AN EXPLICATION OF THE HUNDRETH AND TENTH PSALM: WHEREIN The several Heads of CHRISTIAN Religion therein contained; touching the Exaltation of Christ, the Sceptre of his Kingdom, the Character of his Subjects, His Priesthood, Victories, Sufferings, and Resurrection, are largely explained and applied. Being the Substance of several Sermons preached at LINCOLN'S INN; By EDWARD REYNOLDES sometimes Fellow of Merton College in Oxford, late Preacher to the foresaid Honourable Society, and Rector of the Church of Braunston in Northhampton-shire. LONDON, Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Robert Bostocke, and are to be sold at his shop in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the Kings Head. 1632. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS, LORD COVENTRY, Baron of Ailsborough, and Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England, etc. Most Noble Lord, IT was the devout profession which Saint Austin once made of himself, when speaking of the great delight which he took in Cicero's Hortensius (as containing a most liberal exhortation to the love of wisdom, Confess. li. 3. ca 4. without any bias or partiality towards sects) he affirmeth, that the heat of this his delight, was by this only reason abated, because there was not in that book to be found the Name of Christ; without which Name, nothing, though otherwise never so polite and elaborate, could wholly possess those affections, which had been trained to a nobler study. And Gregory Nazianzen, that famous Divine, Orata. setteth no other price upon all his Athenian learning (wherein he greatly excelled) but only this, that he had something of worth, to esteem as nothing in comparison of Christ; herein imitating the example of S. Paul, Gal. 1.14, 16. who though he profited in the jewish Religion above many others, yet when the Son of God was revealed in him, Phil. 3.8. laid it all aside as loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ jesus his Lord. The consideration of which sacred affections in those holy men, together with the many experiences of your Lordship's abundant favour, hath put into me a boldness beyond my natural disposition, to prefix so great a name before these poor pieces of my labours in God's Church. Other argument in this book there is none to procure either your Lordship's view or patronage, than this one, (which that good Father could not find in all the writings of Plato or Cicero) that it hath that High and holy Person for the Subject thereof, the knowledge of whom is not only our greatest learning, but our Eternal Life. In this confidence I have presumed to present unto your Lordship this public Testimony of my most humble duty, and deep obligations for your many thoughts of favour and bounty towards me, not in myself only, but in others, unto whom your Lordship's goodness hath vouchsafed under that respect to overflow. The Lord jesus, our eternal Melchisedek, meet your Lordship in all those honourable affairs which he hath called you unto, with the constant refreshment and benediction of his holy Spirit, and long preserve you a faithful Patron of the Church which he hath purchased with his own blood; and a worthy instrument of the justice, honour and tranquillity of this kingdom. Your Lordship's most humbly devoted, Ed. Reynolds. To the Reader. CHristian Reader, when I was first persuaded to communicate some of my poor labours to the public, my purpose was to have added unto those Treatises which were extant before so much of these which I now present unto thy view, as concerneth the Eulogies of the Gospel of Christ, the instrument of begetting the life of Christ in us: for little reason had I considering mine own weakness, the frequent returns of that service wherein these pieces were delivered, and the groaning of the press of late under writings of this nature, to trouble the world a second time with any more of my slender provisions towards the work of the Sanctuary, in this abundance which is on every side brought in. But finding that work grow up under mine hand into a just volume, and conceiving that it might be both more acceptable and useful to handle a whole Scripture together (especially being both of so noble a nature, and at first view of so difficult a sense, as this Psalm is) than to single out some verse and fragment by itself; I therefore resolved once more to put in my Mite into the Treasury of the Temple, which (though for no other reason) may yet I hope be for this cause accepted, because it beareth the Image and Inscription of Christ upon it. Some passages therein are inserted which were delivered in another order, and on other Scriptures, and some likewise which were delivered in other places, and on other occasions; which yet being pertinent to the series of the discourse, I thought might justly seem as natural parts, and not as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ incoherent and unsuitable pieces. Such errors as have escaped in the press, and the unfitness of some of the Titles of the Pages (which in my far absence from the press, while most of the book was under it, were ordered by others who attended upon it) I shall desire thee courteously to pass by: those greater slips which may haply perturb the sense, I have noted together. So submitting my poor labours to thy favourable Censure, and commending thee to the Blessing of God. I rest. E. R. A Table of the Contents. CHrist jesus the sum of Holy Scriptures. Pag. 1 The Ordination of Christ unto his Kingdom. 6 The Qualifications of Christ for his Kingdom. 7 The Quality of Christ's Kingdom. 9 How the will is drawn unto Christ. 11 Subjection unto the Kingdom of Christ. 12 How Christ is a Lord to his people, and to his forefathers. 17 The right hand of God. 22 Christ's sitting at God's right hand noteth, 1 His glorious Exaltation. 23 All strength from his exciting and assisting grace. 25 2 His accomplishing all his works on earth. 29 3 The actual Administration of his Kingdom. 33 4 The giving of gifts unto men. 34 The Ark how a Type of Christ. 35 How the Spirit was given before Christ, and how after. 37 The difference was in the Manner of his mission. pag. 39 The difference was in the Subjects to whom he was sent. pag. 39 The difference was in the Measure of his grace in regard of knowledge. p. 42 The difference was in the Measure of his grace in regard of strength. p. 42 The Reason of the Spirits Mission. How the Spirit is a comforter to the Church. 43 1 By being our Advocate and how. 44 2 By representing Christ absent to the soul. 47 3 By a sweet and fruitful illumination. 4 By unspeakable and glorious joy. 48 How the Spirit worketh this joy in the heart. 49 By his Acts of Humbling. By his Acts of Healing. By his Acts of Renewing. By his Acts of Preserving. By his Acts of Fructifying. By his Acts of Sealing. Enmity against Christ in all his Offices. 56 Grounds of misperswasion touching our love to Christ: 1 The countenance of Princes and public Laws. 59 2 The Rules of tradition and education. 60 3 Self love, and furtherance of private ends. 61 4 An Historical assurance of his being now in glory. 66 5 A false and erroneous love to his ordinances. 68 True love unto Christ is grounded on the Proportion that is in him to our souls. 69 True love unto Christ is grounded on the Propriety that our souls have unto him. 69 This true love will manifest itself, 1 In an universal extent to any thing of Christ his Spirit. 71 1 In an universal extent to any thing of Christ his Ordinances. 71 1 In an universal extent to any thing of Christ his Members. 71 2 In a right manner it is love Incorrupt. 74 2 In a right manner it is love Superlative. 74 2 In a right manner it is love Uncommunicated. 74 3 In the genuine effects thereof Universal obedience. 75 3 In the genuine effects thereof Cheerful suffering. 75 3 In the genuine effects thereof Zeal of his glory. 76 3 In the genuine effects thereof Longing after his appearance. 77 The continuance and limitation of Christ's Kingdom. 77 The stability of the Church grounded upon An unalterable Decree. 79 The stability of the Church grounded upon A free gift of God to Christ. 80 The stability of the Church grounded upon A growing Nature of its own. 81 Papal Monarchy raised upon inevident presumptuous. 82 The stability of the Church a ground of comfort against the violence of the enemy. 89 The present inconsummatenesse of Christ's victories over his Enemies, with the reasons of it. 91 Gods patience hath fixed bounds. 93 The wicked shall be punished by God's immediate power. 98 The easiness of Christ's victory over his Enemies. 108 The folly of nature to judge of God or ourselves by things in the present. 110 The punishment of the wicked bringeth order and beauty on the face of the World. 113 What it is to be under Christ's feet. 114 Christ suffereth in the sufferings of his Church. 115 Christ's Triumph over his enemies, and the comforts thereof to us. 118 Footstool noteth Shame. 122 Footstool noteth Burden. 123 Footstool noteth Recompense. 124 Footstool noteth usefulness. 126 The Gospel with the Spirit is full of power and strength: 135 1 Towards those that are saved, in their Conversion. 137 1 Towards those that are saved, in their justification. 140 1 Towards those that are saved, in their Sanctification. 141 1 Towards those that are saved, in their Perseverance. 142 1 Towards those that are saved, in their Comforts. 143 1 Towards those that are saved, in their Temporal blessings. 144 2 Towards those that perish in Convincing them. 145 2 Towards those that perish in Affrighting them. 150 2 Towards those that perish in judging them. 151 2 Towards those that perish in Ripening their sins. 153 2 Towards those that perish in Enraging them. 153 2 Towards those that perish in Altering them. 155 The Gospel to be preached with authority. 156 The Gospel to be received in the power thereof. 157 The Gospel only able to hold up in extremities. 158 No acquaintance with God but in the Gospel. 159 The Gospel is not sent in vain. 161 The Gospel with the Spirit is full of glory. 162 1 In regard of Author of it. 165 The Gospel a mystery unsearchable by humane reason. 167 Contempt of the Gospel preached is contempt of Christ in his glory. 171 Expect to hear Christ speaking from heaven in his word. 173 2 In the promulgation thereof. 176 Evangelicall knowledge the measure of grace. 179 3 In the matters therein contained. 180 His Wisdom, Goodness, Power, Grace, Kingdom. 182 Gods glory can no where be looked on with comfort but in Christ. 184 4 In ends and purposes for which it serveth. 186 To illighten the conscience. 187 To be a ministration of righteousness. 189 To be a ministration of life. 190 To be a spiritual judge in the heart. 191 To be an abiding ministration. 192 To ennoble the heart, 195 With Magnanimity. 196 With Fortitude. 198 With Lustre and majesty. 200 With Liberty and joy. 201 The dispensers of the Gospel are therein to use Liberty. 201 The dispensers of the Gospel are therein to use Sincerity. 205 The Gospel to be received with all honour and acceptation. 208 And to be adorned in a suitable conversation. 214 We adorn the Gospel of Christ. 1 When we set it up in our hearts as our only rule. 216 2 When we walk in fitting obedience thereunto. 219 3 When we continue therein. 219 4 When we hold it in the unity of the Spirit. 221 5 When we seriously seek the knowledge of Christ and heaven in it. 222 6 When we make it our only Altar of refuge in trouble. 223 Christ in the ministry of his Gospel is full of care over his Church. 228 This care seen in his Love. 233 Study & inquisitive. 233 Constancy & continuance. 234 Emptying of himself. 235 Laying down his life. Grace and Spirit. 236 Preparations for the future. The effects of his care Food. 237 The effects of his care Guidance. The effects of his care Health. 238 The effects of his care Comfort. 239 The effects of his care Protection. The grounds of this care. He is our Kinsman. 240 He is our Companion. 241 He is our Head. He is our Advocate. 242 He is our Purchaser. 244 A right judgement of God in Christ doth much strengthen faith. 245 The Gospel is Christ's own strength. 249 Christ then is to be preached and not ourselves, 250 With Authority. 254 With Wisdom. 254 With Meekness. 256 With Faithfulness. 256 Christ preached is to be received, 257 With Faith. 257 With Love. 259 With Meekness. 259 Gods ordination gives life and majesty to his ordinances. 260 There is a natural Theology, no natural Christianity. 261 Gods judgement unsearchable in hiding the Gospel from former ages. 262 The Gospel an heavenly invitation unto mercy. 263 The Gospel not to be preached but by those that are sent. 264 Three things requisite to an ordinary mission God's providence casting upon the means. 265 Three things requisite to an ordinary mission Meet qualification of the person sent Fidelity. 265 Three things requisite to an ordinary mission Meet qualification of the person sent Ability. 268 Three things requisite to an ordinary mission Ecclesiastical ordination by imposition of hands. 269 The Church of the jews was the chief Metropolitan Church. 269 The calling of the gentiles to be Daughters of that Mother Church, 271 The Church is the seat of saving Truth. 273 The office of the Church concerning Holy Scriptures. 275 The stability of the Church, with the grounds thereof. 278 Whether the Church may fail. 281 Whether the Church be always visible. 282 Christ's Kingdom is a Hated Kingdom. 284 Christ hath enemies there where his Kingdom is set up 286 Christ's Kingdom stronger than all adverse opposition. 287 Christ's Kingdom quiet in the mids of enemies. 290 The faithful are Christ's own people, By a right of Donation. 296 By a right of Purchase 297 By a right of Conquest. 297 By a right of Covenant. 297 By a right of Communion. 298 We may belong unto Christ by external profession. 299 We may belong unto Christ by Real Implantation. 299 Christ bringeth selfe-evidencing properties into the soul. 300 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his Caring for us. 305 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his Purging of us. 306 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his Sparing of us. 307 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his Praying of us. 307 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his Teaching of us. 308 Christ's propriety to us the ground of his chastising us in mercy 308 Christ's people military men. 308 Satan's ways and Methodes of assaulting the Church. 309 Christ's people are willingly subject unto him. 312 By nature men are utterly unwilling. 312 Apt to charge the ways of God as Grievous. 313 Apt to charge the ways of God as Unprofitable. Apt to charge the ways of God as Unequal. 314 The Spirit of Bondage compelleth many to unwilling services. 314 The power of the word in natural men worketh a velleity or incomplete will. 315 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Evidence and sense of their natural estate. 320 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Spiritual illumination of mind. 321 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Communion and adspiration of the Spirit 324 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Apprehension of God's dear Love. 324 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Beauty and preciousness of heavenly promises. 325 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Experiences of peace, comfort, and security in God's ways. 326 Willingness in Christ's people wrought by the Beauty of holiness. 327 Such as the will is such is the service. Because the will is the first mover. 328 Because God esteemeth himself most honoured thereby. 330 Whether those who are truly Christ's people may not have fears and unwillingness in his service▪ 330 1 They may have a fear of Suffering God's wrath. 331 1 They may have a fear of Of meddling with his service. 331 2 They may have deadness, weariness, and a mixture of unwillingness in his service, 332 From the Strength of corruptions. 333-334 From the Weakness of graces. 333-334 From the Importunity of Temptations. 333-334 From the Weight of some fresh sin. 333-334 From the Spiritual desertions. 333-334 3 Yet still their wills are sincerely carried towards God. 335 Christ's people are made willing to obey him by an act of power. 337 The ground hereof is the universal fleshliness and reluctancy of the will naturally against grace. 344 The more earnest should we be to serve Christ when we are his. 347 Holiness a glorious and beautiful thing. 349 In regard of the Author of it. 351 In regard of the Nature of it. 352 Properties of it, Rectitude. 354 Properties of it, Harmony. 354 Properties of it, Maturity. 356 Properties of it, Indeficiency. 357 In regard of the Operations of it. 357 All Christ's people are Priests unto God. 359 Holiness the character of Christ's subjects. 359 None willing to come to Christ till they see beauty in his service. 363 Multitudes borne unto Christ by the Gospel. 365 Whether universality and visible pomp be a note of the Church. 369 All Christ's subjects are withal his Children. 374 And should express the affections of Children. 376 The Birth of a Christian is a heavenly work. 377 Therefore the seed must be received with heavenly affections. 379 Therefore we must look unto God in his Ordinances. 380 The Birth of a Christian a secret and undiscerned work. 380 The Birth of a Christian is a sudden Birth. 381 How the Lord sweareth. 384 Why the Lord confirmed the priesthood of Christ by an oath. 385 Christ's solemn Ordination unto the office of a Priest. 387 Which is the foundation of all the Church's Comfort, 388 in regard of Christ's Fidelity. 390 in regard of Christ's Mercy. 391 in regard of Christ's Power. ibid. in regard of Christ's Propriety. ibid. in regard of Christ's Sympathy. 393 in regard of Christ's Consanguinity. ibid. How God is said to repent. 393 Whether God hath repent him of the law. 395 Why the Covenant of Grace is immutable 398 What a priest is. 402 Grounds tending to discover the necessity of a priest for man. 403 A discovery of that necessity, 408 With the Application thereof. 411 Qualifications of the person which was to be our Priest. 416 He was to be all in the unity of one Person. 420 a Mediator, 417 a Surety, 418 a Sacrifice, ibid. an Altar. 419 Wherein the Acts of Christ's Priesthood consisted, namely, Oblation. 424 Wherein the Acts of Christ's Priesthood consisted, namely, Intercession. 424 Christ's will made his death a Sacrifice. 425 Christ's Intercession or Appearing in Heaven for us. 428 Christ's death did merit, and his life confer Redemption. 429 Wherein Christ's Intercession consisteth. 431 No Mediators of Intercession. 433 The great benefits which come to us by Christ's Intercession. 434 What is the fruit and virtue of Christ's Priesthood, namely, Satisfaction for our debt, 438 What is the fruit and virtue of Christ's Priesthood, namely, Acquisition of our inheritance. 438 An Explication of the Doctrine of justification by righteousness imputed. 440 How Christ being innocent might justly suffer the punishment of our sins. 444 1. God may cast pains upon an innocent person. 445 2. It is not against general equity for one to suffer another's sin. 446 3. This Equity in the present case is, that all parties are both Willing and 446 3. This Equity in the present case is, that all parties are both Glorified. 446 4. In the innocent person thus suffering as a sacrifice for the nocent is required, 1. An intimate conjunction with him that is nocent. 447 2. A full dominion over that from which in suffering he parteth. 448 3. A strength to break through the sufferings. 449 How sin thus punished may be said to be pardoned. 449 A double use of the doctrine of Righteousness imputed. Selfe-deniall. 450 A double use of the doctrine of Righteousness imputed. Confidence. 452 redundancy of Christ's merit, purchasing for us Immunity from evils. 455 redundancy of Christ's merit, purchasing for us Privilege of Union with him whence our Unction, 456 redundancy of Christ's merit, purchasing for us Privilege of Union with him whence our Adoption, 456 redundancy of Christ's merit, purchasing for us Privilege of Union with him whence our Exaltation. 456 Duties growing out of the consideration of Christ's priesthood. 457 Of Melchisedek his Person, Order, Bread and Wine, Benediction, Tithes, Genealogy. 461 Christ is a King of Righteousness. 465 Christ is a King of Canaanites. 467 Where Christ is a King of Righteousness, he is a King of Peace. 469 Christ's forwardness to meet and to bless his people. 471 Christ a Comforter and Refresher of his people. 472 Christ a Receiver of Homage and Tribute. 473 Liberal maintenance due unto the Ministers of the Gospel. 475 Christ's priesthood is everlasting. 482 Why the Lord is said to be at the Right Hand of his Church. 485 Christ's enemies kings. 487 All praise and honour to be given unto God for the Power and Office of Christ. 489 Christ is present and prepared to defend his people from their enemies. 491 Christ in his appointed time will utterly overthrow his greatest enemies. 493 Satan's enmity is in Tempting. 494 Satan's enmity is in Accusing. 495 How the Spirit of judgement overcommeth corruptions. 495 How Christ overcommeth his potent adversaries in the world. 498 There is a constituted time wherein Christ will be avenged of his enemies. 502 1. When sin is grown to its fullness, 503 which is known by its Universality, 504 which is known by its Impudence, 504 which is known by its Obstinacy. 504 2. When the Church is throughly humbled and purged. 506 3. When all humane hopes and expectations are gone. 506 Christ's victories are by way of pleading and disceptation. 509 A torrent of curses between man and Salvation. 515 The Necessity of Christ's Sufferings. 522 The Greatness and Nature of Christ's Sufferings. 521, 522 The Power, and virtue of Christ's Resurrection. 524 AN EXPOSITION OF THE HUNDRETH AND TENTH PSALM. PSALM 110. vers. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sat thou at my right hand; until I make thine enemies thy footstool. CHRIST JESUS the Lord is the Sum and Centre of all divine revealed truth, neither is any thing to be preached unto men, as an object of their faith, or necessary element of their salvation, which doth not, some way or other, either meet in him, or refer unto him. All Truths, especially divine, are of a noble and precious nature; and therefore whatsoever mysteries of his Counsel God hath been pleased in his Word to reveal, the Church is bound in her ministry to declare unto men. And Saint Paul professeth his faithfulness therein, Act. 20.27. 1 Cor. 2.1, 2. 2 Cor. 4.5. 1 Cor. 4.1, 2. Eph. 4.20. T●tum Christiani nominis poud● & fruitless M●rs Christi. Tertull. 2 Cor. 3.6, 14. Heb. 1.1. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the Counsel of God. But yet all this Counsel (which elsewhere he ca●s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the testimony of God) he gathers together into this one conclusion, I determined not to know any thing amongst you, that is, in my p●eaching unto you to make discovery of any other knowledge, as matter of consequence or faith, but only of jesus Christ, and him crucified. And therefore Preaching of the Word is called preaching of Christ, and Ministers of the Word, Ministers of Christ, and learning of the Word, Learning of Christ, because our Faith, our Works, and our Worship (which are the three essential elements of a Christian, the whole duty of man, and the whole will of God) have all their foundation, growth, end, and virtue only in and from Christ crucified. There is no fruit, weight, nor value in a Christian title, but only in and from the death of Christ. The Word in general is divided into the Old and New Testament, both which are the a Quid est quod di●itur Testamentum vetus, nisi occultatio novi? & quid aliud quod dicitur novum nisi veteris Revelatio. Aug. De Civ. Dei, l. 16· c. 26. hoc occultabatur in veteri Testamento pro temporum dispensatione justissima, quod revelatur in novo. Id. De pec. incrit. & remiss. l. 1. c. 11. Et tom▪ 4. De Catech. rud cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. justin. Martyr. Mat. 5.17. Mat. 7.12. Luk. 16.16, ●1. Luke 9.28. Hilar. ca●. 17. in Math. S. Ambr. li. 7. in Luc. joh. 1.17. same in substance, though different in the manner of their dispensations, as Moses veiled differed from himself unveiled. Now that Christ is the substance of the whole New Testament, containing the History, Doctrine, and Prophecies of him in the administration of the latter ages of the Church, is very manifest to all. The old Scriptures are again divided into the Law and Prophets (for the historical parts of them do contain either typical prefigurations of the Evangelicall Church, or inductions and exemplary demonstrations of the general truth of God's justice and promises, which are set forth by way of Doctrine and Precept in the Law and Prophets.) Now Christ is the sum of both these, they waited upon him in his transfiguration, to note that in him they had their accomplishment. First, for the Law, he is the substance of it, he brought Grace to fulfil the exactions, and Truth to make good the prefigurations of the whole Law. The ceremonial Law he fulfilled and abolished, the moral Law he fulfilled and established; that his obedience thereunto might be the ground of our righteousness, and his Spirit and grace therewith might be the ground of our Obedience. And therefore it is called the Law of Christ. 2 For the Prophets, he is the Sum of them too, Gal. 6.2. Act 10.43. 1 Pet. 1.10.11. joh. 5.39. for to him they give all witness. He is the Author of their Prophecies, they spoke by his Spirit; and he is the object of their Prophecies, they spoke of the grace and salvation which was to come by him. So that the whole Scriptures are nothing else but a Testimony of Christ, and faith in him, of that absolute and universal necessity which is laid upon all the world to believe in his name. It is not only necessitas praecepti, 1 joh 3.23. because we are thereunto commanded, but necessitas medii too, because he is the only Ladder between earth and heaven, the alone mediator between God and man, in him there is a final and unabolishable covenant established, Act. 4.12. and there is no name but his under heaven by which a man can be saved. In consideration of all which, & for that I have formerly discovered the Insufficiency of any either inward, or outward principle of man's happiness, save only the Life of Christ, I have chosen to speak upon this Psalm, and out of it to discover those ways, whereby the Life of Christ is dispensed & administered towards his Church. For this Psalm is one of the clearest and most compendious prophecies of the Person and Offices of Christ in the whole Old Testament, and so full of fundamental truth, that I shall not shun to call it Symbolum Davidicum, the Prophet David's Creed. And indeed there are very few, if any, of the Articles of that Creed, which we all generally profess, which are not either plainly expressed, or by most evident implication couched in this little model. First, the Doctrine of the Trinity is in the first words; The Lord said unto my Lord. There is jehovah the Father, and My Lord, the Son, and the sanctification or consecration of him, which was by the Holy Ghost; by whose fullness he was anointed unto the Offices of King and Priest, for so our Saviour himself expounds this word Said, by the sealing & sanctification of him to his office, joh. 10.34, 35, 36. Then we have the Incarnation of Christ, in the word, My Lord, together with his dignity and honour above David (as our Saviour himself expounds it, Matth. 22.42.45.) Mine, that is, my Son by descent and genealogy after the flesh, and yet my Lord too, in regard of a higher sonship. We have also the Sufferings of Christ, in that he was consecrated a Priest, v. 4. to offer up himself once for all, and so to drink of the brook in the way. We have his Eluctation and conquest over all his enemies, and sufferings, his resurrection, he shall lift up his head, his Ascension and Intercession, sit thou on my right hand. And in that is comprised his Descent into Hell by S. Paul's way of arguing, That he ascended, what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Eph. 4.9. We have a Holy Catholic Church, gathered together by the Sceptre of his Kingdom, and holding in the parts thereof a blessed, and beautiful Communion of Saints, The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength out of Zion; Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. We have the last judgement, for all his enemies must be put under his feet, (which is the Apostles argument to prove the end of all things, 1 Cor. 15.25.) and there is the day of his wrath, wherein he shall accomplish that judgement over the heathen, and that victory over the Kings of the earth, (who take counsel and bandy themselves against him,) which he doth here in his word begin. We have the Remission of sins, comprised in his Priesthood, for he was to offer Sacrifice for the remission of sins, and to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself, Eph. 1.7. Herald 9.26. We have the Resurrection of the Body, because he must subdue all his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be subdued is death, as the Apostle argues out of this Psalm, 1 Cor. 15.25, 26. And lastly, we have life everlasting, in the everlasting merit and virtue of his Priesthood, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek, and in his sitting at the right hand of God, whither he is gone as our forerunner, and to prepare a place for us, Heb. 6.20. joh. 14.2. and therefore the Apostle from his sitting there, and living ever inferreth the perfection and certainty of our salvation, Rom. 6.8.11. Rom. 8.17. Eph. 2.6. Col. 3.1, 2, 3, 4. 1 Cor. 15.49. Phil. 3.20, 21. 1 Thess. 4.14. Heb. 7, 25. 1 joh. 3.2. The Sum then of the whole Psalm, (without any curious or artificial Analysis, wherein every man according to his own conceit and method will vary from other) is this; The Ordination of Christ unto his Kingdom, together with the dignity, and virtue thereof, v. 1. The Sceptre or Instrument of that Kingly power, v. 2. The strength and success of both, in recovering, maugre all the malice of enemies, a Kingdom of willing subjects, and those in multitudes unto himself, v. 2, 3. The Consecration of him unto that everlasting Priesthood, by the virtue & merit whereof he purchased this Kingdom to himself, v. 4. The Conquest over all his strongest, and most numerous adversaries, v. 5, 6. The proof of all, and the way of effecting it, in his sufferings and exaltation. He shall gather a Church, and he shall confound his enemies, because for that end he hath finished, & broken through all the sufferings which he was to drink of, and hath lifted up his head again. Vers. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sat thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Here the Holy Ghost begins with the Kingdom of Christ, which he describeth and magnifieth; ● By his unction and obsignation thereunto, The Word or Decree of his Father. The Lord said. 2 By the Greatness of his person in himself, and yet nearness in blood and nature unto us. My Lord. 3 By the Glory, power, and heavenliness of this his Kingdom, for in the administration thereof he sitteth at the right hand of his Father. Sat thou at my right hand. 4 By the Continuance and Victories thereof. Until I make thy foes thy footstool. The Lord said. Some read it, certainly or assuredly said, by reason of the affinity which the original word hath with Amen (from which it differs only in the transposition of the same radical letters.) Which would afford this observation by the way; That all which Gods says of or to his Son is very faithful & true. For which cause the Gospel is by special Emphasis called, The Word of Truth, Eph. 1.13. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, 1 Tim. 1.15. Or most worthy to be believed, and embraced. (For so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, being applied unto the Gospel, signify, joh. 1.12. joh. 3.33. Act. 17.11. Being opposite unto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Act. 13.46.) But the principal thing here to be noted is, The Decree, appointment, Sanctification, and sealing of Christ unto his Regal Office. For the Word of God in the Scripture signifies his Blessing, Power, P●easure, Ordination. Man liveth not by bread alone but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, Matth. 4.4. That is, by that command which the creatures have received from God to nourish by, that Benediction and Sanctification which maketh every Creature of God good unto us, 1 Tim. 4.5. God's saying is ever doing something, his words are operative, and carry an unction and authority along with them. Whence we may note, That Christ's Kingdom belongs to him not by usurpation; intrusion, or violence, but legally, by order, decree, investiture from his Father. All Kings reign by God's providence, but not always by his approbation. They have set up Kings but not by me; they have made Princes, and I knew it not, Amos 8.4. Tertull. Apolog. Ca●. 30. & ad Sc●pulam, cap. 5. Dan. 7.14. Matth. 11.27. joh. 17.2. But Christ is a King both by the providence, and by the Good will and immediate Consecration of his Father. He loveth him & hath given all things into his hand, joh. 3.35. He judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement to his Son, joh. 5.22. That is, hath entrusted him with the economy and actual administration of that power in the Church, which originally belonged unto himself. He hath made him to be Lord and Christ, Act. 2.36. He hath ordained him to be judge of quick and dead, Act. 10.42. He hath appointed him over his own house, Heb. 3.2.6. He hath crowned him & put all things in subjection under his feet, Heb. 2.7, 8. He hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, Phil. 2.9. Therefore he calleth him My King, set up by him upon his own holy hill, and that in the virtue of a solemn decree, Psal. 2.6, 7. But we must here distinguish between Regnum naturale, Christ's natural Kingdom which belongeth unto him as God coessential, and coeternal with his Father: and Regnum oeconomicum, his Dispensatory Kingdom, as he is Christ the Mediator, which was his, not by Nature, but by Donation and unction from his Father, that he might be the Head of his Church, a Prince of Peace & a King of Righteousness unto his people. In which respect he had conferred upon him all such meet qualifications as might fit him for the dispensation of this Kingdom. 1 God prepared him a Body, or a Humane nature, Heb. 10.5. and by the grace of personal and Hypostatical union caused the Godhead to dwell Bodily in him, Col. 2.9. 2 He anointed him with a fullness of his Spirit; not such a fullness as john Baptist and Stephen had, Luk. 1.15. Act. 7.55. which was still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the fullness of a measure or vessel, a fullness for themselves only, Eph. 4.7. 1 Cor. 12.11. Rom. 1●. 3. But a fullness without measure, like the fullness of light in the Sun, or water in the Sea, which hath an unsearchable sufficiency and redundancy for the whole Church, joh. 3.34. Eph. 3.8. Mal. 4.2. So that as he was furnished with all Spiritual Endowments of Wisdom, judgement, power, love, holiness, for the dispensation of his own Office, isaiah. 11.2.61.1. So from his fullness did there run over a share and portion of all his graces unto his Church, joh. 1.16. Col. 2.19. 3 He did by a solemn and public promulgation proclaim the Kingdom of Christ unto the Church, and declare the decree, in that heavenly voice which came unto him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him, Psal. 2.7. Matth. 3.17.17.5. 2 Pet. 1.17. 4 He hath given him a Sceptre of Righteousness, & hath put a sword in his mouth and a rod of iron in his hand, made him a Preacher and an Apostle, to reveal the secrets of his bosom, and to testify the things which he hath seen and heard, Heb. 1.8. Revel. 1.16.2.16. Psal. 2.9. isaiah. 16.1. Heb. 3.1. joh. 1.18. joh. 3.11, 12.32, 34. 5 He hath honoured him with many Ambassadors, and servants to negotiate the affairs of his Kingdom, some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, and for the Edifying of his Body, 2 Cor. 5.20. Eph. 4.11, 12. 6 He hath given him the souls and consciences of men even to the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, and for the territories of his Kingdom, Psal. 2.8. joh. 17.6. 7 He hath given him a power concerning the Laws of his Church. A power to make Laws, the Law of Faith, (as S. Paul calls it, Rom. 3.27.) Mark. 16.15, 16. A power to expound Laws, as the moral Law, Matt. 5. A power to abrogate Laws, as the Law of Ordinances, Col. 2.14. 8 He hath given him a power of judging and condemning enemies, joh. 5.27. Luk. 19.27. Lastly, he hath given him a power of remitting sins, and sealing pardons, which is a royal prerogative, Matth. 9.6. joh. 20.23. And these things belong unto him as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as well Man as God, joh. 5.27. For the works of Christ's mediation were of two sorts. Opera ministerii, works of service, and ministry, for he took upon himself the form of a servant, and was a Minister of the Circumcision, Phil. 2.8. Rom. 15.8. and Opera Potestatis, works of Authority and government in the Church. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, Matth. 28.18. The Quality of this Kingdom is not Temporal or Secular, over the natural lives or civil negotiations of men; He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, his Kingdom was not of this World, he disclaimed any civil power in the distribution of lands and possessions, he withdrew himself from the people when by force they would have made him a King, and himself, that in this point he might give none offence, paid tribute unto Cesar, Matth. 20.28. joh. 18.36. Luk. 12.13, 14. joh. 6.15. Matth. 17.27. But his Kingdom is Spiritual, and heavenly over the souls of men, to bind and lose the conscience, to remit and retain sins, to awe and overrule the hearts, to captivate the affections, to bring into obedience the thoughts, to subdue and pull down strong holds, to break in pieces his enemies with an iron rod, to hew and slay them with the words of his mouth, to implant fearfulness and astonishment in the hearts of hypocrites, and to give peace, security, protection and assurance to his people. The way whereby he enters upon his Kingdom is ever by way of Conquest. For though the Souls of the Elect are his, yet his enemies have the first possession, as Canaan was Abraham's by Promise, but his seeds by Victory. Not but that Christ proclaims peace first, but because men will not come over nor submit to him without war. The strong man will not yield to be utterly spoiled and crucified upon terms of peace. Hence than we may first learn the great Authority and Power of this King, who holds his Crown by immediate tenure from heaven, and was after a more excellent manner than any other Kings thereunto decreed and anointed by God himself. Much then are they to blame who find out ways to diminish the Kingdom of Christ, and boldly affirm, that though a King he could not but be, yet he might have been a King without a Kingdom, a King in personal right, without subjects or territories to exercise his regal power in; A King only to punish enemies, but not a King to govern or to feed a people. But shall God give his Son the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, and shall men withhold it? shall God give men unto Christ (Thine they were & thou gavest them unto me. joh. 17.6.) and shall they detain themselves from him? what is it that he gives unto his Son but the souls, the hearts, the very thoughts of men to be made obedient unto his Sceptre? 2 Cor. 10.5. and shall it then be within the compass of humane power to effect, as it is in their pride to maintain, fieri posse ut nulla sit Ecclesia? We know one principal part of the Kingdom and power of Christ is to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and that not only unto conviction, but unto obedience, as the Apostle shows: to send such gifts of the Spirit unto men as should benefit the very Rebellious, that God might dwell amongst them, Psal. 68.18. for in as much as Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, that is, sin (as the Apostle shows, 1 joh. 3.8. joh. 8.41.44.) and in their place to bring in the work of God, which is faith in him (for so that grace is frequently styled, joh. 6.29. Phil. 1.29. Col. 2.12.) Therefore it is requisite that none of Satan's instruments, and confederates, such as the hearts of natural men are, should be to strong for the grace of Christ. But what then, Illud n●scio quo mo●o dica●ur fr●st●a Deu 〈…〉 nisi vos 〈◊〉: si ●nim Deus 〈…〉 volu●●us; Ad c●●d●m quippe misericu●diam per●in●: ut 〈◊〉. A●g. Tom. 4. Ad 〈◊〉. Lib 1. qu. 2. Ag 〈◊〉 in cordibus ●word minum e●iam motum 〈…〉 Id. de Grat. & I●b. A●●. c. 21. doth Christ compel men against their wills to become subject unto him? No, in no wise. He hath ordered to bring them in by a way of voluntariness and obedience. And herein is the wisdom of his power seen that his grace shall mightily produce those effects in men, which their hearts shall most obediently and willingly consent unto; that he is able to use the proper and genuine motions of second causes to the producing of his own most holy, wise, and merciful purposes. As we see humane wisdom can so order, moderate, and make use of natural motions, that by them artificial effects shall be produced; as in a clock the natural mo●ion of the weight or plummet causeth the artificial distribution of hours, and minutes; and in a mill the natural motion of the wind or water, causeth an artificial effect in grinding the corn: How much more than shall the wisdom of Almighty God, whose weakness is stronger, and whose foolishness is wiser than men, be able so to use, incline and order the wills of men, without destroying either them or their liberty, as that thereby the Kingdom of his Son shall be set up amongst them? so that though there be still an habitual, radical, fundamental indetermination and indifferency unto several ways (unto none of which there can be a Compulsion) yet by the secret, ineffable, and most sweet operation of the Spirit of grace, opening the eyes, 2 Cor. 4 6. Eph. 1.17, 18. Act. 26.18. 1 joh. 2.77. joh. 16 8. Gen. 9.27 Act. 16 14. jer. 3●. 18.33 Ezek. 36.26, 27. 1 joh. 5.20. Psal. 119. 34.3● convincing the judgement, persuading the affections, inclining the heart, giving an understanding, quickening and knocking the conscience, a man shall be swayed unto the Obedience of Christ, and shall come unto him so certainly as if he were Drawn, and yet so freely as if he were left unto himself. For in the calling of men by the word there is a Trahere, and a Venire. The Father draweth, and the man cometh, joh. 6.44. That notes the efficacy of grace, Nol●●● cogitar● invitum trahi, trahitur animus, & amore. Aug. Tract 26. in johan. and this the sweetness of grace. Grace worketh strongly, and therefore God is said To Draw, and it worketh sweetly too, and therefore man is said to Come. Again, from hence we learn our Duty unto this King, the honour and subjection which is due unto him. The Father committeth all judgement to the Son, that is, hath anointed him with the office, and abilities of a King (for judgement stands for the whole duty of a King. Psal. 72.1. and is therefore frequently attributed unto the Messias, isaiah. 42.1.4. jer. 23.5. jer. 33.15.) And from thence our Saviour infers that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, job. 2.22, 23. with the same worship, reverence & subjection. For God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, That at the name of jesus, that is, unto that holy thing, unto the power and Sceptre of that divine Person, which is unto us so comfortably manifested in a name of salvation, Every knee should bow, etc. Phil. 2.9, 10. This Duty the Psalmist expresseth by kissing the Son. Which denoteth unto us 3 things: ay Love. For a kiss is a symbol and expression of love, and therefore used by the primitive Christians in their Feasts of Love, and after prayer unto God, and oftentimes enjoined by S. Paul as an Expression of Christian Love. Act 3.16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. justin Martyr. Apol. 2. Osculum pacis orationis signaculum, quae oratio cum di●ortio Sancti ●sculi integra, etc. Tertull. de Orat. Insomuch that it was a proverbial speech amongst the Heathen, see how these Christians do love one another. And this is a Duty which the Apostle requires, under pain of the extremest curse that can light upon a man, to Love the Lord jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 16.22. Eph. 6.24. And if any man, saith our Saviour, Loveth Father or mother more than me, he is not worthy of me, or Son or Daughter more than me, he is not worthy of me, Matth. 10.37. That is, he is utterly unqualified for the benefit of my mediation. For he that hath good by me cannot choose but love me, Luk. 7.47. 2 To kiss in the Scripture phrase noteth * 〈…〉, ut vulgus super fli●●osus ●olet, m●num ori adm●v●ns, osculum labiis pre●●it. M●nut. Felix, in Octavio. In adorando d●xtram ad osculum res●imus. ●li●. lib. 28. cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Lucian. de Saltatio●e. Worship and Service. Let the men that Sacrifice kiss the Calves, Host 13.2. job 31.26, 27. And thus we find the four beasts, and the four and twenty Elders, and every Creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, worshipping the Lamb, and ascribing blessing, honour, glory, and power unto him, Revel. 5.8.14. 3 To kiss is an expression of Loyalty and Obedience, thus Samuel kissed Saul when he had anointed him King over Israel, 1 Sam. 10.1. And therefore the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. A● tutoris imp ium cunctus populus obediet. Hieron. Septuagint, and Hierom, and from them our Translators, render the word which signifieth to kiss, by being obedient or ruled by the words of joseph, Gen. 41.40. And this likewise is a duty which we owe unto Christ to be obedient to him, to be ruled by his mouth, and by the Sceptre of his mouth, that is, by his word, which is therefore called the Law of Christ, because it hath a binding power in it. We are commanded from heaven to hear him, Matt. 17.5. And that too under pain of a curse, every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people, Act. 3.23. We should learn therefore to take his Commands as from God, for he speaketh his Father's words, and in his name, Deut. 18.19. joh. 3.34. When Ahasuerus Commanded Haman to put on the Crown upon Mordecai, he presently executed the King's pleasure, and honoured his greatest enemy, because the King required it: Now God hath made Christ our King, and hath crowned him with honour and Majesty (as the Apostle speaks) and requires of us to kiss this his Son, and to bow unto his name; and therefore be we what we will, Princes, or Judges, or great men of the world, (who rejoice in nothing more than in the name of wisdom) this is our Wisdom, and duty, Psal. 2.10, 12. It is too ordinary with great men to be regardless of God and of his ways. Yet we see the wrath of God in his creatures, fire, tempest, pestilence, sword, sickness, makes no distinction between them and others, how much less will God himself make, when all crowns, and sceptres, and dignities shall be resigned to him, and all men shall stand in an equal distance and condition before the tribunal of Christ, when no titles of honour, no eminency of station, no treasures of wealth, no strength of dependencies, no retinue & train of servants will accompany a man into the presence of the Lamb, or stand between him and the judgement of that great day. We know he was a King that feared the presence of a persecuted Prophet, and he was a Prince that trembled at the preaching of an Apostle in chains. The word of God cannot be bound, nor limited, it is the Sceptre which his Father hath given him, and we cannot without open contestation against God resist his government therein over us. He that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me, saith our Saviour. It is Christ himself whose Ambassadors we are, and with whom men have to do in our ministry. And he will have it so: First, For our Peace: If God should speak again by the Ministry of Angels, in thunder, and fire (as he did on mount Sina) we would quickly call for Moses & Ministers again, Exod. 20.19. Secondly, For his own glory, that the Excellency may be of God and not of men, 2 Cor. 4.7. That it may not be in him that planteth, nor in him that watereth, but in God which giveth the blessing, and increase, 1 Cor. 3.7. That it may not be in him which willeth, nor in him which runneth, but in God which showeth mercy, Rom. 9.16. That the service, cooperation, and help of the Church's joy might be ours, but the Dominion over men's faith, and the teaching of their inner man might be Christ's, 2 Cor. 1.24. Eph. 4.20, 21. Very bold therefore and desperate is the contumacy of those men who stand at defiance with the power of Christ speaking in his servants. The Apostle saith, there is no escape left for those who neglect so great salvation, Heb. 2.3. And yet this is the constant folly and cry of natural men, We will not have this man to reign over us. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. But First, Every man must be subject to some King, either Christ or sin (for they two divide the world, and their Kingdoms will not consist.) And the subjects of sin are all slaves and servants, no liberty amongst them, joh. 8.34. Whereas Christ makes all his subjects Kings, like himself, Revel. 1.6. and his is a Kingdom of Righteousness, peace, and joy, Rom. 14.17. Secondly, If men by being the subjects of sin could keep quite out from the judgement and Sceptre of Christ, it were something: Eris sub pedibus aut adoptatus aut victus; locum habebis vel gratiae vel poenae A●g. but all men must one way or other be subdued unto him, either as sons or as captives, either under his grace, or under his wrath. As I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me, Rom. 14.10, 11. He must be either a savour of life or of death, either for the rising or the fall of many in Israel, either for a sanctuary or for a stumbling block; All must either be saved by him, or judged by him. There is no refuge, nor shelter of escape in any Angle of the World, for his Kingdom reacheth to the uttermost corners of the earth, and will find out, and fetch in all his enemies. Thirdly, the matter were not great, if a man could hold out in the opposition. But can thine heart endure, or thine hands be strong, saith the Lord, in the day that I shall deal with thee? Ezek. 22.14. isaiah. 10 3. jere. 4.30. What will ye do in the desolation which shall come from far? when you are spoiled what will ye do? where will you leave your glory? what will become of the King whom you served before? It may be thy money is thine idol, and thou art held in thraldom under thine own possessions. But what will remain of a man's silver and gold to carry him through the wrath to come, but only the rust thereof to join in judgement against him? It may be thou servest the times, and fashions of the world, rejoiceth in thy youth, in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: But thou must not rise out of thy grave in thy best clothes, nor appear before Christ like Agag gorgeously apparelled. Thou must not rise to play, but to be judged. It may be thou servest thine own lust, and another's beauty; but what pleasure wilt there be in the fire of lust when it shall be turned into the fire of Hell? or what beauty wilt thou find on the left hand of Christ, where the characters of every man's hellish conscience shall be written in his face? Thou servest thine own vainglory and affectations; but what good will it be to be admired by thy fellow prisoners, and condemned by thy Judge? In one word, thou servest any of thine own evil desires; foolish man, here they command thee, and there they will condemn thee, they are here thy Gods, and they will be there thy devils. The Second particular in the description of Christ's Kingdom is the greatness, and nearness of his person unto David. My Lord. David calleth him my Lord upon a double reason, by a Spirit of Prophecy, as foreseeing his incarnation and nativity out of the tribe of juda, and stock of jesse; and so he was David's Son: and by a Spirit of Faith as believing him to be his redeemer, and salvation: and so he was David's Lord. A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, there we see his incarnation and descent from David; and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us, there we see his Dominion over David. As man so he was his Son, and as Mediator so he was his Lord. As Man so he was subject unto Mary his Mother; and as Mediator so he was the Lord and Saviour of his Mother, Luk. 2.51. Luk. 1.46, 47. As Man he was made for a little while lower than the Angels, that he might suffer death, but as Mediator, God and Man in one person, so he was made much better than the Angels, all the Angels of God were his subjects to worship him, and his Ministers to wait upon him, Heb. 2.7.9. Heb. 1.4.6.7. So then the pronoun Mine, leads us to the Consideration of Christ's Consanguinity with David, as he was his Son: and of his Dignity above David, as he was his Lord. From hence we learn, That though Christ was Man, yet he was more than a bare man. For jure naturae no Son is Lord to his Father; Domination doth never ascend. There must be something above nature in him to make him his Father's Sovereign, as our Saviour himself argueth from these words, Matth. 22.42, 45. Christ then is a Lord to his people; he had Dominion, and was the salvation of his own forefathers. A Lord.] First, By right of the Creation. For he is before all things, and by him all things consist, Col. 1.17. which the Apostle makes the argument of his sovereignty. To us there is but one Lord jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him, 1 Cor. 8.6. Secondly, By a right of Sonship and Primogeniture, as the chief, the first borne, the Heir of all things. He is not in the House as Moses was, a Servant, but a Son over his own House, Heb. 3.5, 6. That is, he was not a Servant but Lord in the Church, as the Apostle else where gives us the same distinction. We preach Christ jesus the Lord, and ourselves Servants, 2 Cor. 4.5. For in the Scripture phrase the first borne notes Principality, Excellency, and Dominion. I will make him, saith God, my first borne, higher than the Kings of the earth, Psal. 89.27. So in job, The first borne of death is the same with the King of terrors, job 18.13, 14. and so the Apostle saith, That the Heir is the Lord of all, Gal. 4.1. and therefore from his a Christus vocatur Primageni tus omni● c●eaturae, hoc est, Dominus. Schindler in unce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. So●e in scriptures primogenitum votari quodcunque in suo genere excellens atque summun est— Ego P●imogenitum consti●uam ●um, hoc est, mirum in modum exaltabo & glorificabo cum. Gloss. in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Messiae, Clas. 8. Appel. 7. pag. 308. primogeniture, and designation to the inheritance of all things, he inferreth his preeminence, and honour even above the Angels, Col. 1.18. Heb. 1.2.4. Thirdly, By the right of his Unction, Office, and mediatorship, unto which he was designed by his Father. He was to have in all things the preeminence, For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, Col. 1. 18, 19 Where by fullness either we must understand fullness of the God head bodily, as the Apostle speaks, Col. 2.9. Or fullness of the Spirit of Grace, which S. john speaks of job. 1.16. joh. 3.34. And in both respects he is a Lord over all: in one, by the Dignity of his Hypostatical union; in the other, by the grace of his heavenly unction; and in both as Mediator, and head in the Church. Therefore the Apostle saith, That God hath made him Lord and Christ, Act. 2.36. and by the accomplishment of his office, in dying, rising▪ and reviving he became Lord both of the dead and living, Rom. 14.9. Revel. 5.12. And thus he is Lord in two respects: First, A Lord in Power and strength. Matth. 9.6. john 5.25, 26. 1 Cor. 6.11. john 6.40. Heb. 2.18. Heb. 7.25. john 6.39. & 10.28. Revel. 12.10. Phil. 3.21. Power to forgive sins; Power to quicken whom he will; Power to cleanse, justify, and sanctify; Power to succour in temptations; Power to raise from the dead; Power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; Power to hold fast his sheep; Power to cast out the accuser of the brethren; Power to put down all his enemies, and to subdue all things unto himself. Secondly, A Lord in Authority; To judge, to anoint, to employ, to command whom and what he will. He only is Lord over our persons, over our faith, over our consciences: To him only we must say, Lord, save us lest we perish; to him only we must say, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And such a Lord Christ was to his own forefathers. They all did eat of the same Spiritual meat, and all drank of the same Spiritual drink, even of that rock which was Christ, 1 Cor. 10.3, 4. He was the substance of the Ceremonies, the Doctrine of the Prophets, the accomplishment of the Promises, the joy and salvation of Patriarches and Princes, the desire and expectation of all flesh. The Gospel to us a History, and narration, Colos. 2.17. Luke. 1.69, 70. Act. 3.18. & 20.24. and therefore delivered by the hand of witnesses; to them a promise and prediction, and therefore delivered by the hand of Prophets. 2 Cor. 1.20. john 8.56 Gen. 49.18. 2 Sem. 23.5. Hag. 2.7. Act. 26.16. 1 john 1.2, 3. 1 Pet. 1.10, 11, 12. The Apostles entered into the Prophet's Labours, and were servants in the same common salvation, these as sowers, and they as reapers, these as preachers of the seed hoped, and they as preachers of the same seed exhibited. The ancient jews than were not saved by bare temporal promises, neither was their faith ultimately fixed upon Ceremonies or earthly things; but as their preachers had the same Spirit of Christ with ours, so the Doctrine which they preached, john 4.38. Aug. de civ. Dei, lib. 10. cap. 25. & epist. 157. ad Optat. Et epist. 49. ad●De great. de Catech. Rud. cap. 3. etc. 19 de peccat merit. & remiss. lib. 2. c. 29. de peccat. Orig. c. 24 et 25. the nupt. & concupis. l. 2, c. 1●. the faith and obedience which they required, the salvation which they foretold, was the same with ours. As the same Sun illightens the stars above, and the earth beneath, so the same Christ was the Righteousness and salvation both of his forefathers, and of his seed. They without us could not be made perfect, that is, (as I conceive) their faith had nothing actually extant amongst themselves to perfect it, but received all its form and accomplishment from that better thing which was provided for, and exhibited unto us. For the Law, that is, the carnal Commandment, and outward Ceremonies therein prescribed, made nothing, no grace, no person perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope, that is, of Christ, (who as he is unto us the hope of glory, so he was unto them the hope of deliverance, for he alone it is by whom we draw nigh unto God,) doth perfect for ever those that are sanctified, Heb. 7.19. Heb. 10.14. If Christ then be our Lord we must trust in him, and depend upon him for all our present subsistence, and our future expectations. For he never faileth those that wait upon him. He that believeth in him shall not be ashamed. And indeed faith is necessary to call Christ Lord. No man can call jesus Lord but by the Spirit. Because other Lords are present with us, they do with their own eye oversee, and by their own visible power order and direct us in their service. But Christ is absent from our senses; Though I have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth (saith the Apostle) know I him no more. Therefore to fear, and honour, and serve him with all fidelity, to yield more absolute and universal obedience to his commands, though absent, though tendered unto us by the Ministry of mean and despicable persons, than to the threats, and Sceptres of the greatest Princes, to labour that not only present, but absent we may be accepted of him, to do his hardest works of selfe-deniall, of overcoming, and rejecting the assaults of the World, of standing out against principalities, & powers, and spiritual wickedness, of suffering and dying in his service, needs must there be faith in the hart to see him present by his Spirit, to set to our seal to the truth, authority, and Majesty of all his commands, to hear the Lord speaking from heaven, and to find by the secret and powerful revelations of his Spirit out of the word to the soul, evident and invincible proofs of his living by the power of God, and speaking mightily in the Ministry of his Word to our consciences. Therefore when the Apostle had said, We are absent from the Lord, he presently adds, We walk by faith, That is, we labour to yield all service and obedience to this our Lord, though absent, because by faith (which giveth presence to things unseen, and subsistence to things that are yet but hoped) we know that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. And indeed though every man call him Lord, yet no man doth in truth and sincerity of heart so esteem him, but those who do in this manner serve him, and by faith walk after him. If I be a Master, saith the Lord, where is my fear? Malach. 1.6. It is not every one that saith Lord, Lord, but he that doth my will, that trembleth at my word, that laboureth in my service, who declares himself to be mine indeed. For the heart of man cannot have two Masters, because which way ever it goes, it goes whole and undivided. We cannot serve Christ and any thing else which stands in Competition with him: First, because they are Contrary Masters, one cannot be pleased, or served, without the disallowance of the other. The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, that is, grudgeth, and cannot endure that any service should be done to the Lord. For the Friendship of the World is enmity against God, jam. 4.4, 5. And therefore saith the Apostle, If any man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him; and the reason is, 1 john 2.15. because they are contrary principles, and have contrary Spirits, and lusts, and therefore must needs overrule unto contrary services. Secondly, because both Masters have employments enough to take up a whole man. Satan and the World have lusts to fill the whole head and heart of their most active and industrious servants; for the Apostle saith, that all which is in the World is lusts. And the heart of man is wholly, or most greedily set in him to do that evil which it is tasked withal, Eccle. 8.11. The (all) that is in man, all his faculties, all his affections, the whole Compass of his created abilities, are all gone aside, or turned backward, there is no man, no part in man, that doth any good, no not one, Psal. 14.3.53.3. Christ likewise is a great Lord, hath much more business than all the time, or strength of his Servants can bring about. He requireth the obedience of every thought of the heart, 2 Cor. 10.5. Grace and edification and profit in all the words that proceed out of our mouth, Eph. 4.29. a respect unto the glory of God in whatsoever works we go about, 1 Cor. 10.31. The whole soul, body and Spirit should be Sanctified throughout, and that even till the coming of our Lord jesus Christ, 1 Thess. 5.23. Christ hath service much more than enough to take up all the might, strength, studies, abilities, times, callings of all his servants. Businesses towards God and himself, worship, fear, Communion, love, prayer, obedience, service, subjection: businesses towards and for ourselves, watchfulness, repentance, faith, sincerity, sobriety, growth in grace: business towards other men as instruments and fellow members, exhortation, reproof, direction, instruction, mourning, rejoicing, restoring, relieving, helping, Praying, Serving in all ways of love. So much evil to be avoided, so many slips and errors to be lamented, so many earthly members to be crucified, so much knowledge and Mysteries to be learned, so many vain Principles to be unlearned, so much good to be done to myself, so much service to be done to my brother, so much glory to be brought to my Master; every Christian hath his hands full of work. And therefore Christ expostulateth it as an absurd thing, to call him Lord, Lord, to profess and ingeminate a verbal subjection, and yet not to do the things which he requires, Luk. 6.46. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Dam●s● lib. 4 the Orthodox: fid. cap. 2. The third thing observed touching the Kingdom of Christ is the Glory and Power thereof, intimated by his sitting at the Lords right hand. God's right hand in the Scripture is a metonymical expression of the strength, power, majesty and glory that belongs unto him. This is mine infirmity, saith the Psalmist, but l will remember the years of the right hand of the most high, Psal. 77.10. Where we find God's power under the metonymy of a right hand, opposed to the infirmity of his servant. My infirmity, and weak faith made me apt to sink under the sense of God's displeasure, but when I called to mind the experiences of Gods former power in alike distresses, I recollected my Spirits, and was refreshed again. So the right hand of the Lord is said to span, or extend the heavens, isaiah. 48.13. And the Psalmist expresseth the strength and salvation of the Lord by his right hand, Psal. 118.14, 15, 16. and his fury is the Cup of his right hand, Hab. 2.16. And he strengtheneth, and helpeth, and upholdeth his people by the right hand of his Righteousness, that is, by his Power, and faithful promises, which in their weakness strengthens them, in their fear and flagging, helps them, in their sinking and falling upholds them, isaiah. 41.10. So the Psalmist saith of wicked men that their right hand is a right hand of falsehood, Psa. 144.11. that is, either confidence in their own power will deceive themselves, or they will deceive others to whom they promise succour and assistance. Therefore Gods right hand is called the right hand of Majesty, Heb. 1.3. and the right hand of power, Luk. 22.69. To sit then at God's right hand noteth that great Honour, and judiciary Office, and plenitude of power, which God the Father hath given to his Son; after his manifestation in the flesh, in his nativity; and justification by the Spirit, in his resurrection; he was then, amongst other dignities, received up into glory, 1 Tim. 3.16. Verb●m sedere Regni significat potestatem. Hieron, in Eph. cap. 1. Sedere quod dicitur Deus non membrorum positionem sed judiciariam significat potestatem Aug. de Fide & symbol. cap. 7. jer. 52.12. Luk. 1.19. 2 Chron. 18.18▪ 1 King. 17.1. This we find amongst those expressions of honour which Solomon showed unto his Mother that she sat at his right hand, 1 King. 2.19. And herein the Apostle puts a great difference between Christ and the levitical Priests, that they stood daily Ministering, but Christ after his Offering, Sat down on the right hand of God, Heb. 10.11, 12. noting two things: First, That Christ was the Lord, and they but Servants, for standing is the posture of a Servant or Minister, Deut. 10.8.17.12. Ezek. 44.24. and not sitting, Luk. 17.7. Secondly, that their work was daily to be repeated, whereas Christ's was consummate in one offering once for all, after which he rested or sat down again. This fitting then of Christ at the right hand of Majesty and glory notes unto us first, The great Exaltation of the Lord Christ, whom God hath highly honoured and advanced and given a name above every name. First, his Divine nature, though it cannot possibly receive any intrinsical improvement or glory (all fullness of glory essentially belonging thereunto) yet so far forth as it was humbled, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. Mag. Homil. de Fide. Vt sol cum in nube tegitur claritas ejus comprimitur, non caecatur— sic Homo ille, quem Dominus salvaterq●● roster, is est, Deus, Dei Filius induit, Deitatem in illo non intercepit, sed abscondit. Greg. Nazim. Orat. 49. de fide. for the economy and administration of his office, so far it was readvanced again; Now he emptied and humbled himself, not by putting off any of his divine glory, but by suffering it to be overshaddowed with the similitude of sinful flesh and to be humbled under the form of a Servant, as the light of a candle is hidden in a dark and close Lantern. So that Declaratorily, or by way of Manifestation, he is in that respect magnified at God's right hand, or as the Apostle speaks, declared to be that Son of God by Power in rising from the dead, and returning to his glory again, Rom. 1.4. Again, how ever in Abstracto we cannot say that the Deity or Divine nature was exalted in any other sense than by evident manifestation of itself in that man who was before despised, and accused as a blasphemer, for that he made himself equal with God: yet in Concreto, and by reason of the Communication of properties from one nature to another in the unity of one person, it is true that as God saved the World by his blood, and as it was the Prince of life that was crucified, and the Lord that lay in the grave; so God likewise was in the form of a servant humbled, and at the right hand of Majesty exalted again. Secondly, the humane nature of Christ is most highly exalted by sitting at God's right hand; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Th●ophilact. in joh. 17. Accepit ut 〈◊〉 quae habebat ut Deus. Theodoret. in Phil. 2. for in the right of his Hypostatical union he hath an ample and immediate claim to all that glory which might in the humane nature be conferred upon him. So that though during the time of his conversation amongst men, the exigence and economy of the Office which he had for us undertaken made him a man of sorrows, and intercepted the beams of the Godhead and Divine glory from the other nature; yet having finished that dispensation, there was in the virtue of that most intimate association of the natures in one person, a communicating of all glory from the deity which the other nature was capable of. For as by the Spirit of Holiness he was filled with treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and grace, and thereby fitted for the Office of a Mediator, and made the first fruits, the first borne, the heir of all things, the head, and Captain of the Church; furnished with a residue and redundancy of the Spirit to sanctify his brethren, and to make them joint heirs, and first borne with himself; so by the Spirit of glory is he filled with unmatchable perfections, beyond the capacity or comprehension of all the Angels of Heaven; being not only full of glory, but having in him all the fullness of glory, which a created nature joined to an infinity and bottomless fountain could receive. From hence therefore we should learn to let the same mind be in us which was in Christ, to humble ourselves first that we may be exalted in due time, to finish our works of selfe-deniall, and service which we owe to God, that so we may enter into our Master's glory. For he himself entered not but by a way of blood. We learn likewise to have recourse and dependence on him for all supplies of the Spirit, Phil. 1.19. Phil. 4.13. Eph 4.16. for all strength of grace, for all influences of life, for the measure of every joint and member, He is our treasure, our fountain, our head; it is his free grace, his voluntary influence which habituateth and fitteth all our faculties, which animateth us unto a heavenly being, which giveth us both the strength and first act, whereby we are qualified to work, and which concurreth with us in actu secund● to all those works which we set ourselves about. As an instrument, even when it hath an edge, cutteth nothing, till it be assisted and moved by the hand of the artificer; so a Christian when he hath a will, and an habitual fitness to work, yet is able to do nothing without the constant supply, assistance, and concomitancy of the grace of Christ, exciting, moving, and applying that habitual power unto particular actions. He it is that giveth us not only to will but to do, that goeth through with us, and worketh all our works for us by his grace. Without him we can do nothing, all our sufficiency is from him. But it may be objected, if we can do nothing without a second grace, to what end is a former grace given? or what use is there of our exciting that grace and gift of God in us which can do nothing without a further concourse of Christ's Spirit? To this I answer, first, that as light is necessary and requisite unto seeing, and yet there is no seeing without an eye: so without the assisting grace of Christ's Spirit concurring with us unto every holy Duty, we can do nothing, and yet that grace doth ever presuppose an implanted, seminal and habitual grace, fore-disposing the soul unto the said Duties. Secondly, as in the Course of natural Effects, though God be a most voluntary Agent, yet in the ordinary Concurrence of a first Cause he worketh ad modum naturae, measuring forth his assistance proportionably to the Condition and Preparation of the second Causes: so in supernatural and holy operations (albeit not with a like certain and unaltered constancy) though Christ be a most voluntary head of his Church, yet usually he proportioneth his assisting and second grace, unto the growth, progress and radication of those Spiritual habits which are in the soul before. From whence cometh the difference of holiness, and profitableness amongst the Saints, that some are more active, and unwearied in all holy conversation than others, as in the natural body some members are larger, and more full of life and motion than others, according to the different distribution of Spirits from the heart, and influences from the head. This then affords matter enough both to humble us, and to comfort us. To humble us that we can do nothing of ourselves, that we have nothing in ourselves, but sin. All the fullness of grace is in him, and therefore whosoever hath any must have it from him; as in the Egyptian famine whosoever had any corn had it from joseph, to whom the granaries and treasures of Egypt were for that purpose committed. And this Lowliness of heart, and sense of our own Emptiness is that which makes us always have recourse to our fountain, and keep in favour with our head, from whom we must receive fresh supply of strength for doing any good, for bearing any evil, for resisting any temptation, for overcoming any enemy. For beginning, for continuing, and for perfecting any Duty. For though it be man's heart that doth these things, yet it is by a foreign and impressed strength; as it is iron that burns, but not by its own nature (which is cold) but by the heat which it hath received from the fire. It was not I, saith the Apostle, but that grace of God which was with me. To comfort us likewise when we consider that all fullness and strength is in him as in an Officer, a Adam, a treasurer and dispenser of all needful supplies to his people, according to the place they bear in his body, and to the exigence and measure of their condition, in themselves, or service in his Church. Sure we are that what measure soever he gives unto any, he hath still a residue of Spirit, nay he still retaineth his own fullness, hath still enough to carry us through any condition, and according to the difficulties of the service he puts us upon, hath still wisdom to understand, compassion to pity, strength to supply all our needs. And that all this he hath as a merciful and faithful depositary, as a Guardian, and husband, and elder brother, to employ for the good of his Church; that he is unto this office appointed by the will of him that sent him, to lose nothing of all that which is given him, but to keep, and perfect it unto the resurrection at the last day. That God hath planted in him a Spirit of faithfulness, and pity for the cheerful discharge of this great Office, given him a propriety unto us, made us as near and dear unto him as the members of his sacred body are to one another; and therefore whosoever cometh to him, with emptiness, and hunger, and faith, he will in no wise cast them out▪ it is as possible for him to hew off, and to throw away the members of his natural body, to have any of his bones broken, as to reject the humble and faithful desires of those that duly wait upon him. Again, from this Exaltation of Christ in his humane nature we should learn to keep our vessels in holiness and in honour, as those who expect to be fashioned at the last like unto him. For how can that man truly hope to be like Christ hereafter, that labours to be as unlike him here as he can? Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? saith the Apostle. So may I say, shall I take the nature of Christ, that nature which he in his person hath so highly glorified, and make it in my person the nature of a devil? If a Prince should marry a mean woman, would he endure to see those of her nearest kindred, her brethren and sisters live like scullions or strumpets under his own eye? Now Christ hath taken our nature into a nearer union with himself than marriage; for man and wife are still two persons, but God and man is but one Christ. Death itself was not able to dissolve this union; for when the soul was separated from the body, yet the Deity was separated from neither: it was the Lord that lay in the grave, and he that ascended, was the same that descended into the lower part of the earth, Matt. 28.6. Eph. 4.10. and shall we then defile this nature by wantonness, intemperance, and vile affections, which is taken into so indissoluble an unity with the Son of God? Christ took it to advance it, and it is still by his Spirit in us so much the more advanced, by how much the nearer it comes to that holiness which it hath in him. We should therefore labour to walk as becometh those that have so glorious a head, to walk worthy of such a Lord unto all well pleasing, in fruitfulness and knowledge; to walk as those that have received Christ, and expect his appearing again, Phil. 1.27. Col. 1.10.2.6.3.4, 5. Secondly, the sitting of Christ on the right hand of God notes unto us the Consummation of all those Offices which he was to perform here on the earth for our redemption. For till they were all finished he was not to return to his glory again. He that hath entered into his rest hath ceased from his own works, saith the Apostle, Heb. 4.10. first he was to execute his Office before he was to enter into his rest. Though he were a Son, and so jure naturali the inheritance were his own before, yet he was to learn Obedience by the things which he was to suffer before he was made perfect again, Heb. 5.8, 9 After he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever, that is, after he had made such a complete expiation as should never need be repeated, but was able for ever to perfect those that are sanctified, he then sat down on the right hand of God, expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, Heb. 10.12, 13, 14. This is the argument our Saviour useth when he prayeth to be glorified again with his Father; I have glorified thee on earth, or revealed the glory of thy truth and mercy to thy Church, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, and now O Father glorify thou me with thine own self, etc. joh. 17.4, 5. He humbled himself, saith the Apostle, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted him, etc. Phil. 2.8, 9 Noting unto us the Order of the Dispensation of Christ's Offices, some were works of Ministry and service in the Office of Obedience and suffering for his Church: Others were works of power and Majesty in the protection and exaltation of his Church, and those necessarily to precede these. He ought to suffer, and to enter into his glory, Luk. 24.26, 46. Necessarily I say; First, by a Necessity of God's Decree, who had so fore-appointed it, Act. 2.23, 24. Secondly, by the Necessity of God's justice, which must first be satisfied by obedience, before it could be appeased with man, or in the person of their head and advocate exalt them to his glory again, Rom. 3.25. Rom. 5.10. Rom. 6.6, 11. Eph. 2.5, 6. Thirdly, by the Necessity of God's Word and will, signified in the predictions of the Prophets, Luk. 24.46. 1 Pet. 1. 10, 11. Fourthly, by the Necessity of Christ's infinite Person, which being equal with God, could not possibly be exalted without some preceding descent and humiliation. That he ascended, saith the Apostle, what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth, Eph. 4.9. Therefore it is that our Saviour saith, The Spirit should convince the World of Righteousness, because he was to go to the Father, and should be seen here no more, joh. 16.10. The meaning of it is, that the Spirit shall in the Ministry of the Word reveal unto those who are fully convinced of their sinful condition, and humbled in the sense thereof, a treasure of full and sufficient Righteousness by my obedience wrought for sinners. And the reason which is given of it stands thus. Our Righteousness consists in our being able to stand in God's presence. Now Christ having done all as our surety here, went up unto glory as our head and advocate, as the first fruits, the Captain, the Prince of life, the author of salvation, and the forerunner of his people, so that his going thither is an argument of our justification by him. First, because it is a sign that he hath finished the work of our redemption on earth, a sign that he overcame death, and was justified by the Spirit, from the wrongs of men, and from the curse of the Law. Therefore he said to Mary after his resurrection, Go tell my Disciples, I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, joh. 20.17. that is, by my death, and victory over it, you are made my brethren, and reconciled unto God again. Secondly, because he hath Offices in heaven to fulfil at the right hand of his Father in our behalf, to intercede, and to prepare a place for us, to apply unto us the virtue of his death and merits. If he had ascended without fulfilling all Righteousness for the Church, he should have been sent down, and seen again, but now, saith he, you see me no more, for by once dying, and by once appearing in the end of the world, I have put away sin by the Sacrifice of myself, Heb. 9.26.7.27. Rom. 6.9, 10. He was taken, saith the Prophet, from Prison and judgement, to note that the whole debt was paid, and now who shall declare his generation? That is, he now liveth unto numberless generations, he prolongeth his days, and hath already fulfilled Righteousness enough to justify all those that know him or believe in him, isaiah. 53.8, 10. Thus we see that Christ's deliverance out of prison, and exaltation at the right hand of God is an evident argument, that he is fully exonerated of the guilt of sin, and curse of the Law, and hath accomplished all those works which he had undertaken for our Righteousness. And this likewise affords abundant matter both to humble, and to comfort the Church of Christ. To humble us in the evidence of our disabilities, for if we could have finished the works which were given us to do, there would have been no need of Christ. It was weakness which made way for Christ. Our weakness to fulfil obedience, and that weakness of the Law to justify sinners, Rom. 5.6. Rom. 8.3. Heb. 7.18, 19 All the strength we have is by the power of his might, and by his grace, Eph. 6.10. 2 Tim. 2.1. and even this God dispenceth unto us in measure, and by degrees, driving out our Corruptions as he did the Canaanites before his people, by little and little, Exo. 23.30. because while we are here he will have us live by faith, and fetch our strength, as we use it, from Christ, and wait in hope of a better condition, and glorify the patience and forbearance of God who is provoked every day. To comfort us likewise; First, against all our unavoidable and invincible infirmities; every good Christian desires to serve the Lord with all his strength, desires to be enriched, to be steadfast, unmoveable, abundant in the work of the Lord, to do his will as the Angels in heaven do it: yet in many things they fail, and have daily experience of their own defects. But here is all the comfort, though I am not able to do any of my duties as I should, yet Christ hath finished all his to the full, and therefore though I am compassed with infirmities, so that I cannot do the things which I would, yet I have a compassionate advocate with the Father, who both giveth and craveth pardon for every one that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord, though he be not perfectly cleansed, 1 joh. 2.2. 2 Chron. 30.18, 19 Secondly, Against the pertinacy, and close adherence of our corruptions, which cleave as fast unto us as the very powers and faculties of our soul, as heat unto fire, or light unto the Sun. Yet sure we are that he who forbade the fire to burn, and put blackness upon the face of the Sun at midday, is able likewise to remove our corruptions as far from us as he hath removed them from his own sight. And the ground of our expectation hereof is this, Christ when he was upon the earth, in the form of a servant accomplished all the Offices of suffering and obedience for us: Therefore being now exalted far above all heavens, at the right hand of Majesty and glory, he will much more fulfil those Offices of Power which he hath there to do. Which are by the supplies of his Spirit to purge us from sin, by the sufficiency of his grace to strengthen us, by his word to sanctify and cleanse us, and to present us to himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. He that brought from the dead the Lord jesus, and suffered not death to hold the head, is able by that power and for that reason, to make us perfect in every good work to do his will, and not to suffer corruption for ever to hold the members. It is the frequent argument of the Scripture, Heb. 13.20, 21. Col. 2.12. Eph. 1.19, 20. Rom. 6.5, 6. Rom. 8.11. Thirdly, against all those fiery darts of Satan, whereby he tempteth us to despair, and to forsake our mercy. If he could have held Christ under when he was in the grave, then indeed our faith would have been vain, we should be yet in our sins, 1 Cor. 15. 17. But he who himself suffered, being tempted, and overcame both the sufferings and the temptation, is able to succour those that are tempted, and to show them mercy and grace to help in time of need, Heb. 2.17, 18. Heb. 4. 15, 16. Lastly, against death itself. For the Accomplishment of Christ's Office of redemption in his resurrection from the dead, was both the Merit, the Seal, and the first fruits of ours, 1 Cor. 15.20, 22. Thirdly, The sitting of Christ on the right hand of his Father noteth unto us the actual Administration of his Kingdom. Therefore that which is here said sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool, the Apostle thus expoundeth, He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, 1 Cor. 15.25. And he therefore died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of dead and living, namely, by being exalted unto God's right hand, Rom. 14.9. Now this Administration of Christ's Kingdom implies several particulars: First, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The publication of established Laws. For that which is in this Psalm called the sending forth of the rod of Christ's strength out of Zion, is thus by the Prophets expounded, Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from jerusalem, isaiah. 2.3. Mich. 4.2. Secondly, The conquering and subduing of subjects to himself, by converting the hearts of men, and bringing their thoughts into the obedience of his Kingdom. Ministerially, by the word of reconciliation, and effectually, by the power of his Spirit, writing his Laws in their hearts, and transforming them into the image of his word from glory to glory. Thirdly, Ruling, and leading those whom he hath thus converted in his way, continuing unto their hearts his heavenly voice, never utterly depriving them of the exciting, assisting, cooperating grace of his holy Spirit, but by his divine power giving unto them all things which pertain unto life and godliness, after he had once called them by his glorious power, isaiah. 2.2. joh. 10.3, 4. 1 Cor. 1.4, 8. isaiah. 30.21. 1 Pet. 2.9. 2 Pet. 1.3. Fourthly, Protecting, upholding, succouring them against all temptations and discouragements. By his compassion pitying them, by his power and promises helping them, by his care and wisdom proportioning their strength to their trials. By his peace recompensing their conflicts, by patience and experience establishing their hearts in the hope of deliverance, Heb. 2.17. joh. 16.33. 1 Cor. 10.13. 2 Cor. 1.5. Phil. 4.7, 19 Rom. 15.4. Fifthy, Confounding all his enemies. First, Their projects, holding up his Kingdom in the midst of their malice, and making his truth, like a tree, settle the faster, and like a torch, shine the brighter for the shaking. Secondly, Their Persons. Whom he doth here gall and torment by the Sceptre of his word, constraining them by the evidence thereof to subscribe to the justice of his wrath; and whom he reserveth for the day of his appearing, till they shall be put all under his feet. In which respect he is said to stand at the right hand of God, as a man of war ready armed for the defence of his Church, Act. 7.56. Fourthly, the sitting of Christ on the right hand of God noteth unto us his giving of gifts, and sending down of the Holy Ghost upon men. It hath been an universal custom both in the Church, and elsewhere, in days of great joy and solemnity to give gifts and send presents unto men. Thus after the wall of jerusalem was built, and the worship of God restored, and the Law read and expounded by Ezra to the people after their captivity, it is said, that the people did eat and drink and send portions, Nehem. 8. 10, 12. The like form was by the people of the jews observed in their feast of Purim, Ester. 9.22. Tiberius in triumpho Germanico congiarium tricenos nummos viritim dedit. Sueton. Di●isit in populum congiarium, ut mos est Imperium suscipientibus. Herodian. lib. 5. & de Septimio Severo initio imperii magno congiario populum prosecutus est. I●eml. 3. vid. Sueton. Aug. cap 41. & Aelium Lamprid. in Antonino. Observatum fuit ut principes assumpto Imperio, ad conciliandum ●avorem, congiarium d●rent populo, etc. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. di●r. lib. 5. c 24. And the same custom hath been observed amongst heathen Princes upon solemn and great occasions to distribute donations and congiaries amongst the people. Thus Christ in the day of his Majesty and Inauguration, in that great and solemn triumph, when he ascended up on high and led captivity captive, he did withal give gifts unto men, Eph. 4.10. Christ was notably typified in the Ark of the Testament. In it were the Tables of the Law, to show that the whole Law was in Christ fulfilled, and that he was the end of the Law for Righteousness to those that believe in him. There was the golden pot which had Manna, to signify that heavenly, and abiding nourishment which from him the Church receiveth. There was the Rod of Aaron which budded. Signifying either the miraculous incarnation of Christ in a Virgin, or his sufferings which are expressed by stripes, isaiah. 53.5. and our resurrection with him, noted in the budding of a dry rod. Or lastly, noting the sanctifying and fruitful virtue of his word which is the rod of his strength. Upon it also was the Mercy seat, to note that in Christ is the foundation of all that mercy and atonement which is preached unto men. But in two things principally did it signify Christ unto our present purpose: First, It was overlaid within and without with gold, and had a Crown of gold round about it, Exod. 25.11.37.2. denoting the plentiful and glorious Kingdom of Christ, who was crowned with glory and honour, Heb. 2.7. Secondly, it had rings by which it was carried up and down, till at last it rested in Salomon's Temple, with glorious and triumphal solemnity, Psal. 132.89. 2 Chron. 5.13. So Christ while he was here upon earth, being anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, went about doing good, Act. 10.38. and having ceased from his works did at last enter into his rest, Heb. 5.10. which is the heavenly Temple, Revel. 11.19. Now this carrying of the Ark into his resting place denotes two things: First, a final conquest over the enemies of God. For as the moving of the Ark signified the acting and procuring of victory, josh. 6.11, 20. So the Resting of the Ark noted the Consummation of Victory. And therefore the Temple was built, and the Ark set therein in the days of Solomon, when there was not an emendicated or borrowed peace, depending upon the courtesy of the neighbour nations, but a victorious and triumphal peace, after the great victories of David, and tributary subjection and homage of all the Canaanites which were left in the Land, 2 Chro. 8.7, 8.9.26. 2 Sam. 7.9.12. Psal. 68.29. Secondly, it notes the conferring of gifts, as we see in that triumphal song at the removal of the Ark, being also a prediction both of that which literally happened in the reign of Solomon, and was mystically verified in Christ, Psal. 68.18. Thus Christ our Prince of peace, being now in the Temple of God in heaven, hath bound hell, sin and death captive, and hath demolished the walls of jericho, or the Kingdom of Satan, thrown him down from heaven like lightning, and passed a sentence of judgement upon him. And hath received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, and given gifts unto men, Act. 2.32, 35. before his entering into his rest it was but a promise, and they were to wait at jerusalem for it, Act. 1.4 but after his departure, and intercession at his Father's right hand it was poured forth in abundance upon them, joh. 14.16.16.7. And we are to note that as it began with his sitting there, so it continueth as long as he shall there sit. It is true all Holy Scripture which God ordained for the gathering of his people, and for the guidance of them in the militant Church, is already long since by the Spirit dictated unto holy and selected instruments, for that purpose inspired with more abundance of grace, and guided by a full, and infallible Spirit: but yet we must note, that in those holy writings there is such a depth of heavenly wisdom, such a sea of mysteries, and such an unsearchable treasure of purity and grace, that though a man should spend the longest life after the severest and most industrious manner to acquaint himself with God in the revelations of his word, yet his knowledge would be but in part, and his holiness after all that come short of maturity; as the enemies are not all presently under Christ's feet, but are by degrees subdued: so the Spirit is not presently conferred in fullness unto the members of Christ, but by measure and degrees according to the voluntary influences of the head, & exigences of the members. So much of the Spirit of grace and truth as we have here is but the earnest and handsel of a greater sum, Ephes. 1.14. The seed and first fruits of a fuller harvest, 1 joh. 3.9. Rom. 8.23. Therefore the Apostle mentions a growing change from glory to glory by the Spirit of God, 2 Cor. 3.18. We must not expect a fullness till the time of the restitution of all things, till that day of redemption and adoption wherein the light, which is here but sown for the Righteous, shall grow up into a full harvest of holiness and of glory. But here ariseth a question out of the seeming contradiction of Holy Scripture. It is manifest that the Spirit of Christ was in the Church long before his Ascension. The Prophets spoke by him, 1 Pet. 1.11. The ancient jews vexed him, isaiah. 63.10. john Baptist was even filled with the Spirit, to note a plentiful measure for the discharge of his Office, Luk. 1.15. and yet S. john saith, That the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Christ was not yet glorified, joh. 7.39. To this I answer, that the Fathers were sanctified by the same Spirit of Christ with us, difference there is none in the substance, but only in the accidents and circumstances of effusion and manifestation. As light in the Sun, and light in a star, is in itself the same original light, but very much varied in the dispensation. It was the same truth which was preached by the Prophets, and by Christ, but the Apostle observes in it a difference, sundry times, and in sundry manners hath God spoken by the Prophets, but unto us by his Son, that is, more plentifully, and more plainly unto us than unto the Fathers, Heb. 1.1. joh. 16.25. Therefore though it be true that Abraham saw Christ's day, as all the Fathers did (though he haply being the Father of the faithful more than others) in which respect Eusebius saith of them that they were Christians really and in effect though not in name: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Euseb. hist. lib. 1. cap. 5. yet it is true likewise, that many Prophets and Righteous men did desire to see and hear the things which the Apostles saw and heard, but did not, Matt. 13.17. namely, in such plain and plentiful measure as the Apostles did. They saw in glimpses and morning stars, and prefigurations, but these the things themselves. They saw only the promises and those too but afar off, Heb. 11.13. these the substance and gospel itself, near at hand, in their mouth, and before their eyes, and even amongst them, Rom. 10.8. Gal. 3.1. joh. 1.14. 1 joh. 1.2, 3. They by Prophets who testified beforehand, these by eye-witnesses, who declared the things which they had seen and heard, Act. 1.8.22.10.41. Therefore it is said that Christ was a Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, and yet in the end of the world that he appeared to take away sin by the Sacrifice of himself, Heb. 9.26. to note that the Fathers had the benefi●, but not the perfection of the promises, Heb. 11.40. for the Apostle every where makes perfection the work of the Gospel, 1 Cor. 2.7. Eph. 4.13. Heb. 6.1. So then after Christ's sitting on the right hand of power the Holy Spirit was more completely sent both in regard of manifestation and efficacy, than ever before. The difference is chiefly in three things: First, In the manner of his mission. To the old Church in dreams and visions, in figures and latent ways: But to the Evangelicall Churches in power, evidence and demonstration, 1 Cor. 2.4, 5. Therefore it is called the spirit of revelation, and knowledge, which discovereth, and that unto principalities and powers by the Church, the manifold and mysterious wisdom of God in Christ, Eph. 1.17.3.10. Therefore the Spirit was sent in the latter days in wind, Act. 2.2, 3. Act. 4.31. and fire, and tongues, and earthquake, all which have in them a selfe-discovering property, which will not be hidden. Whereas in the time of the Prophet's God did not in any such things, save only in a low and still voice reveal himself, 1 Kings. 19.11, 12. Secondly, In the subjects unto whom he was sent. joel 2.28. Before only upon the enclosed garden of the jews did this wind blow, but now is the Spirit poured upon all flesh, and this heavenly dew falleth not upon the fleece, but upon the whole earth. And therefore our Saviour opposeth jerusalem and the Spirit, Rom. 2.29. joh. 4.21, 23. Every believer is of the Israel of God, every Christian a Temple of the Holy Ghost; no people of the earth secluded, But in every nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted; no place unclean, Gal. 6.15, 16. but every where pure hands may be lifted up. Coloss. 2.11. Phil. 3.3. 1 Cor. 6.19. Act. 10.35. 1 Tim. 2.8. Thirdly, In the measure of his grace. At first he was sent only in drops and dew, but after he was poured out in showers and abundance, Tit. 3.6. and therefore (as I have before observed) the grace of the Gospel is frequently expressed by the name of Riches, to note not only the preciousness, Ephes. 1.7.2.7 3. but the plenty thereof in the Church. And it is here worth our observation that the Spirit under the Gospel is compared to things of a spreading, multiplying, and operative nature. First, To water, and that not a little measure to sprinkle or bedew, Col. 1.27. but to Baptise the faithful in, Matth. 3.11. Act. 1.5. and that not in a font or vessel, which grows less and less, but in a springing and living river, joh. 7.39. Now water besides its purging property, is first of a spreading nature: It hath no bounds nor limits to itself, as firm and solid bodies have, but receives its restraint by the vessel or continent which holds it: so the Spirit of the Lord is not straightened in himself, but only by the narrow hearts of men into which he comes. Ye are not straitened, saith the Apostle, in us, that is, in that ministry of grace, and dispensation of the Spirit which is committed to us, but in your own bowels, which are not in any proportion enlarged unto that abundance and fullness of heavenly grace, which in the Gospel of salvation is offered unto you. Secondly, Spring water is a growing and multiplying thing; which is the reason why rivers which rise from narrow fountains, have yet by reason of a constant and regular supply a great breadth in remote channels, because the water lives. Whereas in pits and torrents it groweth less and less: so the graces of the Spirit are living and springing things, the longer they continue, the larger they grow, (like the waters of the sanctuary, Ezek. 36.25.) and the reason is, because they come from a fountain which is all life, joh. 4.10. joh. 14.6. Col. 3.4. Thirdly, as water multiplies in itself, so by insinuation and mollification it hath a fructifying virtue in other things. Fruitful trees are planted by the water's side; so the Spirit searching and mollifying the heart, maketh it fruitful in holy obedience, Ezek. 11.19, 20. Fourthly, water is very strong in its own stream: we see what mighty engines it moveth, what huge vessels it rouleth like a ball, what walls and bulwarks it overthrows: so the spirit of God is able to beat down all strong holds, which the wit of man, or the malice of Satan, can erect against the Church. The horses of Egypt are flesh, & not Spirit, saith the Lord, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, noting that that which might and created power could not do, the Spirit of the Lord was able to effect. And this strength of water serves to carry it as high as its own spring and level: so the Spirit will never cease to raise the hearts of his people, till it carries them up to their fountain and springhead in heaven. Secondly, The Spirit is compared to the rushing of a mighty wind. The learned observe that before Christ's time God spoke unto men in a soft still voice, which they called Bath Koll; but after in the time of the Gospel by a mighty wind: noting thereby both the Abundance of his Spirit which he would pour out in the latter days; and the strength thereof, as of a rushing wind. Though a man have walls of brass, and bars of iron upon his conscience, though he set up fortifications of fleshly reason, and the very gates of hell to shut out the Spirit of grace, yet nothing is able to withstand the power of this mighty rushing wind. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, etc. Zech. 4.7. No mountains, no difficulties can prevent the power of God's Spirit. He hath strength to pull down the strongest oppositions, and to enable the weakest condition unto the service which he will have done. Though there be mountains between Israel and their deliverance, yet the blind, and the lame, and the woman with child, and her that traveleth with child together, will he strengthen to climb over the precipices of the highest mountain, jer. 31.8. Thirdly, The Spirit is compared to Fire, noting likewise both the multiplying or diffusive property thereof, turning every thing into its own nature: and the mighty strength thereof, whereby it either cleanseth or consumeth any thing that it meets with. If thou art stubble it will devour thee, if stone it will break; if gold it will purge thee. The hard heart it can melt, and the foul heart it can purify. Lay down thine heart under the word, and yield it to the Spirit, who is as it were the artificer which doth manage the word, he can frame it into a vessel of honour: but if thou resist and be stubborn against the Spirit in the word, know that it is but the crackling of a leaf in the fire, if thou wilt not suffer it to purge thee, thou canst not hinder it to torment thee; nothing is more comfortable, nothing more consuming than fire; nothing more comfortable than the light, warmth, and witness of the Spirit, nothing more terrible than the conviction, condemnation, and bondage of the Spirit. Now this difference in the measure of the Spirit, may be seen in two things. First, in a greater measure of knowledge; They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord, jer. 31.34. And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, isaiah. 11.9. Our Saviour told his Disciples that all things, which he had heard of his Father he had made known unto them, joh. 15.15. and yet a little after he telleth them that many other things he had to say unto them, which they could not bear, till the Spirit of truth came who should guide them into all truth, joh. 16.12, 13. noting that the Spirit when he came should enlarge their hearts to a capacity of more heavenly wisdom than they could comprehend before. For we may observe before how ignorant they were of many things, though they conversed with Christ in the flesh. Philip ignorant of the Father, joh. 14.8. Thomas of the way unto the Father, joh. 14.5. Peter of the necessity of his sufferings, Matth. 16.22. The two Disciples of his resurrection, Luk. 24.45. all of them of the quality of his Kingdom, Act. 1.6. Thus before the sending of the Holy Ghost, the Lord did not require so plentiful knowledge unto salvation, as after; as in the valuations of money, that which was plenty two or three hundred years since, is but penury now. Secondly, in a greater measure of strength for Spiritual obedience. They who before fled from the company of Christ in his sufferings, did after rejoice to be counted worthy of suffering shame for his name, or as the elegancy of the original words import, to be dignified with that dishonour of Christians▪ Act. 5.41. For suffering of persecution for Christ, and the trial of faith by divers temptations is in the Scriptures reckoned up amongst the gifts, and hundred fold compensations of God to his people, Mark. 10.30. Phil. 1.29. Heb. 11.26. jam. 1.2. 1 Pet. 1.6, 7. No man, saith our Saviour, putteth new wine into old bottles, that is, exacteth rigid and heavy services of weak and unqualified Disciples, and therefore my Disciples fast not while I am amongst them in the flesh: But the days will come when I shall be taken from them in body, and shall send them my holy Spirit to strengthen and prepare them for hard service, and then they shall fast, and perform those parts of more difficult obedience unto me, Matth. 9.15, 17. Now farther touching this sending of the Holy Spirit (which together with Christ's intercession was one of the principal ends of his ascending up unto the right hand of power) it may be here demanded, why the Holy Spirit was not before this exaltation of Christ sent forth in such abundance upon the Church? The main reason whereof, next unto the purpose and decree of God into which all the acts of his will are to be resolved, Eph. 1.11. is given by our Saviour, joh. 14.16. joh. 16.7. Because he was to supply the corporal absence of Christ, and to be another comforter to the Church. Of which Office of the Spirit, (because it was one of the main ends of his mission, and that one of the chief works of Christ's sitting at God's right hand) I shall here, without any unprofitable, or impertinent digression, speak a little. First, than the Spirit is a comforter, because an Advocate to his people; for so much the word signifies, and is else where rendered, 1 joh. 2.1. Now he is called another comforter or Advocate, to note the difference between Christ and the Spirit in this particular. There is then an Advocate by Office, when one person takes upon himself the cause of another, and in his name pleads it. Thus Christ by the Office of his Mediation, and intercession is an Advocate for his Church, and doth in his own person in heaven apply his merits, and further the cause of our salvation with his Father. There is likewise an Advocate by energy and operation, by instruction and assistance, which is, not when a work is done by one person in the behalf of another, but when one by his counsel, inspiration, and assistance enableth another to manage his own business, and to plead his own cause. And such an Advocate the Spirit is, Interpellare dicitur pro nobis, quia nobis gemendi & interpellandi imponit affectum. August. Quod dicitur Spiritus Sanctus intercedere pro nobis, hoc non est ita intelligendum ac si ipsa persona spiritus immediate intercederet. Intercedit enim per gemitus: porro non gemit spiritus, sed nos gemimus; itaque docendo hoc facit, efficiendo ut gemamus. Cameron. de Eccles. pag 98. who doth not intercede, nor appear before God in person for us, as Christ doth: but maketh interpellation for men in and by themselves, giving them an access unto the Father, emboldening them in their fears, and helping them in their infirmities, when they know not what to pray, Eph. 2.18. Heb. 10.15.19. Rom. 8.26. Eph. 3.16. First then, the Spirit as our Advocate justifieth our persons, and pleadeth our causes against the accusations of our spiritual enemies. For as Christ is our Advocate at the tribunal of God's justice to plead our cause against the severity of his Law, and that most Righteous and undeniable charge of sin which he layeth upon us: so the Holy Spirit is our Advocate at the tribunal of God's mercy, enabling us there to clear ourselves against the temptations, and murderous assaults of our Spiritual enemies. The world accuseth us by false and slanderous calumniations, laying to our charge things which we never did; the Spirit in this case maketh us not only plead our innocence, but to rejoice in our fellowship with the Prophets which were before us, to esteem the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the world, to count ourselves happy in this, that it is not such low marks as we are which the malice of the world aimeth at, but the Spirit of glory and of God which resteth upon us, who is on their part evil spoken of, 1 Pet. 4.14. Satan, that grand accuser of the brethren, doth not only load my sins upon my conscience, but further endeavoreth to exclude me from the benefit of Christ by charging me with impenitency and unbelief. But here the Spirit enableth me to clear myself against the Father of lies. It is true indeed I have a naughty flesh, the seeds of all mischief in my nature; but the first means which brought me hereunto was the believing of thy lies, and therefore I will no longer entertain thy hellish reasonings against mine own peace. I have a Spirit which teacheth me to bewail the frowardness of mine own heart, to deny mine own will & works, to long and aspire after perfection in Christ, to adhere with delight and purpose of heart unto his Law, to lay hold with all my strength upon that plank of salvation, which in this shipwreck of my soul is cast out unto me. These affections of my heart come not from the earthly Adam, for whatsoever is earthly, is sensual and devilish too. And if they be holy and heavenly, I will not believe that God will put any thing of heaven into a vessel of Hell. Sure I am, he that died for me when I did not desire him, will in no wise cast me away when I come unto him. He that hath given me a will to love his service, and to lean upon his promises, will in mercy accept the will for the deed, and in due time accomplish the work of holiness which he hath begun. Thus the Spirit like an Advocate secureth his client's title, against the sophistical exceptions of the adversary, and when by temptations our eye is dimmed, or by the mixture of corruptions our evidences defaced, he by his skill helpeth our infirmities, and bringeth those things which are blotted out, and forgotten, into our remembrance again. Secondly, an Advocate admonisheth and directeth his client how to order and solicit his own business, what evidences to produce, what witnesses to prepare, what offices to attend, what preparations to make against the time of his hearing: so the Spirit doth set the hearts of believers in a right way of negotiating their Spiritual affairs, maketh them to hear a voice behind them, furnishing them with wisdom and prudence in every condition. How to grapple with temptations, how to serve God in all estates, when to reprove, direct, counsel, comfort, when to speak and when to be silent, when to let out and when to chain up a passion, when to use, and when to forbear liberty, how to prosecute occasions, and apply occurrences unto Spiritual ends, every where, and in all things strengthening and instructing us to manage our hearts unto the best advantages of peace to ourselves, and of glory to our Master, isaiah. 30.21. Col. 1.9, 10. Phil. 4.12, 13. Eph. 4.20, 21. Thirdly, an Advocate maketh up the failings of his client, and by his wisdom, and observation of the case, picketh out advantages beyond the instructions, and gathereth arguments to further the suit which his client himself observed not. So the Spirit, when we know not what to pray, when with jehoshaphat we know not what to do, when it may be in our own apprehension the whose business of our peace and comfort lieth a bleeding, doth then help our infirmities, and by dumb cries, and secret intimations, and deep, and unexpressible groanings, presenteth arguments unto him who is the searcher of hearts, and who knoweth the mind of the Spirit, which we ourselves cannot express. Thus as an infant crieth and complaineth for want of sleep, and yet knoweth not that it is sleep which he wanteth: as a sick man goeth to the physician, and complaineth that some physic he wanteth, but knoweth not the thing which he asketh for: so the soul of a Christian by the assistance of the Spirit is enlarged to request things of God which yet of themselves do pass the knowledge and understandings of those that ask them, Rom. 8.26, 27. Eph. 3.19. Phil. 4.7. 1 Cor. 14.15. Secondly, the Spirit is a comforter by applying and Representing Christ absent unto the soul again. For first, the Spirit carrieth a Christian heart up to Christ, in heavenly affections, and conversation, Col. 3.1, 3. Phil. 3.20. as a piece of earth when it is out of its place, doth ever move to the whole earth: so a sparkle of Christ's Spirit will naturally move upward unto him who hath the fullness in him. A stone, though broken all to pieces in the motion, will yet through all that peril and violence move unto the centre: so though the nature of man abhor, and would of itself decline the passages of death, 2 Cor. 5.4. yet the Apostle desired to be dissolved, and to be taken asunder, that by any means he might be with Christ, who is the centre of every Christians desire, Phil. 1.23. Secondly, the Spirit bringeth Christ down to a Christian, formeth him in his heart, evidenceth him, and the virtue of his passion, and resurrection, unto the conscience in the powerful dispensation of his holy ordinances. Therefore when our Saviour speaks of sending the holy Spirit, he addeth, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you when the world seeth me not, yet ye see me. This noteth the presence of Christ by his Spirit with the Church: but there is more than a presence, there is an inhabitation, At that time you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you, joh. 14.18, 20. Thirdly, the Spirit is a comforter by a work of sweet and fruitful illumination, not only giving the knowledge, but the love and comfort of the truth unto a Christian, making him with open face behold as in a glass the glory of God, and thereby transforming him into the same image from glory to glory. The light of other sciences is like the light of a candle, nothing but light: but the knowledge of Christ by the Spirit is like the light of the Sun●e, which hath influences and virtue in i●. And this is that which the Apostle calls the Spirit of Revelation in the knowledge of God, for though there be no Prophetical, nor extraordinary revelations, by dreams, visions, ecstasies, or enthusiasms; yet according to the measure of spiritual perspicacy, and diligent observation of holy Scriptures, there are still manifold revelations, or manifestations of Christ unto the soul. The secret and intimate acquaintance of the soul with God, the heave, aspire, and harmony of the heart with Christ, the sweet illapses and flashes of heavenly light upon the soul, the knowledge of the depths of God and of Satan, of the whole armour of God and the strong man, of conflicts of Spirit, protection of Angels, experiences of mercy, issues of temptation, and the like, are heavenly and constant revelations out of the word manifested to the souls of the faithful by the Spirit. Lastly and principally, the Spirit is a comforter in those effects of joy and peace which he worketh in the heart. For joy is ever the fruit, and Companion of the Spirit, Gal. 5.22. Act. 13.52. and the joy of the Spirit is like the intercession of the Spirit, unspeakable and glorious, 1 Pet. 1.8. not like the joy of the world, which is empty, false, and deceitful, full of vanity, vexation, insufficiency, unsu●eablenesse to the soul, mingled with fears of disappointment and miscarriage, with tremble and guilt of conscience, with certainty of period and expiration: but clear, holy, constant, unmixed, satisfactory, and proportionable to the compass of the soul, more gladness than all the world can take in the increase of their corn and wine, Psal. 4.7. And this joy of the Spirit is grounded upon every passage of a Christian condition, from the entrance to the end. First, the Spirit worketh joy in discovering, and bending the heart to mourn for corruption. For it is the Spirit of grace and supplications which maketh sinners mourn, and loathe themselves, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Rhet. Zech. 12.10, 11. Ezek. 36.27.31. and such a sorrow as this is the seed, and the matter of true joy; our Joseph's heart was full of joy, when his eyes poured out tears upon Benjamins neck. As in wicked laughter the heart may be sorrowful, so in holy mourning the heart may rejoice, for all Spiritual afflictions have a peaceable fruit. This was the first glimpse and beam of the Prodigals joy that he resolved with tears and repentance to return to his Father again. For there is a sweet complacency in an humble and Spiritual heart to be vile in its own eyes, as to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Sacrifices we know were to be offered up with joy, Mal. 2.13. and of all Sacrifices a broken heart is that which God most delighteth in, Psal. 51.16, 17. there is joy in heaven at the repentance of a sinner, and therefore there must needs be joy in the heart itself which repenteth, in as much as it hath heavenly affections begun in it. Therefore as the Apostle saith, Let a man become a fool that he may be wise, so may I truly say, let a man become a mourner, that he may rejoice. If it be objected how one contrary affection can be the ground and inducement of another, and that he who feeleth the weight of sin, and displeasure of God can have little reason to boast of much joy. To this I answer, First, that we do not speak of those extraordinary combats, and grapplings with the sense of the wrath of God, breaking of bones, and burning of bowels, which some have felt, but of the ordinary humiliations and courses of repentance, which are common to all. Secondly, that such Spiritual mourning and joy are not contrary in regard of the Spirit, nor do one extinguish or expel the other. As black and white are contrary in the wall, but meet without any repugnancy in the eye, because though as qualities they fight, yet as objects they agree in communi conceptu visibilis: so joy and mourning though contrary in regard of their immediate impressions upon the sense, do not only agree in the same principle the grace of Christ, and in the same end the salvation of man, but may also be subordinated to each other; as a dark and muddy colour is a fit ground to lay gold upon; so a tender and mourning heart is the best preparation unto spiritual joy. Therefore our Saviour compareth Spiritual sorrow unto the pains of a woman in travel; other pains growing out of sickness and distempers, have none but bitter ingredients, and anguish in them; but that pain groweth out of the matter of joy, and leadeth unto joy: so though godly sorrow have some pain in it, yet that pain hath ever joy both for the root, and fruit of it, joh. 16.21. and though for the present it may haply intercept the exercise, yet it doth strengthen the habit and ground of joy: as those flowers in the spring rise highest and with greatest beauty, which in winter shrink lowest into the earth. I trembled, saith the Prophet, in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble, Hab. 3.16. Secondly, the Spirit doth not only Discover, but heal the corruptions of the soul, and there is no joy to the joy of a saved and cured man. The lame man when he was restored by Peter, expressed the abundant exultation of his heart, by leaping, and praising God, Act. 3.8. for this cause therefore amongst others the Spirit is called the oil of gladness, because by that healing virtue which is in him, he maketh glad the hearts of men. The Spirit of the Lord, saith Christ, is upon me, because the Lord anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, he hath sent me to bind the broken hearted, isaiah. 61.6. and again, I will bind that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick, Ezek. 34.16. Now this healing virtue of Christ is in the dispensation of his word and Spirit; and therefore the Prophet saith, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings, Mal. 4.2. where the Spirit in the word, by the which he cometh, and preacheth unto men, Eph. 2.17. 1 Pet. 3.19. is called the wing of the Sun, because he proceedeth from him, and was sent to supply his absence, as the beam doth the Suns; and this Spirit the Apostle calleth the strengthner of the inner man, Eph. 3.16. Thirdly, the Spirit doth not only heal, but renew, and revive again: when an eye is smitten with a sword there is a double mischief, a wound made, and a faculty perished: and here though a Chirurgeon can heal the wound, yet he can never restore the faculty, because total privations admit no regress or recovery: but the Spirit doth not only heal, and repair, but renew, and re-edify the spirits of men. As he healeth that which was torn, and bindeth up that which was smitten, so he reviveth and raiseth up that which was dead before, Host 6.1, 2. and this the Apostle calls the Renovation of the Spirit, Tit. 3.5. whereby old things are not mended and put together again, (for our fall made us all over unprofitable, and little worth, Rom. 3.12. Prov. 10.20.) but are done quite away, and all things made new again, 2 Cor. 5.17. The heart, mind, affections, judgement, conscience, members, changed from stone to flesh, from earthly to heavenly, from the image of Adam to the image of Christ, Ezek. 11.19. 1 Cor. 15.49. Now this renovation must needs be matter of great joy. For so the Lord comforteth his afflicted people, isaiah. 54.11, 12, 13. Fourthly, the Spirit doth not renew and set the frame of the heart right, and then leave it to its own care and hazards again; but being thus restored, he abideth with it to preserve, and support it against all Tempests and batteries. And this further multiplieth the joy and comfort of the Church that it is established in Righteousness, so that no weapon which is form against it can prosper, isaiah. 54.14.17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Victory is ever the ground of joy. isaiah. 9.3. And the Spirit of God is a victorious Spirit. His judgement in the heart is sent forth unto victory, Matth. 12.20. and before him mountains shall be made a plain, and every high thing shall be pulled down, till he bring forth the head stone with shoutings, Ezek. 4.6, 7. To Stephen he was a Spirit of Victory against the disputers of the World, Act. 6.10. To the Apostles a Spirit of liberty in the prison, Act. 16.25, 26. To all the faithful a Spirit of joy and glory in the midst of persecutions, 1 Pet. 4.13, 14. Fifthly, the Spirit doth not only preserve the heart which he hath renewed, but maketh it fruitful and abundant in the works of the Lord, Gal. 5.22. Rom. 7.4. And a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. fruitfulness is a ground of rejoicing, isaiah. 54.1. b 1 john 3.8, 9 Therefore they which are borne of God cannot commit sin, that is, they are not c Matth. 7.23. Luke 13.27. The whole phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as the Latin Opera●ius Iniquitati●, one that maketh a trade of sin, or professeth iniquity, whose service is altogether incompatible with the profession or hope of a Christian. Doctor jackson of ●●stif faith. sect. 2. c. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, workers or artificers or finishers of iniquity, because they have the seed of God, that is, his Spirit in them, which fitteth them (as seed doth the womb or the earth) to bring forth fruit unto God. Partly, by d john 14 26. 1 john 2.20. Esay 54.13. jerem. 31.33. 2 Cor. 3 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. teaching the heart, and e Vid. Beza Annotat. in Rom. 6.17. ler. 32.39, 40. Ezek. 36.27. Rome 8.14. Ephes. 4.30. Gal. 4.5, 6. Ephes. 1.14. 1 Pet 1.3. casting it as it were in the mould of the world, fashioning such thoughts, apprehensions, affections, judgements in the soul as are answerable to the will and Spirit of God in the word, so that a man cannot but set his seal, and say Amen to the written Law: partly by moving, animating, applying, and most sweetly leading the heart unto the Obedience of that Law which is thus written therein. Lastly, those whom he hath thus fitteth, he sealeth up unto a final and full redemption by the Testimony of their adoption, which is the handsel and earnest of their inheritance; and thereby begetteth a lively hope, an earnest expectation, Rom. 8.19, 23. Rom. 9.23. 2 Cor. 5.4. Phil. 4.7. 1 Pet. 1.8. joh. 16.22, 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. a confident attendance upon the promises, and an unspeakable peace and security thereupon; by which fruits of faith and hope there is a glorious joy shed abroad into the soul, so full, and so intimately mingled with the same, that it is as possible for man to annihilate the one, as to take away the other. For according to the evidence of hope, and excellency of the thing hoped, must needs the joy there from resulting receive its sweetness and stability. By all this which hath been spoken of the mission of the Spirit in such abundance after Christ's sitting at the right hand of God, we should learn with what affections to receive the Gospel of salvation, for the teaching whereof this Holy Spirit was shed abroad abundantly on the Ambassadors of Christ; and with what heavenly conversations to express the power which our hearts have felt therein, to walk as children of the light, and as becometh the Gospel of Christ, to adorn our high profession, and not to receive the grace of God in vain▪ Consider first, that the word thus quickened will have an operation, either to convince unto Righteousness, or to seal unto condemnation; as the Sun, either to melt, or to harden; as the rain, either to ripen corn, or weeds; as the Sceptre of a King, either to rule subjects, or to subdue enemies; as the fire of a Goldsmith, either to purge gold, or devour dross; as the waters of the sanctuary, either to heal places, or to turn them into salt pits, Ezek. 47.11. Secondly, according to the proportion of the Spirit of Christ in his word revealed shall be the proportion of their judgement who despise it. The contempt of a great salvation, and glorious Ministry shall bring a sorer condemnation, Heb. 2.2.4. If I had not come and spoken unto them (saith our Saviour) they had not had sin, joh. 15.22. Sins against the light of nature are no sins in comparison of those against the Gospel. The earth which drinketh in the rain that falls often on it, and yet beareth nothing but thorns and briers, is rejected, and nigh unto cursing, Heb. 6.7, 8. Thirdly, even here God will not always suffer his Spirit to strive with flesh, there is a Day of Peace, which he calleth our day, a day wherein he entreateth and beseecheth us to be reconciled: but if we therein judge ourselves unworthy of eternal life, and go obstinately on till there be no remedy, he can easily draw in his Spirit, and give us over to the infatuation of our own hearts, that we may not be cleansed any more till he have caused his fury to rest upon us, Ezek. 24.13. We see likewise by this Doctrine whereupon the comforts of the Church are founded; namely, upon Christ as the first comforter, by working our Reconciliation with God: and upon the Spirit as another comforter, testifying and applying the same unto our souls. And the continual supply and assistance of this Spirit is the only comfort the Church hath against the dominion and growth of sin. For though the motions of lust which are in our members, are so close, so working, so full of vigour and life, that we can see no power nor probabilities of prevailing against them; yet we know Christ hath a greater fullness of Spirit than we can have of sin, and it is the great promise of the new covenant, that God will put his Spirit into us, and thereby save us from all our uncleanesses, Ezek. 36.27, 29. for though we be full of sin, and have but a seed, a sparkle of the Spirit put into us, and upheld and fed by further, though small supplies, yet that little is stronger than legions of lust; as a little salt or leven seasoneth a great lump, or a few drops of Spirits strengthen a whole glass full of water. Therefore the Spirit is called a Spirit of judgement and of burning, because as one judge is able to condemn a thousand prisoners, and a little fire to consume abundance of dross: so the Spirit of God in and present with us, though received and supplied but in measure, though but a smoking and suppressed fire, shall yet break forth in victory and judgement against all that resist it. In us indeed there is nothing that feeds, but only that which resists and quencheth it. But this is the wonderful virtue of the Spirit of Christ in his members, that it nourisheth itself. Therefore sometimes the Spirit is called fire, isaiah 4.4. Matth. 3.11. and sometimes Oil, Heb. 1.9. 1 joh. 2.27. to note that the Spirit is nutriment unto itself, that that grace which we have received already, is preserved and excited by new supplies of the same grace. Which supplies we are sure shall be given to all that ask them, by the virtue of Christ's prayer, joh. 14.16. by the virtue of his and his Father's promise, joh. 16.7. Act. 1.4. and by the virtue of that Office which he still bears, which is to be the head, or vital principle of all holiness and grace unto the Church. And all these are permanent things, and therefore the virtue of them abideth, their effects are never totally interrupted. Fiftly and lastly, this sitting of Christ at the right hand of God noteth his intercession in the behalf of the whole Church, and each member thereof. Who is he that condemneth? saith the Apostle, it is Christ that is dead, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us, Rom. 8.34. But of this Doctrine I shall speak more fitly in the fourth verse, it being a great part of the Priesthood of Christ. I now proceed to the last thing in this first verse, the continuance and Victories of Christ's Kingdom, in these words, until I make thy foes thy footstool: Wherein every word is full of weight. For though ordinarily subdivisions of holy Scripture, and crumbling of the bread of life, be rather a losing than an expounding of it; yet in such parts of it as were of purpose intended for models and summaries of fundamental Doctrine, (of which sort this Psalm is one of the fullest and briefest in the whole Scriptures,) as in little maps of large countries, there is no word whereupon some point of weighty consequence may not depend. Here then is considerable the term of duration or measure of Christ's Kingdom; Until. The Author of subduing Christ's enemy under him; I, the Lord. The manner thereof, ponam, and ponam scabellum; Put thy foes as a stool under thy feet. Victory is a relative word, and presupposeth enemies, and they are expressed in the text. I will but touch that particular because I have handled it more largely upon another Scripture, and their enmity is here not described, but only presupposed. It shows itself against Christ in all the Offices of his Mediation. There is enmity against him as a Prophet. Enmity against his Truth. In opinion, by adulterating it with humane mixtures and superinducements, teaching for Doctrines the traditions of men: In affection, by wishing many divine truths were razed out of the Scriptures, as being manifestly contrary to those pleasures which they love rather than God. In conversation, by keeping down the truth in unrighteousness, and in those things which they know, as brute beasts, corrupting themselves. Enmity against his Teaching, by quenching the motions, and resisting the evidence of his Spirit in the word, refusing to hear his voice, and rejecting the counsel of God against themselves. There is Enmity against him as a Priest, by undervaluing his Person, Sufferings, Righteousness, or Merits. And as a King; Enmity to his Worship, by profaneness neglecting it, by idolatry communicating it, by superstition corrupting it. Enmity to his ways and service, by ungrounded prejudices, misjudging them as grievous, unprofitable, or unequal ways; and by wilful disobedience forsaking them to walk in the ways of our own heart. And this is a point which men should labour to try themselves in, for the enemies of Christ are not only out of the Church, but in the midst where his kingdom is set up. v. 2. Esay 8.14. And indeed by how much the more dangerous it is, by so much the more subtle will Satan and a sinful heart be to deceive itself therein; for this is a certain truth, that men may profess and falsely believe that they love the Lord jesus, and yet be as real enemies unto his Person and Kingdom, as the jews that accused, and the Heathen that crucified him: He was set up for a sign to be spoken against, for a rock of offence, and a stone of stumbling, which the very builders themselves would reject. False brethren amongst the Philippians there were, who professed the name of Christians, and yet by their sensual walking and worldly mindedness, declared themselves to be enemies to the cross of Christ, Phil. 3.18, 19 To honour the bodies of the Saints departed with beautiful sepulchers, is in itself a testimonial of sincere love and inward estimation of their persons and graces; and therefore the Holy Ghost hath recorded it for the perpetual honour of joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, that they embalmed the body of jesus, and laid it in a new sepulchre, joh. 19. 38-41. yet our Saviour pronounceth a woe against the Scribes and Pharisees, because they built the tombed of the Prophets, and garnished the sepulchers of the righteous, Matth. 23.29. The fault was not in the fact itself, but in the hypocrisy of the heart, in the incongruity of their other practices, and in that damned protection, which by this plausible pretext of honour to the Prophets, they laboured to gain to their persons, and approbation to their attempts against Christ, in the minds of the people, who yet ordinarily esteemed Christ (whom they persecuted) a Prophet sent from God. They profess, If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have done as they did: But our Saviour reproves this hypocritical persuasion, by showing first, that it was no strange thing with them to persecute Prophets, but a national and hereditary sin, and therefore they had no reason to boast of their descent (as their manner was, Luke 3.8. joh. 8.39.) or to think that God's mercies were entailed unto them, since, by their own confession, they were the posterity of those that had killed the Prophets; and secondly, that they did fulfil the measure of their Fathers, that is, that which their Fathers had been long and leisurely a doing, they now did altogether in one blow; for it was the same Christ whom they persecuted in his person, and their fathers in his Prophets; and therefore though they seemed to honour and revive the memory of those holy martyrs, yet upon them should light the guilt of all the righteous blood which had ever been shed in the Land, inasmuch as their malice was directed against that fullness, of which all the Prophets had but a measure: If by several enemies a man be severally mangled, one cuts off a foot, another an hand, another an arm, and after all this, there come one who cuts off the head, and yet bestows some honourable ceremonies upon those members which the rest had abused, he shall justly suffer as if he had slain a whole man, inasmuch as his malice did eminently contain in it the degrees of all the rest, and that pretended honour shall be so far from compensating the injury, that it shall add thereunto an aggravation of base hypocrisy. Thus, as the jews, when they thought they did honour and admire the Prophets, did yet harbour in their breasts that very root of fury, and had that selfsame constitution of soul, which was in their forefathers who shed their blood: so in our days, men may say and think that they love Christ, and court him with much outside and empty service, may boast that if they had lived in the days of those unthankful jews, they would not have partaked with them in so execrable a murder, and yet interpretatively and at second hand show the very same root of bitterness, and rancorous constitution of heart against him in his Spirit and ordinances, which was in those men when they cried, Away with him, crucify him, crucify him. Many grounds there are of this grand misperswasion of the heart in its love to Christ, which I will but touch upon. The first is the general acceptation and continuance which the Gospel of Christ receiveth amongst the Princes of this world, who in Christian Commonwealths do both by their own voluntary and professed subjection, and by the vigour of their public laws establish the same. Now this is most certain, that as in all other sciences there cannot be transitus à genere in genus, the principles of one will not serve to beget the conclusions of another: so here especially, if a spiritual assent and affection be grounded upon no other than humane inducements, it is most undoubtedly spurious and illegitimate. That reason which the Pharisees used to dissuade men from believing in Christ, Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him? joh. 7.48. is one of the principal arguments which many men have now why they do believe him, because the Rulers, whose examples and laws they observe more upon trust than trial, do lead them thereunto: and therefore we find amongst the jews, that those very men, who when the Government of the whole twelve Tribes was one, did all consent in an unity of religion; upon the distraction of the kingdom under jeroboam, were presently likewise divided in their observance of God's worship; and they who before were zealous for the Temple at jerusalem, were after as superstitious for Dan and Bethel: the Prophet giveth the reason of it, They willingly walked after the commandment, namely, of jeroboam, Host 5.11. no sooner did the Prince interpose his authority, but the people were willing to pin their opinions and practices upon his word: If Omri make statutes, and Ahab confirm idolatrous counsels by his own practices; the Prophet shows how forward the people are to walk in them, Mich. 6.16. Therefore it is that our Saviour saith of the best sort of wicked men, Those who with gladness (and that is ever a symptom of love) received the Gospel, that yet in time of persecution they were offended and fell away, Matth. 13.21. To note unto us that when Christ is forsaken because of persecution, the imaginary love which was bestowed upon him before was certainly supported by no other ground than that was, is contrary to persecution, namely, the countenance and protection of public power. Secondly, a great part of men profess faith and love to Christ merely upon the rules of their Education. The main reason into which their religion is resolved, is not any evidence of excellency in itself, but only the customs and traditions of their forefathers, which is to build a divine faith upon an humane authority, and to set man in the place of God: certain it is that contrary religions can never be originally grounded upon the same reason; that which is a true and adequate principle of faith or love to Christ, can never be suitable to the conclusions of Mahumetisme or idolatry: now then when a professed Christian can give no other account of his love to Christ, than a Turk of his love to Mahumet; when that which moveth an Idolater to hate Christ, is all that one of us hath to say why he believeth in him, certainly that love and faith is but an empty presumption, which dishonoureth the Spirit of Christ, and deludeth our own souls. There is a natural instinct in the mind of man to reverence and vindicate the traditions of their progenitors, and at first view to detest any novel opinions which seem to thwart the received doctrine wherein they had been bred: and this affection is ever so much the stronger, by how much the tradition received is about the nobler and more necessary things. And therefore it discovereth itself with most violence and impatiency, in matters of Religion, wherein the eternal welfare of the soul is made the issue of the contention. We find with what hea●e of zeal the jews contended for the Temple at jerusalem, joseph. Antiq. lib. 13. cap. 6. and with how equal and confident emulation the Samaritans ventured their lives for the precedency of their Temple on mount Gerazim; and took an oath to produce proofs for the authority thereof, and yet all the ground of this will-worship was the tradition of their Fathers. For our Saviour assures us that they worshipped they knew not what, joh. 4.20 22, and only taken things upon trust from their predecessors. The Satirist hath made himself merry with describing the combat of two neighbour towns amongst the Egyptians in the opposite defence of those ridiculous idols, Immortal Odium, et nunquam sanabile vulnus; Ardet adhuc combos & tentyra; summus u●rinque Ind. furer vulgo, quod 〈◊〉 v●●morum Odit ●terque locus, cum solos cr●d●t hab●n●os Ess Deos, quos ipse col●t. I●venal. satire. 15. the several worship of which they had been differently bred up unto: And surely, if a profane Christian, and a zealous Mahometan should join in the like contention, notwithstanding the subject itself, on the one side defended, were a sacred and precious truth, yet I doubt not but the self same reasons might be the sole motive of the Christian to vindicate the honour of Christ, and of the other to maintain the worship of Mahomet. I mean a blind and pertinations adhering to that Religion in which they had been bred, a natural inclination to favour domestical opinions, a high estimation of the persons of men from whom by succession they have thus been instructed, without any Spiritual conviction of the truth, or experience of the good which the true members of Christ resolve their love unto him into. And this we find was ever the reasons of the jews obstinacy against the Prophets, they answered all their arguments, with the practice and traditions they had received from their Fathers, jer. 9.14.11.10.44.17. Act. 7.51. Thirdly, the heart may be mispersuaded of its love to Christ, by judging that an affection unto him, which is indeed nothing but a self love and a desire o● advancing private ends. The rule whereby Christ at the last day will measure the love or hatred of men unto him, is their love or hatred of his brethren and members here, A●ro paricies, au●o laquearia, auro fulgent capita co●●mnarum, & 〈◊〉 atque ●suricus ante sores nos●ras Christus in paupere moritur. Hieron. ad Gaudentium. Mat. 25.40, 45▪ for in all their afflictions Christ himself is afflicted. Peter lovest thou me? feed my sheep; make proof of thy love to me by thy service and compassion to my people. And how many are there everywhere to be found whose love unto themselves hath devoured all brotherly love? who take no pity either upon the souls, or temporal necessities of those with whom they yet pretend a fellowship in Christ's own body? who spend more upon their own pride and luxury, upon their backs and bellies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Iust. Martyr. Apol. 2. Qui Christiano vocabul● gloriantur & perditè vivunt, non absurdè possunt videri medio Noe filio figurari; passionem quippe Christi, quae illius hominis nuditate significata est, & annunciant profitendo, & male agendo exhonorant. August. de Civit. Dei, lib. 16. cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Ignat. epist. ad Tral. their pleasures and excesses, yea bury more of their substance in the maws of hawks and dogs, than they can ever persuade themselves to put into the bowels of the poor Saints? surely at the day of judgement, however such men here profess to love Christ, and would spit in the face of him who with justin Martyr should say, they were not Christians, it will appear that such men did as formally and ●●properly deny Christ, as if with Peter they had publicly sworn, I know not the man. The Apostle plainly intimates thus much, when he showeth that the experiment of the Corinthians ministration to the necessity of the Saints was an inducement unto the Churches to praise God for their professed subjection to the Gospel of Christ, 2 Cor. 9.13. Again, as Christ is present with us in his poor members, so likewise in the power of his ordinances, and in the light and evidence of his Spirit shining forth in the lives of holy men; If then we are as impatient of the edge of his word, when it divides between the bone and the marrow, when it discerneth and discovereth our secret thoughts, our bosom sins, our ambitions, unclean, and hypocritical intents: if the lives and Communion of the Saints be in like manner an eyesore unto us in shaming and reproving our formal and fruitless profession of the same truth, as Christ's was unto the jews; certainly the same affections of hatred, reproach, and disestimation which we show unto them, we would with so much the more bitterness have expressed unto Christ himself, if we had lived in his days, by how much that Spirit of grace, against which the Spirit which is in us envieth, was above measure more abundantly in him than in the holiest of his members. If you were of the world (saith our Saviour) the world would love their own, but now I have called you out of the world, I have given to you a Spirit which is contrary to the Spirit of the World, therefore the world hateth you. And this is evident when men hate another merely for that distinction which differenceth him from them, they much more hate him from whom the difference itself originally proceedeth. We see then that they who openly profess Christ, may yet inwardly hate him, because the ground of their profession is not any experimental goodness which they have tasted in him (for by nature men have no relish of Christ at all) but only self-love and private ends, a Si quis Christo ●emporalia p●eponat, no● esl in cofundam●ntum Christus. ●ug, de civet Dei, lib 21. cap. 26. Mu●●●●missâ 〈◊〉 prop●●●anon 〈…〉, & 〈◊〉 quaere. ●es, 〈◊〉 quae jesu Christi, non à Christi unitate, sed à suis commodis 〈…〉. Aug de Baptismo cent. Donat. lib. 4. cap. 10. whereby Christ is subordinated to their own commodities. Men are herein just like the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. etc. l●s. Antiq. lib. 12. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. joseph. Antiq. lib. 11. cap. 8. Samaritans, of whom josephus reports that when Antiochus persecuted the jews, they then utterly disavowed any consanguinity with them, denied their Temple on mount Gerosim to be dedicated to the great God, and declared their lineage from the Medes and Persians: but when before that, Alexander had showed favour unto the jews, and remitted the tribute of every seventh year, they then claimed kindred with that people, and counterfeited a descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasse, that thereby they might enjoy the c ●uos vi●es petulanter & ●iocac●●er insul●●re 〈◊〉 Chri●●●, 〈◊〉 in e●s 〈…〉 que non evasissent, nisi se●vos Christi se esse finxissent, et nunc ingratâ superbia, atque im●itssimá insaniá ejus nomini resistunt corde perverso, ut sempiternis tenebris pu●iantur, ad quod ●omen, ore vel subdola consugerunt, ut temporali luce ●rucrentur. Aug. de civ. Dei, lib. 1. cap. 1. privileges of those people whom otherwise they mortally hated. And so we find that in the Vastation of the City of Rome by the Goths and Barbarians, when there was but one only refuge allowed the Romans for the safety of their lives, namely to fly unto the Christians Churches, those very enemies of Christ and his profession, who before had persecuted him, and after returned to their malice again, were yet then as hasty to fly unto his Temples, and to assume the Title of his Servants, as they were after ungratefully malicious in reproaching Christian Religion as if that had been the provocation of those calamities. And may we not still observe amongst Christians at this day many men who contrary to the evidence of their judgement, and peace of their consciences, conform themselves unto the vanities, courses, & companies of this evil world, and like cowards are afraid to adventure on a rigorous and universal subjection to the truth of Christ, dare not keep themselves close to those narrow rules of S. Paul, to abstain from jesting which is not seemly, to avoid all appearances of evil, to reprove the unfruitful works of darkness, to speak unto Edification that their words may minister grace unto the hearers, to rejoice always in the Lord, to give place unto wrath, to recompense evil with good, to be circumspect and exact in their walking before God, and all this merely out of suspicion of some disrespect and disadvantages which may hereupon meet them in the world, of some remoraes, and stoppage in the order of those projects which they have contrived for their private ends? Now if such purposes as these do startle men from a punctual and rigorous profession of the Gospel of Christ and his most holy ways (notwithstanding our vow in Baptism do as strictly bind us thereunto, as unto the external title of Christianity) suppose we that the same or greater disadvantages should now (as in the primitive times) attend at the naked and outward profession of Christ; would not such men as these fall into downright apostasy, and deny the Lord that bought them? certainly our Saviour hath so resolved that case in the very best sort of unregenerate men, noted in the stony ground; when times of persecution happen, that they are brought to the trial who it was whom in their profession they loved, Christ or themselves, the excellency of the knowledge of him, or the secure enjoyment of secular contentments, they will then certainly fall away, and be offended, Matt. 13.21. so profound and unsearchable is the deceitful heart of man, that by that very reason for which men contend for the outward face and profession of Religion, because they love their pleasures and profits which without such a profession they cannot peaceably enjoy, they are deterred from a close, spiritual, and universal obedience to the power thereof, because thereby likewise those pleasures and profits are kept within such rules of moderation as the nature of a boundless and unsatisfiable lust will not admit. This is a certain rule in love, that the motions and desires thereof are strong, and therefore in any thing which the soul loves, it therein strives for excellency and perfection; and this rule holds most true in religion, because when the so●●e loves that, it loves it under the apprehension of the greatest good, and therefore by consequence sets the strongest and most industrious desires of the soul upon it. Therefore the Apostle saith, that the Love of Christ, 2 Cor. 5.14, 15. namely that love of him which is by the Holy Ghost shed abroad in our hearts, constraineth us to live unto him, and to aspire after him who died for us and rose again. Love is as strong as death, it will take no denial. It is the wing, and weight of the soul, which fixeth all the thoughts, and carrieth all the desires unto an intimate unity with the thing it loves, stirreth up a zeal to remove all obstacles which stand between it, worketh a languor or failing of nature in the want of it, Amor concupiscentiae non requiescit in qua cunque extrinsecâ aut superficiali adeptione amati, sed quaerit amatum perfectè habere, quasi ad intima i●●ius pervenieus etc. Aquin. 12 ae. qu. 28. art. 2. vid. ibid. art. 4. & 5. Cant 2.5. Psal. 119.20. Esay 26.8. Psal. 42.2. Rom. 8.23. Psal. 119.5.10.31.47.54.81. etc. a liquefaction and softness of nature to receive the impressions of it, an egress of the Spirits, and as it were an haste of the soul to meet and entertain it. Whence those expressions of the Saints in holy Scripture, Comfort me with apples, stay me with flagons, for I am sick of love, my soul breaketh for the longing which it hath unto thy judgements at all times. The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. My soul thirsteth for God, yea for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God? We that have the first fruit of the Spirit groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our Bodies. O that my ways were directed that I might keep thy commandments, with my whole heart have I sought thee, I have stuck unto thy testimonies, I will delight myself in thy commandments, thy statutes have been my songs; my soul fainteth for thy salvation, etc. By all which we see that a true love of Christ doth excite strong desires, and an earnest aspiring and ambition of the soul to walk in all wellpleasing, and to be in all things conformable unto him. What the Apostle saith of Spiritual hope, we may truly say of love, (which is the fundamental affection, and root of all the rest) He that hath it indeed in him, purgeth himself even as Christ is pure. The Love of the World, and the things and lusts of the world may indeed consist with the formal profession, but no way with the truth or power of a true love to Christ or his government. For love is ever the principle and measure of all our actions, Quodlibet agens propter amorem agit quodcunque agit. Aquin. 12 ae. qu. 28. art. 6. such as it is, such likewise will they be too. Fourthly, something like love there may be in natural men unto Christ, grounded upon the historical assurance and persuasion of his being now in glory, attended by mighty Angels, filled with all the treasures of wisdom, knowledge, grace, power, and other excellent attributes, which can attract love even from an enemy; and that he hath and still doth procure such good things for mankind, in their deliverance from the guilt of sin, and from the wrath to come, as of which, might they but have an exemption from his spiritual government, and a dispensation to live according to their own lusts still, no man should be more greedily desirous. As Samson met the Lion as an enemy, when he was alive, but after he was slain, he went unto him as to a table; there was only terror while he lived, but honey when he was dead: so doubtless many men, to whom the bodily presence of Christ, and the mighty power and penetration of his heavenly preaching, whereby he smote sinners unto the ground, and spoke with such authority as never man spoke, would have been unsufferably irksome, and full of terror (as it was unto the Scribes and Pharisees) can yet, now that he is out of their sight, and doth not in person, but only by those who are his witnesses torment the inhabitants of the earth, pretend much admiration, and thankful remembrance of that death of his, which was so full of honey for all that come unto him; Securus licet Aeneam Rutilumque ferocem Committas, nulli gravis est percussus Achilles. Quid ●●fert dictis ignoscat Mutius, anon? Pone Tigillinum, taedâ lucebis in illà Qua stantes ardent qui fixo gutture fumant, etc. juvenal. satire. 1. for as particular dependencies and expectations may make a man flatter and adore the greatness of some living Potentate, whose very image notwithstanding the same man doth professedly abominate in other tyrants of the world who are dead, or upon whom he hath not the same ends: so the selfsame reason may make men in hypocritical expressions flatter & fawn upon Christ himself who is absent, and yet hate with a perfect hatred the very image of his Spirit, in the power of his Word, and in the lives of his people. The very Scribes and Pharisees, who blasphemed his Spirit, and contrived his death, could yet be contented to be gainers thereby; for see they confess, It is expedient for us that one die for the people. Lastly, a false love to Christ may be grounded upon a false conceit of love to his ordinances: For as it is certain that he who loves the Word and worship of Christ, as his, doth love him too who is the Author of them: so it is certain likewise that that love which is sometimes pretended unto them, may indeed in them fix upon nothing but accidental and by-respects. This people, saith the Lord to his Prophet, come, and sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Here is love in pretence, but falsehood in the heart: what then was it which in the Prophet they did thus love? That presently follows, Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument, Ezek. 33.31, 32. that is, it is not my will which in thy ministry they at all regard, but only those circumstantial ornaments of graceful action and elocution which they attend with just alike proportion of sensual delight, as an ear doth the harmony of a well tuned instrument: for as a man may be much affected with the picture of his enemy, if drawn by a skilful hand, and yet therein love nothing of the person, but only the cunning of the workman who drew the piece: So a man who hates the life and Spirit of the Word of God itself, as being diametrically contrary to that spirit of lust, and of the world, which rules in him; may yet be so wonderfully taken with that dexterity of wit, or delicacy of expression, or variety of learning, or sweetness of speech, and action, or whatsoever other perfection of nature or industry in the dispensers of that Word are most suitable to his natural affections, as that he may from thence easily cheat his own conscience, and ground a misperswasion of his love to God's Word, which yet indeed admireth nothing but the perfections of a man. Nay suppose he meet not with such lenocinia to entice his affection, yet the very pacification of the conscience, which by a notorious neglect of God's ordinances would haply be disquieted, or the credit of bearing conformity to Ecclesiastical orders, and the established service of God in his Church, or some other the like sinister respect may hold a man to such an external fair correspondence, as by a deceitful heart may easily be misconstrued a love of God's ordinances. Nay further, a man may externally glory in the privilege of God's oracles, he may distinctly believe, and subscribe to the truth of them, he may therein hear many things gladly, and escape many pollutions of the world, and yet here hence conclude no clearer evidence of his love to Christ in his word, than the unbelieving jews, or Herod, or Ahab, or Simon Magus, jer. 7.4. Rom. 2.17.20. Host 2.2, 3. Mark. 6.20. 1 King. 21.27— 29. or the foolish Virgins and apostates (all which have attained to some of these degrees) could have done. For the clearing then of this great case touching the evidence of a man's love to Christ, we must first know that this is not a flower of our own garden, Act. 8.13. 2 Pet. 2.20. for every man by nature is an enemy to Christ and his Kingdom, of the jews mind, we will not have this man to reign over us; and the reason is because the image of the old Adam which we bear, is extremely contrary to the heavenly image of the second Adam, unto which we are not borne, but must be renewed. And this is certain, our love is according to our likeness, he who hath not the nature and Spirit of Christ, can never love him or move towards him. For love is like fire, congregat homogenea, it carrieth things of a nature to one another. Our love then unto Christ must be of a spiritual generation: and it is grounded upon two causes; First, upon the Proportion which is in him unto all our desires or capacities, upon the evidence of that unsearchable and bottomless goodness which is in him, which makes him the fairest often thousand, even altogether lovely. For that heart which hath a spiritual view of Christ, Ephes. 3.18, 19 will be able by faith to observe more dimensions of love, and sweetness in him than the knowledge of any creature is able to measure. In all worldly things though of never so curious and delicate an extraction, yet still even those hearts which swim in them, and glut upon them, can easily discover more dregs than Spirits; nothing was ever so exactly fitted to the soul of man, wherein there was not some defect, or excess, something which the heart could wish were away, or something which it could desire were tempered with it. But in Christ and his kingdom there is nothing unlovely. For as in man the all that is, is full of corruption, so in Christ the all that he is, is nothing but perfection. His fullness is the centre and treasure of the soul of man, and therefore that love which is thereupon grounded must needs be in the soul as an universal habit and principle, to facilitate every service whereby we move unto this centre, for love is the weight or spring of the soul, Amor meus pondus meum, eo feror quocunque feror. Aug. which sets every faculty on work, neither are any of those commandments grievous which are obeyed in Love. And therefore it is called the fulfilling of the Law. True love unto Christ keeps the whole heart together, and carries it all one way, and so makes it universal, uniform, and constant in all its affections unto God (for unstedfastness of life proceeds from a divided or double heart, jam. 1.8.) As in the motions of the heavens, there is one common circumvolution which ex aequo carrieth the whole frame daily unto one point from east to west though each several sphere hath a several cross way of its own, wherein some move with a swifter, and others with a slower motion: So though several Saints may have their several corruptions, and those likewise in some stronger than in others, yet being all animated by one and the same Spirit, they all agree in a steady and uniform motion unto Christ. If a stone were placed under the concave of the moon, though there be fire, and air, and water between, yet through them all it would hasten to its own place; so be the obstacles never so many, or the conditions never so various through which a man must pass, through evil report and good report, through terrors and temptations, through a sea and a wilderness, through fiery Serpents and sons of Anak, yet if the heart love Christ indeed, and conclude that heaven is its home, nothing shall be able totally to discourage it from hastening thither, whither Christ the forerunner is gone before. Secondly, Cant. 2.16. joh. 14.23. joh. 1●. 21.23. the true Love of Christ is grounded upon the evidence of that Propriety which the soul hath unto him. And of that mutual inhabitation and possession which is between them. So that our love unto him in this regard is a kind of self love (and therefore very strong) because Christ and a Christian are but one. And the more persuasion the soul hath of this unity, the more must it needs love Christ. For we love him because he loved us first, 1 joh. 4.16.19. And therefore our Saviour, from the woman's apprehension of Gods more abundant love in the remission of her many and great sins, concludeth the measure and proportion of her love to him. But saith he, To whom little is forgiven the same loveth little, Luke 7.47. Now True Love of Christ and his Kingdom thus grounded will undoubtedly manifest itself, first in an universal extent unto any thing wherein Christ is present unto his Church. First, the soul in this case will abundantly love and cherish the Spirit of Christ. Entertain with dearest embraces, as worthy of all acceptation, the motions, and dictates, and secret illapses of him into the soul; will be careful to hear his voice always behind him, prompting and directing him in the way he should walk, will endeavour with all readiness and pliableness of heart to receive the impression of his seal, and the testimony which he giveth in the inner man unto all God's promises; will fear and suspect nothing more than the frowardness of his own nature, which daily endeavoureth to quench, grieve, resist, rebel against this Holy Spirit, and to fling off from his conduct again. Secondly, the soul in this case will abundantly love the Ordinances of God (in which by his Spirit he is still walking in the midst of the Churches) for the Law is written in it by the finger of God, so that there is a suitableness and coincidencie between the Law of God and the heart of such a man. He will receive the word in the purity thereof, and not give way to those humane inventions which adulterate it, to that spiritual treason of wit and fancy, or of heresy and contradiction, which would stamp the private image and superscription of a man upon Gods own coin, and torture the Scriptures to confess that which was never in them. He will receive the word in the power, majesty, and authority thereof, suffering it like thunder to discover the forest, and to drive out all those secret corruptions which shelterd themselves in the corners, or deceit of his heart. He will delight to have his imaginations humbled, and his fleshly reasonings none plused, & all his thoughts subdued unto the obedience of Christ. He will receive the word as a wholesome potion, to that very end that it may search his secret places, and purge out those tough and incorporated lusts which hitherto he had not prevailed against. He will take heed of hardening his heart that he may not hear, of rejecting the counsel of God against himself, of thrusting away the word from him, of setting up a resolved will of his own against the call of Christ, as of most dangerous downfalls to the soul. Lastly, he will receive the word in the spiritualness thereof, subscribing to the closest precepts of the Law, suffering it to cleanse his heart unto the bottom, he will let the consideration of Gods command preponderate and overrule all respects of fear, love, profit, pleasure, credit, compliancy, or any other charm to disobedience; he will be contented to be led in the narrowest way, to have his secretest corruption revealed and removed, to expose his conscience with patience under the saving, though severest blows of this spiritual sword. In one word he will deny the pride of his own wit, and if it be the evident truth of God which is taught him, though it come naked, and without any dress, or contributions of humane fancy, he will distinguish between the author and the instrument, between the treasure and the vessel in which it comes, and from any hand receive it with such awful submission of heart, as becometh God's own word. Thirdly, the soul in this case will most dearly love every member of Christ. For these two, the love of Christ, and of his members, do infallibly accompany one another. For though there be a far higher proportion of love due unto Christ than unto men, yet our love to our brethren is quoad nos and à posteriori, not only the evidences, but even the measure of our love to Christ. He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (saith the Apostle) 1 joh. 4.20. he that hath not love enough in him for a man like himself, how can he love God whose goodness being above our knowledge requireth a transcendency in our love? This then is a sure rule; He that loveth not a member of Christ, loveth not him, and he who groweth in his love to his brethren, groweth likewise in his love to Christ. For as there is the same proportion of one to five as there is of twenty to an hundred, though the numbers be far less: as the motion of the shadow upon the dial, answereth exactly to that proportion of motion and distance which the Sun hath in the firmament, though the Sun goeth many millions of miles when the shadow it may be moveth not the breadth of a hand: so though our love to Christ ought to be a far more abundant love, than to any of his members, yet certain it is that the measure of our progress in brotherly love is punctually answerable to the growth of our love to Christ. Secondly, a true grounded love unto Christ will show itself in the right manner or conditions of it. Which are principally these three: First, it must be an incorrupt and sincere love. Grace be upon all those that love the Lord jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in incorruption or sincerity, saith the Apostle, Eph. 6.24. that is, on those who love not in word or outward profession and stipulation only, but in deed and truth, or in the permanent constitution of the inner man; which moveth them to love him always and in all things, to hate every false way, to set the whole heart, the study, purpose, prayer and all the activity of our Spirits against every corruption in us which standeth at enmity with him and his Kingdom. Secondly, it must be a principal and superlative love, grounded upon the experience of the soul in itself, that there is ten thousand times more beauty and amiableness in him, than in all the honours, pleasures, profits, satisfactions which the world can afford; that in comparison or competition with him, the dearest things of this world, the parents of our body, the children of our flesh, the wife of our bosom, the blood in our veins, the heart in our breast, must not only be laid down and lost as sacrifices, but hated as snares when they draw us away from him. Thirdly, it must be an unshared and uncommunicable love, without any corrivals; for Christ as he is unto us all in all, so he requireth to have all our affections fixed upon him: As the rising of the Sun drowneth all those innumerable Stars which did shine in the firmament before; so must the beauty of this Sun of righteousness blot out, or else gather together unto itself all those scattered affections of the soul, which were before cast away upon meaner objects. Lastly, true love unto Christ will show itself in the natural and genuine effects of so strong and spiritual a grace: some of the principal I before named, unto which we may add, First, An universal, cheerful, and constant obedience to his holy Commandments: If a man, saith Christ, love me, he will keep my Commandments; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him, job. 14.24. There is a twofold love, a love which descends, and a love which ascends, a love of Bounty and beneficence, and a love of Duty and service: so then, as a father doth then only in truth love his child, when with all care he provideth for his present education and future subsistence; so a child doth then truly love his father, when with all reverence and submission of heart he studieth to please and to do him service: And this love if it be free and ingenuous, by how much the more not only pure and equal in itself, but also profitable unto him the commandment is, by so much the more carefully will it endeavour the observation thereof. And therefore since the soul of a Christian knows that as God himself is good, and doth good, Psal. 119.68. Psal. 19. 7-11. Mic. 2.7. Esay 45.19. Psal. 119.140. so his Law (which is nothing but a ray and glimpse of his own holiness) is likewise good in itself, and doth good unto those which walk uprightly, it is hereby inflamed to a more sweet and serious obedience thereunto, in the keeping whereof, there is for the present so much sweetness, and in the future so great a reward: Thy Word, saith the Psalmist, is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it. Secondly, A free, willing, and cheerful suffering for him and his Gospel. Unto you, saith the Apostle, it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Phil. 1.29. Tertul. Apolog. cap. ult. We see how far a humane love either of their country, or of vainglory hath transported some heathen men to the devoting and casting away their own lives: How much more should a spiritual love of Christ put courage into us to bear all things, and to endure all things (as the Apostle speaks, 1 Cor. 13.7.) for him, who bore our sins, and our stripes, and our burdens for us, which were heavier than all the world could lay on? And this was the inducement of that holy martyr a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Euseb. hist. Eccl. lib. 4. cap. 14. Polycarp, to die for Christ, notwithstanding all the persuasions of the persecutors, who by his apostasy would fain have cast the more dishonour upon Christian Religion, and as it were by sparing him, have the more cunningly persecuted that; This eighty six years, saith he, I have served him, and he never in all that time hath done me any hurt, why should I be so ungrateful as not to trust him in death, who in so long a life hath never forsaken me? I am persuaded, saith the Apostle, that b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ignat. ep. ad Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Ibid. neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ jesus our Lord, Rom. 8.38, 39 Nothing able to turn away his love from us, and therefore nothing should be able to quench our love to him. Many waters, that is, by the usual c Psal. 69.1, 2. Psal. 124.4, 5. Esay 8.7. expression of the holy Scriptures, many afflictions, persecutions, temptations, cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, Cant. 8.7. Thirdly, A zeal and jealous contention for the glory, truth, worship and ways of Christ: wicked men pretend much love to Christ, but they indeed serve only their own turns; as Ivy, which clasps an Oak very close, but only to suck out sap for its own leaves and berries; but a true love is full of care to advance the glory of Christ's kingdom, and to promote his truth and worship, fears lest Satan and his instruments should by any means corrupt his truth, or violate his Church, as the Apostle to the Galatians professeth, the fear which his love wrought in him towards them; I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain, Gal. 4. 11-16. So we find what contention, and disputation, and strife of spirit the Apostles and others in their ministry used, when Christ and his holy Gospel was any way either injured by false brethren, or kept out by the idolatry of the places to which they came, Act. 15.2. Act. 17.16. Act. 18.25. & 19.8. Gal. 2.4, 5. jude v. 2. Lastly, A longing after his presence, a love of his appearing, a desire to be with him which is best of all, a seeking after him, and grieving for him, when for any while he departs from the soul, a waiting for his salvation, a delight in his Communion, and in his spiritual refreshments, a communing with him in his secret chamber, in his houses of wine, and in his galleries of love. By which lovely expressions the Wiseman hath described the fellowship which the Church desireth to have with Christ, and that abiding and supping of Christ with his Church, feasting the soul with the manifestations of himself and his graces unto it, Psalm. 42.3. & 105.4. 2 Cor. 5.2. 2 Tim. 4.8. Phil. 1.23. Cant. 3.1, 2. Cant. 5. 6-8. Gen. 49.18. Psal. 119.131. Cant. 1.4. & 2.4. Cant. 7.5. jon. 14. 21-23. Revel. 3.20. Having thus by occasion of the enemies of Christ, spoken something of the true and false Love which is in the world towards him: we now proceed to the particulars mentioned before. And the first is the term of Duration, or measure of time in the Text, Until. It hath a double relation in the words, unto Christ's Kingdom, and unto his Enemies. As it looks to the kingdom of Christ, it denotes both the Continuance and the Limitation of his kingdom. The continuance of it in his own person, for it is there fixed and intransient. He is a King without successors, as being subject to no mortality, nor defect which might be by them supplied. The kingdom of Christ (as I observed) is either Natural, as he is God, or Dispensatory, and by Donation from the Father, as he is Mediator, and not only of the former, but even of this likewise the Scripture affirms that it is Eternal. It is a kingdom set up by the God of heaven, and yet it shall never be destroyed, but stand for ever, Dan. 2.44. I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion, that notes the unction and donation, Psalm. 2.6. and in mount Zion where God hath set him, he shall reign from henceforth even for ever, Mic. 4.7. Though he be a child borne, and a son given, yet of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and justice, from henceforth for ever and ever, Esay 9.6, 7. unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, Heb. 1.8. And here we must distinguish between the substance of Christ's kingdom, and the form or manner of administering and dispencing it. In the former respect it is absolutely eternal, Christ shall be a head and rewarder of his members, an everlasting Father, a Prince of peace unto them for ever. In the latter respect it shall be Eternal according to some acception, that is, it shall remain until the consummation of all things, as long as there is a Church of God upon the earth, there shall be no new way of spiritual and essential government prescribed unto it, no other Vicar, Successor, Monarch, or Usurper upon his office by God allowed, but he only by his Spirit in the dispensation of his ordinances shall order and overrule the consciences of his people, and subdue their enemies: yet he shall so reign till then, as that he shall then cease to rule in such manner as now he doth, when the end comes he shall deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, and when all things shall be subdued unto him, he also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all, 1 Cor. 15. 24-28. He shall so return it unto God, as God did confer, and as it were, appropriate it unto him, namely, in regard of judiciary dispensation and execution, in which respect our Saviour saith, that as touching the present administration of the Church, The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement, and hath given authority to execute it unto his Son, joh. 4.22, 27. Now Christ governeth his Church by the ministry of his Word and Sacraments, and by the effusion of his Spirit in measure and degrees upon his members; by his mighty, though secret, power he fighteth with his enemies, and so shall do till the resurrection of the dead, when death, the last enemy shall be overcome, and then in these respects his kingdom shall cease, for he shall no more exercise the offices of a Mediator in compassionating, defending, interceding for his Church; but yet he shall still sit and reign for ever as God, coequal with his Father, and shall ever be the Head of the Church his body. Thus we see though Christ's kingdom in regard of the manner of dispensation, and present execution thereof, it be limited by the consummation of all things; yet in itself it is a kingdom which hath neither within the seeds of mortality, nor without the danger of a concussion, but in the substance is immortal, though in regard of the commission and power which Christ had as Mediator to administer it alone by himself, and by the fullness of his Spirit, it be at last voluntarily resigned into the hands of the Father, and Christ as a part of that great Church become subject to the Father, that God may be all in all. Now the grounds of the Constancy of Christ's government over his Church, and by consequence of the Church itself which is his kingdom, are amongst others these: First, the Decree and promise of God sealed by an oath, which made it an adamantine and unbended purpose, james 1.17. Non mutat voluntatem, sed vult mutatati●nem, Aqu. part. 1. qu. 19 art. 7. Aug. Confess. lib. 12. c. 15. deciv. Dei, lib. 14. c. 11. lib. 22. cap. 1. de Trin. lib. 5. c. 16. which the Lord would never repent of nor reverse. All Gods Counsels are immutable (though he may alter his works, yet he doth never change his will,) but when he sealeth his Decree with an oath, that makes their immutability past question or suspicion. In that case it is impossible for God to change, because it is impossible for God to lie, or deny himself, Hebr. 6.18. Now upon such a Decree is the Kingdom of Heaven established. Once have I sworn by my Holiness that I will not lie unto David, saith the Lord, Psal. 89.35. Once, that notes the constancy and fixedness of God's promise; By my Holiness, that notes the inviolableness of his promise; as if he should have said, Let me no longer be esteemed an Holy God than I keep immutably that Covenant which I have sworn unto David in my truth. Secondly, the free gift of God unto his Son Christ, whereby he committed all power and judgement unto him. And Power is a strong argument to prove the Stability of a kingdom, especially if it be on either side supported with wisdom and righteousness, as the power of Christ is: And therefore from his power he argues for the perpetuity of his Church to the end of the world, All power is given me in heaven and earth; Go ye therefore and preach the Gospel to all nations; and lo I am with you always to the end of the world, Matth. 28. 18-20. And the argument is very strong and emphatical, for though kingdoms of great power have been and may be subdued, yet the reason is, because much power hath still remained in the adverse side; or if they have been too vast for any smaller people to root out, yet having not either wisdom enough to actuate so huge a frame, or righteousness to prevent or purge out those vicious humours of emulation, Vid. Arist. Polit. lib. 5. In se magna ruunt, laetis hunc numin● rebus Crescendi posuere modum, Lucan. sedition, luxury, injustice, violence and impiety, which like strong diseases in a body, are in states the preparations and seminaries of mortality, they have sunk under their own weight, and been inwardly corrupted by their own vices. But now first, the power of Christ in his Church is universal, there is in him all power and no weakness, no power without him or against him; and therefore no wonder if from a fullness of power in him, and an emptiness in his enemies, the argument of continuance in his kingdom doth infallibly follow; for what man, if he were furnished with all sufficiency, would suffer himself to be mutilated and dismembered, as Christ should, if any thing should prevail against the Church, which is his fullness. Again, this power of Christ is supported with wisdom, it can never miscarry for any inward defect, for the wisdom is proportionable to the power; this, All power, and that, All the treasures of wisdom; Power able by weakness to confound the things which are mighty, and wisdom able by foolishness to bring to nought the understanding of the prudent; and both these are upheld by righteousness, which is indeed the very soul and sinews of a kingdom, upon which the thrones of Princes are established, and which the Apostle makes the ground of the perpetuity of Christ's kingdom, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom, Hebr. 1.8. Thirdly, the quality of Christ's kingdom is to be a Growing kingdom, though the originals thereof be but like a grain of mustardseed, or like Eliahs' cloud to a humane view despicable, and almost below the probabilities of subsistence, the object rather of derision than of terror to the world; yet at last it groweth into a wideness, which maketh it as catholic as the world. And therefore that which the Prophet David speaks of the Sun, the Apostle applies to the Gospel, Rom. 10.18. to note that the Circle of the Gospel is like that of the Sun, universal to the whole world. It is such a kingdom as groweth into other kingdoms, and eats them out. The little stone in Nebuchadnezzars' vision (which was the Kingdom of Christ, for so jerusalem is called a stone, Zech. 12.3.) broke in pieces the great Monarchies of the earth, and grew up into a great mountain which filled the world, Dan. 2.34, 35. for the kingdoms of the earth must become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ, Revel. 11.15. Therefore the Prophets express Christ and his kingdom by the name of a Branch, which groweth up for a standard and ensign of the people, Esay 11.1.10. Zech. 3.8. A branch which grows, but never withers. It hath no principles of death in itself; and though it be for a while subject to the assaults of adversaries, and foreign violence, yet that serves only to try it, and to settle it, but not to weaken or overturn it: The gates of hell, all the powers, policies, and laws of darkness, shall never prevail against the Church of Christ: he hath bruised, and judged, and trodden down Satan under our feet. He hath overcome the world; he hath subdued iniquity, he hath turned persecutions into seminaries and resurrections of the Church; he hath turned afflictions into matters of glory and of rejoicing; so that in all the violence which the Church can suffer, it doth more than conquer, because it conquers not by repelling but by suffering. And this shows the sacrilege and sauciness of the Church of Rome, which in this point doth with a double impiety therefore pervert the Scriptures, that it may derogate from the honour of Christ and his kingdom: And those things which are spoken of the infallibility, authority, and fullness of power which Christ hath in his body, of the stability, constancy, and universality of his Church upon earth, doth arrogate only to the Pope and his See at Rome. As the Donatists in S. Augustine's time from that place of the Spouse in the Canticles, Aug. Epist. 48. & to. 7. de unitat. Eccles. c. 16. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest in Meridie, excluded all the world from being a Church, save only a corner of Africa, which was at that time the nest of those hornets: So because Christ says, his Church is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; therefore the Romanists from hence conclude all these privileges to belong to them, and exclude all the famous Churches of the world beside from having any communion with Christ the Head. B. jewels Defence of the Apology, part 4. page 360. That scornful expostulation which Harding makes with that renowned and incomparable Bishop (under whose hand he was no more able to subsist, than a whelp under the paw of a Lion) shall we now change the song of Micheas the Prophet, Out of Zion shall come the Law, and the Word of the Lord from jerusalem; and sing a new song, out of Wittenberg is come the Gospel, and the Word of the Lord from Zurich and Geneva? may most truly and pertinently be retorted upon himself and his faction, who boldly curse and a Idem à Romano pontifice dividi, quod ab universa Ecclesia separari, Baron, to. 2. A. 254. §. 100 exclude all those Christian Churches from the body of Christ, and the hope of salvation, who will not receive laws from Rome, nor esteem the Cathedral determinations of that Bishop (though haply in himself an impure, diabolical and intolerable beast, as by their own confessions many of them have been) to be notwithstanding the infallible Edicts of the Spirit of God, and as undoubtedly the Word of Christ, as if S. Peter or Saint Paul had spoken it; an arrogancy than which there is scarce any more express and characteristical note to discern Antichrist by. It is true that Christ's regal power doth always show forth itself in upholding his Catholic Church, and in revealing unto it out of his sacred Word such necessary truths as are absolutely requisite unto its being and salvation; but to bind this power of Christ to one man, and to one See, (as if like the Pope he were infallible only in S. Peter's chair) is the mere figment of pride and ambition without any ground at all, raised out of a heap and aggregation of monstrous presumptions of humane and some most disputable, b Crantzius in Metropol. l. 5. c. 1. in Bonifacio 6. Stephano 6. Theodoro, Christophoro, joanne 12. Sylvestro 2. Sigon. de Regno Italiae, lib. 7. Anno 964. Guicciard. de Alex. 6. lib. Hist. 1. pag. 3, 4. Pet. Bembus de eodem in Hist. Venet. lib. 6. Platina in Christopher 1. joan. 13. Sylvestro 2. etc. Vid. Mornaeum de Ecclesia, ca 9 Reynol. Conser. c. 7. divis. 1. & 5. B. Carleton of Jurisdict. cap. 7. B. Usher de statu Ecclesiae, cap. 3, 4, 5. others most false conceits, of which though there be not the least vestigia in sacred Scriptures, yet must they be all first wrested in for indubitate principles, and laid for sure foundations before the first stone of Papal authority can be raised. As first, that the external and visible regiment of the whole Church is c Bellarm. lib. 1. de Pontif. Rom. cap. 9 Monarchical, and that there must be a predominant mistress Church set over all the rest, to which in all points they must have recourse, and to whose decisions they must conform without any hesitancy, or suspicion at all, whereas the Apostle tells us that the unity of the Church is gathered by many Pastors and Teachers, Eph. 4.11, 12, 13. for as if several needles be touched by so many several Lodestones (all which have the selfsame specifical virtue in them) they do all as exactly bend to one and the same point of heaven, as if they had been thereunto qualified by but one: so in as much as Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, come all instructed with one and the same spiritual truth and power towards the Church, therefore all the faithful, who are any where by these multitudes of Preachers taught what the truth is in jesus, do all by the secret sway and conduct of the same Spirit of Grace (whose peculiar office it is to guide his Church in all necessary and saving truth) with an admirable consent of heart, and unity of judgement incline to the same end, and walk in the same way, acknowledging no monarch over their consciences but CHRIST, nor any other ministerial application of his regal power in the Catholic Church, but only by several Bishops and Pastors, who in their several particular compasses are endowed with as plenary and ample ministerial power, as the Pope and his Consistory within the See of Rome. Secondly, that Peter was Prince and Monarch, Rock and Head in this Universal Church, and that he alone was custos clavium, and all this in the virtue of Christ's promise and commission granted unto him. Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my Church, Baron. An. 33. sect. 17. Bellar. de Pontif. Rom. lib. 1. c. 10. feed my sheep, feed my Lambs, unto thee will I give the Keys of the kingdom of heaven: In which respect Baronius calleth him * Quod non audet Bozius. Praeter Christum (inquit) non potest aliud fundamentum poni, quod sit itemprimarium design. Ecclesie, l. 18. c. 1. ob. 5. Lapidem primarium, the chief stone; and again, though Christ, saith he, be the Author and moderator of his Church, yet the Princedom and Monarchy he hath conferred upon Peter a Sicut (quod certum est) nemo potest aliud ponere fundamentum, prae●erid quod positum est, quod est Christus; ita etiam nec aliud quispiam ponet, quam quod posui● Christus, neque convellet quod ipse firmavit, dicens, Tu es Petrus, etc. Baron. An. 33 sect. 20. ; and therefore as no man can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, namely Christ, so no man can lay any other than that which Christ hath laid, namely Peter. And it is wonderful to consider what twigs and rushes they catch at to hold up this their monarchy. b Baron. A. 34. sect. 247. Bozius de fignis Ecclesiae, lib. 18. cap. 1.2. Bellarm. de Roman. Pontifice, lib. 1. cap. 17.25. Because Peter did preach first, therefore he is Monarch of the Church. By which reason his monarchy is long since expired, for his pretended successors scarce preach at all. And yet if that may be drawn to any argument, it proves only that he was Lapis primus, the first in order and in forwardness to preach Christ (as it became him who had three times denied him) but not Lapis primarius, the chief in dignity, and jurisdiction over the rest● and why should it not be as good an argument to say that james had the dignity of precedence before Peter, because Paul first names james, and then Cephas, and that in a place where he particularly singles them out as pillars and principal men in the Church, as to say that Peter hath jurisdiction over james and the rest, because in their Synods and assemblies he was the chief speaker? c Baron. An. 34. sect. 264. Because Peter cured the lame man that sat at the gate of the Temple, therefore he is universal monarch. By which reason likewise Paul who in the self same manner cured a cripple at Lystra, should fall into competition with Peter for his share in the monarchy. But the people there were not so acute disputants as these of Rome, for though they saw what Paul had done, yet they concluded the dignity and precedence for Barnabas, they called him jupiter and Paul Mercury. Again, because Peter d Baron. Ibid. sect. 269. pronounced sentence upon Ananias, therefore he is monarch of the universal Church: and why Paul should not here likewise come in for his share, I know not, for he also passed judgement upon Elimas the sorcerer (and we no where find that he derived his authority, or had any commission from Peter to do so.) And surely if by the same Apostolical and infallible Spirit of Christ, (which they both immediately received from Christ himself) S. Paul did adjudge Elimas to blindness, by the which S. Peter adjudged Ananias to death, I see not how any logic from a parity of actions can conclude a disparity of persons, except they will say that it is more monarchical to adjudge one to death, than another to blindness. Again, because Peter healed the sick by his shadow, Baron. Ibid. sect. 274. therefore Peter is monarch of the universal Church: and even in this point Paul likewise may hold on his competition, for why is not the argument as good that Paul is Monarch of the Church because the handkerchiefs and aprons which came from his body did cure diseases, and cast out Devils, as that Peter is therefore monarch because by the overshaddowing of his body the sick were healed? But the truth is there is no more substance in this argument for Peter's principality, than there is for their supposed miraculous virtue of images and relics of Saints, because the shadow (which was the image of Peter) did heal the sick, for that also is the Cardinal's great argument. Again, because Peter was sent to Samaria to confirm them in the faith, Ibid. sect. 275. An. 35. sect. 9.25. and to lay hands on them that they might receive the holy Ghost, and to confound Simon Magus the sorcerer, therefore he is primate of the Catholic Church, and hath monarchical jurisdiction. And yet the Pope is by this time something more monarchical than Peter, for he would think scorn to be sent as an Ambassador of the Churches from Rome to the Indians, amongst whom his Gospel hath been in these latter ages preached; and doubtless they would be something more confirmed than they are by the sovereign virtue of his prayers and presence. But alas, what argument is it of monarchy to be sent by others in a message, and that too not without an associate, who joined with him in the confirmation of that Church? and if the confuting, or cursing of Simon Magus were an argument of primacy, why should not S. Paul's cursing of Elimas, and Hymeneus, and Alexander, and S. john's of Cerinthus be arguments of their primacy likewise? Again, Baron. An. 39 sect. 6. because Paul went up to jerusalem to see Peter, therefore Peter was monarch of the Catholic Church. And why should not by this argument Elizabeth be concluded a greater woman than the virgin Marie, and indeed the lady of all woman, because the blessed Virgin went up into the hill country of judea, and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth? but we find no argument but of equality in the Text, for he went to see him as a brother, but not to do homage to him, or receive authority from him as a monarch, else why went he not up immediately to jerusalem, but stayed three years, and preached the Gospel by the commission he had received from Christ alone? and how came S. Paul to be so free, or S. Peter to be so much more humble than any of his pretended successors as the one to give with boldness, the other with silence and meekness to receive so sore a reproof in the face of all the brethren as many years after that did pass between them. Certainly S. Paul in so long time could not but learn to know his distance, and in what manner to speak to his monarch and primate. By these particulars we see upon what sandy foundation this vast and formidable Babel of Papal usurpation and power over the Catholic Church is erected (which yet upon the matter is the sole principle of Romish religion, upon which all their faith, worship and obedience dependeth.) But we say that as Peter was a foundation, so were all the other Apostles likewise, Eph. 2.20. Revel. 21.14. and that upon the same reason. For the Apostles were not foundations of the Church by any dignity of their persons, as Christ the chief corner stone was, but by the virtue of their Apostolical office, which was universal jurisdiction in governing the people of Christ, universal commission in instructing them, and a Spirit of infallibility in revealing Gods will unto them throughout the whole world. And therefore as Peter had the keys of the Kingdom of heaven to remit or retain the sins of men; so likewise had the other Apostles, joh. 20.23. That Christ's charge to Peter, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, is no other in substance than his commission to them all, go teach all nations baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. And that the particular directing of it unto Peter, and praying for him, was with respect unto his particular only by way of comfort and confirmation, as being then a weak member, not by way of dignity, or deputation of Christ's own regal power to him in the visible Church. For all the offices of Christ are intransient and uncommunicable to any other, in as much as that administration and execution of them dependeth upon the dignity of his person, and upon the fullness of his Spirit, which no mortal man or immortal Angel is capable of. But all this is not enough to be granted them for the raising their authority. But than thirdly, we must grant them too that Peter, thus qualified, was Bishop of Rome, for proof whereof they have no Testimony of Holy Scriptures, but only humane tradition, Cui impossibile non est subesse falsum. So that in this which is one of the main principles they build upon, their faith cannot be resolved into the word of God, Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 12. Baron. An. 39 sect. 16.26. and therefore is no divine faith. Fourthly, that he did appoint that Church to be the monarchical and fundamental see to all other Churches; for he was Bishop as well of Antioch as of Rome, by their own confession. And I wonder why some of his personal virtue should not cleave to his chair at Antioch, but all pass over with him to another place. Fifthly, that he did transmit all his prerogatives to his successors in that chair. By which assertion they may as well prove that they all (though some of them have been sorcerers, others murderers, others blasphemous atheists) were inheriters of S. Peter's love to Christ, for from thence our Saviour infers, feed my sheep, to note that none feed his sheep, but those that love his person. Lastly, that that long succession from S. Peter until now hath ever since been legal, and uninterrupted. Or else the Church must sometimes have been a monster without a head. We grant that some of the Ancients argue from succession in the Church; but it was while it was yet pure, Tertull. depraescript. cap. 19.22. Aug. Epist. 165. de dissidio Donatist. and while they could by reason of the little space of time between them and the Apostles, with evidence resolve their Doctrine through every medium into the preaching of the Apostles themselves. But even in their personal succession who knoweth not what Simonies and Sorceries have raised diverse of them unto that degree? and who is able to resolve, that every Episcopal ordination of every Bishop there hath been valid, since thereunto is requisite both the intention and Orders of that Bishop that ordained him. These and a world of the like uncertainties must the faith of these men depend upon, who dare arrogate to themselves the prerogatives of Christ, and of his Catholic Kingdom. But I have been too long upon this argument. Again this point of the stability of Christ's Kingdom is a ground of strong confidence & comfort to the whole Church of Christ, against all the violence of any outward enemies wherewith sometimes they may seem to be swallowed upon. Though they associate themselves, and gird to the battle, though they take counsel, and make decrees against the Lords anointed and against his spouse, yet it shall all come to nought, and be broken in pieces, all the smoke of hell shall not be able to extinguish, nor all the power of hell to overturn the Church of God, and the reason is, Immanuel, God is with us, isaiah. 8.9, 10. That anointing which the Church hath received shall deliver it at last from the yoke of the enemy, isaiah. 10.27. Though it seem for the time in as desperate a condition as a dry stick in the fire, or a dead body in the grave, yet this is not indeed a sepulture, but a semination. Though it seem to be cast away for a season, yet in due time it will come up and flourish again, Zechariah 3.2. Ezekiel 37.11. And this is the assurance that the Church may have, that the Lord can save and deliver a second time, isaiah 11.11. that he is the same God yesterday, and to day, and for ever; and therefore such a God as the Church hath found him heretofore, such a God it shall find him to day, and for ever, in the returns and manifestations of his mercy. Which discovers the folly, and foretells the confusion of the enemies of Christ's Kingdom, they conceive mischief, but they bring forth nothing but vanity, job 15.35. They conceive chaff, and bring forth stubble, isaiah. 33.11. They imagine nothing but a vain thing, their malice is but like the fight of briers and thorns with the fire, isaiah. 27.4. Nahum 1.10. like the dashing of waves against a rock, like a mad man's shooting arrows against the Sun, which at last return upon his own head; like the puffing of the fan against the corn, which driveth away nothing but the chaff, like the beating of the wind against the sail, or the foaming and raging of the water against a mill, which by the wisdom of the artificers are all ordered unto useful and excellent ends. And surely when the Lord shall have accomplished his work on mount Zion, when he shall by the adversary, as by a fan have purged away the iniquity of jacob, and taken away his sin, he will then return in peace and beauty unto his people again. Look on the preparation of some large building, in one place you shall see heaps of lime, and mortar, in another piles of timber, every where rude, and indigested materials, and a tumultuary noise of axes and hammers, but at length the artificer sets every thing in order, and raiseth up a beautiful structure: such is the proceeding of the Lord in the afflictions and vastations of his Church, though the enemy intent to ruin it, yet God intends only to repair it. Thus far as Donec respects Christ's Kingdom in itself. Now as it respecteth the enemies of Christ, it notes, First, The present inconsummatenesse of the victories, and by consequence the intranquillity of Christ's Kingdom here upon the earth. All his enemies are not yet under his feet, Satan is not yet shut up; the rage of hell, the persecutions and policies of wicked men, the present immunity of desperate sinners, are evidences that Christ hath yet much work to do in his Church. But doth not the Apostle say, that all things are put under his feet? Eph. 1.22. It is true quoad judiciariam potestatem, but not quoad exercitium potestatis. He shall not receive any new power to subdue his enemies, which he hath not already; but yet he can execute that power when and how he will. And he is pleased to suffer his enemies in this respite of their reprivall to rage, and revile, and persecute him in his members. Every wicked man is condemned already, and hath the wrath of God abiding upon him, job. 3.18.36. Only Christ doth suspend the execution of them for many weighty reasons. As first, to show his patience and long suffering towards the vessels of wrath, for he ever comes first with an offer of peace, before he draws the sword, Rom. 2.4. Rom. 9.22. Deut. 20. 10-13. Luk. 10.5, 11. Secondly, to magnify the power of his protection and providence over the Church in the midst of their enemies, for if the Lord were not on the Church's side when man riseth up against it, if he did not rebuke the proud waves, and set them their bounds how far they should go, there could be no more power in the Church to withstand them, than in a level * jer. 5.22. Aegyptus mari concavitate depressior, & tamen praecep to creatoris tanquam compe dibus coercetur mare Rubrum ne in Aegyptum irrumpat. Basil, Mag. Hexamer. Homil. 4. of sand to resist an inundation of the Sea, Psal. 124.1.5. Thirdly, to reserve wicked men unto the great day of his appearing, and of the declaration of his power and righteousness, wherein all the world shall be the spectators and witnesses of his just and victorious proceedings against them, Act. 17.31. Fourthly, to show forth his mighty power in destroying the wicked all together. They who here carried themselves with that insolence as if every particular man meant to have plucked Christ out of his throne, shall there all together be brought forth before him. That as the righteous are reserved to have their full salvation together, 1 Thess. 4.17. so the wicked may be bound up in bundles, and destroyed together, Psal. 37.38. isaiah. 1.28. Fifthly, to fill up the measure, and to ripen the sins of wicked men: for the Lord puts the wickedness of men into an Epha, and when they have filled up their measure, he than sealeth them up unto the execution of his righteous judgements. And hence it is that the Scripture calleth wicked men Vessels fitted for destruction, for they first fill themselves with sin, and then God filleth them up with wrath and shame. Sixthly, to fill up the number of his Elect, for he hath many sheep which are not yet within his fold, and they many of them the posterity of wicked men, joh. 10.16. Seventhly, to fill up the measure of his own sufferings in his members, that they may follow him unto his kingdom through the same way of afflictions as he went before them, Col. 1.24. Revel. 6.11. Eighthly, to exercise the faith of his Church, to drive the faithful with the Prophet Habakuk into their watchtower, and with David into the Sanctuary of the Lord, thereto wait upon him in the way of his judgements, to consider that the end of the righteous man is peace, and that the pride and prosperity of the wicked is but as the fat of Lambs, and as the beauty of grass; that God hath set them in slippery places, and will cast them down at the last, Hab. 2.1, 3. Psal. 37.2.10.20. Psal. 73.18. Lastly, to wean the faithful from earthly affections, and to kindle in them the desires of the Saints under the altar, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Revel. 6.10. Secondly, as donec notes the Patience of Christ towards his enemies, so it notes likewise that there are fixed bounds and limits unto that patience, beyond which he will no longer forbear them. There is an appointed day, wherein he will judge the world with righteousness, Act. 17.31. There is a year of vengeance, and of recompenses for the controversies of Zion, isaiah. 34.8. The wild ass that sucketh up the wind at her pleasure may be found in her month, jer. 2.24. The Lord seeth that the day of the wicked is coming. It is an appointed time, though it tarry, yet if we wait for it, It will surely come, it will not tarry, Psal. 37.13. Hab. 2.3. Well then, let men go on with all the fierceness and excess of riot they will, let them walk in the way of their heart, and in the sight of their eyes, yet all this while they are in a chain, they have but a compass to go, and God will bring them to judgement at the last. When the day of a Drunkard and riotous person is come, when he hath taken so many hellish swallows, and hath filled up the measure of his lusts, his marrow must then lie down in the dust, though the cup were at his mouth, yet from thence it shall be snatched away, and for everlasting he shall never taste a drop of sweetness, nor have the least desire of his wicked heart satisfied any more. A wicked man's sins will not follow him to hell to please him, but only the memory of them to be an everlasting scourge, and flame upon his conscience. O then take heed of ripening sin, by custom, by security, by insensibility, by impudence and stoutness of heart, by making it a mock, a matter of glory and of boasting, by stopping the ear against the voice of the Charmer, and turning the back upon the invitations unto mercy, by resisting the Evidence of the Spirit in the Word, and committing sin in the light of the Sun: for as the heat of the sun doth wither the fruit which falls off, and ripen that which hangs on the tree; so the Word doth weaken those lusts which a man is desirous to shake off, and doth ripen those which the heart holds fast and will not part with. When was Israel overthrown, but when they mocked the Messengers of God, and despised his Word, and misused his Prophets, and rejected the remedy of their sin? and when was Juda destroyed, but when they hardened themselves against the Word, and would not take notice of the day of their peace? Alas, what haste do men make to promote their own damnation, and to go quickly to hell, when they will break through the very Law of God, and through all his holy Ordinances, that they may come thither the sooner, as if the gate would be shut against them, or as if it were a place of some great preferment; as if they had to do with a blind God which could not see, or with an impotent God which could not revenge their impieties. Well, for all this, the Wise man's speech will prove true at the last, Know, that God will bring thee unto judgement. Thirdly, donec notes the infallible accomplishment of Christ's victories and triumph over his enemies at the last, when the day is come wherein he will be patient towards them no longer. The Prophet giveth three excellent reasons hereof in one verse, isaiah. 33.22. The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, he will save us. He is our Judge, and therefore certainly when the day of trial is come he will plead our cause against our adversaries, and will condemn them, Mich. 7.9. But a Judge cannot do what pleaseth himself, but is bound to his rule, and proceedeth according to established laws. Therefore he is our Lawgiver likewise, and therefore he may himself appoint Laws according to his own will, but when the Will of the Judge, and the Rule of the Law do both consent in the punishing of offenders, yet then still the King hath a liberty of mercy, and he may pardon those whom the Law and the Judge have condemned. But Christ, who shall judge the enemies of his Church according to the Law which himself hath made, is himself the King, and therefore when he revengeth, Oportet eum ad tantam evidentiam regnum suum perducere, donec inimici eius nullo modo audeant negare quod regnat, Aug. there is none besides nor above him to pardon. So at that day there shall be a full manifestation of the Kingdom of Christ, none of his enemies shall move the wing, or open the mouth, or peep against him. The second thing formerly proposed in this latter part of the verse was, The Author of subduing Christ's enemy under his feet [I the Lord.] Wicked men will never submit themselves to Christ's Kingdom, but stand out in opposition against him in his Word and ways. When God's hand is lifted up in the dispensation of his Word and threatenings against sin, men will not see, isaiah. 26.11. And therefore he saith, My spirit shall not always strive with men, to note that men would of themselves always strive with the spirit, and never yield nor submit to Christ. Though the patience and goodness of God should lead them to repentance, and forewarn them to fly from the wrath to come, yet they after their hardness and impenitent heart do hereby treasure up against themselves the more wrath, Rom. 2.4, 5. and because judgement is not speedily executed, Eccles. 8.11. their heart is wholly set in them to do mischief. Let favour, saith the Prophet, be showed unto a wicked man, yet will he not learn righteousness, isaiah. 26.10. in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Certainly if a wicked man could be rescued out of hell itself, and brought back into the possibilities of mercy again, yet would he in a second life fly out against God, and while he had time take his fill of lusts again. We see Clay will but grow harder by the fire, and that metal which melted in the Furnace, being taken thence will return to its wont solidity. When Pharaoh saw that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders were ceased, (though in the time of them he was like melted metal, Exod. 9.27, 28.34, 35. and did acknowledge the righteousness of God and his own sin, and make strong promises that Israel should go) yet than he sinned more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants, and would not let the children of Israel go. Do we not see men sometimes cast on a bed of sickness, brought to the very brink of hell, and to the smell of that sulphury lake, when by God's wonderful patience they are snatched like a brand out of the fire, and have recovered a little strength to provoke the Lord again, when they should now set themselves to make good those hypocritical resolutions of amendment of life, wherewith in their extremity they flattered God, and deceived themselves, suddenly break forth into more filthiness than before, as if they meant now to be revenged of God, and to fetch back that time which sickness took from them by an extremity of sinning, as if they had made a Covenant with hell to do it more service, if they might then be spared? All the favours and methods which God useth are not enough to bring wicked men home unto him of their own wills. Though I redeemed them, Host 7.13, 14. saith the Lord, yet have they spoken lies against me, they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds. The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, isaiah. 9.13. Amos 4.6▪ 8, 9, 10, 11. neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. So many judgements did the Lord send upon Israel in the neck of one another, and yet still the burden of the Prophet is, Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Damn up the passage of a river, and use all the Art that may be to overrule it, yet you can never carry it backward in its own channel; you may cut it out into other courses and diverticles, but no Art can drive it unto a contrary motion, and make it retire into its own fountain: So though wicked men may haply by diverse reasons which their lusts will admit, be so far wrought upon as to change their courses, yet it is impossible to change themselves, or to turn them quite out of their own way into the way of Christ. There is but a bivium in the world, a way of life, and a way of death, and the Lord in the Ministry of the Word gives us our option, I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing, and he that believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. To the former he invites, beseecheth, enticeth us with promises, with oaths, with engagements, with prevention of any just objection which might be made; We beseech you, saith the Apostle, in Christ's stead that you be reconciled unto God. From the other he deters us by forewarning us of the wrath to come, and of the period which death will put to our lusts with our lives. And as Tertullian once spoke of the Oath of God, so may I of his entreaties, and threatenings. O blessed men whom the Lord himself is pleased to solicit and entice unto happiness, but, O miserable men they who will not believe nor accept of Gods own entreaties: And yet thus miserable are we all by nature. There is in men so much atheism, infidelity and distrust of God's Word, so close an adherency of lust unto the soul, that it rather chooseth to run the hazard, and to go to hell entire, than to go halt and maimed unto heaven; yea, to make God a liar, to bless themselves in their sins, when he curseth, and to judge of him by themselves, as if he took no notice of their ways. Deut. 29.19. It is not therefore without just cause that God so often threateneth to remember all the sins of wicked Psal. 50.21. men, and to do against them whatsoever he hath spoken. Host 5.2, 3. Host 7.2, 12. Amos 8.7. Deut. 31.34, 35. Psal. 50.21. jer. 17.1. We see then that men will never submit themselves unto the Sceptre of Christ, nor prevent the wrath to come by a voluntary subjection. It remains therefore that God take the work into his own hands, and put them perforce under Christ's feet. They will not submit to his kingdom of grace and mercy, they will not believe his kingdom of glory and salvation, but they shall be made subject to the sword of his wrath, and that without any hope of escape, or power of opposition, for God himself shall do it immediately by his own mighty power. He will interpose his own hand, and magnify the glory of his own strength in the just confusion of wicked men. So the Apostle saith, that The Lord will show his wrath, and make his power known in the vessels fitted for destruction, Rom. 9.22. Two means the Apostle showeth shall be used in the destruction of the wicked, to effect it. The presence or countenance, and the glorious power of the Lord, 2 Thes. 1.9. The very terror of his face, and the dreadful Majesty of his presence shall slay the wicked. The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, those who all their life time were themselves terrible, and had been acquainted with terrors, shall then beg of the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and to hide them from the Face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, Revel. 6.15, 16. isaiah. 2.10. whence that usual expression of God's resolution to destroy a people, I will set my face against them. O then how sore shall the condemnation of wicked men be, when therein the Lord purposeth to declare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the glorious strength of his own almighty arm. Here when the Lord punisheth a people, he only showeth how much strength and edge he can put into the Creatures to execute his displeasure. But the extreme terror of the last day shall be this, that men shall fall immediately into the hands of God himself, who hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, and▪ I will recompense, Heb. 10.30, 31. And therefore the Apostle useth this expostulation against Idolaters, Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 1 Cor. 10.22. Dare we meet the Lord in his fury, do we provoke him to pour out All his wrath? Psal. 78.38. He will at last stir up all his wrath against the vessels that are fitted for it. And for that cause he will punish them himself. For there is no Creature able to bring all God's wrath unto another, there is no vessel able to hold all God's displeasure. The Apostle telleth us that we have to do with God in his Word, Heb. 4.13. but herein he useth the ministry of weak men, so that his Majesty is covered, and wicked men have a veil upon their hearts, that they cannot see God in his Word. When thy hand is lifted up, namely in the threatenings and predictions of wrath out of the word, they will not see: for it is a work of faith to receive the word as God's word, and therein beforehand to see his power, and to hear his rod, Mic. 6.9. Other men belie the Lord, and say it is not he. But though they will not acknowledge that they have to do with God in his word, though they will not see when his hand is lifted up in the preparations of his wrath, yet they shall see and know that they have to do with him in his judgements, when his hand falleth down again in the execution of his wrath. So the Lord expostulateth with them, Ezek. 22.14. Can thine heart endure or thine hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? The Prophet Esay resolves that question, The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, (namely a fearful looking for of judgement▪ and fiery indignation, as the Apostle speaks, Heb. 10.27.) Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire, who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? isaiah. 33.14. that is, in the words of another Prophet, Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger. His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him, Nahum 1.6. Confirmations of this point we may take from these considerations: First, the quarrel with sinners is Gods own, Levit. 26.25. Host 12.2. Psal. 2.2. isaiah. 65.3. the controversy his own, the injuries and indignities have been done to himself and his own son, the challenges have been sent unto himself and his own Spirit: And therefore no marvel if he take the matter into his own hands, and the quarrel so immediately reflecting upon him, if he be provoked to revenge it by his own immediate power. Secondly, revenge is his royalty and peculiar prerogative, Deut. 32.35.41. from whence the Apostle infers, That it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. 10.30, 31. And there are these arguments of fearfulness in it; First, it shall be in judgement without mercy, jam. 2.13. there shall be no mixture of any sweetness in the cup of God's displeasure, but all poison and bitterness; there shall not be afforded a drop of water to a lake of fire, a minute of eafe to an eternity of torment. Secondly, it shall be in fury without compassion: In humane judgements where the law of the state will not suffer a Judge to acquit or show mercy, yet the law of nature will force him to compassionate & grieve for the malefactor whom he must condemn. There is no Judge so senseless of another's misery, nor so destitute of humane affections as to pronounce a sentence of condemnation with laughter. But the Lord will condemn his enemies in vengeance without any pity. I will laugh, saith the Lord, at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh, Prov. 1.26. Thirdly, it shall be in revenge and recompense, in reward and proportion, that is, in a full and everlasting detestation of wicked men, the weight whereof shall peradventure lie heavier upon them, than all the other torments which they are to suffer, when they shall look on themselves as scorned and abhorred exiles from the favour and presence of him that made them. For as the wicked did here hate God, and set their hearts and their courses against him in suo aeterno in all that time which God permitted them to sin in: so God will hate wicked men, and set his face and fury against them in suo aeterno too, as long as he shall be Judge of the world. Thirdly, this may be seen in the inchoations of hell in wicked men upon the earth. When the door of the conscience is opened and that sin, which lay there asleep before, riseth up like an enraged Lion to fly upon the soul, when the Lord suffers some flashes of his glittering sword to break in like lightning upon the Spirit, and to amaze a sinner with the pledges and first fruits of hell, when he melteth the stout hearts of men, and grindeth them unto powder, what is all this but the secret touch of Gods own finger upon the conscience? For there is no creature in the world whose ministry the heart doth discern, in the estuations and invisible workings of a guilty and unquiet spirit. Fourthly, the torments of wicked angels whence can they come? there is no Creature strong enough to lay upon them a sufficient recompense of pain for their sin against the Majesty of God. And for the disputes of Schoolmen touching corporal fire in hell, and the manner of elevating and applying corporal agents to work upon spiritual substances, they are but the intemperate niceties of men ignorant of the Scriptures, and of the terror of the Lord, who is himself a consuming fire. The devils acknowledge Christ their Tormentor, and that when he did nothing but rebuke them: there was no fire, nor any other creature by him applied, but only the Majesty of his own word, power, and person, which wrung from them that hideous cry, Art thou come to torment us before the time? Matth. 8.29. Lastly, consider the heaviness of Christ's own soul, his agony and sense of the curse due unto our sin when he was in the garden, Mat. 26.37. Luk. 22.44. joh. 12.27. Mark. 14.33, 34. the trouble, astonishment, and extreme anguish of his soul, which wrought out of his sacred body that woeful and wonderful sweat. Whence came it all? we read never of any devils let loose to torment him, they were ever tormented at his presence. We read of no other Angels that had commission to afflict him, we read of an Angel which was sent to strengthen him, Luk. 22.43. There is no reason to think that the fear of a bodily death, which was the only thing that men could inflict upon him, was that which squeezed out those drops of blood, and extorted those bitter and strong cries from him. There were not in his innocent soul, in his most pure and sacred body any seeds or principles of such tormenting distempers; his compassion towards the misery of sinners, his knowledge of the guilt and cursedness of sin, was as great at other times as now: What then could it else be, but the weight of his Father's justice, the conflict with his Father's wrath against the sins of men, which wrought such extremity of heaviness in his soul? And he was our surety, he stood in our stead, that which was done to the green tree, should much more have been done to the dry; If God laid upon him the strokes which were due unto our sin, how much more heavy shall his hand be upon those whom he throughly hateth? But shall not the Angels than be executioners of the sentence of God's wrath upon wicked men? I answer, The Angels shall have their service in the coming of the Lord. First, as Attendants, to show forth the majesty and glory of Christ to the world, 2 Thes. 1.7. Matth. 24.31. Secondly, as executioners of his will, which is to gather together the Elect and the reprobate, to bind up the wicked as sheaves or faggots for the fire. Matth. 13.30.24.31. But yet still the Lord interposeth his own power. As a Schoolmaster setteth one scholar to bring forth another unto punishment, but then he layeth on the stripes himself. But why is it said that the Father shall put Christ's enemies under his feet? doth not Christ himself do it as well as the Father? yes doubtless. God hath given the Son authority to execute judgement also, and put into his hands a rod of iron, to dash his enemies to pieces like a potter's vessel; for whatsoever things the father doth, these also doth the son likewise, joh. 5.19.27. Psal. 2.9. But we are to note that the subjecting of Christ's enemies under his feet is a work of divine power. And therefore though it be attributed to Christ as an Officer, yet it belongeth to the Father, as the Fountain of all divine operations. So God is said to have set forth his Son as a propitiation, Rom. 3.25. and yet the Son came down and manifested himself, Phil. 2.7, 8. Heb. 9.26. The Father is said to have raised him from the dead, Act. 2.32 Rom. 6.4. and yet the Son raised himself by his own power, john 10.18. the Father is said to have set Christ at his own right hand in heavenly places, Ephes. 1.20. and Christ is said to have sat down himself on the right hand of the Majesty on high, Heb. 1.3.10.12. The Father is said to give the holy Ghost, joh. 14.16. and yet the Son promiseth to send him himself, joh. 16.7. so here, though the Son have received power sufficient to subdue all his enemies under his feet (for he is able to subdue all things unto himself, Phil. 3.21.) yet the Father to show his hatred against the enemies of Christ, and his consent to the victories of his Son, will likewise subdue all things unto him, 1 Cor. 15.27, 28. O than that men would be by the terror of the Lord persuaded to fly from the wrath to come, to consider the weight of God's heavy hand, and when they see such a storm coming to hide themselves in the holes of that Rock of mercy. It is nothing but Atheism and infidelity which bewitcheth men with desperate senselessness against the vengeance of God. And therefore as the Lord hath seconded his Word of Promise with an oath, that they might have strong consolation who fly for refuge to lay hold on the hope which is set before them, Heb. 6.17, 18. So hath he confirmed the Word of his threatenings with an oath too. If I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live for ever— I will render vengeance to mine enemies, I will reward them that hate me, Deut. 32.40 41. and again, The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of jacob, surely I will never forget any of their works, Amos 8.7. and again, I have sworn by myself, that unto me every knee shall bow▪ isaiah. 45.23. and this he doth that secure and obdurate sinners might have the stronger reasons to fly from the wrath which is set before them. O nos miseros, qui nec juranti Deo credimus! How wonderful is the stupidity of men, that will neither believe the words, nor tremble at the oath of God? He warneth us to fly from the wrath to come, and we make haste to meet it the rather: we fill up our measure, and commit sin with both hands greedily, with unclean and intemperate courses, we bring immature deaths upon ourselves, that so we may hasten to hell the sooner, and make trial whether God be a liar or no. For this indeed is the very direct issue of every profane exorbitancy which men rush into. Every man hath much Atheism in his heart by nature, but such desperate stupidity doth wonderfully improve it, and bring men by degrees to the hellish presumption of those in the Prophets, The Lord will not do good, jer. 5.11, 12. neither will he do evil; It is not the Lord, neither shall evil come upon us, the Prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. The days are prolonged and the vision shall fail; Ezek. 12.22. this man prophesieth of things afar off, of doom's day, of things which shall be long after our time. Unto these men, I say, in the words of the Apostle, though they sleep, and see nothing, and mock at the promise of Christ's coming, yet their damnation sleepeth not, 2 Pet. 23. but shall come upon them soon enough, even like an armed man. Be not ye mockers, saith the Prophet, lest your bands be made strong. isaiah. 28.22. Atheism, and scorn of God's judgements will make him bind them the faster upon us, he will get the better of the proudest of his enemies. We may mock, but God will not be mocked. Gal. 6.7, 8. He that shooteth arrows against the Sun, shall never reach high enough to violate it, but the arrows shall return upon his own head. Contempt of God, and his threatenings doth but tie our damnation the faster upon us, and make our condition the more remediless. 2 Chro. 36.16. The rage and wrestling of a beast with the rope which binds him, doth make the knot the faster. Nay, there is no Atheist in the world, but some time or other feeleth by the horrors of his own bosom, and by the records of his own conscience, that there is a consumption decreed, and a day of slaughter coming for the bulls of Bashan. Again, others I have known acknowledge indeed the terror of the Lord, but yet go desperately on in their presumptions, and that upon two other dangerous donwfalls: First, they thus argue, peradventure I belong to God's Election of Grace, and then he will fetch me in, in his time, and in the mean time his mercy is above my sins, and it is not for me to hasten his work till he will himself. O what a perverseness is this for the wickedness of man to perturb the Order of God? His Rule is, that we should argue from a holy conversation to our Election, and by our diligence in adding one grace unto another to make it sure unto ourselves; not to argue from our Election to our calling, nor to neglect all diligence till our Election appear. It is true, the mercy of Christ is infinitely wider than the very rebellions of men, and it may be he will snatch such a wicked disputer as this like a brand out of the fire. But then know withal, that every desperate sin thou dost now wilfully run into, will at last cost thee such bitter throws such bloody tears, as thou wouldst not be willing with the least of them to purchase the most sweet and constant pleasure which thy heart can now delight in. And in the mean time it is a bloody adventure upon the patience of God, Medium interim surantur tempus & commeatum faciu●t delinquendi. Tertull. jon. 3.8, 9 for any man upon expectation of God's favour to steal time from his service, and to turn the possibility of the mercy of God into an occasion of sinning. The Ninivites gathered another conclusion from those premises; Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from their evil way, and from the violence which is in their hands: and the ground of this resolution was this, Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not? And the Prophets teach us to make another use of the possibility of God's mercy; Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, joel 2.12, 14. for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, etc. and again, Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth, Zeph. 2.3. seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger. But than secondly, there are not wanting desperate wretches who will thus hellishly argue against the service of God. It may be the decree is gone forth, and I am rejected by God, and why should I labour in vain, and go about to repeal his will, and not rather, since I shall have no heaven hereafter, take the fill of mine own ways and lusts here? Thus we find the wicked Epicures conclude, We shall dye tomorrow, and therefore let us eat and drink to day. 1 Cor. 15.32. Nay, but who art thou, O man, who disputest against God? who rather choosest to abuse the secrets of God, that thou mayest dishonour him, than to be ruled by his revealed will, that thou mayst obey him? Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but let not the Clay dash itself against him that made it. Remember and tremble at the difference which our Saviour makes even amongst the wicked in hell. It shall be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah, and for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement, than for those cities which have heard and despised him. Wicked men are treasuring up of wrath, and hoarding up of destruction against their own souls, every new oath or blasphemy heaps a new mountain upon their conscience; every renewed act of any uncleanness plungeth a man deeper into hell, giveth the devil more hold fast of him, adds more fuel unto his Tophet, squeezeth in more dregges and woeful ingredients into the cup of astonishment which he must swallow. Doubtless a sinner in hell would account himself a blessed creature if he did not feel there the weight and worm of such and such particular sins, which with much easiness he might have forborn, nay which without pain and labour he could not commit. We see Dives in hell begged for but a drop of water to cool his tongue in that mighty flame. Now suppose a man in a burning furnace; what great comfort could he receive from but a drop of water against a furnace of fire? Certainly the abatement of so much pain as the abiding of one drop would remove, could in no proportion amount to the taking away the punishment of the smallest sin, of the least idle word, or unprofitable thought; and yet in that extremity there shall not be allowed a drop of refreshment against a lake of fire. O that men would therefore in time consider what a woeful thing it is to fall into the hands, and to rouse up the jealousy of the living God; that because he will do thus and thus unto obdurate sinners, they would therefore in time humble themselves under his mighty hand, and prepare to meet him in the way of his judgements. For certainly no sooner doth the heart of a Sinner yield to God, but he meeteth him in his return and preventeth him with goodness, his heart likewise is turned within him, and his repentings are kindled together. With much more delight will he put a man into the arms of Christ, than for●e him under his feet. He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men; he taketh no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but he delighteth in mercy. The last thing observed was the Manner of this victory, expressed in those words, Ponam, and ponam scabellum. To put, and to put as a stool under Christ's feet. Now this expression, that the conquest of Christ's enemies shall be but as the removing of a stool into his place, noteth unto us two things: First, the easiness of God's victory over the enemies of Christ. They are before him as nothing, less than nothing, isaiah. 41.15. the drop of a bucket, the dust of a balance, a very little thing. What thing is heavier than a mountain, what thing easier than a touch, what lighter than chaff, or softer than wax? and yet they who in the eyes of men are as strong and immovable as mountains, if God but touch them they shall be turned into chaff, and flow at his presence. isaiah 64.3. If a man had a deadly pestilence and of infallible infection, how easily might that man be avenged on his enemy with but breathing in his face? Now the breath of the Lord is like a stream of brimstone to devour the wicked. isaiah. 30 33. As easily as fire consumeth flax or stubble, isaiah. 27.4. isaiah. 47.14. Zech. 12.3, 6. Psal. 2.9. as easily as poison invadeth the spirits of the body, as easily as a rod of iron breaketh in pieces a potter's vessel, as easily as a burdensome stone bruizeth that which it falls upon; so, and much more irresistibly doth the wrath of the Lord consume his enemies. Not to insist long on so certain and obvious a truth. far easier we know it is to destroy than to build up, there is no such art required in demolishing, Corpora tardè augescunt citò extinguuntur. Tac. as there is in erecting of an edifice, those things which are long and difficultly growing up, are suddenly extinguished. Since therefore God had power and wisdom to make the creature, no wonder if he can most easily destroy him. Again, God's power is as it were set on by his jealousy and fury against sinners. Anger we know is the whetstone of strength, in an equality of other terms it will make a man prevail. Nothing is able to stand before a fire which is once enraged. Now God's displeasure is kindled, and breaketh forth into a flame against the sins of men, Deut. 29.20. like a devouring Lion, or a bereft Bear, like the implacable rage of a jealous man, so doth the fire of the Lords revenge break forth upon the enemies of his Son. Add hereunto our disposition and preparedness for the wrath of God. Host 13.7, 8. Prov. 6.34. Cant. 8.6. Ezek. 36.5. Strength itself may be tired out in vain upon a subject which is uncapable of any injury therefrom. But if the paw of a Bear meet with so thin a substance as the kall of a man's heart, how easily is it torn to pieces? Every action is then most speedily finished when the subject on which it works is thereunto prepared. far easier is it to make a print in wax than in Adamant, to kindle a fire in dry stubble, than in green wood. Now wicked men have fitted themselves for wrath, and are the procurers, and artificers of their own destruction. They are vessels, Rom. 9 22. isaiah. 3.9. jer. 2.17. jer. 4.18. Host 13.9. and God is never without treasures of wrath, so that the confusion of a wicked man is but like the drawing of water out of a fountain, or the filling of a bag out of a heap of treasure. Lastly, add hereunto our destitutenesse of all help & succour. Even fire amongst pitch might be quenched, if a man could pour down water in abundance upon it. But the wicked shall have no strength either in or about them to prevent or remove the wrath to come. Here indeed they have some helps (such as they are) to stand out against God in his word. Weatlh and greatness to be the provisions of their lusts, the countenance of the wicked world to encourage them in their ways; Satan and the wisdom of the flesh to furnish them with arguments, and to cast a varnish upon uncleanness: but when the lion comes the shepherd can do the sheep no good, when the fire comes the rotten post shall perish with the varnish which covered it. He that was here strong enough to provoke God, shall at last be bound hand and foot, and so have no faculty left either to resist him or to run from him. There is a foolish disposition in the hearts of men to think that they shall ever continue in that estate which they are once in. The proud and wicked man hath said in his heart, Psal. 10.6.11. I shall never be moved, I shall never be in adversity. God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see it. And the Prophet David was overtaken with this gross error, I said in my prosperity I shall never be moved. Luk. 12.19. Mic. 3.11. Deut. 29.19. isaiah. 56.12. isaiah. 38.12. Ezek. 37.11. This was the vain conceit of the fool in the gospel, thou hast much laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. This ever hath been the language of secure and wicked men, No evil shall come upon us, I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart. To morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant. And so also in afflictions; Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious and shut up his loving kindness in displeasure? from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I said my hope is left and I am cut off for my part. I shall never overcome such an affliction, I shall never break through such a pressure. And both these come from want of faith touching the power of God to subdue all enemies under Christ's feet. If men would but consider how easily God can break down all their cobwebs, and sweep away their refuge of lies, how easily he can spoil them of all the provisions of their lusts, and leave them like a lamb in a large place, they would be more fearful of him▪ and less dote upon things which will not profit, they would take heed how they abuse their youth, strength, time, abilities, as if they had a spring of them all within themselves, and consider that their good is not in their own hand, that the seithe can get as well through the green grass as the dry stubble, that consuming fire can as well melt the hardest metal as the softest wax. What is the reason why men in sore extremities make strong resolutions, and vow much repentance and amendment of life, and yet as soon as they are off from the rack return again to their vomit, and wallow in their wont lusts, but because their sense made them feel that then, which if they had faith they might still perceive, and so still continue in the same good resolutions, namely that God's hand was near unto them? But what, is not God a God afar off as well as near at hand? doth not he say of wicked men, job 20.22. Amos 4.7. Hos●. 2.9. Hag. 1.9. Host 9.2. Psal. 78.30, 31. that in the fullness of their sufficiency they shall be in straits? cannot he blast the corn in the blade, in the harvest, in the barn, in the very mouth of the wicked? Did he not cut off Belshazzar in his cups, and Herod in his robas, and Babylon and Tyrus in their pride, and Haman in his favour, and jezabel in her paint? Have but faith enough to say I am a man, and therefore no humane events should be strange unto me, and even that one consideration may keep a man from outrage of sinning. It may be I have abundance of earthly things, yet am I still but a gilded potsherd: It may be I have excellent endowments, but I have them all in an earthen vessel. And shall the potsherd strive with the potter, and provoke him that made it? This would teach us to fear and tremble at God's power. Though we look upon death and judgement as afar off, yet God can make them near when he will, for he hath said that the damnation of wicked men is swift, and that they are near unto cursing. 2 Pet. 2.1. Heb. 6 8. Host. 8.1. Zech 5.1. Host 5.7. Hos 10.15. isaiah. 47.9. Eccle. 8.12, 13. His judgements are like lightning, and have wings suddenly to overtake a sinner. He requires but a month, nay but a morning, nay but a moment to consume his enemies, and bring desolation upon those who said they should ●it as a Lady for ever, and did never remember the latter end. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, namely by the patience and permission of God, in whose hands his days are, yet it shall go well at last only with those that fear God; The wicked are not able to prolong their own days. Again, for Afflictions and Temptations, it is a great fruit of the infidelity of men's hearts, and a foolish charging and chiding of our Maker, to account ourselves swallowed up of any present pressure. If we did but consider that it is as easy with God to subdue our enemies, and to rebuke our afflictions as it is with us to put a stool under our feet, we would then learn to wait on him in all our distresses, and when we cannot answer difficulties, nor extricate ourselves out of our own doubts or fears, to conclude that his thoughts are above our thoughts, and his ways above our ways, and so to cast ourselves wholly upon his power. isaiah. 55.8, 9 'tis an argument which the Lord every where useth to establish his Church withal: isaiah. 8.12, 13. Fear not the fear of men, nor be afraid, but sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear. 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 grass; isaiah. 51.12, 13. and forgettest the Lord thy maker, and hast feared every day because of the fury of the oppressor? Zech. 8.6, 7. And where is the fury of the oppressor? If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, should it be marvelous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of hosts? Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for me? Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, jer. 32.27. Gen. 18.14. jer. 17.7, 8. isaiah 41.17, 18. Hab. 3.17▪ 19 which shall not be careful in the year of drought. When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Though the figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. He is able to do abundantly above all that we can ask or think. God would never so frequently carry men to the dependence upon his power, if they were not apt in extremities to judge of God by themselves, and to suspect his power. Secondly, as this Putting of Christ's enemies like a stool under his feet noteth Easiness, so also it noteth Order or Beauty too. When Christ's enemies shall be under his foot, than there shall be a right Order in things, than it shall indeed appear that God is a God of Order, and therefore the day wherein that shall be done, is called the Time of the Restitution of all things, Act. 3.21. The putting of Christ's enemies under his feet is an Act of justice, and of all other, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Ethic. lib. 5. cap. 1. justice is the most orderly virtue, that which keepeth beauty upon the face of a people, as consisting itself in a symmetry, and proportion. Again, every thing out of its own place is out of order, but when things are all in their proper places and due proportions, than there results a beauty and comeliness from them. In a great house there are many vessels, some of wood and brass, others of gold and silver. some for honourable, others for base and sordid uses; Now if all these were confusedly together in one room a man would conclude that things were out of order, but when the plate is in one place, the brass and wood in another, we acknowledge a decency and cleanliness in such a house. Let a body be of never so exact temperature and delicate complexion, yet if any member therein be misplaced, the eye in the room of the ear, or the cheek of the forehead, there can be no beauty in such a body: So in the Church, till God set every one in his right place, the order thereof is but imperfect. Therefore when judas was put under Christ's feet, he is said to have gone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, unto his own place, Act. 1.25. Why then should any man murmur at the prosperity of wicked men, Ezek. 18.25. Mal. 3.14, 15. or conceive of God's proceedings as if they were irregular and unequal, as if there were no profit for those who walk mournfully, but the proud, and wicked workers were set up? This is to revile the workman while he is yet in the fitting of his work. The pieces are not yet put together in their proper joints, and therefore no marvel if the evenness and beauty of God's works be not so plainly discovered. For every thing is beautiful in its time; what though the corn in the field hang down the head, and the weeds seem to flourish and overtop it; stay but till the harvest, and it will then appear which was for the garner, and which for the fire. Go into the Sanctuary of the Lord, and by faith look unto the day of the revelation of God's righteous judgements, and it will appear that the ways of the Lord are right, Host 14.9. though the transgressors stumble in them, or be offended at them. Secondly, from hence every man may learn how to bring beauty and order into himself, namely by subduing those enemies of Christ, those lusts and evil affections which dwell within him. Laws we know are the ligaments and sinews of a state, the strings as it were which being touched and animated by skilful governors do yield that excellent harmony which is to be seen in well constituted common wealths; the more they prevail so much the more unity is preserved and faction abated, and community cherished in the minds of men: Even so where the Sceptre of Christ, the Law of the mind, the royal Law of Liberty and grace do more prevail over the lusts of the heart, by so much the more excellent is the harmony and complexion of such a soul. Now the last thing in this verse is, Psal. 8.6. Scabellum pedibus tuis. A stool under thy feet. Things are under Christ's feet two manner of ways: Either by way of subjection as Servants unto him, and so he hath dominion over all the works of God's hands, Eph. 1.21, 22. and hath all things put under his feet. So the Apostle saith, that God hath set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come; 1 Pet. 3.22. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church. Which S. Peter expresseth in a like manner: He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, Angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him: Or secondly, by way of victory and insultation, and so all Christ's enemies are put under his feet. Which is the most proper way. For the members of Christ are indeed under the head. So we find that the sheep of Christ are in his hands. joh. 10.28. isaiah. 40.11. isaiah. 63. 1·3. joel 3.13, 14. Revel. 14.20. No man shall pluck them out of my hand. And the Lambs of Christ are in his arms, and bosom. He shall gather the Lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom. But the enemies of Christ are under his feet to be trampled upon, till their blood be squeezed out, and his garments stained with it. All the multiplied multitudes of the wicked in the world shall be but as so many Clusters of ripe grapes to be cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God, and to be trodden by him who went forth on a white horse conquering and to conquer, till the blood come out of the winepress even unto the horse bridles. And this is an usual expression of a total victory in holy Scripture, the laying of an adversary even with the ground, that he may be crushed and trampled upon. This was the curse of the Serpent that he should crawl with his belly upon the dust of the earth, Gen. 3.14. Luk. 10.19. Rom. 16.20. Psal. 68.23. and that the seed of the woman should bruise his head. And it is the curse of God's enemies, that they should lick the dust, and that the feet of the Church and the tongue of her dogs should be dipped in the blood of her enemies. Thus David put the people of Rabbah under harrows; and jehu trod jezabel under his horses feet. 2 Sam. 12.31. 2 Kings 9.33. Lam. 1.15. And therefore the Church chooseth that phrase to express the greatness of her calamity by. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord hath trodden the Virgin, the Daughter of juda as in a winepress. Now this putting of Christ's enemies as a stool under his feet, notes unto us in regard of Christ two things: First, his Rest; and secondly, his Triumph. To stand, in the Scripture Phrase (as I have before observed) denoteth Ministry, and to Sat, Rest; and there is no posture more easy than to sit with a stool under ones feet. Till Christ's enemies then be all under his feet, he is not fully in his Rest. It is true, in his own person he is in Rest, he hath finished the work which was given him to do, and therefore is entered into his rest. He hath already ascended up on high, and led captivity captive; yet in his members he still suffers, though not by way of pain or passion, yet by way of Sympathy or compassion, he is touched with a feeling of our infirmities, Heb. 4.15. As by the things which he suffered, Heb. 5.8. Heb. 2.17, 18. he learned obedience towards God, so by the same sufferings he learned compassion, and thereupon mercy and fidelity towards his members; for no man can be more tenderly faithful in the business of another, than he who by his own experience knoweth the consequence and necessity of it. And therefore he is said to be afflicted in all the afflictions of his people; Esay. 63.9. Coloss. 1.24. and the Apostle tells us that the afflictions of the Saints fill up the remainders, or that which is behind, of the sufferings of Christ; for as the Church is called the fullness of Christ, who yet of himself is so full, as that he filleth all in all (neither doth the Church serve to supply his defects, but to magnify his mercy:) so the Church's sufferings are esteemed the fullness of the sufferings of Christ, although his were of themselves so full before, as that they had a consummatum est to seal up both their measure and their merit; and therefore our sufferings are called his, not by way of addition, or improvement unto those, but by way of honour and dignity unto us, they show Christ's compassion towards us, and our union and conformity to him, but no way either any defect of virtue in his, or any value of merit in ours, or any ecclesiastical treasure, or redundancy out of a mixture of both, very profitable they are for the edification of the Church, but very base and unworthy for the expiation of sin: very profitable for the comfort of men, but very unprofitable to the justice of God. So then, though Christ rest from suffering in himself, yet not in his Saints; though the Serpent cannot come to the head, yet it is still bruising of his heel. Here then the Apostles inference is good, there remaineth therefore rest unto the people of God, and that such a glorious rest as must arise out of the ruin of their enemies, when the wicked perish they shall see it and rejoice, and shall wash their feet in the blood of their adversaries. The revenge of God against his enemies is such, as shall bring an ease with it: Ah, saith the Lord, I will ease me of mine adversaries, Esay 65.13. Esay 66.5. I will avenge me of mine enemies, Esay 1.24. This is the comfort which the Lord giveth his people, that they shall be full when their enemies shall be hungry, and that he will appear to their joy, when their enemies shall be ashamed. This must teach wicked men to take heed of persecuting the members of Christ, for they therein are professed enemies to him whom yet they would seem to worship. This is certain, that all the counsels and resolutions which are made against the subjects or laws of Christ's kingdom, are but vain imaginations which shall never be executed; He will at last avenge the quarrel of his people, and in spite of all the power or malice of hell, make them to sit actually in heavenly places with him, whom he hath virtually and representatively carried thither already. And it should comfort the faithful in all their sufferings for Christ's sake: Because hereby they are, first, Conformable unto him: Secondly, they are Associates with him: Thirdly, they are assured that they are in a way to rest: for, saith the Apostle, it is just with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, 2 Thess. 1.6, 7. and to you who are troubled rest, when the Lord jesus shall be revealed from heaven. And inasmuch, saith Saint Peter, as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, when his glory shall be revealed, ye shall be glad also with exceeding joy: 1 Pet 4.13. And this joy shall be so much the greater, because it shall grow out of the everlasting subjection of the enemy under Christ's feet, and those whom here they persecuted and despised, shall there with Christ be their judges. 1 Cor. 6.2, 3. Secondly, as it noteth the Rest, so likewise the Triumph of Christ, Alex. ab Alex. Gen. dier. lib. 6. cap. 6. Rosin. Antiq. Rom. l. 10. c. 29. when he shall set his feet on the neck of his enemies. The Apostle saith, that he triumphed over them in his Cross, Coloss. 2.15. And there are two words which have an allusion unto the forms of triumph, Expoliation and Publication, or representation of the pomp unto the world of the faithful. He spoilt principalities and powers, that is, He took from them all their armour wherein they trusted, and divided the spoils, Luke 11.22. The armour of Satan was principally the hand-writing of the Law which was against us, or contrary unto us, so long as we were under the full force and rigour of that, so long we were under the possession and tyranny of Satan; but when Christ nailed that unto the Cross, and took it out of the way, than all the other panoply of Satan was easily taken from him: he was then spoiled of all his weapons and provisions of lust, for the world, and therewithal the things which are in the world, Gal. 6.14. were unto us crucified in the Cross of Christ; so that now by faith in him we are able to overcome the world, to value it aright, 1 john 5.4, 5. to esteem the promises thereof thin and empty, and the threatenings thereof vain and false; Heb. 11.26. the treasures thereof base than the very reproaches of Christ, Rom. 8.18. and the afflictions thereof not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, 2 Cor. 17. as being in their measure but light, and but momentary in their duration. The power and wisdom of Satan was likewise in the Cross of Christ most notably befooled and disappointed; for when he thought that he had now swallowed up Christ, he found a hook under that bait, he found that which neither himself, nor any of his instruments could have suspected, that Christ crucified was indeed the wisdom of God, and the power of God, and that through death he chose to destroy him who had the power of death, 1 Cor. 1.24. Heb. 2.14. Again, he made a show, or public representation of this his victory, and of these his spoils openly unto the world. As the Cross was his triumphal chariot, so was it likewise ferculum pompae, the pageant, as it were, and table of his spoils, for though to a carnal eye there was nothing but ignominy and dishonour in it, yet to those that are called, there is an eye of faith given to see in the Cross of Christ Hell disappointed, Satan confounded, his kingdom demolished, the earthly members of the old man crucified, affections and lusts abated, and captivity already led captive. And indeed what triumph of any the most glorious Conqueror was ever honoured with the opening of graves, the resurrection of the dead, the conversion of enemies, the acclamation of mute and inanimate creatures, the darkness of the Sun, the trembling of the earth, the compassion of the rocks, the amazement of the world, the admiration of the Angels of heaven, but only this triumph of Christ upon the Cross? And if he did so triumph there, how much more at the right hand of the Majesty on high, where he is crowned with glory and honour; and at that great day, which is therefore called the Day of the Lord jesus, because he will therein consummate his triumph over all his enemies, when he shall come with the attendance of Angels, in a chariot of fire, with all the unbelievers of the world bound before his Throne, and with the clamour, applause, and admiration of all the Saints. And this is a plentiful ground of comfort to the faithful in all their conflicts with Satan, sin, temptations, or corruptions, they fight under his protection, and with his Spirit who hath himself already triumphed, who accounteth our temptations his, and his victories ours; who turned the sorest perplexities which the world shall ever see, into a doctrine of comfort unto his Disciples, Luke 21. 25-28. When ever then we are assaulted with any heavy temptation to discomforts, fears, fainting, weariness, despair, sinful conformities or the like; let us not toss over our own store, nor depend upon any strength or principles of our own, but look only by faith unto the victories of Christ, and to this great promise which is here made unto him, as Head and Captain of the Church, by whom we shall be able to do all things, and though we were surrounded with enemies, to escape, as he did, thorough the midst of them all. We know the Cats unum magnum, in the fable, was more worth than the Foxes thousand shifts, notwithstanding all the which he was caught at the last. Our enemies come against us in armies, with infinite methods and stratagems to circumvent us, this only is our comfort, that we have unum magnum, one refuge which is above all the wisdom of the enemy, to climb up unto the Cross of Christ, and to commit the keeping of our souls unto him, out of whose hands no man can take them. When David went forth against Goliath, he did not grapple with him by his own strength, but with his Sling and his stone at a distance overthrew him. It is not good to let Satan come too close unto the soul, to let in his temptations, or to enter into any private and intimate combat with him (this was for our Captain only to do, who we know entered into the field with him, as being certain of his own strength) but our only way to prevail against him, is to take faith as a sling, and Christ as a stone, he will undoubtedly find out a place to enter in and to sink the proudest enemy: we are beset with enemies, yea, we are enemies unto ourselves, the burden of the flesh, the assaults of the world, the fiery darts of Satan, treason within, and wars without, swarms of Midianites, troops of Amalekites, the Sea before us, the Egyptian behind us, sin before, Satan and the world behind, either I must run on and be drowned in sin, or I must stand still and be hewed in pieces with the persecutions of wicked men, or I must revolt and turn back to Egypt, and so be devoured in her plagues. In these extremities the Apostle hath given us our unum magnum, Look unto jesus, he that is the Author, will be the finisher of our faith: Heb. 12.1, 2. Heb. 10.36, 37. It is yet but a little while, he will come and will not tarry, he is within the view of our faith, he is within the cry of our prayers, he sitteth at the right hand of power, nay, he there standeth, and is risen up already in the quarrel of his Saints, Act. 7.56. The nearer the Egyptian is to Israel, the nearer he is to ruin, and the nearer Israel is to deliverance. Though Moses have not Chariots, nor multitudes of weapons, Esay 11.1. Zech. 3.8. Exod. 33.14, 16. yet he hath a Rod, a Branch, an Angel of God's presence, which can open the Sea, and give an issue to the greatest dangers, which can turn the enemy's rage into his own ruin. There is no enemy so close, so dangerous, so unavoidable as our own lusts. Now the Lord promiseth to deal with the sins of his people, as he did with the Egyptians; we know their tyranny he subdued with many plagues, their firstborn, the strength and flower of the Land, he slew before, and those who afterwards joined themselves against his people, he drowned in the bottom of the Sea; so saith the Prophet, He will subdue our iniquities, he will purge them away, Mic. 7.19, 20. Psal. 65.3. the power and strength of them he will abate by his Spirit; and as for those remainders thereof, which are yet behind, and rebel against his grace, he will cast all of them into the depths of the Sea, Quoth in prosundum maris abjicitur penitus non extat▪ Theodoret. Psal. 103.12. Esay 43.25. Esay 44.22. that is, he will remove them utterly away from us, he will drown them in everlasting forgetfulness, he will not only blot them out that they may not be, but he will not remember them neither, which is in some sort to make them even not to have been. And, which yet makes the assurance of all this the stronger, the ground of it all is only in God himself, his Covenant and Mercy. Now though our condition altars, yet his mercy is still the same: If the root of the Covenant were in us, then as we change, that also would vary too, but the root is in Gods own grace, whose mercy is therefore without repentance in himself, Mal. 3.6. because it is without reason, or merit in us. Now lastly, this Footstool under Christ's feet, in regard of his enemies, noteth unto us four things: First, The extreme shame and confusion which they shall everlastingly suffer, Esay. 2.11. the utter abasing and bringing down of all that exalteth itself against Christ. In victories amongst men, the part conquered goes many times off upon some honourable terms; at the very worst when they are led captives, yet they go like men still; but to be made a stool for the Conqueror to insult over, Psal 72.9. Mic. 7.17. Esay 49 23. Qui Constantini toties p●rterrunt urbem, Sub Tamberlano sella canisque suit. to lick the dust like a serpent, and move out of holes like the worms of the earth, to be so low, as not to have any further degree of calamity or dishonour left unto which a man may be debased; this is the extremity of shame. It is noted for the greatest indignity which Bajazet the grand Signior ever suffered, when Tamerlane his adversary trampled upon his neck; and of * Aurel. Victor & Eutropius. Valerian, that cruel persecutor of the Church, that he was trod under foot by Sapores the Persian King, and after stayed like a beast. It notes the extremest degree of revenge, which hath no mixture of mercy or compassion in it: So that by this we see the enemies of Christ and his kingdom shall be put to utter and everlasting shame: That as the faithful in that great day of their redemption shall lift up their heads, and have boldness in the presence of the Lamb; so the wicked shall fall flat upon their faces, and cleave unto the dust; when the books shall be unsealed and the consciences of men opened, and the witnesses produced, and the secrets of uncleanness revealed on the housetop, and the mouths of the wicked, who here for a little while dispute against the ways of Christ, and cavil at his commands, shall be everlastingly stopped, when men shall be like a deprehended thief (as the Prophet speaks) then shall their faces be as a flame, jer. 2.26. Ezra 9.6. Dan. 9.7, 8. Rome, 6.21. full of trembling, confusion and astonishment. The very best that are find shame enough in sin, how much they who give themselves over unto vile and dishonourable affections? Secondly, hereby is noted the Burden which wicked men must bear: The footstool beareth the weight of the body, so must the enemies of Christ bear the weight of his heavy and everlasting wrath upon their souls. Sin in the committing seems very light, no bigger than the cloud which the Prophet showed his servant, but at last it gathers into such a tempest, as, if the soul make not haste, it will be swept away, and overwhelmed by it: weighty bodies do with much difference affect the sense according to the difference of places wherein they are. That vessel or piece of timber, which when it is on the water, may be easily drawn with the hand of man, on the land cannot be stirred with much greater strength: So is it with sin upon the conscience, in the time of committing it, nothing more easy, but in the time of judging it, nothing more unsupportable. A wild Ass in the time of her lusting traverseth her ways with much petulancy, and snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure, no man can turn her, but in her month, that is, when she is burdened with her foal, jer. 2.24. she than feeleth the event of her former lustfulness, and will easily be overtaken: so the wicked in sin, however for the time they may bear it out with much mirth, and cheer up their hearts in the days of their pleasure, yet when sin is come to the birth, and so fully finished, that it is now ready to bring forth death unto the soul, they shall then find that it is but like the roll which the Prophet swallowed, sweet to the palate, but bitter in the belly, like a cup of deadly poison, pleasant in the mouth, but torment in the bowels. On whomsoever the Son of man shall fall with the weight of his heavy displeasure he will grind him to powder. Matth. 21.44. That must needs be a heavy burden which men would most joyfully exchange for the weight of rocks and mountains to lie everlastingly upon their backs: And yet the wicked at that great day shall all in vain beg of the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, Revel. 6.16. and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, shall rather choose to live eternally under the weight of the heaviest creature in the world, than under the fury of him that sitteth upon the Throne. Thirdly, herein likewise is noted the relation of a just and equal Recompense unto ungodly men. The Lord useth often to fit punishments to the quality and measure of the sins committed. He that on the earth denied a crumb of bread in hell was denied a drop of water. Man who being in honour would needs affect to be as God, was thereby debased to become like the beasts that perish. Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire and perished by strange fire from the lord a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. Hom. 20. ad pop. Antioch. Sodom and Gomorra burnt in unnatural lusts, and they were drowned in an unnatural tempest of fire. b Ind paena caepit unde caepit & Crimen. Cyprian. de Lapsis. That Apostate in S. Cyprian, who opened his mouth against Christ in blasphemy, was immediately smitten with dumbness that he could not open it unto Christ for mercy. c Socrat. Histor. lib. 6. cap. 5. & Sozom. lib. 8. cap. 7. Eutropius the Eunuch when he persuaded the Emperor to take from malefactors the benefit of refuge at the Altars, did therein prevent his own mercy, and beg away the advantage of an escape from himself, the privilege whereof he did afterwards in vain lay hold on. And thus will Christ deal with his enemies at the last day. Here they trample upon Christ, in his word, in his ways, in his members. They make the Saints d isaiah 51.23. Heb. 10.29. isaiah. 63.18. Revel 11.2. Heb. 6.6. judg. 1.7. 1 Cor. 6.2, 3. Rom. 16.20. isaiah 14.2. Mic. 4.11, 12, 13. Mich. 7.10. bow down for them to go over, and make them as the pavements on the ground. They tread under foot the blood of the covenant, and the Sanctuary of the Lord, and put Christ to shame here: and there their own measure shall be returned into their own bosom, they shall be constrained to confess as Adonibezek, as I have done, so God hath requited me. Yea, this they shall suffer from the meanest of Christ's members, whom they here insulted over. They shall then as witnesses, and as it were co-assessors with Christ, judge the very wicked Angels, and tread them under their feet. They shall take them captives whose captives they were, and shall rule over their oppressors. All they that despised them shall bow themselves at the soles of their feet. They who gathered themselves against Zion, and said, let her be defiled, and let our eye see it: shall themselves be gathered as sheaves into the floor, and the Daughter of Zion shall arise and thresh them with horns of iron, and with hoofs of brass. Then (saith the Church) she that is mine enemies shall see it, & shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her; Now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. Even so let all thine enemies perish O Lord; but let them which love thee be as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might. Lastly, herein we may note the great Power and wisdom of Christ in turning the malice and mischief of his enemies into his own use and advantage; and in so a Voluntas Humana, perversè utendo bonis, fit mala: ille Ordinate etiam malis ●tendo, permanet bonus. Aug. Episi. 120. Sicut ergo ipsi benignitate, & patientia, id est Bon●s Dei malè ut untur, dum non corriguntur, sic contra Deus etiam malis eorum benè utitur, non solùm ad justitiam suam, quâ eis digna in fine retribuet, sed etiam ad exercitationem & profectum sanctorum suorum, ut ex ipsa ●tiam ma●orum perversitate, boni proficiant, & probentur, & manifestentur. Idem, epist. 141. ordering wicked men that though they intent nothing but extirpation and ruin to his Kingdom, yet they shall be useful unto him, and, against their own wills, serviceable to those glorious ends, in the accomplishing whereof he shall be admired by all those that believe. As in a great house there is necessary use of vessels of dishonour, destinated unto fordid and mean, but yet daily services: so in b 2 Tim. 2.20. the great house of God, wicked men are his utensils and household instruments, as footstools, and staves, and vessels wherein there is no pleasure, though of them there may be good use. The c isaiah. 10.5, 6, 7. Assyrian was the Rod of his anger, his axe wherewith he pruned, and his Saw wherewith he threatened his people. d Rom. 9.17. Pharaoh was a vessel fitted to show the glory and power of his name. e Matth. 18.7. It is necessary, saith our Saviour that offences come, and there f 1 Cor. 11.19. must be heresies, saith the Apostle. Because as a skilful Physician ordereth poisonful and destructive ingredients unto useful services: So the Lord by his wisdom doth make use of wicked men's persons and purposes to his own most righteous and wonderful ends, g Esa. 37.28, 29. secretly and mightily directing their wicked designs, to the magnifying of his own power and providence, and to the furthering of his people in faith and godliness. VERSE 2. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the mids of thine enemies. THis Verse is a continuation of the former touching the Kingdom of Christ; and it contains the form of its spiritual administration. Wherein is secretly couched another of the Offices of Christ, namely his Prophetical Office. For that is as it were the dispensation and execution of his regal Office in the militant Church. The sum of this Administration consists in two principal things: First, in matters military, for the subduing of enemies, and for the defence and protection of his people. Secondly, in matters civil and judicial for the government, preservation and honour of his Kingdom. And both these are in this Psalm, The former in the latter part of this verse, Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The other in the third verse, Thy people shall be willing, etc. and the way of compassing and effecting in the former words of this verse, The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength out of Zion. Every King hath his jura Regalia, Greg. Tholos. de Repub. lib. 9 cap. 1. certain royal prerogatives and peculiar honours proper to his own person, which no man can use but with subordination unto him. And if we observe them we shall find many of them as exactly belong unto Christ in his Kingdom as to any secular prince in his. First, unto Kings do belong Armamentaria publica, the Magazines for military provision, and the power and disposition of public arms. Therefore he is said by the Apostle to Bear the sword, because arms properly belong unto him, and unto others under his allowance and protection. Rom. 13.4. 1 Sam. 10.16, 17. So to Christ alone doth belong, and in him only is to be found the public armoury of a Christian man. The weapons of our warfare are mighty only through him. Nay, he is himself the armour and panoply of a Christian, and therefore we are commanded to put on the Lord jesus. Again, via publica is via regia; the high way is the King's way, wherein every man walketh freely under the protection of his Sovereign. So that Law of faith and obedience under which we are to walk, which S. Paul calleth the Law of Christ, Gal. 6 2. jam. 2.8. jam. 1.25. Psal. 91.11. Prov. 10.29. is by S. james called Lex Regia, a royal Law, and a Law of Liberty, in which while any man continueth he is under the protection of the promises and of the Angels of Christ. Again, Bona adespota seu incerti Domini, Lands that are concealed and under the evident claim of no other person or Lord, do belong unto the Prince, as he that hath the supreme and universal dominion in his countries. And this is most certainly true of Christ in his Kingdom, if any man can once truly say, Lord, I am not the servant of any other Master, no other King hath the rightful dominion, or peaceable possession of my heart, he may most truly from thence infer; Therefore Lord I am thy servant, and therefore Lord my heart is thine. True it is Lord our God, that other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us: but now by thee only will we make mention of thy name. isaiah. 26.13. Again, Vectigaliae, and Census, Tributes, and Customs, and Testifications of homage and fidelity are personal prerogatives belonging unto Princes, Rom. 13 6, 7. and as the Apostle saith, Due unto them, for that Ministry and Office which under God they attend upon. So in Christ's Kingdom there is a worship which the Psalmist saith is Due unto his name. Psal. 56 8. They which came unto the Temple, which was a type of Christ, were not to come empty handed, but to bring Testimonies of their reverence, and willing subjection unto that worship. When Abraham met Melchisedek, a figure of Christ, as from him he received a blessing, so unto him he gave an expression of a loyal heart, the tenth of the spoils. When the people of Israel entered into the land of Canaan (which was a type of Christ's Church which he should conquer unto himself) if any people accepted of the peace which they were first to proclaim, Deut. 20.11. they were to become tributaries and servants unto Israel. So it is said of Solomon (whose peaceable kingdom was a type of Christ's after his many victories) that he a 1 King. 4.21. bond-service upon all the nations about Israel; and b 1 King. 9.21. 10.10. that those princes with whom he held correspondence brought unto him presents, as testimonies of his greatness and wisdom. So c Matth. 2.11. Primitiae Gentium sacramentalia munera pr●ferunt de thesauris, etc. Cyprian. serm. de stell. & Magis Brisson. De Reg. Persarum. l. 1.26. when the wise men, (the first fruits of the Gentiles, after Christ exhibited) came to submit unto his kingdom, they opened their treasure and presented him with gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Again, Monetarum leges & valores, the authorising and valuations of public coins belong unto the prince only, it is his image and inscription alone which maketh them currant. Even so unto Christ only doth belong the power of stamping and creating as it were new ordinances in his Church, nothing is with God, nor should be currant with us which hath not his image or express authority upon it. Neither can any man falsify or corrupt any constitution of his without notable contempt against his royal prerogative. Again, judicium or potestas judiciaria, a power of judging the persons and causes of men is a peculiar royalty, the administration whereof is from the prince as the fountain of all humane equity (under God) deposited in the hands of inferior officers, who are as it were the mouth of the prince to publish the laws, and to execute those acts of justice and peace, which principally belong to his own sacred breast. And so Christ saith of himself, joh. 5.22, 27. The Father hath committed all judgement unto the Son, and hath given him authority to execute judgement. Again, Ius vitae & necis. A power to pardon condemned persons, and deliver them from the terror of the Law's sentence, is a transcendent mercy, a gem which can shine only from the diadems of Princes. Now unto Christ likewise belongeth in his Church a power to forgive sins, it is the most sacred royalty of this prince of peace, not only to suspend, but for ever to revoke, and as it were, annihilate the sentence of malediction under which every man is borne. There are likewise Ornamenta Regia▪ regal Ornaments, a Crown, a Throne, 2 King. 11.12. 1 King. 10.18. a Sceptre, and the like. Thus we find the Romans were wont to send to those foreign kings with whom they were in league, as testimonies and confirmations of their dignity, Liv. lib. 30. Tacit. Ann. l. 4. Dionies Hallicar. lib. 3. scipionem eburneum, togam pictam, sellam curulem, an ivory sceptre, a royal robe, and a chair of state. And the like honours we find in the Scriptures belonging unto Christ, that he was crowned with glory and honour, Heb. 2.9. and that he had a Throne and righteous sceptre belonging to his kingdom. Psal. 45.6, 8. Thus we have seen in several particulars how Christ hath his Royalties belonging to his kingdom. Some principal of them we find in this place; A throne, a sceptre, ambassadors, armies for the right dispensing of his sacred power. We will first consider the words, and then raise such observations as shall offer themselves. First, what is meant by the Rod of Christ's Strength, or his Strong Rod? It notes a thing which a man may lean upon, or lay the whole weight of his body on in his weariness. Insigne majestatis regiae. Hieron. But being spoken of Christ's kingdom we take it for a sceptre or rod of majesty. I will not hold you with the variety of acceptions in Expositors. Some take it for the branch that groweth out of that root of jesse. Theodoret. Arnobius. Aug. & Prosp. Some for the wood of the cross. Some for the body of Christ borne of a Virgin. Some, for the kingdom of Christ's power, Euthymius. taking the sign for the thing signified. Some for the power of his mighty works and preaching. That of the body, and of the cross of Christ, except by them we understand the virtue of Christ crucified, I conceive to be not so pertinent to the purpose of the Prophet. The rest agree in one. But for the more distinct understanding of the words we may consider out of the holy Scriptures what things were sent out of Zion. And we find there two things: First, the word of the Lord, or his holy Gospel. The Law shall proceed out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from jerusalem, Mic. 4.2. Secondly, the spirit of the Lord, which was first sent unto Zion: for at Jerusalem the Apostles were to wait for the promise of the Father, Act. 1.4. and from thence was shed abroad into the world upon all flesh, Act. 2.17. and both these are the power or strength of Christ. His word, a Gospel of power unto salvation, Rom. 1.16. 2 Cor. 4.7.10.4. and his spirit a spirit of power, 1 Cor. 2.4. 2 Tim. 1.7. which is therefore called the finger and the arm of the Lord, Luk. 11.20. Matt. 12.28. isaiah. 53.1. so by the Rod is meant the Gospel and the Spirit of Christ. Secondly, what is meant by Gods sending this Rod of Christ's strength? It notes, the manifestation of the Gospel, we knew it not before it was sent. The donation of the Gospel, we had it not before it was sent; the invitations of the Gospel, we were without God in the world, and strangers from the Covenant of promise, before it was sent. The Commission of the Dispenser's of the Gospel, they have their patent from heaven, they are not to speak until they be sent. Thirdly, what is meant by sending it out of Zion? It is put in Opposition to mount Sina, from whence the Law was sometimes sent with thunders and fire, and much terror unto the people of Israel. Ye are not come, saith the Apostle, unto the mount that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and tempest, etc. but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, and to jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant, etc. Heb. 12.18.24. and the Apostle elsewhere showeth us the meaning of this Allegorical opposition between Sina and Zion, between Sarah and Hagar, namely the two covenants of the Law and of Grace, or of bondage and liberty, Gal. 4.24, 25. Zion was the place whither the tribes resorted to worship the Lord, the place towards which that people prayed, the place of God's merciful residence amongst them, the beauty of holiness, the place upon which first the gift of the holy Ghost was poured forth, and in which the Gospel was first of all preached after Christ's Ascension. We may take it by a Synecdoche for the whole Church of the Jews, unto whom the Lord first revealed his Covenant of Grace in Christ, Act. 3.26. Act. 13.46. Rom. 2.10. Rule Thou] that is, Thou shalt rule, which is a usual form to put the Imperative for the future Indicative. It is not a command, which hath relation unto any service: but it is a promise, a commission, a dignity conferred upon Christ. In the midst of thine enemies.] Some understand it of changing the hearts of his enemies, Qui alieni erant, tui esse incipient. Dignare esse Dominus inimicorum tuorum. Hieron. and converting them as captives unto his obedience. Other understand the wonderful effect of the power of Christ's kingdom, that he can by his Word and Spirit hold up his Church in despite of all the enemies thereof round about. The Church ever was and will be pestered with diverse kinds of adversaries, heretics and hypocrites, and false brethren, with profaneness, temptations, persecutions, spiritual wickednesses; and in the midst of all these the Church of Christ groweth as a Lily amongst the thorns. Now this In medio, noteth two things; Dominium plenum, and dominium securum, A perfect and full government, without mutilation, without impediment, the Church being amongst the wicked as a rock in the midst of the sea, or as a garrison in an enemy's town. Media dominantur in urbe, is an expression of such a rule as can no way be hindered or removed. The Church of God is a burdensome stone, they who go about to remove it out of that place where Christ will plant it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth should gather together against it, Zech. 12.3. A secure and confident government, so in the Scripture phrase, In the midst notes confidence and security. When the Prophet asked the Shunamite, wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the Captain of the host? she answered, I dwell amongst mine own people, that is, I am safe and have enough already, 2 King. 4.13. When they of the Synagogue would have cast Christ down headlong from the brow of a hill, it is said, that he passed through the midst of them and went his way, that is, with much confidence, safety, and assurance he withdrew himself, Luk. 4.29, 30. As the Prophet was full of security and quietness in the midst of the Syrian siege, 2 King. 6. 14-16. The words being thus unfolded, we may observe in them Three of Christ's principal Regalities, Sceptrum, Solium, and Imperium. The Sceptre, the Throne, and the Power or government of his kingdom. His Sceptre is the Word of his Gospel animated by the Power of his holy Spirit, and accompanied with the blessing and authority of God the Father, who sendeth it abroad into the world. His Throne, from whence this his Sceptre is extended, Zion, the Church of the Jews; His victorious, plenary, and secure government, Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. First, the Sceptre here is the Gospel and the Spirit of Christ. Christ is a Shepherd towards his Flock the Church, isaiah. 40.11. A great Shepherd, Heb. 13.20. that notes his Power and Majesty over them: and a good Shepherd, joh. 10.14. that notes his care and tenderness towards his Sheep. Kings in the Scripture are called Shepherds to lead and to feed, and to govern the people. So David is said to have been taken from the sheepfolds, to feed jacob and Israel, Psal. 78.71. 2 Sam. 5.2. and thus Christ is a Shepherd and a King. I will set up one Shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, Even my servant David— I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a Prince among them, Ezek. 34.23, 24. Prophets & Teachers are in the Scripture likewise called Shepherds, jer. 23.1, 4. and so Christ is a Shepherd and a Bishop. Ye were as sheep going astray, but now ye are returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls, 1 Pet. 2.25. And therefore we find in the Scripture that Christ hath two pastoral staves, to note his great care and double office in his Church. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want- I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy Rod and thy Staff they comfort me, Psal. 23.4. I took unto me two staves, the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands, and I fed the flock, Zech. 11.7. So then the Rod of Christ's strength or his strong staff doth in these several relations note unto us three things: As it is a staff of strength, so it notes the power of Christ. As it is the Sceptre of a King, so it notes the majesty of Christ. As it is the staff of a Bishop or Prophet, so it notes the care and superintendency of Christ over his Church. So then this first particular of the Rod of Christ's kingdom affords unto us three observations: First, that Christ in his Gospel and Spirit is full of power and strength towards the Church. Secondly, that Christ in his Gospel and Spirit is full of Glory and Majesty towards his Church. Thirdly, that Christ in his Gospel and Spirit is full of care and of tenderness towards his Church. First, the words of the Gospel with the spirit is full of power and strength. No man will deny that Christ in his own person is full of power. And as the power of a Prince is principally seen in his laws, edicts, pardons, and gracious patents: so is the power of Christ wonderfully magnified towards the Church in his Gospel, which unto us is both a Covenant of mercy, and a Law of obedience. We may observe how Christ is frequently pleased to honour his Gospel with his own titles and attributes. And therefore the Apostle speaks of him and his word, as of one and the same thing. Heb. 4.12, 13. The word of God is quick and powerful— a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, neither is there any Creature which is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. That which is the word in one verse is Christ himself in another, which hath given occasion to some learned men (without any constraining reason (as I conceive) to take the Word there for the essential Word of God, or the person of Christ himself, to whom I think that appellation is not given by any of the sacred Writers, but only by his beloved Disciple Saint john. We know that Christ was crucified at Jerusalem, and yet the Apostle saith, that he was crucified amongst the Galatians. Certainly, in that he died he died but once unto sin. Gal. 3.1. S. Paul could not do that himself, which he curseth others for doing, Crucify again the Lord of Glory. So then at Jerusalem he was crucified in his person, and at Galatia in the ministry of his Word. One and the same crucifying was as lively set forth in Saint Paul's preaching, as it was really acted upon Christ's person: for Christ is as really present to his Church now in the spiritual dispensation of his ordinances, as he was corporally present with the Jews in the days of his flesh. And therefore I say it is that we find the same attributes given to both. a 1 Cor. 1.24. Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God; and the Gospel elsewhere the b Rom. 1.16. Power of God and the c 1 Cor. 2.6, 7. wisdom of God in a mystery to them that are perfect. Again, d 1 Cor. 28. Christ the Lord of glory, and the Gospel the e 1 Tim. 1.11. Gospel of glory, or the glorious Gospel. f Act. 3.15. Christ the prince of life, yea the g 1 joh. 1.1. Word of life, and the h Phil. 2.16. Gospel the Word of life too. i joh. 5.27. Christ a judge, and the k joh. 12.48. Word of Christ a judge too. The word which I have spoken the same shall judge you at the last day. l Luk. 1.69, 77. Luk. 2.30. isaiah. 62.11. Gen. 49.18. Christ a Saviour and Salvation unto men, Mine eyes have seen thy Salvation: And the m joh. 4.22. Gospel of Christ a Salvation too; we know, saith Christ to the woman of Samaria, what we worship, for salvation is of the jews. The force of the reason leads us to understand by Salvation the Oracles of God which were committed unto that people, for out of them only it is that we know what and how to worship, and this is not unusual in holy Scriptures. n Heb. 2.2, 3. 2 Cor. 3.9. If the Word, saith the Apostle, spoken by Angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, & c? Where we find Salvation set in opposition to the Word spoken by Angels, which was the Law of God, or the ministry of condemnation, and therefore it must needs signify the Gospel of Christ. o Act. 18.28. Be it known unto you, saith the Apostle to the unbelieving jews, that the salvation of God, that is, the Gospel of God (as appeareth plainly by the like parallel speech in p Act. 13.46. another place) is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. So the Apostle saith that q jam. 1.21. the engrafted Word is able to save the souls of men. All which and many other the like particulars note unto us, That as Christ is the Power and Image of his Father, so the Gospel is in some sort of Christ: For which reason the Apostle, as I conceive, calleth the Gospel r 2 Cor. 4.6. the Face of jesus Christ: God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of jesus Christ. Where is it that we behold the glory of God but s 2 Cor. 3.18. in a glass? and what is that glass? but the word of God as S. james calls it? jam. 1.23. Christ is not pleased any other ways ordinarily to exercise his power, or to reveal his glory, but in these ordinances of his which we dispense. Therefore he walketh in his Church with a a Revel. 1.16. sword is his mouth, and with a b isaiah. 11.4. Rod in his mouth, to note that he giveth no greater testification of his strength than in the Ministry of his Gospel; which is therefore sometimes called a c Eph 6.17. sword, a d jer. 23.29. jer. 5.16. hammer, a fire, sometimes only a e 2 Cor. 2.16. savour of life and death, to note the mighty working thereof, that can kill as well by a sent as by a wound, as well by a breath as by a blow. To consider this point a little more distinctly. This Power of the Gospel of Christ appears in both those regards, as it is a savour of life unto life, and as it is a savour of death unto death. Towards his Church who shall be saved, and towards his enemies who shall perish. Many ways is the Gospel of Christ and his Spirit a Rod of strength unto his Church. First, Luk. 11.20, 21. Eph. 3.2. 2 Tim. 2.26. in their Calling and conversion from the power of Satan unto God. Satan is a strong man, and he is armed, hath a whole panoply and full provision of military instruments, and (which is a great advantage) hath both the first possession▪ and the full love of the hearts of men before Christ attempts any thing upon them. And therefore that which pulleth a man from under the paw of such a Lion, and forceth him away from his own palace, must needs be much stronger than he. Eph. 6.12.17. And therefore the Apostle commendeth the power of the word by this argument that it is a sword fit to overcome principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickednesses in heavenly places. Again, the old Man in our nature is a strong man too, a Reigning King, which setteth himself mightily against the word and will of Christ, and cherisheth the disease against the remedy. And by that likewise the Apostle commendeth the power of the Gospel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg. Naz. Orat. 1. Mark. 4.39, 41. that it is mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, and imaginations or fleshly reasonings. When Christ stilled the winds and the Sea with but two words, Peace, be still, they were exceedingly amazed at his power, and said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the Sea obey him? isaiah. 57.20. The conversion of a man is a far greater work than the stilling of the Sea, that will be sometimes calm of itself when the fury of the wind ceaseth. The wicked indeed are like the Sea, but not at any time, but like a troubled Sea when it cannot rest. The Sea we know is subject unto several motions. An inward boiling and unquietness from itself, its ordinary fluxes and refluxes from the influence of the moon, many casual agitations from the violence of the winds, and from its own waves, one wave precipitating, impelling, and repelling another: So are the hearts of wicked men by the foaming, estuations, and excesses of natural concupiscence, by the provisions and materials of sinful pleasures, by the courses of the world, by the solicitations and impulsions of Satan, by a world of hourly casualties and provocations so tempestuous that they always cast out upon the words and actions of men mire and dirt. Now in the dispensation of the word by the ministry of a weak man Christ stilleth the raging of this Sea, quells the lusts, correcteth the distempers, scattereth the temptations, worketh a smoothness and tranquillity of Spirit in the soul of a man. Surely when this is done the soul cannot but stand amazed at its own recovery, and admire that wonderful and invisible power which could so suddenly rebuke such raging affections and reduce them unto calmness and beauty again. What ailed thee O thou Sea, that thou fleddest, and thou jordan that thou wert driven back? Psal. 114.5, 6. ye mountains that ye skipped like Rams, and ye little hills like Lambs? It is an expression of God's power towards his people in their triumphal entrance into the Land of Canaan. We may apply it to the conquest and possession which the word takes of the souls of men. What ailed a man that he was driven back from his own channel, and made suddenly to forget his wont course? what ailed those strong and mountainous lusts, which were as immovably settled upon the soul as a hill upon his base, to fly away at the voice of a man like a frighted sheep? what ailed those smaller corruptions and intemperancies, which haply had before lost their names, and were rather customs, and infirmities, than sins, to fly away like lambs from the word of Christ? A man went into the Church with a full tide and stream of lusts, every thicket in his heart, every reasoning and imagination of his soul did before shelter whole flocks of evil affections: when he came out the tide was driven back, the stream turned, the centre of his heart altered, his forest discovered, his lusts scattered and subdued. What ails this man? He hath but heard an hour's discourse, the same which others hear and their tide riseth the higher by it. Certainly these Devils were not cast out, Act. 17.32, 34. these streams were not turned back but by the finger of God himself. When the minister of Christ shall whisper in the ears of a dead man, whom no thunder could have awakened, and he shall immediately rise up and give glory to God, when Christ shall call men to deny themselves, to get above themselves, to hate Father and Mother, and Wife and Children, and their own life, to sell all that they have, to crucify, and be cruel to their own members, to pull out their right eyes, to cut off their right hands, to part from those sins which before they esteemed their choicest ornaments, and from those too which before they made their chiefest support and subsistence; to stand at defiance with the allurements or discouragements of the world, to be set up for signs and wonders, for very proverbs of scorn, and objects of hatred to those of their own house; to receive persecutions as rewards, and entertain them not with patience only but with thankfulness and rejoicing; to be all their life long in the midst of enemies, put to tedious conflicts with the powers of the world and of darkness; to believe things which they have not seen, and to hope for things which they do not know; and yet maugre all this to refuse to consult with flesh and blood, to stand still more in awe of God's word, than of any other thing: certainly that which with the voice of a weak man bringeth such great things to pass, must needs be Virga virtutis, a Rod of strength. A Rod like the Rod of Moses which can lead us through such seas as these, to one whom we have never seen nor known before, isaiah. 55.5. Secondly, the Gospel of Christ is a Rod of strength in the justification of men, as it is Sceptrum justitiae, a a Heb. 1.8. Sceptre of Righteousness, a b 2 Cor. 5.19. word of reconciliation, c Eph. 1.13. a Gospel of salvation, d Rom. 8.2, 3. a Law of the Spirit of life, e 2 Cor. 3.6.8.9. a ministration of the Spirit, of life, and of Righteousness, an f isaiah. 61.1. opening of prisons and a proclaiming of liberty unto captives, in these respects likewise it is full of power. There was a mighty power in the Law of God typified in those thunderings and terrors with which it was administered upon mount Sina; the Apostle calleth it a g Gal. 3.24. Schoolmaster to scourge and drive us unto Christ, and the Psalmist an h Psal. 2.9. iron Rod able to break in pieces all the potsherds of the earth. And we know boys in a School do not apprehend so much terror in the King as in their Master. Yet in comparison of the Power of the Gospel, the Law itself was very i Rom. 8.3. Heb. 7.18, 19 weak and unprofitable, able to make nothing perfect. The Power of the Law was only to destruction, the Power of the Gospel for edification. The Law could only hold under him that was down before, it could never raise him up again. Now the power is far greater to raise than to kill, to forgive sins, than to bind them. Herein is the mighty k Exod. 34.5, 6, 7. Mich. 7.18, 19 Matth. 9.6. strength of God's mercy seen that it can pass by iniquities, transgressions and sins. To l Matth. 28.18, 19 preach the Gospel of Christ in his name and authority is an evident argument of that plenary power which is given unto him both in heaven and earth. And the very dispensing of this word of reconciliation which is committed unto the Ministers of the Gospel (how basely soever the ungrateful world may esteem of them) hath honoured them with a title of as great power as a man is capable of, Obad. v. 21. joh 20.23. 1 Tim 4.16. jam. 5.20. to be called Saviors, to have the custody of the keys of heaven, ministerially and instrumentally under Christ and his Spirit to save the souls, and to cover the sins of men. Now than that word which from the mouth of a weak man is able to reconcile a child of wrath unto God, and by the words of one hour to cover and wipe out the sins of many years, which were scattered as thick in the souls of men as the stars in the firmament, must needs be virga virtutis, a Rod of strength. Thirdly, the Gospel of Christ is a Rod of strength in the sanctification of men, as it is Sceptrum cum unctione, joh. 17.17. isaiah. 54.13. Gal 4.19. 2 Cor. 3.2. a Sceptre which hath ever an unction accompanying it. As it is a Sanctifying Truth, an heavenly teaching, a forming of Christ in the soul, a making of the heart as it were his Epistle by writing the Law therein, and manifesting the power and image of Christ in the conscience. If a man should touch a marble or adamant stone with a seal, and taking it off should see the print of it left behind, he could not but conceive some wonderful and secret virtue to have wrought so strange an effect. Now our hearts are of themselves as hard as the neither millstone; when then a holy word, so meekly and gently laid on upon them, shall leave there an impression of its own purity, when so small a thing as a grain of mustardseed shall transform an earthy soul into its own nature, when the eyes and hands, and mouth of Christ being in the ministry of his word spread upon the eyes and hands and mouth of a Child shall revive the same from death, when by looking into a glass we shall not only have a view of our own faces, but shall see them changed into the image of another face which from thence shineth upon us, how can we but conclude that certainly that word by which such wonders as these are effected is indeed virga virtutis, a Rod of strength? Fourthly, the Gospel of Christ is a Rod of strength, in the Preservation and Perseverance of the Saints, as it is Virga germinans, a Rod like Aaron's Rod, which blossomed and the blossoms perished not, but remained in the Ark for a Testimony of God's power. For as those buds, or the Manna in the Ark did not perish, so neither doth the word of the Gospel in the hearts of the faithful. The Apostle saith, that we are kept by the power of God unto salvation. and S. jude that God's power keepeth the Saints from falling, 1 Pet. 1.5. jud. v. 24. and presenteth them faultless before the presence of his glory; and what is this power of God whereby he doth it, but the Gospel of Christ, which S. Peter calleth semen incorruptibile, uncorruptible seed; 1 Pet. 1.24. 1 joh. 3.9. and the Spirit of Christ, which S. john calleth semen manens, an abiding seed? If I should see a tree with perpetual fruit, without any variation from the difference of seasons, a tree like that in S. john's Paradise which every month did bring forth fruit of twelve several kinds, I should conclude that it had an extraordinary vital power in it: so when I find Christ in his word promising, and by the planting and watering of his Laborers in the vineyard, making good that promise unto his Church; That every branch bringing forth fruit in him, shall not only be as Aaron's Rod, have his fruit preserved upon him, but shall bring forth more fruit and shall have life more abundantly▪ joh. 1● 2. joh. 10.10. how can I but conclude, that that word which is the Instrument of so unperishable a condition, is indeed Virga virtutis a Rod of strength, a Rod cut out of the tree of life itself? Fifthly, the Gospel of Christ is a Rod of strength in comforting and supporting of the faithful, as it is Virga pulchritudinis & colligationis, a Rod of Beauty and of Binding, as it is a word which doth bind that which was broken, and give unto them which mourn in Zion beauty for ashes, isaiah. 61.1.3. and the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness: as it quencheth all the fiery darts, and answereth all the bloody reasonings of Satan against the soul, as it is a staff which giveth comfort, and subsistence in the very valley of the shadow of death. Psal. 23.4. The shadow of death is an usual expression in the Scripture for all fears, terrors, affrightments, or any dreadful calamities either of soul or body. The whole misery of our natural condition is thereby signified, Luk. 1.79. Many ways doth the Prophet David set forth the extremities he had been driven unto, my bones are vexed, and dried like a potsherd, and turned into the drought of summer; my couch swimmeth with tears, mine eye is consumed and waxen old with grief. I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like melted wax in the mids of my bowels. Thine arrows stick fast in me, thine hand presseth me sore, there is no soundness in my flesh, my wounds stink and are corrupt, I am feeble and fore broken, I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Innumerable evils compass me about, I am not able to look up. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath overwhelmed me. My soul is among lions, I lie amongst them that are set on fire. The waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire; the floods overflow me, etc. These all, and the like are comprehended in that one word, The shadow of death. And in that, it was only the word, and the Spirit of God which did support him; Psal. 119.50.92. This is my comfort in my affliction, saith he, for thy word hath quickened me. When my afflictions had brought me to the very brink and darkness of the grave, thy word revived me again, and made me flourish. Unless thy Law had been my delights, I should have perished in mine affliction. Now then when I see a man upon whom so many heavy pressures do meet, the weight of sin, the weight of God's heavy displeasure, the weight of a wounded Spirit, the weight of a decayed body, the weight of scorn and temptations from Satan and the world, in the mids of all this not to turn unto lying vanities, not to consult with flesh and blood, nor to rely on the wisdom or help of man, 2 Chron. 32.8. but to lean only on this word, to trust in it at all times, and to cast all his expectations upon it, to make it his only Rod and staff to comfort him in such sore extremities, how can I but confess that this word is indeed Virga virtutis, a Rod of strength? Math. 4.4. 1 Tim. 4.5. Lastly, the Gospel of Christ is a Rod of strength in sanctifying and blessing of our Temporal things. As it is Baculus Panis, A staff of bread; Man liveth not by bread alone, but by the word which proceedeth out of God's mouth, not by the creature, but by the blessing which prepareth the creature for our use. Now it is the word of God, namely his promises in Christ of things concerning this life as well as that which is to come, that doth sanctify the creatures of God to those wh● with thankfulness receive them. The fall of man b●ought a pollution upon the creatures, a curse upon the stone and timber of a man's house, a snare upon his table, a poison and bitterness upon his meat, distractions and terrors upon his bed, emptiness and vexation upon all his estate; which cleaves as fast thereunto as blackness to the skin of an Ethiopian, or sin to the soul of man. For all the creatures of God are by sin mischievously converted into the instruments and provisions of lust. Rom. 13.14. 1 joh. 2.16. The Sun, and all the glorious lights of nature but instruments to serve the pride, covetousness, adultery, vanity of a lustful eye. All the delicacies which the earth, air or Sea can afford but materials to feed the luxury and intemperance of a lustful body. All the honours and promotions of the world but fuel to satisfy the haughtiness and ambition of a lustful heart. That word then which can fetch out this leprosy from the creatures, and put life, strength, and comfort into them again must needs be Virga virtutis, a Rod of strength. Secondly, the Gospel and Spirit of Christ is a rod of strength, in regard of his and his Church's enemies. Able both to repel, and to revenge all their injuries; to disappoint the ends and machinations of Satan, to triumph and get above the persecutions of men, to get a treasure which no malice nor fury of the enemy can take away, a nobleness of mind which no insultation of the adversary can abate, a security of condition, and calmness of spirit, where no worldly tempests can any more extinguish than the darkness of a cloud, or the boisterousness of a wind can blot out the lustre, or perturb the order of celestial bodies; a heavenly wisdom able to prevail against the gates of hell, and to stop the mouths of every gain-sayer. 2 Cor. 10.6. jer. 1.8, 9 jer. 6.27. Ezek. 3.8, 9 Mat. 21.44. The Word hath ever a Readiness to revenge disobedience, as the Apostle speaks; it hardens the faces of men, and arms them, that they may break all those who fall upon them. This power of the Word towards wicked men, showeth itself in many particulars: First, in a mighty work of Conviction. The Spirit was therefore sent into the world to convince it by the ministry of the Gospel, which one word containeth the ground of the whole strength here spoken of; for all, which the word bringeth to pass, it doth it by the conviction of the Spirit. This Conviction is twofold: A Conviction unto conversion, whereby the hearts of men are wonderfully overruled ruled by that invincible evidence of the Spirit of truth, to feel & acknowledge their woeful condition by reason of sin, so long as they continue in unbelief, to take unto themselves the just shame and confusion of face which belongs unto them, to give unto God the glory of his righteous and just severity if he should destroy them, and hereupon to be secondly by the terror of the Lord persuaded to count worthy of all acceptation any deliverance out of that estate which shall be tendered unto them: To admire, adore, and greedily embrace any terms of peace and reconciliation which shall be offered them. To submit unto the righteousness, and with all willing and meek affection to bend the heart to the Sceptre of Christ, and to whatsoever form of judicature and spiritual government he shall please to erect therein. And this magnifies the strength of this Rod of Christ's Kingdom, that it maketh men yield upon any terms: when we see the little stone grow into a mighty mountain, and eat into all the Kingdoms of the world; when we see Emperors and Princes submit their necks and sceptres to a doctrine at first every where spoken against, and that upon the words of a few despicable person's, and that such a doctrine too, as is diametrally contrary to the natural constitution of the hearts of men, and teacheth nothing but selfe-deniall, and this for hope of reward from one whom they never saw, and whom if they had seen, they should have found by a natural eye no beauty in him for which he should be desired; and this reward too, whatever it be, deferred for a long time, and in the interim no ground of assurance to expect it, but only faith in himself that promiseth it, and in the mean time a world of afflictions for his name's sake; How can we think that a world of wise and of great men, should give ear most willingly unto such terms as these, if there were not a demonstrative and constraining evidence of truth and goodness therein, able to stop the mouths, and to answer the objections of all gain sayers? Of this point I have spoken more copiously upon another Scripture. Secondly, there is a Conviction unto condemnation of those who stand out against this saving power of the Gospel and Spirit of grace, driving them from all their strong holds, and constraining them perforce to acknowledge the truth which they do not love. Matth. 22.46. Thus we find our Saviour disputing with the Jews, till no man was able to answer him a word; and as he did so himself, so he promised that his messengers should do so too, I will give you a mouth and wisdom, Luke 21.15. which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay, nor resist: And this promise we find made good; Act 6.10. the enemies of Steven were not able to resist the Spirit by which he spoke: Act. 18.28. And Apollo's mightily convinced the Jews, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ: And this the Apostle numbereth amongst the qualifications of a Bishop, that he should be able by sound doctrine to convince the gainsayers, Tit. 1.9, 11. and to stop the mouths of those unruly deceivers, whose business it is to subvert men, for this is the excellent virtue of God's Word, that it concludeth or shutteth men in, Gal. 3.22. and leaveth not any gap or evasion of corrupted reason unanswered, or unprevented. Thus we find how the Prophets in their ministry did still drive the Jews from their shifts, and press them with Dilemmas, the inconveniences whereof they could on no side escape: either there must be a fault in you, or else in God who rebuketh you; but now what iniquity, saith the Lord, have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me? jer. 2.5 31. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel, or a land of darkness, wherefore say my people we are lords, Mic. 6.3, 4. we will come no more unto thee? O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites: Is it not even thus, Amos 2.11. O ye children of Israel? Here the Scripture useth that figure which is called by the Rhetoritians Communicatio, a debating and deliberation with the adverse party, an evidencing of a cause so clearly, as that at last a man can challenge the adversary himself to make such a determination, jer. 5.7. jer. 9.7. as himself shall in reason judge the merits of the cause to require: How shall I pardon thee for this? and how shall I do for the daughters of my people? Set me in a way, determine the controversy yourselves, and I will stand to the issue which your own consciences shall make. O inhabitants of jerusalem, isaiah. 5.3. and men of judah, judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard, that is, do you yourselves undertake the deciding of your own cause. When a band of armed men came against Christ to attach him, and at the pronouncing but of two words, joh. 18.6. I am he, fell all down backward to the earth; we must needs confess that there was some mighty power and evidence of Majesty in him that uttered them: what think we can he do when he reigneth and judgeth the world, Quid judicaturus faciet qui judicandus hoc fecit? quid regnaturus poterit, qui moriturus hoc potuit? Aug. who did let out so much power when he was to die and to be judged by the world? Now Christ reigneth and judgeth the world by his Word, and that more mightily after his ascending up on high, and therefore he promiseth his Apostles that they should do greater works than himself had done. When I shall see a man armed with scorn against Christ in his Word, joh. 14.12. standing proudly upon the defence of his own ways by his own wisdom, and wrapping up himself in the mud of his own carnal reasonings, by a few postulata, and deductions from God's Word, Tit. 3.11. Wisd. 17.11, 16. Luk. 19.22. to be enforced to stop his own mouth, to be condemned by his own witness, to betray his own succours, and to be shut up in a prison without bars; when I shall force such a man by the mighty penetration and invincible evidence of God's Word, to see in his own conscience a hand subscribing to the truth which condemns him, and belying all those delusions which he had framed to deceive himself withal; who can deny but that the rod of God's mouth is indeed Virga virtutis, a rod of strength, an iron rod, jer. 19.11. able to deal with all humane reasonings, as a hammer with a potsherd, which though to the hand of a man it may feel as hard as a rock, yet is too brittle to endure the blow of an iron rod? Strange it is to observe how boldly men venture on sins under the names of custom, or fashions, or some other pretences of corrupted reason, contrary to the clear and literal evidence of holy Scriptures ( * Aquin. part. 1. qu. 1. art. 10. ad primum. Alphons. à Castro contra Haeres. lib. 1. cap. 3. Glass. Philolog. Sacra. lib. 2. pag. 338. Hooker lib. 5. sect. 59 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. A. Gell. Esay 5.23. Exod. 23.2.7. the most immediate and grammatical sense whereof, is ever soundest, where there doth not some apparent and unavoidable error in doctrine, or mischief in manners, follow thereupon.) Men will justify the cause of the wicked for reward, and by dexterity of wit put a better colour upon a worse business, (as hath been observed of Protagoras and Carneades) and yet the Lord saith expressly, Thou shalt not speak in a cause to wrest judgement, thou shalt keep thee far from a false matter, for God (whom thou oughtest to imitate) will not justify the wicked. Men will follow the sinful fashions of the world, in strange apparel, in prodigious hair, in lustful and unprofitable expense of that precious moment of time, upon the abuse or right improvement whereof dependeth the several issues of their eternal condition: though the Lord say expressly, Rom. 12.2. Ephes. 2.2. Zeph. 1.8. Hieron. Theodoret. Ribera. Be not conformed to this world; they that walk according to the course of the world, walk according to the Prince of the power of the air. The Lord will punish all such as are clothed with strange apparel, who take up the fashions of idolaters, or other nations, or other sexes (as that place is differently expounded) a 1 Cor. 11.14. Nature itself teacheth that it is a shame for a man to wear long hair; nay Nature itself taught that honest Heathen to stand at defiance with the sins of his age, and not comply with the course of the world, upon that slight apology, as if the b Nec virtutem aut vitium seculum vocavit. Tac. in Agric. Homicid●●m came admittunt si●g●li crim●n est, virtus vocatur cum publ●cè geritur, Cypr. l. 2. epist. 2. commonness had taken away the illness, & that which committed by one would have been a sin, being imitated after a multitude were but a fashion. To conclude this particular: The Apostle is peremptory, c 1 Cor. 6.9▪ Esay 41.21. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor effeminate, nor covetous, nor thiefs, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God: and the consciences of many men, who yet will never yield to the conclusion, cannot choose but subsume, as the Apostle goes on, such are some of we, nay, and such we will be too. But now if we should bespeak these men in the word of the Prophet, Produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, Esay 28.17. saith the King of jacob, they should find at the last their reasons to be like themselves, vanity and lighter than nothing, that the Word of the Lord will at last prevail, and sweep away all their refuge of lies. Secondly, the power of the Word towards wicked men is seen in Affrighting of them; 2 Cor. 2.16. there is a spirit of bondage, and a savour of death, aswell as a spirit of life and liberty which goeth along with the Word. Gild is an inseparable consequent of sin, and fear of the manifestation of guilt: If the heart be once convinced of this, it will presently faint and tremble, even at the shaking of a leaf, at the wagging of a man's own conscience; how much more at the voice of the Lord, which shaketh mountains, Levit. 26.36. and maketh the strong foundations of the earth to tremble? If I should see a prisoner at the bar pass sentence upon his Judge; and the Judge thereupon surprised with trembling, and forced to subscribe and acknowledge the doom, I could not but stand amazed at so inverted a proceeding; yet in the Scripture we find precedents for it, Micatah, a prisoner, pronouncing death unto Ahab, a King: jeremy, a prisoner, pronouncing captivity unto Zedekiah, 1 King. 22.27, 28. jer. 37.16, 17. Act. 24.25. a King: Paul in his chain preaching of judgement unto Felix in his robes, and making his own Judge to tremble. It is not for want of strength in the Word, or because there is stoutness in the hearts of men to stand out against it, that all the wicked of the world do not tremble at it, but merely their ignorance of the power & evidence thereof. The Devils are stronger and more stubborn creatures than any man can be, yet because of their full illumination, and that invincible conviction of their consciences from the power of the Word, they believe and tremble at it. Though men were as hard as rocks, james 2.19. jer. 23.29. jer. 5.14. Ezek. 2.6. Deut. 33.2. jer. 1.10. Psal. 91.13. the Word is a hammer which can break them; though as sharp as thorns and briers, the Word is a fire which can devour and torment them, though as strong as kingdoms and nations, the Word is able to root them up, and to pull them down, though as fierce as Dragons and Lions, the Word is able to trample upon them, and to chain them up. Thirdly, the power of the Word is seen towards wicked men, in that it doth judge them. Son of man, Ezek. 22.2. wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody City, saith the Lord? yea, thou shalt show them their abominations. To note that when wicked men are made to see their filthiness in the Word, they have thereby the wrath of God, as it were sealed upon them. He that rejecteth me, john 12.48. the Word which I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day, saith our Saviour: And if all prophecy, saith the Apostle, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, 1 Cor. 14.24. and the secrets of his heart are made manifest. Nay, the Word doth in some sort execute death and judgement upon wicked men. Therefore it is said that the Lord would smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, Esay 11.8. and with the breath of his lips would slay the wicked: And again, I have hewed them by the Prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth. Host 6.5. And therefore the Word of the Lord is called fury by the Prophet, jer. 6.11. to note that when wrath & fury is poured out upon a land, they are the effects of God's Word. If a pestilence devour a city, and a sword come and glean after it, it is the Word only which flays, they are but the instruments, which are as it were actuated and applied by the Word of God to their several services. Therefore it is that the Prophet saith, Mich. 6.9. that wise men see the voice of God, and hear his rod. A rod is properly to be seen, and a voice to be heard, but here is a transposition, and as it were, a communication of properties between the Word of God, and his punishments, to note that towards wicked men there is a judging, and tormenting virtue in the Word; For judgement, saith our Saviour, am I come into this world, john 9.39. that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. If it be here objected that Christ saith of himself, The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, Luke 9.56 but to save them, and that he came not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved; I answer, that there are two events of Christ's coming, and by consequence of his Gospel. The one principal, and by him intended, the other accidental and occasional, growing out of the ill disposition of the subject unto whom he was sent. The main and essential business of the Gospel is to declare salvation, and to set open unto men a door of escape from the wrath to come; but when men wilfully stand out, and neglect so great salvation, then secondarily doth Christ prove unto those men a stone of offence, and the Gospel a savour of death unto death, as that potion which was intended for a cure by the Physician, may upon occasion of the indisposedness of the body, and stubborn radication of the disease, hasten a man's end sooner than the disease itself would have done: So that to the wicked the Word of God is a twoedged sword indeed, an edge in the Law, and an edge in the Gospel, they are on every side beset with condemnation, if they go to the Law, that cannot save them, because they have broken it, if they go to the Gospel, that will not save them, because they have contemned it. Fourthly, the power of the Word towards wicked men is seen in this, that it doth ripen their sins, john 15.22. and make them so much the more sinful, and so much the sooner fill up their measure. If I had not come, saith Christ, and spoken unto them, they had had no sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. A tree which is fastened unto a wall, in which the heat of the Sun is more permanent and united, will bring forth ripe fruit before the ordinary season▪ so a people upon whom the light of the Gospel hath constantly shined, Heb. 6.8. and which doth often drink in the rain which falleth upon it, must needs bring forth Summer-fruit, sins speedily ripe, Amos 8.1. Luke 13 8, 9 and therefore be so much the nearer unto cursing. There is but a year between such a tree and the fire: we shall never find that the sins of Israel, and of Juda (for which they were at any time plagued with captivity) were so long in ripening as the sins of the Canaanites, upon whom there did no light shine. The Land had rest sometimes forty years, and sometimes fourscore years, but we never find that they were suffered to provoke the Lord to his face four hundred years together: We find when to Ninive he sent a Prophet to reveal unto them the guilt and merit of their sins, he then set them a very short time, in which they should either forsake or ripen them, Yet forty days and Ninive shall be destroyed. Fifthly, the power of the Word towards wicked men is seen even in the rage and madness which it excites in them. It is a sign that a man hath to do with a strong enemy when he buckleth on all his harness, and calleth together all his strength for opposition. When I see a river without any sensible noise or motion, I am ready to esteem it a standing pool, but when I look further and there observe what huge engines it carrieth about, and what weighty bodies it rouleth before it, I then believe a strength in it which I did not see: so when I see the Word of Christ rouse up the rage and lusts of men, and force them to set up against it strong holds, and high imaginations, even the wisdom and strength of the gates of ●ell to keep it out, I must needs then conclude that it is indeed Virga virtutis, a Rod of strength. The most calm and devout hypocrites in the world have by the power of this word been put out of their demure temper, and mightily transported with outrage and bitterness against the majesty thereof. One time filled with wrath; another time filled with madness; another time filled with envy and indignation, another time filled with contradiction and blasphemy; Luk. 4.28. Luk. 6.11. Act. 5.17. Act. 13.45. Act. 7.54. joh. 8.59. Act. 6.10, 11. Act. 7 57, 58. another time cut to the heart, and like reprobates in hell, gnashing with their teeth. Such a searching power, and such an extreme contrariety there is in the Gospel to the lusts of men, that if it do not subdue, it will wonderfully swell them up, till it distemper even the grave, prudent men of the world with those brutish and uncomely affections of rage and fury, and drive disputers from their arguments unto stonds. Sin cannot endure to be disquieted, much less to be shut in and encompassed with the curses of God's word. Therefore as a hunted beast, in an extremity of distress will turn back, and put to its utmost strength to be revenged on the pursuers, and to save its life: so wicked men to save their lusts will let out all their rage, and open all their sluices of pride and malice to withstand that holy truth which doth so closely pursue them. Thus as beggarly masters deal with their servants, or bankrupts with their creditors, when they should pay them their money (which they are unable to do) they then pick quarrels, and create pretences to withhold it; or as froward men in suits of law, when their cause fails, endeavour to piece it out with rage and passion; so do wicked men deal with God in his word, when they should pay him that service which he therein requireth of them, and which they have neither will nor power to do, when he produceth his cause, and entereth into controversy with them, convincing them in the court of their own consciences, so that they are not able to stand out, they have then no other refuge left, but either to submit (which they will in no wise endure) or to fly into the face of the word, and withstand it with malice when they cannot with reason. Till men can be persuaded to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, they will never receive the engrafted word with meekness. For till then it is a binding word, jam. 1.21. Mat. 18. 1●. Mark. 16.16. which sealeth their guilt and condemnation upon them. Lastly, the mighty power of the word towards wicked men is seen in altering them: in their semiperswasions and semiconversions unto goodness, in restraining them from those lusts which they dear love, and in forcing them to those external conformities which have no inward principles to support them. The humiliation of Ahab, the observation of Herod, 1 King. ●1. 27. Mark. 6.20. Act. 26.28. Psal 78.34, 36▪ Luk. 9.57.61. the incomplete persuasion of Agrippa, the forced obedience and flatteries of the dissembling jews, the essays and offers of hypocrites towards religion, the velleities and hankerings of unresolved wills after Christ, are notable evidences of the power and majesty which is in the Gospel. If I should see a millstone in the air not falling constantly and swiftly down, but swag, and waver, and float about in a kind of unresolved motion, as if it were in a deliberation which way to go, one while yielding to its own weight, another while linger, and by fits attempting to ascend, how could I sufficiently wonder at that secret virtue, and those strange impressions which did retardate the natural descent of so weighty a body? so when I see men, who still retain the principles of their own corrupt nature, which carry them with as strong an impulsion to sin and hell, as a millstone is moved unto its Centre, hanker notwithstanding after goodness, and when they yield unto their lusts, do it not without much hesitancy and conflict of a natural conscience, I must needs acknowledge a mighty strength in that word which setteth bounds to the raging of so proud a sea. From hence then the Messengers of Christ who are entrusted with the dispensation of this Rod of strength, may be instructed how to behave themselves in that ministry. Few men will lose any thing of that power which is given them, for every thing in its kind doth affect power. Now Christ hath committed unto us the custody of his own power, and therefore we ought to manage it as a word of power, able alone by itself without the contemperations of humane fancies, or the superstruction of humane opinions to work mightily to the Salvation of those that believe, and to the conviction of gainsayers. Our Commission is to charge even the great men of the world. It is true the ministers of the Gospel are servants to the Church; 1 Tim. 6.17. 2 Cor. 4.5. In compassion to pity the diseases, the infirmities, the temptations of God's people: in ministry, to assist them with all needful supplies of comfort, or instruction, or exhortation in righteousness; in humility, to wait upon men of lowest degree, and to condescend unto men of weakest capacity. And thus the very Angels in heaven are servants to the Church of Christ. But yet we are servants only for the Churches good, to serve their souls, not to serve their humours. And therefore we are such servants as may command too. These things command and teach, Let no man despise thy youth. 1 Tim. 4.11, 12. Tit. 2.15. And again, These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority, Let no man despise thee. No ministers are more despicable than those who by ignorance, or flattery, or any base and ambitious affections betray the power & majestical simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. When we deliver God's message we must not then be the servants of men; 1 Cor. 7.23. If I yet please men, I were not then the servant of Christ, saith the Apostle. To captivate the truth of God unto the humours of men, and to make the Spirit of Christ in his Gospel to bend, comply and compliment with humane lusts, is with jonah to play the runagates from our office, and to prostrate the Sceptre of Christ unto the insultation of men. There is a wonderful majesty and authority in the word when it is set on with Christ's Spirit. He taught men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as one who had power and authority, or privilege to speak, Matth. 7.29. Matth. 22.16. 1 Cor. 2.4. 2 Cor. 13.17. 2 Cor. 3.10. 2 Cor. 4.2. jer. 1.6, 7, 8. Ezek. 3.8, 9 Psal. 110.3. Eph. 6.20. as one that cared not for the persons of men, and therefore where ever his spirit is, there will this power and liberty of Christ appear, for he hath given it to his ministers, that they may commend themselves in the consciences of those that hear them, that they may harden their faces against the pride and scorn of men, that they may go out in armies against the enemies of his kingdom, that they may speak boldly as they ought to speak, that they may not suffer his word to be bound, or his Spirit to be straitened by the humours of men. Again, we should all labour to receive the word in the power thereof, and to expose our tender parts unto it. A Cock is in comparison but a weak Creature, and yet the crowing of a Cock will cause the trembling of a Lion. What is a Bee to a Bear, or a Mouse to an Elephant? and yet if a Bee fasten his sting in the nose of a Bear, or a Mouse creep up and gnaw the trunk of an Elephant, how easily do so little Creatures upon such an advantage torment the greatest? Certainly, the proudest of men have some tender part into which a sting may enter. The conscience is as sensible of God's displeasure, as obnoxious to his wrath, as subject to his word in a prince as in a beggar. If the word like David's stone find that open and get into it, it is able to sink the greatest Goliath. Therefore we should open our consciences unto that word, and expect his spirit to come along with it, and receive it as josiah did with humility and trembling. We should learn to fear the Lord in his word, and when his voice cryeth in the city, to see his name and his power therein. Will ye not fear me, faith the Lord, will ye not tremble at my presence, who make the sand abound to the sea. jer. 5 22. No Creature so swelling and of itself so strong and encroaching as the sea, nothing so small, weak, smooth, and passable as the sand, and yet the sand (a creature so easily removed, and swept away) decreed to hold in so raging an Element. What in appearance weaker than words spoken by a despised man? and what in the experience of all the world stronger than the raging of an army of lusts? and yet that hath the Lord appointed to tame and subdue these, that men might learn to fear his power. Again, it should teach us to Rest upon God in all things, as being unto us all-sufficient, a sun, a shield, an exceeding great reward in the truth and promises of his Gospel. The word of God is a sure thing, that which a man may cast his whole weight upon, Psal. 19 7. 2 Pet. 1.19. Act. 13.34. and lean confidently on in any extremity. All the Creatures in the world are full of vanity, uncertainties and disappointments, and then usually do deceive a man most when he most of all relies upon them; and therefore the Apostle chargeth us not to trust in them. But the word of the Lord is an abiding word, 1 Tim. 6.17. as being founded upon the Immutability of Gods own truth, he that maketh it his refuge, relieth on God's omnipotency, and hath all the strength of the Almighty engaged to help him. Asa was safe while he depended on the Lord in his promises against the hugest host of men that was ever read of, 2 Chro. 16.8, 9 but when he turned aside to collateral aids he purchased to himself nothing but perpetual wars. And this was that which established the throne of jehoshaphat, and caused the fear of the Lord to fall upon the kingdoms of the lands which were round about him, 2 Chr. 17.9, 10. because he honoured the Word of God, and caused it to be taught unto his people. Whensoever Israel and Judah did forget to lean upon God's word, and betook themselves to humane confederacies, to correspondence with Idolatrous people, to facility in superstitious compliances, and the like fleshly counsels, they found them always to be but very lies, like waxen and wooden feasts, made specious of purpose to delude ignorant comers; things of so thin and unsolid a consistence as were ever broken with the weight of those who did lean upon them. Let us not therefore rest upon our own wisdom, nor build our hopes or securities upon humane foundations, but let us in all conditions take hold of God's Covenant, of this staff of his strength, isaiah. 56.2, 4, 6. which is able to stay us up in any extremities. Again, since the Gospel is a word of such sovereign power, as to strengthen us against all enemies and temptations, to uphold us in all our ways and callings, to make us strong in the Grace of Christ, (for ever a Christian man's knowledge of the Word is the measure of his strength and comfort) we should therefore labour to acquit ourselves with God in his Word, to hide it in our hearts, and grow rich in the knowledge of it. In heaven our blessedness shall consist in the knowledge and communion with the Father and with his Son jesus Christ. So that the Gospel and the Spirit, are to us upon earth, the preludes and supplies of heaven, for by them only is this knowledge and communion begun. And that man doth but delude himself and lie to the world who professeth his desire to go to heaven, and doth not here desire to know so much of God as he is pleased to afford to men on the earth. The Gospel is the Patent and Charter of a Christian, all that he hath to show for his Salvation; the treasure of his wealth and privileges, all that he hath to boast in either for this life or another; the armoury of a Christian, all that he hath to hold up against the temptations and conflicts of his sorest enemies; the only tool and instrument of a Christian, all that he hath to do, any action of piety, charity, loyalty, or sobriety withal; the only glass of a Christian wherein he may see his own face, and so learn to deny himself, and wherein he may see the face of God in Christ, and so learn to desire and to follow him. So that upon the matter for any man to be ignorant of the Gospel is to unchristian himself again, and to degenerate into a heathen. Pour out thine indignation upon the heathen that know thee not. jer. 10.25. Ignorance makes a man a very heathen. This I say and testify, saith the Apostle, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind: Eph. 4.17, 20 for you have not so learned Christ. It is not the title, nor the profession which maketh a man a real Christian, and distinguisheth him from other heathen men, but the learning of Christ in his Spirit and Gospel. For as he who was only outwardly and in the flesh a Jew, Rom. 2.28, 29. Col. 2.11. Philip. 3.3. might be uncircumcized in his heart: so he who is only in title and name a Christian, may be a heathen in his heart; and that more fearfully than Sodom and Gomorrah, or Tyre and Sydon, because he hath put from himself the Salvation of the Lord, and judged himself unworthy of eternal life. Lastly, if there be indeed such power in the Gospel, we should labour to bear witness unto the testimony which God giveth of his Word in a holy conversation. It is a reproach cast upon the ordinances of God when men do in their lives deny that virtue which God testifieth to be in them. Wicked men are said to crucify Christ again, to put him to shame, to make God a liar; not that these things can so really be, but because men in their evil lives carry themselves, as if indeed they were so. And in this sense the Gospel may be said to be weak too, because the pride of men holds out against the saving power thereof. But these men must know that the word returneth not empty unto God, but accomplisheth some work or other, either it ripeneth weeds or corn. There is thunder and lightning both in the word, if the one break not a heart, the other will blast it, if it be not humbled by the word, it will certainly be withered, and made fruitless. Shall the clay boast itself against the fire, because, though it have power to melt wax, yet it hath not power to melt clay? Is it not one and the same power which hardeneth the one and which softeneth the other? Is not the word a sweet Savour unto God as well in those that perish as in those that are saved? Certainly there is as wonderful a power in adding another death to him who was dead before (which upon the matter is to kill a dead man) as in multiplying and enlarging life. And the Gospel is to those that perish a Savour of death unto death, such a word as doth cumulate the damnation of wicked men, and treasure up wrath upon wrath. If it do not convert it will certainly harden, if it do not save it will undoubtedly judge and condemn. The Lord doth never cast away his Gospel, he that gave charge to gather up the broken meat of loaves and fishes that nothing might be lost, will not suffer any crumb of his spiritual manna to come to nothing. Yet we find the Lord giveth a charge to his Prophets to preach even there where he foretold them that their words would not be heard. Thou shalt speak all these words unto them, but they will not hearken to thee; jer. 7.27. Ezek. 2.3, 4.7. thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer thee. Son of Man I send thee to the Children of Israel, to a rebellion's nation, Ezek. 3.7. they are impudent Children and stiff hearted. Yet thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are rebellion itself. They will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me: For all the house of Israel are impudent and hard hearted. Certainly when the Lord taketh pains by his Prophets to call those who will not hear, he doth it not in vain, they shall know at length that a Prophet hath been amongst them. Therefore as the Apostle saith that the Gospel is a sweet Savour even in those that perish. So we find those messages which have contained nothing but curses against an obstinate people have yet been as honey for sweetness in the mouth of those that preached them. I did eat the roll, Ezek 3.3.2.10. saith the Prophet, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness, and yet there was nothing in it written, but lamentations, and mourning, and woe. jeremy did not desire the woeful day, jer. 17.16.28.6. jer. 15.16. but did heartily say Amen to the false Prophets in their predictions of safety; yet in regard of his ready service unto God, and of that glory which God would work out unto himself in the punishment of that sinful people, the word of Prophecy which was committed unto him was the joy and rejoicing of his heart; so that in all respects the Gospel of Christ is a word of power, and therein we do and must rejoice. We observed before that this Rod of strength is both Sceptrum Majestatis, and Pedum Pastorale. Both the Sceptre of Christ as he is a King, and his Pastoral staff as he is a Bishop. It denoteth the Administration of Christ's Kingdom, which consisteth in the dispensing of his Gospel, as it is a word of Majesty, and of care. So then here are (as I before observed) two observations yet remaining to be noted out of these words, Virga Virtutis, the Rod of thy strength. The first, that the Gospel of Christ accompanied with his Spirit is a word of great glory and Majesty. For we must ever make these concomitants, we preach the Gospel saith S. Peter with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, 1 Pet. 1.12. And indeed the Spirit is peculiar to the Gospel, and not belonging to the Law at all, if we consider it alone by itself, under the relation of a distinct covenant. For though as it proceedeth out of Zion, that is, as it is an appendix and additament unto the Gospel, it tend unto liberty, Mic. 4.2. Rom. 8.3. jam. 1.25. Gal 4.24. 2 Cor. 3.67. and so cometh not without the Spirit; yet by itself alone it gendereth nothing but bondage. And therefore when the Apostle showeth the excellency of the Gospel above the Law, he calleth one a ministration of death, and of the letter, the other a ministration of the Spirit and life. To show that properly the Spirit belongeth unto the Gospel of grace. Now than this Spiritual Gospel of Christ is the Sceptre of his Kingdom, and therefore as it is insigne regium, an ensign of royalty it importeth Glory and Majesty. It is a Gospel full of glory. We may observe that the very Typical prefigurations of that mercy, which is the sole business of the Gospel of Christ are in the Scriptures honoured with the name of Glory. The garments of the Priests, being types of the Evangelicall a Revel. 6.11.7.14 19.8. Righteousness of the Saints, were b Exod. 28.2.40. made for glory and beauty. The Tabernacle, which was ordained for an evidence and seal of God's Evangelicall presence with that people, is called by the Prophet David a c Psal. 26.8. Exod. 40.34. Tabernacle of honour, the place which God did use to fill with his own glory. The Ark of God, which was nothing else but Evangelium sub velo, the Gospel under veils and shadows, is called by an excellency d 1 Sam. 4.22. The Glory of Israel, which is the attribute of Christ, e isaiah 62.2. All Kings shall see thy glory. The Temple at jerusalem was the place of God's Rest, f Psal. 132.8.14. 2 Chro. 6.41. This is my Rest for ever, here will I dwell. Arise O Lord God into thy Resting place, thou and the Ark of thy strength. It was so called to note, first the g isaiah. 55.3.54.9.10. Heb. 8.6.13. stability of God's Evangelicall covenant in Christ, it was not to be changed, nor to be repent of; but to be sure and fixed in Christ for ever. His Kingdom, h Heb. 12.28. a Kingdom which was not to be shaken, his Priesthood a i Heb. 7.24. Priesthood which was not to pass away, his teaching k Matth. 28.20. a teaching which was to continue to the world's end. And secondly, to note the l Matth. 3.17. delight of God in Christ, and in the mercy which through him was unto the world revealed; Therein the Lord ●esteth and reposeth himself, jer. 9.24. Mic 7.18. as in the crown and accomplishment of all his works. And this m isaiah. 11.10. jer. 17.12. isaiah. 60.7. isaiah. 64.11. 1 Kings. 8.11. Temple is called a glorious Rest, a glorious high throne, a house of glory, of beauty and of holiness. It is said at the first Dedication thereof that the Glory of the Lord filled it. It was not the gold or silver (wherewith before that Dedication it was beautified) wherein the glory thereof did consist, but in the evidence of God's presence; which at that time was but a cloud, whereas the true glory thereof himself was n Mal. 4.2. a Sun as the Prophet calls him. And with this did the Lord fill the second Temple, which for this cause is said to have been o Hag. 2.7.9. more glorious than the former, though in the magnificence of the structure far inferior. Now then as the Apostle in a case of just alike proportion, useth a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a term of excess, when he speaketh of the substance in comparison of the type. p Heb. 9.13, 14. If the blood of bulls and goats did Sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall the blood of Christ; So may we in this case, If the Types of Evangelicall things were thus glorious, how much more glorious must the Gospel itself needs be. And therefore, as I before observed in other things, so in this is it true likewise, that Christ and his Gospel have the same attribute of glory frequently given unto them. q isaiah. 40.5. isaiah. 66.18. Luk. 2.32. Christ is called the Glory of the Lord, and of his people Israel: And the r Col. 1.27. jam. 2.8. 2 Cor. 3.8 9 1 Thess. 2.12. Gospel a glorious mystery, a Royal Law, a ministration of glory; Nay glory it self, for so I understand that place of the Apostle, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his Kingdom and glory, that is, unto the knowledge of his Gospel, for of that in all the antecedent parts and in the verse immediately following doth the Apostle speak. A s 1 Pet. 1.12. glory which draweth the study and amazement of the most glorious creatures of God unto it. To consider this point more particularly: The glory and majesty of the Gospel of Christ appeareth principally in four things: in the Author of it: in the Promulgation and publishing of it: in the Matter which it contains: and in the Ends, purposes, or uses for which it serves. First, in the Author of it: Many things of small worth have yet grown famous by the authors of them, and like the unprofitable children of renowned progenitors, hold their estimation and nobility from the parents which begat them. And yet from men who are unclean, there will ever descend some uncleanness upon the works which they do. But the Gospel is therefore indeed a glorious Gospel, because it is the Gospel of the blessed God. There is glory in all the works of God, because they are his, for it is impossible that so great a workman should ever put his hand to an ignoble work: And therefore the Prophet David useth his glory and his handy work promiscuously for the same thing; The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work: to note that there is an evidence of glory in any thing which he puts his hand unto: And yet the Prophet there showeth that there is more glory in the law of his mouth, than in the works of his hands. The Lord is better known by Zion, and his name greater in Israel, than in all the world beside: the more God doth communicate himself unto any of his works, the more glorious it is. Now there is nothing wherein God hath so much put himself, wherein he may be so fully known, communicated with, depended upon, and praised, as in his Gospel. This is a glass in which the blessed Angels do see and admire that unsearchable riches of his mercy to the Church, which they had not by their own observation found out from the immediate view of his glorious presence. In the Creatures we have him a God of power and wisdom, working all things in number, weight, and measure, by the secret vigour of his providence upholding that being which he gave them, and ordering them to those glorious ends for which he gave it. In the law we have him a God of vengeance and of recompense, in the publication thereof threatening, and in the execution thereof inflicting wrath upon those that transgress it. But in the Gospel we have him a God of bounty and endless compassion, humbling himself that he might be merciful to his enemies, that he might himself bear the punishments of those injuries which had been done unto himself, that he might not offer only but beseech his own prisoners to be pardoned and reconciled again. In the Creature he is a God above us, in the Law he is a God against us; only in the Gospel he is Immanuel, a God with us, a God like us, a God for us. There is nothing doth declare God so much to be God as his mercy in the Gospel. He is invisible in himself, we cannot see him but in his Son. He is unapproachable in himself, we cannot come unto him but by the Son. Therefore, when he maketh himself known in his glory to Moses, he sendeth him not to the Creation, nor to mount Sinai, but putteth him into a rock (being a resemblance of Christ) and then maketh a proclamation of the Gospel unto him. Moses his prayer was, Exod. 33.18, 19: I beseech thee show me thy glory. How doth the Lord grant this Prayer? I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, and then revealeth himself unto him almost all by mercy. Exod. 34.6, 7. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, to note unto us that the glory of God is in nothing so much revealed as in his goodness. Who is a God like unto thee, Mich. 7.18. that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his people? Besides, though the Law be indeed from God, as from the Author of it, so that in that respect there may seem to be no difference of excellency between that and the Gospel, yet we must observe that by the remainders of Creation, though God should not have revealed his Law again unto Moses in the mount, much of the Law, and by consequence of God himself might have been discovered by humane industry, as we see by notable examples of the philosophers and grave heathen. But the Gospel is such a mystery as was for ever hidden from the reach and very suspicion of nature, and wholly of divine revelation. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Rom. 16.25. 1 Cor. 2.7 9 neither have entered into the hearts of men the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; the Apostle speaketh it of the mystery of the Gospel; noting that it is above the observation, or learning, or comprehension of nature, so much as to suspect it; nay, the natural inquiry of the Angels themselves could never have discovered it, Ephes. 3.9, 10. even unto them it is made known by the Church; that is, if it had not been for the Church's sake that God would reveal so glorious a mystery, the Angels in heaven must have been for ever ignorant of it. So extremely desperate was the fall of man, that it wanted the infinite and unsearchable wisdom of God himself to find out a remedy against it. If the Lord should have proceeded thus far in mercy towards man and no farther. Thou art a wretched Creature, and I am a righteous God; yea, so heavy is my wrath, and so woeful thy condition, that I cannot choose but take compassion upon thee; and therefore I will put the matter into thine own hands; requisite it is that my pity towards thee should not swallow up the respects to mine own justice and honour, that my mercy should be a righteous and a wise mercy. Consult therefore together all ye children of men, and invent a way to reconcile my justice and mercy to one another, set me in a course to show you mercy, without parting from mine own right, and denying the righteous demands of mine offended justice, and I will promise you to observe it; I say, if the mercy of the Lord should have confined itself within these bounds, and referred the method of our redemption unto humane discovery, we should for ever have continued in a desperate estate, everlastingly unable to conceive, or so much as in fancy to frame unto ourselves a way of escape. As the Creatures before their being could have no thought or notion of their being educed out of that nothing which they were before. So man fallen could not have the smallest conjecture or suspicion of any feasible way to deliver himself out of that misery into which he fell. If all the learning in the world were gathered into one man, and that man should employ all his time and study to frame unto himself the notions of a sixth or seventh sense, which yet are as expressly fashioned amongst those infinite Ideas of God's power and omniscience, as these five which are already created, he would be as totally ignorant of the conclusion he sought at last as he was at first. For all humane knowledge of natural things is wrought by a reflection upon those Phantasms or Ideas, which are impressions made from those senses we already use, and are indeed nothing else but a kind of notional existence of things in the memory of man wrought by an external and sensible perception of that real existence which they have in themselves. And yet in this case a sixth or a seventh sense would agree in genere proximo, and so have some kind of Cognation with those we already enjoy. But a new Covenant, a new life, a new faith, a new salvation are things toto genere, beyond the strain and sphere of nature. That two should become one, and yet remain two still, as God and man do in one Christ, that he who maketh should be One with the thing which himself hath made; that he who is above all should humble himself, that he who filleth all should empty himself; that he who blesseth all should be himself a curse; that he who ruleth all should be himself a servant, that he who was the prince of life, and by whom all things in the world do consist, should himself be dissolved and dye, that mercy and justice should meet together, and kiss each other, that the debt should be paid and yet pardoned, that the fault should be punished and yet remitted, that death like Sampsons' Lion should have life and sweetness in it, and be used as an instrument to destroy itself; these and the like Evangelicall truths are mysteries which surpass the reach of all the princes of learning in the world. a Non humana ratione possibile, sed spiritus efficacia credibile. Ambros. Ideo certum quia i●possibile. Tert. It is to be believed by a spiritual light, which was not so much as possible to a humane reason: We may observe that every person in the Trinity setteth himself to teach the mystery of the Gospel. The b Matt. 16.17. joh▪ 6.45. Father revealeth it unto men, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. It is written in the Prophets, They shall be all taught of God, Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me. The Son likewise teacheth it unto men, therefore he is called the c O●ficii non naturae vocabula quia magnum cogitatum patris super hominis restitutione ●n●un●i●vit sec●l●. Tertull. Angel of God's Covenant and Counsel, that is, the Revealer thereof, because unto the world he made known that deep project of his Father's counsel touching the restoring of mankind. d joh. 1.18. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. He only it is who openeth the bosom of his Father, that is, who revealeth the secret and mysterious counsels, and the tender and compassionate affections (for the bosom is the seat of secrets and of Love) of his Father unto the world. And therefore he is said to be a e joh. 3.2. Teacher sent from God, and to be f Heb. 12.25. the Lord which speaketh from heaven in the ministry of his Gospel; and the doctrine which he teacheth is called a g joh. 3.12. heavenly doctrine, and a h Heb. 3.1. heavenly calling▪ & a i Philip. 3.14. high calling, and oft by the Apost. to the Hebrews k Heb. 8.5. Heb. 9.23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heavenly things, to note that they are not of a natural or earthly condition, and therefore not within the comprehension of an earthly understanding. l jam 3.17. It is a wisdom which is from above. The holy Ghost likewise is a Revealer of the Gospel unto the faithful. He was sent that he might m john 16.8, 11. Convince the world not only of sin, but of righteousness and judgement too, which are Evangelicall things. n 1 Cor. 2.10, 11, 12. The spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, that is, his unsearchable love, wisdom and counsel in the Gospel. Therefore the Gospel is called o Rom. 8.2. The Law of the spirit of life, and the p 2 Cor. 3.8. ministration of the spirit, and the q Ephes. 1.17. Eph. 3.16▪ 19 1 Pet. 1.11, 12. Revelation of the spirit, and r 1 Cor. 12.3. No man can call jesus Lord but by the holy spirit, that is, though men may out of external conformity to the discipline and profession under which they live, with their mouths acknowledge him to be the Lord; yet their hearts will never tremble, nor willingly submit themselves to his obedience, their conscience will never set to its seal to the spiritual power of Christ over the thoughts, desires, and secrets of the soul, but by the overruling direction of the holy Ghost. Nature taught the pharisees to call him s Mat. 12.24. john 8.48. Beelzebub and Samaritan, but it is the Spirit only which teacheth men to acknowledge him a lord t 1 Cor. 1.24. Christ is not the power nor the wisdom of God to any, but to those who are called, that is, to those unto whose consciences the Spirit witnesseth the righteousness which is to be found in him. So then the Publication of the Gospel belongeth unto men, u 2 Thes. 2.13, 14 Act. 16.14. but the effectual teaching and revelation thereof unto the soul is the joint work of the holy Trinity, opening the heart to attend, and persuading the heart to believe the Gospel, Deus nos adjuvat & ut sciamus, & ut amemus, Aug. Epist. 143. as a thing worthy of all acceptation. Thus the Gospel is a Glorious thing in regard of the Original and Author of it. From whence we may infer, that whatever men think of the ministry and dispensation of the Word, yet undoubtedly the neglect and scorn which is showed unto it, is done unto Christ himself, and that in his glory: he that receiveth not his Word, joh. 12.48. rejecteth his person; and the sin of a man against the words which we speak in the name and authority of Christ, and in the dispensation of that office wherewith he hath entrusted us, is the same with the sins of those men who despised him in his own person. You will say Christ is in heaven, how can any injuries of ours reach unto him? Surely though he be in heaven, (which is now the Court of his royal residence) yet he hath to do upon earth, as one of the chief territories of his dominion, and, in the ministry of his Word, he speaketh from heaven still. He it was, who, by his Ambassador Saint Paul, Heb. 12.25. Eph. 2.17. 1 Pet. 1.11. 2 Cor. 13.3. came and preached Peace to the Ephesians, who were afar off. His spirit it was which in the Prophets did testify of his sufferings and glory. He it was who gave manifest proof of his own power, speaking in his Apostles. He then who refuseth to obey the words of a Minister in the execution of his office, when he forewarneth him of the wrath to come, and doth not discern the Lords voice therein, but in despite of this ministerial citation unto the tribunal of Christ, will still persist in the way of his own heart, and as he hath been, so resolveth to continue, a swearing, blasphemous, luxurious, proud, revengeful, and riotous person, thinking it baseness to mourn for sin, and unnecessary strictness to humble himself to walk with God; and yet, because all men else do so, will profess his faith in the Lord jesus; that man is a notorious liar, 1 joh. 5.10. yea (as the Apostle speaketh) he maketh God a liar too, in not believing the record which he giveth of his Son, which is, that he should wash away the filth, isaiah. 4.4. and purge out the blood of his people with a spirit of judgement, and a spirit of burning: Mal. 3.3. that he should sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, purging his priests, that they might offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. He walketh contrary to that Covenant of mercy which he professeth to lay hold on; for this is one of the great promises of the Covenant, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, Ezek. 36.25, 27. and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. He walketh contrary to the quality of that fear of God, which yet he professeth to feel as well as others: For the fear of the Lord is a clean thing. He walketh contrary to the virtue of that blood, Psal. 19.9. with which notwithstanding he professeth to be sprinkled: Heb. 9.14. for the blood of Christ cleanseth not only the lives, but the very consciences of men from dead works: that is, makes them so inwardly labour for purity of heart, as that they may not be conscious to themselves of any, though the most secret allowed sin. He walketh contrary to the fruitfulness of that grace which alone he professeth to boast in: for the Spirit of grace which is poured from on high maketh the very wilderness a fruitful field. isaiah. 32.15. He walketh contrary to the properties of that faith, by which alone he hopeth to be saved. Act. 15.9. For true faith purifieth the heart; and therefore a pure heart and a good conscience are the inseparable companions of an unfeigned faith. 1 Tim. 1.5. And therefore whatever verbal and ceremonious homage he may tender unto Christ, yet in good earnest he is ashamed of him, and dares not prefer the yoke of Christ before the lusts of the world, or the reproaches of Christ before the treasures of the world. Why should it be treason to kill a Judge in his ministry on the bench? or esteemed an injury to the state to do any indignity to the Ambassador of a great prince? but because in such relations they are persons public and representative, ut eorum bona malaque ad Rempublicam pertineant? why should the supreme Officer of the kingdom write Teste meipso in the name and power of his Prince, but because he hath a more immediate representation of his sacred person, and commission thereunto? Surely the case is the same between Christ and his Ministers in their holy function. And therefore we find the expressions promiscuous: sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Gospel of Christ; Rom. 15.19. Rom. 2.16. Rom. 16.25. 1 Cor. 2.4. 1 Cor. 3.9. 2 Cor. 6.1. jam. 5.20. john 20.23. Ezek. 20 4. 2 Cor. 5.20. and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, My Gospel; sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The preaching of jesus Christ; and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, My preaching; In the virtue of which synergie and co-partnership with Christ and with God, as he saveth, so we save; as he forgiveth sins, so we forgive them; as he judgeth wicked men, so we judge them; as he beseecheth, so we also beseech, saith the Apostle, that you be reconciled, and receive not the grace of God in vain. We by his Grace, and * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrysost. he by our ministry. He therefore that despiseth any conviction out of the Book of God (and he that obeyeth not doth despise, for the Lord calleth disobedience, rebellion, stubbornness, and a rejecting of his word, 1 Sam. 15.22, 23.) He that persisteth in any known sin, or in the constant omission of any evident duty, fighteth against Christ himself, throweth away his own mercy, stoppeth his ears at the entreaties of the Lord, and committeth a sin directly against Heaven. And if he so persist God will make him know, that there is flaming fire prepared for those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thes. 1.8. Therefore whensoever we come unto the Word read or preached we should come with an expectation to hear Christ himself speaking from heaven unto us, and bring such affections of submission and obedience as becometh his presence. Revel. 2 7. Let him that hath an ear hear what the spirit saith unto the Churches. I will hear what God the Lord will speak, Psal. 85.8. for he will speak peace unto his people. joh. 10.4, 5. Christ's sheep discern his voice in the dispensation of the Gospel, and will not know the voice of strangers. 1 Thes. 2.13. And this was the honour of the Thessalonians and the men of Berea, Act. 17.11. that in the preaching of the Word they did set themselves as in God's presence, expecting in it his authority, and receiving it in his name. Dareth any man to rush with a naked weapon into the presence of his prince, and with scorn to throw back his own personal commands into his face again? And shall we dare to come armed with high thoughts, jer. 13.15, 17. and proud reasonings, and stubborn resolutions against the majesty of the Lord himself, who speaketh from heaven unto us? Receive with meekness, saith the Apostle, the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. The word doth not mingle nor incorporate, jam. 1.21. and by consequence doth not change nor save the soul, but when it is received with meekness, that is, when a man cometh with a resolution to lay down his weapons, to fall down on his face, and give glory to God; he that is swift to wrath, that is, to set up stout and fretful affections against the purity and power of the Word, to snuff against it, and to fall backward like pettish children which will not be led, Mal. 1.13. Mal. 3 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Act. 7.51. jam. 1.19, 20. will be very slow to hear or to obey it, for the wrath of man doth not work the righteousness of God. A proud hearer will be an unprofitable liver. Ever therefore come unto the word with this conclusion. It may be this day will God strike me in my master vein. I am an usual profaner of his glorious name; a name which I should fear for the greatness, and love for the goodness, and adore for the holiness of it; he will peradventure lay close to my conscience that guilt which himself hath declared to be in this great sin; that whatsoever is more than yea and nay is sin unto me, and whatsoever is sin, is Hell to my soul. I am a vain person, a companion of loose and riotous men; It may be the Lord will urge upon my conscience the charge of his own word, not to company with fornicators, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, not to follow a multitude to do evil, and that though hand join in hand, yet sin shall not go unpunished. I am unprofitable, loose, and rotten in my discourse, and he will ply me with his own authority, that for every idle word I must render an account. I am full of oppression and unjust gain, and the Lord will now urge the instructions of Nehemiah, & the restitution of Zacheus upon me. Nehem. 5.11, 12 Luk. 19.8. Gal. 1.16. Act. 9.6. 1 Sam. 3.10. Act. 10.33. In these or any other the like cases, if a man can come with Saint Paul's temper of hart, not to consult with flesh and blood, but Lord what wilt thou have me to do? or with the answer of Samuel, Speak Lord for thy servant heareth; or with the resolution of Cornelius, I am here present before God to hear all things that shall be commanded of God. I am come with a purpose of heart to cleave unto thy holy will in all things. Here I am in my sins, strike where thou wilt, cut off which of mine earthly members thou wilt, I will not arm it, I will not extenuate it, I will not dispute with thee, I will not rebel against thee, I will second thee in it, I will praise thee for it; This is to give God the glory of his own Gospel. It is not to part from a little money towards the maintenance of the word, or to vouchsafe a little countenance to the dispensers of it (and yet alas how few are there who repay unto the ministers of the Gospel that double honour which God and not they hath given unto them?) but to part from our lusts, and to suffer our old man to be crucified, which giveth honour to the Word If a man had thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil, and would be content to part from them all for God's worship: If a man had children enough, and in a famine of the word, would buy every sermon which he heareth with the sacrifice of a Son: yet all this would not give glory enough to the ordinance of God. Men naturally love their lusts, the issue of their evil hearts, better than their lands, or the children of their body (if Herod's son stand in the way of his ambitious security, it were better to be his Hog than his child. The loss of cattle, and fruits, and water, and light, and the firstborn of all the land, was not enough to make Pharaoh let go his sin, he will once more rush into the midst of a wonderful deliverance of Israel, and venture his own and his people's lives, for but the bondage of his enemies, and the satisfaction of his lust.) To do justly then, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God, to acknowledge his name in the voice of the minister, and to put away the treasures of wickedness out of our hands, this only is to give God the glory which is due unto his Word, Mic. 6.6, 10. Secondly, the Gospel is glorious in the promulgation & publishing of it unto the world. And this may appear whether we consider the initial Promulgation in Christ's own personal preaching. Or the plenary Revelation thereof in the sending of the holy Ghost to those selected vessels who were to carry abroad this treasure unto all the world. For the former we may note that there was a resemblance of state and glory observed in the preaching of Christ. A Forerunner sent to prepare his way, isaiah. 40.3, 4, 5. and to bear his sword before him, as a Herald to proclaim his approach, Mal. 3.1, 4, 5. and then at last is revealed the Glory of the Lord. And thus we may observe how we sent his Harbingers before his face into every City and place whither he himself would come: Luke 10.1. that so men might prepare themselves, and lift up their everlasting gates against this Prince of Glory should enter in. When one poor ordinary man intendeth to visit another, there is no state nor distance, no ceremonies nor solemnities observed; but when a prince will communicate himself unto any place, there is a publication, and officers sent abroad to give notice thereof, that meet entertainments may be provided. So doth Christ deal with men, he knoweth how unprepared we are to give him a welcome, how foul our hearts, how barren our consciences, and therefore he sendeth his Officers before his face with his own Provision, his Graces of Humiliation, Repentance▪ Desire, Love, Hope, Joy, hungering and thirsting after his appearance; and then when he is esteemed worthy of all acceptation, he cometh himself. Look upon the more consummate publication of the Gospel (for Christ in his own personal preaching is said but to have begun to teach, Act. 1.1. Hebr. 2.3. ) and we shall see that as Princes in the time of their solemn Inauguration do some special acts of magnificence and honour, open prisons, proclaim pardons, create nobles, stamp coin, fill conduits with wine, distribute donatives and congiaries to the people: So Christ to testify the glory of his Gospel, did reserve the full publication thereof unto the day of his instalment and solemn readmission into his Father's glory again. When he ascended up on high he then led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men, namely, the Holy Ghost, who is called the Gift of God, Act. 2.38. Act. 8 20 joh. 4.10. and in the plural number Gifts, as elsewhere he is called seven spirits, Revel. 1.4. to note the plenty and variety of graces which are by him shed abroad upon the Church. Wisdom, and faith, and knowledge, and healing, and prophesy, and discerning, and miracles, and tongues, All these work one and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1 Cor. 12.8, 11. Ephes. 4.12, 13. And these gifts were all shed abroad for Evangelicall purposes, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. And this spirit Saint Peter telleth us is a spirit of Glory, 1 Pet. 4.14. and therefore that Gospel, for the more plentiful promulgation whereof he was shed abroad, must needs be a Gospel of Glory too. And this further appears, because in this more solemn publication of the Gospel there was much more Abundance of glorious light and grace, shed abroad into the world. The Sun of Righteousness in his estate of humiliation was much eclipsed, with the similitude of sinful flesh, the Communion of our common infirmities, the poverty of a low condition, the grief and vexation of the sins of men, the overshadowing of his divine virtue, the form and entertainment of a servant, the burden of the guilt of sin, the burden of the Law of God, the ignominy of a base death, the agony of a cursed death. But when he ascended up on high, like the Sun in his glory, he then dispelled all these mists, and now sendeth forth those glorious beams of his Gospel and Spirit, which are the two wings, by which he cometh unto the Churches, and under which the healing and salvation of the world is treasured. Mal. 4.2. Ezek. 47.8, 9 isaiah. 35.5, 6, 7. Mat. 11.11, 13. john Baptist was the last and greatest of all the Prophets who foretold of Christ, a greater had not been borne of women, and yet he was less than the least in the kingdom of heaven, that is, than the least of those upon whom the Promise of the Spirit was shed abroad, for the more glorious manifestation of the kingdom of his Gospel. All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until john; but at the coming of Christ they seemed to be taken away, not by way of abrogation and extinguishment, as the ceremonies, but by way of excess and excellency, ut stellae exiliores ad exortum solis, as the Orator speaks; so saith the Apostle, 2 Cor. 3.10. Even that which was made glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason of the Glory that excelleth. Therefore the full Revelation of the Gospel is called an effusion of the spirit, not in dew, but in showers of rain, which multiply into rivers of living water (for the rain of the spirit floweth from heaven as from a spring) and into wells of Salvation, Tit. 3.6. Heb. 6.7. joh. 7.38. joh. 4.14. isaiah. 11.9. and into a sea of knowledge. Which attributes note unto us two things: First, the abundance of spiritual grace and knowledge by the Gospel, it should be a River: Secondly, the growth and increase thereof, isaiah. 44.3. Ezek 47.3, 4, 5. it should be living water, multiplying and swelling up like the waters of the Sanctuary, till it came to a bottomless and unmeasurable sea of eternal life. And, to touch that which was before spoken of, very glorious are the virtues of the Spirit in the Gospel intimated in this similitude of living water. To quench the wrath of God, that otherwise consuming & unextinguishable fury, isaiah. 33.14. joh. 4.10. Ezek. 47.12. Zech. 12.10. which devoureth the adversaries with everlasting burnings. To satisfy those desires of the thirsty soul which itself begetteth: for the Spirit is both for medicine and for meat; for medicine, to cure the dull and averse appetites of the soul; and for meat, to satisfy them. The Spirit is both a Spirit of supplication and a Spirit of grace or satisfaction. A Spirit of supplication, directing us to pray; and a Spirit of Grace, supplying those requests and satisfying those desires which himself did dictate. a Ezek. 36.25. To cleanse, to purify, to mollify, to take b isaiah. 35.6, 7. Ezek. 11.19. away the barrenness of our natural hearts. To c Mal. 3.16. Gal. 6.1, 2. overflow and communicate itself to others. To d Gal. 5.17. Phil. 1.27. withstand and subdue every obstacle that is set up against it. To continue and to multiply to the end. By this than we learn the way how to abound in grace and glory, and how to be transformed into the Image of Christ. The beam and light of the Sun is the vehiculum of the heat and influence of the Sun; so the light of the Gospel of Christ is that which conveieth the virtue and gracious workings of his Spirit upon the soul. And therefore we are to seek those varieties of grace, which are for meat to satisfy the desires, and for medicine to cure the bruises of the soul, Ezek. 47.12. only upon the banks of the waters of the Sanctuary, that is, in the knowledge of the word of truth, which is the Gospel of Salvation. The more of this glorious light a man hath, the more proportion of all other graces will he have too. And therefore the Apostle puts the growth of these two together, as contributing a mutual succour unto one another, Grow in Grace, 2 Pet. 3.18. and in the knowledge of our Lord jesus Christ. Your Grace will enlarge your desires of knowledge, and your knowledge will multiply your degrees of Grace. And Saint Paul makes the knowledge of the will of God in wisdom, and after a spiritual manner to be the ground of fruitfulness in every good work, Col. 1.9, 10. and that again an inducement to increase in knowledge, as in the twisting together of two cords into one rope, they are by art so ordered that either shall bind and hold in the other. As in the heavens the inferior orbs have the measure and proportion of their general motion from the supreme: so in the motions of grace in the soul, the proportion of all the rest a riseth from the measure of our spiritual and saving light. The more distinctly and throughly the spirit of a man's mind is convinced of the necessity, beauty, and gloriousness of heavenly things, the more strong impressions thereof will be made upon all subordinate faculties; for we move towards nothing without preceding apprehensions of its goodness, which apprehensions as they more seriously penetrate into the true and intimate worth of that thing, so are the motions of the soul thereunto proportionably strengthened. As the hinder wheels in a Coach ever move as fast as the former which lead them; so the subordinate powers of the soul are overruled in their manner & measure of working towards grace, by those spiritual representations of the truth and excellency thereof, which are made in the understanding by the light of the Gospel. Thus the Apostle telleth us that the excellency of the knowledge of Christ was that which made him so earnest to win him; Phil. 3.8, 14. the knowledge of the power of his resurrection, and fellowship of his sufferings was that which made him reach forth and press forward unto the mark and price of that high calling which was before him. Thirdly, the Glory of the Gospel of Christ with his Spirit may be considered in regard of the matters which are therein contained, namely the Glory, the Excellencies, the Treasures of God himself: 2 Cor. 3.18. We all, saith the Apostle, with open face behold as in a Glass (that is, in the spiritual ministration of the Gospel, having the veil of carnal stupidity taken away by the Spirit) The glory of the Lord. What glory do we here behold, but that which a glass is able to represent? Now in speculo nisi imago non cernitur, nothing can be seen in a glass but the image of that thing which sheddeth forth its species thereupon; and therefore he immediately addeth, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory; and he elsewhere putteth these two together, 1 Cor. 11.7. Man is the image and the glory of God, for nothing can have any thing of God in it, any resemblance or form of him, but so far it must needs be glorious. But how do we in the Gospel see the Image of God who is invisible? The Apostle expresseth that elsewhere, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, 2 Cor. 4.4, 5, 6. to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of jesus Christ. Christ is the Image and express Character of his Father's glory, as the impression in the wax is of the form and fashion of the seal, there is no excellency in God which is not completely, adequately, and distinctly in Christ; so that in that glass wherein we may see him, we may likewise see the glory of the Father. Now the Gospel is the face of jesus Christ, that which as lively setteth forth his grace and Spirit to the soul, as if he were present in the flesh amongst us. Suppose we that a glass could retain a permanent and unvanishing species of a man's face within it, though he himself were absent, might we not truly say this glass is the face of that man, whose image it so constantly retaineth? So, in as much as Christ is most exactly represented in his Gospel (so that when we come into his personal and real presence, to know even as we are known, we shall be able truly to say, this is indeed the very person who was so long since in his Gospel exhibited to my faith, sic ille manus, sic ora gerebat) it is therefore justly by the Apostle called the face of jesus Christ; and therefore the Glass wherein we see the Image and glory of God; as it is the same light which shineth from the Sun upon a glass, and from a glass upon a wall, so it is the same glory which shineth from the Father upon the Son, and from the Son upon the Gospel; so that in the Gospel we see the unsearchable treasures of God, because his treasures are in his Son: Therefore that which is usually called a Rom. 15.19. 1 Cor. 15.1. Preaching the Gospel, is in other places called b Act. 20.25. Preaching the Kingdom, and c Ephes. 3.8. the riches of Christ, to note the glory of those things which are in the Gospel revealed unto the Church. It containeth the glory of God's wisdom, and that wisdom is d Ephes. 3.10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a manifold and various wisdom, as the Apostle speaketh, who therefore calleth Christ and his Gospel by the name of e 1 Cor. 1.24. 1 Cor. 2.6, 7. Wisdom; we preach Christ crucified, to those that are called the power of God, and the wisdom of God, and we speak wisdom amongst them that are perfect: wisdom to reconcile his own attributes of mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, which by the fall of man seemed to be at variance among themselves, wisdom in reconciling the world of obstinate and rebellious enemies unto himself, wisdom in sanctifying the whole creation by the blood of the cross, and repairing those ruins which the sin of man had caused; wisdom in concorporating Christ and his Church, things in their own distinct natures as unapt for mixture, as fire and water in their remotest degrees; wisdom in uniting the jews and Gentiles, and reducing their former jealousies and disaffections unto an intimate fellowship in the same common mysteries: In one word, wisdom above the admiration of the blessed Angels, in finding out a way to give greater satisfaction to his offended justice, by showing mercy and saving sinners, than he could ever have received by either the confusion or annihilation of them. It containeth the Glory of God's goodness and mercy, Rom. 5.8. of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, goodwill towards men, which brought glory to God, and to the earth peace: for the Gospel is as it were a Love-token or commendatory Epistle of the Lord unto his Church. Act. 14.16, 17. God left not himself without witnesses of his care, and evidences of some love even to those whom he suffered to walk in their own ways without any knowledge of his Gospel; he did them good, he gave them rain from heaven and fruitful seasons; so even they had experience of some of his goodness, the goodness of his providence, for he is the Saviour of all men; but the Gospel containeth all God's goodness, as a heap and miscellany of universal mercy: I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. God's special and gracious mercy, the mercy of his promises in Christ, doth convey unto the soul an interest in all his goodness, nay, it maketh all things good unto us, so that we may call them ours, as gifts and legacies from Christ. 2 Pet. 1.3, 4. He hath given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, the world, and life, and death, and things present, and things to come; all are yours, 1 Cor. 3.18. saith the Apostle. Death itself and persecutions are amongst the legacies of Christ unto the Church, and a portion of all that goodness with which in the Gospel she is endowed. It contains the glory of God's power and strength, for it is the Power of God unto salvation, as hath been declared. It containeth the glory of God's grace. The grace of his favour towards us, and the grace of his Spirit in us. The Law was given by Moses, john 1.17. but grace came by Christ, that is, favour in stead of God's fury, and strength in stead of man's infirmity; for because man was unable to fulfil the Law, therefore the Law came with wrath and curses against man; but in the Gospel of Christ, there is abundance, even a whole kingdom of grace (the Apostle saith, Rom. 5.21. that by jesus Christ grace reigned) there is grace to remove the curse of the Law, by God's favour towards us: (so that on all sides the Law is weak, unable, by reason of man's sin, to save; and unable, by reason of God's favour, to condemn) and there is grace to remove the weakness of man by God's Spirit in us: james 4.5, 6. for though our own spirit lust unto envy, or set itself proudly against the Law of God; yet he giveth more grace, that is, strength enough to overcome the counterlusting of the flesh against his will, and to enable us in sincerity, and evangelical perfection to fulfil the commands of the Law. Lastly, it containeth in some sort the glory of God's heavenly kingdom, in that therein are let in the glimpses and first fruits, the seals and assurances thereof unto the soul by the promises, testimonies, and comforts of the Spirit. And therefore it is frequently called the Gospel of the kingdom, Matth. 13.19. Mark 1.14. Luke 8 10. and the mysteries of the kingdom of God, namely, that kingdom which beginneth here, but shall never end. As if a man borne in Ireland be afterwards transplanted into England, though he change his country, he doth not change his King, or his Law, but is still under the same government: so when a Christian is translated from earth to heaven, he is still in the same kingdom, in heaven it is the kingdom of glory (mended much by the different excellency of the place and preferment of the person) in earth it is the same kingdom, though in a less amene and comfortable climate, the kingdom of the Gospel. These and many other the like things are the glorious matters which the Gospel containeth. Here than we see how and wherein we are to look upon God, so as that we may abide his glory, and be comforted by it; we must not look upon him in his own immediate brightness and essence, nor by our saucy curiosities pry into the secrets of his unrevealed glory, for he is a consuming fire, an invisible and unapprochable light; Deut. 29.29. Exod. 19 21. Exod. 33.23. we may see his backparts, in the proclaiming of his mercy; and we may see the horns or bright beams of his hands, in the publishing of his Law; but yet all this was under a cloud, Habak. 3.4. or under the biding of his Power; His face no man can see and live: We must not look upon him only in ourselves. Though we might at first have seen him in our own nature, for we were created after his Image in righteousness and true holiness; yet now that Image is utterly obliterated, and we have by nature the Image only of Satan and the old Adam in us: we must not look upon him only in mount Sinai, in his Law, lest the fire devour us and the dart strike us thorough; we can find nothing of him there but rigour, inexorableness, wrath and vengeance. But we must acquaint ourselves with him in his Son, john 17.3. 1 john 1.3. we must know him, and whom he hath sent together, there is no fellowship with the Father, except it be with the Son too: we may have the knowledge of his Hand, that is, of his works, and of his punishments, without Christ: but we cannot have the knowledge of his bosom, that is, of his counsels, and of his compassions, john 1.18. Col. 1.15. john 14 6. Ephes. 2.18.3.12. Heb. 10.19.22. nor the knowledge of his Image, that is, of his holiness, grace and righteousness; nor the knowledge of his presence, that is, of his comforts here, and his glory hereafter, but only in and by Christ: we may know God in the World, for in the Creation is manifest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that which may be known of him, namely his eternal power and Godhead. But this is a barren and fruitless knowledge, which will not keep down unrighteousness; for the wise men of the world when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, but became vain in their imaginations, and held that truth of him which was in the Creation revealed, in unrighteousness. We may know him in his Law too, and that in exceeding great glory when God came from Teman, Habak. 3.3, 4. Deut. 1.1. and the Holy One from mount Paran (whereabout the Law was the second time repeated by Moses) his glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise, his brightness was as the light, etc. But this is a kill knowledge, a knowledge which makes us fly from God, and hide ourselves out of his presence, and fight against him as our sorest enemies, and come short of his glory: therefore the Law is called a fiery Law, or a fire of Law, Deut. 33.2. Deut. 5.22. Gal. 3.10. Rom. 12.20. to show not only the original thereof, for it was spoken out of the midst of the fire; but the nature and operation of it too, which of itself is to heap fire and curses upon the soul; and therefore it is called the ministration of Death, 2 Cor. 3.7. But now to know the glory of God in the face of jesus Christ, is both a fruitful and a comfortable knowledge; we know the pattern we must walk by, we know the life we must live by, we know the treasure we must be supplied by, we know whom we have believed, we know whom we may be bold with in all straits and distresses, we know God in Christ full of love, full of compassion, full of ears to hear us, full of eyes to watch over us, full of hands to fight for us, full of tongues to commune with us, full of power to preserve us, full grace to transform us, full of fidelity to keep covenant with us, full of wisdom to conduct us, full of redemption to save us, full of glory to reward us. Let us therefore put ourselves into this Rock, that God's goodness may pass before us, that he may communicate the mysteries of his kingdom and of his glory unto us, that by him our persons may be accepted, our prayers admitted, our services regarded, our acquaintance and fellowship with the Lord increased, by that blessed Spirit which is from them both shed abroad in his Gospel upon us. Now lastly, the Gospel of Christ is glorious in those ends, effects, or purposes for which it serveth: And in this respect principally doth the Apostle so often magnify the glory of the Gospel above the Law. The Law was a glorious ministry, Exod. 19. 16-21. as appears by the thunderings and lightnings, the shining of Moses his face, and trembling at God's presence, the service of the Angels, and sound of the trumpet, the ascending of the smoke, and the quaking of the mountain: Hebr. 8.6. but yet still the glory of the Gospel was far more excellent, a better Covenant, a more excellent ministry. The Law had weakness and unprofitableness in it, Hebr. 7.18, 19 (both terms of diminution from the the glory thereof) and therefore it could make nothing perfect: But that which the Law could not do, in as much as it was weak through the flesh, Rom. 8.2, 3. the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ jesus (which is a periphrasis of the Gospel, as appeareth, 2 Cor. 3.6.) did do for us, namely, make us free from the law of sin and death. So then the Law was glorious, but the Gospel in many respects did excel in glory, 2 Cor. 3.10. To take a more particular view of the spiritual glory of the Gospel of Christ in those excellent ends and purposes for which it serveth: First, It is full of light, to inform, to comfort, to guide those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, into the way of peace. Light was the first of all the creatures which were made, and the Apostle magnifieth it for a glorious thing in those other luminaries which were after created, 1 Cor. 15.41. How much more glorious was the light of the Gospel? The Apostle calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A marvellous light: 1 Pet. 2.9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg. Naz. Or. 3. and therefore the kingdom of the Gospel is expressed by light and glory together, as terms of a promiscuous signification, Esay 60.1, 2, 3. Of all other learning the knowledge of the Gospel doth infinitely excel in worth, both in regard of the object thereof, which is God, manifested in the flesh, and in regard of the end thereof, which is flesh reconciled, and brought unto God. Ephes. 3.18. A knowledge which passeth knowledge, a knowledge which bringeth fullness with it, even all the fullness of God, a knowledge so excellent, Phil. 3.8. that all other humane excellencies are but dung in comparison of it. What Angel in heaven would trouble himself to busy his noble thoughts (which have the glorious presence of God, and the joys of heaven to fill them) with metaphysical, or mathematical, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg Naz. Orat. 1. 1 Pet. 1.12. or philological contemplations, which yet are the highest delicacies which humane reason doth fasten on to delight in? And yet we find the Angels in heaven, with much greediness of speculation stoop down, and as it were turn away their eyes from that expressesse glory which is before them in heaven, to gaze upon the wonderful light, and bottomless mysteries of the Gospel of Christ. In all other learning a Devil in hell (the most cursed of all creatures,) doth wonderfully surpass the greatest proficients amongst men; but in the learning of the Gospel, and in the spiritual revelations and evidences of the benefits of Christ to the soul from thence, there is a knowledge which surpasseth the comprehension of any angel of darkness; for it is the Spirit of God only which knoweth the things of God. It was the devilish flout of julian the Apostate against Christian Religion, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg. Naz. Orat. 3. that it was an illiterate rusticity, and a naked belief, and that true polite learning did belong to him and his Ethnic faction; and for that reason he interdicted Christians the use of Schools and humane learning, as things improper to their believing religion (a persecution esteemed by the Ancients as cruel as the other bloody massacres of his predecessors.) To which slander, though the most learned Father might have justly returned the lie, and given proofs both in the canonical books of holy Scripture, and in the professors of that religion, of as profound learning, as invincible argumentation, and as forcible eloquence as in any Heathen Author (for I dare challenge all the Pagan learning in the world to parallel the writings of Clemens of Alexandria, Origen, justin, Tertullian, Cyprian, Minutius, Augustine, Theodoret, Nazianzen, and the other champions of Christian Religion against Gentilism) yet he rather chooseth thus to answer, that that authority, which the faith he so much derided was built upon, came to the soul with more selfe-evidence, and invincible demonstration, than all the disputes of reason or learning of Philosophy could create. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Naz ibid. Though therefore it were to the jews an offence, as contrary to the honour of their Law, and to the greeks foolishness, as contrary to the pride of their reason; yet to those that were perfect, it was an hidden and mysterious wisdom, able to convince the gainsayers, to convert sinners, to comfort mourners, to give wisdom to the simple, and to guide a man in all his ways with spiritual prudence; for, what ever the prejudice of the world may be, there is no man a wiser man, nor more able to bring about those ends which his heart is justly set upon, than he who being acquainted with God in Christ by the Gospel, hath the Father of wisdom, the Treasurer of wisdom, the Spirit of wisdom, and the Law of wisdom to furnish him therewithal. It is not for want of sufficiency in the Gospel, but for want of more intimate acquaintance and knowledge thereof in us, that the children of this world are more wise in their generation, than the children of light. Secondly, another glorious end and effect of the Gospel is to be a ministration of Righteousness, a publication of a pardon to the world, and that so general, that there is not one exception therein of any other sin than only of the contempt of the pardon itself. And in this respect likewise the Gospel exceeds in glory. If the ministration of condemnation (saith the Apostle) be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory, 2 Cor. 3.9. It is the glory of a man to pass by an offence, and the Lord proclaimeth his glory to Moses, in that he would forgive iniquity, transgression and sin, that is, multitudes of sins, and sins of all degrees, Exod. 34.7. And thus the Lord magnifies his mercy, and thoughts towards sinners, above all the ways and thoughts of men, even as the heavens are higher than the earth, because he can abundantly pardon, or multiply forgivenesses upon those who forsake their ways and turn to him, Esay 55.7, 8, 9 and therefore justifying faith whereby we rely upon the power of God to forgive and subdue our sins, is said to give glory to God. Abraham staggered not at the Promise through unbelief, but being strong in faith he gave glory to God, namely, the glory of his power and fidelity, Rom. 4.20, 21. Numb. 20.12. Ye shall not bring this congregation into the Land which I have given them, saith the Lord to Moses and Aaron, because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, that is, to give me the glory of my power and truth (for to sanctify the Lord of hosts, signifieth to glorify his power, by fearing him more than men, and by relying on him against the power and confederacies of men, Esay 8.12, 13. And therefore in the same argument touching the happiness of the Saints, if they suffer for righteousness sake, or be reproached for the name of Christ: 1 Pet. 3.14, 15. 1 Pet. 4.14. Saint Peter useth in one place sanctifying of the Lord in our hearts, and in another glorifying of him, as terms equivalent;) And therefore unbelief is said to make God a liar, 1 john 5.10. that is, to dishonour him, Gen. 4.13. and to rob him of the glory of his truth; And despair to rob God of his mercy, and to make the guilt of sin greater than the power of God: And therefore murmurers, and unbelievers are said to speak against God, Psal 78.18, 19.40.41. and to grieve him, to tempt, to limit him, that is, to call into question the glory of his power and truth. Herein then consisteth another glorious effect of the Gospel of Christ, that being a ministration of righteousness, it is a glass of that power, truth, mercy, and fidelity of God, which by faith we rest upon, for the forgiveness and subduing of sin. Thirdly, another glorious end of the Gospel is to be a ministration and a law of life. If the ministration of death (saith the Apostle) were glorious, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? 2 Cor. 3.6, 7, 8. The Law alone by itself is towards sinners but a dead letter, only the rule according unto which a man ought to walk, not any principle enabling him to walk. If Moses alone should speak unto men, he could only tell them what they ought to do, Quod operum lex minando imperat, hoc fidei lex credendo impetrat.— lege operum dicit▪ Deus, Fac quod jubeo; l●ge fidei dicitur Deo, Da quod jubes. Aug. tom. 3. lib. de spiritu & litera. copp. 13.19. 2 Cor. 3.18. he could in no wise enable them to do it: nay, further the Law hath occasionally from the sin of man a malignant property in it, to irritate and exasperate lust the more, to beget an occasional rage and fierceness in our nature. As the Sun shining on a dunghill exhaleth noisome vapours, and maketh it stink the more. But now the Gospel by the Spirit doth not only teach, but help too, showeth us what we should do, and giveth us strength to do it; we do not only therein see the glory of God, but are withal changed into the same Image, even from glory to glory, that is, (as I conceive from that allusion to a glass) the glory of the Lord shining upon the Gospel, and from the Gospel shining upon our hearts, doth change them into the Image of the same glory; even as the glory of the Sun shining upon a glass, and from that glass reflecting on a wall, doth therein produce a more extraordinary image of its own light: so that the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is the same with the Poets è speculo in speculum▪ from the glory of the Gospel which is one glass of God's Image, there is shaped the same glory in the heart, which is another glass of his Image. This is that which the Apostle calleth the forming of Christ in the soul, and the planting of it into the likeness of his death and resurrection. Fourthly, it is a glorious Gospel in the judicature thereof. The Spirit i● the Gospel doth convince not of righteousness only, but of judgement too; that is, the Spirit shall erect a throne in the hearts of men, joh. 16.11. shall pull down the prince of this world, and dispossess him; shall enable men's own hearts to proceed like upright judges with truth and with victory (which are two of the principal honours of judgement) against their own lusts, Esay 42 3. Matth. 12.20. to censure, to condemn, to crucify them, though before they were as dear as their own members; to throw all their idols away as menstruous rags, and to judge and revenge themselves. Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more with idols? 1 Cor. 11.31. 2 Cor. 7.11. Host 14.8. Esay 31.7. jer. 31.19. In that day, saith the Lord, every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: After that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. Thus the government of the Gospel in the heart, makes a man severe to sentence every sin, to hang up his Haman, his favourite lusts, to give up himself to the obedience of Christ, and to have his conversation, Phil. 3 20. his trading, his treasure, his privileges, his freedom, his fellowship in heaven, as being now constituted under the gracious and peaceable government of an heavenly Prince. Fifthly, it is a glorious Gospel, in that it was to be a continuing ministration, and an Immortal seed. If that which was done away, saith the Apostle, was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious▪ 2 Cor. 3.11. Now the Gospel is able to preserve a man blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus; it will not suffer a man to be shaken nor overturned by all the powers of darkness; there is strength enough in it to repel, and wisdom to answer all the temptations and assaults of the enemies of our salvation: If the world set upon us with any temptations on the right hand, or on the left, with disgraces, persecutions, discomforts, exprobrations, l●e this was the man who made God his help, and would needs be more excellent than his neighbours; the Gospel furnisheth us with sure promises, and sure mercies; this is answer sufficient against all the discouragements of the world, I know whom I have believed, I know that he hath overcome the world, I know that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, until the last day, and in the mean time the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world, that is, we are at an equal point of distance and defiance, the world contemns me, and I am as careless of the world. If with pleasures, honours, and gilded baits to draw us away from God, Faith in the Gospel easily overcommeth the world, for it giveth both the Promises and first-fruits of such Treasures as are infinitely more precious and massy than all the world can afford; the very reproaches of Christ (how much more his Promises, how infinitely more his Performances at the last?) are far greater riches, than the treasures of Egypt. The daily sacrifice of a godly life, and the daily feast of a quiet conscience put more sweetness into the afflictions of Christ, than is in all the profits, pleasures or preferments of the world, being made bitter with the guilt of sin. If Satan, or our own reasonings stand up against the kingdom of Christ in us, the Gospel is a store-house which can furnish us with armoury of all sorts to repel them. Faith can quench fiery darts, the weapons of the spirit can captivate the very thoughts of the heart unto the obedience of Christ, no weapon which is form against it can prosper, and every tongue which riseth up against it in judgement, it shall condemn, it is a staff which can carry a man over any Jordan, and can support & comfort him in any shadow of death. This is the honour of the Word that it doth not only sanctify men, but preserve their holiness in them. If it were not for the treasure of the word in the heart every little thing would easily turn a man out of his way, and make him revolt from Christ again. How easily would afflictions make us mistrust God's affection to us, and so change ours unto him (for this is certain, His Love to us is the original of our love to him) make us murmur, repine, struggle, fret under his hand, if in the Gospel we did not look upon them as the gentle corrections of a Father, who loves us, as the pruning and harrowing of our fowls that they may bring forth more fruit? Except thy Law had been my delight, Psal. 119.92. I should have perished in mine affliction. My affliction would have destroyed me, and made me perish from the right way, if it had not been tempered and sanctified by thy Word. It wrought so with that wicked king of Israel, Behold this evil is of the Lord, 2 King. 6.33. Mal. 3.14. isaiah. 58.3. what should I wait upon the Lord any longer? what profit is there to walk humbly before him, or to afflict ourselves before him, who will not see, nor take knowledge of it, but continue to be our enemy still? But the Gospel teacheth a man's heart to rest in God, assureth it that there is hope in Israel, and balm in Gilead, that they which believe should not make haste to limit, or to misconstrue God, but wait for his Salvation, which will ever come in that due time, wherein it shall be both most acceptable and most beautiful. Again, how easily would Temptations overturn the faith of men, if it were not daily supported by the Word? what is the reason that the sheep of Christ will not follow strangers, nor know their voice, that is, will not acknowledge any force, john 10.4, 5. nor subscribe in their hearts to the conviction or evidence of any temptation which would draw them from God, but only because they hear and know the voice of Christ in his Gospel, and feel a spirit in their own hearts setting to its seal and bearing witness to that truth from whence those solicitations would seduce them? The Apostle foretold the Elders of Ephesus at his solemn departure from them, that grievous wolves would enter in amongst them, & that some of themselves would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Act. 20.29, 32. And the main remedy which the Apostle gives them against this danger was, I commend you to God, and to the Word of his grace which is able to build you up, etc. Noting, that it is the Word of God which keepeth men from being drawn away with perverse disputes. And the same intimation he gives them in his Epistle unto them, He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers.— That we henceforth be no more children, Ephes. 4. 11-14. tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. The more richly the word of God, in the love and evidence thereof, 1 Thes. 5.21. doth dwell in any man, and enable him to prove all things, the more steadfastly will he hold that which is good, and stand immovable against the sleights and solicitations of men. Again, how easily would our own evil hearts gather a rust and unaptness for service over themselves, if they were not daily whet and brightened upon the Word of God. That only it is which scrapeth away that leprosy and mossiness which our souls are apt to contract out of themselves. 2 joh. 8.9. A man may lose all that he hath wrought, all the benefit of what he hath done already, and all the strength to do any more, jam. 1.23.25. only by not abiding in the Doctrine of Christ. He only is no doer of the Word, who looketh in it as a man on a glass, and presently forgetteth the image and state of his conscience again; it is only he that continueth therein, who is a doer of the work, and blessed in his deed. He that treasureth up the Gospel in his heart, and laboureth to grow rich in the knowledge thereof, can never be turned quite out of his way, or become an Apostate from the grace of Christ. Lastly, it is a glorious Gospel in regard of those noble and majestical endowments with which it qualifieth the soul of a Christian: joh. 1.12. 1 joh. 3.1. Revel 1.6. 1 Pet. 2.9. for there is no nobility to that of the Gospel. It giveth men the highest privilege in the world to be called the Sons of God, to be kings and priests before him, to be a Royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, a nation of priests. Nothing doth so honour a land as to be the seat of the Gospel. It was the honour of the jews that unto them were committed the Oracles of God. Rom. 3.1, 2. Therefore the Ark is called the Glory of Israel, 1 Sam. 4.22. and Christ the glory of Israel, and the excellency of jacob, Luke 2.32. Amos 8.7. jer. 9.24. neither is there any thing else allowed a man to glory in save only this that he understandeth and knoweth the Lord in his word. It putteth magnanimity into the breasts of men, high thoughts, regal affections, public desires and attempts, a kind of heavenly * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Rom. 15.20. ambition to do and to gain the greatest good. The main ends of a Christian are all high and noble. The favour of God, the fellowship of the Father and the Son, the Grace of Christ, the peace of the Church; his traffic and negotiation is for heaven, his language the Dialect of heaven, his order a heavenly order, innumerable companies of Angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. A holy man, who hath the spirit of his mind raised and ennobled by the Gospel, is an Agent in the same affairs, and doth in his thoughts, desires, prayers, emulations pursue the same high and heavenly ends, for the advancement of the glory of Christ, and demolishing the kingdom of Satan, with the blessed Angels of God. His desires look no lower than a kingdom, a weight of massy, and most superlative exceeding glory. That which other men make the utmost point even of their impudent and immodest hopes, the secular favours and dignities of the world, these put lowest under their feet; but their wings, the higher and more aspiring affections of their soul, are directed only unto heaven and heavenly things. They no sooner are placed in the body of Christ but they have public services, some to preach, some to defend, all to pray, to practise, to adorn the profession they have under-taken. For indeed every Christian hath his talon given him, his service enjoined him. The Gospel is a Depositum, a public Treasure, committed to the keeping of every Christian, each man having, as it were, a several key of the Church, a several trust for the honour of this kingdom delivered unto him. As in the solemn Coronation of the Prince every Peer of the Realm hath his station about the Throne, and with the touch of his hand upon the royal Crown declareth the personal duty of that honour which he is called unto, namely to hold on the Crown on the head of his Sovereign, to make it the main end of his greatness, to study, and by all means endeavour the establishment of his Prince's Throne: so every Christian as soon as he hath the honour to be called unto the kingdom, and presence of Christ, hath immediately no meaner a depositum committed to his care than the very Throne and Crown of his Saviour, than the public honour, peace, victory, and stability of his master's kingdom. The Gospel is committed to the custody of the Bishops, and Pastors of the Church, to preach it. 2 Tim. 1.14.2.2. They are, as it were, the Herald's and Forerunners of Christ to prepare his way into the souls of men. To the custody of the Princes and Judges of the earth to defend it, to be a guard about the person and truth of Christ, to command the obedience, and to encourage the teaching of it. The Gospel is the Law of Christ's Throne, and the princes of the world are the lions about his Throne, set there to watch, and guard it against the malice of enemies. And therefore it is recorded for the honour of David that he set in order the courses of the Priests, and appointed them their forms and vicissitudes of Service. 1 Chron. 23.24. Of Solomon that he built, adorned, and dedicated a Temple for God's solemn worship. Of josiah that he made the people to serve the Lord their God; Of Ezekiah, that he restored the service, 2 Chro. 34.33. 2 Chro. 29.3.30.1.22.31.2, 3, 4. and repaired the Temple of God, that he spoke comfortably to the Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord, that he proclaimed a solemn passover, that he ordered the courses of the Priests and Levites, that he gave commandment concerning the portion of their due maintenance, that they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord (a pattern worthy the admiration and imitation of all Christian princes, in spite of the sacrilegious doctrine of those men who would rob them of that power and office which God hath given them for the establishment of his Gospel, Euseb. de vit. Constantini, li 2. cap. 37, 38, 39 Act. 13.26. jude v. 3. 2 Thes. 2.15. and it was imitated by the first Christian Prince that ever the world had.) Lastly, the Gospel is committed to the keeping of every Christian to practise it, to adorn it, to pray for it, to be valiant and courageous in his place and station for the truth of it. And for a man to neglect these duties is to betray and dishonour the Kingdom of Christ, and to degenerate from that high and public condition in which God had placed him. Again, it putteth a spirit of Fortitude and boldness into the hearts of men. Boldness to withstand the corruptions of the times, to walk contrary to the courses of the world, to outface the sins and the scorns of men, to be valiant for a despised truth or power of religion, not to be ashamed of a persecuted profession, to spread out contra torrentem brachia▪ to stand alone against the power and credit of a prevailing faction, Act. 13.46.28 28. 1 Thes 2.2. Act. 2.14.23.36. Act. 4. 8-12, 13, 19 Act. 5.29, 32. as Paul against the contradiction of the jews, and Peter and john against a Synod of pharisees, and those invincible champions of Christ, Athanasius against the power of Constantius, the frequent synodical conventions of countenanced heretics, and the general deluge of arianism in the world. Ambrose against the wrath and terror of the emperor of the world, to whom, having imbrued his hands in much innocent blood, that holy Father durst not deliver the blood of Christ. chrusostom against the pride and persecution of the Empress Eudoxa. Luther against the mistress of fornications, the princess of the earth, and as himself professed, if it had been possible, against a whole city full of devils. The Christians of all ages against the fire, fury, and arts of torment executed by the bloody persecutors of the Church. Nay further, the Gospel giveth boldness against that universal fire which shall melt the Elements, and shrivel up the heavens like a role of parchment; Herein, saith the Apostle, is our love made perfect, 1 joh. 4.17. that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because as he is, so we are in this world; that is, we have his image in us, and his love shed abroad in our hearts, and therefore we are able to assure our hearts before him, and to have confidence towards him. Now he who hath boldness to stand before God, to dwell with consuming fire, and with everlasting burnings; who can get the Lord on his right hand, and put on the Lord Jesus, though he be not out of the reach, or beyond the blow, yet is he above the injury of the malice of men, they may kill, but they can never overcome him. I am he that comforteth you, isaiah. 51.12▪ 13. who art thou (saith the Lord) that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, & c? What an invincible courage was that of Eliah, which retorted the slander of Ahab upon his own face: 1 King. 18.18. I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house? And that of Micaiah, against the base request of a flattering Courtier, who thought God to be such an one as himself, that would magnify and cry up the ends of a wicked king, 1 King. 22.14. As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. And that of Amos against the unworthy instructions of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, Thou sayest prophesy not against Israel, Amos 7.16, 17. and drop not thy words against the house of Isaac; therefore thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line, and thou shalt dye in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. And that of jeremiah, who boldly gave the lie to Irijah the captain of the ward; It is false, I fall not away to the Chaldeans. jer. 37.13, 14. The time would fail if I should speak of the unbended constancy (or as the Gentiles styled it, Tertull. Apolog. cap. ult. Baron. A. 179. num. 27. Euseb. Hist. l. 5. c. 1. Christiani sumus, Christiani, & Deos tuos imperator non colemus. Baro. A. 301 num. 46. A. 165. n. 4. obstinacy) of Ignatius, Polycarp, justin, Cyprian, Pionius, Sabina, Maximus, as those infinite armies of holy martyrs, who posed the inventions, tired out the cruelties, withstood the flatteries, and with one word (Christiani sumus) overcame all the tyrannies, quenched the fire, and stopped the mouths of their proudest persecutors. Again, the Gospel putteth a kind of lustre and terror on the faces of those in whom it reigneth, and maketh them, as the Law did Moses, to shine as lights in the world, and to be more excellent than their neighbours; worketh in others towards them a dread and awfulness. Though jeremy were a prisoner, castinto the dungeon, jer. 37.16, 17.38.15, 16. and in such extremity as he was there likely to perish: yet such a majesty and honour did God even then put upon him, and that in the thoughts of the king himself, that he could not be in quiet till he consulted with him about the will of the Lord, and by his many conferences with him made it plainly appear that he stood in awe of his person and prophecies. So it is said, That Herod feared john, Mark 6.20. knowing that he was a just and a holy man, and observed him; to note that Holiness maketh men's persons and presence dreadful to the wicked, by reason of that grace and majesty which God hath put into them. The whole Council of Scribes and pharisees, they who afterwards gnashed on Stephen with their teeth, were forced to acknowledge the majesty of holiness shining upon him, Act. 6.15. They steadfastly looked on him, and saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel. The mighty power of the Gospel of Christ maketh unbelievers fall on their faces, and confess of a truth that God is in those who preach it. 1 Cor. 14 24, 25. Act. 16▪ 29, 30. This we find verified in the poor astonished keeper of the prison into which Paul and Silas had been cast, he sprang in and came trembling and fell down before them, and brought them forth, and said, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Sirs (which is an honourable appellation, fit rather for Princes than for prisoners) what must I do to be saved? It is true that naturally men hate Christ and his servants, but this is not as a man hateth a Toad (which he can easily crush) with a simple hatred; but as a man hateth a Lion, or as a Malefactor hateth his Judge, or as a Thief hateth the light, with a compounded hatred, mixed with a fear and dread of that majesty within them. Which Majesty hath sometimes shined so brightly even under torments and persecutions, that it hath forced from Heathen Emperors a desire of the Christians Prayers, sometimes not astonished only, but * Adjectos ideo vocabant, quia cum in eo essent ut torquerent martyrs, ipsi martyres fuerunt, verbo Dei, & constantiâ martyrum permoti. Cameron De Ecclesi pa. 83. converted the adversaries. Lastly, the Gospel bringeth liberty and joy into the hearts of men with it. The liberty a Glorious liberty, Rom. 8.21. and the joy a glorious joy, 1 Pet. 1.8. therefore the Gospel is called a Gospel of great joy, Luke 2.10. Liberty is so sacred a thing, that indeed it belongs in the whole compass of it only to the Prince: for though other men be free from servitude, yet they are not free from subjection. Now the Gospel giveth a plenary freedom to the consciences of men; they may be commanded by their own consciences, but their consciences cannot be commanded by any but by Christ. The Son hath made them free from all others, that he only might be the Lord over them. These are those noble effects of the majesty of the Gospel in the hearts of men, and all, so many several evidences of that glory which belongs unto it. Now then, to draw some inferences from this most useful and excellent doctrine of the glory of the Gospel, we learn from thence first what liberty, and what sincerity the Ministers of Christ ought to use in the administration of this his Kingdom in the Word. First, What Liberty. The Officers of a Prince who go before him to prepare his way, make bold to strike, and to scatter those unruly throngs of men, who press too near upon his sacred person. We are the Messengers of Christ sent beforehand with his royal proclamation of peace to make room in the hearts of men for him, and to open their everlasting doors, that this King of Glory may enter in. We may therefore boldly smite with the Rod of his mouth, we must cry aloud, and not spare, jer. 1.17, 18. Ezek. 3.8, 9 1 Tim. 4.11. 2 Cor. 4.1, 2. pull down mountainous lusts, subdue strong holds, take unto us iron pillars, and brazen walls, and faces of flint, to root up, to pull down, to batter and destroy, not to teach only, but to command with all authority, and to commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. This use the Apostle maketh of the Glory of the Gospel, seeing we have such Hope, 2 Cor. 3.12. that is, seeing in this glorious Gospel we have the dispensation of a blessed Hope unto men; or the revelation of Christ, who is unto us the Hope of Glory, or the assured confidence of doing excellent works by the virtue of this so glorious a word; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, We use great boldness or liberty of speech; for why should he, who bringeth unto men glad tidings of glorious things, which offereth unto them the blessed Hope of Eternal life, be afraid or ashamed of his Office? Though Rome were the seat, and that * Tertull. Apol. c. 5. emperor the first Dedicator of the persecutions of the Church, yet even unto that place the Apostle was not ashamed to preach the Gospel of Christ, Rom. 1.16. because it was the Power of God unto Salvation. There is no shame in being a Saviour. And therefore it is both the honour and duty of the dispensers of the Gospel to speak boldly as they ought to speak; Ephes. 6.20. and of the people to pray that that excellent Spirit might ever accompany so glorious a message. This was the prayer of the Primitive Saints for the Apostles of Christ, Grant unto thy servants, that with all Boldness they may speak thy Word. Act. 4.29. And this duty lies upon us with an heavy necessity. For first, we are dispensers of all God's counsel, Act. 20.27. josh. 8.35. Deut. 29.29. Act. 5.20. there must not be a Word which God hath commanded that we should refuse to make known unto the people, for the things revealed are for them and their children. Thus we find when the Angel of the Lord brought forth the Apostles out of prison, he gave them this command, Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life: and certainly some of these words will require boldness. When we lay the axe to the root of the tree, when we how off men's very members, when we snatch them like brands out of the fire, when we make them to see their own faces in the Law of liberty, the face of a guilty, and therefore cursed conscience, there will be need of much boldness. A Chirurgeon who is to search an inveterate wound, and to cut off a putrified member, had not need to be faint-hearted, or bring a trembling hand to so great a work. Secondly, the severest message we are sent withal, and which men are most unwilling to hear, is for them expedient. No news could be so unwelcome to the Apostles as to hear of Christ's departure, joh. 16.6, 7. Because I have said these things sorrow hath filled your hart, nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. The first news which we bring unto men is of Christ's absence, of their false conceits and presumptions of their being in him, of the distance, and unacquaintance which is between them, of our fear of them and their condition, and in all this we are not their enemies, because we tell them the truth. As it is our office to speak, Gal. 4.16. so it is the people's duty and profit to hear all things which shall be told them of God, for all Scripture, 2 Tim. 3.16, 17. Deut. 12.28. Psal. 119.128. jam. 2.10, 11. as well that which reproveth and correcteth, as that which teacheth and instructeth in righteousness is profitable, and tends to the perfection of the Saints. All his precepts concerning all things are right. The contempt of one is virtually and interpretatively, in the constitution and preparation of heart, the violation of all, because they are all grounded upon the same divine authority, and directed unto the same saving ends: and therefore we ought not to pick, and choose either in the preaching or practising thereof. Thirdly, we are to answer for the blood of the people if we prevaricate, if we let their sins alone they will have a double edge, to kill them and us both, like the mutual embracements of two in a river, which is the means to drown them both. Speak unto them all that I command thee; jer. 1.17. be not dismayed at their faces, saith the Lord to his Prophet, lest I confound thee before them. If thou warn not the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, Ezek. 3.18. he shall dye in his wickedness, (thy bashfulness shall do him no good) but his blood will I require at thy hands. Is it at all congruous that men should have boldness enough to declare their sins, to speak them, to proclaim them, to wear them, to glory in them, and that those officers, who are sent for no other business, but in the name and authority of Almighty God to fight against the corruptions of the world, should in the mean time hang down the head and be tonguetied? that men should have more boldness to destroy themselves, and to do Satan's works, than we to save them, or to serve God? Fourthly, we are to speak in the person of Christ, and in the virtue of his Spirit. We must speak as the a 1 Pet. 4.11. Oracles of God, and b Ezek. 3.4. with his words, c 2 Cor. 5.20. as if he himself did by us speak unto the people. We must give manifestation of d 2 Cor. 13.3. Christ speaking by us, that men may be e 1 Cor. 14.25. convinced that God is in us of a truth, and that we are f Mic. 3.8. full of power by his spirit, that his spirit setteth to his seal to authorise our commission, and to countenance our ministry: and therefore we must use judgement and might, that is, spiritual discretion, and inflexible constancy against the sins of men (for these two are contrary to the two grand props of Satan's kingdom, which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his craftiness, and his weapons of power:) g 2 Cor. 3.17. for where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, h Mic 2.7. his spirit will not be straightened, neither will the Lord keep silence; he that speaketh by the spirit of Christ, must speak, though not in equality (which is impossible) yet in some similitude and proportion, as he spoke, that is, as those that have i Mat. 7.29. Authority and power committed to them for the edification of the Church. Lastly, a partial, unsearching and unreproving Minister is one of God's curses and scourges against a place, the forerunner of a final and fearful visitation. k Host 9.7. The days of visitation and recompense come, saith the lord The Prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. l Mich. 2.11. If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood, that is, professing the work of a spiritual man, and yet betraying his office, or in a false and lying spirit prophesying of wine and strong drink, that is, cherishing and encouraging sensual livers in their pernicious courses, he shall even be the prophet of this people. And therefore when the Lord will punish with an extreme revenge the rebellion of a people against his Gospel, who judge themselves unworthy of so great a salvation, he either m Revel. 2.5. Mat. 21. 41-43.23.37, 38. 1 Thes. 2.16. removeth their Candlestick and taketh it away from them, or else n Ezek. 3 26. Ezek 24.13. sealeth up the mouth of his Prophets, that they may be dumb and reprove them no longer, and that they may not be purged any more from their filthiness, or else infatuates their Prophets, and suffereth Satan to seduce them, and to be a lying Spirit in their mouths, that he may destroy them, as we see in the o 2 King 22.20.23. ruin of Ahab, and in the p jer. 4.10. Ier 14.13. jer. 23.13.33.40. Lam. 2.14. captivity of judah. Again, as the Ministers of the Gospel must use liberty, so must they likewise use sincerity in the dispensation thereof, because it is a glorious Gospel. This likewise is the Apostles inference, for having spent a whole chapter in this one argument of the glory of the Gospel, he presently concludeth, q 2 Cor. 4 1, 2. 2 Cor. 2.17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Greg. Naz. Orat. 1. & Isid. Pelut. lib. 1. epist. 169. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, that is, the dispensation of such a Gospel committed unto us, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty; that is, as I conceive, the arts of daubing, and palliating, and covering over unclean courses with plausible reasonings, and fleshly apologies ( r Ezek. 13.10. jer. 14.13. which is the use of false prophets) not walking in craftiness, that is, not using s Ephes. 4.14. Col. 2.4.8. humane sleights or cogging, to carry men about with every wind of false doctrine (as sinners are very willing to be deceived, t jer. 5.31. and love to have it as false prophets say it is) nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, that is, falsifying and adulterating it with corrupt glosses, and so tempering it to the palate of sinners, that the working & searching virtue thereof, whereby of itself it is apt to purge out and wrestle with the lusts of men, may be deadened, and so it may well consist with the power of lusts still (as Physicians use so to qualify and allay poison by other correctives, and cross ingredients, that it shall serve as an instrument to strengthen us, not extinguish life: or as immodest Poets may so tamper with the chaste expressions of Virgil or Homer, as by them both to notify, and, in corrupt minds, to kindle unclean lustings) but by manifestation of the truth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 2.4. Demonstratio autem nihil relinquit aut inevinentiae in re, aut formidini● in intellectu. that is, by such spiritual and perspicuous demonstrations, as under which there cannot subesse falsum, there can no falsity nor deceit lurk, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, that is, working not the fancies, or humours, or fleshly conceits of men (which always take the part of sin) but their very consciences (which always is on God's side) to bear witness unto the truth which we speak, to receive it not as the wit or learning of a man, but as the Word and wisdom of God, to acknowledge the conviction, the judicature, the penetration thereof, and so to fall down upon their faces, and to glorify God, and report that he is in us of a truth; and all this in the sight of God, that is, so handling the Word as that we may please and approve ourselves to his eye, whose servants we are, and whose work we do. This is that which the Apostle calleth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Tit. 2.1.7.8. Vncorruptnesse, gravity, sincerity, soundness of doctrine, such as the very adversaries themselves shall not be able to pick quarrels withal, or to speak against: we must not then make account to adorn the Gospel with our own inventions, or with superstructions of humane wit and fancy; though these things may to fleshly reason seem full of beauty, yet indeed they are but like the mingling of glasse-beads with a chain of diamonds, or of lime with pure and generous wine; they are indeed but latebrae dedecoris, lurking places for unclean lusts to hide themselves under, or to escape away, while the corrupt fancies of men stand gazing at that which pleaseth them; as Agag, when he was gloriously arrayed, thought nothing of the bitterness of death, or Sisera of the nail and the hammer, while he saw nothing but the milk and the butter. Some there are not unlike Praxiteles the Painter, Clem. Alex. in Protrept. in Clem. Alex. who made the silly people worship the image of his strumpet, under the title and pretence of Venus; who by sleight and cunning craftiness impose upon weak and incautelous hearers, the visions of their own fancy, the crude and unnourishing vapours of an empty wit (things infinitely unsuitable to the majesty and seriousness of the foundation in the Gospel) for the indubitate truth of God in his Word; which (with reverence may it be spoken) is nothing else but to put the holy Prophets and Apostles into a fooles-coat: But however these men may please and puff up themselves in the admiration of their own wind, yet certain it is that the Gospel of Christ doth as much scorn humane contemperations, as a wall of marble doth a roof of straw, or the Sun at noon doth the light of a candle. And therefore the palate of those who cannot away with the naked simplicity of the Gospel, without the blandishments of humane wit, who must needs have Quails to their Manna, 2 Tim. 4.3. 2 Cor. 4.3. is hereby discovered to be manifestly distempered with an itch of lust, and their eyes blinded by the god of this world. Secondly, this glory of the Gospel may teach us what admiration and acceptation it should find amongst men, even as it doth with the blessed Angels themselves. 1 Tim. 1.15.4.9, 10. Act. 17 11. Matth. 2.10. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, worthy to be received with all readiness of mind, worthy to be gazed upon, like the Star of the Wisemen, with exceeding great joy, worthy to be enamelled in the crowns of Princes, and to be written in the soul of every Christian with a beam of the Sun; Rom. 10.15. That jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And indeed the faithful have ever found beauty in the feet of those that bring them glad tidings of this their King, Rom. 1.10. Ephes. 2.17. Col. 1.6. 1 Thess. 1.5. 2.1. Rom. 10 6, 7, 8. jer. 26.4. Esay 65.1. that is, in the coming of this Word of grace and salvation unto them, which is the usual phrase of the Scripture (setting forth more abundantly the mercy of the Lord, who did not choose one fixed place for his Gospel to reside in, and unto which all nations, who would have benefit by it, should take the pains to resort (as he did for the jews at jerusalem) but hath made it an itinerary salvation, and hath sent it abroad to the very doors of men, who else would never have gone out of doors to seek it) what man in a sad and disconsolate estate would not spread wide open his heart, and let out his spirits, to run upon the embraces of that man who was coming unto him with a message of more lovely and acceptable news, than the very wishes of his heart could have framed to himself? When joseph was sent for out of prison unto Pharaohs Court, when jacob saw the chariots which were brought to carry him unto joseph his son, how were they revived and comforted after their distresses? When Caligula the Emperor sent for Agrippa (the same which was afterwards smitten by the Angel) whom Tiberius had bound in chains, and cast into prison, caused him to change his garments, and cut his hair (it seems that long and ugly hair was then the fashion of discontented prisoners) and placed a Diadem on his head, made him Tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Governor of Judea, and for his chain of iron, gave him another of gold, of equal weight, as the Historian relateth, he saith that men were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, joseph. Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 8. they could not believe so wonderful a change; for things of extraordinary goodness are very difficultly believed. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, Psal. 126.1. we were like them that dream, the thing was so incredibly suitable to their desires, that it seemed rather the imaginary wish of a dream, than a deliverance really acted: as Peter, when he was delivered out of prison, thought he had seen a vision; Act. 12.9. Gen. 45.26. Luke 24.41. jacob could not at first believe the news of the life and honour of joseph his son; and the Disciples for very joy were not able to believe the Resurrection of Christ. Now what are all the good tidings to the Gospel? which is a Word of salvation, which opens prisons and lets out captives, which brings our King unto us, and makes us kings too, which gives us such a joy, as the whole world cannot rob us of? Your joy▪ shall no man take from you. The joy which Caligula gave unto Agrippa, Claudius might have taken from him, as he did after from Agrippa his son, and, though he did not, yet we see the Angel did. But the joy of the Gospel is unvariable, the Angels themselves, (to whom one might think the joys of men should seem but small) call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great joy, Luke 2.10. It is the joy of a treasure, infinitely more worth than all which a man hath beside. A joy of a triumphal harvest, and of victorious spoils, wherein there is not only an escape from dangerous hazard, Matth. 13.44. Esay 9 3, 4. john 15.11. Rom. 15.13. but a large reward of peace and plenty. It is a full joy, there is no sorrow mingled with it, nay, it is all joy, and therefore there is nothing but sorrow without it. All joy in itself, and all joy in the midst of opposition too. A joy in the heart like gold in the mine, which turneth every thing about it into joy. Divers temptations take not away one scruple of it, no more than fire doth of gold, james 1.2. Hebr. 11.26. Mic. 5.5. Rom. 5.3. it is all joy still. My brethren, saith the Apostle, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. It turneth the reproaches of men into riches, nay, in the midst of all other tribulations it is our peace, and our glory: Therefore being so full of joy when once a right apprehended, needs must it likewise be worthy of all acceptation too. And therefore the Prophet calleth the time of the Gospel tempus acceptabile, Esay 61.2. the acceptable time or year of the Lord, which Baronius falsely understands of the first year of Christ's preaching only, Baron. An 31. num. 78. 2 Cor. 6.2. since the Apostle useth the same phrase for the whole time of evangelical dispensation. And indeed if we look into the Church, we shall see what worthy acceptation this Gospel hath found. Zacheus made haste, Luke 19.6. and received Christ into his house gladly; Act. 21.17. so did the brethren at jerusalem receive the Apostles; so did the men of Berea receive the Word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Act. 17.11. with all readiness of mind, or forward affection; so did the Galatians receive Saint Paul with the honour of an Angel, Gal. 4.14. yea, even as Christ jesus himself (for indeed Christ and his Gospel go still together: Mark 10.29. ) the man in the Gospel sold all he had for it; the Saints did earnestly contend for it, and take the kingdom of heaven by violence. Though they suffered the loss of all for Christ, yet they counted godliness great gain still. In a shipwreck I throw my goods overboard, and get my life for a prey; in this case I come no loser to heaven; vita sibi merces, a man's life is sufficient treasure in such an adventure. We are all by nature in maligno positi, every man is a sea and a tempest to himself, as impossible to escape ruin, as to put off himself. Now in the Gospel, Christ showeth a man a way to get out of himself, and so to escape the tempest, showeth a way how with him he shall walk upon the sea and not sink, how he shall be in the world, and not of it, nor swallowed by it. O how willingly will the man who is convinced of his danger, cast off every thing which would press him down, and account it a plentiful deliverance to have his soul saved from such a tempest of wrath as was falling upon him? We see what hazards men run to get temporary riches, to the bottom of rocks for diamonds, to the bowels of the earth for gold and silver: such affections have the Saints had towards the Gospel. If they must dig in mines for Christ (as it was an usual condemnation, Christiani ad metalla) they were most willing so to do, they had a treasure there which the Emperor knew not of, they had infinite more precious wealth from thence than he: If they must fetch Christ in the fire, or wrestle for him, as for a precious price, with the wild beasts of the earth; if they be not suffered to wear Christ, except they put off themselves, how willing, how thankful are they for so rich a bargain? Look to your life, said the Governor to Saint Cyprian that blessed martyr, be not obstinate against your own safety, but advise well with yourself, Baron. An. 261. num. 30. fac quod tibi praeceptum est, saith the holy man, in re tam justa nulla est consultatio; Sir, you are my Judge, you are none of my counsellor, do the office which is committed to you, in so righteous a cause there is no further need of consultation. Take pity upon yourself, and sacrifice and save your life, said the officers to Polycarpe; no, saith the martyr, Euseb. lib. 4. hist. cap. 14. this eighty six years I have served Christ, and he hath done me no harm, I will not do what you persuade m●. That rich and blessed Virgin in Basil, who was for Christianity condemned to the fire, and was offered, if she would worship idols, to have her life and state safe restored unto her, Scultet. Exercitat. Evangel. lib. 2. cap. 5. was obstinate in her resolution, Valeat vita, pereat pecunia; I shall have more life in Christ, than in myself; all the Emperors, all the Physicians in the world cannot make my life, which I have in myself, so long to morrow as it is to day; but in Christ my life is not only an abiding, but an abounding life, I shall have more of that by losing mine own; my life in him is an hidden life, free from all injuries and persecutions of men: I shall have more riches in him than in myself, even unsearchable riches, which can never be stolen away, because they can never be exhausted. It is as possible for thiefs to draw out the mines of India, or to steal away the Sun out of his orb, as for any humane violence to take away Christ from a man. Alike honourable was the answer of Frederick the Elector of Saxony, who being prisoner to Charles the fifth, was promised enlargement and restitution of dignity, if he would come to Mass, Summum in terris Dominum agnosco Caesarem in coelis Deum, In all Civil accommodations I am ready to yield unto Caesar, but for heavenly things I have but one Master, and therefore I dare not serve two; Christ is more welcome to me in bonds, than the honours of Caesar without Christ. Such acceptation hath the Gospel found amongst renowned Worthies heretofore: and the like entertainment should we all give unto it, even prefer it above our greatest glory, 1 Thess. 1.6. and, as the Thessalonians did, receive it with joy in the midst of afflictions, abide with Christ in his temptations, Luke 22. 2●, 29. esteem his Gospel glorious as the Stars are, in the darkness of the night, or as a torch, which blazeth most when it is most shaken. This alone it is which proves our love to Christ to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sincere and incorrupt, when we embrace his Gospel for itself, and can therein in any condition see Christ full of glory, grace and truth: when a man can with Saint Paul not rejoice only in the name and profession of the Cross of Christ, Gal. 6.14. but in conformity and obedience thereunto, in that virtue of the Gospel which crucifies him unto the world and the world unto him. In days of peace and religion men may easily afford to magnify the Gospel, because they get by it. The Persians, who, had the bloody decree held, would have been the slaughterer's of the jews, yet when leave was given to that people to deliver themselves from the malice of Haman, even many of them turned jews themselves, john 4.14. because the fear of that people fell upon them. We may observe this affection in the woman of Samaria, the first reason why she gave some heed to Christ, speaking of his water of life unto her, was, because she should thirst no more, nor come thither to draw. So long as Ephraim might have her work and her wages together, she was contented to do God some service, like an Heifer which loveth to tread out the corn, Host 10.11. that is, while she hath no yoke on her neck, no muzzle on her mouth, while she is not put to plow, but to easy and pleasant service, she is willing to yield unto it. To note, that it is but base and hypocritical obedience, which is supported by no other than present rewards. They seek me daily, Esay 58.2, 3. saith the Lord of the hypocrites among his people, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness. But the end was that they might have their own wills, and as it were oblige God to reward them: and therefore as soon as God seemeth to neglect them and their services, they proudly expostulate with him, and even twit him with their works, Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not? etc. This then is the proof of our sincere love unto Christ, which is not raised upon mercenary respects, when we can receive the Gospel with persecution. a Mark 10.30. Persecution is amongst Christ's legacies, a part of the Church's portion b Phil. 1.29. and of God's gifts unto her; c 2 Tim. 3.12. no man that will live godly can be without them. Even in Abraham's house, which was at that time, if not the sole, yet the most glorious Church on the earth, there was a Persecutor, and d Gal. 4 19 as it was then, so is it now, saith the Apostle. The Saints of God ever have been, and ever will be to the world's end esteemed for e Zech. 3.8. Esay 8.18. 2 King. 9.11. jer. 29.26. Wisd. 5.6. wonders, and marks, and madmen, and proverbs of reproach. And hereby the Lord doth provide to make his Gospel more glorious, because he giveth men hearts to suffer scorn and reproach for it. To receive the word in affliction, and yet with joy, is an exemplary thing, which maketh the sound and glory of the Gospel to spread abroad. Now then, if persecution be thus an appendent to the Gospel, every man must resolve to receive it in some affliction, when he must be put to discard his wicked companies, to shake off his flattering and sharking lusts, to forsake his own will and ways, to run a hazard of undeserved scorn, disreputation, and misconstructions in the world, and yet for all this to set an high price upon the precious truths of the Gospel still, is not this to receive the Word in much affliction? And surely till a man can resolve upon this conclusion, I am ready to be bound, and to die for the name of jesus, I count not my life, much less my liberty, peace, credit, secular accommodations dear, so I may finish my course with joy; Lord, my will is no more mine, but it shall be in all things subject unto thee; he can never give such entertainment to the Word as becometh so glorious a Gospel. All his seeming profession and acceptation, is but like the Gadarens courtesy in meeting of Christ, which was only to be rid of him, Matth. 8.34. Lastly, we should from hence learn a further Christian duty, which is to adorn this glorious Gospel in an holy conversation. Phil. 1.27. Tit. 2.10. This use the Apostle every where makes of the Gospel of Christ; that we should walk as becometh the Gospel, that we should in all things adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, that we should walk worthy of him who hath called us unto his kingdom and glory, 1 Thess. 2.12. that we show forth the virtues of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light, that we should not receive so great a grace, 1 Pet. 2.8. 2 Cor. 6. 13. as the ministry of reconciliation in vain, but that we should walk sittingly to the holiness and efficacy of so excellent a rule, as becometh a royal nation, Gal. 6.16. Tit. 2.14. a people of glory, a peculiar and selected inheritance, even zealous of good works. It was once the expostulation of Nehemiah with his enemies, Nehem. 6.11. should such a man as I fly from such men as you? 1 Pet. 4. 3-6. such should be our expostulation with Satan and our own lusts, should such men as we are, who have the Gospel of Christ for our rule, conform ourselves unto another Law? Is not this the end why the Gospel is preached, that we should live unto God? Doth it become the son of a King to go in rags, or to converse with mean and ignoble persons? Now by the Gospel we have that great honour and privilege given us to be called the sons of God; and shall we then walk as servants of Satan? Would any Prince endure to see the heir of his crown live in bondage to his own vassal and most hated enemy? Herein is the greatest glory of the Gospel above the Law, that it is a Law of life and liberty, a Word which transformeth men into the Image of Christ, and maketh them such as it requireth them to be. So that to walk still according to the course of the world as we did before, is, as much as in us lies, to make the Gospel as weak and unprofitable as the Law. How do you say we are wise; saith the Prophet, and the Law of the Lord is with us? jer. 8.8. Certainly in vain made he it, the pen of the Scribe is in vain: That is, the privilege of having the oracles and ordinances of God committed unto us, will do us no more good, if we walk unworthy of so great a grace, than if those ordinances had never been written or revealed to men. Here than it is needful to inquire in what manner we are to adorn and set forth the glory of the Gospel? To this I answer, that the first and greatest honour we can do unto the Gospel, is, to set it up in our hearts, as our only rule, by which we are to walk, that we prefer it above all our own counsels, and venture not to mingle it with the wisdom and reasonings of the flesh; that we raise up our conversation unto it, and never bend it unto the crookedness of our own ends or rules. Col. 2.6. As ye have received Christ jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, saith the Apostle, that is, fashion your conversation to the doctrine of Christ, let that have the highest room, and the overruling suffrage in your hearts. There is all wisdom in the Gospel, it is able to make men wise unto salvation, Col. 1.28. that is, there is wisdom enough in it to compass the uttermost and most difficult end. 2 Tim. 3.15, 16, 17. Psal. 119.98, 99 jer. 8.9. And what can the reasonings of the flesh contribute to that which was all wisdom before? and which can throughly furnish a man unto every good work? This glory Saint Paul (though a man of great learning, of strong intellectuals, of a working and stirring spirit, qualities very unapt to yield and be silent) did, at the very first revelation thereof, give unto the Gospel, Gal. 6.16. Immediately, saith he, I conferred not with flesh and blood, I did not compare the Gospel of Christ with the principles of my carnal wisdom, I did not resolve to dispute against God's grace, or to conform unto this mystery no farther than the precepts of mine own reason, or the coexistence of mine own secular ends and preferments would allow; but I captivated all my thoughts, and laid down all the weapons of the flesh at Christ's feet, resting only on this Word, as a treasury of wisdom, and yielding up my whole heart to be in all things ordered by this rule. It is an horrible boldness in many men to wrest, and torture, and distinguish the Gospel into all shapes for their own lust's sake. As we see what shifts men will use, to make the way of life broader than it is, by looking upon it thorough their own multiplying glasses, what evasions and subterfuges sin will find out to escape by, when the letter of the Word presseth sore upon them. O how many sins might men escape, how wonderfully might they improve the Image of Christ in their hearts; Psal. 119.24. if they did with David make the Law their counsellor, and weigh every action which they go about, those especially which they have any motions of reluctancy in the spirit of their mind unto, Non in statera dolosa consuetudinum, Aug. contr. epist. Parmen. lib. 3. cap. 2. sed in recta statera scripturarum, not in the deceitful balance of humane custom, but in the balance of the Sanctuary, the holy Scriptures: If they would seriously remember that they must always walk in Christ, Coloss. 2.6. make him the rule, the way, the end, the Judge, the companion, the assistant in all their works, that as the members of the body do nothing at all but in the fellowship of the body, and as they are thereunto applied by the same common soul which animates them all: so Christian men should do nothing but as parts of Christ, and as actuated by the same gracious Spirit which is in him. This is the meaning of our being Christians, and of that consent which in our Baptism we yield unto the Covenant of Christ, that we will not follow nor be led by Satan, the world, or the flesh, that is, by that wisdom which is earthly, sensual, or devilish, but that we will be ordered by that Spirit of regeneration, the seal of whose Baptism we receive in our sacramental washing. O then what is become of the Christianity of many men, who forget that they have been purged? who live as if they had never been baptised into Christ, who lived as if they had never learned Christ? What a prodigy and contradiction is it, that that tongue, which even now professed itself to be Christian, and said Amen to a most clean and holy prayer, should, like those beasts which Seneca speaketh of, which by but turning aside their head to some other spectacle, do immediately forget the meat which they seemed most greedily to eat before, break forth presently into blasphemies, oaths, lies, revile, clamours, obscenities, which are the very fumes and evidences of hell in the heart? That those hands which even now were reached forth to receive the sacred pledges and most dreadful mysteries of salvation, which were even now employed in distributing alms to the members of Christ, or in helping to heave and lift up a prayer unto heaven, which seemed like the hands of Ezekiels' living creature to have wings of devotion over them, should suddenly have their wings melted off, and fall down to covetous and cruel practices again? that those feet which in the morning carried men into the Lord's Sanctuary, and into the presence of Christ, should the same day turn the backs of the same men upon the Temple of the Lord, and carry them to stews and stages, the nurseries of uncleanness? that those eyes which even now seemed to have been nailed unto heaven, and to have contended with the tongue and the hand which should more earnestly have presented the prayers of the soul to God, should almost in the space of their own twinkling, be filled with sparkles of uncleanness, gazing and glutting themselves upon vain or adulterous objects? What is this but for men to renounce their Baptism, to tear off their seal, and dash out their subscription from the covenant of grace, to deny the Lord that bought them, to repent of their bargain which they had made for salvation, and really to dishonour that Gospel which they hypocritically profess? This then is the first honour which we can do unto the Gospel of Christ, when we set it up in our hearts as a most adequate rule of all wisdom, and the alone principle of every action. Secondly, we continue to honour the Gospel of Christ by walking in Obedience thereunto as our perfect Rule. First, in the Obedience of faith, receiving it, and leaning upon it, laying hold on the covenant which is therein revealed, as on the only hope which is set before us: for this is a great acknowledgement of the glory and praise of God when we trust in him for salvation. Therefore the Apostle having showed the Glory of Christ above Moses, maketh this principal use of it, Hebr. 3. 3-12. that therefore we should hear his voice, and take heed of an evil and unbelieving heart, in departing from him, We, saith he, are to the praise of God's Glory, Ephes. 1.12. who trust in Christ. Secondly, in Obedience of life and Holiness. When for the honour of the Gospel we can deny ourselves, and dishonour our lusts, and part from all that we had before as from dung and dross, and express the image of Christ in our conversations. a Eph 4.20.22. 1 joh. 2.6. 1 joh. 4.17. Phil. 2.5. Esay 58.13. joh. 15.8. This is indeed the true learning of Christ when we show forth his life in ours, when we walk as he also walked, when as he was so we are in this world, when the same mind, judgement, affections are in us which were in Christ. Thus the faithful are said to honour God, when they sanctify his Sabbath, and to glory him when they bring forth much fruit. Thirdly, we honour the Gospel of Christ by constancy and continuance in our faith and obedience thereunto; for standing fast, or persisting immovably in our course without sorrow or repentance is an argument of the excellency of the Gospel. b Phil. 1.27. Walk, saith the Apostle, as becometh the Gospel— that I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit. c Non stant uno loco vitia, sed mobilia & inter se dissidentia tumultuantur, pellunt invicem, fugantur. Senec. de Benes. l. 1. c. 16 Lust's ever bring inconstancy with them, and make the soul like weary and distempered bodies never well in any posture or condition; wicked men fly like Bees from one flower to another, from one vanity to another, can never find enough in any to satiate the endless intemperancy of unnatural desires: only the Gospel, being spiritually apprehended, hath treasures enough for the soul to rest in, and to seek no farther. And therefore falling away from the truth, power, or purity of the Gospel is said to expose Christ to shame, and to crucify him again. For as in d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg. Naz. Orat. 40. de Baptismo. Rom. 2.23, 24. Baptism when we renounce sin, and betake ourselves to Christ, we do as it were, expose sin unto public infamy, and nail it on the Cross of Christ: So when we revolt from Christ unto sin again, and in our hearts turn back unto Egypt, and thrust him from us, we do then put him to shame again, as if he were either in his power deficient, or unfaithful in those promises which before we pretended to rely upon. If Israel, as they consulted, should likewise actually have rebelled against Moses, and returned in body as well as in heart unto Egypt again, what a scorn would it have wrought in that proud nation, that their vassals should voluntarily resume their thraldom, after so many boasts and appearances of deliverance? If a man should relinquish the service of some noble person, and apply himself unto some sordid matter for subsistence, would not the mouths of men be quickly open, or their minds jealous to suspect that however such a man carry an high name, and there be great expectations from attending on him, yet in truth he is but a dry matter, whom his own servants do so publicly dishonour? So when any men turn Apostates from the power and Profession of the Gospel of Christ, presently wicked men are apt to blaspheme, and to conceive desperate prejudices against our high and holy calling. If any man make a boast of the Law, and yet break it, he dishonoureth God the more, for (saith the Apostle) The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, so then constancy in Christ's service giveth him the glory of an honourable master, and his Law of a royal law, * 1 Pet. 2.15, 16. putteth to silence the ignorance of those foolish men, who lie in wait to take advantages that they may blaspheme the name of God, 2 Cor. 6.3. 1 Tim. 6 1. and his doctrine. Fourthly, the Gospel of Christ is honoured by the unity of the Spirit, and concurrent judgements and affections of men towards it. When all the sincere prosessors thereof, do unanimously strive together, Phil. 1.27. jud. v. 3. and earnestly contend for it; when all that ever have been or are acquainted therewith do glorify it with their suffrages and subscription, Nemo omnes, neminem omnes fefellere, it must needs be a glorious Gospel, if all that ever looked on it do so conclude: Nothing was ever able to deceive all men, neither did so many ever combine to deceive others. When the Philosophers severally striven for the precedence of their several sects, and every man, after his own order, gave the next place unto Plato, it was undoubtedly concluded that his was the most excellent, because after their own prejudice and personal respects, it was honoured by the equal suffrages of all the rest. How much more must the Gospel needs be glorious which hath the joint attestation of Angels and all holy men since the world began to honour it withal? Therefore when the Apostle proveth the greatness of this heavenly mystery, he useth a word which importeth the consent of men, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, without any doubt, or by an universal confession, Great is the mystery of Godliness. 1 Tim. 3.16. Doth it not much set forth the Glory of a Law, that there should be so much wisdom, power, equity, majesty, beauty in the face of it, that every true subject in a Realm should concur in a constant and uniform love and obedience to it? Let us therefore express the glory of the Gospel, not only in our joint confessions, but in our united obedience thereunto, and in our unanimous zeal and contention for it, in our brotherly affections and compassions to one another thereby: for the schisms and disaffections of Christians bring much dishonour upon their holy profession, which in all their miscarriages doth ever by occasion of the unreasonableness of wicked men suffer together with them. Therefore the Apostle from the unity of Christ in himself concludeth that such he should be in his members too. Is Christ divided? hath he diverse opinions, or hath he the truth of God in respect of persons? such as he is such should you be likewise, lest by your contentions you seem to make another Christ, or another Gospel, than that which you have received. Fifthly, the Gospel of Christ is honoured in our studying of it, and digging after it in our serious and painful inquiries into the mysteries of it. Saint Paul despised all other knowledge, and shook off every weight that he might press forward with the more unwearied affections towards so excellent a treasure. Surely if men had the spirit of the Apostle, or of those blessed Angels which desire to pry into the Gospel of Christ, they would not misse-spend so much precious time in frothy and fruitless studies, nor waste away that lamp of reason in their bosoms, in empty and unnourishing blazes; but would set more hours apart to look into the patent of their salvation (which is the book of God) and to acquaint themselves with Christ beforehand, that when they come into his presence they may have the entertainment of friends and not of strangers. Men that intent to travail into foreign kingdoms with any advantage to their parts, or improvement of their experience, do beforehand season and prepare themselves with the language, with some topographical observations of the Country, with some general notions of the ingeny, manners, forms, civilities, entertainments of the natives there, do delight to converse with those men who are best learned in these or the like particulars. Surely we all profess a journey to heaven, a pilgrimage in this present world, to have our conversation now where we look to have our everlasting abode with the Lord hereafter. Now in the Gospel of Christ we have as it were a map, a topographical delineation of those glorious mansions which are there prepared for the Church, we have a taste and description of the manners of that people, we have some rudiments of the heavenly language, in one word, we have abundantly enough, not only to prepare us for it, but to inflame all the desires of our soul unto it, even as exiles or captives desire to return to their native Country. Now than if we no way regard to study it, or acquaint ourselves with it, if we seem to desire the sight of Christ in heaven, and when we may every day have a most blessed view of his face in the Glass of his Gospel, we turn away our eyes, and regard it not, we do as good as proclaim to all the world, that either our hopes of heaven are very slender, or our care thereof little or none at all. And this I take for a most undoubted truth, that there is so much of the knowledge, grace, and spirit of Christ, and through him of the Father in the holy Scriptures (and those only are the things which make heaven to be the home and the hope of men) as that whosoever neglecteth the study of them, and suffereth the Scriptures to lie by him as a sealed book, would be every whit as unwilling if heaven gates were wide open unto him, to relinquish his portion in the earth, and to spend his time in the fruition or contemplation of that glorious Country. Lastly, we honour the Gospel when in our greatest distresses we make it our Altar of refuge, our door of escape, the ground of all our hope and comfort, the only anchor to stay our souls in any spiritual tempest, the only staff to lean upon in our greatest darkness. What ever other carnal comforts men may for a time rejoice in, they will all prove but as a fire of sparks, or as a blaze of thorns, which can yield no solid or abiding light unto the soul. When sinners in Zion begin once to be afraid, and to be surprised with the fearfulness of a guilty soul, when the affrighted conscience shall put that dreadful question in the Prophet to itself, How can I dwell with devouring fire? isaiah. 33.14, 24. how can I dwell with everlasting burnings? there will no other answer allay the scorching terror thereof but that in the end of the same Chapter, The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. A man may as soon drink up the water of the sea with sponges, or remove mountains with one of his fingers, as be able to drain out these close and incorporated sorrows which together with sin do soak through the whole substance of the soul, with vain company, worldly employments, or youthful pleasure. All these do but respite them for a time that they may return the stronger. But if thou wilt indeed be comforted, sue out thy pardon, fly to the court of mercy which is erected in the Gospel; This was our Saviour's argument to the man that was sick of the Palsy, Mat. 9.2. Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. There is no worldly affliction goeth closer to the life of a man than sickness, and yet as in the midst of laughter the heart of a wicked man is sorrowful, because it is still under the guilt of sin, so in the midst of pain and sorrow the heart of a godly man may be cheerful, because his sins are forgiven. To conclude this point, we may for our better encouragement in so necessary a duty lay together these considerations: First, in point of honour we should learn to walk as becometh the Gospel, for the Gospel is a Christians Glory, and therefore aught to be preserved in his heart, as his chiefest privilege. The Spirit of God will not endure to have holy things profaned as if they were common or unclean. Belshazzer converted the consecrated vessels of the Temple into instruments of luxury and intemperance; but the Lord tempered his wine with dregges, and made them prove unto him as cups of trembling and astonishment. Herod polluted the sepulchres of the Saints with a sacrilegious search of treasures presumed to have been there hidden, joseph. Antiq. lib. 16. ca 11. 2 Mac. 3.5. and God made fire rise out of the earth to devour the overbusy searchers. Antiochus ransacked the Temple of the Lord; Heliodorus emptied the treasures of their consecrated moneys; Pompey defiled the Sabbath and the Sanctuary; Crassus robbed the house of God of ten thousand talents. Tacit. Hist lib. 5. joseph. Antiq. lib. 12. cap. 13. But inquire into the event of these insolences, and we shall find that true then, of which latter ages have given many examples, and are still likely to give more, that stolen bread hath gravel in it to choke those that devour it, that ruin is ever the child of sacrilege, that mischief setteth a period to the lives and designs of profane men. Now than if the Lord were thus jealous for the types of his Gospel, how, think we, can he endure to see the Gospel itself dishonoured by an unsuitable profession, or the blood of the Covenant trampled under foot, as if it were a common or unclean thing? In the contempt of the Gospel there is more dishonour done unto every person of the blessed Trinity, than can be by any other sin. An undervaluing of the Father's wisdom, that great mystery and counsel of redemption which was hidden from former ages: and what an indignity is it unto him, for a man to shut out the light of the sun, that so he may enjoy that pitiful benefit of darkness, to gaze upon the false glistering of rotten wood, or of earthly slime, the deceit whereof would be by the true light discovered? And undervaluing of his wonderful love, as if he had put himself unto a needless compassion, and might have kept it still in his own bosom. A scorn unto the Son of God, when we suffer him to stand at our doors with his locks wet with the dew of heaven, to put his finger into the hole of the lock, as if he desired to steal an entrance upon the soul; to empty, to humble, to deny himself, to suffer the wrongs of men, and the wrath of God, and after all this to have that precious blood which was squeezed out with such woeful agonies, counted no other than the blood of a common malefactor, nor that sacred body which was thus broken, discerned from the bodies of the thiefs which were crucified with him. An indignity beyond all apprehension to the spirit of Grace, when we suffer him to wait daily at our Bethesda, our houses of mercy, and all in vain, to spend his sacred breath in the ministry of reconciliation, in doubling and redoubling his requests unto our souls, that we would be contented to be saved, and we shall harden our hearts, and stop our ears, and set up the pride and stoutness of our own reasonings, till we do even weary him and chide him away from us. Now this is a certain rule, God will not lose any honour by men's sins; if they refuse to give him the glory of his mercy, he will show the glory of his Power and justice, in treading down the proud enemies of Christ under his feet. As they that honour him shall be honoured; so they who cast any disgrace upon his truth and covenant, shall be sure to meet with shame and dishonour at the last. Secondly, to avoid Scandal. The Gospel is the light of a nation: And sins in the light as they are committed with more impudence, so likewise with more offence. An offence or scandal tending unto sin in misguiding the weak, in heartening and confirming the obdurate, in opening the mouths of adversaries to revile our holy profession; and a scandal tending unto sorrow in wounding the hearts of the godly, and vexing their righteous spirits with a filthy conversation. Thirdly, we should learn to walk as becometh the Gospel, even in respect to the state, for the Gospel is the foundation of true peace and tranquillity in a commonweal, and those who show forth the power thereof are, as it were, Lions about the Throne of their King. By righteousness the Throne is established, but sin is a reproach unto any people. Prov. 16.12.20.28.25.5. One joseph in Egypt is a store-house to all the kingdom; one Elisha an army of chariots and of horsemen unto Israel; one Moses a fence to keep out an foundation of wrath which was breaking in upon the people; one Paul an haven, an anchor, a deliverance to all that were in the ship with him. And now Si stellae cadunt venti sequentur: Arist. Prob. sect. 2●. qu. 25. If the stars fall we must needs look for tempests to ensue, if the salt be infatuated we cannot look that any thing should be long preserved. If Christians live as if they had no Gospel, or as if they had another Gospel, what can we expect but that God should either plague us, or forsake us, either send his judgements, or curse his blessings? Lastly, the Gospel makes sin more filthy, if it do not purge it; as a taper in the hand of a Ghost makes him seem more ghastly than he was before. Sweet ointment causeth rank and strong bodies to smell worse than they did before. Qui hircos redolent, foediùs olent cum se unguea taverint. Arist. Prob. Heb. 6. 4-7, Heb. 10.26. So the sweet savour of the Gospel maketh the sins of men more noisome and odious in the nostrils of the Almighty. And therefore we see what a fearful doom the Apostle pronounceth against those, who having tasted of the good Spirit of God, and been enlightened, and in some sort affected with his grace do yet afterwards fall away, even an impossibility of repentance or renovation. From which place, perversely wrested, though the Novatians of old did gather a desperate and uncomfortable conclusion, Vid. Sixt. Senens. biblioth. l. 7. Melch. Can. loc. Theolog. l. 2. c. 10. Greg Tholos. de Rep. lib. 12. ca 7. that sin committed after regeneration was absolutely unpardonable (to avoid the danger of which damnable and damning doctrine, some have boldly questioned both the Author and authenticalness of that Epistle) yet, all these inferences being denied, we learn from thence this plain observation, That precedent Illumination from the Gospel of Christ, doth tend much to the aggravation of those sins which are committed against it. And therefore in all these considerations we should labour to walk worthy of so glorious a Gospel, and of so great a salvation. Thus have we at large spoken of the Rod of Christ's strength, as it is Insigne regium, or Sceptrum majestatis, an Ensign and Rod of Majesty: we are now to speak a little of it as it is Pedum pastoral, an episcopal Rod, which denoteth much heedfulness and tender care. This is the Precept which the Apostle giveth unto the Pastors of the Church that they should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Take special heed to all the flock over which the holy Ghost had made them overseers. Act. 20.28. And the Apostle again reckoneth Vigilancy or care over the flock amongst the principal characters of a bishop: 1 Tim. 3.2. and he professeth of himself, that there did daily lie upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Care of all the Churches. And this consideration affordeth us another note out of the words, 2 Cor. 11.28. namely, That Christ in the ministry of his Gospel and dispensation of his spirit, is full of care and tenderness towards his Church. This Christ maketh one main point of opposition between himself and hirelings, that these Care not for the flock, joh. 10.12, 13. joh. 17.11, 12. but suffer the Wolf to come, and to scatter them while they fly away; whereas he keepeth them, that none may be lost, and prayeth unto the Father to keep them through his own name. The Lord committed the Church unto Christ as their Head, gave them into his hands, not as an ordinary gift, wherein he did relinquish his own interest in them or care of them (for he careth for them still) but as a blessed depositum entrusted them with him, 1 Pet. 5.7. as the choicest of his jewels, as the most precious casket amongst all the treasures of the Creation, Mal. 3.17. that he should polish, preserve, present them faultless, and without spot before the presence of his glory at the last day. jud. v. 24. And for this purpose he gave Eph. 5.26, 27. him a Commandment of the greatest care and tenderness that ever the world knew, that he should lay down his life for his sheep, joh. 10.18. joh 6 39 Heb. 2.17.3.2. and should lose nothing of all that was given him, but should raise it up at the last day. So that now want of care or compassion of Christ towards his Church, would be an argument of unfaithfulness; If he had not been a merciful high priest, neither could he have been faithful to him that appointed him, for he was appointed to be merciful, and was by the Spirit of God filled with most tender affections, and qualified with an heart fuller of compassion than the sea is of waters, that he might commiserate the distresses of his people, and take care of their salvations. Notably doth this Care of Christ show itself: First, in the apportioning and measuring forth to every o●e his due dimensum, and in the midst of those infinite occasions and exigencies of his several members in providing such particular passages of his Word as may be thereunto most exactly suitable; for this showeth that his Care reacheth unto particular men. 2 Tim. 2.15. It is the duty of a faithful bishop, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, jud. v. 22, 23. to make such a difference between men, and so to divide or distribute the word aright, as that every one may have the portion which is due unto him: some are but Lambs in Christ's flock, young, tender, weak, easily offended or affrighted; others sheep, grown up to more strength and maturity: some in his garner are but Cummin seed, joh 20.15, 16. others Fitches, and some harder corn, some can but bear a little Rod, others a greater staff or flail, isaiah. 28.27, 28. and some the pressure of a Cart wheel, that which doth but cleanse some would batter and break others into pieces: some are great with young, in the pangs of a loaded conscience, in the travail under some sore affliction, isaiah. 40.11. or in the throws of a bitter repentance, as it were in fits of breeding or new forming of Christ in their soul: and these he leadeth with a gentle hand. Others are, as it were, new borne, past their pains, but yet very tender, weak, and fearful; and these he gathers with his arm, and carries in his bosom, shows them that his care doth not only reach unto the least of his kingdom, but that his compassions are most enlarged to those that are too weak to help themselves, isaiah. 66.11. that he hath breasts of consolation to satisfy and delight with abundance the smallest infant of his kingdom. Some are brokenhearted, and those he bindeth; some are captives, isaiah. 61.1, 2, 3. to those he proclaimeth liberty; some are mourners in Zion, and for them he hath beauty, and oil of joy, and garments of praise▪ some are bruised reeds, whom every curse or commination is able to crush, and some are smoking flax, whom every temptation is able to discourage, and yet even these doth he so carefully tend, and furnish with such proportionable supplies of his Spirit of grace, as makes that seed and sparkle of holiness, which he began in them, get up above all their own fears, or their enemy's machinations, isaiah. 42.3. Mat. 12.20. and grow from a judgement of truth, and sincerity (as it is called by the Prophet) unto a judgement of victory and perfection, as it is turned by the Evangelist. In one word, some are strong and others are weak; the strong he feedeth, the weak he cureth, the strong he confirmeth, the weak he restoreth, he hath trials for the strong to exercise their graces, and he hath cordials for the weak to strengthen theirs. According unto the several estates, and unto the secret demands of each members condition; so doth the Care of Christ severally show itself towards the same in his Word: there is provision for any want, medicine for any disease, comforts for any distress, promises for any faith, answers to any doubt, directions in any difficulty, weapons against any temptation, preservatives against any sin, restoratives against lapse; garments to cover my nakedness, meat to satisfy my hunger, physic to cure my diseases, armour to protect my person▪ a treasure to provide for my posterity. If I am rich, I have there the wisdom of God to instruct me; and if I am poor, I have there the obligations of God to enrich me. If I am honourable, I have there the sight of my sins to make me vile; and rules of moderation to make me humble: If I am of low degree, I have there the Communion and consanguinity of Christ, the participation of the divine nature, the adoption of God the Father to make me noble. If I am learned, I have there a law of charity to order it unto edification, and if I am unlearned, I have there a Spirit which searcheth the deep things of God, which can give wisdom unto the simple, which can reveal secrets unto babes, which can command light to shine out of darkness, which can give the light of the knowledge of the glory, fullness, and love of God in the face of jesus Christ, which can make me, though ignorant of all other things, to learn Christ, in whom there is more wisdom, more various and admirable curiosity, more filling and plentiful satisfaction, more proportion to the boundless desires of a soul once rectified, more fruit and salvation (which should be the end of every Christian man's learning) than in all other knowledge which either past or present ages can afford. In one word, every where and in all things I am there taught how to want, and how to abound, and how to do all things through Christ that strengthens me. A Christian can be set in no estate, wherein the abundant Care of Christ over him is not in the Gospel wonderfully magnified. And commonly in the greatest straits he showeth the greatest care, as waters run strongest in the narrowest passages: when we walk in darkness and have no light, when we seek water and there is none, and our tongue faileth for thirst, then is his fittest time to help us, and then is our fittest time to stay upon him. Israel were delivered by miracles of mercy from their Egyptian bondage, and in the wilderness conducted by a miraculous presence, and fed with Angel's food. Isaak was upon the Altar, and then in the mount was the Lord seen, and his mercy stepped in between the knife and the sacrifice. jacob in great fear of his brother Esau, Mark 16.7. 〈…〉. and then comforted by prevailing with an Angel which was stronger than Esau. Peter in sorest distress for denying Christ, and he the first man to whom Christ sent news of his Resurrection. Paul in the ship visited by an Angel. Peter in prison delivered by an Angel. The distressed woman at Christ's Sepulchre comforted by an Angel. Such as the extremities of the Saints are, such is Christ's care for their deliverances. And this Care is further commended, that it proceedeth solely from the grace and compassion of Christ: there is no affection naturally in us to desire it, Ezek. 16.6. there is no virtue in us to deserve it: when we were in our blood, well pleased with our own pollution, he doubled his goodness, and used a kind of violence and importunity of mercy to make us live, when we did not seek after him, when we did not so much as ask whether he were fit to be sought, when we were aliens from his Covenant, and strangers to his name, he even then multiplied his invitations unto us, I said, behold me, behold me, Esay 65.1. unto a people that were not called by my name. When we were weak, full of impotency; when we were sinners, full of antipathy; when we were enemies, full of obstinacy and rebellion; Rom. 5.6.8.10. when we cared not for him, but turned our backs, and stopped our ears, and suffered him to throw away in vain so many Sermons, so many Sacraments, so many mercies, so many afflictions upon us; when we cared not for ourselves, no man repent, or said, what have I done; even than did he magnify his compassion towards us; he cared for us, when we neglected ourselves, and despised him; he bestowed his mercy not only upon the unthankful, but upon the injurious. But then a little compassion is enough for those that had deserved none, for those that had provoked scorn and displeasure against themselves: but herein is the care and tenderness of Christ abundantly magnified, that it hath in it all the ingredients of a most sovereign mercy, that nothing more could have been done, Esay 5.4. than he hath done for us. First, Host 11.8. jer. 31.20. Ephes. 3.19. Esay. 55.9. jer. 29.11. for the foundation and original of all mercy, there is in him an overflowing of love, without stint or measure, a turning of heart, a rolling and sounding of bowels, a love which surpasseth all knowledge, which is a● much beyond the thoughts or comprehensions, as it is above the merits of men. Secondly, there is a study and inquisitive how to do good, a debating within himself, a consulting and projecting how to show mercy, an arguing, as it were, of his grace with man's sin, and his own severity; How shall I give thee up Ephraim? Host 11.8. Esay 1.10. How shall I deliver thee Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. True it is, thou hast been unto me as the Rulers of Sodom, and as the people of Gomorrah: But shall I be unto thee, as I have been unto them? Am I not God, and not man? shall I change my Covenant, because thou hast multiplied thy backslidings? The Lord useth such humane expressions of his proceedings with men, as if their sins had put him to a stand, and brought him to difficulties in showing mercy. I said, how shall I put thee amongst the children, jer. 3.19. and give thee a pleasant Land? etc. Thy case is very desperate, and thou hast stopped up the courses of my mercy towards thyself; how then shall I make good my resolutions of compassion towards those that reject and nullify it to themselves? surely there is no way but one, to overrule the hearts of obstinate sinners, that they may not turn away any more. Thou shalt call me, my Father, that is, I will put filial affections, awful thoughts, constant resolutions into thy heart, and thou shalt not turn away from me. I will melt them and try them, saith the Lord, jer. 9.7. for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? The Lord setteth himself to study and contrive mercy for his people, that as they set up their sins, as it were, in pride to pose his Covenant; so he gathereth together his thoughts of mercy, as it were, to conquer their sins. Thirdly, there is constancy and continuance in this his Care: Lament. 3.22, 23. His mercy endureth, his compassions fail not, but are renewed every morning. And therefore the mercies of David, that is, of Christ, for so he is called, or the mercies of the Covenant made with David, Act. 13.34. are called Sure mercies, they have a foundation, the everlasting love and counsel of God upon which they are built, 2 Tim. 2.19. Psal. 89.2. Mal. 3.6. Esay 64.5. Hebr. 13.8. they have many seals by which they are confirmed, the faithfulness, the immutability, and the oath of God: If there were not continuance in his mercies, if he were not the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever in his truth and fidelity to his Church; if he should change and turn from us, as oft as we forsake him, if he should leave us in the hand of our own counsel, and not afford us such daily supplies of his Spirit, as might support us against the ruinous disposition of our own nature, we should be children of wrath every day anew. But herein doth the abundant care of Christ in the Gospel declare itself unto us, that though we are worms in ourselves, Esay 41. 10-14. full of weakness, and of earthly affections, yet God hath a right-hand of righteousness, which can uphold us; that though we are bend to back-sliding, yet he is God and not man, unchangeable in his Covenant with the Persons, almighty in his power and mercy towards the sins of men, both to cover them with his righteousness, and to cure them by his Spirit, both to forgive for the time past, Host 11. 7-11. and to heal and prevent back-slidings for the time to come. Fourthly, that he might be fit for so mean and humble a service, there was a lessening and emptying of himself; he was contented to be subject to his own Law, Phil. 2.7, 8. to be the child of his own creature, to take upon himself not the similitude only, Gal. 4.5. but the infirmities of sinful flesh, to descend from his throne, and to put on rags, Rom. 8.3. in one word, to become poor for us, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Amongst men, 2 Cor. 8.9. many will be willing to show so much mercy as will consist with their state and greatness, and may tend to beget a further distance, and to magnify their height and honour in the minds of men; but when it comes to this exigent, that a man must debase himself to do good unto another, that his compassion will be to a miserable man no benefit, except he suffer ignominy, and undergo a servile condition for him, and do, as it were, change habits with the man whom he pities; what region of the earth will afford a man who will freely make his own honour to be the price of his brother's redemption? yet this is the manner of Christ's Care for us, who though he were the Lord of Glory, the brightness of his Father's Majesty, and the express Image of his Person, did yet humble himself to endure shame, and the contradiction of sinners, that he might be the Author and finisher of our faith. Fifthly, There was not only an humbling or metaphorical emptying of himself, in that he made himself of no reputation; but there was likewise a real and proper emptying of himself, he therein testified his wonderful Care of the businesses of man, that for them he put himself to the greatest expense, and to the exhausting of a richer treasure, than any either heaven or earth could afford beside: ye were not redeemed, saith the Apostle, with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish, and without spot: That which no man will bestow upon himself, and that which was in nature, and might justly in love have been nearest to Christ himself, even the soul in his body, and the blood in his veins, he was contented to make a sacrifice for them, who poured it out as the blood of a malefactor. Sixthly, besides this great price which he paid to his Father for us, he hath opened another treasure of his Grace and Spirit, out of which he affordeth us daily supplies, and putteth into our hands, as it were, an heavenly stock, for the better negotiating and improvement of our salvation. He setteth up his Spirit in our hearts, thereby conversing and communing with us, teaching us the trade of the citizens of heaven, and of laying up treasures there, where our final abode must be, of having our conversation and commerce with innumerable companies of Angels, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, and withal that general assembly or Church of the firstborn, which is enrolled in heaven. Lastly, to all this he addeth Preparations and provisions for the future for us, 1 Cor. 2.9. Phil. 4.19. he doth not only give, but he prepareth things for those that love him, and what ever is wanting now, he will make it up unto us in the riches of his glory. It was for our expediency that he left the Church on earth (in regard of his carnal presence) and went unto his Father again: He was not beholden to change o● place for his own glory, for his heaven was within him as a fountain, and indeed it is his presence which maketh heaven to be the place of glory; therefore Saint Paul desired to depart, and to be with Christ (noting that it is not heaven, but Christ's presence which is the glory of the Saints:) Therefore, I say, it was for us, Phil ● 23. john 7●9. john 1●. 7. that he went to heaven again; for their sakes, saith he, I sanctify myself; it is expedient for you that I go away. Expedient, to seal and secure our full and final redemption unto us; for as the levitical Priest entered not into the holiest of all without blood, so neither did Christ into heaven without making satisfaction, he first obtained eternal redemption for us, Hebr. 9.12. and then he entered into the holy place, and expedient to prepare a place for us, that the glory which is given to him, he may give unto us, that being raised up together, john 14 2, 3. we may likewise sit together with him in heavenly places; for when the head is crowned, john. 17.22. the whole body is invested with royal honour: He by the virtue of his Ascension opened the kingdom of heaven for all believers; Ephes. 2.6. even the Fathers before Christ entered not in without respect unto that consummate redemption which he was in the fullness of time to accomplish for his Church. As a man may be admitted into an actual possession of land, only in the virtue of covenants, and under the intuition of a payment to be afterwards performed. Thus we see in how many things the abundant Care of Christ doth show itself towards the Church. And as there are therein all the particulars of a tender care, so by the Gospel likewise, do all the fruits and benefits thereof redound unto the faithful. First, in the Gospel he a Psal. 23 5. Mica 7.13.15. Ezek. 34.14, 23. Matth. 15.26. Phil. 4.12. Heb 6.12. joh. 15.4. feedeth and strengtheneth them, even in the presence of their enemies he prepareth them a table, and feedeth them with his rod, and according to their coming out of Egypt he showeth unto them marvellous things. And therefore our Saviour calleth his Gospel, The children's bread. It is that which quickeneth, which strengtheneth them, which maketh them fruitful in spiritual works. Secondly, He upholdeth them from fainting; if their strength at any time fail, he leadeth them gently▪ and teacheth them to go. b Gen. 33.14. john 10.3. Psal. 78.52. Esay 63.13. Deut. 1.31. Esay 40.11. Esay 41.13. Hos 11 3, 4. Deut 32.11, 12. As jacob led on his cattle and his children softly, according as they were able to endure: so Christ doth lead out his flock, and hold his children by the hand, and teach them to go, and draweth them with the cords of a man, that is, with meek and gentle institution, such as men use towards their children, and not to their beasts, and with bands of love. As an Eagle sluttereth over her young, and spreadeth abroad her wings, and taketh them and beareth them on her wings: so doth the Lord in his Gospel sweetly lead on and institute the faithful unto strength and salvation: he dealeth with them as a compassionate nurse with a tender infant, condescendeth to their strength and capacity; when we stumble, he keepeth us; when we fall he raiseth us; when we faint, he beareth us in his arms; when we grow weary of well-doing, the Gospel is full of encouragements to hearten us, full of spirit to revive us, full of promises to establish us, full of beauty to entice us; when we seem to be in a wilderness, a maze, where there is no issue, Host 2.14, 15. nor view of deliverance, even there he openeth a door of hope, and allureth, and speaketh comfortably unto us. Host 14.4. Thirdly, he healeth our diseases, our corruptions, our back-slidings; easily are the best of us misled out of the right way, drawn and enticed away by our own lusts, driven away by the temptations of Satan, the frowns or follies of the world, possessed with carnal prejudices against the ways of God, as if they were a john 6.60. Matth. 25.24. grievous, b job 21. 1● 15. Mal 3.14, 15. unprofitable, and c Ezek. 18.25. unequal ways; apt to take every pretence to flinch away, and steal from the eye of God; apt to d jer. 11.10. Act. 7.39. Psal 14.3. turn aside into every diverticle which a carnal reason, and a crooked heart can frame unto itself; for a corrupt heart is like e Animalia quaedam, ne invenir● possint, vestigia sua circa cubile ipsum consun●um. Senec. epist. 68 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Clem▪ Alex. a wild beast, that loveth confusa vestigia, to have intricacies and windings in his holes, it cannot away with straight paths, f Gal. 1 7. 2 Pet. 3.16. but loveth to wry and pervert the ●ule of life. In these cases it is the care and office of Christ to g Ezek. 34 16. Gal 8.1. Ezek. 47.12. gather that which was scattered, to seek that which was lost, to bring again that which was driven away, to bind up that which was broken, to strengthen that which was sick, and to restore by his Spirit of meekness those which are overtaken with a fault; his Gospel is like the trees of the Sanctuary, not for meat only, but for medicine too. Fourthly, as he healeth our diseases, and giveth us strength, so in the mids of enemies and dangers he removeth our fears, and giveth us comfort and refreshment. h Ezek. 34 25. I will make with them, saith he, a Covenant of peace, and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the Land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. i Mica 5.5. When the Assyrian shall be in our Land, and shall tread in our Palaces, then shall he raise up seven shepherds, and eight principal men, namely, the Ministers of his Gospel, in abundance, to establish the hearts of his people against all dangers. This is that * Scultet exercit. Evang. l. 1. cap. 4. Shilo who should bring tranquillity and peace into the Church, even when the Sceptre should depart from juda. When the heart is full of doubts and distresses, disquieted with the fear of God's displeasure, accused by the Law, pursued by the adversary, and condemned by itself; then doth he still the raging of the sea, and command the evil spirit to be dumb; then k Revel. 7.17. doth he wipe away tears from the conscience, and refresh it with living waters, even with the sweet communion of his Spirit, and with the abundance of his graces. Lastly, he keepeth a continual watch over us by his spiritual presence and protection: As l Gen. 31.40. jacob testified his great care for the good of Laban, that the drought consumed him by day, and the frost by night, and that sleep departed from his eyes: Psal. 121.4. so doth the Lord commend his care towards the Church, in that he is the keeper or the watchman of Israel, Exod. 33.14. which doth neither slumber nor sleep. His presence is with his people to guide them in their pilgrimage, and unto which they have daily recourse for comfort and establishment. In that great tempest when Christ was asleep in the ship, his Disciples awaked him and expostulated with him, Master, Mark 4.38.40. carest thou not that we perish? But when he had rebuked the wind and the sea, he then rebuked them likewise, he had another storm of fear and unbelief to calm in their hearts, who could not see him in his providence watching over them, when his body slept. The grounds of this great Care, which Christ in his Gospel testifieth towards his Church, are these: First, He is our kinsman, Deut. 25 5. Ruth 3.9.4 5. Levit. 25.25. there is affinity in blood, and therefore a natural care and tenderness in affection: we know amongst the Jews when a woman had buried an husband without fruit of his body, the next of the kindred was to take care of her, and to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance: And if any man had waxen poor, and sold any of his possession, the nearest kinsman was to have the first option in the recovery and redemption of it: And from hence the Apostle argueth to prove the mercifulness and fidelity of Christ, in sanctifying or bringing many sons unto glory (for I take those phrases to be in that place equivalent) because he was not ashamed to call us brethren, Heb. 2.11.17. but was made in all things like unto us. And we may observe that in the Scripture he hath almost all the relations of consanguinity, to note that his care is universal and of all sorts. He is a Father, Behold, I and the children which thou hast given me: Esay 8 18. and the care of a father is to govern, to nourish, to instruct, to lay up for his children. He is as a mother, Esay 49.15. Esay ●0. 11. Matth. 23.37. Esay 66.11. joh 20.17. Prov. 17.17. Rom. 7 4. Ephes. 5.25.32. he carrieth his young ones in his bosom, he gathereth them as a hen her chickens, he milketh unto them out of the breasts of consolation. And thus he hath a care of indulgence and compassion. He is a Brother, Go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and unto my God, and your God. And the care of a brother is to counsel, advise, and comfort. A brother is borne for adversity. Lastly, he is a Husband; ye are married to him who is raised from the dead, and that word compriseth all care, to love, to cherish, to instruct, to maintain, to protect, to compassionate, to adorn, to communicate both his secrets and himself. A father may maintain his child, but he cannot suckle it; a mother may give it a breast, but she cannot ordinarily provide it a portion; a brother can give counsel, but he cannot give himself unto his brother: A husband may comfort his wife, but it becomes him not to correct her. There is no degree of nearness that hath power enough to answer all the offices of love, but in one point or other it will be defective: Therefore Christ is set forth unto us under all relations of blood and unity; to note that there can no case or condition of the Church be supposed, wherein the care of Christ shall be impotent or deficient towards it, wherein he is not able to correct, to nourish, to instruct, to counsel, to comfort, to provide for it. Secondly, He is our Companion in sufferings, he himself suffered and was tempted, and this the Apostle maketh a main ground of his care towards us, Heb. 4.15. and of our confidence in him: we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, Heb. 2.17. but was in all points tempted as we are, only without sin; Hebr. 5.2. and therefore he is able to succour those that are tempted, and to take compassion on those that are out of the way, because he was compassed with such infirmities, as were much less grievous than the weight of sin. Thirdly, He is our Head, and so is One with us in a nearer relation than that of affinity, in a relation of Unity, for he and his members make but one Christ. And being head, he is the seat of Care, and the fountain of influences into the rest of the body; all the wisdom, spirits, senses, which are in the head, are there placed as in a Watchtower, or councel-chamber, to consult and provide for the good of the whole; the eye seeth, the ear heareth, the tongue speaketh, the fancy worketh, the memory retaineth for the welfare of the other members, 1 Cor. 12.25. and they have all the same care one for another. Fourthly, He is our Advocate, and Mediator, he is the only practiser in the court of heaven, 1 john 2.2. and therefore he must needs be full of the businesses of his Church: It is his office to dispatch the affairs of those that come unto him, and crave his favour and intercession to debate their causes, and he is both faithful and merciful in his place, Hebr. 3.2. and beside, furnished with such an unmeasurable unction of Spirit, and vast abilities to transact all the businesses of his Church, that whosoever cometh unto him for his counsel and intercession, john 6.37. he will in no wise cast them out, or refuse their cause: And this is one great assurance we may take comfort in, that be our matters never so foul and unexcusable in themselves, yet the very entertaining him of our counsel, and the leaning upon his wisdom, power, fidelity, and mercy to expedite our businesses, to compassionate our estate, and to rescue us from our own demerits, doth, as it were, alter the property of the cause, and produce a clean contrary issue to that which the evidence of the thing in trial would of itself have created. And as we may observe that men of extraordinary abilities in the Law, delight to wrestle with some difficult business, and to show their learning in clearing matters of greatest intricacy, and perplexity before; so doth Christ esteem himself most honoured, and the virtue and wisdom of his Cross magnified, when in cases of sorest extremity, of most hideous guilt, of most black and uncomfortable darkness of soul, which pose not only the presumptions, but the hope, faith, conjectures, thoughts, contrivances which the hearts of men can even in wishes make to themselves for mercy, they do yet trust him whose thoughts are infinitely above their thoughts, Esay 55.8. Esay 50.10. and whose ways above their ways; who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God: When the soul can go unto Christ with such complaints and acknowledgements as these; Lord, when I examine my cause by mine own conscience and judgement of it, I cannot but give it over as utterly desperate, and beyond cure, my bones are dried, my hope is cut off, I am utterly lost, my sins, and my sorrows are so heavy that they have broken my spirit all to pieces, and there is no sound part in me: But Lord, I believe that thou knowest a way to make dead bones live, that thy thoughts and ways are above mine, Ezek. 37.3. jer. 29.11. Ephes. 3.8.19. that thou knowest thine own thoughts of peace and mercy, though I cannot comprehend them, that thy riches are unsearchable, that thy love is above humane knowledge, that thy peace passeth all created understandings, that though I am the greatest of all sinners, and feel enough in myself, 1 Tim. 1.16. to sink me as low as judas into hell, yet thou hast not left me without patterns of all long-suffering, of thy royal power in enduring, and in forgiving sins. And now Lord, though thou afford me no light, though thou beset me with terrors, though thou make me to possess the sins of my youth, yet I still desire to fear thy name, to walk in thy way, to wait upon thy counsel, I know there is not in men or Angels so much wisdom, compassion, or fidelity as in thee, and therefore if I must perish, I will perish at thy feet, I will starve under thy table, I will be turned away and rejected by thee, who hast promised to cast away none that come unto thee; I have tried all ways, and I here resolve to rest, and to look no further, thou that hast kept such a sinner as I am out of hell thus long, canst by the same power keep me out for ever; upon thy wisdom and compassion (who canst make dried bones to flourish like an herb, and broken bones to rejoice and sing) I cast the whole weight of my guilty spirit, Esay 66 14. Psal. 51.8. 1 Pet. 5.7. into thy bosom I empty all the fears, cares and requests of my distracted and sinking soul: I say, when a man can thus pour out himself u●to Christ, he esteemeth the price and power of his blood most highly honoured, when men believe in him against reason and above hope, and beyond the experience, or apprehensions they have of mercy; for Christ loveth to show the greatness of his skill in the salvation of a Manasse, a Mary Magdalen, a crucified Thief, a persecutor and injurious blasphemer, in giving life unto them that nailed him to his Cross; the more desperate the disease, the more honourable the cure. joh. 17.6. Fifthly, He is our Purchaser, our Proprietary, we belong unto him by grant from the Father, Thine they were, 1 Cor. 6.20. and thou gavest them unto me; and by payment from him unto the Father, ye are bought with a price. There is no good that concerns the Church that he hath not fully paid for with his own precious blood: And Christ will not die in vain, he will take order for the accomplishing of that redemption which himself hath merited. And this is the greatest argument of his care and fidelity, that he is not as a servant, but as a Lord, and his care is over His own house. Hebr. 3.6. An ordinary advocate is faithful only ratione officii, because the duty of his office requireth it; but the businesses which he manageth, come not close unto his heart, because he hath no personal interest in them: but Christ is faithful, not as Moses, or a servant only, but ratione Dominii, as Lord in his own house; so that the affairs of the Church concern him in as near a right, as they concern the Church herself, so that in his office of intercession he pleadeth his own causes with his Father, and in the miscarriages of them, himself should lose that which was infinitely more precious than any thing in the world beside, even the price and merit of his own blood. These are the grounds of the great care of Christ towards his people. And from hence we should learn faith and dependence on Christ in all our necessities, because we are under the protection and provision of him who careth for us, and is able to help us. 2 Tim. 1.12. A right judgement of God in Christ, and in his Gospel of salvation, will wonderfully strengthen the faith of men. Paul was not ashamed of persecutions, because he knew whom he had believed, he doubted neither of his care or power, and therefore he committed the keeping of his soul unto him against the last day, and therefore when all forsook him, he stood to the truth, 2 Tim. 4.16, 17, 18. because the Lord forsook him not. The reason why men trust in themselves, or their friends, is, because they are assured of their care and goodwill to help them: But if men did compare the affections of Christ to other succours, they would rather choose to build their hopes and assurances on him. This consideration of the care and the power of God, made the three Children at a point against the edict of an idolatrous King, Our God is able to deliver us, Dan. 3.16, 17. Hebr. 11. 17-19. Rom. 4.20, 21. and he will deliver us: And this made Abraham at a point to offer his son without staggering, because he rested upon the promise and the power of God, who was able to raise him from the dead, from whence, in a sort, he had received him before, namely, from a dead body, and from a barren womb. jer. 17. 5-8. And this is the ground of all diffidence that men consider not the power and the care of God towards them, but conceive of him as if he had forgotten to be gracious, as if he had cast them out of his sight, as if he had given over his thoughts of them, and that maketh them fear second causes, and seek unto things which cannot profit. And therefore the Lord suffereth second causes to go cross, to fail and disappoint a man, because he loveth to be glorified by our dependence on his all-sufficiency and protection. He suffereth friends to fail, to be off and on, promises to be uncertain, assurances to vanish, projections and frames of businesses to be shattered, that men may know how to trust him; for man being impotent in himself, must needs have something without himself to subsist upon. Now when a man findeth the creatures to be deceitful, and second causes vain, Hebr. 11.6. Psal. 73. ●8. 1 Pet. 5.7. and considereth that God is I Am, a most certain rewarder of those that diligently seek him, than the soul findeth it good to draw near to God, to live under his fidelity, and to cast all its care on him, because he careth for it. And indeed a right judgement of God will help us to employ our faith in any condition. In wealth men are apt to trust in their abundance, to stand upon their mountain, and to say, I shall never be moved. But now in this estate, if a man conceive aright of God, that it is he who giveth strength to be rich, & who giveth riches strength to do us good, that he can blast the greatest estate with an imperceptible consumption, and in the midst of a man's sufficiency make him be in straits, that he can embitter all with his sore displeasure, and not suffer the floor nor the winepress to feed him: In great wisdom and deep counsels, if a man consider that the counsel of the Lord shall stand, and that he can turn the wisdom of oracles into foolishness, and catch the wise in their own craftiness: In great provisions of worldly strength, and humane combinations, if he consider that God can take off the wheels, and amaze the fantasies, and dissipate the affections, and melt the spirits, and waylay the enterprises of the hugest hosts of men, that he can arm flies, and louse, and dust, and wind, and stars, and every small unexpected contingency against the strongest opposition; it must need make him set his rest, and hang his confidences and assurances upon an higher principle. Again, in poverty and the extremest straits which a man can be in, if he consider that God is a God as well of the valleys as of the hills, that he will be seen in the mount, when his people are under the sword, and upon the Altar; that the Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and will satisfy them in the time of famine, that when the young Lions famish for hunger, (they which live not by the fruits on the earth, but by their prey, they which can feed of the dead bodies of those other creatures whom a famine had devoured) yet even then he can provide abundantly for his; that when things are marvellous unto us, Zech. 8.6. than they are easy unto him; that when they are impossible unto us, than they are possible with him; Mark 10.27. that he can lead in a wilderness, Psal. 136.16. and feed with an unknown and an unsuspected bread; that when the light of the Sun and the Moon shall fail, jer. 2.6. he can be an everlasting light and glory to his people; that as a Father, so he pitieth; Amos 2.10. and as an heavenly Father, so he knoweth, and can supply all our needs; Deut. 8.15, 16. that when we are without any wisdom to disappoint, or strength to withstand the confederacies of men, when they come with chariots of iron, Esay 60.19. and walls of brass, Matth. 6.32. even than the eyes of the Lord run to and fro to show himself valiant in the behalf of those that walk uprightly, that he can then order some accident, 2 Chron. 16.9. produce some engine, discover some way to extricate and to clear all; Phil. 4.6. then will a man learn to be careful or distracted in nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make his request known unto him who is at hand, and who careth for him. The like may be said of men's spiritual condition; when men despair, as Cain, that their sin is greater than can be forgiven? the only ground is, because they judge not aright of God in Christ, they look not on him in his Gospel as a God that careth for them, they do not lean upon the staff of his strength. Despair is an affection growing out of the sense of sin and wrath, as it is, malum arduum, instans, & ineluctabile, an evil too heavy to be borne, and yet impossible to be removed. All victory ariseth either out of an inward power of our own, or by the assistance of foreign power, which is more than our own. Now then when we despair because of sin, this cometh first from the consideration of our own everlasting disability to break thorough sin by our own strength; and this is a good despair, which helpeth to drive men unto Christ. Secondly, it cometh from a misconceiving either of the Power or Care of those which might assist us, sometimes from the misjudging of God's power, for the forgiveness of sins is an act of omnipotency, and therefore when the Lord proclaimeth himself a forgiver of iniquity, transgression, and sin, he introduceth it with his titles of power, The Lord, the Lord God, Gracious and merciful, Exod. 34.6. etc. To pardon malefactors is a power and royalty which belongeth only unto Princes. There is much strength required in bearing burdens, and therefore patience especially towards sinners, is an act of power, and impatiency ever a sign of impotency. And therefore * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Rhet. lib. 2. cap. 2. the weakest affections are ever most revengeful, children, old men, sick or indigent persons, are ever most subject to anger, and least able to concoct an injury: so that to conceive sin greater than can be forgiven, is to mis-judge the omnipotency of God, but ordinarily despair proceedeth from the misjudging of God's affection and goodwill towards men; the soul conceives of him, as of one that hath utterly cast off all care or respect towards it. This is an error of God's benevolence, and the latitude of his mercy, and height of his thoughts towards sinners. He hath declared himself willing that all men should be saved, he hath set forth examples of the compass of his long-suffering, 2 Pet. 3 9 john 5.34. 1 Tim. 1.16. his invitations run in general terms, that no man may dare to preoccupate damnation, but look unto God, as to one that careth for his soul. Let a man's sins be never so crimson, and his continuance therein never so obdurate (I speak this for the prevention of despair, not for the encouragement of security or hardness) yet as soon as he is willing to turn, God is willing to save, as soon as he hath an heart to attend, God hath a tongue to speak salvation unto him. We see then the way to trust in Christ is to look upon him as the Bishop of our souls, as the Officer of our peace, as one that careth and provideth for us, as one that hath promised to save to the uttermost, to give supplies of his Spirit, and Grace in time of need, Heb. 7.25. Heb. 4.16. joh. 10.10. Heb. 13.9. to give us daily bread, and life in abundance, to be with us always to the end of the world, never to fail us nor forsake us. And we may hereby learn our duty one to another, Col. 3.12, 13. Eph. 5.2. Phil. 2.4, 5. Rom. 14.7.15.15.2, 3. to put on the affections of members, and the mind of Christ, in compassionating, considering, and seeking the good of one another, in bearing one another's burdens, in pleasing not ourselves but our neighbour for his edification, for even Christ pleased not himself; that man cannot live in honour, nor dye in comfort, who liveth only to himself, and doth not by his prayers, compassions, and supplies imitate Christ, and interest himself in the good of his brethren. Now the ground of all this power, majesty, and mercy of the Gospel is here set forth unto us in two words. First, it is the strength of Christ; Secondly, it is sent by God himself. The Lord shall send the Rod of Thy strength out of Zion. Here than we may first note, That the Gospel is Christ's own Power and strength, and the Power of God his Father, by whom it is sent abroad; So the Apostle calls it, The a Rom. 1.16. 1 Cor. 2.4, 5. Power of God unto Salvation, and the demonstration of the Spirit, and of Power; that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the Power of God. Therefore in one place we are said to be b joh. 6.45. taught of God, and in another to be c Eph. 4.20, 21. taught of Christ; in one place it is called the d 1 Tim. 1.11. Gospel of the blessed God, and in another the e Rome 15.19. Gospel of Christ, to note that f joh. 5.19. whatsoever things the Father doth in his Church, the same the Son doth also, and that the Father doth not make known his will of mercy, but by his Son; g 2 Cor. 5.19. that as in the Son he did reconcile the world unto himself; so in the Son he did h joh. 1.18. joh. 14.17. reveal himself unto the world. No man hath seen the Father at any time, but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him. Christ is both the Matter and the Author of the Gospel. As in the work of our Redemption he was both the sacrifice, and the Priest to offer, and the Altar to sanctify it: So in the dispensation of the Gospel, Christ is both the Sermon, and the Preacher, and the Power, which giveth blessing unto all. He is the Sermon, i 1 Cor. 1.23. 2 Cor. 4.5. Col. 1.28. We preach Christ crucified, saith the Apostle, we preach not ourselves, but Christ jesus the Lord. And he is the Preacher, k Heb. 12.25. Eph. 2.17. 1 Pet. 3.19. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh— He came, and preached peace to those afar off, and to those that were nigh. And lastly, he is the Power which enliveneth his own word; l joh. 5.25, 26. joh. 10.27, 28. The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and they that hear shall live; for as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, etc. m 2 Cor. 1.24. He is the Lord of your faith, we are but the Helpers of your joy. He is the n joh. 13.13, 14. Master in the Church, we are but o 2 Cor. 4.5. your servants for jesus sake. p 1 Pet. 5.3, 4. He is the chief Shepherd, the Lord of the sheep, q joh. 21.15. the sheep are his own; we are but his r 2 Cor. 5.19. Eph. 3.2. 2 Tim. 1.14. Depositaries, entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, unto us is committed the dispensation of the Grace of God. So then the Word is his, but the service ours. From whence both the Ministers of the Word, and they which hear it may learn their several duties. First, we should learn to s 1 Pet. 4.11. 1 Cor. 4.1. 2 Cor. 5.19, 20. speak as the Oracles of God, as the Servants and Stewards of a higher Master, whose Word it is which we preach, and whose Church it is which we serve. We should therefore do his work, as men that are set in his stead, preach him, and not ourselves. There can be no greater sacrilege in the world, than to put our own image upon the Ordinances of Christ, than to make another Gospel than we have received. Saint Paul durst not t Gal. 1.10. please men, because he was the servant of Christ; neither durst he preach himself, because he was the servant of the Church. For hereby men do even justle Christ out of his own throne, and, as it were, snatch the Sceptre of his kingdom out of his own hand, boldly intruding upon that sacred and uncommunicable dignity which the Father hath given to his Son only, which is to be the Author of his Gospel, and the total and adequate Object of all Evangelicall Preaching. This sacrilege of selfe-preaching is committed three manner of ways: First, when men make themselves the Authors of their own preaching, when they preach their own inventions, and make their own brains the seminaries and forges of a new faith; when they so gloss the pure Word of God, as that withal they poison and pervert it. This is that which the Prophet calleth lying visions, and dreams of men's own hearts, which Saint Peter calls perverting, Ezek. 13▪ 3, 9, 17. jer. 14.14. Ier 23.16. 2 Pe●. 3.16. 2 Cor. 2.17. 2 Cor 4.2. Host 9.8. or maketh crooked the rule of faith, and Saint Paul the huckstering, adulterating, and using the Word of God deceitfully. Which putteth me in mind of a speech in the Prophet, The Prophet is the snare of a fowler in all his ways. Birds we know use to be caught with the same corn wherewith they are usually fed, but than it is either adulterated with some venomous mixture which may intoxicate the bird, or else put into a gin which shall imprison it; and such were the carnal Preachers in the Prophets and in Saint Paul's time, Gal. 2.4. who turned the truth of Christ into a snare, that by that means they might bring the Church into bondage; The occasions and originals of this perverse humour are, first, Mic. 3.5, 6. 1 King. 22.23. without men, the seducements of Satan, unto which by the just severity of God, they are sometimes given over for the punishment of their own and others sins. ● Thes. 2.10, 12. Secondly, within them (upon which the other is grounded) as Mater omnium Haereticorum superbia. Aug. de Gen. contr. Manich. l. 2. cap. 8. & Confes. li. 12. c. 24. Pride of wit, joined with ambition and impatiency of repulse in vast desires, which hath anciently been the ground of many heresies and schisms: Nothing hath ever been more dangerous to the Church of God than greatness of parts unsanctified and unallaid with the love of truth, and the Grace of Christ. Secondly, b Theodor. Eccle. Histor. l. 1. c. 2. vid. Petr. Aerod. Decret. l. 1. Tit. 6. sect. 12. envy against the pains and estimation of those that are faithful. This was one of the originals of Arrius his cursed heresy, his envy against Alexander the good bishop of Alexandria, as Theodoret reports. Thirdly, impatiency of the spiritualness and simplicity of the holy Scriptures, which is ever joined with the predominancy of some carnal lust, whereby the conscience is notoriously wasted or defiled. He that hath once put away a good conscience, and doth not desire truth in order and respect to that, that thereby his conscience may be enlightened, purified, and kept even towards God, will without much ado make shipwreck of his faith, and change the truth for any thriving error. And this impatiency of the Spirit of truth in the Scriptures is that which caused * Tertull. con. Marc. l. 4. c. 6. & 43. & li. 5. c. 4. heretics of old to reject some parts and to add more to the Canon of sacred Scriptures, and in these days to superadde traditions and apocryphal accessions thereunto; and in those which are pure and on all sides confessed to use such licentious and carnal glosses, as may hale the Scripture to the countenancing and conformity of their lusts and prejudices rather than to the rectifying of their own hearts by the Rule of Christ. Secondly, men preach themselves when they make themselves the Object of their preaching, when they preach selfe-dependencie and selfe-concurrencie, making themselves, as it were, joynt-saviours with Christ: such was the preaching of Simon Magus, who gave out that himself was some great one, even the great Power of God. Of Montanus and his scholars who preached him for the Comforter that was promised. Of Pelagius and his associates, G●atiae vocabulo frangens invidi●am, off●nsionemque declinans, Aug. de Grat. Christ. l. 1. c. 37. & Epist. 105. who though they did acknowledge the Name of Grace, to decline envy, and avoid the curse of the great Council of Carthage, yet still they did but shelter their proud heresies under equivocations and ambiguities. Of the Massilienses in the times of Prosper and Hilary, and of some ancient Schoolmen touching pre-existent congruities for the preparations of Grace, and co-existent concurrencies with the Spirit for the production of Grace. Of the papists in their doctrines of indulgences, authoritative absolution, merits of good works, justification, and other like, which do all in effect outface and give the lie unto the Apostle, when he calleth Christ an able or sufficient Saviour. Hebr. 7.25. Thirdly, men preach themselves when they make themselves the end of their preaching, when they preach their own parts, passions, and designs, and seek not the Lord; when * jer. 10.21. Phil. 1.16. Ezek. 34 2, 3. Esay ●6. 11. Mic. 3.5. 2 Pet. 2.14, 15. jud v. 11. 3 joh v. 9▪ Amos 7.12, 13. out of envy, or covetousness, or ambition, or any other servile or indirect affection, men shall prevaricate in the Lord's Message, and make the Truth of God serve their own turns. When men shall stand upon God's holy mount as on a theatre, to act their own parts, and as on a step to their own advancement; when the truth of God, and the death of Christ, and the kingdom of heaven, and the fire of hell, and the souls of men, and the salvation of the world shall be made basely serviceable and contributory to the boundless pride of an Atheistical Diotrephes. Such as these were they, who in the times of Constantius the emperor, poisoned the world with arianism, & in the times of S. Cyprian provoked persecutions against the Church; Sulpit S●ve●. l. 2. Cypria. a● 〈◊〉. and in the times of Israel ensnared the ten Tribes till they were utterly destroyed, and blinded the two Tribes till they were led away captive by the Babylonians: Host 5 1.9.7, 8. jer. 23.2, 29. so horrid are the consequences of taking away the Gospel of Christ from him, and making it the Rod not of his strength, but of our own pride or passion. We must therefore always remember that the Gospel is Christ's own, and that will encourage us to speak it as we ought to speak. First, with authority and boldness, without silence or connivance at the sins of men. Though in our private and personal relations we are to show all modesty, humility, and lowliness of carriage towards all men, yet in our master's businesses, we must not respect the persons, nor be daunted at the faces of men; Paul a prisoner was not afraid to preach of righteousness and temperance, and judgement to come before a corrupt and lascivious Prince, though it made him tremble. Secondly, with wisdom; as a Scribe instructed to the kingdom of heaven. This was Saint Paul's care to work as a wise master-builder: Mat. 13 52. 1 Cor. 3 10. When Christ's enemies watched him to pick something out of his mouth, whereby they might accuse him, we find so much depth of wisdom in the answers and behaviours of Christ, as utterly disappointed them of their expectations, Mat. 22.22, 46. and struck them with such amazement that they never durst ask him questions more: So should we endeavour to behave ourselves in such manner as that our ministry may not be blamed, 2 Cor. 6.3. nor the truth of God exposed to censure or disadvantages: for sacred truths may be sometimes either so unseasonably, or so indigestedly, and uncoherently delivered, as may rather open than stop the mouths of gainsayers, and sooner discredit the truth than convert the adversary. The Apostle saith that we are to make a difference to save some with compassion, jud. v. 22, 23. others with fear. This is to speak a word in due season, and as our Saviour did, to speak as men are able to hear; to press the Word upon the conscience with such seasonable and suitable enforcements as may be most likely to convince those judgements, and to allure those affections which we have to do withal. It is not knowledge in the general, but the right use thereof, Prov. 11.30. Prov. 15.2. 2 Cor. 12.16. Act. 17.23, 28. and wise application unto particulars which winneth souls. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright. This is that heavenly Craft wherewith the Apostle caught the Corinthians as it were by guile: such Art he useth towards the Philosophers of Athens, not exasperating men who were heady and confident of their own rules, but seeming rather to make up the defects which themselves in the inscription of their Altar confessed, and to reveal that very God unto them, whom they worshipped, but did not know. Therefore we find him there honouring their own learning, and out of that disputing for a resurrection, and against idolatry, to show that Christian Religion was no way against that learning or rectified reason which they seemed to profess. The like art he used towards king Agrippa, Act. 26.2, 3, 27, 29. first presuming of his knowledge and credit which he gave to the Prophets, and then meeting and setting on his inclinable disposition to embrace the Gospel; like the wisdom of the servants of Benhadad unto Ahab, They did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, 1 King. 20.33. and did hastily catch it; and they said, Thy Brother Benhadad. And the like wisdom he used every where, he denied himself his own liberty, and made himself a servant unto all; 1 Cor. 9. 19-23. to the Jew as a Jew, to the Greek as a Greek, to the weak as weak, and all things to all, that by all means he might save some, and so further the Gospel. One while he used Circumcision that he might thereby gain the weak Jews, another while he forbade Circumcision, that he might not misguide the converted Gentiles, nor give place by subjection unto false brethren. Who is weak, saith he, and I am not weak? who is offended, 2 Cor. 11 29. and I burn not? His care of men's souls made him take upon him every man's affection, and accommodate himself unto every man's temper; that he might not offend the weak, nor exasperate the mighty, nor dishearten the beginner, nor affright those which were without from coming in, Eadem omnibus debetur charit●s, non eadem medicina, etc. Aug de Catechi. Rudib. ca 15. but be All unto All for their salvation. The same love is due unto all, but the same method of cure is not requisite for all: With some Love traveleth in pain, with others it rejoiceth in hope, some it laboureth to edify, and others it fears to offend; unto the weak it stoopeth, unto the strong it raiseth itself; to some it is compassionate, to others severe, to none an enemy, to all a mother. But all this it doth non mentiendo, sed compatiendo, not by belying the truth, but by pitying the sinner. It is not the wisdom of the flesh, nor to be learned of men. The Scripture alone is able to make the man of God wise unto the work of Salvation. Thirdly, with meekness, for that is the child of wisdom; Who is a wise man, saith Saint james, let him show out of a good conversation his works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with meekness of wisdom, jam. 3.13, 17. and again, the wisdom which is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy. The Gospel is Christ's Gospel, and it must be preached with Christ's spirit, which was very meek and lowly; Matth. 11.29.21.5. When the Disciples would have called for fire from heaven upon the Samaritans for their indignity done unto Christ, he rebuked them in a mild and compassionate manner, Luk. 9.55. Ye know not what spirit ye are of. A right Evangelicall Spirit is ever a meek and a merciful Spirit. If a man (saith the Apostle) be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness: Gal. 6.1. 2 Tim. 2.25. and again, In meekness, saith the Apostle, instruct those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Lastly, with faithfulness, in as much as the Gospel is none of ours, but Christ's whose servants and stewards we are. Christ was faithful, Heb. 3.2. 1 Cor. 4.2. 2 Tim. 2.2. though he were a Son over his own house, and therefore might in reason have assumed the more liberty to do his own will: much more doth it become us who are but his Officers, to be faithful too, not to dissemble any thing which the estate and exigence of those souls committed to our charge shall require us to speak, not to add, diminish, Deut. 4.2. Gal. 1.6. Act. 20.27. Heb. 13.17. or deviate from our commission, preaching one Gospel in one place, and another in another; but to deliver only the Counsel of God, and to watch over the souls of men, as they that must give an account. Again, since the Gospel is Christ's own Power, we must all learn from thence two duties: first, to receive it as from him with the affections of subjects which have been bought by him, that is, first in hearing of the word to expect principally his voice, and to seek him speaking from heaven. This is the nature of Christ's sheep, joh. 10.4, 5, 27. to turn away their ears from the voice of strangers, and to hear him. Two things principally there are which discover the voice of Christ in the ministry of the word: First, it is a spiritual and heavenly doctrine, full of purity, righteousness, and peace, touching the soul, john 3.12. jam. 3.17. with a kind of secret and magnetical virtue, whereby the thoughts, affections, conscience, and conversation are turned from their earthly centre, and drawn up unto him as Eagles to a carcase. Secondly, it is a powerful, an edged, a piercing doctrine. Heb. 4.12. If the word thou hearest speak unto thy conscience, if it search thy hart, if it discover thy lusts, if it make thy spirit burn within thee, if it cast thee upon thy face, and convince and judge thee for thy transgressions, if it bind up thy sores, and cleanse away thy corruptions, than it is certainly Christ's word, and then it must be received with such affections as becometh the word of Christ. First, with Faith: if we confer with flesh and blood, we shall be apt ever to cavil against the truth; For he that rejecteth Christ, doth never receive his word. A fleshly heart cannot submit unto a heavenly Doctrine. Christ and his Apostles did every where endure the contradiction of sinners. joh. 12. 4●. Rom. 8.7. Heb. 12.3. Act. 13.45. Act. 28.23. 1 joh. 1.1, 2. Gal. 1.12. But yet he claimeth this honour over the consciences of men to overrule their assents against all the mists, and sophistical reasonings of the flesh. The Apostles themselves preached nothing but either by immediate commission from him, or out of the Law and the Prophets. But his usual form was, Verily I say unto you, Matth 5.22. noting that he only was unto the Church the Author and fountain of all heavenly Doctrine, that unto him only belongeth that authoritative and infallible Spirit which can command the subscription and assent of the conscience, that he only can say with boldness to the soul, as he did to the Samaritan woman, Believe me. And that therefore no authority either of men, joh. 4.21. or Churches, either Episcopal, Papal, or Synodical can without open sacrilege usurp power to overrule the faith of men, or impose any immediate and Doctrinal necessity upon the conscience in any points which are not ultimately and distinctly resolved into the evident authority of Christ in his word. 2 Cor. 1.24. 1 Pet. ●. 3. S. Paul himself durst not assume Dominion over the faith of men; nor S. Peter neither suffer any Elders (amongst whom he reckoneth himself as an Elder also) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to overrule, or prescribe unto the heritage of God. It is only Christ's word which the hearts of men must stoop and attend unto, and which they must mingle with faith that it may be profitable unto them; Heb. 4.2. 1 Thess. 2.13. that is, they must let it into their hearts with this assurance, that it is not the breath of a man, but the message of Christ, who is true in all his threatenings, and faithful in all his promises, and pure in all his precepts, that he sendeth this ministry abroad for the perfection of the Saints, & the edification of his Church, Eph. 4.12. isaiah. 55.11. and therefore if they be not hereby cleansed, and built up in his body, they do as much as in them lieth make void the holy ordinance of God, which yet must never return in vain. The word of God doth effectually work only in those that believe. It worketh in hypocrites, and wicked hearers, (according to the measure of that imperfect faith which they have) but it worketh not effectually, that is, it doth not consummate nor accomplish any perfect work but only in those that believe; in the rest it proves but an abortion, and withers in the blade. Secondly, a 2 Thes. 2.10. Act. 2.41. Act. 17.11. Act. 21.17. 1 Sam. 3.18. 1 Sam. 25.32. Gal. 4.14. isaiah. 11.6. with love, and readiness of mind, without despising or rejecting it. No man can be saved who doth not receive the truth in love, who doth not receive it (as the primitive Saints did) with gladness, and readiness of mind, as Eli, though from the hand of Samuel a Child, as David, though from the hand of Abigail a woman, as the Galatians, though from the hand of Paul, an infirm and persecuted Apostle. For herein is our homage to Christ the more apparent, when we suffer a little child to lead us. Thirdly, b jam. 1.21. Levit. 26.2. Act. 10.33. 1 Thes. 2.13, 14. Eph 4. 20-22. with meekness and submission of heart, reverencing and yielding unto it in all things. Wresting, shifting, evading, perverting the word is as great an indignity unto Christ, as altering, interlining, or rasing a patent which the King hath drawn with his own royal hand, is an offence against him. Patience and effectual obedience even in affliction, is an argument that a man esteems the word to be indeed Gods own word, and so receives it. He only who putteth off the old man, the corrupt deceitful lusts of his former conversation, and is renewed in the Spirit of his mind, is the man that hath heard, and been taught by Christ, that hath received the Truth in him. Again, in as much as the Gospel is the Rod of Christ's own strength, isaiah. 53.1. or the instrument of his arm (who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed) and the instrument is no further operative or effectual than according to the measure of that impressed virtue which it receiveth from the superior cause: therefore we should learn always to repair unto Christ for the success of his word. For he only is the teacher of men's hearts, and the author of their faith. To him only it belongeth to call men out of their graves, and to quicken whom he will. We have nothing but the ministry, he keepeth the power in his own hands, that men might learn to wait upon him, and to have to do with him, who only can send a blessing with his word, and teach his people to profit thereby. Another ground of the power of the word is, that it is sent from God. The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength. From which particular likewise we may note some useful observations, as, First, that God's appointment and ordination is that which gives being, life, majesty, and success to his own word, authority, boldness, and protection to his servants. When he sendeth his word he will make it prosper. When Moses disputed against his going down into Egypt to deliver his brethren, isaiah. 55.11. Exod. 3.4. sometimes alleging his own unfitness and infirmity, sometimes the unbelief of the people, this was still the warrant with which God encouraged him, I will be with thee, I have sent thee, do not I make man's mouth? I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. I was no Prophet, neither was I a Prophet's Son (saith Amos) but I was an herdsman & a gatherer of sycamore fruit: Amos 7.14, 15. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. And this made him peremptory in his office to prophesy against the idolatry of the King's Court, and against the flattery of the Priest of Bethel. And this made the Apostles bold, Act. 4.13. 5.29.35, 36. though otherwise unlearned and ignorant men, to stand against the learned council of Priests and Doctors of the Law, We ought to obey God rather than men. Upon which, Grave was the advice of Gamaliel; If this counsel or work be of men, it will come to nought; But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. For to withstand the power or progress of the Gospel, is to set a man's face against God himself. Secondly, in as much as the Gospel is sent forth by God, that is, revealed and published out of Zion, we may observe, That Evangelicall learning came not into the world by humane discovery or observation, but it is utterly above the compass of all reason or natural disquisition, neither men nor Angels ever knew it but by divine revelation. And therefore the Apostle every where calleth it a Mystery, a great and a hidden Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. Rom. 16.25. 1 Cor. 2. 7·9. Rom. 1.20.2.14.15. There is a Natural Theology, without the world, gathered out of the works of God, out of the resolution of causes and effects into their first originals, and out of the Law of nature written in the heart. But there is no natural Christianity. Nature is so far from finding it out by her own inquiries, that she cannot yield unto it when it is revealed without a Spirit of faith to assist it. The jews stumbled at it as dishonourable to their Law, and the Gentiles derided it, as absurd in their Philosophy; It was a Hidden and secret wisdom, Revel. 14.16. 1 Pet. 1.20. 1 Cor. 2.7.10. Eph. 1.9.10. Eph. 3.9.11. the execution and publication whereof was committed only to Christ. In God it was an Eternal Gospel, for Christ was a lamb slain from before the foundations of the world, namely in the predeterminate counsel & decree of his father; but revealed it was not till the dispensation of the fullness of time, wherein he gathered together in one all things in Christ. The purpose and ordination of it was eternal, but the preaching and manifestation of it reserved until the time of Christ's solemn inauguration into his Kingdom, and of the obstinacy of the jews, upon whose defection the Gentiles were called in. Act. 14.16.17.30. Which might teach us to adore the unsearchableness of God's judgements unto former ages of the world, whom he suffered to walk in their own ways, and to live in times of utter ignorance, destitute of any knowledge of the Gospel, or of any natural parts, or abilities to find it out. For if these things be true: First, that without the knowledge of Christ there is no salvation. joh. 17.3. isaiah. 53.11. This is eternal life to know thee and him whom thou hast sent jesus Christ. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifye many. 1 Cor. 2.14. Secondly, that Christ cannot be known by natural, but Evangelicall and revealed light. The natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerend. The light shined in darkness, joh. 1.5. and the darkness was so thick and fixed that it did not let in the light nor apprehend it. Thirdly, Exod. 4.22. that this light was at the first sent only unto the jews, as to the first borne-people, (excepting only some particular extraordinary dispensations and privileges to some few first fruits and preludes of the Gentiles. Psal. 147.20. Vide Cameron. de Eccl. pag. 81. ) He showeth his word unto jacob, his statutes and his judgements unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation. He hath not afforded the means of salvation ordinarily unto any other people; the world by wisdom knew him not. Fourthly, that this several dispensation toward one and other, the giving of saving knowledge to one people, and withholding it from others, was not grounded upon any preceding differences and dispositions thereunto in the people, but only in the Love of God. Deut. 7.6, 7. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people (for ye were the fewest of all people) but because the Lord loved you, Deut. 9.6. etc. The Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for you art a stiffnecked people. jos. 24.2, 3. Your Fathers dwelled on the other side of the flood mould time, and they served other gods. There was no difference between them and the Gentiles from whom I gathered them. Fiftly, that the Gospel was hidden from others in God, Ephes. 3.9. Math. 10.5. Eph. 3.7, 8. Math. 11▪ 25, 26. Eph. 3.9.11. Rom. 11▪ 33. his own will and counsel was the cause of it. He forbade men to go into the cities of the Gentiles, neither were they to go unto them without a special gift, and commission. The same Beneplacitum was the reason of revealing it to some, and of hiding it from others; Even so o father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. If all these particulars be true, needs must we both admire the inscrutablenesse of God's judgements towards the Gentiles of old, (for no humane presumptions are a fit measure of the ways and severities of God towards sinners.) And also everlastingly adore his Compassions towards us, whom he hath reserved for these times of light, and, out of the alone unsearchable riches of his grace, hath together with principalities and powers in heavenly places, made us to see what is the fellowship of that great mystery which from the beginning of the world was hidden in himself. Thirdly, Gal. 3.1. Col. 1.6. Revel. 3.20. jer. 26.4. Deut. 30.19. Rom. 10.8. 2 Cor 5.20. Matth. 11.28. Mic. 6.8. 1 joh. 3.23. Luk. 14.23. in that the Lord doth send forth the Gospel of Christ out of Zion into the world, we may further observe that the Gospel is a Message, and an invitation from heaven unto men. For, for that end was it sent that thereby men might be invited and persuaded to salvation. The Lord sendeth his Son up and down, carrieth him from place to place; he is set forth before men's eyes, he comes, and stands, and calls, & knocks at their doors, and beseecheth them to be reconciled. He setteth his word before us, at our doors, and in our mouths and ears. He hath not erected any standing sanctuary or city of refuge for men to fly for their salvations unto, but hath appointed Ambassadors, to carry this treasure unto men's houses where he inviteth them, and intreateth them, and requireth them, and commandeth them, and compelleth them to come into his feast of mercy. And this must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an unsearchable riches of grace, for mercy, pardon, preferment, life, salvation to go a begging, and sue for acceptance; and very unsearchable likewise must needs be the love of sin, and madness of folly in wicked men, to trample upon such pearls, and to neglect so great salvation when it is tendered unto them. O what a heavy charge will it be for men at the last day, to have the mercy of God, the humility of Christ, the entreaties of his Spirit, the proclamations of pardon, the approaches of salvation, the days, the years, the ages of peace, the ministers of the word, the book of God, the great Mystery of Godliness, to rise up in judgement, and to testify against their souls? Lastly, in that the Gospel is sent from God, the Dispensers' thereof must look unto their mission, Heb. 5.4. and not intrude upon so sacred a business before they are thereunto called by God. Gal. 1.12. Now this call is twofold: Extraordinary by immediate instinct, and revelation from God, which is ever accompanied with immediate and infused gifts (of this we do not now speak:) And Ordinary, by imposition of hands, and Ecclesiastical designation. Whereunto there are to concur three things. First, an Act of God's providence casting a man upon such a course of studies, and fashioning his mind unto such affections towards learning, and disposing of him in such Schools and Colleges of the Prophets, as are congruons preparations, and were appointed for nurseries and seminaries of God's Church. It is true many things fall under God's providence, which are not within his allowance, and therefore it is no sufficient argument to conclude God's consent or commission in this office, because his wisdom hath cast me upon a collegiate education. But when therewithal, he in whose hands the hearts of all men are as clay or wax, to be moulded into such shapes as the counsel of his will shall order, hath bended the desires of my heart to serve him in his Church, and hath set the strongest delight of my mind upon those kinds of learning which are unto that service most proper and conducent; when measuring either the good will of my heart, or the appliableness of my parts, by this, and other professions of learning, I can clearly conclude that that measure and proportion which the Lord hath given me is more suitable unto this, than other learned callings, I suppose, other qualifications herewith concurring, a man may safely from thence conclude, that God, who will have every man live in some profitable calling, doth not only by his providence permit, but by his secret direction lead him unto that service, whereunto the measure of gifts which he hath conferred upon him are most suitable and proper. And therefore secondly, there is to be respected in this Ordinary mission, the meet qualification of the person who shall be ordained unto this ministry: For if no Prince will send a mechanic from his loom, or his shears, in an honourable Embassage to some other foreign Prince, shall we think that the Lord will send forth stupid and unprepared instruments about so great a work as the perfecting of the Saints, and Edification of the Church? It is registered for the perpetual dishonour of that wicked King jeroboam (who made no other use of any Religion but as a secondary buy thing, 1 Kings. 12.31. to be the supplement of policy) that he made of the Lowest of the People, those who were really such as the Apostles were falsely esteemed to be, the scum and offscouring of men, to be Priests unto the Lord. Now the Qualities more directly and essentially belonging unto this office are these two; Fidelity and Ability. The things, saith the Apostle, 2 Tim. 2. ●. which thou hast heard of amongst many witnesses, the same commit thou to Faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. We are stewards of no meaner a gift than the Grace of God, and the Wisdom of God, 1 Pet. 4.10. Eph. 3.10. that grace which by S. Peter is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a manifold Grace; and that wisdom which by S. Paul is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the manifold wisdom of God. We are the depositaries and dispensers of the most precious treasures which were ever opened unto the Sons of men, the incorruptible and precious blood of Christ, the exceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel, the word of the Grace of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ. 1 Cor. 4.2. Now it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful, that he defraud not Christ of his purchase, which is the souls of men, nor men of their price and privilege, which is the blood of Christ; that he neither favour the sins of men, nor dissemble the truth of God; that he watch, because he is a seer, that he speak, because he is an oracle, that he feed because he is a shepherd, that he labour because he is a husbandman, that he be tender because he is a mother, that he be careful, because is a father, that he be faithful, because he is a servant to God and his Church, in one word that he be instant in season and out of season, to exhort, rebuke, instruct, to do the work of an Evangelist, to accomplish and make full proof of his ministry because he hath an account to make, because he hath the presence of Christ to assist him, the promises of Christ to reward him, the example of Christ, his Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Bishops and Martyrs of the purest time, who have now their palms in their hands, to encourage him. a Luke 4.16.31. It was Christ's custom to enter into their Synagogues on the sabbath-days, and to read and expound the Scriptures, to the people. b Act. 17.2 18.4. It was S. Paul's manner to reason in the Synagogues, and to open the Scriptures on the Sabbath days. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 justin Martyr. Apol. 2. Tertull. Apol. C●● 3.9. Upon Sunday saith justin Martyr, All the Christians that are in the cities or countries about meet together, and after some Commentaries of the Apostles, and writings of the Prophets have been read, the Senior or Precedent doth by a Sermon exhort the people, and admonish them to the imitation and practice of those divine truths which they had heard read unto them. d Eum in populo verbum veritatis recte tractantem omni die Dominico audiebam. Aug. Confess. lib. 6. cap. 3. And S. Austen telleth us of Ambrose, that he heard him rightly handling the word of God unto the people every Lord's day. Yea it should seem by the Homilies of S. chrusostom that he did oftentimes preach daily unto the people, and therefore we frequently meet with his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, yesterday this and this I taught you. e Sia● Ecclesiam frequenter venias, aurem divinis liter●s admoveas, explanationem mandatorum caelestium capias, sicut cibis car●, ita spiritu● verbis divinis convalescet. Origen. Hom. 9 in Levit. And Origen intimateth this frequency of expounding the Scriptures in his time, if, saith he, you come frequently unto the Church of God, and there attend unto the sacred Scriptures and to the explication of those heavenly commandments, thy soul will be strengthened, as thy body with food. And f Canon. 45.59 our Church in her Ecclesiastical Constitutions hath provided for the continuance of so faithful and pious a custom, injoining every allowed Preacher to have a Sermon every Sunday in the year, and in the afternoon beside to spend half an hour in Catechising the younger and ruder sort in the Principles of Christian Religion. The neglect of which most necessary duty no man can more bewail, nor more urge the necessity thereof, than those who looking abroad into the world, have experience of more thick and palpable darkness in the minds of men, concerning those absolutely necessary Doctrines of the passion, merits, and redemption of Christ and of faith in them, than men who have not with their own eyes observed it can almost believe. And that too in such places where Sermons have been very frequently preached. I will close this point with the assertion and profession of Holy Austen. g Nihil in hac vita laeti●s aut hominibus acceptabilius, Episcopi, aut presbyteri, aut Di●coni officio, si persunitorie atque adulatorie res agatur, etc. Aug. Epist. 1.8 Nothing, saith he, is in this life more pleasant and ●asie than the life of a Bishop or Minister if it be perfunctorily and flatteringly executed, but then in God's sight nihil turpius, miserius, damnabilius, and it was his profession, h Illud noverit dilectio vestra, nunquam mee absentem ●uissi licentios â libertate, se●n●●ssaria servitute. Aug. Epist. 138. that he was never absent from his Episcopal service and attendance, upon any licentious and assumed liberty, but only upon some other necessary service of the Church. Touching the ability required in the discharge of this great office, there are (as I conceive) two special branches thereunto belonging. First, Learning for the right information of the consciences of men, that men may not pervert the Scripture. Secondly, Wisdom or spiritual prudence for seasonable application of the truth to particular circumstances, which is that which maketh a wise builder. For this latter, it being so various, (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Arist. Ethic. lib. 6. Cap. 8. according to those infinite varieties of particular cases and conditions, which are hardly reducible unto general rules, I cannot here speak, but refer the Reader to the grave & pious counsels of those k Aug. in lib. de Doctr. Christ & de Catechiz. Rud. Gregor. Mag. de Officio Pastoral part. 3. Cap. 1. etc. holy men who have given some directions herein. For the other, two great works there are which belong to this high calling. Instruction of the Scholar, & Conviction of the Adversary. Unto the perfection of which two services, when we duly consider how many different parts of learning are requisite, as knowledge of the l Hieron. Apol. adver. Ruffin. Aug. de Doctr. Christ, lib. 2. Cap. 16, 17.39. tongues, for the better understanding of the holy Scriptures by their original idiom and emphasis; of the arts, to observe the connexion, and argumentation, and method of them; of ancient customs, Histories, and antiquities of the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, without insight whereinto the full meaning of many passages of holy Scripture cannot be clearly apprehended; of School learning, for discovering & repelling the subtlety of the adversaries, a thing required in a Rhetorician by Aristotle and Quintilian, insomuch a Theodoret. Hist. 3. cap 7. that julian the Apostate complained of the Christians, that they used the weapons of the Gentiles against them, and therefore interdicted them the use of Schools of learning; b Aug. de Doctr. Christ. lib. 2. cap. 28. V●d. Greg. Nazianz. Orat. ●.. Lastly, of Histories and Antiquities of the Church, that we may observe the succession of the Professors, and Doctrines hereof, the originals and sproutings of heresy therein, the better to answer the reproaches of our insolent adversaries, who lay innovation to our charge. I say, when we duly consider these particulars, we cannot sufficiently admire, nor detest the sauciness of those bold intruders, who when they have themselves need to be taught what are the first Principles of the Oracles of God, Docent Scripturas quas non intelligunt, p●ius imperite●●um magistri, quam Doctorum discipuli, etc. Hieron. Eph. 8 ad Demetriad. Apol. ad Domnion: & To. 3. Epistol. Ep. ad Paulinum. become teachers of the ignorant before themselves have been Disciples of the learned, and, before either maturity of years, or any severe progress of studies have prepared them, boldly leap, some from their manual trades, many from their grammar and logic rudiments, into this sacred and dreadful office, unto which heretofore the most learned and pious men have trembled to approach. To these men I can give no better advice than that which Tully once gave unto Aristoxenus a musician, who would needs venture upon Philosophical difficulties, and out of the principles of his art determine the nature of a humane soul, Haec magistro relinquat Aristoteli, canere ipse doceat. Let them spend their time in the work which best befits them, and leave great matters unto abler men. Thirdly and lastly, unto this call is requisite the * High sunt qui se ult●o apud temerari●s convenas sine divinâ dispositione praeficiunt, qui se praeposit●s sive ●lla Ordination is l●ge constituu●t, qui nemine Episcopatum dante Episcopi sibi nomen assumunt. Cyprian. de unitat. Eccl●siae. imposition of hands, and the authoritative act of the Church ordaining and setting apart, and deriving actual power upon such men, of whose fidelity and ability they have sufficient evidence (for hands are not to be laid suddenly on any man) to preach the word, and to administer the Sacraments, and to do all those ministerial acts, upon which the edification of the people of Christ doth depend. I have now done with the first of Christ's regalities in the Text, which was the Sceptre of his Kingdom. Now to speak a word of the second, which is Solium, the Throne of his Kingdom. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion. Which notes unto us: First, that the Church of the jews was the chief original, Metropolitan Church of all others. Therefore our Saviour chargeth his Disciples to Tarry in the City of jerusalem, Luk. 24.49. till they should be endued with power from on high. The Apostle saith that they had the advantage or precedence and excellency above other people, because unto them were committed the Oracles of God. Rom. 3.1, 2. Rom. 9 4. To them did pertain the Adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises. Of them was Christ after the flesh. All the Fathers, Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, and writers of the Holy Scriptures were of them. There is no Church can show such Privileges, nor produce such authentic records for her precedency as the Church of the jews. Therefore they are called by an excellency God's a jer. 31.9. firstborn, and b jam. 1.18. the first fruits of the creatures, they are called The c Matth. 8.12. Children of the Kingdom, whereas others were at first d Eph 2.12. Dogs, and e Matth. 15.26. strangers. Their f Gal. 4 26 6.16. Rom. 2 29. Heb. 12 22. Titles, Zion, Jerusalem, Israel, are used as proper names to express the whole Church of God by, though amongst the Gentiles. Christ jesus, though he came as a Saviour unto All, yet he was sent to be a Prophet and a Preacher only unto them. Therefore the Apostle calleth him g Rom. 15.8. the Minister of the Circumcision, that is, of the jews, and he saith, h Matth. 15.24. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And when he gave his Apostles their first commission, i Matth. 10 5.6. he sent them only into the Cities of the jews; the k Rome 11.11.12, 15 30. Gentiles were incorporated into them, were brought in upon their rejection, and refusal of the Gospel, l 1 Thess. 2.14. took the Christians of judea for their pattern in their profession; from m Act. 15.2.22. that Church were Rules and constitutions sent abroad into other Churches, as binding and necessary things. To n Rom. 15.27. that Church the Churches of the Gentiles were debtors, as having been made partakers of their spiritual things; and though they be now a rejected people▪ yet o Rom. 11.25, 26. when the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, Israel shall be gathered again, and made a glorious Church. And in the mean time their dispersion tended unto the conversion of the Gentiles. For though they were enemies to the faith of Christians, p Magnum est quod Deus p●aestitit Ecclesiae suae ubique difsusae, ut Gens judaea, meritò debellata & dispersa per ●erra●, ●e à nobis haec composita pu●arentur codices Prophetarum nostrorum ubique porta●et, & inimica fidei nostrae test● fieret veritatis nostrae. Aug. to. 4. the Conse. s. Evang. lib. 1. c. 26. & epist. 3. ad Volus●anum. yet they did bear witness unto those Scriptures, out of which the Christians did prove their faith. And there is no greater evidence in a cause than the affirmative testimony of that man who is an enemy to the cause. If the Church of Rome had such evidences as these out of the book of God, to prove their usurped primacy by, how proud and intolerable would they be in boasting thereof, and obtruding it unto others, who are now so confident upon far slenderer grounds? And from hence we may learn to take heed of the sins of that people, which were principally the rejecting of the corner stone, and the putting off the Gospel of Christ away from them, as every obstinate and unbelieving sinner doth from himself. This is that which hath made them of all nations the most hated, and the most forsaken, and hath brought wrath to the uttermost upon them, because when Christ came unto his own they received him not. Because of unbelief they were broken off, saith the Apostle, and thou standest by faith; be not highminded, but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. And we should likewise learn to pray for the fullness of the Gentiles, and for the restoring of this people unto their honour and original privileges again; for we are their debtors; we entered upon the promises which were made to them; and therefore good reason we have to do for them now, as they did for us before: We have a little sister, or rather an elder sister, and she hath no breasts, the oracles and ordinances of God are taken from her; What shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? Cant. 8.8. Secondly, this notes unto us the calling of the Gentiles into the fellowship of the same mystery which was first preached unto the jews, Ezek. 16.61. Zech 8.23. Esay 2.2, 3. that they might be the daughters of this mother Church, that they may take hold of the skirt of the jew, and say, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. The Church of jerusalem was set up as a beacon, or an ensign, or a public sanctuary to which the nations should fly, as doves to their windows. Of this merciful purpose some evidences and declarations the Lord gave before in Rahab, job, Ninive, the Wisemen, and others, who were the preludes and first fruits of the Gentiles unto God: and did after fully manifest the same in his unlimited commission to his Apostles, Go preach the Gospel unto every creature. And now alas, what were we that God should bring us hitherto? Saint Paul saith that we were filled with all unrighteousness; that we did neither understand God, nor seek after him. A●l our faculties were full of sin, and the fullness of all sin was in us; we were ruled by no laws but the course of the world, the Prince of the air, and the lusts of the flesh, without God in this world, and without any hope for the world to come. Here vessels of lust and poison, and fitted to be hereafter vessels of destruction and misery. We were no nation, a foolish people, a people that sought not, nor inquired after God; and yet his own people hath he set by and called us to the knowledge of his love and mercy in Christ. And that, not as many other Gentiles are called, who hear of him indeed, and worship him, but have his doctrine corrupted and overturned with heresy, and his worship defiled with superstition and idolatry; but he hath for us purged his floor, and given unto us the wheat without the chaff, he hath let the light of his glory to shine purely upon us only in the face of jesus Christ, without any humane supplements, or contributions. How should we praise him for it, and as we have received Christ purely, so labour to walk worthily in him? How should we run to him that called us when we knew him not? How should we set forward, and call upon one another, that we may fly like doves in companies unto the windows of the Church? How earnestly should we contend for this truth, the custody whereof he hath honoured us withal? How should we renew our repentance, and remember our first works, lest so excellent a privilege be removed from us. There is no wrath that is wrath to the uttermost, but that which depriveth a people of the Gospel, and taketh away their Candlestick from them. Thirdly, it notes unto us the difference of the two covenants, the one out of Sinai, and the other out of Zion. Hebr. 12. 18-22. Gal. 4.25, 26 At first the Law proceeded out of Sinai, wherein though the end were merciful, yet the manner was terrible, and therefore the effect nothing but bondage; but after it was sent out of Zion with the Spirit of grace, and adoption, observed with cheerfulness and liberty, as by those that know God will spare them, as a man spareth his child that serveth him, for in my bondslave I look to the perfection of the work, but in my son to the affection and disposition of the heart. Lastly, it notes unto us, that the seat of saving truth, the custody of the promises, and Gospel of salvation, doth still belong unto Zion, to the Church of God. Out a Quomodo potest esse cum Christo qui cum sponsa Christi, atque in ejus Ecclesia non est? Cypr. lib. 2. ep. 8. & lib. 4 epist. 2. ad Anton. & lib. de unitat. Eccle. Aug. to. 1. de vera Relig. cap. 5. of the Church there is no Gospel, and therefore out of the Church there is no salvation. The b 1 Cor. 7.14. Apostle saith of children which are borne out of the Church, that they are unclean: unto the Church (above all congregations of men) belongeth this excellent privilege to be the Treasurer of the riches of Christ, and c Phillip 2 16. to hold forth the Word of life unto men. In which sense the Apostle saith, d 1 Tim. 3.16. that it is the pillar and the ground of truth; not that which giveth being to the Church, for the Law must not fail nor perish; nor that which giveth authority, imposeth a sense, canonizeth and maketh authentical, is a judge or absolute determiner of the truth; for in that sense the e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrysost. hom. 11. in Tim. Church is held up by the Word, and not that by it, for f Ephes. 2.20. the Church is built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles, namely upon that fundamental doctrine which they have laid: But g Rom. 3.1. Rom. 9.4. the Church is the depositary of the truth, that orb out of which this glorious light shines forth, unto it appertains the Covenants and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises. Her office and her honour it is to be the h Revel. 1.12. Candlestick which holdeth up the Word of truth, to set to her seal unto the evidence and excellency thereof, i Reynol. Confer. with Hart. c. 8. divis. 6. by her ministry, authority, consent, and countenance to conciliate respect thereunto in the minds of aliens, and to confirm it in the minds of believers, k Eccles. 12.11. to fasten the nails and points thereof, like masters of the assemblies under one principal Shepherd, which is Christ, in the hearts of men; not to dishonour it by their usurped authority above it (for by that means all controversies of religions, are turned not into contentions of doctrine, that that may be rested in, which doth appear to have in it most intrinsical majesty, spiritualness, and evidence; but into factions and emulations of men, that that sect may be rested in, who can with most impudence and ostentation arrogate an usurped authority to themselves) but by their willing submission thereunto to credit it in the affections of men, and to establish others in the love and obedience thereunto; for the authority of the Church is not l Cameron. de Eccles. pag. 44. Autoritas jurisdictionis, an authority of jurisdiction above the Scriptures: but only Autoritas muneris, an authority of dispensation and of trust, to proclaim, exhibit, present the truth of God unto the people, m August. in Prooem. lib. de Doctrine. Christ. to point to the star, which is directed unto by the finger, but is seen by the evidence of its own light. n Doct. Whit● in his Way to the Church, num. 15. To hold forth, as a o Figi enim sole bant leges, aut quandoque inaes incidi, & in locis celeberrimis, ut à qu●libet l●gerentur, proponi. vid. Brisson. ae formul. l. 2. pag. 137. & lib. 3. pag. 323.— pasquil or pillar that Law, and Proclamation of Christ, the contents whereof we discover out of itself. In one word, that place showeth the duty of the Church to preserve knowledge, and to show forth the truth of sacred Scriptures out of themselves; but not any infallibility in itself, or authority over others, to bind their consciences to assent unto such expositions of Scripture, as derive not their evidence from the harmony and analogy of the Scriptures themselves, but only from Ipse dixit, because the Church hath spoken it. To conclude this point, we are to note for the clear understanding of the office of the Church concerning the holy Scriptures: First, that some things therein are p 2 Pet. 3.16. Hard to be understood, as Saint Peter speaks, either by reason of their allegorical and figurative expressions, as the visions of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechary, etc. or by reason of the obscure and strange connexion of one part with another, or of the dependence thereof upon foreign learning, or the like; but then we must note that the knowledge of such things as these, are not of absolute necessity unto salvation, for though the perverting of hard places be damnable (as Saint Peter telleth us) yet that ignorance of them which groweth out of their own obscurity, and not out of our neglect, is not damnable. Secondly, some things have evidence enough in the terms that express them, but yet are Hard to be believed, by reason of the supernatural quality of them. As when we say that Christ was the Son of a Virgin, or that he died and rose again, there is no difficulty in the sense of these things, it is easily understood what he that affirmeth them doth mean by them. All the difficulty is to bring the mind to give assent unto them. Thirdly, some things though easy in their sense to be understood, and it may be easy likewise in their nature to be believed, are yet Hard to be obeyed and practised, as repentance, and forsaking of sin, etc. Now according unto these differences we may conceive of the office and power which the Church hath in matters of holy Scripture. First, for hard places in regard of the sense and meaning of the place, it is the duty of the Church to open them to God's people with modesty, and moderation; and a Necesse est eos qui Scripturas edissirendo pertracta●t, eti●msi rectae atque unius fidei fuerint, varias pare●e in mullorum locorum obscuritate sententias: quam vis nequaquam ipsa vaerietas ab ejusdem fidei unitate discordet; sicut etiam unus tractator secundum eandem fidem aliter atque aliter eundem locum potest exponere, quia hoc ejus obscuritas patitur. Aug. cp. 19 therein God alloweth the learned a Christian liberty, with submission of their opinions always to the spirits of the Prophets, so long as they do therein nothing contrary to the Analogy of faith, to the general peace, and unity of the Church, to the rules of charity, piety, loyalty▪ and sobriety; to abound in their own sense, and to declare, for the further edifying of the Church, what they conceive to be in such difficult places principally intended. And further than this no Church nor person can go; for if unto any man or chair there were annexed an infallible spirit, enabling him to give such a clear and indubitate exposition of all holy Scriptures, as should leave no inevidence in the Text, nor hesitancy in the minds of men; how comes it to pass that hitherto so many difficulties remain, wherein even our Adversaries amongst themselves do give several conjectures and explications, and how can that man, to whom so excellent a gift of infallibility is bestowed, clear himself of envy, and abuse of the grace of God, who maketh not use thereof to expound the Scriptures, and to compose those differences thereabouts, which do so much perplex the world? Secondly, for those places which in their meaning are easy to be understood, but in their excellent and high nature hard to be believed (as all Articles of faith, and things of absolute necessity are in their terms b Theodoret. de curand. Graec. affect. lib. 8. Cypr. serm. de Baptis. Christi. Aug. ●pist 3 ad Volus. et to. 3 the doctrine. Christ. lib. 2. cap. 9 perspicuous, but in their heavenly nature unevident unto humane reason) the office of the Church is not to bind men's consciences to believe these truths upon her authority, for we have not dominion over the faith of men, neither are we lords in Christ's flock; and how shall any scrupulous mind, which is desirous to bolt things to the bran, be secure of the power which the Church in this case arrogates, or have any certainty that this society of men must be believed in their religion, who will allow the same honour to no society of men but themselves? But in this case the office of the Church is, both to labour by all good means to evidence the credibility of the things which are to be believed, to discover unto men those essential and intimate beauties of the Gospel, which to spiritual minds and hearts raised to such a proportionable pitch of capacity as are suitable to the excellency of their natures, are apt to evidence and notify themselves, and also to labour to take men off from dependence on their own reason or corrupted judgement, to work in their heart an experience of the Spirit of grace, and an obedience to those holy truths which they already assent unto; Dr. Field of the Church, l. 4. c. 8. with which preparations and persuasions, the heart being possessed, will in due time come to observe more clearly, by that spiritual eye, the evidence of those things which were at first so difficult; so than the Act of the Church is in matters of faith an act of introduction and guidance, Singulis credentibus suus gustus est judicii à spiritu, ut hominibus à natură suus. jun. contr. Bellar. controv. 1. lib. 3. cap. 3. num. 13. but that which begetteth the infallible and unquestionable assent of faith is that spiritual taste, relish, and experience of the heavenly sweetness of divine doctrine, which, by the ministry of the Church, accompanied with the special concurrence of almighty God therewithal, is wrought in the heart; for it is only the Spirit of God which writeth the Law in men's hearts, which searcheth the things of God, and which maketh us to know them. Thirdly, for those places which are difficult, rather to be obeyed than to be understood: The work of the Church is to enforce upon the conscience the necessity of them, to persuade, rebuke, exhort, encourage with all authority. Which should teach us all to love the Church of Christ, and to pray for the peace and prosperity of the walls of Zion, for the purity, spiritualness, power and countenance of the Word therein, which is able to hold up its own honour in the minds of men, if it be but faithfully published; we should therefore study to maintain, to credit, to promote the Gospel, to encourage truth, discountenance error, to stand in the gap against all the stratagems and advantages of the enemies thereof, and to hold the candlestick fast amongst us, to buy the truth, and sell it not, betray it not, forsake it not, temper it not, misguize it not. This is to be a pillar, & to put the shoulder under the Gospel of Christ. And surely though the Papists boast of the word and name of the Church (as none more apt to justify and brag of their sobriety than those whom the wine hath overtaken) yet the plain truth is, they have far less of the nature thereof, than any other Churches, because far less of the pure service and ministration thereof, for in stead of holding forth the Word of life, they pull it down, denying unto the people of Christ the use of his Gospel, dimidiating the use of his Sacrament, breeding them up in an ignorant worship, to beg they know not what, in all points disgracing the Word of truth, and robbing it of its certainty, sufficiency, perspicuity, authority, purity, energy in the minds of men. And this is certain, the more any set themselves against the light and general knowledge of the Word of truth, the less of the nature of the Church they have in them, whatever ostentations they may make of the name thereof. The last thing observed in this second verse amongst the regalities of Christ, was Imperium, his rule and government in his Church by his holy Word, maugre all the attempts and machinations of the enemies thereof against it: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies, that is, Thou shalt rule safely, securely, undisturbedly, without danger, fear, or hazard, from the enemies round about; their counsels shall be infatuated, their purposes shall vanish, their decrees shall not stand, their c Ne quicquam proficit exquisitior quaeque crudelitas vestra, illecebra est magis sectae, plures efficimur quoties metimur a vobis. Semen est sanguis Christianorum— Ind est quod sententiis vestris gratias agimus, ut est aemulatio divinae rei & humanae, Tertul. Apolog. cap. ult. persecutions shall but sow the blood of Christ, and the ashes of Christians the thicker, they shall see it, and gnash with their teeth, and gnaw their tongues, and be horribly amazed at the emulation and triumph of a Christians sufferings over the malice and wrath of men. The kingdom of Christ is twofold; His kingdom of glory, of which there shall be no end, when he shall rule over his enemies, and tread them under his feet: and his kingdom of grace, whereby he ruleth amongst his enemies, by the sceptre of his Word. And this is the kingdom here spoken of; noting unto us, that Christ will have a Church and people gathered unto him by the preaching of his Gospel on the earth, maugre all the malice, power, or policy of all his enemies. Never was Satan so loose, never heresy and darkness so thick, never persecution so prevalent, never the tail of the Dragon so long, as to sweep away all the Stars of heaven, or to devour the remnant of the woman's seed. The gates of hell, all the policy, power and machinations of the kingdom of darkness, shall never root out the Vine which the Father hath planted, nor prevail against the body of Christ. His Gospel must be preached till the world's end, and till than he will be with it to give it success. Though the Kings of the earth stand up, and the Rulers gather together against the Lord and his Christ, yet they imagine but a vain thing, and he that sitteth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn. The grounds of the certainty and perpetuity of Christ's Evangelicall Kingdom is not the nature of the Church in itself considered, either in the whole or parts; for Adam and Evah were a Church at first, a people that were under the law of obedience, and worship of God, and yet they fell away from that excellent condition. And the Prophet tells us, Esay 1.9. that except the Lord had left a very small remnant, the Church had been all as Sodom, and like to Gomorrah. But the grounds hereof are; First, The Decree, ordination, and appointment of God, Psal. 2.7. Acts 10.42. Hebr. 3.2. and we know what ever men project, the counsel of the Lord must stand. Secondly, God's Gift unto Christ, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, etc. Ps. 2.8. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, joh. 17.6. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand, joh. 10.29. Thirdly, God's Oath, which is the Seal of his irreversible decree, and Covenant with Christ. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David; His seed shall endure for ever, and his Throne as the Sun before me, Psal. 89.35, 36. Fourthly, Christ's own Purchase and price which he paid for it. The Apostle saith, Christ died not in vain, and the virtue of his blood lasteth to the end of the world; for as his blood was shed from the beginning of the world in regard of God's Decree, so doth it continue to the end, in regard of its own merit and efficacy; so long as he sitteth at the right hand of God, which must be till the time of the restitution of all things, Act. 3.21. the merit of his blood shall work amongst men. Fifthly, Christ's own Power, to keep inviolable the propriety he hath gotten, My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand, joh. 10.27, 28. Sixthly, the Father's Command unto his Son, This is the Father's will, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, etc. joh. 6.39. Seventhly, Christ's Love and Care. The Church is his Spouse, under his Coverture and protection, and therefore as he hath power and office, so he hath delight to preserve it still. His Love is better able to help, than the malice of the enemy is to hurt. Eighthly, Christ's Intercession, which is not for the world, but for those whom God hath given him out of the world, and those he demandeth of his Father (who heareth him always) in the virtue of that Covenant which between them was ratified, on God's part by a Promise and Oath, and on Christ's part by a Merit and Purchase. Now Christ's Intercession shall last till his returning to judge the world, and therefore still he must have a Church, for whom to intercede. Lastly, Christ's own Promise, to be with the preaching of his Gospel; that is, to give it assistance and success, for the gathering together and perfecting of the Saints unto the End of the world, Matth. 28.20. Here then may be answered two great Questions: First, whether the Church may deficere, fail upon the earth or no? To which I answer, That the Church may be taken either mystically, spiritually, and universally. And in that sense it can never fail, but there must be upon the earth a true Church of Christ, not only certitudine eventus, by the certainty of the event, which is on all sides agreed; but certitudine causa too, by a certainty growing out of those irresistible causes upon which the being of the mystical body of Christ on the earth dependeth. Or it may be considered particularly in the several parts and places of the world where the Gospel is planted; and hierarchically and politically, denoting a company of men, professing the faith of Christ, and reduced into a quiet, peaceable, composed and conspicuous government; and so we affirm that there is no Church in the world so safe, but that it may deficere, fail, and be extinguished out of its place. The Church of the Jews did, and after them any may. Else the Apostles argument even to the Roman Church itself (which was then a famous Church throughout the world, Rom. 1.8. and of that passage in the Apostle, Baron. An. 58 §. 47, 48, 49, 50. Baronius makes a long boast) were very weak, when à majori ad minus he thus argueth, Be not highminded but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Rom. 11.21, 22. Thus we find the ten tribes in their apostasy, till they became Lo-ammi, to be no more a people; Host 1.9. and their brethren after fall in their condition, Wrath, saith the Apostle, is come to the uttermost upon them. 1 Thes. 2.16. And he telleth us that the man of sin, the Son of perdition, should be revealed by Apostasy, 2 Thes. 2.3, 7. 1 Tim. 4.1. Cameron. de Eccles. p. 265-268. to note unto us that Antichrist was to be generated out of the corruption or falling away of some eminent Church, and that, by a mysterious and insensible declination. A second question which may be made is this, that since the Church doth not totally fail from off the earth, whether that which remaineth thereof be always visible? To which we answer, That if we take the Church for the spiritual and mystical body of Christ: * Ex illis omnibus qui intrinse●è & in occulto intus sunt constat ille Ho●tus conclusus, sons signatus, etc. Aug. de Baptism. cont. Donat. li. 5. cap. 27. Alii ita sunt in dom● Dei, ut ipsi etiam sint eadem Domus Dei— Alii ita ut non pertineant ad compagem Domus, etc. De Bapt. l. 7. c. 51. which is indeed the House of God, so it is in a sort still invisible, because the qualities and principles which constitute a man in the body of Christ, as Faith, and the Spirit of Grace, are invisible things. Seen indeed they may be by an eye of Charity, in their fruits, but not by an eye of certainty, in their own infallible being. Secondly, if we take the Church for a company of men professing the true Doctrine of Christ, we answer, that take the men in themselves so truly professing, and impossible it is but their faith should show itself in the fruits thereof, for the kingdom of Christ is in the heart like leaven which will manifest itself in the whole lump, and so we can in all even the worst ages of the Church, show some who have witnessed the truth against that deluge of ignorance, error, and idolatry, which had invaded the world, like grey hairs here and there mingled on a black head; as if you single out fire from the ashes, it will be seen by its own evidence, though it may be so raked up that it is not observed. But then if we speak of these men in aggregato, as concurring to make up a distinct external body, or Church, so we say that the professors of the truth may be so few, and they persecuted, traduced, suppressed, cried down, driven into the wilderness, without any apparent, separated conspicuousness, and government of its own (as in the time of Constantius the emperor the public professors of the Divinity of Christ's person, against the damnable heresy of the Arrians were used) as that in this sense we may justly deny the Church to have been always visible, that is, The few true professors of Christ in power and purity to have had a free, open, uncontroled, distinct ecclesiastical body of their own, notoriously and in conspectu hominum different from that tyrannical and pompous hierarchy under which they suffered: for though Christ rule, yet it is in the midst of his enemies, and the enemies may be so many, and Christ's subjects in whom he rules so few, that the corn may be invisible for the abundance of weeds amongst which it grows, though in itself very apt to be seen. And this giveth a full answer to that Question, where Our Church was before the late Reformation began by Luther: for that Reformation did not new-make the Church, but purge it. And that it stood in need of purging, the Papists themselves were fain to confess, and declare to the world in their Council of Trent. Only herein is the difference, The Council pretended a Reformation in points of Discipline and manners, and we made a Reformation in points of Doctrine too. When Christ purged the Temple of buyers and sellers, it was the same Temple after, which before. When a man separateth the wheat from the chaff, it is the same corn which before. In these corrupter ages than the pure Professor of Christ, who denied not his faith did dwell where Satan had his seat. Vt sub Antichristi sacerdotibus Christi populus non excideret. Hilar. The members of Christ were amongst the Rulers of Antichrist. We are not another Church newly started up, but the same which before from the Apostles times held the common and necessary grounds of Faith and Salvation, which grounds being in latter ages perverted and over-turned by Antichristianisme, have been by valiant Champions for the faith of Christ therefrom vindicated, who have only pruned the Lords Vine, and picked out the stones, and driven out the bores out of his Vineyard, but have not made either one or other new. Now this point that Christ ruleth in the midst of his enemies is ground of great confidence in his Church, in as much as she subsisteth not upon any corruptible strength of her own, but upon the Promise, decree, oath, power and love of God, things invincible by all the Powers of darkness. Let the enemy's rage never so much, they cannot dis-throne Christ, nor extinguish his Gospel, for it is an everlasting Gospel. It is but as the coming forth of a Shepherd against a Lion, as the Prophet compareth it. Revel. 14.16. isaiah. 31.4. jud. v. 24. For either Christ is unable to protect his people, and that is against Saint jude, He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless, etc. or else he is unwilling, and that is against Saint Paul, This is the will of God, 1 Thes. 4.3. even your sanctification; Or else both his Power and his will are suspended upon expectation of humane concurrence, or nullified and disappointed by us, and that is against the influence of his Grace, which giveth us both the will and the deed, Phil. 2.13. against the mercy of his gracious promise: I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, Heb 8.12. Host 14.4. Host 11.9. Mal 3.6. isaiah. 54.9, 10. and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. I will heal their back-slidings, I will save them freely: against the immutability of his Covenant and holy nature, I am God and not man, I change not, therefore the sons of jacob are not destroyed. Now besides this general observation, the words afford some particular notes which I will but briefly touch. As first, That Christ's kingdom in this world is Regnum Crucis, a Kingdom beset with enemies, of all other the most hated and opposed. They that submit unto it must resolve to be herein conformable to their head; a Cross was his Throne, and Thorns were his Crown, and every one which will live godly must suffer persecution, and through many afflictions enter into his Master's Kingdom. Quod erat Christus, erimus Christiani. No marvel if the world hate the Church of Christ, for it hated him first. In his word he is resisted, disobeyed, belied, and, if it were possible, silenced and corrupted; in his officers mocked and misused, in his subjects persecuted and reviled, in his Spirit thrust away and grieved; in his worship neglected and polluted; in all his ways slandered and blasphemed. The Reasons of which strange entertainment of the Kingdom of Christ are, first, because it is a New Kingdom, which enters into the world by way of challenge and dispossession of former lords, and therefore no wonder if it find opposition. Secondly, it is an invisible, unconspicuous, unattended, desolate, and in appearance ignoble kingdom. It began in the form of a servant, in the ignominy of a Cross, joh. 7.48. none of the Princes of this world, 1 Cor. 1.21▪ 22. none of the learned of this world to countenance or help set it up, but amongst them all, esteemed as an offensive and foolish thing. Thirdly, it is an universal kingdom, Nec parem patitur nec superiorem, Christ will admit of no Consorts or Corrivals in his Government. Body, and Soul, and Spirit, 1 Cor. 6.20. 1 Thes. 5.23. Laurent. de La Ba●r. in Tertull. Apolog. cap. 5. he will have wholly and throughout unto himself. And this amongst others is given for the reason, why when Tiberius proposed Christ unto the Roman Senate with the privilege of his own suffrage, to be worshipped, they rejected him, because he would be a God alone. If he would exempt some of the earthly members from his subjection, let lust have the eye, or folly the ear, or violence the hand, or covetousness the heart, or any other evil affection share with him, he would be the easier tolerated; but when he will be absolute, and nothing must remain in our hearts but as his vassal▪ to be spoiled, subdued, condemned, and crucified by him, if the whole state of sin must be ruined, and the body destroyed, no wonder if the world cannot away with him. Fourthly, which is the Sum of all, It is a heavenly Kingdom, a spiritual Kingdom, My Kingdom is not of this world, and therefore no marvel if the devils of hell, and the lusts of the flesh do set themselves against him. Note secondly, even there where Christ's Throne and Kingdom is set up he hath enemies. Revel. 2.13.2.9. Satan hath his seat even where Christ dwelleth. Men may say they are Jews, and are not, but of the Synagogue of Satan, and men may say they are Christians, and are not, but of the kingdom of Satan too. A Wen in the body seemeth to belong unto the integrity of the whole, when indeed it is an enemy and thief therein. Ivy about a tree seemeth to embrace it with much affection, when indeed it doth but kill and choke it. Men may take upon them the profession of Christians, and like a Wen be skinned over with the same outside which the true members have, may pretend much submission, worship, and ceremony unto him, and yet (such is the hellish hypocrisy of the heart) the same men may haply inwardly swell and rankle against the power of his truth and Spirit. * isaiah. 29.13. This people, saith the Lord, draw near me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men. a Gal. 2.4. 2 Pet. 2.1. 1 Tim. 4.1, 2. Col. 2.23 2 Tim. 3.5, 6. Occultae ob●epti●nes, Aug. To. 4 the fid. & op. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Isi●. Pelat. li. 1. Epist. 102. Sub i●so Christiani nominis titulo fallit [inimicus] incautos, etc. Cyp. ●eunit. Eccl. Vsitatissi●a haec H●reticorum fraus de personarum revere●tiá & praetextu pietatis sibi fidem praestruere. vid. Aug. To. 1. De morib. Eccle. l. 1. c. 1. & Epist. 120 c. 37. De peccat. merit. & Remiss. lib. 2. c●p. 16. & l. 3 c. 1. & 3. In the Apostles times there were false brethren, and false teachers, who crept in, to spy out and betray the liberty of the Church, and privily to bring in damnable heresies, and to speak lies in hypocrisy, that is, under the pretext of devotion, and carnal humility, to corrupt the Doctrine of Christ, and under a form of Godliness to deny the Power thereof. Therefore b Rev. 17.1.4. Antichrist is called a Whore, because he should seduce the Christian world with much expression of love, and creep peaceably and by flatteries into the kingdom of Christ: of these several enemies of Christ, under the profession of his name and worship, some are Christians but not in purity, as heretics; some not in unity, as schismatics; some not in sincerity, as hypocrites; some not so much as in external conformity, as evil workers: The heretic corrupteth Christ, the schismatic divideth him, the hypocrite mocketh him, the profane person dishonoureth him, and all deny him. Let us then learn to look unto our hearts, for we may c Psa. 78.36, 37. slatter Christ, when we do not love him; we d Nihil laborant nisi non invenire quod quaerū●. Aug. de Gen. con. Manich. l. 2 c. 2. may inquire and seek early after him, and yet have no desire to find him; we may come unto his school as untoward children, not for love of his Doctrine, but for fear of his rod; we may call him husband, and yet be wedded to our own lusts; we may be baptised in his name, so was e Act 8.13. Simon Magus; we may preach him, so did the f Mat. 7.22. Phil. 1.16. false brethren; we may flock after him, so g joh. 6.26. did the multitude who followed him not for his words or miracles, but for the loaves; we may bow unto him, h Mat. 27.29. so did his crucifiers; we may call upon his name, i Mat. 7.21. so did the hypocrites that said, Lord, Lord, and yet did not enter into the kingdom of heaven; we may confess and believe him, k Luk. 8.28. jam. 2.19. so do the very devils in hell; we may give him our lips, our eyes, our tongues, our knees, our hands, and yet still our kingdom, our throne, our hearts may be Satan's. And all this is to make him but a mock-king as the Jews did, when indeed we crucify him. Note thirdly, Christ's Word and Spirit are stronger than all adverse opposition. This is his Glory that his kingdom cometh in unto him by way of Conquest, as Canaan unto Israel. Therefore at the very first erecting of his kingdom, when, in all presumption, it might most easily have been crushed, he suffered his enemies to vent their utmost malice, and to glut themselves with the blood of his people, that so it might appear, that though they did fight against him, they l isaiah. 8. 7-10. Dan. 2.44. Dan. 7.25, 26. Zech 12.3, 4. isaiah. 31.8. could not prevail against him, but that his counsel should still stand and flourish, and should consume, and break in pieces all the kingdoms which set themselves against it: that they all should be afraid of the Ensign of the Gospel, and should fly from it. This jealousy of God for his Church may be seen, in frustrating the attempts, and pulling off the wheels on which the projects which are cast against his Church do move, as he dealt with Pharaoh. He can dissolve the confederacies, shatter the counsels, cast a spirit of treachery, unfaithfulness, and mutinous affections into the hearts of his enemies, as he did into the Midianites, and into the children of Ammon, judge 17.22. 2 Chr. 20.22, 23. isaiah. 19.9.29▪ 14. Mic. 4.11, 12. isaiah. 37.33, 34. Psal. 33.10, 11. Moab and Edom, when they gathered together against his people. He can infatuate their counsels, and make them the contrivers and artificers of their own ruin, as we see in the consultation of Rehoboam with his young men, and of jeroboam in his idolatrous policy, and of Haman in his gallows. He can defeat their expectations, and disannul their decrees, and make his own Counsel alone to stand. But when all this is done, this is only to rule in spite of his enemies. But besides this, his Kingdom fetcheth his enemies under, and in some sort ruleth over their consciences, and striketh them to the ground; maketh the devils in hell, the stoutest of all sinners to tremble, breaketh the rocks asunder, affrighteth, judgeth, sealeth, hardeneth, jer. 23 29. 2 Cor. 10.6. thresheth, revengeth the pride of men, and maketh them beforehand to taste the bitterness of that damnation, which waketh over them, and cometh swiftly against them. Let us take heed then of being Christ's enemies, in opposing the power and progress of his word, the evidence and purity of his Spirit in the lives of men. It is but to make a combination to pull the Sun out of heaven; or for a wave to contend with a rock; for as the ruins of a house are broken on the things upon which they fall: so are the enemies of Christ, which gather together against his Church, Luke 20.18. and fall upon the rock, at length ruined by their own malice. Sampsons' foxes were themselves burnt amongst the corn which they fired. The land brought forth corn the next year again (and it may be more plentifully by reason of that fire) but the foxes never came up any more. Even so can the Lord deal with those enemies which waste and depopulate his Church, make them the authors of their own utter confusion, and bring forth his Church with shouting, and with doubled graces. Who then is the man that desireth tranquillity of life, and security against all evil? Let him become a subject in this conquering kingdom, and cast himself under the banner and protection of Christ, and he cannot miscarry. He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely. The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous flieth unto it and is safe. The Lord is a Sun and a shield, a Fountain of all good. Grace and Glory will he give, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly: and a protection against all evil; I will not be afraid of ten thousand of men, saith the Prophet David, that compass me about. When there is no light, nor issue, nor in nature possibility of escape, he can open a door of deliverance, to relieve his Church. As a man in the king's highway is under the king's protection: so in Christ's way we are under his protection. Let us than never repine at the miscarriages of the world, nor murmur against the wise proceedings of God in the several dispensation towards his Church on earth: when he punisheth, he doth it in measure, less than our sins deserved; and when we search and try our ways, and return unto him, he knoweth how to work his own glory in our deliverance. Those stones which are appointed for a glorious building are first under the saw, and the hammer, to be hewed and squared; and those Christians in whom the Lord will take most delight, he usually thereunto fitteth by trials and extremities. He that is brought to tremble in himself, may with most confidence expect to rejoice in God. Hab. 3.16. Note fourthly, this is the honour of Christ's kingdom to be a peaceable, quiet, and secure kingdom, not only after the victory, but in the midst of enemies. This man, saith the Prophet of Christ, Mic. 5.5. shall be the peace, when the Assyrian, the enemy, is in the land. We have peace in him, when we have tribulation in the world. Christ saith of himself, I came not to send peace but a sword; and yet the Apostle saith, joh. 16.33. That he came, and preached peace to those which were afar off, Mat. 10.34. Eph. 2.17. and to them which were near. How shall these things be reconciled? Surely as a man may say of a Rock, Nothing more quiet, because it is never stirred, and yet nothing more unquiet, because it is ever assaulted: so we may say of the Church, Nothing more peaceable, because it is established upon a Rock, and yet nothing more unpeaceable, because that rock is in the midst of seas, winds, enemies, persecutions. But yet still the Prophet's Conclusion is certain, The work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness, isaiah. 32.17. quietness and assurance for ever. VERSE 3. Thy people shall be willing in the Day of thy Power, in the Beauties of Holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. THe Prophet before showed the Reign of Christ over his enemies; he now speaketh of his Reign over his people, and describeth what manner of subjects or soldiers Christ should have. I will not trouble you with variety of expositions (occasioned by the many Metaphors, and different translations) but give in a few words those which I conceive to be most literal and pertinent to the place. Thy people] that is, those whom thou dost receive from thy Father, and, by setting up the standard and Ensign of thy Gospel, gather to thyself. Shall be willing] the word is willingnesses, that is, a people of great Willingness and Devotion, or (as the original word is elsewhere used, Psal. 119.108.) shall be free will offerings unto thee. The Abstract being put for the Concrete, and the plural for the singular, Eph. 4.8. Eph. 5.8. notes how exceeding forward and free they should be; as the Lord to signify that his people were most rebellious, saith, that they were Rebellion itself, Ezek. 2.8. So then the meaning is, Thy people shall, with most ready and forward cheerfulness, devote, consecreate, and render up themselves to thy government as a reasonable sacrifice, shall be of a most liberal, free, noble, and unconstrained spirit in thy service, they shall be Voluntaries in the wars of thy Kingdom. In the Day of Thy Power, or Of thine Armies] by these words we may understand two things, both of them aiming at the same general sense: First, so as that [Armies] shall be the same with [Thy people] before; In the Day when thou shalt assemble thy Soldiers together, when thou shalt set up thine Ensigns for them to seek unto, that is, when thou shalt cause the preaching of thy Gospel to sound like a Trumpet, that men may prepare themselves in armies to fight thy battles, then shall all thy people with great devotion and willingness gather themselves together under thy Colours, and freely devote themselves to thy military service. Secondly, so, as that by Power or Armies may be meant the Means whereby this free and willing Devotion in Christ's people is wrought: that is, when thou shalt send forth the Rod of thy strength, when thou shalt command thy Apostles and Ministers to go forth and fight against the kingdoms of Sin and Satan, when thou shalt in the dispensation of thine Ordinances reveal thy Power and spiritual strength unto their Consciences, then shall they most willingly relinquish their former service, and wholly devote themselves unto thee, to fight under thy banners, and to take thy part against all thine enemies. In the Beauties of Holiness] This likewise we may severally understand. Either, in thy Holy Church. Which may well so be called with allusion to the Temple at jerusalem, which is called The Beauty of Holiness, Psal. 29.2. and a Holy and Beautiful house, isaiah. 64.11. and a glorious high throne, jer. 17.12. And hither did the tribes resort in troops, as it were in armies, Psal. 84.7. to present their free will offerings, and celebrate the other services of the Lord. Or else we may understand it Causally, thus; In the Day of thy Power, that is, when thou shalt reveal thy strength and Spirit, and in the Beauties of Holiness, that is, when thou shalt reveal how exceeding beautiful, and full of loveliness thy Holy ways and services are, then shall thy people be persuaded with all free and willing devotion of heart to undertake them. Or lastly, thus; as the Priests who offered sacrifices to the Lord were clothed with Holy and Beautiful garments; Exod. 28.2.40. or as those who in admiration of some noble Prince voluntarily follow the service of his wars, do set themselves forth in the most complete furniture and richest attire as is fit to give notice of the nobleness of their minds: (for * judg. 5.30. Curtius, lib. 3. & 5. vid. Brisson. de Reg. Persarum, lib. 3. pag. 323. — & Tho. Demsteri. ad Rosin. Antiq. paralipom, lib. 10. cap. 1. Cant. 6.4.10. beautiful armour was want to be esteemed the honour of an army.) So they who willingly devote themselves unto Christ, to be Soldiers and Sacrifices unto him, are not only armed with strength, but adorned with such inward graces, as make them Beautiful as Tirza, comely as jerusalem, fair as the Moon, cle●re as the Sun, and terrible as an army with banners. All which three Explications meet in one general, which is principally intended, that Holiness hath all beauties in it, and is that only which maketh a man lovely in the Eyes of Christ. From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.] There is a middle point after those words, [The Womb of the Morning,] which may seem to disjoin the clauses, & make those words refer wholly to the preceding. In which relation, there might be a double sense conceived in them. Either thus, In the Beauties of Holiness, or in Holiness very beautiful more than the Aurora or womb of the morning, when she is ready to bring forth the Sun. And then it is a notable metaphor to express the glorious beauty of God's ways. Or thus, thy people shall be a willing people from the very womb of the morning; that is, from the very first forming of Christ in them, and shining forth upon them, they shall rise out of their former nakedness and security, and shall adorn themselves with the beautiful graces of Christ's Spirit, as with clothing of wrought gold, and raiment of needlework, and shall with gladness and rejoicing, with much devotion and willingness of heart be brought unto the King, and present themselves before him as Voluntaries in his service. Psal. 45.13, 14, 15. But because the learned conceive that the middle point is only a distinction for convenient reading, not a disjunction of the sense, I shall therefore rest in a more received exposition. Thy Children shall be borne in great abundance unto thee, by the seed of thy word, in the womb of the Church, as soon as the morning, or sun of righteousness shall shine forth upon it. As the dew is borne out of the cool morning air as out of a womb, distilling down in innumerable drops upon the earth; so thine elect shall be borne unto thee, by the preaching of thy word and first approach of thy heavenly light, in innumerable armies. And this explication is very suitable to the harmony of Holy Scripture, which useth the same metaphors to the same purpose in other places. Mic. 5.7. Revel. 22.16. Luk. 2.78. Mal. 4.2. Rom. 13.12. 1 john 2.8. The Remnant of jacob, saith the Prophet, shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord. And Christ is called the Bright-morning-starre, and the Dayspring, and the Sun of Righteousness, and time of the Gospel is called the time of Day, or the approach of Day. So that, from the womb of the morning, is from the heavenly light of the Gospel, which is the wing or beam whereby the Sun of Righteousness revealeth himself, and breaketh out upon the world, as the rising Sun, which rejoiceth like a Giant to run his race, shall the succession increase, and armies of the Church of God be continually supplied. The words thus unfolded do contain in them a lively Character of the subjects in Christ's spiritual Kingdom. Described first by their Relation to him, and his propriety to them, Thy People. Secondly, by their present condition, intimated in the word, Willing, or Voluntaries, and (if we take [Thy People] and [Armies] for Synonymous terms. The one notifying the order and quality of the other) expressed in the Text, and that is, to be military men. Thirdly, by their through and universal resignation, subjection, and devotedness unto him. For when he conquereth by his word, his conquest is wrought upon the wills and affections of men. Victorque volentes Per populos dat jura. Thy people shall be willing. The ground of which willingness is further added, (for so chiefly I understand those words) The Day of thy Power. So that the willingness of Christ's subjects is effected by the power of his grace and Spirit in the revelation of the Gospel. Fourthly, By their honourable attire, and military robes, in which they appear before him, and attend upon him, In Beauties of Holiness, or in the various and manifold graces of Christ as in a garment of divers colours. Fiftly and lastly, by their age, multitudes, and manner of their birth; They are the Dew of the morning, as many as the small drops of dew, and they are borne to him out of the womb of the morning, as dew is generated, not on the earth, but in the air, by a Heavenly calling, and by the shining of the morningstar, and dayspring upon their consciences. Ye are all the Children of light, saith the Apostle, and the Children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness, 1 Thess. 5.5. I said before, that I approve not the mincing and crumbling of Holy Scriptures. Yet in these parts of them, which are written for models and summaries of Christian Doctrine, I suppose there may be weight in every word, as in a rich jewel there is worth in every sparkle. Here than first we may take notice of Christ's Propriety to his people. [Thy people] All the Elect and Believers do a Matth. 1.21. joh. 10.3. Cant. 2.16.7.10. belong unto Christ. They are His People. They are his Own sheep. There is a mutual and reciprocal propriety between him and them. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. His desire is towards me. His, I say, not as he is God only, by a right of inseparable dominion as we are his creatures. For all things were b Col. 1.16, 17. Rom. 9.5. created by him and for him. And he is over all, God blessed for ever. Nor his only as he is the c Heb. 1.2, 3.2.7, 8. firstborn and the heir of all things. In which respect he is Lord of the Angels, and God hath set him over all the works of his hands. But as he is the mediator and head in his Church. In which respect the faithful are his by a more peculiar propriety. d isaiah. 63.19. We are thine, thou never barest rule over them, they were not called by thy name. The Devils are his Vassals. The wicked of the world his prisoners. The faithful only are his subjects and followers. His jewels, his Friends, his Brethren, his Sons, his Members, his Spouse. His, by all the relations of intimateness that can be named. Now this Propriety Christ hath unto us upon several grounds. First, by Constitution and Donation from his Father. Act. 2.36. Eph. 1.22. Psal. 2.8. isaiah. 8.18. joh. 17.6. God hath made him Lord and Christ. He hath put all things under his feet, and hath given him to be Head over all things to the Church. Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Behold, I and the Children whom thou hast given me. Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me. For as in regard of God's justice we were bought by Christ in our redemption, so in regard of his love we were given unto Christ in our election, that he might redeem us. Secondly, by a right of purchase, treaty, and covenant between Christ and his Father. For we, having sold away ourselves, and being now in the enemy's possession, could not be restored unto our primitive estate without some intervening price to redeem us. Therefore saith the Apostle, he was made under the Law, Gal. 4.5. 1 Cor. 6.20. Tit. 2.14. Heb. 7 22. Rom. 3.25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that he might Buy out those that were under the Law. And again, ye are Bought with a price. He was our surety, and stood in our stead, and was set forth to declare the righteousness of God. God dealt in grace with us, but in justice with him. Thirdly, by a right of conquest and deliverance. He hath plucked us out of our enemy's hands, he hath dispossessed and spoiled those that ruled over us before, he hath delivered us from the power of Satan, and translated us into his own Kingdom; we are his free men, Luk. 11.22. isaiah. 26.13, 14, 15. Ingratus Libertus qui Patrono non praestat obsequium. josh. 9.26, 27. he only hath made us free from the Law of sin and death, and hath rescued us as spoils out of the hands of our enemies, and therefore we are become his servants, and owe obedience unto him as our Patron and deliverer. As the Gibeonites when they were delivered from the sword of the children of Israel, were thereupon made hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the congregation: So we being rescued out of the hands of those tyrannous Lords which ruled over us, do now owe service and subjection unto him that hath so mercifully delivered us. Rom. 6.18.7.6. Being made free from sin (saith the Apostle) ye become the Servants of Righteousness. And, we are delivered from the Law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of Spirit. And again, 2 Cor. 5.15. He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. Fourthly, by covenant and stipulation. I entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine. Therefore in our Baptism we are said to be Baptised into Christ, and to put on Christ, Ezek. 16.8. Rom. 6.3, 5. Gal. 3.27. Act. 19.5. and to be Baptised into his name, that is, wholly to consecrate and devote ourselves to him as the servants of his family. Therefore they which were Baptised in the ancient a Socrat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 17. Laurent. de la Bar. in Tertull. lib. de Coron. milit. cap 1. Ambros. Tom. 4. lib. de iis qui mysterijs initiantur, cap. 7. Church were wont to put on white raiment, as it were the Livery and Badge of Christ, a Testimony of that purity and service which therein they vowed unto him. And therefore it is that we still retain the ancient form of vow, promise, or profession in Baptism, which b Tertull. de Corona milit. cap. 3. & de spectaculis, cap 4. Ambros. To. 4. de Sacram. lib. 1. c. 2. Basil. Mag. To. 2. de Spir. Sancto. cap. 11. Nid. Brisson. Comment. in lib. Dominico, etc. pag. 137. was to renounce the Devil, and all his works, the world, with the pomp, luxury and pleasures thereof. And this is done in a most solemn and deliberate manner by way of answer to the question and demand of Christ. For which purpose S. Peter calleth Baptism c 1 Pet. 3.21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Answer, or the interrogative trial of a good conscience towards God. He that conformeth himself to the fashions, and setteth his heart upon the favours, preferment, empty applause, and admiration of the world, that liveth d Eph. 2.2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, according to the rules and courses and sinful maxims of worldly men, in such indifferency, compliancie and connivance as may flatter others and delude himself; he that is freely and customarily overruled by the temptations of Satan, that yieldeth to looseness of heart, to vanity of thoughts, lusts of eye, pride of life, luxury, intemperance, impurity of mind or body, or any other earthly and inordinate affection, is little better in the sight of God than a perjured, & a runagate person, flinging off from that service unto which he had bound himself by a solemn vow, and robbing Christ of that interest in him which by a mutual stipulation was agreed upon. Lastly, by the virtue of our communion with him, and participation of his grace and fullness. All that we are in regard of Spirit and life is from him, e 2 Cor. 12.11. We are nothing of ourselves. And we f joh. 15.5. can do nothing of ourselves. All that we are is from the grace of Christ. g 1 Cor. 15.10. By the grace of God I am what I am. And all that we do is from the grace of Christ, h Phil. 4.13. I am able to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me. As when we do evil, i Rom. 7 20. it is not we ourselves, but sin that dwelleth in us: So when we do good, it is k Gal. 2.20. not we, but Christ that liveth in us. So that in all respects we are not our own, but his that died for us. Now this being a point of so great consequence, needful it is that we labour therein to try & secure ourselves that we belong unto Christ. isaiah 29.13. For which purpose we must note that a man may belong unto Christ two manner of ways: First, by a mere external profession. So all in the visible Church that call themselves Christians, are his, and his word and oracles theirs. In which respect they have many privileges, (as the Apostle showeth of the jews.) Yet notwithstanding such men continuing unreformed in their inner man, are nearer unto cursing than others, and subject unto a sorer condemnation, for despising Christ in his word, and Spirit, with whom in their Baptism they made so solemn a covenant. For God will not suffer his Gospel to be cast away, isaiah. 55.10, 11. but will cause it to prosper unto some end or other, either to save those that believe; or to cumulate the damnation of those that disobey it. He will be more careful to cleanse his garner, and to purge his floor, Luk. 3.17. than of other empty and barren places. A weed in the garden is in more danger of rooting out than in the open field. Such belong unto Christ, no otherwise than Ivy to the tree unto which it externally adheres. Secondly, a man may belong unto Christ by Implantation into his Body: Which is done by faith. But here we are to note that as some branches in a tree have a more faint and unprofitable fellowship with the root than others; as having no further strength than to furnish themselves with leaves, but not with fruit: so, according unto the several virtues or kinds of faith, may the degrees of men's in grafture into Christ be judged of. jam. 2 26. There is a dead, unoperative faith, which like Adam after his fall hath the nakedness thereof covered only with leaves, with mere formal & hypocritical conformities. And there is an unfeigned, lively, 1 Tim. 1.5. and effectual faith; which is available to those purposes for which faith was appointed, namely to justify the person, to purify the heart, to quench temptations, to carry a man with wisdom and an unblameable conversation through this present world, to work by love, to grow and make a man abound in the service of the Lord. And this distinction our Saviour giveth us, That there are some branches in him which bear not fruit, and those he taketh away: joh. 15.2. And others which bear fruit, and those he purgeth that they may bring forth more. Those only are the branches, which he desires to own. And thus to belong unto Christ is that only which maketh us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. A purchased, a peculiar people unto him. And there are several ways of evidencing it. I will only name two or three, and most in the Text. First, we must know that Christ is a Morningstar, a Sun of Righteousness, and so ever comes to the soul with selfe-evidencing properties. Unto him belongeth that royal prerogative, to write Teste Meipso in the hearts of men, to be himself the witness to his own Acts, purchases, and covenants. Therefore his Spirit came in tongues of fire, and in a mighty wind, all which have several ways of manifesting themselves, and stand not in need of any borrowed or foreign confirmations. If Christ then be in the heart he will discover himself. His Spirit is the Original of Grace and strength, as concupiscence is of sin. It is a seed in the heart which will spring up and show itself. And therefore as lust doth take the first advantage of the faint and imperfect stir of the reasonable soul in little infants, to evidence itself in pride, folly, stubborness, and other childish sins: So the Spirit of grace in the heart cannot lie dead, but will work, and move, and as a Spirit of burning by the light, heat, purging, comforting, inflaming, combating virtue which is in it, make the soul which was barren, and settled on the lees, and unacquainted with any such motions before▪ stand amazed at its own alteration, and say with Rebekah, If it be so, why am I thus? Externals may be imitated by art; but no man can paint the soul or the life, or the sense and motion of creature. Now Christ and his Spirit are the internal forms, and active principles in a Christian man, Christ liveth in us, when Christ who is our Life shall appear, etc. Therefore impossible it is that any hypocrite should counterfeit, and by consequence obscure those intimate and vital workings of his grace in the soul, whereby he evidenceth himself thereunto. It is true, a man that feareth the Lord may walk in darkness, and be in such discomforts as he shall see no light; and yet even in that condition Christ doth not want properties to evidence himself, in tenderness of conscience, fear of sin, striving of Spirit with God, closeness of heart and constant recourse to him in his word, and the like; only the soul is shut up and overclowded that it cannot discern him. Eph. 1.14. 1 joh. 4.3. The Spirit of Christ is a Seal, a witness, an earnest, an handsel, a first fruit of that fullness which is promised hereafter. It is Christ's own Spirit, and therefore fashioneth the hearts of those in whom it is unto his heavenly image, to long for more comprehension of him, for more conformity unto him, for more intimacy and communion with him, for more grace, wisdom, and strength from him; it turneth the bent and course of the soul from that earthly and sensual end unto which it wrought before, as a good branch having been engrafted into a wild stock converteth the sap of a Crab into pleasant fruit. Again, if a man be one of Christ's people, than there hath a day of power passed over him, the sword of the Spirit hath entered into him, he hath been conquered by the rod of Christ's strength, he hath felt john's axe laid to the root of his conscience, and hath been persuaded by the terror of the Lord; for the coming of Christ is with shaking: the conscience hath felt a mighty operation in the Word, though to other men it hath passed over like empty breath; for the Word worketh effectually in those that believe, and bringeth about the purposes for which it was sent. To those that are called it is the power of God, 1 Cor. 1.22. Again, where Christ comes, he comes with beauty and holiness, Ezek. 16.9.14. those who lay in their blood and pollutions before bare & naked, are made exceeding beautiful, and renowned for their beauty, perfect through the comeliness which he puts upon them. Esay 61.3. He comes unto the soul with beauty and precious oil, and garments of praise, that is, with comfort, joy, peace, healing, to present the Church a Holy Church without spot or wrinkle to his Father. Lastly, where Christ cometh, he cometh with a womb of the morning, john 7.38.15.2. with much light to acquaint the soul with his truth and promises; and with much fruitfulness, making the heart, which was barren before, to flow with rivers of living water, Cant. 4.2. to bring forth fruit more and more, and to abound in the works of the lord Esay 32.15. These are the particular evidences of our belonging to Christ in the Text, and by these we must examine ourselves. Rom. 7.4. Do I find in my soul the new name of the Lord jesus written, that I am not only in title, but in truth a Christian? Do I find the secret nature and figure of Christ fashioned in me, swaying mine heart to the love and obedience of his holy ways? Do I hear the voice, and feel the hand and judicature of his blessed Spirit within me, leading me in a new course, ordering mine inner man, sentencing and crucifying mine earthly members? Am I a serious and earnest enemy to my original lusts, and closest corruptions? Do I feel the workings and kindle of them in mine heart with much pain and mourning, with much humiliation for them, and deprecation against them? Is Christ my centre? Do I find in mine heart a willingness to be with him, as well here in his word, ways, promises, directions, comforts, yea, in his reproaches and persecutions, as hereafter in his glory? Is it the greatest business of my life to make myself more like him, to walk as he also walked, to be as he was in this world, to purify myself even as he is pure? Hath the terror of his wrath persuaded me, and shaken my conscience out of its carnal security, and made me look about for a refuge from the wrath to come, and esteem more beautiful than the morning brightness the feet of those who bring glad tidings of deliverance and peace? Hath his Gospel an effectual seminal virtue within me to new form my nature and life daily unto his heavenly Image? Is it an engrafted word which mingleth with my conscience, and hideth itself in my heart, actuating, determining, moderating, and overruling it to its own way? Am I cleansed from my filthiness, careful to keep myself chaste, comely, beautiful, a fit spouse for the fairest of ten thousand? Do I rejoice in his light, walking as a child of light, living as an heir of light, going on like the Sun unto the perfect day labouring to abound always in the work of the Lord? Then I may have good assurance that I belong unto Christ. And if so, that will be a seminary of much comfort to my soul. For first, if we are Christ's, than he careth for us, for propriety is the ground of care. He that is an hireling, joh 10.12, 13, 14. saith our Saviour, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, etc. Because he is an hireling he careth not for the sheep. But I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine, Ezek. 34. 11-15. because they are mine, therefore I am careful of them. He watcheth over us, he searcheth and seeketh us out in our straggling, and feedeth us. This is the principal argument we have to believe, that God will look upon us for good, notwithstanding our manifold provocations, because he is pleased to own us, and to take us as his own peculiar people. Though the Church be full of ruins, Heb. 3.5, 6. yet because it is his own house, he will repair it; Ezek. 16.8, 9 though it be black aswell as comely, yet because it is his own Spouse, he will pity and cherish it; Ezek. 15.5. though it bring forth wild grapes, and be indeed meet for no work, yet because it is his own vine, planted by his own right hand, Psal. 80.15. and made strong for himself, he will therefore be careful to fence and prune it. This is the only argument we have to prevail with God in prayer, that in Christ we call him Father, we present ourselves before him, Esay 63. 8-19. as his own, we make mention of no other Lord or name over us, and therefore he cannot deny us the things which are good for us. Esay 26.13. Secondly, if we are Christ's, than he will certainly purge us, and make the members suitable to the head. I swore unto thee, and entered into covenant with thee, saith the Lord, Ezek. 16.8, 9 and thou becamest mine, and immediately it follows, than washed I thee with water, yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee. john 15.2. Every branch in ●e that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Tit. 2.14. He purifieth to himself a peculiar people: If we be his peculiar people, and set apart for himself (as the Prophet David speaks) he will undoubtedly purify us; Psal. 4 3. that we may be honourable vessels, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. He will furnish us with all such supplies of the spirit of grace, 2 Tim. 2.21. as the condition of that place in his body requires, in the which he hath set us. Grace and glory will he give, and no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly, our propriety to Christ giveth us right unto all good things: All is yours, and you are Christ's. Thirdly, if we are Christ's, than he will spare us. This was the argument which the Priest was to use between the Porch and the Altar, Spare thy people, O Lord, joel 2.17, 18. and give not thine heritage to reproach. Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land, and pity his people. Exod 32.12. Numb. 14.13. Esay 64.9. Malac. 3.17. They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day that I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Of my servant, to whom I give wages for the merit of his work, not out of love or grace, I expect a service proportionable to the pay he receives: But in my child I reward not the dignity of the work, but only the willingness, the loving and obedient disposition of the heart; and therefore I pass over those failings and weaknesses which discover themselves for want of skill or strength, and not of love, praising the endeavours, and pardoning the miscarriages. Thus doth the Lord deal with his children. Fourthly, if we be Christ's he will pray for us, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, john 17.9, 10. for they are thine; and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, etc. so that we shall be sure to have help in all times of need, john 11.42. because we know that though Father heareth his Son always; and those things which in much fear, weakness, and ignorance we ask for ourselves, if it be according to Gods will, and by the dictate and mouth of the Spirit in our heart, Christ himself in his intercession demandeth for us the same things. And this is the ground of that confidence which we have in him, 1 john 5.14. that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us, and we have the petitions that we desire of him: For as the world hateth us, because it hateth him first; so the Father loveth and heareth us, because he loveth and heareth him first. Fifthly, if we be Christ's, than he will teach us, and commune with us, and reveal himself unto us, and lead us with his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them, john 10.3, 4. and putteth them forth, and goeth before them. Because Israel was his own people, therefore he showed them his words. Psal. 147.19. john 8.17. The Law was theirs, and the Oracles theirs, when he entereth into covenant with a people, that they become his, than he writeth his Law in their hearts, and teacheth them. This is the Prophet David's argument, Psal. 119.125. I am thy servant, give me understanding: Because I am thine in a special relation, therefore acquaint me with thee in an especial manner. The earth is full of thy mercy, Vers. 64. there is much of thy goodness revealed to all the nations of the world, even to those that are not called by thy name: but as for me whom thou hast made thine own by a nearer relation, let me have experience of a greater mercy, Teach me thy Statutes. jer. 30.10, 11. Sixthly, if we be his, he will chastise us in mercy, and not in fury, though he leave us not altogether unpunished, yet he will punish us less than our iniquities deserve; he will not deal with us as with others: Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee, Ezra 9.13. yet I will not make a full end of thee, Qui trucidat non considerat quemadmodum laniat, qui curate, consider at quemadmodum secat. Aug. but I will correct thee in measure. I will correct thee to cure, but not to ruin thee. The second thing considered in the words, was the Present condition of the people of Christ, which was to be military men, to join with the armies of Christ against all his enemies. As he was, so must we be in this world; no sooner was Christ consecrated by his solemn Baptism unto the work of a Mediator, but presently he was assaulted by the Tempter: And no sooner doth any man give up his name to Christ, and break loose from that hellish power under which he was held, but presently Pharaoh and his hosts, Satan and his confederates pursue him with deadly fury, and pour out floods of malice and rage against him. Hell and death are at truce with wicked men, Esay 28.15. there is a covenant and agreement betwixt them, Satan holdeth his possession in peace: Luke 11.21. but when a stronger than he cometh upon, and overcommeth him, there is from that time implacable venom● and hostility against such a soul; the malice, power, policy, stratagems, and machianations of Satan; the lusts and vanities, the pleasures, honours, profits, persecutions, frowns, flatteries, snares of the wicked world: the affections, desires, inclinations, deceits of our own fleshly hearts, will ever ply the soul of a Christian, and force it to perpetual combats. There is in Satan an everlasting enmity against the glory, mercy, and truth of God, against the power and mystery of the Gospel of Christ. This malice of his exerciseth itself against all those that have given themselves to Christ, whose Kingdom he mightily laboureth to demolish: by his power persecuting it, by his craftiness and wily insinuations undermining it; by his vast knowledge and experience in palliating, altering, mixing, proportioning, and measuring his temptations and spiritual wickedness in such manner, as that he may subvert the Church of Christ, either in the purity thereof, by corrupting the doctrine of Christ with heresy, and his worship with idolatry and superstition; or in the unity thereof, by pestering it with schism and distraction; or in the liberty thereof, by bondage of conscience, or in the progress and enlargement thereof, endeavouring to blast and make fruitless the ministry of the Gospel. And this malice of Satan is wonderfully set on and encouraged both by the corruption of our nature, those armies of lusts and affections which swarm within us, entertaining, joining force, and co-operating with all his suggestions; disheartening, reclaiming, and pulling back the soul when it offers to make any opposition; and also by the men, and materials of this evil world. By the examples, the threats, the interests, the power, the intimacy, the wit, the tongues, the hands, the exprobrations, the persecutions, the insinuations and seductions of wicked men. By the profits, the pleasures, the preferments, the acceptation, credit and applause of the world. By all which means Satan most importunately pursueth one of these two ends, either to subvert the godly by drawing them away from Christ to apostasy, formality, hypocrisy, spiritual pride, and the like, or else to Discomfort them with diffidence, doubts, sight of sin, opposition of the times, vexation of spirit, and the like afflictions. And these oppositions of Satan meet with a Christian in every respect or consideration, under which he may be conceived: consider him in his spiritual estate, in his several parts, in his temporal relations, in his Actions or employments; and in all these Satan is busy to overturn the Kingdom of Christ in him. In his spiritual estate, if he be a weak Christian, he assaulteth him with perpetual doubts and fears touching his election, conversion, adoption, perseverance, christian liberty, strength against corruptions, companies, temptations, persecutions, etc. if he be a strong Christian, he laboureth to draw him unto selfe-confidence, spiritual pride, contempt of the weak, neglect of further proficiency, and the like. There is no natural part or faculty which is not aimed at likewise by the malice of Satan, for Christ when he comes, takes possession of the whole man, and therefore Satan sets himself against the whole man. Corporeal and sensitive faculties tempted either to sinful representations, letting in and transmitting the provisions of lust unto the heart, by gazing and glutting themselves on the objects of the world: or to sinful executions, finishing and letting out those lusts which have been conceived in the heart. The fantasy tempted by Satanical injections and immutations to be the forge of loose, vain, unprofitable, and unclean thoughts. The understanding to earthly wisdom, vanity, infidelity, prejudices, misperswasions, fleshly reasonings, vain speculations and curiosities, etc. The will to stiffness, resistance, dislike of holy things, and pursuit of the world. The conscience to deadness, immobility, and a stupid benumbedness, to slavish terrors and evidences of hell, to superstitious bondage, to carnal security, to desperate conclusions. The affections to independence, distraction, excess, precipitancy, etc. In temporal conditions, there is no estate of health, wealth, peace, honour, estimation, or the contraries unto these: no relation of husband, father, magistrate, subject, etc. unto which Satan hath not such suitable suggestions, as by the advantage of fleshly corruptions may take from them occasion to draw a man from God. Lastly, in regard of our actions and employments, whether they be Divine, such as respect God, as acts of piety, in reading, hearing, meditating, and studying his Word, in calling upon his name, and the like, or such as respect ourselves, as acts of temperance and sobriety, personal examinations, and more particular acquaintance with our own hearts: or such as respect others, as acts of righteousness, charity, and edification. Or whether they be actions natural, such as are requisite to the preservation of our being, as sleep and diet: or actions civil, in our callings or recreations, in all these Satan laboureth either to pervert us in the performance of them, or to divert us from it. There is then no condition, faculty, relation, or action of a Christian man, the which is not always under the eye and envy of a most raging, wise, and industrious enemy. And therefore, great reason there is, that Christians should be Military men, well instructed in the whole armour of God, that they may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil, and to quench all his fiery darts. It is our calling to wrestle against principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places, to resist the devil, to strive against sin, to mortify earthly members, to destroy the body of sin, to deny ourselves, to contradict the reasonings of the flesh, to check and control the stir of concupiscence, to resist and subdue the desires of our evil hearts, to withstand and answer the assaults of Satan, to outface the scorns, and despise the flatteries of the present world, in all things to endure hardness as the soldiers of jesus Christ. Our cause is righteous, our captain is wise and puissant, our service honourable, our victory certain, our reward massy and eternal, so that in all respects great encouragements we have to be voluntaries in such war, the issue whereof is our enemy's perdition, our Master's honour, and our own Salvation. The third thing observed was the through and universal Resignation and devotedness of Christ's people unto him. Thy people shall be willing, or a people of great devotion in the day of thy Power. From whence I shall gather two observations: First, They that belong unto Christ as his people are most throughly and willingly subject unto his government, do consecrate, resign, and yield up their whole souls and bodies to serve in his wars against all his enemies. For the distinct understanding of which point we are to observe first, that by nature we are utterly unwilling to be subject unto Christ. Rom. 8.7, 8, 10. The carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. For if Christ be over us, the body of sin must dye; it once crucified him, and he will be revenged upon it. By nature we are willingly subject unto no Law, but the Law of our members, Mal. 3.17. 1 Sam. 15.23. nor to no will, but the will of the flesh; full of contumacy, rebellion, and stoutness of spirit against the truth and beauty of the word or ways of God. The Love of corrupted nature is wholly a Eccles. 8.11. Prov. 14.14. set upon our own ways, as an b jer. 2.24.8.6. Host 4.16. untamed heifer, or a wild ass; men c jer. 2.20. wander, and d jer. 31.22. go about, and e isaiah. 57.10. weary themselves in their full compass and swinge of lust, and will not be turned. And therefore it is that they bid God f job 21.14. depart from them, and desire not the knowledge of his ways, that they leave the paths of uprightness, that having g Deut. 32.5. crooked hearts of their own, they labour likewise to pervert and h Gal. 1.7. 2 Pet. 3.16. make crooked the Gospel of Christ, that they may from thence steal countenance to their sins, contrary to that holy affection of i Psal. 5.8. David, Make my way straight before me, that they k Mal. 1.13. snuff and rage, and l Nehem. 9.29. pull away the shoulder, and m Act. 7.51. fall backward, and n Act. 7.39. thrust away God from them. And hence it is that men are so apt to cavil, and foolishly to charge the ways of God; first, as grievous ways; too full of austerity, narrowness and restraint. o Matth. 25.24 I knew that thou wert an austere man; and this is an p joh. 6.60. hard saying, who can bear it? q Amos 7.10. The land is not able to bear all his words. r Prov. 22.13. There is a Lion in the way, a certain damage and unavoidable mischief will follow me if I keep in it. Thus as s Num. 13.31.14.1, 4. Nehe. 9.16, 17. Israel when they heard of Giants and sons of Anak, had no heart to Canaan, but cried, and whined, and rebelled, and mutined, and in their heart turned back into Egypt, that is, had more will to their own bondage, than to God's Promise: so when a natural man hears of walking in a narrow way with much exactness and circumspection, that come what bait of preferment, pleasure, profit or advantage will, yet he must not turn to the right hand or to the left, nor commit the least evil for the greatest good: that as the people in the wilderness were to go only where the cloud and pillar of God's presence led them, though he carried them through giants, terrors, and temptations: so a Christian must resolve to follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth; He t jer. 11.10. than turneth back to his iniquities, and refuseth to hear the words of the Lord. Secondly, as unprofitable ways: u Psal. 4.6. for who will show us any good, is the only language of carnal men: x job 21.17. What can the Almighty do for us, say the wicked in job? y Mal. 3.14, 15. It is in vain to serve God, what profit have we that we have kept his ordinances, & c? If we must take our conscience along in all the businesses of our life, there will be no living in the world; notwithstanding z Mic. 2.7. 1 Tim. 4.8. 1 Sam. 2.30. the Lord saith, that his words do good to those that walk uprightly, that godliness hath the Promises even of this life; that God will honour those that honour him. Thirdly, as * Ezek. 18.25. unequal, and unreasonable ways, as a a 1 Pet. 4.4. isaiah. 8.18. Zech. 3.8. 1 Cor. 1.21. strange, a mad, and a foolish strictness, rather the meteor of a speculative brain, than a thing of any real existence, rather votum than veritas, a wish or figment, than a solid truth. And from such prejudices as these men grow to wrestle with the Spirit of Christ, to withstand his motions, to quench his suggestions, and to dispute against him. b Host 4.4. This people are as they that strive with the priest, such a bitter and unreconcilable enmity there is between the two seeds. Secondly, we may observe, that notwithstanding this natural averseness, yet many by the Power of the Word are wrought violently and compulsorily to tender some unwilling services to Christ, by the spirit of bondage, by the fear of wrath, by the evidences of the curse due to sin, and by the wakefulness of the conscience. c jer. 2.27. Host 5.5, 6. 2 King. 17.25, 26. They have turned their back unto me, and not their face, saith the Lord; that notes the disposition of their will. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, Arise and save us, that notes their compulsorie and unnatural devotion. They shall go with their flocks and their herds, that is, with their pretended sacrifices, and external ceremonies to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself. As when the Lord sent Lions amongst the Samaritans, than they sent to inquire after the manner of his worship, fearing him, but yet still serving their own Gods. But this compulsory obedience doth not proceed from d Qui gehennas metuit, non peccare metuit, sed ardere, ille autem peccare metuit, qui peccatum ipsum sicut gehennas odit. Aug. Epi. 144. In ipsa intus voluntate peccat, qui non voluntate, sid ●imore non peccat, Idem con. 2. Ep●. Pelag. li. 1. cap. 9 & lib. 2. cap. 9 Non sicut feram & timeo & odi, ita etiam patrem vereor quem timeo & amo. Cle. Alex. storm. li. 2. a fear of sin but a fear of hell. And that plainly appears e Aug de Natur. & Grat. cap. 57 cont. 2. ep Pelag. l. 3. c. 4. & To 4 li. de Spi. & lit. cap. ult. in the readiness of such men to apprehend all advantages for enlarging themselves, and in making pretences to flinch away and steal from the Word of Grace, in consulting with carnal reason to silence the doubts, to untie the knots, and to break the bonds of the conscience asunder, and to turn into every diverticle which a corrupted heart can shape, in taking every occasion and pretext to put God off, and delay the payment of their service unto him. Thus Felix f Act. 24.25. when he was frighted with the discourse of Saint Paul put it off with pretence of some further convenient season; and the g Hag. 1.2. unwilling Jews in the time of re-edifying the temple at Jerusalem, This people say the time is not come, the time that the Lords house should be built; in slighting the warnings and distinguishing the words of Scripture out of their spiritual and genuine purity, and so h Ier 5.12, 13.6.10. belying the Lord, and saying, It is not he. The word of the Lord, saith the Prophet, is to them a reproach, they have no delight in it, that is, they esteem me when I preach thy words unto them rather as a slanderer than as a Prophet: Wouldst thou then know the nature of thy devotion? Abstract all conceits of danger, all workings of the spirit of bondage, the fear of wrath, the preoccupations of hell, the estuations and sweating of a troubled conscience, and if all these being secluded, thou i Nec si per hypo the sin d Deo po testalem acceperu ●acundi ●a quae sunt prohi●ita●●tra ullan. ●aena●:— sed 〈◊〉 persuasum habae 〈◊〉▪ fore, ut Deum lat●ant quae gerit, in anim●m u●quam inda ●ut aliqu●d 〈◊〉 prae●er 〈…〉 A● x. ●●om. l. 4. canst still afford to dedicate thyself to Christ, and be greedily ambitious of his image, that is an evident assurance of an upright heart. Thirdly, we may observe, that by the Power of the Word there may yet be further wrought in natural men a certain Velleit●e, a languide and incomplete will, k Vi●. Aquin▪ 〈◊〉 3. cue 21. art. 4. ●. Semis▪ 〈…〉 atque 〈…〉 & 〈◊〉 volu●tatem, &c ●ug confess▪ l 8 c 8. bounded with secret reservations, exceptions, and conditions of its own, which maketh it upon every new occasion mutable and inconstant. When l jer. 42.3, 5, 6.2. ● 43.2. the hypocritical jews came with such a solemn protestation unto the Prophet jeremy, The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee unto us, etc. I suppose they then meant as they spoke, and yet this appears in the end to have been but a velleity and incomplete resolution, a zealous pang of that secret hypocrisy which in the end discovered itself, and broke forth into manifest contradiction: when m ● King. 8.13. Hazael answered the Prophet, Is thy servant a dog that he should do thus and thus? he then meant no otherwise than he spoke, upon the first representation of those bloody facts, he abhorred them as belluine and prodigious villainies; and yet this was but a velleity and fit of good nature for the time which did easily wear out with the alteration of occasions. When judas asked Christ, n Mat. 26.5. Master is it I that shall betray thee? (though a man can conceive no hypocrisy too black to come out of the hell of judas his heart) yet possible, and peradventure probable it may be, that hearing at that time and believing that woeful judgement pronounced by Christ against his betrayer, It had been good for that man if he had never been borne, he might then upon the pang and surprisal of so fearful a doom secretly and suddenly relent, and resolve to forsake his purpose of treason; which yet when that storm was over, and his covetous heart was tempted with a bribe, did fearfully return and gather strength again. When the people returned and inquired early, and remembered God their Maker, they were in good earnest for the time, and yet that was a velleity, and ungrounded devotion, their heart was not right towards him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant. When o 1 Sam. 24. 1●, 19 Saul out of the force of natural ingenuity, did upon the evidence of David's integrity, who slew him not when the Lord had delivered him into his hands, relent for the time, and weep, and acknowledge his righteousness above his own, he spoke all this in earnest as he thought; and yet we find that he afterwards returned to pursue him again, and was once more by the experience of David's innocence reduced unto the same acknowledgement. The people in one place would have made Christ a King, so much did they seem to honour him, and yet at another time when their over-pliable and unresolved affections were wrought upon by the subtle pharisees, they cried against him, as against a slave, Crucify him, crucify him; so may it be in the general services of God, men may have wish and woulding, and good liking of the truth, and some faint and floating resolutions to pursue it▪ which yet having no firm root, nor proceeding from the whole bent of the heart, from a through mortification of sin and evidence of Grace, but from such weak and wavering principles, as may be perturbed by every new temptation, like letters written in sand, they vanish away like a morning dew, and leave the heart as hard and scorched as it was before. The young man whom for his ingenuity and forwardness Christ loved came in a sad and serious manner to learn of Christ the way to heaven: and yet we find there were secret reservations which he had not discerned in himself, upon discovery whereof by Christ he was discouraged and made repent of his resolution, Mark● 10.21, 22. The Apostle speaketh of a Repentance not to be repent of, 2 Cor. 7.10. which hath firm, solid, and permanent reasons to support it, therein secretly intimating that there is likewise a Repentance, which rising out of an incomplete will, and admitting certain secret and undiscerned reservations, doth upon the appearance of them, flag and fall away, and leave the unfaithful heart to repent of its repentance. Saint james tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, jam. 1.8. never uniform nor constant to any rules. Now this division of the mind stands thus; The heart on the one side is taken up with the pleasures of sin for the present; and on the other with the desires of salvation for the future; and now according as the workings and representations of the one or other are at the time more fresh and predominant, in like manner is sin for that time either cherished or suppressed. Many men at a good Sermon, when the matter is fresh and newly presented, while they are looking on their face in the glass; or in any extremity of sickness, when the provisions of lust do not relish for the present, when they have none but thoughts of salvation to depend upon, are very resolute to make promises, vows, and professions of better living; but when the pleasures of sin grow strong to present themselves again, they return like a man recovered of an ague with more stomach and greediness to their lusts again. As water which hath been stopped for a while rusheth with the more violence, when its passages are opened. A double heart is like the boles of a Scale, according as more weight is put into one or other, so are they indifferently overruled unto either motion, up or down. When I see a vapour ascend out of the earth into the air, why should I not think that it will never leave rising till it get up to heaven? and yet because the motion is not natural, but caused either by expulsion from a heat within, or by attraction from a heat without, when the cause of that ascent is abated, and the matter gathers together into a thicker consistence, it grows heavy and falls down again. Even such is the affection of those faint & unresolved desires of men who like Agrippa are but halfe-perswaded to believe in Christ. But now lastly we must observe, that in the day of Christ's power, when he by his word and Spirit worketh effectually in the hearts of men, they are then made freewill offerings, Totally willing to obey and serve him in all conditions. The heart of every one stirreth him up, and his Spirit maketh him willing for the work and service of the Lord, Exod. 35.21. They yield themselves unto the Lord, and their members as weapons of righteousness unto him, 2 Chron. 30.8. Rom. 6.19. They offer and present themselves to God as a living Sacrifice; and therefore they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an oblation sanctified by the Holy Ghost, Rom. 12.1. Rom. 15.16. Therefore they are said to come unto Christ, by the virtue of his Fathers teaching, joh. 6.45. To run unto him, isaiah. 55.5. To gather themselves together under him as a common head, and to flow or flock together with much mutual encouragement unto the mountain of the Lord, Host 1.11. isaiah. 2.2, 3. To wait upon him in his Law, isaiah. 42.4. To enter into a sure covenant, and to write and seal it, Nehem. 9.38. In one word, To serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, 1 Chron. 28.9. when the heart is perfect, undivided, and goeth all together, the mind will be willing to serve the Lord. This willingness of Christ's people showeth itself in two things: First, in begetting most cordial and constant Enmity against all the enemies of Christ, never holding any league or intelligence with them, but being always ready to answer the Lord as David did Saul, Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistime. He that is a voluntary in Christ's armies is not disheartened with the potency, policy, malice, subtlety, or prevailing faction of any of his adversaries. He is contented to deny himself, to renounce the friendship of the world, to bid defiance to the allurements of Satan, to smile upon the face of danger, to hate father, and mother, and land, and life, to be cruel to himself, and regardless of others for his master's service. Through honour and dishonour, through evil report and good report, through a Sea and a wilderness, through the hottest services, and strongest oppositions will he follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth: though he receive the word in much affliction, yet he will receive it with joy too. Secondly, in begetting most loving, constant, and dear affections to the mercy, grace, glory, and ways of God, an universal conformity unto Christ our head, who was contented to take upon him the form of a servant, to have his ear bored, and his will subjected unto the will of his Father. I delight to do thy will o my God, yea, thy Law is within my heart, Psal. 40.8. And as he was, so are all his in this world, of the same mind, judgement, Spirit, conversation, and therefore of the same will too. Now this dear and melting affection of the heart toward Christ and his ways, whereby the soul longeth after him, and hasteth unto him, is wrought by several principles: First, by the Conviction of our natural Estate, and a through humiliation for the same. Pride is ever the principle of disobedience. They were the proud men who said unto jeremy, thou speakest falsely, the Lord hath not sent thee, jer. 43.2. And they were the proud men who hardened their necks, and withdrew the shoulder, and would not hear, and refused to obey, Nehem. 9.16, 17, 29. A man must be first brought to deny himself before he will be willing to follow Christ, and to lug a cross after him. A man must first humble himself before he will walk with God, Mic. 6.8. The poor only receive the Gospel. The hungry only find sweetness in bitter things. Extremities will make any man not only willing but thankful to take any course wherein he may recover himself and subsist again; when the soul finds itself in darkness, and hath no light, and begins to consider whither darkness leads it; that it is even now in the mouth of Hell, under the paw of the roaring lion, under the guilt of sin, the curse of the Law, and the hatred and wrath of God, it cannot choose but most willingly pursue any probability, and with most enlarged affections meet any tender of deliverance: Suppose we that a Prince should cause some bloody malefactor to be brought forth, should set before his eyes all the racks and tortures which the wit of man can invent to punish prodigious offenders withal, and should cause him to taste some of those extremities: and then in the midst of his howling and anguish, should not only reach out a hand of mercy to deliver him, but should further promise him upon his submission to advance him like joseph from the iron which enters into his soul, unto public honour and service in the state, would not the heart of such a man be melted into thankfulness, and with all submission resign itself unto the mercy and service of so gracious a Prince? Now the Lord doth not only deal thus with sinners; doth not only cause them by the report of his word, and by the experience of their own guilty hearts, to feel the weight, fruitlessness, and shame of sin, and the first fruits of that eternal vengeance which is thereunto due: not only set forth Christ before them as a rock of redemption, reaching out a hand to save, and offering great and precious promises of an exceeding, eternal, abundant weight of glory: but besides all this doth inwardly touch the heart by the finger of his Spirit, framing it to a spiritual and divine conformity unto Christ. How can the soul of such a man in these present extremities of horror, which yet are but the pledges of infinite more which must ensue; and in the evidence of so wonderful and sweet promises, the seals of the eternal favour and fellowship of God, choose but with much importunity of affection to lay hold on so great a hope which is set before it, and with all readiness and ambition of so high a service, yield up itself into the hands of so gracious a Lord, to be by him ordered and overruled unto any obedience? Secondly, this willingness of Christ's People is wrought by a spiritual illumination of mind. And therefore the Conversion of sinners is called a Conviction, because it is ever wrought in us Secundum modum judicii as we are reasonable and intelligent creatures. I take it (under favour and submission to better judgements) for a firm truth; that if the mind of a man were once throughly and in a spiritual manner (as it becometh such objects as are altogether spiritual) possessed of the adequate goodness and truth which is in grace and glory, the heart could not utterly reject them; for humane liberty is not a brutish, but a reasonable thing, it consisteth not in contumacy or headstrongness, but in such a manner of working, as is apt to be regulated, varied, or suspended by the dictates of right reason. The only cause why men are not willing to submit unto Christ is because they are not throughly and in a manner suitable to the spiritual excellency of the things, enlightened in their mind. The Apostle often maketh mention of a Col. 4.17. Act. 14 26. 2 Tim. 4.5. Rom. 15.19. fulfilling and making full proof of our ministry, and of preaching the Gospel fully, namely with the evidence of the Spirit and of power, and with such a manifestation of the truth as doth commend itself unto the conscience of a man. The b 2 Cor. 1.18. Word of God, saith the Apostle, is not yea and nay, that is, a thing which may be admitted or denied at pleasure, but such a word as hath no inevidence in itself, nor leaveth any uncertainty or hesitancy in a mind sitted to receive it. And as we may thus distinguish of preaching, that there is an imperfect and a full preaching: so may we distinguish of understanding the things preached, in some it is full, and in others but superficial; for there is a Twofold illumination of the mind, the one theoretical and merely notional consisting in knowledge; the other Practical, Experimental, and spiritual; consisting in the irradiation of the soul by the light of God's countenance, in such an apprehension of the truth as maketh the heart to burn thereby, Luk. 24.32. 1 Cor. 8.2. when we know things as we ought to know them, that is, when the manner and life of our knowledge is answerable to the nature and excellency of the things known, when the eye is spiritually opened to believe, and seriously conclude that the things spoken are of most precious and everlasting consequence to the soul, as things that concern our peace with God. This is the Learning of Christ, the teaching of the Father, the knowing of things which pass knowledge, the setting to the seal of our own hearts that God is true, the evidence of spiritual things not to the brain but to the conscience. In one word this is that which the Apostle calleth, a spiritual Demonstration. And surely in this case the heart is never overruled contrary to the full, spiritual, and infallible evidence of divine truths unto a practical judgement. Therefore the Apostle saith that Eve being Deceived was in the transgression, 1 Tim. 2.14. and there is frequent mention made of the deceitfulness of sin, to note that sin got into the world, by error ●nd seduction. For certainly the will is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Rational Appetite, and therefore (as I conceive) doth not stir from such a good as is fully and spiritually represented thereunto, as the most universal, adequate, and unquestionable object of the desires and capacities of a humane soul; for the freedom, and willing consent of the heart is not lawless, or without rules to moderate it, but it is therefore said to be free because whether out of a true judgement it move one way, or out of a false, another, yet in both it moveth naturally, secundum modum sibi competentem, in a manner suitable to its own condition. If it be objected that the heart being unregenerate is utterly averse unto any good, and therefore is not likely to be made willing by the illumination of the mind. To this I answer, that it is true, the will must not only be mov●d, but also renewed and changed, Oportet non tantum moveri, sed e●iam novam ●ieri. Prosper. before it can yield to Christ. But withal, that God doth never so fully and spiritually convince the judgement, in that manner, of which I have spoken, without a special work of grace thereupon, opening the eye, and removing all natural ignorance, prejudice, hesitancy, inadvertency, misperswasion, or any other distemper of the mind which might hinder the evidence of spiritual truth. By which means he also frameth and fashioneth the will to accept, embrace, and love those good things, of which the mind is thus prepossessed. Thirdly, this willingness of Christ's people is wrought by the Communion and adspiration of the spirit of Grace, which is a free spirit, a spirit of love, and a spirit of liberty, a spirit which is in every faculty of man as the soul and principle of its Christianity or heavenly being and working. Psal. 51.12. 2 Tim. 1.7. 2 Cor. 3.17. And therefore it makes every faculty secundum modum sibi proprium to work unto spiritual ends and objects. As the soul in the eye causeth that to see, and in the ear to hear, and in the tongue to speak: so the spirit of Grace in the mind causeth it rightly to understand, and in the will causeth it freely to desire heavenly things; and in every faculty causeth it to move towards Christ in such a way and manner of working as is suitable to its nature. Fourthly, this willingness of Christ's people ariseth from the apprehension of God's dear love, bowels of mercy and riches of most unsearchable grace, revealed in the face of jesus Christ to every broken and penitent spirit. Love is naturally, when it is once apprehended, an Attractive of love. And therefore it is that the Apostle saith, Faith worketh by love, that is, By faith first the heart is persuaded and affected with God's Love unto us in Christ. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me, Gal. 2.20. Eph. 3.17, 18. Being thus persuaded of his love to us, the heart is framed to love him again: for who can be persuaded of so great a benefit as the remission of sins, and not be most deeply inflamed with the love of him by whom they are remitted? 1 joh. 4.19. Luk. 7.47. and lastly, by this reciprocal love of the heart to Christ, faith becometh effectual to work obedience and conformity to his will. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, he that loves God would with all joyfulness fulfil every jot of God's Law if it were possible; This is the love of God, saith the Apostle, that we keep his Commandments, and his Commandments are not grievous. True love overcomes all difficulties, is not apt to pretend occasions for neglecting any service of God, nor to conceive any prejudices against it, but puts an edge and alacrity upon the spirit of a man, he can no more be said to love Christ, who doth not willingly undergo his yoke, than that woman to love her husband who is ever grieved at his presence, and delighteth more in the society of strangers. Fifthly, this willingness of Christ's people ariseth from the beauty and preciousness of those ample Promises, which by the love of Christ are made unto us. It is said of Moses that he did choose (and that is the greatest act of willingness) rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season: and the ground of this willingness was, he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward, Heb. 11.25, 26. so Christ endured the Cross, and despised the shame, that is, the shame (which would much have staggered and disheartened an unresolved man) was no prejudice or discouragement unto him, to abate any of his most willing obedience, and the motive was, for the joy that was set before him, Heb. 12.2. And Saint Paul professeth of himself that he pressed forward, he was not only willing, but importunate and contentious to put forth all his spirits, and like riders in a race to rouse up himself in a holy fervour and emulation, and all this was for the Price of the high calling of God in Christ jesus, which was, as it were, before his face in the Promises thereof. Phil. 3.14. so the Apostle assureth us, That a Christians Hope to be like unto Christ hereafter, will cause him to purify himself even as he is pure, 1 joh. 3.3. when a man shall sit down and recount with David, what God hath done for him already. Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And what God hath further promised to do for him more. Thou hast also spoken of thy servants house for a great while to come. Of a child of wrath thou hast called me to an inheritance of the Saints in light, and into the fellowship of more glory than can be shadowed forth by all the lights of heaven, though every Star were turned into a Sun; I say, when the soul shall thus recount the goodness of God, how can it but be wonderfully enlarged with thoughts of thankfulness, and grieved at the slow and narrow abilities of the other parts to answer the urgent and wide desires of a willing soul? Sixthly, this willingness of Christ's people ariseth from the experience of that peace, comfort▪ life, liberty, triumph and security which accompanieth the Spirit and the service of Christ. Nothing makes a man more fearful of wars than the dangers and hazards which are incident thereunto. But if a man can serve under such a Prince, whose employments are not only honourable, but safe; if he, who is able and faithful to make good his words, promise us that none either of the stratagems or forces of the enemy shall do us hurt, but that they shall fly before us, while we resist them: who would not be a Voluntary in such services as are not liable to the casualties and vicissitudes which usually attend other wars, wherein he might fight with safety, and come off with honour? David had experience of God's power in delivering him from the Lion and the Bear, and was well assured that that God who was careful of sheep, would be more pitiful to his people Israel, and that made him with much willingness ready to encounter Goliath, whose assurance was only in himself and not in God. When a man shall consider what God might have done with him, he might have sent him from the womb to hell, deprived him of the means of grace, left him to the rebellion and hardness of his evil heart, and to the rage of Satan, burnt his bones, and dried up his bowels with the view of that wrath which is due to sin, and what he hath done with him; he hath called him to the knowledge of his will, refreshed him with the light of his countenance, heard his prayers, given an issue to his temptations, and a reviving out of bondage, fastened him as a nail in his holy place, given him his favour which is better than light, and spoken of his servant for a long time to come; O how readily will the spirit of such a man conclude, Lord, according to thine own heart hast thou done all this unto me, and I have found so much sweetness in thy service above all mine own thoughts or expectations, that now, O Lord, my heart is prepared, my heart is prepared, I will sing and rejoice in thy service. Lastly, this willingness of Christ's people ariseth from that excellent beauty and attractive virtue which is in holiness. Thy Law is pure, therefore thy servant loveth it. And therefore we find Christ and his Church do kindle the coals of love, and stir up those flames of mutual dearness towards one another, do cherish those longing, languishing, and ravished affections, and susspiring of hearts, by the frequenting contemplations of each others beauty. Behold, thou art fair my love, behold, thou art fair, thou hast doves eyes. Behold, thou art fair my beloved, yea pleasant, etc. Cant. 1.15, 16. These are the principles of that great devotion and willingness which is in the people of Christ unto his service. And hereby we may make trial of the truth of that profession, subjection, and obedience which we all pretend unto the Gospel of Christ. Act. 11.23. It is then only sound when it proceeds from a willing and devoted heart, from purpose, fervour and earnestness of Spirit; Rom. 12.11. for as God in mercy accounts the will for the deed; Gal. 4.18. because where there is a willing mind there will certainly be all answerable endeavours to execute that will, and reduce it into act, so he esteems the deed nothing without the * Qui perspicit apud te paratam fuisse virtutem, reddet pro virtute mercedem. Nunquid Cain cum Deo munus offerret jam peremerat fratrem? & tamen parricidium ment conceptum Deus providus ante damnavit, ut illic cogitatio prava, & perniciosa conceptio Deo providente prospecta est: ita & in Dei servis, apud quos confessio cogitatur, & martyrium ment concipitur, animus ad bonum deditus, Deo judice coronatur. Aliud est martyrio animum deesse, aliud animo desuisse martyrium— nec enim sanguin●m vestrum quaerit Deus, sed fidem. Cypr. de mortal. Neque enim in sacrificiis quae Abel & Cain primi obtulerunt, munera eorum Deus, sed corda intuebatur, utile placeret in munere qui placebat in cord. Idem de Orat. Domini. will: Cain and Abel did both sacrifice, it was the heart which made the difference between them: let the outward conversation be what it will, yet if a man regard iniquity in his heart, God will not hear him. Gravius est diligere peccatum quam facere: It is a worse token (saith Gregory) of an evil man to love sin, than to commit it, for it may be committed out of temptation and infirmity, and so may be either in part the sin of another that tempteth us, or at least not the sin of our whole selves, but of those remainders of corruption which dwell within us. But our love is all our own, Satan can but offer a temptation, the heart itself must love it: and love is strong as death, it worketh by the strength of the whole man, and therefore ever such as the will is (which is the seat of love) such is the service too. And the reason is: First, because the will is the first mover, and the master-wheel in spiritual works, that which regulateth all the rest, and keepeth them right and constant▪ that which holdeth together all the faculties of the soul and body in the execution of Gods will. In which sense, amongst others I understand that of the Apostle, That love is the bond of perfection, because when love resideth in the heart, it will put together every faculty to do that work of God perfectly which it goes about. And therefore by a like expression it is called The fulfilling of the Law, because love aims still at the highest, and at the best in that thing which it loves, it is ever an enemy to defects. He that loves learning will never stop, and say I have enough, in this likewise love is as death. And he that loves grace, will be still Ambitious to abound in the work of the Lord, and to press forward unto perfection, to make up that which is wanting to his faith, to be sanctified throughout, to bring forth more fruit, to walk in all pleasing, to be holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable, without spot or wrinkle. It is an absurd thing in religion to dote upon mediocrities of grace; in eo non potest esse nimium, quod esse maximum debet; He that with all the exactness and rigour of his heart, can never gather together all grace, can surely never have too much. In false religions no man so much magnified as he that is strictest: that Papist which is most cruel to his flesh, most assiduous at his beads, most canonical in his hours, most macerated with superstitious penance, most frequently prostrated before his idols, is of all other most admired for the greatest Saint. O why should not an holy strictness be as much honoured as a superstitious? why should not exactness, purity, and a contending unto perfection, be as much pursued in a true as in a false religion? Why should not every man strive to be filled with grace, since he can never have enough till he have it all, till he is brimme-full? He that truly loves wealth, would be the richest; and he that loves honour, would be the highest of any other: certainly grace is in itself more lovely than any of these things. Why then should not every man strive to be most unlike the evil world, and to be more excellent than his neighbour, to be holy as God is holy, to be as Christ himself was in this world, to grow up in unity of faith, and in the knowledge of him, unto a perfect man? Certainly, if a man once set his will and his heart upon grace, he will never rest in mediocrities; he will labour to abound more and more, he will never think himself to have apprehended, but forgetting the things which are behind, he will reach forth to those things which are before him, for all the desires of the heart are strong, and will overrule any other natural desire. The grief of David's heart made him forget to eat his bread. The desire of Christ's heart to convert the Samaritan woman, made him careless of his own hunger. It is my meat to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. A true heart will go on to finish the work which it hath begun. The wicked s●eepe not, saith Solomon, except they have done mischief; And the enemies of Saint Paul provided to to stop the clamours and demands of an empty stomach with a solemn vow that they would neither eat nor drink till they had slain Paul. Lust never gives over till it finish sin, and therefore the Love of Christ should never give over till it finish Grace. judg. 5.2, 9 Secondly, because God is more honoured in the obedience of the will than of the outward man. Humane restraints may rule this, but nothing but Grace can rule the other; for herein we acknowledge God to be the searcher of hearts, the discerner of secret thoughts, the judge and Lord over our consciences. Whatsoever ye do (saith the Apostle) do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to men. Noting unto us that a man doth never respect the Lord in any service which cometh not willingly, and from the inner man. Now he worketh in vain, and loseth all that he hath wrought, who doth not work for him who is master of the business he goes about, and who only doth reward it. Therefore saith the Apostle, Do it heartily as to the Lord, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the Reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. He only is the paymaster of such kind of work, and therefore do it only as to him, so that he may approve and reward it. Before I leave this point touching the willingness of Christ's people, here is a great case, and of frequent occurrence to be resolved, Whether those who are truly of Christ's people may not have fears, torments, uncomfortableness, weariness, unwillingness in the ways of God? Saint john in general states the case, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: Because fear hath torment, 1 joh. 4.18. so that it seems where there is torment, and weariness, there is no love: for the clearing of this case, I shall set down some few positions. First, in general, where there is true obedience there is ever a willing and a free spirit, in this degree at the least, a most deep desire of the heart, and serious endeavour of the spirit of a man to walk in all wellpleasing towards God: a longing for such fullness of Grace, and enlargement of soul as may make a man fit to run the way of God's Commandments. Secondly, where there is this will, yet there may upon other reasons be such a fear as hath pain and torment in it, and that in two respects: First, there may be a fear of God's wrath, the soul of a righteous man may be surprised with some glimpses and apprehensions of his most heavy displeasure, he may conceive himself set up as Gods mark to shoot at, job 7.20. that the poisoned arrows and terrors of the wrath of God do stick fast upon him, job 6.4. that his transgressions are sealed up and reserved against him, job 14.17. The hot displeasure of the Lord may even vex his bones, and make his soul sore within him, Psal. 6.1, 2, 3. He may conceive himself forgotten and cast out by God, surprised with fearfulness, trembling, and the horror of death, Psal. 13.1. Psal. 55.4, 5. Christ may withdraw himself and be gone, in regard of any comfortable and sensible fruition of his fellowship, and in that case the soul may fail and seek him but not find him, and call upon him but receive no answer, Cant. 5.6. A man may fear the Lord, and yet be in darkness, and have no light, isaiah. 50.10. Secondly, there may be a great fear even of performing spiritual duties. A broken and dejected man may tremble in God's service, and upon a deep apprehension of his own unworthiness, and erroneous applying of that sad expostulation of God with wicked men, What hast thou to do to t●ke my Covenant in thy mouth? Psalm. 50.16. And, what hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many? jer. 11.15. he may be startled, and not dare adventure upon such holy and sacred things without much reluctancy, and shame of spirit. O my God, saith Ezra, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God: for our iniquities are increased over our heads, Ezra 9.6. Thus it is said of the poor woman who upon the touch of Christ's garment had been healed of her bloody issue, That she came fearing and trembling, and fell down before Christ, and told him the truth, Mark. 5.33. But yet great difference there is between this fear of the Saints, and of the wicked. The fear of the wicked ariseth out of the evidences of the guilt of sin, but the fear of the Saints from a tender apprehension of the majesty of God, and his most pure eyes which cannot endure to behold uncleanness (which made Moses himself to tremble, Act. 7.32.) and out of a deep sense of their own unworthiness to meddle with holy things. And such a fear as this may bring much uncomfortableness and distraction of spirit; but, never at all any dislike or hatred of God, or any stomackefull disobedience against him: for as the fear of the soul deters, so the necessity of the precept drives him to an endeavour of obedience and wellpleasing; slavish fear forceth a man to do the duty some way or other, without any eye or respect unto the manner of doing it. But this other which is indeed a filial, but yet withal an uncomfortable fear, rather dissuades from the duty itself, the heart being so vile; and unfit to perform so precious a duty in so holy a manner as becomes it. Thirdly, as the Saints may have fear and uncomfortableness (which are contrary to a free spirit) so they may have a weariness and some kind of unwillingness in God's service. Their spirits like the hands of Moses in the mount may faint and hang down, may be damped with carnal affections, or tired with the difficulty of the work, or plucked back by the importunity of temptations, so that though they begin in the spirit, yet they may be bewitched and transported from a through-obedience to the truth, Gal. 3.1, 3. A deadness, heaviness, insensibility, unactiveness, confusedness of heart, unpreparedness of affections, insinuation of worldly lusts and earthly cares may distract the hearts, and abate the cheerfulness of the best of us. And hence come those frequent exhortations to stir up ourselves, to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord, to whet the Law upon our children, to exhort one another lest the deceitfulness of sin harden us, to be strong in the Grace of Christ, not to faint or be weary of well-doing, and the like. All which, and sundry like, intimate a sluggishness of disposition, and natural bearing back of the will from God's service. Fourthly, the Proportion of this discomfort and weariness ariseth from these grounds: First, from the strength of these corruptions which remain within us: for ever so much fleshliness as the heart retains, so much bias a man hath to turn him from God and his ways, so much clog and encumbrance in holy duties. And this remainder of flesh is in the will as well as in any other faculty to indispose it unto spiritual actions, as it is in our members that we cannot do the things which we would, Gal. 5.17. so in proportion it is in our wills, that we cannot with all our strength desire the things which we should, and therefore David praiseth God for this especial Grace, Who am I, and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee, 1 Chro. 29.14. Secondly, from the dulness or sleepiness of Grace in the heart, which without daily reviving, husbanding, and handling will be apt to contract a rust, and to be overgrown with that bitter root of corruption within. As a bowl will not move without many rubs and stops in a place overgrown with grass, so the will cannot move with readiness towards God, when the Graces which should actuate it are grown dull and heavy. A rusty key will not easily open the lock unto which it was first fitted; nor a neglected Grace easily open or enlarge the heart. Thirdly, from the violent importunity and immodesty of some strong temptation, and unexpellible suggestions, which frequently presenting themselves to the spirit do there beget jealousies to disquiet the peace of the heart: for Satan's first end is to rob us of grace, for which purpose he hearteneth our lusts against us: but his second is to rob us of Comfort, and to toss us up and down between our own fears and suspicions: for unwearied and violent contradictions are apt to beget weariness in the best. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, saith the Apostle, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds, Heb. 12.3. Fourthly, from the present weight of some heavy fresh sin, which will utterly indispose the heart unto any good. As we see how long security did surprise David after his murder and adultery. Thus as jonah after his flight from God, fell asleep in the ship: so stupidity and unaptness to work is ever the child of any notable and revolting sin: When the conscience lieth bleeding under any fresh sin it hath first a hard task to go through in a more bitter renewing the tears of repentance. And hard works have for the most part some fears and reluctancies in the performing of them. Secondly, it hath not such boldness and assurance to be welcome to God. It comes with shame, horror, blushing and want of peace, and so cannot but find the greater conflict in itself. Thirdly, sin diswonts a man from God, carries him to thickets and bushes. The soul loves not to be deprehended by God in the company of Satan or any sinful lust. That child cannot but feel some struggle of shame and unwillingness to come unto his father, who is sure when he comes to be upbraided with the companions which he more delights in. Fifthly, from the proportions of the desertions of the spirit: for the Spirit of God bloweth where and how he listeth; and it is he that worketh our wills unto obedience. If he be grieved and made retire, (for he is of a delicate and jealous disposition) if he turn his wind from our sails, alas, how slow and sluggish will our motion be? How poor our progress? Upon these and several other the like grounds, may the best of us be possessed with fears, discomforts, and unwillingness in God's service. But yet Fifthly, none of all this takes off the will a Toto, though it do a Tanto, but that the faithful in their greatest heaviness and unfitness of spirit, have yet a stronger by as towards God than any wicked man when he is at best, for it is true of them in their lowest condition, that they Desire to fear God's name, Nehem. 1.11. That the desire of their soul is towards the remembrance of him, Esay 26.8. that they are seriously displeased with the distempers and uncomfortableness of their spirit, Psal. 42.5. that they long to be enlarged, that they may run the way of God's Commandments, Psal. 119.32. That they set their affection unto God and his service, 1 Chron. 29.3. That they prepare their heart to seek the Lord God, 2 Chron. 30.19. That they strive, groan, wrestle, and are unquiet in their dumps and dulness, earnestly contending for joy and freedom of Spirit, Psal. 51.8.11.12. In one word, that they dare not omit those duties, which yet they have no readiness and disposedness of heart to perform; but when they cannot do them in alacrity, yet they do them in obedience, and serve the Lord when he hideth his face from them. I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again towards thy holy Temple, jonah 2.4. He that feareth the Lord will obey his voice, though he walk in darkness, and have no light, Esay 50.10. So then the faithful have still thus much ground of comfort, that God hath their wills always devoted and resigned unto him, though thus much likewise they have to humble them too, the daily experience of a back-sliding and tired spirit in his service; and should therefore be exhorted to stir up the spirit of grace in themselves, to keep fresh and frequent their communion with Christ. The more acquaintance and experience the heart hath of him, the more abundantly it will delight in him, and make haste unto him, that it may with Saint Paul apprehend him in fruition, by whom it is already apprehended, and carried up unto heavenly places in assurance and representation. As long as we are here there will be something lacking to our faith, some mixture of unbelief and distrust with it, 1 Thess. 3.10. Mark 9.24. corruptions, temptations, afflictions, trials, will be apt to beget some fears, discomforts, weariness, and indisposedness towards God's service. The sense whereof should make us long after our home, with the Apostle groan, and wait for the adoption, even the redemption of our bodies, for the manifestation of the sons of God, (for though we are now sons, yet it doth not appear what we shall be, 1 joh. 3.2.) should make us pray for the accomplishment of his promises, for the hastening of his Kingdom, where we shall be changed into an universal spiritualness, or purity of nature, where those relics of corruption, those struggle of the law of the members against the law of the mind shall be ended, those languish, decays, ebbs and blemishes of grace shall be removed, where all deficiencies of grace shall be made up, and that measure and first fruits of the Spirit which we here receive, shall be crowned with fullness, and everlasting perfection. Here we are like the stones and other materials of Salomon's Temple, but in the act of fitting and preparation, no marvel if we be here crooked, knotty, uneven, and therefore subject to the hammer, under blows and buffets. But when we shall be carried to the heavenly building which is above, and there laid in, there shall be nothing but smoothness and glory upon us, no noise of hammers, or axes, no dispensation of Word or Sacraments, no application of censures and severity; but every man shall be filled with the fullness of God, Faith turned into sight, Hope turned into fruition, and Love everlastingly ravished with the presence of God, with the face of jesus Christ, with the fullness of the holy Spirit, and with the communion and society of all the Saints. And so much for the first observation out of the third particular, concerning the willingness of Christ's people. There was further therein observed the Principle of this Willingness, [In the day of thy power, or, of thine armies] that is, when thou shalt send abroad Apostles, and Prophets, and Evangelists, and Doctors and Teachers for evidencing the Word and Spirit unto the consciences of men. Whence we may secondly observe, that the [Heart of Christ's people is made willing to obey him by an act of Power,] or by the strength of the Word and Spirit. It is not barely enticed, but it is conquered by the Gospel of Christ, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5. And yet this is not a compulsory conquest (which is utterly contrary to the nature of a reasonable will, which would cease to be itself, if it could be compelled) but it is an effectual conquest. The will (as all other faculties) is dead naturally in trespasses and sins: And a dead man is not raised to life again by any enticements, nor yet compelled unto a condition of such exact complacency and suitableness to nature by any act of violence. So then a man is made willingly subject unto Christ, neither by mere moral persuasions, nor by any violent impulsions; but by a power, in itself supernatural, spiritual, or Divine, and in its manner of working sweetly tempered to the disposition of the will, which is never by grace destroyed, but perfected. Therefore the Apostle saith, that it is God who worketh in us to will and to do, Phil. 2.13. first, he frameth our will according to his own (as David was said to be a man after Gods own heart,) and secondly, by that will, and the imperate acts thereof, thus sanctified and still assisted by the Spirit of grace, he setteth the other powers of nature on work in further obedience unto his will. And therefore the Prophet David praised God that had enabled him and his people to offer willingly unto the service of God's house, and prayeth him that he would ever keep that willing disposition in the imaginations and thoughts of the hearts of his people, 1 Chron. 29.14.18. Therefore, the Apostle saith, that Our faith standeth not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God, 1 Cor. 4.5. Therefore likewise it is called, The faith of the operation of God who raised Christ from the dead, Col. 2.12. For the more distinct opening and evidencing this point, how Christ's people are made Willing by his power, I will only lay together some brief positions which I conceive to be thereunto pertinent, and proceed to that which is more plain and profitable. First, let us consider the nature of the will, which is, to be a Free agent or mover, to have ex se, and within itself an indifferency and undeterminatnesse unto several things; so that when it moves or not moves, when it moves one way or other, in none of these it suffers violence, but works according to the condition of its own nature. Secondly, we may note that this indifferency is twofold, either habitual, belonging to the constitution of the will, which is nothing else, but an original aptitude, or intrinsical non-repugnancie in the will, to move unto contrary extremes, to work, or to suspend its own working; or else actual, which is in the exercise of the former, as objects present themselves, and this is twofold, either a freedom to good, or evil, or a freedom to will, or not to will. Thirdly, notwithstanding the will be in this manner free, yet it may have its freedom in both regards so determined, as that in such or such a condition, it cannot do what it should, or forbear what it should, or cannot do what it should not, nor forbear what it should not. Man fallen, without the grace of God, is free only unto evil, and Christ in the time of his obedience was free wholly unto good. Man free to evil, but yet so, as that he only doth it voluntarily, he cannot voluntarily leave it undone. Christ free only to good, yet so, as that he doth it most freely, but could not freely omit the doing of it. Fourthly, the will worketh not in this condition of things unto moral objects without some other concurrent principles which sway and determine it several ways; so that the will is principium quod, the faculty which moves, and the other principium quo, the quality or virtue by which it moves. And these qualities are in natural men the flesh or the original concupiscence of our nature, which maketh the motions of the will to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the will of the flesh; and in the regenerate, the Grace and Spirit of Christ, so far forth as they are regenerate. Fifthly, as the will is ever carried either by the flesh or the spirit to its objects, so neither to the one or the other, without the preceding conduct and direction of the practical judgement, whether by grace enlightened to judge aright, or by corrupt affections bribed and blinded to misguide the will; for the will being a rational appetite, never moveth bu● per modum judicii, upon apprehension of some goodness and convenience in the thing whereunto it moves. Sixthly, the judgement is never throughly enlightened to understand spiritual things in that immediate and ample beauty and goodness which is in them, but only by the Spirit of Christ, which maketh a man to have the selfsame mind, judgement, opinion, and apprehension of heavenly things which he had; so that Christ and a Christian do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, think the same thing, as the Apostle speaks, Phil. 2.5. By the which Spirit of grace, working first upon the judgement to rectify that, and to convince it of the evidence and necessity of that most universal and adequate good which it presenteth, the whole nature is proportionably renewed, and Christ form aswell in the will and affections, as in the understanding: as the body in the womb is not shaped by piecemeal, one part after another, but all together by proportionable degrees and progresses of perfection: So that at the same time when the Spirit of grace by an act of heavenly illumination is present with the judgement of reason to evidence, not the truth only, but the excellency of the knowledge of Christ thereunto, it is likewise present by an act of heavenly persuasion, and most intimate allurement unto the will and affections, sweetly accommodating its working unto the exigence and condition of the faculties, that they likewise may with such liberty and complacency as becomes both their own nature, and the quality of the obedience required, apply themselves to the desire and prosecution of those excellent things which are with so spiritual an evidence set forth unto them in the ministry of the Word. As by the same soul the eye seeth, and the ear heareth, and the hand worketh: so when Christ by his Spirit is form in us, (for the Spirit of Christ is the Actus primus, or soul of a Christian man, that which animateth him unto an heavenly being and working, Rom. 8.9, 10, 11. 1 Cor. 6.17.) every power of the soul and body is in some proportionable measure enabled to work suo modo, in such manner as is convenient and proper to the quality of its nature, to the right apprehension and voluntary prosecution of spiritual things. The same Spirit which by the word of grace doth fully convince the judgement, and let the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shine upon the mind; doth by the same word of grace proportionably excite, and assist the will to affect it, that as the understanding is elevated to the spiritual perception, so the will likewise is enabled to the spiritual love of heavenly things. By all which we may observe that this working of the Spirit of grace, whereby we become voluntaries in Christ's service, and whereby he worketh in us both to will and to do those things which of ourselves we were not obedient unto, neither indeed could be, is both a sweet and powerful work, as in the raising of a man from the dead (to which in the Scriptures the renewing of a sinner is frequently compared) there is a work of great power, which yet, being admirably suitable to the integrity of the creature, must needs bring an exact complacency and delight with it: we may frequently in holy Scriptures observe, that of the same effect several things may be affirmed by reason of its connexion unto several causes, and of the several causalities or manners of concurrence with which those several causes have contributed any influence unto it. As the obedience of Christ was of all other the most free and voluntary service of his Father, if we consider it with respect unto his most holy, and therefore most undistracted, and unhindered will: (for if it were not voluntary, it were no obedience) and yet notwithstanding it was most certain and infallible, if we consider it with respect to the sanctity of his nature, to the unmeasurableness of his unction, to the plenitude of his unseducible and unerring Spirit, to the mystery of his hypostatical union, and the communication of properties between his natures, whereby whatever action was done by him, might justly be called the action of God, in which regard it was impossible for him to sin. In like manner, the passive obedience of Christ was most free and voluntary, as it respected his own will, for he troubled himself, he humbled and emptied himself, he laid down his own life, he became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross; and yet, thus it was written, and thus it behoved or was necessary for Christ to suffer, if we respect the predeterminate counsel and purpose of God, who had so ordained, Act. 4.28. God would not suffer a bone of Christ's to be broken, and yet he did not disable the soldiers from doing it, for they had still as much strength and liberty to have broken his, as the others who were crucified with him, but that which in regard of the truth and prediction of holy Scriptures was most certainly to be fulfilled, in regard of the second causes by whom it was fulfilled, was most free and voluntary. We find what a chain of mere casualties and contingencies (if we look only upon second causes) did concur, in the offence of V●s●ti, in the promotion of Esther, in the treason of the two Chamberlains, in the wakefulness of the King, in the opening of the Chronicles, in the acceptance of esther's request, and in the favour of the King unto her, and all this ordered by the immutable and efficacious providence of God (which moderates and guides causes and effects of all sorts to his own fore-appointed ends) for the deliverance of his people from that intended slaughter determined against them, the execution whereof would evidently have voided that great promise of their returning out of captivity after seventy years: with relation unto which promise their deliverance at this time was in regard of God's truth and purpose necessary, though in regard of second causes brought about by a cumulation of contingencies. In like manner, when the hearts of men do voluntarily dedicate and submit themselves to the kingdom of Christ, if we look upon it with relation unto the Spirit of grace, which is the principium quo, the formal virtue whereby it is wrought; so it is an effect of power, and as it were, an act of conquest; and yet look upon it with relation unto the heart itself, which is Principium quod, the material efficient cause thereof, and so it is a most free, sweet, connatural action, exactly tempered to the exigency of the second cause, and proceeding therefrom with most exact delight, answerably to the measure of the grace of illumination, or spiritual evidence in the mind, whereby our natural blindness, prejudices, and misperswasions may be removed: and to the measure of the grace of excitation, assistance, and co-operation in the heart, whereby the natural frowardness and reluctancy thereof may be subdued. In one word, there are but three things requisite to make up a free and voluntary action. First, it must be cum judicio rationis, with a preceding judgement. Secondly, it must be cum indifferentia, there must be an internal indeterminatenesse and equal disposition of itself unto several extremes. Thirdly, it must be cum dominio actus, the will must have the power of her own work. And all these three do sweetly consist with the point of the Text, That the heart is made willing to obey Christ by an act of power. For first, this power we speak of is only the power of the Word and Spirit, both which do always work in the ordinary course of Gods proceeding by them with men, secundum judicium, by a way of judgement and conviction, by a way of teaching and demonstration, which is suitable to a rational faculty. Secondly, which way soever the will is by the Spirit of grace directed and persuaded to move, it still retains an habitual or internal habitude unto the extremes, so that if it should have moved towards them, that motion would have been as natural and suitable to its condition, as this which it followeth; for the determination of the act is no extinguishment of the liberty thereunto. Thirdly, when the Spirit by the power of the word of grace doth work the will in us, yet still the will hath the dominion of its own act, that is, it is not servilely, or compulsorily thereunto overswayed, but works, ex motu proprio, by a selfe-motion, unto which it is quickened and actuated by the sweetness of divine grace, as the seed of that action, according to that excellent known speech of Saint Augustine, Certum est nos velle cum volumus, sed Deus facit ut velimus. Thus we see how the subjection of Christ's people unto his kingdom is a voluntary act in regard of man's will, and an act of power in regard of God's Spirit, inwardly ●llightning the mind with the spiritual evidence, not only of the truth, but the excellency and superlative goodness of the Gospel of Christ; and inwardly touching the heart, and framing it to a lovely conformity and obedience thereunto. The ground of this point why there is an act of power required to conquer the wills of sinners unto Christ, is that notable enmity, stoutness, reluctancy, rebellion, weariness, averseness; in one word, fleshliness which possesseth the wills of men by nature: such forwardness unto evil, so much frowardness against good, such a spring and bias from private ends, and worldly objects, such fears without, such fightings within, such allurements on the right hand, such frowns and affrightments on the left; such depths of Satan, such hellish and unsearchable plots of principalities and powers, to keep fast and faithful to themselves this chief mistress of the soul of man; such sly and soaking, such furious and fiery temptations, to flatter or to fright it away from Christ; such strong prejudices, such deep reasonings, such high imagination's, such scornful and mean conceits of the purity and power of the ways of Christ, such deceitfulness of heart, such misperswasions and presumptuous of our present peace, or at least of the easiness of our future reformation, such strong surmises of carnal hopes which will be prevented, or worldly dangers incurred, or private ends disappointed; such lusts to be denied, such members to be hewed off, such friends to be forsaken, such passions to be subdued, such certain persecutions from the world, such endless solicitations of Satan, such irreconcilable contentions with the flesh; in the midst of all these pull-backes, how can we think the will should escape and break thorough, if God did not send his Spirit, as once the Angel unto Lot, Gen. 19.16. to lay hands upon it while it lingers and hankers after its wont course, to use a merciful conquest over it, and, as the Scriptures express it, * Rome, 8▪ 14. john▪ 6.44 Host 11.3. Esay 40.11. Deut. 1.31. Deut. 32.11. jude vers. 23. to lead it, to draw it, to take it by the arm, to carry it in his bosom, to bear it as an Eagle her young ones on her wings, nay, by the terrors of the Lord, and the power of his Word and wrath, to pull and snatch it as a brand out of the fire? Certainly, there is so much extreme perverseness, so much hellishness, and devilish antipathy to God and his service in the heart by nature, that if it were left to its own stubbornness to kick, and rebel, and fall back and harden itself, and were not set upon by the grace of Christ, no man living would turn unto him, or make use of his blood; by the same reason that any one man perisheth, every man would too, because in all there is as fundamental and original enmity to the ways of grace, as there is in any. The consideration whereof may justly humble us in our reflection upon ourselves, whom neither the promises of heaven can allure, nor the blood and passions of Christ persuade, nor the flames of hell affright from our sins, till the Lord by the sweet and gracious power of his holy spirit subdue and conquer the soul unto himself. If a man should rise from the dead, and truly relate unto the conscience the woeful and everlasting horrors of hell, if a man's natural capacity were made as wide to apprehend the wrath, fury, and vengeance of a provoked God, the foulness, guilt, and venom of a soul fuller of sins than the heavens of stars, as the most intelligent devils of hell do conceive them. If an Archangel or Seraphim should be sent from heaven to reveal unto the soul of a natural man the infinite glory of God's presence, the full pleasures of his right hand, the admirable beauty of his ways, the intimate conformity and resemblance between his divine nature in himself, & the Image of his holiness in the creature, the unsearchable and bottomless love of Christ in his Incarnation and sufferings, the endless incomprehensible virtue & preciousness of his blood and prayers; yet so desperately evil is the heart of man, that if after all this God should not afford the blessed operation and concurrence of his own gracious Spirit, the revelation of his own arm and power upon the soul, to set on those instrumental causes, it would be invincible by any evidence, which all the cries and flames of hell, which all the armies and hosts of heaven were able to beget. There is no might or power able to snatch a man out of the hands of his sin, but only God's Spirit. Notable are the expressions which the holy Ghost every where useth, to set forth this wretched condition of the heart by nature: a Gen. 49.6. jer. 6.17. jer. 44.16. Luke 19.27. Ephes. 2.3. wilfulness and selfe-willednesse, We will not hearken, we will not have this man to reign over us; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, many wills in one. b 1 Sam. 15.23. Rebellion and stubbornness, c Malac. 3.13. stoutness of heart, d Rome 9.19.10.21. contestation with God, and gainsaying his Word; e Ezek. 2.3, 4. Impudence, stiffness, and hardheartedness, f Host 5.2. 2 Cor. 10.5. mischievous profoundness and deep reasonings against the Law of God; g jer. 7.27. jer. 8.5, 6. jer. 18.18. pertinacy, resolvedness, and abiding in mischief; they hold fast deceit; obstinacy and h jer. 19.15. Zech. 7.11. selfe-obduration, They have hardened their necks that they might not hear; i jer. 6.10. Rom. 3.11. 2 Thess. 3.2. Esay ●. 3. Impotency, immovableness, and undocilenesse, their heart is uncircumcised; they cannot hear, there is none that understandeth or seeketh after God: k jer. 17.15. 2 Chron 30.10. 2 Pet. 3.4. scorn and slighting of the messages of the Lord, where is his Word? Where is the promise of his coming? l Esay 53.1. jer. 5.12. Incredulity, and belying the Lord in his Word, saying it is not he: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? m Gen. 6.3. Luke 7.30. Esay 63.10. Act. 7.51. Wrestling, resisting, and fight with the Word, rejecting the counsel of God, vexing and striving with his holy Spirit, ye have always resisted the holy Ghost. n 2 Tim. 3 2, 3, 4. Rom. 1. ●9 31. Rage and fierceness of disordered affections, despising of goodness, traitorous, heady, and highminded thoughts. o jer. 2.24.8.6. Host 8.9. brutishness of immoderate lust, the untamed madness of an enraged beast without any restraint of reason, or moderation. In one word, a p jer. 17 9 Habac. 2.5. hell, and gulf of unsearchable mischief, which is never satisfied. It is impossible that any reasonable man, duly considering all these difficulties, should conceive such an heart as this to be overcome with mere moral persuasions, or by any thing less than the mighty power of Gods own grace. To him therefore we should willingly acknowledge all our conversion and salvation; So extremely impotent are we, O Lord, unto any good, so utterly unprofitable, and unmeet for our Master's use, and yet so strongly hurried by the impulsion of our own lust towards hell, that no precipice, nor danger, no hope nor reward, no man or Angel is able to stop us, without thine own immediate power, and therefore Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name only be attributed the glory of our conversion. Again, by this consideration we should be provoked to stir up and call together all our strength in the Lord's service, to recover our misspent time, to use the more contention and violence for the kingdom of heaven, when we consider how abundant we have been in the works of sin, in the pursuing of vast desires which had neither end nor hope in them. O how happy a thing would it be, if men could serve God with the same proportion of vigour and willingness of mind, as they served Satan and themselves before? I was never tired in that way, I went on indefatigably towards hell, like a swift Dromedary, or an untamed heifer, I pursued those evil desires which had vanity for their object, and misery for their end, no fruit but shame, and no wages but death. But in the service of Christ I have a price before me, an abiding City, an enduring substance, an immarcescible crown to fix the highest of my thoughts upon: I have the promises of Christ to strengthen me, his Angels to guard, his Spirit to lead, his Word to illighten me. In one word, I have a soul to save, and a God to honour. And why should not I apply my power, to serve him, who did reach forth his own power to convert me? A long way I have to go, and I must do it in a span of time; so many temptations to overcome, so many corruptions to shake off, so many promises to believe, so many precepts to obey, so many mysteries to study, so many works to finish, and so little time for all: my weaknesses on one side, my businesses on another, mine enemies and my sins round about me take away so much, that I have scarce any left to give to God. And yet, alas, if I could serve God on earth, as he is served in heaven, if I had the strength of Angels, and glorified Saints, to do his will, it would come infinitely short of that good will of God in my redemption, or of his power in my conversion. If God should have said to all the Angels in heaven, there is such a poor wretch posting with full strength towards hell, go stand in his way and drive him back again, all those glorious armies would have been too few to block up the passage● between sin and he●, without the concurrence of Gods own Spirit and power, they could have returned none other answer but this, we have done all we can to persuade and turn him, but he will not be turned. If then the Lord did put to his own power to save me, great reason there is that I should set my weak and impotent faculties to honour him, especially since he hath been pleased both to mingle with his service great joy, liberty, and tranquillity here, and also to set before it a full, a sure, and a great reward, for my further animation and encouragement thereunto. The fourth thing observed in this Verse was the attire wherein Christ's people should attend upon his service, In the Beauties of Holiness] These words refer to those before, and that either to the word [People] or too the word [willing.] If to [People] then they are a further description of Christ's Subjects or Soldiers, they shall be all like servants in Princes Courts, beautifully arrayed, like the Priests of the Law that had garments of beauty and glory, and so Schindler expounds it, In societate sacerdotum. If to the word [willing] than it notes the ground and inducement of their great devotion and subjection unto Christ's kingdom, that as the people came up in troops to the Lords house, which was the Beauty of his Holiness, or as men do flock together to the sight of some honourable and stately solemnity: so Christ's people should by the beauty of his banners be alured to gather unto him, and fly in multitudes as Doves unto their windows. Which way ever we understand the words we may from them observe, First, That Holiness is a glorious and a beautiful thing. The holy oil with which all the vessels of the Sanctuary were to be consecrated, was a type of that Spirit which sanctifieth us and maketh us Kings and Priests unto God, Exod. 30.23. and it was to be compounded of the purest and most delicate ingredients which the art of the Apothecary could put together. Therefore our Saviour still calleth his Spouse the fairest of wom●n, to note, that no other beauty in the world is to be compared with Holiness. Cant. ●. 12. Therefore our Faith, and Holiness is called a Wedding Garment, Mat 22.12. at which solemnity men use above all other to adorn themselves with their costliest and most beautiful attire: Therefore we are said to a Rom. 13.14. Col. 3.12. Put on the Lord jesus, and to Put on bowels of mercy, and humbleness of mind, and meekness, etc. and therefore likewise the Church is compared to a b Psal. 45.13, 14. isaiah. 61.10. jer. 2.32. Ezek. 16.8, 14. Bride decked in her choicest ornaments and jewels, broidered work, silk, fine linen, bracelets, chains, jewels, crowns, gold, silver, perfect comeliness, garments of salvation, and of praise, robes of righteousness, etc. And Christ the husband of this Spouse, the c Cant. 5.10, 16. chiefest and most amiable of ten thousand, even altogether lovely. The d Hag. 2.7. Desire of all Nations, and the allurement of all hearts that can look upon him. And e Psal. 84.1.87.3. Revel. 21.18, 23. jerusalem the palace of this glorious couple described by the most precious and desirable things which can be thought on. jaspar the wall, gold the pavement, pearl the gates, precious stones the foundation, and the Lord the light thereof. Of ourselves by reason of sin we are full of f 2 Cor. 7.1. filthiness and deformity in flesh and spirit, g Zech. 3.3, 4. isaiah. 1.5, 6. clothed with filthy garments, and overspread from the head to the foot with blains and putrefactions. It is only the holy Word of God which h joh. 15 3.17.17. maketh us clean from our filthiness and from all our pollutions. By the washing of water through the Word Christ sanctifieth us, that he may present unto himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle that it might be holy and without blemish, Ephes. 5.27. And therefore the Apostle Saint Peter exhorteth Christian women to adorn the inner man of the heart with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God (whose pure eye they ought rather to please than the wanton eye of man) of great price, 1 Pet. 3.3, 4. And the truth hereof may be proved even from the practice of hypocrites themselves: for no man will counterfeit villainies, and make a show of the vices, which indeed he hath not, except he be desperately thereunto swayed by an humour of pleasing his wicked companions. And therefore Saint Austin complaineth of it as of a prodigious corruption of his nature, that he did sometimes belie himself to his wicked associates, and boasted of the wickedness which he durst not practise. No woman will paint herself with dung, or spread ink upon her face. It must be beautiful in itself which any man will ordinarily counterfeit: so that Holiness hath the prerogative of an enemy's suffrage, which is one of the strongest evidences, to testify the beauty and excellency thereof. This point will more distinctly appear if we consider either the Author, Nature, properties, or Operations of this Holiness. First, the Author is God himself by his spirit. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, 1 Thes. 5.23. Heb. 13.20, 21. saith the Apostle, and the God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do his will. Therefore the spirit is called a spirit of Holiness, Rom. 1.4. by the power whereof Christ rising from the dead was declared to be the Son of God, to note the answerableness between raising from the dead or giving life where there was none before, and the sanctification of a sinner. Therefore the Apostle calleth it the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and the forming of Christ in us, the quickening, and creating us to good works. Tit. 3.5. Gal. 4.19. Ephes. 2.5, 10. By all which we may note that what Beauty the Creation brought upon that empty and unshaped Chaos when it was distributed into this orderly frame which we now admire; or what beauty the reunion of a living soul unto a dead and ghastly body doth restore unto it; the same beauty doth Holiness bring unto the soul of a man which was filthy before. But yet further we must note that God did not make man as other ordinary Creatures, for some low and inferior use, (and yet Solomon saith, that they were made all beautiful in their time) but there was a pause, a consultation, a more than common wisdom, power, and mercy revealed in the workmanship of man: for God made man for his own more peculiar delight, company and communion, one whom he would enter into a more intimate league and covenant withal. Psal. 4.3. isaiah. 43.21. The Lord hath set apart the man that is godly for himself. This people have I form for myself, they shall show forth my praise, I will magnify the beauty of my glorious virtues in those whom I have sanctified for myself. Thus we find what perfect comeliness the Lord bestowed upon his people, when he entered into Covenant with them, and made them his own, one which was always to lean on his bosom, and to stand in his own presence, Ezek. 16.8, 14. The Church is the Lords a 1 Tim. 3.15. own House, a b 2 Cor. 6.16. Temple in the which he will dwell and walk; it is his c jer. 3.17. Throne, in which he sitteth as our Prince and Lawgiver. And in this regard it must needs be extraordinary beautiful; for the d isaiah. 60.13. Lord will beautify the place of his Sanctuary, and will make the place of his feet glorious. Now then, if by Holiness we are made e 1 Cor. 3.9. God's building, and that not as the rest of the world is for his Creatures to inhabit, but as a Temple for himself to dwell in, as a f Cant. 7.5. gallery for himself to walk and refresh himself in, certainly Holiness which is the Ornament and engraving of this temple must needs be a glorious thing, for there is much glory and wisdom in all God's works. Secondly, if we consider the Nature of Holiness, it must needs be very Beautiful. In general, it consists in a Relation of conformity, as all Goodness, save that of God doth: for no Creature is so absolute as to have its being from itself, and therefore its Goodness cannot consist in any thing which hath its original in itself. It is the Rule and End which denominateth the Goodness of any created thing, that therefore which ought not to work for its own end, ought not to work by its own Rule, for he who is Lord of an end, must needs be Lord of the means and directions which lead unto that end. And this is indeed the ground of all sin, when men make themselves their own will, wit, reason, or resolutions, to be the spring and fountain of all their actions. Therefore sin is called our own ways, and the lusts of our own hearts and our own counsels, because it is absolutely from ourselves, and hath no constituted rule to moderate or direct it. Impossible it is for any Creature, as it comes out of God's hands, to be without a Law, or to be an original law unto itself: for as he who hath none over him cannot possibly be subject unto any Law, in as much as a Law is but the declaration of a Superiors will what he requires to be done, and what he threateneth on default thereof to inflict: so he that is under the wisdom and ends of another, must needs likewise be subject to the Laws which his will prescribes for advancing and compassing his own ends, who if he be in his own nature and ends most holy, must needs be holy in the Laws which he enacts. By all which we may observe that Holiness consisteth in conformity, so that according to the excellency of the pattern whereunto it refers, so is the measure of its beauty to be conjectured. And the pattern of our Holiness is God himself, Be you holy, as your father which is in heaven is Holy; Other Creatures have some prints and paths of God in them, and so are all beautiful in their time: but man had the image of God created in him, his will was set up in our heart as a Law of nature, most pure, right, holy, good, wise and perfect, and that Law did bear the same relation to man's life, as his soul doth unto his members, to animate, form, and organize every motion of the heart, every word of the mouth, every action of the soul and body according unto the will of God. When after this man threw away this Image, and God was pleased in mercy again to renew Holiness in him, he did it again by another pattern, or rather the same exhibited in another manner. He made him then conformable to the Image of his Son, the heavenly Adam, Rom. 8.29. 1 Cor. 15 49. who is himself the Image of the invisible God, the express Character of his Father's brightness, a Sun of righteousness, a morning star, the light of the world, the fairest of ten thousand: so that compare Holiness with the first original draught thereof in Paradise, the nature of Adam as it came new out of Gods fashioning, or that with the Law of God written in his heart, or that with the Holiness of God, of which it was a ray shining into the soul, or that Image of God with itself in Christ the second Adam, and every way Holiness in its nature consists in a Conformity and Commensuration to the most beautiful things. Thirdly, if we consider some of the chief Properties of Holiness, we shall find it in that regard likewise very Beautiful. First, Rectitude and Uprightness, sincerity and simplicity of heart, God made man upright, but they have found out a Eccles. 7.29. jer. 31.22. isaiah. 57.10. many inventions, that is, have sought up and down through many turnings and byways to satisfy crooked affections. It was b Psal. 5.8. David's Prayer, Make thy way straight before my face, and it is the Apostles instruction, c Heb. 12.13. Make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. True Holiness is a plain, and an even thing, without falsehood, guile, perverseness of Spirit, deceitfulness of heart, or starting aside. It hath one end, one rule, one way, one heart, whereas hypocrites are in the Scripture called d jam. 1.8. Double minded men, because they pretend to God, and follow the world. And e Deut. 32.5. crooked men, like the f isaiah. 30.12, 13. swelling of a wall, whose parts are not perpendicular, nor level to their foundation. Now rectitude, sincerity, and singleness of heart is ever both in the eyes of God and man a beautiful thing. Secondly, Harmony and Uniformity within itself. The Philosopher saith of a Just man that he is like a die, which is every way even and like itself, turn it how you will, it falls upon an equal bottom. And so Holilinesse keeps the heart like its self in all conditions; as a watch though all together it may be tossed up and down with the agitation of him that carrieth it about him; yet that motion doth no way perturb the frame, or disorder the workings of the spring and wheels within: so though the man may be many ways tempted, and disquieted, yet the frame of his heart, the order of his affections, the government of the spirit within him is not thereby stopped, but holdeth on in the same tenor. We know in the body if any part do exceed the due proportion, it destroys the beauty and acceptableness of the rest. Symmetry and fitness of the parts unto one another is that which commends a body. Now Holiness consisteth in this proportion, there is in it an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an exactness of obedience, an equal respect unto all God's Commandments, an hatred of every false way, an universal work upon the whole spirit, soul, and body, a supply made unto every joint, a measure dispensed unto every part, not a grace due unto Christian integrity which is not in some proportion fashioned in a man. Christ hath no Monsters begotten by his spiritual seed: for Monsters are ever caused either by an excess, or by a defect of seed; in the one case nature being overcharged is forced to labour that which remains, and will not be laid aside, into some superfluous members; and in the other for want of materials to leave her work unfinished, and destitute of some necessary parts. But now first we are to note that a man can have no superfluity of Grace, we can never have too much of that, the fullness whereof we should labour to get, and for the other danger, we know Christ hath a Residue of spirit to supply any defect, and to make up whatsoever is away for the fashioning of Christ in us: so than Holiness fashioneth the whole man. He that leaves any one faculty of his soul neglected, or any one part of the Service or Law of God disobeyed (I speak of a total, and constant neglect) is undoubtedly an Hypocrite and disobeyes all, jam. 2.10, 11. As David with a little stone slew Goliath because his forehead was open; so can our enemy easily deal with us if he observe any faculty naked and neglected. The actual and total breach of any one Commandment, (Totall, I mean, when the whole heart doth it, though haply it execute not all the obliquity which the compass of the sin admits) is an implicit, habitual, interpretative, and conditional breach of all; His soul stands alike dis-affected to the holiness of every Commandment, and he would undoubtedly adventure on the breach of this, if such exigences and conditions as misguided him in the other should thereunto as strongly induce him. He that hath done any one of these abominations, hath done all these abominations in God's account. Ezek. 18.10, 13. There being then in a Christian man a suitable life and vigour of holiness in every part, and a mutual conspiring of them all in the same ways and ends, there must needs likewise be therein an excellent beauty. Thirdly, growth and further Progress in these Proportions: for it is not only uprightness and Symmetry of parts, which causeth perfect beauty and comeliness, but stature likewise. Now Holiness is a thriving and growing thing. The Spirit is seed, and the Word is rain, and the Father is an Husbandman, and therefore the life of Christ is an abounding life, joh. 10.10. The rivers of the Spirit of Grace spring up unto Eternity, joh. 7.36. As Christ hath no Monsters, so neither hath he any Dwarves in his mystical body; but all his grow up unto the pitch of perfection which it becometh them to have in him, even unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Ephes. 4.12, 13. The meaning of the Apostle is that Christ is not always an infant in us as when he is first form, but that he doth Grandescere in Sanctis, as Musculus well expresseth it, that he groweth up still unto the stature of a man: for wheresoever there is faith and holiness there is ever ingenerated an appetite for augmentation; Faith is of a growing and Charity of an abounding Nature, 2 Thes. 1.3. By the Word of truth, as by incorruptible seed we were begotten, jam. 1.18, 21. 1 Pet. 1.23. 2.2. Luk. 17 5. Psal. 68.28. and by the same Word as by the sap and milk are we nourished, and grow up thereby. This affection holiness ever works, as it did in the Disciples, Lord, increase our faith, and in David, Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. Fourthly, besides the Rectitude, Harmony, and Maturity which is in Holiness, there is another property, which maketh the Beauty thereof surpass all other Beauty, and that is Indeficiencie. The measure of Christ must be the Rule of our growth, but Christ never was overtaken by old age or times of declining, He never saw corruption: so we must proceed from strength to strength, like the Sun to the perfect day, but there is no sinking or setting of Holiness in the heart. They that are planted in God's House do still bring forth fruit in their Old age, Psal. 92.14. and are even then fat and flourishing. As our outward man decayeth, so our inward man groweth day by day. Our Holiness is a branch of the life of Christ in us, which doth never of itself run into death, and therefore is not apta nata of itself to decay: for that is nothing but an earnest, inchoation, and assurance of death. That which waxeth old, saith the Apostle, is ready to vanish away, Heb. 8.13. Fourthly and lastly, if we consider the Operations of Holiness, that likewise will evidence the Beauty thereof, for it hath none but gracious and honourable effects. It filleth the Soul with Joy, Comfort, and Peace. All Joy, unspeakable, and glorious joy, peace, quietness, assurance, songs, and everlasting joy. Rom. 15.13. 1 Pet. 1.8. isaiah. 32.17. isaiah. 35.5, 10. It maketh the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, the dumb sing, the wilderness and parched ground to become springs of water. It entertaineth the soul with feasts of fatted things, Esay 25.6. Cant. 2.4, 5. Psal. 45.15. Cant. 1.4. Cant. 7 5. john 14. 21-23. Hebr. 12.14. Psal. 45.11. Cant 4.9. and of refined wines, and carrieth it into the banqueting-house unto apples and flagons. It giveth the soul a dear communion with God in Christ, a sight of him, an access unto him, a boldness in his presence, an admission into most holy delights, and intimate conferences with him in his bedchamber, and in his galleries of love. In one word, it gathers the admiration of men, it secures the protection of Angels, and which is argument of more beauty than all the creatures in the world have beside, it attracteth the eye and heart, the longings and ravishments, the tender compassions and everlasting delights of the Lord jesus. I have insisted on those properties of holiness, which denote inward beauty, because all the graces of the Spirit do beautify inherently. But the word properly signifying Decus or Ornatum, outward adorning by a metaphor of rich apparel, expressing the internal excellency of the soul, notes unto us two things more. First, that the people of Christ are not only sanctified within, but have interest in that unspotted holiness of Christ, wherewith they are clothed as with an ornament. So the Priests a Psal 132 9 of God are said to be clothed with righteousness, and we are said to b Gal. 3.27. put on Christ: And the righteousness of Christ is frequently compared to c Revel. 3.18.4.4.6.11.7.9. long white robes, fit to d Psal. 32.1. cover our sins, to hide our nakedness, and to protect our persons from the wrath of God: so that to the eye of his justice we appear, as it were parts of Christ; as when jacob wore Esau's garment, he was as Esau to his father, and in that relation obtained the blessing. God carrieth himself towards us in Christ, as if we ourselves had fulfilled all righteousness, as if there were no ground of contestation with us, or exception against us. And this is indeed the beauty of holiness: The model, prototype, and original of all beauty. Secondly, from the metaphorical allusion (as it is usually understood) it notes unto us likewise, that all the people of Christ are Priests unto God, to e 1 Pet. 2.5. Esay 56.7. Revel 1.6. offer up sacrifices acceptable unto him by jesus Christ. They have all the privileges, and the duties of Priests. To approach unto God, f Hebr. 10.19. we have liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood of jesus; to consult and have communion with him, to be his Remembrancer; for as his Spirit is his Remembrancer unto us, g joh. 14.26. he shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you; so is he h Esay 43.25. Esay 62.6, 7. our Remembrancer unto God, to put him in mind of his mercy and promises, to make mention of him, and to give him no rest. To know, and propagate his truth; this i Mal. 2.7. was the office of the Priest, to be the keeper of the knowledge, and to teach it unto others: and this knowledge in the Gospel doth k Esay 11.9. overflow the earth, and make every l Col 3.16. Hebr. 3.13. jude vers. 20. man, in a spiritual sense, a Priest, an instructor, and edifier of his brother. To offer to him such sacrifices as he now delighteth in: the m Psal. 107 22. sacrifices of thanksgiving, the n Psal. 51 17. sacrifices of a broken and contrite spirit, the o Heb 13.15, 16. Phil. 4.18. sacrifices of praise, confession, good works, and mutual communicating unto one another: in one word, the p Rom. 12.1. Rom. 15.16. Esay 66.20. james 1.18. sacrificing of a man's whole self, to be consecrated as a kind of first fruit unto God, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. There is no man actually belonging unto the Kingdom of Christ, who hath not all these holy affections wrought in him, and maketh conscience of them, as of his calling, and the duties of his life. We see then that Holiness is the badge of Christ's subjects; they are called q Esay 63.18. The people of his Holiness: r jer. 2.3. james 1.18. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first fruits of his increase consecrated unto him and his service as a kind of first fruits. The livery of Christ's servants is a parcel of the same holy Spirit with which his own humane nature was clothed. s Exod. 40.9. All the vessels and ministerial instruments of the Tabernacle were anointed with the holy oil; and the t Psal. 93.5. house of the Lord was an house of holiness, to signify that every Christian should be by the Spirit of God sanctified, because he is u 2 Cor. 6.16. a Temple, and every member, because it is x Rom. 6.13. a vessel and instrument for the Master's use. The Spirit of holiness is that which distinguisheth, and as it were, marketh the sheep of Christ from the wicked of the world: ye are y Ephes. 1.13. sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise: z 1 Cor. 2.12. ye have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. Holiness a Tit. 2.14. setteth us apart for God's service, for his b Hebr. 12.14. presence and fruition; c Ezek. 9.4. protecteth and privilegeth us from the wrath to come, in the day when he shall separate between the precious and the vile, and make up his jewels: without this no man can either serve, or see, or escape God, either do his will, enjoy his favour, or decline his fury. All our services without this are but d Malac. 2.3. Dung, and who would thank that man for his service, who with wonderful officiousness should bring nothing but heaps of dung into his house? If a man could pour out of his veins rivers of blood, and offer up every day as many prayers as thoughts unto God, if his eyes were melted into tears, and his knees hardened into horn with devotion; yet all this, if it be not the fruit of holiness, but of will-worship, or superstition, or opinion of merit and righteousness, it is but as dung in God's sight. Wherefore liest thou upon thy face, there is an accursed thing in the camp? whatever sin thy conscience tells thee lieth next thy heart, and warms it, so that thou art unwilling to part from it, take heed of bringing it into God's presence, or provoking him with thy services, for he will throw them back like dung into thy face. What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many? jer. 11.15. Psal. 50.16, 17. Esay 1. 11-14. What hast thou to do to take my Covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction? Who hath required this at your hands to tread in my Courts? Bring no more vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto me, etc. Till a man put away the evil of his doings, and cleanse himself, all his worship of God is but mocking of him, and profaning his ordinances. In vain did the Mariners pray while jonah was in the ship; in vain did joshua intercede while the accursed thing was in the camp. A man shall lose all which he hath wrought in God's worship, and have neither thanks nor reward for it, so long as he harboureth any unclean affection in his heart, and will not yield to part from it. Any sin which wasteth the conscience (as every great and presumptuous sin doth in whomsoever it is) unqualifieth that person for the kingdom of heaven. Grace maketh a believer sure of salvation, but it doth not make him reckless or secure in living; though there be not an extinguishment, yet there is a suspension of his right upon any black and notorious fall, that man must not dare to lay claim to heaven, that hath dared in a presumptuous manner to provoke the Lord. Our holiness is not the cause of our salvation, but yet it is the way thereunto; he which by any wasting and presumptuous sin putteth himself out of that way, must by repentance turn into it again, before he can hope to find out heaven; for without holiness no man shall see the Lord. He that is an hundred miles from his own house, notwithstanding his propriety thereunto, shall yet never actually enter therein, till he have traveled over the right way which leads unto it. There is an Order, à primo ad ultimum in the salvation of men, many intermediate passages between their vocation and their glory: Justification, repentance, sanctification, as a scale or ladder betwixt earth and heaven, he that falls from his holiness and purity of conscience, though he be not quite down the ladder, and hath the whole work to begin again, as much as ever, yet doubtless he shall never get to the top till he recover the step from which he fell. And if in this case it be true that the righteous shall scarcely be saved; O then where shall that man appear whom God at the last shall find without this garment and seal upon him. When there was a tempest, he who slept, and least thought of it, was thrown into the sea; and when the day of wrath shall come, those that have neglected their estate most, shall doubtless be in the greatest danger. And therefore we should labour to go to God's throne with our garments and our mark upon us; for all other endowments, our learning, our honours, our parts, our preferments, our earthly hopes and dependencies will none follow us, but we shall live to see either them or the comforts of them depart. Achitophel had wisdom like an oracle of God, but he lived to see it bid him quite farewell, for he died like a very fool or child, who when he may not have his own will, will be revenged upon himself. Haman had more honour than the ambition of a subject usually aspires unto, and yet he lived to see it bid him farewell, and died the basest death which himself could devise for his most hated and despised enemy. jehoiakim, a King, lived to see his Crown take its leave, and was buried with the burial of an Ass, and dragged like carrion out of the gates of the City. There will be nothing at last left for any man to cast his trust upon but God, or Angels, or our fellows; and if then God be against us, though all which remains were on our side, alas what is an handful of stubble to a world full of fire? but yet there will not be that advantage, but the combat must be single between God and a sinner. The good Angels rejoice to do Gods will, and the wicked will rejoice to do man any mischief; these will be only ready to accuse, and those to gather the wicked together unto the wrath of him that sitteth on the Throne. O what would a man give then for that holiness which he now despiseth? what covenants would such a man be content to subscribe unto, if God would then show him mercy when the court of mercy is shut up? wouldst thou return to the earth, and live there a thousand years under contempt and persecution for my service? O yes, not under thy service only, but under the rocks and mountains of the earth, so I may be hid from the face of the Lamb. Wilt thou be content to go to hell and serve me there a thousand years in the midst of hellish torments, and the reviling of damned creatures? O yes, even in hell infinitely better would it be to be thy servant than thine enemy. Wilt thou revenge every oath with an year of prayers, every bribe or corruption with a treasury of alms, every vanity with an age of preciseness? Yes Lord, the severest of thy commands to escape but the smallest of thy judgements. O let us be wise for ourselves, there shall be no such easy conditions then proposed when it will be impossible to observe them, and there are now far easier proposed, when we are invited to observe them. Lastly, from hence we learn that none will be Willing to come unto Christ till they see Beauty in his service, which with a carnal eye they cannot do, for naturally the heart is possessed with much prejudice against it, that the way of religion in that exactness which the Word requires, is but the phantasm of more sublimated speculations, a mere notional and airy thing, which hath no being at all, but in the wishes of a few men, who fancy unto themselves the shape of a Church, as Zenophon did of a Prince, or Plato of a Commonwealth. And therefore though with their tongues they do not, yet in their hearts men are apt to lay aside that rigour and exactness which the Scripture requires, namely, to pull out our right eyes, to cut off our right hands, to hate father and mother, and wife, and lands, and our own life; to deny ourselves, to cross our own desires, to mortify our earthly members, to follow the Lamb through evil report and good report, through afflictions and persecutions, and manifold temptations whither soever he goeth, to war with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses, to acquaint ourselves with the whole counsel of God, and the like: and in stead thereof to resolve upon certain more tolerable maxims of their own to go to heaven by, certain mediocrities between piety and profaneness, wherein men hope to hold God fast enough, and yet not to lose either the world, or their sinful lusts. This is a certain and confessed truth, that the spirit which is in us by nature, is contrary to the spirit of purity and power which is in the world: and therefore the universal and willing submission of the heart unto this, must needs find both many antipathies within, and many discouragements and contempts without. Esay 8.14.18. Christ was set up for a sign of contradiction to be spoken against, and that in the houses of Israel and of juda, and as it was then, so is it now, even in Abraham's family, in the household and visible Church of Christ, Zech. 3.8. They that are of the flesh persecute those that are after the spirit; Luke 2.34. Christ had never greater enemies than those which professed his name. This is one of the sorest engines Satan hath against his kingdom, Quantus in Christiano populo honor Christi, ubi religio ignobilem facit?— per hoc omnes quodammodo matiesse coguntur ne viles habeantur. Salvian. to make it appear in the eyes of men, as a despicable, contemptuous, and unbeautifull thing. And therefore no man comes under Christ's government till that prejudice by manifest evidence of the Spirit be removed. And for this reason the ways of Christ are set forth as beautiful, even under crosses and afflictions. I am black with persecution, with the beating of the Sun upon me, but yet I am comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. When the watchmen smote the Church, Cant. 1. 5-8. and wounded her, and took away her veil, yet still she acknowledged Christ, for whose sake she suffered these persecutions, to be the white and ruddy, Cant. 5. 7-10. the fairest of ten thousand: and the same opinion hath Christ of his Church, though she be afflicted and tossed with tempest, yet he esteemeth of her as of a beautiful structure. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights? Esay 54.11, 12. Cant. 4. 1-7. And this is that we should all endeavour, to show forth in a shining and unblameable conversation, the Beauty of the Gospel, that the enemy may have no occasion from any indiscretions, affectatitions, unnecessary, reservedness, and deformities, ungrounded scrupulosities, over-worldly affections, or any other miscarriages of those who profess not the name only, but the power of religion, to blaspheme or fling off from a way, against which they have such prejudices offered them; for all that which the faithful have common with the world, shall yet be sure to be charged upon their profession by wicked men, who have not either reason or charity enough to distinguish between God's rule, and man's error. Submit yourselves, saith the Apostle, to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake, etc. for so is the will of God, that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: for this is certain, the ignorance of foolish men will not so much lay the blows upon your persons, as upon that truth and religion which you profess, when you needlessely withstand any such ordinances as you might without sin obey. The last thing observed in this verse was the Multitudes of Christ's subjects, and the manner of their birth; From the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. Thy children are borne in as great abundance unto thee, as the dew which falleth from the morning womb. From whence we may note; First, that Christ in the day of his power, in the morning of his Church, had multitudes of children borne unto him. This promise the Lord made to Abraham, and it is not to be limited to his children after the flesh, but to his children of promise, Gen. 22.17. Gen. 28.14. that his seed should be as the Stars, and as the Dust for multitude. And the Prophet applies that Promise to Israel by promise, when those after the flesh should be dissipated and become no people, yet saith the Prophet, the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor numbered, Numb. 23.10. etc. meaning the Israel of God amongst the Gentiles. Thus the faithful are said to flock like Doves unto their windows, Host 1.10. and to swell into a sea of great waters, an hundred and four and forty thousand, Esay 11.9. Revel. 7 4-9. with an innumerable company more, all sealed and standing before the Lamb. Now this was in die copiarum, in the time when Christ first sent abroad his armies and the rod of his strength into the world. Act. 14.16. Before this God suffered men to walk in their own ways, yea, in his own life-time he forbade his Disciples to enter into the Cities of the Samaritans, Act. 17.30. or the Gentiles. And he promised them that they should do greater works than he himself had done, because he went unto his Father: joh. 14.12. for when he ascended up on high, he then led captivity captive, that ignorance and thraldom under which the world was held he triumphed over, and gave gifts of his Spirit unto men of all sorts in abundance; Visions to the young, Dreams to the aged, and his gracious Spirit unto all. We never read of so many converted by Christ's personal preaching (which was indeed but the beginning of his preaching, for it is the Lord which speaketh from heaven still) as by the ministry of his Apostles; he thereby providing to magnify the excellency of his spiritual presence, against all the carnal superstitions of those men who seek for an invisible corporal presence of Christ on the earth, charmed down out of heaven under the lying shapes of separated accidents. And who cannot be content with that All-sufficient Remembrancer, which himself hath promised to his Church, joh. 14.26. except they may have others, and those such as the holy Scriptures every where disgraceth as teachers of lies and vanity, the Crucifixes and images of their own erecting; therein infinitely derogating from that all-sufficient provision which the Lord in his word and Sacraments (the only living and full images of Christ crucified, Gal. 3.1.) hath proposed unto men as alone able to make them wise unto salvation, being opened and represented unto the consciences of men, not by humane inventions, but by those holy ordinances and offices which himself hath appointed in his Church, the preaching of his word, and administration of his Sacraments. And surely they who by Moses and the Prophets, by that Ministry which Christ after his ascension did establish in his Church, doth not repent, would be no whit the nearer, no more than judas or the pharisees were, if they should see or hear Christ in the flesh. Therefore it is observed after Christ's ascension that the word of God grew mightily and prevailed; Act. 19.20. Act. 3.47. 2 Cor. 2.14. isaiah. 54.1. Act. 4.32. Act. 5.14. Zech 8 20.23. Matth. 11.12. 1 Sam. 15.27. and that there were men daily added unto the Church. That the Savour of the Gospel was made manifest in every place. That the Children of the desolate were more than of the married wife. Therefore the believers after Christ's ascension are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The multitude of them that believed, and multitudes of men and women were added to the Lord. Ten to one of that there was before; Ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, of the skirt of him that is a jew, saying, We will go with you; that is, shall take the Kingdom of heaven by violence, as Saul laid hold on the skirt of samuel's Mantle, that he might not go from him. The Reason hereof is to magnify the exaltation & spiritual presence and power of Christ in the Church; while he was upon the earth he confined his ordinary residence and personal preaching unto one people, because his bodily presence was narrow, and could not be communicated to the whole world. For he took our nature with those conditions and limitations which belong thereunto. But his Spirit and power is over the whole Church, by them he walketh in the midst of the Candlesticks. Christ's bodily presence and preaching the jews withstood, and crucified the Lord of glory. But now to show the greatness of his power by the Gospel, he goes himself away, and leaves but a few poor and persecuted men behind him, assisted with the virtue of his Spirit, and by them wrought works which all the world could not withstand. He could have published the Gospel as he did the Law by the ministry of Angels; he could have anointed his Apostles with regal oil, and made them not Preachers only but Princes, and Defenders of his faith in the world. But he rather chose to have them to the end of the world poor and despised men, whom the world (without any show of just reason which can be by them alleged) should overlook, and account of as low and mean conditioned men, that his Spirit might in their ministry be the more glorified. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, 1 Cor. 1.27, 28. and weak things of the world to confound things that are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, ye and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence. 1 Cor. 2.3, 4, 5. But that his own Spirit might have all the honour; therefore I was with you in weakness, saith the Apostle, and in fear, & in much trembling, etc. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 2 Cor. 4.7. Zech. 4.6. And again, We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us▪ not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Thus we find that when the Church was most persecuted it did then most grow, and in the worst times it brought forth the greatest fruit, to note the power of Christ's Kingdom above all the attempts of men. 1 Cor. 16.9. A great door, and effectual is opened unto me, saith the Apostle, and there are many adversaries; intimating that the Gospel of Christ had great success when it was most resisted. All persecutors (as S. Cyprian observes) are like Herod, they take their times, Infantiam Christi studiosè persequuntur, & antequàm formetur Christus in nobis, in ipso piae conversationis initio ut extinguatur Spiritus, & suffocetur vita justitiae, penitus elaborant, Cyprian. Serm. de stella & Magis. Aug. Epist. 42. and seek to slay Christ and overthrow his Kingdom in its infancy, and therefore at that time doth he most of all magnify the power and protection of his Spirit over the same. Never were there so many men converted as in those infant-times of the Church when the dragon stood before the woman ready to devour her Child, as soon as it should be borne. The great Potentates of the world, which did persecute the name of Christ, were themselves at last thereunto subjected, Non a repugnantibus sed a morientibus Christianis, not by fight but by dying Christians. As a tree shaken sheds the more fruit, and a perfume burnt diffuseth the sweetest Savour; so persecuted Christianity doth the more flourish by the power of that Holy Spirit, whose foolishness is wiser, and whose weakness is stronger than all the oppositions and contradictions of men. But if there be such multitudes belonging unto Christ's Kingdom, is not universality, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Nazian. Orat. 25. and a visible pomp a true note to discern the Church of Christ by? To this I answer, that a true characteristical note or difference ought to be convertible with that of which it is made a note, and only suitable thereunto; for that which is common unto many, can be no evident note of this or that particular. Now universality is common to Antichristian, idolatrous, & malignant Churches. The Arrian heresy invaded the world, and by the Imperial countenance spread itself into all Churches. The whore was to sit upon many waters, which were peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues; Revel. 17.15.18.3. the Kings of the earth were to be made drunk with the wine of her fornications, and all nations to drink thereof. Therefore touching these multitudes in the Church, we are thus to state the point; Consider the Church in itself, and so it is a very vast body, but yet consider it comparatively with the other more prevailing & malignant part of the world, & so it is but a little flock, as many grains and measures of corn may lie hid under a greater heap of chaff. Secondly, the Church now is many, comparatively with the old church of the jews, more are the Children of the desolate than of the married wife, isaiah. 54.1. But not comparatively with the adversaries of the Church in general. We see of thirty parts of the world, Brierwood of Religion. nineteen are either idolatrous or Mahometan, and the other eleven serving Christ in so different a manner as if there were many Christ's or many Gospels, or many ways to the same end. Thirdly, though Christ always have a numerous offspring, yet in several ages there is observable a different purity and conspicuousness according to the different administrations and breathe of the Spirit upon his garden. In some ages the Doctrine more uncorrupt, the profession and acceptation more universal than in others. In the Apostles times there were many borne unto Christ, by reason of the more abundant measure of Spirit which was shed abroad upon them, Manifesta se tum Dei virtus contra odia humana porrexit: cum tanto magis Christus praedicaretur, quanto magis praedicari inhiberetur. Hilar. contra Auxent. Tit. 3.6. In the times of the Primitive persecutions there were many likewise born, because God would glorify the foundations of his Church, and the power of his Spirit above the pride of men. In the first countenancing of it by Imperial Laws and favours, it was very general and conspicuous, because professed by the obedience, and introduced by the power of those great emperors whom the world followed. But after that long peace and great dignities had corrupted the minds of the chief in the Church, and made them look more after the pomp than the purity thereof, the mystery of iniquity, like a weed, grew apace, and overspread the Corn, first abusing, and after that subjecting the power of princes, and bewitching the Kings of the earth with its fornications. Hence likewise we may learn to acknowledge God's mercy in the worst times; in those ages wherein the Church was most oppressed, yet many have yielded themselves unto Christ. The woman was with Child, and was delivered even when the Dragon did persecute her, Revel. 12.1.4. Hieronymus Conir. Luciferianos. Vincentius Lyrinensis in Commonitorio. and even then God found out in the wilderness a place of refuge, defence, and feeding for his Church. As in those cruel times of arianism when heresy had invaded the world, and in those blind and miserable ages wherein Satan was loosed, God still stirred up some notable instruments by whom he did defend his truth, and amongst whom he did preserve his Church, though they were driven into solitary places, and forced to avoid the assemblies of Heretical and Antichristian Teachers. We learn likewise not to censure persons, places or times; God had seven thousand in Israel, when Elias thought none but himself had been left, all are not alike venturous or confident of their strength. Nicodemus came to Christ by night, and yet even then Christ did not reject him. Therefore we must not presently censure our neighbours as cold or dead, if they discover not immediately the same measure of courage and public stoutness in the profession of Christ with ourselves; some men are by nature more retired, silent, unsociable, unactive men: some by the engagement of their places, persons, and callings wherein they are of more public and necessary use in the Church, are put upon more abundant caution and circumspection in the moderate carriage of themselves than other men. Paul was of himself very zealous and earnest in that great confusion, when Gaius and Aristarchus were haled into the theatre, to have gone in unto the people in that their outrage and distemper: but the wisdom of the Disciples, and some of his chief friends is herein commended, that they sent unto him desiring him that he would not adventure into the theatre, and that they suffered him not, Act. 19.30, 31. It is a grave observation which Gregory Nazianzen makes of that great champain, and universal agent for composing the differences, Gregor. Nazian. Orat. 20. and distractions of the Church, S. Basil, that pro temporis ratione & Haereticorum principatu, by reason of the prevalency of adversaries and condition of the times, he did in the controversies concerning the Deity of the Holy Ghost abstain from some words which others of an inferior rank did with liberty and boldness use; and that this he did in much wisdom, and upon necessary reasons; because it was not fit for so eminent a person, and one who had such general influence by the quality of his place and greatness of his parts in the welfare of the Church, by the envy of words or phrases to exasperate a countenanced enemy, and to draw upon himself, and in him upon the Church of God, any inevitable and unnecessary danger. And surely if the wisdom and moderation of that holy man were with the same pious affection generally observed, that men, when they do earnestly contend for the truth once delivered, (which is the duty of every Christian) did not in heat of argument load the truth they maintain, with such hard and severe, though it may be true expressions, as beget more obstinacy in the adversary, and it may be suspicion in the weak or unresolved looker on, differences amongst men might be more soberly composed, and the truth with more assurance entertained. Again, we have from hence an encouragement to go on in the ways of Christ, because we go in great and in good Company: many we have to suffer with us, many we have to comfort and to encourage us. As the people of Israel when they went solemnly up to meet the Lord in Zion went on from troop to troop, the further they went, Psal. 84.7. the more company they were mixed withal, going to the same purpose: so when the Saints go towards heaven to meet the Lord there, they do not only go unto an innumerable Company of Angels, and just men, Heb. 12.21, 23. 1 Kings. 19.14. but they meet with troops in their way▪ to encourage one another. All the discouragement that Elias had was, that he was alone; but we have no such plea for our unwillingness to profess the truth and power of Religion now. We are not like a lamb in a wide place, without comfort or company; but we are sure to have an excellent guard and convoy unto Christ's Kingdom. And this use the Apostle makes of the multitudes of believers, that we should by so great a Cloud of witnesses, be the more encouraged in our patient running of that race which is set before us, Heb. 12.1. Lastly, It should teach us to love the multitudes, the assemblies and the Communion of the Saints, to speak often to one another, to encourage & strengthen one another, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; to concur in mutual desires, to conspire in the same holy thoughts and affections; to be of one heart, of one soul, of one judgement, to walk by one & the same rule, to besiege heaven with armies of united Prayers; to be mutually serviceable to the City of God, and to one another as fellow members. Therefore hath the Lord given unto men several gifts, and to no one man all, that thereby we might be enabled to and induced to work together unto one end, and by Love to unite our several graces for the edification of the body of Christ, Ephes. 4.11, 13. Now for the manner of producing or procuring these multitudes, it is set forth unto us in two Metaphors. A womb, and Dew of the morning. Now the birth of Dew is first generatio caelestis. That which is exhaled is an earthly vapour, but the heavenly operation changeth it into Dew; no art of man is able to do it. It is also undiscerned and secret, when it is fallen you may see it, but how it is made you cannot see. Lastly, it is a sudden Birth, in a night, or morning it is both begotten, conceived, and brought forth. Here than we have four notes. First, that all Christ's subjects are withal his Children. They are borne unto him. joh. 3.3. isaiah. 8.18. Heb. 2.12, 13. Gal. 4.26. isaiah. 51.18. 1 Cor. 4.15. Philem. v. 10. Gal. 4.19. 1 Pet. 1.23. Christianity is a Birth, except a man be borne again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. There is a Father. Christ our Father by generation; Behold, I and the Children whom thou hast given me; as we are his brethren by adoption. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. There is a Mother, jerusalem which is above is the Mother of us all. And there are subordinate instruments, both of one and other, the holy Apostles, Evangelists, Doctors, and Pastors, who therefore are sometimes called Fathers begetting us, in Christ jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel; and sometimes Mothers bearing, and bringing forth; of whom I travel in birth again until Christ be form in you. There is a holy seed out of which these Children of Christ are form; namely the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For the heart of a man new borne unto Christ cometh from the word as a paper from the press, or as a garment from a perfume, transformed into that quality of spiritualness and holiness which is in the word. There is a Vis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or formative virtue, which is the energy and concurrence of the Spirit of grace with the word, 1 Pet. 1.22. joh. 3.5. for the truth is not obeyed but by the Spirit, except a man be borne of water and the Spirit, water as the seed, and the Spirit as the formative virtue quickening and actuating that seed, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. There are Throws and pains both in the Mother and in the Child; much trouble and care in the ministry of the word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with whom I travel in pain again. I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. Gal. 4.19. Act. 20.31. As a woman with Child, by reason of the fear and danger of miscarriages, doth abridge herself of many liberties, in meats, physic, violent exercise, and the like; so those who travel in birth with the Children of Christ are put to deny themselves many things, and to suffer many things for the success of their service. 1 Cor. 8.13. 2 Tim. 1.11, 12. 2 Tim. 2.10. I will eat no flesh while the world standeth rather than make my brother to offend. I am appointed a Preacher, and an Apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles; for the which cause I also suffer these things. I endure all things for the elects sake that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ jesus. And there is pain in the Child too; a sinner doth not leave the warmth and pleasure of his former condition without pain; Christ comes not without shaking unto the soul. There is a New being or nature; a corruption of our old man, and a formation of the new. Old things are done away, 'tis 3.5. 2 Cor. 5.17. Eph. 4.22, 23. Rom. 12.2. 1 joh. 3.3▪ 4.17. behold all things are become new; the same holy nature, the same mind, judgement, will, affections, motions, desires, dispositions, spirit wrought in us which was in him. He that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as he is pure; as he is so are we in this world; patient as he is patient, Heb. 12.2. Holy as he is holy, 1 Pet. 1.15. Humble as he is humble, joh. 13.14. Compassionate as he is compassionate, Col.. 3.13. Loving as he is loving; Ephes. 5.2. in all things labouring to show Christ fashioned in our nature and in our affections. There is a new conversation answerable to our new nature; that as God is good in himself, and doth good in his works, Psal. 119.68. so we both are as Christ was, 1 joh. 4.17. and walk as he walketh, 1 joh. 2.6. There is new food, and appetites thereunto suitable. A desire of the sincere, immediate, 1 Pet. 2.2. untempered, uncorrupted milk of the word as it comes with all the spirits and life in it, that we may grow thereby. New Privileges and Relations; the Sons of God, the brethren of Christ, the citizens of heaven, the household of the Saints. New Communion and society; the fellowship of the Father and the Son by the Spirit; fellowship with the Holy Angels, we have their love, their ministry, their protection; followship with the spirits of just men made perfect, by the seeds and beginnings of the same perfection, by the participation of the same Spirit of holiness, by expectance of the same glory and final redemption. Eph. 5.8. Rom. 13.12. In the mean time than we should walk as Children of the light, or as it is here, as Children of the morning. The Day is given us to work in, and therefore in the morning, as soon as we have our Day before us, we should endeavour to walk honestly. Night-workes are commonly works of uncleanness, violence, dishonour, and therefore want a cover of darkness to hide them. Thiefs use to come in the night, 1 Thes. 5.2. The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, no eye sha●l see me, and disguiseth himself, job 24.15. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night, he goeth to the house of the strange woman, Prov. 7.9. The oppressor diggeth through houses in the dark. For the morning is, to them as the shadow of death, job 24.16, 17. They that are drunken are drunken in the night, 1 Thes. 5.7. Sins are of the nature of some sullen weeds, which will grow no where but in the side of wells, and of dark places. But works of Christianity are neither unclean, nor dishonourable; they are beautiful and royal works, they are exemplary, and therefore public works, they are themselves light (let your light shine before men) and therefore they ought to be done in the light. Mark. 10.15. Phil. 2.15. 1 Cor. 14.20. 1 Pet. 2.2, 3. If we be Children we should express the affections of Children. The innocence, humility, and Dovelike simplicity of little Children; as the Sons of God blameless, pure, and without rebuke. Children in malice, though men in understanding. The Appetite of little Children, As new borne babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. In all impatiency the breast will pacify a little infant, in all other delights the breast will entice it and draw it away: ever so should the word and worship of God work upon us in all our distempers, and in all our deviations; Christ was hungry and faint with fasting; it was about the sixth hour, and he had sent his Disciples to buy meat, and yet having an occasion to do his Father service, he forgot his food, and refused to eat, joh. 4.6.8.34. The Love of Children he that is begotten loveth him that did beget him. 1 joh. 5.1. with a Love of Thankfulness. We love him because He loved us, 1 joh. 4.19. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice, and my supplication, Psal. 116.1. With a love of obedience; faith worketh by love, Gal. 5, 6. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, Rom. 13.10. If a man love me he will keep my words, joh. 14.23. with a love of reverence, and awful fear. A Son honoureth his Father, Mal. 1.6. If you call on the Father, etc. Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, 1 Pet. 1.17. The faith of Children. For whom should the Child rely on for maintenance and supportance but the Father; Take no thought, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed; For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things? Matth. 6.31, 32. The hope, assurance, and expectation of Children; For as Children depend on their parents for present supply, so for portions and provisions for the future; fathers lay up for their Children, and so doth God for his. There is an inheritance reserved for us, 1 Pet. 1.4. Lastly, the Prayers and requests of Children. Because ye are Sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father, Gal. 4.6. Note 2. The Birth of a Christian is a divine and heavenly work●. God is both Father & Mother of the Dew, by his power and wisdom, a Father; by his providence and indulgence, a mother. Progenitor, genitrixque, therefore he is called in Clem. Alex. Metripater, to note that those causalities which are in the second agents divided, are eminently and perfectly in him united, as all things are to be resolved into a first unity. Hath the Rain a Father, or who hath begotten the Drops of Dew? saith job. Out of whose womb came the Ice? and the hoary frost of heaven who hath gendered it? None but God is the parent of the Dew, it doth not stay for nor expect any humane concurrence, or causality, Mich. 5.7. isaiah. 55.10. such is the call and conversion of a man to Christ, A heavenly calling, Heb. 3.1. the operation of God in us, Col. 2.12. A birth not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, no● of the will of man, but of God, joh. 1. 1●. 1 joh. 3.9. Paul may pla●t, and Apollo may water, but it is God that must bless both; nay it is God who by them, as his instruments, doth both; of his own will begat he us, jam. 1.18. The Mi●isters are a Savour of Christ, 2 Cor. 2.15. It is not the garment but the perfume in it which diffuseth a sweet sent: It is not the Labour of the Minister, but Christ whom he preacheth, that worketh upon the soul. I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me, 1 Cor. 15.10. It is not good therefore to have the faith of God in respect of persons; the seed of this spiritual generation cannot otherwise be given us than in earthen vessels, by men of like passions and infirmities with others. Therefore when pure and good seed is here and there sowed, to attribute any thing to persons, is to derogate from God; where gifts are fewer, parts meaner, probabilities less, God may and often doth give an increase above hope, as to daniel's Pulse, that the excellency of the power may be of him, and not of man. Though it be a lame or a leprous hand which soweth the seed, yet the success is no way altered: good seed depends not in its growth on the hand that sows it, but on the earth that covers, and on the heavens that cherish it: So the word borroweth not its efficacy from any humane virtue, but from the heart which ponders, and the Spirit which sanctifies it. When then thou comest unto the word, come with affections suitable unto it. All earth will not bear all seed; some wheat, and some but pulse; there is first required a fitness, before there will be a fruitfulness. Christ had many things to teach which his Disciples at the time could not carry away, joh. 16.12, 13. Heb. 5.14. because the Comforter was not then sent, who was to lead them into all truth; they who by use have their senses exercised, are fit for strong meat. The truth of the Gospel is an heavenly truth, and therefore it requires a heavenly disposition of heart to prosper it. It is wisdom to those that are perfect, 1 Cor. 2.6. though to others foolishness and offence. The only reason why the word of truth doth not thrive is, because the heart is not fitted nor prepared unto it. The seed of itself is equal unto all grounds, but it prospers only in the honest and good heart; the rain in itself alike unto all, but of no virtue to the rocks, as to other ground, by reason of their inward hardness, and incapacity. The pharisees had covetous hearts, and they mocked Christ; the Philosophers had proud hearts, and they scorned Paul. The jews had carnal hearts, and they were offended at the Gospel; the people in the wilderness had unbelieving hearts, and the word preached did not profit them. But now a heavenly heart comes with the affections of a Scholar to be taught by God; with the affections of a servant, to be commanded by God, with the affections of a Son, to be educated by God; with the affections of a sinner, to be cured by God. It considers that it is the Lord from heaven, who speaks in the Ministry of the word to him who is but dust and ashes; and therefore he puts his hand on his mouth, dares not reply against God, nor wrestle with the evidence of his holy Spirit, but falleth upon his face, and giveth glory unto God; believes when God promiseth, trembles when God threateneth, obeys when God commandeth, learns when God teacheth, bringeth always meekness and humility of Spirit, ready to open unto the word that it may incorporate. Lastly, from hence we must learn to look unto God in all his ordinances, to expect his arm and Spirit to be there in revealed, to call on, and depend on him for the blessing of it. If a man could when he enters into God's house but power out his heart in these two things; A Promise and a Prayer. Lord, I am now entering into thy presence, Deut. 32.2. Amos 7.16. isaiah. 55.10. to hear thee speak from heaven unto me, to receive thy rain and spiritual Dew which never returneth in vain, but ripeneth a harvest either of corn or weeds, of grace or judgement. My heart is prepared o Lord, my heart is prepared, to learn and to love any of thy words. Thy Law is my Counsellor, I will be ruled by it; it is my Physician, I will be patient under it; it is my Schoolmaster, I will be obedient unto it. But who am I that I should promise any service unto thee? and who is thy Minister that he should do any good unto me without thy grace and heavenly call? be thou therefore pleased to reveal thine own Spirit unto me, and to work in me that which thou requirest of me; I say, if a man could come with such sweet preparations of heart unto the word, and could thus open his soul when this spiritual Manna falls down from heaven, he should find the truth of that which the Apostle speaketh, Ye are not straitened in us, or in our ministry, we come unto you with abundance of grace, but ye are straitened only in your own bowels, in the hardness, unbelief, incapacity, and negligence of your own hearts, which receiveth that in drops, which falleth down in showers. Note 3. As it is a divine, so it is a secret and undiscerned Birth. As the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but caused not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth: So, saith our Saviour, is every one, that is borne of God, joh. 3 8. The voluntary breathe and accesses of the Spirit of God unto the soul, whereby he a judg. 14.6. judg. 6.34. cometh mightily, and as it were clotheth a man with power and courage, are of a very secret nature, and notwithstanding the power thereof be so great, yet there is nothing in appearance but b Matth. 10.20. 2 Pet. 1.21. a voice, (of all other one of the most empty and vanishing things.) As Dew falls in small and insensible drops, and as a Child is borne by slow and undiscerned progresses (as the Prophet David saith, c Psal. 139.14. job 10.10, 11. Fearfully and wonderfully am I made,) Such is the birth of a Christian unto Christ, by a secret, hidden, and inward call, Vocatione Altâ, as S. Austen calleth it, by a deep and intimate energy of the Spirit of grace is Christ form, and the soul organised unto a spiritual being. A man hears a voice, but it is d isaiah. 30.21. Act. 9.8. behind him, he seeth no man; he feels a blow in that voice, which others take no notice of, though externally they hear it too. Therefore it is observable that the men which were with Paul at his miraculous conversion are in one place said to hear a voice, Act. 9.7. and in another place, not to have heard the voice of him that spoke unto Paul, Act. 22.9. Glass. Philolog. Sacr. lib. 2. pag. 232. They heard only a voice, and so were but astonished, but Paul heard it distinctly as the voice of Christ, and so was converted. Note 4. As it is a Divine and secret, so is it likewise a sudden birth. In natural generations the more vast the creature, the more slow the production, an Elephant ten years in the womb. In humane actions magnarum rerum tarda molimina, great works move like great engines slowly & by leisure to their maturity: but in spiritual generations, Children are borne unto Christ like Dew, which is exhaled, conceived, form, produced, and all in one night. Paul to day a Wolf, to morrow a Sheep, to day a Persecutor, to morrow a Disciple, and not long after an Apostle of Christ. The Nobleman of Samaria could see no possibility of turning a famine into a plenty within one night: neither can the heart of a man who rightly understands the closeness, and intimate radication of sin and guilt in the soul, conceive it possible to remove either in a sudden change; yet such is the birth of men unto Christ, Before she traveled she brought forth: 2 Kings 7.1, 2. Tarnou, Exercit. Biblic Edit. 2. pag. 84, 85. before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. The earth bringeth forth in one day, and a nation is borne at once; It is spoken of jerusalem the mother of us all, isaiah. 66.7, 8. VERSE 4. The Lord hath sworn, and will not Repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck. FRom the Regal Office of Christ, and the Administration thereof by the Sceptre of his Word and Spirit to the conquering of a willing people unto himself; the Prophet now passeth to his sacerdotal office; the vigour and merit whereof is by the two former applied unto the Church. Therefore we may observe that though the tribes were interdicted confusion with one another in their marriages, Num. 36.7. Poterant Levitae ex Regia familia ducere, quip quae etiam peculiari Privilegio hinc est exempta, etc. Tarnou. Exertit. Biblic. pag. 21. Edit. 2. Yet the Regal and levitical Tribes might interchange, and mingle bloods; to intimate (as I conceive) that the Messiah, with relation unto whose lineage that confusion was avoided, was to be both a King and a Priest. Thus we find jehoiada, the Priest married jehoshabeath the Daughter of King jehoram, 2 Chron. 22.11. And Aaron of the Tribe of Levi took Elish●ba the Daughter of Amminadab, Communicabant inter se reg●atribus ac Sacerdotalis propterea quod Christus Dominus secundum Humanitatem Rex futurus erat, & Sacerdes. Theodoret. Quaest in Num. qu. 52. who was of the tribe of juda, Exod. 6.23. Numb. 1.7. In which respect I suppose Mary and Elizabeth the Wife of Zatharie the Priest, are called Cousins, Luk. 1.36. In the Law indeed these two Offices were distinct. Our Lord, saith the Apostle, sprang out of the Tribe of juda, of which Tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning Priesthood, Heb. 7.14. And therefore when King Vzziah encroached on the Priest's Office, he was smitten with a Leprosy, 2 Chron. 26.18, 21. But amongst the Gentiles ( a Sacerdos Ecclesiae habentis praeputium. Hieron. To. 3. lib. quaest. Heb. in Genes. Verisimile est illum esse ex illis Gentibus quae Palaestinamincolebant. Theodoret. Quaest 63. in Genes. amongst whom Melchizedek is thought to have been a Priest,) it b Vid. Casaub. in Sueton. August. Cap. 31. Rex Anius, Rex idem hominum Phaeliq Sacerdos. Virgil. Aenead. l. 3. was usual for the same person to have been both King and Priest. The words contain the Doctrine of Christ's Priesthood. The Quality of it, Eternal. The Order, not of Aaron, but of Melchizedek. The foundation of both, God's immutable decree and counsel; he cannot repent of it, because he hath confirmed it by an Oath. I shall handle the words in the Order as they lie. The Lord hath sworn] Hear two things are to be enquired: First, how God is said to swear? Secondly, why he swears in this particular case of Christ's Priesthood? The former of these the Apostle resolves in one word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Heb. 6.17. He interposed in or by an oath, namely himself, for that is to be supplied out of the thirteenth verse, where it is said that bee swore by himself. So elsewhere it is said that he swore by the excellency of jacob, that is, by himself, Amos 8.7.6.8. By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that in blessing I will bless thee, Gen. 22.16. The meaning is, that God should deny himself, (which he cannot do, 2 Tim. 2.13.) and should cease to be God, if the word which he hath sworn should not come to pass. So that usual form, as I live, is to be understood, let me not be esteemed a living God, if my word come not to pass; so elsewhere the Lord interposeth his holiness, I have sworn by my Holiness that I will not lie unto David, Psal. 89.35. As impossible for him to break his word as to be unholy. For the second question, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. Mag. in Psal. 14. To. 1. why God swears in this particular? I answer: First, and principally, to show 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The immutable and irreversible certainty of what he speaks, Heb. 6.17. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth, and it shall not return, etc. isaiah. 45.23. Thus we find God confirming the unmovableness of his covenant by an Oath, isaiah 54.9, 10. Psal. 89.34, 35. When the Lord doth only say a thing (though his word be as certain in itself as his oath, for it is as impossible for him to lie as to forswear himself) yet there is an implicit kind of reservation for the altering, revoking, or reversing that word by some subsequent declaration. As in the covenant and Priesthood of Aaron though God made it for a perpetual ordinance, yet there was after a change of it, for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. So when the Lord sent jonah to preach destruction unto Ninive within forty days, though the Denunciation came not to pass, yet was it not any false message, because it was made reversible upon an implicit condition, which condition the Lord is pleased sometimes in mercy to conceal, that men may be the sooner frighted out of their security, upon the apprehension of so approaching a danger. At what time, saith the Lord, I shall speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy: If that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them, jer. 18.7, 8. But when the Lord swears any absolute Act, or promise of his own (for the Revocation whereof there can no other ground de novo arise, than was extant at the time of making it, and yet was no bar nor hindrance unto it, namely the sin of man) he then by that oath seals and assures the immutability thereof, to those that rely upon it. Secondly, it is to commend the excellency and preeminency of that above other things, which hath this great seal of Heaven, the Oath of God to confirm and establish it. Inasmuch, saith the Apostle, as not without an oath he was made Priest, by so much was he made a surety of a better Testament; Heb. 6.20, 22. and this is a consequent of the former; for by how much the more abiding, by so much the more glorious is the Ministry of the Gospel. If that which is done away were glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious, 2 Cor. 3.11. The more solemn and sacred the institution was, the more excellent is the Priesthood. Now this Oath was that Seal of God, by which he designed and set apart his Son for that great Office, in a more solemn manner of ordination than was to others usual. Him hath God the Father sealed; john 6.27. It was but He hath said, unto others, ye are Gods, but it is, He hath sanctified, to his Son. Quod Deus tantopere commendat, quod etiam humano more sub dejeratione testatur, summá utique gravitate & aggredi & custodire debemus, ut in asseveratione Divinae gratiae permanentes, in fructu quoque ejus & emolumento proinde perseverare possimus. Tertul. de penitent. cap. 4. john 10.34▪ 36. Thirdly, It is to commend Gods great compassion and good will, for the establishing of the hearts of men in comfort and assurance. He therefore confirmed his promise by an oath, That by two immutable things wherein it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope which is set before us. Heb. 6.17, 18. an oath even amongst men is the end of all controversy, the determination and composing of all differences; how much more when he sets his Seal upon his mercy and covenant should the hearts of men be secure, and lay fast hold thereon without doubt or scruple? Therefore we find the Saints in the Scripture make mention of the Oath of God, for establishing their hearts against fears or dangers. Thou wilt perform the truth to jaakob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old. Micah. 7.20. Thy bow was made quite naked, Quid est Dei veri veracisque juratio, nisi promissi confirma●tio, ut infidelium quaedam Increpatio? Aug. de Civi. dei. lib. 16. cap. 32. according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy Word. Hab. 3.9. that is, Thou didst make it appear to thine enemies that thou didst fight for thy People, and remember thy Word or Covenant of mercy which thou didst swear unto Abraham the Father of the faithful, and so oftentimes new ratify unto his seed, the Tribes which proceeded from him. And this is the ground of all the Church's comfort and stability: for alas, we every day deserve to have God abrogate his Covenant of mercy with us, but he is mindful of the Oath which he hath sworn. Deut. 7.7, 8.9.5. There was wickedness enough in the world to have drawn down another flood after that of Noah, the same reason that caused it, did remain after it was removed. Genes. 6.12, 13.8.21. But God's Oath bound him to his mercy, Esay, 54.9. The meaning then of this first Clause is this. The Lord to show the immutability of his Counsel, the unchangeableness of Christ's Priesthood, the excellency of it above the Priesthood of Aaron, the strong consolation which the Saints may there hence receive, hath sealed it by an Oath: so that he is a Priest by a decree which cannot be revoked. It notes unto us the Solemn call of Christ unto the office of Priesthood, as before of King. verse 1. He did not usurp this honour to himself as Nadab and Abihu did, when of their own heads they offered strange fire unto the Lord, nor encroach upon us as Vzziah; but he was ordained and begotten, and called of God thereunto, after the order of Melchisedech, Heb. 5.5.10. He was sanctified and sent, and had a commandment, and a work set him to do. john 10.18.36.37. In which respect he was called a Servant, or a chosen officer form for a special employment. Esay 42.1.49.5.53.11. Phil. 2.7. here than is the consent of the whole Trinity unto Christ's Priesthood. First, the Father's consent in his Act of ordination: for him hath God the Father sealed, john 6.27. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, Heb. 5.5, 6. Secondly, The Sons by voluntary susception and vadimonie for mankind: for he was the Surety of the Covenant, Heb. 8.22. The Apostle joineth these two together, Heb. 10.9, 10. Lo, I come to do thy Will O God; there was Gods Will and Christ's submission thereunto, in which regard he is said to sanctify himself, john 17.19. There was a Covenant between God and Christ, Christ was to undertake an office of service and obedience for men, to offer himself a sacrifice for sin, to be made of a woman under the Law, etc. * Esay 53.8.10.11.12. Psal. 2.7, 8. Phil. 2 7, 9 john 17.2.4, 5. Heb. 2.8, 9 Heb. 12.2. And for this God was to prolong his days, to give him a seed, and a Generation which could not be numbered, a Kingdom which cannot be bounded, a portion with the great, and a spoil with the strong; a Name above every name, to set a joy and a glory before him, after he should have finished his work, etc. Thirdly, here is the consent of the Holy Ghost which did hereunto anoint him, which came along with him, which form him in the womb of the Virgin, and descended upon him in his solemn susception of this office in john's Baptism, by which Spirit he was consecrated, warranted and enabled unto this great function, Esay 61.1.42.1. Matth. 3.16, 17. Heb. 1.9. If then God call Christ unto his Priesthood by a solemn Oath, and make him surety of a better covenant, we ought to take the more especial notice thereof: for when God swears he must be heard. The more excellent any thing is, the more earnest he should be given unto it: for how shall we escape, saith the Apostle, if we neglect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so great Salvation, so sure a covenant, Heb. 2.1, 3. This is the only rock on which we may cast anchor in any trouble, doubt, or fear of Spirit. It is not our own will or strength that holds us up from ruin, but only God's Oath, by which Christ is made a Priest, Able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Saint Paul and his company were in a great tempest, all hope that they should be saved was taken away, Act. 27.20. yet he exhorts them to be of good cheer, because there should not be the loss of any man's life amongst them; and the ground hereof was God's promise, which he believed, verse 24, 25. The case is the same with us, we are compassed about with infirmities; with enemies too hard, and with sins too heavy for us; with fears and doubting, that we shall lose all again; how can we in such tempests of Spirit be cheered, but only by casting anchor upon God's covenant which is established by an oath? by learning to hope above hope, Rom. 4. 18. to be strong in him when we are weak in ourselves? to be faithful in him when we are fearful in ourselves? to be steadfast in him when we stagger in ourselves? in the midst of Satan's buffets and our own corruptions to find a sufficiency in his Grace, able to answer and to ward off all? 2 Cor. 12.10. To catch hold of his covenant and to fly to the hope that is set before us, as to the only refuge and sanctuary of a pursued soul, when we are not able to stand by ourselves? Esay 56.6. Heb. 6.18. It is hard very thing when a man hath a distinct view of his filthiness and guilt, by reason of time, not to give over himself and his salvation as desperate things. It is nothing but ignorance and insensibility which makes men presume of the pardon of sin. In this case than we must consider God's Oath and Covenant with his people. First, not to reject them for their sins. Israel hath not been forsaken, nor judah of his God, though their land was filled with sin against the holy One of Israel, jer. 51.5. My People are bend unto backsliding, etc. and yet I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, For I am God, and not Man, etc. Host 11.7, 9 Secondly, not always to suffer them to lie under sin, but in due time to heal their backslidings, Host 14.4. he will not only remove our transgressions from himself, but he will remove them from us too, and that so far, as that it shall be as possible for the East and West to meet together, as for a man and his sin, Psal. 103.12. Though we have made him to serve with our sins, and wearied him with our iniquities, yet He will not remember against us our sins past, Esay 43.25. neither will he see against us the sins which remain, Numb. 23.11. These he will forgive, and these he will subdue, and all this because of his Truth unto jacob and his mercy unto Abraham, which he swore unto our fathers from the days of old, Micah. 7.18, 19.20. He hath given us ground for both our feet to stand upon, and hold fast for both our hands to cleave unto: A Promise, and an Oath, that by two immutable things, we might have strong consolation, Heb. 6.18. So the Apostle saith, that all the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen: yea, to note their Truth; and amen, to note their certainty and stability, being confirmed by the Oath of Christ. For so that word may be conceived, either * Quodamodo si dicifas est juratio ejus est Amen, Amen, dico vobis, Aug. Tract. 41. in johan. as an Oath, or at least * Confirmationis verbum. Ambrosan Psal. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. Madge in Psal. 14. vid. Nicol. Fuleri. Miscellan. lib. 1. cap. 2. as a very strong and confident affirmation which is equivalent unto an oath, 2 Cor. 1.20. except happily we will understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the same thing expressed in several tongues; as Abba Pater, in other places thereby noting not only the stability but the universality of God's promises. Many things there are in this call of Christ unto his Office to confirm this consolation, and upon which the troubled soul may cast Anchor First, from the Father he hath received a command and call unto thy service, and so as a Servant he hath fidelity; for God chooseth none but faithful servants. He was an Apostle and high Priest sent to preach the Will, and to pacify the wrath of God, and he was faithful to him that appointed him, as Moses was, Heb. 3.11.2. And if he be faithful we may trust him, for he will do the work which is given him to do. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it, 1 Thes. 5.24. Secondly, from himself there is a voluntary submission, whereby he gives himself for his Church, and lays down his own life, Eph. 5.25. Tit. 2.14. joh. 10.11. for being of himself equal with the Father, he could not be by him commanded, ordained, or overruled to any service, without a voluntary concurring to the same decree; emptying himself, and taking on him the form of a servant, making himself less than his Father, and in some sort for a while lower than the Angels, john 14.28. August de Trinit. lib. 1. cap. 7. & 9 that so he might be commanded. So that besides his fidelity to rest on as a servant, here is his especial mercy as a concurring agent in the decree, whereby he was ordained unto this office: He is not only a Faithful, but a merciful high Priest, to make reconciliation for the sins of men, Heb. 2.17. But a man may both by his Fidelity as a servant, and by his Mercy, as having the same tender compassion with him that sent him, be willing to help another out of misery, and yet may not be able to effect his own desires for want of Power. And therefore, Thirdly, by the Unction of the holy Spirit, who proceedeth from the Father and himself; he is said to be sanctified by the Father, john 10.36. and to sanctify himself, john 17.19. To have received power and authority from his Father, Matth. 28.18. john 5.27. john 17.2. and to have power likewise within himself, john 10.18. That spirit, which for the discharge of this office he brought with him in fullness, and unto all purposes of that service into the world, is a Spirit of Power, 2 Tim. 1.7. whereby he is enabled perfectly to save all comers, Heb. 7.25. so that unto his Fidelity and Mercy, here is added Ability likewise. Fourthly, as he received an office and a service, so he received a Promise from his father likewise which did much encourage him in this service. And this promise is twofold. First, the promise of a great seed which by the execution of his office he should gather unto himself, and of a great conquest over all his enemies. God conferred this ho●our upon him to be the King of a mighty People, whom he should save and sanctify to himself: They were given unto him, Psal. 2.8. john 17.6. so that unto his Fidelity, Mercy and Power; here is further added a Propriety to the thing which he saves: and who would not use all fidelity in his own business, all mercy towards his own seed, all the power he hath to deliver his own House from the fire? and Christ was faithful, as a Son over his own house, whose house are we: Heb. 3.6. Secondly, there was the promise of a great Glory and Crown which the nature he had assumed should in his Person receive after the fulfilling of his Service. After he had been a little while lower than the Angels, he was to be crowned with Glory and Honour, Heb. 2.7. and therefore we may be sure that he hath fulfilled all righteousness, and done for his Church all which he was to do upon the Earth; because he is gone, and we see him no more: for his sufferings were to go before, and his glory to follow: 1 Pet. 1.11. This is the Apostles argument why we are not in our sins, but delivered from them, because Christ is risen, 1 Cor. 15.17. 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? Rom. 8.34. And it is his argument again, why we ought to hold fast our profession, and to come boldly to the Throne of Grace for help in time of need, because we have a great high Priest that is passed into the Heavens, Heb. 4.14, 15, 16. Fifthly, as he had a Promise from the Father to encourage him, so he had a Nature from us to incline him unto the execution of his Office. He was made of a woman, made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, tempted and afflicted as we are: and so there are two things which the heart of a believer may rest upon in him in any discomforts. First, his Sympathy, for besides his Essential mercy as he is God, there was in him a mercy which he learned by being like unto us. In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and a faithful high Priest, Heb. 2.17. Such was his compassion towards the hunger of the multitude, Matth. 15.32. because he himself knew what hunger was, Matth. 4.2. and such was his compassion towards the sorrows of Mary and Martha, john 11.33, 35. because he himself was acquainted with grief, Esay, 53.3. and such was his compassion towards Peter in that state of desertion wherein he lay, Luke 22.61. because he himself knew what it was to be forsaken, Matth. 27.46. And this is the Apostles assurance that we shall obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need; because he had a feeling of our infirmities, and was tempted, as we are, Heb. 4.15, 16. Secondly, His consanguinity, He is not ashamed to call us brethren: He is our Goel, our Kinsman, and therefore our Redeemer: Heb. 11. Ruth. 3.9.4.4. And will not repent.] Many things God hath said, which he hath revoked, as the destruction of Ninive; the death of Ezekiah, and the like; which implying a tacit condition, fit in the particular cases to be concealed upon the varieties of that, God might be said either to persevere, or to repent; jer. 18.7, 8.26.13, 19 God is ever most unchangeable in all his ways, counsels and purposes, they stand for ever. Nothing can fall out to make God more wise, more merciful, more provident, more powerful than he was before, and therefore nothing can make him truly to change his will, or to repent of his former actions or resolutions. There is with him no variableness nor shadow of changing: He is not a man that he should repent. I the Lord change not: jam. 1.17. 1 Sam. 15.29. Mal. 3.6. Only in mercy unto a Humanae capacitati aptiora quam Divinae sublimitati, etc. Vid. Aug. To. 4. ad Simplicia. lib. 2. qu. 2. vid. de Civi. Dei, lib. 14. cap. 11. lib. 15. cap. 25. Tertul. Con. Maro. l. 2. cap. 16. our weakness God condescends unto the manner of humane expressions, retaining still the steadfastness of his own working, which receiveth no variation nor difference from the contingencies of second causes. He speaketh according to our capacity, but he worketh according to his own counsel, so that God is then said to repent, when that which he once willed to be, he after by the counsel of the same will, causeth not to be; therein not changing his own counsel, but only willing the change of the things, b Vbi legitur quod poeniteat cum, mutatio rerum significatur immutabili manente praescientiá diviná. Aug. de Civi. Dei, lib. 17. cap. 7 & lib. 22. cap. 1, 2. Iust. Martyr, Quest. & Resp. add Orthodox. qu. 36. that the same thing for this period of time shall be, and then shall cease. As when a rope is fixed to either side of a River, by the same without any manner change or alteration in it, I draw the boat wherein I am, backward or forward: so the same will and counsel of God stands constant and unmoved in the several mutations of those things which are wrought or removed by it. Now then, when not only the counsel of God is immutable in itself, but also he hath ordained some Law, Covenant or Office, which he will have for ever to endure, without either natural expiration, or external abolishment, then is God said not to repent. To apply this to the present business; the Apostle speaking of a new covenant which is established upon this new Priesthood of Christ (for the Priesthoods and the Laws go both together, the one being changed, there is made of necessity a change of the other; Heb. 7.12.) maketh the introducing of this new Covenant, which is founded upon the Oath of God, to make the preceding covenant old and transitory: In that he saith, A new Covenant, he hath made the first old: Now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away, Heb. 8.13. And he saith peremptorily that it was therefore disannuled, because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof: Heb. 7.18. and this he affirmeth even of the moral Law; that law, the righteousness whereof was to be fulfilled in us by the Spirit of Christ, (namely in sincerity and in love, which is the bond of perfection, and the fulfilling of the Law) Rom. 8.3, 4. For the full understanding then and applying the words to the priesthood of Christ, and the Law of Grace, or the second covenant thereupon grounded, it will be needful to resolve these two questions. First, whether God hath repent him of the Law, which was the rule and measure of the Covenant of works? Secondly, upon what reasons or grounds the immutability of the second Covenant or Law of grace standeth? For the first of these, the Psalmist telleth us, that the Commandments of God are sure, and that they stand fast for ever and ever, Psal. 111.7, 8. and we may note that the same form of speech which the Lord useth to show the stability of the new covenant; The Mountains shall depart, and the Hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee, Esay, 54.10. the same kind of form doth our Saviour use to express the stability of the Law; It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass, than for one tittle of the Law to fail; Luk. 16.17. Now the Law hath a twofold Obligation; the one principal which is to Obedience, whereunto is annexed a promise of righteousness or justification: the other secondary and conditional, which is unto malediction, upon supposal of disobedience. For, cursed is every one which continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them, Gal. 3.10. Now if no tittle of the Law must fail, then neither of these two must fail, but be both fulfilled, and then it should seem that the first Covenant is not removed notwithstanding the weakness thereof. For resolving hereof, we must note that in point of validity or invalidity, Vid. Gretii desens fidei Cathol. de satisfactione Christi, cap. 3. there can but five things be said of the Law: for first, either it must be obeyed, and that it is not, for all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God, Rom. 3.23. Or secondly, it must be executed upon men, and the curse or penalty thereof inflicted; and that it is not neither, for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, Rom. 8.1. Or thirdly, it must be abrogated, or extinguished; and that it is not neither, for Heaven and Earth must sooner pass away. If there were no Law, there would be no sin, for sin is the transgression of the Law; and if there were no Law, there would be no judgement; for the world must be judged by the Law. Or fourthly, it must be moderated and favourably interpreted by rules of equity, to abate the rigour and severity thereof; and that cannot be neither, for it is inflexible, no jot nor tittle of it must be abated. Or lastly, the Law itself remaining, the Obligation thereof notwithstanding, must towards such or such persons be so far forth dispensed withal, as that a surety shall be admitted (upon a concurrence of all their wills who are therein interested; God willing to allow, Christ willing to perform, and Man willing to enjoy:) both to do all the duties, and to suffer all the curses of the Law, in the behalf of that Person, who in rigour should himself have done and suffered all. So then neither the Law nor any jot or tittle thereof is abrogated, in regard of the Obligations therein contained, but they are all reconciled in Christ with the second covenant. Yet notwithstanding, to the purpose of a covenant or rule of righteousness between us and God, so he hath repent of it, and removed that office or relation from it, that righteousness should come to us thereby, by reason of the weakness and unprofitableness which is in it to that purpose by the sin of Man: yet thus much the Law hath to do with justification, that the fulfilling of the whole law is thereunto ever some way or other presupposed. Only in the first covenant, we were to do in our own persons; in the second, Christ is appointed and allowed to do it for us. He fulfilled all the Obligations of the Law; the duties thereof by active obedience in his life, and the curses thereof by passive obedience in his death. Now than we by faith becoming one with Christ, the grace of God doth number us up in the same mass and sum with him, and so imputeth and accounteth that ours which was done by him. There is no righteousness but doth originally refer and bear proportion to the Law of God, and yet we are not justified by the Law, but by Grace; because it is the favour of God, contrary to the rigour and exaction of the Law, which alloweth the righteousness of the Law by one fulfilled, to be unto another accounted. A man is denominated righteous, as a wall may be esteemed red or green. Now that comes to pass two manner of ways, either by the colour inhering and belonging unto the wall itself, or by the same colour in some diaphanous transparent body; as glass, which by the beam of the Sun shining on the wall, doth externally affect the same as if it were its own, and covers that true inherent colour which it hath of itself. In like manner by the strict covenant of the Law we ought to be righteous from a righteousness inherent in, and performed by ourselves; but in the new covenant of grace we are righteous by the righteousness of Christ, which shineth upon us, and presenteth us in his colour unto the sight of his Father. Here in both covenants the righteousness from whence the denomination groweth is the same (namely the satisfying of the demands of the whole Law) but the manner of our right and propriety thereunto is much varied. In the one we have right unto it by Law, because we have done it ourselves: In the other we have right unto it only by Grace and favour; because another man's doing of it is bestowed upon us, and accounted ours. And this is that gracious covenant of which the Lord here saith, I have sworn and will not repent. For resolving of the second question, upon what reasons the immutability of the covenant of Grace standeth, we must note that as things are of several sorts, so accordingly they may be mutable or immutable several ways. Some things are absolutely immutable out of the nature of the thing itself; and that is, when the abrogation, or alteration of the thing would avoidable infer some prodigious consequences and notorious pravity with it, as certain dishonour to God, and confusion upon other things. As if we should conceive a man free from worshipping, reverencing, acknowledging, loving or trusting in God; herein the creature would be unsubordinated to the Creator, which would infer desperate pravity and disorder, and God should be robbed of his essential honour which he can no more part from, than cease to be God. But now it is repugnant to the nature of an entire covenant, to be in this manner immutable. For in a covenant there is a mutual stipulation and consent between God and Man; and after performance of Man's duty, God maketh promise of bestowing a reward. Now there can be no binding necessity in God to confer, nor absolute power in Man to challenge any good from God, who doth freely and by no necessity, good unto his Creatures. Secondly, some things are merely juris positivi, not of any intrinsical necessity, resulting out of the condition of their nature, such as are free either to be or not to be of themselves, or when they are free to continue or to cease; not in themselves determined unto any condition of being unvariably belonging unto their nature. And such are all covenants; for God might have dealt with Men, as with lapsed Angels, never have entered anew into covenant with them: he might have reserved unto himself a power of reconciliation and calling in his patent, and shutting up his office of mercy again. How then comes it that this covenant is immutable, and Christ's Priesthood of everlasting and unchangeable vigour to all ages and generations of men? That there shall never be erected in the Church any other form of God's worship, or any other instruments of Man's salvation, than those which we now enjoy? The Apostle groundeth it upon two reasons, Heb. 6.17, 18. The Promise and the Oath of God. First, The Promise putteth a right in the creature which he had not before, and that Promise determineth the Will of God to the being; and leave not that indifferent to the being or not being of the Covenant. For it is the foundation of a just claim which we by faith may make upon the Fidelity, justice and Power of God, to make it Good. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins; 1 john 1.9. The righteous God shall give unto me a Crown of righteousness: 2 Tim. 4.8. righteousness and justice as well as mercy is the ground of forgiveness of sins and salvation, not in relation or respect to merit in us, but to promise in God. Only mercy it was which moved him to promise, and having promised only truth and fidelity and righteousness bindeth him to perform. As impossible it is for God to break any promise, and to lie unto David, as it is to be an unholy God, or to deny himself; Psal. 89.35. 2 Tim. 2.13. 1 Thes. 5.24. Secondly, the Oath of God, for that pawns his own Being, Life, Power, Truth, Holiness, to make good that which he hath so ratified; and upon these two doth the immutability of the second Covenant, and of Christ's Priesthood depend. Here than we see upon what ground all our comfort and assurance subsisteth; not upon any strength, power, liberty, or inherent grace already received, which we of ourselves are every day apt to waste and be cheated of by Satan and the world, but upon God's unchangeable mercy and covenant. This was all David's salvation and desire, all that his heart rested upon, that though his house were not so with God, that is, did fail much of that beauty and purity which therein God required, and therefore did deserve to be cast off, yet God had made with him an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure, 2 Sam. 23.5. When the conscience is afflicted with the sense of sin, with the fear of its own slipperiness and unstedfastness in God's covenant, this is all it hath to support it, That God is one, Galath. 3.19. That Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever, Heb. 13.8. that he is where he ever was, ready to meet those that return, Esay 64.5. Luke 15.20. If I should do to men, as I have done to God, they would despise, forsake, revenge themselves on me, I should never receive grace nor favour again. But God is not as man, Host 11.9. the whole cause of his compassion is in and from himself, and therefore he doth not take the advantage of our failings and exasperations, to alter the course of his dealing towards us, Psalm. 103. 8-14. Though we fail every day, yet his compassions fail not, and therefore from his immutable mercy it is that we are not comsumed, Lam. 3.22. Mal. 3.6. His blessing of an adopted people is an irreversible thing, because he is God and not man, and therefore cannot repent, nor call in the promise which he hath made, for which purpose he doth not behold iniquity i● jacob, nor perverseness in Israel, Numb. 23.19, 20, 21. If the Sun should be always immovably fixed in one place, as it was a little while in Ioshua's time at the destruction of the Kings, josh. 10.12, 13. though I might shut out the light of the Sun from me, yet as soon as I remove the curtain, the Sun is still where it was, ready to be found, and to shine upon me. The case were lamentable with us, if so often as man provokes God's justice, he should presently revoke his mercy; if the issue of our salvation should depend upon the frailty and mutability of our own nature, and our life should be in our own keeping. If the pure Angels of heaven fell from their created condition, to be most black and hideous adversaries of the God that made them; if Adam stood not firm with all that stock of strength and integrity of will which he had in Paradise: how can I who have so many lusts within, so many enemies without, such armies of fears and temptations round about me, be able to resist, and stand? Grace inherent is as mutable in me, as it was in Adam, Satan as malicious and impetuous against me, as against Adam: Propensions to sin and falling away, strong in me, which were none in Adam; snares as many weaknesses more; enemies as many temptations more: from the grace which is deposited in mine own keeping, I cannot but depart daily, if the Lord should leave me in the hand of mine own counsel: even as water, though it could be made as hot as fire, yet being left unto itself, will quickly reduce and work itself to its own original coldness again. We have grace abiding in our hearts, as we have light in our houses, always by emanation, effusion and supportance from the Sun of righteousness which shines upon us. Therefore this is all the comfort which a man hath remaining, that though I am wanting to myself, and do often turn from God, yet he is not wanting to me, nor returns from me, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, Rom. 11.29. The heart of the best man is like the wheels in Ezekiels' vision, Ezek. 1.16. As mutable, and movable several ways as wheels, as perplexed, hindered, and distracted in itself, as cross wheels in one another, grace swaying one way, and flesh another, who can expect stability in such a thing? Surely of itself it hath none, but the constancy and uniformity of motion in the wheels was this, that they were joined to the living creatures, who in their motion returned not when they went, vers. 17-21. such is the stability of the faithful in the covenant, they have it not from themselves, for they are all like wheels, but from him unto whom by the same Spirit of life they are united, who cannot repent, nor return from the covenant of mercy which he hath made. Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech] We now come to speak of the Priesthood of Christ itself, which is thus sealed and made immutable by the oath of God. Every high Priest, saith the Apostle, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, Heb. 5.1. These sacrifices are of two sorts, some Eucharistical, as testifications of homage, subjection, duty and service, as the dedication of the first fruits, the offerings of Abel and Cain, the meat and drink offerings, etc. some Ilasticall or expiatory, for the washing away of sins, for making compensation to the justice of God, which had been in sin violated, and to propitiate him again. So that in this regard a Priest was to be a middle person, by God's appointment to stand, and to minister between him and men in their behalf, to be impartial and faithful towards the justice and truth of God, and not to be overruled by his love to men to injure him, and to be compassionate and merciful towards the errors of men, and not to be overruled by his zeal to God's justice, to give over the care or service of them. And such an High Priest was Christ, zealous of his Father's righteousness and glory, for he was set forth to declare the righteousness of God, Rom. 3.25. and he did glorify him on earth by finishing the things which he had given him to do, joh. 17.4. Compassionate towards the errors and miseries of his Church, for he was appointed to expiate, and to remove them out of the way, Col. 2.14. Touching this Priesthood, we will thus proceed: First, to inquire into the Necessity we have of such a Priest. Secondly, what kind of Qualifications are requisite in him, who must be unto us such a Priest. Thirdly, wherein the Acts or Offices of such a Priesthood do principally consist. Fourthly, what is the Virtue, fruits, ends, events of such a Priesthood. Fifthly, what are the Duties which the execution of that office doth enforce upon us, or what uses we should make of it. In these five particulars, I conceive, will the substance of most things which pertain unto the Priesthood of Christ be absolved. For the first of these we must premise this general rule, there can be no necessity of a Priest (in that sense which is most proper and here intended) but between a guilty creature, and a righteous God, for if man were innocent in his relations towards God, he would stand in no need of an Expiation, and if God were unrighteous in the passages of man's sin, there would not be due unto him any just debt of satisfaction. This being premised I shall through many steps and gradations bring you to this necessity of Christ's Priesthood which we inquire into. First, every creature is avoidable subject to the Creator, for he made all things for himself, and all is to return that glory to him for which he made them, Pro. 16.4. Rom. 9.21. And this subjection of the creature to the Creator, doth suppose a debt of service to the will of the Creator. Impossible it is, and utterly repugnant to the quality of a creature not to be subject to some Law, and indebted in some obedience or other to him that made it. Omne esse is propter operari, it is a certain rule in creatures, that God giveth every creature a Being to this end, that it might put forth that being in some such operations as he hath fitted it for, and prescribed it to observe. The most excellent of all creatures, that excel in strength, are Ministers to do his pleasure and to hear his voice, Psal. 103.20, 21. and all the rest have their several laws, and rules of working by his wisdom set them, in the which they wait upon him, and according unto which they move like Ezekiels' wheels, by the conduct of an invisible Spirit, and by the command of a voice that is above them, as if they understood the Law of their Creator, and knew the precepts which they do obey, Ezek. 1.25, 26. Psal. 104.19. No creature is for its self only, or its own end, for that which hath not its being of its self, cannot be an end unto itself, in as much as the end of every thing which is made is antecedent to the being of it in the mind and intention of him that made it. The end of things is, as a mark, fixed and unmoveable in the purpose of the supreme cause, the creatures as the arrow, ordered by a most wife, and efficacious providence, some through natural and necessary, others voluntary and contingent motions unto one and the same general end, the glory and service of the Creator. Secondly, no creature is in its being, or in any those operations and services which to God it owes, intrinsically, and of itself immutable. It is Gods own peculiar honour to be without variableness or shadow of changing, jam. 1.17. Mal. 3.6. There was a time when the Sun stood still, and moved backward, and was filled with darkness, as with an internal cloud; when the Lions have forgotten to devour, and the fire to consume, and the Whales to concoct, God can as he will alter the courses of nature, let go the reins, and dispense with the rules which himself had secretly imposed upon the creatures to observe, which shows that they are not in themselves immutable. That constancy which in their motions they observe, is from the regular government of that most wise providence which carries them to their end without any turning, Ezek. 1.17. but when his glory requires, and his will commands it, the mountains tremble, the sea cleaves asunder, the rivers run back, the earth opens, the Laws of nature stand still for a while without any execution, as if they were suspended or repealed by him that made them: and therefore in that place things are said to move by a voice which is above them, namely, by the command of the supreme cause, Ezek. 1.24, 25. Thirdly, man being in his nature, and formal constitution a reasonable creature, was appointed by God to serve him after a reasonable manner, out of judgement, discretion, and election to make choice of his way above all others, as being most excellent, and beautiful in itself, and most convenient and advantageous unto man; therefore our service is called a reasonable service, Rom. 12.1. and David is said to have chosen the way of truth, and the precepts of the Lord, Psal. 119.30. and Moses to have chosen the afflictions of God's people, and the reproaches of Christ, before the pleasures of sin, or the treasures of Egypt, Heb. 11.25, 26. And hence it is that Holiness in the phrase of Scripture is called judgement, he shall convince the world of judgement, joh. 16.11. and he shall bring forth judgement unto victory, Matth. 12.20. Noting that the Spirit of holiness ruleth and worketh in the children of obedience by a way of reason and conviction, therefore he is called a Spirit of judgement, Esay 4.4. And for this cause God did not set any overruling law, or determinating virtue over the operations of man, as of other creatures, that so he might truly work out of the conduct of judgement, and election of will. Fourthly, there is no deviation from a reasonable service, or true active obedience, (properly so called) for the obedience of brutes and inanimate creatures (is rather passive than active) which hath not some intrinsical pravity in it, and by consequence some fundamental demerit, or obligation unto punishment; for Gild is the proper passion of sin, resultant out of it, and therefore inseparable from it. It cannot be that a creature should of itself, and out of the corruption of its own reason and judgement, choose to relinquish the service of him to whom it is naturally and unavoidably subject, and by that means become altogether unprofitable, abominable, and unfit for the Master's use, and for those holy ends to which it was originally ordered, but it must withal incur the displeasure, and thereupon provoke the revenge of that righteous Creator, who out of great reasons had put it under such a service. Fifthly, By all this which hath hitherto been spoken it appears, that God is not unjust, but most holy and righteous: First, in making a Law for man to observe, when he forbade the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, to show that man had nothing by personal, immediate, and underived right, but all by donation, and indulgence. Any Law God might justly make, the obedience whereof he gave the creature an original power to perform, by reason of the natural and necessary subjection of the creature unto him. Secondly, in annexing a curse and penalty to the violation of that Law, which for the declaration of his glorious justice he might most righteously do, because of the inevitable demerit, or liableness unto censure from the disobedience of that Law resulting. Thirdly, in making man in such a mutable condition, as in the which he might stand or fall by his own election, because he would be obeyed by judgement and free choice, * Basil. tom. 1. Homil. Quod Deus non est Autor mali. justin. Mart. Apolog. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Vid. Tert. advers. Marc. l. 2. c. 6, 7.— 9 Prov. 1.29. Eccles. 7.29. Esay 66.3, 4. not by fatal necessity, or absolute determination. Sixthly, here then comes in the fall of man, being a wilful or chosen transgression of a Law, under the precepts whereof he was most justly created, and unto the malediction whereof he was as necessarily & righteously subject if he transgressed: for as by being God's creature, he was subject to his will, so by being his prisoner, he was as justly subject unto his wrath, and that so much the more, by how much the precept was more just, the obedience more easy, the transgression more unreasonable, and the punishment more certain. Now by this fall of man there came great mischief into the world, and intolerable injury was done by the Creature to him that made him: First, his dominion and authority in his holy command was violated. Secondly, his justice, truth, and power in his most righteous threatenings were despised. Thirdly, his most pure and perfect Image, wherein man was created in righteousness and true holiness, was utterly defaced. Fourthly, his glory, which by an active service the creature should have brought unto him, was lost and despoiled. So that now things will not return to their primitive order and perfection again, till these two things be first effected: First, a Satisfaction of God's justice: And secondly, a Reparation of man's nature: which two must needs be effected by such a middle and common person, as hath both zeal towards God, that he may be satisfied, and compassion toward man, that he may be repaired; such a person, as having man's guilt and punishment on him translated, may satisfy the justice of God, and, as having a fullness of God's Spirit and holiness in him, may sanctify and repair the nature of man. And this person is the Priest here spoken of by David. Here the learned frame a kind of conflict in Gods holy Attributes, and by a liberty which the Holy Ghost from the language of holy Scripture alloweth them, they speak of God after the manner of men, as if he were reduced unto some straits and difficulties by the cross demands of his several attributes: Justice called upon him for the condemnation of a sinful, and therefore worthily accursed creature, which demand was seconded by his truth, to make good that threatening, In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death. Mercy on the other side pleaded for favour and compassion towards man, woefully seduced and overthrown by Satan; and peace for reconcilement and pacification between an offended Judge, and an undone creature. Hereupon the infinite wisdom and counsel of the blessed Trinity found out a way, which the Angels of heaven gaze on with admiration and astonishment, how to reconcile these different pleas of his attributes together. A Priest than is resolved upon, one of the same blessed Trinity, who by his Father's ordination, his own voluntary susception, and the holy Spirits sanctification, should be fitted for the business. He was to be both a Surety, and a Head over sinful men, to suffer their punishments, and to sanctify their natures, in the relation of a surety to pay man's debt unto God; and in the relation of an Head to restore God's Image unto man: and thus in him mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other, Psal. 85.10. So then the necessity which man fallen hath of this Priest here spoken of, is grounded upon the sweet harmony, and mutual kisses of God's Mercy, Truth, Righteousness, and Peace; which will more distinctly appear by considering three things: First, God did purpose not utterly to destroy his creature, and that principally for these two reasons, as we may observe out of the Scriptures: First, his own free and everlasting love, and that infinite delight which he hath in mercy, which disposeth him abundantly to pardon, and to exercise loving kindness in the earth, Mic. 7.18. Exod. 34.6, 7. Psalm. 103.8. Esay 55.7. jer. 9.24. Secondly, his delight to be actively glorified by his creatures voluntary service and subjection: Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, john 15.8. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn from his way and live, Ezek. 33.11. He delighteth most in unbloudy conquests, when by his patience, goodness, and forbearance he subdueth the hearts, affections, and consciences of men unto himself, so leading them unto repentance, and bringing down their thoughts unto the obedience of Christ: he loveth to see things in their primitive rectitude and beauty, and therefore esteemeth himself more glorified in the services, than in the sufferings of men. He loveth to have a Church and generation of men, which shall serve him in the midst of all his enemies. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of jacob, Psalm. 87.2. namely, because he was there more solemnly worshipped and served. And therefore he resolved not to destroy all men, lest there should be no Religion upon the earth. When the Angels fell, they fell not all, many were still left to glorify him actively in their service of him, but when Adam fell, all mankind fell in him, so that there was no tree of this Paradise left to bring forth any fruit unto God (and this is most certain, God had rather have his trees for fruit, than for fuel,) and for this reason he was pleased to restore mankind again. These are the causes why the Lord would not utterly destroy man, but these alone show not the necessity of a Priest to come between God and man. Secondly, God did purpose not to suffer sin to pass utterly unrevenged, and that for these reasons: First, because of his great Hatred thereunto. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, he cannot look on iniquity, Hab. 1.13. it provoketh a nauseousness and abhorrency in him, Psal. 5.6. Zech. 8.17. Revel. 3.16. Amos 5.21, 22. Esay 1.13, 14. Secondly, because of his Truth, and the Law which he had established against sin, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. El●a●. de Za●eu Vi. Grot. de satisfactione Christi, cap. 5. which he will in no wise abolish, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled, Matth. 5.18. for it is altogether undecent, especially to the wisdom and righteousness of God, that that which provoketh the execution, should procure the abrogation of his Law, that that should supplant and undermine the Law, for the alone preventing whereof, the Law was before established. Thirdly, because of his terror and fearful Majesty, for God will have men always to tremble before him, and by his terror to be persuaded from sinning, 2 Cor. 5.10, 11. God will for this cause have men always to fear before him, because he reserveth to himself entire the punishment of sin; Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, I say unto you fear him, saith our Saviour, Matth 10.28. Luke 12.4. for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and therefore we ought to serve him with reverence and godly fear, because he is a consuming fire, Hebr. 10.30.12.28, 29. Thirdly, add unto all this the everlasting Impotency which is in man either to satisfy God, or to repair himself. God's justice is Infinite which is wronged, & his glory infinite, of which man had attempted to spoil & rob him, and man is both finite in himself and very impotent by reason of sin (for to be a sinner, and without strength are terms equivalent in the Apostle, Rom. 5.6.8.) Now then between finite and infinite there can be no proportion, and therefore from the one to the other there can be no satisfaction: man is utterly unable to do any of God's will, because he is altogether carnal, Rom. 8.7. 1 Cor. 2.14. and he is utterly unable either to suffer or to break thorough the wrath of God, because he hath not strength enough to endure it, nor obedience to submit unto it. Now then join all these things together, and we shall see the absolute necessity we had of a Priest. God will not execute the severity of his Law, for thereby the creature should everlastingly lose the fruition of him, and he should likewise lose the service and voluntary subjection of his creature. And yet he will not abolish his Law neither, lest thereby his justice should be the more securely abused, his hatred against sin the less declared, his truth in all his threatenings questioned, and his dreadful Majesty by men neglected, as the wooden king by the frogs in the fable, he will not punish those persons whom he loves, because he is pitiful to them: he will not pass over the sins which he hates, because he is jealous towards himself. Man and sin are as inseparably joined together since the fall, as fire and heat; yet God will have mercy on the man, & he will take vengeance of the sin. Some course then or other must there be found out, to translate this man's sins on another's person who may be able to bear them, and to interest this man's person in another's righteousness, which may be able to cover him. Some way must be found out, that things may be all one in regard of man, as if the Law had been utterly abrogated, and that they may be all one in regard of God too, as if the creature had been utterly condemned. And all this is done in our High Priest. On him was executed the curse of the Law, by him was fulfilled the righteousness of the Law, for him was remitted the sin of man, and through him were all things made new again. The world was in Christ as in its surety, making satisfaction to the justice of God; and God was in Christ as in his Ambassador, reconciling the world unto himself again. By all which we see the necessity which man lapsed had of a Priest to restore him. Hence than we may learn, first, how much we ought to hate sin, which arms the Law, Justice, and power of God against us. As hateful as it is unto God, so hateful it is in itself, for he judgeth uprightly, he seeth things just as they are, without passion, prejudice, or partiality: and as hateful as it is in itself, so hateful should it be unto us, as the only ground of our misery, of the creatures vanity, and of God's dishonour. We see it is so hateful unto God, that he will most certainly be avenged of it. If he spare me, yet he will not spare my sin, though his own beloved Son must be punished for it. O then why should that be light to me, which was as heavy as a millstone to the soul of Christ? Why should that be my pleasure, which was his passion? Why should that be in a throne with me, which was upon a cross with him? Why should I allow that to be really in me, which the Lord so severely punished, when the guilt thereof was but imputed to his Son? Many sins there are which others in their practice, aswell as Papists in their doctrine and profession esteem for light and venial sins. And venial indeed they are, per exoratorem Patris Christum, as Tertullian states the question, by Christ who is a prevailing Advocate with the Father. But however let not us dare esteem that a light thing for which Christ died. And woe had it been for men, if Christ had not in his body on the tree carried as well the guilt of our idle words, our vain thoughts, our loose and impertinent actions, as of our oaths, execrations and blasphemies. If great sins were as the spear and nails, certainly small sins were the thorns which pierced his head. And therefore we should learn with David to hate every evil way, because God hates it, and suffers it not to pass unpunished, to revenge the quarrel of Christ against those lusts of ours which nailed him to his cross, and to crucify them for him again, for, for that end was Christ crucified, that our old man might be crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, Rom. 6.6. Again, we see by this necessity of a Priest, how deeply we stand engaged to our merciful God, who hath vouchsafed to help us in our greatest necessity. How we ought to love him, who hath first of all loved us. How we ought in our bodies and in our spirits to glorify him, who hath so dear bought us. How we should like Voluntaries fight for him who overcame for us. How thankful we should be to him, who was so compassionate unto us. How we should admire and adore the unsearchable riches of his wisdom and goodness, who when we were desperately and incurably gone, had found out a way of escape and deliverance for us. God stood not in need of us or any service of ours, he could have glorified himself in our just destruction. Who then can enough express either the mercy of God, or the duty of man, when he considers that God should call together all the depths of his own wisdom and counsel, to save a company of desperate fugitives, who had joined in combinations with his greatest enemies to resist and dishonour him? It would have posed all the wisdom of the world, (though misery be commonly very witty to shape and fashion to itself images of deliverance) to have found out a way to heaven between the wrath of God, and the sin of man. It would have posed all the heavenly intelligences, and the united consultations of the blessed Angels, to have reconciled God's mercy in the salvation of man, and his justice in the condemnation of sin, to have poured out hell upon the sin, and yet to have bestowed heaven upon the sinner. If God should have instructed us thus far, you are miserable creatures, but I am a merciful God; the demands of my justice I must not deny, neither will I deny the entreaties of my mercy: find me out a sacrifice answerable to my justice, and it shall be accepted for you all: O where could man have found out a creature of capacity enough to hold, or of strength enough to bear the sins of the world, or the wrath of God? Where could he have found out in heaven or earth, amongst men or Angels a Priest that durst accompany such a sacrifice into the presence of so consuming a fire? Or where could he have found out an Altar whereon to offer, and whereby to sanctify so great a sacrifice? No, no, the misery of man was too deep, and inextricable for all the created counsel in the world to invent a deliverance. Now than if God himself did study to save me, how great reason is there that I should study to serve him? How ought all my wisdom, and counsel, and thoughts, and desires be directed to this one resolution, to live acceptably and thankfully unto him, who when he might have produced glory to himself out of my confusion, chose rather to humble, and as it were for a while to unglorifie himself for my salvation? Certainly that man did never rightly understand the horror of sin, the infinite hatred of God against it, the heaviness of his wrath, the malediction of the Law, the mystery and vast dimensions of God's love in Christ, the preciousness of his sacrifice, the end, purpose, or merit of his death, any of those unsearchable riches of God manifested in the flesh, who will not crucify a vanity, a lust, a pleasure, an earthly member unto him again; who finds more content and satisfaction in his own ways of sin and death, more wisdom in the temptations and deceits of Satan and his own fleshly mind, than in those deep mysteries of grace, and contrivances of mercy, which the Angels desire to pry into. Therefore in the last place we should labour to feel this necessity we have of such a Priest. This is the only reason why so few make use of so precious a fountain, because they trust in their own muddy and broken cisterns at home, and are never sensibly and throughly touched with the sense of their own wants; for it is not the saying and confessing, ore tenus, that I have nothing, nor the knowing in speculation only that I have nothing, but the feeling and smarting by reason of my want, which will drive me to seek for relief abroad. If a man did seriously consider and lay together such thoughts as these; I am very busy for the affairs and passages of this present life, which will quickly vanish and pass away like a Weavers shuttle, or a tale that is told. I have another and an abiding life to live after this is over. All that I toil for here is but for the back, the belly, the bag, and the posterity. And am I not nearer to myself, than I am to my money? Am I not nearer to my soul, than I am to my carcase, or to my seed? Must I not have a being in that, when neither I nor my posterity have either back to be clothed, or belly to be fed, or name to be supported? O why am I not as sadly employed, why spend I not some at least as serious and inquisitive thoughts about this, as about the other? Do I not know that I must one day stand before him who is a consuming fire, that I must one day be weighed in the balance, and woe be unto me if I am found too light? Appear before him I dare not of myself alone, without a Priest to mediate for me, to cover and protect me from his fury, and to reconcile me unto him again. My person wants a Priest, it is clogged with infinite Gild, which without him cannot be covered. My nature wants a Priest, it is overspred with a deep and universal corruption, which without him cannot be cured. My sins want a Priest, they are in number and in quality above measure sinful, which without him cannot be pardoned. My services want a Priest, they are blemished and poisoned with many failings and corruptions, without him they cannot be accepted: I say, if men did seriously lay together such thoughts as these, it could not be that rational and sad men, men of deep thoughts in other matters, who love to bolt out things to the bran, and to be very solicitous for evidence and certainty in them, should suffer such a business as this, their interest in that Priest who must alone cloth their persons with his righteousness, and cleanse their nature with his Spirit, and wash away their sins with his blood, and sanctify their prayers, and alms, and all religious devotions with his incense, and intercession, or else all of them must pass thorough the trial of such a fire as will consume them all, to be slubbered over with loose and slender thoughts, and to be rested in, and resolved upon rather by the lying presumptions of a deceitful heart, than by the evidences and testimony of God's holy Spirit. Consider what I say, and the Lord give you understanding in all things. The second thing proposed to be considered in the Priesthood of Christ, was the qualification of that person who was to be a fit Highpriest for us. Legal sacrifices would not serve the turn to purge away sin, because of their baseness. They were not expiations of sin, Heb. 9.9.12. but were only remembrances and commemorations of sin, Heb. 10.3. necessary it was that heavenly things themselves should be purified with better sacrifices, Heb. 9.23. for they of themselves, without that typical relation which they had unto Christ, Gal. 3.23. and that Instrumental virtue which in that relation they had from him, Heb. 9.13. were utterly weak and unprofitable, Heb. 7.18. as the shadow hath neither being in itself, nor can give refreshment unto another, but dependently on the body to which it belongeth. And this appeareth, first, by their reiteration, where the conscience is once purged, and there is remission of sin, there is no more offering, Heb. 10. 2-18. for the repeating of the sacrifice shows that the person for whose sake it is repeated, is in statu quo prius, in the same condition now as he was in at the time of the former oblation. Secondly, by their Variety, there were both Gifts and sacrifices for sins, Heb. 5.1.8.3. bulls, and goats, and calves, and lambs, Heb. 9.9.12.13. and that shows that no one thing was fit to typify the full expiation wrought by Christ, whereas he offered but One Sacrifice, and by that perfected for ever them that are sanctified, Heb. 10.12.14. And if legal sacrifices would not serve the turn, then neither would legal Priests be fit for so great a work; for all the good which the Priest doth is in the virtue of the sacrifice which he brings: and this likewise the Apostle proves by many arguments: First, because of their sinfulness, for they themselves wanted an expiation, and therefore could not be mediators for the sins of others, Heb. 5.3.7.27. Secondly, because of the carnalness of their institution. They were made after the Law of a carnal commandment, that is, of a temporary, perishable, and merely external ordinance, Heb. 7.16. which prescribed only the examples and shadows of heavenly things. Thirdly, because of their mortality, they were not suffered to continue by reason of death, whereas our Priest must live to make intercession. Fourthly, because of their ministry▪ and the revolution of their services, which never came to a period or perfection in which the Priest might give over, and Sat down. They Stood daily ministering, and oftentimes offering (their service did daily return upon them again) whereas Christ, after he had offered One sacrifice for sin for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, Heb. 10.11, 12. To show you then the qualifications of this Priest. A Priest in general is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, to offer sacrifice for the obtaining of righteousness and remission of sins. First then, Christ being a Priest, must of necessity be a Mediator and a Surety between parties, that he might have one unto whom, and others for whom & in whose behalf to offer a sacrifice. Every Priest must be a mediator to stand between God and the people, and to intercept and bear the iniquity even of their holy things. Exod. 28.38. And unto this mediation there must concur the consent of the parties between whom it is negotiated; for a mediator is not a mediator of one. Now God giveth his consent by laying on him our iniquities, and making his soul an offering for sin, and thereby declaring himself to be One with us. And man gives his consent, Esay 53.6— 10. Gal. 3.20. when by faith he receiveth Christ, and so becometh not only the friend, but the Son of God, joh. 1.12. Secondly, but every Mediator is not presently a Priest, for there is a mediation only by way of entreaty, prayer, and request, wherein men do obtain but not deserve or purchase remission for others; such mediators were joab, and the Widow of Tekoah in the behalf of Absalon, 2 Sam. 14. and there are mediators by way of satisfaction, as Sureties are between the creditor and the debtor; and such a mediator was Christ, not only a Mediator, but also a surety of a better covenant, Heb. 8.6. Heb. 7.22. he was not to procure remission of our sins by way of favour and request; but he was set forth to declare the Righteousness of God, Rom. 3.25. and such a mediator between God and us must needs be a Priest too; for the debt which we owed unto God was blood. Without shedding of blood there is no remission, Heb. ●. 22. Thirdly, being such a Priest he must have a Sacrifice answerable to the debt which was owed to his Father. The debt we owed was the forfeiture and subjection of our Souls and Bodies to the wrath of God, and the curse of the Law. God is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell, Matth. 10.28. It is not to be understood only of his Absolute power but of that power which as our judge he hath over us per modum justitiae, as we are his Prisoners, and so obnoxious to the Curses of his Law. Therefore our Priest also was to have a Soul and a Body, to pay as a surety for our Souls and Bodies. Thou shalt make his Soul an offering for sin, isaiah. 53.10. My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto Death, Matth. 26.38. And again, A Body hast thou prepared me; we are sanctified through the Offering of the Body of jesus Christ once for all, Heb. 10.5.10. His own self bore our sins in his own Body on the tree, 1 Pet. 2.24. So he was to be Man that he might have a fit and answerable Sacrifice to offer, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Thou hast fitted or prepared a Body for me, that my Sacrifice might be proportionable to that in the place whereof it stood. And thereby as he is fit for passion, so also for Compassion, he was to be our Kinsman, and of our blood, that he might be a merciful and faithful high Priest, Heb. 2.11.14.17. Deut. 18.15. And fit for derivation of his Righteousness, and transfusion of his Spirit upon us; for he that Sanctifieth and they that are Sanctified are both of one. And as it must be thus fitted to the sinner that it may be a proper and suitable Sacrifice for his sin: So must it be perfect likewise. First, Without blemish or sin. Such an High Priest became us who is Holy, Harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Heb. 7.26. That so he might offer himself without spot unto God, and have no need of a Sacrifice for himself, Heb. 9.14. 1 Pet. 1.19. Secondly, without any manner of Defect, which should stand in need of supplement and contribution from some thing else, that of itself alone it might be sufficient, and available to bring perfection and salvation unto men, and to leave no more conscience of sin behind it, Heb. 7.19.10.14. Fourthly, as there was to be such a Sacrifice, perfect in itself, and fit for the use and occasion for which it was appointed, so there must be an Altar upon which to offer it unto the Father; for it is the Altar which Sanctifieth the offering; that is, which in regard of God giveth it acceptance, and which in regard of Man giveth it virtue, merit and value answerable to his occasions. This Sacrifice was to be sufficient for the satisfaction of God, and for the justification and reparation of Man, and both these by means of the Altar on which it was offered, which was the Divine Nature. Through the Eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot unto God, and so by his blood purgeth our consciences from dead works, Heb. 9.14. For Christ as God sanctified himself as man, that so we through the virtue and merit of his Sacrifice might be sanctified likewise, john 17.19. He was to be God as well as man, Medium participationis; before he could be Medium reconciliationis; that so he might be himself supported to undergo and break through the weight of sin and the Law, and having so done might have compass enough in his Sacrifice to satisfy the justice of God, and to swallow up the sins of the world. Fifthly, in as much as the Virtue of the Deity was to be attributed truly to the Sacrifice (else it could have no value nor virtue in it) and that Sacrifice was to be his Own Life, Soul and Body, who is the Priest to offer it, because he was not barely a Priest but a Surety, and so his person stood in stead of ours, to pay our debt, which was a debt of blood, and therefore he was to offer himself, Heb. 9.26. 1 Pet. 2.24. And in as much as his person must needs be equivalent in dignity and representation to the persons of all those for whom he mediated, and who were for his sake only delivered from suffering: for these causes necessary it was that God and man should make but one Christ, in the unity of the same infinite person, whose natures they both were, that which suffered, and that which sanctified. The humane nature was not to be left to subsist in and for itself, but was to have dependence, and supportance in the person of the Son, and a kind of Inexistence in him, as the graft of an apple may have in the stock of a plumb. From whence ariseth; first, the Communication of properties between the natures; when by reason of the unity of the person, we attribute that to one nature which is common to the other, not by confusion or transfusion, but by Communion in one end and in one person; as when the Scriptures attribute Humane properties to the Divine Nature. The Lord of Life was slain, Act. 3.15. God purchased the Church with his own blood, Act. 20.28. They crucified the Lord of Glory, 1 Cor. 2.8. Or Divine to the Humane Nature. As the Son of Man came down from heaven, joh. 3.13. and the Son of Man shall ascend where he was before, joh. 6.62. Or when both nature's work with their several concurrence unto the same work, as to walk on the waters, to rise out of the grave, etc. By which Communication of properties virtue is derived from the Altar to the Sacrifice in as much as it was the Lord of Glory which was crucified. So that his passions were in regard of the person which bore them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, both Humane and Divine, because the person was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God and Man. Secondly, from the unity of the person supporting the Humane Nature with the Divine, ariseth the appliableness of one sacrifice unto all men. Because the Person of the Son is infinitely more than equivalent to the persons of all men, as one Diamond to many thousand pebbles; and because the obedience of this sacrifice was the obedience of God, and therefore cannot but have more virtue and well-pleasingnesse in it, than there can be demerit or malignity in the sin of man. Now this Person in whose unity the two Natures are conjoined, is the second person in the Holy Trinity. He was the person against whom the first sin was principally committed, for it was an affectation of wisdom and to be like unto God; (as the falling-sinne now is the sin against the third person) and therefore the mercy is the more glorious that he did undertake the expiation. By him the world was made, Col. 1.16, 17. joh. 1.3. and therefore being spoiled he was pleased to new make it again, and to bring many Sons unto glory, Heb. 2.10. He was the express image of his Father, Heb. 1.3. Col. 1.15. And therefore by him are we renewed after God's image again, Col. 3.10. He was the Son of God by Nature, and therefore the mercy was again the more glorified in his making us Sons by Adoption, and so joint heirs with himself who was the heir of all things. So then such an high Priest it became us to have, as should be first an equal middle person between God and Man. In regard of God towards man an officer appointed to declare his Righteousness, and in regard of man towards God a surety ready to purchase their pardon and deliverance. Secondly, such an one as should be one with us in the fellowship of our nature, passions, infirmities and temptations, that so he might the more readily suffer for us, who in so many things suffered with us; and one with God the Father in his Divine Nature, that so by the virtue of his sufferings and resurrection he might be able both to satisfy his justice, to justify our persons, to sanctify our Nature, to perfume and purify our services, to raise up our dead bodies, and to present us to his Father a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. And both these in the Unity of one Person, that so by that means the Divine Nature might communicate virtue, merit, and acceptableness to the sufferings of the humane; and that the dignity of that person might countervail the persons of all other men. And this person that person of the three, by whom the glory of the mercy should be the more wonderfully magnified. In one word two things are requisite to our High Priest. A Grace of Union to make the person God and man in one Christ: and a Grace of Unction, to fit him with such fullness of the Spirit, as may enable him to the performance of so great a work, isaiah. 11.2. By all which we should learn: First, to adore this great mystery of God manifested in the flesh, and justified in the Spirit, the unsearchableness of that love, which appointed God to be man, the Creator of the world to be despised as a worm, for the salvation of such rebels, as might justly have been left under chains of darkness, and reserved to the same inevitable destruction with the Devils which fell before them. Secondly, to have always before our eyes the great hatefulness of sin, which no sacrifice could have expiated but the blood of God himself; and the great severity and inexorableness of God's justice against it, which no satisfaction could pacify, no obedience compensate, but the suffering and exinanition of himself. O what a condition shall that man be in, who must stand or rather everlastingly sink and be crushed unto the weight of that wrath against sin, which amazed and made heavy unto death the soul of Christ himself? which made him who had the strength of the Deity to support him, the fullness of the Spirit to sanctify, and prepare him, the message of an Angel to comfort him, the relation of a beloved Son to refresh him, the voice of his Father from heaven testifying unto him that he was heard in what he feared, the assurance of an ensuing glory and victory to encourage him (none of which shall be allowed the wicked in hell, who shall not only be the vessels of his vengeance, but which will be as grievous as that, the everlasting objects of his hatred and detestation) which made I say even the Son of God himself, notwithstanding all these abatements, to pray with strong Cries, and bloody drops, and woeful conflicts of soul against the Cup of his Father's wrath, and to shrink and decline that very work for which only he came into the world? Thirdly, to praise God for that great honour which he hath conferred upon our nature in the flesh of his Son, which in him is anointed with more grace and glory, and filled with more vast and unmatchable perfections than all the Angels in heaven are together capable of; for though for a little while he was made lower than the Angels for the purpose of his suffering, yet he is now sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, Angels, and Authorities, and Powers being made subject unto him, Heb. 2. 6-9. 1 Pet. 3.22. Heb. 1. 4-13. And for the infinite mercy which he hath showed to our souls, bodies, and persons in the sacrifice of his Son; in our reconciliation and favour with him, in the justification of our persons from the guilt of sin, in the sanctification of our nature from the corruption of sin, in the inheritance reserved in heaven for us, in the Communion and fellowship we have with Christ in his merits, power, Privileges, and heavenly likeness. Now, saith the Apostle, we are Sons, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be ●ike him; for we shall see him, as he is, 1 joh. 3.2. From these things which have been spoken of the Personal Qualifications of our High Priest, it will be easy to find out the third particular inquired into, touching the Acts or Offices of Christ's Priesthood; or rather touching the parts of the same Action, for it is all but one. Two Acts there are wherein the execution of this office doth consist. The first, an Act of Oblation of himself once for all, as an adequate sacrifice, and full compensation for the sins of the whole world, Heb. 9.14.26. Our Debt unto God was Twofold. As we were his Creatures, so we owed unto him a Debt of Active Obedience in doing the Duties of the whole Law, and as we are his prisoners, so we owed unto him a Debt of passive obedience in suffering willingly and throughly the Curses of the Law. And under this Law Christ was made, to redeem us by his fulfilling all that righteousness who were under the precepts and penalties of the Law ourselves. Aug. Enchirid. cap. 41. & Danaei Comment. de Mendacio, cap. 15. & Epist. 120. Greg. Nazian. Orat. 2 de filio. Chrysost. in 2 Cor. 5. Therefore the Apostle saith, he was sin for us; that is, a Sacrifice for sin, to meet and intercept that wrath which was breaking out upon us, 2 Cor. 5.21. Herein was the great mercy of God seen to us that he would not punish Sinners, though he would not spare Sinne. If he should have resolved to have judged Sinners, we must have perished in our own persons, but being pleased to deal with sin only in abstracto, and to spare the sinner, he was contented to accept of a Sacrifice, which (under the Relation and Title of a Sacrifice) stood in his sight like the body of sin alone by itself; in which respect he is likewise said to be made a Curse for us, Gal. 3.13. Now that which together with these things giveth the complete and ultimate formality of a Sacrifice unto the death of Christ, was his own * Hostia si ad aras reluctata fuisset, invito Deo offerri putaba●t. Macro●. Saturn. l 3. c. 5. Imò ●on nisi volentem & ●elut anuentem mactabant. Plutarc. Sympos. lib. 8. cap. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. willingness thereunto in that he offered himself. And therefore he is called the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, because he was dumb, and opened not his mouth, but was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, Phil. 2.8. Christ's death in regard of God the Father was a necessary death; for he had before determined that it should be done, Act. 4.28. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, Luk. 24.46. The Son of Man must be lifted up, joh. 3.14. And therefore he is said to be a Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, in regard of God's Decree and preordination. But this gave it not the formality of a Sacrifice; for God the Father was not the Priest, and it is the Action of the Priest which giveth the being of a Sacrifice to that which is offered. Again, Christ's death in regard of men was violent. They slew him with wicked hands, and killed the Prince of life, Act. 2. ●3. 3.15. And in this sense it was no Sacrifice neither, for they wer●●ot Priests but butchers of Christ. Thirdly, his death in regard of himself was * Quia voluit, quando voluit, quomodo voluit. Aug. de trin. l. 4. cap. 13. Passiones animi & corporis dispensationis voluntate sive ulla necessitate suscepit. lib. 83. Quaest cap. 80. Spiritum cum verbo sponte dimisit praevento carnisic●● officio. Ter●. Apol. cap. 21. voluntary. I lay down my life, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again, joh. 10.17, 18. And this oblation, and willing obedience, or rendering himself to God is that which gives being to a Sacrifice. He was delivered by God, Act. 2.23. He was delivered by judas and the jews, Matth. 27.2. Act. 3.13. and he was yielded and given up by himself, Gal. 2.20. Eph. 5.25. * De Traditione Christi factâ ae Patre & a Fi●io, à juda & judaeis, vide (ex Augustino) Lombard. 3. Sent. Dist. 20. C. D. In regard of God it was justice and mercy, joh. 3.16, 17. Rom. 3.25. In regard of man it was murder, and cruelty, Act. 7.52. In regard of Christ it was obedience and humility, Phil. 2.8. And that voluntary act of his was that which made it a Sacrifice. He gave himself for us, an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour, Eph. 5.2. * Non conditionis necessitate sed miserationis voluntate. Aug. in Psal. 78. vid. Parker. de Descensu, lib. 3. Num. 116. His death did not grow out of the condition of his nature, neither was it inflicted on him by reason of an excess of strength in those that executed it, (for he was the Lord of glory) but only out of mercy towards men, out of obedience towards God, and out of power in himself. For omnis Christi infirmitas fuit ex potestate. By his power he assumed those infirmities which the oeconomic and dispensation of his Priesthood on the earth required; and by the same power he laid them aside again, when that service was ended. And this I say was that which made it a Sacrifice. As martyrdom, when men lay down their lives for the profession of the truth, and the service of the Church, is called a Sacrifice, Phil. 2.17. If it be here objected that Christ's death was against his own will, for he exceedingly feared it, Heb. 5.7. and prayed earnestly against it, as a thing contrary to his will, Matth. 26.39. To this I answer, that all this doth not hinder but commend his willingness and obedience. Consider him in private as a Man, of the same natural affections, desires, and abhor●encies with other men, and consider the cup as it was calix amaritu●●●●s, a very bitter cup, and so he most justly feared and declined it, as knowing that it would be a most woeful and a heavy combat which he was entering upon: but consider him in his public Relation, as a mediator, a surety, a merciful and faithful high Priest, and so he most willingly and obediently submitted unto it. And this willingness ratione officii was much the greater, because ratione naturae, his will could not but shrink from it. It is easy to be willing in such a service as is suitable to our natural condition and affections, but when nature shall necessarily shrink, sweat, startle, and stand amazed at a service, than not to repent, nor decline, nor fling off the burden, but with submission of heart to lie down under it, this is of all other the * See Hooker lib. 5. Num. 48. Field of the Church. lib. 5. cap. 18. Between these divers desires, no Repugnancy but a Subordination. Filius Dei qui dixit & facta sunt, Mandavit & creata sunt omnia: secundum hoc quod Fil●us ●ominis temperat sententiam, etc. Hiero. Ep. 70.2. lib. 2. advers. Pelagium. greatest obedience. It was the voice of nature, and the presentation of the just, and implanted desires of the flesh, to say Transeat, let it pass from me. It was the retractation of mercy and duty to say, Glorify thyself. whatever my nature desires, whatever my will declines, whatever becomes of me, yet still glorify thyself and save thy Church. If it cannot otherwise be, than by my drinking this bitter Cup, Thy will be done. The second Act in the work of Christ's Priesthood is the act of Application, or virtual continuation of this Sacrifice to the end of the world; and that is in the Intercession of Christ; unto which there is prerequired a power and prevalency over all his enemies, to break through the guilt of sin, the Curse of the Law, and the chains of death, with which it was impossible that he should be held. The vision which Moses had of the burning bush, was an excellent resemblance of the Sacrifice of Christ. The Bush noted the Sacrifice▪ the fire, the suffering; the continuance and prevailing of the bush against the fire, the victory of Christ and breaking through all those sufferings, which would utterly have devoured any other man. And this power of Christ was showed in his Resurrection, wherein he was declared to be the Son of God with power, Rom. 1.4. and in his ascension when he led all his Enemies captive, Eph. 4.8. and in his sitting at the right hand of God, far above all principalities and powers, Eph. 1.19, 20. All which did make way to the presenting of his Sacrifice before the mercy-seat, which is the consummation thereof, and without which he had not been a Priest. We have such an high Priest, saith the Apostle, as is set down on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, for if he were on earth he should not be a Priest, seeing that there are Priests which offer gifts according to the Law, Heb. 8.1.4. It was the same continued action, whereby the Priest did offer without the Holy place, and did then bring the blood into the holiest of all, Heb. 13.11. For the reason why it was shed was to present it to the mercy-seat, and to show it unto the Lord there. So Christ's act or office was not ended, nor fit to denominate him a complete Priest, till he did enter with blood, and present his offering in the holiest of all not made with hands, Heb. 9.24. And therefore he had not been a Priest if he should have continued on the earth, for there was another Priesthood there, which was not to give place but upon the accomplishment of his; for the whole figure was to pass away when the whole truth was come. Now Christ's Oblation was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Truth prefigured in the Priests Sacrificing of the Beast, and his entrance into heaven was the Truth prefigured in the Priests carrying of the blood into the holiest of all. And therefore both these were to be accomplished, before the levitical Priesthood did give place. Here than it will be needful for the more full unfolding of the Priesthood of Christ to open the Doctrine of his Intercession at the right hand of his Father. The Apostle calleth it the Appearing of Christ for us, Heb. 9.24. which is verbum forense, an expression borrowed from the custom of humane courts; for as in them when the plaintiff or defendant is called, their Attorney appeareth in their name and behalf; so when we are summoned by the justice of God to defend ourselves against those exceptions and complaints, which it preferreth against us, we have an Advocate with the Father, even jesus Christ the righteous, who standeth out, and appeareth for us, 1 joh. 2.2. As the high Priest went into the sanctuary with the names of the twelve Tribes upon his breast: so Christ entered into the holiest of all with our persons, and in our behalf, in which respect the Apostle saith that he was Apprehended of Christ, Phil. 3.12. and that we do sit together in heavenly places with him, Eph. 2.6. Merit, and Efficacy are the two things which set forth the virtue of Christ's Sacrifice by which he hath reconciled us to his Father. The Merit of Christ, being a Redundant merit, and having in it a plentiful redemption, and a sufficient salvation, hath in it two things: First, there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an expiation, or satisfaction by way of price. Secondly, there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an Inheritance by way of purchase, and acquisition, Eph. 1.14. He was made of a woman, made under the Law, for two ends, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; that he might redeem us from the curse under which we lay, and that he might purchase for us the inheritance which we had forfeited before; for so by adoption in that place I understand in a complexed and general sense every good thing which belongs unto us in the right of our sonship with Christ, and that is the Inheritance of glory, Rom. 8.17.23. Now all this effected by the obedience of Christ's death; for in that was the act of impetration or procurement, consisting in the treaty between God and Christ. But there is yet further required an execution, a real effectualness, and actual application of these to us. As it must be in regard of God a satisfaction and a purchase, so it must be likewise in regard of us an actual redemption and inheritance. And this is done by the intercession of Christ, which is the commemoration, or rather continuation of his Sacrifice. He offered it but once, and yet he is a Priest for ever, because the Sacrifice once offered doth for ever remain before the mercy-seat. Thus as in many of the Legal Oblations there was first mactatio, and then Ostensio: First, the beast was slain on the Altar, and then the blood was together with incense brought before the mercy-seat, Levit. 16. 11-15. So Christ was first slasn●, and then by his own blood he entered into the holy place, Heb. 9.12.10.12. That was done on the earth without the gate, this in heaven, Heb. 13.11, 12. That the Sacrifice or obtaining of redemption, this the Application, or conferring of redemption. The Sacrifice consisted in the Death of Christ alone, the application thereof is grounded upon Christ's death as its merit, but effected by the Life of Christ as its immediate cause. His death did obtain, his life did confer redemption upon us. And therefore in the Scriptures our justification and salvation are attributed to the Life of Christ. He was delivered for our offences, and Rose again for our justification, Rom. 4.25. If Christ be not raised your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins, 1 Cor. 15.17. He shall convince the world of righteousness, because I go to my Father, joh. 16.10. Because I live you shall live also, joh. 14.19. If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, Rom. 6.8. Being made perfect, or consecrated for ever, he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, Heb. 5.8.7.28. He is able perfectly to save, because he ever liveth, Heb. 7.25. We were reconciled in his death; but had he there rested, we could never have been acquitted nor entered in, for he was to be our forerunner. And therefore the Apostle addeth a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a much more to the Life of Christ. Much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life, Rom. 5.10. Not in point of merit, but only of efficacy for us; as in buying Land, the laying down of the price giveth a man a meritorious interest, but the delivering of the deeds, the resigning of the property, the yielding up of the possession giveth a man an actual interest in that which he hath purchased: so the death of Christ deserveth, but the intercession and life of Christ applieth salvation unto us. It was not barely Christ's dying, but his Dying victoriously, so that it was impossible for death to hold him, Act. 2.24. which was the ground of our salvation. He could not justify us, till he was declared to be justified himself; therefore the Apostle saith, that he was justified by the Spirit, 1 Tim. 3.16. Namely by that Spirit, which quickened him, Rom. 1.4.8.11. 1 Pet. 3.18. When Christ offered himself a Sacrifice for sin, he was numbered amongst transgressors, Mark. 15.28. He bore our sins along with him on the tree, and so died under the wrongs of men, and under the wrath of God, in both respects as a guilty person; but when he was quickened by the Spirit of holiness, he then threw off the sins of the world from his shoulder, and made it appear that he was a righteous person, and that his righteousness was the righteousness of the world. So then our faith and hope was begun in Christ's death, but was finished in his life, he was the Author of it, by enduring the cross, and he was the finisher of it, by sitting down on the right hand of the throne of God, Heb. 12.2. The Apostle sums up all together. 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, Rom. 8.33, 34. Now then to show more distinctly the nature and excellency of Christ's Intercession: It consisteth in these particulars: First, his appearance, or the presenting of his person in our nature and in his own, as a public person, a mediator, a sponsor and a pledge for us; as juda was both a mediator to request, and a surety to engage himself to bear the blame for ever with his Father for his brother Benjamin, Gen. 43.8, 9 And Paul for Onesimus, a Mediator, I beseech thee for my Son Onesimus, Phil. v. 9, 10. And a sponsor, If he hath wronged thee, or oweth the aught, put that on mine account, I will repay it, v. 18, 19 So Christ is both a mediator and surety for us, Heb. 7.22.8.6. Secondly, the presenting of his merits as a public satisfaction for the debt of sin, and as a public price for the purchase of Glo●y; for the justice of God was not to be entreated or pacified without a satisfaction; and therefore where Christ is called an Advocate, he is called a Propitiation too, 1 joh. 2.2. Because he doth not intercede for us, but in the right and virtue of the price which he paid. For the Lord spared not his Son, but delivered him up for us all, Rom. 8.32. He dealt in the full rigour of his justice with him. Thirdly, in the name of his person, and for the vigour and virtue of his merits, there is a presenting of his Desires, his will, his request, and interpellation for us, and so applying both unto us. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, etc. joh. 17.24. Fourthly, to all this doth answer the consent of the Father, in whose bosom he is, who heareth him always, joh. 11.42. And in whom he is well pleased, Math. 17.5. Who called him to this office of being as it were Master of Requests in the behalf of his Church, and promised to hear him in his petitions, Aelian. var. Hist. lib. 5. cap. 19 Aelian. lib. 13. cap. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.— justin. Martyr. Quaest & Respons. ad Orthodox. Ask of me, and I will give thee, etc. Psal. 2.8. Thus as once when Aeschylus, the Tragedian was accused in Ar●opago for impiety, his brother Amynias stood out as his Advocate, using no other plea but this, he opened his garments and showed them cubitum sine manu, how he had lost his hand in the service of the state, and so vindicated his brother: or as Zaleucus, when he put out one of his own eyes for his Son who had been deprehended in adultery, delivered him from half the punishment which himself had decreed against that sin: or, to come nearer, as when the hand steals, if the back be scourged, the tongue may, in matters that are not capital, intercede for a dismission: so Christ when he suffered for us (which he might more justly do than any one man can for another, because he was by divine preordination, and command, and by his own power, more Lord of his own life, than any other man is of his, joh. 10.18. 1 Cor. 6.19.) may justly in the virtue of those his sufferings intercede in our behalf for all that, which those his sufferings did deserve, either for the expiation of sin, or for the purchase of salvation. In which sense the Apostle saith, that the blood of Christ is a speaking or interceding Blood, Heb. 12.24. By all which we may observe the impiety of the Popish Doctrine, which distinguisheth between Mediators of Redemption, and Mediatores of Intercession, affirming that though the Saints are not redeemers of the world, yet they are (as the courtiers of heaven) Mediators of Intercession for us, and so may be sought unto by us. To which I answer, that we must distinguish of interceding, or praying for another. There is one private, and another public, (which some learned men have observed in Christ's own Prayers:) or praying out of Charity, Cameron. de Eccl. pag 122. and out of justice or Office: or thirdly, praying out of Humility, with fear and trembling, or out of Authority, which is not properly Prayer, (for Prayer in its strictest sense is a proposing of requests for things unmerited, which we expect ex vi promissi out of God's gracious promise, and not ex vi pretii, out of any price or purchase;) but the presenting of the will and good pleasure of Christ to his Father, that he may thereunto put his seal and consent, the desiring of a thing so, as that he hath withal a right jointly of bestowing it, who doth desire it. That the Saints in heaven, and the blessed Angels do pray for the State of the Church militant, as well as rejoice at their conversion, in as much as charity remaineth after this life, seemeth to be granted by Cyprian, Cyprian. Epist. 1. Hieron. lib. adversus Vigilantium. and Hierom, neither know I any danger in so affirming if rightly understood. But if so, they do it only ex charitate ut fratres, not ex officio ut mediatores. Out of a habit of charity to the general condition of the Church (for it reacheth not to particular men) not out of an office of mediation, as if they were set up for public persons, appointed not only to pray for the Church in general, but to present the prayers of particular men to God in their behalf. To be such a mediator belongs only to Christ, because True intercession (as it is a public, and authoritative act) is founded upon the satisfactory merits of the person interceding. He cannot be a right Advocate, who is not a propitiation too. And therefore the Papists are fain to venture so far as to affirm that the intercession of the Saints with God for us is grounded upon the virtue of their own merits. Oramus Sanctos ut intercedant pro nobis; id est, ut merita eorum nobis suffragentur. P. Lumb. lib. 4. distinct. 45. We pray the Saints to intercede for us, that is, that we may enjoy the suffrage of their merits. But this is a very wicked Doctrine. First, because it shareth the Glory of Christ, and communicateth it to others. Secondly, because it communicateth God's worship to others. Thirdly, because under pretence of modesty and humility; it bringeth in a cursed boldness to deny the faith, and driveth children from their Father unto servants, expressly therein gainsaying the Apostle, who biddeth us make our requests known to God, Phil. 4.6. And assureth us that by Christ we have boldness so to do, Heb. 10.19. and free access allowed us by the Spirit, See Dr. Ushers Answer to the jesuits challenge, Chap. of Prayer to Saints, Pag. 411. and the quotations out of Hales, & Biel there. Eph. 2.18. whereas one chief reason of turning to the Saints and Angels is because sinful men must not dare to present themselves or their services unto God in their own persons, but by the help of those Saints that are in more favour with God, and with whom they may be bolder. Now from this Doctrine of Christ's intercession many and great are the benefits which come unto the Church of God. As first, our fellowship with the Father and his Son; I pray for these, that as thou Father art in me and I in thee, they also may be one in us, joh. 17.21. Secondly, the gift of the Holy Ghost, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, joh. 14.16, 17. all the comforts, and workings of the Spirit in our hearts, which we enjoy are fruits of the intercession of Christ. Thirdly, protection against all our spiritual enemies. 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, Rom. 8.34. I pray that thou wouldst keep them from the evil, joh. 17.15. But are not the faithful subject to evils, corruptions, and temptations still? how then is that part of the intercession of Christ made good unto us? for understanding hereof we must know that the intercession of Christ is available to a faithful man presently; but yet in a manner suitable and convenient to the present estate and condition of the Church, so that there may be left room for another life, and therefore we must not conceive all presently done. As the Sun shineth on the Moon by leisurely degrees, till she come to her full light; or as if the King grant a pardon to be drawn; though the grant be of the whole thing at once, yet it cannot be written and sealed but word after word, and line after line, and action after action: so the grant of our holiness is made unto Christ at first, but in the execution thereof, there is line upon line precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little; such an order by Christ observed in the distribution of his Spirit and grace, as is most suitable to a life of faith, and to the hope we have of a better Kingdom. I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, saith Christ unto Peter, yet we see it did shake and totter, non rogavit ut ne deficeret, sed ut ne prorsus deficeret, the Prayer was not that there might be no failing at all, but that it might not utterly, and totally fail. Fourthly, the assurance of our sitting in heavenly places. His sitting in heavenly places hath raised us up together and made sit with him, Eph. 2.6. First, because he sitteth there in our flesh. Secondly, because he sitteth there in our behalf. Thirdly, because he sitteth there as our Centre, Col. 3.1, 2. And so is near unto us, natura, officio & spiritu, by the unity of the same nature with us; by the quality of his office or Sponsorship for us; and by the Communion and fellowship of his Spirit. Fifthly, Strength against our sins: for from his Priesthood in heaven, which is his Intercession; the Apostle infers the writing of the Law in our hearts, Hebr. 8.4.6.9, 10. Sixthly, the sanctification of our services: of which the levitical Priests were a type, who were to bear the iniquity of the holy things of the children of Israel, that they might be accepted, Exod. 28.38. He is the Angel of the Covenant, who hath a golden Censer, to offer up the prayers of the Saints, Revel. 8.3. There is a threefold evil in man; First, an Evil of state or condition under the guilt of sin. Secondly, an Evil of nature, under the corruption of sin, and under the indisposition and ineptitude of all our faculties unto good. Thirdly, an Evil in all our services, by the adherency of sin, for that which toucheth an unclean thing, is made unclean, and the best wine mixed with water, will lose much of its strength and native spirits. Now Christ by his righteousness and merits justifieth our persons from the guilt of sin; and by his grace and Spirit doth in measure purify our faculties, and cure them of that corruption of sin which cleaves unto them. And lastly, by his incense and intercession doth cleanse our services, from the noisomeness and adherency of sin, so that in them the Lord smelleth a sweet savour; and so the Apostle calleth the contributions of the Saints towards his necessities, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, and well pleasing unto God, Phil. 4.18. Gen. 8.21. And this is a benefit which runneth through the whole life of a Christian; all the ordinary works of our calling (being parts of our service unto God, for in them we work as servants to the same Master) are unto us sanctified, and to the Father made acceptable by the intercession of his Son, who hath made us Priests, to offer all our sacrifices with acceptance upon this Altar, Revel. 1.6. 1 Pet. 2.5. Esay●56 ●56. 7. Seventhly, the Inward interpellation of the soul itself for itself, which is, as it were, the echo of Christ's intercession in our hearts: The Spirit maketh intercession for us with groans which cannot be uttered, Rom. 8.26. The same Spirit groaneth in us, and more fully and distinctly by Christ prayeth for us. These things I speak in the world, saith our Saviour, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves, joh. 17.13. that is, as I conceive, I have made this prayer in the world, and left a record and pattern of it in the Church, that they feeling the same heavenly desires kindled in their own hearts, may be comforted in the workings of that Spirit of prayer in them, which testifieth to their souls the quality of that intercession which I shall make for them in heaven. Eighthly, Patience and unweariedness in God's service: Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God, Heb. 12.1, 2, 3. Lastly, Confidence in our approaches to the throne of Grace: Seeing than that we have a great high Priest that is passed into the heavens, jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, and come boldly unto the throne of Grace, Heb. 4.14.— 16. And again, This man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool: from whence the Apostle inferreth, Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of jesus; and having an high Priest over the house of God, Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, etc. Heb. 10.12— 23. And all these things are certain to us in the virtue of this Intercession of Christ: First, because the Father heareth him, and answereth him, joh. 11.42.12.28. and appointed him to this office, Heb. 5.4, 5. Secondly, because the Father loveth us; I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, etc. joh. 16.26, 27. Thirdly, because as Christ hath a Prayer to intercede for us, so hath he also a Power to confer that upon us for which he intercedeth. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, joh. 14.16. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you, joh. 16.7. That which Christ by his prayer obtained for us, by his power he conferreth upon us; and therefore in the Psalm he is said to Receive gifts for men, noting the fruit of his intercession, Psal. 68.18. and in the Apostle, to give gifts unto men, noting the power and fullness of his person, Ephes. 4.8. Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which you now see and hear, Act. 2.33. Thus great, and thus certain are the benefits which come unto the Church from the Intercession of Christ. The fourth thing inquired into about the Priesthood of Christ, was, what is the Virtue, and fruits thereof, and they may be all comprised in two general words: there is Solutio de●its▪ the payment of our debt, and Redundantia meriti, an overplus, and redundancy of merit. Satisfaction, whereby we are redeemed from under the Law; and an Acquisition, or purchase of an inheritance and privileges for us. The obedience of Christ hath a double relation in it, there is, first, Ratio legalis justitiae, the relation of a legal righteousness; as it bears exact and complete conformity to the Law, will, and decree of his Father. Secondly, there is ratio superlegalis meriti, the relation of a merit over and beyond the Law; for though it were nostrum debitum, that which we did necessarily owe, yet it was su●m indebitum, that which of himself he was not bound unto, but by voluntary susception, and covenant with his Father, for it was the blood and obedience of God himself. Here than first is to be considered his payment of that debt which we did owe unto God, in which respect he is said to Bear our sins. To bear sin, is to have the burden of the guilt of sin and malediction of the Law to lie upon a man; so it is said, he that troubleth you, shall bear his judgement, Gal. 5.10. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him, Ezek. 18.20. So wrath is said to Abide on a man, joh. 3.36. and sin is said to be retained, or held in its place, joh. 20.23. So Christ is said to bear our sins in his body on the tree, 1 Pet. 2.24. Esay 53.4.6. and by so bearing them, he took them off from us, cancelled the obligations of the Law against us, and did all whatsoever was requisite to satisfy an offended Justice, for he fulfilled the Law, which was our debt of service. It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness, Matth. 3.15. and he endured the Cross, and curse, the bloody agony, and ignominy of that death which was the debt of suffering, Heb. 12.2. and the covenant between him and his Father was, that all that, should be done by him as our Head and surety, and so he was to taste death for every man, Heb. 2.9. Rom. 5.8. * Notani qui de l●gum relaxatione scripserunt, eas esse optimas relaxationes, quibus annexa est commutatio sive compensatio, Grot▪ de satisfact. Christi, cap. 5. So there is a Commutation allowed, that he should be in our stead, as it were, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his soul a sacrifice, and his life a price, and his death a conquest of ours, and therefore is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 1 Tim. 2.6. A price or ransom for all those in whose place he was made sin, and a curse, 2 Cor. 5.21. Gal. 3.13. Though he had not any Demerit or proper guilt of sin upon him, which is a Deserving of punishment (for that ever grows out of sin either personally inherent, or at least naturally imputed, by reason that he to whom it is accounted, was seminally and naturally contained in the loins of him from whom it is on him derived) yet he had the guilt of sin so far as it notes an obligation and subjection unto punishment, as he was our surety, and so in sensu forensi, in the sight of God's court of justice, one with us, who had deserved punishment, imputed unto him. The fruit which redounds to us hereby, is the expiation or remission of our sins by the imputing of his righteousness unto us. This is my blood of the new Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins, Mat. 26.28. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his glory, Ephes. 1.7. Heb. 8.12. And this must needs be a wonderful mercy, to have so many thousand talents forgiven us, such an infinite weight taken off from our consciences, the penalty and curse of so many sins removed from us: our natural condition is to be an heir of everlasting vengeance, the object of God's hatred and fiery indignation, exiles from the presence of his glory, vessels fit and full of misery, written within and without with curses, to be miserable, to be all over miserable, to be without strength in ourselves, to be without pity from other, to be without hope from God, to be without end of cursedness; this is the condition of a sinner, and from all this doth the mercy of God deliver us. The manner whereby the satisfaction of Christ becomes profitable unto us, unto the remission of sin and righteousness, is by Imputation, Rom. 4.3.5.8.5.19. No man is able to stand before God's justice, for he is a consuming fire, Heb. 12.29. No flesh can be righteous if he enter into judgement. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, Hab. 1.13. for his eyes are not eyes of flesh, job 10.4. Now all the world is guilty before God, and cometh short of his glory, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it lieth in mischief, 1 joh. 5.19. and therefore must be justified by a foreign righteousness, and that equal to the justice offended, which is the righteousness of God unto us graciously imputed. We are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, Rom. 3.19— 24. To open this point of justification by imputed righteousness: We must note that two things are prerequired to denominate a man a righteous man. First, there must be extant a righteousness which is apt and able to justify. Secondly, there must be a right and propriety to it, whereby it cometh to pass that it doth actually justify. We must then first inquire what the righteousness is whereby a man may be justified. Righteousness consisteth in a relation of rectitude and conformity. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions, and turned into many crooked diverticles of their own, Eccles. 7.29. Deut. 32.5. A wicked man loveth crooked ways, to wander up and down in his own course, jer. 31.22. Host 4.16. whereas a righteous man loveth straight ways, Heb. 12.13. Psal. 5.8. because righteousness consisteth in rectitude: and this presupposeth some Rule, unto which this conformity must refer. The primitive and original prototype, or Rule of holiness, is the righteousness of God himself, so farforth as his Image is communicable to the creature, or at least so far forth as it was at the first implanted in man: Be ye perfect, as your father which is in heaven is perfect, Matth. 5.48. It is not meant of his infinite perfection, (for it was the sin of Adam to aim at being as God, in absoluteness and independent excellency) but of that perfection of his, which is in the Word, set forth unto us for an Image and pattern whereunto to conform ourselves. Therefore the secondary rule of righteousness, or rather the same rule unto us revealed, is the Law of God written in his Word, in the which Gods holiness, so far as it is our example, exhibiteth itself to the soul, as the Sun doth communicate its light thorough the beam which conveys it. Now in the Law there are two things; one principal, Obedience; the other secondary, Malediction, upon supposition of disobedience: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them, Gal. 3.10. So then, upon supposition of the sin of man, two things are required unto justification, the expiation of sin, by suffering the curse, and the fulfilling of righteousness de novo, again. Man created might have been justified by obedience only, but man lapsed cannot otherwise appear righteous in God's sight, but by a double obedience, the one passive, for the satisfaction of his vindicative justice, as we are his prisoners; the other active, in proportion to his remunerative justice, as we are his creatures. But besides this that there must be a righteousness extant, there is required in the person to be justified or denominated thereby a propriety thereunto, that it may be His righteousness, jer. 33.16. Now there may be a twofold propriety to righteousness, according to a twofold manner of unity. (Vnitas enim praestantis est fundamentum proprietatis ad officium praestitum) First, there is a personal and individual unity, whereby a man is unus in se, one in and by himself, and so hath propriety to a duty performed, because it is performed in his own person, and by himself alone. Secondly, there is a common unity, whereby a man is unus cum alio, one with another, or whereby many are unum in aliquo primo, one in and with some other thing which is the fountain and original of them all. And this is the ground of Righteousness imputed; for in the Law a man is justified by performing entire obedience in his own person, for the Law requireth righteousness to be performed by a created and implanted strength, and doth not put, suppose, or indulge any common principle thereof out of a man's self: Therefore legal righteousness is most properly called Our own righteousness, and is set in opposition to the righteousness of God, or that which is by grace imputed, Rom. 10.3. Phil. 3.8, 9 We see then that in this matter of imputation either of sin or righteousness, for the clearing of God from any injustice or partiality in his proceedings, there must ever be some unity or other between the parties, he whose fact is imputed, and the other to whom it is imputed: It would be prodigious and against reason to conceive that the fall of Angels should be imputed unto men, because men had no unity in condition either of nature, or covenant with the Angels, as we have in both with Adam. This common unity is twofold, either natural, as between us and Adam, in whom we were seminally contained, and originally represented; for otherwise than in and with Adam there could at the beginning be no covenant made with mankind, which should ex aequo reach unto all particular persons in all ages and places of the world: Or Voluntary, as between a man and his surety, who, in conspectu fori, are but as one person. And this must be mutual, the one party undertaking to do for the other, and the other yielding and consenting thereunto; as between us and Christ, for Christ voluntarily undertook for us, and we by the Spirit of Christ are persuaded and made willing to consent, and by faith to cast our sins upon Christ, and to lay hold on him. And besides the will of the parties who are, the one by default, the other by compassion and suretyship engaged in the debt; there is required the will and consent of the judge, to whom the debt is due, and to whom it belongeth in the right of his jurisdiction, to appoint such a form of proceeding for the recovery of his right, as may stand best with the honour of his person, and the satisfaction of his justice, who if he would, might in rigour have refused any surety, and have exacted the whole debt of those very persons by whose only default it grew. And thus it comes to pass that by grace we have fellowship with the second Adam, as by nature with the first, 1 Cor. 15.45— 48. So then between Christ and us there must be an unity, or else there can be no imputation. And therefore it is that we are said to be justified by faith, and that faith is imputed for righteousness, Rom. 4.5. not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credere, the act of believing, as if that were, in se, accounted righteousness, as it is a work proceeding from us by grace; because it is Vinculum and instrumentum unionis, the bond of union between us and Christ, and by that means makes way to the imputation of Christ's righteousness unto us. Therefore we are said to be buried, and crucified in and with Christ, by the virtue of faith concorporating Christ and a Christian together, and communicating the fellowship of his sufferings and resurrection, Rom. 6.6. Gal. 6.14. Ephes. 3.17. Phil. 3.10. If I be lifted up, saith our Saviour, I will draw all men after me; crucem conscendit, & me illuc adduxit, when Christ hanged on the cross, we in a sort were there too. As in Adam we were all in Paradise, by a natural and seminal virtue; so in Christ by a spiritual virtue, whereby in due time faith was to be begotten in us, and so we to have an actual being of grace from him, as after our real existence we have an actual being of nature from Adam. Thus we see that Christ did for us fulfil all righteousness, by his passive meriting and making satisfaction unto the remission of sins. By his active, covering our inabilities, and doing that in perfection for us, which we could not do for ourselves. First, he suffered our punishment, he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed, Esay 53.5. If it be here objected, that an innocent person ought not to suffer for a nocent, for guilt is inseparable from sin; The son shall not bear the iniquity of his father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son, the soul that sinneth the same shall die, Ezek. 18.20. For the clearing of this objection, we must note that there is a twofold manner of guilt (as I before touched) either such as grows out of sin inherent, which is the deserving of punishment, as it is in us: or such as grows out of sin imputed, and that not by reason of union natural, as the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed unto us (which manner of imputation is likewise funda●entum demeriti, and causeth us to deserve punishment) but voluntary by way of vadimony and susception. And so guilt is only a free and willing obnoxiousness unto that punishment which another hath deserved. Amongst sinful men it is true that the son shall not bear the punishment of the father's sin: first, because he is altogether personally distinct. Secondly, because he is not appointed so to do, as Christ was, joh. 10.18. Thirdly, because he is not able to bear them, so as to take them off from his father as Christ did ours: He was himself able to stand under our punishment without sinking, and was able by suffering them, to take them off from us, because his person was answerable in dignity, and therefore (by the grace of God, and the act of his Divine jurisdiction in ordering the way to his own satisfaction) equivalent in justice unto all ours. Fourthly, because he hath already too many of his own to bear. But yet, if the will of the son go along with the father in●sinning, it is not strange, nor unusual for him to suffer for his fathers and his own sin together, as for the continuation of the same offence; because, though he do not will the punishment, (as Christ did ours) yet imitating and continuing the sin, there is Volitum in causa, for the punishment too. Now for an answer and resolution of the question, Vid. Grot. de satisfactione Christi, cap. 4, 5. whether an innocent person may suffer for a nocent, we must note first that God out of his Dominion over all things, may cast pains upon an innocent person, as it is manifest he did upon Christ: And what ground of complaint could any creature have against God, if he should have created it in fire, and made the place of its habitation the instrument of its pain? Do not we ourselves without cruelty upon many occasions put creatures that have not offended us unto pain? Secondly, it is not universally against equity for one to suffer the punishment of another's sin: we see the infants of Sodom, Tertul coner. Marcio● l●b. 2. cap. 15. Babylon, Egypt, of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, were involved in the punishment of those sins of which themselves were not guilty: The Lord reserveth to himself the punishment of the fathers on the children, he punished the sins of three hundred and ninety years all together, Lombard l●b. 2 distinct 33. Ezek. 4.2.5. I'm committed the sin, and yet Canaan was cursed for it. Gen. 9.22.25. The sin was Gehezies' alone, and yet the leprosy cleaved not to him only but to his posterity. Aquin. 22 ae. qua●●. 108. art. 4. 2 King. 5.27. The sin of crucifying Christ was the Jews in that age alone, Coquaeus in Aug. Civ▪ Dei, lib. 1●. cap 1. num. 1. and yet wrath is come upon them to the uttermost even unto this day. Matth. 27.25. 1 Thes. 2.16. Achan trespassed alone, but he perished not alone but his sons, Danaeus in Aug. Enchirid. c. 46. and his daughters, and all that he had with him. josh. 7.24. 1 King. 21.21. judg. 9.56. 1 King. 2.33. jerem. 22.30. Thirdly, the equity hereof in the case of Christ doth herein plainly appear, when all parties are glorified, and all parties are willing and well pleased, there is no injury done unto any: and in this, the case is so; first, All parties are glorified, the Father is glorified in the obedience of his Son. I have both glorified my name, and I will glorify it again, joh. 12.27, 28. I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, joh. 17.4. The Son is glorified, Thou madest him a little lower than the Angels, and crownedst him with glory and honour, Heb. 2.7. joh. 17.5. and the sinner is glorified, I will that where I am they may be also, that they may behold my glory, etc. joh. 17.24. secondly, All parties are willing; first, the Father is willing, for by his Ordination he appointed Christ to it, Act. 4.27, 28. by his love and tender Compassion he bestowed Christ upon us, joh. 3.16. by his Divine Acceptation he rested well pleased in it, Matth. 17.5. in one word by his wonderful Wisdom he fitted it to the manifestation of his glory and mercy, to the reconciliation of him and his creature, and to the exaltation of his Son: secondly, the Son is willing, he cheerfully submitted unto it, Heb. 10.9. and freely loved us and gave himself unto us, Gal. 2.20. thirdly, the sinner is willing, and accepteth and relieth upon it, as we have seen at large before in the third verse, so that there can be no injury done to any party, where all are willing, and where all are glorified. Fourthly, that an innocent person may thus in justice and equity suffer for a nocent, there is required (besides these acts of ordination in the supreme, of submission in the surety, and of consent in the delinquent) first, an intimate and near conjunction in him that suffereth with those that should have suffered. Several unions and conjunctions there are, as Politic between the members and subjects in a state, and * Navicula in qua erat Iudas turhabatur, unde & Petrus, qui erat fi●mus meritis suis, turbabatur ali●nis Ambros. in Luc. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Hesiod. Delirant r●ges, plectuntur Achivi. thus is a commonwealth universally sinful, a few righteous men may as parts of that sinful society be justly subject to those temporary evils which the sins of the society have contracted, and the people may justly suffer for the sins of the Princes, 2 Sam. 24.17. and he for theirs, 1 Sam. 12.25. secondly, Natural, as between parents and children, so the Lord visited the sins of Dathan upon his little ones, Numb. 16.27.33. thirdly, Mystical as between man and wife, so the Lord punished the sins of Amaziah the priest of Bethel by giving over his wife unto whoredom, Amos 7.17. and we see in many cases the husband is liable to be charged and censured for the exorbitancies of his wife; fourthly, Stipulatory and by consent, as in the case of fidejussores or obsides, who are punished for the sins of others whom they represent, and in whose place they stand as a caution and muniment against injuries which might be feared, as we see in the parable of the prisoner committed to the custody of another person, 1 King. 20. 39-42. fifthly, Possessory as between a man and his goods, and so we find that a man was to offer no beast for a sin offering but that which was his own, Levit. 5.6, 7. Now in all these respects there was in some manner conjunction between us and Christ, He conversed amongst men, and was a member of that Tribe and society amongst whom he lived, and therefore was together with them under that Roman yoke which was then upon the people, and in that relation paid tribute unto Caesar: he had the nature and seed of man and so was subject to all humane and natural infirmities without sin: He was mystically married unto his Church, and therefore was answerable for the debts and misdemeanours of the Church. He entered into covenant, and became surety for man, and therefore was liable to man's engagements. Lastly, he became the possession, in some sort, of his Church: whence it is that we are said to receive him, and to have him, 1 joh. 5.12. not by way of Dominion (for so we are his, 1 Cor. 6.19.) but by way of communion and propriety; and therefore though we cannot offer him up unto God in sacrifice for our sins, yet we may in our faith and prayers show him unto his Father, and hold him up as our own armour and fence against the wrath of God, Rom. 13.14. Secondly, there is required in the innocent person suffering, that he have a free and full dominion over that from which he parteth, in his suffering for another. As in suretyship, a man hath free dominion over his money, and therefore in that respect he may engage himself to pay another man's debt; but he hath not a free dominion over himself or his own life, and therefore he may not part with a member of his own in commutation for another's, (as Zaleucus did for his son) nor be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to lay down his own life for the delivering of another from death, except in such cases as the Word of God limiteth and alloweth. But Christ was Lord of his own life, and had therefore power to lay it down and to take it up. And this power he had (though he were in all points subject to the Law as we are) not solely by virtue of the hypostatical union, which did not for the time exempt him from any of the obligations of the Law, but by virtue of a particular command, constitution, and designation to that service of laying down his life. This commandment have I received of my Father, joh. 10.18. Lastly, it is required that this Power be ample enough to break thorough the sufferings he undertaketh, and to reassume his life, and former condition again. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up. So then the sum of all is this; by the most just, wise, and merciful will of God, by his own most obedient and voluntary susception, Christ Jesus, being one with us in a manifold and most secret union, and having full power to lay down, and to take up his life again by special command and allowance of his Father given him, did most justly, without injury to himself, or dishonour to, or injustice in his Father, suffer the punishment of their sins, with whom he had so near an union, and who could not themselves have suffered them with obedience in their own persons, or with so much glory to God's justice, mercy and wisdom. If it be here again objected, that sin in the Scripture is said to be pardoned, which seems contrary to this payment and satisfaction. To answer this, we must note, first, that in the rigour of the Law, N●xa seq●itur caput, the delinquent himself is in person to suffer the penalty denounced, for the Law is, In the day that Thou eatest thou shalt dye; and the soul that sinneth it shall die. Every man shall bear his own burden, Gal. 6.5. So that the Law, as it stands in its own rigour, doth not admit of any commutation, or substitution of one for another. Secondly, therefore, that another person suffering may procure a discharge to the person guilty, and be valide to free him, the will, consent and mercy of him to whom the infliction of the punishment belongeth must concur, and his overruling power must dispense, though not with the substance of the Law's demands, yet with the manner of execution, and with that rigour, which binds wrath peremptorily upon the head only of him that hath deserved it. So then we see both these things do sweetly concur; first, a precedent satisfaction by paying the debt; and yet secondly, a true pardon and remission thereof to that party which should have paid it, and out of mercy towards him, a dispencing with the rigour of that Law, which in strictness would not admit any other to pay it for him. Thus we see how Christ hath suffered our punishment. Secondly, he did all obedience, and fulfilled all actions of righteousness for us; for such an high Priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Heb. 7.26. He came not into the world but for us, and therefore he neither suffered, nor did any thing but for us. As the colour of the glass is by the favour of the Sunbeam shining through it made the colour of the wall, not inherent in it, but relucent upon it, by an extrinsecall affection: so the righteousness of Christ by the favour of God is so imputed unto us, as that we are quoad gratiosum Dei conspectum, righteous too. In which sense I understand those words, He hath not beheld iniquity in jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel, Num. 23.21. Though it is indeed in him, yet the Lord looketh on him as clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and so is said not to see it, as the eye seeth the colour of the glass in the wall, and therefore cannot behold that other inherent colour of its own, which yet it knoweth to be in it. Now of this Doctrine of justification by Christ's righteousness imputed we may make a double use. First, it may teach us that great duty of selfe-deniall; we see no righteousness will justify us but Christ's, and his will not consist but with the denial of our own. And surely whatever the professions of men in word may be, there is not any one duty in all Christian Religion of more difficulty than this, to trust Christ only with our salvation. To do holy duties of hearing, reading, praying, meditating, almesgiving, or any other actions of charity or devotion, and yet still to abhor ourselves and our works, to esteem ourselves after we have done all, unprofitable servants, and worthy of many stripes: to do good things, and not to rest in them; to own the shame and dung of our solemn services: when we have done all the good works we can, to say with Nehemiah, Remember me, o my God, concerning this, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy, Nehem. 13.22. and with David, To thee o Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his work, Psal. 62.12. It is thy mercy to reward us according to the uprightness of our works, who mightest in judgement confound us for the imperfection of our works. To give God the praise of our working, and to take to ourselves the shame of polluting his works in us. There is no Doctrine so diametrally contrary to the merits of Christ, and the redemption of the world thereby, as justification by works. No Papist in the world is or can be more contentious for good works than we both in our Doctrine and in our prayers, and in our exhortations to the people. We say no faith justifieth us before God but a working faith, no man is righteous in the sight of men, nor to be so esteemed, but by works of holiness; without holiness no man shall see God, he that is Christ's is zealous of good works, purifieth himself even as he is pure, and walketh as he did in this world. Here only is the difference; we do them, because they are our Duty, and testifications of our love and thankfulness to Christ, and of the workings of his Spirit in our hearts; but we dare not trust in them, as that by which we hope to stand or fall before the tribunal of God's justice, because they are at best mingled with our corruptions, and therefore do themselves stand in need of a high Priest to take off their iniquity. We know enough in Christ to depend on, we never can find enough in ourselves. And this confidence we have, if God would ever have had us justified by works, he would have given us grace enough to fulfil the whole Law, and not have left a Prayer upon public record for us every day to repeat, and to regulate all our own Prayers by, forgive us our trespasses. For how dares that man say, I shall be justified by my works, who must every day say, Lord forgive me my sins, and be merciful unto me a sinner. Nay though we could fulfil the whole Law perfectly, yet from the guilt of sins formerly contracted we could no other way be justified, than by laying hold by faith on the satisfaction and sufferings of Christ. Secondly, it may teach us confidence against all sins, corruptions, and temptations. 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, etc. Satan is the blackest enemy, and sin is the worst thing he can allege against me, or my soul is or can be subject unto; for Hell is not so evil as sin. In as much as Hell is of Gods making, but sin only of mine. Hell is made against me, but sin is committed against God. Now I know Christ came to destroy the works, and to answer the arguments and reasonings of the Devil. Thou canst not stand before God, saith Satan, for thou art a grievous sinner, and he is a devouring fire. But faith can answer, Christ is able both to cover and to cure my sin, to make it vanish as a mist, and to put it as far out of mine own sight, as the East is from the West. But thou hast nothing to do with Christ, thy sins are so many and so foul; surely the blood of Christ is more acceptable to my soul, and much more honourable and precious in itself, when it covereth a multitude of sins. Paul was a persecutor, a Blasphemer, and injurious, the greatest of all sinners, and yet he obtained mercy, that he might be for a pattern of all long-suffering to those that should after believe in Christ. If I had as much sin upon my soul as thou hast, yet faith could unlade them all upon Christ, & Christ could swallow them all up in his mercy. But thou hast still nothing to do with him, because thou continuest in thy sin. But doth he not call me, invite me, beseech me, command me to come unto him? If then I have a heart to answer his call, he hath a hand to draw me to himself, though all the gates of Hell, and powers of darkness, or sins of the world stood between. But thou obeyest not this call. True indeed and pitiful it is, that I am dull of hearing, and slow of following the voice of Christ, I want much faith: but yet Lord thou dost not use, to quench the smoking flax, or to break the bruised reed; I believe, and thou art able to help mine unbelief. I am resolved to venture my soul upon thy mercy, to throw away all mine own loading, and to cleave only to this plank of salvation. But faith purifieth the heart, whereas thou art unclean still. True indeed, and miserable man I am therefore, that the motions of sin do work in my members. But yet Lord I hate every false heart; I delight in thy Law with mine innerman, I do that which I would not, but I consent to thy Law that it is good, I desire to know thy will, to fear thy name, & to follow thee whithersoever thou leadest me. But these are but empty velleities, the wish and woulding of an evil heart. Lord to me belongeth the shame of my failings, but to thee belongeth the glory of thy mercy and forgiveness. Too true it is that I do not all I should: but do I allow myself in any thing that I should not? do I make use of mine infirmities to justify myself by them, or shelter myself under them, or dispense with myself in them? though I do not the things I should, yet I love them, and delight in them, my heart, and Spirit, and all the desires of my soul are towards them; I hate, abhor, and fight with myself for not doing them. I am ashamed of mine infirmities, as the blemishes of my profession, I am weary of them, and groan under them as the burdens of my soul: I have no lust, but I am willing to know it, and when I know, to crucify it. I hear of no further measure of grace, but I admire it, and hunger after it, and press on to it. I can take Christ and affliction, Christ and persecution together. I can take Christ without the world, I can take Christ without myself. I have no unjust gain, but I am ready to restore it. No time have I lost by earthly business from God's service, but I am ready to redeem it. I have followed no sinful pleasure, but I am ready to abandon it, no evil company but I mightily abhor it. I never swore an oath, but I can remember it with a bleeding conscience; I never neglected a duty but I can recount it with revenge and indignation. I do not in any man see the Image of Christ, but I love him the more dearly for it, and abhor myself for being so much unlike it. I know, Satan, I shall speed never the worse with God, because I have thee for mine enemy. I know I shall speed much the better, because I have myself for mine enemy. Certainly he that can take Christ offered, that can in all points admit him, as well to purify as to justify, as well to rule as save, as well his grace as his mercy, need not fear all the powers of darkness, nor all the armies of the foulest sins which Satan can charge his conscience withal. The second great virtue and fruit of the Priesthood of Christ was ex redundantia meriti, from the redundancy and overflowing of his merit. First, he doth merit to have a Church; for the very being of the Church is the effect of that great price which he paid; therefore the Church is called a purchased people, 1 Pet. 2.9. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, Psal. 2.8. when he made his soul an offering for sin, he did by that means see his seed, and divide a portion with the great, isaiah. 53.10, 11, 12. The delivering and selecting of the Saints out of this present evil world was the end of Christ's Sacrifice, Gal. 1.4. Secondly, he did merit all such good things for the Church, as the great love of himself and his Father towards the Church did resolve to confer upon it. They may I conceive be reduced to two heads: First, Immunity from evil, whatsoever is left to be removed after the payment of our debt, or taking off from us the guilt, and obligation unto punishment. Such are the Dominion of Sinne. Sin shall not have dominion over you, Rom. 6.14. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ jesus, hath made me free from the Law of Sin and of Death, Rom. 8.2. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin; but if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, joh. 8. 34-36. He that is borne of God doth not commit sin, 1 joh. 3.9. That is, he is not an artificer of sin, one that maketh it his trade and profession, and therefore bringeth it to any perfection. He hath received a Spirit of judgement, that chaineth up his lusts, and a Spirit of burning, which worketh out his dross, isaiah. 4.4. Mal. 3.2, 3. Matth. 3.2. Such is, The Vanity of our Mind, whereby we are naturally unable to think, or to cherish a good thought, 2 Cor. 3.5. Eph. 4.17. The Ignorance, and hardness of our hearts, unable to perceive, or delight in any spiritual thing, Eph. 4.18. joh. 1.5. Luk. 24, 25.45. The Spirit of disobedience and habitual strangeness and averseness from God, Eph. 4.18. job 20.14. Such are also all those slavish, affrightful, and contumacious effects of the Law in terrifying the conscience, irritating the concupiscence, and compelling the froward heart to an unwilling and unwelcome conformity. The Law is now made our counsellor, a delight to the inner man, that which was a lion before, hath now food and sweetness in it. Secondly, Many Privileges and dignities in the virtue of that principal and general one, which is our unity unto Christ; from whence by the fellowship of his holy and quickening Spirit, we have an unction which teacheth us his ways, and his voice, which sanctifieth our nature, by the participation of the divine nature, that is, by the renewing of Gods most holy and righteous Image in us. Which sanctifieth our Persons, that they may be spiritual Kings and Priests. Kings, to order our own thoughts, affections, desires, studies towards him, to fight with principalities, powers, corruptions, and spiritual enemies. Priests, to offer up our bodies, souls, prayers, thanksgivings, alms, spiritual services upon that Altar, which is before his mercy-seat, and to slay and mortify our lusts and earthly members; which sanctifieth all our actions, that they may be services to him and his Church, acceptable to him, and profitable to others. Secondly, from this unity with him grows our adoption, which is another fruit of his Sacrifice. He was made of a woman, made under the Law, that we might receive The Adoption of Sons, Gal. 4.5. By which we have free access to call upon God in the virtue of his Sacrifice, sure supplies in all our wants, because our heavenly Father knoweth all our needs, a most certain inheritance, and salvation in hope; for we are already saved by hope, Rom. 8.24. and Christ is to us the Hope of Glory, Col. 1.27. Lastly, there is from hence our exaltation, in our final victory and resurrection, by the fellowship and virtue of his victory over death, as the first fruits of ours, 1 Cor. 15.20.49. Phil. 3.21. And in our complete salvation, being carried in our souls and bodies to be presented to himself without spot and blameless, Eph. 5.26, 27. and to be brought unto God, 1 Pet. 3.18. Now to take all in one view, what a sum of mercy is here together. Remission of all sins, discharge of all debts, deliverance from all curses; joy, peace, triumph, security, exaltation above all evils, enemies, or fears; a peculiar, purchased, royal seed, (the gift of God the Father to his Son) deliverance from the dominion and service of all sin, vanity, ignorance, hardness, disobedience, bondage, coaction, terror; sanctification of our persons, natures, lives, actions; adoption, hope, victory, resurrection, salvation, glory. O what a price was that which procured it? O what manner of persons ought we to be for whom it was procured? The fifth thing to be spoken of about the Priesthood of Christ I shall dispatch in one word, which is the Duty we owe upon all this. First, than we should not receive so great a grace in vain, but by faith lay hold upon it, and make use of it. Let us fear, saith the Apostle, lest a promise being left us, of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it; for unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it, Heb. 4.1, 2. God in Christ is but reconcileable unto us, One with us in his good will, and in his proclamation of peace. When two parties are at variance, there is no actual peace without the mutual consent of both again; till we by faith give our consent, and actually turn unto God, and seek his favour, and lay hold on the mercy which is set before us; though God be one, in that he sendeth a mediator, and maketh tender of reconcilement with us, yet this grace of his is to us in vain, because we continue his enemies still. The Sun is set in the heavens for a public light, yet it benefiteth none but those who open their eyes, to admit and make use of its light. A court of justice or equity is a public sanctuary, yet it actually relieveth none but those that seek unto it. Christ is a public and universal salvation, set up for all comers, and appliable to all particulars, joh. 3.16. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Pet. 3.9. He tasted death for every man, Heb. 2.9. But all this is not beneficial unto life, but only to those that receive him. Only those that receive him are by these mercies of his made the Sons of God, joh. 1.12. without faith they abide his enemies still. God in Christ publisheth himself a God of peace and unity towards us, Gal. 3.20. And setteth forth Christ as an all-sufficient treasure of mercy to all that in the sense of their own misery will fly unto him, Revel. 22.17. But till men believe, and are thus willing to yield their own consents, and to meet his reconciliation towards them, with theirs towards him, his wrath abideth upon them still; for by believing only he will have his son's death actually effectual, though it were sufficient before. O therefore let us not venture to bear the wrath of God, the curse of sin, the weight of the Law, upon our own shoulders, when we have so present a remedy, and so willing a friend at hand to ease us. Secondly, we should labour to feel the virtue of the Priesthood and Sacrifice of Christ working in us, purging our consciences from dead works, renewing our nature, cleansing us from the power and pollution of sin; for when by the hand of faith, and the sweet operation of the Spirit we are therewithal sprinkled, we shall then make it all our study to hate, and to forbear sin, which squeezed out so precious blood, and wrung such bitter cries from so merciful a high Priest; to live no longer to ourselves, that is, secundum hominem, as men, 1 Cor. 3.3. Host 6.7. After our own lusts and ways: but (as men that are not their own, but his that bought them,) to live in his service, and to his glory, 1 Cor. 6.19, 20, 2 Cor. 5.14. 1 Pet. 4.2. All that we can do is too little to answer so great love. Love to empty himself, to humble himself, to be God in the flesh, to be God on a Cross, to take off from us the hatred, fury and vengeance of his Father, to restore us to our primitive purity & condition again. Why should it be esteemed a needless thing to be most rigorously conscionable, & exactly circumspect, in such a service as unto which we are engaged with so infinite, and unsearchable bounty? He paid our debt to the uttermost farthing, drunk every drop of our bitter Cup, and saved us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, throughly: why should not we labour to perform his service, and to fulfil every one of his most sweet commands to the uttermost too? Thirdly, we should learn to walk before him with all reverence and fear, as men that have received a Kingdom which cannot be moved, Heb. 12.28. And with frequent consideration of the high Priest of our profession, that we may not in presumption of his mercy, harden our hearts, or depart from God, Heb. 3.1.8. But in due remembrance of the end of his Sacrifice, which was to purchase to himself a peculiar people, be zealous of all good works, Tit. 2.14. Fourthly, we should learn confidence and boldness towards him, who is a great, a faithful, and a merciful high Priest; this use the Apostle makes of it. Seeing we have a great high Priest-let us hold fast our profession-and come with boldness unto the throne of grace, Heb. 4.14, 15, 16. And again, Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of jesus-and having an high Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, etc. Heb. 10. 19-22. Fifthly, we learn perseverance and steadfastness in our profession, because he is able to carry u● through and save us to the uttermost. This is that which indeed makes us partakers of Christ. We are made partakers of him, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, Heb. 3.14. The considering of him, of his perseverance in finishing his own work, and our faith, and his power and ability to save us to the uttermost, will keep us from fainting in our service and the profession we have taken, Heb. 12.2, 3.10.23. Sixthly, we have hereby access to present our prayers, and all our spiritual Sacrifices upon this Altar, sprinkled with the blood of that great Sacrifice, and liberty to come unto God by him who liveth to make intercession for us, Heb. 7.25. In him we have access with confidence by faith, Eph. 3.12. Therefore the Lord is said to have his eyes open to our Prayers, to hearken unto them, 1 Kings. 8.52. Because he first looketh upon our Persons in Christ, before he receiveth or admitteth any of our services. Lastly, we ought frequently to celebrate the memory, and to commemorate the Benefits of this Sacrifice wherein God hath been so much glorified, and we so wonderfully saved. Therefore the Lord hath of purpose instituted a sacred ordinance in his Church, in the room of the Paschall Lamb, that as that was a prefiguration of Christ's death expected, so this should to all ages of the Church be a resemblance and commemoration of the same exhibited. So often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye show forth the Lords death till he come, 1 Cor. 11.26. For in the ordinances he is crucified before our eyes, Gal. 3.1. Therefore the Apostle more than once infers from the consideration of this Sacrifice and office of Christ, our duty of not forsaking the assemblies of the Saints, and of exhorting and provoking one another, Heb. 3.13.10.24, 25. Now I proceed to the last thing mentioned in the words concerning the Priesthood of Christ, and that is about the Order of it. Thou art a Priest [for ever after the Order of Melchisedek.] Secundum verbum, or secundum morem & rationem: the Apostle readeth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, according to the Order of Melchisedeks' Priesthood. Of this Melchisedek, we find mention made but in two places only of the whole Old Testament, and in both very briefly; the first in the History of Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, when Melchisedek, being the Priest of the most high God, brought forth bread and wine, and blessed him, Gen. 14.18, 19, 20. and the other in this place. And for this cause the things concerning him, and his Order are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, hard to be understood, Heb. 5.11. It was so then, and so it would be still, if S. Paul had not cleared the difficulties, and showed wherein the Type and the Antitype did fully answer; which he hath largely done in Heb. 7. For understanding and clearing the particulars which are herein considerable, Vid. Cameron Quaest in Hebr. here are some questions which offer themselves. First, who Melchisedek was? Secondly, what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his Order? Thirdly, why Christ was to be a Priest after his Order, and not after Aaron's? Fourthly, why he brought forth bread and wine? Fifthly, what kind of blessing it was with which he blessed Abraham? Sixthly, in what manner he received Tithes? Lastly, in what sense he was without Father, and without Mother, without beginning of days, or end of life? First, for Melchisedek, who he was, much hath been said by many men, and with much confidence. a Apud Hieron. Epist. To. 3. Epist. 136. & Epiphan. lib. 2. Haeres. 55. Some heretics of old affirmed that he was the Holy Ghost. b Origen. apud Hieronym. Others that he was an Angel. c Haebraei apud Epiphane. & Hieron. Others that he was Sem the Son of Noah. d Tertull. contr. judaeos. justin. Epiphan. Par●us in Gen. Others that he was a Canaanite, extraordinarily raised up by God to be a Priest of the Gentiles. e Quiaam apud Epiphan. & nuper Petrus Cu●. eus. de Repub. Hebraeor. cap. 3. vid. Coquae in Aug. de civ. Dei lib. 16. cap. 22. Others that he was Christ himself, manifest by a special dispensation and privilege unto Abraham in the flesh, who is said to have seen his day, and rejoiced, joh. 8.56. Difference also there is about Salem, the place of which he was King. Some take it for jerusalem, as * Antiq. jud. l. ●. 1. cap 11. josephus, and most of the ancients. Others for a city in the half tribe of Manasse, within the River jordan, where Hierom reports that some ruins of the palace of Melchisedek were in his days conceived to remain. Tedious I might be in insisting on this point who Melchisedek was. But when I find the Holy Ghost purposely concealing his name, genealogy, beginning, ending, and descent, and that to special purpose; I cannot but wonder that men should toil themselves in the dark to find out that of which they have not the least ground of solid conjecture, and the inevidence whereof is expressly recorded, to make Melchisedek thereby the fitter type of Christ's everlasting Priesthood. Secondly, what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is as much as the state, condition, or prescribed Rule of Melchisedek; and that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, After the power of an endless life, Heb. 7.16. Not by a corporeal unction, legal ceremony, or the intervening act of a humane ordination: but by a heavenly institution, and immediate unction of the Spirit of Life, by that extraordinary manner whereby he was to be both King and Priest unto God, as Melchisedek was. Thirdly, Why was he not a Priest after the order of Aaron? The Apostle giveth us an answer, Because the Law made nothing perfect, but was weak and unprofitable, and therefore was to be abolished, and to give place to another Priesthood. Men were not to rest in it, but by it to be led to him who was to abolish it, Heb. 7.11, 12. as the morningstar leadeth to the sun, and at the rising thereof vanisheth. The ministry and promises of Christ were better than those of the Law; and therefore his Priesthood, which was the office of dispencing them, was to be more excellent likewise, Heb. 8 6. For when the Law and covenant were to be abolished, the Priesthood in which they were established, was to die likewise. Fourthly, Why Melchisedek brought forth bread and wine? The Papists, that they may have something to build the idolatry of their mass upon, make Melchisedek to Sacrifice bread and wine, as a Type of the Eucharist. I will not fall into so tedious a controversy, as no way tending to edification, and infinite litigations there have been between the parts already about it. In one word; We grant that the Ancients do frequently make it a Type of the Eucharist but only by way of allusion, Glass. Philolog. Sacra▪ pag 423. not of literal prediction, or strict prefiguration; as that, out of Egypt have I called my Son, and in Rama was there a voice heard, which were literally and historically true in another sense, are yet by way of allusion applied by the Evangelist unto the History of Christ, Matth. 2.15.18. But we may note; first, it is not Sacrificavit, but Protulit, he brought it forth, he did not offer it up. Loco suprà citato. Secondly, he brought it forth to Abraham as a Prince to entertain him after his conquest, as josephus, and from him Cajetan understand it; not as a Priest to God. Thirdly, he, if he did offer, he offered bread and wine truly, these men, only the lying shapes thereof, and not bread and wine itself which they say are transubstantiated into another thing. Fourthly, the Priesthood of Melchisedek as Type, and of Christ as the substance, was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Priesthood which could not pass unto any other either as successor or vicar to one or the other, and it was only by divine and immediate unction; but the Papists make themselves Priests by humane and ecclesiastical ordination to offer that which they say Melchisedek offered; and by that means most insolently make themselves either successors, or vicar's, or sharers, and copartners and workers together with him and his Antitype, Christ jesus, in the offices of such a Priesthood as was totally uncommunicable, and intransient, Heb. 7.24. and so most sacriligeously rob him of that honour which he hath assumed to himself as his peculiar office. Fifthly, what kind of blessing it was wherewith Melchisedek blessed Abraham? To this I answer, that there is a twofold Benediction. The one Charitativa, o●t of love, and so any man may bless another by way of euprecation or well wishing: The blessing of the Lord be upon you, we bless you in the name of the Lord, Psal. 129.8. the other Autoritativa, as a King, a Priest, an extraordinary superior and public person, by a way of office, and to the purpose of effecting, and real conveying the blessing itself desired: without all contradiction, saith the Apostle, the less is blessed of the greater, Hebr. 7.7. and such was this of Melchisedek. Benedictio obsignans, a seal, assurance, and effectual confirmation of the promise before made, Gen. 12.2, 3. Sixthly, in what manner he received Tithes? I answer with Calvin, Quod debebat Abraham Deo, solvit in manum Melchisedec. Decimarum ergo solutione, se minorem professus est, Calv. in Heb. 7.5.8.9. that he had Ius decimarum, and received them as testifications of homage, duty, and obedience from Abraham; for the Apostle useth it as argument to prove his greatness above Abraham, which could be no argument in the case of pure gift. Since gifts, quatenus gifts, though they prove not a general inferiority in him that receives them, yet they prove that in that case there is something which may be imputed, and which deserves acknowledgement. But in this particular all the acknowledgements are from Abraham to Melchisedek. Besides, nothing was here by Abraham or Melchisedek done after an arbitrary manner, but Extraordinario spiritus afflatu & ex officio, on both sides, as learned Cameron hath observed. Lastly, in what sense he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. without father, mother, or genealogy? I answer with chrusostom, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrysost. that it is not meant literally and strictly; but only the Scripture takes notice of him as an extraordinary man, without signifying his line, beginning, end, or race, (as Tiberius said of Rufus, that he was Homo ex se natus) that so he might be the fitter to typify Christ's person and excellency in whom those things were really true, which are only quoad nos, spoken of the type, of whose beginning, end, or parentage, we neither have, nor can have any knowledge. These things thus premised, it will be easy for you to preoccupate those observations, which grow between the Type and the Antitype, which therefore I will but cursorily propose. Note, first, that Christ's Priesthood is such as did induce a kingdom with it, for Melchisedek was King of Salem, and Priest of the most high God.] This, Saint Hierom, and from him Ambrose, report to have been meant by the order of Melchisedek, namely, Regale Sacerdotium, that Christ was to be a Royal Priest. By way of merit purchasing a kingdom of his Father, and by way of conquest recovering it to himself out of the hands of his enemies; this mystery was obscurely intimated, in the marriages allowed between the regal and sacerdotal tribes of juda and Levi, which confusion was in the other Tribes interdicted, as I have before observed. Note, secondly, that Christ by offering up himself a Sacrifice unto God, is become unto his people a King of Righteousness, or the Lord our righteousness: in which sense he is called The Prince of life, Act. 3.15. that is, he hath all power given him as a Prince, to quicken, and to justify whom he will, joh. 5.20, 21. And this comes from his Sacrifice and perfect obedience to us imputed, and by us with faith employed and apprehended; for having fulfilled the righteousness of the Law, and justified himself by rising from the dead, he became, being thus made perfect, the Author of righteousness and salvation to us, Heb. 5.9. We had in us a whole kingdom of sin, and therefore requisite there was in him that should justify us a kingdom of Grace, and righteousness, That as sin reigned unto death, even so might Grace through righteousness reign unto eternal life by jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 5.21. and therefore we are said to be justified by the righteousness of God, Rom. 3.21, 22. that is, such a righteousness as is ours by gift and grace, not by nature, Rom. 10.3. and such a righteousness as God himself did perform, though in the humane nature, in our behalf, Act. 20.28. Phil. 2.6, 7, 8. And this is the ground of all our comfort, the best direction in all our miseries and extremities whither to fly. A King is the greatest officer amongst men, and his honour and state is for the supply, defence, and honour of his people: He is Custos Tabularum, the Father, and the Keeper of the Laws. If I want any of that justice and equity, of which his sacred Bosom is the public treasure, I may freely beg it of him, because he is an Officer to dispense righteousness unto his subjects; so also is Christ unto his Church. I find myself in a miserable condition, condemned by the conscience of sin, by the testimony of the Word, by the accusations of Satan, full of discomforts; God is a God of justice, and all fire, myself a creature of sin, and all stubble; Satan the accuser of the brethren, who labours to blow up the wrath of God against me. In this case what shall I do? Surely God hath set his King on Zion; and he is a King that hath life and righteousness to give to me; that hath grace enough to quench all sin, and the envenomed darts of Satan, in whom there is erected a court of peace and mercy, whereunto to appeal from the severity of God, from the importunity of the Devil, and from the accusations and testimonies of our own hearts. And indeed he had need be a King of righteousness that shall justify men, for our justification is in the remission of our sins; and to pardon sins, and dispense with Laws is a regal dignity; and God taketh it as his own high and peculiar prerogative, I, even I am he who blotteth out thine iniquity for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins, Esay 43.25. No man, or Angel, or created power, no merit, no obedience, no rivers of oil, nor mountains of cattle, no prayers, tears, or torments, can wipe out the stains, or remove the guilt of any sin, I only, even I and none else can do it. None but a Divine and Royal Power can subdue sin, Mica 7.18. And this is a ground of a second comfort, that being a King of righteousness he is rich in it, and hath treasures to bestow; that as we have a kingdom, a treasure, and abundance of sin; so we have a King that hath always a residue of spirit and grace, that hath a most redundant righteousness from faith to faith, Rom. 1.17. A man's faith can never overgrow the righteousness of our King. If we had all the faith that ever was in the world put into one man, all that could not over-claspe the righteousness of Christ, or be too big for it. As if a man had a thousand eyes, and they should one after another look on the Sun, yet still the light would be revealed from eye to eye; or as if a man should go up by ten thousand steps to the top of the highest mountain, yet he could never overlook all the earth, or fix his eye beyond all visible objects, but should still have more earth and heaven discovered unto him from step to step: so there is an immensity in the righteousness and mercy of God, which cannot be exhausted by any sins, or overlooked, and comprehended by any faith of men. As God dot● 〈◊〉 and more reveal himself, and the righteousness of Christ unto the soul, so man maketh further progresses from faith to faith. And therefore we should learn everlasting thankfulness unto this our King, that is pleased to be unto us a Melchisedek, a Priest to satisfy his Father's justice, and a Prince to bestow his own. Note thirdly, Melchisedek was King of Salem, that is, of Peace. Here are two things to be noted, the Place, a City of the Canaanites, and the signification thereof, which is Peace: First than we must observe, that Christ is a King of Canaanites, of Gentiles, of those that lived in abominable lusts: Such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord jesus, 1 Cor. 6.11. Be a man never so sinful or unclean, he hath not enough to pose or nonplus the mercy and righteousness of Christ; he can bring reconciliation and peace amongst Jebusites themselves; though our father were an Amorite, our mother an Hittite, though we were Gentiles, estranged from God in our thoughts, lives, hopes, ends: though we had justified Sodom and Samaria by our abominations, yet he can make us nigh by his blood, he can make our crimson sins as white as snow, he can for all that establish an everlasting covenant unto us, Ephes. 2.11— 14. Esay 1.18. Ezek. 16.60— 63. I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, very injurious to the Spirit of Grace in his Saints, I wasted, I worried, I haled into prison, I breathed out threatenings, I was mad, & made havoc of the Church, I was within one step of the unpardonable sin, nothing but ignorance between that and my soul; Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting, saith Saint Paul, 1 Tim. 1.13— 16. Let us make Saint Paul's use of it: First, To love and to believe in Christ, to accept as a most faithful and worthy saying, that Christ came to save sinners; indefinitely, without restriction, without limitation; and me, though the chiefest of all others. Though I had more sins than earth or hell can lay upon me, yet if I feel them as heavy weights, and if I am willing to forsake them all, let me not dishonour the power and unsearchable riches of Christ's blood, even for such a sinner there is mercy. Secondly, To break forth into Saint Paul's acknowledgement, Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, and only wise God, to him that is a King of righteousness, and therefore hath abundance for me, that is eternal, and yet was borne in time for me; immortal, yet died for me; invisible, yet was manifested in the flesh for me, the only wise God, and who made use of that wisdom, to reconcile himself to me, and by the foolishness of preaching doth save the world; be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. Secondly, from the signification of the word, we may note, Where Christ is a King of righteousness, he is a King of Peace too. So the Prophet calleth him, the Prince of Peace, Esay 6.9. a Creator and dispenser of peace. It is his own by propriety and purchase, and he leaves it unto us: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you, joh. 14.27. The world is either fallax or inops, either it deceives, or it is deficient; but Peace is mine, and I can give it. Therefore as the Prophet jeremy calleth him by the name of Righteousness, jer. 33.16. So the Prophet Micah calleth him by the name of Peace, This man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our Land, Mic. 5.5. To which Saint Paul alleging, calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, our peace, Ephes. 2.14. By him we have peace with God, being reconciled, and recti in curia again, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord jesus Christ, Rom. 5.1. so that the heart can challenge all the world to lay any thing to its charge. By him we have peace with our own consciences, for being sprinkled with his blood, they are cleansed from dead works, and so we have the witness in ourselves, as the Apostle speaketh, Heb. 9.14. 1 joh. 5.10. Rom. 8.16. By him we have peace with men. No more malice, envy, or hatred of one another, after once the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared, Tit. 3.3, 4. All partition walls are taken down, and they which were two before, are both made one in him, Ephes. 2.14. and then there is towards the brethren a love of communion, towards the weak a love of pity, towards the poor a love of bounty, either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 2 Pet. 1.7. either brotherly love, or general love, towards those without mercy, charity, compassion, forgiveness, towards all good works. By him we have peace with the creatures, we use them with comfort, with liberty, with delight, with piety, with charity, with mercy, as glasses in the which we see, and as steps by the which we draw nearer to God. No rust in our gold or silver, no moth, nor pride in our garment, no lewdness in our liberty, no hand against the wall, no flying roll against the stone or beam of the house, no gravel in our bread, no gall in our drink, no snare on our table, no fears in our bed, no destruction in our prosperity; in all estates we can rejoice, we can do and suffer all through Christ that strengtheneth us. We are under the custody of peace; it keeps our hearts and minds from fears of enemies, and maketh us serve the Lord with confidence, boldness and security, Phil. 4.7. The works of righteousness are in peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever. Esay 32.17. Note fourthly, from both these, that is, from a peace grounded in righteousness, needs must Blessedness result, for it is the blessedness of a creature to be reunited, and one with his Maker, to have all controversies ended, all distances swallowed up, all partitions taken down, and therefore the Apostle useth Righteousness and Blessedness as terms promiscuous. Rom. 4.5— 9 All men seek for blessedness, it is the sum and collection of all desires, a man loveth nothing but in order & subordination unto that. And by nature we are all children of wrath, and held under by the curse, so many sins as we have committed, so many deaths & curses have we heaped upon our souls, so many walls of separation have we set up between us & God, who is the fountain of blessedness. Till all they be covered, removed, forgiven and forgotten, the creature cannot be blessed. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, Rom. 4.7. All the benedictions which we have from the most high God come unto us from the intercession and mediation of Christ. His sacrifice and prayers give us interest in the all-sufficiency of him that is above all, and so are a security unto us against all adverse power or fear, for what or whom need that man fear, that is one with the most high God? If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8.31. When God blesseth, his blessing is ever with effect and success, it cannot be reversed, it cannot be disappointed: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, saith Balaam, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed, and cannot reverse it, Numb. 23.19, 20. Note fifthly, from Melchisedeks' meeting Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, we may observe the great forwardness that is in Christ to meet and to bless his people, when they have been in his service. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, Esay 64.5. I said I will confess my sins, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Psal. 32.5. No sooner did David resolve in his heart to return to God, but presently the Lord prevented him with his mercy, and anticipated his servants confession with pardon and forgiveness; Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness, Psal. 21.3. As the father of the Prodigal, when he was yet a great way off, far from that perfection which might in strictness be required, yet, because he had set his face homeward, and was now resolved to sue for pardon and re-admittance; when he saw him, he had compassion, and ran (the father's mercy was swi●ter than the son's repentance) and fell on his neck and kissed him, Luke 15.20. We do not find the Lord so hasty in his punishments, He is slow to anger, and doth not stir up all his wrath together. He is patient, and long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance; he comes, and he comes again, and the third year he forbears, before he cuts down a barren tree: But when he comes with a blessing, he doth not delay, but prevents his people with goodness and mercy. O how forward ought we to be to serve him, who is so ready to meet us in his way, and to bless us? Note sixthly, from the refection and preparations which Melchisedek made for Abraham and for his men, we may observe, That Christ as King and Priest is a comforter and refresher of his people in all their spiritual weariness, and after all their services. This was the end of his unction to heal, and to comfort his people. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and a recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, Luke 4.18, 19 To provide a feast of fatted things, of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined, Esay 25.6. To mi●ke out unto his people consolations and abundance of glory, Esay 66.11. To speak words in season to those that are weary, and to make broken and dry bones to rejoice, and to flourish like an herb, Esay 50.4. Psal. 51.8. Esay 66.14. And this is a strong argument to hold up the patience, faith, and hope of men in his service, and in all spiritual assaults; we have a Melchisedek which after our combat is ended, and our victory obtained will give us refreshments at the last, and will meet us with his mercies. If we faint not, but wait a while, we shall see the salvation of the Lord, that in the end he is very pitiful and of tender mercy, Exod. 14.13. jam. 5.11. He is near at hand, his coming draweth nigh: He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with m●e? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. The readiness of the Lord to help is a ground of challenge and defiance to all enemies, Phil. 4.5. jam. 5.8. isaiah. 50.8, 9 job went forth mourning, and had a great war to fight; but the Lord blessed his latter end more than his beginning, and after his battle was ended met him like Melchizedek with redoubled mercies. David, Hezekiah, Heman the Ezrahite, and many of the Saints after their example, have had sore and dismal conflicts, but at length their comforts have been proportionable to their wrestle, they never wanted a Melchizedek after their combats to refresh them. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall I shall rise, when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me: I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgement for me, he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness, Mic. 7.8, 9 He hath strength, courage, refection, spirit, to put into those that fight his battles, though they be but as Abraham, a family of three hundred men, against four kings, yet he can cut Rahab, and wound the dragon, and make a way in the sea for the ransomed to pass over, and cause his redeemed to return with singing, and with joy and gladness upon their heads, I, even I am he that comforteth you, who art thou that shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye, and of the son of man that shall be as grass? isaiah. 51.12. Note, seventhly, from Melchisedeks' receiving of tithes from Abraham (which the Apostle taketh special notice of four or five times together in one Chapt. Heb. 7.2, 4, 6, 8, 9) we may observe, That Christ is a receiver of homage and tribute from his people; There was never any type of Christ as a Priest, but he received tithes, and that not in the right of any thing in himself, but merely in the virtue of his typical office, so that originally they did manifestly pertain to that principal Priest, whom these represented, whose personal * Dicit Apostolu●, Ad tempus deci ●as Levitis solut as faisse, quia non semper viverent; Meichised●c vero, quia immortalis sit, retinere usque in finem quod à Deos●mel illi datum est, Calv. in Heb. 7.8. priesthood is standing, unalterable, and eternal, and therefore the rights thereunto belonging are such too. If it objected, why then did not Christ in his life receive tithes? I answer, first, because though he were the substance, yet the standing typical priesthood was not abolished till after his ministry on earth was finished, for his priesthood was not consummate till his sitting at the right hand of God: secondly, because he took upon him a voluntary poverty for especial reasons belonging to the state of his humiliation, and to the dispensation of man's Redemption, 2 Corinth. 8.9. You will say, now Christ's priesthood is consummate, and he himself is in heaven, whither no tithes can be sent; therefore none are due, because he hath no typical priests in earth to represent him. I answer, though he be in heaven in his body, yet he is on earth in his ministry, and in the dispensation of the virtue of his sacrifice; and the Ministers of the Gospel are in his stead, 2 Cor. 5.20. and aught to be received as Christ himself, Gal. 4.14. so then men are not by this excused from rendering God's dues unto him; first, because there is in respect of him, whose sacrifice we commemorate and show forth to the people, due a Testification of homage unto him; secondly, because in respect of us there is due a Reward of our labour, for the labourer is worthy of his hire: to lay all together in one view, in as much as all the types of Christ, as a Priest, have received tithes as due, and in as much as that right was not grounded upon any thing in or from themselves, but upon their typical office, and so did originally pertain to the Principal Priest, whom they typified; and in as much as his person and office is eternal, and therefore such are all the annexa, and dues thereof; and in as much as he hath no where dispensed with, or denied, or refused, or revoked this right which from him as the principal all his types ever enjoyed: and lastly, in as much as he hath left to the Ministers of his Word, the dispensation of his sacrifice, and made them his Ambassadors, and in his stead to the Church, to set forth him crucified in his ordinances: for my part I do not see why unto them in the name and right of their Master, those rights should not be due, which were manifestly his in his types, and of which himself hath no where in his Word declared any revocation. But not to enter upon any disputes or unwelcome controversies, thus much I cannot by the way but observe, that these who labour in the word and doctrine, and therein are Ambassadors for Christ, and stand in his stead to reveal the mysteries, and dispense the treasures of his blood in the Church, aught to have by way of homage to Christ, and by way of recompense and retribution to themselves a liberal maintenance, befitting the honour and dignity of that person whom they represent, and of that service wherein they minister: the Apostle saith, that they are worthy of double honour, an honour of reverence, and an honour of maintenance, 1 Tim. 5.17, 18. Lam. 4.16. Phil. 2.29. 2 Cor. 1.14. Host 4.4. Liv. Al●x. ab Alex. lib. 2. cap. 8. and doubtless the very heathen shall rise up in judgement against many who profess the truth in both these respects: for the heathen themselves did show so much honour to their devilish priests, that I remember one of the Roman Consuls seeing a priest, and some Vestal virgins going on foot, and he riding on his chariot, descended, and would not go into it again, till those diabolical Votaries were first placed, nay their very kings and emperor's in Greece, Egypt, Rome, etc. Clem. Alex. stro. l. 7. Diodor. Sic●l lib. 2. thought it one of their greatest honours to be withal the Priests for the people▪ amongst the Christians when the Synod of Nice was assembled by Constantine's command, and some accusations, or (as the Historian calleth them) calumniations were presented to the emperor against some Bishops and Ministers, he looked not on the particulars, Theodoret. Hist. li. 1. c. 11 Socrat. li. 1. c. 8. but sealed them up with his own signet, and having first reconciled the parties, commanded the libels to be burnt, adding withal that if he should himself see a bishop in adultery, he would cover his nakedness, with his own royal robe, because, saith he, the sins of such men ought not to be divulged, lest their example do as much hurt to the souls of others, as their fact to their own: Vita Episcoporum sibi, fama aliis necessaria. Aug. for as a good life is necessary for themselves, so is their good fame necessary for others. The meaning of that noble Prince was not that such men's sins should go unexamined or exempted from punishment, but to show both in how high honour they who are worthy in that function ought to be had for their works sake, 1 Thes. 5.12, 13. and how wary men should be in giving liberty to their tongues or distempered passions to censure, misreport, or scandalise the persons and parts of such men, against whom Timothy was not to receive an accusation without two or three witnesses, 1 Tim. 5.19. And to give notice of those ill consequences which would ensue upon the public observation of the sins of those men, who in their doctrine preach the truth, and build up the Church: for doubtless of other men who preach lies in hypocrisy, there cannot too much of their secret villainies, and personal uncleanness be detected, that so the lewdness of their lives may stop the progress and growth of their evil doctrine. But to return to the point that I am upon, liberal maintenance is due to those that labour in the word and doctrine out of justice, and not out of mercy, for their works sake. I will not press the examples of heathen themselves in this duty for the shame of Christians. Plin li. 12. c. 14. Alex. ab Alex. lib. 3. ca 22. We find that the priests of Egypt had portions out of the kings own treasuries, and that their lands were still reserved unto them, Gen. 47.22. And we find beside these lands, that they had the third part of all yearly tributes and levies, Diodo. Sicul. l. 2. as Diodorus Siculus tells us. But we will first look upon the example of Gods own Priests and Levites under the Law. Secondly, upon the precepts and commands of the Gospel. God is not less mindful of Ministers under the Gospel, than of those under the Law. Now then, if you will not believe that a liberal maintenance is now by God allotted unto us, look what he did allot to them; first, look upon the proportion of their persons, and then upon the proportion of their maintenance: for their persons it would not be hard to prove that the Tribe of Levi, Vid. Seldens' Review of his History, Cap. 2. though the thirteenth part of the people in regard of their civil division, were not yet the fortieth part of the people. Look into the numbering of them, and compare Num. 1.46. with Numb. 3.39. The other Tribes were numbered from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to bear arms, which was to the age of fifty years, as josephus reports; for at that age they were supposed to be unserviceable for war; and yet thus their number amounted to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men able to go to war. The Levites on the other side were numbered from one month old and upward, and yet the whole sum amounted but to twenty two thousand. Now conjecture the number of those in the other Tribes who were under twenty years of age, and who were too old for warlike service to be but half as many as the rest, yet the whole number of the Tribes reckoned from their infancy upward will amount at the least to nine hundred two thousand men. Of which number, the number of the Levites is just the one and fortieth part. After we find that they increased to a mighty number more, 1 Chron. 33.3. but the whole people increased accordingly, for the tribe of Judah which was before but seventy four thousand, was then five hundred thousand, and in jehoshaphats' time eleven hundred thousand at least, 2 Sam. 24▪ 2 Chron. 7. well then, the Levites were but the fortieth part of the people (not so much) so that that Tribe was but almost a quarter as numerous as the rest. Now look in the next place to the Proportion of their maintenance. One would think that the fortieth part of the people could require but the fortieth part of the maintenance in proportion. But first they had the Tenth of all the increase of seed, and fruit, and great and small cattle, Levit. 27.30. Secondly, they had forty eight cities with suburbs for gardens and for cattle, Numb. 35.2. Which cities were next to the best, and in many tribes the best of all; in juda, Hebron, in Benjamin, Gibeon, both Royal Cities; so that those Cities with about a mile suburb to every one of them can come to little less than the wealth of one tribe alone, in that little country, which from Dan to Beersheba was but about a hundred and sixty miles long. Thirdly, they had all the first fruits of clean and unclean beasts, Numb. 18.13. Of the fruits of the earth and the fleece of the sheep, Deut. 18.4. Nehem. 10.35. of men to be redeemed, Num. 18.15. Fourthly, the meat Offerings, the sin offerings, the trespass offerings, the heave offerings, and the wave offerings, were all theirs, Numb. 18.9, 10, 11. Fifthly, they had all vows, and voluntary oblations, and consecrations, and every hallowed thing, Numb. 18.8, 9 Sixthly, excepting the Holocaust they had either the shoulder, or the breast, or the skin, or something of every Sacrifice which was offered, Numb. 18.18. Leu. 7. Deut. 18.3. Seventhly, the males were to appear three times a year before the Lord, and they were not to come empty handed, Exod. 23.15.17. Lastly, unto them did belong many recompenses of injury, which was the restitution of the principal, and a fifth part, Num. 5.7, 8. Now put the Tithes, the Cities, and these other constant revenues together, and the Priests and Levites, who were but about a quarter as many as one tribe, had yet about three times the revenues of one tribe. But to leave this Argument. Let us consider what the Apostle saith; let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in all his goods, as Beza well expounds it, Gal. 6.6. The elders that labour in the word and Doctrine are worthy of double honour, for the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the Labourer is worthy of his reward, 1 Tim. 5.17, 18. Who goeth a warfare at any time of his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock. Say I these things as a man (that is, am I partial? do I speak merely out of affection, and humane favour to mine own cause, or calling?) or, saith not the Law the same also? For it is written in the Law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for Oxen? or saith he it altogether for our sakes? That is, doth God provide Laws for rewarding and encouraging the labour of brute beasts, and doth he leave the maintenance and honour of his own immediate officers to the arbitrary and pinching allowances of covetous and cruel men? For our sakes no doubt this is written, That he that ploweth should plow in hope, and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. That is, that the encouragement of the Ministers in their service might depend upon such a hope as is grounded on God's Law and provision, and that they might not be left to the wills and allowances of those men against whose sins they were sent. And this the Apostle proveth by an argument drawn from a most unanswerable equity. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If you do rightly judge of those heavenly treasures which we bring in abundance unto you, impossible it is that you should judge our pains and service towards your immortal and precious souls sufficiently rewarded with a narrow and hungry proportion of earthly and perishable things. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the Temple? And they which wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar (to note that they receive their maintenance from the hand of God himself, whose only the things of the Altar are, and not from men:) Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel, 1 Cor. 9. 7-13. And what is it To live? First, They must love as men, they must have for necessity and for delight. Secondly, they must live as believers. He that provideth not for his own is worse than an infidel, 1 Tim. 5.8. They must therefore have by the Gospel sufficient to lay up for those, whom the Law of common humanity, much more of faith, commands them to provide for. Thirdly, they must live as Ministers. They must have wherewith to maintain the Duties of their cal●ing, a good example of piety, and charity, and hospitality, that they may confirm by practice, what in Doctrine they teach, 1 Tim. 3.2. And the instruments of their calling, which in a profession of so vast and unlimited a compass of learning, (for there is no part of learning in the whole circle thereof which is not helpful and may not contribute to the understanding of Holy Scriptures, & to some part or other of a Divines employment;) cannot but be very chargeable. And alas, how many men preach the Gospel, and yet can scarce find the first and meanest of all these supplies? This is the great ingratitude of the world, and withal the malice and policy of Satan, by the poverty and contempt of the Ministers, to bring the Gospel itself into contempt, and to deter able men from adventuring on so unrewarded a calling, as Calvin justly complains. All that can with colour or countenance be pretended by those who are guilty of this neglect is Poverty and disability to maintain the Gospel. And it were well if there were not places to be found wherein Dogs and Horses, hawks and hounds grow fat with God's portion, and the mercenary Preacher, when he grows lean with want, is accused of too much study. But suppose that poverty be truly alleged: Hic est astus Satanae aliment is fraudare pios Minis●res ut Ecclesia talibus destituatur, etc. Calvin. in Gal. 6.6. Satan hac arte tentat Doctrin● privare Ecclesiam, dum inopiae & samis me●u plurimos absterret ne id oneris suscipiant, Idem in 1 Tim. 5.17. vid. Muscul. in Gal. 6.6. & in 1 Tim. 3.2. Bishop jewels Sermons on Hag. 1.2.3.4. pag. 181.182. on Psal. 69.9. pag. 191-194. Perkins in his Sermon of the Duties and Dignities of the Ministry. Hooker's Eccl. policy, lib. 5. Num. 79. Hildersh●m on joh. 4. pag. 300.301.319.323. Balto● in his Epistle dedicatory to his discourse of true happiness Gr●g. Thol. s. de Repub. lib. 13. cap. 17. Do we think poverty a just pretext for the neglect of a moral duty? may a man spend the Lords day on his shopboard because he is poor and wants means? And if I may not rob God of his time upon pretence of poverty, neither then is the same any argument to rob him of his portion. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, namely with pretence of poverty and necessity, as Calvin expounds that place, Gal. 6.7. S. Paul bears witness unto some men, that they did good beyond their power, that they were richly liberal though they were deeply poor, 2 Cor. 8.2, 3. And yet those were but contributions out of mercy, whereas double honour is due to the Ministers of the Gospel by a Law of justice.. It is a wrong and foolish Apology to pretend the punishment for the continuance of the fault. The poverty of many men is doubtless a just recompense for their neglect of the honour of the Gospel. (For God hath ever severely punished the contempt and dishonour done to his messengers, 2 Chron. 16.10.12. 2 Chron. 24. 21-25. 2 Chron. 26.19, 20. 2 Chron. 36.16, 17.) Whereas on the other side, do thou deal faithfully with God, fulfil to thy power his appointment and decree, that they which preach the Gospel may live by the Gospel, and then hearken unto God. Honour the Lord with thy substance and the first fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses burst out with new wine, Prov. 3.9, 10. Consider now from this day and upward, from the day that the foundation of the Lords Temple was laid consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? From this day I will bless you, Hag. 2.18, 19 Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the Tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me herewith saith the Lord of Hosts (if you will not do it out of duty, yet do it out of experiment) If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it, Mal. 3. 9-12. There was never any man lost by paying God his Deuce, there was never any man thrived by grudging, or pittancing the Almighty. I will conclude this point with the Apostle. It is his Doctrine; faithful Ministers are worthy of double honour. And it is his Exhortation; Render to all their Deuce, Tribute to whom Tribute, Custom to whom Custom, fear to whom fear, Honour to whom Honour, Rom. 13.3. Greg. Naz. Orat. 36. de Filio. Note lastly, The Priesthood of Christ is an everlasting Priesthood. He also was without Father, and without Mother, without beginning of days, or end of life. As man without a Father, Heb. 13.8. isaiah. 9.6. Revel. 14.6. as God without a Mother, The same yesterday and to day, and for ever. His name was, Everlasting Father. His Gospel an Everlasting Gospel, He was a lamb slain from the beginning of the world. The virtue of his blood goes backward as high as Adam. He was foreordained before the foundation of the world, 1 Pet. 1.19. 2 Tim. 1.9. The redemption of those that transgressed under the first Testament, the remission of sins that were passed, were procured by this Sacrifice, Heb. 9.15. Rom. 3.25. It goeth downward to the end of the world, he must reign till all be put under his feet, and he must raise up all by the power and virtue of his victory over death, joh. 5. 26-29. And lastly, it goeth onward, to all immortality; for though the Acts and administration of his Priesthood shall cease when he shall have delivered the Kingdom to his Father, and have brought the whole Church into God's presence; yet the virtue and fruits of those Acts shall be absolutely eternal, for so long as the Saints shall be in heaven, so long they shall enjoy the benefit of that Sacrifice, which did purchase not a lease, or expiring term, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an endless life, an everlasting glory, an inheritance, incorruptible & that fadeth not away, reserved in the heaven for them. VERSE 5. The Lord at thy Right hand shall strike through Kings in the day of his wrath. VERSE 6. He shall judge amongst the Heathen, he shall fill the places with dead Bodies: He shall wound the heads over many Countries. IN the former part of the Psalm we have had the description of Christ's offices of King and Priest, together with the effect thereof in gathering a willing people unto himself. Now here the Prophet showeth another effect of the powerful administration of these offices, containing his victories over all his enemies, allegorically expressed in a Hypotiposis, or lively allusion unto the manner of humane victories; wherein first I shall in a few words labour to clear the sense, and then the observations which are natural will the more evidently arise. The Lord at thy right hand] To lay aside their exposition who understand these words of God the Father; the words are an Apostrophe of the Prophet to those at whose right hand the Lord jesus is. Some make it an Apostrophe to God the Father, a triumphal and thankful prediction of that power and judgement which he hath given to this his Benjamin, the Son at his right hand. Because that thereby the phrase retaineth the same signification and sense which it had in the first verse. As if David had said, O God, the Father of all power and majesty, worthy art thou of all praise, thanksgiving and honour who hast given such power to thy Son in the behalf of thy Church, as to smite through Kings, and judge heathen, and pull down the chief of his enemies, and to subdue all things to himself; and these read it thus, O Lord, he that is at thy right hand shall strike through Kings, etc. Others make it to be an Apostrophe to the Church, and so to be a phrase not expressing Christ's exaltation, as verse 1. But his care and protection over his Church, his readiness, to assist and defend his own people against all the injuries and assaults of adverse power. Solomon saith, A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart is at his left, Eccl. 10.2. That is, his heart is ready and prepared to execute any wife counsels or godly resolutions; as the Prophet David saith, My heart is prepared o God, my heart is prepared, I will sing and give thanks. But a fool's heart when he should do any thing is like his left hand, to seek of skill, unactive and unprepared; when he walketh by the way his heart faileth him, vers. 3. And this readiness and present help of God to defend and guide his Church is expressed frequently by his being at the right hand thereof. Because the Lord is at my right hand I shall not be moved, Psal. 16.8. He shall stand at the right hand of the poor to save him, Psal. 109.31. I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not I will help thee, isaiah. 31.13. As if David had said, Be not dismayed nor cast down o ye subjects of this King, as if being exalted to God's right hand, he had given over the care and protection of his people; for as he is at the right hand of his Father in glory and majesty; so is he at your right hand too, standing to execute judgement on your enemies, and to reveal the power of his arm towards you in your protection. Now the reasons of this phrase and expression as I conceive are these two. First, to note that Christ's power, providence, and protection do not exclude, but only strengthen, assist, and prosper the ordinary and just endeavours of the Church for themselves. The Lord is not at our left hand to succour us in our idleness and negligence, but at our working hand to give success to our honest endeavours. The sword of the Lord doth not fight without the sword of Gedeon, judg. 7.18. In the miracles of Christ when he fed and feasted men, he never created wine or bread of nothing, but blessed, and so changed, or multiplied that which was by humane industry prepared before. Our Saviour had fish and bread of his own, and yet he would have his Disciples put in their net and catch, and bring of their own, to note unto us, that God's power and providence, must not exclude but encourage man's industry, joh. 21.9, 10. He protecteth us in viis nostris, non in praecipitiis, in our ways, not in our precipices or presumptions, Psal. 91.11. So long then as the Church is valiant and constant in withstanding the enemies of her peace & prosperity, God is undoubtedly with her to bless that courage, and to strengthen that right hand; so long as Moses held up his hand, God fought for Israel. There was joshuas' sword, and Moses his hand or prayer, and upon those God's blessing, Exod. 17.12, 13. And they were all to concur. If the sword should cease, the Prayer would do no good; for God will not be tempted: If the Prayer faint, the sword is in vain, for God will not be neglected. As in a curious Clock stop any wheel and you hinder the whole motion. If God promise to be present, joshua must promise to be courageous, josh. 1.5.6.9. Secondly, to note unto us the care and military wisdom of Christ our Captain to meet with and to prevent our enemies, and to intercept their blows against us; for we may observe in the Scripture that Satan plieth the right hand of the Church, laboureth to weaken and assault us where there is most danger towards him. Let Satan stand at his right hand, Psal. 109.6. That is, either give him over to the rage of Satan, that he may be hurried to execute his will, or set Satan to hinder him in his mischievous intents. Thus Satan stood at the right hand of joshua the high Priest to resist him, Zech. 3.1. Noting the assiduous and indefatigable endeavours of Satan to resist, disappoint, and overthrow the works of the worthies in God's Church (I would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us, 1 Thess. 2.18.) And to divert the strength of men upon his service. And therefore to rebuke him, and to show to the Church that our strength is from him, and due unto him he also stands there to outvie the temptations and impulsions of Satan. These are the two expositions which are given of these words, The Lord at thy right hand. Now though of all places of Scripture there is indeed but one literal sense; yet when two are given, which both tend unto the same general scope, and are suitable not only to the analogy of faith, but to the meaning mainly aimed at by the Holy Ghost in the place, and when there is no apparent evidence in the face of the Text, for preferring one before the other: I think it is not unfit to embrace both; and so something I shall touch upon both senses. Shall strike through, or wound, or make gore bloody, Kings in the day of his wrath.] The word is, Hath stricken through Kings. It is a Prophecy of things future, spoken as of things to be done. To strike thorough, notes a complete victory and full confusion of the enemy, an in curable wound, that they may stagger, and fall, and rise up no more, and that affliction may not arise a second time, Nahum 1.9. 1 Sam. 26.8. The only difficulty is what is meant by Kings; for which we must note that the Kingdom of Christ is spiritual, and his war spiritual, and therefore his enemies for the most part spiritual. Therefore I take it we are hereby to understand the most potent enemies of Christ; whether spiritual, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, Ephes. 6.12. 2 Cor. 10.4. Or Carnal, as heathen and wicked men, Psal. 2.8, 9 The fat and the strong enemies of the Church, Ezek. 34.16. Our spiritual enemies in Scripture are called Kings. Satan the Prince of this world, the God of this world, joh. 16.11. 2 Cor. 4.4. Eph. 2.2. Revel. 9.11. Rev. 17.12.14. Psal. 2 9 Act. 26.27. 1 Cor. 2.8. the Prince of the power of the air. The King of the locusts, etc. Sin and original concupiscence is a King. Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies. And the Earthly enemies of Christ are called Kings. The ten Horns, that is, ten Kings make war with the Lamb. The Kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and his Christ; and Death which is the last enemy is a King. The King of Terrors, that reigneth over men. A●d over all these Kings do the victories of Christ reach. Some by Kings understand the Roman emperors (who are called Kings, 1 Pet. 2.13.17.) And their overthrow for persecuting the Church. But since all sorts of Christ's enemies are called Kings in Scripture, and all of them do push at his Kingdom in the Church, I see no ground why we may not by Kings understand them all, with their subjects, armies, and associates. As in great victories the Lords and principal men are said to be overcome, when the servants and soldiers are routed and slain. In the Day of his wrath.] That is, when time hath ripened the insolency and malice of the enemy, when his fury is fully stirred up and provoked, when the just and full time of his glory is come; That it may appear that they are overcome not by time, or chance, or humane power, or secular concurrence, but only by the power of his wrath he will do it. Christ is never destitute of power, but in wisdom he hath ordered the times of his Church, when to have his Church suffer and bear witness to him, and when to triumph in his deliverances. So the meaning of this clause is this, when the day of recompense is come, when the sins and provocations of his enemy is ripe, when the utmost period of his patience is expired, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the fixed and unmoveable day which he hath set, be the probabilities never so poor, & preparations never so small, the expectations never so low, the means in humane view never so impossible, yet then by his wrath he will utterly and incurably wound his enemies both spiritual and temporal, that they shall not rise a second time. He shall judge amongst the Heathen.] The word judgement noteth both Government, and Punishment. The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, Deut. 32.36. There to judge, noteth government. The Lord standeth up to plead and to judge his people, isaiah. 3.13. That nation whom they serve will I judge, Gen. 15.14. There to judge noteth punishment. Here it is taken for executing condemnation upon the contumacious adversaries of the Gospel of Christ amongst the Gentiles, as in the great victory of Gog and Magog, Ezek. 39 Some by Gentiles understand all Enemies both spiritual, Glassius in Isai. 63.6. and earthly. He shall fill the places with dead Bodies.] That notes both the swiftness of the victory, and the greatness of the victory. That it shall be so general, and so speedy that the enemy shall have either none left, or they that are left shall not be able, nor have leisure to bury their dead Bodies, Ezek. 39.11. He shall wound the head over diverse Countries. Hab. 3.13. Psal. 68.21. ] That is, either the principal of his enemies every where; or Satan who is the God of the World, that ruleth as Head over the Children of disobedience in all places. Or Antichrist the Head of nations, the chief of God's enemies, Revel. 13.7, 8.14.8.17.15.18. The Lord at thy right hand.] According to the twofold Apostrophe before mentioned, here are two observations which I will but touch. First, that God the Father is worthy to have all the power, Majesty, and judgement which he hath given to his Son our Mediator, for our protection, salvation and defence, most thankfully and triumphantly acknowledged to him. We find our Saviour himself praising God in this behalf, that he had delivered all things into his hand, even power to make Babes believe on him, Matth. 11.25.27. And this S. Paul is frequent in, namely in praising and glorifying God for Christ. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me, etc. I thank God through jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 7.25. 1 Tim. 1.16, 17. All the promises of God are in him yea, and in him Amen, to the Glory of God by us, 2 Cor. 1.19, 20. He gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen, Gal. 1.4, 5. Every tongue must confess that jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father, Phil. 2.11. And reason there is that it should thus be acknowledged to the Father, because he hath all his Kingdom and power in the Church from the Father. All power is given unto me. He hath given him a name above every name; and this the Son hath revealed to us, that so he might manifest the name, that is, get glory to his Father thereby, joh. 17.6, 7. For in Christ it was God that reconciled the world to himself. Secondly, he hath it all given unto him in our nature, in our behalf, and as our head, so that we in the gifts of God to him were only respected, and therefore we have reason to praise God for them. It was not indeed given to him strictly (for it was not to him Beneficium but Onus, an office, but not a benefit) but to him for us, or to us in and by him. In all the victories, deliverances, refreshments, experiences of God's power and goodness we must ever remember to praise God in and through his Son, to acknowledge the power of his right hand, which is not now against his Church, but against the enemies of his Church. For therefore the deliverance of his Church is ascribed to God's Right hand, because he hath there one to plead, to entreat, to move his right hand in our behalf. Therefore in all our distresses, in all conflicts and temptations, we must by faith look up unto God's right hand, put him in remembrance of that faithfulness, righteousness, atonement, and intercession which is there made in our behalf. There we shall have matter enough to fill our mouths and hearts with praises, and triumph, and rejoicing in him. It is Christ who is at the right hand of God; who shall separate us from the Love of Christ, Rom. 8.34, 35. Here are two arguments of the Church's safety and triumph. The Love of Christ, and the Honour of Christ. He loveth all his to the end. But what good can love do without power? Therefore he that loveth us is exalted by God, and hath all power given him for this purpose that his love may do us good. In the conflicts of my corruptions (which are an adversary too wise, too subtle, too numberless for me to vanquish,) I may yet when I am driven to Paul's extremity, rest in his thanksgiving, and looking up to jesus, who will be the finisher of every good work which he begins, and seeing him at God's right hand, may triumph in the power and office which God hath given to his Son there, which is, to subdue our iniquities, and to sanctify us by his Truth, and by that residue of Spirit which he keepeth for the Church, joh. 17.17, 19 for that Prayer is a Model, as it were, and counterpane of Christ's Intercession: for, saith he, I come to thee, and speak these things in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in them, ver. 13. that is, that they having a specimen and form of that Intercession which with thee I shall make for them, left upon public record for them to look on, and there finding, that their sanctification is the business of my sitting at thy right hand, may in the midst of the discomforts and conflicts of their corruption have a full joy and triumph in the honour which thou hast given me. I am beset with the temptations of mine enemies, and persecutions for the Name of Christ; In this case I may give God praise for the power which he hath given to his Son, I may from mine enemies appeal unto God's right hand, I may like Stephen when the stones and buffets are about my soul look up by faith, & see there my Captain standing up in my defence, Act. 7.55. I may acknowledge unto God the power given unto his Son, that though nothing of all this fall upon me without his provision and permission, yet sure I am that he hath power and mercy in his right hand, that though mine enemies were as strong as a combination and army of kings, yet the Lord at his right hand hath from him in my behalf received power enough, to strike through kings when the day of his wrath is come. Note, secondly, Christ is at the right hand of his people, present with them, and prepared to defend them from all their enemies, present by his Spirit to strengthen, comfort, and uphold them, enabling them to glory and rejoice in all their sufferings, as knowing that they are but for a moment, and that which is needful to purge their faith, and to make them bear their shame, 1 Pet. 1.6, 7. jam. 1.2, 3. isaiah. 27.8, 9 and to glorify the consequent power of Christ, which shall be revealed to their joy, 1 Pet. 4.13. when he will recompense double to us in mercy, and to our enemies in severity, isaiah. 54.7, 8.61.7. present by his mighty power, and by his Angels, to rescue, deliver and protect them, to be as a wall of fire, as a shield, a buckler, a rock, a Captain to his people, Zech. 2.5. And this is the ground of all the Churches comfort that more is with them than against them: the enemies have combinations and confederacies of men, but the Church hath Immanuel, God with them, isaiah. 8.9, 10. none can pull Christ from the right hand of God, or from the right hand of his people: that is, none can take away either his power or his love from his people. The Church and truth can never be crushed and overthrown, no more than a rock with the raging of the waves: they are Heavenly things, and therefore nothing of earth or hell can reach to corrupt them. It was but a vain attempt of the Giants to build a tower to heaven: The world was made that there might be therein a Church to worship and contemplate that God which made it; therefore in the creation God never rested till he came to a Church, to note that that was the end thereof; and therefore it is easier to pull down the world, and to shake in pieces the frame of nature, than to ruin the Church. The Church hath Christ for her husband, he to whom all knees must bend, he whom every tongue must confess, he who will subdue all things to himself, so she hath Love, Power and jealousy, all three very strong things on her side. And therefore the only way to be safe, is to keep Christ at our right hand, to hold fast his truth, worship, and obedience; for so long as we have Immanuel, all adverse power is but flesh, and all flesh is but grass, withered in a moment when God will blow upon it. Note thirdly, Christ in his appointed time will utterly overthrow the greatest enemies of his Kingdom, and deliver his Church from under the sorest oppressions. There is not any one argument in the holy Scriptures more frequently repeated, than this of Christ's victories; prefigured they were in the deliverances of Israel out of Egypt, 1 Cor. 10.2, 4. In the deliverance of the Ark out of the waters, 1 Pet. 3.21, 22. in the deliverance of the jews from Babylon, Revel. 14.8. isaiah. 11. 10-12.15. To note that in the sorest extremities and greatest improbabilities God will show himself jealous for his people. This victory is expressed by treading of a winepress, isaiah. 63.1, 6. when there are none to help, when the Church is brought to sorest extremities, though multitudes meet against her as many as the grapes in a vintage, they shall all be but as Clusters of grapes, he shall squeeze out their blood like wine, and make his Church to thresh them, Lam. 1.15. Revel. 14.20. joel 3.12. Mic. 4.13. By the dissipation of smoke out of a Chimney, they shall be as the smoke out of the Chimney, Host 13.3. As Athanasius used to say of julian the Apostate, that he was but Nubecula quae citò transiret, a little cloud, which would quickly be blown away: smoke when it breaks out of a Chimney with a horrible blackness threateneth to blot out the Sun, and to invade and choke up all the air, but a little blast of wind scattereth it, and anon nothing thereof appears. By fire consuming thorns and briers, isaiah. 10.17. While they be folded together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, that is, while they have plotted their counsels, and confederacies so curiously that no man dares so much as touch them, and while they are drunken with the pride and confidence of their own strength, they shall then be devoured as stubble that is fully dry, Nahum 1.10. isaiah. 27.4.31.9. Therefore the Scripture calleth Christ a Man of war, Exod. 15.3. Because he is furnished with all Arts of victory, Power invincible, as a Lion amongst shepherds, so is he amongst his enemies, isaiah. 31.4. wisdom unsearchable which must stand, v. 1, 2. If he purpose, none can disappoint him, isaiah. 14.27. Authority by the least intimation to gather together all the forces of the world against the enemies of his Church. If he but hiss unto them, they presently come in troops, isaiah. 5.26.7.18. He can command help for his people, Psal. 44.4. Psal. 71.3. jer. 47.7. and, if that should fail, he can create help for his people, as he did for Israel, when he wrought miracles to deliver them, Psal. 106.22. We may more profitably consider the truth and comfort of this point, by discovering it in the several enemies of Christ and his people. First, the great enemy of the seed of the woman is the Serpent, that great red Dragon, whose names are all names of enmity. The Accuser, the Tempter, the Destroyer, the Devourer, the Envious man, furnished with much strength, and mighty succour, legions of principalities and powers attending on him; and with much wisdom, which the Scripture calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the wiles, and trains, and craftiness of Satan. And his Arts of destroying men are two. To tempt and to accuse. His Temptations are twofold: either unto Sin, or unto discomfort: either to make us offend God, or to make us disquiet ourselves: either to wound us or to vex us. And in all these his Arts Christ our Captain will tread him under our feet, and will give his Church the victory at the last, either by Arming us with sufficiency of grace and faith in his Victories, putting us by his Spirit in mind of his Temptations, which taught him compassion towards us who are so much weaker, and encouraging our hearts to cry out unto him who is our merciful and compassionate high priest, like a ravished woman in our extremities, as Paul did, 2 Cor. 12.8, 9 stirring up our faith to lay hold on him when we are in darkness; and our spirit of Adoption to cry unto him when we are in danger; and our spirit of wisdom to solve the objections to discern the devices of Satan, and to prepare and arm our hearts accordingly to wrestle with him. Or else by rebuking of him, pulling in his chain, and chase him away, and, as our second, undertaking the combat in person for us, when he is ready to prevail, Zech. 3.1, 2. Thus he overcommeth him as a Tempter, and ever giveth some either comfortable or profitable issue out of them. He likewise overcommeth him as an Accuser. Satan accuseth the Saints either by way of complaint and narration of the things which they have done, Revel. 12.10. which the Apostle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his laying of crimes to the charge of men, Rom. 8.33. and thus Christ overcommeth him by his Intercession, and in the hearts of his Saints by making them judge and accuse themselves, that they may be able to clear themselves too, 1 Cor. 11.31. 2 Corin. 7.11. Or he accuseth by way of suspicion or preconjecture, as he did job, job 1.9, 10, 11. and herein likewise Christ overcommeth him in his servants, by permitting him to tempt and vex them, that they may come the purer out of the fire, and by putting a holy suspicion and jealousy into them over their own hearts, which may still be a means to prevent them against evils that are likely to assault them, to teach them in every condition, as well possible as present, how to walk acceptably before God, Phil. 4.11, 13. Another great enemy of the Kingdom of Christ is, the lust of our own evil nature. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, Rom. 8.7. Phil. 3.8. Enmity in grieving, vexing, and quenching the holy Spirit in us, and lusting enviously against his grace, jam. 4.4, 5. And here also Christ overcommeth, by the prevailing power of his Spirit, giving us more Grace, demolishing the kingdom of sin, and judging the prince of this world which before did rule in the children of disobedience. And this he doth by the judgement Seat, and Sceptre of his Spirit in the heart: for the judgement of the Spirit is too hard for the principality of Satan, joh. 16.11. The Spirit of Christ is a victorious Spirit. He bringeth forth his judgement unto victory, Matth. 12.20. isaiah. 4.4. He worketh out by degrees the dross and impurity of our nature, and services. First, by faith fixing upon better promises and hopes than lust can make, 1 joh. 5.4. Heb. 11.24, 26. Secondly, by watchfulness, eyeing corruptions, and so stirring up those arguments and principles which are strongest against them, job 31.1. Psal. 39.1. Thirdly, by leading us to more acquaintance with God in knowledge, love and communion, job 22.21. 1 joh. 1.3. and so fetching more wisdom and strength from him: for this is the way that we get all our strength, even by learning of him, Phil. 4.12. Fourthly, by inclining the heart to hate, and to complain of corruptions, to bemoan itself, as Paul and Ephraim did, Rom. 7.23. Mark. 9.24. jer. 31.18, 19 Fifthly, by bringing the heart into the light, there to approve and judge its actions, joh. 3.20. by setting it always in God's eye, that it may not sin against him, Psal. 16.8. Sixthly, by convincing the heart of the beauty and excellency of Grace, of the unlikeness of sin to God, and so making the soul more full of desires for the one, and against the other, isaiah. 26.8. Ezek. 36.31. and thus kindling lust against lust, Gal. 5.17. Seventhly, by being always a present Monitour and Watchman in the soul, to supply it with spiritual weapons and reasonings against the temptations of lust, isaiah. 30.31. joh. 14.26. Lastly, in one word, by daily supplies from the residue of Spirit which is in our head, whereby according to the proportion and exigence of the members, he floweth into them, Mal. 2.15. Phil. 1.19. This is that seed, that leaven, that vital instinct, which is ever in the heart, setting itself against the workings and life of lust, and by little and little wasting it away as fire doth water. The grand instrument of Satan and lust (who are the two leaders in this war against Christ) is the wicked world. The power, malice, wisdom, learning, or any other either natural or acquired abilities of evil men: for even in an earthly respect by the word kings, we are not only to understand those Monarches, and princes of the earth who set themselves against Christ; but all such as excel in any such worldly abilities as may further that opposition. It notes the strength, policy, pride and greatness of mind, or scorn of subjection, which is in the heart against Christ. So that king here stands in opposition to subject, they who reject Christ's yoke, and break his bonds asunder, and will not have him to reign over them, those are the kings in the Text. And these also will he smite through and confound by the Power of his Word, and the strength of his arm. The Lord gave the Word, great was the company of those that published it. Kings of armies did fly apace, and she that tarried at home divided the spoil, Psal. 68.11, 12. Tophet is ordained of old, for the king it is prepared, isaiah. 30.33. Come, and gather yourselves together unto the Supper of the great God. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great, etc. Revel. 19.17, 18. As for those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me, Luk. 19.27. Be wise now, ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Psal. 2.10, 11, 12 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling; kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Thus the Lord overthroweth his Church's enemies, and protecteth it against all their greatest preparations, & most formidable power. And this he doth several ways; sometimes, by diverting their forces from his Church into some other necessary channel, or ambitious design of their own. Thus Rabshakah and his host were called from judah, 2 King. 19.7, 8. so the Lord promised his people that when they went up to appear before him thrice a year he would divert the desires of their enemies from their land, Exod. 34.24. Thus julian the Apostate, having but two main plots to honour (as he supposed) his government and his idols withal, the subduing of the Persian, and the rooting out of the Galileans, as he called them; was prevented from this by being first overthrown in the other; for the prosperous success of which expedition he vowed unto his idoll-gods a sacrifice of all the Christians in the Empire, Greg. Naz. Orat. 4. in julian. 2. as Gregory Nazianzen relateth. Sometimes by infatuating, and implanting a spirit of giddiness and distraction in the enemies of his Church, making them destitute both of counsel and courage. When God would punish Babylon (which was a type of the enemies of Christ's Kingdom) he made their hearts melt, that they should be amazed at one another, and their faces should be like flames, Esay 13.7, 8. that is, not only pale like a flame, but rather, as I conceive, full of variety of fearful impressions, and distracted passions: nothing so tremulous, so various, so easily bended every way with the smallest blast as a flame: so their fear should make their blood and spirits in their faces to tremble, quiver, and vary, to come and go like a thin flame in them; so God threateneth to mingle a perverse spirit, to make the spirit of Egypt fail in them, and their wisdom to perish, Esal. 19.1, 2, 3, 14, 17. and thus likewise the Lord dealt with julian in that Persian expedition, he put a spirit of folly in him to burn his ships, Theodoret. Hist. li 3 cap. 20. Naz. Orat 4 Caesar Co●m. lib. 1. and so to put a necessity of courage in his people, as the old Gauls did against Caesar, and then to leave them all destitute of necessary relief. Sometimes by ordering casualties and particular emergencies for the deliverance of his Church, a thing wonderfully seen in the histories of joseph and Ester. Thus as a man by a chain made up of s●verall links, some of gold, others of silver, other of brass, iron, or tin, may be drawn out of a pit: so the Lord by the concurrence of several unsubordinate things, which have no manner of dependence, or natural coincidencie amongst themselves, hath oftentimes wrought the deliverance of his Church, that it might appear to be the work of his own hand. Sometimes by ordering and arming natural causes to defend his Church, and to amaze the enemy. joseph. Antiq. jud. lib. 5. c. 6. Thus the stars in their courses are said to fight against Sisera, judg. 5.20. A mighty wind from heaven beating on their faces discomfited them, as josephus reports. So the Christian armies under Theodosius against Eugenius the Tyrant were defended by winds from heaven, Aug. de Ci●. De●●. 5. ca 26. which snatched a way their weapons out of their hands. To make good that Promise, No weapon that is form against thee shall prosper. So the Lord slew the enemies of joshua with hail. jos. 11.11. And thus the Moabites were overthrown by occasion of the Sun shining upon the water, 2 King. 3.22, 23. Sometimes by implanting fantasies and frightful apprehensions into the minds of the enemy, as into the Midianites, judg. 7.13, 14. The Assyrians, Euseb. lib. 3. c. 8. 2 King. 7.6. thus the Lord caused a voice to be heard in the Temple before the destruction of jerusalem, warning the faithful to go out of the City. Sometimes by stirring up and prospering weak and contemptible means to show his Glory thereby. Brisson. de Reg. Pers. l. 2. The Medes and Persians were an effeminate and luxurious people, Cyrus a mean prince, for he was not at this time the emperor of the Medes or Persians, but only son in law to Darius or Cyaxares, and yet these are made instruments to overthrow that most valiant people, the Babylonians, isaiah. 45.1.13.3.17. As jeremy was drawn out of the dungeon by old rotten rags, jer. 38.11. which were thrown aside as good for nothing, So the Lord can deliver his Church by such instruments as the enemies thereof before would have looked upon with scum, as upon cast and despicable creatures; for God, as he useth to infatuate those whom he will destroy: so he doth guide with a spirit of wonderful wisdom those whom he raised to defend his kingdom. The Babylonians were feasting, and counted their City impregnable, Herodot. lib. 1. Zenoph●n de expedit. Cyri, lib▪ 7. being fortified with walls and the great river, and God gave wisdom beyond the very conjectures of men, to attempt a business which might seem un●easable in nature, to dry up Euphrates, and divide it into several small branches, and so he made a way to bring his army into the City while they were feasting, the gates thereof being in great confidence and security left open, Esay 44.27, 28.45.1. jer. 51.36. Sometimes by turning the hearts of others to compassionate the Church, to hate the enemies, and not to help them, but to rejoice when he is sinking, Esay 14.6.10.16. Nahum 3.7. Sometimes by the immediate stroke of God upon their bodies or consciences. Thus God gave the Church rest by smiting Herod, Act. 12.23, 24. Thus Maximinus being smitten with an horrible and stinking disease in his bowels, Euseb. de vita Constantin. lib. 1. cap. 50. Theodoret. lib. 3. cap. 20. vid. Tertul contr Scapulam, cap 3. & Laurent. de la. Barr. Euseb. hist. lib. 8. cap. 26. & Z●●aras. confessed that it was Christ which overcame him; and julian being smitten with an unknown blow from heaven, as is supposed, confessed that Christ was too hard for him; and another julian, uncle to the Apostate, for pissing on the Lord's Table, had his bowels rotten, and his excrements issued out, non per secessum, sed per vulnera, as the same Historian reports. Sometimes by tiring them quite out, and making them for very vexation and succeslesnesse give over their vain attempts, or else disheartening them that they may not begin them. So Dioclesian retired to a private life, because he could not root out the Christians. And julian was afraid to persecute the Christians, as his predecessors had done, lest they should thereby increase; Nazian. Orat. 3. in julian. 1. he forbore it out of envy, and not out of mercy, as Nazian. observes. Sometimes by turning their own devices upon their heads, ruining them with their own counsels, and it may be dispatching them with their own hands. Thus the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow in the huge host of the Midianites, judg. 7.22. So Pilate and Nero, the one the murderer of Christ, Tertul. Apolog. cap. 5. Euseb. lib. 2. c. 7. the other the dedicatour of all the consequent great persecutions, both died by their own hands, as being most wicked and most cruel, and therefore fittest to revenge the cause of Christ and his people upon themselves. Thus God did not only curse the counsel, but revenge the treason of Achitophel by an act of the most desperate folly and inhumanity which could be committed. Sometimes by hardening them unto a most desperate prosecution of their own ruin, as in the case of Pharaoh, suffering them to lift at the stone so long, till it loosen, and fall upon them, Zech. 12.3. Matth. 21.44. Sometimes by ingratiating the Church with them to their own destruction, as he did Israel with the Egyptians, Exod. 12.35, 36. By these and a world the like means doth the Lord overthrow the enemies of his kingdom. Now all this is In the day of his wrath, or in his own due time: where we may note by the way, that Christ hath wrath in him aswell as mercy. Though he be by wicked and secure men misconceived, as if he were only compassionate: yet laesa patientia fit furor, he will more sorely judge them hereafter, whom he doth not persuade nor allure here. So merciful he is, that he is called a Lamb for meekness, and yet so terrible, that he is called a Lion for fury. It is true, fury is not in him, namely, to those that apprehend his strength and make their peace with him, Esay 27.4.6. But yet to those that will not kiss, that is, not love, worship, nor obey him, he can with a little wrath show himself very terrible, Psal. 2.12. He cometh first with peace, Luke 10.5. but it is Pax concessa, not pax emendicata, a peace mercifully offered, not a peace growing out of any necessity or exigencies on his part, and so wrought by way of composition for his own advantages. The peace of a Conqueror, Zech. 9.10. A peace which putteth conditions to those to whom it is granted, that they shall be tributaries and servants unto him, Deut. 20.10, 11, 12. Therefore the Apostle saith, that he came to preach or to proclaim peace, Ephes. 2.17. but if we reject it, he than follows the directions of joshua, These mine enemies which would not have me to reign over them, bring them hither and slay them before me, Luke 19.27. But the main thing here to be noted is, that Christ hath a Day, a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a prefixed, and constituted time wherein he will be avenged on the greatest of his enemies. When he forbears, and suffers them to prevail, yet still he holdeth the line in his own hand, the hook of his decree is in their nostrils, and he can take them short when he will. It is never want of power, wisdom, or love to his Church, that their quarrel is not presently revenged; but all these are fitted to his greater glory. The Lord seemeth to neglect, to break up the hedge, to sleep while his Church is sinking (as Christ to his Disciples seemed careless, Mark. 4.38, 39) so frequently in Scripture the Saints expostulate with God in an humble and mourning debate, Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever, Psal. 44.23. jer. 14.8, 9 But God hath his quare against us too for this infirmity and haste of ours: Why sayest thou O jacob, and speakest O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over from my God? That is, he hath not taken notice of my calamity. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding, Esay 40.27, 28. He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working; and therefore he doth not slumber nor sleep: but only in wisdom ordereth times and seasons, that there may in the end be the greater glory unto him, and, in the things done, the more beauty. Every thing, saith Solomon, is beautiful in its time; if you gather it before, it loseth both its beauty and virtue. It would be a madness for a man to mow down his corn when it is in the green blade. He waiteth, saith the Apostle, for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience, jam. 5.7. Now the Prophet assureth us, that Light, that is, comfort, refreshment, peace, deliverance, is sown for the righteous, Psal. 97.11. It was sown for the people of God when they were in captivity, though to themselves they seemed as dead men in their graves, yet indeed they were dead but as seed in the furrows, which revived again, Psal. 126.5, 6. and therefore the Lord likewise (like Saint james his husbandman) is said to wait, that he may be gracious to his people, Esay 30.18. Though a man suffer never so much injury, and be most violently kept out of his own right, yet he must wait till time and mature proceedings have brought on his matters to a trial; therefore the Lord calleth it The year of recompenses for the controversies of Zion, Esay 34.8. It is not for private men to order the periods, or stints, or revolutions of times wherein businesses are to be tried; but public authority constitutes that, and every man must wait for the appointed time: so the Church must not set God the times when it would be heard or eased; but must trust his wisdom and power, jer. 49.19. for there is a set time wherein he will have mercy upon Zion, Psal. 102.13. Now this Time is ruled and bounded by these considerations: First, when the sin of the enemy is grown ripe, and his heart proud and insolent against God and his people; when he trampleth upon the poor, when he sacrificeth to his own net, when he adoreth his own counsels, when he deifieth his own condition, and thinketh that none can pull him down; then is it a time for God to show himself, and to stir up his glory. It is time (saith David) for thee, O Lord, to work, for they have made void thy Law, Psal. 119.126. So outrageous they are, that their fury runneth over from thy servants to thine ordinances, to blot out the very records of heaven, the name and fear of God out of the earth. And this reason and period of time we find frequently in the Scriptures given: In the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full, Gen. 15.16. It is not grown to that ripeness and compass, as I in my wise, secret, and patient providence will permit. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures (saith the Lord to Babylon) thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness, jer. 51.13. when men have filled up the measure of their sin, then is their end come; be their wealth, or safety, or their natural, or acquired munition never so great: Put you in the sickle, saith the Prophet, for the harvest is ripe, come get you down for the press is full, the fat's overflow, for the wickedness is great, joel 3.13. When wickedness is so great, that it filleth all the vessels, then is the Lord ready to put in his sickle, and to cut it down. It is further demanded when sin is full? To this I answer, that there are three things principally which set forth the fullness of sin, Universality, Impudence and Obstinacy: First, when a whole Land is filled with it, that there are none to intercede or to stand in the gap, when from Streets to Palaces, from Houses to Courts, from Schools to Churches, from every corner sin breaketh forth, so that blood toucheth blood. The Land is full of adulterers, saith the Prophet, because of swearers the Land mourneth— for both Priest and Prophet are profane, yea in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord, jer. 23.10, 11. when in every place, and at every view there are new, and more abominations, Ezek. 8.17. Esay 48.4. jer. 3.3. jer. 5. 1-6. Secondly, when sin is impudent, whorish and outrageous; when there is no fear, modesty or restraint, but it breaketh all bonds, and like a raging sea overrunneth the banks. They declare their sin as Sodom, Delicti durior frons est, ab ipso & in ipso delicto, impudentiam docta. Tertul. de vel. virg. c. l. Rom. 1. 24-26. Esay 69.27. saith the Prophet, and hide it not: woe unto their souls, Esay 3.9. it is so full that it breaks out into their countenance, hypocrisy itself is too narrow to cover it. This is that which the Apostle calleth An excess of riot, and the Prophet, a rushing like an horse into the battle. Now when God thus gives a man over, sin will not be long a filling up; when lusts break forth, and throng together, when from concupiscence sin goes on to conception and delight, to formation and contrivance, to birth and execution, to education, and custom, to maintenances and defence, to glory and boasting, to insensibility, Dum servitur libidini sacta est consuetudo, dum consuetudini necessitas, Aug. Confess. lib. 8. c. 5. vid. Benard. de Gradibus superblae. hardness, and a reprobate sense, than there is such a fullness in sin as is near unto cursing, the very next step is hell. Lastly, when sin holds out in stubbornness, and is incorrigible, when the remedy is refused, the pardon rejected, the peace not accepted; Then is sin come to its fullness. The sin of the Amorites was never quite full, but when they rejected that peace, mercy, and subjection to God's people, which was offered them first. But when men sin against those means of grace which are sent unto them, and leave no remedy to themselves; no marvel if the Lord give them over, and let in the enemy upon them, 2 Chron. 36.16. Therefore we must take heed of finishing sin, for it is not sin, but the consummation and finishing of sin which condemns a man. Now when thus the sin of the enemy is grown so ripe, that it breaketh forth into pride and insultation against God's people, then is the Lords time to show himself: I will restore health unto thee, saith the Lord to his Church, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, because they called thee an outcast, saying▪ This is Zion whom no man seeketh after, jer. 30.17. see jer. 50.11. Ezek. 25.3.28.6— 9 Obad. v. 3, 4. when the high ways were waste, and the way-faring man ceased, and the enemy regarded no man— Now, saith the Lord, will I arise, now will I be exalted, etc. Esay 33.8— 11. when the enemies help forward the affliction of God's people, and by their pride and insultation do double the misery which is upon them, then will the Lord return to them in mercies, and be sore displeased with his enemies, Zech. 1.15, 16. Esay 40.2.47.5, 6. Secondly, when God's people are throughly humbled and purged, for God useth wicked men but as his staff or weapon, as his fire or fan to correct and purge them, Esay 10.12. He intendeth not in his punishments such severity against them, as against their enemies: if the rod be for the child, the fire is for the rod, Esay 27.7, 8.9. When men are so smitten, that they can return to him that smiteth them, and not revolt more and more, for God will not throw any more darts at those who are sunk and dead already: when they are stirred in their hearts jointly to seek the Lord, and to meet him in the way of his judgements, and to compassionate and favour the dust of Zion, then is the day of his wrath; for when God's time to deliver a people is come, he will more abundantly stir up the hearts of his people to pray for it, Psal. 102.16.17. Dan. 9.2.3. whereas, when he will destroy a people, he will not suffer his Saints to pray, jer. 14.11. Thirdly, when all humane hopes and expectations are gone, when a people is so peeled and broken, that they have no courage, means, succours or probabilities left, then is God's time to deliver his Church, and to punish his enemies: The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his Servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, Deut. 32.36. Psal. 68.20, 109·31. In one word when the preparations and premises as it were unto God's glory are best ordered, and put together, then is the day of his wrath come. The Church then need not to be cast down with the insultation of her enemies, Deut. 20.3, 4. isaiah. 51.12, 13. Deut. 31▪ 6, 7, 8. since Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever; such as he was ever to his Church, such he is still. If he have delivered his Church from the pride of her enemies heretofore, his power, truth, watchfulness, compassion is the same still; and by faith in them we may rebuke Satan, we may chide away the weakness and fear of our own hearts, we may rejoice against those that insult over us, when they rage most we may hope their time is short, and that it is but the biting of a wounded beast. Therefore we find the Saints in Scripture arm themselves against present dangers, with the consideration of what God hath done for his Church in times past, Psal. 68.7, 8. 74.13-18. isaiah. 51.9, 10, 11. Habak. 3. And in the confidence of the same truth and power break forth into a holy scorn of their enemies, Mich. 7.8, 9, 10. isaiah. 50.8, 9 In the sorest extremities we may fix our faith on God, and he delighteth to be depended upon alone, when all outward helps and probabilities fail, see isaiah. 41.17, 18. Hab. 3.17, 18. A million of men came against Asa, jer. 31.8. one of the hugest hosts of men that were ever read of, yet by relying on God they were all delivered into his hand; and the reason is added, because God hath eyes, and strength, or as he is described, Revel. 5, 6. Seven horns and seven eyes, much wisdom, and much power to show himself valiant in the behalf of those that walk uprightly, 2 Chron. 16.8, 9 We should learn likewise to rejoice and triumph with all thankfulness of heart when Christ subdueth the enemies of his Kingdom, and giveth deliverance and refreshment to his people. When he maketh his hand known to his servants, and his fury to his enemies, then should all they that love Jerusalem rejoice, isaiah. 66.10. Thus the Church after they were delivered from the malice of Haman instituted days of joy and feasting, Ester 9.22. It is a sign of an evil heart against the peace and prosperity of the Church of Christ, to envy, or slight, or think basely of the instruments and ways whereby Christ delivereth it; as we see in Tobiah and Sanballat, Nehem. 4.2, 3. Lastly, we should learn wisdom to lay hold on the times and seasons of God's peace, because he hath a day of wrath too; to apprehend the offers and opportunities of grace. Christ had been at the Church's door, and had knocked for admittance; but neglecting that season, he was gone, and much she suffered before she could find him again, Cant. 5. 2-7. When the Lord speaketh unto us in his ordinances, and by the secret motions and persuasions of his holy Spirit, we should not defer, nor put him off, as Felix did Paul to some other time, but pursue the occasion, and set ourselves to do every duty in God's time. There is a time for every work, and it is beautiful only in its time; and therefore fit it is, that we should observe wisely the signs and nature of the times, Matth. 16.2. And accordingly proportion our devotions for the Church and ourselves. It is the worst loss of time, to let slip the seasons of grace, and spiritual wisdom, till it may be God's time of mercy is passed over. If thou hadst known in this thy day the thing that concern thy Peace. But now thy day is over, and my day of wrath is come, they are now hidden from thine eyes. He shall judge amongst the Heathen.] By heathen we are to understand the same with Enemies, vers. 1. and People, isaiah 63.6. Meaning all the armies and swarms of Christ's enemies either spiritual or secular. The word Gentiles was a word of great contempt and detestation amongst God people, Cameron de Ecclesia, pag. 33.34. Wee●●s Christian Synag. pag. 137. as the word jew is now amongst us; a proverbial word to cast reproach and shame upon men. Therefore the Apostle saith of the Ephesians, that in times passed they had been Gentiles in the flesh, Eph. 2.11. As if by being Christians they had ceased to be Gentiles, or rather that word had ceased to be a term of reproach. So that Gentile was a word of scorn, as Samaritan, joh. 8.48. or Canaanite, Ezek. 16.3. or Publican, Matth. 18.17. Luk. 18.11. And therefore we find those two still joined together Publicans and sinners; and so the Apostle joineth these two words Gentiles and sinners, Gal. 2.15. So then the word Heathen is added by David to the enemies of Christ, to render them the more odious, and to express their more abject and hateful condition; and therefore when God would cast notable reproach upon his people he calleth them Sodomites, and Gentiles, isaiah. 1.10. Ezek. 2.3. So then the meaning is, his most abject and hateful enemies, that are unto him as jews and Samaritans, he shall judge, that is, he shall condemn and punish them. Whence we may note, That Christ's victory over his enemies shall be by way of pleading and disceptation. His military is likewise a judiciary proceeding grounded upon righteous and established Laws. Therefore the day of God's wrath is called a time of vengeance, and recompense for the Controversies of Zion, isaiah 34.8. To show that the Lord doth not take vengeance but by way of debate. And therefore when he punisheth, he is said to plead with men. The Priest said not where is the Lord, and they that handle the Law knew me not, etc. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your children's Children will I plead, jer. 2.8, 9 So to plead and to take vengeance go together, jer. 51.36. And the Lord is said to reprove with equity; and to smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; that is, to convince, and argue before he doth punish, isaiah. 11.4. as we see in the case of Sodom, Gen. 18. 21-33. Herein the Lord showeth that all our misery begins at ourselves. That if we perish, it is because we would not take his counsel, nor be guided by his will; That he did not sell us to any of his creditors, but that for our iniquities we sold ourselves, isaiah 50.1. In humane wars, though never so regularly and righteously ordered, yet many particular men may perish without any personal guilt of their own. Delirant Reges, plectuntur Achivi. But in these wars of Christ, there shall not a man perish, till he be first convinced by a judiciary proceeding, of his own demerit. Every mouth must be stopped, and all the world by the evidence and acknowledgement of their own conscience become guilty before God, before his wrath shall seize upon them. The Lord sent Noah to preach, before he sent a flood to destroy the old world. He argued with Adam before he thrust him out of Paradise. The voice goeth ever before the rod, Mich. 6.9. This course our Saviour observed towards him who had not the wedding garment. First, convinced him till he was speechless, and then cast him into utter darkness, Matth. 22.12, 13. And this course the Lord took with his people when he punished them, isaiah. 5.3, 4. Amos 2.11.3.7. For he will have the consciences of men to subscribe, and acknowledge the justness of his proceedings, and to condemn themselves by their own witness; when he entereth into judgement he doth it by line and plummet, isaiah 28.17. In proportion to the means of grace neglected, to the patience and forbearance abused, to the times of grace overslipped, to the purity of the Law violated and profaned. We must take heed therefore of continuing Gentiles, of being aliens from that commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, of living without God in the world. No man can with hope or comfort say, Enter not into judgement, but he who is the Lords servant, and of his household; we must be all engrafted into the natural Olive, and become the seed of Abraham, & jews by covenant, before Christ will be our peace or reconcile us unto his Father, Rom. 2. 29.11.17-24 Gal. 6.16. Eph. 2. 11-14. He shall fill the places with dead Bodies.] This notes the greatness of the victory, that none should be left to bury their dead. There shall be an universal destruction of wicked men together in the day of God's wrath, they shall be bound up in bundles, and heaped for damnation, Matth. 13.30. Psal. 37.38. isaiah. 1.28.66.17. And it notes the shame and dishonour of the enemy, they shall lie like dung upon the face of the earth, and shall be beholding to their victors for a base and dishonourable burial, as we see in the great battle with Gog and Magog, Ezek. 39. 11-16. He shall wound the Head over many Countries.] Either literally, Antichrist, Rev. 17.2.18. Who taketh upon him to be ecumenical Bishop, and Monarch, and to dispose of crowns, and dispense Kingdoms at his pleasure. Or spiritually, Satan, who is the Prince of this World, whose head Christ was to crush, and tread under our feet, Gen. 3.15. Rom. 16.20. Or figuratively, the Head, that is, the counsel and power of many nations, which shall at last appear to have been but a vain thing, Psal. 2.2. 1 Cor. 1.19. What sense soever we follow, the main thing to be observed is that which we handled before; that Christ will in due time utterly destroy the greatest, the highest, the wisest of his enemies. And therefore this may suffice upon this verse. VERSE 7. He shall drink of the Brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the Head. SOme understand these words in the sense of the two former, for a figurative expression of the victories of Christ; and they in a twofold manner. Some by brook understand the blood of the adversary with which the way should be filled as with a stream: and by drinking hereof, the satiating, refreshing, and delighting himself in the confusion of his enemies; for the Lord is eased when his enemies are subdued, isaiah. 1.24. Others, that he should pursue his victory with such heat and importunity, that he should not allow himself any times of usual repast, but should content himself with such obvious refreshment as should offer itself in the way: and should immediately lift up his head again, to pursue the enemy at the heel; and in this sense, there is no more new matter here intimated than that which hath been before handled. Others understand the means whereby Christ should thus lift up his head and exalt himself above all the enemies of his Kingdom, namely by his Passion, and sufferings; by death destroying death and him that had the power of death, which is the Devil. I will not undertake to define which sense is most agreeable to the place; it being so difficult. But upon occasion of this latter (which I think is more generally embraced) I shall speak something of the means and ground of Christ's victories over his enemies, and of his government in his Church, namely his sufferings and resurrection. He shall drink of the brook in the way] By Brooke then or Torrent we may understand the wrath of God, and the rage of men. The afflictions and sufferings which befell Christ. And this is a very frequent Metaphor in holy Scriptures to understand afflictions by water, Psal. 18.4, 5.42.7.69.1.124.4, 5. So the wrath of the Lord is called a stream, and a lake, Esay 30.33. Revel. 19.20. In regard of the rage and irresistibleness thereof, Sternit agros, sternit sata laeta, boumque labores, and in regard of the turbidnesse and foulness thereof, for God's wrath is full of dregs, Esay 51.17. Psal. 75.8. It is said in the History of Christ's passion, when he was going to wrestle with that woeful agony in the garden, that he passed over the brook Cedron. joh. 18.1. And we may observe in the History of the Kings, that when the good Kings Hezekiah, and Asa, and josiah, purged the City and the Temple of idolatry, they burned the cursed things at the brook Kidron, and cast them thereinto, 2 Chron. 15. 16. 2 Chron. 29.16.30.14. 2 King. 23.6. To note unto us that that brook was the sink, as it were, of the Temple, that into which all the purgamenta, and uncleannesses of God's house, all the cursed things were to be cast; with relation whereunto it is not improbable that the Prophet David by a prophetical spirit might notify the sufferings of Christ, by drinking of that cursed brook over which he was to pass, to signify that on him all the faithful might lay and pour ut their sins, who is therefore said to be made sin and a curse for us, 2 Cor. 5.21. Gal. 3.13. As the people when they laid their hands on the head of the sacrifice, did thereby, as it were, unload all their sins upon it. Now as waters signify Afflictions; so there are two words with relation thereunto, which signify suffering of afflictions, and they are both applied unto Christ, Matth. 20.22. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, or be baptised with that Baptism that I am baptised with? He that drinketh hath the water in him; he that is dipped or plunged, hath the water about him: So it notes the universality of the wrath which Christ suffered, it was within him, My soul is heavy unto death; and it was all about him, betrayed by judas, accused by jews, forsaken by Disciples, mocked by Herod, condemned by Pilate, buffeted by the servants, nailed by the soldiers, reviled by the thiefs and standers by, and which was all in all, forsaken by his Father. So then by drinking of the brook is meant suffering of the curses, and it is frequently so used, jer. 25.27.49.12. Ezek. 23.32.34. Hab. 2.16. Revel. 14.9.10. By [The way] we must understand either the life of Christ on earth, his passage between his assumed voluntary humility and his exaltation again; or The way between mankind and heaven, which by that should of wrath and torrent of curses, which were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Col. 2.14. was made utterly unpassable, till Christ by his sufferings made a path thorough it, for the ransomed of the Lord to pass over. Therefore shall be lift up the head.] It noteth in the Scripture phrase victory, electation, and breaking thorough those evils which did urge and press a man before, Psal. 27.6. and also boldness▪ confidence, and security to the whole body, Qui se humiliaverat, ipse exaltis. Hieron. Luke 21.28. And further, it is not, He shall be lifted up, but, He shall do it himself, He hath the power of life, and the fountain of life in himself, joh. 5.26. 10.18. So that following this sense of the words, the meaning is, He shall suffer, and remove all those curses which were in the way between mankind and heaven, and then he shall lift up his head in the Resurrection, and break thorough all those sufferings into glory again; which sense is most punctually and expressly unfolded in those parallel places, Luk. 24.26.46. Phil. 2.8, 9 1 Pet. 1.11. He shall drink of the brook in the way] From hence we may note, First, that between mankind and heaven there is a torrent of wrath and curses, which doth everlastingly separate between us and glory; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great and fixed gulf, which all the world can neither wade thorough, nor remove. The Law at first was an easy and smooth way to righteousness, and from thence to salvation, but now every step thereof sinks as low as hell. It is written within and without with curses, which way soever a man stirs, he finds nothing but death before him: one man's way by the civility of his education, the ingenuity of his disposition, the engagement of other ends or relations, may seem more smooth and plausible than another's, but by nature they all run into hell, as all rivers, though never so different in other circumstances, run into the sea. It is as impossible for a natural man of himself to escape damnation, as it is to make himself no child of the old Adam, or not to have been begotten by fleshly parents. The Gulf of sin in our nature cannot be cleansed, and therefore the Gild thereof cannot be removed. The Image we have lost is by us unrepairable; the Law we have violated, inoxorable; the justice we have injured, unsatisfiable; the concupiscence of our nature insatiable, sin an aversion from an infinite good, and a conversion to the creature infinitely; and therefore the Gild thereof infinite and unremovable too. We should learn often to meditate on this point, to find ourselves reduced unto these straits and impossibilities, that we cannot see which way to turn, or to help ourselves, for that is the only way to draw us unto Christ. Every man naturally loves to be in the first place beholding to himself; in any extremity, if his own wits, purse, projects, or endeavours will help him out, he looks no further; but when all his own succours have forsaken him, than he seeks abroad. It is much more true in the matter of salvation; no man ever did begin at Christ, but went unto him upon mere necessity, when he had experience of the emptiness of all his other succours and dependencies, we all by nature are offended at him, and will not have him to reign over us, till thereunto we be forced by the evidence of that infinite and unpreventable misery, under which without him we must sink for ever. This is of all other the most urging argument unto men at first to consider, that there is a torrent of curses, a sea of death, a reign of condemnation, a hell of sin within, and a hell of torments without between them and their salvation; and there is no drop of that sea, no scruple of that curse, no title of that Law, which must not all be either fulfilled or endured. Suppose that God should summon thy guilty soul to a sudden appearance before his tribunal of Justice; and should there begin to deal with thee even at thy mother's womb: Alas, thou wouldst be utterly gone there; even there a seed of evil doers, the spawn of viperous and serpentine parents, a cursed child, a child of wrath, an exact image of the old Adam, and of the blood of Satan. But then here is after this produced a catalogue, and history of sins of forty, fifty, or three score years long. And in them every inordinate motion of the will, every sudden stirring, and secret working of inward lust, every idle word, every unclean aspect, every impertinency and irregularity of life, scored up against thy poor soul, and each of them to be produced at the last, and either answered or revenged. O where shall the ungodly and sinners appear if they have not right in Christ? And how should men labour to be secured in that right? Who would suffer so many millions of obligations and indictments to lie between him and God, uncancelled, and not labour to have them taken out of the way? Now the only way to be brought hereunto is, to deny ourselves and all we do; to do no good thing for this end that we may rest in it, or rely upon it when we have done, but after all to judge ourselves unprofitable servants: when we have prayed, to see hell between heaven and our prayers; when we have preached, to see hell between heaven and our sermons; when we have done any work of devotion, to see hell between heaven and all our services, if God should mark what is amiss in them, and should enter into judgement with us: In one word, to see hell between heaven and any thing in the world else, save only between Christ and heaven. Till in this manner men be qualified for mercy, they will have no heart to desire it, and God hath no purpose to confer it. Christ must be esteemed worthy of all acceptation, before God bestows him: and the way so to esteem of him is, to feel ourselves the greatest of all sinners. And when the soul is thus once humbled with the taste and remembrance of that wormwood and gall which is in sin, there is then an immediate passage unto hope and mercy, Lament. 3.19— 22. and that hope is this. That Christ hath drunken up, and dried that torrent of curses which was between us and heaven, and hath made a passage through them all by himself unto his Father's Kingdom. He was made sin and a curse for us, that so he might swallow up sin and death, and might be the destruction of hell, Host 13.14. I will here but touch upon two things. First, What Christ suffered. Secondly, why he suffered: for understanding of the first we must note, first, that Christ Humane nature was by the hypostatical Union exalted unto many dignities, which to all the Creatures in the world beside are utterly incommunicable; as the communication of properties, the adoration of Angels, the primogeniture of the Creatures, the cooperation with the Deity in many mighty works, the satisfaction of an infinite Justice by a finite passion, etc. Exalted likewise it was by his spiritual unction above all his fellows, with that unmeasurable fullness of grace, as wonderfully surpasseth the united and cumulated perfections of all the Angels in heaven. Secondly, we must note likewise, that all these things Christ received for the work of man's Redemption, and therefore he had them in such a manner as was most suitable and convenient for the execution of that work. Now Christ was to fulfil that work by a way of suffering and obedience, by death to destroy him that had the power of death, as David by Goliahs' sword slew him that was master of the sword. As there fell a mighty tempestuous wind upon the red sea, whereby the passage was opened for Israel to go out of Egypt into Canaan; so Christ was to be torn and divided by his sufferings, that so there might be a passage for us to God, through that sea of wrath which was between our Egypt and our Canaan, our sin and our Salvation. Here then are two general Rules to be observed concerning the sufferings of Christ. First, that the Oeconomie or dispensation of his Mediatorship is the measure of all that he suffered. So much as that required, he did suffer, and more he did not: for though he suffered as man, yet he suffered not because he was a man, but because he was a Mediator. Secondly, in as much as a Mediator between God and sinners was to be holy and separate from sinners (for if he should have been a sinner, he had been one of the parties, and not a Mediator) therefore none of those sufferings which are repugnant to his holiness, and, by consequence, unserviceable to the administration of his office, could belong unto him. Such things then as did no way prejudice the plenitude of his grace, the union of his natures, the quality of his mediation, such things as were suitable to his person, and requisite for our pardon, such as were possible for him, and such as were necessary for us, those things he suffered as the punishments of our sins. Now punishments are of several sorts; some are sins, some only from sins. Some things in several respects are both sins and punishments. * Deus naturarum bonarum Creator optimus, malarum voluntatum justissimus ordinator. Aug. de Civit. Dei, li. 11. c. 17. l. 14. ca 26. & to .7. cont. julian. Pelag. l. 5. c. 3. De Grat▪ & Lib. Arbitr. c. 23. de Praedest. storum. cap. 10. In relation to the Law, as Deviations, so they are sin: in relation to the order and disposition of God's providence, so they are punishments. As hardness of heart, and a reprobate sense. Other punishments are from sin, and in this regard sin is two ways considerable, either as inherent, or as imputed: from sin as inherent, or from the consciousness of sin in a man's self, doth arise remorse, or torment and the worm of conscience. Again, sin as imputed may be considered two ways; either it is imputed upon a ground in nature, because the persons to whom it is imputed are naturally one with him that originally committed it, and so it doth seminally descend, and is derived upon them. Thus Adam's sin of eating the forbidden fruit is imputed unto us, and the punishment thereof on us derived, namely the privation of God's Image, and the corruption of our nature. Or else it is imputed upon a ground of voluntary contract, vadimonie, or susception, so that the guilt thereupon growing is not a derived, but an assumed guilt, which did not bring with it any desert, or worthiness to suffer, but only an obligation and obnoxiousness thereunto. As if a sober and honest person be surety for a prodigal and luxurious man, who spending his estate upon courses of intemperance and excess, hath disabled himself to pay any of his debts; the one doth for his vicious disability deserve imprisonment, unto which the other is as liable as he, though without any such personal desert. Now than the punishments which Christ suffered are only such as agree unto sin thus imputed, * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nazian. Orat. 36 as all our sins were unto Christ. Again, in punishments we are to distinguish between punishments inflicted from without, and punishments ingenerated, and immediately resulting from the condition of the person that suffereth. Or between the Passions and Actions of the men that are punished. Punishments inflicted are those pains and dolorous impressions which God either by his own immediate hand, or by the ministry of such instruments as he is pleased to use, doth lay upon the soul or body of a man. Punishments ingenerated are those which grow out of the weakness and wickedness of the person lying under the sore and invincible pressure of those pains which are thus inflicted. As Blasphemy, despair, and the worm of conscience. In one word, some evils of punishment are * Infirmitates quaedam vitiosae, quaedam miserae. Aug. vicious, either formally in themselves or fundamentally, and by way of connotation in regard of the originals thereof in the person suffering them. Others are only dolorous and miserable, which press nature, but do no way defile it, nor refer to any either pollution or impotency in the person suffering them, and of this sort only were the punishments of Christ. Now these punishments which Christ thus suffered are either inchoate or consummate; inchoate, as all those penal defects of our nature which neither were sins, nor grounded upon the inherence of sins (for he took not our personal, but only our natural defects.) And these were either corporeal, as hunger, thirst, weariness, and the like; or spiritual, as fear, grief, sorrow, temptations, etc. consummate, were those which he suffered at last. And these likewise were either corporeal, as shame, mockings, buffets, trials, scourge, condemnation, an ignominious and a cursed death. Or spiritual, and those were principally two. First, a punishment of Dereliction. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matth. 27.46. There was some kind of separation between God and Christ during the time of his sufferings for sin in that cursed manner. For understanding whereof we must note that he had a fourfold Union unto God? First, In his humane Nature, which was so fast united in his person to the divine, that death itself did not separate it either from the person or from the deity. It was the Lord that lay in the grave. Secondly, In Love, and so there was never any separation neither, but when he hanged on the Cross, he was still the beloved Son of his Father, in whom he was well pleased. Thirdly, In the Communion of his Spirit and Holiness; and in that regard likewise there was no disunion, for he was offered up as a lamb without spot or blemish. Lastly, In the fruition of the light of his countenance, and of his glory and favour, and in this respect there was for the time of his sufferings a dereliction, subtractione visionis, non dissolutione unionis, by the withdrawing of his countenance, not by the dissolving of his union. He looked upon Christ as a God armed against the sins of the world which were then upon him. Secondly, There was a punishment of malediction. He did undergo the curse of the Law, he did grapple with the wrath of God, and with the powers of darkness, he felt the scourges due unto our sins in his humane nature, which squeezed and wrung from him those strong cries, those deep and woeful complaints, that bloody and bitter sweat, which drew compassion from the very rocks. And surely it is no derogation to the dignity of Christ's person, but on the other side a great magnifying of the justice of God against sin, of the power of Christ against the Law, and of the mercy of them both towards sinners, to affirm, that the sufferings of Christ, whatever they were in specie▪ in the kind of them, were yet in pondere, in their weight and pressure, equally grievous with those which we should have suffered; for being in all things save sin like unto us, and most of all in his liableness to the curse of the Law (so far as it did not necessarily denotate either sin inherent, or weakness to break through in the person suffering) why he should not be obnoxious to as great extremities of pain, I see no reason; for no degree of mere anguish and dolour can be unbefitting the person of him who was to be known by that Title, A man of sorrows. And surely far more indignity it was to him to suffer a violent death of body from the hands of base men, than to suffer with patience, obedience, and victory far sorer stripes from the hand of God his Father, who was pleased upon him to lay the iniquity of us all. For the second thing proposed, Why Christ suffered these things; The Scripture giveth principally these five reasons: First, to execute the decrees of his Father, Act. 4.27, 28. Secondly, to fulfil the prophecies, prefigurations, and predictions of Holy Scriptures, Luk. 24.46. Thirdly, to magnify his mercy, and free love to sinners, and most impotent enemies, Rom. 5.8. Fourthly, to declare the Righteousness and truth of God against sin, who would not be reconciled with sinners but upon a legal expiation, Rom. 3.25. For although we may not limit the unsearchable wisdom and ways of God, Aug. de Trin. lib. 13. cap. 10. & de Agone Christiano, To. 3. cap. 11. as if he could no other way have saved man; yet we are bound to adore this means, as being by him selected out of that infinite treasure of his own counsel, as most convenient to set forth his wonderful hate of sin, his inexorable justice and severity against it, his unsearchable riches of love and mercy towards sinners, and in all things to make way to the manifestation of his glory. Lastly, To show forth his own power which had strength to stand under all this punishment of sin, and at last to shake it off and to declare himself to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead, Rom. 1.4. For though Christ did exceedingly fear, and for that seem to decline and pray against these his passions: yet none of that was out of jealousy, or suspicion that he should not break through them. But he feared them as being pains unavoidable, which he was most certainly to suffer; and as pains very heavy and grievous, which he should not overcome without much bitterness, and very woeful conflict. Now for a word of the last Clause. Therefore shall he lift up the Head.] We may hence observe, that Christ hath conquered all his sufferings by his own power. As in his passion when he suffered he Bowed down his head beforehand, and gave up the ghost with a loud voice, to note that his sufferings were voluntary, joh. 19.30. So in his resurrection he is said to lift up his head himself, to note that he had life in himself, that he was the Prince of Life, that it was impossible for him to be held under by death (as we were by the Law, Rom. 7.6.) And that his exaltation was voluntary likewise and from his own power, for he was not to have any assistant in the work of our redemption, but to do all alone, joh. 2.19.5.26.10.17. Act. 3.15. If it be objected that Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of his Father, and that he raised him up, Rom. 6.4. Act. 13.33. To this I answer that this was not by way of supplement and succour to make up any defect of power in Christ; but only by way of consent to Christ's own power and action, that so men might jointly honour the Son and the Father, joh. 5. 19-26. Or by the Glory of the Father we may understand that glorious power which the Father gave unto his Son in the flesh, to have life in himself, joh. 5.26. annexing thereunto a command to exercise the same Power, joh. 10.18. Or he is said to be raised by himself and his Father both, because that Holy Spirit which immediately quickened him (Rom. 1.4. 1 Tim. 3.16. 1 Pet. 3.18.) was both his and his Fathers. It was not any personal thing wherein the Son differed from the Father which raised jesus from the dead, but that Spirit which was common to them both. To conclude then with the consideration of those great benefits, and that excellent use which this resurrection of Christ doth serve for unto us. First, it assureth us of the accomplishment of his works of mediation on earth, and that he is now in the execution of those other offices which remain to be fulfilled by him in heaven for the application of his Sacrifice unto us; for having in the resurrection justified himself he thereby rose for our justification likewise, Rom. 4.25. For if the debt had not been taken quite off by the surety, it would have lain upon the principal still. And therefore the Apostle proveth the resurrection by this that God's mercies are sure, Act. 13.34. Whereas if Christ were not risen from the dead we should be yet in our sins, and so by consequence, the mercies of David should have failed us, 1 Cor. 15.17, 18. And for this reason it is (as I conceive) that the Lord sent an Angel to remove the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre; not to supply any want of power in him, who could himself have roled away the stone with one of his fingers; but as a judge when the Law is satisfied sendeth an officer to open the prisondoores to him who hath made that satisfaction; so the Father to testify that his justice was fully satisfied with the price which his Son had paid, sent an officer of heaven to open the doors of the grave, and as it were to hold away the hangings while his Lord came forth of his bedchamber. Secondly, it assureth us of our resurrection; for as the head must rise before the members, so the members are sure to follow the Head. The wicked shall rise by his judiciary power, but not by the virtue and fellowship of his Resurrection; as the faithful, who are therefore called Children of the Resurrection, Luk. 20.36. 1 Cor. 15. 20-23. Thirdly, it doth by a secret and spiritual virtue renew and sanctify our Nature, Rom. 6.4. For the acts of Christ's mediation in his sufferings and victories are spiritually appliable and effectual in us unto answerable effects. His death to the mortification of sin, Heb. 9.14. 1 joh. 1.7. And his resurrection, to the quickening of us in holiness, Eph. 2.5. Col. 2.12. Fourthly, it comforteth us in all other calamities of life which may befall us; he that raised up himself from the dead, hath compassion and power to deliver us from all evil and to keep us from falling. This is the sum of jobs argument, God will raise me up at the last day, therefore undoubtedly he is able (if it stand with my good and his own glory) to lift me up from this dunghill again, job 19.27. And this is God's argument to comfort his people in patient waiting upon him in their afflictions, because their dead bodies shall live, and they that dwell in the dust shall awake and sing, isaiah. 26.19. Lastly, it serveth to draw our thoughts and affections from earth unto heaven; Because things of a nature should move unto one another. Now saith the Apostle, Our conversation is in heaven, from whence we look for a Saviour, even the Lord jesus Christ; who shall change our vile Body, and make it like unto his glorious Body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. To him with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three persons, and one God, be all honour, glory, Majesty and thanksgiving for ever, Amen. FINIS. Errata. PAge 16. line 2. for rejoiceth, read rejoicest. p. 31. l. 30. for That, r. The. p. 43. l. 7. for that, r. the. p. 49. l. 6. deal Our. p. 52. l. 23. for world, r. word. p. 64. l. 25. for to give, r. not to give. p. 65. l. 2. deal At. p. 82. l. 35. for wrested, r. rested. p. 148. l. 3. for deliberation, r. deliberating. p. 154. l. 21. for stones, r. stones. p. ●59. l. 22. for acquit, r. acquaint. p. 191. l. 11. for exhaleth, r. extracteth. p. 195. l. 21. deal only. p. 197. l. 18. for Heralds, r. Harbingers. p. 221. lines 21.25. for matter, r. master. p. 225. l. 28. for And, r. An. p. 261. l. 15. for world, r. word. p. 327. l. 24. for frequenting, r. frequent. p. 387. l. 28. for us, r. it. p. 388. l. 29. for he, r. heed. p. 399. l. 1. for reconciliation, r. revocation. l. 12. r. leaveth it not. p. 444. l. 2. for because, r. but because. A Table of such places of Scripture as are by the way briefly opened or paraphrased in this Exposition, and the former three Treatises. T noteth the Treatise, and P the Psalm. GEn. 3.15. T. 439 Gen. 6.5▪ 6. T. 274 Gen. 8.21. T. 274 Exod. 15.3. P. 493 Numb. 14.17. T. 274 Numb. 20.12. P. 190 Numb. 23.21. P. 450 Deut 4.19. T. 284 Deut. 6.5. T. 202 2 Sam. 3.25. P. 400 1 King. 21.20. T. 278.279 2 Chron. 6.41. P. 163 job 21.16. T. 51 Psal. 2.9, 10. P. 12▪ 13. Psal. 37.16. T. 77.369 Psal. 37.25. T. 26 Psal. 62.10. T. 98 Psal. 78.37. T. 110 Psal. 87.4. P. 372 Psal. 89 27. P. 17 Psal. 89.35. P. 80 Psal. 109.6. P. 486 Psal. 119.18, 19 T. 435 Psa. 119. 64-125. P. 308 Psal. 126.1. P. 209 Psal. 132.8. P. 163 Psal. 144.11. P. 23 Eccles. 1.15. T. 68 Eccles. 5.10— 17. T. 72. Eccle. 6. 1-3.7-10. T. 73. Eccles. 7.29. P. 354 Eccles. 10.2. P. 484 Esay 13.7▪ 8. P. 498 Esay 28.16. T. 484 Esay 33.22. P 94 Esay 53.10. P. 31 Esay 57.20. P. 138 jer. 1.11, 12. T. 49 jer. 2.13. T. 16 jer. 3.19. P. 233 jer. 8.8. P. 215 Lam. 3.39▪ 40. T. 176 Ezek. 3.3. P. 162 Ezek. 18.20. P. 444 445 Ezek. 33.31.32. P. 68 Host 5.11. P. 59 Host 5.12. T. 42 Host 7.14. T. 311 Host 7.16. T. 302 Host 8.7. T. 302 Host 8.14. T. 426 Host 9.8. P. 251 Host 9.11. T. 43 Host 10.11. T. 422 joel 3.17. T. 50 Amos 8.2. T. 49 Mic. 7.19, 20. P. 122 Nahum 1.10. P. 493 Habak. 3.9. P. 387 Zeph. 1.8. P. 149 Hag. 2.7. T. 389 Hag. 2.14. T. 307 Zech. 5. 6-11. T. 49 Mal. 4.2. P. 51 Matth. 4.4. P. 6 Matth. 6.24. P. 21 Matth. 9. 15-17. P. 43 Matth. 11.11. P. 178 Matth. 13.22. T. 59 Matth. 15.28. T. 489 Matth. 23.29. P. 56 Matth. 26.5. P. 316 Matth. 26.39. P. 426 Matth. 10.21. T. 413 Luke 1.36. P. 384 Luke 2. 40-52. T. 423 Luke 22.32. T. 351 Luke 24.46. P. 30 john 1.16. T. 400 john 1.17. P. 183 john 1.18. P. 169 john 3.18. T. 131 john 4.22. P. 136 john 6.44. P. 12 john 7.38. P. 40, 178 john 7.39. P. 37 john 8.56. T. 57 john 10.4. P. 257 john 11. 48-50. T. 219 john 13.27. T. 267 john 14. 20-23. T. 487 john 15. 15. T. 464 john 16.7. P. 236 john 16.10. P. 30 john 16.21. P. 50 john 17.4. T. 420 john 17.13. P. 437, 491 john 17.15. P. 434, 435 Act. 9.7. P. 381 Act. 28 28. P. 136 Rom. 5.10. P. 430 Rom. 5.13. T. 370 Ro. 5.14. T. 136, 137, 370 Rom. 6.3. T. 144 Rom. 6.11. T. 144.275 Rom. 7.8. T. 131 Rom. 7.12. T. 133 Rom. 7.14, 15. T. 278 Rom. 8.29, 30. T. 447 Rom. 8.32. T. 485 Rom. 13.9. T. 414 Rom. 13.10. P. 328 1 Cor. 2.14. T. 118 1 Cor. 3.21, 22. T. 27 1 Cor. 7.29. T. 54 1 Cor. 8.2. P. 322 1 Cor. 11.1. T. 411— 413 1 Cor. 12.3. P. 170 1 Cor. 13.13. T. 494 1 Cor. 14.24, 25. T. 162 1 Cor. 15. 24-28. P. 78 1 Cor. 15.56. T. 130 2 Cor. 1.18. P. 322 2 Cor. 1.20. T. 345-350. P. 390 2 Cor. 2.16. T. 390 2 Cor. 3.6, 7, 8. P. 191 2 Cor. 3.12. P. 202 2 Cor. 3.18. T. 416. P. 180-191 2 Cor. 4.1, 2. P. 206 2 Cor. 4.6. P. 136-181 2 Cor. 5.14. T. 488 2 Cor. 5.21. P. 424 2 Cor. 8.9. T. 413 Gal. 3.10. T. 226 Gal. 3.19. T. 137 Gal. 4.5. P. 429 Gal. 5.6. T. 485, 486 Gal. 5. 15-22. T. 374-383 Gal. 6.16. P. 216 Ephes. 2.6. P. 435 Ephes. 3.9, 10. P. 167 Ephes. 4.17, 18. T. 182 Ephes. 4.26. T. 174 Ephes. 4.30. T. 434 Ephes. 6.24. P. 74 Phil. 2.8, 9 P. 29 Phil. 3.8. T. 474 Col. 1.18. P. 18 Col. 1.24. T. 421 Col. 2.15. P. 118 Col. 3.3. T. 432 1 Tim. 1.13. T. 295 1 Tim. 1.15. P. 6 1 Tim. 3.16. P. 273-430 1 Tim. 4.4. T. 24 1 Tim. 4.8. T. 492 1 Tim. 6.18. T. 489 Heb. 1.9. T. 422 Heb. 2.3. P. 136 Heb. 6.17. P. 384▪ 385 Heb. 7.19. P. 19 Heb. 8.4. P. 427 Heb. 9.24. P. 428 Heb. 10.11, 12. P. 23 Heb. 11.1. T. 57 Heb. 11.40. P. 19 Heb. 12.2, 3. T. 356 jam. 1.8. P. 317. jam. 1.14, 15. T. 155-286 jam. 1. 19-21. P. 174 jam. 2.10, 11. P. 356 jam. 4.5, 6. P. 184 1 Pet. 1.16. T. 413 1 Pet. 2.6. T. 484 1 Pet. 2.24. P. 438 439 2 Pet. 1.3. T. 485 2 Pet. 1.4. T. 344 2 Pet. 1.9. T. 56 2 Pet. 3.16. T. 126 1 joh. 3.2. T. 433 1 joh. 3.3. T. 341 1 joh. 3.9. T. 288. P. 52. 1 joh. 4.20. P. 73 1 joh. 5.8. T. 280. FINIS.