles. . . judg. . . deut. . . xenoph. chrysost. dyonis . bern. luk. . gen. . . pacis vocabulū apud hebraos ●●●…ssime patet . drus . moll . in loc. rev. . . ambros. bern. mat. . . gal. . . isay . . rom . . prov. . . isay . . luke . . heb. . . plaut. asin . hes . psal. . . quod ego observavi longa experientia , idem , tu quoque videbis , si diligenter attenderis . mol. in loc. heb. . . zephan . . . mat . . isay . . psal. . . heb. . . exod. . . cor. . . james . . num. . . noli pracipitare jadictum nec ferre sententiam ex proximo intuitu . mol. in locum . glos. aug. cor. . . eccles . . exod. . . apoc. . . heb. . . . bern. greg. naz. psal. . . thes. . . lam. . . lact. hier. de nepoc . lamentation, mourning, and woe sighed forth in a sermon preached in the parish-church of st. martin in the fields, on the th day of september : being the next lords-day after the dismal fire in the city of london / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) lamentation, mourning, and woe sighed forth in a sermon preached in the parish-church of st. martin in the fields, on the th day of september : being the next lords-day after the dismal fire in the city of london / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by tho. newcomb for william grantham, london : . reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- luke xix, -- sermons. fires -- england -- london. london (england) -- history -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion lamentation , mourning and woe . sighed forth in a sermon preached in the parish-church of st. martin in the fields , on the th day of september . being the next lords-day after the dismal fire in the city of london . by nath. hardy d. d. d. r. chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , and vicar of the said parish-church . lam. . . is it nothing to you all you that pass by ? behold and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow which is done unto me , wherewith the lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger . london , printed by tho. newcomb for william grantham , at the sign of the black bear in westminster-hall . . to the right worshipful sir thomas adams , knight and baronet . sir , i first preached , and have now published this discourse as a testimony of my sorrow for londons ruines . if the phrase and composure be ( as i am conscious they are ) very defective , my apology is , that it was a time of distraction ; besides , broken language is the best rhetorick upon a mournful occasion : and considering those manifold relations and obligations i have to that once illustrious city , it will not ( i hope ) be looked upon as a presumption , that i have thus publickly expressed my sorrow ; for that cloud of smoke which hath covered her , or rather that flame of fire which hath laid her honour in the dust . london was the place of my birth , baptism , education , and ( excepting those years which i lived in the university of oxford ) in and about the city , hath been the place of my abode and habitation to this day . it is now full twenty and seven years since i entered into holy orders , eighteen whereof i exercised my ministerial function in that one parish - church of st. dyonis , which together with many more ( proh dolor ) is now laid waste . and , though i must confess my self highly obliged as in special to many persons of honour and quality , so in general to all sorts of inhabitants in this parish , where by gods providence i now am , and have ( according to my slender ability ) officiated well nigh six years , whose merciful preservation in this late imminent danger , i heartily congratulate , and praise god for : yet i cannot but acknowledge those many and great kindnesses which in those years i received ; and that not only ( though chiefly ) from that particular parish , but several other citizens , as well of the upper , as the lower sort : so that though i wanted not some enemies , i bless god , i found many friends , with whom if i should not affectionately sympathize in this their calamity , i should justly incur the odious brand of ungrateful and obdurate : nay , if i forget thee ( o london ) let my right hand forget her cunning ; if i do not remember thee , let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth . being upon these considerations ( honoured sir ) resolved as to the publication of the sermon , i know not to whom more sutably than your self i should make the dedication ; and that both in reference to my self in particular , and the city in general . among my numerous acquaintance in the city , i have great reason to look upon you as a singular friend , as well as a prime parishioner in that place where i lived so long : nor must i forget to own not only that liberal bounty , those free entertainments , but those sage advices , and forward encouragements which i received from you in the late perilous times , when it was a crime to own a prelatical clergy-man . among the inhabitants of the city , you are the principal mourner . the kingdom calls the city her mother , and the city calls you her father , as being the eldest among the aldermen ; not only in respect of years , but office ; none now surviving who before you had the honour to have the sword carried before them : and who should be chief mourner at the daughters funeral , but her father ? and though i easily believe your particular losses are great , yet i dare say such is your compassion , that you are much more affected with the publick misery , than your own damage ; and such your devotion , that you are most afflicted with those iniquities which have procured this misery . upon this account , i am confident you often turn aside ( in your meditations ) to see this sad fight , and probably have prevented me in what i cannot but take notice of , how within the revolution of less than seven years , we have lived to see a most joyful , and a most doleful sight . the one of the sun breaking forth , the other of the fire breaking out . that of the king in his beauty , this of the city in its ashes . that a representation of heaven , and this of hell. that in the spring of the year . this in the autumn of the year . it cannot be imagined with what gladness of heart all loyal subjects beheld their native lawful king , after a twelve years tedious exile , return to his throne ; and not in an hostile , but amicable manner pass through his chief city to his royal palace , welcomed with the multiplied shouts and acclamations of all sorts . nor can it be expressed with what sadness of heart all good people beheld the flaming fire , as it were a conqueror , riding upon the wings of the wind from street to street , with a triumphant rage through that great city , eating up her habitations , casting down her goodly structures to the earth ; and not ceasing , till he that said to it go , said also to it stay. had the sight of that wonderful and merciful restauration quickned us ( as it ought ) to sutable returns of gratitude and obedience , we probably had never beheld this dreadful and woful desolation . and since the former could not allure us to our duty , i would to god this latter may yet at length affright us from our sins : then i should comfortably hope , what i doubt not we all earnestly desire , a resurrection of this city out of her rubbish , to a more glorious estate than before . which ( worthy sir ) that ( if it be gods blessed will ) your age may be prolonged to see , and thereby prevent the bringing of your grey hairs with sorrow to the grave ; and however , that whensoever you go hence , the blessings of heaven may rest upon the heads of your posterity : and as you have been a vigilant , diligent , prudent and faithful senator in this terrestrial city , so you may ( after a long course finished on earth ) be a triumphant citizen , and have an everlasting habitation in that heavenly city of the living god , where the moth frets not , the rust eats not , the fire consumeth not ; is the uncessant prayer of , sir , your most affectionate friend , nath : hardy . lamentation , mourning and woe . st. luke , cap. . ver . . and when he was come near , he beheld the city , and wept over it . i have no sooner read the text , but i suppose you all reflect upon the doleful occasion of handling it ; how forcible are right words , saith job ? and much more when they are sutable . the words of the wife ( saith solomon ) are as nails , and as goads , to make a deep impression upon the auditors , but then especially when they are fitted to the season . such is this scripture i have now read , seasonable ; ey ( be it spoken with submission to the divine appointment ) too seasonable , whil'st that late dismal conflagration of our neighbour city calls upon , nay , crieth aloud to us all to tread in the footsteps of our saviours deportment toward jerusalem , who when he came near , beheld the city , and wept over it . caesar said vaingloriously of himself , veni , vidi , vici ; i came , i saw , i overcame . here our evangelist saith of christ , what he did piously , venit , vidit , flevit , he came , he saw , he wept : and these three acts of christ , are the three parts of the text. his approach , when he was come near , his aspect , he behold the city , his tears , and wept over it . these three did one make way for the other , he came near that he might behold , and beholding he weepeth . indeed the last is the principal , to which the two other are preparatory ; and therefore passing through these , i shall chiefly insist upon that . i. the first act here mentioned , is christs coming near . appropinquation is a local motion , wherein there is terminus à quo , a place from which we depart ; and terminus ad quem , a place to which we draw near , and this is here affirmed concerning christ. surely then christs body ( as well as ours ) is circumscribed in one certain place , so as it cannot be simul in utroque termino , in many places at once . to what purpose else those various peregrinations of our saviour , who , as st. peter saith , went about doing good , if he could at once have been in those several places whither he went. and if he could not be at once in many places on earth , much less can he be in heaven and earth together . when he was on earth , he was not in heaven ( saith vigilius ) and now he is in heaven , he is not on earth . and if he cannot be in many , much less can he be in every place ; it being impossible that he should come near to any place , whereas he was there before ; or go from it , since he must be there still ; so that it were easie from this scripture , to confute the multipresence of the romanists , and omnipresence of the lutherans : but controversies ill befit the pulpit at any time , especially in such a dolorous time as this , and therefore i pass it over . and yet i must not leave this first act of christs coming near to jerusalem , till i have taken notice upon what account it was , and what might be the reason of his approach : for , first , jerusalem was at this time a very wicked city , a sink of filth , a den of thieves , and a cage of unclean birds , and therefore ( one would think ) most unfit for the holy iesus to draw nigh to . the voice from heaven said concerning babylon , come out of her ( my people ) not come near to her ; and it is st. pauls question , intending a negation , and thereby a confirmation of the dehortation , what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? what communion hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath christ with belial ? but we must know , . on the one hand , that as the historian saith of the river dee in wales , that it passeth through a lake called pimble meere , but mingleth not with its waters ; or as the fish , which remaineth fresh , notwithstanding it doth not only swim , but suck in the salt water : so our blessed lord drew near to wicked persons and places , and yet was not defiled or infected by them . he is called by the prophet malachy , the sun of righteousness ; and as the sun , though it cast forth its beams upon the filthy dunghil , receiveth no pollution from it : no more did christ from those noisom places to which he approached ; and , . on the other hand , he was sent by his father , especially to the jews , iis primò missus quibus promissus ; and that among others , to discharge the office of a prophet ; nay , in respect of the personal performance of that office , he was not sent but to them . accordingly we find him in the subsequent verses , reproving their iniquity , and foretelling their calamity ; which he could not have done , had he not come near to them ; for this reason he drew near to , and suffered publicans and sinners in jerusalem to draw near to him ; since , as he saith himself , he came to call sinners to repentance . it is not absolutely unlawful for good men to approach wicked places ; and it is not only lawful , but expedient for men of god to converse with that people to whom they are sent , though never so wicked . indeed since it is not with us , as it was with christ ; he was not , but we are too capable of infection ; and more apt to receive evil , than do good ; we have therefore the greater need to be watchful and circumspect : but since the whole need not the physitian , but the sick ; those who are appointed by god to be the physitians of souls , not only may , but ought upon just occasion offered , to draw nigh , and visit the most desperate patients : but , secondly , jerusalem was the place where christ was to suffer . he knew how maliciously they were bent against him , and how greedily they thirsted after his blood , and therefore the greater wonder that he should come near such a people . but the answer is easily returned , he was sent to them , and no dangers could divert him from the errand about which he was sent . thus ought we to run all hazards in the discharge of our duty . it was a great crime in jonah to flee to tarshish , when he was sent by god to nineveh : and it was a singular fortitude in st. paul , to go to those places whither he was sent , though he knew that bonds and afflictions did abide him in every city . we must not needlesly put our selves upon dangers , nor can we take comfort in such sufferings . christ gave leave to his disciples when persecuted in one city , to flie unto another . and wisdom teacheth us , not to draw near to , but avoid those places which threaten our ruine , except we have an express call from heaven , and then piety obligeth us not to consult with flesh and blood ; but as luther , when cited to wormes to answer for himself ( though much disswaded by his friends ) resolved to go thither , though all the tiles of the houses were devils : so ought we to encounter with all perils , not fearing to follow gods call , be the danger never so great ; upon which account it was that christ came near to ierusalem . and yet there was more than this in it , christ did not only approach jerusalem , notwithstanding but because he was , and that he might suffer there . he was as a prophet , so a priest , and such a priest as was to offer himself a sacrifice . now all sacrifices were to be offered at jerusalem , that being the place which god had chosen for that end ; and therefore the time of his offering up being at hand , he cometh near to ierusalem , and coming near , ii. beholds the city , which is his second act . the person here spoken of being god-man , might be said to behold the city at this time with an humane and a divine eye . or if you conceive him here spoken of only as man ; he beheld the city with an eye of sense , and an eye of prophesie . with his bodily eyes he beheld the city , as those did , who speaking of the temple , said , what goodly stones are here ? he saw a beautiful city environed with strong walls , adorned with a magnificent temple , and other stately fabricks , replenished with wealthy citizens , and furnished with all manner of conveniencies : but with the eye of his mind enlightned by divine revelation , he saw this city encompassed with malicious enemies , the walls sacked , houses burnt , inhabitants slain , and not one of those goodly stones left upon another . yea , all this , though not to come to pass till many years after , he saw as certainly and clearly , as if it were then acted before his eyes . to foreknow future contingencies is one of gods peculiars , to whom all things past , present , and to come ; and those not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , necessary , but casual are at once obvious : but yet there were men of god to whom he was pleased to impart the knowledge of what was to come to pass , according to that of amos , surely the lord god will do nothing , but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets . indeed this light of immediate revelation ceased after the sacred canon was compleated ; and though god still can if he please , yet it is that which he seldom , if at all , hath done since ; and therefore those who pretend upon the account of any extraordinary inspiration to foresee and foretell the ruine of places , are to be looked upon either as subtle-headed impostors , or at best , giddy-headed zelots . nor are we to give any greater regard to our prognosticating astrologers , who presume to read that in the stars , which god never wrote there ; and abuse them to that end for which god never appointed them . how fallible , conjectural , and uncertain that fore knowledge is which they have by this means , appeareth not only in that the events which they foretell do oft-times prove contrary , but that as to the most remarkable accidents which befall ( such as the late dismal conflagration ) they are usually silent . and yet ( my beloved ) god hath not left us altogether destitute of means whereby we may at least probably foresee misery and calamity coming upon the places where we live . the prudent man ( saith solomon once and again ) foreseeth the evil , and in this respect his eyes are said to be in his head , the upper part of his body ; and as they that are on the upper ground can see afar off , so doth the wise man , whil'st the fools eyes are in his feet ; nay , he is ready-to stumble upon , and fall into danger before he will see it . this seeing eye , as well as the hearing ear , is that which god is ready to confer ; and therefore if any man lack wisdom , let him ask of god ( saith st. james ) who , as solomon assureth us , layeth up wisdom for the righteous ; and upon our asking will lay it out upon us . if you shall enquire yet more particularly , how by the eye of prudence a man may foresee evil to come ? i answer , . by considering the several threats which god hath denounc't in his word against sinners ; for since gods threatnings are no less true than his promises , and though the sentence be not speedily executed , yet it can by no means but repentance be prevented ; the prudent man may foresee , that sooner or later the evils threatned , will fall upon them that go on in their sins . . by comparing the city , or place where he liveth , with those cities and places which are recorded in holy writ , as the instances of gods vengeance : for since ( as st. peter saith ) of the cities of sodom and gomorrah , it is no less true of the rest , that they were made an ensample to them who should after live ungodly , we may hence infer , that though not the same , yet some calamity or other will befall wicked places now , as well as then ; and , . lastly , by observing the method of divine dispensation in his iudgments . how usually he first striveth with mercies , then with judgments ; how he giveth warning first , and then striketh ; how he proceeds from corrective , to destructive punishments ; we may foresee that that people , upon whom mercies , and warnings , and lesser judgments have had no kindly influence , are near to destruction . and oh how happy were it , if we would thus behold desolation before it come ; for then perhaps we may prevent it , and never behold the desolation : or if not , in respect of the community , yet according to that of solomon , the prudent foreseeth the evil , and hideth himself , we may prevent our own ruine , and provide for our safety ; or if not so , yet according to that known saying , praemeditati mali mollis ictus , evil foreseen is better born ; we shall the more easily sustain it when it cometh : but alas , such is our iniquity , as well as infelicity , we will not believe till we feel , nor see till it is too late to avoid ; and then we sigh forth the fools language , non putâram , i did not think this mischief would have come . it is observed of some creatures which have only sense , that they foresee evils by a natural instinct ; swallows the fall of a ruinous house , cranes the coming of a storm , and such like ; and yet we who are endued with reason , will not take notice of approaching judgments . oh let us at length be wise , and imitate our blessed lord as far as we can , in foreseeing those evils which threaten us , though we cannot with that certainty which he did behold jerusalem in ashes . iii. and now it is high time to take a view of that influence which this approach and aspect had upon him , and that is expressed in the last act , he wept over it . christum flevisse saepe , risisse nunquam legimus . it is not unfitly observed , that we read often of christs tears , but never of his laughter . holcot reckons up seven times of his weeping , at his birth , circumcision , for judas , lazarus , over jerusalem , in the garden , and on the cross. it is not improbable , but that , as other infants , he at his birth did salute the world with tears , and that the pain of circumcision did extract tears from him ; but neither of these are mentioned in holy writ . it is said indeed in respect of judas , he was troubled in spirit , not that he wept , though not improbably that trouble might express it self by weeping . three times are expressed , that for lazarus by one evangelist , st. john ; this over ierusalem by another , st. luke ; the other is mentioned by no evangelist , but the apostle st. paul in his epistle to the hebrews , and yet whether those tears refer to the garden , or the cross , or both , is a question ; it is very likely , he who sweat drops of blood , at the same time shed tears ; and it as likely that his prayers on the cross were accompanied with tears : it is certain , in the one place or other , or both , he wept ; his tears for lazarus , were the tears of a friend ; those on the cross , the tears of a priest ; these over ierusalem , the tears of a prophet ; for as a prophet he beheld ierusalems ruine , and beholding , weepeth . it is a good observation of origen concerning our saviour , omnes beatitudines quas in evangelio docuit , exemplo sirmavit . he confirmed by his pattern all those beatitudes which he preached in his sermon : he was meek , and poor in spirit , pure and merciful , the great peacemaker , and a sufferer for righteousness sake ; and that he was a mourner , appeareth here by his weeping . for the fuller discussion whereof , i shall desire you to take notice of these four circumstances , who , when , over whom , and for what : and , . who it was that wept , christ the son of the living god made man , indeed his very weeping bespeaketh him a man , and that not in appearance only , but reality . a phantasm cannot weep , a picture cannot grieve ; so that from hence , we may infer a strong argument against the apollinarian hereticks , who imagined , that christ had but an imaginary body : nor doth this only argue him a man , but such a man as was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , subject to the same passions with us . tears are not only indices naturae , but doloris , testimonies of humane nature ; but of humane passion , particularly that of grief and sorrow , whence it followeth . that the passions of the mind are not in themselves sinful , else the holy and undefiled jesus who knew no sin ( to wit , experimentally and practically ) could not have been subject to them . the truth is , they are very apt ( like the wind , to be boystrous , on in a wrong corner ) to exceed in their measure , or err in their object , and so degenerate into sins and vices ; love into lust , anger into rage , and grief into impatiency : but in themselves they are not sinful , as being the products of nature , not of the corruption of it . that stoical precept of putting off humane affections , as it is impossible , so it is not necessary were in possible . we need not banish , but only imprison our passions ; not extirpate , but regulate them ; for christ himself gave various expressions of several passions , and here in particular of his grief by his tears . besides , this notion of the who in my text as to his being a man , and that subject to passion , i must not forget to mind you that he was a prophet , a man of god ; and being to utter a sad message , delivers it with tears . the priests and prophets of the lord are resembled to eyes , and those eyes said to be like the fish-pools of heshbon , to note that they should be watry eyes distilling with tears , in which respect , among the many ceremonies of the romish ordination , an handkerchief is given to the person ordained for wiping away those tears which should continually run down . indeed tears well become us in all our offices . do we pray for the people ? our prayers and tears do well together . let the priests weep between the porch and the altar , and say , spare thy people , o lord. do we instruct the ignorant , or comfort the dejected , or reprove the sinner , or threaten the obstinate ! we should express our pity by our tears . many walk ( saith s. paul ) of whom i have told you often , and now tell you weeping , that they are enemies of the cross of christ. and here our saviour being to denounce gods judgements against , weepeth over jerusalem . . the next considerable circumstance is the when : and that , as appeareth by the preceding context , was inter acclamatioues , in a time of joy . when the people welcomed him with shouts , he approacheth them with sighs . he would let us see how little he was taken with the pomp and splendor of the world , and intimateth a special act of prudence , namely , to mingle our joyes with some sorrowful thoughts , which may serve as a check to their exuberancy . it is observable how king david in the very same psalm where he speaketh of his still waters , green pastures , full cup , spread table , taketh occasion to mention the shadow of death . solomon tells us , there is a time to laugh , and a time to weep ; we may carry it further , the time of laughing is a fit time of weeping , lest we should laugh too much . it is the usual dispensation of divine providence , to make all our earthly comforts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , bitter-sweets , checker work , black and white , in our most prosperous estate , sending some cross event , which may be an allay to our joy ; and it is the dictate of humane prudence , to present to our selves some sorrowful thoughts in the time of our greatest mirth . we may observe when men laugh most heartily , tears stand in their eyes : we have often beheld a showre of rain fall in a sun-shine ; we use to eat our sweet meat with sharp sauce : thus let us intermingle something of sadness with our delights , after the example of our saviour , who wept at a time of the greatest solemnity of joy , when the multitudes that went before , and followed after , cryed , hosanna to the son of david . . the next circumstance to be discussed , is the whom : and that is expressed in the text to be the city , to wit , of jerusalem . and that which i would here take notice of , is the enmity which jerusalem had to him , and the love which he shewed to jerusalem : doloris may stand in the poets verse , as well as timoris , and it is as true in the sense , love is full of grief , as well as fear : when he wept for lazarus , the jews said , see how he loved him ; may we not say the same here : see how he loved the city over which he weepeth ; and how much this city hated him , appeareth by that bloudy murther which in a few days after this , was by them committed upon him : he commiserateth them who had no compassion for him ; nay , he sheddeth tears for them that shed his bloud . it was his precept in the sermon on the mount , given in charge to all his disciples , love your enemies ; and lo , here he practiseth it , and well doth it become us to follow both his command , and his example . indeed we read in the psalms , the righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance ; but that is on the churches implacable enemies ; otherwise it is solomons caveat , rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth ; nor is there any thing more truly christian , than not onely not to rejoyce , but mourn for our enemies misfortune : and let me tell you , it is the best way of revenge , when our enemy hungers , to feed him , when he thirsts , to give him drink ; not onely to be sorry for , but to succour him , since hereby we heap coals of sire upon his head . thus let our love to our enemy , be the love of the heart , not feigned , but sincere , not counterfet , but cordial , the love of the tongue in praying and blessing , the love of the hand in doing good , and the love of the eye in weeping for them that hate , that curse , that do evil to us , and that when misery cometh upon them . . there is onely one question more to be resolved , and that is , for what christ weepeth in reference to jerusalem ? and that will appear by the following context , to be her sins and her sufferings . of both a word . . he weepeth for her sins , in that she did not know the things of her peace , as appeareth in the next verse ; nay , as we find in that paralel place , that she stoned the prophets , and killed those who were sent unto her with the glad tidings of peace ; nay , not onely the wickedness which she had , but which he foresaw she would commit against himself , in putting to shame and death , him who was the lord of life and glory ; and that notwithstanding all her wickedness , she remained secure and obstinate , according as it is said elsewhere by s. mark , that christ looked round about the people , and was grieved for the hardness of their hearts . the wickedness of bad men ought to be the sorrow of good men , and when they are so wicked as not to grieve for themselves , they grieve so much the more for them . lots righteous soul was vexed ( as s. peter tells us ) with the unclean conversation of the sodomites : david saith of himself , rivers of waters run down mine eyes , because they keep not thy law. and again , i beheld the transgressors , and was grieved : s. paul , weepeth for those among the philippians , whose god was their belly : and s. hierom said to an impenitent wretch , hoc plango quod teipsum non plangis , this i bemoan that thou dost not bemoan thy self . this is that which holy men always do upon a threefold account . of piety and devotion towards god , whose name is blasphemed and dishonoured by their violation and contempt of his law. of pity and compassion towards the sinners , who are running headlong to perdition , and perceive it not . of charity to themselves , in avoiding hereby the guilt of other mens sins ; which the very not grieving , contracts upon those that behold them , and also escaping the punishment which those sins bring upon the places where they live , for so we read of a mark set upon the mourners for the abominations in jerusalem . and if upon these accounts we must weep for the sins of others , much more ought we every one for his own sins ; in this indeed we could not have our saviour for an example , who had no sins of his own to weep for , since he could not have been a saviour , had he been a sinner . but ( he excepted ) there was never any who had not sins enow of his own to bewail ; and truly , in vain doth he pretend to be troubled at the faults of others , who yet indulgeth to his own ; nay , hovv can he bemoan another , vvho doth not pity himself ; or vvill any man believe that he is offended at the dishonour done to god by others , vvho yet vvilfuly dishonours him himself ? and therefore , as our saviour exhorts , first to cast the beam out of our own eye , so let us be persvvaded , first to repent of our own sins , and then to weep over the sins of others . . but secondly , christ wept over jerusalems sufferings : whence observe . . others passion should move our compassion , and vve should mingle the wine of their afflictions vvith the water of our tears . there is no duty to which we are more frequently exhorted than that of mercy ; and what is misericordia , but miseria ad cor ; mercy , but the laying anothers miseries to heart . it was st. pauls precept , weep with them that weep ; and it was his practice , who is weak , and i am not weak . that golden rule , of doing to others , as we would they should do to us , holds true , as in many other particulars , so in this , that since we desire to be commiserated our selves , we should commiserate others . thus job , who crieth out , have pity on me , o you my friends , have pity on me ; saith also of himself , did not i weep for him that was in trouble ? was not my soul grieved for the poor ? there is nothing more humane , than for one man to sympathize with another . it is observed among swine and bees , unâ agrotante lament antur omnes ; if one be sick , the rest are sorry ; but much more sutable is it to our humane nature , and therefore cruebty is called inhumanity ; nay , there is nothing more divine , more christian than this ; and therefore st. paul calls upon us , to put on bowels of mercies as the elect of god , chosen to be his children , and consequently to resemble him ; upon which account , it is christs argument , be you merciful , as your father which is in heaven is merciful : nor was there any virtue did more illustriously shine forth in christ himself , an instance whereof he giveth us here in weeping over the city . . private , but much more publick calamities require our sympathy ; for such was this , not over a particular person or family , but a city . we use to say , bonum quò communius eo melius ; good is the better , by how much more it is communicated ; and evil , the further it spreads , the worse . it is an undeniable maxim , the whole is greater than any part ; and consequently , as the safety of the whole ought to be first preferred , so the calamity of it ought to be most condoled . every good man is of a publick spirit , and therefore deeply affected with common miseries : a few drops of water may quench a spark , but many buckets will not easily extinguish a great flame . in times of general calamity , we may well wish with jeremy , that our head were waters , and our eyes fountains of tears to weep day and night . . not only when we our selves are fellow-sufferers , but when we are only spectators of , we ought to be concerned in others miseries . our blessed lord was to ascend to heaven , and sit down at his fathers right hand long before the time of jerusalems misery , and yet it becometh the object of his sorrow . nehemiah was himself in the kings palace , a principal officer , a great favourite ; and yet by reason of jerusalems calamity , he sat down , and wept , and mourned . when we our selves are at liberty , we must remember them that are in bonds , as if we were bound with them ; nor must our own prosperity make us forgetful of others adversity . . all sorts of miseries , but especially grievous desolations , call for a lamentation ; no less was this which befell jerusalem , when not one stone left upon another which should not be thrown down . it was queen hesters plea to ahashuerus , we are sold , i and my people to be destroyed , and to perish ; if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen , i had held my tongue . look away from me ( saith the prophet esay ) i will weep bitterly ; and why so bitterly , for it is a day of trouble ( and that no small or slight trouble , but ) of treading down , and perplexity , breaking down the walls , and crying to the mountains . it is a doleful sight to behold the ship tossed up and down by the boystrous waves , but to see it sink into the sea , or dash in pieces against the rock , may well cause an outery . the deeper the wound is , the greater need of washing it with our tears ; and the heavier the burden , the greater need of our hands to help to bear it up . . lastly , if the foresight of misery when yet it is afar off , much more when it is near ; and if when it is near , much more the sight of it when actually brought upon a person or people , ought to move our pity and compassion . when hazael said to elisha , why weepeth my lord ? his answer was , because i know the evil thou wilt do to the children of israel : and much like was the reason of our saviours weeping here , who knew the evil which the romans would do to jerusalem : but when the evil is really done before our eyes , good reason our eye should affect our hearts with sorrow , and our hearts fill our eyes with tears . this , this , is that ( my beloved ) which i am this day to press upon my self and you , in reference to that doleful destruction which hath actually befallen our ierusalem , the once renowned , but now desolate city of london ; and her inhabitants that being near , and having beheld its conflagration , we would weep over it . it is not many weeks since we kept a joyful day of thanksgiving for the good hand of our god upon his majesties naval forces , in causing their enemies to flee before them ; and great reason we had to rejoyce in so seasonable a victory ! but alas ! the righteous god hath now turned our laughing into mourning , and our singing into sighing , whil'st we have been forced to flee from our houses . we read of marcus marcellus , that having besieged , and taken the famous city of syracus , he wept to see such citizens become his captives and slaves . and it is storied of titus vespastan , who was the instrument of gods vengeance upon this city in my text , that he did not invade it without tears ; and truly that late burning of the ships and goods , and houses of our enemies , though it was very justifiable , as an act of military iustice , done by persons empowred with royal authority for the avenging of former injuries ; and very acceptable , as a weaking of our enemies power to do future : yet as it was an act which brought ruine and destruction upon many private persons and families , some of whom might be in some sort innocent as to the publick quarrel ; it was matter of compassionate grief : but oh then what sadness should sit upon our spirits , whil'st we behold so great a destruction at home , a fire in our own bowels ! true it is , we of these parts have very great cause of joy in our particular preservation , since we deserved no less than they to have been devoured by the flame ; but to use the psalmists language , we have cause to rejoyce with trembling , lest the like misfortune befall our houses ; ey , and to rejoyce with weeping , because it hath befallen so many of our friends , neighbours , and fellow-citizens . indeed had it been a particular house and family , or some village , hamlet , town , or burrough , it would have been deplorable ; but magnum momentum est in nomine urbis , saith the orator : there is a great deal of weight in the name of a city , and consequently the ruine of it most lamentable . as among stars , there are of the first and second , and third magnitude ; and among ships , of the first , second and third rate : so among cities , there are greater and less ; and surely by how much the greater the city , the sadder the loss . what tears then , yea , rivers of tears ( were they like the goodly thames which runs by ) can be sufficient to bemoan the downfall of this so ancient , and so eminent a city . this city was called ( when in her glory ) by ammianus , marcellinus , augusta , the stately magnificent city ; but how is she now become angusta ? this large volume in folio abridged almost to an octavo , there being , as is probably computed , scarce a sixth part remaining within the walls . the shape of the city hath been observed to be like that of a laurel , and it was a good wish of him who desired that like the laurel , it might alwayes be green and flourishing : but this sad fire hath spoiled her of her greenness , and she is now become as it were one brand , withered , scorched , nay , burnt to ashes . one of the names anciently given to her was troja nova , and her citizens called troynovanters ; and behold now she is too like old troy in her constagration . i pray god it may not be said , i am seges ubi troja fuit , corn groweth where new , as well as old troy stood . chronologers tell us , i hat london was years older than rome ; and tacitus speaking of her above years ago , calleth her , londinum copid negotiarum maxime celebre , a very famous place for merchants ; ever since which time she was rising higher and higher in splendor and glory : but alas ! in a few dayes she is spoiled of all that beauty she had been advancing so many hundred years . we have not ( i suppose ) forgot that fatal blow by fire and gun-powder given to that ship which did wear her name ; but the loyalty of many worthy citizens in one year repaired that loss , by building a better , now deservedly called the loyal london . but who can tell how many years may pass before this city of london attain to her pristine lustre ! though yet i will not despair , but that in gods good time she may become more illustrious than before . a late writer having first given a full and particular account of this city , goeth on to parallel it ; not only with all the cities of these three kingdoms , but of the whole world , and prefers it before them : for having reckoned up about twenty several kinds of ornaments belonging to a city , he proveth by an induction of particulars , that though in some one or few of those ornaments , many other cities out-go her , yet , all taken together , she surpassed them all . and to all those excellencies which he mentioneth , i shall add one , in which i am sure no city could equalize her , the number of her learned , religious and painful preachers ; upon which account , the title which the city of quinzie in china attributed to her self ( for her high walls ) might have been given her , she was an heavenly city ; or to use our saviours language of capernaum , a city lifted up to heaven . and now who can refrain from weeping , to see this city almost stripped of all her ornaments , and her honour laid in the dust ? let the merchants weep for the downfall of that royal exchange ( where they used to drive on their mutual commerce ) with the several wharfs and keyes , which were so commodious for landing their goods . let the several companies weep for the ruine of their halls , where they were wont to meet each other in love and amity . let the poor orphans weep for the loss of that hospital , where so many thousands of them have been nourished and educated . let the priests weep , not as of old , between the porch and the altar ; but that now there are so many churches , where there is neither porch nor altar to weep between . let the parishioners weep , that they have now neither churches nor preachers ; whil'st those are so demolished as unfit for use , and these , as well as themselves , forced to look abroad for shelter . finally , let all the inhabitants of this city , and her adjacent parts , weep to consider how many families have not where to hide their heads , but are scattered up and down the fields for want of their habitations : yea , how many wealthy citizens are very much impoverished , and some of them brought to a morsel of bread . nor do i only call upon the city her self , but the court , the countrey , the whole kingdom , to weep over the cities destruction ; and that not only in regard of the particular losses which several persons throughout the kingdom undergo upon this account , but of the concern which the misfortune of this city is to king and kingdom . the city of london was as it were the dominical letter , by which the whole nation reckoned how the year would go about ; or as the golden number , by which we were wont to cast up our accounts . it was the saying of a judicious forreigner , that england might rather be said to be in london , than london in england . sure i am , the welfare of england was very much concerned in londons prosperity . some have enviously resembled her to the spleen , whose high swelling made the rest of the body lean : but i doubt we shall find , she may more truly be compared to the stomack , and the apologue made good ; whil'st the stomack wants supply , the rest of the members cannot thrive . if england be as the heavens , london was as the sun in those heavens ; must not darkness needs cover the whole heavens , when the sun is so much eclipsed ? if england be as the ring of gold , london was as the diamond , how little is the value of the ring , when the diamond is , if not wholly lost , yet very much cracked ? if england be as a goodly tree , london was as the root ; and when the root is withered , how can the tree flourish ? london was wont to be called camera regis , the kings chamber ; ey , and it might have been called the kings coffer , since besides the great income which her custom , excise and chimnies brought to the crown , she was ready to fill ▪ his hands with present coin upon all occasions : well may the king weep , nay , we need not call upon him ; i would to god all his subjects were as deeply sensible of this sad blow as he. london is called in the law , cor reipublicae & totius regni epitome , the heart of the commonwealth , and epitome of the whole kingdom . and she is no less justly , than usually stiled the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mother-city of the kingdom : well may all the daughter-cities , yea , all the people of the land take up a bitter wailing for this blow , which hath as it were stab'd them at the heart , and killed their mother . ey and especially at such a time as this , when , by reason of our forreign war , her assistance was so useful . sad indeed , to have the milch cow dry , when most need of milk ; and the cloud vanish , when most want of rain ; yea , as it were , the fountain to be empty , when most occasion for water . how stupid is that man ? how hard is that heart , which these considerations do not affect ? and yet this is not all , since the doleful influences of this calamity , in some sort , reach not only to the whole kingdom , but to all the protestant churches . there have not wanted daring prognosticators , who have presumed to foretell the destruction of rome , and the downfall of the pope this year ; no doubt , if they repent not of their superstitions and idolatries , vengeance will pursue them ; but it is not for us to know the times , nor to build positive predictions upon our interprepretations of dark prophecies : in the mean time we sadly behold the most famous protestant city of the world , become an heap of rubbish . i easily believe , our romish enemies rejoyce at this flame , and cry among themselves , o pulchrum spectaculum ! o goodly sight ! and perhaps our protestant adversaries rejoyce also ; but i doubt they will have little cause for it , when they weigh all things in a right balance . whither by that babylon mentioned in the revelation be understood pagan or papal rome , i shall not now dispute ; but sure i am , all protestant princes and churches have reason to make the like lamentation over london , which is said to be made over babylon , alas , alas , that great city which was clothed in sine linnen and purple , and scarlet , with gold and pearls , and precious stones ; for in one hour ( at most a few dayes ) she is made desolate ! all this while i have only set before you the sadness of the ruine , together with the doleful effects which attend it ; but now give me leave to enlarge , and increase your sorrow , by minding you of the causes , as well as the effects , entreating you to consider by whom , and for what it is , that this great desolation is befallen this great city . we read in the book of job , that the fire of god sell from heaven , and consumed his sheep . and god threatneth by his prophet amos against damascus , gaza , &c. that he would send a fire which should devour their palaces . and surely no other was this fire which hath laid waste so many beautiful churches , goodly fabricks and houses , than the fire of god , a fire of his sending . if there were any sons of the coal who kindled , or fomented the flame , yet they were the rod of gods anger , and the fire-balls in their hand his indignation ; and i both pray and hope , that if there were any such rods , they may themselves be cast into the fire , and receive their deserved punishment for so horrid a villany . if it were an accidental fire , occasioned by negligence and inanimadvertency , yet even that casualevent was of divine appointment : nor was it only the hand , but a special , signal hand of god , which appeareth among other things , chiefly in the concurrent wind by which the fire was carried on with an impetuous violence , for who was it but god , who was pleased at once both to stop the windows of heaven that it rained not , and brought forth the wind out of his treasuries , that it continued , till the fire had done that work which he determined should come to pass . and as we must acknowledge it was the merciful and powerful word of our god , which said to the fire ( as he doth to the sea ) hitherto thou shalt come , and no further : so it was no other than the angry and revengeful hand of god which caused the fire ( with the wind ) to bring upon the city such a generally destructive calamity . upon this consideration , it will be fit for us , as we look upon the burning to be the effect of gods wrath , to bewail the sins which have incensed it , and thereby procured this constagration : so that whereas all this while i have called upon you for tears of compassion , i must now exhort you to tears of compunction . i do not design ( beloved ) to upbraid london in this day of her calamity , far be it from me ; but i think it a very fit season for london to be put in mind of her iniquity . i would not confine the sins which have deserved this devastation only to london , nay , rather enlarge the accusation against the whole kingdom ; and as both prince and people will find themselves concerned in the sad effects of the flame , so all have reason to charge themselves with the kindling it . but as the judgment is fallen more immediately and most heavily upon the city ; so doubtless it concerneth the city more especially to remember and bewail her own sins : and whereas there were several parties , and men of various perswasions in that once populous city , i could heartily wish , that instead of throwing dirt in each others faces , they would throw each the first stone at themselves ; and instead of railing and reviling , they would all of them with weeping eyes bemoan first their own sins , and then the sins of one another . we read of josephs brethren , when their brother had put them in ward , they said one to another , we are verily guilty concerning our brother , in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us , and we would not hear ; therefore is this distress come upon us . i would to god it might be so with all the inhabitants of this city , now that so great distress is come upon us , to hear the voice of conscience , which if not quite seared , will speak at such a time , and to say one to another , we are verily guilty of these and these sins . now that god hath overthrown some among us , as god overthrew sodom and gomorrah , it is time surely for those who have been guilty of sodoms sins , to accuse themselves for their pride , fulness of bread , abundance of idleness , and not strengthning the hands of the needy . now that so many houses of god are burnt up , and laid waste in the city , and their teachers are removed from them ; it is time for those to bethink themselves , who either out of prophaneness have neglected , or out of schism vilified the houses of god ; and if not like this city of jerusalem killed and stoned , yet disheartned and contemned those who were sent unto them . now that many of our wealthy citizens are much weakned and impoverished in their estates , it is time for them to call to mind , how forward they were to part with their wealth for raising a rebellious war against their soveraign , which at last most tragically ended in his murder . now that such a well-ordered society ( as the city of london was ) is broken , and neighbors and friends are scattered up and down in several parts , and that the fire hath run through , and thrown down her goodly structures , it is a fit season for those cursed incendiaries to condemn themselves , who delighted in division , made wide breaches in church and state , between the king and his people ; and when time was , set the whole kingdom on flames ; yea , i fear still would , had they the like opportunity . now that their shops and tables , chambers and houses are demolished , their wares and goods either removed or consumed , it concerneth those to call themselves to an account , who have sequestred and plundered their neighbors goods and houses , and lands , ey , and those also who have kept houses of riot , chambers of wantonness , tables of surfeit , and shops of lying , deceit and perjury . this , this is that ( my brethren ) which the lords voice crieth at this time to the city , and which he expects from the inhabitants thereof , that we should every one so seriously and speedily reflect on his own sins , as to bewail them with proportionable grief ; and so much the rather now , because we did it not before , not this last year , when his hand of pestilence was so heavy upon us , and we so insensible of it . then he consumed our persons by the burning plague , and now our houses with the burning fire . then he removed us from our habitations , now he hath taken away our habitations from us ; and because there was not enough weeping then , therefore there should be the more weeping now . to draw to an end , i have i think said enough by this time to put you upon sprinkling your heads with ashes , girding your loins with sackcloth , filling your eyes with tears , and breaking your hearts with sorrow ; but i must withall tell you , that all is not done , when this is done . our weeping of compassion must be attended with a ready contribution towards their relief whom this fire hath undone . i hope there are not , and yet i would there were not any so cruel as to exact upon their necessity , who come to hire lodgings or houses of them , this were to add affliction to the afflicted ; nay , rather use them kindly : and to those who are not able to hire , give entertainment ; yea , let us willingly embrace whatsoever overtures may be proposed for repairing the breaches and raine of our metropolis . our weeping of compunction must be accompanied with reformation . oh let the heat of that flame not only thaw our frozen hearts into tears of godly sorrow , but melt away the dross of our corruption ; that the fire which was consuming to our houses , may be as a refiners fire unto our lives . let us pull down the strong holds of atheism and prophaness , luxury and uncleanness , blow up the turrets of pride and ambition , envy and faction ; burn up the thorns and bryars of hatred and malice , covetousness and oppression , the chaffe and rubbish of all manner of wickedness ; that so god may be entreated to spare the remnant of our habitations , and make up the ruines of those that are demolished , to give us beauty for ashes , and the oyle of gladness for the spirit of heaviness , when we shall behold a new london , ( like the phenix ) rise more gloriously out of the ashes of the old . amen , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e chap. . . eccles. . . acts . . revel . . . cor. . , . mal. . . luke . . mat. . . mat. . . jonah . . acts . , . mat. . . luke . . chap. . . prov. . . . . eccles. . . james . . prov. . . pet. . . prov. . . john . . chap. . . heb. . . cant. . . joel . . phil. ●● . . ver . , . ps. . . eccles. . . res est soliciti plena timoris amor . ovid. john . . matth. . , psal. . . prov. . . rom. . . ver . , , . matth. . . mark . . pet. . . ps. . . . ezek . . matth. . . rom. . . cor. . . matth. . . job . . . . coloss. . . luke . . jer. . . nehem. . . hester . . isa. . . kings . . psal. . . cic. howels , lond : matth. . . rev. . . chap. . . chap. . . . , . isa. . . job . . gen. . . amos . . ezek. . . the choicest fruit of peace gathered from the tree of life presented to the right honourable the house of peers, in a sermon preached before them at the abbey church of westminster, on april , , being the day of their solemn humiliation / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the choicest fruit of peace gathered from the tree of life presented to the right honourable the house of peers, in a sermon preached before them at the abbey church of westminster, on april , , being the day of their solemn humiliation / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by a. m. for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng bible. -- o.t. -- isaiah lvii, -- sermons. fast-day sermons. a r (wing h ). civilwar no the choicest fruit of peace gathered from the tree of life; presented to the right honourable the house of peers; in a sermon preached befor hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - rachel losh sampled and proofread - rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die martis , . maii. . ordered by the lords in parliament assembled , that m. nathaniel hardy is hereby desired to print and publish the sermon that he preached the . of april . in the abbey church westminster , before the lords of parliament , for which he hath their lordships thanks : and that no person shall presume to reprint or publish the said sermon , without his privity and approbation . jo. browne cleric . parliamentorum . the choicest fruit of peace gathered from the tree of life ; presented to the right honourable the house of peers ; in a sermon preached before them at the abbey church of westminster , on april . . being the day of their solemn humiliation . by nath. hardy preacher to the parish of s. dionys. back-church . isaiah . . . and the lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount zion , and upon her assemblies , a cloud and a smoak by day , and a shining of a fire by night , for upon all the glory shall be a defence : and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat , and for a place of refuge , and for a covert from storm , and from rain . london , printed by a. m. for joseph cranford at the castle and lion in s. pauls church-yard . . to the right honourable the house of peers . my lords , short warning is some apology for slender performance ; however what i cannot further fairly excuse , i hope your goodnesse will freely pardon . it was enough you were pleased to put your ears to the penance of hearing , but much you should put your eyes to the expence of patience in reading this unpolished discourse ; such as it is , in obedience to your honours command i humbly tender to your acceptance . the great hopes which divine providence hath given us of an happy settlement by your free convention , prompted my thoughts to this subject ; and it fell out very sutably , that after my reverend brother had minded you of the duty of humbling your selves , the comfortable message of peace should be presented to you . the day of your fast was according to ecclesiasticall denomination the eve of a feast , and that a conjunction of those two apostles of christ philip and james ; and ( blessed be our gracious god ) it was the eve of a day truly festivall , upon a civill account , on which that knot between his majesty and his people began to be tyed , which i trust shall neither be untyed by subtlety , nor cut asunder by violence . from this may-day we promise our selves ( through gods mercy ) a pleasant spring , yea , a joyful summer of prosperity , after a cold winter of tribulation ; especially since we finde it seconded with another day of a free and full , publique and peaceable proclamation of our soveraign lord king charles , his undoubted right to these realms , of which he hath so long , no lesse unjustly in respect of him , than unhappily in respect of us , been deprived : a day wherein the fruit of ( almost ) all mens lips , was that joyfull acclamation and hearty supplication ; god save the king . and now ( my lords ) be pleased to go on resolutely , unanimously in finishing this blessed work ; be zealous for the glory of god , the honor of his majesty , the prosperity of the church ; and tranquillity of the kingdom , so shall you be dearly beloved of god , and highly honoured of men . commending your pious and loyall endeavours to the blessing , and your noble persons to the grace of god , i take leave , subscribing my self , your honours most humble servant nath. hardy . the choicest frvit . isaiah . part of the . verse . i create the fruit of the lips peace , peace to him that is far off , and to him that is near , saith the lord . this day is a time of humiliation , and this text a word of consolation . that for which we are this day to be especially humbled , is the sin and misery of our former warre , that which this text comfortably assureth , is the blessing of a future peace . this day is not only a day of humiliation but supplication , of tears but prayers , and this text teacheth us what should be our principall petition , namely , peace , peace . finally , i am this day in a peculiar manner to addresse my self to you right honourable , who are all of you proceres regni peers of the realm , and some of you have been , and in gods good time may be again comites regis , attendants on a king ; and this text is the saying of him who is king of kings , and lord of lords . well may the greatest lords be auditors when the lord jehovah is the speaker : i create the fruit of the lips peace , peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , saith the lord . in the discussion of this scripture , i shall briefly touch upon the author mentioned in those words , saith the lord , and chiefly insist upon the matter in the rest of the verse . . this phrase and form of speech ( saith the lord ) is frequently used by all the prophets , sometimes with additions , the lord god , the lord of hosts , the lord thy redeemer ; sometimes with variation , saith the high and lofty one , saith my god , the mouth of the lord hath spoken it ; and thus sometimes in the beginning , sometimes in the middle , sometimes in the close of their prophecies , nay , once we finde the beginning , the middle , and the end of one verse to be , thus saith the lord of hosts . if you shall ask , why the prophets were so bold as to affix gods name to their messages ? the answer is easily returned , because they received their message immediatly as it were from gods mouth . the hebrew word which we reade report , properly signifieth hearing , to intimate that what the prophet reported to the people was no other then what he first heard from god , with which accords that of the apostle paul , i have received of the lord that which i delivered unto you . when an ambassadour delivereth nothing but what the king himself hath given him in charge , he may truly say , thus saith the king , well then might the prophets use this form , thus saith the lord , whenas their predictions are no other then divine revelations . indeed there were then many false prophets of whom god himself saith , they prophesie lies in my name , i sent them not , neither have i commanded them , neither spake i unto them . but this hinders not why the true prophets should make use of gods name in delivering their messages . as for us who are not extraordinary prophets but ordinary pastors , and therefore lay no claim to immediate revelations , we do not , dare not attribute any such authority to our discourses , any further then they manifestly agree with , and are clearly grounded upon the holy scriptures , and accordingly we desire you to prove our sayings , and only so far to approve them , as they are concordant with the propheticall and apostolicall writings ; but withall , inasmuch as we are duely called to the office of preaching gods word to the people , and so long as it is no other then his word which we preach , we can boldly say it is the great god who by us speaketh , and accordingly we ought to be received as such by you . if it shall be further enquired , why the prophets do not content themselves to deliver their message from god , but bring in god himself as delivering it , i shall return this answer , that by this way of expression their prophecies might make the deeper impression upon the hearers : the prophets well knew . how incredulous the people would generally be . we finde this prophet complaining , who hath beleeved our report ? if you observe the predictions of the prophets , you shall finde them for the most part either threats of misery to the bad , and that whilest their condition was prosperous , or promises of mercy to the good , and that when their estate was calamitous , and truly it is no easie matter to make the one beleeve so as to tremble at the threat , or the other so as to hope for the promise ; when our mountain is strong , we are apt to say , it shall never be moved , and when our condition is low , we are ready to think it can never be raised . . that there would be no better way to gain credence to their predictions ; then by minding the people that they came from god ; whatsoever hath the stamp of divine authority upon it , must needs be current coyne with all that are not direct atheists ▪ he that beleeveth that there is a god , must needs beleeve , that what he saith is true , and therefore the true reason why their sayings were no more regarded , was because those to whom they spake did not consider that they were the lords sayings . no wonder if in the last verse of this chapter , which is a denunciation of war against the wicked ( saith my god ) is inserted , and here ( saith the lord ) is annexed to this annunciation of peace . let us all then learn whensoever we are about to reade or come to hear the word of the lord either read or preached , before-hand to fix this thought in our mindes , this is no other then the word of god which i am now to reade or hear ; that so we may attend with the greater reverence , and assent with the firmer confidence . and oh that you ( my noble lords ) who are in the language of the psalmist coetus deorum a congregation of gods , would remember that the great jehovah alwaies stands in the midst of you , and now speaketh to you in the language of this text , i create the fruit of the lips peace , peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near . having by this short preface concerning the authour ( i hope ) in some measure quickned your attention , i shall now proceed to insist upon the matter of the text , which seemeth to be like a chariot running upon four wheels , a tree spreading it self into four branches , or if you will , the river of paradise parting it self into four heads : here is observable , the excellency of the object , peace , peace . the universality of the subject , to him that is afar off , and to him that is near . the causality of the agent , i create . and the facility of the accomplishment , the fruit of the lips . and now whilest i shall drive this chariot , climb this tree , wade this river , let it be our prayer , that the fruit of my lips in handling , and your ears in hearing , may be peace , peace to all our souls , and so i begin with the excellency of the object , peace , peace ; for the unfolding whereof , i shall consider it first as propounded , and then as ingeminated . the blessing propounded is peace , which according to the double meaning of this prophecy , admits of a double exposition . . the mysticall sense of these words is the vocation of the gentiles to the faith of christ , and in sence the peace , peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , is peace to the gentile , as well as the jew ; and that as secondarily of one with another , ( the partition wall being taken down ) so primarily of both with god ( the enmity being taken away between god and man ) through christ . and that this prophecy ascendeth to this upper spring of celestiall peace , appeareth by s. pauls allusive expression , in his epistle to the ephesians , in christ jesus , you who sometimes were afar of , are made nigh by the bloud of christ . and again , he came and preached peace to you which were afar off , as to them that were nigh ; fitly answering to this of the fruit of the lips peace to him that is afar off . but the handling of the words in this sence best befits that solemn feast of the epiphany , and therefore i shall now insist on the other exposition , which is both most sutable to a fast , and especially to the occasion of this . . now the literall sence of these words refers to the restauration of the jews , and accordingly the peace here assured is the nether spring of temporall peace , and more particularly the jews peaceable departure out of babylon , and quiet settlement in their own countrey . . almighty god foretelling by the prophet zachary this restauration , saith , not by might , nor by power , but by my spirit . there was no might enforcing , nor power compelling , but only gods spirit mollifying their enemies hearts towards them , so that they went as quietly out of babylon as their ancestors had done out of egypt . and surely no victory liae to that which is without garments rolled in bloud , and a recovery of just rights when in a way of peace is most desirable . . if you cast your eyes backward in this book , you shall finde god assuring tranquility to the jews when returned to jerusalem ; my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation , and in sure dwellings , and in quiet resting places ; and again a little after , look upon zion the city of our solemnity , thine eyes shall see jerusalem a quiet habitation , a tabernacle that shall not be taken down , not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed , neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken ; and were not peace a common theam , and had not the miseries of our late wars abundantly taught us , it were easie here to enlarge upon the excellency of this mercy , for every man to sit under his own vine in quiet , and enjoy his rights with peace ; our prophet in the close of this verse sets it forth by the metaphor of health , and indeed what health is to the body , that is peace to a people , health is the peace and agreement of the humours in the body , and peace is the health and welfare of a nation , and as it is health without which there can be no contentment in any outward advantages whatsoever , so it is the peaceable enjoyment of our possessions which renders them truly comfortable , and this was the mercy here promised , and not only so but . ingeminated , and that not without singular emphasis , peace , peace , that is peace restored , confirmed and multiplied . . the collation of a mercy is amiable , the continuation yet more desirable , but the restauration is most acceptable . such was this peace , a dismission babylon wherein they had been miserable captives , a return to judea whence they had been dolefull exiles , and such a peace was a double peace , not only because it is the restoring of a former peace , but it is also highly commended by the misery of that bondage which had for many years deprived them of it . mercies are most valued after we have known what it is to want them ; health is doubly amiable after a desperate sicknesse , a calm is never more lovely then after a violent storm , the suns golden beams are most glorious after a dark night , and peace is doubly beautifull after a ruinous war : look as summum infertunium fuisse fortunatum , affliction after a prosperous estate is more bitter , so prosperity after an afflicted estate is the sweeter . . there is a peace which is only as a skinning the sore which afterwards breaketh forth the more virulently , and there is a peace which is an healing the wounds , a firm peace , to intimate which perhaps the word is doubled . those words the fruit of the lips are read by some the fruit of the banks , the banks being as it were the lips of the river , and then it meaneth the fruit of the tree , which groweth by the river side , concerning which the psalmist saith , its leaf shall not fade , a fit embleme of a lasting peace . this is that peace for which the church prayeth , when she saith , lord thou wilt ordain ( or as the hebrew word most properly signifieth stablish ) peace for us , such a peace as is not built on the sand but the rock ; this the psalmist was confident of when he saith the lord will bless his people with peace , that is , he will give such a peace as shall be a blessing , a peace which is not a blazing comet but a fixed star . . peace though it be but one word , and that a monasyllable , is a volume of mercies , containing whatsoever conduceth to the welfare of a person or people ; and probably for this reason there is a duplication of the word to note a multiplication of blessings . when amasiah wished to david , peace , peace be to thee , what did he thereby intimate , but all kinde of prosperity ? and here sanctius glosseth this , peace , peace , to mean cumulatissimam pacem , such a peace as bringeth with it an heap of blessings . we cannot have a better expositor of gods word then himself , where he saith , i will bring it health and cure , i will reveal abundance of peace and truth . to this purpose is that metaphor which we finde used by this prophet , where he brings in god saying , oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commands , then had thy peace been as a river . and again , i will extend peace to her like a river ; by which at once is noted a permanency of peace , with an affluence of all sorts of blessings , and if you shall ask how far this river of peace extends it self ? you have an answer in the universality of the subject , to him that is afar off , and to him that is near . and yet before i discusse the universality , it will not be amisse to take notice of the propriety , which though it be not expressed in the text , may be supplied from the context and other parallell scriptures . if you look downwards upon that which followeth , you finde the wicked expresly excluded from having any interest in this peace , who either should not at all return to their own countrey ; or if they did , little benefit or comfort should accrue to them by it ; so that the him in the text , is him that is godly and upright . it is very observable that antithesis which our prophet maketh between the righteous and the wicked in jerusalem , when it was besieged by sennacherib ; on the one hand , the sinners in zion are afraid , fearfulnesse hath surprised the hypocrite : where you see the seeming saint is in as bad a condition as the open sinner , and no wonder since the one is no lesse wicked then the other , nay , malus ubi se simulat lunc est pessimus , the evil man is then worst when he would appear to be best ; on the other hand , he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly , &c. he shall dwell on high , his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks , there is safety , bread shall be given him , his waters shall be sure , there is plenty ; and as the crown of his rejoycing it is added , thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty , but still these blessings are limited to the righteous and upright-hearted ; and surely this was no lesse verified of them when captives in babylon , then when besieged in jerusalem . . if you look upward on the close of the former verse , you finde mention of mourners , and a little higher of the broken and contrite spirit , so that the him in the text is the him that was a mourner by the rivers of babylon for zions miseries , and for his own and others iniquities . the psalmist speaking of this very mercy , the turning again of the captivity of zion , saith , they that sow in tears shall reap in joy , which relateth not only to their miserable condition , but penitent disposition ; it is the sorrow of contrition that fits us for the joy of restoration , since god loveth to pour the oyl of his mercy into broken vessels . . if you cast your eyes upon the promise of god by moses to his people , of having compassion on them , and gathering them from the nations whither he had scattered them , you will finde the condition premised , to be returning to the lord , and obeying his voice . by sin we forsake god , by repentance we return to him ; by committing sin we transgresse his law , by doing righteousnesse we obey his voice ; no way to settle any nation but by unfained repentance and universall obedience . having given you this brief account of that which is to be supplyed in reference to the propriety , be pleased now to look upon that which is expressed , the universality of the subject , him that is afar off , and him that is near . indeed the number here used is singular , but it is not a person only but the body of the people which is intended , and that as well those afar off as near . for the clearer understanding whereof , you must know , that when the jews were conquered by the babylonians , there were some in patriâ relinquendi , to be left in the countrey , and those were the poor of the land , to be vine-dressers and husbandmen ; there were others in captivitatem abducendi , to be carried away captive to a strange land , and among those some were upon the borders of judea , and so near , others afar off in remoter countreys ; and whereas they who were afar off , might conceive themselves under an incapacity by reason of the distance , to return into their own countrey , the promise is extended to him that is afar off , as well as him that is near ; yea , as if he that were afar off should be sooner at home then he that is near , he as set in the first place . if you please to look upon a preceding passage of this prophecy , you shall finde an enumeration of those severall countreys from whence god would recover his people from assyria , and from aegypt , and from pathros , and from cush , and fram elam , and from shinar , and hanath , and from the islands of the sea : and it followeth , he shall assemble the out-casts of israel , and gather together the dispersed of judah , from the four corners of the earth ; and that promise mentioned by moses , and repeated by nehemiah , runs thus , if any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven , from thence will the lord thy god gather thee , and from thence will he fetch thee . that which would here be taken notice of , is how divine providence brings to passe improbable events : that those who were near hand should return in peace was not unlikely , but for them who were afar off to be restored , what more improbable ? and yet this was effected : who would have expected that abraham and sarah being stricken in years should have a childe ? and yet when abraham was an hundred years old , and sarah not much younger , isaac is born . who would have thought that joseph when sold as a slave by his brethren , and imprisoned as a malefactor by his master , should have been so highly exalted by pharaoh ? and yet he became second in all the land of aegypt . who would have imagined that david , when hunted as a partridge upon the mountains , and forced to fly out of his own countrey , should ever come to sit on the throne ? and yet he was in the appointed time king both of israel and judah ; and we trust it will not be long ere we have a like example in our david . and therefore let us learn not to measure divine proceedings by the last of our carnall reason ; rather with abraham let us beleeve and hope even against hope , and when things are at the worst , nor to despair of deliverance , especially when we consider , the causality of the agent , i create ; or as the hebrew participle signifieth , i am creating , as if what was indeed long after were then to be effected , because it should be as certainly , as if it were presently brought to passe . this word create is used sometimes in a proper , and sometimes in an allusive sence . in a proper sence it is attributed , . primarily to the making of the world with all things therein , so we often reade of gods creating the heavens and the earth . . secondarily , to the preserving of all things made , so the psalmist saith , thou sendest forth thy spirit , and they are created , thou renewest the face of the earth ; with which agreeth that maxime in the schools , conservation is a continued creation . . in an allusive way , it is applyed to that work of . spirituall conversion , in which respect converts are said to be new creatures , and the new man to be created after god in righteousnesse and true holinesse . . temporall liberation : thus when any strange and unexpected , glorious and eminent deliverance is wrought by god for his church , it is called a creation , and such was this , to which my text refers . there are two works of god which are singularly transcendent , namely , his first and his last work of creation , which was in beginning of time ; and of resurrection which shall be the end of time , and to both of these is the restoration of the jews compared , and that by this prophet , to the resurrection , where he saith , awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust , and to the creation , in this , i create peace . if you please , i shall spend a little time in cracking the shell of this metaphor wherein we shall finde many wholsome kernels contained . . creation is gods peculiar act , the choicest flower of the celestiall crown , and prerogative of the deity . it is a question moved by the schools , whether god can make such a creature as should be able to create another ? but it is resolved negatively , and not without reason , since that were to make a god , creation being an act of omnipotency , which is incommunicable to any thing lesse then a god . it is observed by the hebrew criticks , that these verbs {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} are used of the creatures , but this verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in the text only of god , such was this restauration of the jews , a work so wrought , that it did proclaim god to be the authour ; and therefore the church expressing her confidence of accomplishing it , looketh up to god , lord , thou wi●t ordain peace , for thou hast wrought all our works , and god himself foretelling it saith , i will make the wildernesse a pool of water , i will sow in the desert the fir-tree , and the pine , and the box tree together , that they may see and know , consider and understand , that the hand of the lord hath done this , and the holy one of israel hath created it . and accordingly when this work was accomplished , it was said among the heathen , the lord hath done great things for them , and indeed the wise god is for the most part pleased so to bring about his churches deliverance , that it may appear both to themselves and others that it is his doing . . creation is gods immediate act , in the accomplishing whereof there was no instruments made use of . some philosophers indeed have fancied , that god created lesser gods ; and by them made the world , but job saith , he alone spreadeth out the heavens ; and it is a maxime in the schools , instrumentum creationis creatura esse non potest , the creature cannot be so much as an instrument in the work of creation , the creature can do nothing alone without god , but god can do any thing alone without the creature ; yea ▪ the creature cannot be subservient in the work of creation , and therefore it is a good argument against the arians , that christ is no creature , because he is a creator ; for by him were all things made , and without him was nothing made that was made : indeed as all works ad extra , so that of the creation was the work of the whole trinity , in reference to which it is observed , that the first letters of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} are in {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , each person being as it were co-efficient in this work , the father , by the son , through the spirit , creating the world ; but there was not , could not be , any thing lesse then god a co-worker in it . thus the restoration of the jews was as it were gods immediate hand , and therefore he saith , i will have mercy upon the house of judah , and will save them by the lord their god , and will not save them by bow , nor by sword , nor by battell , by horses , nor by horsemen . and though there were persons instrumentall in carrying on the work , as cyrus , darius , zerubbabel , ezra , nehemiah , yet they were such as god did immediately and extraordinarily raise up , and it was done without secondary means , which are usuall in recovery of our rights . it is so many times in gods vindictive and gracious acts , there is little of man , that himself may have all the glory . . creation is a mercifull act , as there was no instrumentall , so neither any deserving cause of the framing of the world , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to them that ask what was the moving cause of the creation , no other answer can be returned , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the grace and goodnesse of god , saith phillo the jew . it was not a naturall act to the trinity ( as the generation of the son is to the father ) but a voluntary and free act , arising from the good pleasure of his will ; and when there was nothing besides god , there could be nothing without god to move him to it ; and therefore the psalmist attributeth the making of the heavens , not only to the depth of gods wisedom but the length of his mercy ; to him that by wisedom made the heavens , for his mercy endureth for ever . and surely it was no other then meer mercy which moved god to command salvation to the captive jews ; so the promise runs , with great mercies will i gather thee ; and yet more fully , not for your sakes do i this , saith the lord god , be it known to you . indeed whatsoever deliverances god at any time vouchsafeth , and that to his church , are to be ascribed , not to her merits , but his mercies . . creation is an act whereby something is produced out of nothing , to wit , either simpliciter or secundum quid ; meer nothing , so was that first matter created , or that which is no way disposed to the production of such forms , as that matter was in respect of the things created out of it . and what lesse was the restoration of the jews , who were no way able to rescue themselves , nor yet the babylonians disposed to let them go ? thus many times that god which cemmanded the light to shine out of darknesse , who framed this beautifull edifice out of that rude chaos ; and every spring clotheth the naked trees with leaves , spreadeth the bare earth with a green carpet , and enammeleth it with flowers , by his wonderfull power , wisedome , and goodnesse , brings happy settlement out of disorder and confusion . . creation is an irresistible act , as being the work of omnipotency , and such was the jews liberation . indeed the wicked were like the troubled sea , that is , as some glosse it , the wicked babylonians used all the wayes and means possible to disturb and hinder the peaceable return of the jews , and it was true in the history , sanballat and tobiah with many others endeavoured both by power and policy to obstruct their prosperity , but that power and wisedom which created the world , knoweth no impediments ; i will work saith god ) and who shall let it ? unlesse there were a power above his , none can ; and if there be , he is not god . except the lord keep the city ( saith david ) the watchman watcheth but in vain ; and if the lord will keep it , the enemy opposeth in vain : so true is that of elihu to job , when he giveth quietnesse , who then can make trouble ? . lastly , creation is an instantaneous act , a sudden passage from not being to being , without any successive motion or previous alteration . it is true , the world was not finished in lesse then six dayes , but the act of creation upon every one of those dayes , was in an instant ; and though in this the parallell is not full , yet thus far it is true , that the jews return out of babylon was sudden and speedy . to this tend those expressions in this prophet , who are those that flee as the clouds , and as the doves to the windows ? and again , who heard such a thing as this ? who hath seen such things ? shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day , or shall a nation be born at once ? for as soon as zion travelled she brought forth her children ; thus though god is long before he begins , yet ofttimes he quickly maketh an end . though therefore the vastnesse of our confusion , strength of our adversaries , length of our sufferings , weaknesse of means , and sence of our unworthiness , may discourage us ; yet when we remember that god can , and doth create deliverance , let us be encouraged ( especially considering what he hath begun to do ) to an humble , confident , and patient waiting for the completion of our salvation , and so much the rather , because of the facility of the accomplishment , in those words , the fruit of the lips , which is the last particular , and cometh now to be handled . to the right understanding whereof , the question would be made and resolved , whose lips are here meant ? and according to a various reference , there are severall interpretations . more particularly , it may be looked upon either as the fruit of gods or mans , of his or our lips , and each in a double notion . if we refer the fruit of the lips to god , we may understand a double word , to wit , imperii and promissi : the fruit of the lips , that is , his word of command , and that lets us see how god would create peace ; or else the fruit of the lips , that is , the word of promise , and that lets us see why he waited to create it . . i create the fruit of the lips , that is , god would by a word of command accomplish peace , and this sence very fitly agreeth both with the thing , and the phrase . as to the restoration of the jews , it was effected by a word , god did but speak to cyrus , and he maketh a decree for their returns ; so it runs in this prophecy , thus saith the lord to his anointed to cyrus . and as to the phrase of creating it , is most sutable , since creation was by a word , he commanded , and they were created , saith the psalmist of the heavens , jussit & extendit campos . — said the poet of the earth . it was but an ephphata , and the deaf ears were opened ; a tace , and the raging sea was still ; an obmutesce , and the devils were silenced ; but a fiat , and the heavens and the earth were made . it is very observable , that of the devil to our saviour , if thou be the son of god command ( or as the greek word signifieth speak ) that these stones be made bread ; intimating that if he could turn the stones into bread by a word , he would conclude him to be the son of god ; this being indeed peculiar to a deity , that his word is the work , and his most glorious operations are but the fruit of his lips . . i create the fruit of the lips , that is , it had been the fruit of his lips in promising , and therefore it should be the work of his hands in performing . the words of the lord ( saith david ) are pure words , as silver tried in the fire , purified seven times . seven is a number of perfection , whereby is intimated , that gods promises are perfectly pure , without any drosse of falshood ; he speaketh nothing but what he intends , and will execute : perhaps for this reason it is said , not the words of the lips ; but the fruit , to intimate , that his words like fruit spring from the root of his heart , and that they are not leaves but fruit , reall performances . it is not so with men , oft-times their lips have leaves , but no fruit ; or their fruit is like the apples of sodom . for as those are fair to the eye , but molder in the handling , so most mens promises are pleasing to the ears , but wither in the hands which should fullfill them . but far be this from the faithfull god , who will not alter the thing that is gone out of his lips ; yea , heaven and earth shall passe away , but his words shall not passe away . and therefore in all conditions let us learn to feed upon the fruit of gods lips , lay hold upon his promises , which are pabulum fidei , the food of our faith . solomon saith of the lips of the righteous , that they feed many : it is most true of the righteous god , whose promises afford sound nutriment . it is very observable , that the author to the hebrews , mentioning the accomplishment of that promise to abraham concerning a numerous posterity , useth the same metaphors which are expressed in the promise , namely , of the stars of the sky , and sands by the sea shore , to intimate , that the performance was full as large as the promise . indeed as in nature rather then there shall be a vacuum , things will move contrary to their nature ; so rather then there shall be a vacuity in gods word , he will work wonders , and create peace . what room then for infidelity when we have such sure promises ? and therefore wheresoever we finde this fruit growing , let us feed heartily , beleeve confidently , that our souls may live . . if we referre the fruit of the lips to man , it may be understood either of our prayers , or praises , or both . how fitly they are called the fruit of the lips , will appear , in that the lips are of great use in both ; when we pray , we must take with us words and say ; and when we praise , we must render the calves of our lips : david saith , with my voici have i cried to thee , o lord , and we often reade of the voice of his prayer ; and prayer is often stiled a calling upon god , and upon the name of the lord . but more especially are the lips necessary in praising , since our praising god is only a confession of what he hath done for us , and that is to be done by the mouth ; for which reason the psalmist cals his tongue his glory , because the chief instrument of offering praise , whereby god is glorified . indeed neither our prayers nor praises must be only the fruit of our lips , but of our hearts also , otherwise we are but as tinkling brass and sounding cymball . prayer is often called the pouring out of the heart , and lifting up of the heart ; and the psalmist saith , he will praise god with his whole heart , if that joyn not in those duties , we offer the lips of calves instead of the calves of our lips ; but still the lips are the most proper instrument of expressing both our supplications and gratulations , and therefore both aptly called the fruit of the lips . and now according to these acceptions , the fruit of the lips is to be looked upon either as an antecedent or the consequent of this peace which god createth . . i create the fruit of the lips , that is , the peace which god createth should be the fruit of their lips ; the matter of their earnest prayers . if you peruse the thirty six chapter of ezekiels prophecy , you shall finde a catalogue of many precious benefits which god would do for his people , but in the close , thus saith the lord god , i will yet for this be enquired of by the house of israel . prayer is the sluce that keepeth out an inundation of judgements , and the key which openeth the cabinet of mercies . this is that duty to which the psalmist excites , pray for the peace of jerusalem , and presently after he practiseth it when he saith , peace be within thy wals ; he will do little for zions peace , who will not pray for ir , and whatever we do will be to little purpose without it , it must be ( so farre as we are able , and when called to it ) the fruit of our hands in endeavour , but chiefly the fruit of our lips in prayer . . i create the fruit of the lips , that is , the peace which god shall create must bring forth the fruit of the lips in praises . this exposition is looked upon as so much the more genuine , because we finde the sacrifice of praise , called by the apostle the fruit of the lips , though his allusion , there is not to this but that of the prophet hosea , the calves ( which by the septuagint is read the fruit of the lips ) when god worketh any deliverance , he puts ( as the psalmists phrase is ) a new song into our mouths , giving us just occasion of singing praises to him . i create ( saith god ) jerusalem a rejoycing , and her people a joy , and gaudentis est gratias agere ; joy cloaths it self with the garments of praise . and very fitly is this construction joyned with the former , since it is but just , that as we are importunate to obtain , so we should be fervent in giving thanks : and those blessing , which are won with prayer , should be worn with praise . indeed it were a shame to open our mouths wide when we beg , and shut them when we should blesse ; nay , to cry aloud , give us our daily bread , and but whisper out , hallowed be thy name ; especially considering , that our petitions for mercy in times of distresse , are usually joyned with vows of thankfulnesse ; and if deliverance have been the fruit of our lips in asking , and thankfulness the fruit of our lips in vowing before , it is most just that it should be the fruit of our lips in paying and performing it afterwards . and thus i have run through all the parts of my text , by way of explication ; spare me but a few minutes of your honourable patience , whilest i shall close up all with a suitable and seasonable application . right honourable and well-beloved , though we have not like the jews been carried captive by a forreign enemy into a strange countrey , yet for these many years we have been miserable slaves to an usurped power in our own land ; and those bitter lamentations of jeremiah , in reference to the babylonish captivity , are in several passages fitly applicable to our late condition . the breath of our nostrils , the anointed of the lord was taken in the pits of those usurpers , and then when we said we should live under his shadow , they violently hewed down the tree , cutting off the head upon pretence of saving the body . the precious stones of zion ( our nobles ) comparable to fine gold , were esteemed as earthen pitchers , rejected as uselesse ; our palaces were swallowed up , and our strong holds destroyed ; the gates of our city as it were sunk into the ground , and our bars broken , the places of our religious assemblies shut up , and our solemn feasts forgotten ; the princes were polluted , the priests despised , and the people sighed under heavy burthens . in few words , the crown is fallen from our head , the joy of our hearts ceased , we are made orphans and fatherlesse , our necks under a sore persecution , yea , servants ruled over us , and there was none to deliver us out of their hands . but he who is the god in the mount hath looked upon our afflictions , and heard our cry , put an hook in the nostrils of those wilde phanaticks , who did ride over our heads , and trampled us under their feet ; he hath raised up an ever to be renowned zerubbabel , before whom the mountains were made plain , by whose prudent as well as valiant conduct , through gods wonderfull mercy , mighty forces were conquered without a fight , and scattered without a rout ; our eyes now behold instead of those brambles and thorns , which thought themselves firmly rooted , a garden of choice flowers of the gentry transplanted as it were from all parts of the countrey into the house of commons . our goodly cedars are now planted again in their own house , which was for so many years empty , unlesse when those mushromes crept up in it , and we hope ere long to see the stately oak . finally , we are come out of the babylon of confusion , and returning not as some are pleased to phrase it , to the onyons and garlick of egypt , but to the honey and milk of canaan ; and that as the jews then did , without the effusion of bloud . and now ( my noble lords ) what is our earnest hope and expectation , but that the great god will honour you to be the instruments ef compleating that deliverance , which he hath been pleased as it were to create for us ? in order to which , though it is far from me to undertake to give your honours direction , yet give me leave to acquaint you , what is looked upon by all good men , as that which must make us happy ; and accordingly what is our petition , and we doubt not but will be your lordships endeavour , namely , the blessing of the text , peace , peace . peace in the state , and peace in the church . i mention the state first , since though the peace of the church be first in order of dignity , yet ( if i may humbly offer my thoughts , the peace of the state would be first endeavoured in order of time ; since though the state cannot flourish unlesse the church be setled , yet the church cannot be so well setled , as when the state is composed . it is very observable , what a difference there was between the altar , which solomon made in a peaceable time , and that which moses made when the people were in an unsetled condition in the wildernesse . the altar which moses made was but five cubits long , five cubits broad , and three cubits high ; but the altar which solomon made was twenty cubits long , and twenty cubits broad , and ten cubits high . the work of the temple went on but slowly , when the builders of it were forced to have a sword in one hand as well as a trowell in the other ; but when once the state is duely setled upon its right basis , in quietnesse , both hands will be at liberty to build the temple . peace then would be first sought for in reference to the state , by an harmonious union ▪ what other is the state but a politicall body ? and what other peace can be desirable in a body , than an union of the head with the members , and the members one with another ? the state is as a building whereof the two houses of parliament are as it were the two wals to support and defend it ; but that which must unite and consequently strengthen these two wals is the corner-stone , being set in its proper place ; and by this means there will be , to use the language of my text , peace to him that is afar off , as well as to him that is near ; yea , he who hath been so long , too long afar off , will become near . when this work is once done , that which would be earnestly contended for , is the peace of the church , that the breaches which scisme hath made so wide , may be closed up , the hedge which faction hath pulled down may be reared up , and we may once again be a garden enclosed , and keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace . nor is only peace to be desired in both , but to use the duplication in the text , peace , peace , that is a firm lasting peace in both , and to this end . peace and truth according to the prophet zacharies counsell ; love the truth and peace ; that truth i mean which was once delivered to the saints , which is contained in the holy scriptures , and is collected in the articles of the church of england . peace and righteousnesse ; for so this prophet assureth us , the work of righteousnesse shall be peace ; righteousnesse i say , which giveth to every one those rights which are due to him by the laws of god and of the realm ; and though a full reparation of all injuries is not to be expected , yet a restitution of every man to his just right ought to be endeavoured . peace and love which is called by the apostle , the bond of perfection , because of peace , that love especially , which covereth a multitude of offences , forgetteth and forgiveth injuries , purgeth all malice , rancour and revenge out of the mindes of men , in which respect i could heartily wish for a temple like that which was built at rome , jovi positorio , wherein all men of all parties might lay down all heart-burning and animosity against one another for any former wrongs . peace and government , for what peace where there is no government ? what government either in church or state more likely to establish a firm peace then that under which we did so gloriously flourish for so many years , enjoying both peace and plenty ? peace and order , without which there can be no government ; order in the state by a fit subordination of the subjects liberty to the soveraigns authority ; order in the church ▪ by a sweet attemperation of paternall presidency with fraternall presbytery . this is that peace which we trust god will now by you ordain for us , and oh that all of us would prepare our selves for it by unfained repentance and better obedience ; our wickednesse hath obstructed our peace too long already ; let us speedily , resolutely , joyntly cast it away , that it may be no longer a remora to retard our deliverance . and for the more happy accomplishment of this great blessing , let us remember that it must be the fruit of our lips : of your lips ( right honourable ) who together with the elders of the people are entrusted with the grand affairs of the kingdom , we doubt not but it will be the fruit by your unanimous votes for an happy restauation . of our lips , who are the ministers of the gospel , i trust it will be now the fruit by our joynt preaching for peace . time was , we were the trumpetters of war , too often sounding with alarums to the battle ; it is high time we should be now the heralds of peace , proclaiming , perswading a blessed accomodation ; we have too long like those babel builders been confounded , because divided in our languages ; oh that we might now like all the holy prophets have as it were but one mouth to speak but one and the same thing . of all lips , to wit , princes , priests and people , it will ( i hope ) be the fruit , by our prayers and praises . thereare , i am confident , many here present , yea , many thousands in the nation , who comfortably look upon those beginnings of deliverance , which are wrought as the fruit of their lips , their devout cryes to god , especially in secret ; and for this they return to him the fruit of their lips , their fervent thanks . in order to which you have done exceeding well ( my noble lords ) to set apart a day of giving to almighty god the prayses due to his name . that those hopefull beginnings may have a joyfull consummation , let it still be the fruit of our lips , the matter of our renewed prayers ; and in this likewise ( right honourable ) you have done worthily to assemble your selves this day , for this . indeed i cannot but here sadly reflect upon our late times , wherein such dayes as these were too justly observed to be no other then forerunners of some dismall decollation , decimation , or such like abomination to be voted and acted ; not peace , peace , but bloud , bloud , was their designe ; and to carry it on the better , it must be the fruit of their lips , and pretended as done by an impression upon their spirits from heaven , after their prayers , on a day of humiliation ▪ but we perswade , nay assure our selves better things of you ( my lords ) who are met this day for seeking the blessing of god upon the meeting of both houses of parliament , in order to a settlement of this nation . which , that it may be speedily and happily effected by you , hath been , is , and shall be , not only in publique but private , this but every day , as yours , so our uncessant request at the throne of grace ; and let all the people say , amen ; yea , the lord god say so too : in whose power alone it is to do , what here he saith , i create the fruit of the lips peace , peace , to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , saith the lord . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- quest . . isa. . . cor. . . jer. . . quest . . isa. . . psa. . . gen. . part. . eph. , . zech. . . isa. . . and . . psa. . . isa. ● . . psa. . ult. chro. . . sanct. in 〈◊〉 . ier. . . isa. . . and . . gen. . ver. , . isa . , . , . v●● . ● . . psa . . deut. . ● . isa. . , . deu●. . . neh. . . gen. . . gen. . 〈…〉 cor. . . eph. . . isa. . . isa . ● . isa . , , . psa. . iob . . iohn . . hos. . . philo. psa. . . isa. . . ezek. . . ver . isa. . . psa. . . ioh . . isa . . . . gen. . isa . . psa. . . ovid . matth . . psa. . . psa. ●● matth . ● . hos. . . psa. 〈◊〉 . and . psa. ● . psa ● and ●l . psa . 〈◊〉 . . psa . . ezek. . psa 〈◊〉 , . heb. . . h●s . . psa . . isa. . . ●am. . . v. . ch. . . . . ch. . . ch. . , , , , . exod . . chron . . zech. . . isa. . . eph . col. . . thankfulness in grain: or a good life the best return. delivered in another sermon on the same occasion in st. dionis, back-church, aug. . . by nath. hardy, master of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) thankfulness in grain: or a good life the best return. delivered in another sermon on the same occasion in st. dionis, back-church, aug. . . by nath. hardy, master of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by t.w. for nath. webb and will. grantham, at the sign of the black bear in st. paul's church-yard, near the little north-door, london, : . [i.e. ] thomason received his copy in december . annotation on thomason copy: "dec. ."; imprint date crossed out and " " written in. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bible. -- o.t. -- psalms cxvi, -- sermons. christian life -- early works to . sermons, english -- th century. a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no thankfulness in grain: or a good life the best return.: delivered in another sermon on the same occasion in st. dionis, back-church, aug. hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion thankfulness in grain : or , a good life the best return . delivered in another sermon on the same occasion in st. dionis , back-church , aug. . . by nath. hardy , master of arts , and preacher to that parish . deut. . , . and now israel , what doth the lord thy god require of thee , but to fear the lord thy god , to walk in all his waies , and to love him , and to serve the lord thy god with all thy heart , and with all thy soul ? to keep the commandments of the lord , and his statutes which i command thee this day for thy good . aug. meditat. oportet me domine tantò magis tibi gratiosum & devotum ad serviendum promptiorem existere , quanto me de tantis beneficiis obligatiorem conspicio in reddendâ ratione . bern. serm. cont. ingratitud . non verbo tantum , vel linguâ , sed opere & veritate exhibeamus nos gratos ei qui dator gratiarum dominus deus noster , qui est benedictus in secula . london , printed by t. w. for nath. webb , and will . grantham , at the sign of the black bear in st. paul's church-yard , near the little north-door . ● sermons preached by nathanael hardy , m. a. and preacher to the parish of st. dionis back-church . jvstice triumphing , or , the spoylers spoyled , a sermon preached on the th of november in the cathedral church of st. pauls . the arraignment of licencious liberty , and oppressing tyrannie , in a sermon at a fast before the lords in parliament , in the abbey-church at westminster . faiths victory over nature , a sermon preached at the funerals of mr. john rushout junior . the safest convoy , or , the strongest helper , a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sir thomas bendish baronet , his majesties embassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople . a divine prospective representing the just man's peacefull end , a sermon at the funeral of the right vvorshipfull sir john gayr knight . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony , a sermon occasioned by the nuptials between mr. william christmas , and mrs elizabeth adams . divinity in mortality , or , the gospels excellency , and the preachers frailty , a sermon at the funerals of mr. richard goddard , minister of the parish of st. gregories by st. pauls . two mites , or , a gratefull acknowledgement of god's singular goodness : in two sermons , occasioned by the author's late unexpected recovery from a desperate sickness . printed and are to be sold by nath. web , and will . grantham , at the black bear in st. paul's church-yard , near the little north-door . to the right worthy , and his much honoured lady , the lady mary saltingstall , present prosperity , and future felicity . good madam , i have now fulfilled your desire in publishing these weak notions . i hope you will pardon me that withall i fulfill my own desire , which is by these lines to let the world know my singular obligations to your ladyship . among those many graces which adorn your truly christian life , your cordial love to the orthodox dispensers of the gospel , is not the least ; and it is so much the more amiable , because in this apostatizing age , wherein the love of many waxeth cold towards , and the rage of some groweth hot against them . indeed as for my own particular i have far less reason to complain than many others of my brethren , and those far more deserving than my self ; it having pleased almighty god both to restrain my enemies , and multiply my friends beyond expectation . and truly , next to the infinite goodness of my god ( which i desire for ever to celebrate ) and the no less faithfull than skilfull endeavours of my worthy physicians ( which i shall alwaies acknowledge ) i must attribute my late ( almost miraculous ) recovery , to the fervent intercessions of my affectionate friends at the throne of grace on my behalf . to them all i return my hearty thanks , and promise my daily prayers for them , and more especially for you ( my honoured lady ) whom i have reason to esteem as none of the meanest among them , that your health may be prolonged , and your troubles ended , your children blessed , and your comforts enlarged ; finally , that you may sparkle as a diamond here in grace , and hereafter shine as a star in glory , shall be the uncessant prayer of your ladyships real friend , and servant in the lord , nath. hardy . psal. . v. . i will walk before the lord in the land of the living . mans present condition is subject to frequent alterations ; our life , like the sea , ebbeth & floweth ; as the moon , waxeth and waineth , and , with the air , is now cloudie and anon cleer , nulla sors longa est , dolor ac volupt as invicem cedunt , saith the tragedian truly , we continue not long in one state : the day hath the vicisitude of an evening and morning , the year , of winter and summer : health and sickness , adversity and prosperity , interchangeably succeed each other in this our earthly pilgrimage . and now what more fit ? then that as our condition is mutable , so our disposition should be answerable ; and our spirituall frame be suitable to our temporal estate ; to hope in adversity , and to fear in prosperity ; for health to be thankfull , and under sickness to be patient : finally in afflictions to seek god with tears , and after deliverance to walk before him with joy , is a truly religious temper . thus was it with this holy man david , whom we find in this psalm , expressing this behaviour under both conditions ; when he found trouble and sorrow , he called upon the name of the lord ; and when his soul is delivered from death , he resolveth upon walking before the lord in the words of the text now read , i will walk , &c. at the mentioning of this scripture , i doubt not but you conjecture the reason of my choosing it : and i hope ( beloved ) you will pardon me that as yet i preach to my self , i shall be the fitter to preach to you ; nay , let me tell you , as in teaching you i speak to my self , so in admonishing my self i speak to you : what lately was , and now is my condition , either formerly hath been , or shortly may be any of yours : besides the duty of the text is such as concerneth , not only me but all here present to put in practise , as being that , without the performance of which no man can order his conversation aright . finally , if you look back on the former subject , that calleth for this , and this answereth to that , that is as the foundation , this , as the superstructure , both required to a perfect fabrick ; that , as the doctrine , this , as the use , both requisite to a compleat sermon ; and therefore having from the former scripture commemorated the mercy ; i conceived it very fit to mind both my self and you of the duty from these words , i will walk , &c. indeed with little adoe we may find both in this text . according to a different reading of the first words i shall , and i will , the clause puts on a severall sense ; if we read i shall walk , they are words of confident expectation , if i will , they are words of obedient resolution . according to the former , the psalmist promiseth somewhat to himself from god , according to the latter he promiseth somewhat of himself to god . both these constructions are probable and profitable ; so that i shall omit neither : but yet having already drunk deep to you in the cup of gods salvation , i shall now onely give you a tast of that , and hasten to take the other cup into my hand , to wit of gratulation : and as i shall desire to begin my self , so i hope you will all pledge me , that so this saving health may go round , every one of us resolving , some for health continued , others for health restored , in the psalmists words , i will walk , &c. begin we then with that sense which represents the words as a confident expectation of future preservation : i shall walk before the lord in the land of the living . amplificat beneficium ab effectu liberationis , saith a judicious expositor , the benefit of deliverance mentioned in the former , is amplified in this verse from the effect he hoped would follow upon it : that having escaped so great danger , his days on earth should now be prolonged . so that in the words thus interpreted , there are these two things observable : the matter , and the ground of his hope ; in that , he looketh forward to what is to come , in this , backward to what was past ; that which he hopeth for , is , to walk before the lord in the land of the living , that whence this hope did arise , was a singular deliverance already vouchfed from death , teares , and falling ; and of each of these with all possible brevity and perspicuity . that which the psalmist here promiseth to himself is double , to wit walking in the land of the living , and that before the lord , and so his hope appeareth to be both of a longer and a comfortable life . . i shall walk in land of the living . it is generally acknowledged by interpreters , that this present world is here called the land of the living , and it is so phrased in opposition to the grave , which is the land of dead carkasses . silence oblivion , darkness , death and corruption , are the dolefull attendants on those subterraneous parts ; but this earth is the land of commerce , and light , and life . from this land of the living , the messiah is said to be cut off , and in this it is that here david saith , he should walk . walking is a continued progressive motion , wherein step is added to step , and so fitly resembleth prolongation of life , wherein dayes are added to dayes . the confidence david had of this , is that which here he mentioneth with joy , thereby intimating what esteem and account he had of this life , to wit as a blessing to be hoped for and rejoyced in . this will the more appear , if we observe how earnestly , when in danger , he deprecateth death . so in this psalme : oh lord , i beseech thee deliver my soule , and in another psalme , oh my god , take me not away in the midst of my dayes , and againe , return , o lord , deliver my soul , oh save me for thy mercies sake ; all which plainly insinuate how pretious life was in his sight . the like temper is observable in hezechiah , to whom when the message of death came , it fetched tears from his eyes , sighes from his heart , and prayers from his lips ; nor was he less joyfull at the reversing ; than mournful upon the denouncing of the sentence , witness the writing he pend upon his recovery . nor is this onely an old testament spirit , consult the practice of christians under the new testament , and you shall finde them looking upon life and death with the same aspect : witness s. paul , who speaketh of deliverance from death , as a thing which he did trust and hope for , and to that end desireth the concurrence of the corinthians prayers . saint peter , concerning whose death christ foretelling saith , another should lead him whither he would not , thereby signifying how unwelcome death would be to him . what speak i of saints ? when our lord himself prayeth in the garden : let this cup pass , and before that , father save me from this houre . the truth is , desire of life is naturall to all men , and though grace do moderate , yet it doth not extinguish naturall desire in good men : besides life , saith the philosopher , is in its own nature good , and being good in it self , must needs be so to a good man , yea to him most good , and therefore most desirable . it is a meditation which seemeth to check the folly of those men who fancy a kinde of perfection in wishing , hoping and praying for an untimely death , and a speedy dissolution . that this is but a dream will the better appear if you consider , that . in some persons this is an argument of wickednes , when men either through discontent at their present condition , or impatiency under affliction or dispair of gods mercy , wish themselves cut off from the land of the living ; such desires are so far from manifesting strength of grace , that they argue corruption to be prevayling . to such persons that is very sutable which chremes said to his son clitipho , who , being cross'd in his desire , would needs dye : disce prius vivere , let them first learn to live , ere they desire to dy . . in the best of gods saints it is many times an argument of weakness , as being an act of passion and frowardnes ; such was jobs expostulation , when he saith , wherefore is light given to him that is in misery , and life to the bitter in soule ? and jonahs prayer , now o lord i beseech thee , take my life from me ; nor are those good men to be commended but condemned for those passions . . those desires which are the fruits of strong grace and argue full assurance of gods love are , . not so much of death , as of that bliss which attendeth upon it : indeed , saint paul saith of himself , he had a desire to depart , but he presently addeth , and to be with christ ; the dissolution of his person , departure of his soul from his body was not , could not be gratefull to him in it self , but onely in order to that intimate union of his soul with christ : and yet more plainly , when he speaketh of himself and his fellow saints , he expresseth it negatively as well as affirmatively , not for that we would be unclothed , but clothed upon , that mortality might be swallowed up of life : hence it is , that these praeceding words , in this we groan earnestly , are by some expounded , because of this , to wit the dissolving of our earthly tabernacle , we groane , as being contrary to nature , though we desire to be clothed upon wih our house which is from heaven , this being suitable to grace . the truth is , it is not this death , but the other life which a godly man wisheth for , or if he may be said to desire death , it is not because his will chooseth , but necessit , enforceth it . thus the case stands , that eternall life cannot be enjoyed till death he passed thorough , nor can the robes of glory be put on , till those rags of mortality be put off , and on upon this account is death acceptable to a godly man . . not absolute and illimited , but conditionall and submissive . when good men in a right way desire to dy , it is with this proviso , if it may stand with gods will , and tend to his glory : a godly man , though he be willing to dy , he is neither weary of the troubles , nor doth he undervalue the comforts of life , and whilest he is desirous to dy for his own sake , he is ready to live for gods and the churches . indeed if you would know wherein the perfection of grace in order to life and death consists , it is in an indifferency to either , as god shall determine ; to live and dy are acts of nature , but to be willing to live or dy as god will , is an act of grace , and that in strength . so that indeed both these declare a great measure of grace , on the one hand when gods determination appeareth to be for death , to rejoyce in hope of the glory of god , and to be so far from fearing , as in order to that glory to desire it : on the other hand , when gods pleasure is manifest for life , to rejoyce in hope of bringing glory to god , and not onely to be well contented , but well pleased with the continuation of our life , as david here expresseth himself to be in saying , i shall walk in the land of the living . . but what is it that rendreth this life the matter of david's desire and hope ? is it because ( as the papists imagine ) the souls of the old testament saints ascended not to heaven presently after death , but were detained in limbo , til christ by descending thither freed them thence , and carryed them with him to heaven ? no , beloved , this opinion is raysed upon a rotten foundation , as if the gate of paradise were not open to believers before the comming and death of christ ; whereas the death of christ , profuit antequam fuit , was effectuall as to its merit , before it was in time : in which respect among others he is called , the lambe slaine from the beginning of the world : nay , besides our saviour expressely confuteth it , when speaking of abraham , isaac , jacob , he saith , they live to god , the sense whereof can be no other , but that in their soules they ( though dead ) live with god in bliss ; and againe , when he supposeth abraham , and isaac , and jacob , to be in the kingdom of heaven , where he promiseth that many from the east and west shall sit down with them . or is it as some among our selves have fancyed , that the saints of those times had not a cleere revelation of that other world , nor attained any full assurance of their future happines ? no , neither , the author to the hebrews plainly affirmeth concerning abraham , that he looked for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god : of moses , that he had respect to the recompence of reward , yea , of all those patriarchs , that they dyed in faith , and this of an heavenly countrey , and this so strong , that it begat in them an earnest desire after it . if you would know the true reason , it is intimated in those words , before the lord , which are interpreted as noting either a duty or a mercy , and though the former acception belong properly to the other construction , yet both may be fitly made use of in this . before god , that is , in his service , or before god , that is , under his care . . i shall walk before the lord in the land of the living , that is , by continuing in this world , i shall have opportunity of doing god service : it was not because those holy men had less assurance of gods love than we , but because they had greater affections to gods service then we , that this life was so amiable in their eyes . to this purpose the reasonings of david and hezechiah concerning death , and the grave , are very observable , shall the dust prayse thee ? shall it declare thy truth , so david . the grave cannot prayse , death cannot celebrate thee , so hezechiah ; they saw death would render them useless for gods honour , and therefore principally they prayed against it . it lets us see , what is the frame of a religious man , to rejoyce in life , that he may walk before the lord , and minister to him in the place wherein he hath set him . indeed that joy , hope , desire of life which is founded upon this consideration , is not onely lawfull but commendable : and truly herein is a vast difference manifest between the wicked and the godly . to walk in the land of the living is the wicked mans desire , yea were it possible he would walk here for ever , but for what end ? only to enjoy his lusts , have his fill of pleasure , and increase his wealth : whereas the godly mans aime in desiring to live is that he may walk before god , advance his glory , and perform his service . upon this account it is that one hath fitly taken notice how david doth not say , i shall now satiate my self with delights in my royall citty , but , i shall walk before the lord in the land of the living . . and most suitably to this interpretation this before the lord , is as much as under his carefull eye . the words according to the hebrew may be read before the face of the lord , by which is meant his presence , and that not generall before which all men walk , but speciall , before which onely good men walk . indeed in this sense god face is as much as his favour , and as to be cast out of his sight or face is to be under his anger , so to walk before his face is to be in favour with him : so that the meaning is , as if the psalmist had said , i shall live secure and safe in this world under the carefull protection of the almighty . it is not then barely living with which david was so much in love , but living under gods tuition . and this is the confidence which he here seemeth to utter with so much joy , that gods gratious providence should watch over him the remainder of his dayes . it is that which this holy man elswhere expresseth , when he saith , in the secret of his tabernacle he shall hide me , he shall set me upon a rock ; a rock is a place of strength and defence , the tabernacle a place of safety and refuge ; this was gods mercifull presence to david , securing him from all dangers . this is that which not he alone , but all godly men may assure themselves of . it is the positive assertion of the psalmist , the eyes of the lord are upon the righteous , nay , in the preceding psalm he ushereth it in with an ecce , behold the eye of the lord is upon them that fear him : there is an observing eye , the eye of his knowledge which is upon all men , so much is affirmed at the . verse of that psalm , the lord looketh from heaven , and beholdeth all the sons of men : but his preserving eye the eye , of his care , is onely upon his righteous ones who fear him . their eye is upon him in duty , as the eye of the handmaid is upon her mistris to serve her , his eye is upon them in mercy , as the eye of the owner is upon his cattell to feed them . one upon the text conceiveth in this expression of walking before god an allusion to the practice of tender parents , especially towards their little children : omnis enim in nat is chari stat cura parent is such is for the most part , the love of parents to their children ( especially when young ) that they cannot endure them out of their sight , but would always have their own eye upon them , in which respect the children may be said to walk before their parents : no less is the fatherly , yea motherly affection of god towards his people , whom he adopts for his children , and keepeth ever in his sight . hence is that sweet expression of god to the church , behold , i have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands , thy walls are continually before me . it is the command given to israel concerning the commandements ; thou shalt bind them for a signe upon thine hand , and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes , whereby is intimated a sedulous care both in perusing and performing them ; not much unlike is this of gods graving israel upon his hands , and setting his walls before his eyes , the intent thereof being to express the singular care and mindfull regard of god to his church , and which would not be past by , it is not a writing ( that may be blotted out ) but an ingraving , and this ingraving is not upon the back ( then it might be the sooner rubd off or worn out ) but upon the palms of his hands ; so firm and permanent is the almighty's care of his people . to this purpose are those choice metaphors which moses useth concerning gods care of jacob ( meaning his posterity ) he led him about , to wit in the wilderness , or as the septuagint translate , and the hebrew will beare it , he compassed him about , to wit with his love , he kept him as the apple of his eye ; no part of mans body so strongly guarded by nature , nor which men are so tender of , as the apple of the eye , so singular was gods providence towards israel , yea that he might most fully represent it , he compareth god to an eagle bearing her young ones ( not as her prey in her talents , but ) on her wings , wherby they are safe from all danger . finally , upon this account it is that the godly man is said not only to walk before , but to dwell in god , and abide under his shadow ; and surely as there must needs be safety in those walls where salvation is appointed for walls , so there cannot but be security in his dwelling , to whom the most high 's secret becommeth an habitation . how happy is the condition of a saint ? whereas the lord is far from the wicked , he is nigh to the good ; cain goeth out from the presence of the lord , david continually walketh before the lord ; the ungodly are like stragling chickens often snatch'd up by the devouring kite , whilest the godly are close under the hens wings ; those like stray sheep wander up and down , exposed to variety of dangers , whilest these being under the shepheards care feed securely . indeed no felicity like to that which is to be found in gods affection ; nor safety to that of his protection , behold he that keepeth israel shall neither slumber nor sleep , saith the psalmist ; that which cain refused to be to his brother , god is to his servants , their keeper , yea so watchfull a keeper , that his eye is never off them day nor night , it closeth not , no not so much as winketh , it sleepeth not by night , nor slumbreth by day , and therefore well may they lye down and sleep in peace , yea rise up and walk without fear ; it is saint paul's challenge , if god be for us , who can be against us ? let it be the comfort of every saint , none can be so against him as to prevail , because he walketh before god ; and so much shall suffice for the matter pass we on to the ground of his hope , which will the better appear by the connexion of the former verse with this , because thou hast delivered i shall walk ; his confidence for the future is strengthened by his former experience . it is that way of arguing ; which david often useth . thus in the . psalm , i will trust in the covert of thy wings , is his resolution , v. . for thou hast been a shelter for me , so he reasoneth , v. . and again psal. . . because thou hast been my help , therefore under the shadow of thy wings will i reioyce , and once more in the sam. . . the lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion , and the paw of the bear , he will deliver me out of the hand of this philistin ; nor is he alone in this kind of argumentation . jacob being pursued by his brother esau in his prayer for deliverance pleadeth with god that prosperity he vouchsafed him under laban , by which means he that passed over jordan with his staff , was now become two bands . josuah having beheld one miracle in the discomfiture of the amorites from the ayri● heaven , to wit great stones cast down upon them , is bold to expect another from the starry heaven , and therefore calleth upon the sun to stand still in gibeon , and the moon in the valley of ascalon . for this reason it was that daniel wrestling with god for the peoples liberation out of babylon , maketh mention of his bringing them out of aegypt , and thence emphatically inferreth a therfore , now therefore , oh lord , heare the prayer of thy servant , and from the same praemises s. paul draweth a like conclusion , who delivered as from so great death , and in whom we trust he will yet deliver , and again , the lord stood by me , and strengthened me , i was delivered out of the mouth of the lyon , and the lord shall deliver me from every evill work . and ( to name no more ) the whole church upon this consideration addresseth her self to god with confidence , lord , thou wilt ordain peace for us , for thou hast wrought all our works for us ; and which is not unfitly taken notice of , upon gods suspending of his wonted favours she expostulateth with him : where is thy zeal and thy strength ? the sounding of thy bowells , and of thy mercyes towards me ? are they restrained ? as if it were a strange and unwonted thing for god not to renew his mercyes where he had formerly conferd them . indeed with god the collation of one blessing is a sufficient reason of bestowing more . as saint gregory speaking of the signes of the last day , saith , sequentium rerum certitudo est praet●ritorum exhibitio , the accomplishment of some assureth the fulfilling of all : so it is no less true of divine benefits , the donation of former is a foundation for the superstructure of future gifts ; true it is , this kind of ratiocination prevaileth not with men , they have done for us , therefore they must still ; nay , it is accounted impudence to expect or desire they should ; some mens ability is cut short , they cannot do as they have done , other mens minds are mutable , their affection cooleth , and they grow weary of doing what they have done ; but neither of these are in god who changeth not . queen elizabeth's motto , semper eadem , though in some sense true of her religious constancy , yet is most properly due to god who is , semper idem , with whom is no variablenes nor shadow of change . there is no abbreviation of his hand nor alteration of his heart , both the fountaine of his power and treasure of his love are inexhaustible , and the everlasting god , the lord , the creatour of the ends of the earth fainteth not , neither is weary , to wit of doing good to his people . let it therefore be the wisedom of saints to treasure up experiences of gods goodnes to others , chiefly to themselves , that they may be both incouragements of faith , and arguments in prayer ; that which may make us blush in our requests to men , let it rather embolden us in our adresses to god , namely the bounty we have already received from his hand . we many times cannot find in our hearts to petition those whom we have often troubled before , but david considering what god had done for him & his house , & withall what he had promised to do , therfore findes in his heart to pray a prayer to him . indeed promises and experiences are strong supports of our confidence when we go to god , and plead ; lord , thou sayedst , thou wilt do me good , nay lord , thou hast been favourable to me , he knoweth not how to deny our supplications . this is the confidence , saith s. john , that if we ask any thing according to his will , he heareth us , and we may have confidence that what we ask is according to his will , when it is no more but what he hath spoken , yea formerly vouchsafed . and therefore as saul when david had mercifully spared him his life , taketh courage to implore favour for his seed : so let us upon the grant of one request be emboldned to put up another , and upon the receipt of former mercyes incourage our selves to believe , hope , and desire future ; as here david in the text , because thou hast delivered i shall walk ▪ and so much be spoken of the first interpretation of the words , proceed we now to a larger insisting , on that which ( as i conceive ) is most genuine to the text and was chiefe in my intention of handling . and that i may in this sense handle the words according to their just and fu●l latitude i shall consider them both . absolutely in themselves , and . relatively in their connexion . in the former , we shall see what was david's resolution , in the latter , what was the reason of that resolution : the better to dispatch the first consideration of the words , observe in them . his resolving upon a duty , i will , and . the duty he resolves upon , namely to walk before the lord in the land of the living . i will . saint bernards comment upon those words of the psalmist elswhere , in thee will i trust , may very well serve as a paraphrase on these words , i will walk , that is this is my desire , my purpose , and the intention of my heart to walk before him , in reference to this it is that david saith elswhere of himself , i have said that i will keep thy word , nay more then so , i have sworne and i will performe it , that i will keep thy righteous ●udgment , intimating that this was not barely his resolve , but his oath , and that which he had not onely promised but sworn to do . the like we shall find to have been the practice of other saints in scripture , namely to consecrate themselves to god by promise , thus jacob voweth a vow , and what is the matter of it ? but that the lord should be his god , not onely on whom to trust , but whom to obey . joshuah taketh up a resolution , both for himself and his family to worship the true god , i and my house will serve the lord ; moses after hee had given the law to the people , causeth them to enter into covenant for the performance of it . and to name no more asah gathereth all judah together to swear unto the lord , that they would seek him , with an execration of him to death who did not keep it . nor is it without singular reason that godly men have taken this course , that hereby both they might be the more , strongly obliged to god , and god to them . . these promises bind us the closer to god . to illustrate this , you must know that religious promises are distinguished according to the objects about which they are conversant ; some are of things in their own nature ind●fferent , and are called ceremoniall , others are of things in themselves necessary , and termed morall ; those , though after promise we are bound to observe exactly , yet before , we were free to do or not to do ; these , we were before tyed to observe , but by this meanes a further bond is layed upon us . there is indeed a sufficient obligation in gods precepts to require our obedience , but when to his precepts we add our own promise , it is so much the more ingaging . true it is , the creatures naturall obligation to its creators command is so great that in it self it is not capable of addition , but yet our voluntary promises serve to inflame our lukewarmenes and stir up our backwardnes to obedience . indeed a religious resolution is as the putting of a new rowell into the spurr which maketh it the sharper , the twisting of another threed into the rope whereby it is the stronger , or tying of a new knot whereby it is made the faster . and hence it is that as god in condescension to our weaknes hath annexed an oath to his promises , not to make them firmer in themselves , but to confirm us the more : so godly men in consideration of their own dulnes adjoyne their promises to gods precepts , not to strengthen their force in injoyning , but to quicken themselves the more in observing . . these serious resolutions of serving god , bind him to us ; when * solomon dedicated a temple to god , god engageth himself to be there present in a special manner , and from thence to heare the prayers of his people : when we promise to be gods servants , what do we but consecrate our selves to be his living temples , and may not we then expect the like privilege ? when the servant had by the boaring of his eare disclaimed the benefit of the jubilee and engaged himself to his master for ever , the master could not but account himself obliged to take care of , and provide for such a servant ; nor hath almighty god less respect to those who cordially devote themselves to the observance of his lawes . when the campanians could not get any ayd from the romans against a potent enemy , they came and solemnly surrendred themselves to the romans , that by policy they might oblige them to their assistance ; and certainly this resigning our selves into gods hands , this serious resolution of , i will walk before the lord , is the best way to obtain his vigilant protection over us . but it may be here objected , what meaneth david to say thus peremptorily ? i will ? saint paul saith , it is god who worketh in us to will and to do , and doth david attribute it to himself , i will ? what men resolve and promise must be what they are able to performe , and is not walking before god more than he had ability to do ? so that this act of devotion seemeth to be an act of presumption , since whilest he declareth his will , he may be thought to presume too much upon his power . to answer this briefly , you must know , . that which here david did , and the saints in such resolves do promis , is but only to do their indeavor . the conjugation of the verbe is hith pael , and may well be rendred conabor incedere , i will strive to walk , what lyeth in me shall not be awanting . though he might faile in the full execution , yet this was his real intention . it is the temper of a good man even when the flesh is weak , his spirit is willing ; so paul saith of himself , to will is present with me , but how to perform that which is good i find not ; some mens minds are larger than their purses , a saints heart is greater than his strength ; he would do far more than he can , yea , what he wants in the can , he maketh up in the will ; god gratiously accepting the will for the deed . . besides , it is not to be doubted but that david in taking up this resolution , had an eye to divine assistance . what a good man promiseth in civill things is with respect to gods will , and what in divine matters with regard to gods grace . i will do this or that ( god permitting ) is either implyed , or expressed in secular ; i will walk ( god assisting ) is alwayes to be understood in sacred purposes . hence it is that prayers still attend such promises , and sincere resolutions are alwayes backed with earnest supplication . therfore you may observe him who here maketh this promise , i will walk , elswhere breathing forth that sigh , oh that my wayes were so directed to keep thy statutes , and putting up that request , lead me in thy truth ; yea you may observe the spouse in the canticles joyning both a petition and a promise together , we will run after thee , there is the promise , but first she praemiseth a petition draw me , thus pious souls only resolve in the might of god , whose exciting grace puts them upon purposing & assisting grace , strengthens them in performing what is good , and their confident promises arise not from any trust in their own but a dependance on his strength , & assurauce of his assistance . nor herein do they promise to doe more than what god hath promised ; it is the tenure of the new covenant , i will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes ; well may he stedfastly resolve who hath gods spirit powerfully to enable him ; it was no pride nor presumption in saint paul to say , i can do all things through christ that strengthneth me ; the spirit of christ in a christian maketh him after a sort almighty ; this spirit is promised and assured to every saint , in the strength of which he may boldly say , i can , and therefore resolutely , i will . let this practice be our pattern seriously and firmly to resolve upon obedience . this was that to which barnabas perswades the antiochians , that with purpose of heart they would cleave to the lord . indeed the foot will move but slowly , or not at all , if the will be not resolved nor can it be expected , he should cleave to the lord , whose heart is not steeled with a deliberate purpose . alas beloved , we no sooner begin to tread in this path but many impediments will be layd to discourage us in our way , many sollicitations used to draw us out of the way , and if we be not resolved on the jourtey , we shall soon be perswaded to desist or turn aside . as a man pulling at a tree , if he find it yeelding , plucketh with the more violence , and a suter being but faintly denyed commeth on with the stronger force , so will the devill if he find us faint in our purposes , wavering in our minds , the more earnestly tempt , and not rest till he hath vanquished us . oh therefore let us not content our selves with a sigh that we have been so bad , with a wish that we might be better , but let it be our will , yea let that will be voluntas firma & rata , solid and fixed in good . what the schooles say in the point of repentance , distinguishing between attrition and contrition , that the former non proponit peccare , doth not purpose to sin ; but the latter , proponit non peccare , purpose to sin , but the latter proponit non peccare , purposeth not to sin ; the like may be made use of in point of obedience , to distinguish between velle it as and voluntas , or wishing and a willing , the one doth not resolve against , but the other is resolved for walking in the wayes of god . let this be our temper , and to that end , let deliberation precede our resolution , and consideration usher in determination . david did so , and therefore he saith , i have chosen the way of truth , thy judgments have i layd before me . indeed , he cannot but resolve upon , and make choyce of the way of piety , who layeth before him the goodness , the rectitude , and the pleasantness of that way . when the prodigall considered with himself how wel his fathers servants fared , he thinketh of , yea determineth to go home ; i will arise and go to my father . oh then , let every one of us deliberately set before our eyes the necessity , the utiliry , the excellency of walking before god , that so we may come , to the psalmists , i will . but withall let us remember we must not stay here : the son in the gospell , when his father bad him goe work in the vinyard , said , i will go sir , but he went not ; those d●ssembling israelites promise faire , all that the lord hath spoken we will do , but they performed not faithfully what they pretended so speciously . oh far be this from us , that our good purposes should prove abortive , and our promises dye for want of execution . when god appeared to jacob upon his return from laban , he tels him , i am the god of bethel , by which expression he no doubt intends to mind jacob of the promise , not onely made there by god to him , but likewise by him to god ; for so it followeth , where thou vowedst a vow to me . god is the god of pious resolutions , as to approve of them , when made , so to look after them how they are made good ; and let me tell you , to prophane that heart which is once consecrated to god ; to faulter in the execution of what is solemnly resolved in gods service , is a fetching the sacrifice from the altar , and will certainly bring the coal of fire along with it . hadst thou never put in for the title of a friend and votary , with an oh god , my heart is ready to do thy will , thou hadst not been perfidious , though prophane ; but by breaking thy promise , thou addest the guilt of unfaithness to that of disobedience , and thy sin becommeth beyond measure sinfull ; and therefore look on david once again , who as he saith here , i will walk , so elsewhere , i have walked in thy truth , there professing he had done what here he resolveth he will do . to this end , let us speedily performe what we have once deliberatly resolved . as we do by a fickle and inconstant man , take him at his word , whilst we have him in a good vein , lest in a short space he alter his mind : so let us deale by our deceitfull hearts . when thou vowest a vow to god defer not to pay ; it is the wise mans counsell , and indeed it is very wise counsell , defer not to put in action what gods spirit hath put into thy intention . nor let any man think to excuse himself by pleading inability , and saying , i would , but i cannot fulfill my religious purposes : rather let him joyne earnest supplications with his serious resolutions , and not doubt but he that hath begun to work in him the will , will also strengthen him to do . oh my god , i would do what i ought , oh that i could do what i would ; thou hast in some measure wrought my will to thy command , oh work my power to thy will , that i may not onely will to desire but do thy will ; thou hast been pleased to put , oh keep it for ever in the imagination of the thought of the heart of thy servant , to walk before thee ; and so i am fallen on the duty which here david resolves upon , namely to walk before the lord in the land of the living . for the more methodicall discussing of which , be pleased to observe these three particulars . the matter , the manner , and the season or place of performing this duty . so that here we have an answer to three or foure questions ; if you would know , what he resolveth , it is to walk . how he would walk , before the lord . when and where , in the land of the living , namely in this world , which is the place ; or whilest he should be living in this land , and so it notes the time of his walking before the lord . of each of these in their order , beginning with the matter of this resolve , which is to . walk , in the handling of this both the verbe , and the conjugation are considerable . the verbe in its proper acception signifieth a motion of the body , which we call walking , but , per metaphoram de vita , moribus , actionibus usurpatur , metaphorically it is applyed to the manners and conversations of men , and that not without just reason . men sit at home , but commonly when they walk , it is abroad ; fitly therefore are our externall actions represented by walking . so that that which here david resolveth upon , is the same with what elswhere he calleth an ordering the conversation aright , and this i will walk , is as much as if he had said , i will indeavour to lead a regular and orderly life . it would not here be passed by , the seeming contradiction in the psalmists expressions ; at the seventh verse he saith , return to thy rest , oh my soul ; and here he presently saith , i will walk ; how can these two stand together ? motus & quies privativè opponuntur , saith the philosopher , motion & rest are opposite ; now walking is a motion , as being an act of the locomotive faculty ; how then could david return to his rest , and yet walk ? an objection somewhat specious , but the strength of it is easily enervated , and the difference quickly reconciled . to which end , you must know , that the walking and rest here mentioned , being of a divine nature , do not oppose each other ; spirituall rest maketh no man idle , and therefore it is no enemy to walking ; spirituall walking maketh no man weary , and therefore it is no enemy to rest . indeed , they are so far from being opposite against , that they are subservient to each other , and it is hard to say , whether that rest be the cause of this walking , or this walking a cause of that rest . indeed both are true , since he that rests in god cannot but walk before him , and by walking before , we come to rest in god . returning to rest , is an act of confidence , since there is no rest to be had but in god , nor in god but by a believing assiance in , & reliance on him . walking before god , is an act of obedience ; when we disobey , we wander and go astray , onely by obedience we walk . now these two are so far from being enemies , that they are companions and ever go together , confidence being a means to quicken obedience , and obedience to strengthen confidence ; that confidence is not a spirituall rest , but a carnall security , which hopes in the promise , and yet obeyeth not the precept ; very observable therefore is both david's assertion and exhortation elswhere ; his assertion concernes himself , i am like a green olive-tree , i trust the more in god , intimating that the lamp of his confidence was fed with the oyl of good works ; his exhortation is to others , trust in the lord and do good , implying , that a right trust in god puts upon doing good , and a sedulous doing good emboldneth to trust in god , so that these two not only may , but must meet together in every saint , return he ought to his rest , but withall he must walk . to let this go , and return to what hath been already hinted . that which is here especially considerable is , that david resolveth to look to the regulating of his life , and the well ordering his externall actions . if you cast your eyes on the first verse of his psalme , you find a profession of love , i love the lord , if on the second , a promise of prayer , i will call on the lord , if on this verse , a resolve of walking , i will walk before the lord . there are three things should be the object of a saints care , the devotion of the soul , profession of the mouth , and conversation of the life ; that is the sweetest melody in gods eares , when not onely the voyce sings , but the heart-strings keep tune , and the hand keepeth time ; all of these are observable in good david , with his heart he loveth god , with his lips he calleth upon god , in his life he walketh before god ; and truly , this last ought not to be the least of our care , and that in respect of god , others , our selves . . it is our walking that glorifieth god . so much our blessed saviour expresseth , when he calleth upon his disciples , and in them all christians , to let their light shine before men , to wit the light of grace within , shine in the actions of their lives without , that men seeing their good works might glorify their father which is in heaven ; a good heart delighteth god , but it a good life honoureth him . it is the fruitfulnes of the vineyard which credits the husbandman ; when we bring forth much fruit then is our father glorified . . it is our walking that edifyeth others . it is not fire in the embers , but fire that flameth forth which warmeth ; it is not grace in the heart ; but in the life that profiteth ; if the believing husband would gain the unbelieving wife , or wife the husband , s. pauls advise is , so let him walk ; if we would be exemplary to others , it must be in walking before others ; it is not our inward disposition , but our outward conversation which hath an influence on them with whom we converse . . it is our walking that in some sense justifieth our selves . nothing so truly speaketh a man as his conversation ; a man is not alwayes what he seemeth or saith , but he is what he doth . . this justifieth the reality of our inward disposition to man . god indeed judgeth the actions by the affections , but men judge of our affections by our actions . show me thy faith , saith saint james by thy works ; so say men , show us your faith , your love , by your works ; every tree is known by its fruits , saith our blessed saviour , by what we do men know what we are . . yea this justifieth the truth of our good affections in themselves . indeed an heart enlarged will not onely walk , but run the way of gods commandements ; and therefore saith s. gregory , where love is present there will be a proportionable acting , and if there be a refusing to act , it argueth love to be absent . the truth is , love is neither idle , nor weary , it is willing to walk , and the walk seemeth easy ; so much s. john expresseth , when he saith , this is the love of god , that we keep his commandements , and his commandements are not grievous . . nay , yet once more , this justifieth the sincerity of our intentions in the sight of god . they are christs express words : if any man love me , he will keep my commandements ; onely the obedient , is an acceptable lover in christs account ; yea his judiciall proceeding at the last day will not be according to what is within , but what is without , nor will god onely , or so much enquire at that day , what thy thoughts or thy desires have been , as what thy actions have been . let none therefore flatter themselves in their good meanings , devout affections , pious intentions , whilest yet their lives are barren and fruitless ; as men do not gather grapes of thornes , nor figs of thistles , so neither can thorns be gathered from grapes , nor thistles from figs ; and as we cannot expect a clean thing from an unclean , so neither an unclean thing from a clean . it is a meere delusion to think that an holy heart can consist with a prophane life , nay to allude to saint johns expression , if any may say he love god , and walketh not before him , he is a lyar : since his practise giveth the lye to his pros●ssion , and the dissonancie of his life proclaimeth a no to what he saith with his lips . and therefore let us all think we heare christ speaking to us as he did to his spouse , let me see thy countenance , to wit in good works , so the chaldoes paraphrase , as well as heare thy voyce ; and again , set me as a seal upon thy heart , as a signet upon thy arm , not onely upon thy heart by a pious affection , but on thy arm by a religious conversation ; this is that which david here purposed , when he saith , i will walk . . the conjugation is no less observable than the verb , as giving to it the signification of a frequentative ; hence the same word is rendred elswhere a going on , and here by vatablus , continenter ambulabo , i will continually walk ; so that we have hereby some thing further expressed concerning the matter of davids resolve , namely a progressive constancy in a religious conversation . that you may discern what plain footing this truth hath in this scripture be pleased to trace it in these three steps : . the metaphor it self of walking , intimateth so much . to walk is not to take a step or two , in a path , but to continue going , till we come to our journeys end ; nor is it only a continued , but a progressive motion , every step a man taketh , he gaineth more ground , and is so much neerer the term of his motion . . the conjugation carieth in it an addition to the verbe ; walking implieth a repetition of steps , and this a frequency of walking ; indeed the most proper signification of it , is reciprocall , but sometimes it is frequentative , and in this verbe , it is most suitably so to be construed , assiduè , continuò ambulare , to walk on daily and constantly . . the meaning of those words , in the land of the living , may be understood in the same sense , with those at the second verse , as long as i live ; and so they confirm this truth ; davids purpose is , to serve god , not only for a day or a year , but always , during the whole time of his abode in this world . this then is the pattern here set before us , as not to be good onely within , but without ; so not onely to be good , but better , yea to hold fast our goodnes to the end . indeed as the moralist saith , una actio non denominat , it is not one action that denominateth a man , either , vertuous , or vitious ; no man so evill but may do some good , nor so good but may do some evill ; on the one hand we find cain sacrificing , saul prophecying , jezabel fasting , ahab humbling , and the pharisees praying ; on the other hand we may observe , a noah overtaken with wine , a lot committing incest , a david falling into adultery , and a peter guilty of perjury : it is not then particular acts , but the generall course of the life , by which we must judge , either our selves or others . apposite to this purpose is saint basils note on these words of the psalmist ; he that walketh uprightly : it is not he that hath walked , but he that doth walk : for one action doth not speak a man good , but his frequent practice . indeed this is that which differenceth a godly from a wicked man , the wicked man like the thief may sometimes cross the kings high way , but still his walk is in by-paths ; the godly man may sometimes be drawn aside into a by-path , but still religion is his road ; and therefore if thou wouldst passe a right censure , observe these two things , the constant bent of thy heart , and course of thy life ; ask thy self , what is my love , whither tends my walk ? and accordingly judge righteous judgment . and as this must be the rule of thy censure , so let it be the scope of thy endeavour to walk constantly in the way of righteousness . we read concerning henoch , that it is twice said , he walked with god ; once about the beginning of his age after he begat methuselah , and againe before his translation , to intimate his continuance in that walk , till the end of his life ; it is that which the scripture calleth for , under the metaphor of standing , as well as walking ; so the apostle paul adviseth the ephesians , having done all , to stand , as a pillar in the building : ( perseverance being the pillar of obedience ) or rather as a souldier in the field who keepeth his ground . it is the desire of david that the lifting up of his hands might be as an evening sacrifice ; saint chrysostome asketh the question , why not as a morning sacrifice ? and he answereth it aptly to this present purpose , because the morning sacrifice expects the evening , but when the evening is done , the service of the day is finished : such would david have his service to be , not onely begun , but compleated . very fitly is this expressed by that phrase of supping with christ ; it is not enough to break our fast with him by good beginnings , nor yet to dine with him by some forward progress , but we must sup with him by constant perseverance , till at last we lye down in the bed of the grave , and sleep the sleep of death . the truth is , non tam initia sunt in bonis studiis spectanda quam finis , it is not so much to get as to keep the faith , to have done well , as to continue doing to the end ; and he must carry his goodness to the grave , who will have it carry him to heaven . the sacrifice which we offer to god must have a tayl as well as an head , and the coat of piety must be not only particoloured , for variety of graces , but down to the heels by perseverance . nor yet is this all , having begun , we must continue , and in continuing we must move forward from step to step , grace to grace . it is said of aarons rod , that it brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms , and yeelded almonds : whereby is shadowed forth the daily progress of a saint , from the buds of thoughts to the blossoms of words , from the blossoms of words to the almonds of works , or ( as origen ) from the buds of beginnings , to the blossoms of increase , yea the almonds of perfection . as god in the creation proceeded , from imperfect , to more perfect creatures , plants to beasts , beasts to man : so must we , from one degree of goodness to another . nor must we onely hold out till we come to the end , but as we draw nearer the end , run the faster : and ( to use st. chrysostome's comparison ) as pilots , having pass'd many storms , are exceeding solicitous , lest they should miscarry in their approach to the haven ; or as runners put themselves forth the most , when they approach nearest the goal : so should we , as every day we are nearer the grave , draw nearer heaven . our goodness must not be like the morning-cloud , that quickly vanisheth , but like the rising sun , that shineth brighter ; not like the early dew , that is soon dried up , but like the green olive-tree , which flourisheth more and more : and as the last wine of the feast was the best , so our last works be better than our first . though then we must stand as it is opposed to going backward , or running away , yet we must not stand as it is opposed to going forward , or walking on : we are not at the end of our race , till the end of our life ; and therefore must not think of staying in the way , but of hastning to the end . the man cured of his palsie must not onely rise , but take up his bed , and go to his house , math. . . christ calls upon his love not onely to rise , but come away ; and that not once , but again , cant. . . . non operis boni , sed mali feriae sunt , saith st. ambrose ; we must cease from sin , but not from good ; a saint keepeth every day as an holy-day in respect of peace of conscience , and yet every day as a work-day in respect of the actings of grace . christ healed them that were sick on the sabbath-day , as well as on any other ; to intimate , that there is no day , no not the day of rest , wherein we may cease from religious actions ; vera virius finem nescit , grace , like fire , is of a restless nature , still ascending . thou must never say with the rich fool , soul take thy ease , but still resolve with david , i will walk . and that thou mayst not erre in thy walking , be sure to perform it in the right manner ; and that is , . before the lord ; the particular that cometh next to be handled . if you please to observe the scripture-phrase , you shall find three several expressions frequently used ; to wit , walking with god , after god , and before god ; postures which in a literal sense are inconsistent : it is impossible for a man at the same time to walk before and after another ; and if he walk with , he is neither before nor after . but all of these in a spiritual sense may well agree together ; nay the truth is , they are all one in substance , though yet each hath its particular and emphatical signification . . it is said of enoch , that he walked with god , gen. . . and that implyeth an heavenly , holy , and humble , yet familiar enjoyment of god in our way . can two walk together and not be agreed ? amos , . . is the prophets question , thereby intending a negation ; god and a saint are agreed and acquainted , because they walk together . . it is said of josiah , that he made a covenant to walk after the lord , king. . . in opposition to which is the phrase of walking after other gods , and the imaginations of their own hearts , jer. . . and it imports as much as a following those directions god hath given us in his word , especially in matters of his worship . he goeth before us , as it were with the light of his word in his hand , and we are to follow after . finally , it is god's prescript to abraham , walk before me , and be perfect , gen. . . and that is , when ( as to allude to that known expression ) manus ad clavum , oculus ad coelum , as our hand is upon the work , so our eye upon god in every thing we do ; which is the ground of that uprightness call'd in the scripture-dialect , perfection . in sum , we walk with god , as a sweet companion ; after god , as a commanding lord ; before . god , as an observing judge ; we walk with him , as his friends ; after him , as his servants ; before him , as his children ; finally , we walk with him , by an humble familiarity ; after him , by a regular conformity ; before him , by a cordial integrity ; and this is david's resolve , i will walk before the lord . to give you the full meaning of this phrase , be pleased to consider three things in reference to a saint's walk which these words , before the lord , may instruct us in ; namely , the right way wherein he must go ; the special motive to incite him to his walk ; and the principal end whereat he ought to aim : of each a word . . before the lord , intimateth the way ; and that either in particular , or in general . . in particular ; the way of god's worship , and so to walk before the lord , is , occupatum esse in cultu dei , to be frequently conversant in religious performances ; so that this ambulare may be interpreted by adorare coram domino , will walk , as much as , i will worship before the lord . coram domino intelligo de tabernaculo domini , before the lord is as much as in the tabernacle of the lord ; where was the ark , a sign of his special presence ; whither david resorted , that he might give god the worship due to him , psal. . . so that we may expound this walking before god by that which he saith elswhere , i will dwell in the house of the lord for ever , psal. . . indeed in respect of this constant residence in god's house to offer sacrifice , the priests are said to walk before him , sam. . . for though god be everywhere , yet he is more peculiarly present in his house : the whole world is his court , but the church his chamber of presence . well then may they who serve at his altar be said to walk before him . nor is it onely true of them , but of all who frequent god's house , since then they come before his presence , and draw nigh to him in a more special manner . that then which according to this exposition we may observe , is , the temper of a godly man , what he taketh most delight in , giveth himself to , and desireth to imploy himself about , to wit , god's immediate worship and service , and that especially in the publick assemblyes . vvhat pleasure is to the voluptuous , honour to the ambitious , wealth to the covetous , applause to the vain-glorious , that is god's worship to the religious , the chief , nay the all he delights in . and therefore this holy prophet elswhere maketh this his one , nay onely request to god ( which being granted , it matters not what else is denied him , and which he would not cease seeking after till it were granted him ) that he might dwell in the house of the lord all the daies of his life , to behold the beauty of the lord , and enquire in his temple , psal. . . indeed as a mole in the earth , a fish in the sea , a bird in the air , so is a saint in the house of god , to wit , as in his proper place : no wonder if david desire to dwell in it all his daies . in god's house it is that god manifesteth himself to his servants , and his servants behold his beauty , ask his counsel , and sweetly converse with him ; well may the psalmist not onely desire , but seek after it . so amiable is communion with god to a pious man , that even in earthly businesses he hath heavenly thoughts ; and whil'st he walketh before men in civil conversation , he is still with god in spiritual affections . surely then , he cannot but be in love with religious duties , wherein he so immediatly converseth with , and walketh before god . . in general ; the way of god's commandments , and so to walk before god , is , to walk ad nutum & voluntatem dei , in that way which god is pleased to set before us : ex ejusdem praecepto velle omnia facere & vivere , to resign up our selves to the guidance of god's word and will in all things . it is said of zachary and elizabeth , that they were righteous before god , * walking in all the commandments of the lord blameless : where one phrase explaineth another . so that if you would know what it is to be righteous before god , it is to walk in all the lord's commandments . vvhat other exposition need we , or better can we have of this phrase , than god himself giveth in that speech of his to salomon ; if thou walk before me as david thy father walked , to do according to all that i have commanded thee , chron. . . vvherein is plainly intimated , that to do according to all god's commands , is , to walk before him . so that this phrase of walking before ( in this sense ) is much like that of standing before : and as servants stand before their lord ready to perform his injunctions , or scholars before their master to receive his instructions , so do holy men before god to sulfill his prescriptions . it informeth us in the character of a true saint ; he is one who walketh before god , avoyding what he forbiddeth , performing what he commandeth , and so making his law the rule and square of all his actions . this is that which elswhere this holy man more expresly professeth , when he saith , * thy word is a lamp unto my feet , and a light unto my paths , namely , to guide him in all his actions both inward and outward , of heart , and tongue , and hand . a true saint dareth not go a step further than this light goeth before him ; nor will he refuse to go whithersoever this lamp leadeth him ; speak lord , for thy servant heareth , said samuel , sam. . . when god appeared to him . lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? act. . . was paul's voyce when christ manifested himself unto him . this is a truly pious temper , when our heart ecchoeth to god's voyce , and we are willing to obey whatsoever he is pleased to command . o , my brethren , often ask your selves these questions , before whom do i walk ? at whose command am i ? what are my waies ? doth the spirit or the flesh govern me ? is carnal reason , or god's word , my rule ? believe it , onely they who walk before god now , shall with joy appear before him hereafter ; and onely they who walk in the way of his precepts , do in a religious sense walk before him . . before the lord may very fitly be construed by subejus oculis , to walk , as remembring that we are under his eye , and all our actions obvious to his inspection : in which sense they carry in them a singular motive to , and help in the right ordering our conversation , namely , a serious consideration of god's presence . it is the counsel of the wise man to his son , in all thy waies acknowledge him , and he shall direct thy path : the vulgar latine readeth it , cogita deum , in every thing thou takest in hand think on god : and truly the very thought of god ( if serious ) would be an excellent means to direct our paths . he must needs walk right who doth nothing to which he dare not crave god's assistance , or from which he would desire god's absence . thus did that pious father acknowledge god , which made him say , lord , whatsoever i do , i do it before thee ; and whatsoever it is i do , thou knowest it better than i who do it . the same , david elswhere expresseth to have been his temper , when he saith , all my waies are before thee , psal. . . and again , i set the lord alwaies before me , psal. . . indeed we are before god even when we will not set him before us . to perswade our selves god doth not see us , is but to shut our eyes whilest the sun-beams shine upon us : vve may by this means hide god from our selves , but we cannot hide our selves from god : how much better therefore is it for us all to make a virtue of necessity , by keeping our eyes on him whose eye is alwaies upon us ! vvere this duty of walking ( in this sense ) before god well practised , how would it teach us to walk before our selves ! and the thought of divine inspection put us upon diligent circumspection . the truth is , look we never so narrowly into , watch we never so carefully over our selves , god will see those faults in us which we see not in our selves . no marvel if the consideration of a divine aspect make us to say , we will take heed to our waies , psal. . . indeed this it is which will be both a bridle to our sins , and a spur to our graces , keep us from wandring , and inoite us to walking . . he that walketh before god cannot but stand in awe of his presence , and therefore dare not wander into by-paths . a conjurer being brought before that holy man , mr. tindall , professed he could not do any of his feats in his presence : much less would we dare to act any wickedness , did we walk in god's sight . plutarch adviseth men to live as if their enemies were their continual overseers . seneca , as if cato , laelius , or some grave man were their supervizor . if the imagination of their presence would lay upon men a great restraint , how much more would the meditation of gods , who is really and continually present . vvhat man would be so impudent as to steal before the judges face ? or act any thing unseemly in his princes sight ? vvould it not then be a great curb to our licenciousness , did we consider that the king of kings , and judge of all the world looketh on ? and in as much as god's presence is universal , this restraint will be general , not onely from open , but secret wandrings , in the closet as well as in the street , of the heart as well as of the life . ecclesiastical historie tels us of some notorious strumpets whom this argument hath converted , that god seeth in the dark , when the doors are fast , windows shut , and curtains close : surely he dare not sin anywhere , who pondereth this duly , that god is every where . . nor will this walking before god onely bridle sin , but quicken grace , by the fear of god not onely filthiness is clensed , but holiness is persecuted . a noble , and much more a royal spectator , puts any one upon much diligence in the execution of any action : he that remembreth god beholds him , cannot but be very exact and sedulous in his performances , that though they cannot be worthy of , yet they may be some way meet for so glorious a majestie . o therefore let that of salomon be often in our minds , the eyes of the lord are in every place , beholding the evil and the good , prov. . . or that of the apostle , all things are naked and open to his eyes with whom we have to do , heb. . . or that of st. augustin , god is all eye , which therefore cannot be deceived , because it is never closed ; or , if you will , that of the poet , verily there is a god who seeth and judgeth all our actions : so shall our whole life be a continual walking before god . . lastly , before the lord , may very rationally be referred to that which ought to be our chief aim and end in all we do , namely , the approving our selves to god . both the septuagint and the vulgar latine read these words thus , i will do that which is pleasing in the sight of the lord . yea that synonimous phrase of walking with god , is so rendred by the author to the hebrews concerning enoch , that he pleased god . it is a truly pious disposition to grieve at nothing more than offending , and delight in nothing more than the pleasing of god ; to fear lest any thing we do should be distastfull , and indeavour that all our actions may be acceptable in gods sight ; finally , to be displeased with nothing that god doth , and ( as near as we can ) to do nothing which may displease god . for this the apostle prayed in behalf of the hebrews , that the god of peace would work in them that which is well-pleasing in his sight . to this st. paul exhorteth the thessalonians by the lord jesus , that as they had received of him how they ought to walk , and please god , so they would abound more and more . the defect of this was matter of sorrow to pambo and carino , who seeing an harlot to spend a great deal of time and pains in decking her self to please her lovers , wept that they had been less carefull to please god . in fine , this is that which here david resolveth upon ▪ i will please the lord . it is very observable , that this phrase of walking before god , in scripture is frequently joyned with integrity of heart and righteousness , with truth and a perfect heart : so that this walking before god is to be taken in opposition to hypocrisie , which is onely a walking before man . this indeed is a special difference between a sincere hearted man , and an hypocrite : the hypocrites praise is not of god , but of men ; the upright mans praise is not of men , but of god : the one in his services to god looketh at man ; the other in all his actions , even towards man , looketh at god : the one onely desireth to seem good that he may please men ; the other to be good that he may please god . o let us take heed of contenting our selves with a pharisaical righteousness , whose desire was to be seen , and care onely to be approved of men ; of whom therefore christ saith , they have their reward , to wit , humane applause ; and they have no reward , to wit , from god . indeed how can it be expected that those services which are onely rented forth to mens eyes , should have any payment at god's hands ? the truth is , no folly to that of hypocrisie . vvhat madness is it to regard the fellow-servants eye , and not the masters ? vvhat foolishness is it to desire that one should be a spectator , and expect another to be a rewarder of thy actions ? yet thus doth the hypocrite who coveteth glory from man , but seeketh not god's approbation , who aimeth at pleasing man , and hopes a recompence from god . let it then , o let it be our wisdome , to endeavour that with noah we may find grace in the eyes of the lord ; of whom , from those words st. chrysostom excellently observeth , that divine commendation was his onely scope , not weighing either the applause or reproach of the old world . let that character which was given of uzziah , be ours , of whom it is said , he did that which was right in the sight of the lord ; upon which that same father affirmeth , it is not onely said he did what was right , but it is emphatically added , in the sight of the lord , as opposite to ostentation before men . finally , let zachary and elizabeth be our patterns , of whom it is said , they were both righteous before god ; truly no righteousness will stand us in any stead but that which is so before god ; god seeth not as man seeth ; and hence it is , that many are just in the eyes of men , who are wicked in god's sight ; and those whom men prize as silver , god rejecteth as dross . whatever then others do , let our eyes be upon god , and our care , that as we are beheld by , so we may be accepted of him , that so we now pleasing him , he may one day please us ; and we here delighting him with the sight of our integrity in heart , and uprightness in life , he may hereafter delight us with the sight of his resplendent glory to all eternity . to sum up this part ; if you will have in few words the extent of this walking before god comprized , i cannot do it better than in words much like those of lapide concerning walking with god : to walk before , or with god , is to be frequent in drawing nigh unto him ; to set him ever in our sight , and our selves in his , according to our ability to fulfill his will , and obey his precepts ; in all things to endeavour that we may please him , approving our selves in sincerity of heart to him . so that in this phrase we have as it were a brief dclineation of the saint's walk ; the path it self is divine command ; the hedge to keep him in this path , is divine presence ; the end which he proposeth to himself , is divine acceptance ; and the foot whereby he walketh in this way , to this end , is an even and upright heart : all which david resolveth upon , when he saith here , i will walk before the lord . i have done with the second , pass we on to the last particular considerable in the duty , to wit , the place , or time of performance . . in the land of the living . these words admit of a three-fold interpretation , being understood by some , especially for the land of judea . by others , eminently for the jerusalem which is above . by the most , and most probably , for this habitable earth , the present world . . that exposition which cajetan , lorinus , with others , give of the words , would not be rejected , who conceive that by the land of the living , david here meaneth judea , in which , or rather over which being constituted king , he resolveth to walk before god , and do him service . this is not improbably that land of the living in which the psalmist , when an exile , believed to see the goodness of the lord , this is certainly that land of the living wherein god promiseth to set his glory : nor was this title without just reason applyed , yea appropriated to that countrey . . partly , because it was a land which afforded the most plentifull supports and comforts of natural life , in regard of the wholesomness of the climate , the goodness of the soyl , the overflowing of milk and honey , with other conveniences both for food and delight . . chiefly , because it was the land in which the living god was worshipped , and where he vouchsafed to place his name ; whereas the other parts of the world worshipped liveless things , of which the psalmist saith , they have mouths , and speak not ; eyes , and see not ; ears , and hear not . and though in this sense the words seem especially to concern david , or , at the furthest , onely the jews , yet by way of analogie it concerneth us ; in as much as this appellation upon the same reasons no less justly belongeth to our land wherein our lines are fallen , a land enriched with all manner of abundance , enamelled with variety of delights ; and , which is far beyond all the rest , blessed with the dew of heaven as well as fatness of the earth , god having been pleased for many years to vouchsafe the enjoyment of his ordinances to this land . o my brethren , how great is our shame , how sad will be our doom , who are as barren trees in so fruitfull a soyl ! sit in darkness , notwithstanding so glorious a light ! yea remain in the congregation of the dead , whilst in the land of the living ? no wonder if god have suffered so thick a cloud to obscure the lustre of his gospel among us , and our land seem at this day as it were dying , and ready to give up the ghost . . the land of the living is construed by the antients to be that heavenly countrey , the place of the blessed . indeed this appellation doth most fitly agree to heaven ; this world is desertum mortuorum , a desart of dead , at least dying men ; that onely is regio vivorum , a region of living saints . he who is our life , is in heaven , yea , our life is hid with him in god ; and therefore we cannot be said to live till we come thither . in comparison of that , the natural life is not worthy of the name of life ; yea , as saints , we may be rather said to dye to sin , than to live to god on earth ; in heaven it is we shall possess that which is the truly vital and perfect life . that is the land of the living , as gregory nyssen elegantly , where is no sin , and therefore can be no death : not this earth , which , though it bring forth living creatures , yet such as must dye , and return to this earth whence they came . and as heaven best deserveth this appellation , so in heaven it is that we are most justly said to walk before the face of the lord , the beatifical vision being reserved for that countrey . now we see , saith st. paul , in a glass , but then face to face ; here being at home in the body , we are absent from the lord ; but when absent from the body , we shall be present with the lord : so the same apostle . sweetly to this purpose st. augustin and st. hierom upon this text , according to the vulgar reading , observe , that it is not placeo , but placebo ; we do not in a strict sense please god here , but we shall hereafter ; we do not now walk before his face of glory , but we shall one day ; so that the very life of this mortal life consists in the hope of that immortal ; and in a certain expectation of that future vision is all our present exultation . in this sense no doubt that devout bishop and martyr , babilas , used the words , who being condemned by numerianus the emperour to an unjust death , a little before his execution , repeated this , and the two preceding verses , with a loud voyce . nor is it unfit for any dying saint to comfort himself with the like application of these words , and say in a confident hope of that blessed sight , i shall walk before the lord in the land of the living . . but doubtless the literal and proper meaning of these words ( as hath been already declared ) is of david's abode in this world ; during which time , wheresoever he should be , he would walk before god ; for that seems to be the emphasis of the plural number , lands , according to the original . the world consists of many countreys , several lands , and it is possible for men either by force , or willingly , to remove from one countrey to another : but a good man when he changeth his countrey , yet altereth not his religion , yea wherever he is , he resolveth to serve his god . the better to illustrate this interpretation , give me leave to proceed by these three steps . . this present world is justly called the land of the living , or as it is in the hebrew , a land of lives . in this land it is that every man enjoyeth a natural life , and every saint leadeth a spiritual life : in this land it is , that as we enjoy a temporal , so we lay hold on eternal life . indeed that life which the saints lead in heaven , must be begun on earth ; there it shall be manifested , but here it 's conferred ; then is the consummation , but now must be the inchoation of that life which shall never end . and surely since this is the land wherein not onely the life of nature , but the life of grace is vouchsafed , yea that life of glory is obtained , assured , and after a sort begun , it may very well deserve this appellation of the land of the living . . in this world it is that we are most properly said to walk ; in heaven we shall be comprehensores , possessors , as in our countrey ; on earth we are viatores , travellers , as in the way ; there we shall be on thrones as conquerors , here it is we march as souldiers ; finally , there we shall sit down , resting from all our labours , here it is we must work and walk . the temple , a type of heaven , was fixed , and so a place of rest , where the people did settle and enjoy god's presence : but the tabernacle , a type of this world , was ambulatory , removed from place to place ; after death we shall lye in abraham's bosome , but in this life it is we walk in abraham's steps . . lastly and chiefly , this present world is the place , and this life the onely time wherein this duty of walking before the lord is to be performed . the term to which a saint walketh is that other land of the living , the heavenly mansion : but the ground whereon he must walk , is this earthly desart . that which is here called the land , is in that parallel scripture stiled the light of the living . indeed , as our blessed saviour saith , when the night ( to wit , of death ) cometh , no man can work ; the light , the day ( namely of life ) is the time allotted us for working . not much unlike is that of salomon , there is no work , nor device , nor knowledge● , nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest : onely this time , whilst we are going to the grave , is the season as of conversing with men , so walking before god . oh therefore let the prophet's counsel be acceptable , seek the lord whilst he may be found , and call upon him whilst he is near ; that is , according to the caldee version , whilst we live , since as s. bernard both wittily and piously , after death there will be no time of calling upon god ; when god shall be so present to the godly , that there will be no need ; and so remote from the wicked , that there will be no possibility of calling on him . remember the advice which our blessed saviour gave the jewes , walk whilst you have the light ; which though there it be meant principally of the gospel , yet it may be secondarily referred to this life ; and whilst we have this light of life , let it be our care to walk with god . to this end be pleased to consider seriously these two things . . this present is the onely time . whether we read the words , i will please , or , i will walk , both are to be performed here , or not at all ; after death there is no place either for prayers or tears , in the grave there is neither ability nor opportunity of walking . it is said of enoch , that before his translation he had this testimony ( and so must we , if at all ) that he pleased god , to wit ▪ by walking before him . it will be too late to begin this spiritual , when we are at the end of our natural journey ; in vain is that salvation hoped for in the midst of hell , which was wrought in the midst of the earth . behold now is the accepted time , behold now is the day of salvation ; the prize of glory must be won , and the race of piety run now , or never . . the present time is but short , very short . though the inhabitants of this land be onely living men , yet they are not long lived ; it is called by the apostle , and most ap●ly , a time of sojourning , and therefore our stay cannot be long ; this whole world is but as a common inne , wherein some stay but a few hours , the most but a few daies , none can dwell alwaies . o then , as we must go on constantly , so let us begin presently ; the way is long , the day is short , the work great , the time little ; we need not grudge to hold out till evening , we had need to set forth in the morning ; and whilst we have opportunity , let us seriously resolve , and speedily practice this duty of walking before the lord . and thus i have considered the words distinctly and absolutely in themselves , representing to you both david's resolving upon a duty , and the duty upon which he resolveth , in the matter , manner , and season of performance ; it now remaineth that i proceed more briefly to a conjunctive and relative discussion of them , as depending on the precedent verse , that you may see what was the impulsive cause , obliging reason , inducing motive to put him upon this duty towards god , namely , god's mercy towards him . because thou hast delivered , &c. i will walk , &c. the sense of which connexion , if you please , take in this larger paraphrase ; as if david had said , oh my god , thou hast wiped away tears from my eyes , to thee therefore i will lift them up in thankfulness ; thou hast kept my feet from falling , how can i imploy them better than in walking before thee ? thou hast delivered my soul from death , to whom but thee should i dedicate my life ? it is thy free gift to me , it is my due debt to thee : i can give thee little , if not thy own ; i have received as it were a new life from thee , surely i will return it to thee , by walking before thee in the land of the living . . it lets us see in general , that beneficium postulat officium , mercy calls for duty , and beneficence obligeth to obedience ; not onely the rod of god's correction , but the staff of his protection , hath a voyce , and that double ; the one is that of christ to the criple , sin no more ; the other that of god to abraham , walk before me and be upright . for this reason no doubt it is that god compareth the benefits which he conferred on israel to the cords of a man , and the bonds of love ; stripes are the cords of a slave , a beast , and the bonds of justice ; favours are the cords of a man , and the bonds of love : but these as well as , nay rather than the other , are cords and bonds , bonds to keep us from sin , cords to draw us nearer , and bind us faster to god . indeed this is the end at which god aimeth in bestowing the riches of his goodness , that it might lead us , as to repentance , so obedience . it was the saying of fulvius to his son , patriae te genui , non catilinae ; i begat thee to be a servant of thy countrey , not an associate of a traitor . in like manner god saith to us , i have brought you up that you might serve me , not your lusts . so much he expresseth concerning his vineyard , when having elegantly delineated the care he took for its flourishing , he saith , wherefore i looked it should bring forth grapes . nor is it any more than reason that he should expect , and we should return service to him for his favours to us . what man plants an orchard , and looketh not to eat of the fruit ? builds an house , and hopeth not to enjoy the comfort thereof ? feedeth a flock , and expecteth not to eat of the milk of the flock ? well then may god call for obedient fruitfulness , when he hath afforded his mercifull goodness . the philosopher could say , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , prosperity engageth a man to love god ; supposing men to have so much humanity in them as to love him from whom they have received so many curtesies ; and the poet 's reasoning was very valid , had it been pitched upon a right object , to wit , jehovah , not caesar . — — deus nobis haec otia fecit , namque erit ille mihi semper deus . he shall be my god from whom i receive security , plenty , and tranquillity . hence it is that st. paul beseeching the romans to offer up their bodies a sacrifice , useth no other obtestation to back his obsecration , but this , i beseech you by the mercies of god ; and zachary in his song asserteth this to be the end of our deliverance from the hands of our enemies , that we might serve god without fear in holiness and righteousness all the daies of our lives : and the psalmist plainly insinuateth as much in that parallel text , thou hast delivered my soul from death , that i might walk before thee in the land of the living . . for the clearer illustrating , and fuller opening of this truth , be pleased to view in particular on the one hand to what david conceiveth himself obliged , and on the other hand what it was obliged him . . the duty which the psalmist here expresseth as the obligation of mercy , is observable in each parcel . . because , &c. i will . promises of obedience are seasonably made , or rather renewed , after mercy received . indeed there are three special seasons of taking up pious resolutions . . before we are to perform our solemn services to god . . vnder any straight , danger , distress inflicted on us by god . . after any deliverance , blessing , mercy vouchsafed to us from god . an instance of each of these we have in this holy man david . before he will compass god's altar , he resolveth , i will wash my hands in innocency ; when he was in trouble , his mouth uttered vows to god ; and here being delivered from danger , he promiseth , i will walk . the first sort of promises are preparatory , none being fit to draw nigh to god but such as at least seriously purpose to clense their hands , and purifie their hearts . the second are impetratory , those prayers being most effectual which are accompanied with religious promises ; faith and repentance are the two wings of prayer , since faith is that which pleadeth with god his own promises , and repentance engageth the soul to god by promise . the last are gratulatory , holy vows being choyce testifications of our thankfulness . at the twelfth verse of this psalm we find david putting a question , what shall i render ? in this and other verses we find him making resolutions , i will call , i will pay , i will offer , i will walk . a gratefull heart studyeth nothing more than a proportionable return ; and if it cannot do what it would , it will do what it can . . walk . the rich fool having his barns filled , calleth upon his soul to take its ease ; but good david , being mercifully delivered , calleth upon himself to walk . that servant is branded as evil and wicked , who having received a talent , laid it up in a napkin . mercies , as they are received , so they must be imployed for the donor's glory . god sends men into , and continueth their daies in this world , not that they should stand idle in the market-place , but work in the vineyard , and do him service . again , the thankfulness which here david resolveth , is not verbal but real , talking but walking . indeed elsewhere he saith , i will talk of thy doings ; that being one part of our gratitude , to declare what god doth for us . but that is not all ; as there i will talk , so here i will walk , is his thankfull resolve ; we must offer to god the calves of our lips : but if nothing else , they will prove but the lips of calves . whoso offereth praise ( saith god ) glorifieth me : but then it must be , by ordering his conversation aright . many with peter's fish have money in their mouths , thanks in their lips ; but whilst they honour god with their lips , they blaspheme him in their lives . oh remember , he praiseth god most who serveth him best ; the life of thankfulness consists in the thankfulness of the life ; yea , a good conversation is both the most effectual prayer , and real praise . . before the lord . thankfulness is a spirit still upon the wing rising to heaven , and conversing with god ; it is an eagle-grace , whose game lyeth all in soaring and mounting towards the sun ; the gratefull man is still ascending ; it is a low mercy cannot raise him up as high as heaven ; with the bird , he drinketh and looketh up ; with the beast , he lyeth down , and riseth kneeling ; he taketh every blessing as from god's hand , and therefore his eye is still upon god . . not to neglect the septuagints version , i will please the lord , is a suitable resolve to a thankfull heart . whom should a man labour to please if not his benefactor ? it is lex talionis , that which the law of retaliation calls for , to return kindness for kindness , love for love , pleasing for pleasing ; it is but fit , that as god fulfilleth our desires , so we should ( at least strive to ) fulfill his precepts ; and as by his mercies he pleaseth us , so we should by our service endeavour to please him . . lastly , in the land of the living , to wit , so long as he should be among the living thankfull david resolveth to walk before god , so runs zacharies song , all the daies of our life ; so st. ambrose readeth the second verse of this psalm , in omnibus diebus meis ; indeed no day , no hour , no moment , which carrieth not with it a new obligation ; and besides , even particular favours oblige to continued service ; it is not to be devout and zealous for a time , whilst the deliverance is fresh and new , but to set upon a constant course of obedience , which true gratitude calls for ; that thankfulness is of the right dye and colour which is lasting ; nor must our obedience expire but with our life . . you have seen the extent of the duty , now take a short view of the mercy which doth thus oblige , and that in this three-fold consideration . . thou hast delivered . of all mercies deliverances are the most engaging ; every deliverance supposeth a danger , and the danger sweetneth the mercy ; the truth is , we never so highly prize a blessing as when we either are deprived of ; or in danger to lose it . how welcome was the spacious land to jonah , when he had been prisoner in the whales belly ? vvhat kind greeting think you was there between lazarus and his sisters , when he was returned from the dead ? it is not to be imagined with what readiness those hands of abraham embraced his isaac , which were even now unwillingly stretched forth to kill him . health preserved and continued , is a mercy ; but when restored and renewed , it is far more acceptable . no wonder if david being delivered , resolveth to walk before the lord . . my soul from death . every deliverance is a bond ; but when from death ( the worst of outward evils ) it maketh our debt the greater . every mercy hath a voyce , but the greater the mercy , the louder the call to obedience . to this purpose both st. bernard and parisiensis , it is no doubt but that every benefit obligeth the receiver to the giver ; and by how much the larger the gift , by so much the stronger the tye ; and therefore in the service of god we ought to be so much the more solicitous , by how much his love towards , and care over us , hath been the more gracious . thus st. paul , having obtained mercy more eminently , laboured more abundantly than the rest ; mary magdalen loved much , because much was forgiven her ; jehosaphat being lifted up with riches and honour in abundance , his heart was lifted up in the waies of the lord ; and david having received a deliverance from so great danger as death , promiseth to walk before the lord in the land of the living . . lastly , mine eyes from tears , and my feet from falling . lo here a deliverance , not from one , but many dangers , to wit , death , tears , and falling : single deliverances are as threds , but when multiplyed , they become as a cord twisted of many threds , more potent to draw us to god . any one mercy is as a link , but many favours are as a chain consisting of several links , to bind us the closer to our duty ; vis unita fortior . frequent droppings of the rain cannot but make an impression even on the stone , and renewed mercies may well prevail with the stony heart . parisiensis relateth a story of a man , whom ( notwithstanding his luxurious and vicious courses ) god was pleased to accumulate favours upon , so that at last he cryed out , vicisti , benignissime deus , indefatigabili tua bonitate , most gracious god , thy unwearied goodness hath overcome my obstinate wickedness ; and from that time devoted himself to god's service . no wonder then if david upon deliverance from such numerous and grievous afflictions , maketh this his resolve , to walk before the lord in the land of the living . to apply this . vvhich of us ( my brethren ) here before god this day have not experienced variety of mercies , positive and privitive , in our persons and relations ? yea , which of us at some time , in some kind or other , hath not been blessed with deliverances , and that from various , yea desperate dangers ? and now , compensare credo domino deo nostro cultu , honore , reverentia , beneficia quae ab eo accepimus adnitimur ( as salvian of those in his time ) one would think , having received so much love and kindness from god , we should repay him in love and service , worship and reverence ; being graciously delivered , we should go to his house with praises , renounce the sins of our former life , vow to god new obedience , and offer up our selves a sacrifice to him . thus indeed we ought to do ; but what do we ? are we not like the high-way side , which returneth no crop , though you cast never so much seed upon it ? yea , like the vineyard , which though fenced and planted , instead of grapes brought forth wild grapes ? nay yet worse , like the earth that drinketh in the rain , and instead of herbs meet for the dresser , bringeth forth thorns and briars ? whilst we either sit still living in idleness , or else instead of walking before , wander far from god by prophaneness , nay walk contrary to god by rebellious wickedness . it may be in the day of our distress we go to god , but in the day of our deliverance we run from him . as antigonus his souldier , when sickly , was valiant ; but when recovered , turned coward ; and as aesop's snake , which lay still in the frost , but stung him who warmed it in his bosome . so it is with the most of us in adversity , we seem dovout , but in prosperity we prove licencious and rebellious . in the tomb of terrentia were certain lamps which burned under ground for many ages , but so soon as they were brought into the air , they went out , never to be kindled again . a fit embleme of our practice ; whiles we are kept in a cave of darkness , confined to a vault of misery , we are burning and shining lamps : but when god hath lifted us up from the gates of death , and carrieth us as it were abroad into the open air , that we enjoy this worlds allurements , the light of our piety goeth out , and we practice the works of darkness . so that what lactantius complained of concerning many in his daies , who under pressing exigencies would call upon the true god ; but when the danger was over , would return to their former idolatries : the like may be charged upon many of us , who in affliction remember , but after restauration forget , yea dishonour the god of our mercies . that acknowledgement of the psalmist we have all reason to make concerning god , he crowneth thee with loving-kindness , and tender mercies , or he compasseth , to wit , round about with variety of compassions ( as a general doth begirt a rebellious city with a numerous army of souldiers ) but tell me , do we yet yield to this gracious siege ? these gentle batteries ? nay rather , do we not stand out the more rebelliously against him ? yea , our unthankfulness striveth with gods goodness for the victory , as absolom did with david , whether the father should be more kind , or the son more unkind . sad , though just , were those accusations of god against israel , by moses , jesurun waxed fat and kicked ; by isaiah , i have nourished and brought up children , and they have rebelled against me ; by hosea , though i have bound and strengthened their arms , yet do they imagin mischief against me . and may they not as truly be charged upon us ? we are fatted with god's blessings , and spurn at his precepts ; the beams of his goodness have shone hot upon us , and our vicious lives have sent up the more noysome stench into his nostrils ; he hath magnified his mercies , and we multiply our iniquity . very apposite to this purpose are those complaints of salvian and lactantius , god giveth us good things that we might be good , we on the contrary abuse those good things to increase our evils ; he calls us by his benefits to repentance , and we become the more dissolute : then most unthankfully forgetting , and injuriously dishonouring god , when we have the most reason to remember and glorifie him . but do we thus requite the lord , oh foolish people , and unwise ? consider , i beseech you , . is not this the most odious ingratitude to retaliate injuries for curtesies ? that we should receive good at the hands of god , and not evil , is unreasonable to expect : but to receive good , and return evil , is very injurious to act . there is a retaliation of good for evil , this is admirable ; of good for good , this is laudable ; of evil for evil , this is blameable ; of evil for good , this is abominable . . doth not the law of nature teach us to do as we would be done to ? and would we have others deal by us as we do by god ? i appeal ( in salvian's words ) to you that are the great and rich men of this world ; how great were the guilt of that servant who should cast reproach upon , endeavour mischief against an indulgent and bountifull master ? and shall we our selves practice that towards god which we would abhorr and condemn in a servant towards us ? . vvhat shall we answer to god in that day of account , when he shall plead with us for our ungratefull disobedience . oh thou rebellious wretch ! had god instead of restoring destroyed , sparing thee in , cut thee off from the land of the living , thou mightest have pleaded , lord , if thou hadst lengthened my daies , i would have reformed my life : but now that patience hath tried thee , and goodness waited on thee , what excuse canst thou make for thine impenitency ? the sense of this made ezra to blush in behalf of the people , crying out , and now , oh our god , what shall we say after this ? for we have forsaken thy commandments . in the apprehension of this , devout bernard exclaimeth against himself , with what face can i , so stubborn a child , lift up my eyes to so gracious a father ? i am ashamed of my ingratitude in returning hatred for love . imagine thy self ( oh ingratefull sinner ) standing at god's tribunal , his mercies and thy iniquities set in order before thy face , and think thou hearest god upbraiding thee in words much like those by nathan to david , i have many a time delivered thee from great dangers , i have given thee wife and children , with many other blessings ; and if this had been too little , i would have given thee such and such things : wherefore hast thou despised my commandments , dishonoured my name , abused my mercies ? and surely thou canst not but cover thy self with a cloud of shame , yea pour out a shower of tears . . finally , do we not think that god is highly provoked with , and therefore will surely and sorely avenge himself upon such ingratefull rebels ? was not david greatly inraged against nabal , when he said , in vain have i kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness , he hath requited me evil for good ? vvas not god incensed bitterly against the old world , when he said , it repented me that i made man upon earth ? he saith no less of all unthankfull sinners , in vain have i both given and kept all that they enjoy , it repenteth me that i ever made them , or conferred the least mercy on them . and will you know what followeth upon such provocations ? hear what god saith concerning his people , she did not know that i gave her corn , and wine , and oil , and multiplyed her silver and gold which they prepared for baal : therefore will i return , and take away my corn in the time thereof , and my wine in the season thereof , and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness . hear what joshua saith from god to israel , if ye forsake the lord , and serve strange gods , then he will turn and do you hurt , and consume you after that he hath done you good . believe it , brethren , if mercy induce not to obedience , disobedience will ruine our mercy ; nor are either life , or health , or any other blessing so entail'd upon any person , but that ingratitude may , yea will cut it off : nay let me adde , ingratia beneficia , ingentia flagitia , ingentia supplicia , if as mercy hath abounded , iniquity superabounds ; as iniquity abounds , so calamity shall much more ; and by how much the oil of god's compassion hath been the more plentifully poured upon us , by so much shall the flame of his judgements burn the hotter against us : and therefore ezra pronounceth this as a most just sentence against himself and the people , in case of their disobedience , seeing that thou our god hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve , and hast given us such deliverance as this , should we again break thy commandments , and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations , wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed ( us ) so that there should be no remnant nor escaping . oh therefore yet at last let the bounty of god lead us to repentance and obedience ; give unto the lord the glory due to his name , and serve him according to his great goodness . to which , that we may be the better enabled , observe and practice these following directions . . keep god's mercies fresh in thy memory , and often ponder , especially upon eminent deliverances . this remembrance of divine benefits is that which st. bernard commendeth as fit to be a pillar in the spiritual house of our souls ; and this is that which thankfulness taketh care of ; it is god's faithfull register , she is never forgotten , and she never forgetteth ; she writeth god's love , as he doth his beloved , on the palms of her hands ; she hath still new thoughts of the daies of old , and maketh a deliverance live , as god doth , for ever : and surely this duty well performed , would be a singular means of exciting and enabling us to walk worthy of mercy . when ahasuerus on the night he could not sleep , commanded the records to be brought unto him , and read before him , and therein found how instrumental mordecai had been in delivering him from the treason of his chamberlains , he presently asketh , what honour and dignity hath been done to mordecai for this ? so will the soul that faithfully and seriously meditateth on god's deliverances and benefits , ( whereof he is not onely an instrument , but a principal efficient ) often ask it self the like question , what honour have i brought , what service have i done to my god for this ? and such questions are the ready way to pious resolutions . vvhen joseph , being sollicited by his mistris to uncleanness , remembred the kindness his master had shewed him , yea the gracious providence of god towards him , he returneth her that excellent answer , behold , my master woteth not what is with me in the house , and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand ; there is none greater in this house than i , neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee , because thou art his wife : how then can i do this great wickedness , and sin against god ? observable to this purpose is that connexion which david maketh between these t●●o , thy loving kindness is before mine eyes , and i have walked in thy truth . these were two things this holy man had ever before him , his own sins , so elswhere , my sin is ever before me ; god's goodness , so here , thy loving kindness is before me : they are both very imitable patterns . vvell were it if we would every one keep a catalogue both of the sins we commit , and blessings we receive , especially notorious sins , and glorious deliverances , that the remembrance of the one might keep us from wandring , and of the other excite us to walk before god in truth . . often recollect the promises thou madest to god in thy distress , and that will put thee on renewing and performing them after deliverance . vvhen sigismund asked theodoricus , what a man should do to walk in the right way that leadeth to bliss ? he answered , si vitam tuam ita enstitueris ut te facturum promisisti dum calculus aut podagra sive alia valetudo adversa acrius to oppressit , if a man did so lead his life as he resolveth to do when the stone , or gout , or some other sore disease is upon him . call then to mind ( oh sinner ) those dark and cloudy daies in which the guilt of thy sins affrighted thee , the pain of thy disease tormented thee , the fears of death surprized thee , and the sorrows of hell caught hold of thee ; remember how then thou didst pray and promise , beg and vow , that if the lord would remove his rod , thou wouldst forsake thy sins ; if he would spare thee , thou wouldst serve him ; and if he would renew thy daies , thou wouldst lead a new course of life . oh be not so perfidious as now that god hath upon thy promise granted thy desire , thou shouldst by non-performance frustrate his expectation . be the same to god in thy health , that thou wert in sickness , else it will appear thou didst onely vow to amend thy life that thou mightest amend in health ; nor didst thou desire to recover that thou mightest glorifie god , but onely promisedst to glorifie god that thou mightest recover . . frequently ponder thy own unworthiness , acknowledge with jacob , i am less than the least of all the mercies , and of all the truth that thou hast shewed to thy servant ; say with david , what am i , o lord god , and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto ? and in the sense of thy vileness thus reason with thy self , i am unworthy to receive , shall i be unwilling to requite the goodness of god ? i am not able to requite , shall i not endeavour to return something to him for all his love ? i have deserved nothing but death , and tears , and falling , shall i not be thankfull for deliverance from all these ? my former wandrings called for judgement instead of mercy , destruction instead of preservation , and shall i not answer so undeserved a recovery by future walking before god ? thus would the consideration of thy antecedent demerit put thee upon an endeavour of subsequent obedience . . lastly , be much in prayer after , as well as before thy deliverance ; not onely praise but prayer must wait upon mercy . hast thou then obtained health , pray for that which is better than health , grace to improve it in god's service : why shouldst thou be blessed to thy cost , nay thy curse ? say in this case , as abraham in another , lord , what wilt thou give me seeing i go childless ? lord , what wilt thou give me if i go graceless ? it were better not to be delivered , than not to have spiritual enablement with thy temporal deliverance to walk before god . let this therfore be thy own prayer for thy self , yea for this desire the prayers of others . to end all ; this is that request ( my dearly beloved in the lord ) which i must now make unto you : in the time of my sickness you were pleased to wrestle with god for my recovery , oh cease not to pray for me still , i need your prayers , i beg your prayers , it will be your good as well as mine : oh therefore pray for me , that i may lay out this health and strength which god hath restored to me , in his service ; and that being delivered from death , and tears , and falling into the grave , i may be enabled both to resolve and perform that of which david here hath set both me and you a pattern in the words of the text , i will walk before the lord in the land of the living . finis . errata , in the first sermon . pag. . lin. . for un r. in . . . after less d. the comma . in the marg. for lu r. tu . . . for warmness r. weariness . . . for ●● r. 〈◊〉 . . in marg. for saer r. ser. . . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . in marg. for vo r. no . . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . for and r. both . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . for and r. are . in the marg. after de r. triplici . . . put christ before est timos . . in marg. for care r. cant. . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . d. but nisi . l. . after but put in nisi . . . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . for ut r. et . and for tur r. tor . . . r. christian . . . d. to . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . after to insert be . . . put the comma before so . in marg. after bibl. r. e. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. . r. then to . l. . d. ing . . in marg. set the comma before illa . in the second sermon . pag. . in marg. before {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is omitted {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . after {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and joyn the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . in marg. for intee r. intervenire , after ut r. à vuâ hâc . . in marg. joyn {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , d. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , r. gestiunt . . . for or r. a. . . for the more in r. in the mercy of . l. . for his r. this . . . r. devota . . in marg. for at r. as . . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . in marg. for sanio r. facio . . in marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . in marg. r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . . in the end of the marg. for & r. ut . . . r. terentia . . in marg. for du r. da . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- sen. thyest . habet has vices conditio mortalium ut adversa ex secundis & secunda ex adversisnascantur . pli. paneg. interpr . . moller . in loc. part. . in his terris ubi mortalem vitam agimus . muis in loc. isa. . . verse . psal. . . . . quis enim vult mori● prorsus nemo , & ita nemo ut beato petro diceretur alter te cinget & feret quò tu non vis . aug. de verb . apost. ser. . joh. . . matth. . . joh. . . neque enim hanc humanae naturae legem sancit ut turbidis animi motibus omnino vacet , sed quod virtute perfici potest ut eos in potestate teneat . dam. paral . l. . c. . hac autem vitae appetitio ut naturalis cum suis se limitibus continet honesta est & in optimo quoque cernitur . chresol . mystagog . l. . c. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. eth. l. . c. . philip . . . ridiculum est ad mortem currere ●aedio vitae . ep●cur . apud sen. episto . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . doroth . doctr. . in b. p. t. . gr. lat. job . . john . . cor. . . . in hoc i. e. propter hec scilicet mortem & dissolutionem quae inteevenire debet ut vita hac transeamus ad aeternam ingemiscimus , lapid. ibid. ad regnum quippe non potest nisi interposit â morte transire , & idcirco confidendo quasi ambigit & quasi ambigendo confidit , & gaudens metuit & metuens gaudet greg. l. . mor. cap. . confirmandus est animus vel ad mortis vel ad vitae patientiam . sen. ep. . limbus patrum est sinus inferni intra terrae viscera , in quo anima patriarcharum poenam damni sustinuerint , ac liberationem per christi ad inferos discensum cupide expectaverint . bellarm. . de purgat . cap. . rev. . . luc. . . matth. . . agnus dei dicitur occisus ab origine mundi , non tantum ratione decreti promissionis ac typorum in sacrifici●s sed etiam ratione fructus & efficaciae . gerard . de morte par . . hebr. . , , , . psal. . . is . . . observa , quod non dicit versabor in deliciis in urbe mea regia , sed versabor coram domino ●n terris viventium . musc. in loc. coram facie jehovae . moll . ibidem . abjici à facie dei est esse in indignatione dei sic dicebat alibi projectus sum à facie oculorum tuorum , nam it a solent abj●ci à facie principum quibus i●li indignantur . musc. in psal. . tutus degam inter vivos sub favore domini . vatabl. in loc. psal. . . tantundem mihi valet atque agere sub ejus cura . calv. ibid. psal. . . . . verse . aspectus divinitatis propriae munus est conservationis humanae salo. de gub. dei . l. . psal. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} bas. in psal. . respicit enim propheta ad hominum consuetudinem & praesertim parentum nam qui liberos suos vehementur amant cos habent perpetuo & gest●ant in oculis suis liberi igitur dicuntur ambulare coram facie & in oculis parentum quos habent excubitores pro sua incolumitate & salute . moller . in loc. isa. . . deut. . . deur . . . . tutum auxilium postulans propheta , ait , custodi me domine ut pupillam oculi , ut protectionis divinae fieret eitàm sollicita & tuta custodia quàm pupillam oculi tutissimo quondam naturae v●llo munere dignatus est . ambros. 〈…〉 hexam. l. . psal. . . prov. . . psal. . . gen , . . psal. . . ● rom. . part . gen. . . josu . . , . videns primum signum datum de coelo aērio ex hoc confidens petivit secundum de caelo sydereo . lyr. ibid. dan. . . . cor. . . tim. . , . isa. . . . . quasi diceret rem novam agis & insolentem cum enim soleas ex uno beneficio alia atque aliaseriatim ducere , quid modo hanc telam interrūp● ? cur non pergis nectere hanc catenam ? quersum ver● cessas tu●● me beneficiis cumulare ? mend . t. a. apud deum collatio unius beneficii est ratio alterius conferendi . mend . ibid. greg. mag. hom . in evang. sam. . . . joh. . . sam. . . james . . isa. . . videns ●um pronum ad misericordiam , habita pro se misericordia una● , petit aliam prosemine suo . lyr. ib●d . int. . consid. . part. . attende ; quod non dixerit speravi aut spero , sed sperabo , hoc inquit est votum meum hoc propositum meum , haec intentio cordis mei . be●n . in psal. qui habit . serm. . psal. . . . gen. ▪ . josuah . . obligat , se ad constantiam in obedientia & cultu v●ri dei par. in gen. de●● . . . chro. . . . sunt etiam quaedam quae non voventes debemus , quaedam etiam quae nisi voverimus non debemus , sed postquam ea domino promittimus necessario reddere const●ingimur . aug. si non vovisses quid aliud tibi suadendum suit aut quid melius ab homine fieri potest , quam ut ei se restituat à quo institutus est ? id . ep. . * king. . . fil major vel arctior obligatio non per se quia creaturae summa est obligatio deo , sed per accidens seu ratione nostrae infirmita tis . par. in gen. quid ergo vovemus deo nisi ut simus templum dei ? nihil gratius ei possumus offerre , quaem ut dicamus ei quod dicitur in esaia posside nos . aug. in psal. . si nostra tueri non vultis & vestrae defēdetis quicquid passuri sumus dedititii vestri patientur , phil. . . seber . itiner . in psalm . matth. . . rom. . . volo sed ▪ non valeo . ans. in rom. mens boni studii ac pii voti etiamsi effectum non invenerit c●pti operis , habet tamen praemium voluntatis . salv : do gub. dei . l. . psal. . . . . cant. . . nos dulciter & confidenter voveamus , ille dabit possibilitatem ut reddere possimus , nos tamen quicquid illi promittimus de illo speremus . aug de temp. serm. . ezeck. . . philip . . . act. : . contritio semper est ex voluntate efficaci destruendi culpam commissam attritio ●onsemper cum possit s●pe esse conjuncta cum peccato mortali . filiuc . tract. . de contrit . c. . psal. . . qui deo non vult reddere bona quae vovit ei , quomodo vult à deo accipere bona quae ei deus promisit ? non sis in verbis facilis & in operibus difficilis . bern. de mod . bene viv . serm. . luk. . . . matth. . . exod. . . gen. . . prima voti gratia est celeritas solutionis . ambros. de abel . & cain . l. . c. . nemo presumat viribus suis se reddere quod voverit , qui te hortatur ut voveas ipse adjuvat ut reddas . aug. in psal. . psal. . . eccles. . . . chro. . . part. . buxt . lex . l●r . in loc. psal. . . psal. . . . . quasi diceret , non otiosus , neque desidiosus , neque infructuosus in deo sperabam , sed oleo charitatis delibutus , & bonorum operum fructibus locupletatus , instar oliv● fructiferae meam in deo fiduciam reponebam . mend . t. . qui spem in deo sixam habet & per illam laborare & laboriosos virtutis fructus producere non recusat theod. in psal. . magnificatur deus in nobis apud incredulos & infideles , si secundum praecepta domini vivamus , si bonis operibus luceamus . chromat . in matth. cap. . matth. . . john . . cor. . . de dilectione conditoris lingua mens & vita requirantur nunquam est dei amor oliosus , operatur etenim magna si est : si vero operar● renuit amor non est . greg. in evang. hom . signum amoris non est in affectione ani●●i , sed in sludio bonae operationis . id. lib. . reg. c. . james . . luk. . . psal. . . vbi est ignis divinae dilectionis flammas immittit per senestras oculorum , or●● , manuum & pedum . guadalupe in luc. john . . john . . nam sicut nihil est tam leve quod ei non grave sit qui invitus facit : sic nihil est tam grave quod non ●i qui id libenter exsequitur leve esse videatur . sal. de gub . dei l. . ●vota intentio ac commendanda spes si facta respondissent intentioni ac spei . cajet. in reg. l. . oslende mihi , id est ut placeat mihi , & ellam ut mihi sis honori , faciem tuam , id est operationem tuam . ans. in cant. oslende mihi aspectum tuum & opera tua bona . par. cald. in ghist . super cant. matth. . john . . . c●nt . . . 〈◊〉 me ut sig●aculum in corde tuo quo fides t●a pl●no fulgeat sacrament● , ut signaculum super br●chium tuum quo opera 〈◊〉 luce●nt . amb. de in it . ● lib. signaculum christus in f●onte est , signaculum in corde ; in fronte , ut semper 〈◊〉 ; in co●de , ut semper diligamus ; signaculum in brachi● , ut semper operemur . id. de isaac & an. verhum {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in qu●rta conjugatione habet significationem , verborum frequent ativorum ●●ud l●tinos . moll . in pasl . vatabl. in lo● . buxt . lex . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. bas. in psal. . ad explicandum quod ab ineunte aetate profecit in viz dei & perseveravit proficiendo in ea samper . cajet. in gen. quae loquendi ratio constantiam animi significat & invictum robur , sive ittam ducat exquisita cognitione praeditus apostolus à gladiatorio ludo & castris , nam gladiator & miles stare in gradu dicuntur , sive à columnis quae {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} stare in hasi dicuntur symbolo filmitudinis & solidae coustantiae . cresol . de virtur . t. . cap. . sect. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. chryfost . in psal. . hieron in galat. ephes. . . rev. . . numb. . . est ergo primum germen prima hominis in christo confessio , secundò frondescit ubi renatus donum gratiae dei ex spiritus sancti purisicatione susceperit , inde affert flores ubi proficere coeperit & morum suaevitate decorari ac fragrantiam misericordiae & benignitatis effundere , &c. orig. hom . in num . parum est adipisci aliquid potuisse plus est quod adeptus es posse servare . cypr. epist . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. chrysost. in gen. orat . . semper adde , semper ambula , semper profice , noli in via remancre . aug. serm. . de verb . apost. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. nyss . in cant. ambros. in luc. . bern. epist. lorin. in loc. i musc. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in cor. ep. . serm. . psal. . . non divitias quaero & potentiam , nec regnum & gloriam verùm divino templo continuò assidere , &c. theodor . in psalm . lorin. in loc. ambulare coram deo est semper esse paratum , expeditumque atque intentum ad id quodcunque velle ac ●ubere deum noverit prompte & alacriter exequendum ut solent esse ministri ac seni in conspectu dominorum suorum . perer. in gen. . * luk. . . hac lucerna accensa est in omni verbo , & omni opere , ad hanc lucernam gressus noster forensis internusque moveatur . ambros. in psalm . . oct. . * ps. . . ambulare coram deo est semper intueri deum quasi praesentem sibi & idcirco cautissimum moderatissimum & devotissimum deo semper incedere . perer. in gen. prov. . . ● quicquid facio ante te facio , & illud quicquid est quod facio melius vides quam ego qui sanio . aug. solil . cum nos videri non credimus in sole clausos oculos tenemus . illum videlicet nobis abscondimus , non nos illi . greg. moral. l. . c. . qui vitam suam sollicitus aspicit quia se ante se ponit , coram se ambulat . id. in ezek. l. . hom . sancti viri tanto se subtilius in cogitatione constringunt quanto à superno judice districtiùs considerari conspiciunt , &c. id. mor. l. . c. . plut. de util. cap. ab hoste . sen. epist. . nullum majus fraenum , nulla efficacior ratio componendi mores quam ambulare ante fociem principis . cajet. magna nobis indicta est necessita● rectè vivendi , qui omnia facimus ante oculos judicis cuncta cernentis . boe● , de consol. antonin . hist. part . . c. . agens propheta sub judice & scrutatore cordium deo in custodiâ mandatorum dei permanet . non vias seculi , neque vias vitiorum inc●dit , &c. hilar. in psal. . deus totus oculus est quia omnia videt , totus manus est quia omnia operatur , totus pes est quia ubique est . aug. epist. . est prosecto deus qui cuncta quae facis videt & judicat . horat. capt. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . septuag . placebo domino . vulg. gen. . . heb. . . heb. . . thess. . . socrat. eccles. hist. l. . c. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . geom . parad. in b. p. t. . gr. lat. . king. . . . . king. . . isa. . . rom. . . matth. . , . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. hom . de uzz. gen. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . id. hom . in gen. chron. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . id. hom . de uzz. non omnis qui justus est ante homines , justus est ante deum , aliter vident homines aliter videt deus . ambros. in luc. cogita sub oculis dei nos stare spectante ac judicante ipso conversationis ac vitae nostrae curricula decurrere , pervenire nos tunc demum posse ut cum videre contingat si ipsum nunc videntem delectemus actibus nostris , si nos dignos gratia ejus praebeamus , si placituri sen per in regno in hoc mundo antè plateamus . cypr. de zelo. ambulare cum deo tuo , i. e. per omnia deo adhaerere , eum ubique prae oculis habere , illius jussa voluntatem & nutum exactè observare & explere , illi per omnia placere & satisfacere . lapid. in mic. . psal. . . ezek. . . illam se vivorum astimare regionem asserit , ubi colitur verus ac vivus deus , non mortua simulacra : ubi etiam suppetunt vitae corporali transigendae subsidia opportuna , coeli ac soli bonitas , victus abundantia , copia rerum ad honestam voluptatem consetentium . lorin. in psalm . psal. . , . aug. epist. . illa vita est vitalis , dulcis , & amabilis , ubi certa securitas , & secura tranquillitas , & tranquilla jucunditas , & jucunda falicitas , & faelix aeternitas , & aeterna beatitudo . id. de spec. tract. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} greg. nyss . de beat. orat. . col. . , . cor. . . cor. . , . vbi placebo ? in regione vivorum . haec enim regio mortuorum est , alia est terra vivorum . hieron , in psal. . illam animarum requiem dicit terrom esse viventium quò p●ccata non penetrant , ubi virtutum vivit gloria . amb● . de bono mortis , cap. . tunc crimus in regione vivorum ex omni parte placentes in conspectu do mini , ex nullâ ab eo parte peregrini . aug. in psal. . illud hoc loco praeterire non possum quod de babyla antiochena episcopo scribit suidas , &c. moller . in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} revel. . . luc. . rom. . . psal. . . quamdiu . vivis , quia post-mortem nullum gratificandi tempus . euthym . in ps. . joh. . . eccles. . . isa. . . neque enim tunc erit invocandi tempus quando nemini propè erit deus , aliis quidem praesens , aliis vero nimis val●è ●emotus . bern. de quadrages . ser. . joh. . . heb. . . i ergo tu & medio gehenne expectato salutem qua jam facta est in medio terrae . bern. in cant. serm. . nunc rapiendum est regnum dei , nunc spiritu vivendum , nunc sinistris abrenuntiandum ut ibi à dextris locus reperiatur . hug. eter . de regress . anim . ab inf . cor. . . pet. . . per {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , voces tum fluxa & instabilia , tum firma & sempiterna significavit . incolatus enim est brevis commoratio &c. elias cretens . not , in greg. naz. orat. . gal. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . hipp. aphor. m●c . . . j●h. . . gen. . . hos. . . vincula hominum opponuntur vincula bruterum & mancipiorum duris loris & ferre●● catenis . zanch. in hos. beneficia vocat funicula & vincula atque pereleg●●ter , nihil enim magis homin●m devincit alteri quam collatio officiorum . guadulup . in hos. is● . . . clamat invicta ratio & quisque se illi subjiciat à quo habet ut sit , &c. laur. justin . l. de obed. . c. . aristot . e●h . virgil . eclog. rom. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theoph. in luc. luc. . , . hoc deus certè per sua intendit beneficia , ut ei scilicet placeam cum colam , quae sunt illi grata saciam , &c. lorin. in ps. . psal. . ult. psal. . . psal. . . jam. . . anna samuelem impetravit , & acceptum deo reddidit , quia cum posecret , vovit . aug. epist. . v. , , . luc. . . . . math. . . non verbis sol● sed etiam factis laudare oportet , & hanc laudem ut symphoniam graliosam , & coelo dignam requirit maxime deus . cresol . de virtu● . psal. . : hos. . . psal. . . ocationem veram dixeris csse actionem , sed religiosam , actio bona oratio est , sed operosa & practica , benè orat qui benè ●git . dre●el . rhetor . coel . quid enim rectius , aut quid dignius , quam ●t quibus per munera sua do●inus quasi specialiter videbatur placere voluisse iidem quoque specialius domino cultu ac religione placuissent . salv. de gub. dei , l. . significat velle se deo placere uhivis , quoad fuerint in vivis , quamdiu vixerit , dum spiritum traxerit . genebrard . in psalm . quia semper a●cipis , semper invoca , & quia quod habes , à domino est , debitorem ●e semper esse cognosce . amb orat fun . de obita theodos. imp. luc. . . scuet nullum est momentum quo homo non utatur vel fruatur dei bonitate , & misericordia , sic nullum debet esse momentum , quo eum praesentem non habeat in memoriâ . bern. meditat . devot . cap. . non dubium est omne beneficium obligare receptorem erga datorem , & quanto majus fuerit , tantò magis obligare . paris . de legib. cap. . tanto quis amplius timerè deum , & magis solicitus esse debuerat quanto majora ejus munera percepit . bern. in ps. qui hab. cor. . . luc. . . chron. . , . parisiens . de univers. partes primae , pars tertia , cap. . salvian . de gubern . dei , lib. . matth. . isa. . . hebr. . , . si qua necessatas gravis presserit , tunc deum recordantur , si belli terror infremuit , si morborum pestifera vis incubuit , ad deum confugitur à deo pelitur auxilium , nunquam dei meminerunt , nisi dum in malis funt , postquam met●is deseruit & pericula recesserunt tum alacres ad deorum templa concurrunt , his liba it , his sacrificant . lact. instit. divin. lib. . psal. . . his miserationibus nos coronat deus , ut solent duces urbem militibus cingere quam rebellem adjungere cupiunt ad suum dominatum , proh duras hominum mentes quae beneficiis divinis obsessae , non se dedunt . cresol . mystag . l. . c. . deut. . . isa. . . hos. . . ille nobis ad hoc bona praestat , ut boni stmus , nos è diverso quoties hona accepimus mala nostra cumulamus , ille beneficiis suis provocat ad compunctionem , nos ruimus in dissolutionem , &c. salv. de gub. l. . tum maximè deus ex memoriâ hominum elabitur quum beneficiis ejus fruentes honorem dure divinae indulgentiae deberent . lactan. instit. divin. lib. . cap. . deut. . . job . . interrogo omnes potentes ac divites mundi hujus , cujus piaculi reus sit servus ille , qu● bono ac pio domino malum cogitet , qui bene merenti convitium faciat , & pro l●bertate quam accepit contumeliam reddat , &c. salvian . de gub. l. . ezra , . . quanam fronte attollo jam oculos ad oultum patris , tam boni , tam malus filius . pudet ingratitudinis quanquam ad confusionis cumulum arguar etiam reddidisse mala pro bonis , & odium pro dilectione . bern. in cant. ser. . sam. . , . sam. . . gen. . . hos. . , . ingratitudo ventus urens , siccans sibifontem pietatis , rorem misericordiae , ●luenta gratiae . bern. in cant. ser. . josh. . . tantò gravius de ingratitudine judicabimur quanto magis accumulatis beneficiis ingrati probabimur extitisse . id. in serm. cont. ingrat . ezra , . , . recordemur misericordiarum dei ut sic accendamus in ejus amorem revocemus ad memoriam bona quae tribuit nobis . id. de int. dom. c. . esth. , , , . quia bona quae assecutus fuerat , repentè memoriae intulit malum , quod se pulsabat , evicit , quia perceptae gratiae meminerit vim culp● : imminentis fregit . greg. mo● l. . c. . gen. . , . psal. . . psal. . . aeneas sylv. l. . com de reb. alphons. votum est postulatio bonorum à deo cum solvendi muneris promissione . et ideo cum impetraveris quod petisti ingrati est tardare promissum . ambr. l. . de abel & cain , c. . gen. . . erubiscau●us prava c●mmittere quò nos à deo meminimus gratuitò bona percepisse . greg. mor. l. . c. . sam. . . magno debo obligata e● anima mea , multum accep●st● , & nihil à te habuisti . aug. meditat . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. chrysost , in ps. . justice triumphing, or, the spoylers spoyled laid forth in a gratulatory sermon for the miraculous discovery of, and our glorious delivery from the barbarous powder-plot / preached at pauls, november the th, by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) justice triumphing, or, the spoylers spoyled laid forth in a gratulatory sermon for the miraculous discovery of, and our glorious delivery from the barbarous powder-plot / preached at pauls, november the th, by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by r.l. for nathanael webb and wilfram grantham ..., london : . reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. eng sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no justice triumphing or, the spoylers spoyled. laid forth in a gratulatory sermon for the miraculous discovery of, and our glorious delivery f hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion jvstice triumphing or , the spoylers spoyled . laid forth in a gratulatory sermon for the miraculous discovery of , and our glorious delivery from the barbarous powder-plot : preached , at pauls , november the th . . by nathanael hardy , master of arts , and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church . woe unto the wicked , it shall be ill with him , for the reward of his hands shall be given him , isa. . . who so diggeth a pit shall fall therein ; and he that rolleth a stone , it will returne upon him , prov. . . deus non solum est in praestando benignissimms , sed etiam in vindicando justissimus . aug. l. . de lib. arb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. in ps. . . london , printed by r. l. for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at their shop , the greyhound in pauls church-yard , . to the right honorable sir john gayr knight , lord major : the right worshipfull the sheriffs , and the rest of the aldermen . together with the worshipfull societies of this ancient and most renowmed city of london . right honorable , right worshipfull ; worshipfull : i should have been well pleased to have kept this scarce plumed bird in my private cage , had not the noyse of some virulent fowlers shot forced her to flye abroad for refuge ; where to build her nest better she knew not , then in the secure clefts of your favourable protection . in your eares she first sounded her notes , which ( though harsh and broken ) were attentively heard by many among you ; and i hope will now be entertained no lesse acceptably . true it is , she is no soaring eagle in cloudy notions , nor gaudy peacock beautified with the feathers of affected eloquence : onely thus much i may safely say , shee is an harmless dove , free from the gall of malicious bitterness , bringing in her mouth like that of noahs , the olive branch of peacefull vnity . to the effecting and establishing whereof , that shee may prove in some measure subservient , is the hearty desire and unfeigned prayer of him who is a constant petitioner at the throne of grace for yours , and the churches safety . nathanael hardy . to the reader . i never so much prized my rude conceptions , as to judge them worthy of a publication ; and the just diffidence of my immature yeares and shallow judgement , hath often caused me to withstand friends importunacy . i well know to use ruffinus his expression , non esse absque periculo multorum judiciis ingenium tenue & exile committere ; it were far more safe for my slender shallop to be confined within the narrow river of a private auditory , then to launch out into the worlds main ocean . besides , i sadly observe the curiosity of the times , the variety of mens humours ; what one approveth , another rejects ; one thinks it is too facile ; another , too obscure ; one sayth it is too loose ; another , too elaborare . and ( which is yet worse ) such is the perversness of this age that novell fancies , jangling controversies , ( which like rebecca's twins cause a sore strugling in the wombe of our church ) nay , horrid blasphemies finde more acceptance then solid and sacred verities . so that might this sermon have died the common death of others , it should have been buried out of sight . but considering how slanderous tongues ( sharp as swords that wound neer hand , yea , as spears and arrows that hurt further off ) have sought to put it to a violent and ignominious death , i am enforced to revive it , that innocencies plea may reach as far as envies accusation . the adversaries of these weak labours stand both on the right and left , to wit , furious novelists and fiery papists . as for the former , i wonder not that they contemne them ; since here are neither known truths clothed in uncouth phrases , nor ( which is viler ) old errours in a new dresse , the only fashions that sectaries are enamoured with . as for the latter , i lesse marvell that they should traduce them ; the very subject , and occasion of them being their shame and anguish . illis siquidem pudor est audiendi quae faciunt , nullus faciendi quae erubescant . they are unwilling to heare what they were desirous to have acted ; it is their common cry , what , nothing but the powder-treason ? but surely gods undeserved favour to us , and his deserved punishment of them may well challenge a marble monument ; and fit it is our pens as well as tongues should annually commemorate this deliverance . let then the papist read and fret , the novelist read and scoff , i doubt not but the moderate , sober-minded christian will read and accept , at least pardon . such i hope thou art ; let but this well meant ( though mean ) discourse finde thee charitable , and thou mayst perhaps finde it profitable , which is his paayer , who is thine in the lord jesus , nath , hardy . the introduction . i am ascended this sacred mount with joy and feare . joy in that blest occasion of this solemne meeting ; feare of my too too unfit abilities for this weighty service . indeed which way soever i looke , just causes of solicitous feare present me ; so that i may use jacobs words concerning bethel , how dreadfull is this place ! if forward on the difficulty of the businesse in hand , i feare least through my steril invention , and stammering tongue , the worke should miscarry and prove abortive . if round about on this numerous assembly , judicious auditory , i feare , as knowing my empty notions cannot satisfie your solid apprehensions . if backward to those silver trumpets which have formerly proclaimed the praises of god in this sanctuary , i may well be afraid to sound my crack'd pipe and bruised reed . last , if upward to that awfull majesty , in whose place i stand , i desire most of all to fear and tremble , lest either through my dulness or unfaithfulnesse i should betray my masters message . yet on this last object i fix my eye . it was his providence , not my desert or desire called me hither . it is his glory , not my own honour i set before me ; in his , not my own strength ; i shall endeavour to performe my taske , not medling with matters of state , but only the state of the matter ; for which purpose i shall intreat you to turne your eyes to that sage apothegme of the kingly prophet david , and lend your eares to that sacred ditty , of that sweet singer of israel , as you shall finde it pen'd upon record , in the text . psalm . . the lord is known by the judgement which he executeth , the wicked is snar'd in the work of his own hands higgaion selah . a gratefull commemoration is the worke of this day ; a miraculous discovery the subject of this commemoration , an eminent deliverance the fruit of that discovery ; a remarkable judgement the attendant of that deliverance , and this scripture a fit parallel of that judgement . never did story more exactly demonstrate the truth of this text ; nor can any text more pithily lay open the marrow of this story : so that whosoever rightly considers the fulnesse of gods dispensation in the worke , must needs acknowledge the fitnesse of davids acknowledgement in the words . if you call to minde the mercy of the day , we may justly apply the romans expression of the time wherein caligula began to reigne by decree of senate , it was the day wherein england was new built , a day in the romish calendar nigro carbone notatus marked with a black coale because the fire came not at it to make it red : but in outs candore notabilis ipso , for the same reason worthy to be written in white yea golden characters . this moneth of november is memorable among others , for two dayes , the seventeenth and the fifth ; on the one the purity of the gosp●l brake forth ; on the other the treachery of the gospels enemies brake out : the one the initiation of as gracious a queen ▪ the other the continuation of as wise a king as ever england enjoyed . and truly should these two dayes parley , as once themistocles fancied of the holiday and workeday , and the seventeenth should say to the fifth , if i had not been so happy , thou hadst never been ; the fifth may well reply , had not i been , thou hadst never been so happy , since had not this day been so gloriously successefull that sunne of the gospell which did then arise , had probably in our horizon for ever set . a joyfull day then it was ; and that not lesse for our adversaries destruction then our preservation , both which were so neerly conjoyned in this dayes bl●ssi●g , that the one could not have been without the other , their desolation being our consolation , their corruption ou● generation , their ruine our resurrection ; nor could wee have stood upright had not they fallen . so that if ever any people , we ; if we for any deliverance , for this ; and if for this on any day , much more on this , may well say and sing with the psalmist in the words of the text , the lord is known , &c. the title of this psalme according to the vulgar reading is pro occultis filii , which hierome and aquinas interpret of absolons conspiracy against his father david , and if so , it well suits our present occasion , which is the detection of those sonnes of belial , who closely contrived the ruine of father and mother , king and countrey . some there are who render it pro juventute candida , conceiving the scope to be a gratulation for the flourishing estate of the church ; and if so , it fitly answers this dayes comfort wherein the church of england revived as it were from the dead , and hath flourished since more then before . our late translators referre it to some musicall instrument , junius to a note which wee commonly call the counter-tenor , and if so , wee may learne one part of this dayes se●vice , by vocall and instrumentall musicke to celebrate this unparalleld blessing . not to controvert the title ▪ if we will believe ainsworth , as the intent of the former psalme is the magnifying of god for the propagation of christs kingdome , so this for the destruction of antichrist . and if so , well may we beare a part in this tune for that fatall blow , which ●hough to us in the intent , yet to antichrist in the event p●oved pernicious . however some famous example of gods mercy to david , and judgement on his enemies was the ground of pe●m●●g this psalme . many are the verses wherein david mentioneth both these , and among them none so remarkable as this which hath selah annexed to it a word that is never used nisi ubi valde insigne est quod dicitur , unlesse that which is spoken be of singular concernment , so that what the diamond is among stones , the sun among planets , gold among metals , that is this sentence in the psalm , worthy to be engraven in every religious bosome , and sung by every pious soule , the lord is known , &c. in which words you may observe a rhethoricall climax , which we shall climbe up by these steps ; jehovah though in himselfe incomprehensible may be known ; nothing wherein he is more conspicuous then in executing judgement , no judgement more palpable then that which snareth the wicked in their own works ; and when this is done , nothing becomes the saints better then to make it higgaion , selah , our continuall meditatiō . the text presents us with three parties , god , the wicked , the saints ; gods judgement , the wickeds punishment , the saints deportment . gods severity , the wickeds misery , the saints duty . deus perceptus , god perceived by his executions . impius deceptus , the wicked deceived in his intentions . pii conceptus , the saints conceit and meditation of both . if you please call the text a theatre of gods judgements , wherein you have the king of glory displaying himselfe on the stage of this world with thunder and lightning , and thereby known in his severe judgements . the wicked acting his part with secrecy and confidence , but his exit dolefull and miserable . the saints as spectators of this tragedy , hissing at the folly of the wicked , applauding the equity of god . i● you will ▪ conceive it as a pitched field , wherein you may behold the lord of hosts comming out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth , drawing out of his sword , and doing execution on his enemies , his colours red , betokening vengeance , and his motto this in the text , the lord is known , &c. the wicked adversaries of the church mustering their forces , lying in ambush to intrap the saints , discovered and ensnared ; their colours black , bespeaking malice , but their motto may well be the second clause , the wicked is snared in the work of his own hand . the whole army of saints triumphing in their generals honourable conquest , and the enemies shamefull overthrow , their colours white , intimating purity , and their motto the last words higgaion , selah . to speak more plainly , call the verse a sermon ; in it are the three usuall parts of a sermon , doctrine , reason , use ; the doctrine affirming , reason confirming , use inferring , in fine observe these three plain and pithy severalls . a general proposition concerning gods manifest justice asserted , the lord is known in executing judgement . a particular expo●●tion and exemplification of that assertion annexed , the wicked is snared in the worke of his own hands . an implicite imposition of a duty to be performed in reference to both the former higgaion , selah . i shall gently strike these severall flints , each of them will afford various sparks to enlighten both the text and day , in prosecution of which , let our prayer be that that god who as on this day was gloriously known to the wicked in the execution of his reall , would now be graciously known to us in the promulgation of his verball judgements ; and as the wicked were justly snared in the work of their hands , so our souls may be mercifully taken by the words of his mouth , that the lessons which we shall heare and learn this houre , may be higgaion , selah , our meditation , comfort , and practice for ever , and so i begin with the first part. a generall proposition of gods manifest justice asserted . the lord is known by the judgement which he executeth . the first word though not in order , yet nature , to be explained , is judgement , a word of various significat●on , & large extent , verbum hoc judici utinam nemo transiret sine ●udicio ; fit it is our judgements should be informed in the nature of gods judgement , not needlesly to insist on the numerous acceptions of the word , know to our present purpo●e ▪ gods judgements are of two sorts , judicia oris , operis , of his mou●h and his hand , of his words and works . judgement is frequently applyed by david to the words of god , and that not without just reason , since by them he commands as a judge , in them hee requireth nothing but what is just , and according to them he will one day judge us . most commonly the scripture applyeth judgement to gods works . and that generally to the whole administration of his government of the world , the way of god among men being styled his judgement , jer. . ● . and of these st. paul affirms they are unsearchable and past finding out , rom. . . more especially , and that somtimes for his corrective and medicinall chastisements on the godly ; so the apostle peter tells us , judgement begins at the house of god , pet. . . and they are fitly so called for this reason among others , because god tempers them with judgement , and manageth them with discretion according to the prophets prayer , correct me , o lord ▪ but with judgement , not in thine anger , lest thou bring me to nothing , jer. . . somtimes for his vindictive and exitiall punishments of the wicked , begun in this world , consummated in the other ; of this judgement god hath made a due preparation ▪ and the wicked have a fearfull expect●tion , as being a judgement without mercy ; and of this sort is the judgement in the text to be understood . the reason of which appellation is well given by musculus to be partly , because these punishments are inflicted by god as a judge , chiefly because they are most just and right . there is not lesse verity then severity in all gods proceedings against sinners ; we are sure saith st. paul , that the judgement of god is according to truth against those which commit such things , rom. . . it is observable for this purpose that god compares his destruction of samaria to a line and of the house of ah●b to a pl●mm●t , king. . . ut ostendat se no● praecipitem f●●ri , that he might appear not rash but righteous in his sharpest stroaks on the wicked ▪ measuring all his actions by the streight line of justice . the judgements of his mouth are somtimes obscura , always vera , though difficult , yet true , and the judgements of his hand are somtime occulta , never injusta , though secret and strange , yet just and equall ; nor is it amor vindictae but zelus justitiae , love of righteousnesse , not revenge which makes him to execute judgement , i form● light , and i create darknesse , saith the lord ; isa. . . light is put before darknesse , but darknesse joyned with light , god the author of both . mercy is most naturall to god , flowing from him as water from the fountain , light from the sunne ; but yet judgement is somtimes squeezed from him as wine out of the grapes by our sins . hee calls it indeed his strange worke , but yet it is his work and he will doe it . it is true the instruments of vengeance are called a razor that is hi●ed as though god had no weapons of his own , but rather then sin shall want its just merit , and justice her due satisfaction , god will hire instruments and command execution to be done . i have read of a loadstone in aethiopia which hath two corners ; with the one it draweth to , with the other it puts the iron from it . god ( beloved ) hath two armes , of mercy and judgement , two hands , of love and wrath , with the one he draweth , the other he driveth , the one stroaketh , the other striketh ; and as hee hath a right hand of favour wherewith to lead the saints , so hee wants not a left hand of fury , wherewith to dash the wicked in peeces . true it is as solomon intimateth judgement is not presently executed against the evill doer , the cause whereof is not negligentia but clementia , inscitia but tolerantia , a mercifull patience , not an ignorant negligence ; and however though he have woollen feet yet his hands are iron , his executions may be slow , they will be sure , it is one of his choyce attributes by no means to clear the guilty , and he is no lesse a just judge , then an indulgent father . we all like polyphemus see with one eye , with malchus have but one eare , like the benjamites cast the stone with one hand ; we love onely to suck the dug of compassion ; to be fed with the milke of mercy : but let none flatter themselves , wee must expect judgement should grate our eares as well as mercy tickle them , knowing that if we will not heare , we shall f●●l ; for the lord is known by executing judgement . the lord is known . according to the caldee paraphraze it is translated , manifestum est deo & cum deo judicium quod fecit gods judgements are known to or with him . lea●ned muis renders the participle impersonally cognitum est , it is a known , tryed , experienced truth , god doth judgement . both these seeme too short of the psalmi●●s meaning , the vulgar latine reads the words in the future tense , cognoscetur dominus , referring to that last and great judgement , wherein most eminently and universally the lord shall be known a just rewarder and avenger . hugo makes mention of a threefold day , wherein god is known of tribulation , death , and judgement the last and most dreadfull day of all . the and the generality of interpreters read it in the present and preterperfect tense , hee is and hath been known , by executing judgement . that the saints while they live may have a breathing time , and the wicked a taste of misery god executes justice on them now , and when he doth so , he is known to be jehovah . god though invisible in himself , is both audible in his word , and visible in his acts ; and indeed plus oculo quam or aculo , we read him more easily in the patent of his works , then charter of his scriptures ; true it is the noblest demonstration of things is from their causes , the neerest from their effects and performances ▪ the former cannot be made of god who is the first cause , the latter is made by his actions . sensus assensus sunt , we soonest assent to what we behold , and we all with thomas are backward to beleeve till we see with our eyes , feele with our hands , and put our fingers in the print of gods workes . now there are three sorts of acts , by which god makes himselfe known . omnipotent in working miracles . gracious in dispensing favours . vindictive in executing judgements . by his omnipotent he is known to all the world . by his gracious to the church . by his vindictive to his enemies . aliter suis , aliter impiis innotescit dominus , god is in a diffe●ent manner knowne to his own , and his enemies ; to his , in cond●nation of their sins , and donat●on of blessings ; to his adversaries , modo non solum mirabili sed miserabili in imputing their sins to them , inflicting his judgements on them ; indeed judicia indicia , every judgment on the wicked is a character , yea oracle to evidence gods presence . tunc demum deum cognoscimus cum poenam exigit de impiis , then do all men see the majesty of a god , when the wicked feele the stripes of his rod , these are paginae authorem suum nunquam tacentes , lines which cannot conceale the penman ; bookes that ever speake their author , and the plainest paths wherein we may trace the footsteps of a deity . oleaster derives the name jehovah from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , that signifieth destruction ; i will not assert the naturalnesse of the etymology ; yet thus much is true , when god brings calamity on the wicked , he gains glory to himself , and manifestly appears to be jehovah . whilst god is injuriae patiens , suffering wrong from his enemies , he seemes as it were to be asleepe , and the world takes little notice of him : but when he is vindictam agens doing right he showeth himselfe the judge of the world . what full characters of his attributes doth god write in the bloud of the wicked ? to wit , the infinitenesse of his mercy to the saints , who are hereby preserved ; the severity of his justice on the ungodly , which is herein declared ; the integrity of his faithfulnesse in both promises and threatnings , which are herein performed . by his judgements it is that he is known . in the perfection of his holinesse hating all sin . in the almightinesse of his power subduing his enemies . in the sovereignty of his dominion ruling all creatures , so that upon just ground the psalmist asserts , the lord is known by the judgment which he executeth . to close up this first generall . o that you to whom though not the name jehovah , yet elohim is given in scripture , of whom this lord hath said yee are gods , would be like to god , and make your selves known in your office by executing judgement ; be sure it be judgement , according to the rules of law & justice ; otherwise you do not execute but persecute . to pardon ravens and censure doves , to pass by blasphemies against god , & punish misplaced words towards men , to connive at wilful profanations , & condemn ignorant or passionate miscarriages , is no● {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} bu● {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as the elegant prophet phraseth it , isa. . . but in a way of right and equity spare not to shew your selves resolute , it was a wise saying of pythagoras , he that doth not malefactors right , doth the good wrong , and cato professeth he had rather be ungratefull then unjust . god bids magistrates keep judgement , but not as a prisoner ; execute it , but not as a malefactor ; keep it ▪ that is ▪ observe ; and execute , that is , performe : oh remember justice is gods legacy , and he hath made you his executors ●nd a●ministrators ; be carefull to see his will fulf●lled ; execution ●n policy is like elocution in oratory , the prime of all . it was a goo● speech of one concerning nerva his government , malum esse eum imperare sub quo nemmi quicquam liceat , sed longè pe●us esse sub eo vivere sub quo omnia liceant , to english it in few words , tyranny is better then anarchy . saint augustine pithily sayth of a remisse magistrate parcendo saevit , he is cruell in shewing mercy , and that not only to others but himself , incurring that curse which belongs to him who doth the work of the lord negligently ; that apothegme of lewis the thirteenth of france , being most true , that prince which can and doth not punish , is no lesse guilty then the offendor . oh the● far be that machiavellian policy from those who have the bridle of authority in their hands , to lay the reynes on every ones neck , and allow the people to do what they list ; that grosse hereticks , obstinate schismaticks , or open prophaners should passe without due censure for feare of losing a party ; no , rather take up that heroick resolution , fiat justitia , & ruat mundus ; let justice be mayntained , though the world be ruined . but what ever carnall reason may suggest , wee shall finde at last no better way to prevent the ruine of the campe , raging of the plague , drowning of the ship , then the stoning of sacrilegious achans , slaying adulter●u●z●mries and cosbyes , and casting froward perverse jonahs overboard , obedience is the best sacrifice , punishment of disobedience the next ; and were magistrates more , god would be lesse known in his judgements . let the lord be knowne , and acknowledged in his wrathfull ex●cutions . better indeed were it to know him in his liberall collat●●ns as a donor ; but howev●r let us know him in just visitations as an avenger , since as one well , idcirco à deo fl●gellamur ut cognoscamus iratum ; quem nolumus cognoscere propitium ; therefore doth god thunder and lighten in his punishments ; that we might own him in th●se , who would not behold him in the shining of his love ; the truth is , we are all too loth to know god even in those afflictions he infl●cts on us ; how long was it ere pharaoh is brought to take notice of god ? moses comes with a m●ssage , and he c●yeth out quis dominus ? who is the lord that i should obey his voyce , nay ▪ when not only gods word in his mouth , but a rod in his hand was stretched forth before and against him , he would never set his heart to it till after ren●wed strokes and miraculous effects a confession of gods finger is extr●cte● from him , and his magitians ; we rather ascribe crosse events to seco●dary then the sepreme cause ; noahs floud to an extraordina●y concurrence of watry planets ; the drowning of phar●ohs host● to an inconsiderate adventure upon too high a●tide , and not to the wrath of god the sole cause of both ; but let us remember though we will not , we shall against our will know the righteous judgement of god , and god in his righteous judgements . there are two things which iehovah makes his enemies know in the day of his indignation , themselves , himselfe , their impotence , his might , their mortality , his eternity , their vilenesse , his sovereignty , both in the psalme , and both verses attended with a selah as most observable ; themselves , that they are but men , v. . himselfe that he is iehovah , in this verse . as for us , let our endeavour be , though we cannot comprehend , yet to apprehend god ; and that as in the height of his majesty , lenghth of his patience , breadth of his benefits , so in the depth of his judgements ; and as in all , so especially those which snare the wicked in his owne worke , and so i am fallen on the second generall . a speciall exposition and exemplification of that assertion annexed ; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands . the wicked , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} so the peccator so the vulgar ; and true it is universally of every sinner , his own workes snare him ; it is lorinus his note the text , that s●ns are called the works of our own hands , because nothing is prope●ly our own but sin ; the merchant in the gospel sold all he had to buy the pearle , that is his lusts ; nothing else being ours ; and in ●hese sinnes is the actor snared ; every sinner saith saint hierome , carrieth about him ropes , bands , torments to vexe himselfe , and saint austin in his confessions ipse fibi inordinatus animus poena est an irregular mind is her own executioner ; and he that is wiser then both , tels us , his own iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe , and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins , prov. . . oh see the folly and deceitfulnesse of all sinne ; du●ungit , pungit , with joab while she kisseth she wounds us ; prop●nit quod delectabile supponit quod exitiale , by pleasing proposals to flesh and bloud she allureth , and ruineth flesh and spirit ; by the mantle of darkenesse , robe of honour , cloake of excuse , veile of modesty , yea sometimes cover of scripture , and habit of vertue , she deceiveth and destroyeth the foolish sinners . more particularly , the hebrew word noteth an unquiet turbulent , seditious and mischeivous person , one that is ever working , and accounts not himselfe well but when he is doing ill , nay , though it be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a laborious and painfull employment , the impiety of his heart speeds the improbity of his labour , for the accomplishment whereof he useth not onely industry but secrecy , the works of his palmes , for so the hebrew word signifieth , and is accordingly rendred by some opere palmarum suarum ; the palme , saith ainsworth , is a place where filthinesse may be hid , and wicked men are closely industrious to accomplish their hellish designes . the locusts in the revelation are said to have womens haire ; the hyaena a mans call ; the crododile mourning teares ; the syren melodious notes ; and the whore of babylon her golden and sugred cup of fornication wherewith she makes drunke the kings of the earth . what carbo spake of sylla , is true of the churches enemies they carry both the lyon and the fox in their breasts ; and truly major metus ex vulpe quam leone ; the more secret , the more pernitious ; still waters are ever the deepest , and silent counsels thunder the loudest . but yet neither policy , nor industry , activity of hands , nor subtilty of wits , can speed the designe or prevent their ruine ; for he is snared in his own work . corruit he fals , so the vulgar , captus est , so remigius , ut mus in muscipula , he is taken as a mouse in a trap : this work in the former verse is compared to digging a pit ; what more laborious hiding a net , what more subtle ? and yet he fals into the one , and is caught by the other ; snared he is in the disappointment of his intentions to ruine the saints , yea against his intentions to his own destruction , and which is more emphaticall , we may read the preposition {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} not only in but by , the wicked perishing by , and that not anothers , no not so much god , as his own hands ; there need no trouble of devising a new stratagem ; his own actions are sufficient to undoe himselfe . the plotting of the wicked against the godly is like the throwing of a stone upwards , which falls down upon his head that threw it ; and whereas the casting up is violent , the falling down is naturall ; so true is that of st. basil , it is not addit a poe●a , but insita natura , not so much the punishment as nature of wicked counsels to entrap the owners ; that allusion of st. hierom concerning the delusion of the bow is very remarkable to this purpose ; then a bow is deceitfull , cum sag●ttas putatur jacere & sauciat tenentem , when instead of sending the arrow forward , it wounds the archer , yet such are all the bowes the wicked bend , and arrows they make ready to shoot at the upright in heart , st. austin excellently represents the perniciousnesse of wicked workings by the kindling of a fire ; that which burneth another must first be kindled it selfe , and as he excellently proceeds , malitia ut alterinon noceat fier● potest , ut tibi ipsi non noceat , fieri non potest , that thy malice should not prejudice thy brother , it may be , that it should not prove injurious to thy selfe can never be , since what we brew we must drinke , the fetters which the smith makes he must weare , wickednesse ever retorts on the owner ; and no juster law then that the workman should perish in his own impious and injurious artifices . search if you please with ahasuerus , the records of time , sacred , ecclesiasticall and prophane stories , you shall finde this aphorism verified in all ages upon all sorts of persons . begin with him who is emphatically called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} both the wicked and the witty one ; how was that sophister of worldly wisdom caught in his own fallacy ? whil'st he crucified christ , he crucified himselfe : and endeavouring by death to subdue the worlds saviour , he was his own destroyer . the disciples must not expect to fare better then the master , the children then their father ; nor did they , the jewes ( i mean ) who were of their father the devill in the sentence of truth it self . they murder christ least the romans should come by murdering him the romans comming is hastened it is s. austins observation on that parable of the husbandmen ▪ under whom is meant the iews , they say , come ; this is the heire let us kill him , ut possiderent occiderunt & quia occiderunt perdiderunt they slew him that they might gain ; because they slew him , they lost the inheritance . memorable is the example of gideons spurious son abimelech who by slaying of his brethren that he might enjoy , lost both the rule and his life ▪ and of sauls putting david on the attempt of killing philistims with promise of his daughter , but desire of his life , upon which st. gregory well observes , unde succresentis militis vitam se extinguere credidit , virtuti ejus gloriam inde cumulavit , the means which he used to bereave him of his life , advanced his honour . time would fail to tell you of achitophels halter , hamans gallowes , goliahs sword , nebuchadnezars fiery fornace , of all which that of saint ambrose is verified as the peace of the saints , so the plots of the wicked return into their own bosoms . the same father giveth a notable example in some of the churches enemies , who waging a war ▪ were so mastered by the violence of a mighty winde that their bucklers fell out of their hands , and their own darts were driven upon themselves ; what should i tell you of alexander the sixt , who was poysoned with the same poyson he had prepared for some of his cardinals ? cardinall balue who was made to hansell one of those cruell prisons whereof he had been the inventor ; pope hildebrands servant , who stumbling was killed by that stone hee should have thrown on frederick the emperour at his devotions ; eutropius the eunuch who first stood in need of the benefit of the church to save his life , after he had obteined a prohibition against it from the emperour ; and of gryphus his mother , who upon just suspition was made to take that draught wherewith shee intended to poyson him . all or most of the conspirators against julius caesar dyed by the same daggers wherewith they stabbed him . marius was wounded ( being commander ) with the sword himselfe made , when a cutler . that giant who tooke pleasure in throwing downe scrambling mariners from the rock , was himselfe cast down by theseus . what should i stay to mention phal●ris his bull , maxentius his bridge , the romish women● poysons , the hetruscan south-sayers counsell concerning hora●●us his image , which was so apparently dangerous to themselves that the children sang in the streets according to the greeke poet , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the evill counsellour is most his own foe . that the wicked are thus snared , nothing more frequent ; but by whom ; the text implyeth it and eliphaz expresseth it , the lord taketh the wise in their own craftinesse , job . . . the hand of malice maketh the pit , and the hand of justice puts in ; the hand of cruelty weaveth the web and the hand of providence snareth the maker in it ; god is known in all his judgements , but especially in those of this nature , which cannot be ascribed to chance or fortune , but onely god ; palam est & omnibus manifestum , sayth reverend calvin , cum impius illaqueatur , deum judicis partes implere , god as a judge is most eminently declared when the wicked is unexpectedly snared ; by this means above others the enemies are shamed , and god is honoured ; cloathing with shame and their own confusion are joyned together , ps. . . indeed what greater shame then to be blasted in their hopes , out-witted in their policies , and ruined by their own devices ? nor is the honour lesse to god then the shame to the wicked ; it is the noblest way of conquest to foyle an enemy at his own weapon● ; what greater glory to benaiah then to slay the aegyptian with his own spear , sam. . . god never appears so glorious , as when he makes the viperous works of his enemies , to eat out the bowels of their own mother● . by these passages of providence the depth of his wisdome is obvious to the most shallow capacity , both detecting and defeating , countermining ; nay undermining their closely contrived plots ; and not only so , but the height of his justice in causing them to gather rods for the punishment of themselves , and making the wicked smiths to forge the instruments of their own ruin● . to winde up the bottome of this thred . let the wicked tremble , and their joynts like belfhazzers smite together in the apprehension of this truth ; let it cease their mischeivous workes , and cause both their hands to fall and their hearts to faint ; for tell me is there not a cause ? when according to the italian proverbe they are in danger of being taken with the theft in their hands ; while the meate was in the israelites mouthes , gods wrath overtooke them ; and while the ungodlies designes are acting by their hands , the judgement of god findes them out . why so much pains and secrecy to so little , nay to so bad purpose ? know they not that their mischiefes like over-charged peeces will recoyle upon their own breasts ? that they build the walls of their hopes upon a sandy foundation , which will fall upon their own heads : fond men to kick against the pricks , nay which is worse bestial , since like the boare they run with violence against the trees of righteousnesse , and thereby dash out their own brains . surely what the moth is to the garment , the worme to the tree , rust to the iron , that is , a mischievous work to the author , fretting , eating , consuming him that acts it . improbo homine nihil imbecillius , none weaker then the wicked , whose weapons are so easily wrested from him , and employed against him . it is hard to say whither is greater the sin or the punishment , since the malicious man though against his will is a selfe murderer . he soweth curses like hempseed to make an halter for himselfe , and all such sooner or later shall have cause to say — propriis configimur armis , our armes are our harmes , and our own conceptions the death of their parents . let the saints encourage themselves in the daily accomplishment of this doctrine , let them make a happy construction of the wickeds miserable destruction , even to banish immoderate feares far from their thoughts . hee that toucheth you sayth god , toucheth the apple of mine eye , zach. . . of his eye , so some read it , it being most true that the dust which the churches adversarie raise against her , flyeth in their own eyes . let not then the saints looke at their present intents , but their works future event ; their machination , but gods ordination ; their raging fury , but gods ruling sovereignty ; their subtile craft , but gods sublime wisdom , which both over-powers and over-reacheth them , and let this be higgaion , selah , the last part . the third generall . a tacite imposition of a duty to be performed by the saints higgaion , selah . few words and obscure , but full and important , conteining more matter then could well be couched in so short a compasse by any other language . the word higgaion is but twice used besides in sacred writ , and that in the psalmes ; the terme selah according to athanasius times in the psalmes , and thrice in habacuck ; both together are no where found but in this verse , a manifest argument of more then ordinary , both weight and worth in this scripture . the and the vulgar wholy omit them ; upon what just reason i see not . some only conceive them as interjections expressing a sodain passion under an imperfect sence , but if you please to dive into this sacred sea , you shall finde a rich pearle in the cragged shel of both these words . higgaion is generally derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifies locutus est , to speake , and that properly with the mouth metaphorically with the heart : a word that noteth ( saith one ) such a study and exercise of minde as oft breaks out into voyce . both constructions may afford us instruction , that the judgements of god deserve , and challenge both our serious meditation and ready promulgation . they are to be meditated and pondered in our hearts ; when god had made an end of his works he appointed a sabbath to rest in from his works , and to delight himselfe in what he had ma●e , qui sabbattizavit creando docet nos sabbattizare meditando , he that appointed a sabboth from the creation , teacheth us to solemnize sabbaths , yea to spend our dayes in meditations . the works of god may well be resembled to choyce hangings : which must be spread abroad by diligent contemplation , not folded up in oblivion ; or to dainty dishes which we must not deglutir● but ruminare , swallow down , but chew c●refully , so as we may taste the sweetnesse of them . they that goe down into the deepe , sayth the prophet david , behold thy wonders , and onely those who goe down into the depth of sacred contemplation , can and shall see the wonders of god ; every common star of gods goodnesse deserveth our eye ; but chiefly the blazing comets of his vengeance , lest while we neglect to set them before our eyes , they fall down upon our backs : and as all gods judgements , so especially his wonderfull snarings of the wicked ; this among others it is that eliphaz calls on job to marke to wit , that the steps of a wicked mans strength shall be str●●tned , his own counsell shall cast him down ; for he is cast into a net by his own feet for he walketh up●n a snare . this is the onely way to make others mise●y our happinesse , their damage our profit , while what they feele we behold , nor yet is this enough unlesse to meditation we joyn promulgation in publishing with our mouthes the works of gods hands ; this was davids resolve to spe●ke of gods righteousnesse and his praise all the day long . psal. ult. and for this end among others , he calls the tong●e his glory , as being his best instrument to set forth gods glory ▪ the extent of this word is w●ll expressed to be intenti animi murmur ex grato pectore enarrens deilaudem , a ready narration of gods prayse from a gratefull breast ; thus trevetus renders it sonitu and others solemni sono with a solemne sound to proclaim the judgements of god . we must neither bury in oblivion , nor smother in silence divine justice in the wickeds ruine . the vowels of gods works are not to be joyned with mutes ; the dumbe devill is as odious to him as the deaffe ; wee must not be like plinies {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} without lips , tongue , and mouth , to shew forth his praise ; indeed sermo index animi ▪ the tongue is the hearts midwife , and as our hearts indite a good matter , so our tongues should be the pen of a ready writer , psal. . . the psalmist joyneth the words of his mouth , and the meditations of his heart together , psal. . ult. as being insepara●le companions in publishing our makers glory . meditation must not be still borne ; the fire that burneth within cannot but flame forth . by serious thoughts we make an impression of divine judgements on our selves , but by our words wee make an expression to others whereby though gods honour can receive no essentiall addition in it selfe , yet it hath a clearer manifestation to others . the caldee paraphrase expresseth more then both these , to wit , an affection of joy in meditating and proclaiming the judgements of god ; we must not onely thinke but say , and say but sing , and sing but shout , yea , boast and glory in the just vengeance of the almighty . we have all joyned together , ps. at the th vers , mention is made of the judgment , in that the wickeds tongue shall fall upon his own head . in the following , of our duty , to consider wisely declare faithfully glory joyfully herein , to the end of the psalm . when the wicked are brought to and condemned at the bar of justice , it is hilarie terme with the saints . zechary doubles the exhortation , rejoyce and sing . zephany trebles it , rejoyce , sing , and be glad . the church hath ever practised it , moses and mirian , barach and deborah , the whole church of the jewes , all thankfully rejoycing in their adversaries desturction . so true is that of the psalmist , the righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance , he shall wash his feet in the blood of his enemies . not as it is their misery , but gods glory ; their confusion , but others conversion : a revenging of their own wrongs , but a satisfaction of divine jvstice . to seale up my discourse of the text with the word selah , the broad seale of davids hymnes , and this verse . a little word , yet i might expend a great deale of time in explication of its severall references to the matter , musick , auditors . but i must hasten . avennarius sayth , in all the rabbins he cannot finde a certain signification of the word ; as for the etymology , some derive it from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} consternare , and so it is somtimes a note of humiliation and dejection , psal. . . . . others from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} elevare , and so it notes elevationem vocis ad psallendum , mentis ad meditandum , a lifting up of voyce and heart in singing that to which it is annexed . if wee consult with interpreters , wee finde a double sence of the word , noting eminencie and perpetuity , seriousnesse in and duration of the duty . seriousnesse , ob rem summe medit and am ▪ trem. res digna quae inimo pectore reponatur . our first , nay second thoughts fall short of gods works ; it was eliphaz his counsell to job , that he should stand still and consider the wonderous works of god , chap. . . wee must not onely ( as we passe by ) take a cursory view of , but rather stand still , or sit down , that wee may draw the picture of god in his punishments ; it is not a transient aspect , but an exact view , whereby our hearts may be the more affected with them . constancy . the caldee and hierome read it , for ever ; the hebrew doctors say , that where netzak or selah are used , it note● no end of that thing . the sweet spices of divine workes must be beaten to powder by meditation , and then layd up in the cabinet of our memories . god hath made , saith the psalmist , his wonderfull works to be remembred ; he gives us the jewels of deliverances not ( because of the commonness of them ) to weare them on our shooes , as the romans did their pearles ; much lesse to tread them under our feet ; but rather to tie them as a chaine about our necks . he workes strange and glorious judgements , not to be written in sand or water , but rather in marble with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond . the impressions of gods marvellous acts upon us must not be like that which the stone makes in the water , raising circles , beating one wave on another , and for a time making a noyse , but soon after it sinkes down , and the water returneth to its former smoothnesse : so we while judgement is fresh , to publish it from man to man , and soone after let it sinke into the depth of oblivion , and we returne to our old sinnes . david was of another mind , who resolveth to remember the yeeres of the right hand of the most high , psalm . . the heathen had three graces inseparable sisters ; the one to give , the other to receive , the third to returne , and all painted young ; to learne us , that benefits should never wax old in our rememberance . for this cause the saints of old composed songs , appointed daies , penned chronicles , erected monum●●ts of gods goodnesse and greatnesse . in this respect for ever honoured be that honourable parliament , who made it statum diem & ▪ statutam legem , enacted it for a law in iacob , and an ordinance in israel , the solemnization of this daies deliverance . and deservedly commendable is your practice , my honourable lord , and worthy senators , who have with joy and triumph presented your selves this day in the courts of the lord . me thinks your gratitude appeares of the same colour with that of the robes you wear , a scarlet colour , dyed in grain ; such as length of time wipes not off . nor must i forget to encourage you the tribes of our jerusalem , the heads of those tribes , who weare the liveries of praise , and are come up to the house of the lord to giue him thanks . the houre i see is expired ; but surely what st. austin said of the feast of pentecost i may well apply to this festivall , gaudet produc● haec solemnitas , it wouuld be extended beyond an houre , nay a day . i could ever wish with joshua that the sun would stand still , the day were twice as long , that we might enlarge our joy , while the romish proselytes gnash their teeth . what then remains , but that as the prophet elijah stretched himselfe on the shunamits dead child whereby it revived ; so i the severall parts of this text to this dayes occasion , that the dying memory thereof may revive among us ? having drawn the picture of my text in its severall lineaments , what is wanting but that i take a review , compare it with the pattern , and let you see the likenesse of the text to the time , that so it may appeare drawn to the life ? finally , having cut out and made up the garment of this scripture by explication , give me but leave to put it on by application , that you may see how fashionable it is for the time , and beneficiall it may be to your soules , and i shall then dismiss you . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or an application of the whole to the gunpowder treason . for our cleerer and quicker dispatch , be pleased to walke with me through these three stages . the enemies worke , gods work , our worke ; what they would have done , what god did doe , what we should and ought to doe . the worke of mischief in which they were snared . the worke of judgement wherein , if ever , god was known . our work of duty , now and ever to be performed . the adversaries work . opus mirabiliter singulare , & singulariter mirabile . such as the present age may well admire , the future age will hardly believe , and no former age can parallel . a treason without a reason ; yea to use st. hieroms expression , of the face of the fourth monarchy , without a name , quia crudelitas fine modo , cruelty without measure . a worke without a match , though to have been acted by a match ; in a word , a plot so odious , a tragedy so direfull , that the actors would not have owned it when effected : but as nero fathered the burning of rome on the christians , so had they prepared a proclamation to cast it on the puritans . if you aske who were the authors of this worke , the word in the text well fits them , they were wicked , seditious , yea traiterous troublers of israel ; the word is singular in the text , and it was one wicked incendiary , faux orci , a firebrand of hell , that should have put the consummatum est to this horrid worke . but withall the word is taken collectively , and there wanted not a combination of wicked men in this designe ; those in the text are called in the former verse heathen ; these in the plot were papists ; so much the worse , because pretending christians . we shall doe no wrong to that caiaphas , high priest of rome , and man of sinne , not caput , but canda ecclesiae , if we attibute , at least , the encouragement of the worke to him , as being , though not an actor , yet by his buls an abettor of it ; such have their popes indeed ever been , their vrbanes turbanes , pii impii , clements inclement , hildebrand helbrands . we shall do as little injury to the jesuites , jebusites , judasites rather , if we impute to them the contrivement of the worke . these indeed are the onely schoolmen that fetch argumets out of the shambles , and conclude all their syllogismes in ferio ; the best pulpit men to strike to the heart with dead , not lively , occisory , not operatory sermons . they may well be called cen●iniani , as having a singer in every state , and know no better way to build up their church , then by blowing up kingdomes . theirs was the head worke , and tongue worke in this plot , to absolve , resolve , pray , prophecy . you have heard their psalmody , the memory of novelties shall perish with a cracke . that when it had come to passe , it might have been said , the mouth of the lord hath spoken it . they were the men who justified as lawfull , nay sanctified as pious , yea , would have glorified as meritorious , this hellish worke . the actuall managing of the worke , was by a certaine number of english gentlemen , but with romish hearts , who drew together like an impostume to an head ; theirs was the handworke to hire a cellar , digge through the wall , buy in the provision , and execute the project ; and so the accomplishment of the worke was theirs ; the jesuites as the poet , and they as actors in this tragedy . if you inquire what moved them to the designe , they tel us in their confessions , religion , necessity , conscience ; wicked men indeed to defend slaughter with conscience , cover mischiefe with necessity ; patronize rebellion with religion ; no wonder their rage was fierce , when grounded on a false zeale . it is the worst madnesse insanire cumratione , nay religione ; to be madde with an opinion not onely of reason , but religion ; men are never more violent , then when they thinke god is of their party ; and as charity is accounted coldnesse of religion , so a pretended zeale of religion causeth coldnesse of charity . but what was the intent , or rather extent of their worke ? in sum it was a parliamentary breakfast , an irrevocable writ of dismission to that high court ; our enemies will tell us where our strength lyeth ; it was to have cut off head and taile , root and branch in one day as the prophets expression is . esay . . . one hath well presented the marke these wicked shot their arrowes at in five words . rem , regem , regimen , reginam , religionem . the king apparreld in his royall robe , with an imperiall crowne on his head , holding a scepter in his hand , sitting in his throne ▪ in the midst of all his state , should have beene deposed from his majesty , nay , exposed to their cruelty . the queen his consort in wedlock , shou●d have beene his consort in woe , and the prince at their knees , heire apparant to nothing but their misery . briefly , the hope of succession , oracle of wisdome , chariots of israel , butteresses of strength , guardians of justice , masters of assemblies , glory of nobility , and flowre of the whole kingdome , should have been cropt , out off , destroyed , had this worke succeeded . achitophels treason against king david , the ●alerian schoolmasters treachery against the noble youth of that city h●mans conspiracy against the people of the jews , were short of this ; which was to have swallowed up king , nobles , commons , all ; so that as asia was called the grave of rome , for the many nobles buryed there , westminster would have been the grave of england . a desperate attempt , and no lesse dangerous the meanes of atchievment ; it was a worke of no small labour , a worke of their palmes ; no lesse secrecy . it was not to be effected by force of armes , that is manifest , nor by stab of dagger , that is visible , but by an insensible element , and that mos● fierce of all others , fire , and that most hellish of all fires , gun-powder , couched in a dark vault , inclosed in barrels , invi●oned with irons , invellopt with wood , and coale , all fiery fewell . insidiantur in abscondito to use the psalmists expression , they say to the earth cover us , as fearing least the whistling winde , or singing fowls of the aire should reveal● it ; — itum est in viser a terrae . those hellish pioners spare no pains to digge out the bowels of their grand-mother , earth , that they might gnaw out the bowels of their mother country , and this just under the upper house of parliament ; that where the lawes ( said they ) received their life , the law-givers might their death . a death never to be painted out to the life , a brewing such as never the like was tun'd up for the destruction of three estates ; a designe that should uno actu , tactu , ictu , nictu , with one touch , in one moment have sent those worthies of our israel to the grave , yea , in their intention to hell it selfe . see here a cruell intent to shed bloud , a bruitish cruelty to te●re bodies in pieces , a devillish bruitishnesse to do it by powder , nay , indeed more then devillish ; for whereas the devill is said to sweep with his taile the third part of the stars of heaven these would have darkned the sun , turn'd the moon into bloud , yea , swallowed all those gli●tering stars of this horizon , then united in an happy constellation , in obscurity . that this worke of their hands may be the more prosperous , they sow up their lips , swear a silence , and back that oath with the sacrament . catilines immanity and inhumanity need be no wonder , who made his souldiers pledge each other in a draught of mans bloud ; these drinke the bloud of god ; and , as they conceive it materially ; that they may strengthen their hands in their bloudy designe , pauls enemies vowed neither to eat nor drinke naturall food till they had kill'd him ; these eate and drinke sacramentall food to speed the slaughter of thousands ; and among the rest of him that was more then ten thousand of us . what wickednesse will not men attempt to atchieve their intended malice ? how neere this work of darknesse was to have been brought to a fiery light judge you ! it was not according to jonahs prophecy dayes , nor dayes , nor scarce so many houres ; nox una interposita one night betwixt , and but a part of that neither , ere the terrible blow had been given , and we destroy'd . the hand of mischief was ready to have done the work , before it was known to be lift up ; the snare on our heeles , before it was discovered to be laid ; the poyson almost at our throats , before we could see what maner of liquor it was . we might well say with david , sam. . . there was but a step between death and us ; and apply that of anacharsis concerning those that were in a ship fingers from the water ; there was but fingers between them and death ; a step , a finger of that caitiffe of the cave might have laid all our honour in the dust . see , all things are in a readinesse , the plot contrived , actors designed , cellar hired , engines provided , powder hid , a train laid , and that black-bird of hell at hand , with the match to have put a period to the treason . how doe these audacious confederates applaud themselves in their pregnant hopes ; and promise all their own . the next heire is designed ; proclamations prepared , honours divided , instruments of cruelty ▪ provided ; not so much as the garments of the new dukes and earles but are made up . the letter said ▪ god and man are agreed to punish the wickednesse of the times ; but stay there : man was agreed , god was not ( blessed be his name ) he was at , but not of their counsell : true indeed there was but a tantum non and the flames had gone over our heads . we were at the pits brinke in the jawes of destruction , there wanted nothing but thrusting in of the falx , sickle to cut us down , or fax fire to blow us up : a touch of guy faux to have rent us in piecss , but noct● pluit tota , redeunt spectacula mane . the ungodly were many nights digging a pit for us , and before morning they fall into it themselves he that was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a present refuge , opportune helper , stept in , entrapped them in their own snare , and discovered his justice in detecting their malice , which leads to the second particular . gods worke dignus vindice nodus , a knot fit for a god to untie ; not man but the devill devised it ; not man but god defeated it ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it was not in the brains of men to prevent it , so far indeed from our prevention , that it could not come into our imagination , it was not in the arms of men to oppose it ; no band of men could have rescued from the devouring fire , onely in the knees of god , so that in this , if in any thing , the lord was known as a just judge . be pleased a while to trace the severall steps of the discovery , and you shall plainly behold it was not , it could not be any other but gods finger that manacled their hands , and snared them in their work ; for tell me what was it that extorted the meanes of revealing from his pen , whose to●gue had sworne concealement ; that made him , who was acting the ruine of many , to consult for the preservation of one ? not any innate pitty in the traitor , but the over ruling soveraignty of god ; what was it that inclined the heart of that noble lord , to publish and communicate the letter which detected the treason ? not popery or carnall policy ; but the all-disposing providence of god . what was it inspired ( i can call it no lesse ) the brest of that royall king , other●ise free from jealousie ( as a badge of tyranny ) to suspect the danger ; and by a violent unnaturall construction of a phrase to finde out the violent unnaturall destruction that was hatching ; not so much his own prudence ( though otherwise great ) but the wisdome of the almighty . what was it , that infatu●ted the traitours who ( while the plot was but suspected ) had opportunity to escape , that they should try the utmost , and afterward sharpened the edge of all mens spirits against them where they came to kill some , surprize the rest ; even before a proclamation could overtake them , but that just severity of god ? finally , what was it that prevented the surp●ziall of that noble lady elizabeth , and insurrection of the papists , when those rebels whispered the feare of a massacre into their eares , but the mercifull goodnesse of god ; so that all the attributes of god were concentred , and met together in this dayes deliverance ; and which is yet more remarkable in it selfe , and sutable to the text , those antichristian mole-warps were taken in their owne pit ; those romish fowlers caught in and by their own net . was it not a worke of one of their hands and pens that first gave cause of suspition , and was the meanes of discovery ; did not their owne tongue fall upon them , when the colloquie betweene garnet and hall at the tower proved the clearest testimony against them , in a word , did not the powder sinne flye in some of their faces ? when among others two of the traitors were wounded accidentally by powder in an house , and afterward both killed by a shot ; so truly was this scripture fulfilled in this example before the eyes of all men . and surely , were not our romish proselytes drunke with the wine of sodome , and nurs'd with the milke of dragons they would behold , beleeve and repent . the papists call much for a judge of controversies between them and us , but why take they not notice , how god hath time by time shewed himselfe a righteous judge , pleading our cause and preventing their plots ? but i feare a spirit of delusion is fallen upon them , and therefore i shall betake my selfe to that which concernes us to doe , the last particular , our worke . i know you have long looked for an end , much speaking is a wearinsse to the flesh , and long hearing offensive to your patience , yet spare me but a few minutes while i teach you your duty , and i hope you will have cause to say , the latter end of the sermon is better then the beginning , let then our meditation continually fixe it selfe on both these objects . on the enemies work , and that so long till it have wrought in us an impression of these following duties ; even till it have flamed us wi●h a fiery zeale , awakened us to a cautelous vigilancie , and engaged us unto mutuall unity ; of each a word . let it inflame us with a fiery zeale and holy indignation against the scarlet impudent whore of babylon ; who is ever in travell with a babel of our confusion ; oh let us detest with a perfect hatred their practices , whose mercy is cruelty , religion faction , devotion sedition , whose zeale is fire , martyrs are traytors , and saints devils ; and not onely their practices , but their principles , which are the wheels that move them to these cursed executions : i meane those jesuiticall doctrines wherewith mens hearts being once poysoned they care not what villany they attempt . among which i observe three principall engines , that are no small enducements to treasonable projects . the popes power to dispence with oaths , the legality of murthering princes , and a toleration of various religions ; observe but the powder plotters , and you shall finde their despaire of obteining a free toleration , their opinion of the lawfulnesse of killing kings , and blowing up parliaments , were the strong incentives to this mischiefe ; and that all of these devillish opinions , are the plain assertions of the jesuites ; i need not stay long to demonstrate . gretzer expresly asserts concerning the oath of fidelity , that the pope may free his catholike subjects from it when their king rules tyrannously . the sandy foundation on which he and the rest built it , is the power of binding and loosing given to peter , and indeed to all ministers of the gospel by christ , to wit of sins , not oathes . the mutthering of princes is a common tenet indeed , these two , deum comedere , regem occid●re , to eat their god , and kill their king are the abhord maxime of these unreasonable men . mariana accounts it a moderate way to poyson a chaire , or garment for the killing of kings . francis de verone commends the act of that desperate wretch who assaulted henry the fourth of france , as just and heroick ; nay , one of their popes , sixtus the th made an oration in praise of that fryer , who murthered henry the third of france ( though no protestant ) saying a true fryer had kill'd a counterfeit . yea , had his cardinals been as forward as he , they had canonized him for a saint ; what need we goe farther then this present businesse ? in paris , oldborne and garnet , that were executed in england for this treason , are enrold in the catalogue of martyrs , and certain english priests censured for praying for their souls , as though they doubted of their crown of martyrdome : as that valiant papistomastix in his time , doctor featly hath left upon record that he saw the former , and heard the latter credibly reported . as for toleration , it is true , it is far from their own practice where they have power ; witnesse their cruell inquisition , ( indeed none are more tyrannous where they beare rule , then they that plead for this licentious liberty , where their own way cannot be authorized ) but yet they maintain it lawfull and indeavour to attaine it where their religion prevails not . thus father parsons , cardinall allen , and william bishop a seminary priest , doe all of them assert both in thesi that religions fundamentally differing are consistant in the same kingdome ; and in hypothesi that it is not onely lawfull and convenient but honourable for the king of england , to permit the free exercise of the rom●sh profession . i hope the bare recitation of their damnable doctrines is to us a sufficient confutation . all i aime at is to warne us that while we declare an utter antipathy against the romanists ; we doe not sympathize and joyne issue with them in any of their cursed opinions . oh farre be it from us to thinke that any humane power may dispence with , and make what construction it pleaseth of the many oaths and protestations we have taken ; particularly that solemne covenant , wherein we have lift up our hand to the high god . farre be it from any ●f us to have a malicious thought against our liege soveraign ; rather let us make prayers and supplication for him . and ( which i wish there were not too much cause of ) beware we that none of us defend or indeavour that intolerable toleration of all religions . it was the course julian the apostate tooke to root out the very name of christianity by setting open the door to all hereticks and schismaticks . i say no more , but know that religion is the soul of the body of a common-wealth , and guesse your selves what a monster that kingdom will be that is informed with an souls ; yea , undoubtedly the toleration of many will prove in time the subversion of the one orthodox religion in that church wherein it is granted . i have onely one request before i leave this exhortation , to you famous citizens ( it will be a work well becomming your thankfull hearts ; and a part of answer to davids question ; what shall i render ) that now while you are piously consulting to settle , and advance the maintenance of your preaching ministers ? you would take into your thoughts , the erecting and endowing a colledge or society of able instructed scribes , who with their pens dipt in the nectar of sacred writ ; may ( as with swords ) cut off all superstitious idolatry , and the head of that hydra of heresie which riseth up so fast in this declining age . the crocodiles about the banks of nilus , if rub'd or but prickt with a quill of ibis , are so stupified that they cannot stir , and the pens of orthodox writers are the presentest remedy against the poyson of errours ; how might this prove as a towre of david , where the horsmen of israel might have shields and targets to fight the lords battails . secondly , let it awaken us to a cautelous vigilancy , we need not a prophet to tell us what is spoken in the king of syria his bed-chamber , i meane , the popes conclave . remember the powder-plot , garnets aufer to gentem perfidam ; and you may smell their intentions . true it is that vault of darknesse was discovered , but there is another vault of wickednesse in their hearts ; and one depth will call for another ; one fire kindle another ; and one like beget another . equo ne credite teucri . the aspe lies in her hole , and doth but waite for the warme sunne . the gyant lurketh in his den ; and watcheth but a fit season , the devils powder-mils are still doing ; store of this coyne is minted daily at rome , and new exploits forged on the anvils of jesuites braines . they had no small hand in our late sad divisions ; oh let us never be too secure , if we mean to be safe . these chamelaeons will take any colour , these proteus like will turn themselves into any shape . aske among their friends , what a jesuite is they will tell you , every man , and with their father the devill , care not to transforme themselves into children of light , and though ravenous wolves to appeare i● sheeps cloathing . oh let us never cry peace , whil'st our enemies have their bowes ready bent , and arrowes prepar'd to shoot at the upright in heart . let it engage us to mutuall unity ; and now , oh that i had the silver oratory of demosthenes , or rather the golden mouth of chrysostome ; nay , yet rather the heavenly tongue of angels , that i might charme you into a sweet harmony ! but what speak i of charming your eares unlesse god perswade your hearts ? oh thou god of peace , work in us a love of peace , and then work for us the blessing of peace . consider i beseech you , could not the wicked works of our enemies hand be able to snare us , and shall we snare our selves by our own works ? have not their swords been able to pierce us ; and shall we sheath our swords in each others bowels ? doe we this day rejoyce in their destruction and shall we give them cause one day to laugh at our divisions ? hath not rome and all her confederates been able to blow us up , and shall we undermine our selves ? shall england and scotland doe that each against other which the kingdoms round about could never yet accomplish ? oh let it not be told in gath , and published in the streets of ascalon ; let it never cause a festivall in rome , and holiday in ireland , that they shall heare the two nations are tearing each other in pieces . let us remember whose part it is , even the envious mans , to sow the tares of dissention . he endeavoured a rent between god and job by that calumny , doth job serve god for nought ? nay , to make a schisme in that blessed unity betweene the father and the sonne , by tempting christ to goe beyond his commission . oh let not us , who call the church our mother , have the devill to be our father ; i entreat , i obtest , i adjure , by all the bands of union between us , the oneness of that faith we live in , king wee live under , covenant we are obliged to , that we may be one : for the confirming of this with our brethren ▪ and obtaining it among our selves . oh you who are the vigilant governours and peaceable inhabitants of this metropolis ; let your purses freely contribute , counsels maturely act , prayers to god , humble remonstrances , and petitions to man be still continued ; least otherwise , if we should take up the sword againe to fight each with other , we put such a sword into our catholique common enemies as wil not easily be wrested out : nay , ( which is far worse ) a sword into the hands of our god to avenge the quarrell of his covenant , and we may justly fear , god will say of such a crying iniqu●ty ▪ ( should it ever be acted , which his mercy avert ) it is revealed in mine ears , and it shall not be purged from us till we die . let our meditation dwell on gods worke , and that so long till it have elevated us with a joyfull gratulation , encouraged us to a confident expectation , and strengthned us in earnest supplications . let it elevate us with joyfull gratulat●on to that god who as on this day mercifully declared himselfe both a protector of sion , and a detectour of her enemies . indeed whom should we magnifie if not god ? and for what , if not for this ? i may well use st. austines words , quisquis non videt caecus est ; qui videt & non g●udet ingratus est ; he that beholds not gods wonderfull , both mercy and severity , in this deliverance is grosly blind ; he that beholds and blesseth not , is ungratefully dumbe . had this monster , which was come to the birth , bin brought forth , this day would have bin englands vespers , and romes mattens , our funerall , their festivall ; instead of this pure worship , these blessed opportunites we now enjoy , we might either have bin plung'd into grosse superstitions , such as cringing to crucifixes , adoring images , turning over beads , babling to saints , wandring in pilgrimage , or else have bin drag'd to a rack or stake , the proper engines of that romish antichrist . oh! let the streames of our thankfull joy flow as high , as our sorrowes ( had these things come to passe ) would have made them to ebbe . since we were not as on this day made oblatio matutina igne devorationis , an early burnt offering to that moloch of rome , let us make our selves oblationem matutinam igne devotionis , a morning sacrifice by the fire of devotion to the god of heaven ; and since that bitter cup passed from us , let us take the cup of salvation , and praise the name of the lord . nor let the law of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} here take place , though it be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , let it not be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , may this day never be out-yeard , but let all generations call it blessed . aristotle observes of the ancient graecians , that they placed the temple of thankes in the midst of the street , that being obvious to all mens eyes , it might ever put them in minde of their duty : and surely , if we shall either deprave with malice , bury in oblivion , lessen with envy , suppresse in policy , neglect in security , or reject through a novell fancy of superstition this dayes solemnity , we should eminently provoke divine fury : no rather let the mercy confer'd , judgement executed be graven with a pen of iron on the posts of our doores , tables of our hearts , and hornes of our altars for ever . let it encourage us to a confident expectation , that he which hath bin will still be known by the judgement that he executeth ; former experiences are just grounds of future confidence ; gods infinite love , nec largiendo exhauritur , nec benefaciendo fatigatur ; is a sun ever shining , and a fountaine always running ; neither is his hand shortned that he cannot save his church and destroy his adversaries . what therefore zeresh said to haman concerning mordecai , by way of supposition , let us apply in a position ; ours is the orthodox religion , before which the popish faction hath begun to fall , and shall so fall as never to rise againe . though the romish harlot cry up ignorance as the mother of devotion , honour traytors with martyrdome , glory in her bulls , and indulgences , make saints and angels her advocates ; yet know the time is at hand that shee shall come in remembrance before god to give her the wine of the fiercenes of his wrath , and she shall sink like a milstone into the bottome of the sea . nor let us only be confident in regard of her , but all other enemies of the churches truth and peace . i meane irreconciliable sectaries . that how ever they act strenuously , watch cautelously , plot secretly , compasse cities and countries industriously , and by that means increase exceedingly ; though they endeavour by cunning devices , subtill stratagems to retard our peace , hinder our establishment , foment our divisions ▪ yet the day is comming when they shall be snared in their own works , the vizard be plucked off from their face , and it shall appeare to all the world that their wisdome is but craft , humility basenesse , faith faction , zeale contention , and pretended fervour in religion formall hypocrisie . let it strengthen us in fervent supplications , for the full accomplishment of his works , and our hopes . let us then end this day of praises with prayers ; and what shall we pray ? even that of deborah , so ( as did these traytors , sodainly , surely , gloriously ) let all thine enemies perish , o lord , judg. . ult. or more sutably to the text , that of david , with his spirit not of revenge but zeale , psal. . . let destruction come upon them at unaawares , and let their net which they hid catch themselves , into that very destruction let them fall , or as it is , psal. . , . let them curse , but blesse thou ; when they arise let them be ashamed . but let thy servant rejoyce , let our adversaries be cloathed with shame , and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a mantle ; or if you will in the words of our late solemne league and covenant , that all incendiaries , malignants and evill instruments which hinder the reformation of religion , divide between the king and his people , or one of the kingdoms from another , may be discovered , brought to publike tryall , and receive condigne punishment ; in a word , let it be our daily petition at the throne of grace , that all the enemies who rob our church of her truth and peace ( between whom as christ was , his church is still crucified ) may be detected ; that god would make his enemies as a wheele , and always turn their fire-matches into halters to hang themselves , who will not bow their necks to the yoke of the lord , that so god may still be known in that romish babylon for an avenger ; and in our english syon for a refuge , from one generation to another , and let all true hearted protestants say , amen , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- psal. . . detractoria verba sunt arma & sagittae ▪ arma propè slantes , saggitae longè absentes vulnerant . ugo catensis . notes for div a e- gen. . . notes for div a e- {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ains. in psal. ribera in hab. isa. . . notes for div a e- psal. ● . . . , , . v. proverb . . · heb. . . james . . musv●in locum . isa. . . isa. . . eccl. . . exod. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . innotuit . trem participium omnibus temporibus accomodari potest . lor. in locum . musc. in locum . ambrose . use . in speciall to magistrates . psal. . . dat veniam corvis vexat censuro co●umbas , ovid . not judgment , but oppression ; righteousness , but a cry . qui de malis poenas non sumit , bonos ini urias assicit . semalle beneficio nullam gratiam report●re quàm maleficio poen●● non irrogare hosea . . zach. . . jer. . . josh. . . num. . . jonah . . . in generall to all . oleaster . exod. . . notes for div a e- the hebrew word used {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifieth both opus and operis merces , as a vertuous action is its own reward psal. . . so an impious work , a punishment to it selfe . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} idem quod . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} commoveri . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} palma . apoc. . . . vetus verbum habet , compedes quas ipse fecit ipfus ut geste● faber . mat. . . in magistros scelera redierunt suos , sen. nec lex est iustior ulla quam necis artifices arte perire sua . ovid . john . . john . . mat. . . judg. . . quemadmodum revertitur pax in dei servos , ab eis qui non receperant benedictionem pacis , ita etiam malitia peccatorum qua iusto nocere conantur in eorum vertitur perniciem , amb. adeo ut ventorum praelia ferre non possent , & propriis spiculis flernerentur . idem . hesiod . calv. in locum . use . dan. . . esser colto conil forto in mano . psal. . . wicked rnd fools are synonimous . psal. . . prov. . . notes for div a e- ps. . ult. . . ps. . , . job . . & . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} gaudebuntiusti . zech. ● . . zeph. . . psal. . ● . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} meditatio semper . hier. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , sym. psal . . notes for div a e- psal. . . revel. . . doctor featly his clavis mystica , p. . doctor featly his clavis mystica , p. . tim. . ● psal. ▪ . kings . . job . . mat. . . isay . . psal. . . . isay . . hest. . . rev. . . . . the pilgrims wish, or, the saints longing discussed in a sermon preached in st. bennet grace church at the funeral of mrs. anne dudson ... who departed this life the th day of january, ... / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the pilgrims wish, or, the saints longing discussed in a sermon preached in st. bennet grace church at the funeral of mrs. anne dudson ... who departed this life the th day of january, ... / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in yale university library. eng dudson, anne, d. . death -- sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. a r (wing h ). civilwar no the pilgrims vvish, or, the saints longing. discussed in a sermon preached in st bennet gracechurch, at the funeral of mrs anne dudson, (dau hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the pilgrims wish , or , the saints longing . discussed in a sermon preached in st bennet gracechurch , at the funeral of mrs anne dudson , ( daughter of mr isaac calf , heretofore minister of gods word at chatwell in essex , and late wife of mr edward dudson of london draper ) who departed this life the th day of ianuary . and was interr'd the th of the same moneth . by nath. hardy preacher to the parish of st. dionys. back-church . luke . . lord , now lettest thou they servant depart in peace , according to thy word . aug. in joh. qui cupit dissolvi & esse cum christo , non patienter ritur , sed patienter vivit , & delectabiliter moritur . london , printed by a. m. for ioseph cranford at the sign of the castle and lyon in st. pauls church-yard , . to my worthy friends mr edward dudson , and mrs elizabeth man . the neer relation which you both had to the deceased gentlewoman , the one of an husband , the other of an aunt , moveth me to joyn you together in this dedication . the dear affection which you both had to her person whilest alive , and have to her memory now dead , enduced you to desire this publication . after some delay of time , ( for which i beg your pardon , as being not voluntary , but necessitated by multiplicity of emergent occasions ) i have at length fulfilled your desire : by which meanes her living works , and dying words , ( as they follow her , so ) will live still with you , for your consolation ; and not with you only , but with all unto whose hands this following discourse shall come , for their imitation . nothing remaineth but my prayers , not for her , she needeth them not , but her's ; i mean your selves , and her surviving children : of whom the one of you is , i douubt not , a carefull father , and to whom , i trust , the other of you will be instead of their tender mother . that you may all enjoy a prosperous lasting life on earth , and a glorious everlasting life in heaven , is the earnest prayer of your affectionate friend nath. hardy . the pilgrims wish , or , the saints longing . phil. . . for i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is far better . death is the lot of all men , to desire death the temper of few men ; it is that guest which every man must entertain , and yet scarce any man will bid welcome . many are so wicked that they scarce think of it , more , far more are so weak that they do not desire it . indeed to desire death aright , argueth one more than a man , a christian ; nay , more than an ordinary christian , a strong saint . such an one was he who uttereth these words ; a starre of the first magnitude , a christian of the highest forme . but yet the examples of eminent saints , are set as copies for us to write by ; and though we cannot presently obtain , yet we must seriously indeavour , that the same mind may be in us , which was in this holy apostle , who saith , i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire , &c. in which verse are two generals observable : namely deaths description , in those words , to depart , and to be with christ , where we are to take notice of the nature of death in generall , it is a depature . the consequent of it to the good in particular , and that is being with christ . st. pauls affection towards death in the rest of the verse , where is to be considered , the quality and kind of the affection , it is a desire . the aequity and justice of the reason , enducing to it , because it is far better . the energy and strength of it , in the effect flowing from it , in that he was in a strait betwixt two . of each of these in their order ; beginning with the description of death , and that as to its generall nature in the word depart . among the many acceptions of the greek verb , none more sutabler to this place than that which is the most plain : namely to remove or depart , answering to the hebrew word , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} whereof the syriack here maketh use , and with which agree the latine words , migrare , abire discedere . so that the assertion couched in this expression , is obitus , abitus ; dying , is a going hence ; the time of death is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the time of our departure . a departure it is , and that both of the soul , and of the person , of the soul , out of the body , of the person , out of this world . i find the apostle peter in two verses describing death by two words , which set forth this double departure , the one {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a putting off , the soul putting off the body when we dye , as the body doth its cloathes when we goe to sleep ; the other {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a decease , or going out of the aegypt of this world . . it is a departure of the soul from the body , when death cometh with its sharpe edge . the loving knot which nature tied between those two deare friends is cut asunder : as darknesse is the absence of light when the sunne removeth from our horizon ; so is death the privation of life when the soul removeth from the body . in this respect it is defined by tertullian to be dis-junctio , by st. ambrose , to be absolutio , by plato to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and by the latine oratour , to be discessus animae à corpore , a dis-joyning , absolving , loosing , a separation , migration , and departure of the soul from the body . indeed it is but a departure of the one from the other , not an annihilation of either , anima absolvitur , corpus resolvitur , the soul is let out of the body , and the body is resolved into its first principles , whereof it was compounded , but neither returneth to nothing . fully to this purpose st. austin , mors non consumit conjuncta sed divi●… dum origini suae utrumque reddit , death doth not consume but divide those parts which were before conjoyned , each returning to its originall ; that is as solomon explaineth it , the dust to the earth , and the soul to god . i grant when a man dyeth he ceaseth to be a man , but not to be ; sic in non hominem vertitur omnis homo , saith the poet and rightly ; but not in non ens , the materials still remain , though the house be puld down , and the fabrick dissolved . . it is a departure of the person out of this world . the greek word most properly ad rem nauticam spectat , is used by seamen , who are said to loose from the haven when they depart from the shore , and put forth to sea ; thus when a man dieth , he departeth from the shore of this world , and launcheth into an ocean of eternity . sometimes the word is used of souldiers , who when they remove , take down , and unloose their tents which were fastned to the ground ; thus by death our earthly tabernacles are dissolved , and we remove to another place . this world in this respect is compared to an inne , since as cicero well , natura nobis commorandi , non habitandi locum dedit , god hath given us here not an house to dwell , but only a place to sojourne in . it is said of our saviour {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he dwelt among us , but as in a tent ; yea he was borne in an inne , to teach us , that he for his time , and surely then we for ours , are but so many travellours still upon departure . indeed it is a very frequent metaphor , by which our present condition is described , we are said by the apostle peter to be pilgrims and strangers , omnis homo advena nascendo , & compellitur migrare moriendo , saith the father elegantly , every man is borne a stranger , and when death comes , he must be gone : in reference to which is that of iob , man giveth up the ghost and where is he ? which is not to be understood absolutely , for to say a man is no where at all , is to say he is nothing ; but restrictively , he is no where , here upon earth , he is not among the living , he is vanished out of this world . to close up this : . since we depart by death , why do we dote on life ? and seeing we must leave , why do we love this world ? if a man in a forreigne countrey , where his stay will be but for some moneths , should put himself to a great deale of cost in building and planting for his delight ; or one who liveth in an house whereof he hath but a lease for a few yeares , should lay out a great deale of money in adorning and beautifying it , would he not be accounted a foole ? oh what mad men are we , who set our hearts , and bestow both our love and care upon this world , when we must ere long depart ? let me therefore bespeake you in the language of the prophet micah , arise ye and depart , for this is not your rest ; you cannot fix or stay long here , depart before you depart ; let your affections depart from the love of , before your persons depart from their being in this world ; and let your souls by divine love go forth , whilst yet they are in your bodies . . when death comes we must depart ; why do we not make ready for our departure : when we depart , we must walke through a shady valley ? oh let us provide for our journey , having according to our saviours counsell , our loynes girt , and our lights ▪ burning : or rather ( the greeke word belonging most properly to marriners , ) when we depart , we launch into mare mortuum , the dead sea ; oh let us before hand rigge the vessell of our souls , that it may be fit to saile ; let faith be her rudder , hope her anchor , sincerity her ballast , a profession of the truth her sayles , love her cordage , good workes her freight , a good conscience her pilot : and being thus provided , whensoever the time of our departure shall come , we may navem committere , with confidence commit our ship into the hands of christ . and so much shall suffice for the first part of deaths description in that word , depart , which is as it were the heart and center of the text , wherein the severall lines meet : go we on to the other part of deaths character , which is the consequent of it in regard of good-men , and that is , being with christ . in every locall motion , there is a double term , to wit , à quo , and ad quem ; from whence , and to which ; it is so in this departure whereof my text speaketh , the terme from which is not mentioned , but hath been already supplyed ; the soul departs out of the body , and the man out of the world : the terme to which he departs is plainly and punctually exprest , to be with christ . indeed this is not true of every one who departs by death , but only of the good . balaam saw so much , which made him wish , o that i might dye the death of the righteous . when we dye , the souls of all go ad deum judicem , to god a just judge ; but only of the good ad christum redemptorem ; christ a mercifull saviour . it is not a common favour to every man , nor yet is it a personall priviledge of st. paul . to me ( saith this apostle a little before ) to live is christ ; and here , having a desire to depart and to be with christ , put them together , and you may see the just latitude of this benefit : every one who in some measure liveth to christ , when he dyeth shall be with him . what here st. paul assureth himself of , christ promiseth to the thief on the cross , thou shalt be with me ; not only eminent saints , such as st. paul was , but penitent sinners , such as the thief was , shall be with christ . blessed are the dead ( saith st. iohn ) who dye in the lord , all who by a lively faith and timely repentance die in , are blessed in being with him . this being with christ , is that which all true christians partake of not before , and in some respect presently after their departure . . we cannot be with christ till we depart hence ; this apostle is express , whilst we are in the body we are absent from the lord . it is one thing to be in christ , and another to be with him ; that is by faith , and is now attainable : this is by sight , and is not to be enjoyed till hereafter ; we must be in him before we dye , else we cannot dye in him ; but we shall not be with him till we are dead . it is one thing for christ to be with us , and another for us to be with christ , that is our comfort in life , but this our happiness after death : now he walketh among his golden candlesticks , the churches ; but then it is the members of his church shall walk with him ; now his spirit is with us , but then it is , that our spirits shall be with him . it is one thing to come to christ , and another to be with him , that is a preparation for this ; it being impossible to be with him , to whom we do not come ; but whereas that is the duty of this life , this is the felicity of that other life . finally there was a time when christ was on earth , and then his disciples whilest alive had the honour to be with him ; but now he is gone into heaven , and therefore we must leave earth or we cannot be with him . . not till we dye , and withall when we dye we shall be with him : from henceforth , is st. iohns word , blessed are the dead . to day was our saviours language to the thief ; and here being with christ , is set down as the immediate consequent of our departure . indeed had not st. paul hoped to be with christ before the resurrection , his desire of departing had been irrationall ; it being far better to live , in doing gods service , then to sleep in a grave : or if he had desired to depart , it must have been only upon the account of being at rest from trouble , not of being with christ : nay since , as he saith in the next verse , his abiding in the flesh , was needfull for the philippians , his desire to dye , and his strait about it , had not only been irrationall , but irreligious , had it not been , that he perswaded himself , that so soon as he was departed , he should be with christ . only a distinction must be here annexed of being with christ in our persons , and in our souls ; of the former our apostle speaks , as not to be till the last day , when we shall meet the lord in the aire , and so shall be ever with the lord ; of the latter he is here to be understood ; the union of the soul with christ , being that which followeth upon its dissolution from the body . st. iohn in a vision saw the souls of them that were slain for the word of god under the altar , that is , with christ , who was our sacrifice on earth , and is our altar in heaven ; and when we remember that christ promised it to a penitent malefactor , we must not confine it only to suffering martyrs . the summe is , at the resurrection shall be the reunion of soul and body , and so the compleat glorification of our persons with christ ; but immediately after death , the souls of all them who were in christ by faith , are with him by sight . it were easie to trace the footsteps of this truth in the writings of the fathers , omnes sanctorum animae cum christo sunt & exeuntes de corpore ad christum vadunt , expectantes resurrectionem corporis sui ; all the souls of the saints going out of the body , go to , and are with christ , expecting the resurrection of the body . so gennadius , in st. augustin , and in another place of that father , it is expresly said , recedens anima ab angelis suscipitur , & collocatur in sinu abrahae , si fidelis est ; aut in carceris inferni custodia , si peccatrix est . the departing soul is received by angels , and if believing , is placed in abrahams bosome ; if impenitent ; cast into the prison of hell till the appointed day of its being united with the body . were it needfull , i could bring many more testimonies of this truth , out of iustin martyn , gregory nazianzen , macarius with others . but let st. chrysostome suffice instead of all , and that in this place , where he saith , the just after death are with christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or as a late writer conceiveth it should be , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not beholding him through a glass by faith , but face to face . the doctrine thus axplained and confirmed , becometh a strong argument proving against . the psychopannychists , that the soul doth not dye , nor yet sleep with the body , untill the resurrection ; for the souls of the good are with christ ; and by the rule of contraries , the souls of the bad with the devill , neither of them are with the body . the papists , that there is no purgatory after death , through which the souls of penitent sinners pass before they be with christ ; for if they be immediately with christ , it is in paradice not purgatory ; and if any one should have passed through a purgatory , in all probability it must have been the thief , whose life had been so flagitious , good works were so few , and conversion so immediately before his death . that opinion ( which yet i confess is ancient and harmeless , ) of assigning a place of rest and felicity , to the separated souls of the just on this side the heaven of the blessed , for if they be with christ , it probably followeth they must be where he is , and that is far above all heavens , not only in a , but the place of happiness . the lutherans who affirme the glorified body of christ to be every where , for then it is on earth as well as in heaven : and what need st. paul desire to go hence that he might be with him ? but to enlarge in controversies , befits not the pulpit at any time , much less when it is hung with black . my work now is not the confutation of errors , but a consolation of the mourners ; nor can there be a better ground of comfort then this meditation that our godly friends , being departed are with christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith st. chrysostome , let us rejoyce over the just not only living but dying . why should their departure which is a meanes of joy to them , be matter of grief to us ? why so much troubled , that they can no longer continue with us , whenas they go to be with christ ? to mourne for anothers happiness is the envy of an enemy , if you loved me ( saith christ ) you would rejoyce because i go to my father . docens scilicet & ostendens , cum chari , quos diligimus , de saeculo exeunt , gaudendum potius quam dolendum , so st. cyprian , teaching us rather to rejoyce then weep at our friends departure , who seem to say to us , if you loved us , you would rejoyce because we goe to christ . a consideration , which as it may take off our unwillingness to part with , so it should make us willing to go after them ; and this leads me to st. pauls affection , and therein the quality and kind of it , namely an affection of desire , having a desire : st. paul was not only content to dye , and willing to live , but content to live , and willing to dye ; nor was it a slender wish , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a fervent desire , and that not transient but permanent , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only desiring , but having a desire as it were fixed and setled in his mind . for the further opening of st. pauls desire in reference to death , it will be needfull to resolve two quaeries , the one concerning the possibility , whither any man can desire death ? and the other concerning the legitimacy , whither any good man may desire it ? . it may rationally be enquired , how any man can desire to dye ? since only good ( either in reality or appearance ) is the object of desire , whenas-death depriveth us of good , nay is the worst of temporall evils . but to this it is justly answered , that however death considered in it self is an evill , and so formidable , yet to a good man it becometh good , and so desirable . our apostle expressing death as the object of his desire , clotheth it with a smooth word to depart ; and if you please a little more narrowly to look into the use of the word , you shall find it represents death as advantagious , and consequently to be desired . sometimes it is used of a mans returning to his home or countrey : st. ierome renders it reverti , turtullian recipi , the marriners going forth to sea , are said {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to loose from the haven , and when they do this by way of returne homeward , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a returne from strangers to ones own home is thus styled ; it is applied to conquerours , coming back from the wars ; and the lords returning home from the wedding , is expressed by this phrase . whereas all men are in truth , and good men in their own esteem strangers , by death they go home to their heavenly countrey , quis non peregre constitutus properaret in patriam regredi ; what stranger doth not long to return to his native soyle ? nothing more naturall to a man then to love his home , death is a departure home . sometimes it is used for mens being set free from bonds and prison ; and of oxen , when after their labour in the evening , the yoake is taken from off their necks , the body is as it were the prison of the soul , yea the whole world is but as a larger prison , to a saint from which death sets him free . dissolvi nonquaereret paulus nisi se proculdubio vinctum videret , in that st. paul desired to be loosed , no doubt he apprehended himself a prisoner . was ever any man in love with his fetters ? and what prisoner doth not groan for enlargement , or captive would not welcome liberty ? death is a departure out of prison . once more , it is sometimes used of going to bed ; we are wearied in the day of our life with manifold labours , at the evening of death we go to our bed ; so the prophet isaiah's expression of the righteous when they perish they enter into their beds . doth not the weary labourer long to be in his bed of ease and refreshment ? death is a departure to our bed ; and no wonder if under these considerations of rest and liberty , and returning home , it be the object of desire . to all this it may be further added , that the primary object of st. pauls desire , was not the departure , but being with christ . sutable to this it is that else where he saith , we that are in this tabernicle do groan being burdened , not for that we would be uncloathed , but cloathed upon ; that which a christian so earnestly desires is the state of bliss in the enjoyment of christ . death is only desired in order to that , and that upon necessity , because there is no going to christ without a departure hence : otherwise the best men would abhorre it . by this time you see the resolution of the first quaery , which amounts to this , that death was not by st. paul , is not , cannot be desired by any one , but only in ordine ad aliud , in order to that which followeth it , and especially the being with christ . the quaere which would next be satisfied refers to the legitimacy , whither , and how far death may be desired ? to which end be pleased to knew , that that desire of death which is lawfull , yea not only lawfull but excellent . . is not active but passive , so the vulgar latin reads it , cupio dissolvi , i desire to be dissolved . in some cases the truth of our destre is testified by the endeavoure but it is not so in this , that command of killing , respects a mans self as well as others , and forbids not only the act but the endeavour ; he that by neglect of good meanes shortens his life , or by any evill meanes attempts the hastening of his own death , being no other in gods account , then a self-murderer . we must not desire death as we desire grace ; we ought so to desire grace , as to use all wayes for the obtaining it ; we must not so desire death , as to take any course for accelerating it . . not impatient but submissive , not repining at gods delaies , but waiting his leisure , if god please , or when god pleaseth , is the language of a christian , as in others , so in this matter . indeed simeon prayeth , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , but it was as appeareth by that addition ( according to thy word ) because having seen the messiah , he knew the time of his dissolution was come . we must not limit god to this or that season : and whilest we desire the thing , we must contentedly wait the time . sapiens è vita non fugere debet sed exire , saith seneca . a wise man must not fly , but go out of life . he learneth accipere , to receive death willingly , but he hateth arripere , to runne upon it desperately : nor dare he break the prison doors , though he be ready ( when god sets them open ) to go forth . animus piis omnibus retinendus est in custodiâ corporis , nec injussu ejus a quo ille est nobis datus ex hominum vita migrandum , saith the orator . our soul must not be dismist out of , without his leave who infused it into the body . in this respect the good man hath a desire at once both to live and to die , according to divine appointment . if god will have him continue longer on earth to do him service , he is willing , and if he will take him to himself , he is willing ; resolving still to bow his will to gods . . lastly , not carnal , but spiritual . many there are , who wish themselves in their graves , meerly out of discontent at the condition of their life ; either because they have not what they would , or suffer what they would not . some there are who desire to die , that they may be in paradise , rid of misery , and enjoy faelicity : but the right desire after death , is upon higher and spiritual grounds , not so much to be free from sorrow , as sinne : to be in paradise , as to be with christ . indeed , these words to be with christ , are both incentive and directive to our desire of death . no stronger argument why we should desire it ; no higher end for which we should desire it . what can make death welcome to us , if this of being with christ will not ? nor should any consideration make it more welcome to us , then this of being with christ . and thus you have the second question answered ; the result whereof is , that provided we do not hasten our own death , but are content to tarry gods time , and that we do not only or chiefly wish it for self-ends ; we may , nay we ought to desire ( if god will ) that we may depart and be with christ : and this is that whereof our apostle hath here given the phillipians and all christians a pattern . but oh my brethren , how doth st. pauls desire upbraid our backwardnesse , and chide our feares ? it was st. cyprians complaint of the christians in his time , and it is still true : obnitimur & reluctamur & pervicacium more servorum ad conspectum domini cum tristitia & maerore perducimu● , excuntes istinc necessitatis vinculo , non obsequio voluntatis : we resist and struggle , and like peevish servants , must to our grief and sorrow , be forced into our lords presence , going hence not with a willing obsequiousnesse , but out of a compelling necessity . omnes refugiunt terminum ad quem curunt , said seneca : truly , all men would fly from the goale of death to which they runne . i am afraid the most christians are unwilling that should be granted for which they pray , when they say , thy kingdome come ; in which respect the fore-mentioned father expostulateth . quid oramus & petimus ut adveniat regnum caelorum , si captivitas terre●● delectat ? why do we daily pray that the kingdome of heaven may come , when as we are so much pleased with a captivity on earth ? the truth is , we are so farre from making death the object of our desire , that it is the ground of our fear ; yea , we tremble at the very thought of it . indeed , that they should fear death , who being called christians lead wicked lives , is no wonder ; and well were it if many of them did more fear it , then they doe . but why ? oh why this pusillamous spirit in good christians ? let him be afraid to die , who is not born again of water end of the spirit ; who looketh upon the continuation of life , as a respite from torment to come , and his first death to be a passage to a second ? but for belivers , who are the children of god , members of christ , and heires or glory to be afraid to depart , how incongruous ? receive therefore a word of exhortation , give not over till you have brought your hearts to this sweet frame . he hath not enough con'd happinesse , that is loath to goe to it , though it be through a dead sea ; nor can he be justly thought desirous of heaven , who is unwilling to shake hands with earth . it was justly said to that lame begger , who refused the offer of his prince to take him into his coach ; optime mereris qui in luto haereas , thou well deservest to stick in the mire . and surely , it is but fit that they should live and lie in sorrow , who are unwilling that christ should take them up to himself . what is the devils great design , but to keep our souls from christ , and shall we comply with him in an unwillingnesse to depart that we may be with him ? our belssed iesus willingly came down from heaven to earth , that he might be with , and die for us : shall not we willingly goe from earth to heaven , though it be by death , that we may be and live with him ? especially considering the great advantage which hereby accrueth to us . and that leads me to . the equity and justnesse of the reason enducing st. paul to this desire in those words which is farre better . the emphasis of the greek phrase is very observable ; it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , better , nay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , farre better ; nay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , much rather : or ( as our translation ) farre better . the arabick seemeth to labour in expressing it by two words of the same signification , which is farre more excellent and transcendent , withall annexing the pronoune ( for me ) which is not mentioned but to be supplied in the greek . to die in respect of all , is not better then to live ; but in respect of them who dying are with christ . for st. paul to die , though it were to be with chriss , was not better for the philippians ; he intimateth in the next verse that it was needfull for them that he should live in the flesh , but for himself it was better , farre , infinitely far better , that he should depart and be with christ . and now i am fallen upon a pleasant subject , the transcendent happinesse of being with christ . but i cannot long insist upon it , nor if i should , am i able fully to unfold it . we shall never know the blisse of being with him , till we come to be with him . only in a few words let me give you a glimpse or taste of its surpassing excellency . to this end i shall make use of that three-fold good which is the object of mens desire in this world , and maketh them so much in love with it , namely profit , honour , and pleasure ; in all which respects it is far better to be with christ . . it is farre better in point of profit . christ is said by the author to the hebrews , to be appointed heir of all things : being now in heaven , he is in possession of these all things , whereof he is heir : and when we shall be with him , we shall be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , co-heires with christ ; who ( though our elder brother ) admits us to have a share in the inheritance . whatsoever we enjoy in this world is but a small pittance in comparison of that inheritance . christ in the person of wisdome , saith of himself , with me are riches , yea durable riches . with him , they are not for himself only , but all that are with him : yea , whereas the riches of this world are uncertain , those are durable ; and therefore as to wealth it is better , farre better to be with christ . . it is better in point of honour . to be with christ , is to sit together with him in heavenly places ; that is st. pauls phrase to the ephesians . more then so it is , to sit with him in his throne ; that is st. iohns phrase . the saints with christ have a full view of his glory . so our saviour prayeth ; father i will that those whom thou hast given me , be where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me . nor do they only behold but participate of it . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we are glorified together with him ; yea , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we shall reign with him . they are both st. pauls phrases , which latter fully answers to that of sitting with him in his throne . whereas the servants of christ in this world , are for the most part in a low and mean condition , they shall be no lesse then kings when they are with christ ; having crowns on their heads , and septers in their hands , farre excelling all secular dignities . and therefore as to honour , it is farre better to be with christ . . once more , it is better in point of pleasure . to be with christ , is to sup with him , so st. iohn ; and no dainties so sweet as those which are prepared for us in that supper of glory . to be with christ , is to be with him in paradise ; and no delights comparable to those of paradise . it is to be with the fountain of life ; and no waters so sweet as those which we drink at the fountain . it is to be with the sun of righteousnesse ; and if there be a great deal of refreshment in the beames which this sunne sometimes darts upon us whilest we are here , oh what content is there in being with the sunne it self ! the truth is , none of these carnal pleasures which this world affords , can give the soul satisfaction ; so that as the dove found no rest till it returned to the ark ; it finds no content till it come to christ . our greatest joy here , is the hopes of being with him hereafter : to whom those words of the psalmist may be truly applyed ; in thy presence is fulnesse of joy , and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore . and therefore as to pleasure , it is farre better to be with christ . indeed , well may being with christ be better then all enjoyments on earth , when it is the best of heavens happinesse . it is true , we shall in heaven be with our godly friends , with all the holy patriarchs , goodly prophets , glorious apostles , noble martyrs , faithfull confessors , glorified saints , and blessed angels ; but all this is nothing to the blisse of being with christ . it is the presence of christ which is the heaven of heaven : without him heaven would not be heaven ; and with him , even hell would be heaven . whom have i in heaven but thee , saith david to god . what were these visible heavens without the sunne ? what were the empyreyal heaven without god and christ . by what hath been said , it appeareth that st. pauls desire of death , was not an extravagant passion , but a well grounded affection , nothing being more rational then that every one should most desire that which is best for him . oh let us learn to have the same estimation of christs presence , and then we shall have the same affection to death which st. paul had ! the queen of sheba said to sol●on , happy are these thy servants which stand ever before thee . but oh how happy are they that stand before , and are ever with thee , oh blessed jesus ! it was a devout speech of old bullinger , socrates gaudet sibi n●oriendum esse propterea , quod homerum , hesiodum & alios prestantissimos viros se visurum crederet : quanto magis ego gaudeo , qui certus sum me visurum esse christum servatorem meum , &c. secrates rejoyced at death , believing he should see homer , hesiod , and other excellent men , how much greater is my joy , who am sure , besides many holy men , to see my saviour christ , the eternal sonne of god in the flesh ? cercidas ( as we read in caelius rhodiginus ) told his friends on his dying bed , he left this life with delight , in an apprehension of enjoying after his death the company of pythagoras the philosopher , hecateus the historian , olympus the musician , and homer the poet . oh with what cheerfulnesse should we depart in the assured hope of enjoying not only the society of abraham , isaac , and iacob , but christ himself ! when the holy apostle st. peter was upon the mount with christ at his transfiguration , he cryeth out {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is good for us to be here . how much more reason have we to say of being with christ in heaven , it is good , it is best , infinitely best for us to be there . and therefore as moses went up to a mount to die , so we should gladly die , that we may go up to that mount where christ is . i end this : there want not many comparisons to be made in this kind , whereby death may be rendred desirable , but none so cogent as this . we should be willing to depart , because it is better to be at home then in a strange place : to be in a palace , then a prison ; in a paradise then a wildernesse ; at rest , then in labours ; and to be free from sin , then to fall into it . but much more willing , because it is farre better to be with christ , then abide in the flesh . . there is onely one part of the text behind , and that is the energy of this desire in the effect flowing from it , which is expressed in the beginning of the verse , i am in a straight betwixt two . what those {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} two things were , is easily found out by what hath been already said , as also by that which praecedeth and followeth , namely to live , and to die : to depart and be with christ , and to remine in the flesh . between these two , st. paul was straightned ; to wit , which he should make choice of , and according to the signification of the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , was in such a perplexity that he knew not what to do ; like a beast that is put into a pound , or a people that are beseiged in a city . there is in every one of us ( nor was it extirpated in st. paul ) a natural desire of life ; in which respect it may seem strange that the apostle should be in a straight which of these to choose : but as on the one hand st. paul had that which was common with him to all men , a natural desire of life ; so on the other , he had that which was peculiar to him , and such as he was , strong christians ; a spiritual desire of death ; nor was this lesse fervent then that . no wonder if he were in a straight . there was in st. paul ( as there is in every good minister ) a love to his people the philippians , who were a part of his care , in respect of whom he very well knew how advantagious his life would be . i but this holy apostle had an ardent love to christ , which made him ( as all perfect christians do ) long to be with him ; yea , as it were impatient of death , and this put him into a straight . much like that which would ( to use zanchy his comparison ) afflict a tender mother and affectionate wife , when she is called upon to goe to her husband in some remote place , and withall to leave her children behinde her , when yet perhaps they are not able to help themselves . or ( to use st. bernards allusion ) which would distresse a begger , when being hungry , she is invitad to come into a rich mans table and refresh her self , but she must leave her unquiet child at the door . what the result of the apostles determination was , appeareth in the subsequent verse , namely , to be content to abide in the flesh . and it was iudicious , yea religious , since on the one hand the prejudice to him in living , would be only a retarding of his blisse in christs presence for a time : but on the other hand the danger to them might be great through his dying , by reason of the many false teachers which endeavoured to subvert their faith , and so destroy their souls , by which likewise would accrue dishonour to christ . so that charity to the philippians good , and zeal to christs glory , did at last weigh down the scale : but still it was not without much ado , many debating and perplexing thoughts which did arise from his earnest desires of enjoying him whom his soul loved . and now that the same desire which was in this holy apostle may be imprinted on our hearts , i shall briefly commend these following counsels . . let our affections be alienated from this world when the entangled bird would flye upwards , the snare puls it back : thus doth worldly love hinder us from mounting heaven-ward in our desires to be with christ . you have oft-times beheld the sorrowfull parting of dear friends , what delayes and teares , salutes and looking back , so loath are they to leave each other : thus must it needs be between the world , and him that is a friend of the world . ejus est in mundo diu velle remanere quem mundus oblectat , saith st. cyprian : he that is taken with , cannot but desire to continue in the world ; and it is a kind of death to think of parting with it , which he knoweth must be when death comes . and therefore said an ancient truly , the soul can never willingly be seperated from the body , till it be taken off from these worldly pleasures . . let no sinne have dominion over us . when the sting is plucked out of the serpent , it is not terrible , but amiable . st. paul hath told us , the sting of death is sinne ; oh let us pluck it out by repentance ! it is impossible for him who lyeth in sinne to live with christ : well may he be afraid to dye . indeed , if a wicked man desire to dye , it is out of ignorance and incogitancy , because he doth not rightly apprehend , or at least seriously consider what followeth after death . alas , it were far better for an impenitent sinner to live here , though in meannesse and misery , then to go hence , and be with devils in torment to eternity . oh let it be our care in life , to separate stnne from our souls , and then the separation by death of our souls from our bodies , will be a means of the union of our souls with christ , and consequently an object rather of joy then fear . . let our faith grow up to a full assurance . it was by faith that moses refused pharaohs treasures , and chose affliction with the people of god ; and by faith it is that we are enabled to contemn life , and desire death . those things which are so glorious in the worldlings eyes , are to faith contemptible , and those things which are so dismall when looked upon with an eye of sense , become amiable to the eye of faith : even death which is the king of terrours , is to a believer a queen of desires . that he who questioneth whether there be a life after death , or who doubts whether he shall partake of it , should be afraid to die , is no wonder . he that knoweth not what shall become of him when he goeth hence , may well be desirous to stay here . and therefore let us strengthen our faith in the promise of eternal life , and make our calling and election sure . . finally , let our love to christ be more and more enflamed . love is desirous of union , and if fervent , will break through all difficulties to the enjoyment of its object : friends delight much in each others society . what loving wife would not willingly be with her husband ? i , and go to him , though it be over the boisterous seas ? oh when shall i come and appear before god , was davids wish ; arising from his zealous love to gods presence in his sanctuary . come lord jesus , come quickly , is the voice of the church earnestly longing after his approach , because she dearly loveth him . and from this sweet spring bubled up that affectionate wish of an ancient : utinam essem cum christo meo , oh that i were with my christ ! mori timeat qui nolit esse cum christo , as st. cyprian excellently : let him be afraid to die , who would not be with christ ; to which he cannot be unwilling who hath a sincere affection towards him . thus let us remove out of the way those stumbling blockes of reigning wickednesse , and worldly love ; let us take to our selves the wings of faith in , and love to christ ; so shall we make haste in our desire to be dissolved , that we may be with him . having given a dispatch to the text , it now remaineth that i adjoyne a few words concerning this our deceased sister , whose remaines are to be laid up in the grave . and truly whither you looke upon her in her life or death , in her health or sicknesse , you shall find her a patterne of many graces . shee was the daughter and neece of two reverend ministers of the gospell , now with god ; and as i doubt not but shee had a religious education ; so shee retained the sweetnesse of that liquor with which shee was at first seasoned . that truly reformed religion of the church of england , wherein shee had been grounded and established : shee constantly professed , and in some measure practiced . shee was an affectionate wife ; a tender mother ; a prudent mistresse ; a friendly neighbour ; a virtuous woman ; and a devout christian . it pleased god of late to visit her with much sicknesse , which shee underwent with much patience , being often heard to say , shall i kick against my maker . in her last sicknesse shee was full of heavenly expressions by which shee gave testimony of the graces of god confer'd upon her . shee renewed her repentance and godly sorrow for her sinnes , for though she blessed god who had kept her from notorious sinnes , that shee could not but accuse her selfe for many neglects and infirmities , being much troubled yet shee had spent her time so ill , and not done that service for god shee ought . ardent were her longings after gods favour ; often saying , a reconciled god is worth all the world . shee testified her submission to gods dispose , by that sweet language , if it were gods will , i am content to live , but not else . her affections were much taken off from the world , for which reason . shee said ; shee was unwilling her children should be about her bed , least they should steale her heart from god ; and though shee had the world at will , yet shee accounted all dung that shee might win christ . it pleased god to suffer satan to winnow her , but her faith did not faile , and after some conflicts shee got the conquest , triumphing over him , bidding defiance to him , casting her self in an humble confidence upon the merits of her redeemer . finally , when shee was desired by her friends to forbeare much speaking least it should exhaust her spirits ; her reply was , can i spend my self better then for god ? with whom i trust shee now is , which since it is far better for her i hope it will not be too much trouble to her relations . let not her dear husband grieve inordinately , since shee is gone to her better husband christ . let not her affectionate aunt mourn immoderately , because shee is gone to her heavenly father . let none of her friends weep much for her , who is with her best friend ; rather let all of us learne to follow her in those virtues which shee practised that we may attaine that glory whereof i hope shee is possessed , whither he bring us who hath dearly bought us , iesus christ the righteous . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- gen. . partie . . tim. . . pet. . , . tertul. l. de animâ . c. . ambros. de bono mortis , c. . plat. in phad . cic. in tusc. ambros. ibid. aug. l. de spir. . & anim . c. . eccl. . . cor. . . iohn . . pet. . . aug. iob . . mic. . . luke . . partic. . cor. . . rev. . . luk. . . thes. . . rev. . . aug. l. de eccl. dogin . c. . id. de consid. mort. serm. . just . m. quaest. & resp. orthod . . greg. naz. in erat . caesar . macat . hom. . chrysost. in phil. hom . iren. adv. haer. l. . chrysost. ibid. jobn . . cypr. de mortal gen. . partic. . hier. turtul . luke . . cypr. ibid. greg ▪ mor. l. . c. . isai. . . cor. . quer. . vulg. lat. exod. . . luk. . . sen. ep. . cic. cypr. de mortal . sen. ep. cypr. de mortal . id. ibid. arab. heb. . . rom. . . prov. . . eph. . . rev. . . joh. . . rom. . . tim. . ● . rev. . . m●● . . . psal. . . psal. . . king. . . bulling . mat. . . cael. rodig . l. . c. . see my sermon called the epitaph of a godly man . ver. , . zanch. in l●c . bern. serm. . in cart . cypr ib. diad●ch . cor . . psal. . . rev. . . cypr. ibid. mr abraham , and mr isaac calfe . the safest convoy, or, the strongest helper declared in a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sr. thomas bendish, baronet, his majesties ambassadour ... / deliverd by nathanaell hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the safest convoy, or, the strongest helper declared in a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sr. thomas bendish, baronet, his majesties ambassadour ... / deliverd by nathanaell hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed for nathanael web and william grantham, london : . reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - lisa chin sampled and proofread - lisa chin text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the safest convoy , or , the strongest helper . declared in a valedictory sermon , before the right honourable s r thomas bendish baronet , his majesties ambassadour , now resident with the grand seigneur at constantinople . delivered in dionis back-church , by nathanaell hardy , preacher to that parish . they shall fight against thee , but they shall not prevail against thee , for i am with with thee , saith the lord , to deliver thee , jer. . . and he said , my presence shall go with thee , and i will give thee rest , exo. . . non plus valet ad deijciendum terrena poena , quàm ad erigendum divina tutela , cyp. ad omnem tribulationem , ad omnem cujuscunque modi necessitatem aperta nobis urbs confugii , sinus matris expansus est , parata sunt foramina petrae , patent viscera misericordiae dei nostri , bern. london , printed for nathanael web , and william grantham , at the sign of the black bear in pauls church-yard , near the little north-door , . to the right honorable sir thomas bendish baronet , his majesties ambassadour , resident with the grand seigneur at constantinople . & to the right vertuous and most worthy lady , the lady anne bendish , his affectionate consort . encrease of grace , length of daies , and eternity of glory . my lord , that abundant experience you have had of divine protection , is no small cause both to you of gratulation , and your friends of congratulation . had it not been the lord who was on my side ( may your honour now say ) had it not been the lord who was on my side , the waters had overwhelmed me , and the proud waves had gone over my soul. there needed no more , and it could be no lesse then a powerfull providence which hath made your passage prosperous , and settlement glorious . how truly then may you take up that expression of holy job , i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ears , but now mine eyes seeth thee , since that amiable promise of gods favourable presence with his people , which you heard with comfort imperfectly explained in this sermon , you have seen with joy fully accomplished in your own experience : and i doubt not but you say to god with adoration in words , not much unlike those the queen of sheba spake to solomon with admiration , the one half of the goodnesse of thy presence , o lord , was not told me , so far doe all verball discoveries come short of gods reall manifestations . and surely what should move your lordship to desire a representation of this weak discourse i know not , unless that you might see how that doctrine which is here darkly illustrated , hath been to you superabundantly verified . i little thought such an unpolished piece should ever have been exposed to publike view ; but gratitude hath taught me rather to undergoe the worlds harsh censure , then incur your lordships just displeasure . and indeed , though it greatly troubleth me that in publishing these rude notes i must set forth my ignorance , yet withall it much rejoyceth me that i have an opportunity by these lines to acknowledge your muneficence . what a bountifull mecaenas your honour hath ever been to the tribe of levi , those who have had the happinesse of your acquaintnnce , and my self the meanest among them , cannot but testifie with gratefullnesse : but i well know you love not that either your vertues or favours should be openly proclaimed , and like the fixed stars , the higher god hath set you , the lesse you desire to seem . i shall therefore turn praises into praiers , and endeavour to pay my manifold obligations to you , in devout supplications for you . may that gracious presence of the almighty , which hath hitherto gone before you , still accompany you , to make your troubles few , comforts many , abode quiet , return safe , life long , death happy , election sure , and salvation certain . for all which he shall still implore the throne of grace , who is , madam , your goodnesse accepted this sermon from the pulpit , and your pleasure hath now commanded it to the presse ; as being desirous often to view , with a religious eye , what once you heard with a reverend ear ; such as it is i here humbly tender to your ladiships acceptance . the box indeed is mean , but the jewell precious ; the fashion homely , but the stuffe rich ; the chest iron , but the treasure gold : the manner of handling plain and despicable , but the matter therein contained divine and comfortable . the truth is , the most reviving cordiall to a fainting spirit , and effectual antidote against the deadliest afflictions , is the operative presence of a propitious god. it is onely the assurance of divine favour towards us , can sweeten every condition to us ; and as the observing eye of an omni-present god is a just ground if awfull reverence , so the preserving aspect of an omnipotent father , is a sure foundation of a joyfull confidence . a familiar demonstration of this doctrine is the subject of this ensuing discourse , the sight whereof i am confident was so much the more desired by and will be welcome to you , by how much your own observation can plentifully attest its undoubted veritie . indeed though faith must beleeve above , nay , against sense : yet sense is a singular support of faith . divine promises are then most plainly understood , stedfastly beleeved , and joyfully perused , when we have beheld them graciously fullfilled . may your joyous experiments of the almighties presence with and for you , be still multiplied : your pious assurances of his favour be more enlarged , and by the casting in of this mite into your spirituall treasury , a further addition to your comforts be vouchsafed . what a sweet odour your honours vertues have left behinde you , i must passe over in silence , as knowing , your discreet zeal , sincere piety , courteous affability , and benign charity , are all crowned with that modest humility , which will not endure a publication . how much i am your ladyships debtor by those liberall respects your favor hath cast upon me , my slender quill cannot expresse . all the return i shall or can render is , first to make mention of you and yours in my praiers to god , next to engrave your beneficence in the table of a thankful memory ; and withall in real complement to subscribe my self , your honours greatly obliged , and humbly devoted servant , nathanaell hardy . the safest convoy , or the strongest helper . isaiah the . the former part of the second verse . when thou passest through the waters , i will be with thee , and through the rivers , they shall not overflow thee . a comfortable scripture written like ezeckiels scrole , intus & à tergo , without and within ; without , in verborum foliis ; within , in radice rationis , without in the history , within in the mystery ; without in the letter , within in the spirit : that is as the golden pot , this as the hidden manna ; that as the shell and mother of pearl , this as the margarite contained in it . if with some we reade the verse in the preter perfect tense cum transieris , and understand them literally , they referre to that miraculous presence of god with , and preservation of his people israel , when they passed through the waters of the red sea , and the river iordan , both which were wonderfully divided , that so the israelites might have a passage to canaan , and thus they are a seasonable comfort to all those who either on publique emploiments , or their own lawfull affairs , passe the great waters , as being from hence warranted to expect , though not such a miraculous ; yet a gracious presence of god with them . if with others we reade the words in the future tense cum transieris , and conster them allegorically , they referre to the babylonian captivity ; in which god promiseth to be with them , and thereby to deliver them ; and so they are fitly applicable to the church of god , and every member thereof in all ages , assuring her of gods powerfull assistance in her passage through the waters of tribulation to the heavenly jerusalem ; this later construction is doubtlesse most consonant to the text , and therefore shall be chiefly insisted on , yet withall i shall in the close touch upon the former , as best agreeing to the present occasion . but to unlock the metaphor of the text , conceive the world as a sea full of waters , the church as a ship sailing in this sea , passing through those waters , persecutions as the windes that raise the waves , and endanger the overwhelming of the ship ; notwithstanding which , having the crosse of christ for her main mast , the sacred promises to be her cablas , the graces of faith , hope , and patience as her anchors , pure and holy affections as her sails , and the gentle winde of the spirit to favour her ; finally , having the word for her helm , and god for her pilot , she sails securely , and at last arrives safely at the haven of heaven ; when thou passest through the waters , i will be with thee , &c. the words you see are dulcissima promissio , a sweet and gracious promise , wherein you have considerable , . the excellency of the blessing promised , i will be with thee . . the seasonablenesse of the time when it shall be accomplished , when thou passest through the waters . . the felicity of the benefit procured by it , they shall not overflow thee . nothing more amiable then gods presence , his presence is never more comfortable then when we passe through the waters , and the power of that presence in those waters appears most admirable , in that they do not overflow us . if you please to call the church a ship , you have observable her voyage , her pilote , her successe ; the voyage perillous , the pilote glorious , the successe prosperous ; the voyage full of danger , the pilote full of skill , the successe full of comfort : there is a necessity of the voyage , we must through the waters , there is a certainty of the pilote , god will be with us , and security in the successe , the rivers shall not overflow thee . or if you will , take notice in the text of these three generals . periculi suppositio , an imminent danger supposed , when thou passest through the waters . anxilii promissio , eminent help promised , i will be with thee . beneficii positio , permanent safety assured , they shall not overflow thee . yet once more , and in this method i shall handle the text : here is . the churches outward condition , that is dolorous ; when thou passest through the waters , and through the rivers . . her safe preservation in that condition , and that is joyous , they shall not overflow thee . , the effectual cause of her safe preservation in that afflicted condition , namely gods gracious presence : i will be with thee . it cannot be but the saints of god should passe through waters , though they passe through them , yet they shall not be plunged into them : and the reason of this safety is , because god is with them , those are the three rivulets into which the fountain of this text powrs it self , through each of which , whilest my discourse and your attention shall passe , let our prayer be , that gods gracious presence may so be with us , as the water of life may overflow our hearts and fructifie our lives to his glory and our comfort , and so i begin with the churches dolorous condition exprest in those words , when thou passest through the waters . there are two sorts of waters through which every saint must passe , the waters of contrition and affliction , of inward sorrow end outward trouble , those we may call the waters of marah , repentant tears being full of bitternesse , and yet sweetned by casting in the tree of the crosse ; these the waters of meribah caused through the spirit of contention in wicked men , which makes them strive with , and set themselves against gods people , to passe through those is our duty , through these our misery : to the one we are invited , for the other we must be prepared : those the prophet jeremy maketh the matter of his desire . o that my head were waters , and mine eyes a fountain of tears , jer. . these the prophet david maketh the object of his complaint , hear me o god , for the waters are come into my soul , psal. . finally , those god promiseth as a mercy to his people , jer. . . they shall come with weeping , and i will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters : indeed , no coming unto god for mercy , but by the waters of godly sorrow for our sins . these are supposed in the text as a danger , to which the church hath alwaies been exposed in this life , when thou passest through the waters . many are the resemblances to which the scripture compares the afflictions of the church , but none more common then this of waters ; in the thirtieth of this prophecy , we finde bread and water joyned together , the one whereof is eaten , and the other drank , to teach us that afflictions are as needfull for us as the food by which we are nourisht , in this verse we finde fire and water joyned together , through both which the church is forced to passe , sometimes materially , however analogically . it is the observation of one upon the text , that the greatest dangers of life come to us from those things which are most needfull for us : without water and fire life cannot be preserved , and yet by them it is often endangered , and surely as a man cannot live without these , so neither can the saints without affliction . nor only are afflictions in generall , but persecutions in speciall represented by these waters , so the church groaning under the fury of her enemies , cried out , that the waters flowed over her , lam. . . and sions adversaries are called by the psalmist , proud waters , psal. . . nor do these waters only exp●●sse ordinary or easie , but violent and outragious persecution . nullum elementorum aqua & igni ad nocendum potentius . of all elements fire and water are the most mercilesse , and the water is more vehement then fire ; since fire may be quencht by water , but waters cannot be resisted by any humane force : thus are wicked mens oppressions full of cruelty . the wiseman saith , that their tender mercies are cruelty , how much more then their cruelties ? and as we finde mention of waters , so rivers of waters noting the variety and perpetuity of the churches troubles . multitudes of drops concur to make up a river , and yet not one but many rivers must be passed through : standing pools are soon dry , but rivers run continually . sorrows seldome come alone , it was jobs complaint that god brake in upon him with breach upon breach , and david , that one deep called upon another , at the noise of the water-spouts ; and paul , that he was in perils often by sea , by land , in city , in countrey : that complaint of megara in the tragoedian justly befits the church : nulla lux unquam mihi secura fuit , finis alterius mali gradus est futuri , wicked mens malice is boundlesse , no wonder , sions troubles are lasting , and the end of one misery proves the fore-runner of another : so true is that of the apostle , through many tribulations we must enter into gods kingdome . but whence , may some say , are these waters and rivers ? i answer : partly from the bottles of heaven above , which being opened , pour out waters upon the earth , affliction comes not out of the dust , nor befals us by chance , but by divine providence , those cruelties to which the saints are exposed , by whomsoever acted , are by god disposed , both the abundance and continuance of those waters are at his appointment : true it is , the waters that fall from the clouds above , are bred of the vapours that ascend from the earth below , and it is our sins that are the cause of all troubles , which are sent by god upon us , we deserve , he inflicts , we provoke , he chastiseth , our iniquities are the meritorious , his equity the efficient cause of all calamity . partly , as many rivers are fed by springs out of the bowels of the earth ; so these waters arise out of the depths of hell ; it is satan that opens the fountain of malice in wicked mens hearts , whence the streams of oppressions flows upon good men heads ; it is the winde of diabolicall instigation which raiseth the waves , encreaseth the water , augments the rage of zions adversaries ; thus both heaven and hell concurre to the sending forth of these waters , but on a different ground , and to a different end ; god justly , satan unjustly ; god for our sins , the devil for our righteousnesse . finally , gods end is to cleanse our filth , and wash away our pollutions , the devils to overwhelm our persons , and sink us into the depth of misery . to apply this . oh let us be wise to look for and provide against these slabby steps in our christian race , he that goes to sea must resolve before-hand to meet with many a cold blast , dashing wave , rolling tempest ere he come to his harbour : let all who engage for heaven do the like , sit down and consider what pains and sufferings it must cost them ere they come thither , by this means we shall the lesse fear , and the better bear troubles when they come , praemeditati mali mollis ictus , that evil which is fore-thought of by us , will prove the more easie to us : they say of the basilisk ▪ that if it first see a man , it kils him ; but if the man first see it , he is safe : let it be our prudence to foresee evils ere they come , that we may the better undergo them when they come , and surely if we consider things aright , we have no reason to be discouraged at these waters : for . it is an argument we are in the direct way to our countrey , the path to hell is miry through corruptions , to heaven watery through afflictions : saint pauls assertion is universall , all that will live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution . tim. . . christianus non est , qui non crucianus : christianity entitles her professors to the crosse , the way to blisse is not strewed with roses , but hedged with thorns : he that lives in pleasure and enjoys the worlds favour , may well suspect himself as a wanderer in the broad way ; but he that findes hatred and persecution from ungodly samaritanes , may at least probably conclude himself in favour with god , and a traveller in the way to jerusalem . . it is but a passing through , not a dwelling in , the waters . afflictions may be violent , they shall not be permanent . athanasius said of the persecution in his time , it was nubecula citò transitura , a cloud that should soon vanish , a showr that would quickly cease . the wicked are said to dwell with devouring fire , the faithfull only passe through ; the scriptures usuall metaphor resembles saints to strangers and pilgrims , who only passe through or sojourn for a time , but make no long stay , why should they wonder at or be troubled with that ill usage they finde in their passage ? the world is fitly compared to a sea , and the sea is no place to continue in ; dangers we must expect to meet with so long as we are sailing but that sailing , will not be long . and . consider not so much through what , as whither thou passest , look beyond the waters to the shore , the passage is calamitous , the countrey where thou art going glorious ; it is to possesse thy inheritance , and receive thy crown . o let the sweetnesse of the end mitigate the badnesse of the way , and the pleasantnesse of the countrey make amends for the tediousnesse of the journey . finally , know to thy comfort thou shalt passe through these waters , no remora shall withhold , nor contrary windes impede thee , though thou maist be molested , yet not overflown by those waters : which leads to the second generall . the churches preservation in her afflicted condition , they shall not overflow thee , habet unumquodque periculum unde timeatur ; every thing threatens its peculiar danger , which makes us fear the fire burning , the water drowning ; but quod aliis exitio ipsis innoxium , that which is destructive to others shall not be hurtfull to the church , let persecutions be as fire yet the church is like moses bush , which was burnt but not consumed : let them be like waters , the church shall be as noahs ark , which still arose higher as the waters encreased , these waters may arise from the ankles to the knees , from the knees to the breast , from the breast to the chin , but they shall never overflow the head : collo licet tenus mergaris non patior te omnino demergi , premendus es non perimendus , we must be washt , we must not sink , crusht we may be , killed we shall not be . the boul or bladder may be dipt , cannot be drowned ; the house that is built upon the rock may be shaken but cannot be overthrown , and they that trust in the lord , saith the psalmist , shall be as mount zion that cannot be moved ; excellent to this purpose is that of s. paul , we are troubled on every side , yet not distressed ; perplext , but not in despair ; perscuted , but not forsaken ; cast down , but not destroyed , cor. . , . and again in the chap. . , . as dying , and yet behold we live ; as chastened , and not killed ; as sorrowfull , yet alwaies rejoycing . thus have the saints found life in death , comfort in sorrow , safety in danger , and though the waters have been about them , yet they could not come over them ; true it is , we finde the prophet complaining , that the waves and billows were gone over him , psal. . . and the church useth the like expression , where she saith , the waters flowed over my head , lam. . . so may you have sometimes seen the surly waves over-topping the ship , and yet at last the ship arising above the waves , or a skilfull swimmer diving into the river , but coming forth again ; and thus , the church though she be not only wet in the shallow but cast into the deep , bound in the prison but thrown into the dungeon , yet all this is only for a time ; and after all , she shall come forth gloriously : indeed like the palm tree , the more she is opprest the more she spreads , like the camomil the more she is trod upon she groweth the faster , and her greatest sufferings prove not exitiall but medicinal . nor is this lesse true of every saint in particular then of the church in generall , in the flouds of many waters they shall not come nigh him , saith david of a godly man , psa. . . and surely if they shall not come nigh him , much lesse shall they overflow him , they may come nigh his , but not him : these waters may sink his state , his goods , his comforts , nay , his life ; but not his soul which is himself . anaxarcus told the tytant , when he beat him in a mortar , it was only the casket , he could not touch the pearl ; such is all the power that wicked persecutors have over ours , not us , the body not the soul , they are but flesh and can do nothing but to the flesh , our better part remains secure , so that though they may sometime foyl , yet they shall never wholly overthrow the saints . to apply this , hence then all carnall fears , distracting thoughts , and despairing terrors , afflictions may rise high but we shall still rise above them , nay , let us know to our comfort , that when the night is darkest , the day-break is nearest , and when the waters flow the highest , they will beginne to ebbe . what need the mariner fear the greatest storm , when he knows it shall not split his shippe ? why should the souldier be dismayed at the sharpest combate when he is sure to win the field ? why should any the greatest dangers distract the saint , when he hath a promise they shall not overtop him . true it is , the rod of the wicked may be painfull to the righteous , but it shall not rest upon him : exercemur sed eripimur , impetimur non obruimur ; god may suffer tribulations to exercise our graces , he will not suffer them to overwhelm our persons . to end this , o see the happy condition of the godly . wicked men are drowned in sweet honey , while the righteous escape through the bitter waters , the prosperity of the fool slaies him , the adversity of the wise betters him : good things prove offensive to the bad , the worst things shall not be destructive to the good . well might saint paul say in the name of himself , and the rest of the saints , nay , in all these things we are more then conquerours , rom. . . and if we will know the reason of all this , he addeth in that verse , through him that loveth us , and the text speaketh not much unlike , god is with us , which leades to the third and main part of the text , gods gracious presence , the effectuall cause of the churches preservation , i will be with thee . there is a double presence of god , the one generall , the other speciall ; the one with the world , the other with his church ; the one quatenus immensus , by the immensity of his essence ; the other quatenus benevolus , through the benevolence of his love ; the one is a monitor to duty , the other a cordiall against misery . in the former sense god is not only with the good but the bad ; yea , all his creatures . according to the latter , he is only with his church , to her its only promised , and on her it 's only conferred ; it is the name which the prophet giveth the holy city , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lord is there ; and john saw christ in a vision walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks , the church being alwaies the place of gods peculiar residence : and according to the double consideration of the church , god vouchsafeth a double presence , she is either triumphant or militant , reigning or warring , and god accordingly is present by glory and grace , majesty and mercy , that he manifesteth to her in heaven , this on earth , that in the caelestiall countrey , this while she is sayling on the tempestuous sea ; when thou passest through the waters , i will be with thee . the end of gods merciful presence with his people , is not to be as a bare speactator , but as an active worker , and he so looks on as that he acts for his peoples good , when they are under evils . adest omnibus suis ex aequo , verum operationes praesentiae diversimodè se habent , the operations of this presence are various and excellent , according to the determination of his wisedom , for his own glory and our good , the severall acts , which by being present with , he exercises towards us , may be justly , and are fully enumerated in these five particulars . he is with us in these waters , cohibendo , conservando , consolando , dirigendo , eripiendo . what the banks are to the sea , that his presence is to these waters in bounding them , what the plank is to the shipwrackt marriner , that is gods presence to the saint , carrying him safe to shore . finally , what a convoy is for the guarding , a pilote for the guiding or the shippe , and a faithfull friend to comfort in a storm , all this is gods presence to the church in her afflictions . . god is with us in the waters cohibendo , to bridle the rake of these waves , and bound the fury of these waters : he that sets bounds to the sea , saying , hitherto it shall passe and no further , restrains the power , quiets the rage of wicked men , and saith , thus much they shall do and no more . these waters ebbe and flow at gods pleasure , he keeps the sluce to let them in and out as he will. so true is that of the psalmist , surely , the wrath of man shall praise thee : and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain , psal. . . persecutors are a rod , but in gods hand ; they are lions and wolves , but chained by his providence ; swelling waters , but bounded by his commandment . the accomplishment of this , as an effect of gods presence , is plainly intimated by the psalmist , psal. . , . in the . verse he assures the ceasing of warres , the breaking of the bowes , the burning of the chariot , that is , to weaken the strength , and bridle the malice of zions enemies , and if we would know how this should be effected , the answer is given at the . verse , the lord of hosts is with us ; and yet more fully , the church acknowledgeth this truth . psal. . if it had not been the lord had been on our side , when men rose up against us , they had swallowed us up quick , and the waters had overwhelmed us . indeed , it is only an almighty presence can command and stiil the ptoud waves . the story of canutus once king of england , is very memorable , who sitting at a low water upon the river thames , commanded the water it should not come nigh him , but the tide returning , ceased not to rise higher till it wet his feet : whereupon he went home , and set his crown upon the crucifix at westminster . it is none but god can stay the course of the water , and it is the same hand must stop the current of wicked mens fury against his people : thus god was with the three worthies to quench the violence of the fire , with daniel to stop the mouths of lions , and with jacob to bridle his uncles envy . . god is with us in the waters , conservando , as to bridle them , so to preserve us ; gods presence doth not secure from the water , but in the water : fond nature thinks that god should not let the winde blow upon his darlings , and it was gideons argument , if the lord be with us , why hath all this befallen us ? judges . . admirabatur quod simul starent haec duo , viz. deum esse cum eis , & pati eos tot mala . he thought the presence of god , and outward evils , to be inconsistent : he could not imagine that god should be nigh , and trouble near too ; herein he shewed himself not skil'd , tam arte quam marte ; and though a valiant souldier , yet a bad logician : though god be with us , yet the waters may come in upon us , but not over us , if god be with us , who can be against us ? saith saint paul : indeed , who will not be against us , but who so against us as to hurt us ? thus god is with us ? as christ was with peter , when ready to sink into the sea , stretching forth his hand to uphold him . the lord is with us , saith the psalmist , and what follows , the god of jacob is our refuge , psal. . . divine presence exempts not from , but is a refuge in the storm . moses expression is yet fuller , the eternall god is thy refuge , and underneath are the everlasting arms , deuter. . ▪ a mans hand put under the chin keeps him from sinking into the water ; much more can the armes of a god uphold us in troubles ; and therefore these two are fitly joyned together , fear thou not , for i am with thee , i will strengthen thee , yea , i will help , yea , i will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse : isa. . . . god is with us in the waters , consolando , to co●●●●t our hearts , and refresh our spirits in the midst of 〈◊〉 ●●●●ictions . when the coldnesse of the 〈…〉 with flaggons of wine to revive us ; wh●n 〈…〉 ●ainting under trials , he is at hand with 〈…〉 cherish us ; this david found verified in his own ●xperience , when in the middest of the shadow of death he resolves to fear none ill , because god was with him , and his staffe did comfort him , psal. . . thus god stood by paul , when accused wrongfully by his enemies , and breathed a word of comfort into his ears , s●ying , be of good chear , acts . . we reade genesis . . that the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters ; the hebrew word is emphat●call , being a m●taphor from the dove that sits upon h●r egges , ch●●ishing them by her heat , producing out of them a living creat●re like to her self , ther●by signifying praes●ntiam non qual●mcunque , s●d amabilem & peculiarit●r 〈◊〉 , that ●miable and ●fficacious pres●nce of gods spirit which wrought so glorious a fabrick out of that ●●de ch●●s , a ●it embleme of the truth in hand , it being the same spirit that moves powerfully and comfortably upon the waters of affliction , producing joyfull effects out of the saddest calamities that befall his people . . god is with us in the waters , dirigendo , to steer our course , guide our passage through the troubl●some waves ; what the cloud by day , a●d the pillar of fire by night was to the israelites when they passed through the desolate desart into canaan , the same is gods presence to his people while they wander through the wildernesse of this world to heaven . david tels us god was with him by his rod as well as by his staff , the shepherds rod guides and governs the sheep : so doth god in troubles direct his people . when jehoshaphat knew not what to do , god was with him to advise and counsell what course he should take , and when elisha's servant saw no means of deliverance for his master and himself from the encompassing enemy , god was with him at the prophets praier to open his eyes , that he might see his succour . how oft is the mariner ( when through the darknesse of the night , or the strangenesse of the coast at a losse ) directed to steer his course by the appearing of a star , thus when gods people are so environ'd about with waters , that they can see no land , and darkned by clouds that they can see no light , then doth his presence like a star appear , directing them in the way of safety . . god is with us in the water , eripiendo , to deliver out of present trials , and restore former , or adde better comforts ; friendly majesty is present to rescue oppressed innocency . it is the promise which god himself makes to the beleeving soul , i will be with him in trouble , and what follows , as the blessed effect of his presence , but liberation and exaltation , i will deliver him and honour him , psa. . it was the experience which the church had of gods falthfulnesse in accomplishing this promise , we went through fire and water , but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place , psal. . . thus is god with his people , not only to comfort them in , and support them under , but to rescue them out , and reward them after all their troubles , according to that of the prophet , jer. . . i am with thee saith the lord , to save thee : various and miraculous are the means which god useth to deliver his people out of the water . sometimes he provides an ark as he did for noah , a zoar , as he did for a lot , a cave as he did for the prophets , hiding his people from the raging waves , the fury of their enemies . sometimes he sends a nurse as he did for moses to take him out of the waters , he provides boards , as he did for paul , and the rest of his company , when the ship was split whereby they escaped safe to land : he prepareth a whale , as for jonah to swallow him that the sea might not devour him ▪ and as arion in plutarch , being cast into the waters by the cruel mariners , was brought to shore on a dolphins back ; so he when thrown over-board by gods justice , was through his mercy conveyed to land in a whales belly : thus doth god prosper weak and small means , yea , finde out strange and unexpected waies for the rescue of his saints . sometimes he divides the waters , as he did the red sea for israel ; he sets the churches enemies one against another , and by dividing , both weakens them , and preserves his : so he did for gideons small army to the midianites mighty host , setting every mans sword against his fellow . sometimes he turneth the streames of the waters , changeth the windes , that whereas before they were contrary , they become favourable to the church , and serviceable to her passage . thus was esau's heart mollified towards jacob , who in stead of a devouring enemy becomes an embracing friend , and meets him with kisses ; to whom he had intended blows . thus did ioseph , having god with him , finde savour in the fight of the goaler , to whom he was committed : indeed , what solomon saith , of the kings heart , is true of all mens , that they are in the hands of the lord as the rivers of waters , and he turns them whithersoever he will : no wonder then , if sometimes he mollifies the obdurate , qualifies the malicious , and melts the frozen hearts of wicked men unto love and compassion towards his servants . finally , sometimes he abates , and wholly dries up these waters , so that the sea becomes a dry land , when he lessens the power , takes away the sting , breaks the horn , and dashes out the teeth of the ungodly , so that they are not able to hurt his saints ; the heat of the sun dispels the clouds , and dries up the over-flowing waters , and the presence of god is many times pleased to vanquish his enemies , scatter their forces , thereby commanding deliverances for jacob , however if he deliver nor out of , he will by these waters ; if he save not from trouble , he will make the very trouble a means of safety , and when they may perish temporally in the waters of distresse , he will yet be with them to save them eternally in the mansion of blisse . you have seen the extent of this comfortable promise , and if any shall demand a reason of gods effectual presence with his church in danger , i answer : . partly , the churches near relation unto him obligeth , so much is intimated in the close of the precedent verse , thou art mine , no wonder , we reade in the next verse , i will be with thee , the church is a flock , god is the shepherd : so the psalmist , hear thou shepherd of israel , which leadest joseph like a sheep : what more needfull then the shepherds residence with his flock , especially in a time when wolves approach ? the church is a house , and god the owner , so saint peter cals her the house of god : where should a mans dwelling be but in his house ? and especially his presence is required when robbers invade it . she is his spouse , and he her husband : no relation engageth to nearer union and fuller communion then this ; one house , one board , one bed holds the man and wife . who should defend the woman when assaulted but the husband ? and will god that is spiritually married to his people withdraw himself , or withhold his succour from them ? finally , she is the ship , and he her master ; and though while the ship is in harbour , the masters absence may be dispensed with , yet by no means when she is sailing in the deep . : his deer affection to his church inclines him , animus non ubi animat , sed ubi amat : the soul is not so much where it lives , as where it loves : indeed love is affectus unionis , a desire of union , it was the wish of two friends to vulcan , that he would new make them into one : and surely gods love to his church infinitely surpassing the love of any creature , must needs unite him to , and make him one with her . the psalmist speaking of a righteous man , renders this as the reason of gods being with him , because he hath set his love upon god , but doubtlesse the reason holds far stronger in the other way , because god hath set his love upon his church , therefore he will be with her ; such is gods tendernesse toward his people , that were it not for his own honour and their good , he would not suffer them to passe through the waters ; sure then he cannot but be with them when they are in the waters , yea , for this cause he is pleased to bring them into depths of misery , that the glory as of his power , so love , may be heightned in their delivery . to close up this truth in a usefull application . i might from hence take occasion , and that justly , to bespeak these waters which encompasse the church . o ye proud waves why do ye roar in impetuous words ? why do ye rise in insolent actions against sion , and her friends ? know ye not that all your rage will prove but vain and cursed ? can you overtop heaven ? then you may overthrow the church ; can you pull god out of his throne ? then you may root his people out of the world , and not till then ; nemo nos laedit nisi qui deum vincit , ye cannot injure the saints , unlesse ye strike thorow god ; god is so with us , that he is in the generation of the just , qui ecclesiam impetunt , deum petunt , you cannot wound them but you must wound god ; yea , he is so with his people , that they are said to be in him . it 's davids character of a godly man , that he dwelleth in the secret of the most high , you must destroy god ere you can destroy them . god is said to bear his people upon eagles wings , exod. . . it is observed of the eagle , that she carries not her young ones in her claws , as other birds do , but being laid upon her shoulder , she covers them with the spreading of her wings , so that the fowler who shoots at them , must first wound her ; truly they that will injure the church , must first fight against god , and how vain all such attempts are , even balaam was convinced of , when he told balak , how shall i curse whom god hath not curst ? numb . . . and therefore it was his devilish policy to separate israel from god by sinning , for then he knew he might conquer them by fighting : the like thought , no doubt , possessed davids enemies , when they said , god hath forsaken him , persecute him , and take him , psal. . . tacitely acknowledging , that while god is nigh his people , their enemies may pursue , but they shall not overtake them . nor is your rage only fruitlesse , but cursed ; you cannot wrong them , but you will destroy your selves . gather together , oh you waters , but you shall be dispersed , it is the churches triumph , associate your selves , o you people , but you shall be broken in pieces ; for god is with us . know you not that you dash against that rock which will scatter you ? consider you not , that god hath said of zion , i will be the glory in the midst of her , and a wall of fire round about her , zech. . . every dart you throw against this wall will retort upon your selves , and the fire will flash in your own faces ; tremble then , oh tremble to think , that those whom you are against , god is with . the waters saw thee , g god , the waters saw thee , they were afraid . oh that you would take notice of gods powerfull presence , and abate your swelling waves ; but alas ! what do i spend my breath upon these waters , which is likely to prove but as a contraty winde , and make them rage the more . i leave them therefore , and betake my self in a word of comfort and counsell to the passengers through these waters . and . see hence what a faithfull god ye have to stand by you , one that will not fail in greatest need ; no such triall of a friend as in the time of trouble , it is the too usual course of the world , to deal with their friends , as men do with sun-dials , only look upon them while the sunne of prosperity shines ; or as women do with flowers , while they are flourishing they put them in their bosomes , but when once withered , cast them to the dunghill : but the almighty deals not so with his friends , yea , when our danger is greatest , his help is nearest ; oft times the case is so desperate , that friends society can only afford pity , not succour ; they may look on , they cannot take off ; but the presence of god is ever active and powerfull , and whereas toe most faithfull friends part at death , this friend will not then leave us ; david knew he would be with him in the shadew of death ; and saint paul assureth us , neither death , nor life , shall separate his love ; not onely when we walk through the pleasant meadow of prosperity , but when we go through the salt waters of affliction , nay , when we passe through mare mortuum , the sea of death , he will be with us ; it is the deriding question which the saints enemies put to them in affliction , vbi deus , where is now their god ? but they may return a confident answer , hic deus , our god is here nigh to us , round about us , in the midst of us , it was his promise to joshua , and is repeated by saint paul , as belonging to all the faithfull , i will never leave thee nor forsake thee ; a double negation among the greeks denies more vehemently , much more a five-fold negative , and yet so emphatically doth the originall expresse it , to assure us , that there is no time , nor place , nor want , nor streight , nor affliction , wherein god will leave or forsake his people . . learn hence the blissefull state of a saint , who hath gods presence ever with him ; nothing makes affliction truly uncomfortable but the want of gods face ; indeed , the most prosperous estate without god , is a curse , and the greatest affliction with god is a blessing ; the saint when he wants most , he wants nothing , because he hath him that hath all things ; not the brightest star can make it day when the sunne is set , not the thickest clouds can make it night while the sun shines . oh divine presence , thou turnest night into day , stones into bread , and drosse into gold ; thou makest the wildernesse a paradise , the cottage a palace , and the prison a mansion ; thou art riches in poverty , wealth in want , a cordiall in sicknesse , an antidote against poyson , light in darknesse , and life in death . shew us the father , saith philip ▪ and it sufficeth : give us thy self lord , and it is enough , hell would not be hell if god were there , much lesse can these waters make the saint miserable while god is with him . . say to thy self with david , oh thou distressed saint , why art thou cast down o my soul , why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in god , and that not only when the waters are low , but when they rise to the height , thy way , o god , is in the sea , saith the psalmist , not onely in the shallow river , but in the deep sea , not only in the lesser troubles , but in the greatest exigences , saeviat mare , conturbentur montes , deus in ecclesia non dimovebitur , if you please , the psalmist will english it ; though the waters roar , though the mountains shake , god is in the midst of her , she shall not be moved . if god be with us , all in god is for us ; favour ●ffecting , power effecting , wisedom directing , providence protecting , and faithfulnesse perfecting deliverance for us . if god be with us , all the creatures are for us ; what jehoshaphat said to ahab , that god saith unto his church , i am as thou art , my people as my people , and my horses as thy horses , king. . . it was the comfort saint paul gave the corinthians , and in them all beleevers . whether paul , or apollo , or cephas , or the world , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come , all are yours , and ye are christs , and christ is gods , cor. . , . the angels are ours to guard us , the ministers to comfort us , all creatures to serve us , and surely he need not fear the waters , that hath the winde and tide on his side : what trouble should dismay a christian that hath heaven and earth to support him ? no wonder then that we finde the scripture so often disswading from carnall fear upon this ground of gods spiritual presence . not to multiply instances , view isa. . , . where no lesse then four times god cals upon his church not to fear , upon this argument , because he was with her and would help her . chear up then thou disconsolate soul , doubt not of the churches safety in generall , the lord in the middest of her is mighty , he will save , he will rejoyce over her with ioy , zeph. . . despair not of thine own preservation in particular , maior est dominus ad protegendum , quàm diabolus ad impugnandum , god is more powerfull to protect , then satan and his instruments can be malicious to destroy . so true is that of the psalmist , the lord on high is mightier then the noise of many waters : yea , then the mighty waves of the sea , psal. . . in persecutionibus nemo cogitet quod periculum diabolus importet , sed consideret quod auxilium deus praestat , nec mentem labefactet humana infestatio , sed corrohoret fidem divina protectio . consider not so much thy distresse , as thy deliverer , and when mens malicious combination may affright thee . let divine association support thee ; the danger may exceed thy resistance , but not gods assistance ; the enemies power may surpasse thy strength , their subtlety out-wit thy prudence , but neither can excell the wisedom and might of god that is with thee . oh learn , therefore , to try god in his strength , to trust him in difficulties , and when the mercilesse waves are ready to swallow thee , commit thy self to his custody . mos est naucleri coelum aspicere . the mariner in straights looks up to heaven , do thou so , and remember that when the waters are about thee , the sunne shines upon thee . but now ( me thinks ) the despairing soul replies , were i sure god was with me , i should not fear , but the clouds are so thick that i cannot see the sun , my troubles so great that i cannot beleeve god is present . but stay thou drooping saint and know . god may be with thee though thou seest him not , presumptuous sinners uhink god is near them when he is farre off , doubting saints think god far off when he is nigh them . i remember jacobs speech , surely god is in this place , and i know it not : and god may be with thee , though thou art not aware of it . . god is with his people divers waies , and though in one kinde he be absent , yet in another he may be present ; if he be not with thee to remove the distresse , yet he may be with thee to support thy strength ; though not to give outward deliverance , yet to afford inward comfort ; though he doth not presently take away the burden from thy shoulders , yet if he enable thee with patience to bear it , and dependance to wait on him , it is an undoubted argument he is still with thee . . gods with-drawments from his people in dangers , are rather seeming then reall ; deus suos non negligit , cum negligit : when god seems most to neglect his people , he doth not forsake them , and his end in withdrawing his sensible presence from them , is that they should run the more swiftly after him . . and lastly , though god with-draw for a time , yet he will return at last , for a small moment have i forsaken thee , but with great mercies will i gather thee ; saith the lord thy redeemer . i have read a story of a poor man that served god faithfully , and yet was opprest cruelly , having all his goods taken from him by an oppressing knight , whereupon he perswaded himself that god was dead , but going about to make a funeral for his god , who had formerly been so faithfull to him , and now ( as he thought ) left him ; an old man met him and desired him first to deliver a letter unto the hands of his oppressor : upon receipt and perusall of which the knight was so convinced , that immediatly he confest his fault , and restored the goods which made the poor man say , now i see god may seem to sleep , but can never die : with this meditation , comfort thy self , o christian , in the saddest desertions , that though god in wisedom may for a time hide his face , yet at last he will in mercy lift up the light of his countenance upon thee to thy joy , and make bare the arm of his power for thy succour . . since god will be with thee in the waters , do not forsake god for fear of the waters , let no tribulation make thee disclaim him who is ready to own thee , it is not seldom seen that persecution causeth men to forgo their profession , and which argues as little policy as piety for fear of a storm they run from their shelter : but why o man , dost thou by ' indirect waies seek to save thy self , when by cleaving to god thou maist be sure of his defence ? oh remember that sacred aphorism of azariah to asa and his people ; the lord is with you , while you be with him , but if you forsake him , he will forsake you : let no distresse fright thee from god , and then no distresse shall keep god from thee . . what 's the matter of gods promise , let it be the subject of thy praier , and when the waters may encompasse thee , begge of god that he will be with thee : it is the efficacy of troubles that they drive us to prayer , and it is the excellency of prayer that it brings god to us : the truth is , god is never so farre off , but he is within call , when god threatens to go and return to his place , it is but till they seek his face : oh , then by praier in all straits let us go to god , and god will come to us : so true is that of the psalmist , the lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him , to all that call upon him in truth , psal. . . indeed his own tender mercy is the impulsive cause , but our humble addresse is the procuring means of his gracious presence ; neglect not then so facil a duty which will procure so needfull a mercy , and be sure in thy approaches to god that it be his face thou seek , before and above all other blessings , a carnall heart when under affliction only begges deliverance from trouble , and regards not the presence of god , his praier is that god would send help for him , he cares not whether he come to him or no ; oh , let thy praiers flow from higher principles , beg the presence of his grace , and leave the disposall of thy deliverance to his wisedom , what our saviour saith of the kingdom of god , seek that first , and all these shall be added , that may i apply to the face of god , seek first his face and all other things that thy necessities call for , shall be conferred : only let me adde one word more , as thou cravest gods presence with thee , put sin far from thee , distresse inviteth him to thee , but sin separates him from thee : let not any iniquity rule over thee , and then god will be with thee , nor shall any calamity prevail against thee . to end this , we all either are or may be called to sail through the waters of tribulation , and surely what will be more fit then that , what god here promiseth , we should pray for ; to beseech him , who of his great mercy did save noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water , and did safely leade the children of israel through the red sea , that he would be pleased so to behold us with his favour , be with us by his grace , and refresh us with his presence , that we being rooted in faith , joyful through hope , and stedfast in patience , may so passe the waves of this troublesome would , as finally we may come to the land of everlasting life , where being exalted above all the waters of sorrow , and set down at the right hand of the majesty on high , we may be with him , beholding his face in glory to all eternity . and now to close up all in a literall application of this scripture , to those who go down into the deep , and more especially to you my honoured lord : being now to take a long voyage , and transplant your self with you fruitful vine and olive-plants , for a time into a farre countrey . what god said to abraham , gen . . he seems to say to you , get thee out of thy countrey ▪ and from thy kindred , and from thy fathers house to a land that i will shew thee . the way you are to passe is through the great waters , and therefore cannot but be perilous . anacharsis being asked in what number he should put those that went to sea , whether among the living or the dead , was doubtfull , an inter vivos habendi , qui vitam undarum ac ventorum arbitrio commississent , whether they should be reckoned among the living who commit their lives to the mercy of windes and waves , he spake in that like an heathen , christians know better , who recommend themselves into the hands of god , that rules both , but however , sea-voyages are doubtlesse attended with many dangers ; it was a true saying of the same philosopher , to which the apostle alludeth , who being told the distance of the ships deck from the water was four fingers , answered . tantillum absunt a morte qui navigant , there is but so much space between death and sea-men ; indeed souldiers in the wars , and passengers in the sea , alwaies carry their lives in their hand , but yet this is not all , as your passage is dubious , so the place where you are to go probably dangerous ; likely it is you may meet with difficulties at your ingresse , and being to live amongst , and converse with a barbarous people , troubles will renew themselves during your abode : so that having past through the waters in a literall sense , and come to land , you must still expect to pass through worse waters , i mean , the furious rage of unreasonable men . but let this golden word emmanuel be your support ; let that precious sentence , if god be for us who can be against us , be your continuall meditation ; a scripture , with which maximilian the emperor was so much in love , that he caused it to be wrought in checquer-work upon his table , let it rather be imprinted in your honours breast to your solace and comfort . your calling is just and full , having the stamp of royal majesty upon it , the consent of the honourable senate to it , and the election of that worshipfull society , whose affairs you are to manage , concurring with it . the service you undertake is not only lawful but noble , to be an embassadour from englands monarch for his subjects trade and commerce with the turkish empire ; and surely going about so needfull a work with so good a warrant , you need not doubt of the almighties assistance to make the successe happy . if then the parting with your native soyl , neer allies , and familiar friends trouble you , remember when these are farre off , god is at hand . is was the psalmist comfort , when my father and mother forsake me , then the lord will take me up , psal. . give me leave with a little alteration and inversion to apply it for your encouragement , when you must leave mother , kindred and acquaintance , god will take you up , and stand by you . if the peril of the seas or storms affright you , ingage by faith and praier divine power to , and for you . it was the proud speech of caesar to his mariner , who was afraid in a desperate storm : quid times ? caesarem vehis & fortunas ejus , why dost thou fear ? thou carriest caesar and his fortunes with thee ; with better confidence may your honour say in the midst of a violent storm , why should i despair who have god and his strength with me ; it is observable of the heathen , whithersoever they went they would still carry their gods with them , so aeneas advised his father , tu genitor cape sacra manu patriosque penates . a practice well befitting christians to make choice of the true god for their convoy through the troublous seas , they that go down into the deep ( saith the psalmist ) see the wonders of the lord , indeed , as he is mercifully present in all places , so he shews himself wonderfully present in the waters ; there it is he ofttimes works potenter & patenter , with power and glory ; so that the finger of a deity evidently appears : of him it is that may be most truly affirmed which the poets feign of vlisses , that he carried the windes in his hand , and could command them at his pleasure , he can rebuke the stormy windes , still the raging of the waves , having in his hands as well the deprhs of the sea , the windes of the air , as the corners of the earth . lastly , when the long inquity of the place , inhumanity of the people , whither , and among whom you are going may perplex you ; think god saith to you , as in another case he did to jacob , fear not , i will go down with thee into egypt , his power , prudence , and providence shall stand by you to remove all difficulties , and prevent all designs , he will command his angels to pitch their tents about you , and keep you in all his waies . i end my consolation from god to you with an invocation on god for you , that your egresse may be cheerful , your progresse successeful , your regresse joyful . when you put forth to sea , may the almighty be with you , and shut you into the ship , as he did noah with his family into the ark , to save you from the raging waters . when you shall arrive safe at your desired haven , may the omnipotent be with you as he was with joseph , shew you mercy , and give you favour in the sight of all with whom you shall have to do . and when the appointed time of your return shall come , may the same powerful presence still accompany you as it did jacob in his return from padan aram , that you may come again with your dearest consort and children , to your fathers house in peace , and there build an altar to the god of your mercies . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e lap. calv. scult . the . gen. exo. . . numb . . . psa. . . isa. . . a●●ar . in text . scult . prov. . . job . . psal. . . cor. . , . sen. trag. act. . ● . job . . vse . isa. . . pet. . . the . gen. musc. in loc . psa. . . tunde tunde , anaxarcum non tundis . vse . calv. the . gen. mendoz. ezek. . . rev. . . musc. job . . caj●t . in loc . rom. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbum tr●●statum ab ar●bus pulliti●● 〈…〉 . jun. in 〈◊〉 . par. ibi● . psa. . . chro. . . kin. . . . chrysost. adest amica majestas ut innocentia liberetur . gen. . . , . kin. . . exod. . . act. . . jonah . . evo . . . jud. . . gen. . . gen. . . prov. . . psa. . . ● pet. . . psa. . , . vse . august . psa. . . psa. . . isa. . , . non saxcus , non ahe●eus sed igneus , qui & comminus arceat & eminus terreat . theod. psal. . . psal. . . josh. . . heb. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cum dei sint omnia , habcut● deum nihil d●erit si deo ips● non desit . cyp. joh. . . psa. . . psa. . . psa. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid. pel. cyprian . isa. . . chro. . . hos. . . confisus ligno digiti à morte remotis , quatuor aut septem , juven . virgil. ps. . , gen. . . gen. . , . gen. . . gen. . . . . a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calquit, draper, who died on the . day of april and was interr'd the . of the said month, at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calquit, draper, who died on the . day of april and was interr'd the . of the said month, at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by r.d. for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in huntington library. eng calquit, anne, d. . bible. -- o.t. -- psalms xxxix, -- sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no a looking-glasse of humane frailty: set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calq hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty : set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit , late wife of mr. nicholas calquit , draper , who died on the . day of april . and was interr'd the . of the same month , at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street . by nath. hardy , minister of st. dionys. backchurch . psal. . . man is like to vanity , his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away . qui aeternitate dei perspecta breve & poenè ad puncti instar humanae vitae spatium cogitaverit , ante aculos suos semper habebit interitum , &c. hieron. london , printed by r. d. for joseph cranford , at the sign of the castle & lion in st. pauls church-yard . . to his highly esteemed friend , mr. nicholas calquit . imuch fear , lest the perusal of this sermon prove the reviving of your sorrow , and cause that wound which the death of your deare consort hath made , to bleed afresh . but i hope with all , that as your love hath prompted you to desire a perpetuation of her memory , so your prudence teacheth you to moderate your griefe for her dissolution . that which especially concerneth you , and whereof ( i trust ) you are not forgetfull , is , . diligently to enquire into the deserving cause wherefore god hath deprived you of so great a comfort so soon , that the showre of your tears for her , may be swallowed up in the river of godly sorrow for sin . . by this sad experience to be so effectually convinced of the uncertainty of all earthly enjoyments , that it may be a curb to all inordinate affection . . finally , when you contemplate her dust , so to remember your owne death , that it may be a spur to a speedy and constant preparation . so shall you have just reason to say with david , it is good for me that i have been afflicted . that these white flowers may ( through gods grace ) spring from the black root of your dolefull losse , that that wise providence which hath made this sore breach , would be pleased to make it up , that what was ( i hope in love ) denied to her , may be ( and that in mercy ) confer'd on you , namely , a long life on earth , and that which is ( i trust ) already confer'd on her , may ( at length ) be given to you , namely , an aeternal life in heaven , is the hearty prayer of him whom you have by many favours obliged to be your affectionate friend , nath. hardy . a looking-glasse of humane frailty . psalm the th . verse the th . behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth , and mine age is as nothing before thee : verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity . selah . there are two evils to which the children of men in this world are subject ; namely , of sin , and of affliction : the former whereof calls for poenitence , the later for patience : of both these david giveth us a pattern , of the one in the fore-going , and the other in this psalm , that being ( as st. ambrose hath well observed ) forma poenitentiae , a psalm of repentance for his sins , and this forma poenitentiae , a psalm of contentation under his sufferings . the two great duties of gods servants under afflictions are , a silent submission , and a sanctified use of them : the former of these maketh afflictions still-born children , in as much as it shuts the mouth , and represseth all clamorous cries . this the psalmist learnt when he said , i was dumb , and opened not my mouth . the other maketh afflictions pregnant mothers , in as much as they inable us to the exercise of many excellent graces . among the several influences which sanctified troubles have on us , it is not the least , that it openeth our eyes . schola crucis schola lucis is a known and experienced saying , the schoole of the crosse is very lightsome , and though bitter to the taste , is a singular salve for the eye . apollonius writeth of a people who see nothing in the day , but all in the night : in the day of prosperity we forget , in the night of adversity we remember both god and our selves , as his soveraignty , so our own frailty . alexander who was flattered by the people as a god , having received a wound in his body , confessed himself to be mortal . this holy man whom you find fancying a stability in the time of his prosperity , i said my mountain is so strong it cannot be moved ; being now under a crosse , acknowledgeth his brittle fragility in the words of the text : behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth , &c. though there is no parcel of holy writ which doth not deserve our serious view , yet some scriptures have as it were asterisms annexed to them , to intimate , that they ought to be more especially pondered by us , and such is this which i am now to handle . the truth is , there is no lesson more substantiall than the nothingnesse of our substance or age , no meditation more serious and weighty than that of mans lightnesse and vanity ; nor would any doctrine be more closely laid to heart than this , that our dayes are as an hand , bredth . that this transitorinesse of our lives might not be slightly passed over in our mindes ; whereas some scriptures have one asterisme either in the beginning or end , and others two , to wit , both in the beginning and the end , this verse hath three notes of attention , in the beginning , in the middle , and in the end . the first word we meet with , is a behold , which argueth it to be rem seriam , a serious lesson : the word in the middle of the verse is verily , which speaketh it to be rem certam , a certain truth : and the last is selah , which intimateth it to be rem magnam , a momentous doctrine . behold is a note of attention , verily of asseveration , and selah of meditation : behold cals upon us to take notice , verily requireth us to believe , and selah willeth us to consider it : i hope there will need no more to quicken your hearts and ears whilst i shall with all possible brevity discuss this delineation of the shortnesse of life : thou hast made my dayes , &c. the text you see consists of three clauses ; the subject of the first is dayes , and those dayes measured , and the measure short , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth ; the subject of the second is age , and that age being weighed in the ballance , found light , very light , a meer nothing , mine age is nothing before thee : the subject of the third is man ; and that considered not in his autumn , but spring , who is found to be very vain , every man in his best estate is altogether vanity . for our more methodicall proceeding , observe in the text a particular exemplification of one and the same doctrine . the doctrine is no other than life's brevity , which is , particularly exemplified in david himself , and that two wayes . absolutely in the first clause , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth . comparatively in the second , mine age is as nothing before thee . generally amplified , in reference to the whole race of mankinde , every man in his best estate , &c. before i enter upon these severals , it will not be incongruous to observe , that , . the psalmist thinketh it not enough to mention , but ineulcateth this doctrine of the brevity of humane life ; nor is it only here , but elsewhere to be observed ; yea , not only in him , but job : so that in severall places , when those holy men fall upon this subject , they set it forth with multiplied expressions both proper and metaphoricall . that which we may well conceive to be hereby intimated , is , . on the one hand our dùlness and unwillingness to lay this truth to heart . there is no lesson we are more untoward to learn , and therefore the schoolmaster repeats it so often , among all the neiles of the sanctuary , none harder to enter into us than this , and therefore the masters of the assemblies fasten it so strongly , indeed it is but reason that what we are so prone to cast behinde our backs , should be frequently set before our eyes . . on the other hand our duty , which is not once , but again and again to consider it ; god hath spoken once ( saith the psalmist ) and i have heard it twice : it may admit this gloss , what god speaketh but once , we should hear with twice that attention which we give to what is spoken by men ; and surely if we should hear twice what god speaketh once , we should hear often what he speaketh often . that lesson which is so much iterated cannot be enough conn'd , and what the holy ghost hath uttered in such multiplied words , is certainly most worthy our multiplyed thoughts . for both these reasons , no doubt it is , that the penmen of holy writ do in their manifold expressions not only use similitudes to represent the shortness of life , but such similitudes as are most obvious and familiar to us , that which way soever we turn our eyes , we may be put in minde of it . when we are at sea , the speedy sayling of the ship ; when in forreign parts , the short time of our sojourning ; when on the road , the quick riding of the post ; and when in tents , the suddain taking down and removing of them , do all proclaim to us the passing away of our life ; the vanishing of the clouds , and flight of the eagle above us ; the withering of the flowers , and cutting down of the grass beneath us ; the tales we tell in the day , and dreams we have in the night ; finally , the breath we dayly send out of our mouths , and here the narrow bredth of our hands are all made use of to represent this truth unto us , that whether we look upward or downward , both waking and sleeping , both by other creatures , and by our own selves , we may be admonished of our mortality . . this good man reflecting his thoughts upon mans frailty , applieth it to himselfe , in that he saith , my dayes , and mine age , thereby setting us an excellent pattern of bringing home generall truths to our own particulars : we are all very backward to grant that in hypothesi , which we know to be true in thesi ; that all men are sinners we easily acknowledge ; and yet who saith in good earnest , i am a sinner ; that every man is mortal none will deny , and yet who considers , that himselfe is so . it was st. hierom's complaint in communi strage morientium nemo se cogitat moriturum : even at such times when multitudes are taken away by death , no man ( almost ) thinketh it will seize upon him : so that whereas it is a joyous promise to the godly man , a thousand shall fall at thy side , and ten thousand at thy right hand , yet it ( to wit , the plague ) shall not come nigh thee : it is the impious practice of the wicked man , though a thousand fall at his side , and ten thousand at his right hand , not to think death shall ( nay to think it shall not ) come nigh him . but surely it is our duty , and will be our wisdome , to bring home both examples and doctrines to our selves , that what we see verified in others , and what we confess is appointed for all , we also look upon as impending over our own heads . they are both intended by god , oh let them be so made use of by us as glasses wherein to see our own faces . do we then see others brought to their graves ? what should our thoughts be but to allude to those words of st. paul to saphyra , behold , the feet of them who have buried this my brother ( or sister ) are at the door to carry me out . do we assent to this truth , death is the end of all men ? what should out meditation be , but this , death will be my end ? the truth is , universal propositions include each particular , and therefore the inference is just ; so that david in this verse saying , every man , might also well say , my dayes ; and withall , universal propositions can have little influence upon the will and affections , unless every one look upon himself as included in them : to what purpose is it to believe the remission of sins , and the resurrection of the flesh , if i do not also believe the remission of my sins , and the resurrection of my flesh ? to as little purpose is it to acknowledge that every man is vanity , if i do not in particular consider , that i am so . behold , thou hast made my dayes , &c. . david having particularly asserted his own frailty , goeth on to lay it down as a generall maxime . probably for his own comfort , in that it was not his case alone : it is a great alleviation of an affliction to consider that it is common ; with this st. paul cheared up the corinthians , there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man : and in this particular of death , when joshua and david perceived their owne death approaching , they reflect on its generall extent , i go the way of all the earth , thereby rendering it so much the lesse terrible to themselves . certainly , for others warning to make account of the like . lest any should think , that though davids dayes were but an hands bredth , yet theirs may be of a longer measure , he lets the whole race of mankind know , that they are all concern'd ; so that as christ said to his disciples , what i say unto you i say unto all , david seemeth to say here , what i say of my selfe i say of all : it was not so in other things , though david could say of himselfe in one place , my cup runneth over ; and in another place , i am holy , he could not say so of every man , nay , but a few men , they are not many who enjoy that measure of prosperity , and fewer who attain that piety which he had ; but there are none who are not under the law of mortality , and therefore no wonder , if as he saith , thou hast made my dayes , so he concludes , every man in his best estate , &c. these things being premised , i shall now proceed to the distinct handling of the severall clauses , and accordingly , i shall begin with the particular exemplification , and that as it is set down absolutely in those words , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth , wherein the psalmist layeth downe a double assertion , the one concerning himselfe , my dayes are as an hands bredth , the other concerning god , thou hast made . . david affirmeth his dayes to be as an hands bredth , by which metaphor , i conceive two things are intended . . an hands bredth is a determinate measure , the time of life is set . the vulgar latine reads it , mensurabiles , dayes which may be measured , that argueth tempus finitum , that this life is finite : our dayes are both numerabiles and mensurabiles , such as may be numbred and measured , as being finite ; but dies palmares , which is the true reading of the originall , goeth further , in that his dayes are said to be as an hands bredth , it noteth not only tempus finitum , but definitum , such a time as shall end , but the end whereof is fixed , so true is that of job , is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? . chiefly an hands bredth is a short measure , and so is the time of life , st. hierome understands it so , and therefore reads it expresly breves : indeed both the words here used serve to illustrate this truth . . the psalmist doth not say , my years , or my months are as an hands bredth , but my dayes , which next to hours , is the shortest dimension of time . those sacred annals , the books of chronicles are called in the hebrew , words of dayes , for this reason probably , to intimate the short lives of the kings of israel and judah , which are there recorded . the truth is , the singular number may serve to represent mans life , which is but one day , the prosperous life a sun-shining , the afflicted a rainy day , the long life a summers , and the short a winters day ; some have only a morn and breakefast , others stay till noon and dine , the eldest live but till evening and sup in this world , all must go to bed in the grave when the night of death commeth . . but that which is principally intended , is the measure of those dayes , which is not an ell , or a yard , or a cubit , the length of an arm , or an elbow ; no , nor yet the length , but only the bredth of an hand : nor is this affirmed of one particular day by it selfe , but of all his dayes together , the whole time of his life . thus as parrhasius , when he had drawn cyclops asleep on a little table , the placeth satyres about him measuring his thumb with a long stalk , to expresse the greatnesse of his stature ; so here the psalmist , to set forth the shortnesse of his life , brings in god , as it were measuring it with an hands bredth . that you may yet more fully discern the fitnesse of the resemblance , it will not be amiss to observe a distinction of a double handbredth . the one greater , which is the whole space between the top of the thumb and the little finger when the hand is expanded , it is in account near twelve inches , and is called a span . the other lesser , which is only the bredth of the four fingers , and those not distant from , but closed one to the other . the former of these is by the greek called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and that is the word here used by symmachus : the later is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and that is the word used by the seventy . indeed in some copies it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , old dayes , which may admit of a good construction to this purpose , as old garments are quickly worn out , so are our dayes . but doublesse the best reading ( as agreeing with the hebrew ) is , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth , the lesser hands bredth ; so that what anacharsis said of sea-men is upon this account true of all men , there is but the space of four fingers between them and death . indeed this metaphor may very justly take in the whole latitude of life which men attain in this world , the four fingers bredth representing the four ages of man , to wit , childhood , youth , manhood , old age : the life of a childe is scarce an inch , of an old man but a span ; of the one it may be said , his dayes are but a fingers bredth , and of the other it can but be said , his dayes are as an hands bredth . . having taken this view of dies palmares , the measure of our dayes , which is an handbredth , it will be requisite to consider the tuposuisti , who it is that hath made our dayes such , and the foregoing verse informeth us , that it is jehovah , the lord , to whom david directeth there his prayer , and here his complaint . my times ( saith this holy man elsewhere to god ) are in thy hands ; that is , at his dispose ; so much abraham intended by the phrase , when he saith to sarah concerning hagar , behold , thy maid is in thy hands , do with her as pleaseth thee : thus were davids times in gods hands , to appoint the continuance of them , according to the pleasure of his own will ; yea , job ( speaking of man indefinitely ) saith , his dayes are determined , the number of his months are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot passe . he that hath set bounds to the sea , hither to it shall go and no further , hath appointed limits to mans life . thus long he shall live , and no longer . our saviour said to his disciples , the hairs of your head are numbred , and surely then the dayes of our life are numbred ; and if the sparrow fall not to the ground , much lesse doth a man , without the father , by whose providence all things are ordered , and consequently , all mans dayes are appointed ; so true is this of the psalmist , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth . to close up this with a double meditation . . since god hath made our dayes as an hands bredth , let us be content they should be so , not murmuring at the brevity either of our own or others lives , we are apt ( with jonah ) to say , we do well to be angry , when ( like his gourd ) our life , or the life of any of our friends quickly withereth ; but this holy mans practice is far better , and ought to be our pattern , who saith in this psalm , i was dumb and opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . the more to enforce this lesson of contentation in this respect upon us , consider , . it is not in thy power to make them longer , no not an hairs bredth , then this hands bredth , which of you ( saith our saviour ) by taking thought , can add one cubit to his stature ? ( i may add ) or one day to his life ? indeed a prudent care of prolonging our dayes is commendable as because god requireth it so , because the time how long we shall live is unknown to us : but an impatient anxiety in respect of life's shortnesse is foolish , since it maketh our life so much the more bitter , and not at all longer . . besides , though god be the efficient , yet we are the meritorious cause of the abbreviation of our dayes ; god at first made our dayes of such a bredth as could not be measured , nor should our life have knowne death if we had not known sin : it is very observable what hezekiah saith to this purpose , i have cut off like a weaver my life : he will cut me off with pining sicknesse ; acknowledging it to be his own act as well as gods , yea ( as the order imports ) therefore gods , because his , had not we our selves cut short our lives , god would never have cut them short , and therefore let us so acknowledge our deservings as to clear divine justice , and submit to his dispose . . since god hath made our dayes as an hands bredth let us so account them . no arithmetick in numbring , nor geometry in measuring our dayes better than that which god himself teacheth . but alas it is an usuall practice to make our dayes far longer in our imaginations than they are in reality . it was the injustice of that steward to his lord , who when the debt was an hundred measures of wheat , bid the debtor , write fourscore ; and when an handred measures of oyle , to write down fifty : but such is our injustice to our selves , that when our dayes are not fifty , we write down fourscore ; and whereas they are but an hands , bredth , we fancy them to be of a far larger size . indeed , as the deceitfull hour-glasse , having the sand up on both sides , maketh a man thinke there is a good deal of the hour to run out , whereas by reason of an hollownesse in the middle it sinketh presently ; so do our dayes , by reason of strength and health promise us to be many , and on a suddain , by reason of some ill humour seizing on the vitals in the middle of the body , they prove to be few . it is a saying in the civil law , praesumitur quilibet vivere centum annos , every one is presumed to live an hundred years ; the rise whereof is that fond opinion in the mindes of most men , whereby they flatter themselves with apprehensions of long life , oh let us remember it is the property of a good man ( according to the greeke fathers phrase ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to esteem his life as a pilgrimage of a short continuance , and this especially for four ends . . to hasten our repentance for our sins . the measure of our dayes , is the space of our repentance , since it is narrow , let this be speedy ; that cannot be long extended , let not this be long deferred ; one of the dayes of thy life must be the day of repentance , and if one , whynot this day ? especially considering the measure ( for ought thou knowest ) may be at the utmost extent , and this day may prove thy last . it is true , at what time soever a finner repents from the bottome of his heart , god will do away his offence ; but then he must repent whilest he hath time : at what time the winde serveth the mariner , he may saile to the haven ; but then he must saile while the winde serveth , which will not be alwayes , nor long , and therefore let us be so wise , as to take time whilest it is afforded . to lessen our affections towards this world . whenas the measure of our dayes is contracted to an hands bredth , why should the earthy desires of our hearts be so much enlarged ? could we at our pleasure add day to day and year to year , it were good policy to joyne house to house , and field to field ; but to what purpose are many goods , when ( with the rich fool in the gospel ) we have perhaps but a few hours , whilest thou livest , thy dayes are but as the bredth of thy hand , when thou diest , thou shalt have no more ground than the length of thy body , why so greedy in grasping large revenews and vast possessions ? . to lengthen our patience under the afflictions of this present life , our dayes are of a narrow bredth , a short length , and afflictions can last no longer , nor be extended broader than our dayes ; why should not our patience be as large and long as our afflictions ? one greek reading of this clause is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , dayes of strife and misery ; such were davids at this time , and many times are ours , but the comfort is , they are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , only an hands bredth : man that is born of a woman ( sath job ) is of few dayes , and full of trouble . true our dayes are full of trouble , i but withall they are few ; the fewnesse of our days would be a trouble , were it not that they are full of trouble , and the fulnesse of their trouble might be a griefe , were it not for their fewnesse : neither on the one hand should the pleasure of our dayes much elevate us , nor on the other , the sorrows of them perplex us , when we consider , that those though sweet , are but short , and these though sharp , are but few , very few , no more than will make up as it were an hands bredth . . to quicken us in the practice of good works , they say of the birds of norway , that they fly faster than others , not because nature hath given them more , or swifter wings , but because the dayes are shorter there than elsewhere they make the greater haste , oh that the consideration of the short measure of our days might accelerate us in our race to heaven , so as with great speed and diligence we may learn to worke out our salvation . it is said of the devil , he is come down to the inhabitants of the earth , having great wrath , because he knoweth his time is but short ; how should we bestir our selves with great zeale in gods service , since we know our time is short . take in the whole life of man , it is but as the bredth of four singers , sure we had not need to lose any of them : he that having but four acres to sow with corn ( all which is little enough to supply his family ) and should only sow one , and let the rest overrun with weeds , will he not deservedly be branded for a fool ? oh why then are we so foolish to mis-spend the greatest part of our dayes in doing nothing , or worse than nothing , when as all our dayes are but four fingers bredth ; nature , or rather the god of nature , hath not given us ( to use seneca's expression ) so large a time of life , as to trifle away any part of it ; yea , he that spends it best will still have cause to say with david in the close of this psalm , o spare me , that i may recover strength before i go hence , and be no more seen . . you have heard the brevity of mans life exemplified in david , by an absolute assertion under the metaphor of an hand bredth , go we on to the comparative proposition , mine age is nothing before thee . the subject of this proposition is variously rendred . by the caldee it is read body , and indeed it is mans duration in respect of his body , which is said to be as nothing , since the soul is immortal . aquila reads it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the time of the souls imprisonment in the body ; the seventy translate it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which is rendred by the vulgar latine substantia , but properly signifieth subsistentia , and is so to be understood here , my subsistence . the hebrew word is most genuinely translated by aevum , mine age , to wit , in this world ; for that is sometimes the signification of the word . concerning his age , david saith , it is as nothing : if you compare this with the former clause , you shall observe a gradation , ascending in the subject , whereas there dayes , here an age , which is made up not only of dayes , or months , but years , descending in the praedicate , there an hands bredth , ( which is but small ) here nothing . solomon speaking of the comforts of life , seemeth to call them non entities , wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? for this reason ( no doubt , ) because their being is a continall tendency to not being . upon the same accompt , the age of davids life is here said to be nothing , because of no continuance ; the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is near a kin to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which commeth from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} cessavit , and so soon doth mans age cease , that it is as if it were not at all . but yet this must be taken with its restrictions . david doth not say , mine age is nothing , but it is as nothing ; nor doth he say this positively , but respectively , in reference to god , it is as nothing before thee . the prophet isaiah ( speaking of the whole world of mankind ) saith , the nations are as a drop of a bucket , and are accompted as the small dust of the ballance : behold , he taketh up the isles as a very little thing ; but as if this were not full enough , a little after he saith , all nations before him are as nothing , and they are counted to him lesse than nothing and vanity : a small dust , a single drop are little things , i but they are something ; the prophet cannot enough set forth the distance between god and the nations unlesse he go lower , and therefore he saith , they are as nothing . nay , as if this were not enough , he will strain the sence , and speak a contradiction , rather than not expresse his meaning , where he saith , they are lesse than nothing , then which ( to speak properly ) nothing can be lesse . and surely if this be true of all nations , well might david affirm it of his age , and if you would know the meaning of those words before thee , it is explained in that of the prophet , when having said before him , he addeth , they are counted to him , that is , in comparison of him . suitable to this it is that the psalmist having set forth gods eternal duration , and presently after speaking of mans years , he calleth them in the language of the seventy {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which tertullian reads nullificamina ; and it is the same in effect with that which goeth before , a thousand years are in thy sight but as yesterday , which being past , is nothing . dei esse est suum esse , say the schools , from that of god to moses , i am that i am , gods being is of and from himself ; yea , it is himself , he is one undivided , unconfined , simple , eternall , and originall being , and as there is no being , but from him , so all other beings are as nothing in respect of him . it will not be amiss ( for the further illustration of this truth ) to consider the age of davids life in severall references . . david might truly have said , mine age is short in respect of methuselah's : the dayes of methuselah are said to be nine hundred sixty and nine years : the dayes of david , by computation of the time when he began , and how long he reigned , were not much above threescore and ten , so that he lived not so many tens as methuselah did hundreds . the life of man before the floud , was as a large volume bound up in folio , but since it is contracted to a far lesser volume , and is ( as it were ) bound up in decimo sexto , so that whereas david saith in the former clause , my dayes are as a hands bredth , he might have said , they are as a fingers bredth in comparison of the ancient patriarchs . . david might have said , mine age is very short in comparison of the age of the world . st. paul saith of the fashion of this macrocosm it passeth away , but the age of the microcosm , man passeth away far swifter . the world was almost as many thousand years old as david was scores in his times , that number is now well nigh doubled , but mans age is rather shortned . how many hundreds of yeares the world may yet continue is not known to us , but the ordinary number of the years of mans age now , compared with the number of six thousand years , is but so much as a week is to a year , or a minute to an hour , so that whereas he saith my dayes are as a span long , he might have said they are not an inch long , in respect of the worlds duration . . david might have said , mine age in this world is exceeding little , in comparison of the duration of the other world . the age to come is no lesse than an aeternity , and though it have a beginning , it shall have no end ; so that whereas the psalmist saith my dayes are as an hands bredth , he might have said , they are as an hairs bredth in respect of the continuance of the world to come . . finally , david might have said , mine age is scarcely any thing before the angels , whose duration began with this world , and shall continue in the world to come , and so is coaetaneous with both the worlds . but all these are far short of this comparison which he here maketh of his age with god , who is eternal , both a parte ante , and a parte post , from everlasting to everlasting . the utmost imaginable extent of time in comparison of aeternity is far lesse than an instant , is in respect of the longest time . were it possible to divide aeternity into parts , a million of years would not be so much as a ten hundred thousandth part ; and what then is seventy or fourscore years ? no wonder if david say , mine age is nothing ( a meer nothing ) before thee . it is an excellent lesson which may here be taken forth by us , namely , to looke upon our selves in reference to god , that so we may be vile and little in our own eyes . there are many exeellencies wherein we are apt to glory , and whereof to boast , which if they would but compare with divine attributes , would appear mean and contemptible . wert thou strong as sampson , yet thou mayst say , my strength is nothing before thee , not so much and weak stripling is before a mighty giant ; wert thou as wise as solomon , yet say , my wisdome is nothing before thee , not so much as the silly brute is before the intelligent angels ; the very foolishnesse of god ( to use st. pauls language ) being wiser than the wisdome of men ; wert thou honorable as alexander , yet say , mine honour is nothing before thee , not so much as the glimmering candle is before the glorious sun ; wert thou rich as cressus , thou must say , my riches are nothing before thee , not so much as the drop of water is to the ocean : finally , wert thou as old as methuselah , thou must say , mine age is nothing before thee , not so much as a new born babe to aged methuselah . to end this , since mans age is nothing before god , let it be nothing before man himself , indeed as for that part of our age which is past , it is so with us , many years since , being but as a few dayes , and the time which is gone , is as nothing , oh that we would looke with the same eye upon that which is to come . indeed in one sence we must reckon our age as something , and that pretious , well were it if we would set an higher value upon our time than to waste it away in folly , but still as to the duration we must account it as nothing , and then we would have none to spare , but wholly imploy it for the gaining of that which is as something before god , a joyfull and happy aeternity . and so much shall serve to be spoken of the first part of the text , the particular exemplification , pass we on to the generall amplification , in these words , every man in his best estate is altogether vanity . a clause wherein each word is emphaticall , which will the better appear , if you take a view of . the extensiveness of the subject concerning whom this doctrine is asserted , which is , . not the creeping pismire , the crawling worm , the stupid asse , or any of the sensitive creatures but man , who is endued with reason . . not one or a few particular men , in some one part of the world , but of every man , who either hath been , is , or shall live in any part of the world . . not onely of mean , poor , and ignoble persons , but of man at his best estate , quamvis floreat dignitate , opibus , potentia , as mollerus glosseth upon the text , though he flourish in wealth , honour , and power ; for though the seventy reading be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , every man living , yet the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth constitutus , fixed , or setled , is most properly refer'd to him who seemeth to be in a stablished prosperous estate . . the intensivenesse of the praedicate in that every man at his best estate is , . not only like to vanity , that is the language of the psalmist elsewhere , adam is as abel , homo similis factus est , man is become like to vanity ; but he is vanity , as if it were not only his resemblance , but his substance . . nor is he only said to be vain in the concrete , as zophars language is , vain man would be wise ; but vanity in the abstract , as if it were not only an accident , but his essence . . nor is it only said , he is vanity , as it is elswhere in this psalm , but is altogether vanity , as if from the crowne of his head to the soles of his feet he were nothing but vanity . . nay , in the hebrew the emphasis is yet further , in that vanity is the subject , and man the praedicate , for so the words are to be rendred , according to the originall , altogether vanity is every man , as if man were not to be defined by vanity , but vanity by man ; so that if you ask , what is vanity ? the answer is , it is man : no marvel if the psalmist elsewhere affirme , that man is lighter than vanity ; so that were man put in one scale , and vanity in the other , man would mount up as being lighter , and vanity it selfe would weigh him down . to illustrate the truth of this assertion , know . . that there is a double vanity , to which every man at his best estate is subject , namely , of disposition and condition . . man is vanity in his disposition . the grammarian in aulus gellius maketh vanus and stultus synonimous : vanus quasi mente vacuus , and so every man is vanity , because a fool , indeed vain man would be wise , but he is foolish in his thoughts , projects , desires , and actions . in the very next verse it is said , they are disquieted in vain , to wit , with foolish projects , and fruitlesse cares . the lord knoweth the thoughts of man , that they are vanity ; it is no lesse true of his words and works : no wonder if man be compared to a shadow , having no light of knowledge in his minde , heat of grace in his heart , nor substance or solidity in his actions . . but that which is here chiefly intended is , the vanity of man in respect of his condition ; in reference to this it is that it is said in the beginning of the next verse , man walketh in a vain shew , as if his residence in this world were but like that of a player upon the stage , and this is here affirmed of his best estate and condition . . mans condition at the best is but vanity in three respects , because inconstant and perishing , empty , and unsatisfying , false and deceiving . . vanum quod evanescit , that which is vain hath no solidity , and therefore no permanency ; lightnesse is the proper adjunct of vanity and inconstancy the effect of lightnesse . such is mans best estate , he seemeth to be setled as the earth , but he vanisheth with the winde , changeth with the moon , and ebeth with the water , homo bulla is true of man , at his best estate he is like the bubble which swels up by the rain falling upon the water , and fals presently , or which the child causeth with the breath of his mouth at the end of the reed , and vanisheth with the least shaking of his hand . it was not without reason that man is called by the phylosopher , ludus fortunae , fortunes may-game , with whom she sports her selfe , by putting him as it were into various shapes , in altering his condition , man at his best estate , like the venice glasse , is bright , but brittle ; or like sodoms apples , golden colour'd , but mouldring ; his strength a rush , soon shaken ; his riches , dust , quickly driven away ; his honour a fancy , presently gone . to day nebuchadnezzar jets it on the house top , as if he expected a salutation from the coelestial majesty , and suddenly he is turned to graze with the beasts of the field , with which agreeeth that of the poet , quem dies vidit veniens superbum , hunc dies vidit fugens jacentem . shew me that rose that will not fade , that fruit which will not putrifie , that cloud which will not vanish , that garment which will not fret , and then ( not till then ) expect to finde that man who in his best and most prosperous estate is not subject to mutation and dissolution . . vanity and inanity go together . one of the hebrew words {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which is rendred vain , signifieth empty ; that which is vain is empty , and being so , cannot satisfie , such is mans best estate , as not able to give any true content . man at his best estate , as he is mutable , so he is unsatiable , his desires are still larger than his fortune ; nor is it any time so well with him , but that still he would be better . ahab in the midst of his opulency is sick for naboth's vineyard ; hamon in the height of dignity is troubled at the want of mordecay's knee . health , beauty , wealth , honours , say of content as the depth saith of wisdome , it is not in us . man in his most prosperous concondition feedeth upon winde which cannot fill the stomach , and therefore like the horseleech he still crieth , give , give . . that which deceiveth our expectation seeming to be what it is not , and promising ( as it were ) to do that it cannot , is vain in the worst sence , being at once both vanity and vexation . this is true of man at his best estate who promiseth to himselfe and others that which he cannot perform , and so is deceived and deceiveth . the rich fool , being in a prosperous estate , promised himself much pleasure , but was miserably disappointed . iob saith of his brethren , they dealt deceitfully with him as the brooks do by the traveller which are dry in the scorching heat , when he is most thirsty . it is a remarkable passage in the psalms , men of low degree are vanity , men of high degree are a lie : a man of low degree is at his worst , a man of high degree at his best estate , and yet whereas men of low degree are said to be vanity , men of high degree are said to be a lie , which is as it were the dregs of vanity , because it tends to deceive , which yet is most justly affirmed of men of high degree , who by reason of their place and state in this world , seeme to promise much , and yet are in truth a lie , not performing what they promise , and so disappointing both their owne and others hopes . the use we are to make of this doctrine , is , in reference both to others , and our selves . . in respect of others , whether enemies or friends . are the churches or our enemies ( to outward appearance ) in an established condition of prosperity ? let us not give way to excesse of grief and fear , or anger , but rather remember in their best estate they are vanity , and being so , are set in slippery places . they seem to be fixed stars , but in truth they are only blazing comets , which appear for a little time and then vanish away . . are our friends for the present in a flourishing estate ? take we heed how we let out either our hopes or love too much towards them , considering that they are but vanity , and therefore our hope which is placed on them will end in shame , and our love in vexation : why so big with expectation of advantage or advancement from thy rich ally , honorable lord , potent friend ? alas , thou dost but set thy foot upon the water which cannot bear thee : why so inflamed with affection to thy beautifull wife , childe , or near relation ? alas , thou dost but embrace a shaddow in thine arms , which cannot , must not stay long with thee . . in respect of our selves . . reflect we with sorrow and hatred upon sin , the true cause of mans vanity . man in his first estate was altogether excellency ; god saw every thing that he made , and behold it was very good : surely this was much more true of man the master-piece of the creation , the image and glory of his maker , not vanity , but divinity was his nature ; he was not envelop'd with rags of frailty , but enobled with robes of innocency ; nor did he walke in a vain shew , but a sacred representation of god himself . and now if you would know how this flower was blasted , it was by the breath of the basilisk ; how this image was defaced , it was by the poyson of the serpent ; how man became vanity , it was by reason of iniquity : so true is that of the wise-man , he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity . the hebrew words , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vanity , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} mourning are somewhat near in sound ; oh , let us mourn for that vanity to which sin hath subjected us , and let us abhor sin which hath subjected us to it . . provide we for our selves another , a better estate than the best which this world affords , an estate of glory in the heavens , mans best estate on earth is mutable , but that is durable ; empty , but that is satisfying ; uncertain , but that is sure ; only for term of years , but that is for aeternity . phylosophers generally affirm , that the heavens are in continuall motion , and the earth stands immoveable , though there are those who assert , that the heavens stand still , and the earth moveth : this indeed is a riddle in phylosophy , but it is a certain truth in divinity , that the things of earth are in a continuall flux , and the things of heaven in a stable permanency . and therefore in whatsoever state we are here , let us learn to be content , be it never so mean , so as not to repine ; and let us not be content , be it never so high , so as to rest satisfied ; and whether our estate in this vvorld be high or low , let the first and best of our desires and endeavours be after that estate vvhich is not a shaddow , but a substance ; not a lease , but an inheritance ; not vanity , but foelicity , and shall be far more in the fruition than it is in the expectation . to the possession vvhereof he bring us vvho hath purchased it for us . amen . i have done with my text , but i must not yet have done . this sad providence wills us to sit still a while longer , and by taking a serious view , to make a religious use of it . it is not very many months since i was imployed to perform a far more welcome office for this our sister , namely , the consummating her nuptials . she being in the prime of her years , happily matched to a dearly loving and loved husband , enjoying a confluence of all outward contentments , seemed as it were ( to use the psalmists phrase ) to be in a settled estate , and ( according to our usuall phrase ) to be provided for as to this world . but alas ! in how short a revolution of time , how dolefull an alteration ? this yong , strong , haile , beautifull gentlewoman in her best estate becommeth a sad instance of the generall doctine in my text ; this flourishing flower is blasted by the winde of a violent disease , and plucked as it were out of her husbands bosome , by the rough hand of death , and i am now called to officiate her funerals . thus have you sometimes seen the bright sun-shine on a sudden vailed with a darke cloud , and a serene skie hung with black . but yet let not , oh let not her near and dear friends shed too many tears over her grave , remembring the tu posuisti in the text , who it is that hath made her dayes as an hands bredth , even he in whose hands all our times are to prolong and cut short as he pleaseth : besides , why should they weep above measure , since they do not grieve as without hope of ( that which is most truly called ) her best estate , her aeternall welfare . her education was religious , and her conversation vertuous ; she was well instructed in , and affected to the best things . the silver picture of her comely body had in it the golden apple of a well disposed soule ; the golden ring of her soul had set into it the pretious diamond of vertue . a spotlesse innocency , humble modesty , and calm meekness were her choice ornaments ; she was an obedient daughter , a loving sister , an affectionate spouse , a true friend , and ( i trust ) a good christian . in the time of her sicknesse she gave evidence of many graces , a confident reliance upon her gracious god for deliverance from all her pains , a penitent bewailing her careless expence of time , with serious resolves ( if god should prolong her dayes ) of more exactness in her christian course , together with her patient submission to the good will of her heavenly father . when she beheld upon her hands the marks of her disease , she said , these are gods tokens , and i willingly embrace them . that saying of solomon , favour is deceitfull , and beauty is vain , but a woman that feareth the lord she shall be praised , which was the subject of my discourse occasioned by her nuptials , was often in her thoughts ; so that she was not at all troubled with any anxious fears lest the disease should spoile her beauty ; and though the rod were smart upon her back , nay , i may say her face , her whole body , she resolved to kisse it . some few dayes before her death a drowsiness seized upon her , which continued ( for the most part ) to her last houre , when one brother tooke ( as it were ) the other by the heele , death following her sleep , yea , her death being but a sleep , and the grave to which she is now going a bed wherein she shall repose her selfe till the morne of the resurrection , when she will ( i hope ) be married to the lamb ; nor shall any funerals succeed those joyfull nuptials . weep not then for her who is not dead but sleepeth , dry your eyes , and ( with this holy man ) open not your mouths , or if you do , let it be in ely's language , it is the lord , let him do what seemeth good in his sight . and now since the text and occasion preach to us how vaine we are , how short our lives are , and to what changes we are subject ; what remaineth , but that every one of us be exhorted to prepare for changes , especially our last , and so to order our steps , that when these dayes on earth , which are as an hands bredth , are ended , we may passe to an aeternity of dayes without either number or measure in the highest heavens . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- psal. . . notes for div a e- 〈…〉 . vers. . psal. . . psal. . . job . . . pet. . . isay . . job . . isay . . psal. . . hieron. psal. . . acts . . cor. . . josh. . . kings . . marke . . psal. . . . . gen. . partic. . vulg. lat. job . . hieron. psal. . . gen. . . luke . . isa. . . 〈◊〉 naz. job . . rev. . . prov. . . isa. . . vers. psal. . , . gen. . . a sam. . . cor. . . gen. . psal. . . job . . psal. . . vers. . vers. . sen. trag. job . . . psal. . . gen. . . prov. . , prov. . , sam. . , a loud call to great mourning in a sermon preached on the th of january , being the anniversary fast for the execrable murther of our late soveraign lord king charles the first, of glorious memory, before the honourable knights, citizens, & burgesses of the commons house of parliament, in the parish-church of saint margarets westminster / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a loud call to great mourning in a sermon preached on the th of january , being the anniversary fast for the execrable murther of our late soveraign lord king charles the first, of glorious memory, before the honourable knights, citizens, & burgesses of the commons house of parliament, in the parish-church of saint margarets westminster / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by abraham miller for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng charles -- i, -- king of england, - -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a loud call to great mourning : in a sermon preached on the th of january . being the anniversary fast for the execrable murther of our late soveraign lord king charles the first , of glorious memory . before the honourable knights , citizens , & burgesses of the commons house of parliament . in the parish-church of saint margarets westminster . by nath. hardy d. d. d. r. chaplaine in ordinary to his majesty , and vicar of s t martins in the fields . london : printed by abraham miller for joseph cranford , at the gun in saint pauls church-yard , . veneris die januarij , anno regni caroli secundi regis . ordered , that the thankes of this house be returned to mr. dean hardy ; and mr. alsop , for the sermons by them preached yesterday before this house at st. margarets westminster ; and they are desired to print their sermons . and sr. thomas meeres is desired to return the thanks of this house to mr. dean hardy , and my lord richardson to mr. alsop . will. goldesbrough cler. dom. com. to the honourable and loyal knights , citizens , & burgesses , of the commons house of parliament . there were some dayes which were called by the romans , atri & infansti , black and omnious dayes , dayes not to be reckoned with a white stone , but marked with a black coale . such was , and no doubt will be for ever accounted the th of january . by the inhabitants of england , scotland and ireland , as being a day wherein one king and three kingdomes were beheaded at one blow . the king deprived of his natural , and the kingdoms of their political head. before that dismall day came , i thought my self many wayes oblieged to be among the small number of those who did in their pulpits earnestly deprecate , and vehemently declaim against that villanous attempt . since that time , at the yearly returne , either upon or near the day , i adventured to become a remembrancer , to god ( be it spoken with reverence ) of vengeance , to the people of penitence , for that bloudy fact , a fact indeed , which though it is not to be mentioned without abhorrency , yet cannot be forgotten without stupidity . i have now lived to see an yearly fast enjoyned upon that dolefull day , to be kept throughout all generations ; and by your favour ( worthy senators ) had the honour to be one of your servants in that solemne work this last anniversary . i knew not any subject more proper for such a day than mourning , and ( god knoweth ) my designe and desire was to make all sorry but none angry . if because of my impartial reprehension , any instead of being pricked to the heart with sorrow , were cut to the heart with anger ; i am heartily sorry i was so much disappointed of my aime . my hope is , that if they who heard with a left eare , will be pleased to read with a right eye , they will find nothing but what may very well admit of a candid construction , however , i blesse god that my faithfull ( though slender ) performance met with your favourable acceptance . in obedience chiefly to your desire , and partly for my own vindication , i have made the discourse publick , which ( without any wilfull omissions , and with very few additions ) i humbly tender to your review and patronage , above all commending it to divine benediction . i cannot passe by that remarkable passage of providence , which so directed the preachers discourses , that by the discord of their notes , they made the sweeter harmony , whilst the one excited you to great mourning , the other to exceeding joy. so that i may very fitly invert the psalmists words , heaviness endured for the morning , but joy came in the evening . nor were the texts ( upon this account ) more opposite one to the other , than both apposite to the day , on which there was cause at once both of grief for the peoples vices , and joy in the kings vertues ; sadnesse for the sinnes which brought him thither , and gladnesse that he behaved himself so well there . and ( blessed be god ) that as even on that day of mourning , there was cause of rejoycing in the magnanimity of charles the first ; so that after many years of mourning , we have at length great cause of rejoyceing in the prosperity of charles the second . nor is it a small addition to our joy , ( i speak without flattery ) that under our gracious soveraigne , we have at this day an house of commons made up of gentlemen , and those both faithfull subjects to their king , and zealous friends to the church : so that we assure our selves , unde periculum inde remedium , as an house of commons was the source of our former miscry ; so an house of commons will be the happy means of our future tranquility . i shall only crave leave to inculcate in the close of this epistle , what was insinuated in the close of the sermon . that what was heretofore fondly mistaken , nay , falsely pretended , may by you be effectually endeavoured ; namely , a thorough reformation , not of our religion , ( which though i will not say it is not at all defective , yet i cannot say wherein it is corrupt nay , i dare say , is exceeding good ) but of the manners and lives of people which are excessively bad . that your impartial zeal would purge the land at once of that faction and prophanenesse which still threaten our ruine . finally , that you would go on as you have begun , and improve your power to the utmost , for promoting the honour of god , his name , his worship , his dayes , stablishing the kings throne , confirming the churches rights , and setling the kingdoms peace . that in order to these excellent ends , the spirit of the lord may rest upon you , the spirit of wisdome and understanding , the spirit of counsel and might , the spirit of knowledg and the fear of the lord to guide and direct you in all your consultations ; and that your labour of love to god , the king , the church , the kingdomes , may be recompensed an hundred-fold upon you and your posterity , is , and shall be the fervent prayer of your humble servant nath. hardy . a loud call , to great mourning . zachariah . . in that day shall there be a great mourning in jerusalem , as the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon . mourning is the principal word in the text , and it is the chief work of the day . the hebrew word for mourning signifieth sunebri ritu lugere , a funeral mourning , and that this day calls for : finally , the mourning of the text , is for the death of a royal person , and that is the dismall occasion of this dayes lamentation . lace befits not a mourning suit , nor flourishes of rhetorick a mourning sermon . on such a day and text as this , the preachers words should be sighs , his accents groans ; and the auditors tears are the best commendation of the sermon . for this end , i am come this day , though not ( as my saviour saith in another case ) to send fire , yet , to draw water , that this place may now become like that , where the angel of the lord delivered his sad message to the israelites , bochin , a place of weepers ; and happy will it be , if as when all israel were gathered together at mizpeh , so the representatives of our israel ( if that word may be used , which hath been so much abused ) being assembled together in the house of god , may draw water , and pour forth their tears before the lord , for the royal blood , which as on this day was poured out , and spilt as water upon the ground : that so that may be fulfilled in us , which was here foretold concerning the jewes , in that day shall there be a great mourning , as the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon . i shall need no other division of the text , than that which the repetition of the word mourning prompts me to , since a twofold mourning is the double stream into which the well-head of this scripture parts it self . here is a mourning in jerusalem , and a mourning of hadadrimmon . the former is set down by way of praediction , in that day , there shall be a great mourning in jerusalem . the latter is brought in by way of allusion , as the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon ; of both which with your patience , by gods assistance i begin with the praediction , in that day there shall be a great mourning in jerusalem , in which there are four circumstances expressed ; namely , the quid , that there shall be a mourning ; the quantus , that it shall be a great mourning ; the ubi , that this great mourning shall be in jerusalem ; and the quando , that it shall be in that day . but there are other circumstances , such , as though not expressed , must be supplyed for the right understanding of this prophesie , namely , the quare and the qualis , the occasion and the kind of this mourning . . we need not go far to find out the occasion of this mourning , the preceding verse will informe us in the last clause , where it is said , they shall mourn for him , by which it appeareth to be for some person ; the clause before that saith , they shall look upon me whom they have pierced , by which is evident , that it was the piercing of some person which should occasion this mourning in them who did it ; and if you would know whom , the him , and the me intends , the first clause of that verse tells you , it is the i who saith , he will pour his spirit upon the inhabitants of jerusalem , and he as the foregoing words expresse , is the lord jehovah ; so that the meaning of these words is , that there should come a time , when the jews should bitterly bewaile their hainous sinnes , by which they had not only offended but grieved , grieved but vexed , vexed but ( as much as in them lay ) also pierced the holy one of israel . and if you please further to cast your eyes on that passage in st. johns gospel , whence you have a quotation of those words in the former verse , they shall look upon him whom they have pierced , and an application of them to christ , upon the occasion of the souldiers piercing him with a speare ; we thereby learn , that the particular sinne of piercing and crucifying the messiah , shall be the occasion of this mourning . . but further , whereas first , the prophesies in holy writ are of two sorts , namely , threats and promises , both which are fitly signified by those two words , burden and vision , ( though sometimes promiscuously used ) threats being burdens of wrath , and promises visions of peace . secondly , there is a double mourning for sinne , penal and penitential , the one whereof is forced and involuntary , the other free and voluntary ; the one a mourning of desperation , and the other of contrition . it is to be enquired , which of these mournings is here intended ; the answer to which is returned by expositors , both wayes , and accordingly this prediction , may be looked upon either as a threat or as a promise . . the ancients seem to incline to the former construction , as if the meaning of the words were , in that day , that is , die vindictae divinae , in the day of gods vengeance upon them for their sinnes , and especially for that sinne of piercing christ , there shall be a mourning in jerusalem , by reason of the calamities which should overwhelme them . to this purpose theodoret where he saith , ( speaking of christs-crucifiers , ) when they shall not long after see him coming with majesty , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they shall , though too late , bemoan their own folly and madnesse : and not unlike is that of st. jerome , tunc dolebunt à se crucifixum , cum viderint in claritate regnantem , they shall then bewaile him whom they crucified through envy , when they shall behold him reigning in glory . this prophecy in this sense , is the same with that of our saviour , then shall appear the sign of the sonne of man in the heavens , and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn ; and with that of saint john , behold he cometh with clouds , and every eye shall see him , and they also that pierced him , and all kindreds of the earth shall wayle because of him . this prediction began to be accomplished in that day , when christ came in power to execute vengeance on jerusalem by the romane army ; at which time no doubt they sadly experienced the fatall ruine which they had imprecated upon themselves , his blood be upon us . though the finall accomplishment shall not be till the last and great day of judgement , when he shall come in person to inflict that heavy doome of condemnation ; not only upon those who crucified , but all who reject him : at which time , it is impossible to imagine , what weeping , wailing and gnashing of teeth ; what howling , roaring and wringing of hands ; what despaire , horrour and astonishment ; what a bitter mourning and lamentation there shall be . i would to god , this were seriously , speedily and sadly thought on , by all sorts of impenitent sinners ; that as they have their day of sinning , god will ( sooner or later ) have his day of punishing : and as the day of a sinners impenitency is a day of carnal rejoycing ; so the day of gods vengeance shall be a day of bitter mourning , woe unto you , saith our blessed saviour , who now laugh , for you shall mourn and weep : upon which words st. augustine occasionally thus glosseth , quod in gaudio videntur serere , necesse est illis in luctu & lachrimis recipere . it is impossible , but that wicked men , though they seem to sow with joy , should reape in sorrow ; and however sinne may be sweet as honey in the mouth , it shall be bitter as gall and wormwood in the helly . the author of the book of wisdome passionately sets forth , the despairing language which the wicked utter at such a time , groaning for anguish of spirit , they shall say within themselves , we wearied our selves in the way of wickednesse and destruction , yea , we have gone through deserts where there is no way ● for as for the way of the lord we have not known it . what hath pride profited us ? or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us ? all these things are passed away as a shadow , &c. i , the pleasure of sinne passeth away , but the sting remaineth to torture the sinner to eternity . believe me ( brethren ) sin is big with sorrow and shame , which it must bring forth at the appointed time , in that day there shall be a great mourning . . but though this be an usefull meditation , i conceive the other to be the most genuine interpretation , which construeth the mourning here spoken of to be penitentiall . indeed some expositors glance at the mourning of the women , which was in die passionis , in the day of our saviours passion , when beholding his sorrowes , their bowels yearned , and their eyes melted with tears , at which time also , others of the spectators smote their breasts , and were astonied . but this mourning in jerusalem was to be ( as appeareth by the former verse ) not by the spectators , but the actors in that cruell tragedy , those who pierced him : and since it is set down as an effect of the spirit of grace and supplication , ( or as some read it lamentation ) which was to be poured out upon them ; it cannot rationally be expounded any otherwise , than to intend that godly sorrow which shall in that day , that is , die conversionis eorum , in the day of their conversion , be expressed by them for so hainous a crime . as it is here foretold , it was afterwards accomplished . on the day of pentecost the spirit of god did in a visible and glorious manner , decend upon the apostles , to furnish them with gifts , and fill them with courage for preaching the gospel . at that time , one of the apostles s t peter preached to the jews , and set before them them the hainousnesse of the fact which they had committed , and when they heard this ( saith the pen-man of the acts ) they were pricked in their hearts , and said to peter and the rest of the apostles , men and brethren what shall we do ? whilest they heard s t peters sermon , the spirit of grace was poured upon them , and so at once their ears , their eyes and hearts were opened to hear reproof , and see and bewail their wickednesse . nor was it a slight and superficiall sorrow , but a great and deep mourning : so deep that it went to their heart ; and so great , that according to the emphasis of the greek word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , there used , it was as if the sharpest points of many poisoned daggers , and scorpions stings , had been all at once fastned in their hearts ; and of the word here used by the septuagint , it was such a sorrow as did cut , and vexe , and wound their spirits : nor yet was their sorrow confined to their hearts , but it breaketh out at their lips , and no doubt testified it self in their gesture , for the hebrew word in the text properly refers ad externum gestum , to the outward behaviour . they that had shed the bloud of christ by the instigation of the devil , shed tears by the effusion of the holy ghost ; and as they had cruelly wounded him to the death , they are penitently , mercifully by his word and spirit themselves wounded with repentance unto life . from this part of my text thus unfolded , give me leave to present you with these five meditations . . the day of a sinners turning is a day of mourning : true conversion is ever attended with contrition . man is described by the philosopher to be animal rationale risible , a reasonable living creature , endued with the power of laughing ; but the new man is described by the divine to be animal spirituale flebile , a spiritually living creature , endued with the grace of weeping . when god doth inspirare , breath in his spirit , the sinner cannot but suspirare , breath forth sighs ; when he doth infundere , pour in his grace , the sinner begins effundere , to pour out tears . turn you unto me saith the lord with all your heart , with weeping and mourning , rent your hearts and not your garments , and turn to the lord your god ; where you may observe , that turning to god must be accompanied with weeping , mourning , and renting the heart with sorrow for our sins , whereby we have turned from him : and which seemeth a riddle , but is an undoubted truth , we must at once turn to god with all our hearts , and with a broken heart ; yea that we may turn to god with our whose heart , we must rent our hearts . indeed on the one hand , conversion could it be without contrition , will not serve , non sufficit mores in melius commutare , saith st. angustine , nisi etiam de his quae facta , satisfiat deo per penitentiae dolorem , humilitatis gemitum , & contritionis sacrificium ; it is not enough to amend our manners for the time to come , unlesse we make satisfaction for what is past , by the sorrow of repentance , groans of humility , and sacrifice of contrition . but on the other hand , it is impossible , true conversion should be without contrition , wash you , make you clean , saith god by the prophet isaiah , to the jews , to intimate , that we cannot be made clean , unlesse we first wash our selves with the tears of penitential grief . godly sorrow ( saith st. paul , ) worketh repentance , as the sharp needle maketh way for the thred . conversion is a regeneration , a new birth , which cannot be without pangs , though not in all alike , yet in all some ; the building which is raised high must be laid low , so must that reformation which is to salvation , be founded in a sincere humiliation . . mourning for sinne must not onely be internal , but external . true , the prophet joel saith , rent your hearts and not your garments , but that must be taken as a comparative , not an absolute negation . in that day , saith the prophet isaiah , did the lord god of hosts call to weeping and mourning , to baldnesse and to girding with sackeloth , where every word refers to external expression ; weeping to the eye , baldnesse to the head , sackcloth to the body ; and the hebrew word for mourning ( the same with this in the text ) to the behaviour of the outward man. we see in natural mourning , when the heart is grieved it will find a vent . we observe in civil mourning what correspondency there is in the habit : and think we that religious mourning ought not to shew it self as well as either ; such i mean ( as the text intends ) not closet sorrow for secret , but publick for open sinnes . this i am sure was the practice of the people of god of old , who at the times of their solemn humiliation , were wont to rend their garments , sprinkle ashes upon their heads , put on sackcloath , and the like . and if we reflect upon the practice of the primitive christians , we shall find penetents prostrate at the church doore , with neglected haire , hollow eyes , withered faces , bare feet , begging the prayers of saints , washing the feet of lazars , never thinking they could abase themselves sufficiently . but alas ! how is the face of christendome , especially in our parts altered ? repentance is grown stately , and even upon such dayes as these , and that in the solemn assemblies , instead of bare feet , we may behold naked breasts ; of weeping eyes , wanton looks ; of dejected countenances , patched and painted faces ; of ashes upon the head , powdred hair , and of rough sackcloath , gorgeous and fantasticall attire . oh! let us not deceive our selves with the pretences of a sorrowfull spirit , whilest our outward behaviour proclaimeth the contrary : let us say what we will , and pretend what we can , i shall as soon believe him to be sober who reeleth up and down the streets ; as him to be charitable , whose hands are not reached forth to the poore ; as him devout , whose gesture is unreverent in gods worship ; or him penitent , whose posture is bold when he cometh to bemoane his sins before god. true it is , the most humble posture abstracted from a suitable frame of mind , is of no account with god : but it is as true , that that god who abhorreth the vizor , liketh well the face of repentance . to disfigure our faces that we may be seen of men , indeed is pharisaical , but yet with the penitent publican , we ought to expresse our fear by standing afar off ; our shame , by hanging down our heads ; and our sorrow , by beating our breasts . these external expressions are , effecta , indicia , & incitamenta , the genuine effects , manifest testimonies , and strong incentives of our internal affections . which way soever the soul goeth , it draweth the body after it ; we cannot testifie to men our inward disposition , but by our outward deportment ; yea , rectius in re affectatâ mens conservatur si corpus simul adhibeatur , the mind cannot but be more intent upon any service when the body accompanieth it : that therefore our sorrow may appear to be hearty , yea , that the sorrow of our heart may be enlarged in it self , and testified to others ; let us not only grieve but weep , mourn but sigh , break our hearts , but beat our breasts , and use all kind of penitential expressions . . great sinning calls for great mourning , grandi plagae prolixa est medicina , grande scelus grandi indiget satisfactione , saith st. ambrose truely , violent diseases require strong potions , festred sores , eating corasives , and haynous sins heavy sorrow . quam magna deliquimus tam granditer defleamus penitentia crimine minor non sit , said st. cyprian ; before him , our repentance must not be lesse than our crime , but how much we have put into the scale of sin , so much we must put into that of sorrow ; not that there can be an adequation betwixt the guilt of sinne which is infinite , and our mourning which how great soever can be but finite ; but that there should be some analogy and proportion between the measure of the one and the other . not that this is required per modum solutionis , as a payment of the debt , to which our sins obliege us , that must be done by christs blood , not our tears . could we weep an ocean , it were not a satisfactory compensation to god for the least offence , much lesse for great faults ; but that hereby we may expresse that we have a sense of sin in some sort proportionable to the haynousnesse of it . accordingly we find this to be the practice of penitents in holy writ , manessah was humbled greatly , st. peter wept bitterly , not drops but rivers of tears ran down davids eyes , and mary magdalens were in such abundance that they washed her saviours feet . there are too many who have but one kind of sorrow for all sin , and that ( god knoweth ) but slender neither ; when they have told a lye , sworne an oath , or committed any sin , though of a grievous nature , a , god forgive me , i am sorry for it , is with them , sufficient repentance . but , be not deceived , god is not mocked with such slight sorrow , for such offences . our saviour speaketh of a devil which cannot be cast out , but by prayer and fasting , nor can notorious faults be repented of without mourning and weeping . he that falleth into the midst of the river , must swim hard to get to shore , whilest he who falls in by the bank side easily creepeth up ; he that sinketh into the mud , must take more pains to cleanse himself , than he that only steps into a puddle . idle words should trouble us , but rash oaths must p●●plex us ; unclean thoughts call for a sigh , but actual adulteries for deep groans ; if we have drawn iniquity with cords and cartropes , we must not think to draw repentance with threds ; if our sins are not only clouds but thick clouds , we must not look to escape without a shoure of tears : excellently st. cyprian expostulateth with the apostate , putas ne tu deum cito posse placari ? &c. dost thou imagine that god will quickly be appeased , whose temple thou hast sacrilegiously violated , and whom thou hast perfidiously denyed ? dost thou think he will easily have mercy on thee , when thou wouldst not own him to be thine ? and may not the like be said of those who blaspheme and dishonour his name by any gross sinnes . surely as that father excellently goeth on , orare oporlet impensius , diem luctu transigere , vigilijs noctes ac fletibus ducere , &c. it behoveth all sorts of great sinners , to pray and beg earnestly , to spend their day in sorrow , and their night in tears ; yea , their whole life in dolefull lamentation , to grovel upon the ground , and rowle themselves in the dust , because of their abominations . as our afflictions abound , saith st. paul , our consolations abound much more : it is true here , as our transgressions abound , so must our humiliations ; if our sins have been red as scarlet , our shame must be red as crimson ; if our sins have been a floud , our tears must be a river . finally , if the cry of our crimes hath been as the roaring of a lyon , our sighs must be as loud thunder claps . . our greatest mourning for our sins ought to be , because by them we have pierced god. that of christ to the women , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , would in this sense be inverted ; we must not weep so much in reference to our selves as him : not so much because of the calamity our sins will bring upon us , as the injury and dishonour that is done to god. what was josephs argument for prevention of sinne to which he was tempted , how shall i do this wickednesse and sin against god ? should be our reasoning in humiliation for the sinnes we have committed . i have done this wickednesse and sinned against god : it was so with david , who therefore in his penitential acknowledgement , cryeth out , against thee , against thee only have i sinned ; and with the predigall , who confesseth , father , i have sinned against heaven and before thee . for this reason it is that penitential sorrow is called by st. paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a sorrow according to god , because for sin chiefly , not as it is inflictum paenae , that which brings punishment on us , but offensivum dei , that which is offensive unto god. . lastly , this mourning for christs piercing is not to be confined to jerusalem , since all , gentiles as well as jews are guilty of it . the jews were the instrumental causes , by whose instigation , but all men were the meritorious causes , for whose transgressions he was pierced ; and therefore saith the prophet isaiah , the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all . it was the hypocrisie of our hearts that mocked him , the bribery of our hands which buffeted him , the oaths of our mouths that spit in his face ; we betrayed him with our wanton kisses , we whipt him with the cords of our oppression , and gave him gall and vinegar to taste by our intemperance ; our pride in hair , apparrel , ornaments , platted a crown of thorns upon his head , and stript him of his garments ; finally , our many mighty sinnes , were the nails which pierced his hands and feet , and the speare that was thrust into his side . the lord of glory was brought to shame for our shamefull lives ; the lord of life was put to death for our deadly sinnes , and the word became speechlesse for our crying sinnes . so that i may justly bring this home to every man in this congregation , with nathans , tu es homo , thou art the man that piercedst christ ; and every one of us , were that question put to us seriously , which was to him scoffingly , prophesie who smote thee ? may without the gift of prophecying returne the answer , it is we that smote him . and now methinketh every one of us should look upon him whom we have pierced , and bespeak him in this or the like penitent language , blessed jesus , my sinnes pierced thy side , and hands , and feet , shall they not my heart ; they bruised thy body , shall they not my soul ; they fetched blood from thee , shall they not tears from me ; they made thee heavy to the death , shall they not make me penitent to life ; the heavens were hung in black at thy passion , and shall not i be cloathed in mourning ; the rock rent and clave asunder at thy suffering , and shall my heart be more stony and obdurate than the rock . oh! my brethren , let us both duly meditate on our redeemers sufferings , and our sins as the cause of those sufferings ; and that so long , till our hearts be not only bruised but broken , our head not only become dew but waters , and our eyes not as a bucket but a fountaine of tears . and thus i have given a dispatch to the mourning , which was the matter of the prediction , i now proceed to the other , which is brought in by way of allusion , in those words , as the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon . which words i shall desire you to look upon with a double aspect , to wit , as they are in themselves , and as they stand in connexion , and accordingly there is a double assertion to be handled . the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon was a great mourning . the mourning of jerusalem , shall be as great as the mourning of hadadrimmon . . i begin with the absolute consideration of the clause which implyeth the mourning of hadadrimmon to be very great ; in discussion whereof i shall enquire , what the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon was ? wherein it appeared to be a great mourning ? what reason there was for the greatness of that mourning ? . in answer to the first of these , it will not be amiss to take notice of the various reading of , and glosses upon these words . . the septuagint construe hadadrimmon and megiddon , as appellatives , and read the clause thus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of a pomegranate cut down in the fields , of which reading the greek fathers give a double construction . theodoret borroweth the allusion from the noise which the woodcleaver maketh , when in hewing down a pomegranate or any other tree , he fetcheth as it were a groan at every blow he maketh : but st. cyril more probably conceiveth , that it alludeth to the grief of the owner , whose orchard of pomegranates is cut down against his will ; as we have sometimes beheld in the late war , a goodly grove or orchard for the safety of an adjacent garison hewed down , to the sorrow of the possessour . . the generality of interpreters , and most probably construe hadadrimmon and megiddon to be proper names , but yet with variety . by the more learned among the hebrews saith vatablus , hadadrimmon is thought to be the name , oujusdam viri insignis ac cluri , of some famous and eminent person , who was cut off at megiddon , to the great sorrow of the people . the caldee paraphrast takes it to be the name of him , who slew ahab the son of omri : but s t hierom and most rationally conceiveth it to be the name of some fort , or town , or village , near to megiddon . we read in the story of the kings , that king josiah going forth against pharaoh necho king of aegypt , was slain by him at megiddon ; and consequently the mourning in the valley of megiddon , is the mourning for josiah , who was there slain : and it is called the mourning of hadadrimmon , either because near that place he received his deaths wound , or in that place the mourning for him began . . that which is next to be resolved is , wherein this mourning appeareth to be great ? the answer to which is returned from that in the chronicles , and all judah and jerusalem mourned for josiah , and jeremiah lamented for josiah , and all the singing men and the singing women spake of josiah in their lamentations to this day , and made them an ordinance in israel , and behold they are written in the lamentations . where we may observe the greatnesse of the mourning in three respects , namely the measure , the extent , and the duration : it was luctus intensus , publicus , perpetuus , a vehement , a common , a permanent , and consequently a great mourning . . the mourning of hadadrimmon was a very intense mourning : the first word which is there used , signifieth to mourn as one doth , ob rei charissimae amissionem , for parting with what is most dear ; and certainly where there is a dearnesse of affection , there cannot but be an excessive lamentation : the greek there rendreth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a word very significant also to note an high degree of sorrow . it is not unworthy our observation , that the two preceding similitudes of a first-born and onely son , are designed to expresse intensivenesse of sorrow : for though that conceit of st. hierom be ingenious , that he whom they pierced was unigenitus proprietate naturae , & primogenitus à mortuis resurgentium , the only begotten by the propriety of his divine nature , and the first begotten of them that rise from the dead , the only son of his father , and the first born of his mother , and that in that respect there is a congruity ; yet doubtlesse the true reason of using those comparisons , is upon the account of the mourning . the losse of any child , much more of a son ; of a younger , but especially of the first-born ; of one among many , chiefly of an only son , cannot but be matter of exceeding grief : and yet as if these were not full enough , here is another similitude annexed , which therefore doubtlesse was a sorrow exceeding the former , and consequently this mourning of hadadrimmon was very intense . . yet further this monrning was great in the extent , because a common and publick mourning : the mourning might begin at hadadrimmon , but it went through all judah and jerusalem . countrey and city , rich and poor , high and low , people and prophets , ( for jeremiah is mentioned in particular ) do all bemoan his death : indeed all were concerned in his death , fit it is that all should share in the sorrow : a publick losse calls for publick mourning . . adde to this , that it was a continued mourning : it was made an ordinance in israel , either that every year there should be a sorrowfull commemoration of him , or that the singing men and the singing women , should upon all mournfull occasions speak of him in their lamentations : yea to perpetuate the mourning , jeremiah composed lamentations , which some conceive to be that which is extant , those words seeming very apposite to josiah where it is said , the breath of our nostrils , the annointed of the lord was taken in their pits , of whom we said under his shadow we shall live among the heathen . but the whole scope of that book plainly refers to the captivity , which was after josiahs death , and therefore it was some other which jeremy composed , thereby endeavouring that what venus saith in the poet concerning her adonis , — luctus monumenta manebunt . semper adoni mei repetitaque mortis imago , annua plangoris peragent simulamina nostri . the mourning for josiah might be continually renewed . no wonder if upon all these considerations , in progressu temporis abiit in proverbium , as one well observeth , it became a proverb among the hebrews , planctus hadadrimmon , as planctus adonidis was among the gentiles , and both designed to expresse an exceeding great sorrow . . but why this great mourning of hadadrimmon ? that is the last question , which when answered , we shall find that it was not a foolish humour , fond passion , but a just and rational , though a great mourning . more particularly there are eight considerations , which did serve to greaten the mourning of hadadrimmon . . the occasion of their mourning is death : not a slight wound that might be healed ; not taking captive , for which a ransome might have been accepted , but death , from which there is no return to life : when we mourn for the dead , we mourn ( in this respect ) as without hope of enjoying their society any more in this world , and therefore no wonder if it be in a great measure . . the death which occasioneth this mourning , is of a king : know you not ( saith david concerning abner ) that a great man is this day fallen in israel , yet he was far inferiour to a king. howl ye firre-trees , ( saith the prophet ) for the cedar ( a tall and stately tree ) is fallen : the king is not only superiour , but supream in his kingdome , so that when he dieth , the sun as it were sets , fit it is a night of sad mourning should follow . thou art worth ten thousand of us , say the people to king david , not flatteringly but truly ; as one sun is worth ten thousand stars , in uno caesar insunt multi marij , there are many mariuses in one caesar : so that in mourning for a king , we mourne not for a mean but a great person ; nay , not for one , but many thousands at once . what heart so hard , which will not mourn bitterly to see ten thousand men lye dead in the fields ? . the king whose death is bemoaned , was their king who mourned for him , it was the king of judah whom all judah lamented . behold we are thy bone and thy flesh , ( said the tribes of israel to david , ) so may all people say of their own native king ; can it choose but grieve a man to have his bone broken , or flesh mangled ; yea , what the head is to the body , that is the king to his kingdome , if any one of the members be in pain , the rest are sensible of it , but surely all of them cannot but be affected when the head is to be cut off . . this their king whose death they bemoaned was a good king , and that must needs aggravate their mourning . the chaldee paraphrast maketh mention here , of a mourning for two kings , ahab the son of omri , and josiah the son of ammon . ahab was a wicked king , and yet lamented ; it seemeth he is a very bad king , for whose death the people have not cause to mourn . josiah was a good , a very good king , ( how good will appear anon , ) no wonder if there were a great mourning . those characters , the light of our eyes , and the breath of our nostrils , though in some sort they belong to all , yet more especially to good kings : well may our eyes weep when their light is put out , and we sigh , when the breath of our no strils is ready to expire . a good king is , pastor populi , the shepheard of the people , no wonder if the sheep be scattered , when the shepheard is smitten . pater patniae , the father of his countrey , well may the children grieve when their father dyeth . sponsus ecclesiae , the bridegroome of the church , and shall not the bride mourn when the bridegroom is taken away . . the death of this good king of judah was untimely in the slower and strength of his age . had he dyed as david did when he was old and stricken in years , it might justly have been expected , but to dye in the midst of his dayes , whilst he was young , was sadly to be lamented . . this early death was not by some disease , but by slaughter . had he with asa been diseased in his feet , or any other part of his body , and dyed in his bed , it were not so dolefull ; but to be snatcht away whilst he was in full vigour and health of body , could not but be matter of sad complaint . . this violent and immature death was that which their sins brought upon him . this good king used his utmost endeavour to quench the fire of gods displeasure ; but notwithstanding ( saith the text ) the lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath , wherewith his anger was kindled against judah : and accordingly he began the execution of his wrath , in bereaving them of so good a king ; and had they not reason to mourn for his death , whenas it was that which their own sins had accelerated . . lastly , the fall of this king was a presage of fatal ruine to this kingdome , what the pillar is in the house , the corner stone in the building , that is , a pious king to his people ; and surely as the removing of the pillar , and taking away of the corner stone , weakneth the edifice , so doth the death of such a king ( especially ) shake his kingdom . besides god had declared by huldah the prophetesse , to this king and people , that he would gather him to his fathers in peace , that his eyes might not see all the evill which he should bring upon jerusalem : whereby is clearly implyed , that soon after his departure , evil should come upon them , and had they not reason bitterly to lament his death . so that to sum it up , since it was not captivity but death , and that not late but early , natural but violent , of no mean man but a king , and he not a stranger but a native , not a tyrant but a good king ; and this both the consequent of their sins , and forerunner of their ruine , just cause there should be a great mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon . . there remaineth nothing now to be discussed in reference to the text , but the particle of similitude as , which knits the two mournings together by way of resemblance of one to the other , and foretels , that the mourning in jerusalem should be as great as that of hadadrimmon . the mourning of hadadrimmon ( as you have already heard ) was great in three respects , but as the known saying is of similitudes in general , that they do not run upon all four feet ; so i may say of this in particular , it doth not hold in all three . the mourning of hadadrimmon was general , so was not this in jerusalem , the greatest part of the jews remained obdurate , and so continue to this day . but as the mourning of hadadrimmon was perpetual , so no doubt was the mourning of the converts in jerusalem to their dying hour . and in the mystical jerusalem , the church of christ , the mourning for our crucified jesus , shall continue to the worlds end . and as to that which the similitude chiefly aims at ( being as it were the edge of the knife ) the measure of the mourning ; this particle as , is not only a note of quality , but equality , nay , redundance , and intimateth , that the sorrow for christ pierced , should be as great , nay , greater than that which was for josiah slain , and good reason upon a double account . . the mourning for josiah , was by them who were only spectators of his death , yea , assistants to him in the battell ; whereas these were the enemies of christ and actors in that dismal tradegy , who had so much the more cause to weep bitterly , for that blood whereof themselves were so deeply guilty . . besides ( which is principally considerable as it was said of solomon , so may i of josiah , behold a greater , ey , and a better than josiah is here , one of whom he was but a type , and to whom therefore far inferiour : so that what it was said by lamech of cain and himself in case of vengeance , may be fitly used concerning josiah and christ in case of sorrow : if josiah were to be lamented seven fold , truly jesus seventy times seven , the guilt of his bloud being not seventy times onely , but seven thousand times seven , yea , infinitely greater than that of josiah . that which i shall observe from hence is , that whereas the cause of the mourning of hadadrimmon was an evill of afflliction , and the cause of the mourning in jerusalem was an evil of sin , our sorrow for sin ought to be as great , nay , greater than for any outward trouble what soever . it is very considerable to this purpose , that the prophet maketh use of so many comparisons drawn from our mourning for worldly losses , and those of the saddest nature ; as if one , two , nay three , were not sufficient to expresse the greatnesse of that sorrow which ought to be for our sins . the truth is , the least iniquity is a greater evill than the greatest calamity , and consequently the committing of the one , ought to be matter of sadder lamentation , than the suffering of the other . but alas ! how unlike is our practice to this prediction ? how far short is our mourning for sin , of our worldly sorrow ? if god be pleased to take from us any near or dear relation , any earthly comfort whatsoever , we are ready to fall into a bitter passion , and mourn even to murmuring ; but though we provoke our gracious god by our sins , we passe it over with little or no contrition . like ulisses , who wept more for the losse of his dog than his wife , and that citizen , who was more grieved for the losse of his hen called roma , than the ruine of the city called by that name : we can weep flouds of tears for the miseries we endure , whenas we have scarce a tear at command for the iniquities we commit . oh! let us be exhorted to heighten and enlarge our mourning for our sin , and as those disciples prayed , lord increase our faith , so let us , lord increase our repentance . it is easie to exceed in worldly , but not in godly sorrow : let our tears for afflictions be only to the ankles , but let those for our transgressions be to the knees , nay , chin ; they cannot be too high unlesse over head and ears . i must not shut up this without a slave for weak christians , who may perhaps conclude against themselves as destitute of godly mourning , because they are sometimes more affected with , and afflicted for worldly troubles . in order to which i shall propose this threefold consideration . . if our mourning be not greater intensively , yet it may and must be extensively for our crimes than our crosses ; our tears for a worldly misfortune may be like a land-floud , more violent ; but for sin , they must be like a river , more permanent . . though our mourning be greater for afflictions expressively , yet it may and must be greater for transgressions appretiatively . there is a sensitive and there is a rational sorrow that maketh a great noise whilst shallow , whereas this being deep is silent . we have oft-times heard one sick of the gout or toothach , roar extreamly , whilst he that is sick ( perhaps ) of the plague , saith nothing , and yet this latter doubtlesse is inwardly more sorrowfull , by how much the disease is more desperate ; our passion may break forth more violently upon some emergent losse , and yet our will may be far more displeased at the sin we have acted , than the comfort we have lost . . lastly , if our godly mourning be not so great , effectu in act , yet i hope it is , and certainly it ought to be greater affecta in desire and endeavour . if we cannot mourn so much as we ought , let us mourn that we can mourn no more , and let us to our utmost , strive that our penitential sorrow may exceed all other whatsoever . and thus i have done the composers part in setting as it were the several letters of my text ; i shall now endeavour to perform the printers in laying on the sheets , and as it were pressing it home by a punctual and particular application , to the dolefull occasion of this dayes solemn assembly . this scripture ( as you have already heard ) speaketh of a double mourning , the one , principal and directly intended , to wit , mourning for christ the king of kings and lord of lords , who was pierced to death by nails upon the crosse. the other collateral and allusively applyed , to wit , mourning for josiah king of judah , who was shot to death with an arrow in the fields . and loe , this day minds us of a third mourning , to wit , for charles the first , king of england , scotland , france and ireland , who was sentenced to death , and executed upon a scaffold by an axe . that as he was a martyr cloathed in red , so we should be mourners cloathed in black . the mourning in the text as it was for two persons , so it was of two sorts , a mourning of contrition for the horrid crime of piercing christ ; and a mourning of compassion for the untimely slaughter of josiah , both of these meet together in that mourning which this day calls for . here is damnum irreparabile , a losse , a grievous losse , such as could hardly be repaired , and that calls for the mourning of hadadrimmon . here is crimen incredibile , a crime , an hainous crime , such as will not easily be believed , and that calls for the mourning in jerusalem . oh! let us mourn this day with the mourning of hadadrimmon , for the losse of charles the first ; and well we may , if we observe the parallel : for charles the first is dead . ] those who first raised a rebellious army against him , went so far as to secure , ( that is , in plain english , to imprison him , ) and their army will not stay there , they go on to behead him . indeed as himself tells us , there are but few steps between the prisons and graves of princes , but yet whilst only a prisoner , there was hope of being released . charles the second , our gracious soveraign that now is , was for many years banished from his territories , an exile in forreign parts , and is through gods mercy restored , but charles the first is dead and gone , never more to appear upon earth . besides , he whose death we bemoan , was no lesse than a king , one of the greatest monarchs in europe , was our king by the indubitable right of succession to the crown . and he dyed not in an old decreped age , but in the strength of his manhood , having not lived a decad of years more than josiah ; and being of that age of forty eight so vigorous , as that he was likely to have lived beyond this time . nor did he dye the common death of men , in his bed , but that of malefactors , upon a scaffold : where ( by the way ) the strange providence of god would be observed , oliver the wolfe dyeth in his den , whilst charles the lamb is brought to the slaughter . but though these thoughts may justly move tears , yet there are other considerations far more cutting . such is that which fixeth our eyes upon , not so much the greatnesse as the goodnesse of king charles the first ; in reference to which i shall not doubt to say , and saying to make it good , that he was another josiah . to which end i must intreat you to sit down , whilst i shall let you see how clearly the various lineaments of the one are to be discerned in the other . . we do not find any grosse personal crime laid to josiahs charge . it is said by the son of syrack , that except david , hezekiah , and josiah , all the kings of judah were defective , he meaneth apostatizing from god to idols : otherwise we know david was grosly culpable in the matter of bathsheba and uriah , but no such sins are fastned upon josiah . his act indeed of going to war with pharaoh necho is questionable , but at worst we must call it a sin of ignorance , since no doubt , he that believed and trembled at the book of the law , would not have gainsaid pharaoh nechos disswasion , had he been sure that what he spake , was from the mouth of the lord. but as to those vices which too often kings , especially whilst young , indulge unto ; we read not that he is charged with them . such an one was charles the first , unspotted either with incontinence or intemperance , so that even his most malicious enemies could not lay either to his charge ; indeed , he was an exemplary pattern of the contrary virtues . . it is said of josiah , he did that which was right in the sight of the lord , and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left . this was verified in charles the first , who declined in matter of practice both hypocritical precisenesse , and prophane licentiousnesse , and in matters of religion , turned neither to the faction of the schismatick , nor the superstition of the papists : for which cause he commended the church of englands religon to his son charles the second , as keeping ( to use his own language better than which i cannot ) the middle way between the papists superstitious tyranny , and the meannesse of fantastick anarchy . . josiah was very solicitous to raise money and provide workmen for repairing the house of the lord , which had been long neglected and much decayed . great was the zeal of our charles in this respect , witnesse that mother-church of st. pauls in our metropolis , to which himself contributed very largely , he excited many others ; and in the repairing of which he had made a faire progresse . and though the iniquity of the late times , ( perhaps as well out of spleen against him , as irreverence to god , ) hath debased , defaced , and almost ruined it , by making it at once a den of thieves , and a stable for beasts : yet ( i hope ) the piety of this present age being so highly encouraged by our soveraigne that now is , will make haste to fulfill that religious design in reedifying , beautifying , and restoring it to its pristine splendor . . josiah had a great regard to the priests and prophets of the lord , it is said of him , that he set the priests in their charges , and incouraged them in the service of the lord : he advised with hilkiah the high priest , sent to huldah the prophetesse ; and jeremiahs lamenting his death , intimateth , that he countenanced him in his life ; yea , he would not suffer the dead bones of the man of god to be touched . how justly may it be said of our charles ? upon all occasions he shewed himself a fast friend to the clergy ; he counted them worthy of the double honour , both of reverence and maintenance , and therefore would not suffer either contempt of their office , or alienation of their revenues . hear his own words , which we all know were seconded with his deeds . i am so much a friend to all churchmen , that have any thing in them beseeming that sacred function , that i have hazarded my own interests chiefly upon conscience and constancy to maintain their rights , whom the mere i looked upon as orphans , and under the sacrilegious eyes of many cruel and rapacious reformers ; so i thought it my duty the more to appear as a father , and a patron for them in the church . no wonder if the jeremiahs of the land mourned bitterly for the losse of such a patron . . josiah was very carefull to restore the worship of god to its antique and primitive administration ; as appeareth in that famous passeover , which was celebrated by him and his people , according to the ordinance of moses , and at the observation of which , that it might be the more solemn and splendid , were the singers imployed according to the command of david . it was not for nothing , that the name josiah was given him , which according to the most probable etymology i have met with , is as much as the fire of the lord. he was indeed ignis dei , and that both consumens and consummans : the fire of his zeal did purge the land from that idolatry which had been committed , breaking down the altars of baalim , the images that were in high places , cutting down the groves , and the carved and molten images and idols that were in the land ; and withall , it did renew and refine the worship of the true god , which had been disused and depraved in his predecessors reigns . it is likely some of our fanatick zelots , will be ready to blame king charles , for not imitating josiah in pulling down those things and places which had been abused to romish superstition , as he did those which had been the instruments of heathenish idolatry . but truely such zeal had not been a divine fire , but wilde fire , nor would josiahs pattern have warranted it . it was not lawfull for the jews to make use of the idolatrous places for the worship of the true god , since they were confined to that particular place which the lord had chosen , neither were the images and idols capable of being so made use of . but here the case was far otherwise , since those places and things were easily converted to a religious , which had been perverted to a superstitious use . besides , i suppose none will assert , that there is as vast a distance between a protestant and a papist , as there was between a iew and a gentile , or is now between a christian and a pagan ; and therefore the like degree of zeal is not requisite against the one as the other . as for our late soveraigne , ( however falsly calumniated in this particular , ) he was ( though a prudent ) yet a real and zealous adversary to whatsoever is truely called popery , nor was he backward upon all just occasions to shew himself so . but the truth is , ( as our sad experience informeth us ) there were another sort of men , whose head-strong violence at that time deserved and required his just indignation . as to the matter of gods worship , his desire and design was ( like iosiahs ) that it might be decently and solemnly performed , that the ancient and primitive usages ( when christianity first began to flourish , ) might be brought again into practice : and as it is said concerning the passeover kept in iosiahs time , that there was no passeover kept like it by any of the kings of iudah : so may i truely affirme , the publick outward worship of god was not so reverently , decently ( and yet not superstitiously ) celebrated in any time of the former kings of england , as it was in the former part of the reign of king charles the first . . iosiah was a man of a very tender heart , when he heard the curses which were denounced out of the book of god against ierusalem and the inhabitants thereof , he rent his cloaths and humbled himself before god , bewailing and trembling at the miseries which we●e coming upon his subjects . and was not charles the first a tender hearted king ? how did his heart smite him for giving way to the death of the loyal and wise earl of strafford , will you believe his own words ? this tenderness and regret ( saith he ) i find in my soul for having had any hand ( and that very unwillingly , god knows , ) in shedding one mans bloud unjustly , though under the colour and formalities of justice , and pretences of avoiding publick mischiefs , which may ( i hope ) be some evidence before god and man to all posterity ; that i am far from bearing justly the vast load and guilt of all that blood , which hath been shed in this unhappy war. how deeply was he sensible of the irish outragious cruelties ? hear his appeal , god knows , as i can with truth wash my hands in innocency , as to any guilt in that rebellion ; so i might wash them in my tears , as to the sad apprehensions i had to see it spread so far and make such waste . when through the unhappy division between him and his two houses of parliament , and his enforced recesse from them , he foresaw what calamities were likely to befall his kingdom of england , how did his heart bleed ? with what earnestnesse did he once and again importune his enemies to a treaty , and when with much ado he obtained one , what fair terms of peace did he offer ? shall i give you his own language ? though i could seldome get opportunity to treat , yet i never wanted desire or disposition to it : and again , i was willing to condescend as far as reason , honour and conscience would give me leave . . that expression concerning iosiah is very emphatical , now the rest of the acts of iosiah and his goodnesse , or ( according to the hebrew ) kindnesses . what eminent kindness did charles the first vouchsafe to his faithfull servants in particular , and to all his subjects in general ; he seldome ( or never ) suffered any service done to him to passe unrewarded , and he was still ready to , yea , accordingly did pass many acts of grace and favour to his people . . finally , in the close of the narration concerning iosiah its said , and his deeds first and last . behold they are written in the book of the kings of israel and iudah . manasseh his first deeds were bad , exceeding bad , but his last good , very good . iehoash his first deeds were good , he did that which was right in the sight of the lord , all the dayes of iehoidah the priest ; but his last deeds were bad , hearkening to the wicked counsel of the idolatrous and bloody princes of iudah , but iosiah his deeds were good first and last . in the eighth year of his reign , whilst he was yet young , ( as being but the sixteenth year of his age , ) he began to seek after the god of david his father ; and so he continued to the last year of his reign and day of his life . our charles was at the first in his tender years a prince of great hopes , nor did he forsake that path of religion and virtue , which at first he had taken up to the last . notwithstanding many strong temptations and sore tryals , he retained his integrity . hear his own words , what tumults and armies could not obtain , neither shall restraint . the fear of man shall never be my snare , nor shall the love of liberty entangle me ; neither liberty nor life are so dear to me as the peace of my conscience , the honour of my crown , and the wellfare of my people , and how fully did he verifie his saying ? the cursed proposals of his cruell enemies , he with scorn refused , even then when death ( as it were ) looked him in the face , having no doubt before his eyes that of our saviour to the angel of the church of smirna , be thou faithfull to the death , and i will give thee a crown of life . and surely though i may justly take up the words of the son of syrack concerning iosiah , in reference to king charles his eminent goodnesse . the remembrance of charles the first , is like the composition of the perfume that is made by the art of the apothecary , it is sweet as honey in all mouths , and as musick to a banquet of wine ; yet with all the remembrance of his death , by which we were bereaved of so excellent a prince , cannot but be bitter as gall and wormwood , and would be accompanied with sighs and groans . so much the rather , when we sadly take notice ( what i shall by and by enforce ) that this good king like iosiah suffered for the badnesse of his people : and withal , duly consider , what dismal miseries upon the people followed the death of this good king. when augustus dyed , ( saith the historian ) orbis ruinam timueramus , we feared the ruine of the world was at hand . what fears of utter ruine to come upon city , countrey , kingdom , did possesse our spirits when our caesar was taken from us ? that malice which deprived us of him , debarred us of the rightful heir , so that for many years there was no king in israel . the basest of the people were instead both of our princes & our priests ; now a single , and then a many-headed monster usurped the rule over us ; during whose tyrrany , what heresies and blasphemies , what confusions and distractions , what decimations of the laity , silencing of the clergy , murthering of both , slavery and bondage upon all , so that we were no better than captives in our own land. who can lay these things to heart , and not wish with the prophet ieremy , oh that my head were waters , and my eyes a fountain of tears ; that i might weep day and night for the slaughter of the father , and ruine of the daughter of my people . what as on this day thirteen years , and for a long time after was only done apart , and in the closets , whispering our sighs to heaven ; let us this day do together , and openly pour out our lamentations before god and man , nor let the distance of time abate our sense of that grievous blow which was then given : yea , let it be mournfully remembred to all generations , and that not only with tears of commiseration for the sad loss , but chiefly of compunction , for the great sin , which is the other branch of the application . . as there was to be a great mourning in ierusalem for the crucifixion of christ ; so let there be a mourning this day in the cities of london and westminster , yea , throughout the kingdomes of england , scotland and ireland , for the decollation of king charles the first . i would not in this be misconstrued , as if i went about to equalize the sufferings of my soveraigne with those of my saviour ; far be it from me , could those glorified saints know what was done here below , as ( i am sure ) the blessed virgin mary would be enraged against the papists , for attributing ( as it were ) to the mothers milk , what only belong to the sons blood ; so i doubt not but that blessed martyr charles , would be incensed against any who should name his death the same day with his saviours , as if there were any comparison between the value of the one and the other . and as i do not equalize the blood of my soveraigne with my saviours , so neither the guilt of his murtherers with theirs who put christ to death . but yet ( i hope ) without offence , we may take notice how near a resemblance there was , and how as in some respects the guilt of the one was far greater , so in some the charge lyeth heavier against the other . to which end be pleased to observe . . in putting christ to death , they put to death an innocent man ; they did so in cutting of charles . true here was a disparity , christ was perfectly innocent from all kind of sin whatsoever , so was not he nor any other son of adam ; yet thus far a congruity , that as there was no just cause for the crucifying of christ , so neither for beheading him . indeed his impudent enemies drew up a charge against him , ( so did the iews against christ , ) but that as full of falshood as malice . they charge him with raising a war against the parliament , how justly , let the date of the commissions on both sides decide , it is his own appeale , and that not long before his death . they accuse him for being a traytor to his people , which was so far from being true , that it was impossible , since he never received any trust from them . i cannot here passe by that which was very remarkable , that even those who raised the war against him , voted his concessions at the isle of wight to be so far satisfactory , as that they were a just ground for a peace ; notwithstanding which , the rebels army proceeded to compass his death , and yet ( i doubt not ) but some of the centurions beholding his behaviour at his death , said within themselves , certainly this was a righteous man. . in putting christ to death they crucifie a king , so the magi affirm ; where is he that is born king ? simulnatus simul caesar , he was a king by birth . so was he who was on this day murthered , who can stretch forth his hand against the lords annointed and be guiltlesse ? was davids question , and justly ; nay , will you hear one of their own putting the question ? who did ever hear of any king put to death for any crime ? ( never indeed till in this monstrous age ) the greatnesse of his person being in worth above any crime as civil . the truth is , kings are gods vicegerants upon earth , their persons inviolable , and their actions unquestionable , yet these miscreants lay violent hands upon the lords annointed . indeed here the disparity is vast , since he whom the iews pierced was not only a king but a god , god man , and in respect of his deity , the eternal son of god , equal with the father . but still in this a congruity , that as christ in respect of his humanity , was by descent from his parents heir to the crown of iudah . so was charles to this of england , and consequently in this the parallel is good , that the crime in both was the murder of an innocent king. . the murther of the messiah was not done in a corner , but openly , not sodainly , but deliberately , and that in a formal way of arraigning , accusing , condemning and executing , was it not so here ? they would not strangle him in his chamber , he was not slain in heat of blood , but he is brought with premeditation to the bar as a malefactor ; a charge is drawn up against him ; a sentence passed upon him with deliberation : his enemies adding ( to use his own words ) the mockery of justice to the cruelty of malice , and at length in the presence of his people , at the gate of his pallace he is triumphantly executed . . christ was pierced by the iews , his own countreymen , of whom he came according to the flesh , by those who of right ought to have been his subjects , and to whom he had vouchsafed many kindnesses ; yea , he was betrayed into their hands by one of his own disciples . was it not so here ? his own countrey-men sold him , his own subjects killed him ; nay , some of them that had been his own servants , and obliged to him by manifold favours , were actors in his death . and though comparing the persons murdered , the aggravation was far , infinitely far greater on christs part ; yet if we compare the persons murdering , there are several circumstances which render king charles his murderers more inexcusable . for . though the iews accused him , and instigated the romans against him , yet the iudg that condemned , the souldiers that executed him were romans ; here , the accusers , witnesses , iudges , souldiers and executioner were all of his own people : whereas the romans were heathens , and the iews moses his disciples ; these , were such as called themselves christians , nay , professed the same reformed religion with him whom they destroyed . . st. paul saith of christs murderers , had they known it , they would not have crucified the lord of glory ; these miscreants knew , acknowledged , yea , in their very charge call him their king. . there were no promissary obligations from the iews to christ ; but these rebels had by manifold private and publick promises , protestations and oathes , engaged themselves to preserve not only his life but honour . . finally , pilate wanted not the stamp of caesars authority to constitute him a legal iudg ; this court of iustice ( as they were unjustly called ) had not the least shadow of authority . should both houses of parliament have conspired to erect such a iudicatory , ( which god forbid ) it had been altogether illegal , much more , if onely one ? the whole house of commons have not , nor ( when rightly constituted ) ever did , challenge to themselves alone , ( except in reference to their own members ) a iudicatory power over the estate or life of the meanest subject , much lesse over their lawfull king. but in this case , not both houses but one , and that the house of commons ; and that not the whole , nor yet the half , but only a remnant , ( the rest of their fellow members having justly deserted them , or being violently secluded from them ) most illegally gave a power to some of themselves , the army and others , to undertake and accomplish this desperate and horrid design . so that in this one fact , there was a concatination of many sins . malice and murder , ingratitude and hypocrisie , insolence and impudence , false-swearing and forswearing , rebellion and treason , wilfullnesse and obstinacy , are those black lines which do all center in this one black design and dismal fact , of taking away the life of charles the first . and now tell me , if all this considered , there be not great cause of great mourning for so great wickedness . those whom this mourning doth in the first and chief place concern , are the surviving murderers ; surely if king david watered his couch and his bed with tears for the murder of uriah his subject , what flouds of tears ought they to pour out day and night , who being ▪ subjects , rebelliously and traiterously murdered their king. oh! let it be our hearty prayer in their behalf , that by an unfeigned and propo●●●nal sorrow , for shedding the blood of their king , and through faith in the bloud of christ , they ( with some of those who crucified him ) may obtain remission of their sins , and salvation of their souls ; and well may we , when the royal martyr himself did so affectionately and zealously pray for them , as you may read at large in the last leaf of his incomparable book . but if through gods just judgment , ( like their father the devil ) they be given up to impenitency , yet let us mourn , and that partly for them , even upon this account , that they do not mourn for themselves : according to that example of a devout father , who told a wicked wretch , hoc plango quod teipsum non plangis , i bewail this , that thou dost not bemoan thy self . chiefly for the sin it self , and that not only upon our own account , it being our duty to mourne for the abominations which are acted by others , least otherwise they in some sort become our own ; but principally upon the account of religion , which hath been made to stink ( that i may allude to jacobs phrase ) in the nostrils even of turks and pagans , by the committing of this horrid fact . nor yet is this all , i must this day require all those to mourn , who did in any kind either by tongue or pen , purse or person , contribute to , or assist in , that rebellious war which made way for this traiterous murder . believe it , there is a remote , as well as an immediate guilt . as their hands were imbrewed in his blood which were lifted up at the sentence in the hall , so all their hands are sprinkled with it , which were stretched forth against him in the field . he that maketh another drunk , is not only directly guilty of his drunkennesse , but indirectly of what other sins he then commits , though perhaps it was far from his intention , that he should commit them . it was not i believe at first in the design even of them that acted this villany , much less in the thoughts of many others , who ingaged in the war ; but neverthesse , the assistance to that rebellion involveth in the guilt of , and therefore engageth to a deep sorrow for this blood which prosperous successe at last emboldned the rebels to shed . and now i heartily wish , that may call for mourning might end here . but i must crave leave to call upon those who assisted and endeavoured his welfare , to mourn also for their oaths and curses , intemperance and incontinence , loosenesse and profanenesse , by which god was provoked to blow upon his counsels , blast his armies , and deliver him up to the will of his enemies . josiah was slain by an aegyptian , but the sins of his people caused god to take him away . christ was put to death by the jews , but we all procured it by our sins ; it was so in this case , the scotch rebel-army basely delivered and sold him to the english rebels army , who barbarously condemned and executed him . but even the english royal loyal army were too too guilty , whilst notwithstanding , the goodnesse of their cause , through the badnesse of their lives , they lost the field , upon which those sad events followed . so that * what hath been no lesse truely than commonly said in another way , i may sadly allude to upon this account , and justly say , that whilst the malice of the sectaries cut off his head , the wickednesse even of the royalists helped to bring him to the block . let us all therefore lay our hands upon our hearts , smite upon our breasts , and every one say in the bitternesse of our souls , i am that jonah , for whose sake that terrible tempest came upon the pilate and the ship , king and kingdom . and yet further , let us mourn , yea , mourn and weep , that notwithstanding our sins brought such dreadfull judgments upon our king and kingdom , our persons and families , those judgments have not wrought any reformation in our lives , so that though we have been humbled we are not humble , and have been sorely smitten , we have refused to receive instruction . nay once more , let us mourn , yea , be afflicted , and mourn , and weep were it possible a sea of tears , to consider , that notwithstanding god hath pleased in the midst of judgment to remember mercy , and commanded an unexpected and blessed change for us ; so that instead of usurping tirants , we enjoy our native rightfull king ; instead of that black , ( so the martyr justly calls it ) we have a white parliament ; that instead of no lords , new lords , by no just power ; we have both old and new lords of a right extraction , an house of lords spiritual and temporal , according to its ancient constitution ; that so much villified order of bishops , being by the providence of that god who only worketh great marvels , ( as it is in the collect ) restored to their pristine splendor ; that in the roome of a pack of bloody rebels , we behold a full house of commons , whom for their loyalty to the king , and zeal for the church , all generations shall call blessed ; and whose dissolution i hope i shall not see , till the house of david and the house of aaron be more firmly seiled . that by the means of such a king and such a parliament , we obtain safety , liberty , tranquility and prosperity , together with that which is far more prctious , the liberty , and shall we trust in due time , the uniformity of gods publick worship . i say , that notwithstanding god hath punished us lesse than our iniquities deserve , and hath given us such a deliverance as this , we do again break his commandments , and that with an high hand , hard heart , and stiffe neck , most ungratefully returning monstrous iniquities for miraculous mercies . nor must we think we have done enough in mourning , ey , though it be a great and bitte● mourning , no , there is something further required , that our humiliation may find acceptation , and therefore give me leave to commend unto you a double item . . one ( and that which in some measure i am prevented in , ) is that pretious royal bloud , which on this day was villanously shed , must not only be deeply mourned for by all , but throughly avenged by those to whom the sword of justice is committed . justice , justice was the loud cry of that hellish crew , to that infernal court , may it not be justly the cry of all loyal subjects now . that good king whilst he lived , prayed for mercy , but now dead his blood calls for vengeance . in the dark night of persecution , we often prayed to god how long lord holy and true , wilt not thou avenge ; o! let not god have cause to say to us , how long will not you avenge ? . but secondly , those sins which any way procured this dayes fatal blow , would not only be mourned for , but turned from by our selves , and ( as much as may be ) suppressed in others , i have already intimated , there were sins , ey , and those grievous sins on both hands . on the one hand , schisme , sedition , rebellion , treason , were those sins which did instrumentally procure his death , & you have done well , ( loyal worthies ) exceeding well , to use the best means for the restraint & reformation of them by severe and extensive laws . taking care that rebellion ( to which the other sins are subservient ) may be destroyed in that which was its principal engine , the illegal league and covenant made by a faction in two nations , without the consent , yea , against the command of their lawful soveraign , and in its rotten principles , those doctrines which give power to two houses of parliament in some cases , to take up arms without or against the kings command , and distinguish betwixt the personal and politick capacity of a king , as to the point of resistance , which till they be utterly disclaimed both by clergy and laity , there may be just suspition of new insurrection upon the first occasion . on the other hand , swearing and drunkennesse , chambering and wantonnesse , pride and profanenesse , are among the number of those sins which were the meritorious causes that wrought his and his kingdoms ruine . oh! let not these escape your severest censure . revive and reinforce the old laws , and if it be needfull , prepare new , for the more carefull observation of gods publick worship upon all holy dayes , especially the lords-day ; together with effectual restraint of those want on vanities and wicked vices which abound among us . that you may the better prevaile with others by your laws for a speedy and thorough reformation , begin it i beseech you at your own persons and families , that you may be patterns to those among whom you live , of piety , sobriety , and all manner of virtue . and oh that that prophesie of isaiah concerning the jews might be accomplished in the people of this kingdome , that the time might come , when the lord should have washed away the filth of the daughter of england , and should have purged the blood of london and westminster from the midst thereof , by the spirit of judgement , and by the spirit of burning . and that that of malachy concerning christs coming in the flesh , might be spiritually fulfilled among us ; that his spirit may come and passe through the whole land , and sit as a refiner and purifier of silver , upon both those parties which have been so long divided . that so we may from the bottome of our hearts , bemoan , detest and abandon , not only one the sin of the other , but both their own sins . oh my brethren ! would but the one party mourn for , and leave of their execrable hypocrisie ; and the other their abominable profannesse ; the one their mock cantings , and the other their fond rantings ; the one their spiritual , and the other their corporal pride and drunkennesse ; the one their impious forswearing and false swearing , the other their vain and rash swearing ; the one their schismatical separation from , and the other their atheistical neglect of the publick worship . finally , the one their seditious and rebellious , both principles and practices , and the other their vicious & licentious conversations ; & both their mutual strifes , envyings and animosities , there would be no need either to fear the return of those judgments , under which we so long groaned , or to doubt the continuance of those blessings which at present we enjoy . it is high time that i should now dismiss you till the evening service , when i doubt not but the abler gifts and longer warning of my reverend brother , will supply my manifold defects . nothing now remaineth but our praises and prayers , our praises in behalf of the father , our praises and prayers in behalf of the sonne : and i beseech you let us all joyn together in hearty thanksgiving to almighty god , for charles the first of glorious memory ; that excellent pattern which he gave ( as on this day ) of meekness & charity , and withall of courage & magnanimity , in the midst of his sufferings . for charls the second our now gracious soveraign , that he hath at length recompensed his and his fathers deep sufferings upon his head with choice blessings ; so that god seemeth by his happy return and settlement , to promise that he will comfort him and us according to the years wherein he hath afflicted him , and the dayes wherein he hath seen evil . in earnest supplications , not for charles the first ( he needeth not our prayers ) but charles the second ( who i am sure deserveth them ) that he may be such a one every way as his royal father was , except his sufferings ; that he may be like to josiah , except in the fewness of his dayes , and sadness of his end . finally , that he may have a long , peaceable , prosperous and glorious reign over us , that so whereas our mourning for the fathers decollation , is like that of the converted jews , for killing the prince of life ; our joyes for the sons restauration , may be like that of the shepheards , yea , the angels at the birth of christ , when they sang that heavenly anthem , glory to god on high , on earth peace , good will towards men ; and as our mourning for the one is like that of hadadrimmon for josiahs slaughter , our joy for the other may be like that which was in jerusalem at king solomons coronation , and let all the people say , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e alex. ab alex . genial . dier . lib. . cap. . isaiah . . acts . . & . . matth. . , . psal. . . isaiah . . notes for div a -e luk. . . judg. . . sam. . . gen. . verse . joh. . . theod. in loc . hieron . ibid. matth . . rev. . . matth. . . luk. . . aug serm. . de ●anct . wisd. . , , . luk. . , . act. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scindo . ●ccl . , . aug. isai. . . cor. . . joel . . isai. . . matth. . . luke . . ambros. ambros. ad virg. laps . c. . cypr. serm. de lapsis . chron. . . psal. . matth. . . luke . . mark . . cypr. l. d. id. ibid. cor. . . luke . . gen. . . psal. . . cor. . . isai. . . matth. . . gen. . theod. in loc . cyril in loc . vat. cald. par. king . . chron . , . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hieron . in loc . lam. . . ovid. metam . l. . sam. . . zech. . . sam. . . sam. . . cald. parap . king . . king. . . chron. . . luke . . gen. . . king charles his book , chap. . eccles. . . chron . . king charles his book , chap. . chron . . king. . . king charles book , chap. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chron. . , &c. chron. . . chron. . . king. charles his book , ch . chap. . chap. . chron. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verse . chron. . , . & . . chap. . , . & . . chap. . . king charles book , chap. . rev. . . ecces . . . patercul . jerem. . . matth. . . sam. . . tho. good win aggravations of sin , p. . rom. . . cor. . ● . john . . hieron . gen. . . * the presbyterian . brought him to the block , and the independents cut off his head . isai. . . mal. . . psal. . . divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty, represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls; who died on thursday the th of may . and was buried on moonday [sic] the th day of the same moneth. by nath. hardy master of arts, and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty, represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls; who died on thursday the th of may . and was buried on moonday [sic] the th day of the same moneth. by nath. hardy master of arts, and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by a.m. for nathanael webb and william grantham, and are to be sold at the sign of the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north door., london, : . the last leaf is blank. errata, p. . variant: lacking errata. annotation on thomason copy: "july ". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng goddard, richard, d. -- early works to . bible. -- n.t. -- corinthians, nd iv, -- sermons. funeral sermons -- early works to . sermons, english -- th century. a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty,: represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard hardy, nathaniel f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - simon charles sampled and proofread - simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion divinity in mortality , or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty , represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls ; who died on thursday the th of may . and was buried on moonday the th day of the same moneth . by nath. hardy master of arts , and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church . matth. . . every scribe instructed for the kingdom of heaven , is like unto a man that is an housholder , which bringeth forth out of the treasure things new and old . pet. . . knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle , even as our lord jesus christ hath shewed me . sacra scriptura utilitas christianorum , thesaurus ecclesiae lumen animarum . ubique in eis veritas regnat ubique divina virtus irradiat , ubique panduntur humano generi profutura . cassiod . div. lect. c. , & . london , printed by a.m. for nathanael webb and william grantham , and are to be sold at the sign of the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north door . . errata . page . in marg. after {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} read {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. . in m. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. . in m. for prefectam r. productam . p. . line . after denominateth dele te . p. . l. . before viles , pauperes censu loco humiles , for vitae r. vitâ . after labore adde communes , men of low estates , mean trades , obscure and laborious lives . where in the marg. supply chrysol. c. . p. . l. . r. are after mentioned . p. . l. . for innocentia r. innocenter . p. . l. . pudet r. pudeat . p. . marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . to the worshipfull roger price esq , the upper and the neather springs of the water of life . worthy sir , i well know how unworthy this slender discourse was of those judicious eares which vouchsafed it the hearing ; and surely cannot but much more judge it undeserving a publique view : so that if ( besides friends importunity perswading ) the fear of an abortive birth to have been brought forth by some unskilfull notary , had not enforced me , it should have been buried in privacy . being thus necessitated , and thereupon advised by you and others to this unwelcome task , i knew not any fitter then your self to whom i should present this dedication . how cordial a welwisher , and forward an incourager you have alwaies been of the orthodox clergy , all that know you will assert , and in particular , what an ardent affection lodged in your bosome and flamed forth in your expressions towards your reverend minister was abundantly testified both in his life and at his death , whilest in his life you were one of the first in providing for his comfortable subsistence , and at his death you took care for his decent buriall , desiring that your house might receive him when dead ( which had so often entertained him alive ) from whence he was honourably attended to his grave . i doubt not but there were many other worthy gentlemen of your parish , to whom this deceased servant of christ was much engaged ; but i hope my ignorance of their persons will be a sufficient apologie for my silence . with you ( esteemed sir ) i have had by his means the honour to be acquainted , of whom therefore i am bold ( especially for his sake ) to desire the patronage of this sermon . what hath suspended the publication since i last saw you , i am confident you have already heard ; a disease not much unlike that which snatched away our dear friend , but from which god was graciously pleased to deliver me : thus is his wisdom sometimes pleased to let the barren fig-tree stand , whilest he plucketh up the fruitfull vine . his race is now run , and he is gone to rest ; his work is finished , and he hath in part received his wages ; weep not for him who is already entred into joy , rather rejoyce , that though he be gone , god hath sent you another , one eminent both for piety and learning , in whose converse i doubt not but you will finde much content , and by whose labours i hope you will reap much profit . and now sir , i commend you to god , earnestly imploring the continuance and increase of all externall and internall blessings upon you , in your own person , your dear consort , aged father , hopefull children , till at last he crown you all with eternall happiness . i take my leave and subscribe my self , your cordial friend and servant , nath. hardy . the text . cor. . the former part of the th verse . but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . the losse of a good man , especially a good minister , and most especially in bad times , is a just ground of deep sorrow . a faithful ambassadour of christ is a common stock , in which many have a share , a burning lamp by which many are enlightned , good reason the exhausting of such a treasury , the quenching of such a light , should be matter of dolefull complaint . besides , when gods wrath is flaming , who but a moses should stand in the gap ? when horrid impieties are reigning , who but an ezekiel should warn the people ? and when heresies are raging , who but a john should defend the truth ? and shall it not affect our hearts with grief , when such as these are taken away ? no wonder then if when elisha seeth elijah carried away from the earth in a fiery chariot by a whirlwinde , he crieth out , my father , my father , the charists and the horsmen of israel : if when samuel dieth all israel gather together and lament for him : finally , if when the priests gave up the ghost in jerusalem , the church uttereth that mournfull sigh , behold , o lord , for i am in distresse . this this ( men , fathers and brethren ) is the sad occasion of this solemn and sorrowfull assembly . a cedar is fallen , well may the fir-trees howl ; a bright starre is removed from our horizon , well may darknesse cover this hemisphere : i could willingly now give scope to mine and your passion that we might sit down awhile in silence , and only by the language of our tears speak our sense of this heavy losse . but all passions , especially that of grief , need rather a bridle then a spurre . affected we may , we ought to be with his death , but as a publick , not as a private detriment , and that not in an extream but moderate measure . and so much the rather , considering that it is no new nor rare thing . your fathers , where are they ? and the prophets do they live for ever ? is the prophet zecharie's question , putting it out of question , they do not alwayes live , but are alike with others , subject to mortality , nor have the ministers of the new testament , though imployed about a more excellent ministration , any greater priviledge as to exemption from death then those of the old , apostles as well as prophets are under deaths tyranny : so much st paul here intimateth , when he saith , but we have this treasure , &c. the first word of this text is but , a but which the apostle puts upon himself and fellow-apostles , yea and all the ministers of the gospel . in the fore-going verses we finde him extolling his ministery , and vindicating his fidelity in the discharge of it , here he interposeth a but , not a but of scandalous impiety , this could not be charged upon him by any . oh that all ministers lives were so ordered , as no but of this nature might be deservedly cast upon them . the but here intended is only a but of natural frailty , humane imbecillity , and the worlds unjust ignominy . these were the things the apostle well knew the false teachers would upbraid him and his brethren with , and therefore he prevents them by a voluntary concession that so it was , yea fit it was that so it should be for the advancing of gods glory , that whilst their message was honourable themselves should be contemptible , but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . in which words we have a brief yet exact delineation both of the gospel and the preachers of it , and both by a double character , the gospel is characterized by a metaphor commending , in the noun treasure . a term discriminating , in the pronoun this . the preachers of the gospel are represented by a word of description , in the substantive vessels . a word of diminution , in the adjective earthen . these are as four keys by which i shall endeavour to unlock the treasure of this text , as four vents by which the vessel of this scripture emptieth its divine liquor . in the opening of which i shall strive that my discourse may keep even pace with the time , i hope your attention will keep even pace with my discourse , and then i doubt not but that through gods grace we shall be richer by this treasure , and these earthen vessels will help us somewhat nearer to heaven . and so i begin with the delineation of the gospel , and therein the metaphor commending , treasure . to finde out the kernel enclosed in the shell of this metaphor , we must consider a three-fold reference that may be made of this word to the preceding . some referre it to the end of the former verse , and understand by this treasure the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ . this is that which there he compareth to light , and here to treasure , two metaphors though different yet consonant , light being a most precious treasure , and as treasures are kept , so lights were wont to be carried in earthen vessels . and well may the knowledge of god in christ be compared to both , for its resplendency a light , for its opulency a treasure , such a treasure as must be a light not lockt up in our own brests , but shining forth to others , such a light as is a treasure of invaluable and incomparable worth . our apostle elswhere expresseth so high an estimation of this knowledge of christ , that he accounts all other things , whether worldly fruitions or jewish observances to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only uselesse but hurtfull so far as they kept him from christ , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as offals which we throw to our dogs , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} those base excrements which physicians force out of the body by their purging : things not to be valued but despised and loathed in comparison of this . and no lesse is that value which our blessed saviour himself puts upon it , where he saith , this is life eternal to know thee the only true god , and jesus christ whom thou hast sent . life is the best treasure in nature , eternal is the best of lives , how great a treasure must the knowledge of christ be which is life eternal ? secondly , others take the reference of treasure here as remote as that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ministery , mentioned in the first verse . indeed the ministry and dispensation of the gospel is a choice and precious treasure , upon which account the apostle elsewhere cals it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a worthy work . a work it is to which is required both authority and ability , and therefore in respect of the former it is an honour , of the later a treasure . the old verse tels us , dat galenus opes , dat justinianus honores . the law brings honour , and physick wealth , but in a divine sense the ministery hath both . a burden it is indeed , but withall an honour . a labour it is , but withall a treasure for the edifying and enriching of the church . this treasure christ keeps under lock and key , only intrusting those with it whom he cals to , and furnisheth for it . as it was the priviledge of the jews above other nations , that to them were the oracles of god committed , so it is the prerogative of the ministers above all other persons , that to them is committed the dispensation of these oracles . by which it appears , that they are no better then thieves , nay sacrilegious robbers who without immediate or mediate warrant from christ assume this trust and break open this treasure . thirdly , i conceive we shall best understand the prime intent and full extent of this metaphor , by referring it not so neer as the sixth , nor so farre as the first , but to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the gospel , mentioned in the third verse . indeed both the other interpretations are fully included , and may be fitly reduced to this , since on the one hand that ministery is principally in respect of the gospel : hence it is that we are called the ministers of the new testament , and our commission is to preach the gospel , and the english tran●lators have not unfitly at once rendered and unfolded that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} st paul speaketh of to be the dispensation of the go●pel , for though since christ came not to destroy but to fulfill , we must not suppresse but publish the law , yet our chief errand is to promulge the glad tidings of salvation in the gospel . and on the other hand , it is the gospel onely that revealeth the knowledge of god in jesus christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to them that search into the mine of holy writ is opened the treasure of the knowledge of god : and whereas the creatures leade us to the knowledge of god the creator , and the law declares him as a judge , onely the gospel manifesteth him as a redeemer , to wit , god in christ . the gospel then is that which st paul here primarily cals a treasure . it is that metaphor by which christ himself represents it when he compareth the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hid in a field , as it is said to be hid for its mysteriousnesse , so a treasure for its preciousnesse . that we may see the fitnesse of the metaphor , be pleased to take a view of the analogie , and that in two particulars , to wit , the nature and the efficacy of a treasure , what it is , and what it doth . first , if you enquire into the nature of a treasure , that definition may be a full answer , thesaurus dicitur multarum rerum pretiosarum cumulatio , a treasure is an accumulation of many precious things , so that there are two things concur to a treasure , to wit , pretium and copia , value and plenty , worth in the quality , abundance in the quantity . it is not an heap of straw or rubbish that maketh a treasure , since though there is plenty , there is no value ; nor is it a single piece of silver or gold that maketh a treasure ; since though there is value there is not plenty , but many bags of gold and silver , or things of like worth fill up a treasure . both of these we finde and meet with in the gospel , no wonder it is set forth by this appellation . . the truths and doctrines contained in it are choice and excellent , as much worth as our souls , as heaven , as salvation is , nay shall i go higher ? look what worth there is in the riches of gods grace , the precious bloud of christ , that may secondarily be ascribed to the gospel , which discovereth and offereth both to us : no wonder that the greek fathers compare the verities of the gospel to precious stones , and our saviour to a pearl of great price , and the minister in this respect is called a merchant of invaluable jewels . if you please to take a view of those several things to which gods word in general is compared , and which may much more be applied to the gospel in particular , you shall finde its worth set forth by a very observable gradation . the basest metal to which it is compared is silver , and yet that is precious in comparison of lead or brasse or iron ; silver refined from its drosse is of farre more worth then as it is taken out of the mine ; and it is resembled not onely to silver , but silver purified in the fire seven times ; gold is yet of more value by farre then the most purified silver ; many pieces of silver are not aequivalent to one of gold , and yet all gold is not of a like worth , but this is more desirable then gold , yea then fine gold ; rubies are of more account then gold , and yet the wisdome of this word is more precious then rubies , nay that whatsoever else is accounted precious , as pearls , diamonds and the like may not be left out , there is annexed a comprehensive expression , all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her . . there is no lesse variety then excellency in the gospel , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; the doctrines of it are manifold , and of divers kindes , yet all profitable : whatsoever is to be known by us concerning god , christ , our selves , sin , righteousnesse , happinesse , is here delivered , here are wholsome counsels of vertue , righteous precepts of duty , the precious promises of mercy , and the sweet comforts of the holy ghost presented to us . in respect of its counsels and precepts , i may well call it ( to use saint basils phrase ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a plentifull promptuary of good documents . what is it ( oh christian , to follow his expressions ) thou mayest not learn hence ? the measure of patience , the manner of penitence , perfection of prudence , sweetnesse of temperance , exactnesse of justice , and magnanimity of fortitude ? all moral vertues , and all theological graces are both described and prescribed in the gospel . in respect of its comforts and promises , i may well ( to use isidor's comparison ) resemble it to a large and pleasant garden , replenished with variety of fragrant flowers , yielding as it were an heavenly nectar , which will revive the soul in the saddest distresse . whatsoever relations of life thou art placed in , here are fit directions to guide thee . whatsoever condition of misery thou maist be cast into , here are full consolations to support thee . well might st chrysostome say , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the holy scripture is an ever over-flowing fountain that cannot be drawn dry , and an inexhausted treasure that cannot be emptied . to this purpose tend those resemblances of the law , made use of by david , and no lesse justly applicable to the gospel , it is not only better then gold and silver , which are things of value , but thousands , which implieth abundance , and again comparing it to all riches and great spoil , both which contain in them multiplex genus , all sorts of valuable commodities , sheep , oxen , lands , houses , garments , goods , moneys , and the like ; thus are all sorts of spiritual riches , yea abundance of each sort to be had , as in the law , so in the gospel . secondly , as to the efficacy of a treasure , what will it not do ? the latine and our english proverb both assert this , pecuniae omnia obediunt , money answers all things , especially where there is plenty of it , food , raiment , lights , physick , armour , are all to be purchased by a treasure . all this is most true of the gospel . the spouse speaking of christs lips , saith , they drop as the honey-comb , in favomel & cera latent , quorum altero pascimur altera lumen accendimus , sic in sacris literis suavissimus cibus animi & lumen mentis insunt , as in the honey-comb there is honey to yeeld nutriment and wax to give light : so in the scriptures ( chiefly the evangelical ) the soul hath food and the minde light . what an aegyptian king caused to be writ on the door of a well-furnished library , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is fully verified of the gospel , whence may be selected the best , nay the onely receipts to cure a sin-sick person . finally , no such wardrobe as this wherein are to be had the robes of christs righteousnesse , and the ornaments of the spirits graces : no armoury like to this , where all both offensive and defensive weapons against our spiritual enemies are to be found . in a word , what ever the wants of a christian are he may by the gospel finde a sutable supply , very justly then doth this metaphor of a treasure belong to it . but yet this is not all that concerneth the gospels excellency : as there is an analogie , so there is a discrepancy , as in these the gospel and a treasure do agree , so there want not other things wherein the gospel doth far exceed all treasures ; to which end cast your eyes on the . term discriminating , non simpliciter thesaurum , sed hunc inquit thesaurum habemus , he doth not barely say , we have [ a ] but emphatically [ this ] treasure , to intimate that the treasure of the gospel is farre different from and transcendent above all other treasures , which that it may the better appear , take notice of the antithesis in these several particulars . . other treasures are from below , this is from above , those are dig'd out of the bowels of the earth , this is sent from heaven ; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth ? the sands and the rocks are the habitation of pearls and jewels , but the things of the gospel are , and therefore so fitly called by our saviour heavenly things . . other treasures are transient and perishing ; st peters epithete is , corruptible gold and silver ; solomons observation is , that riches take them wings and flee away ; and therefore as they are got with care and kept with fear , so many times lost with grief ; but this treasure is lasting and permanent , the truth of it inalterable , the goodnesse of it unchangeable , hence it is called the good part which cannot be taken away , the meat which perisheth not ; and the word of the lord that endureth for ever . . other treasures are only of corporal use for the profit , comfort and support of the body , and therefore it is they cannot make the possessour either wise or holy or happy . but this treasure enricheth the soul with wisdom and knowledge , grace and holinesse , whereby it becometh a means of happinesse to him that enjoyeth it , by this it is the minde is enlightened , the will inclined , the affections composed , the conscience quieted , and the inward man renewed . . other treasures though virtually they procure severall comforts , yet formally and in their own nature they are but a remedy against poverty . gold and silver in themselves have no feeding or cloathing or defending vertue , nor do they certainly and constantly procure those necessaries : sometimes food is not to be had for money , nor is silver alwaies a defence . and yet further though it may get the things , yet it cannot give an efficacy to them , it may buy food but not a stomack , physick but not health , clothes but not warmth , armour but not safety , lights but not eyes : whereas this treasure is in its own nature all these , and assuredly bringeth strength , wealth , ease , safety , and all spiritual blessings to them that enjoy it , it is such a treasure as is withall an oracle in doubts , a shield against assaults , a counsellor in prosperity , a comforter in adversity , a light in darknesse , and a refuge in danger . . other treasures oft times become destructive to the possessors , it was a sore evil solomon saw under the sun , namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt , indeed both temporall and spirituall hurt accrueth frequently to men by their treasure ; the golden ring hath sometimes lost the finger , and the bag of money exposed the traveller to danger ; yet more often do treasures become nurses of vice , panders to lust , incentives of wickedness , and the mammon of unrighteousness , whereby they ruin the soul , and take away the life of the owners ; in this respect it is that salvian saith excellently of covetous men , perituris simul atque perdentibus student nundinis , they eagerly busie themselves in those merchandizes which are not only perishing in their own nature , but destroy the possessors , whereas this treasure is altogether beneficiall to them that enjoy it ; indeed accidentally it proveth pernicious , becoming to some a savour of death , but this is only to the rejecters and contemners , not to the receivers and possessors of it ; if our gospel be hid , saith the apostle in this chapter , it is hid to them that are lost , and if any be lost to whom the gospel cometh , it s they from whom its hid by the devil and their own corruption blinding their eyes that they see not its worth , and thereby perverting their wils that they refuse its embraces ; but to them that beleeve and do it , it is a savour of life , a wellspring of comfort , a means of their eternall wellfare . finally , other treasures may have the image of a king stamped upon them , such that coyn which had caesars superscription , but this hath the image of god and christ imprinted on it , being therefore called the gospel of god , and the word of christ , other treasures are the blessings of gods left hand ; so it is said of riches and honours , but this is a blessing of gods right hand ; so it is said of the fiery law , and much more is it true of the gospel : how much the right hand excelleth the left , so much this surpasseth all riches . in a word , other treasures make the poor rich , but this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , maketh of mortall immortall , of men in some sense gods . and now upon all these considerations the surpassing worth of this treasure cannot but appear : so as we may truly say , not all the silks of persia , linnen of egypt , spices of arabia , silver of the west , gold of the east , pretious stones of both the indies , are severally , nay joyntly able to equalize it . well may this note of difference be annexed this treasure . what therefore remaineth but that every one of us labour to have the same esteem of the gospel , which st paul had , and which indeed it deserveth ? . let us account it our treasure , and let that appear by doing in reference to the gospel , as men do by treasure . how vehement and active are covetous mens desires after treasure ! they spare no pains to get , nor have they ever enough of it , in their longings they are unsatiable , in their labours indefatigable . such let our desires be after the knowledge of , and acquaintance with evangelicall truths : let us not be satisfied without , no nor yet with the gospel , but as we have it let us strive to have it more abundantly , according to that apostolicall precept , let the word of christ dwel in you richly in all knowledge and wisdom . besides , what care have men to lay up their treasure , when they have got it ? the greek word in its etimology signifieth as much , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and in the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} abscondit , the nown for treasure cometh from a verb that signifieth to hide , there being nothing men more secretly and carefully lay up then their treasures , yea what content do they take in viewing and recounting their bags , populus me sibilat at mihi plaudo ipse domi , said he in the poet , the covetous wretch whilest scorned abroad pleaseth himself at home in his heaps of wealth . so let us lay up the gospel in the cabinet of our souls , and take delight in meditating upon the divine truths contained in it , yea whilest we meet with reproach and persecution from the world , let us solace our selves in the fruition of this treasure . herein let davids practice towards the law of the lord be our pattern in that excellent psalm , wherein he expresseth a singular regard to gods testimonies , the words of thy mouth are better to me then thousands of gold and silver : and again , my hands will i lift up to thy commandments which i have loved , and i will meditate on thy statutes : and again , i have hid thy word in my heart , that i might not sin against thee : and once more , i have rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies , as much as in all riches . . since the gospel is not only comparatively a treasure , but superlatively this treasure , let our estimation and affection towards it have a this upon it , beyond that we have or any can have to other treasures . indeed beloved , though this treasure so far exceed all others , yet well were it if our love to it did equalize that to others ; the truth is , though it is far beyond , yet the most mens valuation of it is far short . what a shame is it that by us who call our selves christians , earth should be preferred before heaven , the world before christ , gold before the gospel ? oh let us blow up the fire , whet the edge , quicken the dulness of our spirituall affection , that if possible , it may not only parallel , but outvie our earthly desires , and with that wise merchant in the gospel , we may sell all we have to buy this pearl . and so much be spoken of the first part , the character here given to the gospel : i now pass on to those by which the preachers of the gospel are represented , and therein the word of description , vessels . the word both in hebrew and greek is many times taken in a large acception for instrumentum an utensill in an house , or any thing that is used as the instrument of accomplishing any work , and so the hebrew word is rendred , where we reade of the instruments of cruelty , and the instruments of death , and in this sense it is true of the ministers , they are instruments in the hand of christ for the great work of gathering his church ; but most properly it signifieth receptaculum , an instrument of containing any thing , and in this sense it may be here fitly construed , nor do there want fit resemblances in which the messengers of christ are like to vessels : more particularly in these four respects . . vessels are not naturall but artificial instruments : nature affords the materials , but art and industry produce the form by which it hath the capacity of a vessel . it is no less true of ministers , nemo nascitur christianus , no man is born a christian , much less a minister : indeed ex quovis ligno non fit mercurius , there must be natural parts in them that undertake this function , but those are not sufficient : and therefore in the first plantation of the church , god did by immediate inspiration , and the collation of extraordinary gifts , enable men for the discharge of this office , and afterwards in the growth and progresse of the church ; that inspiration ceasing , so as no more to be expected , there was and still ought to be a training up of youth in the tongues , arts and sciences , and after that a great deal of industry ( joyned with ardent prayer ) in the study of the scriptures and theologicall verities by them that take upon them this sacred calling . the truth is , whatever account the men of this age make of a ministers work , yet it is so weighty and divine an imployment , that no small time and pains must be spent in preparation for it . and if st paul , whom christ cals a chosen vessel , and accordingly in a singular measure , not only above other ministers , but apostles , fitted for this service , cried out , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; who is sufficient for these things ? how justly reprovable is their rashnesse , who whilst they can lay no just claim to an immediate inspiration , suddenly and unpreparedly enter upon this high imployment ? indeed such as these there have been in former times , who are called by leo , momentanei sacerdotes , and gregory nazianzen stileth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such as in a day , a moment turned priests . modò idiota mox clericus , now laicks and anon clerks . but what swarms of such extemporary and illiterate preachers abound in this age , who to use that elegant fathers expression , owe more sacrifices for their own , then the peoples ignorances ; and as those romans of old called cincinnati were advanced a stivâ & aratro ad dictatores , from the plough to be dictators , so these skip from the shopboard to the pulpit . it was a sad but just complaint , and too sutable to our times that gregory nazianzen took up in his daies , no man is accounted a physitian that hath not first studied the natures of diseases , nor a painter that hath not been exercised in drawing of lineaments , and laying on of colours , but preachers are found easily such as have never bestowed time or taken pains in preparing themselves for that service . oh how shall the very heathen rise up at the last day and condemn the men of this generation ! plutarch tels us that the virgins which were to attend diana's temple , were for many years brought up as it were in a school , and called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such as should administer sacred rites , and then being sufficiently instructed they were called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , admitted to their divine mysteries , and afterwards they became {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} instructers of others . surely if the light of nature taught them to use so much care in educating those who were to perform the worship of a false goddess , how shamefull is the blindness of those christians who think some naturall abilities of memory and elocution sufficient to qualifie a priest of the true and most high god . . vessels are not all of equal capacity , some are lesse , others greater ; severall trades have vessels of divers sizes : so is it among ministers , both in respect of offices and gifts . in the beginning of christianity there were some apostles , some prophers , some evangelists , and soon after there were some bishops , some priests , some deacons , and this variety of orders hath ever conduced much to the unity , harmony and beauty of the church . this diversity is no lesse apparent in regard of gifts , all have not alike abilities , nor are equally fitted for this sacred employment ; there is indeed a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} competency of gifts which every one attaineth to whom god calleth to this work : but though all have some yet not the same gifts , as st paul puts the question , intending thereby a negation , are all apostles , are all prophets ? so may i say in this , all are not chrysostome's and chrysologuse's for golden mouthed oratory , all are not epiphaniuse's and augustine's for confutation of heresies ; all are not like hierome for skill in languages , and athanasius for profound knowledge : god who is a most free agent dispenseth endowments variously according to the pleasure of his own will : some with elisha have a double portion of eliah's spirit , yea with benjamin , their messe is five times bigger then their brethren , whilest he giveth to others with a more sparing and narrow hand . the ministers of the gospel are elsewhere resembled to stars , and among others for this reason , as all stars are not of the same magnitude nor of the same lustre , so is it in the firmament of the church , one star differeth from another in glory , and one minister from another in gifts . i shut up this with gregory nissen his observation concerning solomons chariot , the pillars wherof were silver , the botome gold , and the covering purple ; which that father applieth to the church , and by the severall parts thereof understandeth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the preachers of the word , some whereof have golden , others silver , others purple gifts , of different degrees and excellencies . . vessels are not the originals of what they have , but it is poured into and received by them . the well hath a spring in it that yieldeth the water , but the cistern must have it conveyed into it . the mines have the treasure in their own bowels , but it is put into the chest . the parallel holds in the preachers of the gospel , who are not the authors but only the receivers of those truths they publish ▪ what st paul saith of himself , is true of every faithfull minister , i have received of the lord that which also i delivered unto you . to this purpose it is observable that the hebrew word which we render report properly signifieth hearing , intimating that we must first hear from god before we speak to men , and speak nothing but what we hear . in reference to this it is that the bishops in clements constitutions are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the receivers and proclaimers of gods word . among other resemblances preachers are compared to ambassadours , and as the ambassadour speaketh not from himself , but that message his prince puts into his mouth , so must every messenger of god . excellently to this effect vincentius lirenensis occasionally treating of that of st paul to timothy , keep the good thing committed to thee . it is committed to thee , not to be invented by thee , what thou hast received , not what thou hast fancied . not framed by thy own wit , but taught by another ; of which thou art not an author but a keeper , in which not a leader but a follower ; so was timothy , so is every minister in respect of divine truths . i close up this with that expression of the apostle to the corinthians , god maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place : we manifest the savour , but it is of his knowledge , to wit that knowledge we receive from him , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith oecumenius aptly upon the place . the incense is heavenly , we are only as the censors that contain it , and carry about the savour of it . . vessels are not only for reception , but effusion , as they receive and retain , so they let out what is put into them ; yea the vessel receiveth for this end , not only that it may keep , but that it may part with its liquor ; such ought the ministers of the gospel to be , not only conchae , but canales , condi , but promi shels to retain , but pipes to convey the divine nectar , layers up but layers out of this heavenly treasure . the apostle speaking of the ordinary ministers , describeth them by two titles , the one metaphoricall , the other proper , to wit pastors and teachers , the latter of which , saith st augustine , is annexed , vt intelligerent pastores ad officium suum pertinere doctrinam , that pastors may know it is a chief part of their office to teach and instruct the people . the stomack receiveth not food for it self , but to nourish the body , the steward money to imploy for his own use only , but to provide for the family ; and the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man , especially ministers , to profit withall . this treasure is a depositum , a trust committed , and that for uses , and those not private but publike ; this light is communicated not to be hid under a bushell , but for the illumination and consolation of them that are in the house . it was christs promise to his apostles to give them os & sapientiam , a mouth and wisdom : what a vessell is without a vent , that is wisdom without a mouth . wisdom that is hid and a treasure not seen , what profit is in them both ? indeed a mouth without wisdom may prove pernicious , and wisdom without a mouth cannot be profitable , christs ministers have both , wisdom in themselves , and a mouth to instruct others . and so much the more reason have those vessels to communicate this treasure , because it is not impaired by imparting . indeed this is another excellency wherein this treasure transcends all earthly treasures ; these waste by spending , this is not at all diminished by distributing . as the seal maketh an impression on the wax . the fire conveyeth the heat into iron . one candle lighteth many without any losse of figure , heat or light ; so the communicating of this treasure will inrich others without impoverishing our selves : here is no place for that allegation of the virgins , not so , least there be not enough for you and us : never any had the lesse knowledge himself , by teaching others : nay the truth is this treasure absconsione minuitur , communicatione multiplicatur , is lessened by hiding , multiplied by imparting ; like the widows oyl in the vessel , that increased by pouring out , that being ever verified , to him that hath shall be given . and thus in all these respects are preachers fitly compared unto vessels . the vse of this particular is that which concerneth my reverend brethren of the clergy , that they seek by prayer , and labour to be more and more fitted for their function , that those of meaner gifts do not envy them that have greater , nor they that have greater , despise those that have meaner ; that they deliver nothing but what they have received from above . finally , that they hide not their talents in a napkin , but lay out their parts and strength for the peoples good . but it is not fit for me , who am minimus apostolorum , to be your instructer , besides i doubt not your piety and wisdom hath already prevented my discourse in your meditations , and therefore i passe on to the word of diminution , earthly , one hath well observed the elegancy of the antithesis , thesauri pretium opponit vilitati involucri , what more pretious then this treasure ? what more vile then earthen vessels ? indeed the candlesticks by which as generally the churches , so eminently the bishops of those churches are to be understood , are said to be golden , and yet here these vessels are called earthen ; both may well stand together , golden in respect of the solidity of their doctrine , purity of their conversation , and yet earthen in regard of the frailty of their condition . the chief question to be discussed is , upon what grounds the apostle thus denominateth to himself and his fellow laboures . to which a threefold answer may well be and is returned by interpreters . the term of earthen is fastened by st paul upon the ministers , respectu status , personae , corporis , in respect of their state , persons and bodies , the two former more speciall relating to the apostles , though too often verified in severall ages of their successours ; the last more generall , as being common to all the messengers of god , that have been are or shall be . in regard of their state , which is for the most part mean and low in the world , golden and silver vessels are of worth and price , but earthen are of little or no value , such is the usuall condition of gods messengers who are frequently exposed to want and penury . instances in this kinde are numerous , and that in most eminent worthies , gregory nazianzen saith of st basill , that he had only what was necessary for his sustentation , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , his riches was to have nothing . st augustine who was rich to religion , to the church , yet was poor to himself , and therefore when he died , he made no will , since as possidius saith of him , vnde conderet pauper christi non habebat , the poor saint had nothing whence he should lay up an estate . st cyprian whose life was golden , death purple , manners pretious , yet his estate was low . christs own disciples were poor fisher-men , viles arte , obscuri vitae labore . nay st paul himself was no other then a tent-maker , a trade that could not inrich him , yea beholding to almes for his supply . thus as the poor receive the gospel , so they that publish it are many times poor and low ; not that thus it ought to be , as the opinion of too many in our daies is , who would have ministers live like beggars , upon benevolence , and account it a prudent policy to keep them poor . st paul ( though upon special grounds he was pleased to condescend to that way of livelihood ) yet asserts maintenance to be the ministers due , and this not narrow , but ample and honourable ; what else meaneth that character , which , among others , he giveth of the ministers in the epistles , both to timothy and titus , that they should be lovers of , yea given to hospitality , since it is no small competency of estate , which besides both the present and future provision for his family , will inable a man to be hospitable . but yet thus most usually it fals out , through the impiety and iniquity of men , that the preachers of the gospel are necessitous and indigent , earthen vessels . it is that therefore which they should make account of , not to be great or rich in this world , comforting themselves with this meditation , that their reward is with the lord . . in regard of their persons : earthen vessels being little worth are light set by , whiles golden and silver vessels are locked up safely , and onely used for the entertainment of speciall guests : earthen vessels stand in open places , are used by every servant , nay many times are trampled under foot ; so is it with the preachers of the gospel , they are viles , abjecti hominum estimatione , base and despised in the eyes of wicked men . our blessed saviour speaking to his disciples , calleth them a little flock , though they were to be shepherds of the people , yet they were a flock in respect of christ . but why a little flock ? surely not only in respect of quantity but quality ; let chrysologus give the reason , grex pusillus mundo , magnus deo. a flock great indeed in christs , but little in mans eyes . chosen vessels they are by god , but rejected by the world ; and to use the prophet jeremies expression , vessels wherein there is no pleasure . what that emperour fredrick the d said concerning kings , an nescitis principes quasi signum populo expositos ? do you not know that they are oft times as a gazing stock to the people ? may as truly be affirmed of ministers . the prophet isaiah useth an expression not much unlike , concerning himself and the children god gave him , that they were for signes and wonders in israel : nor did eliah , elisha , micaiah , jeremy and the other prophets fare any better then he , in the places where they prophesied , but were mocked , misused and despised by the sons of belial among whom they lived . what entertainment the apostles found let st paul speak , we are made as the filth of the world , and are the offscouring of all things to this day . both the words there are mentioned by the late learned expositor , refer'd to the same thing , and were used among the grecians , concerning that refuse , vile person which was picked out to be a lustration for a city in a publique calamity , of whom they said when they had burnt him , and cast the ashes into the sea , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; thus contemptible and odious was st paul and the other faithfull messengers of christ in the jews and heathens esteem . should i trace the footsteps of ecclesiasticall history , i might tell you how cyprian was nick-named coprian , athanasius sathanasius , and still they that have been most orthodox and zealous preachers , have met with the greatest despite and opposition from hereticall , schismaticall and prophane persons . but i need not seek for instances abroad , when there are so many at home . indeed we may remember those halcion daies when both wealth and honour attended those who serve at the altar , and the clergy ( as they ought to be ) were accounted worthy of , and accordingly received double honour . but at this day how doth sad experience verifie , that the priests are made the lowest of the people ! that complaint of the church may most justly now be taken up , they regard not the person of the priests . yea , as if some new cadmus had sown the earth with sauls teeth , and shimei's tongue , they belch out contumelies against gods ministers . many of these vessels , and those most accomplished for this sacred service , are laied aside as useless , rejected as worthless , and tantum non only not dashed in pieces . nay to that height of impiety are many come , that not only our persons are despicable , but our very function is contemptible in their eyes . oh that such would consider how near they strike at god himself . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith ignatius truly , which we may english by that of our saviour , he that despiseth you despiseth me , and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me . nor let my brethren of the clergie be too much discouraged because disregarded : it was a notable speech of the philosopher to one that reproached him , tu proferendis ego perferendis injuriis idoneus , let us be as ready to bear , as they forward to cast disgrace upon us . cast your eyes on the two next verses to my text , and observe st pauls heroicall expressions , such indeed as well befit a minister of the gospel , we are troubled on every side , yet not distressed , perplexed , but not in despair , persecuted , but not forsaken , cast down , but not discouraged : though our persons be as earthen vessels in the worlds estimation , and so used or rather abused , yet let not our spirits like earthen vessels be broken by any affliction , nay rather remember what christ said to his disciples in the like case , rejoyce and be exceeding glad , for great is your reward in heaven , and so persecuted they the prophets which were before , you are come in their stead , and therefore must expect their usage , and it is a comfort you do but pledge them in that cup of which they have drank to you before , you do but follow them in that way which they have tracked already , so persecuted they the prophets , yea and the apostles too , in which regard they are here called earthen vessels . . lastly , this epithete earthen is annexed to these vessels , the preachers of the word , in reference to their bodies , as their mean condition , base estimation ; so their bodily constitution proclaimeth them earthen , this is that which is common to ministers with the people , since though in regard of their calling they are prae aliis far before others , yet in this respect they are sicut caeteri , such as others . . thus their bodies are earthen because formed of the dust of the earth , testacea secundum originem , so tertullian , earthly in their original , upon which ground they are called houses of clay , the inhabitant indeed is heavenly , but the body earthy : vas fictile nil aliud quam lutum igne coctum , as earthen vessels , so are our bodies fashioned out of clay . . again , as earthen vessels are subject to flaws and cracks , yea to breaking in pieces , so are our bodies liable to sicknesses , diseases , till at last by death they fall and are broken in pieces . in this respect the apostle paul , calling the body an earthen house , addeth presently , be dissolved . to this purpose is grotius his paraphrase , in corpore multis malis obnoxio quod facile frangitur , we have this treasure in bodies subject to many evils , and at last to a dissolution . this construction is that which both the greek and latine fathers generally take it in . among the greeks , st chrysostome speaketh very fully to this sense , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he useth this term of earthen to denote the mortality of our nature , infirmity of our flesh , which by diseases and a thousand other accidents is exposed to death , and so dissolution . among the latines st ambrose speaketh to the same effect , fictilia vasa dicens infirmitatem naturae significat , the weakness of our nature is signified by the earthen vessell , and therefore st jerome explaineth it by the term fragilis ; and theophylact by the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are frail mortall bodies we carry about with us : and as earthen vessels are easily , suddenly broken asunder , one fall on the ground in a moment dasheth them in pieces ; so are the bodies of gods ministers subject to a speedy and sudden dissolution , whereby they become unserviceable to the church . indeed in one thi ng there is a difference , earthen vessels when they break , break irrecoverably , so as the pieces cannot be reunited ; but the bodies of the saints and faithfull ministers of christ , though they moulder into dust , shall at the last day be repaired , refined and made gloriously beautifull . they differ then in the consequent of the breaking , but in the breaking it self they agree , and therefore fitly are our bodies called earthen vessels . the greek word here used {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which properly signifieth the shell of a fish , and in this sense ( as criticall interpreters observe ) it agrees with the matter in hand , it being ordinary to lay up those things we value in shels or boxes and cabinets made of such : and withall those shels in regard of ther brittleness are apt resemblances of our bodies . the platonists who fancy two bodies , one more spiritual , which they call {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the chariot that carrieth the soul in it ; the other more grosse , that which we see and feel , call this latter {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because it is in their opinion as a shell which hath a finer body within it : this being but a fancy i leave it , the true reason of this expression , whether you render it shels or earthen vessels is , because as these so the body is of a frail nature , easily and quickly destroyed , nor have the bodies of ministers any greater priviledge then others : we that preach eternal life are dying men , yea whilest the word of life is in our mouths , many times death is in our faces . this wolf will not only worry the sheep but the shepherd : this enemy will not only set upon the souldiers but the captain : this plunderer will seize upon the crown and the mitre , the scarlet and the rochet : and as at chess when the game is done not only the pawns , but the bishops , yea king and queen are tumbled down and put into the bag : so not only mean and vulgar persons , but princes and priests fall down by death into the grave ; and as judges , though they be shields of the earth , are but earthen shields ; so ministers though vessels that carry this treasure , yet are but earthen vessels . to winde up this in a word of caution and exhortation . do not think the worse of , or value the treasure the less because brought in an earthen vessell . it is that folly , yea wickedness of which too many are guilty , who because they are men that speak to them , think the message is not gods , measureing the worth of the treasure by the meanness of that which conveyeth it ; but tell me , i beseech you , will any man value gold the less , because brought to him in a leathern purse ; or slight a pretious pearl , because found on a dirty dunghill ? and why then should the gospel be undervalued because they are mortall men that preach it ? the truth is we have cause to admire and bless both the power and the goodness of god , his power which by such weak means accomplisheth so great a work ; indeed as the apostle here tels us for this reason the treasure is in such vessels , that the excellency of the power might be of god , his goodness which is pleased to lay it up in such vessels that it may be the easier come by , to speak to us by men like our selves with whom we familiarly converse ; he could if he had pleased have put this treasure in heavenly vessels , used the ministry of angels , but we could not have received it so comfortably from them ; so that in reference to us god is pleased to make men the instruments of publishing the gospels mysteries , and as it is his mercifull condescention that he is pleased to deliver heavenly truths in earthly similitudes , so is it no less that he maketh them known by earthly men . and to carry it a little further , let us be so far from despising this treasure because of the vessell , as not only to bless god who hath put it into such vessels , but to honour the vessell because of the treasure . vtrumne quia testacea est secundum originem scilicet ex limo destruetur , an quia divini thesauri conditorium est extolletur ? saith tertullian rationally . shall the vessell be cast by because it is earthly , or shall it not rather be preferred because it is the repository of a choice treasure ? let me therefore beseech you in st pauls words to the thessalonians , to know them which labour among you and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake , measure them not by their frail natures but their honourable imployment , not by what they finde from the world , but by what they deserve ; they are earthen , adore them not as gods , but the treasure they bring is heavenly , honour them as men of god , let not the treasure be contemned for the vessels sake , but the vessels be esteemed for the treasures sake . . the word of exhortation concerneth . partly us who are of the clergy , that we follow the pattern which our lord and master hath set us where he saith , i must work the work of him that sent me whilest it is day , the night cometh when no man can work . oh let us break this bread of life before we be broken by death , burn and shine in doctrine and conversation before our lamp be put out ; do all the good we can by imparting this treasure , before our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved , but i hope there is not much need to enlarge in this . . partly you who are of the laity , that you learn . to make much of your conscientious painfull ministers : the more pretious the liquor , and the more brittle the vessell , the more chary are men of it . oh how tender should you be of them who , though weak creatures , bring the glad tidings of salvation to you ? a friend that cometh to us but cannot stay long with us , how much is he made of , and how freely entertained by us , and will you have no regard of those who are both yours and the bridegrooms friends ? and ere long must be taken from you ? nay let me tell you , no readier way to hasten their removall then your disregard , nor will god long continue his candlesticks among that people , who do not prize them and their light . . make use of them , and get all the good you can from them whilest they live : if one have borrowed a book which ere long must be returned to the owner , how diligent is he in picking and transcribing what notes he can out of it : we are but lent you for a time , and that during the good pleasure of god . as christ said to his disciples , so may we to you , vs you shall not have alwaies with you : oh suck all the knowledge you can from our lips whilest we are able to speak to you , and hear us every day as if it were to be the last day you should hear us . and truly never more need of practising this duty then now , not only because ministers are earthen vessels , that is subject to mortality , but because they are earthen , that is despised in these times , and who knoweth how far god may permit the malice of wicked men to proceed , it may be to the breaking , or if not , yet to stopping the vent of these vessels . the mouthes of your ministers must in a few years be stopped with dust when they are laid in the grave , it may be before that they may be silenced from publique preaching the gospel : oh therefore be wise to improve the present opportunities god puts into your hands ! suck the milk of instruction from the breasts of these nurses , whilest they are able to give it you : buy the oyle of consolation from these spirituall merchants , whilest they can sell it you ; do as the egyptians , who when nilus overfloweth the banks , dig pits to put water in , that they may have supply when it shall return to its channell . do as the shell-fish , which taketh in moisture whilest the tides flow in upon them , that may preserve them when it ebbeth , and leaveth them dry . finally , do as joseph , who in the years of plenty laid up store against the famine came . oh be diligent to fill the vessel of your hearts with that divine treasure which these vessels yield , against the time when you may , nay must be deprived of them ; they can instruct , exhort and comfort no longer then life , you have no assurance of their lives , they have none of their own , how long they shall continue ; nay indeed , both they and you are assured they cannot continue long , being but earthen vessels , mortall men . but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . a dolefull instance of this scriptures verity we have in the sad occasion of this daies solemnity : the death of this faithfull minister of christ , affectionate son of the church , vigilant shepherd of his people , mr richard goddard , whose livelesse dust lieth before us , and now my discourse like a circle is returned to the point where i began , our deceased brother , whose losse is deservedly to be lamented , and worth highly to be commended . indeed should i have fulfilled his modest desire , his name and vertues must have been buried in oblivion as well as his body in a grave : but had i in this satisfied his will , i must have been at once injurious to gods honour , his memory , and others profit , since by paying the tribute of praise to gods dear servants , we advance gods glory , perpetuate their remembrance , and adde spurs to the pious endeavours of those who survive . i could heartily have wished that this double task both of speaking to so reverend and worthy an assembly , and of so choise and eminent a person , had been imposed on some one of these many silver trumpets whom i have now in my eye ; but the undeserved respects of my dear friend by will put me upon the one , and his superlative merit and my due regard to his name , though it be against his will , obligeth me to the other . i shall not expatiate in his just and due character , and therein somewhat correspond to his desire : indeed i need not , his worth being so well known already , both in city and countrey , he is gone out not like a common candle in a snuffe or stinke , but like a taper , hath left a sweet savour behinde him in the nostrils of all that know him . that i may the more both sutably and succinctly delineate those graces ( which though they are gone with him for his comfort , do yet stay behinde him for his honour and our imitation . ) i shall make use of the metaphor of a vessell which we meet with here in the text . a vessell indeed he was a choice vessell : what eusebius calleth st hierome , i may well apply to him , he was vas virtutum admirabile , a vessell adorned with an admirable variety of naturall abilities , morall virtues , and spirituall graces , every way fitted and furnished for that divine imployment to which god had called him . what st basill said of gregory nazianzen , i may say of him , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he was a deep well , an elect vessell , and as it were the mouth of christ . to say much in a few words , for knowledge and wisdom he was a vessell of gold , for purity and innocency a vessell of silver , for uprightnesse and integrity , a vessell of transparent glasse ; for resolution and courage in suffering ( of which he had his share ) a vessell of brasse ; for perseverance and constancy in the orthodox faith , a vessell of stone ; and which was the crown of all , for lowliness and humility an earthen vessell ; since whilest he was glorious in the eyes of others , he was contemptible in his own . a vessell he was full of all sorts of pretious liquor , the wine of zealous devotion , the oyle of pitifull compassion , the honey of a sweet disposition , the water of penitent contrition , and the milk of spiritual consolation . to come nearer to the text and him , he was a vessel to whom this treasure of the gospel , and the dispensation of it was committed , which how conscionably , diligently , faithfully , frequently ( as farre as the weaknesse of his body would permit ) he discharged , i doubt not but many here can and will attest : he was a vessel not closed but open , not with a narrow but a large vent . that worldly treasure of estate he had , he was continually imparting to his distressed brethren in his life , and at his death bequeathed a full fifth of his estate to them who can hardly obtain a fifth of their own . and this heavenly treasure of the gospel he did with no lesse alacrity distribute among his people ; how many of all degrees from all parts , golden , silver , earthen vessels were filled at his ! noble , rich , poor persons , all inriched their souls with the treasure that was dispensed by his lips . methinks many of you are now calling to minde in what a clear method , choice words and fit phrases , with what pregnant similitudes , plentifull illustrations , pithy perswasions , sweet insinuations , powerfull inducements , allegations of antiquity , and variety of good literature ( so as both the learned may receive satisfaction , and the meanest reap benefit ) he did preach the word amongst you . finally , that which compleateth his character , this vessell retained the sent , the vertue of that himself which he poured out to others : the course of his life was consonant to the tenour of his preaching , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as gregory nazianzen saith of st basill , he spake what was to be done , and did what he spake , he did not only {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , scienter praedicare , but innocentia agere , order his preaching , but conversation aright . that sickness which occasioned the breaking of this pretious vessel was indeed sharp and short , but as himself expressed to me at the beginning of it , he did not fear , because already prepared for death . and though the violence of the disease oppressing his spirits , suppressed the freedom of his speech , yet ( blessed be god ) it did not bereave him of his senses , nor wholly of his speech , in so much that not many hours before his death he made to a loving friend of his there present , a pious confession of his faith and hope , so that what st ambrose said of himself , non sic vixi ut me pudeat vivere , nec mori timeo quia bonum , dominum habemus , i may truly affirm of him , he so lived that he was neither ashamed nor afraid to die . the vessel of his body is now broken by the hand that formed it ( to which i desire we may all submit ) yea that service which he was made for is now finished , else he had continued longer . as for the pearl that was in this casket , his soul , i doubt not but it is safe in abrahams bosome ; yea the vessel of his body rests in hope of restoring and reinjoying that pearl , when it shall be for ever a vessel of honour , glory and immortality . i have now only a double word to present , . the one to the reverend clergie of this city here present , those particularly who have yet the liberty of their function , that according to our several abilites we would endeavour as much as may be by our diligent preaching , exemplary living , to make up the losse of this our brother . methinks god speaketh to us this day , as he did to joshuah in another case , moses my servant is dead , be strong and of a good courage , ever remembring that such a pillar being taken away , the greater burden lieth upon our shoulders . . the other to his religious auditors , and especially his well-affected parishioners . he that stood in this place like a jacob to rowl away the stone from the well , open the difficult places of scripture to you , is now removed from you ; he that stood like a carefull watchman to awake and warn you , is now by death put to silence : finally , he that like a sun shined with the beams of instruction and consolation among you in this horizon , is now gone down , and which is the more sad , your eyes shall see him no more till the last day the morning of the resurrection . the bottle which filled you is now emptied , the vessell which enriched you is now broken , the gourd whose shadow refreshed you is now withered ; and i am confident , so ardent was the love towards him , so great the benefit you received by him , that i need not bid you be sensible of the losse . the more needfull counsell is to be content with , and patient under it ; and so much the rather , because it is no more then what you ought to expect , and especially in regard of him who was not only an earthen vessell , but one that had such a flaw , i mean disease , which would ere long have broken him . and now beloved , though the vessell be broken , yet let not the treasure be lost ; do you by him as ireneus did by polycarpus , keep fresh in his memory his sermons , his discourses , his goings out and comings in . this is the best way to remember him , by remembring his counsels ; to mourn for him , by mourning for your unfruitfulness under his labours , to honour him by expressing the efficacy of his doctrine in your hearts and lives . nor let it be an unwelcome admonition to you ( with which i will close ) be carefull whom you choose to succeed this our reverend brother : not one that shall pull down what he hath built , but rear up what he hath laied ; pluck up what he hath planted , but water what he hath sown ; not one that shall succeed him ( to use gregory nazianzen's expression ) as night after day , a disease after health , a frenzy after use of reason , and a storm after a calm ; but rather as a sweet shower after a warm sun-shine , and a ripening summer after a budding spring . to this end , as when joshuah was dead the children of israel askt of the lord , who shall go up for us against the canaanites , so do you now the captain is dead , consult with god , beg of him to direct you in the election of one who may leade you in the battell against your spiritual enemies : and withall as you seek to god , so look into his word , and let those directions which are there given be the rule of your election ; so may you expect and shall obtain such an one by whom your faith shall be edified , and thereby ( that which was his earnest desire ) the salvation of your souls accomplished . finis . sermons preached and printed by mr nathanaell hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church . jvstice triumphing , or the spoilers spoiled : a sermon preached on the th of november in the cathedrall church of st pauls . the arraignment of licentious liberty and oppressing tyranny , in a sermon at a fast before the lords in parliament ; in the abbey-church at westminster . faiths victory over nature , a sermon preached at the funerals of mr john rushout junior . the safest convoy or the strongest helper , a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sr thomas bendish barronet , his majesties ambassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople . a divine prospective representing the just mans peacefull end , a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sr john gayr knight . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony , a sermon occasioned by the nuptials between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams . divinity in mortality , or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty , a sermon at the funerals of mr richard goddard minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls . printed , and are to be sold by nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north-door , . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . bas. mag. in isa. c. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pel. . ep. . kin. . , per tales deus placatur populo populus instruitur deo prosp. de vit contempl. . c. ult. sam. . . lam. . , . zech. . . zech. . . facit hoc propter pseudapostolos quibus hoc erat 〈◊〉 consueto , ut ex afflictionibus ipsius argumentum experent vilipendendi ipsius ministerium . musc. in loc. gener . . partic. . vers . . thesauro sacramentum significatur , dei in christo , quod fidelibus erogatur , incredulis absconditur . ambros. & anselm . in loc. de lumine quod illuxerit deus in cordibus nostris ad illuminationē agnitionis gloriae suae in personae christi dicit habere nos thesaurum . tertul. de resur. carnis , c. . phil. . . suid. john . . vers. . thesaurum vocat munus sibi creditum à deo hoc est ipsum ministerium evangelii . est . in loc. tim. . . rom. . . ver. . cor. . . mark . . cor. . . mat. . . gr. thaumat . serm. . in aununt . b.m.v. mat. . . avend . in mat. eph. . . pet. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . athan. de virg. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} chrysost. hom in gen. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pel. l. . ep. . psal. . . psal. . . . . prov. . , . basil . in ps. . basil . in psal. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; bas. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pol. l. . epist. . chrysost. hom . in gen. psal. . . . avend . ibid. cant. . . ph. carpath . musc. in loc. joh. . . pet. . . prov. . . luk. . . john . . pet. . . eccles. . . prov. . . salv. contr. avarit . l. . cor. . . vers. . rom. . . col. . . prov. . . deut. . just . mart. ad ●u . adhort . ● . col. . . psal. . vers. . . . . gener . . partie . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . vox apud hebraeos & graecos ponitur pro quovis instrumento . loc. in act. . . gen. . . psal. . . act. . . cor. . . leo apud grat. dist. . gr. naz. or . justinian . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. orat. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. orat. . cor. . . rev. . . cor. . . cant. . . . gr. niss . hom in cant. cor. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isa. . . non a seipso sed ab eo qui cum mittit legatus loquitur . velacq . in phil. cor. . . tim. . . quid est depositum , id est , quod tibi creditum est non quod a te inventum , quod accepisti non quod excogitasti , rem non ingenii sed doctrinae , non usurpationis privatae sed publicae traditionis , rem , ad te profectam non a te prolatā , in quâ non autor debes esse sed custos , non institutor sed sectator non ducens sed sequens . vinc. lyr. adv. haer cap. . cor. . . occumen . in loc. aug. ep. . cor. . . luc. . . wisd. . . matth. . . cassiod . in ep. matth. . . quò in plures diffunditur eò redundantior manat . ambr. . offic. cap. . ambr. . off . cap. . partic. . non illustres sed humiles , & nullis humanae potentiae , fortunae , praerogativis spectabiles . musc. in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. or . tim. . . tit. . . est . in loc. lap. in loc. chrysolog . serm. . jer. . . isa. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . cor. . . dr hammond on the new testament . lam. . . ignat. epist. ad smyrn. luc. . . aristippus . vers. , . matth. . . tertull. job . . lap. in loc. cor. . . grot. in loc. chrysost. in loc. hier. & theoph. in loc. grot. in loc dr hammond in loc psal. . . . a necessary caution . tertull. de resur. cor. c. . thes. . , . jo. . . mar. . . in vita ambr. josh. . , . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. or . judg. . . cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, the reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bowyer, merchant, who died the th day of february , and was buried the th of the same moneth, in the parish church of st. olaves jewry / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, the reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bowyer, merchant, who died the th day of february , and was buried the th of the same moneth, in the parish church of st. olaves jewry / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed for josepph cranford ..., london : . errata: p. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng bowyer, thomas, d. . bible. -- n.t. -- james i, -- sermons. funeral sermons. temptation -- sermons. a r (wing h ). civilwar no carduus benedictus, the advantage of affliction, or the reward of patience. unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bow hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion carduus benedictus , the advantage of affliction , or the reward of patience . unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr thomas bowyer merchant , who died the th day of february , and was buried the th of the same moneth , in the parish church of st olaves jewry . by nath. hardy minister of st dionys. back-church . job . . behold , happy is the man whom god correcteth , therefore despise not thou the chastening of the almighty . james . . behold we count them happy which endure . you have heard of the patience of job , and have seen the end of the lord . ambros. de offic. quae putantur mala , non solum impedimenta non sunt ad vitam beatam , sed etiam ad meritum adjuvant . london , printed for joseph cranford at the sign of the castle and lyon in st. pauls churchyard . . to his much respected friend mr henry bowyer merchant . the memory of the just ( saith the wise man ) is blessed , or more sutably to the originall ) for a blessing : and that in regard of god , whom we are excited to bless and praise , by remembring the vertues of the just ; us , to whom the remembrance of his good example ( if attended with imitation ) is a blessing , and will lead us to blessedness ; him , on whom this is conferrd as a blessing , that though his body rot , his name shall not , but be remembred ( according to the vulgar latine from the ) with praise and honour . that the memoriall of your dead brother's exemplary life might be kept alive and perpetuated to succeeding generations , the publication of this plain piece was earnestly desired by your self with many of his friends , and readily yeelded to by me since ; though i do not judge the sermon worthy to be printed , yet i am sure he is worthy to be remembred . to this end i have endeavoured in the close of the sermon , to draw his picture , not to the length ( i confess ) but ( i hope ) to the life , so truly , that i dare say , whoever well knew him , and shall view this portraiture , will acknowledg it to be like , and not at all flattering ; which that it may be the more publikely beheld , i have by the printers help , hung it in a convenient light ; and now ( worthy friend ) before i take pen from paper , give me leave to annex a word of gratulation , in a thankfull acknowledgment of those many undeserved kindnesses which were vouchsafed to me by the deceased , and are continued by your self ; exhortation , which concerneth as well my self and all who shall peruse this discourse , as you , that ( to allude to the philosophers phrase ) we would all bear the colour of this dead servant of god , by following his excellent pattern . supplication to the great god , for you , your vertuous consort , and posterity . that divine bounty may continually pour upon you all these graces and blessings which conduce to your present and future well being , is and shall be the prayer of your very reall friend nath. hardy . the reward of patience . james . ver. . blessed is the man that endureth temptation : for when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . christian religion is a volume of paradoxes , and its oracles ( though not like apollos ambiguous , yet ) aenigmaticall ; whether you view matters of faith or practise , of promise or precept , you shall finde the most of them to be so many riddles ; and yet though they be not verisimilia , seeming probabilities , they are vera , reall verities ; yea , those contradictions to carnall reason are excellent sence to faith . if you cast your eyes upon this scripture which i have now read , what else doth it appear at the first aspect , but a strange and dark saying ? some of the learned have enumerated severall centuries of opinions amongst the philosophers concerning blessedness ; but not one amongst them all pitcheth upon this . the meer moralists would as soon place the element of fire in the water , or the sun in a cloud , as happiness in affliction , blessedness in enduring : but if you view the text again , and read it throughout , you will find it an undeniable truth , such as though carnall reason knoweth not how to understand , yet it can not gainsay ; in which respect i may well call it an orthodox paradox , well worthy my discussion and your attention ; blessed is the man that endureth temptation , for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . if you well observe the text , you will find it consists of two generalls ; a strange affirmation , and a strong confirmation : or , if you will , an obscure proposition , and a clear exposition . the former in those words , blessed is the man that endureth temptation . the latter in these , for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . i begin with the affirmative proposition , wherein there are three principall words which constitute so many particulars ; temptation , enduring , blessedness . the first informeth us in the quality of affliction , it is a temptation . the second mindeth us of the duty of a christian , which is to endure . the third assureth us of advantage by enduring temptation , and that no less then felicity , blessed . . affliction is a temptation , not seductionis , seducing to badness , of which our apostle speaketh in the very next verse , and in our english language is most frequently so stiled ; but probationis , proving our goodness , of which our apostle speaketh at the second verse of this chapter , and best agreeth with the signification of the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which cometh from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , experimentum . that kind of affliction which st iames seemeth here more especially to intend , is persecution from wicked men for righteousness sake : but divers temptations at the second verse , and temptations here set down indesinitely , may take in all sorts of afflictions , as well corrections from god , as persecutions from men . temptation , in its proper notion , is exploratio instituta ad eliciendam rei ignotae notitiam , any triall made for discovery of what was unknown ; thus every affliction is a temptation , manifesting what was before unknown ; not to god , who knoweth what is within us , but to our selves and others . that which affliction discovereth , is both evill and good , sin and grace . much evill of sin which lay hid in the heart is brought to light by affliction : it is a known saying , magistratus indicat virum , magistracy sheweth the man in his colours ; that pride and haughtiness then appearing , which was not before to be discerned ; and as prosperity maketh known that pride , so doth adversity that impatiency which is in us . when the corn is winnowed , that chaff which being mingled with it was hid , is severed from it and discovered . the mud , which whilest the water is quiet , lieth at the bottom , is manifest when it is stirred . neither we nor others oft-times think there is so much frowardnesse in our spirits , as we and they find when affliction stirreth and sifteth us . but that which affliction principally maketh tryal and discovery of , is our grace , and that in its truth and strength . the soundness of the foundation is tryed by the winde , the health of the body by hard weather , the rightness of the metall by the touchstone , and the sincerity of our graces by affliction . the reality of a friend is seen in adversity ; the faithfulnesse of the wife , when her chastity is assaulted ; and , the truth of our christianity , when we are tempted by affliction . the noune {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ( from whence the word in my text cometh ) is neerer in sound with the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifyeth transfodere , to pierce through . and as by piercing through a thing , it is tryed whether it be substantial or hollow ; so are we pierced through with sorrows and troubles , to try whether we are sincere or hypocrites . nor doth only the truth , but the measure of grace then manifests it self . the souldiers valour is shewn in the battell , the pilots skill in the tempest , and the vigour of a christians grace in temptations . a if thou faint ( saith solomon ) in the day of adversity , thy strength is small . every cockboat can swim in the narrow river , but it is the strong vessell which holds out in the main ocean . the strength of our grace is at once both manifested and increased by troubles . yet more particularly , affliction trieth our faith , whither it be only a willow or an oake ; our hope , whither it be only a reed or an anchor ; our love , whither it be only a blaze of thorns , or a vestall flame ; and our patience , whither it be only a fading flower , or a flourishing lawrell . a st peter calls affliction the triall of our faith : here is the faith and patience of the saints , saith st. iohn , in suffering times : and surely the consideration hereof should teach us this point of divine wisdome ; as to make account that troubles will come upon us , so that when they come they will be trials , and accordingly so to stablish our hearts with grace , that when they befall us we may be able to . endure , which is the next particular . enduring temptation . . on the one hand is not . a needless bringing it upon our selves ; it is one thing ferre , to bear , and another inferre , to bring the cross upon our backs ; ius legionis , facile non sequi , nec fugere ; the military law is not cowardly to run away , nor rashly to fall on : if affliction meet us in our way we must not run from it , but withall we must not stir out of our way to meet i● . . nor is it a stupid despising of a temptation when it befalleth us ; it is one 〈◊〉 thing to lie under a burthen as a stone , and another to stand under it as a man ; he that doth not feel , cannot be said to endure : stoicall apathy is far distant from christian patience . . on the other hand , that enduring which is truly christian , and here intended by the apostle , . in the extent , reacheth to divers , manifold temptations ; the syriack word here is in the plurall number ; our shoulder should be as broad as the burthen ; we must not only endure a few drops , but many showers ; a single gust , but renewed storms . . in the duration , holdeth out to the last , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is added by our saviour , he that endureth to the end , let patience have its perfect work , is our apostles advice , at the d verse of this chapter ; our patience must be dyed in grain , such as will hold colour . . as to the manner , is voluntary without compulsion , quiet without strugling , cheerfull without repining , and magnanimous without fainting . our saviours injunction is , to take up the cross ; when god layeth it before us we must take it up willingly : the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} here used , signifieth irruentem host is impetum viriliter sustinere , to receive a fierce onset from the enemy , and not to stirre : afflictions fall upon a christian as hail stones upon the tiles , which instead of breaking the tiles , are broken themselves ; a good man is neither lifted up with prosperity , nor cast down by adversity . . as to the motive , by which truly christian patience is distinguished from that which is meerly morall , it ariseth from a placid submission to gods will , and aimeth at the exaltation of gods glory . right obedience is chiefly because god wills to injoyn , and right patience because he wills to inflict , and in both , whatsoever he doth or suffereth , the true christian seeketh gods honour . and now as christ once said to his disciples , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , where is your faith ? let me say to you , where is your patience ? we are all philosophers till we come to dispute , and souldiers till we are ingaged to sight , and christians till we are called to endure ; but alas are we not then like bad stuff , that shrinketh in the wetting ? do we not like froward children , cry when we are crossed ? like woodden vessels , we break if we come near the fire ; and like earthen pots , we crack , nay fall in pieces , when we are dashed against the stones ; if we endure for a while , yet are we not soon weary ? if our first onset be ( as it is said of french men ) more then manly , is not our second less then womanly ? so soon are we out of heart . finally , is our patience founded upon divine principles ? are we acted by spirituall enducements in all our sufferings ? oh let us learn to shew our selves christians , by our readines to endure ; and let our enduring be such as is truly christian . i end this with that short memento , which though borrowed from a heathen , is well worthy the eare and practice of a christian , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , abstine & sustine , abstein from the evill of transgression , and sustein the evill of affliction ; forgoe thy sinfull pleasures , and undergoe sorrowfull pains ; not under the power of any sin , and stand under the weight of whatsoever suffering may befall thee , so shalt thou be . blessed , which is the last particular in the first generall . blessedness in its proper and adaequate notion , consists in a freedom from whatsoever is evill , and a fruition of all good . but he that endureth temptation , is deprived of good and afflicted with evill , how then can he be blessed ? this objection will be sufficiently answered by a double distinction . he that endureth temptation , though he is not blessed consummatively , yet he is blessed inchoatively . for . though he is not altogether free from evill , yet he is free from the evill of the evill , and that is a beginning of happiness . christian patience plucketh out the sting of every temptation , whereby it becometh in stead of a curse , a blessing . affliction to him that endureth it as he ought , is not sickness but physick ; and so not evill to , but good for him . . though he wants a fullness , yet he enjoyeth so much as may well be called a tast of bliss , namely the favour of god , and the peace of conscience . . he that endureth temptation hath a quiet mind in the midst of all his troubles ; and his soul , like the upper region of the ayre , is without any clouds of distraction . it was the counsell of our saviour to his disciples , in your patience possess your souls ; the patient christian even when he is bereaved of his estate , his liberty , his health , his credit , possesseth his soul in a calm and serene tranquillity . . nay , which is yet far more , he that endureth temptation , enjoyeth his god ; and whilest the rain of affliction falleth , he beholds the sun shining on him . to the upright ( saith the psalmist ) there ariseth light in darkness , even the light of gods countenance in the darkness of trouble . what a glorious sight had st steven , when through a showre of stones he beheld the heaven open and iesus standing at the right hand of god! and yet the like vision , though not after the same manner is vouchsafed to every christian endurer ; to whom , as it were , heaven is opened , whilest he beholds god through christ propitious towards him . it is in love , that god doth exercise any of his with temptations ; and to those that endure them he is pleased to manifest his love ; kissing them with the kisses of his mouth , who kiss the rod of his hand . and surely there is no happiness on this side heaven , to the sense of divine favour , and the quiet of our own spirit : indeed it is an heaven upon earth , an anticipation of heaven , the first fruits of glory , and an inchoation of blessedness . . he that endureth temptation , though he is not blessed positively , yet he is dispositively ; he is not actually possessed with bliss , but he is in a certain expectation of , and ready preparation for it ; ( though he be not at the journeys end , he is way that leads to it . ) when the ship is in the haven , it is past all storms ; but by enduring storms , it at last arriveth at the haven . when we come to heaven , there will be no more temptation to endure , but by enduring temptation it is , that we come to heaven . so true is that of st paul , these light afflictions which are but for a moment , work for us ( to wit not of themselves , but being patiently undergone ) an exceeding eternall weight of glory . indeed the temptation in it self is an evill , and tends to make us miserable ; but the enduring it , is a vertue , a grace which maketh us fit for blessedness . to close up this , and with this the first generall part of my text : . how grosly is the world deceived in their opinion concerning the godly , whilest they judg them of all men most miserable , by reason of those temptations , to which they are exposed ; whereas the truth is , that wicked men in the midst of all their prosperity , by abusing it are infaeliciter faelices , unhappily happy ; and good men in the midst of adversity , by enduring it , are faeliciter infaelices , happily unhappy ? the enjoyments of the one are but golden chains and silken halters , whereas the sufferings of the other , are as fiery chariots to carry them to heaven . . how great an encouragement is this to aequanimity , nay magnanimity of spirit in all our tryall ? what traveller doth not cheerfully ride through dirty and watery lanes , when he considers it is his way home ? what merchant doth not willingly dispence with a troublesome tedious voyage , when he considers it is to advance his fortune ? why should we think much at any tryals , when they are designed for this end , to prepare us for glory ? for ( saith our apostle concerning the patient endurer ) when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life , which he hath promised to them that love him . which is the second and main part of the text , and now cometh to be discussed ; it is that which i call an expository confirmation . that it is a confirmation , the causall particle for implies ; and that it is an exposition , the following words demonstrate . the design of the argument is , to prove the man that endureth temptation blessed , because he shall receive a crown of life ; by which it appears to be a confirmation . the strength of the argument is , because blessedness consists in the receiving of that crown ; in which respect it is an exposition . if yet more particularly you look into the words , you will find in them an answer to three questions , concerning the blessedness of the enduring saint : quid , what it is he shall receive ? a crown of life . quando , when he shall receive it ? when he is tryed . quare , wherefore he shall receive it ? because the lord hath promised it . or if you will , observe here a double confirmation ; the one , whereof is principall , and the other collaterall . here is a reason of the doctrine , why he that endureth temptation is blessed , because when he is tried , he shall receive a crown of life . and then here is a reason of that reason , why when he is tried he shall receive a crown of life , because it is that which the lord hath promised to them that love him . our apostle well knew how hardly this doctrine would be received in the world . were it , blessed is the man that liveth in power and splendour , in pleasure and jollity , enjoyeth health , wealth , commands countries and kingdoms ; it would have found an unanimous assent . but blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; quis credit , who beleeveth this report ? no wonder that st iames provideth so strongly for the proof of it , that none but an atheist can deny it . here is rota in rota , one proof within another . that he which shall receive a crown of life is a blessed man , is unquestionable ; all the doubt is , whether there be any such crown of life ; and this our apostle puts out of doubt by this strong medium , that the lord , to wit dominus deus , the lord god hath promised it . since the lord hath promised it , he must perform it , or he can not be faithfull ; if he be not faithfull , he ceaseth to be god , it being impossible for god to lye . so that whosoever questioneth the blessedness of this man , must doubt the reception of the crown , and whosoever doubts the reception of the crown ; must question the truth of the promise ; and whosoever questions the trath of the promise , must suppose that god can be false in his word ; which is in effect to deny a deity , and so to be in plain tearms no better then an atheist . . begin we with the principall confirmation , to wit the reason of the doctrine , in those words , for when he is tryed , he shall receive a crown of life . wherein more particularly observe , the excellency of the benefit , he shall receive a crown of life : and the opportunity of the time , when he is tryed . . he that endureth temptation , shall receive a crown of life . if you enquire , what is intended by this crown of life ? the answer is easily returned , it is no other then the estate of happiness which is enjoyed in heaven . that which would more particularly be inquired , is , why this state is called a crown , and why a crown of life ? . the metaphore of a crown , serveth very fitly to illustrate that future estate in severall particulars ; . a crown is set upon the head in token of honour ; for this reason conquerours , and especially kings had crowns put upon their heads . there are severall regalia insignia , ornaments belong to kings and emperours , a throne , a robe , a scepter , a crown ; and amongst them , this last is the chief . when ring ahasuerus asked haman , what shall be done to the man , the king delighteth to honour ? one part of the answer is , let the royall apparrell be brought forth which the king useth to wear ; and the crown royall which is set upon his head : such honour have all his saints , they are as so many conquerours , yea kings . what was said of rome , is much more true of heaven , it is respublica regum , a society of kings ; according to that of st iohn , he hath made us kings . that we may see how honourable that estate is , it is not only here resembled to a crown , but by st peter it is called a crown of glory : as if whereas glory is an appendix to other crowns , it were the matter of this ; paralell to which it is , that we read elswhere of a weight of glory . and as a crown encompasseth the whole head , so shall this crown the whole man , soul and body , whilest each shall have that glory , which is sutable to it . . a crown , especially a royall crown , is made of gold , set with iewels and pearls ; by which is represented the wealth of that estate , wherein there shall be no want , but a fullness of all enjoyments . to this purpose it is , that it is elswhere compared to an inheritance , and a kingdom ; it is set forth by a city , the streets whereof are of pure gold , the gates were of pearls , the building of the wall of jasper , and the foundation garnished with all manner of pretious stones ; indeed the opulencie of that state is so great , that it can not be measured , so much that it can not be numbered , and so precious that it can not be valued . . a crown , is an embleme of joy ; dayes of coronation , are dayes of exaltation ; the day wherein king solomons mother crowned him , is said to be the day of gladness of his heart : yea at that time , all the people piped with pipes and rejoyced with great joy , so that the earth rent with the sound of them . sutable thereunto it is that st paul puts these together , my joy and my crown , speaking to the philippians ; and that he calls the thessalonians his crown of rejoycing . such a crown shall be set upon the heads of glorified saints , which shall fill them with joy and gladness of heart ; for this reason it is called by our blessed saviour , gaudium domini , the joy of the lord , which because it cannot enter into us , we shall enter into it . then it is , those prophecies shall be fully accomplished , the lord god shall wipe away tears from off their faces ; that the ransomed of the lord shall come to zion , with songs and joy upon their heads , they shall have joy and gladness , and sorrow and sighings shall flee away . thus whereas honour , wealth and pleasure , are the three grand objects of mens desires , all of these meet together in that estate , and are as it were encircled by this metaphor of a crown . . but our apostle contents not himself only to assure a crown , for that would not have proved his doctrine , since many that receive crowns are not blessed ; yea notwithstanding the honour , wealth and joy of a crown , there is also envy , care , trouble , which followeth that honour , accompanieth that wealth , and attends that joy . oh nobilem potius quam felicem pannum , said he truly of the royall robe , it is rather noble , then happy ; and it is not seldom seen , that crowns are unfortunate to those who wear them . that therefore we might not think that our apostle intended an earthly crown , it is said to be a crown of life , by which it is distinguished from , and far advanced above other crowns . by the apostle peter it is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a crown made as it were of the flower {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which never fadeth : and to this notion the phrase in the text may be referd ; it is a crown of life , that is such a crown which can not die , nor wither . to this crown that motto refers , of a nobleman giving three crowns in his arms , quarta perennis erit ; the fourth shall never perish . indeed this is that which denominateth it a state of blessedness ; for were there never so great a confluence of pleasure , riches , honour , yet if this were but only for a time , it could not make a man happy . the crown of this crown is , that it is of an eternall duration , and that not only in respect of it self , but those that wear it ; for which reason i conceive it is especially called a crown of life , as being such a crown which confers life , so that they who enjoy it never die . there is a fabulous story of a sheepheard , which having a crown of thorns upon his head , fought with a basilisk and was not killed by it ; but it is a certain truth , that the saints having this crown upon their heads , are not longer subject to the poyson of death . earthly crowns though they confer honour , they cannot life ; nay sometimes they hasten death , and occasion the ruin of their owners ; but this crown maketh the possessors of it as long lived as eternity . nor is it barely a life , but a crown of life ; that is , an honourable , pleasant , joyfull life , a life attended with whatsoever may make it desireable , which is here ascertained ; for that is the import of these two words joyned together , and both these must concurre to make a man happy . there is a kind of life which even the damned may be said to have , but it is not a crown of life , a life attended with dignity and prosperity : indeed neither the crown without life , nor life without the crown , but the crown of life maketh the compleat happiness . and as these words conjoyned , best describe bliss , so this description of bliss , was most sutable in this place . for where as the temptation which a man may be called to endure , is such as toucheth him in his estate , or credit , or body , or life ; and to bereave him of this last , is the worst which any temptation can do ; here is abundant recompence for shame , pain , poverty , yea death it self ; to wit a crown of life . learn we therefore when we are called to endure , to call to mind what we shall receive . it is a true saying of st gregory , mala vitae praesentis tanto durius sentimus , quanto bonum , quod sequitur , pensare negligimus ; the true reason why we so unwillingly endure present evils , is , because we neglect to consider the future good . all who endure chastisings ( saith the apostle ) are sons , and being sons , are heirs of this crown , noli attendere quam poenam habes à flagello , sed quem locum in testamento , consider not so much what strokes thou hast from thy fathers rod , as what place in his will , which bequeatheth to thee no less then a crown . the first christian sufferer stephen had a crown in his name , and every one that endureth , though not to that extremity , which he did , shall have a crown upon his head . vertue ( saith seneca divinely ) quo tendit , non quid passura est recogitat ; recounts not what it now suffereth , but what it shall enjoy . while a crown of thorns is put into thy hand , let a crown of life be in thy eye . indeed this crown of life duly pondered , will serve on the one hand to darken the glories , and on the other to lessen the miseries of this present life ; and accordingly cannot but enable us to contemn the one , and endure the other . . what is the glimmering of the candle to the shining of the sun ? the value of brass and iron , to the worth of gold and silver ? infinitely far less is the highest dignity here below , to the glory above . the woman in the revelation having a crown upon her head , hath the moon under her feet ; terram despicit , qui coelum aspicit ; he who beholds the stars of heaven , despiseth the flowers of the earth ; all the excellencies of this world are so far from being desirable , that-they are contemptible to him who expects this crown of life . . nor is there less efficacy in this crown , to render this worlds miseries tollerable , then its delights despicable . the sufferings of this present life ( saith st paul ) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed . how light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory ? how short is a minute of pain to an eternity of pleasure ? no wonder if upon this account the apostle calls them light afflictions , which are but for a moment . bene fertur calumnia cum acquiritur corona , he need not be weary of the cross , who is sure of the crown . we faint not ( saith st paul ) in that very place , whilest we look not on the things that are seen , but on the things that are not seen , meaning the things of glory which are not seen by the eye of sense ; and yet being looked on by the eye of faith , preserves us from fainting in the greatest trials . moses having respect to the recompence of reward , made choice of afflictions ; well may we be contented to endure them . this joy being set before christ , caused him to endure the cross and despise the shame ; and therefore having this price in our eye , let us run with patience the race which is set before us : so much the rather , considering . the usuall priority of enduring in order to this crown . st austin long since said , and truly , tota vita humana tentatio , mans life on earth is a continued temptation . there are temptations we must resist , and there are temptations we must endure ; and who almost more or less , in some kind or other , doth not experience both these ? the way to heaven is sometimes bloudy , frequently watery ; per angust a pervenitur ad augusta ; the way to bliss is straight , no passing through with our sins , and seldom without suffering . this crown is not for any but conquerours , nor is there any conquest without fighting , and that many times a sharp fight of affliction . he who is the captain of our salvation , obtained his crown by this means , and surely those that are the souldiers , must not think to have theirs upon other tearms . . the probable proportionality of this crown to our enduring : amongst the romans there were severall sorts of crowns appointed , according to the severall services , which had been done : and divines generally affirm different degrees of glory , according to what we do or suffer in this world : as one star , so one crown differeth from another in glory ; indeed communis laetitia , the joy is common ; but dispar gloria , the glory is different . it is st pauls assertion , as the sufferings of christ abound in us , so our consolation aboundeth by christ ; and it is probably true , that as our afflictions abound , so shall our remuneration abound also . the same apostle saith , if we suffer with him , we shall raign with him : i , and the more we suffer for him , the more glory we shall receive from him , whilest that every new cross addeth a new pearl to this crown of life which is conferred on the christian endurer . i end this : it is storied of alexander , that having invited many of his courtiers to supper , he provided a crown of neer lb value , which was to be given to him who drank most ; upon which severall of them drank so long , till in stead of gaining the crown they lost their lives . lo here ( my brethren ) a crown of life tendered to all who willingly drink the cup of affliction ; let us not refuse although we lose our lives , since we shall be sure to win the crown . pericula non respicit martyr , sed coronam ; plagas non horret , praemium numerat , saith chrysologus excellently . whensoever thou art called to suffer , look off from the danger to the crovn , and numbring the riches of the one , thou wilt not fear the other . that was but a foolish mother , who would not let her sonne put off his night cap to put on a crown : and he is a foolish christian , whom this crown cannot perswade to part with these worldly comforts , and to endure worldly crosses . oh let us ask that wisedom of god , whereby we may learn to set a true aestimate on this benefit , and then we shall know , that however whilest we endure temptation , we seem to be miserable , when we receive this crown we shall be really blessed : and if you desire to know when this crown shall be received , the answer is . when he is tryed , which is the next particular to be handled . the greek words are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and may best be rendred , being found approved : look as the gold when upon tryall it is approved , is then imployed for some vessell of honour ; the schollar when upon examination he is approved , is advanced to some preferment ; the wrestler or runner , when having performed his service , he is adjudged conquerour , obtaineth the prize ; so the christian having been tryed by temptation , and being approved for his enduring , receiveth the crown . that which would be more particularly inquired , is , when the christian that endureth , is tryed and approved ? the answer to which is returned , when he hath endured to the end of his life . the truth is . so long as we are in this world , we are under tryall , nor are we tryed and approved till we go out of it , and then we receive the crown . the whole day of life is the time of labouring in the vineyard untill the evening of death , when we receive our wages ; we are not fully tryed in the christian race , till we come to the goal of death , and then if we be found worthy we shall obtain the prize . there are too many who endure for a time , and then fall away , thereby manifesting themselves to be , not gold but dross , which melts away in the heat of the fire ; and therefore it is our saviours counsell to the angell of the church of smyrna , be thou faithfull unto the death , and i will give thee a crown of life . . when we are sufficiently tryed , we shall be called out of this world to the fruition of our crown . this world is the field , wherein the good corn stands so long till it be ripe , and then it is cut down by death , to be carried into the barn of glory . it is the school of the cross wherein it pleaseth god to train us , and then by death he taketh us to the academy of heaven : our heavenly physition will keep us no longer in physick , but till we are throughly purged ; our mercifull refiner will no longer detain us in the furnace , but till we are sufficiently purified : when once by enduring temptation we are tryed and fitted for heaven , death doth come to put an end to all our troubles , and put us into a partiall possession of that crown , which in the day of iudgment the righteous iudg shall plenarily confer upon us . let then the christian endurer be content to wait , and not repine at the delay of his reward : the thing is certain , he shall receive ; i and the time is set too , when he is tryed ; nor can it be long , since it is only during the short time of life . it may perhaps seem long to thee , and so much the longer , because of the temptations which befall thee ; but surely a crown , and especially a crown of life is worth the waiting for , and when it is received , thou wilt acknowledg thy self abundantly recompenced for the greatness and length of thy sufferings . and if at any time distrustfull thoughts arise in thy mind concerning this crown , whether it shall be conferd ; fix thy eyes on the last clause of the text , which now remaineth to be discussed ; it is the crown of life , . which the lord hath promised to them that love him ; it is that which i call the collaterall confirmation , as being a strong argument , assuring the reception of that crown , which denominateth the suffering christian blessed . wherein more particularly there are two things observable : the means of conveiance , in those words , which the lord hath promised , the subject of reception , in those , to them that love him . . the crown of life is that , which the lord hath promised . the title of lord here used , is very frequently throughout the new testament given to christ , and that upon a double account . . quatenus deus , inasmuch as he is god , the lordship belongs to him , iure naturali , by naturall right . he is the son of god by eternall generation , and being so , he is equall with the father , and god over all , blessed for ever . . quatenus mediator , inasmuch as he is god man , this lordship belongs to him , iure donativo by deed of gift . all power ( saith our blessed saviour ) is committed to him in heaven and earth , namely by god the father , to him as mediator . and thus . he is lord of the whole world , having power ad dominandum , to rule over all his creatures . . he is lord of his enemies ad domandum , to subdue and vanquish them . . he is lord of his church ad donandum , to confer gifts upon her , especially this crown● and knowing , to how manifold temptations she would be subject in this life , he is pleased to vouchsafe , the promise of this grown , to be as it were a bit to stay her stomach , till the full meal . it were easie to multiply instances , how this lord promised this reward vivâ voce to his disciples , whilest he was on earth , and that though not expresly ( as we read ) under this very metaphor of a crown , yet frequently under the resemblance of a kingdom , to which a crown relateth . indeed though this bliss was promised before , to wit in the old testament by moses and the prophets , yet it was not so clearly and fully revealed by them , as it was afterwards by this lord and his apostles ; so that now we have ( to allude to st peters phrase ) a more sure , or at least a more plain word of promise , to which we shall do well to take heed , as to a light shining in a dark place ; to revive our hearts with a confident expectation , even when we are involved in the darkness of affliction . that which may the more excite our faith , encourage our hope , and thereby strengthen our patience in enduring , is the consideration of this lord who hath promised this crown . inasmuch as . in generall , this lord never faileth in whatsoever he promiseth . st paul faith , all the promises are in him yea and amen ; surely then all his promises are yea and amen ; and as they are made , so they are made good . in the preface of the epistle to the angell of the philadelphians , he is called the amen , the faithfull witness , as being true in all his sayings , and more especially in his promises . the words of the lord ( saith david ) are pure words , as silver tryed in the fire purified seaven times . it is true of all , but principally meant of the words of promise , which are said to be as silver purified seaven times , because they are free from the least dross of deceit . this lord never promiseth , but what he really intends , and effectually performeth . . in speciall as to this promise , he who promiseth is fully able and willing to fulfill it : he is called by this apostle the lord of glory , and therefore can confer the glory of a crown : by st paul the lord of life , and therefore can bestow a crown of life . there cannot be a clearer title to any thing , then that which a man hath by a lawfull purchase from the right owner . this lord hath purchased this crown of his father at a dear rate , not with corruptible gold and silver , but his own most pretious bloud : yea he is gone into heaven to take possession of his purchase , whereby it is now fully in his hands to bestow : nay which is yet more , he hath purchased it in our name , and possesseth it in our behalf ; no wonder if he hath promised it to us , nor need we doubt at all of his power or will to confer it on us . the devill once took our blessed lord up to an exceeding high mountain , and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them ; yea not only shewed , but promised them saying , all these will i give thee , if thou wilt fall down and worship me . but in this he was a gross lyar , since they were none of his to give , but only by the permission of him to whom he was so impudent as to promise them . and as he would have dealt with christ , so he dealeth with foolish mortals , promising them what he cannot , nay never meaneth to perform . but far be it from this lord , the righteous iudg to deal so with his servants : he hath shewed , nay he hath promised us the kingdom , not of earth , but heaven and the glory thereof ; and we are as sure to receive it , as if we did already enjoy it ; and therefore ought with saith to beleeve , with hope to expect , and with constancy to wait for the accomplishment of it ; remembring what he saith himself , though on another account , heaven and earth shall pass away , but my word shall not pass away . i shut up this with this usefull gloss , it is not the the crown of life , quam ille meruit , which he who endured hath deserved , but quam dominus promisit , which the lord hath promised , to wit of his meer grace and mercy . a duke waging war with his enemy , bore in his shield the eagle ( resembling iupiter ) having a crown in his beak , with this motto , iupiter merentibus offert , iupiter offers it to them who doserve it . it is not so with this crown of life , for then who should receive it ! not our best doings , nor yet worst sufferings can merit this crown . it is called indeed by st paul , a crown of righteousness , to wit in respect of christs promise ( for so it followeth , ) which the righteous iudg ( to wit upon the account of his own word , which if he should not perform he were unrighteous ) but not in respect of our merit ; and therefore it is added , shall give ( not pay ) me in that day . let us not then proudly challenge this crown , as if it were that which we have merited , but withall let us be confidently assured of it , since it is that which the lord hath promised . . to them that love him ; which is the last particular of the text , and shall in a few words be dispatched . for the explication hereof , there are two questions to be resolved ; what it is to love this lord ? and why the qualification is changed , from enduring to loving ? in answer to the first quaery , be pleased to know , that the love of christ in its utmost latitude , includeth an esteem of a desire after , and a delight in him : esteem is as the foundation , desire as the wall , and delight as the roof of this fabrick of love : esteem is the beginning , desire is the progress , and delight is the consummation of love . finally , esteem is as the ballast to make the ship steady , desire as the sayls , by which it passeth through the ocean , and delight is the musick , which welcometh it to the shore . . to love the lord christ , is to set an high rate and value upon him , so as to reject all things in comparison of him . iudgment is the source and spring of affection , from whence it proceeds , and according to which it is proportioned . he that hath an equall esteem of a base lust , a brutish pleasure as of christ , cannot be said to love him ; he onely hath a right affection to him , who ( with st paul ) accounts all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledg of him . what is thy beloved more then another beloved ? said those blind daughters of ierusalem , who being ignorant of his excellency , knew not how to judg of his worth ; but the spouse of christ having her eyes opened to see him , knoweth how to value him ; and therefore returneth this answer , he is the chiefest among ten thousands . . to love this lord , is earnestly to long after union and communion with him . as samuel told saul , that all the desires of the israelites were upon him ; so is it with the christian in respect of christ , who is the center in which all the lines of his desire meet ; whom have i in heaven but thee , and there is none on earth i desire besides thee , is the language of love . as those two friends begd of vulcan , that he would new make them into one ; so doth the christian desire to be one with christ , and christ with him , to dwell in christ , and christ in him . . to love this lord , is to take a sweet complacency in the presence and enjoyment of him : the hebrew word which signifieth to love , endeth in litera quiescenti , in a quiescent letter ; the acquiescency of the soul in the object beloved , is the perfection of love . when the desire cometh ( saith solomon ) it is a tree of life ; so it is when christ cometh to the soul which loveth him . it is observable how these two are joyned together ; my beloved sonne in whom i am well pleased , the latter unfolding the former ; and then is christ our beloved , when we are well pleased with him . good old iacob having seen his darling ioseph , saith it is enough : good old simeon having embraced christ in his armes , saith , lord now lettest thou thy servant depart . the christian enjoying the presence of christ is fully satisfied , not regarding the best delights this world can afford him . by this time you see what it is to love christ : that which would next be inquired is , why our apostle changeth the qualification ? it had been more proper and agreeable with his precedent discourse to have said , which the lord hath promised to them that endure ; and no doubt this is intended to be included : but if you duly weigh , you shall find very good reason for the alteration , and that in a threefold respect ; since we may probably conceive , that our apostle hereby intended a restriction , a direction , and an enlargment . . them that love him , implyeth a restriction , letting us see to what kinde of endurers this crown belongs , namely to such as endure out of a love to christ : oramus , jejunamus ( saith an ancient ) we pray , we fast , i may add , toleramus , we suffer ; sed quid sine charitate , but what is all without love ? though i bestow all my goods on the poor ( saith st paul ) yea though i give my body to be burned and have not charity , i am nothing : and though the charity there intended be love to the brethren , yet it may be applied to the love of christ , without which the greatest sufferings are of no value in gods esteem . there is an enduring out of necessity , because we cannot help it ; there is an enduring out of vain glory , that we may gain the repute of courage ; and there is an enduring out of charity , to which our love to this lord induceth , when we suffer for his sake ; and it is onely this enduring which entituleth us to the crown . . them that love him , involveth in it a direction , whereby we may be enabled to endure , namely by this grace of love . that challenge of st. paul is very apposite to this purpose , if with some expositors we construe it of our love to christ : who shall separate us from the love of christ ? shall tribulation , or disiress , or persecution , or famine , or nakedness , or perill , or sword ? whilest love to christ will enable us to endure all these for christs sake ? hence it is that the holy scriptures compare it to death , not onely because it separateth as it were the soul from the body , to joyn it with its beloved object ; but likewise ( as st austin observeth ) because as there is no opposition to be made against death , so neither against love , which overcometh all difficulties , even death it self ; and in that respect is not only strong as , but stronger then death . . once more : them that love him , carrieth with it an enlargement of this remuneration , as belonging not onely to them who actually endure , but to all who love christ . all christians are not called to endure temptation ; and if they be not called to it , they ought not to put themselves upon it , to you ( saith the apostle ) it is given , not only to beleeve , but to suffer ; ability of suffering , especially death , is a gift not conferr'd on all christians ; and this lord onely calls them to suffer whom he fits for it . but least those christians who were not put upon such eminent service , might think that therefore they had no part in the crown , the apostle enlargeth the qualification to all who love christ . indeed every christian ought to have a minde in some measure ready to endure what christ shall require , and where there is this love of christ , there will be this readiness . but if it please this lord that thy lott fall in halcyion dayes , when the church enjoyeth rest and prosperity ; or if in suffering times , by his providence thou art not called to endure , yet be not discouraged , this crown is promised by this lord , not onely to them that endure , but to them that love him . i end all therefore with that exhortation of the psalmist ; oh love the lord all you his saints ! love him for his own sake , that is amor amicitiae , a love of friendship , and most acceptable . indeed if you look upon him , you cannot choose but love him , for he is altogether lovely to a spirituall eye . and shew the reality of your love , by your sorrow for his absence , and joy in his presence ; fear to offend him , care to please him , by avoiding what he forbids , and performing what he requireth ; by your willingness to hate father and mother , goods and lands ; to endure reproach and shame , losses and crosses for his sake ; and then quid non speramus amantes ? what may not christs friends hope for ? if you love him he will love you , nay he loved you before you loved him , and by that so much the more obligeth you to love him : he loved you so as to doe , nay so as to die , not onely by acting , but enduring : let your love answer his , and if nothing else will prevail , love him for your own sakes , for the crownes sake which he hath promised to ( and will in due time confer on all ) them that love him . and thus i have finished the text ; wherein you have beheld the bliss of the man that endureth temptation and loveth the lord . but perhaps you will ask , where is this man to be found ? the truth is , such an one ( like those pearls called unions , because found one by one ) is very rare , but yet such there have been in all ages ; and loe here the liveless dust of such a man , mr thomas bowyer merchant , of whom i can truly say , whilest he lived he loved the lord , and endured temptation ; and now he is dead , i justly hope , he is blessed with a crown of life . if you peruse the sacred writ , you will finde the blessed man described by severall characters ; the ladder which reacheth to heaven , consisting of many steps ; nor do i know any of them which might not in some measure be applied to him . indeed he was not onely a starre but a constellation , or rather an heaven bespangled with many starres : his life was not a single leaf , but a book of many leaves , and those filled with the lines of good works . finally , he was not onely flower , but a garden adorned with the choice flowers of many excellent virtues : to gather them all , would ask more time then can be spared , and therefore passing over his temperance , iustice , prudence , with many others , i shall onely cull out four choice flowers to strew upon his herse , and then i shall commit him to the ground , and you to god . . the first is the marygold of piety , which is called in my text , the love of the lord ; a grace whereof he gave manifest evidence , by his due regard of gods worship , affectionate love to christs ministers , constant adherence to the truth , and passionate sympathy with the church . . he was a man much given to religious exercises , and as he made choice of a single life , so for some years before his death , he sequestred himself from secular affairs , that he might have more opportunity of conversing with god . so long as he had ability of going and hearing , he duly waited on the publique administrations , where i have severall times been an eye witness of his reverend and devout attention . nor was he ( as i fear too many are ) negligent of family dutyes , in praying with , and giving instructions to them , withall allotting much time to his closet devotions ; so that i may truly say of him , in the words of david concerning the blessed man , his delight was in the law of the lord , and therein he did exercise himself day and night . . he was an entire and cordiall friend to the orthodox and faithfull dispensers of the word of christ ; he delighted to hear them , joyed to see them , desired their prayers , their company , and was never better then when he had them at his table ; yea their very feet were beautifull in his eyes . . the truly reformed religion of the church of england , in which he had been educated , he stedfastly adhered to , and according to his knowledge ( which was not small , in divine as well as other matters ) he zealously asserted her doctrine and discipline , against hereticall and schismaticall antagonists . finally , he was one of the mourners in sion , for the heynous sins of the nation , and grievous calamities of the church ; oftimes sending up cryes and groans to heaven in secret , for the forgiveness of the one , and redress of the other : upon all which considerations , i suppose none will deny him the title of religious man . . a second flower is the rose of charity , a virtue which ever attendeth upon the former , the lov● of god , and of our neighbour being inseperable . the charity of this our brother , was though extended to all , yet especially directed towards the poor and needy , whom ( according to another character of davids blessed man ) he considered , and that so as to relieve , answerable to that estate wherewith god had blessed him . in his last will and testament , he hath remembred the poor of this , with some other parishes ; and hath taken care for the putting of ten poor youths forth to apprentiships . being a citizen , he hath not forgotten christs hospitall . being a merchant , he hath made provision for ten seamen , maymed in merchants service : and being ; ( as i have already told you ) a true fiend to the clergy ; he hath given an hundred pounds to be distributed among ten poor ministers , and ten poor ministers widowes , whom ( being very well acquainted with their persons and necessities ) he hath nominated himself . nor must i omit to tell you ( that i wish all rich men would practise ▪ ) that the charity of his life was far more then that of his death . he gave when it was in his power to have kept , he scattered his almes with both hands , and yet the one hand must not know what the other did ; by all which it appeareth he was a truly charitable man . . a third flower is the violet of humility , that grace which is the first step in the scale of blessedness , erected by our saviour : this worthy man , though rich in grace was poor in spirit ; though ( to use st pauls phrase ) he laboured more abundantly then many others in doing good ; yet ( as i have often heard him say ) he thought he could do nothing , looking upon himself as an useless branch , an unprofitable servant : and so far was he from being one of those pharisees , who trusted to themselves , that they were righteous and despised others , that he judged others better then himself , and trusted onely to the mercy of his god , and righteousness of his redeemer . the last flower is the camamile of his patience , a virtue wherein this our brother was most exemplary , for which reason i made choice of this scripture , to be the subject of my discourse at his funerall . it pleased the all-wise god to visit him severall years before his death , with the tormenting pain of the stone ; he was scarce at any time wholly free , and sometimes exceedingly tortured as it were upon the rack ; and as if god intended him to be another iob , he gave him a great measure of patience , being never heard , no not in his sharpest fits , to charge god foolishly , or break forth into any repining language . he sometimes desired to die , not out of a fretting impatience at the miseries and pains he endured , but ( as his own words were ) because he longed to be with god , with whom i doubt not but he now is in case , in rest , in joy and falicity . and now they who knew not this worthy person , will be ready to think i have said too much , but they who knew him , know i have said too little , since i cannot say enough . the commendation of this our brother is , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not the work of one tongue , especiall one so unskilfull as mine . in whatsoever i have said , i have onely born witness to the grace of god bestowed upon him ; and though i am sure i have not spoken all the truth , i am no less sure i have spoken nothing but the truth ; nor do i doubt but many tongues are ready to attest the verity of what hath been spoken . it will i suppose be needless now to tell you , how great a loss to the clergy ( my self in particular ) the parish , his near relations , this city , nay the whole church , the loss of this good man is ; nor dare i here enlarge , least sorrow put a stop to my speech . my design in his commendation , is , our consolation , that considering on the one hand the good works which he did , and on the other , the many pains which he endured , all who knew and loved him may be comforted , in that he is released of his miseries , and hath in part received the recompence of his vertues . i have but one word to add , to my worthy friend his surviving brother , that the vertues of the dead may still live in him , to the glory of god , the comfort of himself , the honour of the family , which hath for many years been of good repute in this city , and the welfare of his posterity , who i am confident will fare the better for the prayers and piety of their deceased uncle ; especially those prayers being ( as i hope they will be ) renewed , and that piety imitated by their living father . nothing now remaineth , but that we all joyn together in giving god thanks for the excellant example of this good man , and express that thankfullness in our lives by following his piety , charity , humility , patience , with all those graces which did shine forth in him , that in due time , together with him , and all others departed in the faith and love of christ , we may receive that crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . amen . finis . errata . page . line . after begin read we . p. . l. . r. neer . p. . l. . dele one . p. , l. . dele e. p. . l. . for al. r. ul . a catalogue of those sermons that have been printed since the sermon preached at st. pauls church , to the native citizens of london , may the th . at the end of which , there is a catalogue of all his other sermons formerly printed . the first generall epistle of st iohn the apostle , unfolded and applied ; the second part : in thirty seven lectures on the second chapter , from the third verse to the last . a sad prognostick of approaching judgment ; or , the happy misery of good men in bad times . a sermon preached at st gregories , iune the th . for the funerals of the reverend iohn hewit , d. d. mans last journey to his long home . a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick , iune the th . the pilgrims wish ; or , the saints longing . discussed in a sermon preached in st bennets grace-church , at the funerals of mr , anne dudson , late wife of mr edward dudson of london draper , ianuary th . a looking-glass of humane frailty set before us . in a sermon preached at the funerals of mrs anne calquit , late wife of mr nicholas calquit draper , at alhallows the lesse , in thames-street london , april , the th . carduus benedictus , the advantage of affliction ; or , the reward of patience . unfolded in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr thomas bowyer merchant , at st olaves iew●y , february the th . all printed for ioseph cranford , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the castle and lyon in st pauls church-yard . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- prov. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in benedictionem . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept. cum laudibus . vulg. zeno . notes for div a e- gen. . ver. . ver. . a pro : . . a pet. ver. . mat. . . epict●● . psalm . acts . cor. . gen. . psalm . rev. . pet. . . phil. . thes. . . mat. . . isa. . . pet. . . greg. m. hieron. sen. ep. rev. . rom. . cor. . heb● . . aug. aug. medit. . cor. . tim. . chrysol. rev. . . rom. . mat. . luk. . . see my d part on st iohns first epistle the th lecture . pet. . . psal. . . james . . matth. . matth. . . ● tim. . quest . . phil. . matth. . . luk. . . quest . . cor. . . rom. . aug. phil. . psal. . psal. . psal. . a sad prognostick of approaching judgement, or, the happy misery of good men in bad times set forth in a sermon preached at st. gregories, june the th, / by nathaniell hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sad prognostick of approaching judgement, or, the happy misery of good men in bad times set forth in a sermon preached at st. gregories, june the th, / by nathaniell hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford ..., london : . errata: p. [ ] reproduction of original in huntington library. eng bible. -- o.t. -- isaiah lvii, -- sermons. salvation -- sermons. salvation -- early works to . a r (wing h ). civilwar no a sad prognostick of approaching judgement; or, the happy misery of good men in bad times. set forth in a sermon preached at st gregories, j hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sad prognostick of approaching judgment ; or , the happy misery of good men in bad times . set forth in a sermon preached at st gregories , june the th . by nathaniell hardy , minister of st dyonis back church . psal. . . help lord , for the godly man ceaseth , for the faithfull fail from among the children of men . philo jud. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . london , printed by a. m. for joseph cranford at the sign of the kings head in st pauls church-yard , . to the reader . ihave too often ( and not without regret ) beheld those monstrous births which have been forced into the world by the unskilfull and injurious midwifry of scriblers , stationers , and printers , often the death of their pretended parents ; indeed , who would not be troubled to see the innocent names of eminent divines made ( as it were ) to do pennance in the printers sheets , for the incontinency of their wanton auditors , who between the pen and the press , beget and bring forth a bastard brood of sermons , which they must father ? how greatly that reverend man of god dr. john hewit ( since his suffering death ) hath upon this account suffered from his seeming friends , is obvious to every intelligent eye ; witness two books of sermons printed and published under his name , and ( notwithstanding some of them appear to be translations out of french authours ) pretended to be his ; which was done too , both against a special caveat entered in stationers-hall by his honourable lady and advertisements in print by two of his worthy friends , viz. dr. wild , and mr. barwick , whose names have been made use of without their privity or consent ; to stand in place and shew of licensers of those sermons , which they utterly disown , and desire by this meanes publiquely to disclaim . this having been the lot of so many preachers of the gospel , and those men famous in their generation , i do not much wonder , and am the less troubled that it is mine ; only i must needs resent ( yet not without a readiness to forgive ) the impudence of those , who have , as to were , ravished my sermon before my face , dealing so injuriously by me whilest alive . by this i plainly foresee what is to be expected when i am dead : the consideration whereof , hath been , and is one cause enducing me to appear so often in print , that what is ( i ingenuously confess ) but very imperfect at the best , may not however come forth mangled hereafter . i hope the candid reader will not think his patience abused , whilest i shall in a few words inform him how much i have been abused in this kind . some years ago came forth a little manual of several prayers , whereof that , to which my name is affixed , is for the most part made up of such expressions , which ( how good soever they may be in themselves ) were not wont to be used by me , as appeareth by that prayer , which ( for this reason ) i prefixed before the first part of my exposition upon st. johns first epistle . i met this last summer with a book called the herball of divinity , upon the title page whereof ( the authours name being concealed ) my name is affixed to great letters , to a part of a sentence with which i began a sermon preached at st. gregories on low sunday last , upon that text which is pla●ed in the front of that discourse , namely the th of isaia . and the th verse . for this cause ( very probably ) that the unwary reader might believe it to be mine . within these few weeks , i have perused a discourse in part mine , and but in part ( as will appear by the ensuing sermon ) printed and published without my knowledge . indeed , i heard a flying rumour , and received a namelesse letter , threatning the publication of it , but i was not willing to believe any would be so audacious , till now i see it . it is true , my name is not exprest ; but it is said to be a sermon preached at that place , and on that day , and upon the text , where , when , and on which i preached : and which proclaimeth the insolence of these publishers , though they never had any conference with me , either before or since my preaching , yet they presume to know my thoughts , in that it is said to be intended for the solemnization of doctor hewits funerall : whereas in truth , i was engaged to preach that turn at st. gregories before the doctors death ; yea , when there was some hopes of his life . and though i deny not but that sad providence intervening , occasioned me to pitch my thoughts on that subject ; yet had i intended it for his funerall , i justly could , and certainly should , have given a farre more ample character of his worth . if now the reader shall desire to know what was my reall intent in preaching this following sermon at that time , the close of it will informe him , that it was no other then what ought to be one end of all preaching , namely , to bring the people to repentance . and observing a generall sadnesse of compassion upon their spirits , i was willing so to frame my discourse , that through gods grace , a sorrow of compunction might accompany it . what was then preached , and hath been hitherto withheld from the presse ( partly out of a mean opinion of the work it self , and partly out of a just desire not to exasperate ) i am now necessitated to publish for my own vindication , and that what was the preachers aim may be effected upon all who then heard , or shall now read it , is and shall be his earnest and uncessant request at the throne of grace . amen . nath. hardy . errata . page . line . for confidence read conscience . the sad prognostick of approaching judgment . isaiah th chapt. verse the first . the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . our prophet isaiah in his two and twentieth chapter , tels us of a day wherein the lord god of hosts cals to weeping and mourning , and though ( since every day is a day of sinning ) every day ought to be a day of mourning ; yet there are four special daies wherein god expects this duty from us : the day of any hainous wickednesse committed by our selves or others . the day of any grievous judgment , either national or personal inflicted . the day wherein the wicked prosper , and the ungodly triumph . and the day wherein any of gods faithful and eminent servants are snatcht away and cut off by death . it is not many daies ( beloved ) since there was such a day , and of such a day it is my text speaks ; the want of a due and serious consideration whereof , moved our prophet to take up this bitter lamentation , the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart , &c. this sad and sorrowfull complaint looks two waies , to the godly , and to the wicked ; bewailing the misery of the one , and bemoaning the iniquity of the other , that the persons of the godly were destroyed , and the hearts of the wicked hardened . that ariseth from grief , this from grief mixed with anger ; both very vehement , as appeareth by the multiplication of several clauses to the same sense . god grant that i in handling , and you in hearing , may have the same holy passions which our prophet had in uttering this dolefull ditty , the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , &c. begin we with the complaint concerning the godly , which we find to be both amplified and mitigated ; amplified in two clauses , the righteous perisheth , the mercifull men are taken away : mitigated in one , they are taken away from the evil to come . in the inlarging of the complaint , we shall consider the godly mans disposition and condition . that really very good , this seemingly very bad ; both characterizedin two words : his disposition , in those two , righteous and mercifull ; his condition in those two , perisheth and taken away : of each a word . . the first thing we are to take notice of , is the godly mans disposition . and that . as described in the word righteous , a word which being in the hebrew in the singular number , and having an article prefixt , is by some expositours peculiarly applied to christ , as if this verse were a prophesie of his death . indeed , to him especially and primarily doth this title of righteous belong . there is none righteous , no not one , ( saith the psalmist . ) except one , ( saith the father ; ) meaning christ , who is perfectly and originally righteous : in which respect the prophet malachy cals him the sunne of righteousness . righteousness in us , like light in the moon , hath its spots and imperfections : we at best , are but starres of righteousness , which shine with a borrowed light : christ , like the sunne , hath in himself a fulness of grace , of which we receive grace for grace . of this righteous person it is true , that he perished in the opinion , and was taken away by the rage of his enemies : nay , which too truly answereth the text , he died unlamented by the generality of the people ; so that he might well have uttered upon the cross those words of the church , is it nothing to you all that pass by ? behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me , wherewith the lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger . but when i observe the other character to be in the plurall number , mercifull men , i rather incline to understand this word though in the singular , as nomen collectivum , refering not to one , but many , and accordingly those prophets and messengers of the lord , together with the other of his faithfull servants which were slain in the dayes of manasseh , who shed innocent bloud untill he had filled ierusalem with bloud from one end to the other , are conceived by expositors to be those whom the prophet here bemoaneth . if it shall be now enquired in what notion this term righteous was attributed to them , and may be affirmed of every godly man ? i answer , they are righteous in a three-fold sense , really , interpretatively , comparatively . . every godly man is really righteous , inasmuch as . his person is justified through our lord iesus christ , who is therefore called by the prophet jeremy , the lord our righteousness , and is said by the prophet isaiah , to cover us with the robe of righteousness , and by st paul , to be made of god unto us righteousness . thus as all men are sinners in the first , so are all believers righteous in the second adam . this is that righteousness which is purely evangelicall , and is called the righteousness of faith , because the righteousness of christ apprehended by faith : hence it comes to pass that as the father elegantly , quod lex operum monendo imperat , lex fidei credendo impetrat ; that righteousness which the law requireth , faith obtains . . his nature is renewed after the image of god , which st. paul tells us consists in righteousness and true holiness : in this respect it is that believers are said to partake of the ( or rather a ) divine nature by the apostle peter , and to be born of god by the apostle john , because after a sort they are righteous as god is righteous : well may the name righteous be given , where the new divine nature is conferred , which maketh us of unholy , holy , of vicious , vertuous , of unjust , righteous . . his life is reformed , and in some measure ordered according to the rule of righteousness , the word of god ; he that doth righteousness saith saint john , is righteous ; every good man doth righteousness , though not exactly , yet sincerely ; his aim and endeavour is to give god and man their due , tribute to whom tribute , custome to whom custome , fear to whom fear , honour to whom honour belongeth . . every godly man is righteous interpretatively , inasmuch as being justified by christ , and sanctified by the spirit , god doth account , accept of him as righteous . the same word in the hebrew signifieth upright and perfect ; to teach us that upright persons are ( for christs sake ) accepted of god , as if they were perfect . well might the prophet , well may we call them righteous , whom god calls so ; and we find upon record , noah , iob , with others , to be commended by god himself as righteous . . every godly man is righteous comparatively , in respect of the wicked among whom he lives : thus these of whom our prophet here speaketh , being compared with those voluptuous epicures mentioned in the end of the former chapter , might well be stiled righteous . look how the saints are said to be worthy ; so they may be said to be righteous , quantum ad comparationem caeterorum , to wit in comparison of others . indeed on the one hand the most holy man compared with god and christ is unjust and impure , and therefore it is when the saints have look't upon god , they abhor themselves . but on the other hand compared with the wicked , they are justly esteemed righteous : when the actions of the good and the bad are set together , the prayers , tears , fasts , and alms of the one , by the oaths , jollities , cursings , and oppressions of the other , they become so much the more conspicuous ; and as although silver be far below gold , yet it is very precious in comparison of lead and iron ; so the servants of god , though infinitely short of his purity and righteousness , are righteous if compared with the ungodly and profane . . having discovered to you the first character of righteous ; proceed we to a view of the second , which is mercifull . according to the hebrew , it may be read men of mercy and good will , and so construed either passively or actively . . in a passive sense , men of mercy and good will , are those upon whom god will have mercy , and to whom he beareth a singular good will , the lord is good unto all , and his tender mercies are over all his works ( saith the psalmist ) there being no creature so mean and base , which giveth not a specimen of his goodness , but yet his delights are with the sonnes of men , and his love to mankind , is greater then to any of his creatures : upon which account the psalmist saith a little before , lord , what is man , that thou takest knowledg of him , or the sonne of man that thou makest account of him ? and as god hath a more special love to man then any other creatures , so he hath a more peculiar love to the righteous then any other men ; in which respect the psalmist saith elsewhere , thou lord wilt bless the righteous , with favour wilt thou compass him as with a sheild . in this construction , there is very good use to be made of the word in this scripture . . partly to inform us , that they who perish in this world , may yet be gods favourites . men are apt to think that god should not let the wind blow upon his darlings , but they are deceived , his love is not a motherly and cockering , but a fatherly and prudent love . benjamin was not the lesse regarded by joseph , because the cup was found in his sack : we must not infer from the presence of outward afflictions , the absence of divine affection . when he who was the righteous one , of whom the father said , this is my beloved sonne in whom i am well pleased , was a man of sorrowes , and acquainted with griefs : yea , upon the cross , breathed forth that dolefull language , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? as being left by god , to the will of his enemies . let us not doubt , but that righteous persons , though they perish by the malice of men , are yet in favour with god . . partly to comfort righteous ones in the midst of all their sufferings , considering that while the world frowns , god smiles . though the cold wind of persecution blow , yet the sun-beames of divine affection shines upon them : though they are rejected as dross by men , yet they are accounted by god as his jewels . what matters it for mens hatred , so we have heavens love ? this may make the righteous not only contented but cheerfull in suffering the cruelty of their enemies , that they are the men whom god markes out for the objects of his mercy . . but though this construction be pious and congruous , yet i rather incline to the active notion of these words ; so much the rather , because of that parallel place in the prophet micah , where it is said , the good man is perished out of the earth . in this sense , men of mercy , are such as exercise mercy towards them that are in misery . mercy in its general notion , is alienis miserijs condolere easque proviribus sublevare ; a tender condolence with others miseries , and a ready willingness to succour them according to our ability . such is the activity of this grace , that it runs through the whole man . in the understanding , it is a serious consideration how we may do good . the liberal man ( saith the prophet ) deviseth liberal things . his thoughts are taken up with consulting for the relief of the distressed . in the memory , it is a continual setting the miseries of our brethren before us . the mercifull man forgetteth the injuries that are done to himself , and remembers the miseries that are suffered by others ; he still thinketh he heareth them groaning , and seeth them bleeding . in the will and affection , it is a sweet sympathy , whereby we do nolle malum , velle bonum , nill the evil , and will the good of another . the mercifull mans heart aketh for his brethren , and he resents their sufferings , as if they were his own . nor doth mercy only retire it self into the chambers of the soul , but looketh out at the windowes , and goeth out of doors for the succour of the afflicted . it opens the eye to see and search out the miserable , which , beholding them ; maketh report to the heart , and that being affected with sorrow , causeth the eye to drop down teares ; it quickneth the ear to attend and listen to the cries of the calamitous , like the tender nurse , which heareth the least whimpering of the child : it unlooseth the tongue to speak a word in season , pleading with god and man for them : it puts under the shoulder to bear a part of the burden , according to that apostolical counsel , bear you one anothers burdens . it unclaspeth the hand to relieve , and knocketh off the fetters from the feet : so that they are ready to go , nay runne in behalf of the miserable . in one word , the mercifull mans head is full of thoughts , his heart of sorrowes , his eyes of teares , mouth of prayers , and hands of gifts . thus every truly godly man is not only just , but good , righteous , but mercifull : he puts on viscera , bowels of mercy and tender compassions towards them that are afflicted ; he is ready to do opera , works of mercy , according to his power . by the one , he draws out his soul to the hungry ; by the other , he reacheth forth his hand to the needy . righteous men know that almes is the poor mans due , and mercy is a debt they owe to the miserable : no wonder if they are carefull to pay it . and look how far the misery of the distressed reacheth , so far the mercy of the righteous extendeth ; both to the souls and bodies of others . namely , they are men of mercy , especially to the souls of others ; instructing the ignorant , confirming the weak , counselling the doubtfull , warning the unruly , perswading the obstinate , and comforting the grieved . nor are they unmindfull of the bodies of others , cloathing the naked , feeding the hungry , refreshing the thirsty , visiting the sick , and entertaining the stranger . nor is their mercy only confined to friends , but enlarged to foes : they are men of good will , even to those that bear them ill will : they do good , where they have received evil : they requite injuries with courtesies , and want not compassion for those who are the instruments of their passion . whilest then the jesuited saints wear the red coat of blood and cruelty , let gods holy ones be cloathed in the white of innocency and pitty , and whilest their zeal flames in fury , let our love shine in mercy . whatever they pretend , they are no other then sonnes of belial , who delight in blood ; who slay the fatherless and the widowe , and make persons , families , may nations , miserable . he hath shewed thee , o man , what is good , and what the lord thy god requireth of thee , but to do justly , and to love mercy , and to walk humbly with thy god ? so we read in the prophecy of micah , sow to your selves in righteousness , and reap in mercy , that is the prophet hosea his counsel . christs blessed ones , are such as hunger after righteousness , and withall are mercifull . and here the characters of a godly man are righteous and mercifull . i have done with the first branch , which is the saints pious disposition , i now hasten to . his calamitous condition , which is represented in those words , perisheth , and taken away . the first word perisheth , which is of a large acception , may be capable of an harsh construction , and such as cannot be predicated of a righteous man ; in which respect eliphaz said to job , remember , i pray thee , who ever perished being innocent , or where were the righteous cut off ? that ye may therefore rightly understand the meaning of the phrase , know , that there is a three-fold perishing . the first belongs neither to the righteous , nor to the wicked ; the second is proper only to the wicked ; the third is common to the righteous , with the wicked . . perishing in its most strict notion , is transitus ab esse ad non esse , a passage from being to not being ; an utter extinction , a totall annihilation . and in this sense only the beast perisheth , which dying , is resolved into its first principles , and at last into nothing . though therefore the wicked man is said to be like the beast that perisheth , yet he doth not perish like the beast ; indeed , it were happy for him if he might : for though some endeavour by their metaphysical notions , to prove a miserable being , better then no being , yet they must give us leave to say with our saviour , it were good for that man he had never been born . nor is it to be doubted , but that the damned heartily wish , not to be at all , but ( alas ) it cannot be . . there is a perishing , which is peculiar to the wicked , and this is two fold ; either perishing in his name , or perishing in his person . . only wicked men perish in their names , whilest their memorial is cut off from the earth . though the righteous die , yet their names live : that malice which takes away their life , cannot extinguish their memory ; but the wicked perish , so as to be wholly forgotten , or remembred with infamy : so true is that of the wise man , the memory of the just is blessed , but the name of the wicked shall rot . . only wicked men perish in their persons , that is , soul and body . this is that perishing , which is opposed by our saviour to eternal life ; and is sometimes called the second death . in this sense , to perish , is to be eternally miserable ; to be ever perishing , and yet never perished . and thus , who ever perished being righteous ? indeed st peter saith , the righteous are scarcely saved , but there is a great deal of differenre between scarcely , and almost : though he is scarcely saved , that is , not without great difficulty , yet he is saved by gods mercy from this perishing . . but lastly , there is a perishing which is common to the rightcous and the wicked , and thus the righteous as well as the wicked perish , by the miseries of life , and at length by death . . they perish by the miseries of this life ; in which sense , perishing is opposed to prospering : good men are exposed to dangers in this world , as well as the bad ; nay , more then the bad . that chosen vessel st paul , reckons a multitude of dangers which befell him in this life , where he tels us , that he was in perills of waters , in perills of robbers , in perills of his own countrey-men , in perills by the heathen , in perills in the city , in perills in the wilderness , in perills in the sea , in perills among false brethren ; and surely what befell him , is incident to the most righteous persons . . they perish by death . in this sense the disciples meant it , when they cried , master , we perish . thus elihu expounds it , when he saith , all flesh shall perish together , and men shall turn again unto dust . and this our prophet intends , when he saith , the righteous perisheth . if you shall ask , why dying , which is only a separation of the soul from the body , not an annihilation of either , is called a perishing ? i answer : . it is a perishing , though not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , yet {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in reality , yet appearance ; though not secundum rei veritatem , according to the verity of the thing , yet secundum communem sensum , according to the opinion of the vulgar . when any man dyeth , whether good or bad , he seemeth as one that were perished . and though ( as our blessed saviour telleth us ) all live to god , yet as musculus glosseth upon the text , in mundi judicio , in the judgment of the world , they perish . . it is a perishing , though not absolutè , yet respectivè , absolutely yet respectively ; it is a perishing as to this world . when any man dieth , as well righteous as wicked , he so perisheth , as that he shall never again live here : upon which account it is said , man giveth up the ghost , and where is he ? yea , holy job saith of himself , i go whence i shall not return . this is that which is expres't in that parallel scripture to this , where the prophet saith , the good man is perished out of the earth . he is not perished , so as not to be at all , yet he is perished so , as to be no more upon earth . and this is all that the prophet meanes , when he saith , the righteous perisheth . . this will yet further appear , if you look upon the other word , where it is said , that mercifull men are taken away . as the providence of god in nature , hath made those members double , which are most usefull , as the eyes , ears , hands , and feet , that if one fail , the other may supply ; so the wisdome of god in scripture , hath coupled phrases together , that if the one be obscure , the other may explain ; if the one be harsh , the other may molisie it . it is so here ; whereas that phrase of perishing is somewhat dark and rugged , here is another word , taking away , which seryeth very much to qualisie and illustrate it . the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} hath a double construction , both which are here made use of , namely to gather , and to take away . calvin reads it colliguntur , mercifull men are gathered . death seemeth to be a scattering , and so a perishing , but indeed it is a gathering , when men die , especially good men , they are gathered . so that in this sense it is a great allay to the bitterness of the other word perisheth . . lapide with others-read it auferuntur , with which our translation agreeth , are taken away , and no doubt it is the most genuine rendring of the word in this place , since this hebrew word , where it signifieth to gather , is usually joyned with the preposition signifying to , whereas here in the very next clause it is joyned with a preposition signifying from , and therefore most fitly translated , taken away . and now that which the prophet intends by this phrase , is to note two things , . in general , by taking away , is meant dying , obitus , abitus , death is often called a going away , a departure , and thus it mollifieth the former word , perisheth , letting us see that it is not an extinction , but only a remotion , an abolition , but an ablation ; when we die , we do not cease to be at all , only we change our place , and are taken away out of this world . . more particularly , by taking away is meant a violent death , a dying , when in course of nature a man might have lived long ; it is one thing for a candle to go out of it self , and another to be blown out by the wind ; it is one thing for a flower to wither , and another to be blasted ; it is one thing for a tree to fall , and another to be plucked up by the roots : finally , it is one thing for a man to go away , and another to be taken away from any place ; those are emblemes of a natural , these of a violent death in this notion this word addeth something to the former phrase , namely , the manner of the death , the righteous perisheth , and that not in a natural way , but is taken away by the hand of violence . the result of what hath been said on this first general , amounts to these two things . . that righteous and mercifull men perish , and are taken away by death . indeed it is said of enoch , god took him that he should not see death , so was eliah ; and had god so pleased , he might have exempted all righteous men from death , but then neither his power in raising them to life , would have been so illustrious , nor their faith and hope in believing and expecting a resurrection , so conspicuous , in which latter respect the father saith well , that had good men been priviledged from death , carni quidem faelicitas adderetur , adimeretur autem fidei fortitudo , though it might have been some kind of advantage to the frailty of our flesh , yet it would much have detracted from the strength of out faith : in great wisdome therefore hath god so ordered it , that righteous and mercifull men , as well as others , should walk through the valley of the shadow of death . indeed our saviours assertion is universall , he that keepeth my sayings shall not see death , but he meaneth the second death ; and so else where he explaineth himself , when he saith , he that believeth in me shall not die for ever . true it is , solomon tells us , that righteousness delivereth from death , but it is from the evil , not from the being of death , death indeed is an advantage to a good man , yet still die he must : but this is not all which the prophet here intends , since this perishing and taking away by death , being that which is appointed for all , seemeth not to be a matter of much lamentation ; and therefore th●t which no doubt is further aimed at in these expressions , is , . that sometimes righteous and mercifull men perish , and are taken away by a violent death . indeed it is that which is threatned by god as a curse upon wicked , especially bloud-thirsty and deceitfull men ; it is that which malefactors are sentenced to by the justice of the judge ; but yet withall it is that which may and sometimes doth befall gods own servants ; nay which is more strange , and yet is many times true , the righteous are taken away , whilest the wicked remain . solomon observed it in his time , there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness , and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness ; yea which is yet most sad , but very frequent , the righteous perish by the wicked , and that for righteousness sake , and the mercifull are taken away by cruell hands , and that for pietyes sake : wicked men never want malice in their hearts , and sometimes ( through divine permission ) have power in their hands to take away the liberties , estates , and lives of the righteous . one of the first good men that was in the world began this bitter cup , which many both men of god and other godly men have since pledged . it was the complaint of the church in the old testament , and st. paul taketh it up as most truly applicable to the church of the new , for thy sake we are killed all the day long , and are accounted as sheep for the slaughter . this is that which the wise god suffers to come to passe for many excellent ends . that wicked men by such bloody acts , may fill up the measure of their sins , and thereby at once hasten and heighten their punishment . that good men may have occasion of exercising and manifesting many graces particularly , the length of their patience ; the height of their courage ; and the depth of their charity . when a man endureth to the end , suffering even death it self , patience hath its perfect work . that 's a resolution indeed which maketh a man faithfull to the death , and enableth him to look upon its pale visage with confidence . there cannot be greater charity then to forgive my enemy ; especially when he persecuteth me to the death . so that when righteous men perish violently , their graces flourish gloriously . that hereby righteous men may be fully conformable to the righteous one , the messiah , concerning whom this prophet foretelleth that he should be cut off ( as the tree is by the ax ) from the land of the living . and in respect of which the apostle chargeth those jews , that by wicked hands they had taken and slain him . finally , that by so perishing , the religion which they profess , may be honoured , and the god whom they serve , glorified . since though both these are in some measure effected by doing well , and living uprightly , yet much more by suffering ill , and dying cheerfully in a righteous cause . and now what should the consideration hereof teach us , but . that certainly there is another world besides this , wherein a difference shall be put between the righteous and the wicked ; between him that feareth god , and him that feareth him not . here the righteous perish as well as the wicked ; nay , the righteous perish , and the wicked prosper , and the mercifull are taken away by the wicked . but shall it be so alwaies ? will not the judge of all the world do right ? will there not be a reward for the righteous ? yes doubtless . and since in this world all things fall alike to all , and for the most part it fareth better with the wicked then the godly , it necessarily followeth that there is a state after death , wherein the righteous judgment of god in punishing the wicked , who now prosper , and recompensing the righteous , who now perish , shall be made manifest . . that it is a needfull prudence , in righteous and mercifull men , to improve their time and talents in serving god , and doing good to others whilest they live . they must perish at last by a natural , they may be taken away soon by a violent death ; and when they perish , all ability and opportunity will be taken away of doing good works , either of piety or pitty , justice or mercy . oh then , how great industry and celerity is needfull in putting forth themselves to the utmost for god , their souls , their brethren whilest they live ! that they may do much in a little time , according to that sage advice of the wise man , whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it with thy might , for there is no work , nor device , nor knowledge , nor wisdome , in the grave whether thou goest . . that sowing in righteousness , and reaping in mercy , they would not be discouraged from the apprehension of this perishing and taking away . i am afraid such thoughts as these do sometimes arise in the minds of men : how dieth the wise man even as the fool , the righteous as the wicked ? let me live never so well , i must perish : nay , my conscientious walking may occasion my ruine . how much better is it to spend my daies in pleasure , and indulge to my lusts whilest i live , since i can but die at last ? but far be such reasonings from wise and righteous men , especially when we consider how great a mercy the very perishing of the righteous , and taking away of the mercifull is ; which will appear , if we proceed to the . mitigation of the complaint , as it is expressed in the close of the verse , the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . there are ( according to the known distinction of the schooles ) two sorts of evil , the one of sin , and the other of punishment ; and it is true in reference to both . . when righteous men die , they are taken away from the evil of sin , into which they are prone to fall , so long as they live . nusquam tuta est humana fragilitas , saith st. herome , humane frailty is never safe . in this world we are continually assaulted , and sometimes captivated ; but death puts us out of all danger ; we shall be tempted no longer , and sinne no more . . but no doubt it is the evil of punishment which here the prophet intends , and thus it may admit of a double notion . . they are taken away from those ordinary personal evils , to which they , with the rest of mankind , are subject in this world . the best men whilest they live here , are exposed to a●hes , paines , sicknesses , losses , crosses ; manifold troubles and miseries : but when they die , all teares are wiped away from their eyes : feares removed from their hearts : they rest from their labours , so st. john . they enter into peace ; they rest in their beds , so our prophet in the very next verse . . but that which is here principally meant , is , that the righteous and mercifull are taken away by death , from some extraordinary and publipue evil of judgement , which is to come upon the place where they live . those words of the prophet , come my people , enter thou into thy chambers , shut thy doors about thee ; hide thy self as it were for a little moment , while the indignation be overpast ; are by some expounded of the chambers of the grave , in which god is pleased to hide his people , before he cometh forth of his place to punish the inhabitants of the world . indeed , this is not alwaies the dispensation of divine providence . sometimes the righteous are taken away in the common calamity , together with the wicked . the fruitfull and barren trees are blown down at once by the same wind of judgment . perhaps , good men , have by sinfull complyances , been involved in the national guilt , and no wonder if they are also involved in the notional punishment . sometimes the righteous are delivered from the common misery , and yet not taken away by death . whilest the whole world is overwhelmed with a deluge of waters , noah is preserved alive in the ark . when sodome is to be destroyed , lot is sent to zoar : and when jerusalem is to be overthrowne , the godly are admonished to go to pella . that promise in the psalms , hath been sometimes literally and fully verified in a time of pestilential infection , a thousand shall fall on thy right hand , and ten thousand on thy left , but it shall not come night thee . god sets a mark upon the mourners , and the destroying angel passeth by them as he did by the israelites houses in aegypt . and then sometimes the righteous are taken away by death , before the general desolation come . thus god dealt with josiah that good king , before the captivity of israel : st. austin ( that godly father ) before the destruction of hippo ; and luther that eminent dr. before the devastation of germany . before i go any further , it will not be amiss to take notice how this truth unfolds the riddle , and cleareth the seeming injustice of divine proceedings . we ofttimes see , and seeing , wonder ; nay , perhaps repine at it , that good men are taken out of , whilest wicked men continue in this world . but surely this can be no just cause of casting any blemish upon divine dispensations , when we consider that on the one hand the wicked are preserved , but it is for the evil to come . they escape for a time , that some remarkable judgment may fall upon them . as the voice told that wicked wretch , when sleeping under a rotten wall , it awaked him , and saved him from the ruine . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i saved thee from the wall , reserving thee for the wheele . on the other hand , the righteoas are indeed taken away , but it is from the evil to come . so that whilest the wicked mans preservation is a curse , the good mans perishing is a favour . god spareth the one in anger , and taketh away the other in mercy . indeed , righteous men are taken away from the evil to come , upon a double account . . ne veniat , that the evil which is to come upon the place may not come upon them : god will not have his righteous ones to be spectators of , nor sufferers in those ruines , which his justice hath decreed to inflict upon the wicked for their sinnes . this is rendered as the reason why that immature death befell josiah who was slain in the battell that he might not see the evil which was coming . . ut veniat , that the evil may come and be inflicted on the place : for ( beloved ) you must know that whilest righteous men live , they are very prevalent with god by their prayers and tears to keep off judgement : unus homo plus valet orando , quam mille pugnando , one righteous man can do more by prayer , then a thousand by armes . let me alone saith god to moses , that my wrath may wax hot against this people , fatetur se moysis orationibus teneri , so the gloss : god seemeth to confess that his hands were as it were tied by moses his prayer , so that he could not punish that idolatrous people . i can do nothing ( said the angel to lot ) whilest thou art here , good men stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of god from the nation where they live : and therefore when god is resolved , and the time prefixed is accomplished , that he will destroy a people , he suffereth the wicked to fill up the measure of their sinnes , by killing his servants : or else he appoints some other meanes by which they are removed out of this world from the evil to come . the meditation of this truth affords matter of . comfort to the righteous , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , said the greek poet , whom god loveth , he dyeth young . certain it is , that when god cuts off any righteous ones betimes , or permits them to be cut off by their bloody enemies , though these do it in malice , he suffers it in love . for ( tell me ) is it not a mercy to be put into a safe harbour , before the stormy tempest arise ? to get into the house , before the thunder and lightning rain , and hail fall ? this is gods design in taking away his servants , and therefore they have reason to bid death welcome . indeed , the strongest consolation against death , is the consideration of the terminus ad quem , to what the righteous are taken , even that good , and bliss , and glory to come . they are taken to an innumerable company of angels , to the spirits of the just men made perfect . they are taken to a palace of glory ; a paradise of pleasure ; and a mansion of eternity . finally , they are taken to the beatifical vision of the face of god , and the full fruition of his glorious presence . but withall it is confortable to reflect on the terminus a quo , from what they are taken , from the evil , misery , and calamity to come , upon the place where , and people among whom they lived . . terrour to the wicked . nothing more usual with ungodly men , then to rejoyce when the righteous are taken away from among them . they had rather have their room then their company ; as being desirous to be rid of them . hence it is , that they are not only glad of , but many times very active in taking away the righteous . they do not account themselves safe whilest the godly are among them but oh what fools are they , and how grossly deceived ! rejoyce not against me , o mine enemy , saith the church . so may every sonne of the church . little cause have the wicked to rejoyce : nay , instead of laughing they have more cause to weep , when the righteous are taken away . for if the righteous be taken away from , it must needs follow that their taking away , is a sign of evil to come . so that the death of the godly , is a sad prognostick of the destruction of the wicked . what a wall is to a town , an hedge to a field , a pillar to an house , that is a righteous man to the place where he liveth . and therefore as men , when they intend to take the town , batter the walls ; to lay waste the field , pluck up the hedge ; to pull down the house , take away the pillar : so almighty god , when he designeth to pluck up , to overthrow , and to pull down a kingdom or a nation , he first removeth his own servants . wicked men look upon the good , as thornes and pricks to offend them , whilest they have more cause to account them as chariots and horse-men to defend them . they think themselves most secure and happy , but indeed they are then nearest to misery and ruine , when the godly are taken from them . by taking away the righteous , they intend a courtesie to themselves , but it is in truth , as a courtesie to the good ; so an injury to themselves : though yet such is the blindness of their minds , they will not see ; and the hardness of their hearts , that they will not consider it . which leads me to the other part of the text , the complaint which the prophet taketh up against the wicked in these words , no man layeth it to heart , none considering . it might be here taken notice of in general , that the sin which the prophet declaimeth against , is not positive but negative . not the bloody taking away of righteous ones ; not the cruel rejoycing at their fall , but the not laying it to heart . indeed , to be an instrument of , or laugh at the calamity of the godly , making their tears our wine , their ruine our sport , is abhominable . but though we be not in the seat of the scorners , yet if we be not in the posture of mourners , it is justly culpable . thus dives is charged by our blessed saviour , not with oppressing lazarus , by taking any thing from him , but not relieving him ; in giving something to him . there are sins of omission as well as commission . there are breaches of the negative as well as of the afffirmative precepts . we sin as well ( though not so much ) in not doing the good required , as in doing the evil prohibited . not only the wastfull steward , but the unprofitable servant , shall be cast out . the vine that bringeth sorth no grapes , shall be cut down as well as that which bringeth forth wild grapes . those whom christ will at the last day set at his left hand , are not accused with any evil or unjust acts they did , but only with neglect of those charitable acts they ought to have done . oh , let us make conscience of not doing , as well as doing . to let this go , the sinne in particular reproved , is , not laying to heart , and considering the death of the righteous : concerning which i shall briefly discover three things ; the nature , the extent , and the guilt of it . . the nature of the sin , what it is , will the better appear , if we observe the emphasis of the words ; the one whereof considering , is an act of the judgment , weighing things in the ballance of reason : the other , laying to heart , refers to the affections , since then any thing is laid to heart , when we are deeply affected with it . these do one infer the other ; since what we affect , we take into consideration , and by considering , we come to be affected . whilest i was musing , the fire kindled , saith david . the consideration of any object , causeth sutable affections ; if delightfull , joy , if hurtfull , sorrow , the fault then here characterized , is , that though the righteous were taken away before their eyes , yet they did not lay it to their hearts . and though they could not but take notice , yet they would not consider it ; at leastwise not so seriously and affectionately as they ought . the extent of this sin , will be the more evident , if we observe the several circumstances by which it is aggravated . . it was not the death of any , but a righteous man ; not of one , but of many mercifull men : and some of those , men of god , and yet it was not laid to heart . . these righteous and mercifull ones , did not die a natural death , but were taken away , when yet they might have lived ( in course of nature ) many yeares longer ; and done a great deal of service for god in their generation . and yet this was not laid to heart by them . . this taking away the righteous by death , did portend no lesse then ruine and misery to come , and that upon themselves : and yet they were so stupid as not to consider it . . and which enlargeth the complaint , their fault was general : none considered , none laid to heart . that is very few , as else-where ; there is none righteous . by which phrase is intimated , though not a nullity , yet a paucity ; not one of many were sensible of the losse , a spiritual lethargy had seized upon the most , and the disease was become epidemical . . the guilt of this sinne , how great it is , will be manifest in a three-fold respect . . in regard of god , it argueth want of piety . almighty god hath placed us in this world , as upon a theater , that we might take notice of the various passages of his providence . so that not to regard his works and consider the operation of his hands , cannot but highly provoke him . indeed , they are equally bad , not to regard the sounding of his word in our eares , and not to observe the appearances of his works in our eyes . among his many providential works , none more observable then the taking away of the mercifull . for certainly , if a sparrow fall not to the ground , much less doth a saint , without divine permission . if the hairs of his head are numbered , surely his head cannot be taken off , without a special providence . indeed , the perishing of a righteous man , is a work at once , both of gods mercy and judgment . mercy to him , iudgment to the wicked . and not to consider such a work , so as to lay it to heart , must needs be a great sin against him . . in regard of the righteous , it argueth want of pitty . to him that is afflicted ( saith job ) pitty should be shewed from a friend ; and especially to him that is persecuted to the death . we may observe among beasts , ( even swine ) a sympathy ; so that when one is killed , the rest are troubled : and shall there not be among men ? didicimus cum homines simus alienis calamitatibus moveri , nothing more humane , then to be moved with compassion towards them that are under sufferings . so that it is not only impiety , but inhumanity . . in regard of the persons themselves , it argueth want of wisdome . when the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away , it is a losse to them who remain . they loose the light of their good example , the benefit of their prayers . and should not this be considered ? nay , it is not only a losse , but ( as hath been already expressed ) it is a dolefull presage of ruine : and shall it not be laid to heart ? so that it argueth a sensless stupidity not to consider what is so much our own concernment . by all which it appeareth an impious , an inhumane , and unnatural sinne which our prophet bemoaneth , when he saith , the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . oh then , be we all exhorted to the contrary duty . solomon the wise , seemeth to promise himself , that when the living are in the house of mourning , they will lay it to heart . and if we ought to lay to heart the death of any , much more of righteous men : and especially , when either josiah the king , or eliah the prophet , or zacharias the priest , are taken from us . though the sun is not much observed by us whilest it shineth , yet if it be in an eclipse , who doth not take notice of it ? oh , let not the eclipse , and much lesse the setting of any of gods eminent servants passe by unregarded ! let us then consider and lay to heart the death of the righteous , . recordando , by keeping a register of the death of the godly in all ages , but chiefly in the age wherein we live ; both as to the quality of the persons , and the manner of their death . . lamentando , by bewailing their removall from us : not in respect of them , to whom death is a favour , but in regard of our selves , who may in their departure , sadly foretell approaching misery . . imitando , by following the good example both of their life and death , so far as we are called to it . by which means , their death will not only be their gain , but ours . . preparando , by fitting our selves for that evil which their death foretells , that whilest the simple passe on and are punished , we may like prudent men fore see the evil , and hide our selves : or rather god may hide us , either by preserving us in it , or by taking us away ( as he hath other of his servants ) before the vengeance come . and now ( beloved ) least i and you should be guilty of the sinne , against which my text declaimeth , give me leave in a few words to put you in mind of the death of that righteous and mercifull man of god , who hath been lately taken from us . titles , which i hope none will envy him , since if we look no further then his death , we shall find just occasion of applying them to him . as for the cause of his death , it concerneth not me to meddle with it ; i shall leave the censure of it to that day , when all the judgment of men shall be scanned over . but i trust none will be offended , if i take notice of the manner of his death ; the righteous ( saith solomon ) is as bold as a lyon . and again , the righteous hath hope in his death . and surely , it was the confidence of a well led life , that made him so meekly bold , humbly confident at his death ; the righteousness of his way , which filled him with cheerfulness at his end . of all acts of mercy , none greater then the remitting injuries , and forgiving enemies : and how great a measure he had of this grace , those charitable lines which were read at his funerall , and the sweet words he uttered on the scaffold , abundantly testifie . i want both time and tongue , to give you a narrative of his life , which was a constellation of many bright stars , many excellent graces which were obvious to all that knew him throughout the whole course of his conversation . this righteous and mercifull man is now perished from the earth , and taken away from us ; but so , as that i have good reason to believe he is removed to that place of bliss , where he enjoyeth the society of saints and angels ; yea , of god himself . and now ( beloved ) let it not be said , out of sight out of mind . we can no longer enjoy him , but ( i hope ) we shall not forget him ; especially not you ( my brethren ) among whom he hath spent his paines , and exhausted his strength , to do your souls good . do you ( i beseech you ) consider and remember how often you have beheld him in this holy mount : how many wholesome reproofs , counsels , and comforts you have heard from him , and withall reflect upon your own unthankfulness for , unprofitableness under his and the labours of others of gods faithfull servants among you . finally , do you , and let us all seriously lay to heart what a sad presage the death of this good man is of ruine and destruction , whilest me thinketh he saith to us this day in the words of his saviour , weep not for me ( i am taken away from the evil to come ) but weep for your selves , upon whom evil is likely to come , unless by your reall and speedy repentance you prevent it . and now i am come to the end of my sermon , and that which was my end in preaching it ; to stirre up both my self and you to consider the death of this righteous man : not so , as to be imbittered against the instrument by whom it hath been effected , but against our selves for our sinnes which have procured it ; that this dolefull losse may be an occasion of our sorrowfull repentance , and that repentance may prevail with god to avert those judgments which hang over us , to continue his faithfull labourers among us , and restore his ancient blessings to us ; which god grant for his mercies sake in jesus christ . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- isa. . . gen. . partic. . lap. in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} psal. . . aug. ibid. mal. . . joh. . . lam. . . king. . . lap. sanct. musc. in loc. jer. . . isa. . . cor. . . ambros. eph. . . pet. . . joh. . . joh. . . rom. . . gen. . . job . . isa. . ult. ambros. in apocal . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} psal. . . psal. . . psal. . . mat. . . mic. . . isa. . gal. . . mic. . . hos. . . mat. . . job . . psal. . . mat. . . prov. . . joh. . . pet. . . cor. . . luk. . . . joh , . . luk. . . musc. in loc. job . . . . mic. . . calv. in loc. lap. in loc. heb. . . ambros. joh. . . . prov. . . psal. . . eccles. . . psal. . ● . rom. . . isa. . . eceles. . . quest . answ. hier. ep. ad eustoch. rev. . . isa. . . isa. . . psal. . . ezek. . . ● exo. . . gen. . . hebr. . , . gen. d . psal. . . psal. . . psal. . . job . . eccles. . . prov. . . dr john hewit who died june . and was buried in the church of st gregories the ●●th day of that moneth . prov. . . . . the apostolical liturgy revived a sermon preached at the assizes held at chelmsford in the county of essex, march , / by nath. hardy. hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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[ ], p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford, london : . reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -- sermons. bible. -- n.t. -- timothy, st, ii, - -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the apostolical liturgy revived . a sermon preached at the assizes held at chelmsford in the county of essex , march . . by nath. hardy , d. d. d. r. and vicar of st. martins in the fields . psal. . . and he shall live , and to him shall be given of the gold of sheba ; prayer also shall be made for him continually , and daily shall he be praised . theoph. ad luc. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . london , printed by a. m. for joseph cranford , at the sign of the castle and lion in st. pauls church-yard , . to the right worshipfull sir robert abdy , knight and baronet , and high sheriff of the county of essex . it hath been the lot of this following discourse ( as well as its author ) to passe through good and ill report . your self with many other worthy gentlemen of the county , so candidly accepted it , as to desire its publication , and yet some ignorant or malevolent auditors have fastened upon it , the heavy charge of superstition , whether justly , or caulesly , let the impartial reader judge . the truth is , when i reflect upon the persons offended , i have reason to believe , that not the popery , but the loyaltie of the sermon ; not so much that part of the discourse about praying for the dead , as that which perswadeth prayer for , and subjection to the king and his government , both civil and ecclesiastical was the crime ; and if so , what they account my fault , i shall ever esteem my duty and my glory . in the mean time , i cannot but congratulate you , worthy sir , those honours which our gracious soveraign hath confer'd upon you , particularly , in that having so plentifull a choice of able gentry , he cul'd you out ( as it were ) to lead the van in that high office wherewith you are invested , which how you have hitherto managed , i need not tell the world . the fame of your noble entertainments , numerous attendants , and especially your impartial deportment , hath already filled city and country : and i may justly affirm , your place hath not so much honoured you , as you the place . go on ( good sir ) to do worthily , and be famous in essex , and by serving faithfully your god , your king , your country , to gain to your self greater honour , not only in this , but the world to come , which shall be the constant prayer of , your affectionate friend , nath. hardy . the apostolical liturgy revived . tim. chap. . vers. , . . i exhort therefore that first of all supplications , prayers , intercessions , and giving of thanks be made for all men . . for kings , and for all that are in authority , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . it is not long ( beloved ) since this with other parcels of canonicall scripture , was by our insolent usurpers adjudged apocryphall , and the open performance of the duty of this text , would have been condemned by their obsequious judges as treasonable . we have seen , we have seen unquiet and troublous times , wicked and evil dayes , wherein the pretence of godliness banished all honesty ; and in truth neither godliness , nor honesty were to be found , wherein there was no king in israel , nor any lawfull authority over us , nor was it lawfull publickely to pray that there might : but what was denied in publick , was , i doubt not , performed in private by all , loyall subjects and good christians ; and i trust the cold of their prohibition from without by a kind of antiperistasis , made our inward devotion so much the hotter . and loe , that god who hath heard our secret prayers , hath returned an open answer , giving us great cause of thanksgiving for restoring our king as of old , our judges as at the first , and our counsellors as at the beginning ; and therefore what scripture can i present you with more sutable than this , i exhort therefore that first of all , &c. the first word of the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i exhort , may well give a denomination to the whole ; it is an exhortation , in which are four parts considerable . the manner of propounding it , which is with gentleness , and yet fervency in those words , i exhort therefore that first of all . the matter or duty perswaded , which is set down with fulness and variety in those , that supplications , prayers , and intercessions , with giving of thanks be made . the objects for whom we are to perform this duty , represented both universally and eminently in those , for all men , for kings , and all that are in authority . the ends wherefore this duty is in particular to be performed for kings and all in authority , specified both concisely and distinctly in those , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . . the manner of propounding is that which first occurreth , and shall briefly be discussed , i exhort therefore that first of all . the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore is most usually a particle of illation , inferring one thing from ; but here it is only a transition passing from one thing to another : and therefore i shall not need to enquire after any dependance of these words , upon what precedeth in the former chapter . the word which we render , exhort , properly signifieth to call upon another , and is often used in polybius , to express a commanders encouraging his souldiers to the battell . thus st paul the apostle being a leader in the church militant , animateth christians to fight , but with no other weapons than those of their prayers . suidas observeth that the word signifieth not only hortor , but oro , to exhort , but to entreat . and accordingly it is often elsewhere translated i beseech , and here in the vulgar latin by obsecro . so desirous is this apostle that this duty of prayer should be observed , that he prayeth for the performance of it . indeed elsewhere in the first verse of the fifth chapter , his word is i charge ; and in the eighth verse of this chapter , i will ; and those phrases seem most sutable to an apostle . but the truth is , both wayes of expression are very congruous , and have their peculiar emphasis . i charge , and i will , are words that justifie his authority ; i exhort or beseech testifie his humility , those serve to set home upon the conscience , and these to win upon the affections , finally both arise from the zeal of his spirit , and argue a great deal of vehemency . upon this account it is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first of all is annexed , which standing between i exhort on the one side , and that supplications , &c. be made , on the other , may be refer'd to either ; nor is it much material to which , since it will amount to one and the same sense . this is that to which i first of all exhort , or this is that which i exhort first of all to be done . the adverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denoteth order , and that either of time or dignity , and both may be admitted here . in the former notion our apostle intimateth à jove principium , that prayer should be the beginning of every day , in the morning as soon as we open our eyes , we should lift them up to heaven ; of every weighty action , before our hands are stretched forth to businesse , we should elevate them to god. indeed it should be both the alpha and omega , the first and the last , the beginning and the ending of every day of our life , and of every important businesse of the day . in the later notion this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , first of all , is much like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 else where above all , taking the shield of faith , and st. peters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , before all things have fervent charity , and presseth this duty as rem maximè necessariam , a thing most needfull and usefull ; though other duties must not be left undone , yet this ought chiefly to be done ; and therefore most earnestly to be urged . gods ministers must not only propound , but enforce divine truths upon their hearers , not onely strike in the nail , but drive it to the head , declare what is to be done , but exhort to the doing of it . and as they must not shun to acquaint the people with whatsoever is their duty , so they must insist most earnestly upon that which is of greatest concernment ; for so doth our apostle here , exhort first of all . that supplications , prayers , and intercession , with giving of thanks be made , which is the second part of the text , the matter and duty it self , which i shall handle both in a general latitude , and in a particular reference . . that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is by some expositors divided from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and conjoyned with this which followeth , as if the sense were , i exhort first , by all men supplications , &c. be made . there are some services which all men may not do : it is not for every man to bear the sword , or dispense the word , but only for the magistrate and minister . there are some duties which every man cannot do , every man cannot build hospitals and churches , confute errours and heresies , onely the rich and the wise ; but this is that duty which all can , may and ought to practice . what this duty is we find expressed in four words , which yet may be reduced to two heads , namely , petitio & gratiarum actio ; petition , which is enlarged in three words , supplications , prayers and intercession , and ( which is comprized in one word ) giving of thanks . . petition is the first branch of this duty , which consists in supplications , prayers and intercessions , and these three words may very well be construed either as various or synonymous . . look upon them as various in their sense , and they set forth those three parts , whereof our petitions to god must consist . . supplication is that whereby we deprecate evil , whether of iniquity or calamity , the remission of the one , the prevention and remotion of the other , in this respect after st. paul had reckoned up several pieces of the christians armour , he closeth with this as being of singular use to defend us against all sort of evils which we either feel or fear . . prayer is that by which we implore those good things whereof we stand in need , and more especially those which concern our eternal welfare ; upon this account prayer is not only our armour to preserve , but onr store-house to provide for us , or rather the key which openeth the store-house of heaven whence every good and perfect gift cometh . . intercession is that whereby we perform both these acts of petition in the behalf of others ; faith is appropriative , but prayer is communicative , that as an hand clasped , this as an hand open , and therefore whereas it is i believe it is our father . true it is , nulli sapit , qui non sibi sapit , he that seldom prayeth for himself will hardly pray for others ; and as our charity , so our piety must begin at home , but it must not end there , we must love others , and pray for others as well as our selves , our own need engageth us to be petitioners for our selves , and brotherly love obligeth us to be advocates for others . indeed meritorious mediation is christs peculiar , but charitative intercession is our duty , it is his bloud which must plead for us all , but yet in his name we must pray one for another . . look upon these three words as synonymous , and then we may with calvin conceive , that these multiplied expressions to the same purpose , as also the putting them in the plural number are designed to minde us of the frequent performance of this duty , that it must not be done once , but often , daily ; and as st. paul exhorteth the thessalonians , continually . but rather with the learned cameron , it will be expedient to take notice , that one and the same thing may be signified by several words without any vain tautelogie , whenas either the one is proper , and the other figurative , or the one obscure , and the other clear , or when there is a diversity , though not in the thing it self , yet in the manner of signification , and so it is here , every one of these words representing the same duty under a different notion according to the several derivations , and proper significations of the words . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith suidas , and being derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indigeo , sets forth prayer , as it is an acknowledgement of our necessities , whereby as the sick man acquaints the physician with his distemper , and the beggar layeth open his sores , we spread our wants and complaints before god. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 votum signifieth prayer , as it is the pouring out of the heart , panting of the soul , and breathing forth of our wishes . by prayer we make known , as our defects , so our requests , nor is it onely a manifestation of our wants , but a testification of our desires . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , adsum ; represents prayer , as it is that whereby we ascend gods presence and entertain communion with him . meditation is a soliloquy with our selvs , prayer is a colloquy with god ; by this we climb to heaven , whilest we are yet on earth , in respect of this david saith , when i awake i am still with thee ; and it is defined by damascene to be the lifting up of the mind to god , and by st. paul to be an access with boldnesse to the throne of grace . so that in these three words are expressed three properties of a right prayer , to wit , humility , zeal and faith ; humility in the confession of our wants , zeal in the fervency of our desires , and faith in the confidence of our approaches to god. prayer is not an ostentation of our vertues with the pharisee , but a discovery of our need with the prodigal , not the invention of a witty brain , or the elocution of a fluent tongue , but the ebulliton of a devout soul ; finally , though in prayer we must stand afar off with the publican in the apprehension of our own unworthinesse , yet we must also draw near to , and follow hard after god with david by a believing application of his mercy . . you have seen the first part of the duty , namely petition , but we must not stay here ; to our supplications , prayers and intercessions we must adde giving of thanks . they are joyned together by our apostle in precept , not only here , but elsewhere , and we must not sever them in our practise . davids psalms consists of hallelujahs as well as hosannas ; we must not only have the tongue of men in begging , but of angels in praising : we are never so full here , but there is something wanting , and therefore we have need to pray ; nor are we ever so necessitous , but there is something we enjoy , and therefore have reason of thanks ; and then is our devotion compleat , when these two meet together ; according to that of st chrysostome , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , let every prayer be attended with thanksgiving . it is observed of those lepers in the gospel , ut acciperent importuni , donec acceperint inquieti , cum acceperint ingrati ; they were importunate that they might , unquiet till they did , but unthankfull when they had received health and cure from christ. oh far be this temper from us ; let us be as forward in acknowledging what we receive , as in imploring what we desire . indeed thanksgiving is efficacissimum orandi genus , a most effectuall kind of prayer , but ingratitude stops the current of divine mercy : since indignus de dandis qui ingratus de datis , he is unworthy of what he craveth , who is unthankfull for what he hath : whereas gods benefits ( like that river whereof solinus speaketh , which so long as men are singing , continueth flowing ) are so much the more plentifully encreased , by how much they are gratefully acknowledged . nor would that gloss of theophylact be passed by , who observing what followeth , would have us take notice that we ought to give thanks for benefits conferred upon others , by which means we are firmly knit together in brotherly love ; for he that is thanfull for his neighbours prosperity , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , cannot but have a love towards his person ; and if thanksgiving ought to be rendered in respect of others , much more in regard of our selves . . besides this generall notion , there is a particular reference of this duty to the publick service of god , which appeareth so much the more rationall , when we consider that this epistle is directed to timothy , who was invested with episcopall authority by st. paul , and therefore ought to take care that common supplications , prayers , & intercessions , with giving of thanks be made in the publick assemblies . to this purpose is that gloss of beza upon those words which follow , i will that men pray every where ; omnem locum intellige sacris caetibus destinatum ; understand every where , to be all such places as are appointed for holy assemblies . and more fully that of aretius , who saith that as st panl had given timothy order in the former chapter , to take care that sound doctrine were preached to the people , so here that the publick prayers be done decently and religiously ; to which end he prescribeth severall rules in the preceding part of this chapter , and in these two verses more particularly insinuateth for whom they should put up their joynt prayers , and ( to give you his own words ) ut certam habeant formulam ; that they should have a certain form of prayer , consisting of these severall parts which are here enumerated . nor is it without great reason , since where men are left to their extemporary effusions , these severall sorts of devotion are either some of them omitted , or else confusedly mentioned . in pursuance of this apostolicall exhortation , it is that the christian church hath still had her liturgy , and that replenished with this variety . st austin hath observed and distinguished these four kinds of devotion in the eucharisticall administration , where speaking of these words he saith , eligo in his verbis hoc intelligere , quod omnis vel paenè omnis frequentat ecclesia , &c. i choose to understand in these words , that which all or almost all the church frequenteth , that we conceive those to be called supplications , which we make at celebrating the mysteries before that which is on the lords table begins to be blessed : prayer , when it is blessed , and sanctified , and broken to be distributed : intercession , or request , when the people are blessed ; which done , all concludeth with thanksgiving . if we take a view of our own liturgy , we shall find these severall forms , in that comprehensive letany , in that excellent office of the communion , yea almost in every part of the service , of which ( having this occasion to mention it ) i shall be bold to say , though it is not so exact , as not to need any alteration or addition ; yet there is nothing in it , which may not admit of a candid construction ; nor is there any publick form in any other church whatsoever which excels it , ( i had almost said ) which is equall to it . and though i dislike not a review for the satisfaction of the scrupulous , ( if any thing in reason might , or themselves knew what would satisfie them ) yet i hope and pray , that our timothies may in due time have the exercise of their power so far restored to them , that in all churches with one lip and language , this apostolicall precept may be observed , supplications , prayers , intercessions , with giving of thankes may be made . and that for all men , for kings , and all that are in authority , which is the third part of the text ; the objects for whom we are to make intercession , which is proposed , . universally , in those words , for all men . for men : we are not to pray on the one hand for angels ; the good angels are in gratiâ confirma i , so confirmed in innocency , that they need not our prayers : and the bad are in malitia obstinati , so setled in their wickedness , that our prayers cannot benefit them . nor yet on the other for the irrationall and inanimate creatures , but only in reference to men , so far as they are serviceable for , and beneficiall to mankind ; upon which account we both give thanks and pray for seasonable weather , the fruits of the earth , and the like . for men it is , and that for all men , which we must make intercessions . to give you the just and full latitude of this all. . i shall first consider the distinction of all men into the quick and the dead . . those who are dead are to be ranked only into two sorts , the wicked , and the righteous , whose bodies lie mingled in the grave , but their souls go , those to hell torments , and these to abrahams bosome . . as for those who die in their sins , their state after death is such as can admit of no alteration , and therefore it is in vain to make any supplication . sanguis christi non descendit adinferos , saith st bernard : not christs bloud , much less can our prayers prevail for the damned . as for those who die in the lord , and sleep in jesus . . that they being themselves at rest , desire the same bliss for us who are here militant , hath been alwayes received as a truth . that of st cyprian is very apposite to this purpose , magnus illic nos charorum numerus expectat , copiosa turba desiderat jam de suá immortalitate secura , & adhuc de nostrâ salute solicita ; the great number and multitude of our dear friends in heaven expect us , being already secure of their own immortality , and solicitous for our salvation ; and surely what they are so desirous of , they pray for . indeed they do not pray for us in particular , because they cannot come to a knowledge of our severall wants ; if they could no doubt they would ; and if we had any way of imparting our condition to them , we might as well desire their prayers , as we do here the prayers of each other . but that they do know that there are still saints upon the earth , ( since otherwise the world would be at an end , and their bodies raised ; ) and that whilest there are such on earth , their condition will be militant , encountring with temptations and persecutions ; and that knowing they cannot but have a sympathy with , and charity towards the militant saints ; and that charity puts them upon prayers to god for them , are such strong probabilities , that cannot be weighed down by any thing that can be said to the contrary : yea it seemeth strange to me , why any ( except those hereticks who affirm the soul to sleep with the body ) should not imagine , that the souls of good men are imployed as in praising god for themselves , and the rest of the triumphant , so in praying for that part of the church which is militant : and if so , why may not we desire of god , that by the imitation of the saints departed , we may be worthy to receive the benefit of those prayers , which they as a part of the catholick church offer to god in our behalf ; according to that passage in the late form , for the thirtieth of january , so much , and yet so causlesly decried as popish by the enemies of our church . . that there ought to be giving of thanks for them who depart hence in the lord , in that they are delivered from the miseries of this sinfull life , enjoy so glorious a victory over sin and satan , and have left such vertuous examples to us that survive , is a doctrine which cannot justly be gainsayed . we are bound to bless god for the temporall , much more for the eternall welfare of others . we ought to be followers of , and therefore to be thankfull for the good patterns which the dead have ( as well as the living do ) set before us . we profess to believe a communion of saints ; that communion is not only of the saints in heaven with each other , and so of the saints on earth ; but between the saints in heaven and earth , the operation whereof is on their part prayers and supplications for us , and on our part a reverentiall respect to , pious imitation of , and thanksgiving for them . . lastly , as to prayers for the dead , i assert , . this doctrine , that there is a third sort of persons , who are neither in heavenly bliss , nor hell torments , but in the pains of purgatory , out of which they are delivered by our prayers , is a novel figment of the church of rome , and hath no footsteps either in scripture or antiquity . . that it is a very ancient practice of the church , to pray for the souls of the blessed , is not to be denied , nor yet do i see how it can be in all respects justified . . that inasmuch as the saints departed are not yet compleatly happy , nor shall be till the end of the world , we may do that for them , which i doubt not but they do for themselves , pray to god to send them a joyfull resurrection , and an happy consummation of their bliss both in body and soul. and this is a truth so evident , that i see not how any can with colour of reason oppose it . . but though this all men according to the forementioned conclusion may be thus far enlarged , yet i conceive that here st paul intends only the living , for all whom we ought without all controversie to make intercession . the just extent whereof will best appear by the distinction of all men into friends and foes ; good and bad . for all men ; that is , for enemies as well as friends : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is st. chrysostomes counsell upon this text , let us learn to pray as christians ; and how is that , but as he afterwards teacheth to pray for our enemies ? hear how st. stephen prayed not only not against , but for his persecutors , lord lay not this sin to their charge . nay hear how christ himself prayed for his crucifiers , father forgive them ; and as it was his practice , so it is his precept , bless them that curse you , and pray for them that despitefully use you . the truth is , as that same father excellently , he that blesseth his enemy , blesseth himself ; he that curseth him , curseth himself ; and he that prayeth for him , prayeth more for himself , than him . . for all men ; that is , for unbelievers as well as believers . so much is intimated , in that he bids them pray for kings , which at that time were infidels . supplicat ubique ecclesia non solum pro sanctis & in christojam regenitis , sed pro omnibus infidelibus , & inimicis crucis christi , idolorum cultoribus , &c. the church ( saith prosper ) every where prayeth not only for the faithfull and regenerate , but for infidels and idolaters , for the enemies of the cross of christ , and the worst of sinners ; de quocunque pessimè in hac vita constituto non utique desperatur , saith st austin , nec pro illo imprudenter or atur , de quo non desperatur . we are not altogether to despair of any , though never so vile ; and for him we may pray , of whom we are not to despair . indeed st paul elsewhere seemeth to limit the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , praying with all manner of prayer for all saints . our blessed saviour saith , i pray not for the world ; there are some sort of petitions peculiar to the saints , which christ maketh not for the world ; and there are petitions which we may and ought to make not only for all saints , but all men : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so runs the ecclesiasticall constitution . let the deacon pray for the whole church , and for the whole world . as we must do good especially to , so we must pray chiefly for the houshold of faith ; but we must do good to , and pray for all ; even they who are without the pale of the church , must be within the reach of our prayers . publica est nobis & communis oratio ( saith st cyprian ) & quando oramus , non pro uno sed pro toto populo oramus . we have publick common prayers , and when we pray , we pray not for one , but the whole people , because all the people are one . thus as our prayers must be for their depth , cordiall , from the bottome of our hearts ; for their height , celestiall , chiefly for the things of a better life ; and for their length , continuall , to the end of our dayes ; so they must be for their breadth , universall , for all men . but withall . eminently , for kings , and for all that are in authority ; where besides the explicite doctrine , there are severall truths implicitely couched , which would not be passed by : and for the better handling of these words , i shall proceed by these steps . . all that are in authority supposeth a distinction of superiors and inferiors . that there should be some regnis praediti , invested with dominion ; and others regnantibus subditi , obliged to subjection , is not saith st. austin , without divine providence : nay saith st. chrysostome , it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a work of divine wisdome so to order it . look as the earth is made up of hills and valleys , mountains and dales ; so among the inhabitants of the earth , god hath appointed , that there should be some above and some below . in the naturall body there are severall members , and some of them in the upper , some in the lower part ; so it is and ought to be both in the civill and ecclesiasticall body . a consideration which not only serveth to justifie superiority against the levelling party in church and state ; but also minds those who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , placed on high , to remember that being set upon an hill , they are more obvious , and ought to be the more exemplary to others ; and therefore that as they exceed them in greatness , they would excell them in goodness ; and as they are above , so they would go before them in the paths of vertue and piety . . kings and all that are in authority implyeth that not only authority in general , but monarchy in particular is agreeable to the will of god ; it is the voice of wisdom , not only non sine me , not without my permission , but per me , by me , that is , my ordination kings raign ; and had not monarchy been approved by god , st. paul would not have exhorted christians to make prayers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for but against kings . yea when i consider . . what pliny observeth , that in omni rerum conditarum genere unum quiddam eminere cernimus , in all sorts of creatures one hath the preheminence ; among the planets the sun , trees the oak , beasts the lion , birds the eagle , and the like . . what st. ambrose saith of kings , that they are dei imaginem babentes , such as in a peculiar manner represent god himself , for which reason his name is imparted to them , and . that one of the offices which christ himself undertaketh is regal : yet further , . when i take notice what a special providence there must be in it ; that such multitudes of persons as are in every kingdom should willingly subject themselves to , and stand in awe of one person . and . add to this , when i observe a kind of monarchy among bees and cranes , unreasonable creatures ; and that among heathens , no government so usual as regal , as if the light of nature directed them to it : yea lastly , when i read that promise to abraham , that kings should come out of his loyns , to the christian church , that kings should be her nursing fathers , and that it is set down as a signal favour confer'd by god upon israel , that it did prosper into a kingdom : i shall not fear to assert , that of all authority , regal , is that which is most consonant to the divine will. . it is not , all in authority , and kings ; but kings , and all in authority , whereby is implyed the subordination of others in authority under kings ; which will more plainly appear , if you compare this of st. paul with that of st. peter : to the king as supream , or to governours , as them which are sent by him : the king in his kingdom is sole deo minor , only inferior to him , whose stile is king of kings , and lord of lords ; and as he deriveth his power immediately from god , so all other authority is derived from him . it was moses who chose able men out of all the people , and made them heads over the people , rulers of thousands , and hundreds , and fifties , and tens : it was jehoshaphat who set judges in the land through the fenced cities , city by city . the statues of kings were of old placed by fountains , to intimate , that they are the fountains of honour : the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports , that kings are the basis and foundation of the people , and all other magistrates are pillars reared and supported by that foundation . in our own land , those who serve in parliament are elected and called by the kings writ : judges sit by the kings commission ; even constables act in the kings name , all owning that authority , which they have , to be originally from the king , in whom the supream power doth undoubtedly reside . . lastly , that which is expresly required is , that intercessions be made for kings , and all that are in authority , mos hic egregius ( ut & multa alia laudabila ) venit à judaeis : this as many other laudable practises cometh from the jews ( saith the learned grotius ) whose custom was , as you read in ezra , to pray for the life of the king. it is here enjoyned by the apostle to christians , and was accordingly practised . tertullian saith of those in his time , sine monitore quia de pectore oramus pro imperatoribus , we need no monitor , our loyal hearts prompt us to pray for our emperours . there are two sorts of persons , who of all men stand most in need of our prayers , namely magistrates and ministers ; the king and the bishop , the prince and the priests , no wonder , if else-where , st. paul requireth praying for all saints , and for me , and here for all men , for kings and all that are in authority . indeed on the one hand it is a great weight and burden which lyeth upon the shoulders of kings and all that are in authority ; though earthly glory be but an empty shadow , yet in this sense we may make use of st. pauls phrase , concerning that which is heavenly ; it is a weight of glory , and quò sublimior gloria cò major cura , the higher the glory , the greater the weight which lyeth upon them : great reason there is , that the people should help them to bear it with their prayers ; it is but gratitude , since they watch for us , that we should pray for them ; and since they take upon them the care of our welfare , we should put up our requests to god for theirs . besides , on the other hand , kings and all in authority are exposed to manifold dangers in respect of themselves as well as cares in regard of us ; in perils they are by false friends , fawning flatterers , and in perils they are by secret enemies , rebellious conspirators ; in danger by them who say in the language of the people to herod , the voice of god , and not of man , and in danger by those who say , we have no king , because we feared not the lord , what should a king do to us ? and being in so great hazards , they need the prayers of their people to guard them . upon these considerations , there is good cause why kings and all in authority should be much in prayer for themselves , like that good king charls the fifth , of whom it is said , soepius cum deo quam cum hominibus loquebatur , he did more frequently converse with god by prayer , than with men by discourse ; and why their subjects also should be earnest with god in their behalf , by which means even kings are in some sort engaged to their meanest , as well as their greatest subjects , who by their zealous prayers for , bring down blessings upon them . these prayers must be made for kings and all in authority , as well bad as good . the truth is as saint austin observeth , qui mario imperium dederit , ipse etiam caio , qui augusto , ipse & neroni , qui vespasiano & domitiano . he that gave authority to marius , augustus , and vespasian , who were mercifull , gave it also to caius , nero , and domitian , who were cruel emperors ; and therefore we must testifie our subjection to , by our devotion for the one , as well as the other . if kings be good , they deserve our prayers so much the more because of their singular care over us ; and if they be bad , then so much the more need there is we should pray for them , by how much they are backward to pray for themselves . i end this with this short item , we are obliged in many duties to kings and all in authority , we are bound to pay to them those tributes and customs which by the laws belong to them ; we are bound to fight for them when required : if my kingdom were of this world , then would my servants fight for me ; but surely , it is very little we will do if not so much as to pray for them ; and therefore pray , and again i say , pray for kings , and all in authority , and so much the rather , because it is our own concerne as well as theirs ; for so it followeth . . that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty : which is the last part to be discoursed . for the more methodical handling whereof i shall consider these words in themselves , and in their connexion . . consider the words in themselves , they present us with the parts of a christian conversation , wherein it consists in godliness and honesty , and with a singular help to the performance of them peace and quietness . . if you would know , what it is to lead a christian life , and wherein it consists , the text answers , in godliness and honesty . . the principal requisite to a good conversation is godliness , which what it is , will appear by the etymologie of the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 colo & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 benè ; so that to be godly is to worship god aright . . the material part of godliness is the worship of god ; for though it taketh in imitation , yet it primarily consists in adoration ; by imitation we acknowledge his excellency , but it is by adoration we proclaim his deity ; and therefore , though every godly man endeavours to follow gods pattern , yet the proper act of godliness is to worship his name . . the formal part of godliness is to worship him aright , which is : . when it is performed according to the right rule , to wit , the word of god , wherein the substantials of worship are particularly and expresly prescribed , whilest the circumstantials are included in those general precepts of order , decency and reverence . . when it is directed to a right end , namely the glory and honour of god , which as it is finis operis , the end of the worship ; so it ought to be finis operantis , the ultimate end of every worshipper . . the next ornament of a christian conversation is honesty . if we consult the derivation of the greek word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , we shall finde it to be from the same verb with the former , and is fitly rendered veneration or reverence ; and as that refers to god , so this may be refer'd to kings and all in authority . i cannot but sometimes wonder at the folly of the quakers , as in many others , so in this particular of denying external expressions of reverence toward their superiors , because it is written , thou shalt worship the lord thy god , and him only shalt thou serve ; not considering , that it is also written , fear god and the king ; fear god , honour the king ; render to all men their due , fear to whom fear , honour to whom honour , which cannot be render'd but by an outward testification in our speeches both to , and of , and our behaviour towards them ; nor yet distinguishing between religious and a civil worship ; the former whereof , is gods peculiar , but the latter due to kings , and all in authority . besides this strict notion of the word it is often used , and may very well be enlarged to signifie , gravitatem & honestatem morum , a grave and honest behaviour towards all men , with whom we converse , and so includeth omne officii genus , all kinde of duty which belongeth to mutual society . both these godliness and honesty , as elswhere righteousness and holiness are fitly joyned together , since the one containeth the duties of the first table , and the other of the second , and so both render the conversation compleat . but alas where or in whom almost do these two meet ? some there are ( i trust not many ) who , like that unjust judge in the parable who neither feared god nor regarded man , abandon both godliness and honesty , letting loose the reins to all manner both of impiety and iniquity . but more , far more there are whose conversations are deficient in one , or the other of these . how many christians are there who are no more then meer civil honest men , to whom it may be truly said in the language of our saviour , what do you more then heathens ? i can tell you of a grave cato , just aristides , chaste lucretia , many honest pagans : think you that the conversation of a christian must not exceed theirs , and what is it but godliness which maketh the difference ? again how many christians are there , who seem ( for it is no more ) to be godly , and so call themselves , and would have others account them , yet their practises have been manifestly unjust , unmercifull , and their works dishonest ; oh that it might not be told in gath , and published in the streets of ashkelon , that in this christian kingdom there hath been a generation of holy oppressors , zealous church robbers , pious traitors , religious rebels , and godly regicides : but where , oh where is the generation of them who lift up both their hands to gods commandments in the exercise of godliness and honesty ? brethren , let no man deceive you , honesty without godliness is but philosophical , and godliness without honesty pharisaical ; let it therefore be our care to approve our selves to god by piety , and to men by honesty ; nor must we leave out the extensive particle all , which is here annexed , but make conscience of doing every part of our duty both in reference to god and man ; that godliness is no godliness which abhorreth idols , and yet committeth sacriledge ; that honesty is no honesty which detests intemperance , and dispenseth with deceit ; there must be no baulks in our spiritual husbandry ; the work of christianity must not be done by halfs : then shall i not be ashamed ( saith david ) when i have respect to all thy commandments , which we cannot do , unless we have a care to lead our life in all godliness and honesty . . the singular help to both these is peace and quietness ; and by the mention of this the apostle intimateth . . that the desire and endeavour of all christians ought to be , that they may lead a quiet and peaceable life . by which two words , may very well be understood that twofold peace , namely , foreign and domestick ; when there is no invasion from abroad , then a kingdom is like a calm sea , no blustring winds from without to enrage it : when there is no insurrection at home , then it is like a still earth , no winds got into the bowels to shake it ; the former is peace in our borders , and the latter is peace within our walls ; both great blessings where god confers them , and both all good christians seek after . it was st. pauls precept to the romans , if it be possible , as much as lyeth in you , live peaceably with all men : and our saviour to his disciples , have peace one with another ; we must not be wanting in our endeavours to live a quiet life with all the world , however to live a peaceable life among our selves . . the end why we should desire to lead a quiet and peaceable life , ought to be in reference to godliness and honesty , not so much that we may get wealth and riches , much less that we may live in mirth and jollity , idleness and luxury , but that we may exercise godliness and honesty ; with which agreeth that of the song of zachary , that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies , we may serve him without fear , in righteousness and holiness , all the days of our lives . . that peaceable and quiet living is an especial means to advance godliness and honesty . it is a known saying , inter arma silent leges , in times of war the laws are silent , no honesty ; ey and religion is neglected , no godliness neither ; our own sad experience can tell us what sacriledge and prophaness , what oaths and blasphemies , what plunders and violences , unjust sequestrations and imprisonments , war hath produced . it was not without cause that st. james said , the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace : and the author to the hebrews exhorts to follow peace with all men , and holiness ; where peace is placed before holiness , not as if peace were the principal , but because it is a preparative ; for though holiness be more excellent than peace , yet it is peace which maketh way for holiness . . lastly , we must desire such a peaceable and quiet life as may consist with godliness and honesty , quae fidei non adversatur & cum vitae probitate conjunctae , which is consistent with a sound faith and a pure conversation ; it is a very ill bargain to purchase peace with the loss of piety ; and if peace cannot be had but upon such terms , that god , caesar and the church must lose their due , it is not to be embraced but rejected . . having viewed the words in themselves , i shall consider them in a double relation to what precedeth . . to that which immediately precedeth , kings and all in authority , whereby is intimated , the great influence which they have upon the peoples happiness by procuring and promoting godliness and honesty with peace and quietness among them . there is a threefold power annexed to magistracy , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of making laws , which belongs to the king as supream ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of passing judgement , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of inflicting punishments which are executed by all in authority from and under the king ; and all of these are , at least ought to be designed for this threefold end peace , piety and honesty . the magistrate is called by st. peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an humane creature , or creation not in respect of the efficient cause ( that word creation contradicts it which is gods proper act ) but in regard of the final which is the benefit of man , non mihi , sed populo , was trajans ; pro lege & grege , was alphonsus his motto ; and good kings , though they receive not their diadem from , yet have still looked upon themselves as intrusted with it for the people . more particularly : . by kings and those in authority , godliness ought to be propagated among the people . it was gods command concerning the king , when he sitteth upon the throne , that he should have a copy of the law to be with him , and read it : and at the coronation of king joash , the high priest delivered him the testimony ; and why this ? not only that they might know and do it themselves , but take care ( as much as lyeth in them ) that it might be known and observed by the people ; accordingly we finde the good kings of israel and judah purging the temple , pulling down idols , causing the people to enter into a covenant to seek the lord ; nor were those christian emperors constantine and theodosius , less famous for their zeal in the things of religion . . by kings , and all in authority , honesty is to be maintained , this being one special end wherefore rulers are set up , that they may suppress robbery and violence , with all manner of injustice and dishonesty . when there was no king in israel ( saith the scripture ) every man did what was right in his own eyes , and that right was wrong : it is government which is the hedge to keep in those men , who like wilde beasts would trample upon their neighbours . . by kings and all in authority , peace and quietness is preserved . the poet saith of augustus , custode rerum caesare non furor civilis , aut vis eximit otium . by caesars care the publick peace is kept inviolable ; and one of seneca's characters of a great prince is , that he is one , sub quo justitia , pax , securitas dignitas florent ; under whom righteousness , peace , safety and honour flourish : hence in the coyns of emperours was engraven , securitas publica ; and that of nero , pax orbis terrarum ; and that phrase among us , the peace of our soveraign lord the king. where there is magistracy , there is order , and where there is order there is peace . it was a custom among the persians , that when their king died there was an anarchy for the space of five days , that by the many quarrels and contentions in those few days the people might be convinced how advantagious monarchy was to their peace and safety ; this is the happiness which a people have by good kings and magistrates , that ( as it is said of solomon ) in their days shall the mountains bring peace to the people , and the little hills righteousness . . to that which mediately precedeth , where we are exhorted to make prayers for kings and all in authority ; upon this account , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . according to this reference , these words admit of a double notion as intimating either the matter or the motive of our prayers for them . . if you ask , what it is we should pray to god for in reference to kings and those in authority ? the answer is , that we under their government may lead a quiet and peaceable life , in all godlinesse and honesty : and truly considering ( what hath been already mentioned ) the great influence which magistrates have upon godliness , honesty , and peace among the people , and that not only on the one hand to further and encourage , but on the other to discourage and hinder them ; this had need be one part of our prayer to god for them , that he would so encline their wills , as that they may improve their power for those happy advantages . . if you ask , why we should pray to god for kings , and all in authority ? the answer is , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty . indeed as theophilact well glosseth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their safety is our tranquility , so that our intercessions , though they be for them objectively , yet they are for our selves terminatively ; and those vapours of good desires which ascend from us to heaven in behalf of them , descend in golden showers of blessing upon our own heads . indeed there might many arguments have been made use of to perswade this duty ; but surely none more prevailing than this , which is drawn ab utili from the benefit which hereby redounds to our selves . we ought to pray for kings and all in authority , in respect of our christian religion , that it may be acquitted from that odious brand of disloyalty , in respect of themselves , it being one part of that duty which we owe to them . but if neither of these can sway with us , yet surely our own interest will oblige us . no wonder if our apostle singleth this from the rest , and urgeth his exhortation , with this consideration , i exhort therefore first of all , supplications , prayers , intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men ; for kings , and for all that are in authority , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . and now that your patience may not be too much tired , nor your weighty affairs too long retarded , i shall close up my discourse in a few words of exhortation . to you right honourable , and right worshipfull , let me commend the care of these two lovely virgin sisters , godlinesse and honesty , with their comely hand maiden , peace and quietness . godliness is in suidas his language , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the head of vertues , good reason the head should be safe , she is the queen of graces , fit it is the queen should be guarded . there are many good laws made for the reverend using of gods name , decent celebration of his worship ; frequent repairing to his house , due sanctifying of his day , comfortable maintenance of his ministers ; i trust you will , i desire you may improve the authority with which god and the king hath invested you , that they may be put in execution . honesty is societatis vinculum , the bond of all humane society and civil commerce ; great need it should be kept inviolable ; in all causes which come before you let right take place , and if men will not be honest imploy your power to make them so . finally , pax optima rerum , peace is the best of outward blessings , oh let the peace of the country and kingdom be pretious in your eyes ; consider you are justices of the peace , to whose custody this jewel is committed , take heed it be not spoiled , and remember i beseech you that stocks , and whips , pillories , and ropes , the prison , and the gallows , are those engines upon which hangs the garland of peace . to you gentlemen of the grand inquest , my earnest advice is , that you would show your selves friends to godlinesse , favourites of honesty , and lovers of peace , by making strict and diligent inquiry after the offenders against any , or all these : not only common swearers , but heretical blasphemers ; prophaners of the lords day , but those who detain the lords portion , tithes from the minister ; careless neglecters of the publique assemblies , but schismatical frequenters of private conventicles ( what ever they pretend ) are enemies to godliness ; let both the one and the other be taken notice of . i shall not i suppose need to bid you find the bills against cheats , thieves , vagabonds and marderers , the enemies of honesty ; and i hope you will be carefull to finde out all riotous quarrellers , with their neighbours , and seditious raylers ( whither in pulpits or elsewhere ) against civil and ecclesiastical authority ; oh remember , it is impossible for the judges to punish and reform , if the grand inquest do not present and complain . to be brief , let honesty sit upon the tongues of the learned in the law , and then i am sure they will not dawb over a rotten wall , nor justifie any cause which is unjust ; let peace and quietness be their study , and then though it may be a greater profit to plead causes at the bar , they will esteem it a greater honour to take up ( especially petty ) differences among parties . to all who are plaintiffs in any causes now depending , i wish a quiet and peaceable spirit , that they would hearken to terms of accomodation with their adversary , and not prosecute their neighbour for a trifle ; i would to god all witnesses , who are to give evidence in any cause were so overawed with godliness , that they might not dare to take gods name in vain , and by false testimony bring upon themselves the guilt , not only of lying , but perjury . and for you of the petty jury , in whose hands are both the estates and lives of men , i beseech you take heed what you do , and let godliness and honesty sway in all your verdicts . i should now end , but that i foresee there will ere long be another publique meeting of this county for the choice of such as shall have share in the parliamentary authority , and let it be a seasonable item , that those whom you choose have these characters imprinted on them . look that they be godly men , the word indeed hath been much abused , but the thing must not therefore be disregarded ; no , choose godly men , not of the new cut , but of the old stamp , godly men of the former , not of the latter edition ; not such godly men as pull down , but set up churches , as decry , but countenance the ministry , as run into corners , but attend the publique ordinances . look that they be honest men , not godly men only , but godly honest men , such as reverence their king , and live justly among their neighbours , such as are of untainted reputation for loyaltie and equity . look that they be men not of turbulent factious , and seditious spirits , but such as are for peace in church and state , such as make it their business to allay the flames , and heal the breaches which have been among us . and since i well know how much the clergy may and ought to advance this threefold interest of peace , piety and honesty ; let me in the bowels of jesus christ beseech my reverend brethren , those especially who dissent from the church of england , that laying aside needless debates about ceremonies , they would study peace by submitting to the dictates of authority , and in particular complying with his majesties moderate desires of conforming in what they can , who hath graciously condescended to theirs , by indulging to them in what they cannot , that instead of inveighing against imaginary superstition , they and we may joyn together in decrying real prophaness ; yea , that we would all of us , both by our preaching and living , endeavour to advance the power of godliness and practise of honesty in the hearts and lives of the people . i have nothing more to add , but that which concerneth all of all sorts , magistrates , ministers , people , to exhort you : that in the first place there be humble and hearty thanksgiving rendred by us all to almighty god : and that first of all for our king. that instead of a beggerly oligarchy , slavish stratocracy , and bastardly protectorship , we have restored to us our ancient fundamental government of a renowned monarchy . that we have not only a king , but such a king , our own , and our lawful king , and that such a king , who is a declared enemy of all prophaness and dishonesty , and who by all the ways of forgiveness , meeknesse , moderation and condescension , professeth nothing to be more desirable to him then the peace and quietness of his subjects . that we have our king in such a peaceable and quiet way without any effusion of blood , or noise of guns ( except upon the account of a joyfull reception ) and this notwithstanding they who had the power in their hands , were so full of resolved malice in their hearts against kingly government . next for those who are in authority under him , let there be thanksgiving first to god , and next to the king that he hath set in the courts of judicature , persons eminent as well for godliness and honesty , as for learning and ability ; that he hath intrusted the sword of war , the lieutenancy , and posse comitatus , with persons of known worth and honour ; and the sword of justice with gentlemen of best repute in the county . together with our thanksgiving , let us joyn our supplications , prayers and intercessions . for our king , according to st. chrysostoms liturgie that god would give him strength , victory , health , safety , length and tranquillity of days ; or if you will in tertullians form , long life , a secure government , safe court , valiant army , faithfull senate , good people , quiet world , and whatever he can desire as a king , or as a man : or once more in lactantius his words , that god will keep him , who is the keeper of all things in his dominions , and inspire into him a will which may always persevere in the love of god , to his felicity and our tranquillity : for all in authority under him , in the words of our church , that they may truly and indifferently administer justice and iudgement , to the punishment of vice , and to the maintenance of gods true religion and vertue . for kings and all in authority in the words of our apostle , that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . and oh thou that hearest prayers , bow thine ear and graciously hear from heaven thy dwelling place , the supplications , prayers , intercessions , and thanksgivings which are made , either in publique or private , by good christians , for all men , by loyal subjects , for kings and all in authoritie under them , that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty , to the glory of thy name , the honour of the king , and the welfare of the people , through iesus christ our lord ; to whom , with the father , and the holy ghost , be praise , honour , and glorie , now and for ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e polyb. suid. tim. . . . . ephes. . . pet. . . gen. . calv. in loc . thess. . . suid. psal. . . damasc. paral . ephes. . . chrysost. in loc . solon . theoph. in loc . vers. . beza in loc . aret. ibid. aug. ep. . ad paul. part. . bern. in cant. serm. . cypr. serm. . de mort. chrysost. in loc . act. . . luk. . . matth. . . id. ibid. prosper de vocat . gent. eph. . . joh. . . constit. . . cypr. de orat. dom . aug. de civit . dei , cap. . chrysost. in ep . ad rom. c. . prov. . . plin. nat hist. ambrose in rom. . gen. . . isaiah . . ezekiel . pet. . , . exod. . . chron. . . grot. in loc . ezra . . tertul. apol. eph. . . cor. . . acts . . hos. . . aug. de civit . dei. iohn . matth. . . prov. . . pet. . . rom. . . luke . . matth. , . psal. . . . . rom. . . mark . . theoph ▪ in loc . luke . , . james . . . hebr. . . murlorat . in loc . pet. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deut. . . king. . . judg. . . horat. senec. de bono pac . psal. . ▪ . theoph. in loc . chrysost. litur . tertul. apol. lactant. the royal common-wealth's man, or king david's picture represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams, knight and baronet, and alderman of london ; in st. katherine creechurch, on the th of march, / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the royal common-wealth's man, or king david's picture represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams, knight and baronet, and alderman of london ; in st. katherine creechurch, on the th of march, / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by tho. newcomb, for william grantham ..., [london?] in the savoy : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng david, -- king of israel. adams, thomas, -- sir, - . christian life -- sermons. funeral sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the royal common-wealths man : or , king david's picture , represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams knight and baronet , and alderman of london . in st katherine creechurch , on the th of march , . by nath. hardy , d. d. d. r. chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , and vicar of st. martins in the fields . david fortis in bello , patiens in adversis , in hierusalem pacificus , in victoriâ mansuetus , in peccato dolens , in senectute providus , rerum modos , vices temporum , per singularum sonos servavit aetatum : ●t mihi videatur non minus vivendi genere , quam canendi suavitate praedulcis moralem deo sui fudisse meriti cantilenam . ambros. de officiis , l. . cap. . in the savoy . printed by tho. newcomb , for william grantham , at the sign of the black bear in westminster-hall . . to the right worshipful sir william adams , baronet . as it is not only lawful , but ( in gregory nazianzens opinion ) a most due debt , to publish the praises of gods eminent servants ( especially when dead ; ) so it is expedient that the publication should be extended as far , and perpetuated as long as may be . it is the advantage which all discourses ( particularly encomiastical ) have by being printed , above that which they have by being only spoken ; that whereas these are like pictures hung in a private gallery , those are as statues set upon an high hill , every way conspicuous ; these are as pictures drawn in fading colours , those are as imagery wrought in lasting arras . vpon these considerations ( worthy sir ) i suppose it is , that you desired this following discourse might ( by the printers help ) become legible , and though i am very conscious of its manifold defects , upon the same reason i have fulfilled your desire . it were too great pity , if such a rare and precious jewel as he was should have been lockt up in a cabinet ; yea , pity it is , that a more skilful lapidary was not made choice of to have set him forth in his lustre . but the best of it is , his native lustre was such as needed not the help of art ; and so far is this discourse from adding to his splendour , that in truth it receiveth whatever worth it hath from him . such as it is , i tender to you by this dedication , and justly , since you have the greatest right to it , as being an inventory of your dear fathers best goods , and choicest riches , which he hath at once carried with him and left behind him , in as much as the good works of them who die in the lord follow them , to wit , for their own remuneration ; and yet stay here to be paterns for others imitation . an inventory i call it , and that such as i dare own to be so far true , that there is nothing said of him which doth not belong to him ; and therefore let none think that i do nimis adulari , at all flatter him , though on the other hand i ingeniously acknowledg it is far short of what might have been said of him : and therefore your self with the rest of his relations may think that i did frigide laudare , coldly commend him : the truth is , though i will not use saint john's hyperbolical expression concerning our saviour ; there are many other things which jesus did , the which if they should be written every one , i suppose that the world it self could not contain the books which should be written : yet i dare say , the several passages of his excellent life could not be contained in an hours discourse , but justly require a large volume . and now ( honoured sir ) though it grieve you to have lost , it is no small comfort to you that you had such a father , so far excelling in all virtue , nor will , i hope , the reading afresh what you have heard before , discompose you , since you will finde more white of your deceased fathers gracious life , than will checker the black of his dolorous death : nor is it only a comfort , but an honour , a great honour to you to have had such a father , who was greatly and highly ( yet no more than deservedly ) beloved and honoured , both living and dead in city and country . but withall , give me leave to mind you , that the having such a father , layeth upon you a strong obligation of duty to walk in his steps and conform to his patern , which i trust , in some measure you do , and will do more and more . may you ( if it be god's will ) equalize his years , and as you grow in years , grow in grace , that you may if not equalize , yet come near to his righteous patern . i doubt not but whilst he was on earth , he put up many devout prayers for you , your consort , your posterity , and not for you only but your sisters with their relations , whereof you all have and will experience the benefit , nor can i close with a better prayer than that all those blessings ghostly and bodily which he implored for you , may by divine bounty , be continued and multiplied upon you : i subscribe my self , apr. . . sir , your affectionate servant , nath. hardy . acts . . david after he had served his own generation , by the will of god fell asleep and was laid to his fathers , and saw corruption . i am at this time to preach upon a double text , the one whereof i have now read in your ears , and the other is here presented to your eies : both of them so copious that the scantling of an hour is too narrow for each . and therefore waving all prefaces and without enquiring into the context or occasion of the words : i shall immediately address my self to a short discourse upon the text , and so proceed to give an account of the sorrowful occasion of this solemn assembly . and if in performing this double task , i shall exceed the limits of a single hour , my apology shall be in the language of salust , praestat tacere quam pauca loqui , it were better to say nothing at all than too little upon two such pregnant subjects . the former whereof is st. pauls narrative concerning david , as it is set forth in these words ; david after he had served his own generation , by the will of god , &c. which narrative plainly parts it self into the life and death of david . the character of his life is but one , but that unum aggregatum such an one , as ( by the handling it will appear ) hath many involved in it , he served his own generation by the will of god. those of his death are three , by which the state of the dead is represented to the life . he fell asleep , and was laid to his fathers , and saw corruption . i begin with the character of david's life , he served his own generation by the will of god. and before i proceed further , it will not be amiss to observe , that the apostle speaking of david though but collaterally giveth him an excellent encomium . it had been sufficient as to the scope of st. pauls discourse only to have said , david after he fell asleep , saw corruption . but he being an eminent person not only in place but grace must not be mentioned without an honorable character , nay though he wanted not his faults and those great ones too , yet they are buried in silence and only his worth proclaimed . it is the saying of solomon , the memory of the just is blessed , the vulagar latin from the lxx read it , cum laudibus , gods faithful servants ought to be remembred with praises . upon this account we finde god himself adorning those who were eminent in their generations with the amiable titles of servant and friend , as abraham , job , moses , josua , and others ; for this reason st. paul enumerating the worthies of the old testament , giveth them their due characters ; as abel , enoch , noah , with others : and here though it were but by the by and in a few words , he bestoweth a very high commendation upon david , that he served his own generation by the will of god. which words in the greek are capable of a double translation whilst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred in the dative and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the ablative case , and so have our translators construed it , he served his own generation by the will of god , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred in the ablative case , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the dative , and so it is translated in the margin , in his own generation he served the will of god. those two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are also capable of a double interpretation in this place and accordingly the sense of the clause may be variously explicated ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among other acceptations , is sometimes and most usually taken for the men of one age , or , sometimes for the age of one man ; and so here ▪ either he served his own generation , that is , the men of the time wherein he lived , or , he served in his own generation , that is , during the time of his own life : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render will , signifieth counsel which cannot properly and strictly be applyed to god : for whereas counsel supposeth imperfection of knowledg , and requireth time of deliberation . to god all things past , present , and to come , are at once and altogether manifest : but , yet inasmuch as when the will acts by counsel , it acts most rationally and prudently , it may serve to minde us of the equity , and wisdom of the divine will. and whereas there is the will of gods purpose and decree ; and t●e will of his precept and command ; both of these may fitly be understood in both the translations , all which i shall accordingly make use of , since every way the words serve for the commendation of david , and consequently instruction unto us : and . first of the translation which we have in the text , — he served his own generation by the will of god , it here we understand the will of god's command , it must be referr'd to served ; and the meaning is , that david in serving his generation , did not follow his own fancy , nor yet the humour of the times , but god's will made known to him in his word . and this restriction must still be taken in , as we ought to be another's friend , so a servant to our generation , but usque ad aras , and no farther ; so far as may consist with a conformity to god's will. there is a time serving , which is , though too usual , yet detestable , when we sail with every winde , and comply ▪ with every humour of the age we live in . too many such have been in our times , who change not only their fashions but opinions according to the mode , men that can swear and forswear , and will be sure to side with that part of the generation that is uppermost , but far be this from the conscientious man who according to the double reading of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will serve the time , but no further than withall he may serve the lord according to his will. but i rather adhere to that exposition which understanding the will of god's decree , referrs it to generation , and giveth this sense , that david served that generation upon which he was cast by the will of god : according to which construction here is something implied and something express'd in this character . . that which is implied is , that that generation in which every man liveth , is , allotted to him by the will and counsel of god. we come not into this world by chance but providence , and that we are born in this or that place , in this or that age , is the wise appointment of god , according to that of st. paul , he hath made of one blood all nations to dwell upon the face of the earth , and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitation . and therefore , if the generation in which we live be virtuous and prosperous , we must thankfully acknowledg the goodness of divine dispensation ; and if it be vitious and calamitous , the daies and times evil , we must not repine nor murmur , because it is no other than divine determination which hath cast us upon the one or the other . . but secondly , that which is expressed is , that it is our duty , whilst we live in this world to serve our generation . it is a known saying of the oratour , nemo sibi natus , no man is born for himself , nay more , no creature is made for it self ; but all that they may be serviceable to each other , and every one to the community . we may observe in the several parts and members of our natural body , how that their several acts and operations are in reference to the whole , the eye seeth , the foot moveth , the mouth feedeth , and the stomack digesteth not for it self only , but all the rest of the members . thus it ought to be in church and common-wealth ; st. paul saith of charity , that she seeketh not her own , to wit not only , nay , in some cases not principally . it is the same apostles counsel to the phillippians , look not every man on his own , but the things one of another , to which may be added and all upon the things which concern the publick . the truth is , for this end hath god bestowed upon men several gifts of nature , of art , of fortune , and of grace , that with these they may serve their generations . yea , for this reason , as he hath enriched several countries with different commodities ; so he hath furnished men with several gifts , to one in this kinde , to another in that , that so they may every one stand in need of , and be helpful to each other : nor are we only cisterns to retain but conduit pipes , to convey that water which is bestowed upon us : treasurers to lay up , but stewards to lay out the talents which are communicated to us for the common good . this is that duty which is incumbent upon every man according to his capacity and ability , but more especially such as david was , who had riches and honour , men of wealth and estate , men of power and authority . true it is , there is no man though never so mean and poor but may serve his generation , if he have a family , ( as most men have ) he serveth the publick by well ordering his houshould , especially educating his children in the fear of god , it being not imaginable how great an influence that hath upon the commonwealth . if he hath a calling ( as no man ought to be without ) by his industry and diligence in that he doth not only maintain himself and family , but serveth the publick ; finally , if he be a pious man , by his good example to those among whom he liveth , and both by his mourning for the publick enormities and prayers for the publick welfare he is greatly useful to the community , and therefore let no man think himself excused or disobliged from this service . but yet to make use of our saviours words , to whom much is given , of them much is required , and consequently , by them much ought to be performed in the service of their generation . rich men with their gold and silver by works of piety and charity ; great men with their power and honour , by restraining and punishing evil doers ; and by encouraging and rewarding those who do well , since as it is their privilege that they can , so it is their duty to be serviceable to their generation above others . it is the difference which aristotle maketh between a tyrant and a king , that a tyrant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mindeth his own profit , but a king 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the benefit of them whom he governs . and though that be a rebellious principle rex minor universis , which maketh the king inferiour to the whole body of the people : yet it was an excellent motto of trajan the emperour , non mihi sed populo ; who lookt upon himself as a servant to his people : it is very observable how that the sun is called in the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a servant , in as much as it shineth not for it self but the world , serving all creatures with its light , heat and influence ; and such ought kings and princes to be , yea as all the stars in their several spheres are useful to the publick , so ought all that are set on high in any kind of power and authority at once both praesse and prodesse aliis , to go before and be beneficial to others . nay such hath been the temper of publick spirited men in publick places that they have empoverished themselves to enrich the community ; like the clouds which empty themselves to water the earth . one of the german princes had for his device , a candle burning in a candlestick with these letters , a. s. m. c. aliis servio , meipsum consumens , i consume my self to serve others . plutarch reports an excellent saying of pelopidas — a valiant commander , who when going out to the wars he was desired by his wife to look to himself return'd this answer , it is for private souldiers to be careful of themselves , they in publick places must have an eye to other mens lives . though there be more danger to a man's self by standing in the gap than getting behind the hedg , yet every good man will stand in that place to which his office obligeth him , saying with pompey when a storm threatned the ship which was going to fetch corn for rome , it is not necessary that we live but it is needful that rome should be relieved . thus ought all to be as stones , and great men as corner stones and pillars in the building whereof they are a part , contributing to their utmost for the support and preservation of the whole ; nay they ought all as souldiers in their several ranks , and great men like the chief officers in the front adventure themselves to get the field and win the day . nor is our zeal to the publick to be confin'd to that which is called in the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our own generation but extended to the generations which are to come , that when we are perished from off the earth , those that follow after us , may be the better for us ; for since according to that known maxim , bonum quo communius eo melius , good is so much the better by how much it is the more common , the further our service extends , the more acceptable . it was matter of joy to the blessed virgin that from henceforth ( to wit from her conception of christ in her womb ) all generations should call her blessed , and it is no small cause of joy to every good man when he can , yea his earnest desire and indeavour that he may be a blessing not only to one but many , to the present but future generations , doing and promoting those things which may procure and preserve piety and tranquillity to the places where he liveth in after ages . how fully all this was verified in david may appear from the several passages of his history , which because time will not give me leave to enlarge , i shall contract in a narrow compass . he served his generation as a good man by his grieving for the notorious transgressors of gods law , insomuch that rivers of tears ran down his eyes ; by his praying for the peace and prosperity of jerusalem ; by walking in his house with a perfect heart , and by doing that which was right in the eyes of the lord , not turning aside from any thing that the lord commanded him save in the matter of vriah the hittite : insomuch that his successors are commended and discommended according as they were like or unlike in their practices to david . he served his generation as a great man in wealth , by consecrating a considerable part of his gold and silver for the temple which his son built , in honour by executing justice and judgment for all the people , he fed them ( saith the psalmist of david ) according to the integrity of his heart , and guided them by the skilfulness of his hand . he saith of himself and accordingly he performed it , when i shall receive the congregation , i will judg uprightly ; and again , mine eye shall be upon the faithful in the land ; and again , i will early destroy all the wicked of the land , then which no ruler can do a greater service for his generation . how many adventures did he engage in for his country , witness among others that notable encounter with goliah : and by his zeal in preparing for the house of god , and establishing the worship of god , he served not only the present but future generations , nay by these excellent psalms which he hath left upon record , pen'd upon several occasions , and useful for all conditions of life , he hath and will serve the church of god , as well christian as jewish , and that in all ages , to the end of the world . thus did david and thus proportionably ought we in our several stations . but alas how few such are to be found ? there are too many lasy debauched persons ( the chronicle of whose life was long since summed up by the poet , nos numerus sumus & nati consumere fruges ) such as are the very drones of the hive , telluris inutile pondus , barren trees fit only to be cut down , like wooden legs , and glass eyes , nay not so good , for these are of some use at least to fill up a vacuity , but these are like cyphers in arithmetick which signifie nothing , nay not so good as these neither , for these are serviceable in conjunction with figures , but they do no good alone , and by their society with others much hurt . they are the wens and tumors , yea the botches and scabs of the body to which they belong , a reproach and dishonour to their generation . the romans appointed their censours to inquire into every mans course of life , & nigro carbone notare , to marke them with a brand of infamy , who could give no good account of their life , as adjudging him unworthy to be a member of a society , by whom the society is not bettered nay dammaged , and such are all idle vagrants and dissolute libertines . yea well were it if among the rich and mighty men there were not many who like mineral grounds , which have a great deal of gold and silver in their bowels , but bring forth no fruits upon their furface ; or like mountains that are of a great height , and yield but very short grass , notwithstanding their high places and full purses do little or no good in their generation . nay which is yet far worse , there are some and these too of the upper rank , nor is it so long since there were such among us , i pray god there be none such still who in stead of serving their generation serve themselves upon the generation where they live , raising ther own fortunes upon publick spoils , warming themselves at those flames which consume the community , not rulers but ruiners , not governours but oppressors , who in stead of feeding , feed upon the people . and though i hope the number of these is small , yet i fear the most are of a meer selfish spirit , not caring for their generation whither it sink or swim , flourish or wither , be happy or miserable , provided they may save their own stake , or advance their own interest ; whereas in truth would we weigh things in the balance of right reason , we shall find that serving our own generation is the best way to secure our own interest and that both as to matter of profit and honour . it was god's command to his people in babylon , seek the peace of the city , for in the peace thereof you shall have peace , every particular is involv'd in the general , if the tree wither , the branches cannot flourish , if the ship sink the cabbin cannot be safe , and therefore , by serving our generation , we serve our selves . nay , in this sence to be a servant is an honour , else sure st. paul would not have made choice of this as the fittest character he could give king david in my text , nor indeed is any prince more honour'd in the sight of god and man , then he who most serveth the publick by well governing them . among all the creatures which god made , the angels are the most glorious and yet of them it is said , that they are ministring spirits , sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation . nay of our blessed saviour it is said , he came not to be ministred unto but to minister ; and surely then it is no dishonour , no not to the greatest potentates : nay shall i say , it is the grand reason why they are entrusted by god with their power and authority that thereby they may serve the generation . and let this suffice for a dispatch of the translation which we meet with in the text . . but there is another in the margin namely that david in his own generation served the will of god , which seemeth best to correspond with that which is said of him at the th verse of this chapter that he was a man after gods own heart , and did fulfil all his will , and therefore must not be passed by . in the handling whereof , i shall again make use of that forementioned distinction of the will of gods decree and command . . david served the will of gods decree , and that both actively in respect of the church and her enemies in his time , and passively in respect of himself . . he served gods decree actively , in as much as he was a special instrument in the hand of god for bringing great things to pass in order to the deliverance of his people and the destruction of their enemies , for so we find in his history , how once and again he subdued the philistines , recovered the ark out of their hands , and brought it into the city of david with gladness . what victories he obtained over the amalekites , ammonites , edomites , moabites and syrians , by which meanes the people of israel enjoyed plenty and tranquility . this is that which is observable in all ages how god hath found out , or rather , made some persons fit for eminent service , and stirred them up to do noble and heroick acts for his church , the book of judges affords plentiful instances of this kinde , where we read , that god raised up judges which delivered them out of the hands of those that spoiled them such as were othniel , barak , deborah , gideon , jephithath , samson , with others who from time to time served the will of god in rescuing the israelites from their enimies , time would fail me to tell you of hezekiah and josiah , nehemiah and zorobabel together with those many worthies we finde in the histories of others and of our own kingdom in former and latter times . among which i should be very injurious if i should forget to mention him whose memory will be pretious to all loyal english men so long as the sun and moon shall endure . the thrice noble duke of albemarle to whom the character of this text in both translations so justly belongs , having served his own , nay succeeding generations , yea , having most eminently served the will and counsel of god in his generation , by being the happy instrument of delivering his country from slavery , and setling his king in his throne , together with the reestablishment of our laws and liberties . the word in my text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is according to its derivation primarily applied to marriners at sea , who by rowing with the oar , or in any other way serve the pilot in the safe passage of the ship to the haven . what is this world but a sea , the church a ship , god the pilot , by whose providence , the ship is steered , and those whom he in a more especial manner maketh ▪ use of to preserve the ship of his church whilst it passeth through this world , are as it were his under-rowers ? we read of a memorable vision in the prophecy of zachary , of four horns by which are meant the churches enemies , and four carpenters which are the instruments raised by god to break these horns ; when god hath any great work to do , either to pull down babylon or build up sion he will send carpenters to accomplish it , and surely thus to be imploy'd by god in the accomplishment of his will , is no small honour : yea , for this end doth that god ( who can when he pleaseth do his own work without means ) vouchsafe as it were to single out some persons in several ages to be serviceable to his decrees in the protection of his church , that he may clothe them with renown ; and consequently we ought to fulfil this design of god by giving them all respect and honour which they are capable to receive and we to give . i cannot close up this without taking notice that this is no apology , no nor so much as the least excuse for those egregious persecutors , oppressors , usurpers , which have in their generations been destructive to the places where they lived , ( among whom oliver cromwel the late cursed monster of men deserveth to be looked upon as a nonsuch ) i say this is no plea for them that in some sence it may be said of them they served the will of god , for they only serve his permissive not his effective will , and besides what is said of the assyrian king , howbeit he meaneth not so , neither doth his heart think so , is fitly applicable to them , they design not to serve the will of god but their own covetous , ambitious and revengefull lusts ; only god is pleased to suffer and make use of those horrid wickednesses and violences which they act upon others ; and for the bringing about of his own most just counsels and righteous decrees , so that howsoever some of them adding hypocrisie to their villany have pretended the glory of god , yet by their abominable actions they have discovered their intentions to be nothing less , and though they have after a sort served the will of god , yet it was besides nay against their will , since at the same time , and in the same thing whereby unwittingly and unwillingly they have fufilled gods secret will of decree they have wittingly and wilfully violated his revealed will of command . and therefore in a far other notion is this of david's serving gods will to be understood in the text ; namely , his ready accomplishment of of gods decree in saving his church and destroying his enemies , by these warrantable means which his word alloweth , and his providence hath offered to him which as it was highly commendable in him , so justly imitable by us upon the like occasions . but secondly , he served gods will of decree , and that passively in respect of himself by his willingness to suffer whatsoever evil god allotted to befall him in his generation ; he was a man who experienc'd both conditions of life , namely prosperity and adversity , nor was he more thankful for the one than patient under the other , and that because it was gods will , for so runs his own language , i was dumb and opened not my mouth because it was thy doing ; very observable to this purpose is that expression of his humble resignation , where he saith of his return to jerusalem , if i shall find favour in the eyes of the lord he will bring me back , but if he thus say , i have no delight in thee ; behold , here am i , let him do to me as seemeth good to him . and in this notion this character belongs to every good man , whose name like that of a deacon to whom st. austin writeth an epistle is quod vult deus what god will , he is willing to be any thing or nothing , as god shall dispose of him . this saith st. chrysostom , is the property of a servant of god to be well pleased with his severe as well as gracious dispensations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ not only when he smileth but when he frowneth , when he delivereth but when he afflicteth , as to say with ely , dominus est , it is the lord let him do what seemeth him good , and as that nobleman answered his king when he said , you must go on hunting with me , non oportet nam lubens volo , it is not i must , but i will with all readiness : so did david , saying , oh god , my heart is ready my heart is ready ; and let the same frame of spirit and temper of heart be in every one of us . . besides this notion of serving gods will , that is , his decrees both by doing and suffering ( since so far as consists with the analogy of faith , and the reason of the context , it is best to expound scripture in its largest sence ) i must not omit the notion of serving gods will , that is , his commandments which are the signification of that which god would have us to avoid and perform . we find in the th psalm david often praying to god , teach me thy statutes , and teach me the way of thy statutes , and make me to understand the way of thy precepts ; and accordingly he professeth that gods testimonies were his meditation , and that all the day ; nay , his eyes prevented the night-watches that he might meditate in gods word ; nor was this only that he might know but do them , and therefore he prayeth , teach me good judgement and knowledge ( and a good understanding have they that do his commandments ; ) and again , oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes , and again , make me to go in the path of thy commandments . thus like a good servant he desired first to know his masters will , and then to doe it . and as he served the will of god so he performed that service . . cordially , rejoycing in the way of gods statutes , making his testimonies his delight . yea , and in another psalm he saith , i delight to do thy will , oh my god yea thy law is in my heart . . speedily , his resolve is not only to go but run the way of gods commandments , in his practice he made haste and delayed not to keep gods commandments ; as well knowing , that though in other cases haste maketh waste , yet in this delay breedeth danger . . universally , not that he was without particular failings , and those gross ones too ; but as he saith himself , he had respect to all gods commandments , not wilfully living in the breach of any ; and again , i hate every false way , so that the bent of his heart was against all sin , and the course of his life was conformable to all virtue ; and accordingly it is said of him at the verse of this chapter , he did fulfil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all gods will. . constantly , in his generation or age ; that is , to the end of his life , and therefore he saith not only i have chosen the way of truth , but i have stuck unto thy testimonies ; and again , thy testimonies have i taken as an heritage for ever , and i have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway , even unto the end . all which considered well might he not only say but ingeminate it , oh lord , truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant . thus did david , and thus ought we ; but do we thus ? we all profess our selves , the servants of god , and what is the proper notion of a servant , but one who is ad alterius nutum , at another man's command , and therefore serve god we cannot if we serve not his will. but alas how many of us according to saint pauls character , are taken captive by the devil at his will : and like the centurion's souldiers , he bids us go , and we go , come , and we come , do this and that , and we do it ▪ we serve diverse lusts and pleasures following ( as our church teacheth us to confess ) the devices and desires of our own hearts . and like those of whom saint peter speaketh that wrought the will of the gentiles ▪ we conform to the humours of wicked and ungodly men , so far are we from being what we profess to be servants , to the will of god. oh , therefore let us sit down and consider with our selves . . what the will of god is , which we are obliged to serve and according to saint pauls exhortation , prove what is that good , that acceptable and perfect will of god. he hath shewed thee , oh man , saith the prophet , what is good , and what doth the lord thy god require of thee . whatsoever god willeth and requireth is good , just and equal : and that were it for no other reason but because he willeth and requireth it . david speaking of the will of god , saith , the law of the lord is perfect . the statutes of the lord are right . the fear of the lord is clean . the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether : good reason we should serve his will which is so just , pure , right and perfect . . whose will it is , namely the will of god , who is , . supremus in imperando , most supreme in commanding , having an absolute soveraignty over all his creatures ; wherever the supreme power on earth resideth , whither in one or many , it is and must be arbitrary , but , surely much more in him who is without a solaecism or hyperbole , most highest king of kings , and lord of lords , and therefore his will ought to be our law and the rule of our actions . . benignissimus in adjuvando , most gracious in assisting ; who as in justice he may command what he will , so in mercy will enable us ( if we seek to him ) to do what he commands ; upon which account it is that the yoke and burthen of gods law is said to be light and easie . . indulgentissimus in condonando , most merciful in forgiving the defects and imperfections of our service for so the promise runs , i will spare them as a man spareth his son that serveth him accepting the will often for the deed , and pardoning the imperfections that usually accompany best deeds . . munificentissimus in remunerando , most bountiful in recompencing those who serve him . indeed , there wants not prophane atheists who say , it is in vain to serve the lord ; but saint paul hath assured us , he is a rewarder of them that seek him diligently ; nay he is not only a rewarder , but he himself is the reward : they are his own words to abraham , i am thy exceeding great reward . and surely upon all these considerations , we shall conclude that nothing is more reasonable than after david's pattern in our generation to serve the will of god. from the character of his life , proceed we more briefly to the threefold character of his death , by which is described the state of the dead . . he fell asleep , that respects the person . . was laid to his fathers , that respects both his soul and body . . and saw corruption , that only respects the body . . he fell asleep , those words which precede , the will of god , are by some intepreters referr'd to this clause he fell asleep ; in which construction they afford us a good instruction ; namely that death befalls us not by chance , but by the will of god. it is appointed ( saith the apostle ) for men once to dy , and not only the thing it self in general , but the circumstances as to individuals ; namely , the means , manner , place , time , are all appointed by the will and counsel of god , we are all in this world as so many tenants to god , the great landlord ; and this not for any certain term of years , but durante beneplacito , during his good pleasure we come in , and stay , and go out of this world : so much that prayer of simeon imports , lord , lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , we can neither stay longer nor go sooner than god pleaseth . a consideration which ought to be an argument of contentation both in respect of our selves and others whensoever or howsoever they dye , since it is by the will of god , to which we must necessarily and ought voluntarily to submit . . to let this go , i might further observe that it is said of david , he fell asleep after he had served the will of god in his generation , or , served his generation by the will of god not before , nor doth any of gods servants dye before they have fulfilled the work for which god sent them into the world . it is said of our blessed saviour that though the jews sought to take him , yet no man laid hands on him , for his hour was not come ; yea , he saith of himself , i must work the work of him that sent me into this world , whilst it is day ; not did the day ( to wit of his life ) exspire till he had done that work . the time of my departure saith st. paul is at hand , but what followeth , i have finished my course , then , and not till then , was the time of his departure , when he had finished his course . it is that which may very much comfort us whensoever death seemeth to , or really doth approach that as we dye not before the time which god hath allotted us to live , so neither before the service be done which he hath appointed for us in our generation , and if that be done , we have reason to be willing to ly down to sleep as here david , after he had served his generation , fell asleep . . but that which i here especially take notice of is , that death is resembled to a sleep . it is observable among prophane writers both greek and latine poets and oratours , that sleep is said to be the image , the kindred , the sister , the brother of death , and this metaphor is frequently used in the holy scriptures , in the old testament promiscuously of both bad and good , in the new , especially of the good , who are said not only to sleep , but to sleep in jesus : and to sleep in the lord. and thus christ useth it of lazarus , st. luke of stephen , and here st. paul of david ; and this more particularly in a double respect . . sleep is a levamen laborum , a quiet repose and a cessation of all pain and labour ; thus they that dy in the lord , rest from their labours . it is a saying abundantly verified , omne quod vitae praesentis miseria , this life is a wilderness of troubles , wherein our bodies are exposed to pains and pain , and our souls suffer somtimes by sympathy with the body , and somtimes by its own immediate sorrows , cares , and fears ; but when we dy we are freed from all these . valerius expresseth it by letters , h. r. i. p. hic requiescit in pace . petrus diaconus by three , d. m. s. dormiunt mortui securi , the dead sleep in safety , and rest in peace . this is that which in respect of the body is common to the wicked with the righteous ; but in regard of the soul peculiar to the righteous , for whilst the soul of dives is tormented , the soul of lazarus is comforted saith abraham . true , the soul doth not as the psuchopannuchists fondly asserted , sleep with the body , nor yet as the body , for though by the separation of the soul from the body , there is cessation of those organical actions which the soul performeth by the help of the body , yet its immanent and immaterial acts are performed by it in that state of separation , and if ( as we observe in our own experience ) the soul is active in dreams and fancies whilst the body sleepeth , we may very well conceive that the soul hath its proper acts which it exerciseth whilst it is without the body . but as to a cessation from all disturbing passions , the souls of the good may be said to fall asleep . in this respect they are said to be in gods hand , a place of safety in abrahom's bosome a place of refreshment , and under the altar a place of refuge . the greek word here used ( as hath been already intimated ) referrs to the oar , and tugging at the oar is a laborious imployment . how sweet is sleep to the weary labourer , and so was death to david who had laboured more abundantly than others in serving his generation . the churchyards are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sleeping places , the coffin a couch , and the grave a bed , so saith the prophet , they enter into peace , they rest in their beds , so the poet , somnus ut est mortis sic lectus imago sepulchri , and such a bed , quo mollius ille dormit qui durius in vita se gesserit , wherein he sleepeth most sweetly who hath suffered most bitterly ; for which reason saint stephen dying under a shour of stones , is said to fall asleep . . when we ly down at night to sleep , we hope to awake again in the morning : and therefore is death a sleep to the godly , ob spem futurae resurrectionis , for the hope of a future resurrection . sleep is a short death , and death is a long sleep ; but though long it is not perpetual , we shall arise again , and as , though a man sleep many hours , it seemeth when he awaketh but a few minutes , so though we ly dead many years , it shall seem at the resurrection but as it were a few hours : nor do we with so much ease awake any man out of his sleep , as divine power shall raise us from the dead , yea , as usually we awake men by our voice , so shall the dead at the last day , hear the voice of the son of god , and come forth . this notion of deaths being a sleep , in reference to the resurrection is true , both in respect of bad and good , since all shall be raised at the last day : but whereas sick men awake disturb'd , but healthy men refresh'd ; so shall it then be with the wicked and the righteous , those shall arise to sorrow , these to joy , those shall awake and sigh , but these shall awake and sing . and therefore saith david of himself , my flesh shall rest in hope , and again , when i awake , i shall be satisfied with thy likeness . so that , to close up this , seek not consolation against death , but let death it self be our consolation . true it is , death it self is very terrible , yea , the king of terrours , and the thoughts of it so dreadful that we are very unwilling to entertain them . but lo , here it is reprefented to us in a mollifying phrase , and that which is familiar to us : and why thus ? but to mitigate our fears of death , upon which account christs crucifing is called a lifting up , and the afflictions of gods servants instructions , to smooth the roughness and asperity of them , and withall to render death familiar to us , that every evening when we put off our clothes , ly down in our beds , and fall asleep , we may call to mind our death , and our grave , looking upon this as a bed , and that as a sleep . . the next character of death david is , that he was laid to his fathers , which i have already told you , may be understood in reference either to the soul or the body . . to the soul , and so the meaning is , that when he fell asleep , his soul went to the nest of those holy patriarchs which were gone before him . i am a stranger upon earth , and a sojourner , saith david , as all my fathers were : because as they so he , had but a short continuance upon earth , and looked upon themselves as going hence , and when he went hence , he went to those his fathers , which had gone before him : what that place was , i shall not stay to dispute , most certainly it was not a limbus subterraneus , prison under ground , on this side hell , where their souls were detain'd till christs resurrection : most certainly it was the bosom of abraham ; and that a place of comfort : yea , most probably ( by our saviours words ) the kingdom of heaven . and it is no small comfort to consider , that when we dye , we shall be gathered to our godly ancestors and progenitours . . to the body , and so it may be taken in a narrow or an enlarged sence , in a narrow sence : those are laid to their fathers , who are buried in the same grave or vault with their progenitors : but in this sence this was not true of david , for where it is said , he slept with his fathers , it presently followeth , and he was buried in the city of david , which city of david was not bethlehem , the place of his fathers , but sion the place where the kings were buried ; so that it must be taken in an enlarged sence , inasmuch as the grave being the common receptacle of all men , any one being buried , is laid to his fathers , because in a grave , which is the place for all mankind : and so gathered quasi in tumulum & cumulum , to the heap of dead bodies . it is that consideration which should render the grave so much the less dreadful to us , because it is no more than what is common to our fathers , nay , to the whole race of them that dwell upon the earth . . the last character referrs only to the body , which is that he saw corruption . seeing ( according to the hebrew phrase ) is as much as experiencing ; so we read else where of seeing death , what man is he that liveth ( saith the psalmist ) and shall not see death ? there were never any but two , enoch and elias , and i may say , what man is he that dieth , and shall not see corruption ? there was never any but one , the holy one of god : but otherwise all that lie in the grave , rot ; for which reason the same word in hebrew signifieth both the grave and corruption ; i have said ( saith job ) to corruption , thou art my father , and to the wormes , you are my mother , my sister , and this , as appeareth by the foregoing words in reference to the grave , wherein though some by embalming are preserved longer than others ; for so say some , was alexander's body kept from putrefaction above an hundred years : yet sooner or later all rot , for which cause our body is called by st. paul , vile body , or according to the greek , body of humiliation . a consideration which may very well be matter of abasement to the strongest man , & beautifullest woman , that their strength must degenerate into weakness , their colour into paleness , and both at last into rottenness , though withall , let it not too much discourage us , since as the rotting of the grain in the ground maketh way for its springing up and fructifying , so shall the corrupting of our bodies in the grave . and therefore let us in the multitude of our thoughts within us touching the grave , look beyond it , at that day when ( as st. paul assureth us ) our lord jesus shall change our vile body , and when ( as the same apostle tells us ) mortality shall put on immortality , and corruption shall put on incorruption . and thus i have given you an account of saint pauls narrative concerning king david . but another narrative is , and that justly , at this time , expected from me concerning the life and death of the right worshipful , and right worthy knight , sir thomas adams , knight and barronet . there is no less than a threefold obligation , to wit , of piety , equity and charity laid upon us of publishing the excellencies of those who have done worthily and been famous in their generation , since ( as saint basil ) hereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we glorifie the lord in and for his servants and that is piety , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — we honour the dead in their memory , and that is equity , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we rejoyce and benefit the people by their examples , and that is charity ; as physicians and chirurgians do very much advance their knowledg by anatomising the bodies of dead men , so we either are , or may be much better'd in our practise by a delineation of the graces of dead saints : and therefore though this eminent servant of god , and of his generation being taken out of this valley of bacah and carried to that mount of joy ( where beholding the glorious deity , he sings eternal halelujahs ) stands in no need of any praises from us . yet it is needful , very needful for us , who are left behind that we may be stirred up to follow his choyce example . and now what paterculus saith of aemilius paulus , he was vir in tantum laudandus in quantum virtus ipsa intelligi potest , i may fitly apply to him , the circumference of his encomium , may very well take in all the lines of virtue , which meet in him as in their center : and i could heartily wish that as those confessours truly said in their epistle to saint cyprian , vigorous expressions were correspondent to the glorious actions or rather passions of those martyrs whom he commended , so i could now draw the picture of this worthy , not only at the length , but to the life . but alas my pencil giveth so rough a draught , that i am afraid i shall but disfigure him whilst i go about to commend him , so that i am ready to draw back my hand , whilst i am drawing his lineaments , and therefore shall desire as he did , who wrote the life of saint cyprian , that quicquid minus dixero , ( minus enim dicam necesse est . ) if i shall say less , as less i must needs say than he deserveth , it may not derogate from his honour , but be imputed to my unskilfulness ; and if any shall think i say too much , i shall ascribe it to their ignorance since none who knew him but must needs have a high value for him , nor shall i say more of him than what not only very credible information but for the most part my own personal knowledg will warrant me ; having had the honour of more than years acquaintance with him , . whereof , he was the chief inhabitant of that parish , wherein i was an unworthy labourer . the truth is as titus vespasian was called deliciae generis humani , the delight of mankind , so was he the darling of the city , so generally well reputed and reported of , that i suppose it will be said of this panegyrick concerning him , what one said , who met with a book called herculis encomium , the praise of hercules , quis lacedaemoniorum unquam vituperavit , who ever dispraised him , to wit , that knew him . his very outward aspect was amiable nay venerable and his presence as the appearance of some benign star having a pleasing influence upon all that looked upon him . but could you have viewed his inside , behold that virtuous soul , which inhabited his comely body , how would it have ravished you , and yet though we could not directly , we might reflexively and that both from his words and works . the tongue of the just ( saith solomon ) is as choyce silver , of which the trumpets under the law were made , because of its sweet sound , and again , the lips of the righteous feed many , to wit , with wholesome counsels and comforts , keeping as it were open table for all comets ; such was his tongue , frequently tip'd with silver , nay golden sayings , which he brought forth out of the treasure of his memory , such were his lips with which ( as well , nay better , then with his bountiful table ) he fed not only his children and servants , but all who conversed with him , among whom i can truly say , i never went to him , but i did , or might come away from him bettered by his gracious and prudent discourse : nor was he only , as i doubt too many are , a man of words , his goodness was not only at his tongues , but his fingers ends . that of our saviour concerning himself , my works testifie of me , is , though in a far inferiour way verifyed of him ; at least , we may make use of what solomon , saith concerning the virtuous woman , his works did praise him in his gates , so that he was not only in respect of his words , a sweet and pleasing voice , but of his works , a burning and shining light . it is said of david , that he died in a good old age , full of riches and honours : the age to which this worthy patriot attained was old , elder then david , exceeding it eleven years , for whereas david lived but , he was above . years old when he died ; and if davids were a good old age , his was better , being more hayle and lusty at . than david was at . that promise in the psalm , thou shalt see thy childrens children , and peace upon israel , was abundantly made good to him , as to childrens children , and though he lived to see both domestick and foreign wars , yet before he died , he saw peace upon our english israel , which god of his mercy long continue . and as he was full of daies , so he filled these daies with all sorts of good actions , he well knew the worth of time , which we for the most part undervalue : and accounting every minute pretious , took care to spend not only his daies , but his hours well ; so that his gray hairs being found in a way of righteousness were a crown to him : and what scaliger said of strisset , may no less justly be said of him , it was pity , ut aut senium senem faceret , aut lex naturae vita privaret ▪ either that age should have made him old , or the law of nature bereaved him of life . as to riches and honour , it is true , he came far short of david , yet he wanted not his share of either ; god was pleased so far to bless his honest indeavours in that calling wherein his providence had placed him , that he enjoyed a liberal portion of this worlds goods , nor did he want those honors which were suitable to him : david indeed was a king , and so the supreme person in his kingdom . he was , whilst lord mayor , chief officer of this city , during his continuance in which place , he did by virtue of his office , represent the king's person . whatsoever honor in the city , he was capable of , he was chosen to : master of his company ; alderman of a ward ; president of st. thomas his hospital ; several times burgess in parliament , though the iniquity of the times would not permit him to sit : sheriff , & lord mayor . after which he at length became and so continued for some years ( as benazah was said to be a mighty man among the . ) the first among the . the eldest alderman upon the bench that had served in the office of a lord mayor , to whom is given that honourable title of the father of the city : nor had he only all this honour from the city , but his king also gave him the greatest honour he was capable of in his station , making him not only a knight , but a barronet , which descends upon posterity . i mention these , not as if riches or honours or both were abstractively considered topicks of commendation , but in as much as they are conferred by god sometimes upon good men , as the encouragements and made use of by them as the instruments of virtue , and so they were to him he being a bountiful steward of his riches , nor did his dignities so much honour him as he them . i cannot say of him , as christ said lo a greater than solomon , he was greater or richer than david , nay , much inferiour ; no , nor yet better than david , nor yet so good : but thus much i dare say , it was his laudable ambition to be as good , he indeavoured to tread in davids footsteps , and what is said in my text concerning david , i shall confidently affirm of him , and that in both translations , he was one who served his own generation by the will of god ; and who in his own generation served the will of god. throughout the age of his life , he was through god's providence instated in manifold relations , intrusted with various offices , conversant in several imployments , in all which he had no cause to complain with him who said , omnia fui , nihil profui , i was every thing , and profited nothing . all of them , being as so many cutts and chanels , through which did run his several vertues and graces . and now as he said of st. cyprian , onerosum enumerare , it would be a burdensome task to enumerate all particulars , since inopem me copia fecit , plenty makes me poor ; and i have so much to say , that i know not where to begin . if you please , i will begin with that which is ( in solomons language ) the beginning of wisdom , namely , the fear of the lord. he was eminent for religion and devotion : that orthodox religion which is professed in the church of england , he faithfully adhered to , cordially owning her doctrine and discipline , hierarchy and liturgy : and though he lived in an inconstant age ( wherein it was the mode to change religions , as women do fashions ) he proved not a reed o● a willow , but an oak , stedfast and immoveable . great was his respect to the orthodox and orthoprax clergy : those who were sufferers he charitably relieved : those who were labourers , he bountifully encouraged . the very feet of them that served at the altar were beautiful in his eies ; and i should be very ingrateful , if i should not acknowledg my self ( though most unworthy ) to have had a benjamen's share in his favour . schismatical conventicles he ahhorred , but duly frequented the church assemblies : i was for many yeares an ocular witness of his attendance on the publick ordinances , where he was a joint petitioner at the throne of grace , a judicious auditor of god's word , a diligent receiver of the lord's supper , from the monethly administration whereof i do not remember he was absent , if in town and in health : and though it was an age wherein irreverence was in fashion and devotion decryed as superstition , he was exemplary for his reverent behaviour in god's house , seldom at prayers but upon his knees , unless want of room hindred him , his head still uncovered at the reading and preaching of gods word , and alwaies kneeling at the holy communion : nor was he only ( as i fear too many are ) religious in the church , but his family , praying with and for them , and giving wholesome counsels to them . that character which almighty god giveth concerning abraham , for i know him , that he will command his children , and his houshold after him to keep the way of the lord , did justly belong to him , whose care it was to bring up his children in the fear and instruct his servants in the ways of the lord , and his resolve was that of joshua , i and my house will serve the lord. finally , trace him not only from god's house to his own , but from his chamber to his closet ; and there you might have found him , daily setting time apart for his meditations and devotions : nor could any secular affairs divert him from god's service , and therefore when his occasions called him forth sooner , he would still rise the earlier , that he might begin the day with god , with whom he always also closed it up . thus during his age and generation in this world , he served his god ; and no less careful was he to serve his king , remembring , that fear the lord and the king are joyned together by solomon . he was a strenuous asserter of monarchical government . nor can i pass by one argument which he often used upon that account , where almighty god by his prophet ezekiel reconing up the manifold blessings he had conferr'd upon his people israel , mentioneth this among the rest , as none of the least , thou didst prosper into a kingdom ; by which is clearly intimated , that those nations are most prosperous which are under kingly government ; nay that kingly government is a prosperity to a people . he was , i dare say , among the number of the mourners in sion , for all the abominations which were committed , and especially for that execrable treason in murthering the father , and banishing the son ; nor did he cease to be an importunate petitioner at heaven gates for the restauration of king and church . upon the account of his loyalty to charles the first , of blessed memory , when lord mayor , his house was searched by the rebels then in power , supposing there to have found the king : the year after he was cast into the tower , and there kept a prisoner , and for several years put by all publick offices and imployments , they finding him a man that would not be moulded into their several formes , nor make shipwrack of his conscience to serve their interests . upon the account of his loyalty to charles the second ( whom god almighty prosper ) during his exile , he hazarded his estate and life , by sending him considerable summes of money beyond sea ; and when the blessed time came of his joyful return to his throne , though he was in the . year of his age , which might have been a just excuse for his staying at home , this aged banzillai went not only over jordan river , but crossed the sea to attend his soveraign home . next to god and the king , i dare say , the city of london was written upon his heart , wherein he spent by far the greatest part of his life , and hath now breathed his last . here , through god's blessing , he got , and here he spent a considerable part of his estate in the citie 's service . he was of so publick a spirit , that when his son in law brought him the first news of his being chosen sheriff of london , he immediately dismissed the particular business about which he was , and never after personally followed his trade , but gave himself up to the city concernes . it was his study to know the customes and usages , the liberties and priviledges of the city , and accordingly his endeavour in his several capacities to preserve and maintain them . he was not only in word but in deed an assistant , a guardian , yea a pillar of the right worshipful company of drapers . he was a vigilant president of saint thomas his hospital , which probably had been ruined before this , but that his sagacity and industry discovered the fraud of an unjust steward . in the court of aldermen he was as an oracle , very subservient by his grave and prudent counsels to the cities government . he was so far from self-seeking , that when he was lord mayor , he did not make those advantages ( which usually are ) by selling the vacant places . whilst a private tradesman , he was exact ( so far as i ever heard ) in commutative justice , in his bargains and contracts of buying and selling : and when a publick magistrate , he was no less conscientious of distributive justice between man and man , so that what lampridius , said of alexander severus , he was virbonus & reipublicae necessarius , a good man and very needful for the common wealth , may be affirmed of him in reference to the city , he was not only a good man , but exceedingly useful by his justice and prudence for the cities welfare . i must not forget to tell you how he served the town where he received his first breath , by building there and endowing a free-school with a considerable maintenance for the education of children . how he hath served the university of cambridge by erecting an arabick lecture , and setling upon the lecturer l. per annum for his pains in reading it ; hereby testifying himself to be a lover of learning , to which , indeed , none is an enemy but the ignorant : and therefore he could not , having himself a very competent measure of knowledg : nor were these munificent works to bear the date of their beginning from his death , but the one began and the other years ago , nor is their maintenance only setled for some term of years , but ( as we usually express it ) for ever : by which means he hath not only served his own , but succeeding generations ; nay , in that arabick lecture he hath served those remote eastern parts of the world , upon which account ( at the desire of the reverend master wheelock , now with god ) he was at the charge of printing the persian gospels and transmitting them into those parts : yea , by these wayes he endeavoured to serve the lord christ promoting the christian religion and ( to use his own language ) throwing a stone at the forehead of mahomet that grand impostor . thus he was serviceable in his generation to the will of god. honor of christ , welfare of the city , benefit of country and university : nor was he awanting to serve the poor neither by his charity : his hands were frequently open whilst he lived upon all occasions , and notwithstanding many late great damages to his estate , he hath given considerable legacies to the poor of several parishes , to hospitals , to ministers widows , and such like at his death ; all which i cannot now stay particularly to enumerate . finally , let me not tire your patience , if to the rest of his graces and vertues , i adde his patience , whereby he served the will of god in suffering . to serve the will of god in doing good was his meat and drink : to submit to his will in suffering evil was his antidote and cordial . the truth is , this good mans coat ( like josephs ) was particoloured , his wine mixed with water , nay with gall and wormwood ; many doleful losses he met with , as to his worldly goods , some disastrous crosses in his near relations , such ( as himself said ) he could not have born , were it not for this book , pointing to the bible which lay before him , but there he met still with that which comforted him : frequently ( among others ) making use of that passage of job to his wife , shall we receive good at the hands of god , and shall we not receive evil . the latter years of his life have been years of pain to him , by reason of that disease of the stone in the bladder , whereof at last he died : a stone so weighty , that it exceeded ounces , so grievous , that a little before his death it made him roar , but yet not murmur : god graciously supporting him under the weight , and sustaining him under the pain of it , and indeed the providence of god was singularly remarkable , in that having a stone of so vast a bigness in his bladder , his pain was comparatively so little , & his life so long , for had there not been as it were a way pav'd , or rather a channel cut through the stone for his water to pass ▪ the stoppage of it , must of necessity have very much added to his smart & lessened his days . he hath now taken his leave of this world , and truly , i may very well say of him in st. ambrose his language , in illo uno non unum sed plures amissos requirimus , in this one person there is a manifold loss ; whilst passing by private losses , the king hath lost a loyal subject , the church a faithful son , and the city , a prudent senatour : indeed , he was so eminently useful every way , that his loss would have been insupportable , did not this consideration quallifie it , that he died in so old an age , that according to course of nature he could not have lived much longer : nay , considering his disease , it is a wonder that he lived so long . he is departed from the inn of this world , to the long home of his grave , of which , i am sure he was many years before mindeful , it being his frequent language upon several occasions sclum mihi superest sepulchrum , i have nothing to make account of but only my grave : where he shall sleep in the dust , till he awake and arise to glory . i end all with a threefold word of admonition . . the first , to the rt. honble the l d mayor with the rest of the worthy senatours of this city , who out of their great ( yet due ) respects to this excellent person have attended the solemnity of his funeral , and that to beseech you , that you would endeavour ( as much as in you lieth ) to make up this invaluable loss , by your double diligence for the publick good : that as every one of you by his office is as a city built upon an hill . you would help to raise this city out of its ruinous heaps . oh let there be no cause of taking up that complaint of any of you , which cicero did of the senatours in his time . vos separatim quisque consilia capitis , you every one take counsel apart , for your particular interests ; but rather like the fabricii and patricii , or rather like david in the text , and this worthy patriot whom you have so well known , make it your design to serve your generation . . the second to the hopeful heir of the family , that as you inherit your fathers honour and estate , you would his graces and vertues also , that so though he be dead , he may still live in you . . to the rest of his children , kindred , friends , acquaintance all here present , yea , the whole city , that though we cannot come up to his pattern , we would follow as hard after him as we can , and learn of him the best way to live long on earth , and eternally in the heavens . amen . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , greg. naz. rev. . . john . . notes for div a -e salust . gen. . prov. . . exod. . . james . . josh. . . job . . heb. . rom. . . acts . . cic. cor. . . philip. . . luke ▪ . arist. ethic. lib. ▪ cap. . luke . . psal . . . psal. . . . psal. . . kings ▪ . kings . . . . sam. . . psal. . . . . . . . sam. . . jerem. . . hebr. . . matth ▪ . . sam. . ▪ . . judg. . . . . . ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , metaphora a renavali sumpta beza . zach. . . . isai. c. . psal. . . sam. . ver . . . chrysost. sam . . psal. . . psal. . . . . ver . ver . . . . v. . . . psal. . psal. . . psal. . . psal. . . . psal. . . . acts . . psal. . . . . . . . tim . . matt. . titus . . pet. . rom. . micah . . psal. . . . . matth. . . mal. . . . . hebr. . . gen. . . gen. . erasm. in cor. hebr. . . luke . . john . . . . tim. . . . thess. . . john . ▪ acts . . rev. . . luke . . wisd. . luke . . rev. . . isai. . . isa. . . ps. . . . . joh. . . psa. . . ps. . . matth. . . kings . . ps. . . psal. . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 job . . , phil. . . cor. . . bass. mag. paterc . cypr. cp . . prov. . . joh. . . prov. . . cor. . . psal. . . chron. . , gen. . . josh. . . prov. . . ezeck . . . job . . ambros. cic. mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may the th and was interr'd at felstead in essex, june the th / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may the th and was interr'd at felstead in essex, june the th / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng warwick, robert rich, -- earl of, - . funeral sermons. sermons, english -- th century. a r (wing h ). civilwar no mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - rachel losh sampled and proofread - rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mans last journey to his long home : a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of vvarvvick ; who died in london , may the th and was interr'd at felstead in essex , june the th . by nath. hardy , preacher to the parish of st. dionys. backchurch . ec. . . man geetg to his long home , and the mourners go about the streets . psal. . , . i have said you are gods , — but ye shall die like men . — aug. l. de nat. & grat. si de divitiis , & honoribus , & morum nobilitate jactas , de patria , & pulchritudine corporis , & honoribus , qui tibi ab hominibus exhibentur , respice teipsum , qui mortalis terra & in rerram ibis . london , printed by a. m. for joseph cranford , at the sign of the castle and lion in st pauls church-yard . . to the right honourable charles earl of warwick , and baron of leeze . my lord : this plain discourse occasioned by the late funerals of your noble brother , was then preached and is now published by your honours desire , which shall ever have with me the authority and efficacy of a command . since i am sure it was not any thing extraordinary in the sermon which might enduce you to desire the impression of it , i have good reason to believe it was upon a double commendable design . the one of brotherly affection , that hereby you might preserve his memory who is gone to the land of oblivion . nor do i wonder at your regard of his memory , when i behold your respect to his posterity . those three noble ladies who ( i am confident ) will never want the care of a father , and the love of a mother , whilst your honour and your thrice noble lady survive . the other of piety and religion , that this sermon may be as a continued memoriall of him ; so a frequent monitour to you of your fraile and dying condition . no thoughts or discourses are more unwellcome for the most part to men in their flourishing prosperity , then those of their perishing mortality . skeletons , deaths heads , and funerall sermons , are rarely to be found at the palaces , on the tables , in the libraries , of great personages , who being set upon the pinacle of honour , cannot endure to look downward upon the pit of corruption . they are but few , very few , who when their table is prepared , their head annointed with oyl , and their cup runs over , with david , put themselves in mind , or love to be put in mind of walking through the valley of the shadow of death . of this small number your lordship may be justly reckoned one ; else you would not have desired to read what you heard . and since you seem to intend the sermon as a memento of your death , it will not , i presume , offend your honour , that the epistle be a remembrancer to you of an exemplary life . the hebrew noun {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth glory , cometh from the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth to be heavy : with which agreeeth that of the latins , honos onus , honour is a burden . of this i trust your lordship is sensible , that as divine providence hath advanced you to eminent dignity ; so divine command requireth of you proportionable duty , that by how much the greater you are , you ought to be so much the better ; and as god hath devolved the honour upon you ; you must endeavour to honour him , your self , your family , by magnificent and heroick actions of religion , justice , and mercy , every remembring that nobles are placed by god in this world , not as statues in a garden , or pictures in a gallery ; only to be looked upon , but as pillars in a house , to support the church and state , where they live , and as stars in the heavens , to let the light of their good works shine before men , from the severall orbes , wherein they are fixed . but i shall not need to enlarge on this subject , which is ( i trust already ) your lordships study and practice , and therefore after the returne of my humble thankes for your noble favours ; i shall betake my self to my earnest prayers , that you may have increase of grace as well as honour , that you may grow in favour with god & man , by being a choice instrument of his glory , and the publick good . finally , that as you have the blessings of wisdomes left hand , riches and honours , so you may have that of her right hand , length of daies , confer'd on your own noble person , your deservedly beloved and honoured lady , your hopefull son and heir , with those tender plants the remains of your deceased brother , and all your honourable relations , till you all in a good old age arrive at the fruition of a blessed eternity . so prayeth my lord , your honours most humble and affectionate servant nath. hardy . mans last journey . psalm . . . his breath goeth forth , he returneth to his earth : in that very day his thoughts perish . the text , a mournfull complaint , in which the severall clauses , non tam verba quam suspiria , sermones quam singultus , seem to be made up , rather of sobs and sighs then words . and no wonder since the matter of the complaint is mortality ; a theame fit to be commented upon with teares , so much the rather , considering whose mortality it is that is here deplored . if you cast your eyes upon the end of the foregoing verse , you shall find the antecedent of this relative , he , to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the son of man , of adam , and that is every man , all mankind being of his race and posterity , so that the he in the text is not singular , but collective , not some one , but every particular person , ( a very few excepted ) : and there is none of us here present , but if the question be asked who is this he ? may returne the answer of our saviour in another case , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i am he . nor is this all , but if you goe a little backward , in the same vease , you shall find this he to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as indefinitely the son of man , so eminently the great man ; the man of honour , the prince . know you not ( saith david concerning abner ) that a great man is this day fallen in israel ; intimating by that interogation , that the fals of high cedars call for deepe sorrw ; not only man the highest of visible creatures , but princes the highest of men were in the psalmists eye when these words dropt from his pen , his breath goeth forth , &c. if you take a more particular view of the text , you shall observe in it a double dying , the one of the person , and the other of his purposes ; the former in the two first clauses , his breath goeth forth , he returneth to his earth ; the latter in the last , in that very day his thoughts perish . that which in the two first clauses is asserted , and is most largely to be handled , is the dying of the person , and this is set forth with reference to his two constitutive and essentiall parts , soul and body ; the egresse of the one , his soul goeth forth ; and the regresse of the other , he returneth to his earth : the one whereof is verified , in ipso articulo mortis in the very point of death ; and the other is most evident , in sepultura corporis , at the time of his buriall . both which when i have handled by themselves , i shall discuss with reference to the quality of the person of whom especially they are spoken , and then close up this first and main part of the text , with a sutable of application . . begin we with mans egress in those words , his breath goeth forth . the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} being derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( as also the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and the latin , spiritus , from spiro , ) most properly signifieth breath . in this notion the targum and our translators here render it ; nor is it incongruous to the psalmists design , which is to give us a character of death : yea calvin inclineth to this as the most genuine meaning of the word in this place . and thus it is a most evident truth , that when a man dyeth , his breath goeth forth . indeed it is not true , that when a mans breath goeth forth , he dyeth . since life is maintained , inspirando , & respirando , by taking in , and letting forth breath : but when we can no longer take in breath , we are said expirare , to breath forth our last and so dye . in this respect man is fitly resembled to a bladder , puffed up with wind , which being by any prick let forth , the bladder shrivels up ; when we cease to breath , we cease to live . upon how slender a thred doth our life hang ? it is but a puffe and we are gone ; we carry our lives in our hands , or rather in our nostrils ; that is the prophet isaiahs character , man whose breath is in his nostrils . how easily , how speedily , is a mans breath beaten out of his body , so quickly is he deprived of life ; our life doth not depend upon the soundness of our parts , strength of our joynts , ( one dyeth saith job in his full strength , ) but only upon our breath , which how soon are we bereaved of : no wonder if one philosopher being asked what life was , turned himself about , and so went out : and another resembles it by oculus clausus , and apertus , an eye shut and open , or rather open and shut ; we dye in the twinkling of an eye , and st. james putting the question , what is your life ? returneth this answer , it is a vapour which appeareth for a little while , and then vanisheth away . oh that as we continually live by breathing ; so we would be thereby put in mind of dying , when our breath shal go forth . but though this construction be true , yet i rather adhere to theodorets and hieromes gloss upon the place , who by spirit understand the soul , partly because when this word is applyed to man in holy writ ; it is most frequently so to be understood , and where the sense will bear , it is best to take words in their usuall acception , partly because the next clause is generally referd to the other part of man his body ; and therefore it is most congruous to refer this to his soul , chiefly because in that place of salomon the son , which may very well be looked upon , as fetched from , and parallel to this of david the father , by spirit can be meant no other then the soul of man . if you ask why the soul of man is called by this name of a spirit ? the answer is given both from the etymology of the word , and the nature of the thing . . the word as you have already heard , signifieth breath , and the soul of a man is a breath both passively and actively . . passively , quia spiratur , because it is breathed into us according to that of moses in the creation of man , god breathed into him the breath of life : and however it be a controverted question whither the rationall soul be propagated and infused , generated or breathed ; yet it suiteth best as with the dignity of the soul , so with the current of scripture to affirme that the soul of man is still breathed into the body immediately by god himself . . actively , quia spirat , because it is the fountain and originall of our breath , which begins with the ingresse , and ceaseth with the egresse of the soul , upon which consideration the former sense appeareth to be included in this latter , since together with the soul , the breath goeth forth . . the thing which this word spirit is used for the most part to signifie , is an invisible , immortall , incorporeall , immateriall substance : upon which account god is said to be a spirit , and angels are called spirits ; and in this respect the soul of man is a spirit , as being not an accident , but a substance and that void of gross corruptible matter . this spirit when a man dyeth goeth forth , for the further explication whereof it will be needfull to inquire the double term of this motion , whence and whither it goeth . . if you inquire whence the spirit goeth forth , the answer is , out of the body . conceive the body as an house or tabernacle , or rather with st. paul , to put both together , the house of our tabernacle , the soul as an inhabitant or sojourner in this house , into which when it enters , we begin to live , and out of which when it goeth we dye . the second death saith st. austin , animam nolentem tenet in corpore , detains the soul against its will in the body , and the first , animam d●lentem pellit●e corpore , driveth the sorrowfull soul out of the body , when this bold serpeant cometh with a writt from the divine majesty , he entreth in , and turneth this tenant out of doores . . if you would know whither the spirit goeth , the wise man giveth you the answer , where he saith , the spirit of a man goeth upward , and again , where he saith , it returneth to god that gave it , as it goeth forth , so it ascendith upward , sursum eam vocant initia sua , saith seneca , it goeth whence it came . to god it goeth , and that for this end to receive its doome , which being past , it accordingly remaineth in a state of weal or woe , to the day of the resurrection . by this it appeareth how dissonant both the epicucuraean and the pythagorean philosophers are to truth , the one whereof affirmeth that the spirit of a man goeth forth , that is , vanisheth away , as the soul of a beast doth ; and the other , that his spirit goeth forth from one body to another ; whereas in truth the spirit of man goeth forth , so as to subsist , and that by it self , till it be reunited with the body , tres vitales spiritus creavit omnipotens , saith st. gregory , to this purpose very appositely , the almighty hath created three living spirits , the one angelicall , which is neither covered nor perisheth with the body ; the second bestiall , which is both covered and perisheth with the body ; the third humane , which is covered , but doth not perish with the body , but goeth forth . where our blessed saviour saith , fear not them who kill the body , but cannot kill the soul . what doth he but clearly intimate , that when the body dyeth , the soul dyeth not , for else they who kill the body , would kill the soul too ; and where he faith again of abraham , isaac , and jacob , that they live to god , and therefore god is not the god of the dead , but of the living : it plainly implyeth , that though their bodies are dead , their souls still live . i end this with the gloss of cajetan upon my text , who conceiveth that this title of spirit , is here given to the soul in respect of its going forth . as it is joyned with , and giveth life to the body it is a soul , and as it goeth forth and exists apart from the body , it is a spirit , since in this partaking with other spirituall substances , which have a subsistence without any matter . . having given you this account of the egress of the soul : pass we on to take a view of the regress of the body , he turneth to his earth . had he only said he returneth , it might be understood of the spirit , which as it gooth forth , so returneth : and accordingly this very word is by salomon applied to the spirit . had the psalmist spoke of the resurrection , these words , he returneth to his earth , might have admitted a faire gloss in reference to the soul , it returneth ad terram corporis sui , to the earth of its body , to which it shall then be united : but it is manifest that these words are a periphrasis of dying . and therefore with st. jerome and theodoret , the sense is best given , that the soul or spirit going forth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , caro , the body , the flesh returneth to its earth : sutable hereunto is that note of the learned muis , who observeth that in the hebrew , whereas the verb goeth forth , is faeminine answering with the noun spirit , which is for the most part of that gender , the verb returneth , is masculine , and so not to be referd to spirit , but the son of man who in respect of his body , returneth to his earth . returning in its proper notion , is a going back to that place from whence we came , so that in this clause here is a threefold truth implyed , expressed , inferd . . that which is implyed in this phrase of returning , is that man in respect of his body came from the earth ; and as it is here implyed , so it is expressed concerning the first man by moses , the lord god formed man ( that is , the body of man ) of the dust , ( or according to the hebrew , ) dust of the ground , and by st. paul where he saith , the first man is of the earth , earthly . true it is , we are formed in our mothers womb , but yet inasmuch as we all came from the first man , we are truly said to come from the earth , only with this difference that he immediately , we mediately are framed out of the earth . this truth was engraven in full characters upon the name of the first man , who is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} adam , from a word that signifieth red earth , and that very word is here used , perhaps to mind us of that earth whereof man was first made ; yea , according to the usuall etymologie , the name homo , which in the latins is a common name to both sexes , is derived , ab humo from the ground . for this reason it is , that the earth is called by the poet , magna parens , the great parent of mankind , and in the answer of the oracle , our mother : and in this respect we are said by eliphaz , to dwell in houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust , . that which is exprest is , that man ( when he dyeth ) returneth to the earth , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} saith the poet , we are all dust when dissolved , as the white snow , when melted is black water : eso flesh and blood when bereaved of the soul , becom the dust and ashes : in which respect st. paul giveth this epithet of vile to our bodies . indeed , mans originall being from the earth , he had a naturall propensity to earth : according to that maxime , omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum , every thing hath an aptitude of returning to the principle whence it cometh ; but yet had he not turned away from god , he had never actually returned thither . it is sin which hath brought upon man a necessity of dying , and that dying brings a necessity of returning to the earth : in which respect it is observable , that the threat , thou shalt dye the death , which was denounced against man before his fall , being afterwards renewed , is explained ( as to temporall death ) by those words , to dust thou shalt return ; ●o that now the motion of the little world man , is like that of the great , circulare , ab eodem punct● ad idem , from the same to the same ; and that as in his soul from god to god , so in his body from the earth to earth . the rivers come from the sea , and they return thither . the sun ariseth out of the east , and thither it returneth . man is formed of the earth , and into earth he is again transformed : with which agreeth that of the poet , cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante . . that which is inferd in the emphaticall pronoune his , which is annexed to the noun earth , is that the earth to which man returneth is his ; this being that which ariseth out of both the former conclusions ; since it is therefore his earth , because he cometh from , and returneth to it . earth is mans genesis and analysis , his composition and resolution , his alpha and omega , his first and last , ortus pulvis , finis cinis ; earth is his , both originally and finally . so that our bodies can challenge no alliance with , or property in any thing so much as earth . for if we call those things ours , which have only an externall relation to us , as our friends , our houses , our goods , our lands , much more may we call that our earth whereof we are made , and into which we shall moulder ; no wonder if as here it is said to be his , so elsewhere he is said to be earth , as being called by that name . by this time you see how fitly death is described by the spirits going forth of the body , and the bodies returning to his earth , both which are the immediate consequents of death , and informe us what becometh of either part , when the whole is divided , of the soul and body when the man dyeth . it would be further observed , that this is here affirmed of princes and great men as well as others . aequâ lance necessitas sortitur insignes & imos , said the poet , death knocks at palaces as well as cottages , and cuts down the lillies of the garden as well as the grass of the field . it is not unfitly taken notice of , that the sacred historian mentioning the kings and dukes of esau's race , only nameth the dukes , but concerning every one of the kings it is said he died ; indeed it was needless to affirme it of the dukes , who may well be conceived mortall , when kings are so . even they who are rulers over men , must be subject to death , and though they have power to inflict it upon others , they are no way able to preserve themselves from it . it is reported of cardinall woolesy , that he expostulated with himself what might prevent death : ●f money could do it , he had enough to buy a crown ; if weapons , he had as many as would defend a kingdome ; if power , he had sufficient to conquer a nation ; but alas there is no weapon against death , it cannot be bribed by the richest , nor conquered by the greatest ; dye they must , and when they dye , their breath , their soul goeth forth , and their bodies returne to the earth . the souls of the greatest landlords are but tenants at will to their bodies , and that not their own , but gods , who many times against their wils , turneth them out : according to that of the psalmist , he cutteth off the spirit of princes : in which respect st. austin thus glosseth upon the text , numquid quando vult exibit spiritus , expirat quando non vult ? shall his spirit go forth when he will ? i , and when he will not . the bodies of the highest when the breath and soul is gone out of them , are but rotten carcasses , and must be laid in the earth . if you look upon their extraction , it is from no better an originall then the meanest , though their immediate descent be noble , yet the first progenitor of them as well as others , was the earthly adam . the prince and the peazant are of the same earth , only the one a little better mould , of the same wooll , only the one of a little finer thred ; out of the same quarry , only the one a little smoother stone ; so justly may great men take up those words in nehemiah , our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren . there is common dust and saw dust , pin dust , golden dust , and the pouder of diamons , and all is but dust . the beggar , the labourer , the tradesman , the noble man , the king are all but earth . if you look upon their end , it is the grave , the house of all living , like nebuchadnezzars image , notwithstanding their gold and silver , their feet are clay . the rich and the poore saith solomon , meet together , sometimes at one board , in one bed , certainly in one grave . the noblest are but as flowers which peepe out of the earth , and flourish for a time , and when the winter of death cometh they return thither ; they are but as dust , which is raised up in the aire for a while , but a few drops of rain lay it presently . it is the language of the french king in his epitaph , terra fui quondam , rursus sum terra , nihil sum ; i am again what once i was , earth . and among the spices of which the ointment for annointing the kings as well as priests was compounded , one was cinamon and that is , cinericii coloris , of the colour of ashes , perhaps to tell them what they must one day be . the meditation of this doctrine may be of excellent use to superiours and inferiours , and to all sorts . . oh that great men would in the midst of all their enjoyments entertain these thoughts , that custome of presenting the emperour on the day of his inauguration , with severall marble stones , desiring him to choose one of them for his monument , was designed no doubt for this end : and for the same reason , johannes eleemosynarius , and king philip had their monitors , to tell the one , that his monument was not yet finished , and bid the other , remember he was a man . i have read , that in biscay there are old ruinous places which they to whom they belong , often visit though they have else where stately palaces . oh that they who dwell in sumptuous buildings , would frequently visit the ruinous graves . it was a curse upon the serpent , that he should creep on his belly , and eat dust all the daies of his life ; but surely it were a blessing to the highest in this world , if they would learne to do it in a spirituall sense , by the consideration of that dust to which they must return . happy is that prince , qui non minus se hominem esse , quam hominibus praeesse meminerit , who no less mindeth that he himself is a man , then that he ruleth over men . more particularly , it is that which would be pondered by them for a double end , that it may both quell their pride , and curb their voluptuousnesse . . there is no sinne to which men are more prone then that of pride : it is ( like our shirt ) that sin we put on first , and put off lost : nor have any greater temptations to this sinne then great ones . in alto situm , non altum sapere difficile : usually men of high estates are high-minded . nor is any thing more common , then for the bunch of pride to grow upon the back of honour . among the many antidotes against this sinne , none more effectuall then this to consider that whilest they live , they are but enlivened clay , breathing dust , moving ashes ; and that when their breath goeth forth , they must return to the earth . they say that the tympany is cured by stroaking the part with a dead mans hand ; sure i am , the serious thought of death is an excellent means to allay the swelling of pride . if you put fire to gun-powder which is made of earth , it will blow up towers . the fire of meditation put to our earthy original and end , will blow up the turret of pride . it is well observed that one of the signes which samuel gave saul after he had anointed him king , was that he should find two men by rachels sepulchre : for this end perhaps , that whereas the being anointed king might puff him up , the sight of rachels sepulchre might humble him . oh that you who enjoy the honours and dignities of this world would often think with your selves , i must die , and when death comes , i must exchange my palace for a grave , my robes for dust ; i that am now atteded on by men , must have wormes for my companions ; i that am now so high , must ere long be laid low ; that so you may be meek and lowly in heart . that which may so much the more advance the efficacy of this thought in subduing the pride of great men , is that when once they are returned to the earth ; and this dunghill element hath set its foot upon their face , there is no difference between them and others . there ( saith job of the grave ) are the great and small . nor can we tell which is the dust of the great , which of the small . to this tended that surcasme of diogenes , when he told alexander that he had been seeking his father philips bones , but could not distinguish between them and others . and for this reason alphonsus putting the question , what it was that did make high and low equall ? answered , death . pliny writeth of a river in spaine wherein all the fish that are pnt , are of a golden colour , but being taken out of it , they are of the same colour with other fishes . they who whilest they live in this world glitter with gold and silver , when taken out of it , return to the same earth with the rest of mankind . whilest the counters are upon the table , one stands for five , another for ten : while the chasemen are upon the board , one is a king , another a queen , a third a bishop , a fourth a knight , and those have their several walks , but when put into the bag they are all alike . thus is it with men who ( though upon the earth they are of different orders and degrees , ) are alike , when they are cast into it . and as the several kinds of herbs which are thrown into the limbeck being distilled make one water , so they but one earth . epictetus when asked , what was common to the king with the begger ? answered , to be born , and to die : they come into , and go out of the world , one as well as the other . nor is there any difference between them in the womb , and the tomb . let not those that are above , insult over others , since this grand leveller death will one day put them in the same condition with others . . this meditation of the going forth of the soul , and return of the body , is a no lesse powerfull disswasive from a voluptuous life , then an haughty mind . oh that you who have vivendi voluptatem the pleasure of life , would contemplate moriendi necessitatem , the necessity of death : that you who have the world at will , would remember you have not death at command . i die ( said esau ) and what good will my birth-right do me ? oh that the voluptuous epicure would say , i die , and what good will my vain and sensual pleasures do me ! agathocles when a king , having been a potters sonne , drank in earthen vessels . it were not possible men should surfeit at their tables , carouse it in their cups , would they eat and drink ( as it were ) in earthen vessels , in the midst of their delicacyes remember that they are earth . consider this , you who spend your doyer in eating and drinking , in playing and sleeping , whose whole design is to pamper and feed , to deck and adorn your bedies to gratifie your senses , and glut your selves with the delights of the flesh . dic mihi ubi sunt amatores mundi ? nihil ex eis remanet nisi cineres & vermes : tell me what is become of those lovers of pleasures , of whom nothing remaineth but wormes and ashes : what will become of that body of thine which is so full fed , and richly clod , when it shall be laid in the grave ? they say of bees , that when they are buzzing and humming about our ears , making a great and angry noise , if you throw a little dust upon them , they are quiet , and hive again presently . surely it would still the roaring gallant in the midst of his joviall revellings , were the thoughts of dust frequently suggested to , and seriously pondered on by him . and yet were this all that the body returneth to the earth , the epicures plea might be good enough ; let us eat and drink , for to morrow we die . but if we die to morrow , as our body returneth to earth , so our soul goeth forth to god to give an account , to rereceive a sentence , either of absolution or condemnation . and oh think what fear will possesse thy spirit , when it apprehends it self going forth to be arraigned at the barre of divine justice ; yea , how dismall the account will be , of that time , and strength , and health , and wealth , which hath been expended upon carnal and sensual pleasures . . let those who are in the lower ranke of men , learn to look upon great ones as subject to death and the grave , and that for a double end ; so as not to fear them distrustfully , nor trust in them presumptuously . . their breath goeth forth , they return to their earth , fear them not . indeed , there is a fear which is due from inferiours to superiours . god and the king are set down by the wiseman as the joynt objects of our fear , and they will at last be found fooles , who divide them . when god saith , if i be a master where is my fear , he intimateth that fear is due from the servant to the master ; whilst they live they are above and over us , and therefore ought to be feared by us , but with a fear of reverence not diffidence , and that because their power and honour is soon laid in the dust . have we not sometimes observed a ball tossed up and down in the aire , eyed and observed by every one which way it moveth , least it should hit them ; yea , and when it passeth by , they ofttimes stoope to it , and yet it is nothing but the skin of a dead beast filled with wind , which is easily let out : a fit embleme of tyrants , who are so observed , and of whom we stand in so much awe , when yet they are but mortal men , whose breath quickly goeth forth . put them in fear , oh lord , ( is the prayer of the psalmist , ) that they may know themselves to be but men . indeed this consideration , that the greatest enemies of the church are but men , may put them in fear , and us out of fear ; no wonder if god bespake his church in that vehement interrogation , who art thou , that thou shouldst be afraid of a man , that shall dye , and of the son of man , which shall be made as grasse ? and therefore as david resolves , i will not feare what flesh can do unto me , so let us not fear what earth can do against us . . their breath goeth forth , they return to their earth , trust them not . this is the principall intendment of the psalmist , as appeareth by the former dehortation , put not your trust in princes , nor in the son of man in whom there is no help : to presse which this is annexed as a reason , namely their mortall condition . excellently doth st. chrysostome here enlarge , he that cannot defend himself , how shall he deliver another ? do not say he is a prince , for in this , he hath no greater priviledge then the meanest , but is subject to the same uncertainty of life : nay , that i may at once speak what is true and yet strange , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , for this reason especially he is not to be trusted , because he is a prince , for these earthly powers are slippery : great men are subject to more casualities and dangers then private , and when they fall they that trust to them are ruined with them , as the body of the church is beaten down with the fall of the steeple . how often is it seen that when men think to make great ones their shadowes and shelters , they vanish away and leave them to the scorching sun , by which meanes as jonah was by the withering of his gourd , they are disappointed and disquieted , yea , when the cedars fall , the lower shrubs which might have stood at a greater distance , being near to , and depending on , are crushed by them ; let therefore the prophet isaiahs counsell be acceptable , cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils , for wherein is he to be accounted of ? so much the rather , considering the curse denounced by the prophet jeremy against him who trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arme . the greatest man is but an arme of flesh , which must rot , nay , a bruised reed , upon which if you lean you fall ; say not therefore to a piece of clay , thou art my fear , or my hope : to be afraid of the power , or dote on the favour of great men , are alike , not only vain but cursed . . let all of all sorts lay this truth to heart , our breath will certainly , may speedily go forth ; let good works be in our hands , whiles the breath is in our nostrils . our souls goeth forth at the houre of death to be judged , let us labour for the renewing and sanctifying of our souls , that they may appear with boldnesse . we must return to our earth , respice , prospice oh homo ; let us look backward whence we came , let us look forward whither we are going , that we may be vile in our own eyes . it is our body that returneth to the earth , whilst our souls go forth to be happy or miserable ; let us prefer that part which goeth forth , before that which returneth to earth . merito poseit majora studia pars melior , the better and nobler part deservedly challengeth our best and chiefest care ; nor is any thing more absurd ( though it be too common ) then to have regard of our vile body , and neglect our precious soul . finally , every son of man is as sure to return to the earth , as that he came from it , and to breath forth the breath of his life , as that he received it in : let it be therefore his endeavour to provide for what he cannot prevent , and so ( by keeping faith and a good conscience ) to work out his salvation , that when death shall come , he may comfortably say , egredere anima mea , go forth oh my soul , go forth to that god whom thou hast served , to that jesus in whom thou hast believed , and his flesh which returneth to the earth , may rest in hope of a joyfull resurrection to eternall life . . there is yet one clause of the text behinde , of which i shall give a very brief account , namely , the dying of great mens purposes , as it is expressed in those words ; in that very day his thoughts perish . the thoughts which the psalmist here no doubt , especially intends , are those purposes which are in the minds of great men of doing good to those who are under , and depend upon them . the hebrew word here used , is derived from a verb that signifieth to be bright : cogitationes serenae , those candid , serene , benigne , benevolous thoughts which they have of advancing their allyes , friends , and followers . these thoughts are said to perish in that day wherein they are conceived ; so tremelius glosseth : in which sense the instability of great mens favour is asserted , whose smiles are quickly changed into frownes , love into hatred , and so in a moment their mind being changed , their well-wishing thoughts vanish . but more rationally , their thoughts perish in that day wherein their persons die , because there is no opportunity of putting their purposes in execution . they perish like the childe which comes to the birth , and there is no strength to bring forth ; or like fruit which is plucked up , before it be ripe . whilest they live , we may be deceived in our expectations by the alteration of their minds ; but however their condition is mortal , and when that great change by death comes , their designes ( how well soever meant ) must want success . from hence it followeth , which is by some looked upon as a part of the meaning of the words , that the thoughts or hopes of them who trust in them perish . it is a true apothegme , major pars hominum expectando moritur ; the greatest part of men perish by expectation . and good reason , inasmuch as their expectation being misplaced , perisheth . how strongly this argument serveth to presse the psalmists caution against confidence in man , though never so great , is easily obvious . it is true , princes and nobles being invested with honour , wealth , and authority , have power in their hands , and perhaps they may have thoughts in their hearts to do thee good , but alas how uncertain is the execution of those intentions , and therefore how foolish is it to depend upon them . trust in the lord jehovah ( saith the prophet ) for with him is everlasting strength . i , and with him is unchangeable goodnesse . it is safe building upon the rock ; trusting upon god , whose thoughts of mercy are ( like himself ) from everlasting to everlasting . but nothing more foolsh then to build on the sand , trust to men , whose persons together with their thoughts , perish in a moment . and therefore let our resolution be that of davids ; it is better to . , ● . in the lord , then to put confidence in man : it is better to trust in the lord , then to put confidence in princes . to enlarge this a little further . it is no lesse true of their thoughts of evil against then of good to others . sometimes their minds are changed from malice to mercy , and by that meanes their thoughts perish . so were esau's towards jacob , and he embraced him in his armes , whom he designed to tread under his feet . oft-times they are cut off by death , so that they cannot bring their wicked devises to pass . thus pharaoh parsuing israel , with a resolved rage to make them and theirs his prey , is drowned in the red sea ; and in that very day all his malicious thoughts perish . in this respect there is as little reason to be afraid of the anger , as to confide in the friendship of great ones . and therefore m●●athias advised his sons ; fear not the words of a sinfull man , for his glory shall be dung and wormes : to day he shall be lifted up , and to morrow he shall not be found , because he is returned to his dust , and his thought is come to nothing . it is true of great mens , of all mens thoughts , in respect of themselves , as well as others . the hearts of the sons of men are full of designes about worldly things . apollinarius interpreteth the word in my text , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , carefull thoughts : such saith arnobius , quae cos non sinunt quiescere , which will not suffer them to be quiet . thoughts of buying , selling , building , purchasing , and a thousand such like , which death intervening breaketh off , and all such purposes prove to no purpose . theodoret upon my text , brings in the instance of the rich fool in the gospel , whose thoughts were to pull down his barns , and build greater , and thereto bestow all his fruits , and his goods ; and to say to his soul , soul , thou hast much good laid up for many years ; take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry : but that night was his soul required from him , and those thoughts perished . st. james speaketh of those whose thoughts were , that to day or to morrow they would go into such a city , and continue there , and buy and sell , and get gain , forgetting that their life was but a vapour , which appeareth a little while , and vanisheth away , and together with it all such thoughts . st. gregory upon those words , the eyes of the wicked shall fail , giveth this as the reason ; quia intenti●nes eorum & desideria occupantur circa transitoria : because their thoughts and desires are imployed about perishing objects . oh let it be our wisdome to six our thoughts and designes upon higher and better objects , how we may obtain an inheritance among them that are sanctified , and enjoy the beatifical vision ! these are those thoughts which being pursued in life , shall not be frustrated , but fulfilled at our death . he whose life hath been a continued meditation on heaven , and whose endeavoures have been to make sure an interest there , in that very day , when his body returneth to the earth , his soul goeth forth to the fruition of it , and so his thoughts receive a full , a joyfull accomplishment . once more , not only our worldly , but our charitable , our penitential , our religious thoughts perish in that day of death . how many have thoughts with themselves , when i come to such and such years , i will leave my sins , and lead a new life : when i have got this and that estate , i will give almes to the poor : but in the mean time , death hath unhappily prevented them . oh therefore let it be our prudence to lay hold on the present time , and when good thoughts are in our minds , if we have ability and opportunity to put them speedily in execution , lest we too late condemn our own folly , and be forced to say , non putaram , i did not think death would so soon have seized upon me . i shut up this with that excellent exhortation of the wise man ; whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it withall thy might ; for there is no work , nor device , nor wisdome , nor knowledge in the grave whether thou goest . the text is now finished , but my discourse must not yet end : what hath been from the text sounded in your eares , is by this sad occasion fulfilled in your eyes . we have before us a dolefull instance of great mens mortality in this noble earl , whose breath ( some daies past ) went forth from him , and whose body is now returning to this earth . indeed , it is that sad providence which i cannot but mention , as being fit to be laid to heart , how almighty god hath not only once , but again and again within a little circuit of time exemplified the truth of this doctrine in this noble family . no lesse then three persons of honour , the father , the son , the grandson , have in lesse then two years been taken away by death , and that in the three several ages of life ; the father in the evening of old age , the son in the noon of manhood , and the grandson in the morn of youth . it seemed good to the wise god , who doth not look in the church-book to see who is eldest , and take men out in the same order that they come into this world , to begin with the youngest of the three , by death lopping off from this goodly tree a blossoming branch , which might in probability have flourished long , and brought forth much fruit . but when his surviving relations consider what hath lately fallen out , and is too likely to befall this land , they may look upon it as a mercy , in that he was taken away from the evil to come . not long after , it pleased divine providence to strike at the very root , the aged father of the family , who having lived many years , was cut off in a few houres , and is gone to his grave in a full age , like a shock of corn in its season . and now one main arme of this tree which first sprung from that root , and from which that branch sprouted , is hewen down : the father of that hopefull son , and the son of that aged father is brought to be interred , together with them both , in the sepulchre of his ancestours . it was not my happiness to have either long or much knowledg of this honourable person , and therefore a large panegyrick cannot be expected from me , nor shall i say any thing concerning him more then truth , as not daring for fear of the great god to speak false and flattering words of the greatest man . to tell you how illustrious the family is whereof he is descended , were superfluous ; you can better tell me , who have for many years beheld its splendor : nor indeed doth that adde much to any mans commendation . i shall not stay long to mind you how happy he was in his conjugall relations , having been the husband of two excellent ladyes , whose memory is , and will be precious , though their bodies are rotted in the grave : by the former of whom he was the father of that only son who went before him , and by the latter , of three daughters ( ingenuous and promising ladyes ) which are left behinde him . it will be needless to enlarge upon , what all who knew him , will readily testifie , that he was a person of excellent natural endowments , of a sweet and loving temper , affable and courteous behaviour , and of a meek and lowly spirit , not only before , but after he was possessed of that dignity to which he was born : he was in honore , fine tumore , lifted up with honour , but not puffed up with pride . that which i cannot forbear to mention ( since thereby he became an honour to his family ) is , as his untained loyalty to his sovereign , so his faithfull constancy in adhering to the church of england , in her faith and worship . it pleased god in his latter dayes to visit him with many diseases , which as they were in mercy intended by god , so i hope in charity they were looked upon by him , as summons to the grave , and monitors of his frailty . in his last sickness i had the honour to wait upon , and administer to him in holy things , wherein my conscience beareth me witnesse , i dealt with him freely and faithfully , and i trust not without good success . having set before him the sinfulness of sin , and the necessity of repentance , he did with tears and sighs as well as words , acknowledge and bemoane the follyes of his youth and former life , implore forgivenesse of them from god , resolve if god should spare him , that he would ( through divine grace ) be more carefull of his wayes . and though it hath not seemed good to divine wisdome to give him opportunity of performing his pious and penitent resolves , yet i hope they were sincere , and being so , i am sure they are mercifully accepted by his gracious god . he was indeed willing to have lived longer , but for good end ; namely , to amend his own waies , and see jerusalem in prosperity , and withall he desired to submit to gods will , and did wholly cast himself on christs mertts for his salvation . if there be any who ( like fleas which bite most when we are asleep ) shall speak evil of this dead lord , i wish they would consider that it was one of solons prohibitions , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to stain the honour of the dead . god ( i trust ) upon his repentance , hath covered his sinnes , let us do so too : they were his earthly , dusty , ashy parts , let them be buried with him . this honourable person is dead , and going to his long home . but ( blessed be god ) the earl of warwick still liveth in his succeeding brother , who will ( i hope ) not only continue , but encrease the honour of his family , by endeavouring not only to equalize but excell his predecessours , in being a friend to the orthodox religion of this despised church , a pattern to his tennants , servants , yea , the whole countrey , of piety , charity , humility and all vertues . and may there long long be found one of this line fit to enjoy the revenue , and weare the title of this earldome . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- ps. . , . notes for div a e- john . . sam. . . gen. . calv. in loc. isai. . . job . . james . . theod. in loc. jerom. in loc. eccl. . . gen. . . john . . heb. . . cor. . . a●g●e civit . de● . eccl. . . . . sen. epist. greg. m●● . matth. . . luke . cajet in ●oc . eccl. . . gen. . . cor. . . ovid . job . . phocyl . phil. . . gen. . . . . lucr●● . horat. gen. . psal. . . aug. in loc. nehem. . . prov. . . gen. . . sam. . . job . . . gen. . . prov. . . mal. . . psal. . . isai. . . psal. . . verse . chryso . in loc. isai. . 〈◊〉 . jer. . . trem. in loc. lor. in loc. isa . . psal. 〈…〉 maccab. . , . luk. ● . , . jam. . , . job . . ● . eccles. . . the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall, april the th, . and was buried in hope of an immortal life the th of the same moneth. / by nath: hardy m.a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church. hardy, nathaniel, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall, april the th, . and was buried in hope of an immortal life the th of the same moneth. / by nath: hardy m.a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church. hardy, nathaniel, - . [ ], [i.e. ], [ ] p. printed by j.g. for nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear neer the little north door of s. pauls church, london : . p. misnumbered . with a final advertisement leaf. errata, f r. variant: lacking errata. annotation on thomason copy: "june. ." reproduction of the original in the british library. eng pemberton, adam, d. -- early works to . christian life -- sermons -- early works to . funeral sermons -- th century. sermons, english -- th century. a (thomason e _ ). civilwar no the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god: or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the f hardy, nathaniel d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of god : or , the happines by death of holines in life . delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall , april the th , . and was buried in hope of an immortal life the th of the same moneth . by nath : hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church . revel. . and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , w●ite , blessed are they which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works doe follow them . aug : de discipl : christ : tract : . c. . prorsus confirmo , audeo dicere , credidi propter quod locutus sum , non potest malè mori qui bene vixerit . chrysost : in psal : . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . london . printed by j. g. for nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear neer the little north-door of s. pauls church , . to the reverend mr. john pemberton , minister of charleton in kent : contentment here , and injoyment hereafter . reverend sir , i am very sensible that this dedication will revive the memory of your great losse , and thereby renew your grief , but withall , this publication will perpetuate the memory of your dead son , and that may be your comfort . indeed , this ( as i conceive ▪ was the chief cause why it was so earnestly ▪ desired by many of his friends , and this ( i am sure ) was the onely reason why it was at length yeilded to by me . but truly , so pretious is his name , that i am abundantly assured it will live though he be dead , not onely in the inkie characters of this paper , but the tender affections of many hearts : the truth is , might prayers have prevailed with god for his life , he had not yet died ; and would tears have brought him back from the dead , he had again lived . what the name of the place was where the angel of the lord spake to the children of israel , so that they lift up their voices and wept , might justly have been given to that church upon the day of his enterrement , it was bochim , a place of weeping ; every eye almost bedewing his grave with tears . and though in respect of him they were as needlesse , so fruitlesse ; the case being ( as holy job observeth ) farre different between a withered root , and a dead man ; yet as the jewes said of christ weeping for lazarus , it might well be said of them , behold how they loved him : and doubtlesse , he cannot but be remembred by them to whom he was so much endeared . this i have thought fit to mention ( good sir ) as for his honour , so your joy ; at least the mitigation of your sorrow for him , who lived so beloved , and died so lamented , and though he is buried , will not be forgotten . yet still , that which is , and ought to be , your greatest consolation , is the good hope you have of his eternall salvation , on whom , having finished his short course , in keeping the faith , and fighting the good fight , ( i trust ) the crown of righteousness is already in part , and shall be in that day fully conferred by the lord the righteous judge . and now ( worthy friend ) i cannot but take notice of that whereof ( i am confident ) you are not unmindfull , the various dispensation of divine providence towards you and yours . both your hopefull sons he was pleased to take away in the morning of their youth , and you have lived to the evening of old age . both their years put together could not make up much above two thirds of those you have already lived to , and ( if it be gods will ) may you see many more , for the sake , as of your surviving children , grand-children , so especially the church ; that having expended a long life in gods service , you may at last exchange it for an eternall life in his glory . so prayeth your truly loving friend , nath : hardy . the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of god . phil. chap. . ver. . to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . words both short and sweet , brief and pithy , few in expression , and large in extension . that of solomon is an ample epitome , summing up the whole duty of man in these two , fear god , and keep his commandements . that of our blessed saviour is a comprehensive compendium , comprizing the whole law of god in these two , thou shalt love the lord thy god , and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self . but loe ! in this abridgment we are taught both how to live , and how to die , quantum in quantillo , how much is here folded up in a little ; what counsell for life , what comfort in death doth this scripture afford ! happy is he who so readeth this copie as to write after it , vieweth these steps as to tread in them , being able to say , if not with the same measure , yet at least with the like truth of affection and confidence in christ : to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . i finde among expositors a double version of this verse : . some modern , both protestant and popish interpreters ; and one among the antients , read this verse as if it were one intire proposition , whereof christ is the subject , and gain the predicate : christ is to me gain both in life and death . according to this sense there is a double truth contained in them . first , that both life and death are gain to a good man : in the former verse , our apostle expresseth his confidence , that both his life and death should be christs glory : and here , that they would be his gain , utraque mihi conducibilia , is theodoret's note , both shall conduce to my benefit . ostendit sive vitam , sive mortem , sibi censuram in salutem , so estius : he sheweth that whatever happened , whether the continuation of his life , or the acceleration of his death , it should work for his good ; in which respect he seemeth to say , nec mori timeo , nec vivere recuso , as lapide well glosseth , i neither refuse to live , nor fear to die . in how happy an estate is every holy man , to whom no condition cometh amisse , prosperity or adversity , wealth or want , health or sickness , life or death . lucri bonus odor ex re quâlibet , saith the worldling , gain is sweet out of any thing . the saint finds truly sweet gain in every thing . secondly , that it is christ who maketh both life and death gain to a good man . it was s. paul's hope , first , that christ should be magnified by him : and next , that he he should be comforted by christ , both in life and death : unus est christus qut tam in morte quam in vita nos facit beatos , saith calvin upon the place . indeed , christ is the christians all in all estares ▪ as david said concerning god , whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth i desire in comparison of thee : so saith a christian in this case concerning christ , whom have i in death but thee ? and there is none in life i desire in comparison of thee . the comfort of life is in the knowledge , and the profit of death is in the fruition of christ : if we be without christ , it is hard to say whether is better to live or die : the truth is , both are hurtful , whilst life will prove an increase of sinne , and death sends to torment ; but if christ be ours , both will be to our advantage , according to that of the apostle , all things are yours , whether life or death , things present , or things to come , all are yours , and you are christs , and christ is gods . . but because all greek copies divide the verse into clauses , and ( as zanchy well observeth ) it is not safe to recede from the plain reading of the text unless necessity compell , ( whereas here the verse being read according to the originall , is more full , and no lesse true ) i shall adhere to our last as the best translation , and so much the rather , because in this construction it holds well in connexion both with what praecedeth and followeth : therefore his expectation was , that christ should be magnified and he not ashamed whether he did live or die , because if he lived it should be christ if he died it should be gain ; and so no cause in either of shame to himself , but from both there would accrue honour to christ . again , therefore he did not wot what to choose , whether life or death , because to him on the one hand to live was christ , and on the other to die was gain . to look upon the words in themselves , you have in them some things supposed , and some things proposed : the things supposed are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as a presence of life , so a certainty of death : the things proposed are the dedication of his life to christ , and the advantage of death to himself . of the former more briefly : of the later more largely . . to live , to die , are the things supposed ; the one common to all others with s. paul : the other common to s. paul with all others . first , s. paul lived , so doe all men , so doe all animals : what our apostle saith of bodies , i may of life : there is a naturall body , and there is a spirituall body ; so there is a naturall , and there is a spirituall life ; this is an hidden , but that a manifest life ; this an inclosure , but that a common ; it is common to heathen with christians , to beasts with men ; the little ant , the crawling worms have a share in life as well as we ; so that these may say as well as s. paul , to me to live : why should we be so much in love with , or dote upon this life , which we have no more interest in than the meanest living creature ? indeed , it is a mercy for which we ought to be thankfull , it is a talent which we are to improve , but it is no priviledge wherein we should glory , whereof we should boast , or wherewith we should be too much affected . secondly , as s. paul lived , so he made account of dying : others live as well as he , and he must die as well as others . the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is as certain as the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as sure as we live we must die : man is no lesse subject to perishing than the beast ; yea , the good man hath no more exemption than the bad ; for so the prophet esay asserts , the righteous perisheth . indeed , our apostle elsewhere calls righteousness a breast-plate , but it is not death-proof ; and though it delivereth in , yet not from death : it is true , death is the wages of sin , but still , it is here the lot of a saint : perfect innocency should not have known mortality , but grace in the best is mixed with that sinne , which bringeth death ; christ ( i grant ) hath taken away death , but so as he hath taken away sin for the present , onely in part , not fully : sin is taken away ne praesit , death ne obsit ; the power and guilt of the one , the sting and venome of the other ; but neither ne sit ▪ not the beeing of either . and indeed , it is not without manifold reason that divine providence hath so ordered it : . that the members may be conformable to their head , & we may follow christ the same way of death in which he hath gone before us to glory . . that by the pulling down of the wall , the mosse may be fully-plucked out , and by the dissolution of the body , its infirmity and frailty wholly purged away . . that the power of god may appear the more glorious in raising us up after death hath layd us in the grave , and the grave turned us into dust . . finally , that the strength of our faith might appear the more in believing we shall live though we die : for these reasons the wise god hath appointed his own children to walk through the valley of the shadow of death . to carry it yet one step further , and that in a few words , it is no other than s. paul ( who was not onely a christian , but an apostle ) who taketh it for granted , that he must die ; neither the word nor the work of righteousness can secure from death ; prophets , apostles , ministers , as well as others , are mortall , and must die . indeed , they are ( according to our saviours metaphor ) the lights of the world ▪ but such as after a while may be blown out by a violent , however must go out by a naturall death . clouds they are from whom the rain of instruction falls upon the people , but at length they themselves vanish away . finally , angels they are in respect of their office , but still they are men in regard of their nature , and must die like men . s. paul himself hence supposeth it as a thing which sooner or later would befall him . and so i have given a dispatch to the first , passe we on to the next and principall part of the text , the things that are proposed , concerning the things supposed , which accordingly are two : namely , christ the scope of the one , and gaine the attendant on the other ; which when i have viewed severally , i shall look upon them joyntly , and so put a period to my discourse on this scripture . to me to live is christ : ] is the first propsition to be discussed . it is that which according to that twofold life a christian leads ; namely , spirituall , and temporall , is capable of a threefold interpretation : . many of the fathers understand this [ to live ] in a spirituall sense , and so this phrase , to me to live is christ , is made synonimous with that of this very apostle elsewhere , christ liveth in me : to this purpose is that paraphrase of devout anselme upon this text , that by which i live is christ , i live not the old but the new man . and of eloquent chrysostome , i live not a common life , but christ liveth in me : and going on in his rhetoricall strain , he puts the question , why ô blessed apostle doest not thou breathe in the ayre , and tread on the earth as we doe ? art not thou nourished by food , and refreshed by sleep as we are ? yes , but this life he despised , looking after another ; he did not lead a sinfull , but a spirituall life , and so to him to live was christ . thus origen occasionally speaking of these words , saith , in quibusdam vivit iesus , in quibusdam defunctus est : christ is as it were dead in some christians , in some he liveth , to wit , in those who can say to me to live is christ : in this sense it is that christ is the efficient cause of a christians life , and as the head communicateth motion to the members , and the root sap to the branches , so doth christ life to all christians . . one upon this text expounding it of naturall life , rendreth the sense thus , to me to live is christ , that is , the onely reason why i am content to live is christs pleasure : if christ will have me to live longer , i am willing ; what seemeth good to him is so to me . consonant to this is that of s. ambrose , to an holy man to live is christ , quasi servus enim non refugit vitae obsequium : since as a faithful servant he doth not refuse the work of life : if it may be an opportunity of advancing his masters glory , or like a good souldier he is willing to stay in the field as long as his captain commandeth . . but lastly , and as i conceive most rationally we are to interpret this to live of s. paul's natural life , and christ as the finall cause of it ; so that we may best render the meaning of these words in estius his paraphrase , vitam meam christo & evangelio consecravi : to me to live is christ , that is , i have consecrated my life to christ and his gospel . this is that which was true of paul under a double notion , the one speciall , as an apostle ; the other general , as a christian . . consider him as an apostle , and so it lets us see what ought to be the chief ayme and scope of every ministers life ; namely , the honour and glory of christ . indeed , what other is the work , to which a minister is called , and about which he is to be imployed : but ( to use s. pauls expression in the very next chapter ) the work of christ ? what is it we are to publish but the gospel of christ ? and therein the love of christ to lost sinners : in this respect we are compared to ambassadours , and as the ambassadours businesse is to declare his masters message , so is this our work to make known the glad tydings of salvation by christ , as being the great errand about which he sends us . what is it we endeavour by publishing the gospel , yea not onely by preaching but praying , and all other religious means , but the gaining of souls to christ ? upon this account we are called the friends of the bridegroom ; and as the friends office is to speak a good word in the bridegrooms behalf , and to conciliate the brides favour and affection towards him : so is this our employment to wooe your soules that they may be married to christ . indeed , as saint bernard hath piously observed , that purity of heart which especially ought to be in a bishop and pastor of the church , consists in two things ▪ to wit , in seeking the glory of christ , and the good of the people : it behooving him in all his words and works to seek not himselfe , but either christs honour or the peoples profit , or both ; so doing , implebit nonsolum pontificis officium , sed & etymologiam nominis pontem seipsum faciens inter deum & proximum : he shall , according to the etymologie of the latine word , make him self ( as it were ) a bridge between god and his neighbour , whereof the one part reacheth god by advancing his glory , and the other extendeth to his neighbour by furthering his benifit : ( oh that all we who undertake this sacred function would take out this lesson ! ) farre be it from us to live to our selves , either onely or chiefly ayming at our own emolument : wee are among other resemblances compared to eyes , and eyes which see all things else , see not themselves , no more should we look at our selves in any thing we doe . it is said of ignatius , that the name iesus was ( as it were ) engraven upon his heart . oh let our heart be fixed on , and then our life cannot but be devoted to him , we are in a more speciall manner servants of jesus christ , it is that character which the apostle s. jude giveth of himself , and whose work should we imploy our selves about but his ? we are the soldiers of jesus christ ( according to s. pauls character of timothy ) and whose commands should we observe if not his ? finally , we are as so many stewards intrusted by christ with his glory , his gospel , and what an odious thing is it for a man not to discharge his trust ? oh my brethren ! if we should not live to christ , who should ? our relations to him are nearer , our obligation greater than any others , and therefore as we have opportunity let us lay out our abilities in the service and for the glory of christ . . but further consider him as a christian , and so it is a pattern for all to follow , and instructs us all what is the genuine character of a sincere saint : to him to live is christ , as christ is the alpha or beginning of his spirituall , so he is the omega or end of his temporall life ; the life of grace he deriveth from him , the life of nature he devoteth to him ; and indeed by the one he is inabled to the other ; it is only a principle of supernaturall life which inclineth a man to order his conversation aright , and steer the course of his life so as may best redound to christs honour . in this respect it is that s. paul saith in the name not onely of himself , but all believers ; both negatively , none of us liveth to himself ; and affirmatively , we live unto the lord : that memorable saying of the emperour jovinian is the motto of every saint , scopus vitae christus , christ is the christians scope , and whatever he is , or hath , or doth , it is all in reference to christ . what the end is to the agent , that is christ to a saint : the end is that which doth both excitare , and commensurare , stirre up the agent to act , and according to which he ordereth and squareth his actions ; so it is with a christian , in respect of christ that which both moveth and squareth him in all that he goeth about is the glory of christ ▪ what the center is to the circumference , that wherein all the lines which are drawn from every part of it doe meet , that is christ to the saint , all the lines of his thoughts , and words , and works tend to , meet in him . and truly , good reason it should be thus , since all christians are christs , such to , and over whom he most justly layeth a claim , and challengeth a right . it was davids acknowledgment to god , upon which he groundeth a prayer for protection , i am thine , save me . it is every christians acknowledgment to christ , upon which he groundeth a resolve of subjection , i am thine , ô blessed jesus ! i will serve thee . i am thine , and therefore my health , my strength , my life , all i am , have , or can doe , is thine . it is the character by which s. paul describeth believers , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they that are christs , and so they are ( as for other causes so ) chiefly , because they are redeemed by him . it is the reason alledged by the apostle himself writing to the corinthians , ye are not your own , for ye are bought with a price : and now , since we are not our own , but his , and that by so strong an ingagement ; it is but equall that we should live to him , quicquid es , debes creanti , quicquid potes debes redimenti , saith saint bernard , thou owest what thou art to thy creator , yea whatever thou art able to thy redeemer . whom should a captive live to , but him that ransomed him ? a slave but to him that bought him ? a christian but to christ who hath delivered him from the slavery and captivity of sin ? indeed , this is the end which christ intended in purchasing us by his death : he gave himself for us , ( saith the apostle ) that he might purifie us to himself a peculiar people : and more appositely to our present purpose , he died for all , that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves , but unto him which died for them and rose again : thus then the case stands , christ hath bought us by his blood for himself : being thus bought by him , we owe our selves and lives to him : no wonder if every believer upon this consideration saith , with this holy apostle , to me to live is christ . but if this be the inseparable character of a christian , alas ! where shall we finde him ? it was the complaint of god , concerning ephraim , by the prophet hoseah , ephraim is an empty vine , he bringeth forth fruit to himself . and may not christ take up the same complaint of us ? none of us liveth to himself , saith s. paul : nay , none of us but liveth to himself , may we say . gregory nyssen speaking occasionally of these words , thus comments , the apostle saying to me , to live is christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , intends thus much , no carnall affection liveth in me ; not pleasure , nor grief , nor anger , nor pride , nor envie , nor revenge , nor covetousnesse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but to him onely i live , who is none of all these . but , my brethren , which of us can excuse our selves from living to some one or other of these lusts ? doth not the ambitious man say , to me to live is honour ? the voluptuous , to me to live is pleasure ? the envious , to me to live is revenge ? the covetous , to me to live is wealth ? but where , oh ! where is the man can truly say ▪ to me to live is christ ? we call our selves christians , but we are christiani sine christo , no better than the ephesians in their heathenish condition , of whom the apostle saith , that at that time they were without christ : onely this is the difference , heathens are without any knowledge of christ , and loose christians are without the effectuall knowledge of christ : and so their condition worse than heathens , who , though they have christ in their ears and mouths , yet he is not in all their thoughts , or affections , or actions . oh that the setting of this pattern before us might serve to shame us out of our inordinate living to our selves , and quicken us in our indevours to live to christ ; as peter said in another case to christ , lord , whether should i go ? thou hast the words of eternall life . let us say in this , lord , to whom should we live ? thou hast the command of our naturall life ; yea , thou art the life of our life , and soule of our soul : oh that all our oyle might empty it self into this golden candlestick ! that all our water might run in this channell , all our actions be levelled at this marke christ , and his honour : to this end , let us get our hearts both enlarged with apprehensions of christs love to us , and inflamed with love to him . the love of christ ( saith the apostle paul ) constraineth us : a phrase which may be construed both waies ; either actively , the love of christ to us ; or passively , our love to christ : both of which have a sweet , yet strong influence . . meditate we seriously on the love of christ to us . how truly might our blessed saviour say , whilest on earth ; yea , now he is in heaven , to me to live is man ? he lived here to die , he liveth there to intercede for man ; his fathers will ( which was our salvation ) was not onely his work , but his food ; and ( as he saith himself ) his meat and his drink : so much content he took , and delight he had in our redemption . indeed , what was there from first to last which had not a reference to us ? he was born for us , lived for us , died for us , rose again for us , is ascended , sitteth at gods right hand , and shall at last come again for us . who can think on this exceeding love of christ , and not acknowledge himselfe obliged to this duty by way of gratulation , it being most consonant to the law of thankfulness and retaliation , that since to christ to live ; nay to die was man : to man at least to live should be christ . . let the consideration of christs love enflame thee with love to christ , and that love will inable thee to live to him . it is a known saying , the soule is not where it liveth , but where it loveth : and it is no lesse true , whom the soul loveth , to him it will live . it is by faith that christ liveth in us , it is by love that we live to christ : let him be the sole object of thine affections , and then he will be the chief end of thy actions . that expression of the spouse in the canticles , my beloved is mine , and i am his ; is very considerable to this purpose : my beloved is mine , in that she expresseth her sense of christs affection towards her : and , i am his , in that she insinuateth her love towards christ . and ( which was the fruit of it ) the resignation of her self to christ . excellently doth s. bernard illustrate these words , ille mihi , & ego illi . ille mihi , quia ben gnus & misericors . ego illi , quia non sum ingrata . ille mihi , gratiam ex gratiâ . ego illi gratiam , progratiâ . ille meae liberationi , ego illius honori . ille saluti meae , ego illius voluntati . he is mine , and i am his . he mine , because he is mercifull . i his , because i am not unthankfull . he conferreth on me , grace for grace . i return him praise for his grace . he is for my deliverance , i for his honour . he for my salvation , i in subjection to his will . thus it was with the spouse , and thus will it be with every christian , who duly pondreth upon the mercy of christ towards him , and hath his soul affected with love and gratitude to christ . to end this , if there were not in us any spark of love to christ , yet even self-love cannot but strongly oblige us to live to christ , inasmuch as this is the onely honourable , profitable , and pleasurable life . . no life so honourable as this : all actions are dignified , especially by the end to which they tend ; whence , the more noble the intention , the more noble the operation : and what intention can be higher , or end nobler than the glory of christ ? this is that which by a strange activity turneth our earthly into an heavenly , our naturall into a spirituall life , which is the most excellent of all lives . to live to a mans lusts debaseth his life , and maketh it no better than bestiall ; to live to christ exalteth it , and rendreth it no lesse than angelicall . . no life truly profitable but this ; the way to live to our selves , is to live to christ : whilst he hath the glory , we have the benefit : and as his name is advanced , so our good is advantaged . there is a strange riddle , and a seeming contradiction in those words of god by the prophet , ephraim is an empty vine , and bringeth forth fruit : a vine is then said to be empty when it is fruitlesse , and can that which bringeth forth fruit be said to be fruitlesse ? but the next words [ to himself ] unfold the riddle , and reconcile the contradiction , since the fruit which is brought forth to our selves is no fruit . what he said of the day wherein he had done no good , diem perdidi , i have lost a day : that may we say in this case , that day and time of our life is lost wherein we live not to christ . finally , this is the most pleasurable life , free from those cares and feares , distraction and vexation , with which living to the world , and our lusts , is encombred , full of those joyes and sweet pleasures , and delights whereof all others are ignorant . he that can say , to me to live is christ , may say , to me to live is peace of conscience , contentment of minde , and joy in the holy ghost . in one word , this is the onely way to make both our life comfortable , and our death gainfull . and so i am fallen on the other branch of this text , that which is here proposed by our apostle concerning his death , in those words , to me to die is gain . to die , whether violently , or naturally ; by sickness , or a sword ; be the manner , or means of death what it will , it is gain not onely not injurious , but commodious ; no hurt , but profit , no losse , but benefit : to me , and all such as he was , whether faithfull ministers , or good christians . indeed , this is primarily true of that dying to which s. paul ( being now in chains at rome ) might especially referre , ( i mean ) a violent death for the cause of christ , by heathenish persecution : and so this is true of the death it self , and true martyrs may say the very {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to die is gain to thm . indeed , to die for christ is both an honour , and a gain ; an advancement , and an advantage . s. paul in this very chapter tells the philippians , it was given to them to suffer ; as if this were a special choice gift , an extraordinary gratification conferred by god upon a man when he calleth him to suffer , and especially death for his truth ; yea , the death it self gaineth an increase of the reward , and a further accession of glory : in this respect our blessed saviour saith , he that loseth his life for my sake , shall finde it : which is in effect , he that loseth , shall not lose ; yea , the very losing his life in this quarrell shall be an advantage to him , whilest he shall finde that life which infinitely exceedeth this . mors quippe integriorem facit vitam , mors magis deducit ad gloriam , to use s. cyprians expression , such a death shall not onely accelerate , but accumulate the glory of that other life . but besides this speciall , it is ( according to a right construction ) true also in a generall notion , not onely of them that die for , but all that die in the lord : that death is a gain to them , onely with this difference , to martyrs their dying is a gain , and all christians gain by dying . indeed , this gain is not a direct and proper , but onely an accidental effect , or rather a consequent of death not flowing from , but following after it ; that which death in its own nature bringeth forth is evill , it causeth not gain but losse , depriving good as well as bad men of the sweet comforts of this present life ; but in regard of the good , christ hath by obtaining for them a life after death , made death of a curse to become a blessing , of a punishment a benefit , of a departure an entrance , and of a losse a gain : thus , as the waters of marah were sweetned by the tree , so is the bitternesse of death allayed , the sting of it plucked out ; yea , the nature of it changed by the crosse of christ . this being premised , i shall intreat you to walke awhile with me in this pleasant field of deaths gain , which i shall endevour to illustrate both absolutely and comparatively , privatively and positively . . this will appear to be a truth absolutely , death is a gaine to a godly man , if you consider both the evils from which he is freed , and the good things of which he is possessed . . privatively : death is a gain to true christians in respect of those various evils from which it delivereth . the evils of this present life are of two sorts : to wit , temporall and spirituall , from both which death delivereth . many are the miseries under which we groan in this life ; but mors pro remedio , so s. ambrose , death is a cure for them all : in this respect it is that seneca saith aptly , it is nullius mali materia , multorum finis , the cause of none , but the end of many evils : upon this account it was that death hath been , even by the heathens , looked upon as an advantage . when those two famous carpenters , agamedes , and trophonius , had built a temple for apollo at delphos , they begg'd of him a reward : to whom this answer was given by the oracle , that it should be conferred on them within nine daies ; within which time they died . and when cydippe begg'd of juno a boon for her two sons , cleebis and byto , she found them in the morning dead in their beds , as if the gods could not bestow a greater benefit than death , by which men are freed from the calamities of life . in this respect seneca's comparison is very fi● , who resembleth death to an haven , into which when the ship enters , she is past all the danger of rocks , of sands , of waves , or windes , to which she was continually lyable upon the tumultuous seas . indeed , death is that which delivereth our bodies from pains and aches , our eyes from tears , and our hearts from sorrows : and in this respect s. john calls them who die in the lord , blessed , because they rest from their labours , to wit , all labour both of minde and body with which here they are oppressed . the truth is , many are the afflictions , as of all men , so especially of the righteous in this life . they are sure to meet with persecution from wicked men for their righteousness sake ; as the tree is beaten with sticks for its fruits sake ; yea , such is the rage of persecutors , that they care not to what sorrows of hunger , cold , nakednesse , imprisonment , banishment , want , they expose them : besides , almighty god is pleased to chastise them for , whilst he lets others alone in sinne , to exercise their graces by adversity , whilst others enjoy prosperity : but when death comes , it sets them free from all , as being the last chastisement which god doth inflict upon , and the last mischief which wicked men can doe to the godly . but these are the least of those evils from which death delivereth a believer ; there are evils of another , an higher nature : and as the sense of them is a sadder trouble , so the deliverance from them must needs be a greater gain ; such are divine dereliction , satanicall temptation , the wickeds conversation , and sins infection . . in this life the godly are oft-times enforced to goe mourning all the day long , because god hideth his face : many clouds interpose that they cannot behold the sun of righteousness shining on them , but when the winde of death cometh it bloweth all these clouds away , and puts them in such an estate wherein there shall be no interruption of their comfort . . whilst we live on earth we must expect assaults from hell , we walk here amongst snares ; nor are we at any time , or in any place , secure from satans suggestions ; but death puts us out of his reach , whilest our souls soare aloft , and so are like the flying-bird out of the compasse of his snare . . how we are forced to be as lillies among thorns , wheat among chaffe ; and being thus mingled with the wicked , we complain with david , woe are we that we must dwell in mesheck , and in the tents of kedar : but when we die we shall be separated from the ungodly , so that they shall no longer be to us as the canaanites were to the israelies , thorns in our eyes , and pricks in our sides . . finally , so long as we continue in this world , the bur of corruption will cleave to us ; but death rids us of it : according to that of s. paul , he that is dead , is free from sinne . in this respect , death is fitly called by s. ambrose , vitiorum sepultura , the grave of our sins . and by gregory nyssen , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the expurgation of wickednesse : since till the vessell be broken , the muddy water of corruption cannot be wholly poured out . consuit the experiences of the saints , and you shall finde them still complaining of spirituall conflicts with their corruption . we are besieged on every side , ( as s. cyprian observes ) and , oh how often is a breach made upon us ! if covetousnesse be knocked down , lust riseth up ; if lust be quelled , pride starteth forth ; if pride be subdued , anger exasperateth ; thus are we forced to a continuall strugling with our sins : but when we die , the combate ceaseth ; and , as for the present , we are not under sinne ; so then , we shall be without sin , or so much as the motions of sin . indeed , it very observable , that as death came in by sin , so sin goeth out by death : filia devoravit matrem , the daughter destroyeth the mother ; nisi primi parentes peccassent non morerentur , peccarent justi nisi morerentur , had not our first parents sinned they had not died , if we did not die we should not be without sin : sin delivereth to death , and death delivereth from sin ; and , so that which was onely the punishment , becomes the period of sinfull evill . and surely as s. ambrose occasionally speaking of these words , saith , lucrum est evasisse incrementa peccati , lucrum fagisse deteriora & ad meliora transisse , it is no small gain to avoid the increase of sin : nay , our apostle uttereth these words , saith s. cyprian , lucrum maximum computans jam seculi laqueis non teneri , jam nullis peccatis & vitiis carnis obnoxium fieri , accounting it the greatest gain no longer to be subject to the sins of the flesh , and intangled in the fetters of the world : indeed , this is as in it self , so in the estimation of every godly man the chiefest gain ; and , no wonder if accounting sin to be the greatest evil , he esteem this the chiefest priviledge of death , more rejoicing that it putteth an end to his sinnings , though they were never so small , than to his sufferings , were they never so great . in fine , death is both a totall and finall deliverance from all evils , except it self , from which also we shall be delivered by the resurrection : in which respect , an antient saith elegantly , it is unjust to call it a death , rather a recesse from death ; a separation from corruption , a freedome from bondage , rest from trouble , ease of labours ; & ( ut in summa dicam ) omnium consummationem malorum ; yea , the consummation of all evils . and yet , in all that i have said i have told you but one half , and that the lesse half of deaths gain : there is not onely ademptio malorum , but adeptio bonorum , a removall of evil , but the presence of good ; and so positively , to die is gain : for , though the happiness of our persons doe not presently follow upon death , but the resurrection ; yet there is an happiness conferred upon our souls immediately after death : and if you would know wherein this consists , i answer , . when we die our souls goe to paradise : a place of rest , and joy , and comfort . our first parents were cast out of paradise that they might die ▪ and we die that we may goe to paradise . the poet saw this when he said , parte tamen meliore mei — though my body rot in the earth , yet my better part shall be carried above the skies . indeed , the souls of them that depart hence in the lord are immediately received into those celestiall habitations . . when we die our souls go to god and christ , in whose presence is fulness of joy : this is the reason why gregory naz : calls death a benefactour , because it presently sends us to god , our apostle ( in the next verse save one ) tells us , he had a desire to depart and to be with christ : thereby plainly intimating , that when be did depart hence , he should be with christ , to wit , in his soul ; and if you will know where christ is , you shall finde it by other scriptures , to be , farre above all heavens , at the right hand of god . indeed , the contract between christ and the soule is made on earth , but the marriage is consummated in heaven ; here christ is with us by his spirit , there we shall be with him , first in our souls , and at last in our persons . it is much for a prince to visit a poor man in his cottage , but it is farre more for him to take the poor man home with him to his palace . esse christum cum paulo magna securitas . esse paulum cum christo summa foelicitas : it is our great security while we live , that christ is with us , but it shall be our felicity when we die that we shall be with christ . . finally , when we die our souls are endowed with perfect purity and spotlesse holinesse , and grace receiveth its consummation by glory : the apostle maketh mention of the spirits of just men made perfect , that is , perfectly just and holy in their spirits . indeed , the perfection of glory is not till the resurrection when soule and body shall be united ; but in the mean time ▪ the souls of them that die in christ are adorned with a perfection of grace ; and if the beginnings of grace be pretious , what is the completion of it ? if the first fruits be desirable , what is the full crop ? if the soule which hath but one dram of grace be more truly noble than if it had all other naturall or morall endowments , how glorious shall our souls be when they shall be as vessels filled to the brim with fulnesse of grace ! by all this which hath been said , the truth of this apostolical assertion sufficiently appeareth , but that all objestions may be removed be pleased to consider it comparatively , and to weigh a while in the scales of reason both the losse and the gain of death , that we may see how much the gain preponderateth the loss , and so this doctrine will remaine undoubtedly true notwithstanding whatever may be pretended to the contrary . it is true , death bereaveth us of a mortall and transitory , but it is an inlet to an immortall and everlasting life ; it despoileth us of our worldly possessions . i , but it putteth us into possession of our heavenly inheritance , it taketh us from the society of our neighbours , bosome of our friends : i , but it sends us to abrahams bosome , & makes way for our society with christ . finally , it severs the soul from the body ; i , but it unites the soul to god : what is it for the candle to be put out whilst we enjoy the light of the sun ? for the standing-pools to be dry so long as we may drink at the fountain ? for our earthly comforts to be taken from us , when heavenly joyes are conferred on us ? the truth is , death is not a privation , but a permutation : so holy iob calleth it a change , and that a blessed exchange of a cottage for a palace , a wilderness for a paradise , a house of bondage for a place of liberty , of brass for gold , pebles for pearls , earth for heaven . and , now tell me , if upon all these considerations s. paul had not just cause to say , to me to die is gain . the meditation whereof may serve as a check to those passions of grief and fear which are apt in this matter to be exorbitant , the one in respect of our friends , and the other of our own death . it is the use which cyprian teacheth us to make of this very doctrine , ut neque charorum lugeamus excessum , & cum accessionis propriae dies venerit incunctanter & libenter ad deum ipso vocante veniamus , that we should not too much bewail the departure of our dearest relations , and when the day of our dissolution doth approach , that we readily and chearfully obey gods call . . let the gain of death moderate our sorrow for our friends who sleep in iesus : why should we be troubled for them who are at rest ? sit down in sorrow for them who are entred into joy ? why are we clad in black for them who walk in white ? and so many tears flow from our eyes for them who have all tears wiped from theirs ? it is storyed of the thracians , that they mourn at the birth , and rejoice at the death of their friends . nec imprudenter , saith s. ambrose , nor was it without reason that they should account those fit to be bewail'd who are launching forth into the tempestuous sea of this world , and attend them with joy who are got into the harbour of rest . we read concerning lazarus , that christ rejoiced when he was dead , but wept being to raise him to life . and chrysologus his note is very apt to our present purpose , christ us recipiens lazarum flevit , non amittens , christ bewaileth not the losing , but restoring of his life : according to which the greek fathers make the reason of our saviours tears to be , that he should now call him back to a miserable life . indeed , as s. hierome saith concerning nepotian , we may say of every one who departeth in christ , non tam plangendus est qui hac luce caruerit quam gratulandum ei qui de tantis malis evaserit , we are not so much to condole his losse of this life , as to congratulate his deliverance from the miseries of this life . thou wilt say perhaps , it is my friend , my dearly beloved friend who is dead , and can i choose but mourn ? but , is he thy friend , and dost thou envy him his happiness ? dost thou dearly love him , and yet grieve at his welfare ? he is thy friend , and death is his benefit : and shall the benefit of another , especially of thy friend , be thy sorrow ? i , but he is snatched from my arms , i have a great losse in his departure , and that is my trouble : true , this nature promteth to , that we should be sensible of our own losse ; yea , grace requireth that we should be sensible of such a losse as it is a crosse inflicted upon us by divine providence . thus , patient job , when the news came to him of his childrens death , shaved his head , and rent his mantle : signes of that sorrow which naturall affection put him upon ; yea , he fell down upon the ground and worshipped : signes , that in his sorrow he looked higher , at the hand of god which had done it . but , as with one eye we look on our losse , and weep ; so with another eye we must look on their gain , and rejoice ; as it is a chastisement to us , we must be affected with sorrow ; as a mercy to them , with joy : and thus , whilest we mingle these affections together , our sorrow will not be exorbitant . indeed , when any die , to whom we have reason to fear , death is the beginning of sorrrow ; there is sad cause of bitter mourning : but not for them who die in the lord . scribitur david justè flevisse filium parricidam , qui alium parvulum , quia sciebat non peccasse , non flevit , david justly bewailed dead absalom , because he died in his rebellion , and therefore despaired of his blisse ; but when the other childe dieth , he drieth his eyes , as not doubting its happinesse . they indeed cannot sufficiently be lamented at their death , who dying in their sins , drop into hell ; not they who are carried into those heavenly mansions , saith isidore excellently . . let the gain of death mitigate the fear which is apt to arise in us from the apprehension of our own . when abigail told nabal the threatning words of david , the text saith , his heart died within him , and became as a stone . thus is it with the most of us , when any summons of death is given ; nay , not onely with the most , but even sometimes with the best . christ cometh to the disciples on the sea , to preserve them from the storme , and they are troubled , death cometh to deliver us from all evill , and we exceedingly tremble . indeed the reason is , because we consider not that death is a deliverance , and so gaine to us . what chrysologus saith of martyrs , is true of all good men , morte nascuntur , fine inchoant , occisione vivunt , & in coelis lucent , qui in terris putabantur extincti , their death is a birth , and end a beginning , they live by being killed , and whilst they are thought to be extinguished on earth , they shine in heaven ; and surely were this well pondered by them , they would not seek consolation against death , but death it selfe would be their consolation . those words of job , i have said to corruption , thou art my father , to the worme , thou art my mother , are not unfitly allegorized by origen to this purpose ; ut pueri consolatores habent parentes , sic ego mortem & putredinem ; as if he therefore called corruption and wormes his father and mother , because as parents are comforters to the children , so were they to him . it is true , the separation of soule and body is terrible , and a naturall feare of it may be , cannot but be in all . i but it is as true in respect of the godly , that when this separation is made , anima absolvitur , corpus resolvitur , quae absolvitur gaudet , quae resolvitur nihil sentit , as st. ambrose elegantly ; the soule is set at liberty , and rejoyceth , yea , the body is at rest , and knoweth no trouble ; and is such a separation to be feared ? this life , what is it but a going to death ? and death , what is it but a going to life ? little cause then sure , why we should either too much love the one , or feare the other : non est timendum , saith tertullian , quod nos liberat ab omni timendo , shall that be the object of our feare , which freeth us from what ever is to be feared ? by death we gain glory , and shall we not glory over death ? non repuerascam , said a roman , si deus mihi largiretur , i would not be young againe , though god would grant it me , and he giveth this reason , quia ab hospitio ad domum discedam , because when i dye , i shall goe from my inne to my home . did ever childe cry when his fathers man came to fetch him home ? alas beloved ( as st. ambrose rightly ) non mors ipsa terribilis , sed opinio de morte , not death it self , but our misapprehension of death , is terrible to us ; did we look through , beyond death , at the gaine which followeth , it would not be dreadfull , but amiable in our eyes , and with this holy apostle , we would not feare , but desire to depart : that of the wise man , the righteous hath hope in his death , the caldee reads , the righteous hopeth he shall dye ; so farre is a good man ( upon serious meditation of deaths gaine ) from fearing of , that he hopeth for , his dissolution , and though he dare not rashly hasten , yet he willingly entertaineth it , whensoever sent by god to him . to draw to an end : be pleased to put both clauses together , since indeed they cannot be asunder , if to us to live be christ , to dye must needs be gaine , to dye cannot be gaine , but onely to them , to whom to live is christ . if a good life precede an happy death , cannot but follow : nor is it probable , a gainfull death should be the consequent , if a religious life have not been the antecedent . indeed if we observe the temper of many in the world , we shall finde them either inverting or separating these clauses . . some there are who would invert these words , & make gain the predicate of the former , and christ of the latter ; thus doth every covetous man say , to me to live is gain , and to dye is christ ; vaine men who will have gold to be their god , and yet christ to be their redeemer , they will serve mammon whilst they live , and yet be saved by christ when they dye ; but it will be just with christ to say at death to all such mammonists , in these words of god to the israelites , in the day of their distresse , goe to the gods which you have served , the gaine which you have lived to , and let that deliver in this houre of your death . . more there are who would sever these clauses , whilst they would gladly say , to dye is gaine , but not to live is christ : one was asked , whether he had rather be craessus or socrates , his answer was , in vitâ craesus , in morte socrates , he would be rich craesus in his life , and good socrates at his death ; you know whose prayer it was , let me dye the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his , and it is that no doubt , which many wish and desire ; nay hope , who yet regard not to live the life of the righteous , and that their course to that end may be like his . but what a folly , nay madnesse is it , for men to expect to reap what they doe not sow ? to sow to the flesh , and to the world , and yet reap by christ the gaine of everlasting life after death ? as therefore we expect that one , let us endeavour the other ; and if gaine by death be our hope , let living to christ be our practice . so that this scripture thus considered , doth plainly put a difference between the pretious and the vile , the godly and the wicked ; whilest to these who live to themselves , death is a losse ; to those who live to christ , it is a gaine . adrian was wont to say , that death is pavor divitum , & pauperis desiderium ; the rich mans feare , and the poor mans desire . i may well apply it here , death either is or may be the bad mans feare , but the good mans wish , or to use st. ambrose his expression , justis mors quietis est portus ▪ nocentibus naufragium , it is an haven to the just ▪ but a shipwrack to the guilty ; to those a bed of repose , to these a rack of torture : the man who liveth to the world , saith to death , as ahab to eliah , hast thou found me oh mine enemy ! but he who liveth to christ , may say to it as david of ahimaaz , it cometh with good tidings . and now my brethren , would you on the one hand ▪ see the reason why you are so fearfull of death ? it is because your consciences accuse you , that you have not lived to christ ; suae quisque conscientia vulnus accuset , non mortis acerbitatem , we may thank our owne guilty consciences for our feares of death : it was not without reason , that st. paul saith , the sting of death is sin , since death is onely venemous and deadly to them who live in sinne : on the other hand , would you see the way to a joyfull end ? would you have comfort in , and gaine after death ? oh let it be your study to live to christ . it is our saviours counsell to his disciples , take no thought for your life , let me alter it a little , take no thought for your death , but for your life ; let your care be to advance christ in your lives , and it will be his care to confer the gaine of glory and immortality upon you at your death . and thus i have finished the text ▪ time , and your expectation hasten me to the sad occasion of this sorrowfull assembly . the early and unexpected death of this hopefull servant of christ , in the worke of the gospel , master ▪ adam pemberton ; what s. paul said concerning timothy ▪ i need not doubt to say of him , that from a child he hath known the holy scriptures , being the son of such a father , who strove to instill into his tender yeares , both religion and learning . it pleased god to bestow upon him , many choice naturall endowments of an acute wit , a ready expression , and a good memory . he wanted not acquired abilities , in the knowledge of tongues & arts , those handmaids of divinity , which none contemne but the ignorant , who because they cannot be like others , would have others like them , and so whilst darknesse covers the hemisphere , they may be thought to have as good eyes as any . besides these naturall and acquired parts , i trust ( and what ever any proudly undertake , man can goe farther ) he had some measure of supernaturall and infused graces , and experienced those saving operations of the blessed spirit on his owne heart . being thus competently ( nay farre more excellently then many of his yeares ) furnished for the work of the ministry , he entred into holy orders , and that by the right door , preferring the beaten track of venerable antiquity , before the untroden by-path of novelty . and now having undertaken this sacred employment , how studious and sedulous , frequent and diligent he was in performing it , i doubt not but a great part here present can attest . commonly twice , this last halfe yeare thrice , nay , many times oftner within the compass of a week , he dispensed the mysteries of the gospel to the people ; so that i may truly say , he exhausted himselfe , his strength , his health in this worke , as it is reported of archimedes : is quibus obtinuit famam , amisit vitam , he lost his life by those studies , which got him credit . so i may truly affirme of him , by labouring to gaine soules to christ , he impaired the health of his owne body , and in some sence accelerated his end . as thus he did the worke of the lord laboriously , so in some measure sucessefully ; me thinkes i read in the eyes of many here present their deep sorrow for his losse , and that chiefly upon this account , the great good and comfort their souls found in , and by his labours : yea , it pleased god to give him as it were a seale of his ministry at his last sermon ; after which , one that had been seduced by the errors of the times , came to him , humbly acknowledging his own folly , heartily blessing god for his instructions , and earnestly desiring confirmation by private conference with him . and truly i cannot but take notice of gods great mercy to himselfe in this regard , that though he was but a tender plant , and so the more apt to be bended any way ; yea , though in this innovating age , the ready way to preferment ( of which young men are usually ambitious ) he to turn novelist , or in plaine termes schismatick , yet not consulting with flesh and blood , he stood firme in the faith , which was once delivered to the saints , & chose rather to side with suffering truth , then prospering error ; he owned the church of england , and that as before this last deformed reformation , to be his mother , zealously preaching her doctrine , asserting her discipline , and bemoaning her sorrowes , which caused him not many dayes before his death to take up davids language , redeem israel oh god , out of all his troubles . nor did he onely pity her sufferings , and pray for her deliverance , but to the utmost of his power , he was ready to help her children , his fellow ▪ brethren , and labourers in the gospel , who for her sake , are reduced to extream necessity . in this respect what st. hierome said of nepotian , i may of him , caecorum baculus , esurientium cibus , spes miserorum , solamen lugentium fuit , he was a staffe to the blind , food to the hungry , an anchor of the afflicted , and a comfort of the mourners . and now whilst this young tree was thus growing up in grace and knowledge , in favour with god and man , so that they who sate under the shadow of his ministry , promised to themselves much comfort and contentment : alas ( who can mention it without teares ) in the spring of the yeare , i and of his age , the winde of a violent disease blasted him , and death removeth him hence , to be transplanted in the celestiall paradice . having spent his life in the lords worke , he ended it on the last lords day , and on that day of rest , ( yet withall of labour to a minister ) he rested from his labours . so that quem haeredem putavimus funus tenemus , ( to use st. hieromes phrase ) we are forced to bemoane his fall with teares , who ( being elder ) hoped to have left him a remaining pillar in the church of god . some few houres before his dissolution , a reverend doctor of divinity ( his and my very good friend ) coming to visit him , and putting him upon the act of resignation in yeilding up himself to gods dispose , his answer was , that if he might doe god any further service in his church , he was willing to live ; but if not , he was content to submit to gods will , saying in the words of my text , ( which since he made use of , i made choice of ) to me to live is christ , and to dye is gaine : and truly by what you have already heard , there is reason to believe , that he practised the former , and hope , that he now experienceth the latter . indeed his death in respect of us was a losse , a great losse , and that every way ; his father hath lost the staffe of his age , an observant child ; his wife an affectionate husband , and his children ( poor babes whose sorrow is yet to come ) a carefull father . the church hath lost an obedient son , this parish a painefull , profitable preacher , the poor , a zealous charitable advocate and almoner : nor must i leave out my selfe , who have lost an intire cordiall friend . but whilst his father , wife , children , parish , the church , the poor , my selfe , may all truly say , to us his death is a losse , he said , and i hope accordingly findeth it verified ; to me to dye is gaine . i have onely three short words with which i shall close up my discourse . . to the neere relations of this our deceased brother , my word is submit , durum verbum , an hard lesson i acknowledge , but yet such as i trust you will endeavour to take forth : his aged father i cannot better counsell , then in saint hieromes words to heliodorus , concerning nepotian , non doleas quod talem amiseris , sed gaudeas quod talem habueris , you have more reason to rejoyce that once you had , then to mourne that now you have lost , such a sonne . his deare consort i shall bespeak in seneca's words , i dare not forbid you to grieve at all , but i would not have you grieve to excesse . that knot which was tyed between you , it was but till death did part you : and as if divine providence would minde you upon what termes you had him , on that day three yeares he was marryed to , he is taken from you . . to the loving parishioners and auditors of this now silenced preacher , my word is , remember , remember all those wholesome counsells , faithfull rebukes , comfortable doctrines , sound truths , which you heard dropping , nay , flowing from his lips in this place , i doubt not but many of you dearely loved him , show at once your love both to him and your selves , by indeavouring to practice what he taught you , and let your greatest sorrow be not for him , but for your selves , that you have no more profited , under his pious labours . . to all here present , my word is that of our saviour to his disciples , watch : a word which ( i hope ) will take so much the deeper impression upon you that were his auditors , because it was the last counsell himself gave you out of this place , that portion of holy writ [ what i say unto you , i say unto all , watch : ] being then the subject of his discourse , and not onely on you , but us all ; because it is that which his dead corps now preacheth to us . indeed , when we see one falling in his full strength , snatched away in the prime of his dayes , have we not reason to watch ? and watching , to prepare for the hour of our death . let it then be the care of us all whilst we live to live to christ , every one of us in our station consecrating our selves to , employing our talents in his service , for his glory ; so shal it be our comfort in , and blisse after death . and whensoever that time shall approach whether sooner or later to any of us , we shall be able to say , with this our deceased brother , in the words of this holy apostle , [ to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . finis . the works of mr. nathanael hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st. dyonis back-church . — justice triumphing , or the spoiler spoiled . a sermon preached on the of novem. in the cathedral church of s. pauls , in to . — the arraignment of licentious liberty , and oppressing tyranny . in a sermon preached at a fast before the lords in parliament in the abbey-church at westminster , in to . — faiths victory over nature . a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr john rushout junior , in to . — the safest convoy , or the strongest helper . a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sir thomas bendish baronet ▪ his majesties ambassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople , in to . — a divine prospective , representing the just mans peacefull end . a sermon preached at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir john gayre knight , in to . — love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony . a sermon occasioned by the nuptialls between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams , in to . — divinity in mortality : or , the gospels excellency , and the preachers frailty . a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr richard goddard minister of the parish of st gregory's by st pauls , in to . & two mites : or a grateful acknowledgment of gods singular goodness . in two sermons , occasioned by his late unexpected recovery of a desperate sickness , in to . — death's allarum : or , security's warning-piece . a sermon preached in st dionis back-church , at the funerall of mrs mary smith the of novemb in to . — the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of gods : or , the happinesse by death of holinesse in life . a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton ( late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane ) the of april , in to . — the first epistle general of st john unfolded and applied . the first part , in sermons , in to . printed for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at the black bear near the little north-door of s. paul's-church . . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- judg. . . job . , , , . joh. . . tim. . , . notes for div a e- eccles . . mat. . , ● theod. in loc. est . ibid. lap. ibid. calv. i● . psal. . . cor. . , , . zanch. ib. cor. . . isa. . . ephes. . . rom. . . mat. . . isa. . rev. . . gen : d . part. . expos. . gal. . . vide anselm . vide chryso . in loc. orig hom . in iudic. expos. . velasq. in loc. ambros. de bono mortis , cap. . expos. . est . in loc. phil. . . cor. . . mat. . . bern ep. . cant. . . jude v. . tim. . ● . cor. . . rom. . , . psal. . . gal. . . cor. . , . bern. tit. . . cor. . . hos. . . greg nyss. . i● cant. hom . eph. . . oh . . . cor. . . joh. ● . . cant. . . bern. in cant. s●●m . hos. . . part. d . ver. . mat. . . cypr. de laude martyr . ambr. de fi● . resur. sen. de benef. l. . c. . vide plut. de consol ▪ ad apoll sen. consol. ●d polyb. cap. . revel. . . psal. . . quid aliud est haec vita nisi plena laqueis inter laqueos ambulam●… &c. ambr. de bon . mort. cap. . psal. . . josh. . . rom. . . ambr. de bon . mort. cap. . greg nyss ▪ orat . in fun . pulcher . cypr. serm. . de morta● . ambros. de b●n● mort. cap. . cypr. serm. . de mortal . ● . maxim. ovid . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. greg. naz. orat . . verse . colos ▪ . . ephes. . . bern in ps. qui bab . heb. . ▪ job . . cypr. serm. . de mortalit . ambros. de fid. resur. chrysol. ser. . is pael . l. . ep. . cypr. in joh. l. . c. . hieron. ep. . job . . hieron. ep. . illi deplorandi sunt in morte quos miseros infernus ex h●c vitâ recipit , &c. isid. hispal . de sum . bon . l. . c. ult. ● sam. . . mark ▪ . . chrysol. serm. . job . . orig ibid. ambrose de bono mort. c. . t●cert . de anim. ●p . . ambrose de bon. mort. c. . prov. . . judges . . numb. . . ambrose de bono ▪ mort. cap. . king. . . sam. . . ambrose . l. d. cor. . . mat. . . tim. . . psal. . . hierom. ep ▪ the . yeare of his life . palme sunday apr. . a. d. . hier. ib. nedoleas exigere non audeo pl●● aequore dolere volo , sen. ep. mark . .