A BUNDLE OF Soul-Convincing, Directing and Comforting Truths: clearly deduced from divers select Texts of holy Scripture, and practically improven▪ both for Conviction and Consolation. BEING A brief Summary of several Sermons preached at large, by that faithful and pious Servant of Jesus Christ, M. RODGER BREIRLY, Minister of the Gospel at Grindleton, in Craven. Matth. 11, 25, 26. I thank thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto Babes; Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. LONDON, Printed by J. R. for Samuel Sprint, in little Britain, 1677. An Epistle to the READER. CHristian Reader, concerning Roger Breirley, the Author of these following Notes of the heads of some several Sermons by him more fully Illustrated in his public Ministry, I desire to say something to thee of his Life, and Message that he witnessed. As also to give thee an account of the Ground and Rise of this Word Grindletonism, by which many men of the World, as adverse parties, styled his Followers. Concerning his Life and Conversation therein, it was as became the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and comely in the eyes of the Sons and Daughters of Zion, and beautiful in the Streets of that City, so that none could lay any shame thereon. As for his Message, that was given him for to declare to the World, it was mighty and piercing, to the laying open in the very Heart and Conscience of man, the most secret and hidden things of dishonesty, though never so closely enfolded in the deepest mystery of iniquity; so as many, yea, and many that stood fenced in the Field, with the Weapons of their own self-righteousness in the flesh, and the Covenant of works, fell wounded to the very ground, and were found to be of Sinners, the chiefest. And to this I bear record, such was the Penetrating Power of God in his Ministration, that if thousands were before him under it, in very few hours discourse, every man's several Condition, whether under Light or Darkness, should have been spoken to, laid open, bare and naked; that every one might truly have confessed in their several conditions, that the Word was spoken to them in particular: For what was done & acted in every man's heart and spirit, was there openly related & revealed, that all might read their sevenfold abominations: So that in a word, (for much more here might be related) none either in their Gentilish Nature, nor in their self on taken Jewish Righteousness, nor in any formal way either to Law or Gospel, could stand t●●ir ground (if they dealt truly with themselves) but they ●●ll convicted under his Message; for it was not in word only, but in the Power of God, to take away from Man the whole stay & staff of his own Brea●, that every House might be lest without inhabitant, & man lying desolate might sit in silence upon the ground; whereunder many gave out this witness, that God was in him of a truth. And not only so, but mighty & powerful was his Ministration, in the evident demonstration of the Holy Ghost, to bear witness, in & to the desolate, weary, forlorn, hopeless, broken heart of man, sentenced unto death, of that unchangeable love, in the faithful Promise of the healing Covenant of God, established in, & with Jesus Christ; against which Sin, Death, & Satan, the father of lies, should not prevail to blast & curse, but it should arise the blessing of his own free love, to sit above them all in true dominion, by the witness of the Holy Ghost sent down in faithfulness from above, to comfort the desolate, needy, poor, beggarly heart of man; writing the Law of Life in his heart, tha● he shall not die, but live: where, whose eye is so opened by the living Faith begotten of the Incorruptible Word, he ma● Run and Read (in the same place where be Read the blood Lynes of Death) the Lynes of God's unchangeable Love & Blessing: which is only perfect to cast out of the Conscience & Heart of man all fear & torment whatsoever; Saying Rise up, & walk, for thy sins are forgiven thee. And th● his Ministration, being (as I may say) in the Authori●● & Power of the living God, & not as the Ministration that stands only in the Art, Wisdom, & Eloquence of Ma● it drew hearers from divers places about, several miles 〈◊〉 stant, to wait on his Ministry: Some in go●d will, hungeing, & thirsting, & travelling in birth under the stro● of the powerful Word, until the living. Seed we brought forth by the Spirit of Life in open view in the hearts, to give unto them that Bread, that should endue unto eternal Life: the taste whereof made their Spirits dance for joy, & caused them to tell it out unto others wh● they had seen & heard, & handled, that they also mig●● come and taste of the same love of God: The Echo & Fa●●● whereof went diversely abroad. Some saw, & heard the w●ders of God, and believed; others, astonished, went a●● wondering, that they never heard any preach like hi● And many others came to hear & see what should cause such strange reports, seeking to catch something, that they might report also. Whereupon mistake: went abroad, and great contentions stirred up, and jealice fixed in men's minds, that some great Heresee, as a monster, would appear when indeed the living Truth only appeared to the Children thereof, although those against him could not see it, but daily sought to compare it with some new or old Errors, & Heresies. And when they sought accusations from this Author's Doctrine, & could find none: being in the hearing of it silenced, that they had nothing to say against it yet to shewtheir minds, what good will they bore to him in his Message, & to those who did embrace it, because they could not well style them by the name of Breitlists, finding no fault in his Doctrine: they then styled his Hearers by the name of Grindletonians, by a name of a Town in Cravan, called Grindleton, where this Author did at that time exercise his Ministry; thinking by his name to render them odious and brand them for some kind of Sectaries: but they could not tell what Sect to parallel them to: Hence risen the name Grindletonism. And yet they rested not with this nicknaming, but raised aspersions against this Author: informing the High-Commission against him; who sent their commands to bring him up to York, where he was kept in prison for a while, during which time; fifty Articles were exhibited by his Adversaries against him before them: which, when he came to his trial, not one of them directly proved against him. Whereupon, after a Sermon preached by him at the Cathedral, he was dismissed, and liberty by L. Bishop Tobias Matthews, granted to exercise his Ministry as formerly: who, after much travel and pains in witnessing the glad tidings of Salvation, ended his Natural Life at Burnlaie in Lancashire; after whose Death, these few Head-notes of some of his Sermons came to my view. Wherein, Christian Reader, if thou mind well, as thou reads, thou may taste the fundamental grounds of Truth, and also perceive the various deceits of thy deceitful heart, and Satan's deep temptations unvailed and discovered, to thine and his shame, which thou mayest read, as followeth. J. C. Here followeth a Catalogue of the Texts of Scripture that these lines treats of. SERMON. I. PHilip. 3.19, 18. Brethren, be ye followers of me, and walk so, as you have me for an example, for many, etc. Page 1. SERMON. II. Matth. 11.25, 26. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise, and etc. p. 12. SERMON. III. Mat. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will ease you: Take my yoke upon you, etc. p. 22. SERMON. IV. Luk. 2.8, 9, 10. And there were in the same country Shepherds, abiding in the field, watching their flocks, etc. p. 30. SERMON. V Luk. 7.36, 37, 38. And one of the Pharisees desired that he would eat with him, and Jesus went into the Pharisees house, etc. p. 43. SERMON. VI Luk. 8.4. And when much people were gathered together, and were come out of every City. p. 67. SERMON. VII. Isa. 57.10. Thou hast wearied thyself in the greatness of thy way, yet saidst not, There is no hope. p. 74. SERMON. VIII. Psal. 81.10, 11. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt: Open thy mouth wide, and I will. p. 79. SERMON. IX. Exod. 12.21, 22. Then Moses called all the Elders of Israel, and said, Choose you out, and take for every house a lamb. p. 90. SERMON. X. Isa. 28.14, 15. Hear ye the word of the Lord ye scornful men that rule my people which are in Jerusalem, &c, p. 96. SERMON. XI. Isai. 39 5. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the Word of the Lord; Behold, the day come, that all that is in thy house, etc. p. 106. SERMON. XII. Mat. 1.1. The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; Abraham begat Isaac, etc. p. 112. SERMON. XIII. Heb. 2.24. Forasmuch as the Children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part with them, that he might through death, etc. p. 121. SERMON. XIV. Luk. 22.31, 32. And he said unto Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to winnow you as wheat, but he hath prayed that thy faith fail not, etc. p. 131. SERMON. XV. Dan. 3.16.19. Then Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered & said to the King Nabuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer, etc. p. 140. SERMON. ●VI. Jeremiah 48.34.56. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel to thee, O Baruch; thou didst say, Woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow, etc. p. 151. SERMON. ●VII. Isa. 64.6.7. But we are all as an unclean thing; all our righteousness is as filthy rags, and we all do fade as chasse or a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind hath taken us away. p. 159. SERMON. XVIII. Isa. 65.2, 3, 4. I was sought of them that asked not after me, I was found of them that sought me not, and I said, Behold me to a nation that called not, etc. p. 169. SERMON. XIX. Isa. 63.1. Who is this that cometh from Edom with died garments from Bozra? this that is glorious in his apparel travelling in the greatness, etc. p. 181. SERMON. XX. Gen. 22.14, 15. After these things God tempted Abraham and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, I am here, etc. p. 199. SERMON. XXI. Esa. 9.6, 7, 8. For unto us a Childi: born, and unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, &c, p. 213. SERMON. XXII. Matthew, Chapter 5. An exposition of some verses of the fifth Chapter of Matthew: Blessed are the poor in Spirit, showing the condition of those that are blessed. p. 231. SERMON. XXIII. Sam. 15.13. Declaring the double dealing of Saul in the matter of Amalek. And Saul said to Samuel, etc. p. 247. SERMON. XXIV. 1. Sam. 1.3, 4, 5. So when the people were come into the Camp, the Elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us, etc. p. 254. SERMON. XXV. 1 Samuel 5.1, 2, 3, 4. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and carried it from Eben-ezer, etc. p. 261. SERMON. XXVI. Math. 14.27. I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. p. 26●. SERMON. XXVII. Mark 13.35. Watch ye, for ye know not when the master of the house will come, whether at even or at midnight, or, etc. p. 250. SERMON I. Philip 3.17, 18. Brethren, Be you followers of me, and walk so, as you have us for an example; for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that th●y are Enemies to the Cross of Christ, etc. THree sorts of People troubled the Church, 1. Dogs, which with open mouth fought against Christ. 2. Evil workers, who professed Christ, and yet walked inordinately. 3 The Circumcision, that cut themselves off from Christ and the Church, by their singular Opinions: and fell into Sects, and would needs join Circumcision and fleshly Righteousness with Christ: and so become confident in the flesh. Against which the Apostle opposeth his own example, who had more to boast of than they; and yet it was nothing to him, in comparison of Christ: So he persuades the Church to hold on forward in the Faith, to the crucifying and laying down of all things, till they come to the Resurrection of the Dead; and in all this Contention, to walk in love: that if some did not understand the truth of the Mystery of Christ, nor yet were brought thereto, yet to proceed on in love by the same Rule; & that God in time would reveal it. Here again he propounds his own, and the Faithful for an Example; that they would walk in that way of Faith toward Christ, and Love amongst themselves: and then he gives them warning of the former, viz. Some in the Church that were Enemies to Christ's Cross: and so describes their course and end. 1. He propounds himself as a Pattern. 2. He warns them of false Teachers or Brethren: In whom consider, 1. His affection, Of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping. 2. Their curse in these particulars; 1. They are Enemies to Christ. 2. Their God is their belly. 3. Their Glory is their shame. 4. They mind earthly things. 5. Their End is Damnation. This was no vain boasting, for elsewhere, be acknowledgeth himself the least of all Saints, but only opposeth himself and the faithful against false Brethren, who only for Glory lived in Envy, sought earthly gain by the Gospel, lived inordinately; and lest that weaklings by them should be drawn to fleshly liberty. But look on them which walk after our example, for we have no confidence in the flesh: We count not ourselves perfect, we seek not glory, nor profit, but only the maintenance of the Truth of the Gospel; viz. Faith in Christ only, and Love to all men. So that this being their example: Note that, Faith in Christ, and simple Love to Man is the very Sum of the Gospel, and the Life of all Religion in the heart of Man, Gal. 5. Faith works by love. 1. Tim. 1. The end of the Commandment is love out of a pure heart, a good Conscience, and faith unfeigned, all else ver. 7. is dross and dung. This is the sum of all Paul's Epistles: This Paul to Tim calls the spirit of faith, love and a sound mind. Thus Paul thanks God, for to the Col. the Faith and love to all Saints, etc. 1. For these destroy Self Righteousness, and Self Confidence, and Self Love; which are the poison of all Religion, viz. Self Wit, and Self Will; these Adam got, and therein opposed God. 2. For by Faith he is made a Lord over all things, that will suffer nothing to start up in the Church, and in his Heart, but Christ: and by Love he is servant to all, and pliable; and servant to every one. By the one he is freed with God, and by the other amongst men. 3. By Faith, he that had thought to live in, and by himself, through the Law, comes to die in himself; and to live in, and by another. 4. Nay, all Religion without these is nothing, but mere opinion and conceit, whereby the heart is puffed up, and so not fit for mercy, and also tied to himself and his own good: Mind the Religion of Christ: was it any thing, but a denying of himself, and cleaving to the Father, and giving himself to the Church in love: yea, to his very Enemies? Which Faith and Love is nothing else, but a partaker so of himself, and his own weakness, Sin and Death thereby: that he can believe and trust nothing in himself or the world, but only the Word of God, and in that weakness waits on Christ and mere Mercy, and cut of that dislike of himself, and love to that he sees in Christ, loves all, judgeth none but himself. 1. How far are we then from Christ's Religion, when all our Religion is, 1. Either in Fire of questions and disputations about this and that Opinion, maintaining of our singular conceits, wherein we seem to excel others in knowledge, whereby true love is drowned quite. 2. Or in some singular conceit of quality and disposition which we conceive in ourselves, and thereby grow proud, and despise Christ, and trample mercy under our feet. 3. Or in high roveing conceits of the eternal Deity, Majesty and Power, and Secret Will, and Purpose of God, without Christ; whereby the heart is hardened. 4. Or in the Notion of the Gospel and Christ; and faith without the power thereof, gloriously vaunting of deep Mysteries: But in all these, the thing is wanting, viz. an humble low, believing and loving heart like unto Christ. 1. Thus in all these, man leaves his own heart, and follows his heady opinion; he forsakes Christ, and pleaseth himself with his own qualities: turns from the word, and follows vain speculations, denies the Faith, and lives by the flesh. 2. Know then, that whatever would draw thee from Christ and his Truth, is not the Doctrine of God; whatever sets up man, and makes him any thing but a Sinner, is not the doctrine of Christ, but of the Devil and Antichrist; for it destroys faith. Pray we then that the Doctrine of the Gospel, even of Faith and Love may be continued pure in the Church: For Maus Wit and Reason will gather a thousand Errors out of God's Truth, viz. when it will not be content to become a fool, but will needs comprehend a spiritual Truth, and determine thereof according to its own Principles and Judgement. Then it brings a world of absurdities; for all errors have risen out of the Wit of fleshly minded men, for the Spirit leads unto all Truth. And I fear, there will arise men of perverse minds, to pervert the truth of the Gospel: some to their carnal liberty, some to the establishing of a righteousness and power in man, without Christ: bear we the Infirmities of men: But take heed of false Doctrine in the Church, for this is the worst of all. And I pray God, that many alive do not see that the Truth of the Gospel be turned into the Mystery of Iniquity, and a greater Mystery of spiritual wickedness than yet we have seen: Sed magna Veritas & praevalet● Great is the Truth and prevaileth 4. But the kindly effect of the Gospel is, to establish these two in the heart of man, viz. to bring all things down in man by the Cross of Christ, and so lay him low under thee feet of all: For the Gospel is a low thing, Faith is a low thing, though mighty in Christ: and Love is a low thing; Therefore all high flown Chemical Divinity is the Doctrine of Satan, and not of Christ. And therefore, if man be brought under the power hereof, then will Christ be precious to him, and his Word will be the Life and Treasure of his Soul, because man hath nothing to stay him in his deep humility but only he: And then will man love a man, because he is a man: and not because he is of my opinion, or good to me, or of my way or lineage: but loves as Christ did, yea, h s very Enemies, As you have us for an example, viz. Us in whom you see the Truth of the Gospel to rule, and to walk according to the same, who seek Christ's Kingdom, not ours, So that, He walks safely, who truly feeling his own weakness, and believes man for the Truth's sake, and not the Tr●u●h for man's sake. Fellow me as I follow Christ: But many were drawn away by the Error of the wicked. For man having a good conceit of another, is apt to believe what he saith: for he believes that God is with him, and so falls into odd opinions. 1. Better we should never preach, than that the Gospel should be believed for our sakes. Can we that are nothing bu● error add to the Truth of God? nay, if God be not with us, and guide us, we shall tell a thousand lies for Truth. 2. But woe be to that man, who becomes by his example a perverter of the Brethren, either for matter of Faith, or Life, or Liberty: It had been better he had ●ever been born. Take heed then how we depend on ●an: there is one man for all, even the man Christ, Who is the way, the truth and the life: follow him in the way o● faith and love, of whom I have told you often: because of the danger thereof, & man's weakness. So that, Man is apt and weak of himself to be drawn into an ●vil way of error, and hardly to believe the truth, and ●tick thereto, 1. For he is blind of understanding, apt to believe any thing that may further his fleshly Kingdom, ●oath to believe any thing that makes for the destruction of it. 1. Hence it follows that we fall into so many byways, and by-paths of error, because we think we are able to know, and we strain our wits to comprehend, & ●eck out a reason o● God's matters, which are only to be believed: For though I cannot see a reason how God brings about his purpose, and righteous will, shall I therefore conclude; that he is not righteous, and not believe him; nay, Paul is glad to shut his eyes at that wisdom, Rom 11. And cries out, Oh the height, and depth, and length of the wisdom of God. 2. Nay, nothing preserves the Truth to man, but the Cross; for all things are tried by the fire, and that reveals it. 3. That we may be guided in the way of Truth, First, depend on no man, nor on the opinion of man. 2. Stick to the Word of the Gospel. 3. Pray instantly in humility, and the Spirit shall lead us into all truth. And now I tell you weeping: see the loving affection of Paul, First, who wept partly for those men who h●d forsaken the Truth of the Gospel, and turned to the World. And, 2. Partly for the danger of the Church, So that, A loving man is truly loving to all, and truly mindful of the good of the Church, and advantage of Christ's Kingdom in all. 1 Paul sought not theirs but them: and the care of all the Churches lay upon him. 1. Away then with this partial affection, when men rejoiceth to see others misled, that he may justify himself: and away with this judging and not pitying, bu● hating them, They are enemies to the Cross of Christ. Men that profess Christ, but deny him in his sufferings: their minds is not prepared by faith and patience to bear the Cross; partly in doctrine they denied it not understanding that mystery, partly and especially in life; for they lived in sensuality and fleshly pleasures and yet professed the Gospel. So that, Many in the Church profess Christ, and the Truth of the Gospel, which deny, and are enemies to the Cross of Christ, and deny the power of the Gospel. This is to deny him before men. To the Jews and Gentiles the Doctrine of the Cross was foolishness. Paul when he was called before the Emperor, they all denied him. The false Apostles, Gal. 6. strove against Paul, and desired to have the Disciples circumcised because they would not suffer persecution. The Lawyer, Matth 19 and the Stony ground. 1. For they would have Christ and the World also, which cannot be. 2. They were never brought to see their own desert, and to justify God, for than if so, they would bear the Cross willingly, as in Micah. 7. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. 3 They turn the grace of God into wantonness, and dream only of ease, and peace, and understand not the mystery of the Kingdom, but would make advantage of Christ to the satisfying of the flesh. Now this Cro●●e whereto they are enemies, is indeed that sore affliction, whereby man is passed all helps and hope in himself, or the World, In Christ you see it was, First, He bore the iniquity of us all, so to us, when man bears iniquity in daily repertance. 2. He bore the Father's wrath, so we judgement and wrath in ourselves. 3. He suffered all indignity and loss of life, so we patiently. And to be enemies hereto is, 1. To put off sin and bear it through hardness of heart. 2. To pacify wrath by self holiness in our own conceit only. 3. And for the World to keep it alive in our hearts, and cherish it under Christ's wings. 1. And how many of us are such, we all believe and like well of the Gospel, and to hear of sitting at Christ's right hand, but to drink of his Cup, none hath a mind. It is good believing, when we have the Gospel before us, and the World about us, but to suffer want of all viz. the Father's wrath, none like to this. The Child can bear any thing better, we all like Gospel, but we will lose nothing for it, which argues, we have little confidence in the truth thereof, and little joy therein. 2. But we can talk of the Cross and sufferings, but we talk of it with light and merry hearts, we make but a play-game of it, for we seek not the bitterness of Christ's agony, nor the smart of the Cross, and so we dally with all truth, we boast, with Peter, that we will die with him, but before the Cock crow, we deny him thrice. 3. A fearful thing to forsake Christ and his Cross, so that, it is not so light a thing to be a Christian, which must suffer willingly the spoiling o● goods and soul & all, and be a friend of the Cross: Yea, he is the safest whom God keeps under, for hereby is the truth of the Gospel revealed indeed to man. 4. And happy is he that is guided by Christ in this way, and that his eyes are kept waking all night, and feels the terrors of the Almighty, for he is safe from security; It is not the dreaming of a power and freewill in man, by use whereof, security is prevented: but it is the Cross of Christ on man, that keeps him waking; for Peter and the rest fell a sleep, notwithstanding, Christ's warning given to them so often; only because they dreamt of such a power as Peter boasted, but not sensible of the Cross that lied on Christ. Nay, all errors have sprung in the Church for want of this, for while men were kept within themselves, and their own misery, their pride was kept under: but when they had lost themselves, and begun to be strong men of knowledge in conceit, than they began to be masters, and run into a thousand opinions from truth, and these are the enemies to Christ's Cross. First, Those that live in ease and pleasure under profession and knowledge of the Gospel, and seed on the World as their dainty dish. Secondly, Those which bear out sin through hardness of heart; he bore the sin of all, but these bear it not as a burden, but as a pleasure and delight: Thirdly, Which put of wrath and judgement, through self righteousness and qualities, and so with Christ bear not the indignation of the Lord: fourthly, Which are lifted up in knowledge of Christ, but walk not in that denying, humble, and believing way of Christ: And it is a fearful thing to stumble at this stone, and to frame a Christ to our selves: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will crush all those to pieces, and bring down their pride (whose god is their belly.) Those who were professors and teachers of the Gospel, and yet under pretence thereof served their own lusts and appetites they went talking of Religion, and thereby got good cheer: labour not in their calling but made advantage of the Gospel, to the satisfying of their lusts: These he gives warning of as e●emies So that, It is a fearful thing, and dangerous in the Church, and to man: when man under knowledge and profession of the Gospel, seeks chief the serving of his own lusts, and pleasures of his appetite and not crucified to the world with Christ. Such Paul speaks of, that they served their own bellies and not Christ, and said, That they turned the grace of God into wantonness, and yet frequented their feasts of love: And others Peter shows, that under pretence of long pray rs, spoiled widows houses, and led captive simple Women; These Paul commanded, that seeing they would not work, they should not eat: They profess that they know God, but in deed deny him, that is, They are filled with knowledge, that Christ is the way of Life in Justification, but they follow the world in their appetitte and deny him. 1. For thus, Religion is made but only a cloak to a rotten and fleshly heart, that under it, they may better attain their own desires. 2. Those that have the knowledge of the Gospel without the power thereof, that have learned to know Christ, but not as the truth is in Jesus, they want the power of his death, which is indeed all. 3. These never came in by the right door, the denying of themselves, forsaking all, and taking up the Cross. 1. And thus doth most of us that profess Christ to be our Lord and King, our life and hope, our joy, and salvation and that besides him, there is none under heaven, and yet none denies him more. We, would enjoy Christ with full bellies, and purses, and so enjoy Christ in the Flesh but Lust: rules over the Spirit. Thus we strive to have Heaven and Earth both, which cannot be: what care and labour to please our bellies? Is not all a man● care for his mouth, and yet his desire is not satisfied? this we make sure of to look too; Is not most of thy life time spent in labour about that curious belly of thine, summer and winter, night and day, all is but for back and belly, and yet nature is satisfied with a little? And these are still hard-hearted men, had rather the poor perish in the Streets, than they want to satisfy their appetites: For if a man would but spare the tenth penny that he spends idly, only to please his lust, would it not relieve a Town? Nay, if that vain waste were spared, which man spends on his lusts, only to feed a sort of fat idle hostesses, it would keep the poor of a Paroch. And then if our gairesh women would but spare one Lace and Garde of five, it would clothe them from cold. Well, Christ will be no pattern for these things. But above all ashame it is for believers to stoup to this lose god, to live daintily and fair deliciously. How many Martyrs have line in prison with bread and water, and yet better hearts? are we enemies to the flesh, and yet pampers it? Is flesh thus crucified with Christ and yet so great a god unto us? 2. Then if the Cross go not along with the Gospel, it prospers not, but flesh is strong and presseth to be satisfied, and man will not, cannot lay violent hands upon it, but even this must be given of God, that he keep man down, and his lusts and desires under, viz. so to see and feel himself, as, 1. That he shall think himself unworthy of any food, or to live. 2. That his mind be so perplexed with want of another thing, even Christ, that his mind is thereby drawn off all these things. 3. But he that walks orderly with Christ under the Cross, is pleased with any thing: Brown bread and the Gospel is good fare, not vowing wilful poverty, but rejoicing in Christ; and all his gifts, yet well contented in the want of them: whose glory is in their shame, of w●ll end in shame, viz They seek glory by their Religion and Profession of the Gospel, but this course will bring more shame, then if they had never professed it. They seek glory but it is but a poor portion. So that, Many in the Church profess the Gospel, that they may gain glory to themselves thereby in the eyes of man, rather than out of simple love, and sympathize of heart with the Gospel. You seek honour one of another; The Disciples sought who to be greatest. Pharisees took the uppermost rooms made their Phylactaries broad, & all to be seen of men. 1. For respect is still the aim of all knowledge, and therefore, man labours for knowledge, that he may appear so: this itching humour setting him a work, rather than his own misery and want. 2. This doth still follow the Gospel, others that profess not, look for no glory this way, and yet this shall end in shame. 1. Is not this apparent, when men speak and talk of Religion, and utter great bumbaisted terms, and fly and soar above, when God speaks not in them all to be seen and heard: nay, when we preach to please men, we are not the servants of Christ; but when out of love to Christ, and sense of the misery of man, and our own, we pity man, and make known the will of the Father to them, than we serve Christ. 2. Have not all an aiming▪ and desire of this, man loath to appear Ignorant, but himself with knowledge: well, Christ sees thy double heart, and his servants feel not the warming power of his Spirit in thee, therefore it shall end in shame, Christ loved the Publican better than those. 3. But sure a believing, loving heart walks in shame, which shall be turned to his Glory, for he that seeks Glory shall never have it, and be that seeks it not shall have it, he that truly understands himself never looks for good opinion of any, for look what good opinion a man hath of himself, he looks that all the World should have the l●ke of him. 4 And this shall end in shame: for God will dishonour man at last, nothing hid, that shall not be made manifest. Who mind Earthly things, viz They profess the Spirit, yet their hearts is after the Earth. So that, He that under Light and Knowledge of the Gospel is carried after the lusts and desires of the Earth, is an enemy to Christ, and a stranger to him. SERMON II. Matth. 11.25, 26. I thank th●e Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth; that thou hast hid these things from the wise and Prudent, and revealed them to Babes: It is so O Father, because thy good pleasure was such: all things are given unto me of my Father, etc. THese words are a part of Christ's Sermon to the hard hearted Jews, who neither by the austerity of John's Preaching nor Christ's Doctrine of Love, would embrace the Gospel and Mystery of Life; nor by the great works that he had done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, against whom he threatens heavy woes: Yet in the end gives thanks, that though the wise men of the Jews rejected the Truth, being justly blinded: yet it was his good pleasure for to reveal it to poor and ignorant men, even to Babes, that his mercy and love might appear. 1. He gives thanks for confounding the wisdom of Man, and revealing it to the Ignorant. 2. A limitation of that knowledge, only to the Power of God in Christ. 3. An Invitation to all poor and desol●te souls, with a promise of help. 4. An Ex●ortation to Patience, in bearing the cross after his example, with a promise of rest therein. First, He thanks God for confounding the wisdom of the wise, not that he rejoiced in their blindness: but wished rather that all might be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth: but he rejoiceth, that seeing fl●shly wisdom shuts its eyes against the truth, that yet he reveals it to others, wherein he shows whose eyes are only open to the truth, viz. He that in conceit of his own wisdom is lifted up above the simplicity of the Gospel, understands the least of the Mystery and Life of the Gospel: but he that lies low in himself, seeking to be guided by another, shall understand all. None of the Doctors received his message: not many wise, Cor. 1. etc. If any man seem to be wise, let him become a fool. Christ choose not the wise Scribes, but poor Fishers to know his Tru●h. 1. For the Gospel is not understood by wisdom, but by that Spirit whereby it is revealed to the Faith of a Believer, that is blind in himself, and seeks wisdom from God. 2. Faith only sees things not seen: if they be seen and comprehended by man, they are not of Faith. 3. The Son that's grown wise through pride, casts off the Father: but the little Child walks in his hands. 4 Conceit of Knowledge makes man unteachable, and hard hearted: as a man that sits on high, looks down to the dungeon, can see nothing there: but sitting in the dungeon, looking up, sees light of Sun: So a man, sitting above, and looking down to the Gospel, as a thing under him, sees nothing: But he that sits in darkness of his own heart, and looks up to the Sun, sees all, waiting still for the Sun to shine. Though man know all the Mysteries of Life to be in Christ: yet without Christ he knows nothing that he dare trust to. Object. To what end then should Man labour for Knowledge? Answ. Yes, This condemns not Knowledge, but that a Man should seek it at Christ, and enjoy it in him, In whom it is hid from the flesh in all the treasures thereof: But not that man should store it up, thereby to comprehend God; but to know, that when he thinks he knows all, he knows nothing, as he ought to know. 2. That he may maintain Truth in the Church of God. 3. That he may guide himself wisely and soberly before men. 1. Where then are the wise? where is the Scribe? etc. All the wisdom of this World is but foolishness; & yet these count the Truth of God foolishness: These of all think most basely of the Gospel. 2. Yea, what a fool is Aristotle himself, and all humane knowledge in the matter of Jesus Christ. 3 Be content to be counted a fool with the wise of the world. Thou thinks that he is a fool that follows Christ, but he knows that thou art a fool that follows the World 4. Who would think that many wise men should be so ignorant in Christ's matters as they are, and that many ignorants should know him. 5. Well worth low and Child like minds, that dare not trust their own wit or strength, but wait upon the Father. It is so O Father, because thy pleasure was such. Here he shows the ground and prime cause, that Babes, and not Wise Men understand the Gospel: Not any Power or Worth in Man, but the good will of God: which is not only his absolute Will: but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the free love and good will of God toward man, without any respect of his worth: so that, The good will of God, and his good pleasure, is the only cause of all good to man, when man believes it, and becomes subject thereto, James 1. Of his own good will begat he us. Eph. 1. Our Election is from this ground, God hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world was laid, who hath predestinated us to be adopted in Christ Jesus: according to the good pleasure of his will: not according to our works, but according to his grace he saved us: so he chose Israel. Who can give a reason in himself, why God doth any good to man, but his good will and pleasure. 1. For its God that moves man, and sets him a working, not man God. 2. Hereby doth he take away all b●asting from man, and lays him low, to depend upon another, a●d live by mere grace. 3. For he is absolute Lord over all; no resisting of his Will, to which man is never brought to be subject. But 1. When he feels nothing but weakness, sorrow, bondage and misery; and no power to get out, but lies under quietly; and commits himself to his good pleasure, in faith, tears and sighs, and groans: This is his case, for now he bears wrath patiently. 2. And then finding help in God, according to his word, and joy and peace, and freedom he seethe; that it came not by any wit or power in himself, but it was only his good pleasure: so that, 1. Hereby he is enlarged to praise God freely with admiration. 2. And also to believe and wait on that word of Faith, though he feel nothing, yet Gods will and pleasure is instead of all to him. 1. Thus from the Doctrine of free mercy, doth the Kingdom of God thrive in man, and grow vigorous: Nothing brings down but this: for want of subjection and believing of this good pleasure of God, man still seeks a cause in himself, as this and that good quality, and so never trusts his good pleasure. Man would still know a reason of his good will, which he will not suffer: For Christ doth not here curiously seek out a reason of the Father's will, but gives thanks, that God hath revealed it by the Gospel: To teach us, that we do not rashly presume to search his Counsels, but wait upon his good pleasure in his word. 2. What place then hath free Will, which depends only on Gods good pleasure, and not on thy right use of free will. For there is no more willingness in thee, than in others that never obeyed the truth; but it was only his good pleasure to thee: For by nature, Man fights against God, and would have rest any way, rather than this; and loath to commit himself to his good pleasure, but still would hav● a la●d in his own safety, and so share in the glory. But Christ takes all boasting away, that Faith may live, and Man thereby: that God's pleasure may stand, and Man subject thereto, that his grace may be communicated, and Man praise his goodness. But this Doctrine of free will destroys Faith, sets his pleasure aside, and binds God: lifts up man in pride and presumption, and makes him secure in a few faint endeavours of his own. 3. But the only bed of rest in all things is this, as Chemnitius saith, That against this s andal of refusing Gospel, we lift up our thoughts to the good pleasure of God, and there rest in subjection, so in all things: as, First, Wants th●u Comfort and Peace of Conscience? doth God withhold the feeling of his Love from thee? Thou wonders what is the cause, nay, say, Even so, O Father: because it is thy good pleasure to bring me down. 2. Art thou troubled with a worldly husband, a froward wife unt● ward Children: say, Even so, O Father, It is thy go●d pleasure. 3. Art thou weak and sickly, say, It is even so thy pleasure, to keep under my Lost, and Pride, and Worldly affections. 4 Seest thou Iniquity to abound, and Gospel despised, say so, Father, it's thy pleasure. 5. Art thou Persecuted, and the Enemy prevails over thee, say, Father, it's thy pleasure. This is the continual exercise under the Cross, in patience not to fret, and lust and strive, seeing the will of the Father order all things, we would still have our own pleasure done, and strive for our own wills: but this is our woe. Nay, and herein is our happiness, that it is his good will toward all little ones that are subject as Children, his Will and Rod shall rule and crush the stoutest, even Pharaoh himself, but the meek and lowly shall find his good will towards them, that he will turn their enemies to be their friends, etc. This good will of God is not to be comprehended by man, for it rests in the Word of God, & there to be made known in time, and only to be believed. For all the works of God, are never known till they be wrought, only to be believed before. For to Reason, many times God seems to be a severe Tyrant, nay his Word a Fable, which speaks of great privileges, and they seem in their own sense to be forsaken in affliction, but God gives them a Word that will stand, & his good will shall be revealed in time, in the mean time sit still. All things are given to me of my Father. Here he showeth how this good pleasure is conveyed to man, viz in Christ, for he hath given all things to him. So that lest you little ones should be disheartened; know that I have all in my power, by a free gift, and come to me, and I will ease you. So that, God the Father hath given and stored up in Jesus Christ a treasure of all wisdom, goodness etc. And whatsoever appertains unto the perfecting of his Kingdom: that in himself the Father may be glorified, and man made happy. So by promise, he gave him strength to crush the Serpent's Head, and to Abraham, that in him all people should be blessed. Isa. He laid help on him that was mighty, in his birth he was to be called Wonderful Counsellor, etc. And a light to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel, the deliverer of his people out of prison; to give light to the blind. He was the Vine that had the sap in him: yea, the treasure of wisdom; Yea, the fullness of the Godhead; Yea, all Judgement was committed unto him, Yea, in conclusion, all power in Heaven and Earth, and victory over Hell and all Enemies: This was manifested in his Word that was with authorities and never man spoke like him, even to the World in general: And in his Miracles? hath it been seen, that any man opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead? This the Father did by an eternal purpose for his glory, and this hath been done for the good and salvation of man, that man that was not capable by his fleshly wisdom of God's ways, yet should have one in the flesh like himself: in whom, & by whom he would convey all things that's good to man, because we cannot ascend to Heaven, therefore we might have a God on Earth. 1. Where then is that power and ability in man, o● in any other Creature for guiding or preserving himself, which the wit and pride of Man so boasteth off? Hath not the sparrow power to fall without his providence? Then, what power in Man towards this great work. Nay, as there is no power in the Commonwealth, neither for preserving right, nor keeping under of wrong, but in the King: & therefore the very pett●● Constable: or any Officer, he commands in the King's Name, and Rules by the power of the King; nor no Will, but the Will of the King: So in this Kingdom of Christ, no power but in the King for subduing of rebellious men in the Church by his Word, or Rebellious lusts in the heart of man, but the power of this Kingdom. Therefore, the Apostles commanded the evil Spirit by the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. And as he that rules in his own Name is a Traitor, and doth no good; So he that thinks to live and rule by his own power, shall not prevail: This conceit only ariseth out of blind pride, that when God hath shown his power in him he takes it to himself: and stores it up in conceit: and this out of the strength of Lust that will needs have another thing than he gives: or out of a proud opinion, that he would believe another truth than his. So that lust and opinion are the two great enemies of Faith: But if thou haste some abilities out of Christ in thyself, What? 1. needs thou Faith? to believe in him; or to pray him? 2. Why dost thou not conquer thy Lusts, and free thyself as thou seems to desire. 2. Whatever then man desires, here he must have it: for it is not else whereto be had: whether Peace, Forgiveness, Assurance, Comfort, Rest. Here it is laid up, & given to the needy; he hath always to deal with such, & none else 3. Happy than he that lives by saith in him, & whose eyes are still towards him, that waits at his Posts, and listens to his Word: let all things else pass, work Righteousness, live holily; but look for life in none but him. And yet how loath is man to attend here, but he would have all in his own keeping, because he would not depend on him: and yet were we then most miserable, if our life depended on our own care and keeping. For No man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Here is his limitation, viz. That none by the wit of man is able to know Me, & Power, & Wisdom, & Mercy, & Truth, and Way of Happiness that's hid in me, but whom the Father doth teach & uphold by his power, but I that know it in him truly: & those to whom I reveal it by my word and spirit, through the cross & way of death. For it is an unknown way to the world, that by Death should come life, and by sorrow and sufferings, joy and freedom; so that, No power or possibility in man by the strength of natural wit, to know the good will & pleasure of God, or the Mystery of Christ; so as man shall find life theteby or certainty therein; but as the Father makes himself known in Christ, by his Word & power of his Spirit, unto the faith of man believing his truth, 1. Cor. 2. The natural man understandeth not the things of God, Christ saith, I am the light that enlightens all that comes after me. Joh. 1, He is the light of the world. Joh. 1.4. There is anointing that teacheth all things. 1. Joh. 5. None can say that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost. Though we think, that That Jesus we read of, was the Christ and Saviour: yet the flesh thinks but of him after the flesh: but his mighty Power, his wonderful Truth, unspeakable Love to Man, the bitterness of his Sufferings, the Joy in the Father's will, the Victory over Hell and Death, the joy at the Father's right hand: none knows it, but he that believes it out of blinnnesse and misery. 1. For the Father hath hid the treasures of wisdom in him, hidden them from the world: found, not by curious searching, but by humble crying & believing: & found not in man, but in Christ, & there to be enjoyed: for he is made our Wisdom, Righteousness; Sanctification and Redemption. 2. Adam had thought to have known God in the Creatures, and himself, and the evil also without God; but knew no good, till God revealed Christ in the promise: So until we be brought by the truth of Christ, to know no good in any thing, but in God: nor no evil in any thing, but in ourselves, we know nothing at all: but we seek to see a good in every thing, and in ourselves especially: and would see no evil, and so are lifted up: and know nothing as we ought. 3. And this Christ prays, that his Elect may know that thou art in me, and I in thee: and that thou hast sent me: And I speak not of any self, but they are the words of my Father that sent me, for of myself I can do nothing. 4. And note, that this great Mystery was revealed after Christ's death: for than he sent the Comforter to lead into all truth, and not till then. Before this, the Disciples had a thousand imaginations of Christ, but now they knew that he was the Son of the Father, & Head of the Church; So we have a world of fancies touching God and Christ, but never know him, until the Cross reveal him: for till then, we only t●ink him to be such and such, and another thought crosseth that. But this makes the weakness and vanity to appear, & his power preserves: for every man's work shall be revealed by Fire. How wonderful are the blind conceits that man hath of God and Christ: as, 1. When we will needs comprehend God without Christ in his Essence, Properties, Attributes, Eternity, Omnipotency, etc. What a foolishness is this: to think to compass in our thoughts Omnipotence? etc. 2. Others that frame a knowledge of Christ, in comprehending the Story of his Life and Death, Works, &c Thus we know him by Relation, as we do other Countries where we never were, but never walk on foot with him in his death and misery. None knows him, whose miserable heart is not delivered from Death by him: who believes his truth above all, than this truth makes him free. 3. We see then, that all Knowledge comes by Faitht as, suppose a man a Stranger, promise to ransom me (a captive) I believe he will: but I know not that he will, but only wait in faith: nor how he will do it, nor why he will: but when he makes good his word, than I know his love which he revealed to me, and I not able to conceive in myself. So with Christ he promiseth that he will redeem me, but I know not that he will: only I believe, and wait in misery: yet by that Faith I am preserved through the Word; though I feel nothing but death and b●ndage. Wouldst thou know the Love of God that passeth Knowledge? wait on Christ by Faith, believing his Word; and he will reveal the Love of the Father. For though we know not the mind of G●d, yet we have the mind of Christ: So that thou must know nothing but in him; abide in him, ●nd his Word abide in thee, and he will reveal all things unto thee. So that our curious and busy Wit, so hun ing to know! and straining out the Wit to understand, leads to many fancies: But know, that his ways are insearchable: but wait and attend, and he will reveal Christ and the Father: if th●u fit under the burden of thine own ignorance, and content for the time to know nothing but thy own vileness. Here we see, that Christ is both God and Man A M●n, in whom the fullness of the God head dwells, to whom all is given that knows the mind of the Father, and reveals i● to us. This is the only God on Earth that man's mind ma● be fixed here, & not gade abroad: neither ascend into Heaven, nor descend down into Hell, etc. Where then is the free will and power of Man, without Christ living in him, and leading into all Truth: drawing the will of Man to wait on God in subjection? All else, is but trusting to the Wit of Nature, which is always blind. It followeth in the 28. verse. SERMON III. Matth 11.28. Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden, and I will ease you: Take my yoke upon you, & learn of me, for I am meek & lowly in heart HEre is his Invitation, upon the former relation of his fullness, viz. You see where all help is. 〈◊〉 then you want help in any strait that lies on you as a burden, Come to me, viz. to my Word & Promise; for there he dwells, & I will ease you; So that, There is no certain way or means to a burdened heart, to free his guilt, ease his burden, or rid in him ou● of the Snare of Satan, but the simple fleeing of the mind from all to Christ, in his Word of Truth; and there to stick and abide in life and death. He was of old ordained to break the Serpent's head, and prophesied of, to bind up the broken hearted. He was the refuge of Job in all his afflictions, I know that my Redeemer liveth. He was sealed and appointed thereto by the purpose of the Father. This himself witnesseth by word and work: By word, I am come to save the World, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. By works, How many poor, lame, blind did he help, which he was after to do spiritually; to heal the blind, etc. The afflicted he comforted, as the Publican, Marry, etc. And this Paul found in himself, and taught unto others, That there is none other Name under Heaven, etc. 1. For nothing can free the spirit of man but he; for he dwells there; all things else, only ease the flesh. 2. All other things prosper according to his presence, and not according to the power of the Creature. 3. All other things are but miserable comforters, but only a putting off for a time, and forgetting it: but it comes again with more violence, like a sore ill healed. 1. And yet how do we in any straight, run to any thing, rather than this, For first, The World saith, Come to me, and I will relieve thy want: Be diligent, apply thy mind to me: seek and get me by violence or any way, and I will ease thee: and we run to it with love and confidence, and yet never a whit eased or satisfied. 2. The Flesh saith, Come to me, & I will rejoice thee, and lighten thy heart, and put away all thy sorrow; I season all sadness with mirth and delight, & we follow 〈◊〉: and yet in the midst thereof, the heart is sorrowful. 3. Reason saith, Come to me, and I will guide thee, ●nd let thee see Comfort: Look at thy righteousness & holiness, thy diligence and knowledge of the Word: ●hou art so good, and so good above others: thou hast ●o reason to be heavy, and yet man is never the better. These are all the Promises of the god of this World. 4. Nay, saith Christ, But turn thine eyes from them all, & come to me; believe and wait, and I will refresh thy heart, pardon thy sin, preserve thee in trouble, and keep ●hee in death: and this never deceives. 2. And the reason why we come not after so many ●alls, is, because we are not weary, or think to find ease elsewhere: and so long we never come, viz. till the Word have revealed such a misery to man, of which he is now sensible, that all things cannot remove: For while man's fleshly hope remains, he doth not respect Christ Christ hath nothing to do with any, but sinful & miserable man: Therefore, we come not because we are not burdened, or but so, as we think: either the World shall help us, or we shall be able to help ourselves. Man's burden may be reduced to four Heads. 1. Temptations of Satan. 2. Gild of our own Hearts, and Want of the Fathers Love. 3. Rebellion of the Flesh, & Corruption of Nature. 4. Want and Misery, and Affliction in the World. Mind, and we shall see that one of these is always the burden under which we groan: The three first properly to Believers, either entering the door of Faith, or straying from the Faith received. 1. Satan's Temptations are a grievous burden and snare, when he crosseth by Reason the Truth of God: for so he possessed many in Christ's time: and now prevails with many also: Sometimes, with strong & black Arguments: vexing with fear, doubting and distraction, calling the Truth a lie. 2. Guiltiness of Sin by the Law, lies heavy urged also by Satan: filling the Heart with fear and disru●● the conscience unquiet, and the heart not established in Faith: but still hath an eye to his own unrighteousness; and thinks, if he were more holy and righteous, all should be well. But the remedy is, to accuse thyself still; confess the Law, meet the curse, and bear Indignation: yet turning from these Arguments of Reason. Tell the Devil, thou never sinned against him, but obeyed him: but against Christ; and that he hath taken to himself, that all thy sins are now his, and his righteousness thine. Then gins a spark o● Faith to arise: saying, O that I could b lief: these groans are helped by the Spirit: and then comes the feeling of joy and gladness. 3. Rebellion of the flesh is a burden to Believers: when he would do good: Evil is present, drawing unawares to vile courses, still pricking him forward to tickling Lusts; drawing still to look to the world, and so darkening the light of Christ in him: But see that it be a burden, and whether it be not the strength of thy fleshly will not yet subdued: that it is a burden rather, because thou canst not have thy own will, than because thou canst not have thy will subdued: Like a froward wife, which saith, She will be content, and let her husband, do what he will: but withal frets and repines, because the husband will not yield: which he must do, or else she will never be quiet. Here not the frowardness, but the crossing of her will is her burden: She is not a burden to herself, but her husband's will is a burden to her, and she unto him: so with God. But if it be a burden indeed, no remedy but Christ: Th●t thou let him see and know that it is thy greatest burdens and not trusting thy care, diligence: or watching: nor fight with fleshly weapons: but lay down all, and wait on him who hath power: and by whom only sin and lust is crucified. 4. Want, trouble and misery in the World lies heavy on all: For flesh would live in fullness, and see somewhat a forehand: and it may be thou art in want and persecution even for Christ; no remedy but Christ and ●●e Word of Truth. For here, thou seest the promise to any burden whatsoever: Therefore, doth sin in thy ●●lf, or want of comfort, doth outward Crosses: as a worldly husband, froward wife, bitter enemies, sick●esse and provertie oppress thee? Sat still, and say with confidence's, and bind Christ to his Word. Thou said ●ord, thou would take away sin: crucify the flesh, ●ind Satan, bear all my weakness, stand by, and be accused for me before Counsels: Here I am, thou knowest ●●y burden, that these lie heavy on me; I am weary ●o bear them; I believe thy Word, and wait for thy ●elp. 3. So that it is not because we are troubled, therefore to think that he will ease us, but by trouble being driven to him with cries and faith; for the truly burdened heart, is a praying and believing Heart: and so a ●ender and broken Heart, that all the World cannot ●ure. But these are hard: But we are at ease in Zion: not troubled, not weary: and therefore have so little fellowship with Christ, because we have so much fellowship with the flesh. Take my yoke upon you: To live with Christ, than it ●s not to believe and live in pleasure, case and wantonness of the Flesh, but to bear his burden and yoke heavier than that of Rehoboams; whose little finger was heavier than his Father's hand. For this is affliction of Spirit, killing of the Flesh, losing of the World, Life and ●ll: and yet the believing heart stayed on God in hope ●nd Faith in his promise, patiently suffering his will, ●hall find rest therein to his Soul, though he be pinched ●nd killed in the Flesh. So that, Simple believing in Christ, and walking with him ●n the patiented & willing bearing of his cross and quiet, subjection to his will in love, is the only way of peace ●nd rest to man's restless heart, Jer. 1. This is my burden ●nd I will bear it. Lam. 3. It's good for a man to bear the ●oke in his youth. Mic. 7. I will bear the indignation of ●he Lord, because I have sinned. If you will be my Disciples, take up my Cross and follow me. Phil. 3. L●● the same mind be in you, that was in Christ; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. Nay, he prayed for them, 1. First If ye suffer wrongfully, and take it patiently, the glory of Christ resteth on you: For it's not the framing of the World, and all things to our wanton minds: but our minds to Gods will, that'● our rest; For when we will one thing, and God wills & sends another; then the heart of man is vexed, be cause he cannot have his own Will. 2. There is an unavoidable necessity, that when man gins to believe, and to follow Christ in his Word, the World will cross him, Satan will tempt him, and God will try him; which can no way be helped, but by suffering as Christ did. 3. Faith gives a foundation of rest to the heart i● God's Word: As with Christ, who was the Word of the Father, but the Cross destroys the Flesh, and keeps Faith in life, that God's power may be perfected i● man's weakness. 4. For to a believing heart, the Cross is no Cross: and to the unbeliever, peace is no peace: For he hath peace that seeks not peace. And he that flies the Cross, shall have the Cross: Fo● it's no Cross to them because it but weakens and crosseth the Flesh, which he would have crucified: But when man would have Christ, and ease, fullness and joy in the World; than it is a Cross to him. Now this Yoke must be taken upon us, not vowing wilful poverty, in solitarienesse: This is but to fly the World to get ease, but to bear it quietly, when i● is sent of God: Because we believe and know, that i● comes to pass by the certain knowledge of the Father, and so the Flesh grieves at the Cross, yet the heart embraceth the Fatherly will freely, and with a willing mind: None bears the Cross willingly, that seeks eas● in the Flesh. Now the Cross and Yoke that Christ bore, was 1. The Wrath and Indignation of the Father, an● want of feeling his love: My God why hast thou forsaken me, and he alone trod the winepress of his Wrath: ●his is an heavy burden, man must bear this, Mic. 7. I ●ill bear the indignation of the Lord: So, when man is ●o sensible of his own guilt, that he bears patiently the Wrath of God, thinking nothing too much that lights ●n him, and so wai●s for mercy; For God layeth this ●pon man: now he smiles, and then he looks upon ●an as an enemy; all must be born in Faith, that man ●ay be brought down. 2. The sins and infirmities of the people: They were ●oward, they were rebellious, received not his Doctrine; ●ay, continued blind, and unfaithful, after many miracles: They despised him, and his Doctrine; yea, many ●ell away, and became enemies to him, and his truth: ●nd yet all this he bore patiently; He mourned for the ●ardnesse of their hearts, & wept over them, he prayed ●or them. As Paul became all to all, he bore the care 〈◊〉 fall the Churches: And so, man not fretting and con●nding or justifying himself, and judging them, but patiently bearing the evil; proving if at any time, that God will grant them repentance. If all do not as thou would have them nor, are such as thou expects: con●ider, thou art the same by nature; and what thou art ●od they also, it is by the will of the Father. 3 The oppression of his adversaries, with wrongs, ●nd slanders, and persecution, prisonment and ●anishment; and yet he bore patiently, and prayed ●or them, though they did all unjustly: and so he suffered for righteousness: They took away life, and ●ll: So that though man be persecuted, and reproached, and counted the offscouring of all things: Yea, ●o go through good report, and bad report, and pass ●y all, taking no notice, knowing that God hath sent ●hem to curse. 4. Want of worldly riches, and pleasure oft in po●ertie: Yea, He had not whereon to lay his head, he had ●o sumptuous houses, nor rich treasures, but one poor ●●g in the hand of a thief: for he would not be troubled himself, nor trouble no good man with it; he had not his variety of dishes, or costly apparel, not yearly revenyes, nor certain estate: Nay, he had but for the day, yet to believe, and to be content, it's but an easy burden. 1. This Doctrine is foolishness to the World, which know none other good but the World: It's hard to persuade a worldly heart, that there is so little good, o● certainty in the World, or that there is a freedom in forsaking it: for they think it impossible for they have nought to trust too but that: but when man hath another to depend on, he lets it go, and looks for supply from him. 2. And its little known in the Church: We all profess the truth of the Gospel, but not learned to suffer with him: We like an easy, full, joyful Religion well, to mingle Flesh and Spirit: join Christ, and Mammo● together: but here is never pure believing: Hence many fall from the Gospel, others live in daily vexation, o● security; having not learned this lesson: So that we presume, that we do believe, and shall stand, and yet, alace! when the Cross comes, it's a question whether we believe or not; As Peter. 3. So that Christ's yoke and Cross never hurts the Church, as in the time of the Martyrs, it purified Faith. It is a practical divinity; it manifests man's weakness, God's power, and truth, which before man thinks not of, but now he believes and feels. 4. Why then should we fear affliction? why do we grieve and mourn, and cark, and care? Thou canst not deliver thy Soul, thou frets thyself, and God hath set, that thus and thus it shall fall out to thee: which he will order, to the good of all that trust in him. Rest then patiently a while, and the deliverance shall be glorious: Learn of me. If you will know the way of rest, harken not to the Flesh, pleading for ease; nor to the World pleading for wealth: nor to your hearts, pleading for joy, and peace in the World: But I will teach you another way, which is foolishness to the Flesh: death for the present, but life, and freedom for ever. So that, Man comes to know, and walk in the way of life & peace, as he is taught by Christ, and in subjection: learns and is guided by him, Eph 4.18 But you have not so learned Christ, etc. he leads unto all truth: He is the Prophet of the Church, and hath all Wisdom, Matth. 5. It hath been said of old, but I say unto you, etc. And in the new covenant, they shall all be taught of Christ, & here, none knows the Father, but the Son. 1. For he only knows the mind of the Father, and i● sent into the World to reveal it to man: We know not the mind of God, but we have the mind of Christ. 2. All other handles the Word deceitfully, and is nothing but the teaching of the Serpent, to draw man from God. 3. He hath gone the way himself, others have but seen it in a map. 1. But there are many false Teachers and Preachers in the World: As Satan preacheth liberty unto sin, the World riches, and caring and fleshly pleasures: But these are not the Doctrine of the Christ. 2. Others will be wise in heavenly doctrine by fleshly wisdom; and so think by art, and learning to compass it: and so transcend above Christ: and lies not low with him. 3. Others, teach Christ to be a Lawgiver, and so frame a righteousness, in seeming obedience; but knows not the power of his death, and life. 1. As the drunkard, to wallow in pleasure, and live like a beast at the stolen: didst thou learn this at Christ? 2. The wordling carking, caring, gathering: didst thou learn that at Christ, who had not his kingdom here? 3. The proud, vain, glorious, that looks for respect; did Christ teach thee that? Who pulls down every high thought. 4. The malicious, striving, contentious man; did Christ so? Nay, the Doctrine of Christ was. 1. To pull down man, and lay him low; and exalt God, and the power of his truth. 2. To Cross the World, and establish Faith, 3. To kill the Flesh, and establish patience: to destroy Lust, and establish Love: But we like no● this doctrine, it gives no liberty to the Flesh: hereby all false doctrine is detected. For I am meek and lowly in heart, so should you be: So that, lowly, meek-minded men, who are humbled in themselves, and daily judge their own unworthiness, shall enjoy most rest unto their Souls. Christ reviled not again, Mat. 5. Blessed are the meeks And a meek and quiet Spirit is much set by. He that humbles himself shall be exalted: the whole Gospel run● on this string, 1. For they are fitted to bear all estates. 2. Nothing vexeth man but Pride, and unquietness of his own mind: when he looks for this, and that: and strives, cares, and frets, and no rest. 3. He lives by mere mercy, having no good thought of himself. 1. This is not a softness of nature, & fretting within. 2. Nor a Pharisaical hanging down the head like a bulrush, as Isa. 6.8. 3. Nor a lurking like a dog under a cudgile: But a true understanding of himself, and his own vileness, which brings down pride: judgeth himself, & justify others: applyant mind, ready to suffer all, and pass by them. SERMON IU. Luke 2.8, 9, 10. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, and watching their flocks by night: And the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them, and they were sore afraid, etc. IN the former verses hath been laid down the birth of Christ, and the manner thereof: According to the prophesies gone of him before. Here is laid down the manifestation hereof to the world. It was the greatest message that ever was brought into the World, and the most unliklie to be believed by the World: That a poor infant, born of poor Parents: so disrespected in the World, that they could not be admitted to come into the Inn, but born in a stable, and laid in a manger: wrapped in a few : And this now revealed to the poor shepherds in the fields: and by them reported to the men of Bethlem: When the Church being then in trouble and bondage: looked for some great and glorious Messiah to come, with great pomp, and power, to work deliverance for them: and this must be the man, raised up by the power of God, to be the light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. We celebrate this Feast, in remembrance of this great Saviour, and worker of deliverance: Like that of Purim in Esther: But we consecrate it to Bacchus, not to Christ, in Rioting, and Drunkenness, in Chambering & Wantonness, etc. And not in poverty of Spirit, and humility with Christ: but in pride, and fullness of the World. Our joy is not in communion with Christ in his birth, and death: but in liberty to the Flesh, & forgetting of all. O, if Christ should come, as he will come, and find us thus: One swilling and drinking: another carding, and dicing: another whoring: And all under pretence of love to him: Would he take it well? O no! Christ was born in a time, and manner, little looked for by the World, and yet in a time of great need: For the Church was now grown to a low ebb: From Ezra●s, & Nehemiahs' time, after the second Temple; and one, during the time of the Maccabees: They suffered great persecution, & darkness, as Heb. 11. For now they had no more Prophecies, but a very vaiting on the word of Promises: Yea, & now according to jacob's Prophecy, the Sceptre was departed from Judah, and they Tributaries to the Romans: And now was the time, though not known to the World, not expected, yet, now the fullness of time being come, Christ is sent: Thus God dealeth in the Kingdom of Christ. So that, God hath a time reserved in his own purpose, for deliverance and redemption of man, which he sends not, when, and how he lastingly expects; but only to be waited one by lowly Faith, in t●e word of Truth, which shall come, when man in Flesh and sense sees least reason, and lest expects it. When thou brought again the captivity of Jacob, or Zion: we were as them that dream, Hab. 2. The vision is for an appointed time, and the prodigal little looked for entertainment. 1. For so God deals in all, that he may be magnified: For to the wicked, he comes in judgement, when they are eating and drinking, and cry, peace, peace: and to believers in mercy, when they cry woe, and misery, bondage, and death. 2. He hath given a sure Word of the Prophets to be attended on: For the time he hath in his own power, and that time is worth waiting on, in Faith and Patience. 3. It is not man's device and work that can haften his time: Not going up to Heaven, nor down to Hell, but abiding in the word of truth, being near, even in our hearts. Thus, we would all fain hasten the time: As in the Church, there was great expectation; yea, Abraham desired to see this day: So we all would know where, when, and how: But the Kingdom of Christ comes not with observation. 1. If we be in misery; we think too long, and murmur: Thy desire God sees; but thy Impatience he likes not: He will answer thy desires and longing: but he will make thee, First, willing to bear his Indignation: Yea, and we no sooner begin to feel the smart of our guilt a little, but we think Christ should presently come; nay, but we must pay tribute, and be taxed, and feel Repentance and the bitterness thereof: and wait in Faith, and then he shall be born unto us: But man is loath to sit in darkness and death: & yet the Kingdom of God never comes, but to repenting hearts: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. 2. As also, When we think, because of this and that quality or diligence, or repentance, or humility, he should come: Nay, he must not be bound by man, nor to man, by nothing but his own Word; and he will thus cross man's fleshly hopes, when thou thinks thy fell the nearest, thou art the farthest off; and when thou findest thyself the farthest off, than thou art the nearest. And it is a thing to be noted, That Christ came into the World, when the Jews went every one to his own City to be taxed: even when they went to acknowledge their bondage and captivity under the Romans, than was Christ born: which is also to be observed spiritually, viz. When every man in his own heart lives in bondage, fear and captivated by Satan, and hath no power to redeem himself, but confesseth his thraldom and lies under it: then is Christ born unto the heart, for he came to deliver the Captives. 4. As also that the Church was now at a great want, for the Sceptre was departed from Judah, and no Prophet was left in Israel, as Psal. 74. None the guide or teach them: nothing left but the word of Promise, which seemed to be void, and God to have forsaken them: And now Christ comes, and is born, so it is with us. And there were Shepherds in the Country. Here Christ's birth is manifested. First obscurely, to poor Shepherds, and these must carry the tidings of great Joy: wherein, note that wondered humility and low estate wherein Christ appeared to the World, though he was the great Lord of Heaven and Earth, Wherein note Christ's way, viz. That the way of Christ; from the first to the last in accomplishing Man's Redemption, is in poverty, lowliness, and deep humility of Heart: far separated from the World, and the riches and glory thereof, Phil. 2. He was equal with God, etc. yet took on him the form, of a servant. Isa. 5.3. He hath neither form nor beauty; nothing seen, why we should desire him: he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and had experience of Infirmities; we hide our faces from him, and esteemed him not: the rich of the world cared not for him: The gre● Doctors and wise of the World, despised him, he sought not his own glory, but the good of all; he was still among the poor, and halt, and blind, and beggars; and had not whereon to lay his head: his message was carried by fishers and ignorant men. 1. This was the Wisdom of the Father, that the eminence of the Parties, nor the wisdom of man should not cause his Gospel to be believed, but the Evidence of the Truth: according to the ancient Prophecies, He will not have the Gospel to be credited because of Man, but Man for the Gospel. 2. This he doth, to keep man low; that he may see nothing to lift him up in the World, but the word of Truth. 3. And to show the difference betwixt his Kingdom, and the Kingdom of the World, who only seeks high things & stands in glory and outward respects; but his in poverty and misery. Though in that low estate God manifested such a glory and power, as the World was not capable of: For He was a greater Conqueror than Cesar, Pompey, or Alexander; for they subdued a few Kingdoms, and yet slaves to their own vain glory and lusts: but he overcame the whole World, and Hell too, that he cared nor a rash for it, and yet but lodged in a manger. And this is the way that the mindly low, that it rise not after the World: but so raised by Faith, that it tramples it under foot: For as the Heathen man could say, He is valiant, not only who kills Lions & Bears, and wild beasts, but he who overcomes his own passion: so in Christ. 4. For the daily life of man in himself is, repentance, or security and pride: that he so live in himself, that Sin and the World is a burden to him: Yea, that have still that opinion of himself that the World had of Christ: yea; that as he was counted the greatest sinner of the World by the World, that he was ignorant and a deceiver, so that man see and feel the sins of all men in himself, that he beheld no good in anything, but in Christ; nor no evil in any thing, but in himself. This keeps him in the manger, and among poor Shepherds. 1. How far then are we from Christ's birth or way, who only seek to be great in the World, which all strive at: it is not a manger or a stable that will fit them: but like Lords of the Earth seek pre-eminence. This poverty of Christ becomes a stone to them, whom nothing can please but riches and greatness. 2. Others who imagine themselves to be born of God, because of this and that good quality; and still strain at high things, thereby to draw near to God. But this way they are farther of: for all God's people are born in humility, and live lowly and humbly even in the stable: that is well pleased with any thing, and so advanced by God's free gift, for which they praise him. 3. What though we be base, and fools in the eyes of the World and that we want the glory thereof; it was so with Christ▪ nay, it is our freedom if we want it: or having it, care not for it: Now, as it was the Father's will that Christ should be born in a Stable, and published by Shepherds; so it is his will that thou art poor and despised, but he had a care of his Son, he will also bring thee through it, though with less pomp, yet with as much ease, and at death no difference; but only that thou with Christ will willingly part with it; and he, with much grief and sorrow. 4. We hear many say, They would have succoured Christ better, but thou hatest him in his members: What good dost thou to them? The Angel of the Lord came upon them. He came to reveal this great mystery, & to show the truth of all the promises now accomplished, none able to do it but an Angel from Heaven, viz. an heavenly messenger: so that No understanding of the Mystery of Christ, or seeing the truth of the Promise accomplished, but as it is revealed and freely given from above. Man in nature perceives not the things of God, 1 Joh. 4. There is an anointing from above that teacheth all things, and none can say that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost, though we think that Jesus is the Christ and Saviour: Yet we think but after the flesh: but his wonderful Love, Truth, Power, bitterness of Sufferings, Victory over Hell and Death: not known by comprehending, but revealed to poor and miserable minds from above: 1. For the Father hath hid all wisdom in Christ from the wise of the World: and it is to be found in him, not in us. 2. Christ prays to the Father to reveal this to them, That they may know, that thou hast sent me. 3 And this was promised of Christ, that after his de●th he would send a Comforter, that should lead them into all truth. 1. What a world of conceits have we of Christ, and yet know him not: because we think we know. 1. Some know the History of Christ, and moved with natural passions by the consideration of his passion. 2. Some strive to know the Mystery of Christ after the flesh. 2. We see that all knowledge comes by faith, and is revealed from heaven: as a man that promiseth to free me, being a captive: I believe him, but I know not that he will, till he reveal his will to me. 3. Where then is the power of man in the use of this general gift of knowledge to come to know Christ? None knows the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, but the Son 4. wouldst thou know the wonderful Mystery of Christ? Sat in thy own ignorance, mourning in blindness: and wait in the word of Truth, till the light shine, and thou shalt understand, though not the mind of God, yet the mind of Christ. And they were sore afraid. The glory astonished them, the message brought fear to humble them, so in all: so that, The proper and kindly operation of the whole Word and Message of the Gospel, in the mouth of Christ, is to bring man down: and the foundation of Christ's Kingdom is laid in fear, to lay man low; that he may be exalted in Christ. To deny ourselves, to become fools, and lost; as Paul, I was alive, but when the Law came, I was dead; all our Righteousness as filthy rags; the weapons of our warfare are mighty to bring down: all the whole Scripture to man, as he is man, speaks negatively and basely, only exalts Jesus Christ as the Lawgiver, in thunder to shake the heart of man; the Gospel and the Promise made without any respect of any righteousness in man; and the power whereby this becomes effectual is from another, and not from ourselves. Thus was Paul brought to his knees. 1. For it ever brings man to fear and weakness, before it bring faith, and preserves fear, that he may still rest on Christ; for when any Land hath been conquered, First, they weaken them, and bring them into fear, and then they yield; so doth Christ. 2. For the Word opening to man the Book of his own heart, as Acts 2. discovers such a misery & guilt and weakness, that he cries, What should I do? And as often as it opens man's mind, it discovers such a dungeon: so th●t hereby he is driven from himself, and all boasting is taken away. But man stores himself with better qualities and better conceits, and starts from himself; but if Adam's eyes be opened, he shall see nothing but nakedness, and the Gross shall wear out all these fig leaves. 3. Every man is grown proud and wise and high in knowledge against Christ, and hath gotten either the W●rld, or knowledge, or righteousness, or something that bears him up: therefore it must be a mighty word that must make all these nothing to man, & persuade him that the world hath no good in it, nor no wisdom: nor in all creatures no life, but in another. 1. But we all pervert this word to our destruction, when we will needs comprehend it, but are not comprehended by it; we judge it, and are not judged by it: and so we keep off fear: for we are made wise and righteous, according to the form thereof; and becomes men of high thoughts, but not men of low minds, and thereby rejects the simplicity of the Gospel. The word known after the flesh, and not believed, lifts up and hardens more than any thing; but the Word believed, brings down, and lays low in weakness, and preserves fear, & makes man nothing, that Christ may be exalted, but we believe not the thousand part of that we know. 2. So that the Word of Truth is a mighty Word, it lays all low before it: none is able to stand before it but Christ, not the holiest Pharisee: for this shall judge the World, and cast out all the fictions of man, and all the pride and glory of the World: and shall be a terrible Word to all that believe not; when every tittle thereof shall be verified on man. O that! we were all stricken with fear, and sensible of our weakness: for as we fear, so we believe. But man hath gotten so many cover, that he runs from one to another to hid himself from his own heart: Some by the World's fullness, but that shall vanish. Some by knowledge and righteousness after the Law? and bardened therein; but these shall not stand: no nothing shall remain indeed, but Christ and the Gospel: Be not afraid, So that, Christ and the Gospel only belongs to fearful, and weak men, that first see death and danger, and no help in themselves to escape; and sigh, and cry, and pray, and see no deliverance: Then in time, the Angel from God bringing the message of the Gospel frees them, that the gates of hell shall not prevail. It is not possible that the heart of man should be preserved from fear, but by Christ only. 1. All the World is not able to free a worldly heart from fear. 2. All knowledge leaves the heart fearful though secure for a time. 3. All holiness, and qualities, and sacrifice, not able to purge the conscience: but only the blood of Christ, and man fixed thereon: And this only shall turn fear unto Faith, etc. 1. So that the Gospel, I fear, belongs but to few of us, for fear is banished, weakness is grown strong, and gotten up again: Sorrow is turned into lightness; sighing and praying into vaunting and boasting, so that we need not say, we be afraid. But O man! look into that dead and rotten heart of thine: observe that crooked, faithless, and worldly path: and be astonished, for the kingdom of Christ was come near thee. But seeing thou despisest it, lo we turn to the Gentiles: for fearless and careless estate is fallen upon all, and under the cover of Religion, without Religion. Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, viz. The accomplishment of the Promise in the birth of Christ; therefore, seek no shifts to escape, turn hither, and behold great joy, and freedom against all sorrows. So that, The only ground of all joy, & freedom, to a troubled heart, is only Christ made known unto man, in the truth of the Gospel. Paul rejoiced only in the Cross of Christ, and counted all things else but dung, and had no confidence in the Flesh, by our rejoicing that I have in Christ Jesus; I die daily, all other things died unto him, and being justified by Christ, we rejoice in tribulation: How was the mourning of Mary turned into peace and joy by Christ, Isa They rejoiced as men in harvest, and that divides the spoil, and they that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. 1. For all joy but this, is nothing but mistake, & like a man that laughs in Sleep, for want of understanding in himself, and feeding himself with shadows and tidings that Satan brings to him. 2. All o● enjoy, is but rejoicing in the Flesh. He only comforts the Spirit, when Flesh mourns. 3. All other joys ends in sorrow, but this sorrow in joy. What is all the joy the World can give to man, even as the cracking of Thorns under a pot: Thou art rich and full of wealth, yet a careful heart in the midst thereof. Thou joys to day, and mourns to morrow: So the wanton, what cause of joy while his Soul is more fettered, and guilt increased? Joy passeth, & guilt remaineth; and yet none so merry: Thus Satan hath messengers to rejoice man, being sad. 1. The World brings tidings or wealth, and honour, etc. 2. The Flesh of pleasure, joy, and freedom, etc. 3 Reason, from self-righteousness and wisdom, etc. But Christ, from the love of the Father, that is worth all: Now this never springs, but from mourning in ourselves: like that of Paul at his conversion to Christ: So than the difference of these are, 1. First, One rejoiceth to gain the World; another to be freed from it. 2. One to have his own will; and another to lose i●. 3. One to have all things, and suffer nothing: another to suffer all things, and to have nothing but Christ. 2. We see, that all joy that we conceive, that ariseth out of Religion, and not hence: is but a foundation laid in man: which will die with him. But as the Child is merry in his Father's love, though he know nothing what shall be done to it: and not because he is heir, and must be advanced to a great portion: so it is with us, not from any quality in ourselves, but in another. For unto you is born: So that, Christ truly born unto man, is the only fountain of Life unto man in all distresses. In the City of David, Mic. 4. So that nothing shall disannul the truth of the Word of God, nor shake the heart that is stayed thereon A Saviour, You and the World seems to be lost & condemned: but behold, here is a Saviour at hand, even a Saviour sent to you. So that, The only stay and rest unto the restless heart of man, is assurance of a Saviour, & confidence of heart in him. As Simeon, Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, & Zach. That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, etc. And hast raised up for us a mighty Salvation. And he shall save the people from their sins: Such a Saviour was figured in Moses, and Joshua: And thus prophesied by the Angel, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save my people. 1. For man is a lost and condemned creature, the word of truth hath judged him, his own heart hath given sentence against him: For this hath the Spirit of man sought, since Adam's fall: some in the World, some in themselves, but never found, but by Christ. The very Heathens sought it, and we make many Saviour's, but all fail, save this. It is not with us, as it was with the Disciples: we have found the Lord Christ: We go a seeking, and enquiring, but we have not found the Lord. He saves us out of the hand of our enemies, viz. 1. From the guilt of our Souls and temptation of Satan. 2. From the corruption of our Nature, and bondage of corruption. 3. From affliction, and sorrow, and crosses and want. 4. From death, and hell, and judgement at the last. 1. See those miserable Saviour's that we frame, as the world or wisdom, or self-righteousness: these we get, but yet we are in the hand of our enemies: our heart's full of fear, and death's a terror to us. 2. This Saviour is born and given to none, but condemned men; like a murderer, that can find no way to escape, goes to the King, and confesseth, and cries for mercy; the King pardons for his own glory, etc. 3. But know that our Salvation stands in another, not in ourselves; though we store ourselves, and provide great and strong arguments against that day, yet all will fail; and only bearing indignation of the Lord, & committing to free mercy, must be our salvation. 1. Pardoning of Sin. 2. In preserving the heart in Faith by the Word, to live and die with Christ, and go through all in Patience; not as most, who think themselves the likeliest to procure a Saviour, is to come with their own righteousness and holiness, etc. But that we come sinners and condemned, not bringing righteousness, but to obtain righteousness, not to offer sacrifice, but to obtain a sacrifice, even Jesus Christ. Christ the Lord, viz The anointed Lord, who was figured in that of the Israelites, who had the holy Oil reserved in the Temple, sanctified by Moses: wherewith their Kings and Priests were anointed. Now the Rabbins say, that this Oil ceased in the second Temple, till Christ came: who was to be anointed with the holy Ghost. So that, God the Father, according to his eternal purpose, hath anointed Christ to be Lord and King of his Church, to rule in the heart of man, that God and his power may he magnified, and man made happy in him. He hath given all judgement to the Son: All power is given to me in Heaven and Earth, all things are given in me to my Father: he hath hid all treasures in him, and hath laid help on one that's mighty, as Psal. 4.8. This is manifested in his Word, never man spoke like this man, and his miracles, hath it been said, that a man opened the eyes of one that was born blind: This the Father did, by an eternal purpose, for the salvation of man, that seeing man could not comprehend God's purpose; he sent one in our room, to whom he hath given power, because that we could not ascend to Heaven, we might have a God on Earth. His Kingdom is righteousness, & joy in the Holy Ghost. 1. But we have other Lords; the World rules as Lord, and we obey it; the Flesh commands and we are subject to it. 2. Where is that power of man whereof he boasts, We would all be Lords, and rule according to our own will. SERMON V. Luk. 7.36, 37, 38. etc. And one of the Pharisees desired that he would eat with him. And Jesus went into the Pharisees house, and sat down to meat: and behold, a woman in the City, which was a sinner, etc. AFter that Christ had preached to the People concerning John Baptist, and that many of the People and Publicans believed, and were baptised: He upbraids the hardness of the Pharisees, which neither believed John nor him, but rejected the Truth: and neither believed John to see their misery, and repent; nor him, that they might receive mercy, but trusted in themselves, and kept all Truth off. In the end, he leaves them with a sharp nip: But wisdom is justified of her Children, viz. the Children of the Truth, will justify the Truth, though against themselves, and though all the world besides should reject it: so that, The Children of the Truth do in their hearts justify and bear witness, and clear the Word of Truth, though it be to the condemning of themselves 1. Cor. 14. They fall down and say, of a truth Christ is in this man: so though the Law, Rom. 7. condemned and killed Paul, yet he justified it to be good holy, just and spiritual, but I am carnal: So David, Psal. 51. That thou mayest be justified and clear, etc. So Abraham justified the promise, which prevailed in him more than all reason to the contrary. 1. For it leaves that impression in the heart, which all the lies and shapes of Satan cannot wipe out; though they may cover and hid: Yet this is more powerful in him than all. 2. For this discovers the Intents of the heart, and strikes the heart down, & whatever upheld it: against which, man is not able to stand; but as the guilty felon justifies the sentence of the Judge, so he justifies the righteous sentence of the Truth. 1. But we see, that thousands which profess Christ, yet justifieth not his Word: Nay, we judge the Word, and are not judged by it: We rule and comprehend the Word, and are not comprehended and ruled by it. We mince the Law and limit the promise, and all to save our own skins, because we would not be condemned by the Word. 2. Yea, such is this wise generation wherein we live, that a man will now judge and limit God himself; setting a Law to his Decree, but he is justified to every believing heart, though reason not able to comprehend it. Nay, every man labour to justify himself rather than God, and his Truth; and every thing, on which man dependeth; as, 1. The worldling labours to justify the world, and the ways thereof in his thoughts. 2. Another justifies his own qualities of holiness and righteousness. 3. Another, his knowledge and fleshly notions; for they are the Children of these. 4. Another labours to justify the Truth, by Arguments of Reason, against others; but not by faith, against himself: as a Malefactor justifieth the Law from his own guilt, and not because he comprehendeth it. 3. No surer sign of a true man, than to justify the truth; for he sets to his seal, That GOD is true: when man even swears in his own heart to the truth of all the Word; as, that the Law is just, he is guilty: the promise is free, for he is a sinner: when the heart lies bleeding under the power of the Word, though he feel nothing but death in himself. 4. But we see, how we even deny the Word we profess: we confess that God will have mercy, and preserve us: and yet fly to the World and something else: and that repentance and denying of ourselves, is the way to Heaven, yet hope for it: & repent not at all. The Pharisee desired him to eat with him. He ever was to spy some advantage for further justifying of himself: so that, That under the profession of Love and Religion, there lurks in most men base and filthy ends & respects, whereat they specially aim; which poisons all, & proves their Love and Religion merely nothing. All the Pharisees guilty of this, as Saul and Simon Madge us, etc. 1. For this is to frame Religion, to serve ourselves, and not to serve God. 2. This argues an unpurged heart, which turns all meat to ill humours. 3. Thus Religion is made a way to cover, but not to crucify the World, and our fleshly Lusts & Self-will. 1. And this is plain in experience: What is it that man doth in Religion, but some base end is more powerful in him to produce it, than the simple power of Christ's love in him? We run after the example of others for credit and approbation, rather than out of simple love for our lost minds. Others talk of Religion, so must we; that we may be known: Others show love, so must we, that we may be approved: and nothing is said or done, whereat we have not an end of our own: We judge the Pharisees, and justify ourselves, and yet do the same thing. 2. Hence we see, what a vain and vile thing man's heart is; that he meddles with nothing, but he mar●s it: that though the thing be good, and the word good: yet in us it is ill. 3 No simple and hearty Religion indeed, but when man dwells in the simplicity of his own heart, & in the simple truth: else like a huckster, he makes Religion but as a Trade to gain by, either from God or man. Behold, a woman which was a sinner: both in the eye of the World, and in her sell: judged by both, and condemned in herself: So that, None flies to Christ in deed and truth, nor finds mercy with him, but he that knows and feels himself daily to be a sinner: and through sin, is a lost & helpless creature. So the Prodigal and Publican, and Paul, Rom. 7. O wretched man that I am, etc. and David, Psal. 51. 1. Joh. 1 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 1. For than death and weakness, wrath & judgement lives in man: & presseth him down, and forceth him to cry and to pray. 2. For else man lies covered from himself under some figleaf, and so flies the judgement; that he may preserve his fleshly life alive, etc. 3. This preserves humility, and keeps down pride, and prepares for mercy; for to these only doth the Kingdom of God come. Now this is not a seeing of this, & that action amiss; but that he see and feel the Original fountain and guilt: That though all actions were restrained, yet he feels the Power and Inclination, and sway of his mind against G●d, & his Truth; that though he be prevented by God's Power, and shall not taste of Judgement through grace; yet he sees in himself such a power of corruption, & misguided passions, that he cries out for mercy daily, & so is faith daily preserved. 1. But all men strive to appear both before God and themselves to be rich, none would be found sinners: Therefore, when we have miss it in one action, we mend it in the next, that we may appear to be righteous As, 1. The pure moral honesty among men, though they have no great matters of Religion to boast of; yet even that they offer to God as a Sacrifice for their sin. 2. But the more devote men, they think they have a heart full of good qualities and dispositions, and so themselves therewith, for their repentance, humility, faith, and love, etc. They look at, as good qualities to cover sin withal: but the only quality that Christ loves, is when man comes a sinner to him. 3. May, others indeed have seen themselves sinners, but now righteous and holy, and their repenting days are forgotten; so mercy lost, & saith fails. For as it was sin, that by accident brought Christ into the World, so it is sin in man's heart, that brings a Saviour unto man. 4. Others see in themselves weakness and want of Power, that they cannot come to that pitch of knowledge & righteousness that they aim at, which if they could, all would be well: But their rebellious Will, Lust, and Pride and Worldliness are hid from them. So that it is the hardest thing to make a man a sinner; and to keep him to a daily sense of his own weakness. 2. But sin in man, and mercy in God; infidelity in man; and faith in Christ, lays a right foundation of Religion; and is the daily continuance of the life of all Religion in man: for thereby, Prayer, humility ●nd saith are preserved. 3 So that the word never prospers, but when it lights amongst sinful men: The self-righteous have a covering yea, & all are grown cunning to put off the evil day, & make a covenant with hell: for no sooner doth sin prick & look out at them, but they have a sore knowledge of a Saviour, and so cure the wound before it be made. When the heard that Jesus was at meat. She being now brought into misery within herself, and all her sweet pleasures turned into gall and worm wood; she seeks for case and rest: so it will fall out to all: So that, That all the pleasures of joy and peace, that man now enjoys: in the world and the flesh, will sooner or later be turned into sorrow, want and misery; for death and judgement will lay all in the dust. Where was the confidence that Paul had in the flesh, when he was stricken down in the way to Damascus? Where is all the power of Pharaoh, Pompey, of Dives: and wealth of all worldlings, Luk. 12. Yea, Pompey and Alexander are laid in the dust, Luke 6. Woe be to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn. Isa. 28. I will make void your Covenant with death. 15 For there is a way that seems good, but the issues thereof are death. 2. Else man should insult over God and Christ, & his Word become a lie. 3. Thus doth God make way for his mercy and love, that man may be capable thereof. 4. All joy and life of Adam must be destroyed, that Christ may live in us. 1. Woe to the merry deceived wordling, who rejoiceth in his wealth, friends, pleasure & respect: as this woman did: but behold, She is now brought to weeping cheer. So we make ourselves merry, & promise many happy days; but sure, fear and sorrow, weakness and misery must first come, before man be established in Peace & Freedom: for this will not last: We think ease good while it lasts, and so we put off the evil: that we must taste, for we have eaten sour grapes, & our teeth must be set on edge. Nay, all our labour & care is to put away sorrow & fear: & therefore we gather riches, power, etc. that we might sit above, and see no evil: Man would do evil, but would not see it: rebel, but not take notice Did ever any rebel against his Prince, but he smarted for it in the end. And though the King, of mere grace would pardon, yet was he a lost man in his own eyes: and his pride was laid down in the dungeon: so with us: for sin in man will cause smart to man first or last: For, 1. Though we may put it off through blind presumption, not regarding what shall follow. 2. Or cover ourselves, and close up our hearts under the bewitching of worldly profits. 3. Or to drink down sorrow like unto beasts for a while. 4. Or cover ourselves from the Word of Truth, and simplicity of our minds: by our opinions of knowledge self-righteousness, and the world underneath. 1. Yet either will the Lord find us out by his Word, and discover such a wretchedness to man, as shall make him cry out, Woe and alace that ever I was born! and that my mother's Womb had been my grave, or that I had been strangled assoon as I saw the light: and so cursing his birth day, as Job. 1. Or man running on to his course to the end of his Shadows, Pleasures, and fools Paradise: at last falls into the Pit, where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth: weeping and howling for the days of their vanity that are past, and cannot be recalled: For the guilt of his Soul presseth him down, and cannot be eased: when man is entered into Eternal misery, which shall never be ended. Then alace! shall we see, that Husband, and Wife, or Children, were but silly fading Earth, on which we so doted; that Gold and Silver were but Dross, which we so served: and now all taken from us, and our Life too, never to be restored. 1. No misery like to the misery of man; for no creature on earth hath so rebelled against God as he. Did not this woman account any creature happier than she? and yet we sport ourselves above all, and feel no smart, because that we are so hardened in the flesh, that the Spirit is lost. O then! that God would give us hearts to see that misery, that we might mourn in time, and break off sin by repentance. For what a folly is it for a man to run on in a course still, that he knows will bring sorrow? like the thief, who bewitched with present sweet, and seeding himself with hope to escape, becomes hardened, and never believes, nor sees the sorrowing of his hanging day. 4. And that men in the days of mirth would think of the time of mourning: every one seeing himself even ●ing on his deathbed, and bidding farewell to all worldly delights: look for it, even the best. For Christ's heavy day was his l●st day, even before his entrance into glory: so know, there is yet a more heavy day to come, than thou hast hitherto felt. When she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees house Notwithstanding her own unworthiness, Christ's holiness, the Pharisees hard opinion of her: Yet such was the misery that she felt, and desire that she had to the Word of Christ: that she saw, that there was nothing that could ease her, but he only; so that, Christ and his Word are only sweet, and desired of troubled hearts and wearied minds: but to others, it is wearisome, and little regarded, as Psal. 119. I had fainted in my affliction, but that thy word stayed me. The poor receive the Gospel, and the halt and blind came willingly at the voice of the Gospel; and how dear was the Word to the Martyrs in trouble; that one of Paul's Epistles was a treasure from hand to hand: And what a wonderful power had it amongst those sick & blind men, that he but spoke the Word, and they were made whole. 1. For there is nothing left to a weary mind that hath any life, but Christ and his Word. 2. For to others, whose present ease and rest it crosseth, it is unwellcome. 3. For none believes it but them; others know it, and talk of it, but the poor and lowly mind only believe it. 1. We may then cry with the Prophet, Isa. 55. Who hath believed our report? for every heart is filled and fatted, and born up with something: none lies under his own burden in the Dust; but one hath the World, and lives by it: another a witty and strong opinion of Faith and Christ: and Christ and his Word not regarded. Do we not delight in any History, and witty discourse, rather than this: do we not believe & cleave to any lie of Satan, though directly opposite; for if he say, we shall die; We say, no, none will believe death, but he that seeks it. And hence we see, what makes all unprofitable unto man, viz. Hardness of heart, and presumption, when man can pass over Hell and Death so lightly, as not belonging to him; and so Christ and his Word are a far off kind of thing to him: He can have it, or want it; he had rather want it than a little portion of Wealth; can live merrily in the fullness of the World without the Word, than to want it, though he had Christ himself daily to Preach. 3. Well worth tender and troubled hearts, who like the distressed Orphan, seeks for the Father; knows his own weakness, cries out, Who shall deliver me: waiting daily at the posts of his doors, and sit at Christ's feet daily: Christ hath sent out a word into the World, that shall seek peace. O! how joyful to them, that hear of mercy & pardon, when they thought there was no pardon, and to be guided to the Father. This is dearer than thousands of Worldly fullness. 4. This we know in experience, when the minds of men are plunged into real misery: when there was less knowledge, but more simplicity, than the Gospel suffered violence, But now, that knowledge hath covered us, we hide ourselves under the shadow of our own inventions, & none regards the Word of Christ, Ezek. 7.19. Matth. 18.23 She Wept, and stood behind him. So that, Till Sin and Death become man's daily burden, grace and mercy are never precious. As the Prodigal, till than he cast off the Father, Psal. 5. Till death entered, ●he weeps not. Till the Law came, Paul is alive; but then he cries, O wretched man that I am: and mine iniquities are a sore burden, Matth. 11.18. Come unto me that are weary and heavy laden, etc. 1. For man by wit and diligence, is able to help any wound, or heal any misery but this: but the biting of the Serpent, none can cure, but the brazen Serpent. 1. For hereby, Prayer, Faith and Humility is preserved in man; hereby still seeing that his life and safety stands in another. 2. But these days are past, and burden is removed, only by a blind foreknowing of the Gospel: For when a man is declared to be miserable, still he hath a voice, saying, Thou shalt not die: and nothing is made known, but he hath a foreknowing of all: Yea, to the imagined, comprehending of God himself: and this hardens more than all else. How comes sin & weakness to be less burdensome, than before? Is man better in quality then before; or less sinful? no, man is the same in the Flesh: and if prevented, it is by Grace and Power of Christ, which might a make man more sensibly vile. And yet it is the conceit of all: We think ourselves better, wiser, and holier than before, when indeed w●●re worse; only God is better than before to us; Yea, and because of some qualities, he thinks his sins are not so grievous as others, and because of these he conceives hope; but in this woman, all wrought her woe: no hope in herself but in another: Where then is the power and freewill of man? Man's power is weakness, when I am weak, am I strong. In that She stood behind him, and washed and kissed his feet. Note the base account she had of herself, as unworthy to come before him. So that, A repenting heart of man, truly knowing himself; ever hath a base account of himself, what ever God is to him. Psal. 8. What is man, etc. In me dwells no good thing, and yet in Christ he enjoyed much good, Psal 16. All my righteousness is nothing, by the grace of God I am that I am: The Prodigal, I am unworthy to be called Thy Son, make me as one of thy hired Servants. For there is nothing in man but weakness, & baseness: though in the World among men, he be wise & upright: all high thoughts arise out of ignorance and Satan's shows. 1. Whence then are those high thoughts, & justifying ourselves, & condemning & censuring one another? & whence is this seeking honour one of anothe? And when the Pharisee that bade him; saw it. Leave we the poor woman weeping, washing, kissing, and anointing, and see what that holy man judged thereof, he shown before a great love to Christ in his entertainment; but see what lu●ks in his heart; a secret justifying of himself, through pride, and condemning; no● only the Woman, but of Christ himself. Wherein not● the pride and deceit of man's heart, So that, That in the heart of all men a fountain of pride, and Fleshly deceit lies lurking under the cover of Religion, whereby man becomes well conceited of himself, whe● there no cause at all. This was the sin of the Angels, doting on their ow● excellency; and of Adam, that would be some body; Yea, Saul would needs justify himself before Samuel: And the Pharisees wholly carried away with this, and the Libertains, 2 Pet. 2. Spoke swelling words of vanity yet under pretence of long prayers, spoiled widows houses. 1. For man is unwilling to bear his own shame, and hence he gloseth, and covers and shifts, & as he grow cunning in Religion to hid himself from the Word o● God, he goes for currant; when within there is nothing but rottenness. For this grows up with goodness itself, as Tares with White; For when God bestows any notable blessing or quality on man, Satan turns man's eyes to look at it, as an act, or quality in man, not as a gift of God, kept in Christ, and thereby he covers himself in that silthin●sse within, and thinks himself some body. 1. Hence ariseth all this covering, and cloaking, and seeking of approbation, that we may be seen of men: for look what a man thinks, and how he judgeth of himself, he would have all men to judge and think the same. And this sticks fast in all, we judge ourselves better than many others; when we, in so judging, are worst of all, and yet God and thou knows, whether all thy care and labour in Religion, be not as well to gain respect, as out of the trouble of thine own vileness and weakness. 2. Nay, is there any thing that thou enjoys, or doth, but there ariseth a conceit with it, of a betterness than before? that because of this good quality, etc. judgeth well: which only shows the goodness of God to man, and not of man towards God, and so it is this proud opinion that ma●s all. 3. See what a proud thing man is, that though a beggar, yet will needs be on horseback: Hast thou any thing that first, thou hast not received it? and then, why boastest thou, as though thou hadst not received it? 2. Hast thou any thing properly thine, or, in thine own power; but in the hand of another, or canst thou stand one hour thereby. 3. Dost thou not mar every thing that thou meddles withal? as the Word, Prayer, etc. though good, yet in thee nought. 4. Dost thou not dissemble with God, & thyself withal? that when thou Professest to trust God, and seek his glory, dost thou not chief trust Wisdom, Righteousness, etc. and seekest thyself? when alace I all man's days are repenting days, that the Kingdom of God may be daily built up in us. 4. And the deceits of man's heart are endless; For f●rst, when he thinks best of himself, than he is the worst 2. When it is the World indeed that gives all Life: He hath a cunning shift so to carry the matter, that Christ shall bear the Name. 3. And, what ever is revealed, and wrought by Christ himself in his, man hath a cunning trick to shape the like in conceit: only the one hath them in his head, and the other in his heart. 5. It is not Christ's Religion that puffs man up, but, that pulls down: that, Christ may Live in him. 1. One sets up the World & himself, and casts Christ off. 2. Another, sets up Christ; and casts himself down. 6. So that, truly to know ourselves, and not to be beguiled, is a great mystery; not deserved, but by him that knows the secrets of the heart: For with man he goes for current, when God accounts abominable. He would have known who, and what this Woman had been: Here together with his pride: in regard of himself, he goes a censuring of others, even of Christ himself: and he judged him, because, according unto their Tradition he did not cast her off; Even indeed, because he was merciful to poor sinners: So that, He that out of Ignorance hath a good opinion of himself, hath never a good conceit; but a hard sensuring of others, and hath pity and compassion on none; he that is not partaker of mercy, never shows mercy to any: but judgeth all, even Christ himself. Thus the Pharisees justified themselves, and condemned all else: not like the Publican, Isa, 65. Stand by, I am holier than thou. Col. 2. Touch not, taste not, etc. And thus they accused Christ: why eats your Master with Publicans? therefore not a holy man: The elder Brother of the Prodigal, I have obeyed thy command: but this my Brother hath wasted all; with whoors and harlots. 1. For pity and compassion to others ariseth, even out of feeling and knowing of misery and weakness in ourselves. 2. Comparative righteousness is a great plea, and argument to a rotten heart: nay, man never arrogates any things to himself, but he judgeth hardly others: Nor judgeth others, but hath an approving of himself, or else: why judgest thou another, when thou dost the same, or a worse thing? 3. For those men live by Sacrifice, and not by mercy: and therefore will have Sacrifice, and not mercy for it: But Christ will have Mercy and not Sacrifice; & Sinners, not Righteous. And this arised out of mere blindness in man's self, which hath covered his filthiness with fig-leaves: and so ties Religion to some certain qualities and actions: which, whoso wants, he judgeth: and sin in man, and mercy in God: which is the foundation of all he feels not. 1. This shows there is more Pharisees than Publicans in the Church: and more that live by sacrifice, than by mercy, when every one hath a stone to cast at another, preying into every failing: judging out of their own rotten hearts, that to be a fleshly liberty, which flows out of mere love: as here in Jesus Christ: Nay, this we all fall into, in casting off: or secretly judging every one that is not of the same way with us: aggravating the fails and slips of others: But, I demand. What seest thou amiss in them, that is not in thee? thou thinks Judas a traitor, and art not thou the same? how often hast thou sold and forsaken Christ for less: and caused him to be reproached, and slandered & crucified: even for the satisfying of some base lust? but thou shalt see, when thou feels either his free mercy, or thy own misery: that thou wilt judge none. 2. Hence ariseth all Sects & Contentions in the Church, even because every one hath a good opinion of himself, and judgeth all that are not like him; Thus every Sect condemns others: But, Christ came not to condemn the world, but to save it. 3. Nay, And this corruption lives in us all: how apt is man to forget himself, and fall upon others: not only to judge their way to be evil, but their very estates with God. If God bring us before his judgement seat, who is able to abide? 4. And thus we judge Christ and his Word, and are not judged by it; we frame it to our own mould, & are not framed by it: as the Pharisees judged Christ profane, because he was not more severe against her: would have had Christ to have been a man of wrath, & judgement, and not a mediator for Sinners. 5. But Christ's Religion is a humble, pitiful, & merciful Religion: which indeed is the life of it: For this man had Knowledge: and also Righteousness: but no mercy nor love: which proved all to be nothing: Then said Jesus unto him, Simon. Simon. Here, he first convinceth the secret hypocrisy of the Pharisee: So that, Though man walk unblemeably in the eyes of all, and religiously and holily in his own eyes: yet, in the highest perfection of man, God hath somewhat to say unto him. As the young man, Thou yet lakest one thing; and to Saul, What meaneth the bleating of the Sheep: The Pharisees thought themselves safe, but Christ had still somewhat to say. 1. For the Word of Truth searcheth the secrets of the heart. 2. God judgeth and condemns that which man approves: Yea, he will bring all to judgement, & conclude all under sin, that no flesh may glory: for all mouths must be stopped, and none able to justify himself. 1. So that all our secret hidings and co●ers will not serve: God hath still something to say to us: though we strive to make all so sure, that he might not accuse us: yet all in vain: for we know that when we have hardened our hearts in security, yet God; either by secret Testimonies of guilt, or by his Word and Truth, is still pulling by the slieve: & though we slip away, yet he will discover at last. Two things keeps all men out of Christ, under a kind of cover: 1. Either Beastly, or Epicurian security; Or, 2. A Pharisaical pride: either man is drowned in the World, or Prided in conceits, and hardened in both. 2. But know, God will bring to light every secret thing, though we put off, and care not to meddle with him: though we flatter, & think to please him: though we be righteous, and think to stand before him, yet he hath somewhat to say: A certain man had two debtors. Here under a Parable, he shows t●e state of all men in Adam, and in Ch ist: The first in the two debtors, that are not able to pay: and so bound over to death and bondage: The second, in free grace, forgiving both: with the effect of love thereupon. Two debtors, the one owing five hundred pence, the other fifty: This difference he speaks according to Simons judgement: for he justified himself before her, as much as five hundred differs from fifty: though in respect of God, and Original guilt, all are alike. Yet in the eye of the World, and by multiplying actual transgression, increased the guilt & bondage, and so did differ; but both debtors, as all men are: So that, All men, yea, every Son of Adam, through Original sin & guilt of every heart, are debtors to God: and bound over to death and destruction: which we must pay, and suffer, unless God's mercy and free grace in Christ do free us, Rom. 3. We have all sinned and are equally deprived of the glory of God. Eph. 2. We are all by nature the children of Wrath. Rom. 13.2. There is a law of Sin and Death from which we are fred, only by the Law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, etc. And to Adam, In the day that thou eats thereof, thou shalt die, Rom. 14.1. The wages of sin is death, And see it in the Prodigal. 1. The Law of righteousness, which God cannot forsake, requires it: that he that will not live in God, shall have no life: as to Adam: Much more, he that would in his heart pull God out of his Throne, and sit there himself: as Absolom. 2. All men in Adam; are so estranged from God in the ground of their hearts, that they are direct fighters against God in all things: for when we should trust, love; fear & obey him; man's heart forsakes him, and runs to every thing rather. 3. For if there were not a debt and poverty to be suffered, there needed no forgiveness: But we pray daily, forgive us our debts, O Lord. 4. Nay, all men know this: and therefore, fly from God and his judgement, as the debtor from his creditor; who, though for the present he is quiet, and hath enough: yet debt and fear lies on him for future times, because he knows a reckoning day will come; so we: Yea, the very Heathen fear this, that believe the mortality of the Soul, and labour by moral righteousness to pay the debt, but all in vain. 1. And know that this debt and death his not this or that misguided action: but the very original springing fountain of rebellion, & guilt in the heart: whence spring all these little streams from that great and filthy Fountain. For all actual sins are properly against men, which may be discharged: As, if I wrong any man, I may restore and make a mends, etc. But by this a man's heart fights against God daily: as, when he saith he is just & powerful, & fears not; but thinks to shift it, that he is merciful, & we need it not: but shall live in freedom, and will mend the matter, and pay him his own. But the believing heart that knows himself, is still a debtor, because that he feels, that although he guide well, & be prevented from many actual Rebellions, and be partaker of God's grace, that he shall not taste of judgement: yet, he feels such a spring of Rebellions & miss guided passions, that he is still a debtor, and daily cries for mercy, and so Repentance and Faith are preserved. O! What a vile and miserable thing is man, and yet dreams of no such thing, Other creatures own debt to man, and daily live in service and subjection, and pay it; and when they die, all is discharged: But man lives in joy & freedom; & when he dies, all is to pay, and he cast into utter darkness, to pay the uttermost farthing. 2. Whence then is all this pride, and vain boasting? whence is all this Sleepiness, Security and Peace in the World? whence is this judging and censuring of others? whence is this boasting and high thoughts of our gifts, and abilities? Is not bondage our daily burden, and death and misery the portion that we look for & fear. Did not Paul cry out for deliverance from the body of this death, and yet we live in life, and seeks no deliverance: Was not he a dead man in himself, and Christ lived in him, and yet we alive to ourselves, and Christ dead to us. Therefore, till man believe and know this, not by discourse, but believing the word of Truth, and finding it in himself, he believes nothing at all, & if man believe this, it would lay him as the dust in himself, and dash all toys, and joys in the World, & make him pitiful to others. 3. But alace! man turns all believing into Fleshly knowing, & thereby keeps off his own misery: like a drunken man, that besots himself, that he may ease himself a while of the fear of that debt he cannot pay: For this foreknowing of man, prevents believing: and ever lifts up man, never pulls him down, makes him righteous in himself, not a sinner; hardens the heart, but never humbles it. 4. But know, that man must know & feel this one day; when it will be too late, when he shall know nothing but misery, like a debtor in the Guoile, who runs his misspent time, must not see his friends, nor walk abroad, but pine to death, & sorrow: so with us at death. And when they had nothing to pay. Here comes greater misery, viz. That there is left to no man power to free himself: So that, No power nor possibility in man, by any witty invention, high speculation, or highest holiness, to free his mind of guilt: to ease his bondage, to fly misery o escape death; but in the sense of all weakness & misery, to cry daily for mercy; and wait for deliverance in another. We are redeemed not with corruptible things, etc. So the Prodigal; And because there was no power in man, he laid help on one that was mighty among the People; wherefore else came Christ into the World; but, because there was none else able to tread the Wine press of his wrath? 1. For the wisdom of man is foolishness, & his strength weakness; his righteousness as a filthy rag; His sacrifice abominable; Israel was not able to help themselves at the Read-Sea, 2. Nay, the promise runs upon such, as have no money, or heavy laden, blind, and poor in Spirit. 3. For Till man have nothing in himself, Christ hath nothing for him. 4. Then is grace, and God magnified; his Word believed; but, while man hath any possibility in himself, or hope in any creature: mercy is little set by. 1. Away then with all those s ilts of man, to put off the evil day: as 1. One with the full World: he will drown all misery in the Earth: but when the Earth shall be taken away, where then is his portion. 2. Another with moral honesty, thinks it will do something. 3. The more devote, offers fat sacrifices of Righteousness to purge sin. 4. Another thinks, the time was, when he had nothing: but now he hath somewhat, viz. Faith, Knowledge, Righteousness, etc. And these he thinks will go far; but Repentance is hid from his eyes: and Faith & Mercy shut up. 5. Another takes time, & promiseth to pay hereafter. 6. Another pays old, and takes new: as new fashions in Religion. Thus man loath to live in weakness, and have hold of nothing, but feeds security with some hope or other, and looking at himself, hopes that all that is something: and commits not to free mercy. This is the hardest of all. 2. But, when man lives in his own misery indeed, and sees no way to get out: it brings him to wait for mercy only: Like the debtor brought on his knees, commits himself to the mercy of the creditor: So, that indeed, man's weakness is his strength: the Cross his Freedom, Suffering his victory, & Death his Life. 3. Where then is the power of man, that we so much talk off? Is it in man? a talon given to man to pay his own debt; Nay, to manifest his grace: and it shows how mercy in God is the daily life of man, and not in himself, and our help in another: Yea, and it magnifies his mercy, that takes a Wife of fornication: that hath no good quality: as this Woman: and to such vile and weak Rebels shows favour, that the glory may be his alone. He forgave them both. Here is the Gospel, and free Grace of God unto miserable man: that had no way to turn him, but falls down, & confesseth the debt: for he exacts nothing at them, nor enters into judgement. Which of them will love him most. Here he propones the question to convince him in himself So that, Till man be convinced in himself, truly to see his own vileness & wretchedness, all truth is but as a shadow without substance. While the Pharisees stood justified in themselves, the Gospel was in vain, Christ came to reprove the World, and so to make way for the Gospel: The Word is profitable to convince and reprove. 1 For the first thing it works, it brings man into himself, as it did this Woman. 2. The Gospel is given to none, but to miserable men: For though others conceive, talk, and dispute of it, only these do believe it. 3. Then man clothes himself with it, and hides under it, but is not brought under the power of it: to yield, and lay his hand on his mouth: For he is wise above the Word. 1. And hence it is, that the Word is so lightly passed over, every man is wise to keep off the blow: & though it enters his head, yet he keeps out of his heart: & will not be guilty unless for fashion: And so for an lowly, lost mind: we have a thousand wise and secure hearts hardened through knowledge: For we have gotten a foreknowing of all Truth, and keeps off repentance; that when ever the wound of sin is discovered, we have ready a plaster, by fore knowing before the wound be made, and so Religion is made a mere matter of Compliment: For they see a remedy before the sore. 2. And hence see, that if man's heart believingly answer the Word of Truth, it will put all men to silence; none is able to stand before it, or to argue against it; It leaves all men guilty and none righteous, But when man gets upperhand of the Word, and gets it under his wit: it makes all righteous in conceit, & none sinners: as 1, by Christ. 1. Who cares for the sparrows and lilies? doth not the heavenly Father? Why then do you care; saying, what shall we eat? etc. Here all men are guilty, none able to say, his heart is clean. 2. Is Christ the Son of God, and hath Christ done that which never man did? and no man spoke like this man? Why then do we not believe? but he believes every lie of Satan: So that out of our own mouth and heart he will judge us. 3 So that one word believed with a simple heart, prevails more than the whole Bible, only known of a hard, and fleshly wise mind. Which will love him most. Or he: to whom he forgave most: So that, Look what Christ is to man, even the same is man to Christ, & to others, and nothing else. We love him, because he loved us. First, the love of Christ constraineth us. For Christ lives in me: So that he only gives life in all things. 1. For if Christ dwell but in man's fancy, than he hath only a fancy, and an opinion of Love, Righteousness, etc. For what ever rules in the mind; all the whole powers run thither. 2. For what a man is, or doth of himself; he is, and doth for himself, and it is mere nothing, though he gave his body to be burned. 3. Thus Christ shows his Power in man, mortifies man to the World, etc. And man as an instrument to do his will, as in every Officer of the Kingdom, commands by the King. 1. Where then is that power and that wisdom to order man's heart, to rule his passions, to frame his mind to the will of God, to mortify Lust? Is it in man's good husbandry; no? It is in man's lying dead in himself; weary of himself, waiting for help, and finding help in another; is loosed at the bottom, and loves Christ and all men; not out of any good quality in nature, or mortified mind through his diligence: but that unknown power of the love of God ruling in man, which separates man from himself and his own glory. 2. But this discovers a main want of lively Religion, & hearty Love, when in every thing a man meddles with, he still hath an eye to himself, his own ends makes him forward: his own power & wisdom guides him: & his own good he looks at: Nay, when Christ hath freed the mind, how soon returns man to himself, and gins the good thereby to himself. 3. And this shows that Christ lives in few: when we see that cankered malice, covetousness, pride, envy: and whole brood of lusts fight in man: See, He that loves Father or Mother, more than me, etc. 4. Yea, All men's hearts without Christ are like to this man's: a cold complimental courtesy, esteeming well of Christ: but better of himself, a reserved affection without life, for neither do they stand in need of him, nor feel any goodness by him, where he only lives not. She hath much forgiven her, and therefore she loves much. Here is the cause and effect of Christ forgiving her sins, and she loving Christ: so that, An heart truly troubled and lost in himself, and finding remission of sins in and by Christ: loves and cleaves to him above all things in the world or himself: and all men in and for him. Paul esteemed nothing but Christ, Phil. 3.7. Mat. 10.37. He that loves Father or mother: etc. 1. Cor. 16.22. He that loves not Christ, let him be Anathema. The disciples being stricken with this Doctrine, forsook all. 1. For there is no life left in any thing to man, either in the world or himself, but only in him: as the Prodigal: What is all gold & riches to an hungry Stomach, in comparison of bread? So, What is all the World to a lost heart in respect of Christ? 2. For nothing is, or can be such a burden, and death to the heart, as sin and guilt: and so, nothing like freedom & life, as forgiveness. O, how sweet is the voice of a pardon to a condemned man! Now, we all say, that we love Christ: But know, it is the mighty power of God, in the truth of his Word, that separates man from himself, and all things to Christ alone: for while when any thing else gives hope, delight, joy, ease or peace to man: Christ is not regarded, but in opinion only. 1. For there is a loving of Christ after the flesh: as the Disciples: who could not abide to hear of his departure: so we have fleshly, cold affections to the notions of Christ, but not to be ruled and guided, and live by him only, but will be quartermasters. 2. And there is a love to the ease, and peace and comfort by him, which we would still have: and fit at his right hand, or for works sake, but to love him: and esteem him for poverty, want, forsaken, and persecution, etc. we like not: Like a heartless wife, that loves and obeys her husband, so long as he pampers hers and keeps her fair and fine: But when he falls into poverty, forsakes him, and takes another; as the rich Lawyer and Dives did. So that Christ may well say, Who hath believed our report, or to whom is the power of Christ's death effectual? , all are so knit to the World and ourselves, that he and his word is not regarded. 1. The World we love, as Father, Mother, Ease, Fullness, etc. and these darken the heart, and gives such a peace to the flesh, that we see not the misery of our Spirits. 2. We love our own fancies, and thoughts & knowledge, and qualities, and think these will help us, and plead for us. 3. We love ourselves, and any thing that may preserve our fleshly Kingdom; but the Kingdom of Christ we cast off. 1 One rather than want his will; another, rather than want the World; another, rather than want ease and life, sets Christ aside: So that we may say? How dwells the love of God in these? 2. But see, Christ is esteemed and loved of none, but miserable and sinful men in themselves: who though he k●ll them, yet they will love him: these tread all under foot all righteousness, for they see none; all wisdom, the World, Ease and Peace, and Christ only is life unto them: And besides him, all things works their bondage: yea, are wearisome, as all men are to a loving wife, but her husband. 3. Away then with all Religion, where love is wanting: all talking and working, where man doth it to cover his filthiness; with them: Christ is a judge, and they cannot love him. 4. And none loves Christ, that loves himself: for only such as condemn and judge themselves, esteem of him. 5. And this appears in love to your neighbour, even of mankind, our very enemies: which appears in parting freely with the World: helping the needful, forgiving injuries, covering infirmities of others; suffering willingly: else, how dwells the love of Christ in us? 6. So that it is not love that is the form of Faith, but faith begets love: & love expresseth faith to the World. Thy sins are forgiven: So that, Free forgiveness of sins in Christ, to a troubled heart, is life in death, and the door and life of all hearty Religion. Having forgiven us all our trespasses, This was life in the Prodigal, and to the Publican: And this Paul acknowledgeth, Psal. 32. This is our blessedness. 1. For till then, the Partition-wall stands, and man sits in death in himself, or life in the world only. 2. This opens the door of the Covenant unto man. 3. This is the daily life of man, who though he daily sin, yet God in Christ, freely forgives, and this brusts his heart, and makes it melt into love. 1. But most enter not in at this door, but leap over this, & take for granted, what they never felt nor enjoyed. 2. Others, offer sacrifice to purge sin, and cover with righteousness, wisdom & opinion. 3. But O, What a life is this to a dead man, as a Prisoner condemned, yet obtains pardon through the mercy of a Prince? And this forgiveness is the free mercy of God, forgiving man's sin, for his own Names sake, not because, they are lesser or fewer, nor because we repent, & now turn, nor because, we are more righteous, or for good qualities. Who is this that forgiveth sins? Here they begin to judge him again, because he forgiveth sin: they looked that he should have judged & excommunicated her, or set her to keep the Law, and wrought her own peace. No saith he, I came to save, and not to judge sinners and lost man: But this was a Principle that they favoured not, so that, Unbelieving, Strait-hearted, Hardhearted, & Self-religious Men, though in Wisdom, Righteousness, they excel others: yet have they least favour or feeling of repentance and forgiveness, wherein the life of all Religion consists. They tithe the Mint, anise and Cummin; they look to the plucking of the ears of Corn on the Sabbath-day, but mercy, they are not acquainted with, Mic. They offer thousands of rams, etc. But to walk humbly with their God, they know not. The first, they urge with all vehemency, but the latter, they never mention. 1. For, what is in man's power, by diligence; by his own ends he obtains: but, what is God's free gift, as this; he hath not faith to embrace? 2. Do well, and have well; is the Principle all stick to: but resting in Christ, when all things are lost, is a mystery, known to none, but he that hath it. 1. The worldling hath no life, but in the World: and knows not, what forgiveness and burden of sin is: So, 2. The Pharisees know all, and do all: but forgiveness and faith he savours not; therefore, judgeth this to be carnal liberty. 3. All Sectaries, busy themselves about circumstances; but this never meddled with. 4. So we talk and think of Religion, and run into many disputs, and circumstances: and overleap the foundation, viz. the Mercy of God in Christ Jesus. 5. None knows the Power of Religion in deed, but he that hath it; not in himself, as a quality; but in Christ, by faith. 6. All Religion is nothing, where the Fountain is shut: no matter, what we know: if we know not Christ from a troubled heart. SERMON VI. Luke 8.4. And when much people were gathered together, and were come of every City: he spoke by a Parable: A sour went out to sow his seed, etc. AFter that Christ had cast off the Pharisee in the preceding Chapter, & received the Woman; whereby he manifested the freeness of God's grace, without any respect unto man. Great multitudes flocked to him, out of all Cities: and he lets them see by a Parable, that all hearers prove not Christians. Wherein note, 1. The occasion, much people met him 2. The Parable itself. 3. The Exposition thereof: Much people were gathered together. Partly, by his Miracles; partly, the power of his word; partly, for custom: but all came, and yet after you see, fall off: So that, The voice of the Gospel, and the publishing of it, gets many friends and followers at the first; which afterwards fall off, & forsake it, Joh. 6. When all was gone, his disciples began to slink: and he said, Will you also go away. It was great heart burning to the Priests and Elders, that the whole world went after Christ, & yet at the end, all forsook him: and he trod the winepress alone: So Paul had many Children and Churches, Gal. 4. You would have plucked out your own eyes, but they all forsook him, and turns to the false Apostles: thus beginning in the Spirit, and ending in the Flesh. 1. For, Est natura hominum novitatis avida: but when they have tried it, and find not that sweet they expected: but that it crosseth their lusts and worldly Kingdom, and suits not with their ease and rest; they forsake it. 2 Many embrace and approve of it for company, and moe forsake it for company: it may be the example of many will draw one to it: but the example of one will draw many from it. 3. Though man think, that a Nation is born at once: yet few truly proves good ground, and sticks to the end: for he that endures to the end, is saved. 1. This is too plain in experience, What zeal and forwardness, what diligence and care, is now dead and ended in nothing? and though once we wanted nothing but Christ, yet now have forsaken him in the way of his cross, and ease ourselves in the world, and our own devices. So that, the life of the Gospel continues but a time: for after a while, security takes hold of some opinions and heresies of others: and the world takes hold of all: and so the Lord takes it away, and sends it elsewhere. 2. To show the perverse nature of man, who is never weary of the world in the ways of the flesh: and yet how soon weary of this. He spoke by a Parable: Not in high and abstruse terms, or witty and unknown Language, but in plain parables, as of ploughing & sowing, of salt, and three pecks of meal, of lost sheep, of debtors and creditors: things well known unto men, & cast this simple seed amongst them; where, see the nature of the Gospel: So that, That it is plain & low, & simple; wants nothing, but believing hearts to make it known: yet not understood of any, but such as stand truly in need thereof. Many great Doctors were ignorant of these Parables: the Parable was plain but the mysteries was hid. Many wise men conceive truly of it, & defended it: but only miserable men knew the power of it. 1. For Christ came not to set men at disputing about opinions, but about themselves: to draw them to believe. 1. So that divinity stands not in curious searching of hidden things, but in plain evidence of truth, to pierce the heart. 2. And hence we see, what good doth all those disputes of high knowledge, of contemplative men, viz. The greatest Idolaters, that ever was in the Church: for they frame steps and stairs, to ascend to high Mysteries; and frame a God at the top: and yet, lie in pride and base lusts: God gives us low and humble hearts, & then a Parable will fet: the Gospel will be precious: and if ever God bring us to see the need of Christ, one simple word of truth will bring more joy, than a thousand witty discourses. A sour went forth to sow. And this seed is the Word of God, which prospers in some better, in some worse: and Christ therein ranks all men, according to that power the word hath in them; so that, Every man is with God, as the word is to him, Joh. 15 If you abide in me, and my word abide in you, etc. Saul cast away the Word of the Lord, therefore, the Lord cast him away: and all the complaints against Israel was still, because they harkened not to my Word: they disobeyed my Word: and all the Plagues that ever came on man, even from Adam, till now is, because our own wills and lusts rules us, & not his Word: we believe not: but David lived thereby. And this is that frees man, thy Word of Truth. 1. For God and his Word are one, such as his Word is to us, such is God in every thing: for not one jote of his Word shall fail. 2. And all the Word is nothing else, but a Declaration of the Fathers will in Christ: as the Law, that we should have no Saviour but him, and the Gospel: that he is a perfect Saviour: & all our sin is but a transgression of this Word, by making to ourselves in conceit, other Saviour's than him. This is the Word that was given to Adam, Abraham, etc. and this is a mighty Word, for by it all things were made and preserved. As with man, how deadly is the Word of a King in wrath: that it hath ever strucken a man with death? and so of mercy. And the sowing of this seed, is nothing else: but the faithful Declaration of Gods Will concerning Man and Christ, that man may see the deceits of Satan by that Word, & so be brought to repentance: & may see the truth of the Word in Christ, that the Kingdom of God may come. And yet Christ may say, Who hath believed our report: when we see this seed to perish, & not regarded, but cast off as a fable: We believe & fear the Word of Man: and the Word of a Father prevails with a Son: but God calls & cries, and we regard not: He threatens, and we fear not: He promiseth, and we believe not: But let the World threaten, we fear, or promise, and we rejoice: and so comes man to be of a worldly heart. Doth not the Father cast out the Son that regarded not his Word. Mark, and we shall see, that the whole ear is stopped to this Word: and he is but a dead hearted man: But know, that God hath punished more for this, than all other sins in the World. 1. Woe then to the deaf ear and hard heart of man, that can neither hear, nor believe what God saith; so that to some we see, 1. It is but a fable, and a thing of no account. 2. Others, reverence it: and seek to know, and cove● themselves under it. 3. Others, are stricken with the Glory and Majesty thereof: but fleeing to their own Inventions, are cured and fly high above it. 4. Others, are filled and revived, and live by it only: not minding, what the world or the flesh saith: but what Christ saith. 2. So then, that which most opposeth the Devil, is the Word of the Gospel: he can deal with all but this: but this discovers his dephts: and draws men out of his Kingdom, And if it live not in man, than Satan's Word lives in him: either that of the Serpent to Adam, or that of God prevails, and we live thereby. 3. But know, this will be a heavy word one day to those that now cast it off, & prefer their own Lusts before it, when the day comes, that the World & all fails man, & with those. Luke 13. We knock, etc. He shall say, I gave you my Word, I sent you my Prophets, I told you by them, that you were deceived, & that the World would beguile you: I sent you my Son to make known my will, he walked in the way before you: I gave him Power and Wisdom, to guide you by his Word unto Life: I told you, there was no Saviour to man, but only he But this Word you despised, and would not regard: You believed me not, but counted me a liar: you trusted the World, & the Wisdom of the Flesh: I would have performed Life to the uttermost, but you trusted me not: but counted Christ a deceiver: Therefore, now your blood be upon your own heads, and now that Word which you have cast away; must judge you: For my Word must stand. 4. Happy he than that lives by his Word, and in whom it lives, for all things else alter and change; yet this abides, if man stick to it, Though for the present, we feel no sweet to the Flesh, yet in time, it comforts the Spirit, and yet how often do we call it a lie, and judge the Word, and are not judged by it, either framing it to our own wills, or lifted up above it, or basely sunk down from it, but every way forsaking it, when indeed it is the sure foundation to be waited on, until the day dawn, and the day star arise, &: They by the way side. These are four sorts of men in the Church. The 1. Are like the high way, which is so trodden by the daily path of men, that it is hardened, and the Seed can take no root therein: Such are in the Church; So that, Those in whom the World, and Lusts hath a daily & continual path and custom, becomes so hardened thereby, that the Gospel takes little effect with them. So had Israel, Isa. 28. That they made a mock of the Prophets; so the young Lawyer. 1. For hereby the heart is filled and sore stalled, Psal 119. They are as fat as brawn, & regarded not thy Law. 2. Hereby is the ear stopped, and the heart hardened: like a drunkard, that they can hear nor mind nothing. 3. For if that every passage of the World leave such a wound as in David, what a bondage when it hath a path way and is become the very Shaped: wherein all vanity are bought and sold. 1. Hence it is that worldly hearts that are fleshed therein, do lest mind the Word: How hardly do these enter; Like the high way, that is neither fit for Corn nor Grass: And hence ariseth that damnable carelessness under the Gospel: Who hear, and care not, whether there be a God or not: Satan hath these in a fare stay. 2. See what a distemper the World works in man mind, that it makes him mindelesse of God and himself too. 3. Hence our very Preaching and Hearing, even lest labour for we cannot shout so loud, but Satan will out-shout us. 4. But well worth tender hearts, that lie in misery: and every Word of God sticks to the heart. Lest they should believe. This is Satan's end: So that, Satan's main drift to hinder man's Freedom, and undo him; is, that he may not believe. They on the stony ground. Here is the second sort i● the Church, in whom the Word hath a certain Work: but note, 1. Effectual, wherein, 1. Their condition is hard and stony. 2. The effect it had, They rejoiced and believed for a time. 3. Their failing, in time of temptation they sell away. So that, That an hard heart, bound and closed up in himself, and his own self-love; is altogether unfit to receiv● any good from Christ and his Word, Eph. 4.17. 〈◊〉 of the hardness of thy heart: So Israel, they erred in heart: because of the hardness of their hearts. Christ was cast out of their Towns, Psal. 81. Psal. 78. Wondrous things did he in the Land of Ham. Two things chief harden; self-love, & self-wisdom: For, when man is lifted up in conceit and opinion in doing something to God, and not poor and begerly to receive, he sends the Rich empty away. For the whole Doctrine of the Gospel, is not what we should do to God, but what we should receive from him? 1. For the Gospel is soft, and lowly, and tender, and must be sown in tender hearts of Flesh: The Law was written in stone: but the Gospel in the hearts of Flesh: This hardness is nothing, but the closing up of the mind in self-love; or of the creatures, and depending thereon; loving, living, and delighting therein, so that Mercy in Christ is despised. 1. Hence see, why the Gospel prospers not, viz. because of the hardness of our Hearts: because, that we neither feel our own misery, nor trust in God's mercy. 1. Some so confident, and closed up in themselves; that they trample the Word and Christ under foot. 2. Others know and comprehend it, but hard and bound at the bottom. 3. Others dispute and talk of it from a hard heart, no faith, no bowels of mercy; but talk as Lords and Masters of the Scripture, and so nothing but unprofitable found, and pride and vain glory are the bellows that blows it: and in all these we see, 1. They seek themselves in all things, their own glory and good. 2. They have no Mercy nor Pity for others misery, except partial, in respect of their own way and glory. 3. They censure, judge and condemn all but themselves. 4. The World and the loss thereof sticks deep, but not the Word. For our own misery and mercy in Christ, only breaks the Heart. 2. We see then whom only the Word profits, viz. Tender Hearts, that lie low, melting in Misery and Love: these pity others: these are killed and made alive by the Word, as in Christ, who mourned for the People's hardness, was partaker of man's misery: and yet saw Mercy of the Father. 3. So that all Knowledge, all Passions with a hard heart are nothing, and nothing more hardens than that 4. And all things prosper, according to the disposition of the Heart, learning etc. are the works of man; but saith and a broken heart, the gift of God only. This Word may and doth work many Passions, & a light belief in many: and yet never partaker of Christ therein, as Ezek. 33. They heard and showed love. And Herod did many things; for the Knowledge thereof is glorious and the evidence of the Truth convinceth man, to make him inexcusable. But these are but First, Stirring of natural passions. Second, Or, informing Reason more clearly. Many such Passions we see stirred up; and all nothing: So that, fits & passions, lights and easements come and go: but misery in man, and mercy in God remains ever. And the life of faith, is not any strength or quality in man; but a tender heart, & open ear, to hear & believe God's Word, & live thereby. SERMON VII. Isai. 57.10. Thou hast wearied thyself in the greatness of thy way Yet saidst not, There is no hope: Thou hast found the life of thy hand: therefore, thou was not grieved. IN this Chapter, the Prophet first bewails the loss of the Righteous of Israel, which was not laid to heart; but they presumed still of their own strength without God. Then he calls the Rebellious to a reckoning, to convince them of their Idolatry and carnal confidence: and to see the vanity of their way and their misery, and captivity ensuing. And all by a Metaphor of Adulterers, that have forsaken their Husbands, that would have been a safeguard unto them: and joining themselves unto others which would be their downfall. As first, that they had joined themselves to another: than to him: and had made a covenant with them, and said themselves with beastly pleasures, in satisfying of their Lusts; sometimes covertly, behind the door: Sometimes lifted up in their conceits, as upon a high Mountain. Then their carnal confidence in the arm of flesh, in going to the King of Assyria, and then when he failed, to the King of Babylon; and so concludes, they have sought all ways of weariness: and yet returned not to God: Wherein, he shows, 1. The frowardness of Man's Heart, and his many devices to nourish his fleshly hope, and put evil from his thoughts 2. The ground of all t●is vain confidence; is, because he find the life of his hands for the present; therefore not grieved. Thou hast wearied or toiled thyself: viz. Sought out all devices and ways to nourish hope, even unto weariness: and yet saw not thy misery: So that, All man's toil in the Flesh, wherein he wearies himself, is only to feed his hope of safety without God: & to keep evil from his heart and eyes: yet all in vain; for evil shall over take him in the end. Yea, though man daily see the weariness, and vanity of his own ways, that they prevail not to the satisfying of his own lust & desire; yet, he still seeds his hope, & thinks he shall put the evil from his heart: As Israel, though they saw they prospered not in their designs, by their fleshly power; yet still sought to the arm of Flesh, & trusted it; Pharaoh, though God wearied him with his judgements: yet, he was still hardened against him: The Pharisees, though they saw they prevailed not against Christ: yet ceased not to fight against his Kingdom. The Wordling, though he toil in weariness & yet still at a want, yet he cannot cast off care: but hopes to gain satisfaction: And Balack, & Balaam, Is●. 62. They will n●t s●t, but they shall see. For man hath more confidence's in the World & in the Flesh, than in God: & more ground and reason to believe it, than God; For thought the World have sailed him a thousand times; yet still he believes it, will help him; But if God seem to defer his help a while, he runs to his old friend Mammon again: as Israel did to Egypt, against Aissria: & contra: For man is loath to see any evil towards himself, or the down-fall of his fleshly Kingdom; though it doth fail in his sense and feeling: yet he holds it up in his conceits and hopes: And so would still have somewhat to look at, that he might believe. For nothing can destroy the hope of man, but God, by the power of his Truth, and sensible Wrath in man's heart: man can shuffle and shift off any thing else. 1. For if guilt be revealed, yet there is hope: For he will mend his course, falter Moses, and so hope for mercy. 2. If affliction and cross come, yet he will be more marry and diligent, and so prevent or recover it. 3. If Death come yet he puts it off as long as he can, and saith, While there is yet Life there is hope of mends. 4. For there is such a sure covenant betwixt the World and man's fleshly Heart: that if one fail, he runs to another, and if one conceit hold not, he gets another. 1. Hic labour, hoc opus. Thus doth the Wordlie heart of man wear out his days in weariness, and still feeds his vain hopes: How hath the youthful mind wearied himself, in one vanity after another, that now, they are weariness to him, and if the old man were kept to those youthful dalliance, it would be a burden: And yet, though there was hope in riches: and, how hath the rich Worldling fed his hopes with pulling down and building: and yet he is too short: Nay, there is nothing but is weariness in all our ways, and yet we follow them, as though in the end, when should gain rest: So loath is man to leave the pursuit of his fleshly hopes, & so little heart to bear the want thereof; That he will try the utmost of his strength, before he yield. 2. Nay, See the weary passages man hath in Religion, and yet will not deny himself: he hath gained knowledge, wrought righteousness, changed his course, and all to beget a Faith: and yet his heart is fearful and distrustful, and thinks by a new device or degree, to gain it; Nay, how often hath God confounded thy self-opinions and conceits, that thou saw it would not serve the turn, and yet, hast set a fresh upon a new one. 3. Nay, how often hath God frustrate the fleshly conceits of believers, and yet, they have not learned to trust him. 4. Thus the Flesh still deceives, for the wit of man shows him many great ways of thriving, & all proves weary: great ways of believing, and yet proves vain opinion: Man will have hold of something, that his hope may be preserved: Thus is he still bewitched, & will not understand the fear of the Lord. 5. But know, when thou hast wearied thyself, and worn out thy days; all thy hopes shall die with the●, and thou shalt see the Truth of that thou wilt not now believe. 1. When the World shall pass away from thee, or thou from it. 2. Thy friends forsake thee, or thou forsake them. 3. Thy Knowledge vanish, and thy conceits fail thee. 4. Death arrost thee, and lay all thy counsels in the dust and no hope of returning, or staying any longer: no hope to escape the punishment of thy guilty soul: then there will be no hope indeed. 5. This we see, what the life of man is, nothing but a wearying of himself, and ●eeding his hopes, which end in confusion; and the greater the way is, and more likely the project, the more deceived. 1 The way of the Pharisees is a great way of holiness, & great conceits arise hence: but all abominable. 2. The way of fleshly knowledge, and high contemplation: is a great and seeming way of happiness: yet, an enemy to the cross of Christ. 3. The way of self-holinesse and good qualities, and joyful feelings, feed hope; that he hopes it will be something, & so is not brought down to say, there is no hope. 6. And here we see, what an evil rests in the heart of man; like a predominant disease, overcomes all medicines. There is nothing that God doth to him, or that he enjoys, but this evil destroys it both: that evil disposition overcomes it, and the evil of misery falls upon him; which all his wit, and weary toiling cannot avoid. 1. If he meddle with the Word, there is an evil Infidelity and Lust that eats it out: and yet, he saith, There is no hope. 2. If he pray: there is an evil of selfness and pride that conceives hope from what he doth. 3. If he seek to know and comprehend, yet, there is an evil stubbornness, that he will not yield. 4. If he get the World, there is an evil of guilt and want that destroys his hope and confidence: Nay, there is no evil befalls man, but there is a greater with man which he sees not, but covers all he can: until God take him from himself, and make him a new man in Christ. And yet saidst thou not, There is no hope. Yet thou blessedst thyself in new aid, and not brought to seek help at me: So that, Till all man's hope in the flesh be destroyed, the help 〈◊〉 God in mercy; never relieves him. As with the Prodigal, and those in the Ship, Lord, save us, we perish. The hope that David had in his high mountain, turned away the face of God, and in numbering the People 72. He was past hope in himself, that he hoped to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living. The Pharisees was strong in this. 1. For till then, man never prays nor seeks to God in earnest: but to the World, and to the Arm of Flesh. 2. For this sights against faith more than all, and nothing so opposite. 3. For this is the proper effect of the truth, to destroy the fleshly hopes in man's heart: and to root it out, that he may seek to another. 4. For till then, man never denies himself, till he be sensible of his real misery; and sees and finds no help in the World, or himself, to avoid it. 1. All the poor ease the World hath, is to nourish his hope; for all the good he hath is nothing, but feeding him: self with hopes of more good: and so long as he can keep this conceit alive in his heart, he will not trouble God. 1. See the ground of his hopes. First, One hath the World, or thinks to get it; and therefore, he hopes, he shall not want: But David hoped, because God was his Shepherd. 2. Another hath Religion and the World, and therefore he hopes, he shall do well. 3. Another, he hath much light, and many feelings of joy, and he thinks, that all will be well; but none hopes in God. 2. See the endless goodness of God, that in crossing, blesseth them; and in destroying hope, stablisheth them in himself, when the restless heart is past hope: saying, I have gotten the World, and looked to my ways: but the Rebellion of my heart is that, I have no hope: Then saith God, If thou hast no hope in the World, nor in thyself; then hope in Me. SERMON VIII. Psal. 81.10, 11. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it: But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would have none of me. THis Psalm is a Psalm of Praise, ordained to be sung in the Feast of Tabernacles; when from the fifteenth day, till the two and twenty, they feasted in booths; as Levit. 23. To put them in mind, how they dwelled as strangers in Egypt, and were thence delivered: and after forty years in the Wilderness: where they dwelled in Tents daily to be removed at God's appointment: and they to live by Faith in the Covenant: Showing the life of man, that though he dwelled in Tents, as Abraham, and have no habitation nor succour, nor power to defend him: yet God helped them in all these straits: wherein, 1. He exhorts them to praise God, with Psalms and Instruments. 2. Reckons up the great benefits of God in their deliverance, both in Egypt and the Wilderness: where he gave them a Law and everlasting Testament. 3. Adding the promise, that he will be their God still: if they will trust and fear him: of which, 4. He shows a reason, why they should have none other Gods, viz. because he is their only God, that brought them out of the Land of Egypt, and confirms the promise, that he will be the same still. 5. Then he upbraids them, and shows: how, notwithstanding all these mercies and truth, they forsake and would not hear him. 6. And so the righteousness of his Judgement in forsaking them, with an aggravation of his judgement; by remembering what they had lost, and might have found. I am the Lord thy God. Why shouldest thou have any other God? I am only He: all thy devices have failed, but I was always thy refuge, none could help, when I helped, So that; When man hath run through all Inventions & Lusts, yet none but God in Jesus Christ, shall be his rest and stay: and the heart simply believing, & acknowledging: this is only happy. How often doth he urge this in the Prophets? I am God alone, and beside me, there is no other: Who can measure the Heavens, or gather the Earth into his fist: who can tell things to come. I only have laid the foundation of the Earth. The Prodigal would needs have others: yea, be a God to himself, but was fain to fly hither; David, Psal 73 confesseth, I have none in heaven but thee. Thus cried the People, when Elias offered Sacrifice: The Lord, he is God: the Lord, he is God Paul's righteousness was but dross, none but Christ, and him crucified. 1. All other things are but deceivable snares of Satan, and all our toil and hopes are but our own sorrows; for to this we must: and he must either be our best rest and friend, or woe to us. These may flatter a while, but he must give life; or else we die. 2. All things live by him only, much more man's Soul, which hath no life in any thing else, as the body hath. 3. This is the whole Law and the Gospel. 4. And God and the Faithful are joined, and made one in Spirit like Father and Child, Husband & Wife, so that, offer what thou wilt: they cry none, but my Father and my Husband. 1. But the dark World, which is blind, hath encroached upon God's Inheritance; and shut him out of the hearts of men: that they cry, Any God, but this God: So the Jews, any but Christ: Barrabas, or any Murderer: As, 1. See how the World and the Strength thereof is trusted and relied on, that they say with Israel, These are thy Gods, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt. 2. See how it is loved, and how it is sought and delighted in. 3. See how the want and the loss thereof is feared, and sorrowed for. 4. Yea, how willingly man serves, and becomes a slave to it; and yet this great and terrible God, this good, kind and merciful God; and his sure word & promise not regarded. 2. So that Faith is a simple and single hearted thing; casts off all power, wisdom, and good of all things, but this only; and like a chaste Wise, cleaves only to her husband; and cries out, with David against all Satan's temptations: 1. When he offers plenty and fullness nay, none but God and his Christ. 2. When he offers Righteousness and Wisdom to look at nay, none but Christ. 3. When he threatens & drives man to seek to the arm of flesh: nay none but God & his power: yea, when he draws to sin, through lust, yet with Joseph, No, I cannot sin against God. So that Faith is only the preservative: As in the Martyrs: wh●, for this God, forsook Father, Husband, Life, and all to be joined to this God so good. For, while God was a God to Israel, all Nations fled before them, and feared them, no want nor misery surprised them; but they were filled to the full with all good and satiety: and while man sits under his shadow simply, he is safe: he needs no power of man to support him: nor riches to fill him: For he hath a joy, peace, and riches, and goodness, that the World knows not off, because it knows not him. 3. Let every man try, who is the Lord and God of his Soul. One saith, O! riches is the only thing? another, Nay, drunken and merry company is the only joy: another, Nay, youthful sports, and pleasures the only Heaven: another, Nay, the great Babel, that I have built for my honour: another, Nay, but I have none in Heaven, nor in Earth but thee alone. Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. I helped, when thou wast not able to help thyself; I freed thee, when thou wast a slave, and I delivered thee when thou wast in danger, & I supplied thy want, when thou was ready to faint, & wilt thou have any other Gods but me For they thought not of it: Moses, a weak man to deliver them, What straits were they brought too, & still he fred them: So that, God ever witnesseth his power, and truth, and love to man, in his greatest weakness and misery; and then doth man ever find God to him the nearest. What straits was David in all those bitter complaints: and Israel, when they wandered in the wilderness, and had no City to dwell in, Yea, out of the deep have I cried, and thou helped me. So when we were in Egypt, weary of that bondage he brought us out Yea, the Prodigal, what straits was he in: and was received to mercy: This is the Type of our great Redemption, manifested in the Gospel. 1. For than doth man most purely believe, & Gods love most apparent. 2. These straits & wants God brings man into: that he may show man his power, and man may believe him. 3. Then doth he Seal up the truth of his Word and Promise, which man in fullness calls a lie. 1. No marvel then, though we have but little appearance of God's love, when we are ready to burst with fullness, and satiety of conceit: sin bites, but we feel it not: we can shift it off, and Christ came only to sinful man: want presseth us not: need makes us not run. We live in Egypt, but we would live there and fill our bellies, and so seek no deliverance. For we feel no bondage, but know, that this Pharaoh, a devil; will root as out at last, as to Israel, when they fled to him for help. 2. So that straits and bondage in ourselves, and the World, makes God great to appear for, Where sin abounds, there grace also. O! what straits were the poor Martyrs put too, when all was taken away. Their joy turned into sorrow, peace & freedom into war, & bondage and jeopardy of death every hour, and yet, How did he deliver them? how did the light break out of that darkness? The wicked, who being in honour, Psal. 49. Yet dying, pass from house to grave with woe & welladay: These passed from the prison, to the fire with joy, and with singing; I have seen, I have seen, saith God, the affliction of my people in Egypt. I remember my Word to Abraham, Come therefore, & I will send thee to deliver them But he cannot say so to us; I see the desolate & mourning Soul of my people, lying groaning under the bondage of sin; Nay, they are full, rich, & increased with goods, etc. Therefore, I will not cast my Word upon them in vain: For they are not fit subjects for my mercy: A merciful man indeed hath ever an open heart and hand to the needy: So hath God: But the rich he sends empty away. The deliverance is more urged in the Old Testament than any work that God wrought: both by Moses, Samuel, and the Prophets: And wha● wonderful Sacraments for remembrance thereof did God institut, as the Passeover and Pascal Lamb, because it was a figure of our eternal redemption. To teach, That the life, joy, & comfort of man is continued still the same way of faith, & promise: & power of God, whereby man's was first fred, that this promise might still live in man's ho●●. I am the Lord thy God which brought the out of the land of Egypt. 1. For man is as weak in himself, and Satan as strong as then: For as God gave life to man, and be only continues it so he gives grace, and continues it: & thereby we live. His Word endures for ever: Paul was received to mercy, through grace and the same Christ still lived in him. So he often exhorts to continue in grace, and to be grounded and established in grace: & to live by faith. 1. Not as wise unbelieving men, who having tasted of the good word of the Lord and knowledge of the Mystery of the Gospel, with Israel: turn back into Egypt: or become wise and righteous in themselves, and so cast off the Covenant. And thus with many, they were sinners: and God received them to mercy: But now, these work it out: beginning in the Spirit, but ●nding in the Flesh. Alace! Is sin less burdensome ●●an before, o● thou less guilty? or is God more beholden to thee, than formerly? Or hast thou some store whereby thou lives, no? as this was the first, so it must be the daily food to live by, even this promise, never to departed from us: But that man, still seeing and feeling the burden of his rebellious heart; and thence cry and pray, and he shall be delivered. 2. It is not preying, pratting or talking: or soaring high into the air, or storing Manna, or lusting after Quails: but to attend on his hand who brought us out, and will deliver us, if we be not lifted up above him, nor drawn from him: but with Caleb and Josuah, rest constant in his Covenant. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. As I have been a God of mercy, so I will be still: Ask, and I will give thee: renewing the promise, that they may still believe, and cleave to him; commanding them, without any condition, on their part: for his promise is free, that neither sin nor weakness, nor failings: but open wide, and I will fill all th●se wants: So that, There is an endless riches of love, truth & all goodness in God, to satisfy all needs and desires of man: which shall never be wanting to open and praying hearts. With thee, is the Fountain of life, and in thy light, shall we see light, Isa 55. Come, buy Wine and milk without money etc. and let your soul delight itself in fatness: Every one that thirsteth, Come: drink of the Well of the Water of Life, freely, Luk 2. He fills the hungry with good things Psal. 63 David prayed, and he filled his soul as with marrow. 1. For he fills all things with his fullness. With him is fullness of joy he sends rain to the dry ground, he seeds the ravens, he the Earth with herbs: all things flow from him: Nay, he hath so filled the treasures of Nature, that there is not, nor can be a vocation, much more, there cannot be an empty Soul with whom he had nearer Communion, than with all creatures: Bu● if it be not filled with the Word, or something else, he fills it. 2. For all things live by him: take away his power, and man dies; his blessing, & man wants, his Wisdom, and man wanders: But our mouths and hearts are straitened We cry not, unless to the World, there we open wide: saying, Give me riches, or I die, etc. So that the mouth of Lust is like the grave, never satisfied: But to him we seek not: we are full, and our hearts are straitened. We are like a man shut up in little ease: where he finds no rest, and the Wall so thick, his cries are not heard, and so none pities him: So we in the World, our hearts are pinched there, and yet the Walls of the World so thick; that the cries of the Spirit is not heard. When a man wants Bread, how plentifully doth h● cry: with an open heart in true necessity, and yet like sleeping men, we dream of store, and beg not. 1. We are all knowing, wise, & righteous, devote men, but not praying hearts. O! the heart of man, that hath his senses so bound up, and benumbed as with opinion, that he is fallen asleep and prayer not, nor wants nothing, but to satisfy the Flesh, for, if ever the heart were open, & cried indeed, it should be heard. 2. But know, that the time will come, when we shall cry, and call, knock and weep, and not be heard: Like the foolish Virgins, and Israel here: No, they were wise, and rich, and righteous: and they cried not. 3. What ever then straitens the heart towards God, and stops the cries of the Spirit is a work of Satan; though the fairest gift that ever we received: But alace! praying days are gone, the time was, when thou went mourning and praying in thy Spirit all the day; and in thy very dreams, and now thy very prayers are but dreams; and all thy store is but windy emptiness. Alace! hast thou not as much need of his grace as ever? is not thy pride, and false knowledge as great a snare as ever? was thy wanton sins; yes sure, & as odious to God But my people would not hear my voice: Here is his upbraiding of Israel, for their security and hardness: appearing chief herein, that they cast off his Word, and would not hear; Nay, cast him off, and would none of him: This is a fearful hardness, that casts off God and his Word and sought other inventions. So that, When man casts off the Word of Christ, all blessings and joys is shut up from the Soul of man: and when he casts off God from being his God: death & destruction must needs follow. So to Adam and Saul: and this is complained of by the Prophets more than all, Psal. 50. What hast thou to do to take my Word into thy mouth: and hast cast my Word behind thee? And this was a fearful sign always, of the hardness of the Jews: That they would none of Christ, nor his Word, as Joh. 10. I told you, but you believed not: nor they would not receive his Testimony: Nay, Joh. 1. The Word of the Father was sent a light into the World, and to his own, but they received it not. And here Israel believed not his promise, that God would do thus to them: nor have God to be the ground of their rest. 1. For when man casts off his Word, & Christ: he is put to other shifts, & seeks other inventions: & walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes: Like an unfaithful Son, who dare not trust the truth and love of his Father that hath brought him up: but lays up a portion in secret, and gets friends abroad: and after a while, being thereby hardened casts off the Father quite. 2. For the life of the soul is hid & laid up in this Word, Ps. 3.5 Our life is hid with God in Christ. Forsake this, & forsake life: It is the treasure of the Kingdom, all good is promised here: the Soul hath no certainty nor foundation, but in this promise in Christ. 3. For God hath sent his Word & Christ into the World to seek our the forlorn spirit of man, that is misled by the flesh: and covered under the vail of the World; saying, Go seek & find out that desolate stranger. Thus he offers life, if it will return: But in steps the blind Reason, & Wit, and Flesh of Man, secretly whispering: Now this is a blind way: First, lay a good foundation: get the World, and something to look at, then trust: so also, be circumcised and keep the Law, and then believe: Still the Soul a little enlightened by the truth, saith: But sure this is not the way; me think, I hear, & see fair way opened, and that is, Christ is only the way of Life: no faith the flesh, Unless we be circumcised Christ cannot profit 1. Thus in all unbelieving hearts, the Word of Christ is still cast off; for first, 1 It is foolishness to it that a man should forsake the World, live by faith, follow God with Abraham, he knows not whither, suffer the loss of my own Will; nay, of my Wit; nay, of my Life: and all this is a foolish way. 2. And it crosseth the heart of man (which he will needs have) for rather than he will want that, he casts off Christ himself with him, in Matth. 19 He went away sorrowful: So that man's infidelity is still nourished by fleshly Reason, and fleshly Lusts, which fight against Faith. 2. Thus the World trusts any thing, rather than God and his Word: For, 1. The World saith, Harken unto me, and seek me, & ply it, and be diligent, & I will fill thee with fullness? and thou shall not want. 2. So lust calls, Come, I will fill thee with mirth, and put away sadness: delight thee with pleasures: and yet the heart is sorrowful. 3. So Reason, I will lead thee the good and safe way, behold thy Righteousness, Wisdom, etc. What needs thou fear These are the promises of God, and of his Word. 4. Nay, saith Christ, These will sail: but come thou to me, and I will ease thee, and deliver thee, and redeem thee from all bondage. 3. Nay, We, that are traders in this Word, yet how is the heart slant from the simplicity of the Gospel, and so gets no good thereby For, 1 We gather conclusions from it by strength of Wit and Art. We frame it to our conceits It begets strong opinions in us: and we frame tricks, and self-holie devices all out of it: which are but the Froth of our fleshly brains: But believing, not from a broken heart, tender & relenting. We call opinion believing, and so as among men, it is too true a complaint. That plain dealing is gone: So in Religion, plain dealing is lost. We profess the Word, and trade in it, and cast it off when we have done. 2. Or we confound Law and Gospel, because neither hath power in us. We set one in the room of the other, and make the Gospel effectual by the Law: and not the Law fulfilled by the Gospel. 3. Or we make the Word subordinate to man, and not man to it, laying a foundation in ourselves of good qualities, and building the promises thereon: when it is free without condition. We judge the Word, and are masters of the Scriptures, and are not guided & governed with it. 4. Or we seek a sign or a wonder, that may confirm the word to us, that we might feel some joy & peace: that we might know some assurance: But he saith, I have given thee a sure Word, to believe that but in all, we cast away God and his Word and hence it is we get so little good by it. 5. But happy he that sticks to this God & Promise, it shall not fail, speak the Word, and my servant shall be whole. What a mighty Faith, that believed, that Word, and was healed? 6. But this shall be a heavy Word one day, when the Son stands condemned at the Bar, and the Father saith, Now thou seest, what is become of thy Rebellion. I was thy Father, and never wanting, or did I ever fail thee. I promised, thou should not want, and gave thee my Testimonies. I sent my Son, a man like thee, he brought my Will to thee and my Promise, but thou would have none of me: but thou would have the World, and follow thine own Will: Thou trusted in thy own Power and Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Holiness: Now plead, if thou can: therefore, not I, but that Word which thou hast cast off, shall judge thee. Then I gave them up to hardness. When man's heart is turned from the Word of Truth, he usually hardens in some fleshly way, So that, No greater judgement besals man, nor surer sign of Gods destroying Wrath, than when God ceaseth to call, and work with man, but leaves him to the lust & hardness of his own heart. Thus to the old World, I will no longer strive with man. Rom. 1. He gave them up to vile affections, The Gentiles, he suffered them to walk in their own Ways and Counsels, Joh. 17. I pray not for the World: These he leaves, if man have tasted the good Word of God, etc. and fall from that Word, he is left impenitent. Thus the World, when a man grows hardened, that the Father can do no good, than he casts him off. Two things hardens above all. First, Fullness of the World. Secondly, Knowledge of the Word, without the power thereof. 1. What may we then fear, when all our former working hearts, are turned into hardened knowledge & presumption. For First, where is our weeping and mourning days? where is that melting and trembling of heart before the Word? Where are those cries & prayers after Christ and his Truth. Nay, all is turned into secure talking, or dead-hearted profession: that now it is but a dead Letter. God is not with the Word, so that we may say as Deut. 5. I have heard all your Words, But, O! that there were such a heart: we fear the plague & sword, & tremble when it approacheth: but no judgement like to this, when God leaves us to all these, and suffers man to walk in his own course to his destruction. 2. But well-worth tender hearts, whose minds are drawn from the World, & from all things of himself, what ever he feels, yea, though but death and sorrow; yet joy and peace shall come, & he will soon confound all enemy's SERMON IX. Exod. 12.21, 22, etc. Then Moses called all the Elders of the people of Israel, and said, Choose you out, and take for every house a Lamb, and kill the Passeover: And take a bunch of Hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basons, and strake the lintel, and the two posts of the door with the blood, etc. When God intended to bring Israel out of Egypt, viz. Man out of the bondage of sin and Satan, and bondage of corruption; He sends Moses, Aaron, and the Prophets to guide them according to his will; according to the promise made to Abraham, and now to be accomplished by Moses. First, He sends him with assured confidence of his assistance. 2. He hardens him against Pharaoh, & ceaseth not to plague Pharaoh, till he make him yield, though against his will, and so makes way for the deliverance of Israel, Israel, a figure of the Kingdom of Christ. 1. As they lived in Goshen, where was light and plenty, yet in bondage under Pharaoh: So we under the light of the Gospel, yet bound in infidelity, and lust of the World. 1. Because, we stick not to the Covenant, or because the time is not yet come. 2. Though the promise was made to Abraham, and stood fast in him, yet for the present saw little hope of deliverance, so we though the promise be revealed in Christ, yet to our unbelieving hearts, little hope of deliverance, But still in bondage under Sin and Gild, & the World. 3. When they were past hope, after four hundred years' bondage: God sent Moses to deliver them, by an unlikely way; even nothing but the Word of God. So, when we see least likelihood in the flesh, God sends a mighty Word to destroy sin, and to restore us to freedom. 4. After he had laid many judgements upon Pharaoh, still less hope for Israel; because he hardened & grew more raging. So with us, after the Word hath discovered man to himself, he sees no hope, but burden, & bondage doubled 5. Yet after they were brought out of Egypt; yet far from the Land of rest, because they walked not in the life of the Covenant, but after their own lusts; So we have much to be suffered, and our Will and the World to be crucified: But when he intended to bring Israel indeed out of Egypt, than he destroyed the firstborn, even the strength of Egypt, in whom their name and power was to be continued, and so he dealeth with us, viz. When he intends to deliver the captive Soul of man out of the hand of Satan, he destroys the firstborn, viz. Our infidelity, and all that power & strength which Satan reared up in man, and so brings Pharaoh low, So that, God never delivers his people, and brings them into rest and liberty, till he hath first made them weak; and brought down their strength, and laid them low in lamentation, and woe, Psal. 107.12. He brought down their hearts with heaviness. So with the Prodigal, and with Paul; He struck him blind to the earth, and took from him all his Pharisaical strength, as Phil. 3. Yea, David's high mountain must be taken away, that he may seek to God and be delivered. 1. For all that which is born of the flesh is flesh, & must be destroyed, else, how can the Spirit live and be free; all that strength we have, whether of confidence, assurance, joy, etc. arising from Riches, Wisdom Power, and other gifts and qualit●s of nature, are but power, whereby Satan rules in man: Pharaoh was God's creature, but perverted against God, and thought to keep Israel by strong hand; So all the riches, wisdom, etc. are his gifts but perverted: when we think to live and stand by them: Therefore must down. 2. Yea, Pharaoh, and his host must be drowned in the Sea, even in that hearty, sorrow & deep humility, that will drown all Pride, and self-righteousness; or, what ever else lifts up man. 3. Thus doth God bring man to trust him, by making void all other strength to trust to. 4. For all divinity, power and strength is affirmative, or positive in Christ: only negative in us: In denying, in forsaking, in crucifying, etc. So that Christ may live, ●●sitivelie in us; which cannot be, till the chief of all our strength be subdued. 1. But do we not with Pharaoh, still harden our hearts; and will not yield, though God send Famine, yet, we recover, and harden thereupon; Though Plague, we escape & live: & we depend thereon; We see and taste sore plagues: but the World, or something creeps in and shuts us up in bondage and darkness. Nay, though we feel smart, and want: Yet, we Pharaoh: Satan, Mammon lives in us: and we cleave thereto: for Pharaohs hardness is in us all in the Root. 2. Well were we, if our Firstborn, even all our fleshly power and conceit thereof were slain, and that we were brought low enough in the flesh, that Israel: the elect soul of man, might pass on towards rest, according to the promise. 3. But the worst of all is we feel no bondage; nay, we fear our firstborn should die: The World is no burden, but a pleasure, Sin no sorrow, but delight: We like so well in Egypt, that we dream not off, nor despare not a departure. 4. But if God mean us good, he will kill the firstborn of Pharaoh in us, and that by his only Wo●d and Messenger. Moses, asilly man: and yet God performed every Word that he spoke, so we fight against the power of darkness in you● else, were it more pleasure to us to tell you of Life and Freedom. But it is not our message, We must first destroy Pharaoh: & then Israel, the poor bond Spirit of man shall fly and be saved. 5. There will come a destroying night to all men. Then Moses called the Elders of Israel. Now before Israel was to departed: He ordains the Passeover: that seeing there should be such a destruction, lest Israel should therefore doubt of the promise; he gives them a sign or token of safety, As Christ did, When the Shepherd should be smitten, and desolation s●en in the Earth, and that Christ was to leave them: then he gave them the Sacrifice of his death, to assure them, though he should die, and they suffer afterwards: yet, this should be a sign and seal of their deliverance from death and hell: Therefore, he 1. gives a command to keep the Passeover, ver. 21. 2. He prescribes the manner, Take the blood, etc. 3. He adds the promise, For when I see the Blood, I will . 4. The stablishing of this as a perpetual ordinance to Israel. In the first, he lays down the matter of the Sacrifice, the latter how to be celebrated: This ordinance was called the Passeover of the Lamb: the other was called the feast of the Passeover. This was to be eaten in their private houses the fourteenth day of the first month Nisan; the other was to be kept seven days, and was called the feast of the Passeover or unleavened bread: So that this is properly the Passeover, the other the Feast: This is the sacrifice of their deliverance that night: the other a Feast of rejoicing for that deliverance, Wherein their was a holy convocation the first, and last day, viz. A remembrance of the Lords mercy to them, and a teaching it to their Children. 1. The matter of the Sacrifice was a Lamb of the first year, figuring Christ a Lamb without spot. 2. The taking of the Blood and sprinkling, it was a figure of his Death, So that all this, was but to lead Israel to Christ, and to wait on the Promise made to Abraham, That though they should hear a cry throughout all Egypt for the death that was among them. Yet that they should stick to that Word, & behold this sign, that they should be preserved So that, The whole Word of God, and all the Sacrifices given to the Church, are given to lead man from all things to Christ; and the steadfast sticking to his Word and Promise, whereby they shall be preserved in all extremities, Isa. 55. Behold, I have given him for a ensign, or witness to the people. 1. Cor. He is our wisdom, Righteousness, etc. Joh. 14. I am the way, the truth, and the life; My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved, in him whom my Soul delighteth: All the promises in him are, Yea, and Amen, They all run upon him in Christ, through Christ, by Christ; And this was the Word of the Father, Who was in the bosom of the Father, The Light and Life of men: He took flesh, and dwelled among us, and God hath laid help on one that was mighty: and as many as believe this Word, shall not perish, but have life. 1. For such is the distrustful and unbelieving heart of man, that he hath given all things to draw him to believe, His Son in the flesh, and fleshly Sacrifices and signs, that man may see the accomplishment of the Word before his face. 2. For the whole Word of God is nothing else, but a declaration of God's purpose, touching his pleasure, towards man and that Salvation which he determined in Christ; only declared to man, that he may believe: And therefore, hath given him the Word, Christ, Sacrifices, and many wonderful miracles and great works on Pharaoh, and all enemies, that they may wait on that Word, and stick thereto. 3. And thus Christ himself dealt with his Disciples, saying; You are all sorry to hear that I must leave you, And believe not that I shall rise from the dead: your heart● will be shaken this night: but I shall die, and rise again▪ and that I will be present with you by the Holy Ghost, whom I will send, and abide with you: Take, and eat, this in remembrance of me, that so you may not fly to any other help nor be discouraged with any temptation in the World: For I will be with you, and not forsake you: Therefore, when ye meet together, eat this Passeover; and feast, and make merry in me. For though I will judge the World by my Word, yet I will you that believe my word, and in my Name. 1. But, woe to the World, because of unbelief: God hath promised, and that Word shall be performed in Christ to all believers. This he hath Sealed by many signs, and yet we believe any thing rather: The World promiseth, and showeth lying signs: and we believe: Satan promiseth, and showeth lying wonders, and we believe: But God hath given his Son, and we believe not: This is the condemnation, that light is come into the World, etc. He hath given signs, and yet we believe not, he hath passed over others, and saved us from great dangers: and still we believe any thing before him. 2. Yea, and of all things, men are least led hither: any thing but Christ: We get knowledge by the Word, and depend thereon, and proud thereof: it lifts us up, but brings us not down to seek hither. Nay, by this word we will needs comprehend God and his Power without Christ: when all power was given to him: Yea, of all other, the Righteous & Religious man could not abide him, nor, walk in his ways, as Scribes & Pharisees: So we become righteous, and will live thereby: We run into a thousand opinions, and devices, and inventions, but Christ despised of all. We provide Lambs and feed on them, but not on Christ. And yet we see God's way was always a low way: He, a silly Lamb, and now ordinary food of Bread & Wine, that hereby, he might reveal the great Mystery. They are poor and common, that he may cross Man's curious devices, and that the flesh may see no beauty in them, but in him only. 1. There is outward Elements set before the common senses of man. 2. The Word, to inform the understanding. 3. And Christ and his Spirit to feed the heart, and spirit of man, that he may believe. 4. So that all the Word and Sacrifices are nothing without Faith, as in Heb. 4. This leads passed all figures: Yea, when nothing appears but Death, this finds Life This gives a place in the heart of man for eating of the Lamb, Bread and Wine, a silly thing, where the heart is not led further. It is not knowing, talking, or doing the thing, but believing that Word, and resting thereon: Now, the use and manner of the Sacrifice lets us see the life thereof, the sprinkling of t●e blood, the death of Christ; that i● his death is accomplished our Redemption; The Lamb without spot, him, who was innocent, doing good: loving all, hurting to none, in whom dwelled all righteousness, and yet he must die, that we may live. In this, death is the assurance, that by suffering com●● life: when this Blood is sprinkled on the heart of Man that the eyes of man be still here, in all wants & straits to wait in Faith, here to receive life: As also, by death and suffering, the loss of all things in patience, we ar● through faith made Victors over all. The sprinkling o● the Blood, was a sign to Israel of safety, and of thei● deliverance to come: So to us, This Sacrifice is given to draw our eyes from all other things to Christ only. SERMON X. Isa. 28.14.15. etc. Hear the Word of the Lord ye scornful men, that rule my people, which are in Jerusalem; because ye have said, We have made a Covenant wit● Death, etc. IN this Chapter, is laid down the woes denounce● against Israel, for their hardened security, and contempt of the Promise of God in the Messiah; where unto, through fullness they were fallen. For fullness begot Pride, and that made them even drunk as with wine: and so careless and secure. 1. He pronounceth the woe, and then shows their present estate. 1. Under pretence of their privileges, they were lifted up in Pride. 2. Besotted with World and sensual pleasures, as men drunk with wine, and hardened in all. Two things made them proud, 1. Their privileges of being God's people. 2. The fullness of the World and long peace, & this defection was grown general. 1. The People, they were lifted up with a singular conceit. 2. The Priests and Prophets were grown drunk and besotted. 3. Their Princes were high minded, and scorners: And so at last; in these Words he proceeds to judgement against Israel; showing what shall befall them, ●nd so Prophecies of the Captivity following: In which, ●e declares formally as in all Courts of justice, for the defence of the King his Crown and Dignity: For ●herein the crime being notorious in the Country, ●nd appearing so before the inferior Officer: they are ●eferred to the judge, specially sent by the King: before whom they are to receive their final trial and judgement according to desert: Where, 1. They are called ●o the Bar, than the Judgement preferred, and sound witnesses produced: so judgement and execution. So ●oth God here. He calls them to the Bar: by their names, scornful men, that rule Israel. He prefixes the indictment against them, because they had cast off the Word of the Lord by carnal confidence and security, ●nd so were hardened against God: Which confidence appeared in three particulars, wherein they promise safety, though God had threatened the contrary. 1. From Death. 2. From guilt, and Hell. 3 From the Cross, together with the ground thereof, vanity and falsehood. Three Witnesses he needed not, for they out of their hardness confess: He proceeds to judgement: wherein he, 1. He lays down the safe estate of Zion, the Church: in that he hath there laid the Foundation and Cornerstone, Jesus Christ: and the safety of all that build thereon, He that believes, etc. 2. And then the judgement of the enemies, as 1, That they shall have right judgement by him. 2. That he will disannul all their hopes of safety, etc. 1. Note their present condition, and what had brought them to it, viz. Their fullness, and peace, and conceit of their privileges above others; So, that had made them now scorners of Christ, & his Word, by the Prophets. So that, Long peace, and plenty, ease & fullness in the World covered with a conceit of Redemption by Christ; doth usually harden man against God, and cover man from himself, that Christ and his promise: his ways and Religion are despised and little set by: Which, for the most part brings a heavy day in the end. Thus the old World mocked at Noah, and Psal. the● 10. Tush, there is no knowledge in the most high, let him do his Word, that we may see it: Thus the Pharise● being full, despised the righteousness of God, & mad● a mock of Christ; See what end it brings, Prov. 1. Because they despised my counsels, etc. Therefore shall th● eat the fruit of their own ways. As in Constantine time, when the Church enjoyed rest from their enemies: and that they had peace through the Christia● World: Men became wanton in knowledge, and fe● from the truth of Christ, into foul errors, to the ve●● denying of Christ's Godhead, and the Holy Ghost. S● in times of peace and fullness, Religion is made but matter of discourse not of practice. 1. For two things make all things esteemed, Necessity, Delight: But when the heart is fatted up with th● World, he feels no want of Christ. And for delight, h● hath none: for he never felt the sweetness of his Lor● and Reconciliation. 2. For the fullness of the World embraced, eats o●● the life of Religion: As the thorny ground choked th● seed & David's high Mountain: And Christ saith, How hardly doth these enter into Heaven. So that, though the World laugh and seems pleasant for the present; yet in the end, it is a miserable comforter. For, though Israel was now full, and despised the honey Comb of Christ's death; yet afterwards, were carried captive; they were forced to sit by the waters of Babel weeping, and drink their own tears: as those, Psal. 37. Who had what they desired, yet were they set in slippery places: and suddenly went down to hell. 1. This is too plain in experience, peace and plenty have been our portion many a day: We feed of the fattest, & baist ourselves before the fire; we feel no smart, as do others; nor are we pinched with famine, nor hear we the fearful noise of the drum: nor are we affrighted with the terrors of an army. We dwell safe under our Vines, and are not driven from our habitation, as other our neighbours; who are glad to forsake house and harbour, lands and riches, to save their own lives. We play with our Wives and Children, and sport ourselves with them for company, when others hearts are broken with cries and lamentation of Wife and Infants: and knows not how to save them from that approaching destruction that is coming: And yet, what effect hath this wrought: even like those in Zephaniah 1.12. which say; Tush, God will neither do good nor evil; and tush, we shall feel no evil. 2. But look for it, for where this goes before, the other will follow after. If Sodom mock at Lot, through fullness of bread, yet God will meet with them. And if the Pharisees stumble at this stone, and will not have this man to reign over them, yet the falling on them, shall crush them to pieces, and destroy those his enemies: But Israel would never believe warning, till it fell upon them. 3. To be crossed then in the World, & to suffer want reproach & persecution: is a safer way than prosperity. For, by the one man is driven to G●d; for want drove the Prodigal to his Father: and hereby, the flesh is weakened and crucified, but by fullness made strong and no Judgement nor bondage so great as this Security & Hardness and Slavery to our own Passions. But woe and alace to the poor World, who have not the World, and yet despise Christ most of any; For they are left to their own dissolute Wills and Lusts, and want education in Gods Fear as much as meat: And therefore it were to be wished, that the course begun might be continued. 4. But it is a fearful thing to make a mock of Christ, and set lightly by his Word, and to be so far in love with the World, that we esteem not his Word: it argues we find little good therein, and little comfort by the Promise: For what we find any good in, we highly esteem of: and what would pull us from our pleasant pleasures, we cannot endure: Therefore was the word of the Prophets so unwelcome to Israel, so to us, For first, 1. The doctrine of Faith, we count foolishness and uncertain. 2. The doctrine of the Cross, impossible. 3. The doctrine of Obedience, bondage & needless. 4. The doctrine of Death, most unwelcome. Yea, what account do we make of the World, what care & contending about it, and yet how lightly we pass over Christ and his Word? But take heed, for this grows from setting light to scorning, and then to persecuting of it. 5. Pray we then with David, that we fall not into presumptuous sin: For this is that Word that must save thee, and that Christ, that must redeem thee: and tha● Promise that must comfort thee. And thou little knows what thou scorns, even that, which at Death must be thy best friend: but how ca● we look for him to be a friend at Death whom we have despised and scorned all our life. Because ye have said. Here was their carnal confidence, Presumption, and Fools-Paradise; wherein they blessed themselves under the shelter of Vanity a●● Falshood, they would not hear of Sin, Gild, & Death and the Cross: but thought they had a device in wit & the world to put off all these. So that, All men naturally labour, by all wit and inventions to put off the evil day far from them, and security and presumption: to give rest to their restless hearts, rather than to feel the evil in themselves, that they may find rest through mercy in another. S● the rich fool, much goods for many days, so David blessed himself in his high mountain, and Israel by the Ark. Thus the Pharisees covered all under pretence of Holiness, but all in vain: Nay, all cry, Peace, peace. 1. For man is loath, to see any evil approaching to himself. 2. And man's mind must have something to bear it up, if not Christ, he runs to vain shifts. 3. Man is fallen into an evil estate of heart, which all creatures are not able to help, and he put to his shifts to keep it off as long as he can, For the fear of Hell and Death, is a little bell: These three evils pursue men, fi●st. 1. Gild and Fear of Hell, l●ke a worm, gnaws daily: and but for these, man would live merrily in the world: Thus he makes a covenant with either, by forgetting or by flattering the Law, and stablishing a Righteousness of his own, or presuming of mercy a far off. 2. The evil of Death presseth upon us, and threatens to make an end of all Joy, Pleasure, & Riches, & leaves no Hope to man: thus we put off many days, & think we shall yet live long, when men of our age are gone & forgotten: but it hasteth upon us daily. 3. The evil of Adversity pincheth daily, now this Cross, that Loss, this Sickness, that Want and Trouble: this we hope to prevent and recover, & bow down in fear and baseness, and husband all so well hereafter, that we shall enjoy better days, when it is impossible to order all things according to man's mind. So that, all these are but vain shifts and falsehood: But the only way is with Christ, to take the evil day ●nd cross upon us. 1. For guilt to see it, and bear the indignation of the Lord, and with the Prodigal cry out daily, We have sinned, etc. And wait on Him that hath overcome Hell and Darkness, and now saith, O Death where is thy sting? Hell where is thy victory? 2. And for Death, no Covenant to be made with it: but seeing the vanity of the World, to meet it joyfully, and say, Thou canst do me no hurt, but take the World and the Life which I esteem not, and open a door to that life which I shall enjoy. 3. And for the Cross, no way to escape it; But Patience and subjection to the Father's will, who knows, what is best to tame our proud hearts, and to cross us in that wherein we dote. And herein appears his love, that he will suffer us to enjoy nothing that will hurt us; but even this shall turn to our good. Thus we all strive to put evil far off, & to shuffle over the fearful days. We now think lightly of them, and play with wasters, but when we come to grapple with death, we shall find it no play game, Look for it, for an evil day is coming: and happy he that is prepared for that d●y. Take heed, lest at any time our hearts be oppressed with cares of this life, or luke warmness. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion. Here, He first lays the foundation of rest in the Church, that though it far ill with his enemies: yet is his Church built upon the foundation of free mercy in Christ, and his truth revealed by him shall stand against all storms So that, God hath laid in his Church, & conveyed to his People a foundation of rest in Jesus Christ, which shall preserve them against all cross of Death and Hell, and n● storm shall be able to overthrow it, Psal. 125. They th● trust in the Lord, shall be as Mount Zion. Mat 7. They that build upon the Rock, shall abide the Tempest. David calls him a Rock of Stone, and Peter, the Cornerstone. For this is prophesied of him, Isa. 9 His Name shall 〈◊〉 called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, the Prin● of Peace, etc. Other Foundation, can no man lay. 1. Thence it is said, Heb. 11. That faith is the grou● of things hoped for: because Christ, whom faith ot●●ests on, is unchangeable to his. 2. And the promise in him, is, Yea, & Amen: Though in us oftentimes it is Nay. 3. This is that, whereby Adam was restored, and first laid in him: whereby Abraham was preserved, and Paul delivered in greatest extremity. This foundation is, Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Lord of the Covenant, the ingraved form of his Image, given of the Father for the Restauration of man; to whom he hath given all power in Heaven and in Earth: and hath hid in him the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge: and the heart of man built on this foundation by saith thereon, cannot fail. But the Church of Rome hath translated this foundation from Christ to the Church: from head to members; from that, Mat. 18. Super hanc Petram: and so they have the determination of all truth; & it to be received and believed, because of their testimony. And so, that Christ is to be believed because of the Church; and not & contra. And thus they pervert one Article of the Creed, to bring all men's heads under their girdle, and that they may sit in the Consciences of men, and do what they list, without control. They say, We are not only to believe the Church to be, but to give credit to it. To understand the difference, note Augustine's distinction of Faith; in regard of the object. 1. Credere in aliquid, to believe and put confidence in one. 2. Credere alicui, to believe, or give credit to one. 3. Credere aliquem, to believe that one is; or after this manner. To believe in one, hath reference to God only: because, the object thereof must be both verum & bonum. To believe or give credit to one, hath relation to his object; as to objectum formale, a principle for whose sake. To believe one to be, hath relation, as ad objectum materiale. The first, we agree in. And as for the second, we say, The testimony of to Church is of all humane the greatest, and can never err in the whole, nor fundamentally. They say, Crede Ecclesiae, as to the formal cause, for whose sake, we are to believe all Truth: and some of them, that was inserted, tanquam meum, cum omnia alia credendi. And so, they make it a foundation of faith: upon whose credit, they wholly depend. And this is the difference, and this we deny. 1. Because, the Grammatical Constructions will not bear it: Credere, being taken to give credit, is put with a Dative Case, and an Accusative Case: as in the Creed. 2. Because, there is no such certainty in their Church for man to depend on; but that which must be the foundation of Faith, must be a thing certainly known and determined what it is: not the word but the thing. For saith is not verbal but real: But according to their own assertions, the Church is a thing to them not certainly known or determined what it is. Their Doctors divide the Church into the Church Essential, The Convocation of all that believe in Christ. Representative. The By hops in a General Council; Or, Council of Cardinals. Virtual, the Pope only. And of these we agree not, which is the Church, on which we must depend. Some will have the Essential, as Tride. Catech & Gloss. upon Gratians Decrees, which are Popes own law. 2 Chap. 24 4.1. Some others, seeing this could not be, because it could not be known; conclude it to be representative, as Bellarmine, Herson, etc. 3. But the Jesuits of late, fearing this would prejudice the Pope's Supremacy too much: concludes it is the Church Virtual, the Pope only or alone. And so while they boast of the Church: their Mother: they mean nothing else but the Pope, their Father. What foundation can there be here for man to rest on? But we have a sure word of the Prophets, and a sure foundation, Jesus Christ, than which none other ca● be laid. 1. The ground then of all uncertainty in all things is, because we build without this foundation: One man lays a foundation in the World: another, in Wisdom: another in righteousness: and uncertain in all. 2. Take heed of stumbling at this stone. 1. Either at his sufferings, as Peter: & the Disciples, at his death. 2. Or, at his poverty and low estate, as the Wordling, Matthew 19 and 21. 3. Or at his mercy and love, as the Pharisees that judged him. 4. Or at his Holiness, crossing our lusts. 3. See the certainty of believers. 1. They have a sure foundation, a tried stone that abides the storm: a precious stone, full of treasure: a cornerstone, that joins altogether in love. He that believes, makes not haste: or shall not be confounded: For he seeks no vain shifts, but sits in death & darkness, by faith, waiting and sticking to this foundation, till the light shine out of darkness. So that, The only rest to man in all straits, is the sticking to Christ by faith: and waiting on the promise which shall be fulfilled in time. Abraham waited four hundred and thirty years, Israel, seventy in Babylon, Isa. 30. Your strength is to sit still. 1. For God hath set a time appointed for every work: like a nurse which hides herself from the child: till it thinks it hath lost her, yet still hears its cries, and comes in time. 2. God knows it is best for a man to keep him under as yet, till his will be subved and lust abated. 1. But the blind World will needs run before their guide, and will now have it, and so forsake God and his Promise. 2. Weaklings, who would have rest assoon as they feel any disquietness. 3. Others that will see things before they fall, and stumble for the present. 4. Wait thou weary heart, make no haste: Fly not off to any other shifts; nor fix on none other foundation. This will be able to keep thee from drowning: he that hath kept thee hitherto, is able to keep thee still; and he that cometh, will come, and will not tarry. SERMON XI. Isai. 39.5. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah; Hear the Word of the Lord of Hosts; Behold, the days come: that all that is in thine house, and all that thy Fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried into Babylon, etc. When Hezekiah had overcome the great Host of the King of Assyria; he fell sick, & received a message from the Lord, that he must die: Whereupon he fell into great heaviness, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. So that, The sentence of Death is fearful unto man, if the great and mighty hand of the love of God, do not mightily uphold him, so to Christ. 1. For this is the last enemy to be destroyed: this takes away all sta●s & helps in the flesh at once. We all play with it, as with a dead snake: and make a covenant therewith: but when it comes on us with open mouth, it shakes the heart of the best; if God do not mightily preserve him. 2. But if the wrath of God, the guiltiness of our hearts, & the end of our days come all at once: O, whither then shall man flee? O, that man but saw and believed his own mortality! How would it pull down the pride of man, and make the World little in his eyes; and that man would but see himself on his Deathbed? How fearful is that destroying Angel, and Messenger of Death, or the Plague; when it comes to any place to them, that are round about it? After this, the Lord hard his cry, and saw his tears, and gave him assurance of his life for fifteen years, with a sign of the Suns standing still for more assurance, which goodness of God he acknowledgeth in his Writing, from chapter 38. & 9 to the end Wherein he shows, both the misery he was in, & God's deliverance: as ver. 15. etc. What shall I say, he hath spoken unto me, & himself hath done it? I shall walk humbly in sense of my own weakness, as knowing my life is in his hand. Then he acknowledgeth God's truth and Power. O Lord, by these, viz. thy Word and Power men live, & my spirit hath life in these, and that all this was of mere mercy, for in peace I had great heaviness, but in love to my soul, thou hast delivered me from the pit, & cast all my sins behind thy back: Yet, after all these experiences & his recovery; see how he falls to the World, to be lifted up in his fleshly portion, in showing all his store to the servants of the King of Babylon; such a vile creature is man. So that, That after so many experiences of his love, power & wrath: yet by a little ease and peace in the flesh, shakes hands again with the World, and becomes lifted up thereby to the forgetting of his God. So with Israel, evermore when they had ease. So with David, in the matter of Uriah. 1. For the world blinds the eyes of man, & hides the glory of the Gospel: by the glory of the world, that he is lifted up; & feels nothing of mercy & power in another. 1. We see this in experience. How soon doth man forget his misery and bitterness of his soul, the goodness ●nd power of God, the weakness of himself, & dotteth in a fools Paradise: yea, and quite runs away from that Word he once believed and sound life in: & fixeth upon that store he hath gotten: when as, alace, all his store, yea, and life too was in the hand of God, even newly delivered. How soon is that faithful confidence forgotten, & those Purposes & resolutions of miserable men quite at an end. We cried: O, that God would de●iver us, and he s●ould be our God for ever, and presently we choose another. 1. So that, no keeping of Faith & Comfort in God: but ●y preserving of humility & sense of death in our sel●es: for as we die to the World so we live to God, but if ●e live to the World, we die to God. 3. See the danger of prosperity, viz. of raising up of a man's heart without God, in carnal confidence: and turning the heart from God to his great gifts. This World eats the Word out of Man's heart, that now he lives, as though there were no God; and his Word a matter of no moment. And now he comes with another message from the Lord to the King, that because he had rejoiced in his store, God would take it away, and his children also: and carry them to Babylon to be a prey and servants unto them. In the Words, note two things. 1. His heavy message to Hezekiah. 2. Hezekiahs' free subjection to the will of God, and justifying his Word. First, He shows, that all the riches and store wherein he glories, shall be taken from him: yea, and his posterity for whom he had gathered them, should be carried Captives and nothing left, that he might return to his God: As if he should say, Th●u hast showed all thy store to the King of Babylon, and sent the news of all thy wealth thither: Even all this shall be carried away to Babylon, and thy children also. Thus doth God, to destroy the hope of man, So that, There is a day coming to man, that will turn all his riches and glory, and pleasures, wherein he trusteth and rejoiceth into want, sorrow and misery, and death & doom will sooner or latter, lay all in the dust. Where is now the glory and pleasure of the Old World? or the Power of Pharaoh, the Wealth of Job, or the Pleasure of Dives, the riches of the rich fool, or righteousness of Paul? all laid in the dust. For woe to them that now laugh, etc. 1. For there is a way that seems good to man, but the issues thereof, are the issues of death. 2. For God will take away from man all stays in the flesh, that he may see and know, that there is no rest but in him; for the life of the first Adam must be lost, that we may live by the second. 3. Thus, God makes way for the manifestation of his mercy, and the delivering of Man out of Satan's snare. 1 Woe to the deceived and bewitched heart of Man, whom Satan hath beguiled with the Lustre of the world, and drawn from his God, who blesseth himself in his present portion and pleasure, and thinks he shall see no evil, but enjoy many a merry day, but sees not the black day when all shall be taken away. Nay, man thinks to join a perpetuity here, by joining house to house, and laying a foundation in the earth, and then he saith, Is not this great Babel that I have built: And so shows his Wealth to the world, or at least feeds on it himself, & saith, Is not this a goodly portion, a loving wife, obedient and fine children, a good stock and portion, a certain estate, and never a f●iling way of increase: what hurt can come to me? Even like the thief, who blesseth himself in his stolen riches, and never thinks of his hanging-day. But know, though we may put off the evil day a while; and first, either bury it in forgetfulness, or drink down fear like beasts, or cover it with the righteousness of the Law? Yet God will either sooner or later, strip up our hearts, and either, first, 1. By the Word, discover that misery, that all our fullness cannot remove, as before to Hezekiah, that with Job, we shall curse the day of our birth, and with we had never been born. 2. Or if he suffer us to run out the course of our vanities with the Prodigal; yet there will come a day, that will lay all in the dust and darkness: when we shall be cast into the pit, and death comes, and will not be resisted: and then nothing but wailing and gnashing of teeth: Wailing for the Time of vanity misspent, for Gild of heart not to be eased, for darling with the World that was so esteemed, and our friends so dear to part with: Then shall we see, that Wife and Children, Gold and Silver, that we see doted on, are but Dross: When the Babylonians have ransaked our treasure, as now to the Germans, and life taken away not to be restored. 1. Are not the fair and admired beauties now defaced with rottenness, and consumed with worms: that were as smooth, ruddy neat, and trim, as thou art? 2 Are not the rich worldlings laid low in a poor sheet, and turned to dust? 3. Is not the wiseman dead as the fool, and all the counsels of his heart perished? 4. Are not drunkards and wicked destroyed: and their name and posterity forgotten and rotten upon earth? 2. Hence we see then, whatever man establisheth in his heart and fixeth his mind on, but Christ, must down, and nothing must be left: We all desire to learn something and to have something to look at: we will trust God, but we will have something else to look at, some sign and token; thus, man is loath to part with all, but still he reserus some portion, some hope, some good quality, some righteousness to look at; no, there must be nothing left, but the Brazen Serpent: Nothing but Christ to look at, for all else must to Babylon. 3. Nay, we see how he takes away all excuses, we think to establish our posterity, and gather for our children, that each may have so much, though we fear not our own portion: but even these shall be servants, we feed them with a coal stolen from the Altar: we leave them the fruits of our covetous hearts, and so brings them into the snare for an hours pleasure, they also must into the land of darkness: commit them to God with any portion; for if they may enjoy any small pittance it is enough, for thou shalt not know whether they shall come to honour or low degree. Let all look for this in the day of fullness, look for want & misery, for it will come; see thyself taking leave with all thy Friends and Riches: for Pompey & Alexander are now conquered, that conquered all the World: Yea, the best must taste of this; for Christ's last day, was his heavy day, when Wrath & Death lay upon Him. So that there is a more heavy day to be endured: only man's rest in this day is, with Hezekiah: to cleave to the Word of the Lord in subjection. When the Prophet had delivered his message, we see how Hezekiah takes it: First, He acknowledgeth the Power and Goodness of the Word of God. 2. He submits himself thereto, in confidence and assurance, that according to the Word, Truth and Peace should be in his days; So that, The Word of the Lord is ever good to man, and his only treasure on earth, and man's subjection thereto, his only freedom and rest, Isa. How sweet upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings of Peace. It is the joyful tidings of Salvation, the Word of Life, and the Message of the Kingdom; and that wherein David found more joy than in all riches or great spoils: The Law is spiritual and good, the Gospel is the message of Mercy and Life; Wisdom is justified of her Children: And Eli's subjection to the word of Samuel, was his only hearts ease. 1. For though it fight against the World and Lust of man's heart, yet it is for the freeing of Man from them. 2. For this Word must stand though it sight against Man, and man's subjection must be his Rest; For the Word cannot be changed nor fail. 3. For hereby is made known the Love of the Father, which wh●le the Child hath, he fears nothing. 4. Herein i● more certainty, than if ten thousands had sworn it. 5. And our Subjection is, our present denying ourselves, and partaking with Christ in his Death. 1. This carries the heart above all that he sees or feels, though he see nothing but death; as here, yet hereby he knows that he shall be relieved, as a man having committed murder, prays for pardon at the King's hand: which being granted, how good is that word of the King to him? 2. And yet we see the carnal heart of Man sees no good in this, delights in any frivolous story more than this: believes any word rather than this, & yet what footing hath man's heart in any thing but this: By this we shall be judged, and by this we shall be freed. 3. And yet we are all found fighters against this, as in Christ's time; the whole world opposed him: so when God by His Word, that the Worldings and Hypocrites shall not find rest, they tush at it, and will Evah think, they shall have merry days, when he saith, All thy high looks must down, and thy great portion must be lost: nay, saith man, But I will make them sure, and so he trusts every thought of his heart, rather than his word. 4. But know, the day will come, when this will be more worth, than all, and happy he that so esteems it now. And for our subjection, every man hath a will and way of his own, which he labours to uphold: and rather desires that his Word, rather than his own will might be altered: Yet, God saith, We must forsake Father and Mother, and all: But man saith no. God saith, Be content with thy portion: man covets more: So that None loves the Word or God's will, but he that is prepared to bear the Cross: that man, seeing his own guilt and weakness, may submit in humility and look for mercy: then shall Peace be established in his heart, though war and trouble without: And truth shall preserve his soul, when all the World seems a lie to him: yea, though God seems his enemy, yet this truth becomes a friend. SERMON XII. Matth. 1.1. The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ; the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, etc. THis Chapter and these Words contain the beginning of the Gospel & the very sum thereof: When Adam had miserably fallen through rebellion, and become guilty of death: it was promised (though obscurely) that a man should rise of the seed of the Woman, whom Satan had deceived, that should overthrow his Kingdom, and deliver man out of his hands: whereby Adam and the faithful was upheld until Noah's time; then the promise was renewed: and the Rainbow given to testify, that still God would be good to man till Abraham's time. Then did God more clearly renew the same promise, In thy seed shall all Nations of the Earth be blessed: From that time, the Prophets prophesied most clearly of this Saviour, and with strong prayers and desires, longed after this Christ; and so, from Abraham till David, it was more manifest both in the promise to him, Thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers but I will set up thy seed after thee, and establish his Kingdom: and I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son. Psal. 132. God hath made a faithful oath to David, of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat. Psal. 45. Thy throne, O God, endureth for ever, the sceptre of thy Kingdom is a sceptre of righteousness. Whereby he showeth, that a King shall arise out of the root of Jesse, and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder. Now, here is the Book of the Generation of this King and Christ so long foretold off, which shows the wonderful consent of the Scripture, So that, The whole Word of God declares nothing else, but the fall and daily falling: death and condemnation by Adam, and restoring by Christ; both which, being believed; become effectual to man's good and happiness. This Paul Rom. 6. Gal. 1. The first is renewed again in the Law, and shown in all the rebellions and wander of men, that so man may see himself, and be ashamed: and the other a wonderful and incredible thing, that man cursed and condemned, should be restored by the birth of one man. Here needs faith, as much as to believe, that the Word was made of nothing. 1. These are the two Principles of all Religion, that man see his daily falling in Adam, and daily rebellion against God and his Word; daily forsaking God, and setting up something besides Christ; which unless it be seen, and believed, and felt; no Saviour to man. For Christ was promised to fallen man. 2. This works death in the heart, and in this death and daily falling, is man directed to the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ: No believing of this wonder but in death, that man's mere want and misery force him to believe this Saviour. For no reason can persuade a dead and cursed man, but the mighty word of God, which man may not argue how like or unlike it is: but that is the Truth of God for ever. But these are two Principles that are least minded or believed. We frame a Religion of high thoughts, and make a trade of many devices: so that the simplicity of the Truth is hid by the wit and device of man. And herein, we trade for our praise and gain; But to believe the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, this too law for their deep judgements. No, they have learned this long since, they have seen their misery, but they are healed; they were wounded by the Word, but they have cured and covered it: So that now the Word cannot fasten on them. They are wise, and foreknow all things: and so able to award the blow. And for this book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, they know it, and can comprehend it, and dispute and prate of it, and have mangled and cut, added and diminished; but live not by it; and so full of opinion and windy conceits of all Truth, but believe it not, that this Christ is the Redemption of man only, and now join other books to this; We dare not rest on this without something else to under-prope. Hence came in Circumcision, Man's Righteousness, and Riches of the World through Reason; but to believe this Book, as to commit soul and life, and all to this promise, even when sin and death bites; is the great power of God to believe Christ to be the Saviour of the World So that the whole Sum of Religion, is truly to know what man is, and what Christ is: truly to know sin and righteousness: the one read in the Book of our own hearts, we need go no further: the other read in the Generation of Jesus Christ When man utters forth but the froth of his own ro●ving mind and thoughts, the fleshly mind is tickled, but no certainty; but the book of Jesus Christ is the Word of Truth, and assurance forever. O, that we had hearts prepared to embrace this mystery. Here is the Fountain of Life. Here is the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ before prophesied, now accomplished. Here note the Truth and Certainty of God's Promise: So that, No certainty to man's heart in any thing, but in the living word of God, and the truth of the promise believed; this abides, all things else will fail, Psal. 26. Thy mercy reacheth to the Heavens, and thy truth into the clouds. Abraham had no hold left but this, and David no comfort in affliction but this Word that sustained him. We have a sure word of the Prophets, which, though the Fathers in reason might deny, because they saw nothing of Christ's coming: yet they were to attend, till the day dawn: and then the Book of the Generation of Christ shall come, and his star shall appear in the East: So though man feel not the comfort of this Christ, yet attending in that death, on the sure Word of Prophecy; the day star shall arise in his heart. But man would feel and believe nothing, and so casts off the Word, and flies to many inventions. 1. For all things have their turns and changes, according to their uncertain natures and disposition: and alter with fullness and emptiness, with want & riches, according to the World's uncertainty, but nothing can change or disannul the promise: not the power of Pharaoh, nor the malice of the Jews, nor the treason of Judas, nor length of time, or alteration of Kingdoms; but at the fullness of time, Christ must be born, suffer and die, etc. So in man? 2. This gives certainty of the Father's Will & Love to wretched man, and he being stayed by this: endures the time of Tutors and Governors, of banishment & persecution: yea, of torment and wrath within: & tyranny of Satan: yet waits in patience the revelation of the Gospel. How powerful is the word of a King, that even by his word & wrath hath stricken a man dead. 1. How vain them is the heart of man, that seeks certainty in every thing but this? Hath not Satan promised joy & peace and lo, at death, all is gone, and man helpless? Doth not the World promise certainty in its full portion, and sure possession to thee and thine: And yet thou seest, or still fearest a decay in all: Doth not the Law promise life and peace, and yet when thou hast done thy utmost, thou art still guilty? Yea, doth not God make void the counsel of the flesh, and when man dies, all perish? and yet man will not learn nor read in this book, which is life. Now the word is certain in itself? and so to man: when the truth thereof is believed, and written in his heart deeper, than all reason, or fleshly speculations. 2. And as this book is the book of a Saviour to believers, so of death to unbelievers, that have cast off this, and followed vain inventions: For both Moses, in whom they trust shall judge them; and Christ, in whom they trusted not, shall condemn them; for God shall judge all by his Gospel. Then shall God say, I promised to Adam, Abraham and David, etc. and they found life therein: I fore told by my Prophets: And in fullness of time, I sent my Son declared in the Book of this generations But him ye believed not, counted him a deceiver. I would have performed all to the full; he saved all that came to me him by: but you were rich & wise in the World, and trusted that you were rich and devote in your conceit, and despised him: Therefore, out of your own hearts, I judge you. Nay, without this: there is such a certainty of death and curse: that nothing in wealth or wit, no qualities or righteousness can wipe out: but it sticks fast in the bottom, till the Book of the Generation of Christ give certainty of Redemption by him. Happy he who sticks to this foundation, that is neither lifted up by high wisdom, nor drawn down by base lusts: that judgeth not, but is judged by the Word of Christ. We read this story: O, That we had hearts to read and delight in this Book or Word of Truth: We profess this Christ, and we celebrate this Feast in remembrance thereof. But anon, every man runs to his vanity; soon weary of this, as though he either stood no need of this Book, or had it wrote in our hearts: We rejoice and play, but it is not in this; nay, how little is this Book looked on: or minded or read in our houses, or embraced in our hearts? When that beastly drinking, liker liker Swine than Men; that unmanly custom of Cards, sitter for children's Babbles, than to be the exercise of Wise and Reasonable men: which the good Moral Heathens could not suffer their Scholars or Children, for making them too effeminate in their minds: and yet we foolishly make them our meat and drink, and let Christ stand behind the door. Well, this Book of the Generation of Christ will stand by man to his joy, when those shall be all witnesses, of vanity & lusts of our hearts against us. The Son of David. Now he comes to his Generation. David is here first mentioned before Abraham, because the promise was most in him, and Christ most usually promised by the Name of the seed of David: And so he goes on from Abraham to Christ. In which Genealogy note, That most of the Men and Kings that are reckoned, and of whom Christ came: were wicked men and Idolaters, as appears in the Book of the Kings, Yet Christ was born of them, and the women mentioned all wicked and sinners; save Ruth, who was a Gentile: and hated as a Dog of the Jews; But Thamar, Rhab & Bathseba, all Adulterers. So that. The promise is made and so effectual, & Christ born, and sent by the Wisdom and Will of the Father, only to; and for sinful, lost, wretched and condemned men: and none else. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; ●●e leaves the ninety and nine, and seeks the sheep that is ●st. When Adam was lost, than Christ was promised. Moses was sent to deliver afflicted Israel: and Joshua 〈◊〉 bring the wanderers to rest: So Christ was sent to the ●ost sheep of the house of Israel. And this he verified in his ●ourse, Publicans and Sinners were objects of his mercy: the Poor, Weak, Halt, Lame and Blind, he was still among: And the Rich he sent empty away, and the righteous Pharisees he regarded not. 1. For if Sin should hinder the coming of Christ, he had never been born; & if Sin should hinder the comfort of Christ from man, no Flesh should be saved. 2 Nay, Therefore came Christ to take away sin: which by no other means could be overcome. 3. Hereby is the love and grace of God magnified, That he came to save Sinners: When for a righteous man scarce any will die; yet he died for his enemies. Object. Bu● all are sinners, yet he came not for all. Answ. All are sinners, but not sensible sinner's i● themselves, For there is that say, They have no Sin, an● justify themselves before men, and trust in themselves to b● righteous, and that need no repentance. These are the opinions and conceits of men, and ye● no doubt, but these confess that they were sinners formally; There are sinners in general, but covered. The● are naked and bare sinners, whose iniquity brings Deat● We confess, we are all mortal, but we feel not th● pangs of death, So of Sin. For this sinfulness of man is not acknowledged o● this, or that actual failing, but a feeling of the Original spring, though he be well guided, and that mercy i● prepared: yet this makes him no more holy. But he see● the Fountain of Pride and Lust burning within, & s● forceth to cry and pray, and look for mercy in another. 1. But all strives to appear righteous, even before God & so makes Christ void: none would be found sinners but if they miss it in one action, they will mend it i● another, or the next: that they may be righteous. 1. The poor mindless honest man thinks, he hat● somewhat to offer, if but his honest meaning: & harmless course, and diligent working, he hopes this will b● one step. 2. The devote Pharisee thinks all his own, for his c●● diligence and good quality. 3 Nay, others think they were sinners, but now th● are Righteous and Wise, and so banish Christ and cast him off: and Repentance, & Faith is stopped with them. But know, all this is but joining circumcision with Christ, for which he thinks Christ shall become more effectual: as though he came to seek a Righteousness in man, and not to bring a righteousness to man: Nay, but as it was sin by accident that brought Christ into the World at first: Yea, that he was counted the Master of Beelzebub, and one that brought false doctrine, so it the sense of Sin still, that brings him to the heart of man. 2. Hereby is the hope of poor man preserved: that Christ came of the sinful Seed of men, and for sinful man: if he had come only of the Faithful, and would have nothing to do with sinners: then had we been lost: But he is made a man like us, with whom we may talk as one with another: our Brother and friend Why then should the fearful conscience fly him, and make him a judge: who thinks, O! If I were a little more Holy, and less Sinful, I could have hope: Nay, if thou were less Righteous in thy conceit, and more sensibly sinful, mercy were nearer. 3 So, that it is not properly sin, that is the Rebellion of the heart against God, and in-disposition to keep his Law, that hinders Christ; not because thou art a sinner in thy own eyes, but righteous in thy own sight: These are the enemies of Christ and of his Kingdom ever. So that the Gospel of Christ never prospers, but among sinful men, you see Christ was born of them: but man grows wise, and when sin appears he fore-knows a Saviour, and so heals the wound before it be made. Abraham begat Isaac: And so one in Christ's Genealogy; where note, That as he was born of sinful men, so there was a long tract of time after the Promise, before he came: even two and forty Generations, therein alluding to the two and forty Stations of Israel in the wilderness; where they pitched their Tents, and yet removed: and all this time also the Church had great trouble: Yea, none without: Abraham sore tempted: Isaac also taken, and denied his Wife; Jacob, in servitude, and persecuted by Esau; The Judges and Kings always in war: The time of the Maccabees, nothing but Bloodshed, and then the vision ceased; Yet even then, when the Church seemed even wasted, & almost left looking; The Sceptu being departed from Judah; then Shiloh came; But here was long time, and much trouble, so with man: So that, Man shall endure many weary days, and much trouble in the flesh, before Christ be truly and indeed born in him, or he live by, and with Jesus Christ. As in Israel's stations, they set down often and might not rest there, but a new enemy assaults them: David's eyes failed for waiting for the promise: O! When wil● thou comfort me? why dost thou delayed thy Promise? Paul desired to be dissolved, but he must suffer terrors without, and fightings within; and through many afflictions we enter into life: So did Christ our Highpriest, He was consecrated through sufferings: For he must suffer till his hour come, even three and thirty weary years; but overcame through suffering. 1. For God hath all times in his own Power and Wisdom. 2. Hereby he prepares the hearts of men to wait for grace. 3. It is worth staying, for having so sure a foundation laid; That He that cometh, will come, and will notarrie: even a most sure Word to be attended on. 1. But we cry out with those; Where is the Promise of his coming? or, with those, Luke 12. We would know a sign of his coming: or with the weak, would foresee him coming with fleshly eyes: If I knew that he would come I could stay: when his Word is gone out as firm as Mount Zion: But by this knowing, we would have a little ease: or would know rather, than believe; nay, know that yet thou must pass many a pinch, fight with beasts at Eph●sus, suffer shipwreck, and sight with many a beastly lust: one thief there was, that leapt two and forty degrees at one leap: but look not thou for that, but know that yet thou must be more vile: Long w●● the time, and great was the trouble, the Church suffered before they saw their Saviour: So wait to the loss of all, for the vision is for an appointed time: but it shall come and not tarry, speak and not lie. 2. Let none then look to obtain it by a fair, easy, smooth, quiet life: by flattering the World & himself, pleasing his appetite, putting the evil day far off from him, as we all do: Nor to sleep to Heaven, when first he gins to know a little of Christ, or conform a little to his Word, no, we must pass from Abraham to Isaac: so from Faith, to suffering, from believing to the Cross: so to patience, so to experience, so to hope: But be sure we begin with Abraham, to live by the Promise, and hold that ever fast: and so Christ will come at last: when, 3. Thy Pride is destroyed, thy Righteousness pulled down, thy wisdom made foolishness, and thou in thine own eyes be made the offscouring of men, and the outcast of the people: when the World is become nothing, and vanished: and thy security awakened: Then in the fullness of time, shall Christ come: in his time, not in thine, Thy time is always, but his, not yet come: But he will come, and swallow up death in victory, and bind the power of darkness and death, and subdue thine enemies under thy feet; and then shall death, the last enemy be destroyed, that God may be all in all. 4. Only in this time take heed of hardening in security ●nd blind presumption. SERMON XIII. Heb. 2 24. Forasmuch, as the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood, he also took part with them; that he might through death destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. IN the former Chapter, he had declared the great and divine power of Christ, who was far above all Angels and Power: In this he shows, that now Christ ●●eing made the Prophet and High Priest of man's Salvation, it became him to be a man like us, both to teach and suffer for us: which he proves by divers testimonies of the Prophets, as I will declare thy name unto my Brethren, and Isa 8.18. Behold, I and the Children which God hath given me: So that he was made even ou● brother: In these verses, he concludes and explait● what he hath said before, as if he should say; Forasmuch as those Children which thou hast given me, were but Fle●● and Blood, and not able to free themselves; but through the same Flesh and Blood, were under the Power of th● Devil, and by him kept in bondage under the feared death: He took flesh and blood on him also, & become a weak man, that thus he might by death free his Children from that bondage: these words declare two thing 1. What man is in himself, viz. Weak under the powe● of the devil, & thereby kept in bondage & fear of deat● 2. What Christ hath done for weak man, viz. Tak● part with us, & by his death destroyed Satan, & freed 〈◊〉 Forasmuch as the Children, viz. of Adam, or rather o● the Elect, Were partakers of flesh and blood; Weakness want, misery, and death: for through the flesh we a● subject to all those, so that, this is our portion, the l●● of Spirit is gone, & our Spirit dead fo● want of th● life of God, so also for life and salvation able to do nothing, but depend on another. So that, All men, even the Elect of God, and faithful; have nothing properly their own but flesh and blood, viz Weakness, Want and Misery; till they are supplied b● Christ, and his fullness. Gen. 6. His thoughts and imagination's are evil, Psal. 8. What is man? He is a thing 〈◊〉 nought, less than nothing, and lighter than vanity, low● than the Angels: and yet he found no stedfastene●● in them. Paul, though full of the gifts of God: 〈◊〉 the least of all Saints, in me dwells no good thing, not ab● to think one good thought (Do our holy high thoughte● men judge so of themselves?) Egypt, but a Reed, an● the strength of Pharaoh, but a broken staff: and what 〈◊〉 our Riches, but as grass: our Wisdom foolishness: 〈◊〉 Powers not able to make white or black: our Righteousn● as a filthy Rag; our Sacrifice, as the cutting off a Dog● neck: nay, all but grass, and as the flower of the field. 1. This is plain in experience: Doth not the weak heart of man fly any whither for succour, though it finds none? bows to the World, creaves help of the arm of flesh: fly any whither for to hid himself: would do any thing for to free himself from the fear of his own heart: daunted with every noise: dead with any loss, can do no good, not suffer any evil; and yet this silly creature sits in his own conceit as a God, a Lucifer Queen, that shall see no evil. 2. Whence then are all those high thoughts of judging others, and justifying ourselves, seeking honour each of other, but because we see not our own weakness, and bondage? Nay: if our eye were returned inward, we should have no boasting; if we saw but the spring of Lust and Pride, and how unable we are to resist the least temptation: or stand in the least affliction, how good soever God be to us; yet in ourselves but flesh and blood, his gifts shows his goodness: and they are in him, not in man: enjoyed from him, not from our own fountain. All high thoughts than are from the devil, for all is but flesh and blood: Thy high Turrets and great Babel's: and fair inheritance must come to nought, when thy Soul shall be taken, and it may be thou shalt see it. This great portion gathered and daily increased, wherein thou boastest thyself, must all be scattered, and ●hou not know what shall become of it; thy deep wisdom shall fail thee; it is but fleshly, not able to see into the way of life; to prevent, or deliver thee from death; Thy counsels must perish, thy righteousness is but a ●ag, shall vanish, nothing continue: Nay, what ever thou dost, thou mars it, if Christ be not there? If thou pray, or ●alk, all is nothing but fleshly; only to establish a fleshly kingdom & peace to thyself; Nay, bring out thy best quality, & it is but fleshly; such as the Heathens have as well as thou: if Christ be not there, else, we needed no Christ, but our Spirits being lost, he came to breathe a new life therein to by his power. Object. But God giveth gifts to men. Answ. True, but if he be not with those gifts, man mars them. Where then is the power of good motions, or, freewill? etc. To know, believe, love, repent, etc. Not in us but in Christ? And yet this makes not man secure: Doth the beggar's poverty make him cease begging: or, the lame man to lie still, and not cry for help: Nay, the feeling of this, keeps repentance and prayer a foot in the Church, and so had we need of mercy every day, and to pray night and day: That when this grass withers, etc. Yet, that the Word of God may abide in our hearts for ever. Magnify God's mercy, that unto us so poor and weak, that can do nothing: vouchsafes his help and grace 3. So that all Religion is not any thing we can do to God: we are not fitted? no, What can we add to him, but to receive still from him: both Faith and Righteousness and all? for having none, he is made all these to us, that so we may daily cry, Lord increase our Faith, help our unbelief. 4. But Religion never throve since flesh and blood, even man's fleshly wisdom, and conceited power, and righteousness of man got pearckt up in Christ's room, in the heart of man; nor will it thrive in any till this be laid in the dust again, and that we begin at the very earth to abhor ourselves in dust and ashes. He took part with them. That is, was made man, partaker of all wants and infirmities of man: and ye● himself conquered, being tempted, and helps all that are tempted, So that, Jesus Christ that living Saviour of man is partaker and fellow-seeler of all man's weakness, & infirmities that he suffers: and lovingly helps, and frees man where all help fails. Isa. 50.11. Isa. 63. In all their afflictions he was afflicted: and the Angel of his presence comforted them. Heb. We have an high Priest subject to like Infirmities, that he might be able to comfort us, he took upon him 〈◊〉 sins, and bore our infirmities, and he was counted the great sinner of the World. Like a loving Elder Brother, who seeing his younger brother overladen, takes the burden; sees him beaten; weeps: sees him want, gives him half. For though he was the Word of God, and was God; yet he took the form of a Servant, and became flesh, and dwelled among us: that we might see him a man in the flesh like us: and suffering more than we all, and yet overcame: Thus, he was given as a witness to the People, and the first begotten among many Brethren. 1. What then are all those high Contemplations that soar above, and seek Christ in Heaven: and make him a high speculative Angel, and rack their thoughts, and beat their brains in comprehending? When, alace! He is with us, l●ke us, suffering, watching praying: poor, judged and reproached: and dying as we are. He cares not for th●se high religious ones, but pure and contrite ones: With these he hath fellowship, & they with him. 2 What hearting is this to patience: that he as a husband, is ever with us in well and woe? Thou thinks thy case singular: thou art poor, he poorer: thou wants the Father's Love, so did he: thou art afflicted, so was he: thou art sick, he swate drops of water and blood for the sick: Nay, in all he was with thee. But we have little fellowship with him we sport ourselves, and are full: strong and wise, and so strangers to him: We are righteous without him, so that he hath nothing to do, but with poor beggars. 3 And where Christ partakes with us, there he makes us also to partake with others: to mourn with them that mourn, bear their Infirmities, and covers sin, helps the needy, relieves the oppressed, etc. All high flying Religion then, is not of Christ, but of the Devil: for Christ therefore brings down all high thoughts, for they are against Christ. Then Christ hath little working among us, when every one is for himself: when we judge and condemn instead of pardoning: spread others infirmities, instead of covering them: laugh at others fall, and not mourn for them: rob and not relieve the poor: nay, with the unthankful servant, take him by the throat. 4. Believers have a friend at back, He giveth a mouth and wisdom: the world may fail and friends, and wit too short, and riches perish, and the life gone: yet he fails not as to the Martyrs, who had him in all troubles a Protector and Captain, and in His power overcame all. That he might through Death. Here is the second thing that Christ hath done for us, viz. Destroyed the power of Satan, and delivered man: and the way whereby, through Death. So that, Christ Jesus, the Son of the Virgin and Saviour of the World, hath vanquished; and doth daily overcome the Power and Tyranny of Satan, which he hath, & exerciseth over the Church and Souls of the Faithful: and by His Death, hath freed and delivered; and daily doth deliver man from that bondage. So it was promised, when Man had fallen from God to Satan, and was now become a Scholar in his shool, viz by subtlety of Wit, and strength of Lust to sight against God, and establish his own peace in the Flesh: God promised to raise up one of the seed of the Woman to crush this power, by disannulling that Peace, and bringing man to suffer the Death & Loss of all things, 1. John 3. Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil, viz. To turn that peace into War, to pull down his high Mountains, to set man's crooked way strait, to bring man to Repentance, and so to bring him into his Kingdom; He came to bind the red Dragon, that made all drunk: and to this end, was the Gospel sent by Paul to the Gentiles, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. This was figured in the fall of Jericho, the City of God's enemies & Idolaters: the walls were high, the inhabitants strong: Israel few and weak, the means weaker, Blowing with rains horns: Yet by the spirit of believing Joshua, they fell. So also man is weak, the walls of Lust & the World are strong & mighty and wily: but by the foolish way of Preaching, & shout of the Gospel, the Towers fall: and Mountains fall at his presence, and Christ enters. Also figured in the Victory of David over Goliath; he weak, means weaker: but exposing himself to death, and casting his life into the hands of God, by Faith in the God of Israel, he overcame, and took the bondage and shame from Israel: And figured also in the victory of Hezekiah over Senacherib, that great beast; he cried and wept, and spread the letter and prayed: and Senacherib fell into his hands without lifting up a dart: even one hundred forty and five thousand in one night. So when Christ prayed in the garden in his agony, and embraced Death in subjection to the Fathers will: He overcame hell & death. So st●ll it is, when man is weary of that bondage, fells no power, spreads his heart before the Lord, even ready to meet death: then is he freed by a great deliverance. 1. For though Christ by his power, might have delivered man, and not died: yet this was not profitable for man, both that the power of God might appear, & that He might be a faithful and fit High Priest to sustain man in the power of Death But this was an unlikely thing to reason, That a man by dying should overcome, He ●ather seemed to be vanquished; yea so He did. But therein he tripped the devil. For while Satan laid on stripes, he gave his ckeeks to the nippers, and let Satan strike his full, & shoot his last dart, whereby he had thought to have driven Christ from the father, or to have sought help of the world; but he continued still patiented, and at last rose & triumphed over hell, and death. Nay Balaam could not prevail against Israel by all his curses, they still being stayed on God; but by his wicked counsel persuading to draw them to sin, he wrought their death: As by his wily drawing men to live by the world without God, that way he prevails much: now Christ delivers by his death. 1. Having paid the debt, & answers the law: & became a curse for us. Who hath any thing to lay to our charge 2 In sustaining man by his grace, and upholding him in death; for if we die with him, we shall live with Him: and if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him. 1. But we seek deliverance another way, and think to escape death. 1. One by his gaining the world, not losing it: by saving his life, not by giving it up: to that end is wise, diligent, careful to put the evil away. 2. Another by the first Covenant, and stablishing a righteousness of his own: but that hath nothing but death in it. 3. All hiding and covering, and increasing what they have: and tinkling their old rotten hearts, not by forsaking all and Repentance. 2. But we see the way of Life and Freedom, is, by death. 1. By believing the great power of Christ, whereby he overcame death. 2. By patiented submitting to the will of God, no way to overcome but by suffering. 3 So that all this strong hearted Religion, and high flown thoughts, bear out all danger through hardened presumption and a stiff conceited Righteousness, or high and lofty knowledge: like those, Isaiah 28. that put the evil day far off, and hid themselves under vanity and falsehood, is not the way of Christ: no, His way is a low and dying way, They reproached Him, and He bore it: they banished Him, and He had not whereon to lay His head, and He cared not: They apprehended Him, and He lift not up a sword against them: they accused Him falshly, and He said nothing: they crucified Him, and He prayed for them: and whe● they laid Him in the grave, in darkness, and that the power of Satan could do no more, He rose & revived, and shut the mouth of hell, death, and the grave th●● they should never hurt any of His: But by death he overcame death, and brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel. 4. And this shows the miserable captivity of Sin, an● vileness thereof, that nothing can lose but Death: 〈◊〉 the Wife or Brother that hath committed such an offence, that nothing but the death of the Husband or Brother can save her life: how may this break the heart with sorrow: we pity Christ, that so innocent a man should suffer death so unworthily: but see Christ's answer to the women that wept for His death, Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves. He needs not thy pity, but weep for the death and desolation that thou & thy children must suffer. Him that had the power of Death. For this was left to Satan: he had power to tempt man in the heel, and loss of all things, even of life: and was the executioner according to the sentence of the judge, but not beyond his commission: So that, Satan hath a large power and dominion over man to tempt and vex man with all calamities and loss of the dearest object, yet cannot make void the Redemption of man to his destruction. Thus with Job in all things, but his life, and yet by Faith and Patience he got the Victory: when once he laid his hand on his mouth, and repent in dust and ashes. Thus he reigned in malice against the Martyrs, even unto death: but their Kingdom & Peace he could not take away from them: Thus against Christ. And he is called the old Serpent, and Satan's, the accuser of the brethren. Thus, Satan brings Death in all things, where the heart is not freed by Christ. All unbelievers are taken captive to do his will as: 1 To the worldly heart, he offers the Kingdom of the world, and life by them; but death lurks under. 2. To the lusting heart, by satisfying that; but shame and guilt follows. 3. The hypocrite, by high thoughts and self-righteousness: poisoning his Religion with a false opinion, like an angel of light; that he may cast off Christ: Others he follows with troubles, to drive them to seek help in his Kingdom. Nay, when he offers life & ease in any thing, he thereby intends death, and brings it in the end: and when he threatens death, it is to seek life in him: So no way to overcome, but by taking away that life of his by death, and to overcome this death by suffering and by the life of Faith through Patience. 2. The greatest snare of the devil is, in all thriving ways: for he is fairly covered with pretence of good, peace, and fullness, etc. But beware, for death is in the port: if he cannot draw Christ to doubt and deny God, than he grants as much as Christ saith, True thou art the Son of God, and he will keep thee still, thou art now on the Temple, the height of Holiness; cast thyself down on this, if that prevail not: Then he comes with all the world in his hand, confessing still all that Christ urged: No I see thou wilt not tempt God, therefore use thou the means to live and bow thy heart to the world; that thou mayest live well and do good: So trying always to work death to the mind of Christ: & when this would not prevail, than he sets all the world in malice against him. 3. No way then, but living by the Word & nothing else, he can deal with every thing but God's Word, & unless he can steal this out of the heart: he can thrust nought else in. This keeps out of all things else but Christ, but if we begin to hearken a common with flesh and blood and believe his promises, he will promise life in things, when death is sure to be in the end▪ Which for fear of Death, were all their life-time through sin and guilt; So that, The fear of death and destruction is the fruit of Sin and Gild, which keeps all the hearts of the sons of men in bondage, until they be freed and delivered by Christ. When the Law came to Paul, death came Death went over all, because all had sinned: And how do these in the Revelation, cry for mountains to cover them: these in Isaiah 28: were glad to make a covenant with death; and Adam made aprons of sigleaves to cover his shame: Nay, this is that which all labour to prevent and flee, as hell. 1. For man is guilty before God; though by sore-knowing of a remedy, he thinks to ●over it, & as oft as this guilt is naked and bare, fear possesseth the soul. 2. For death leaves no Hope, dasheth all at once; so that if the worlding could escape this, he were a jolly man. 1. Thus we see, what an uncertain ease man is in, that fears death every hour; especially, if man were made sensible of his condition: but this Satan hath covered for a while, and saith, Thou shalt not die. And so we sit quiet and fear no evil, but how fearful is the plague or sword where it lights. 2. Nay, but what a tosling of heart there is in a dying man, betwixt fear and hope, which is worse than his pains; now he hopes, than the disease pincheth him: and he fears again, then hath rest & hopes again: But note, That this remains all our life long, even still in the heart of man: O! that it were in us all, it would waken security, and set the heart a seeking & praying: but we live, as though no danger were towards us; but the time will come, when we shall call for the mountains to cover us, and not find ease. SERMON XIV. Luke 22.31, 32. And the Lord said to Simon; Simon, Satan hath desired to winnow you as wheat: but I have prayed that thy faith fail not, when thou art converted, etc. When Christ had now finished his course, & was now ready to suffer that fearful & bitter hour, he foretells the disciples what to look for, and will befall them: viz. He will strike the Shepherd, and what then will become of the Sheep: they had lived with Him in peace, or at least such a trouble as was easy to bear, but now must all be shaken, and so sorewarns them of the Cross that they must suffer: he sorewarns them of the Cross and miseries to come, and that by the Instrument of Satan, amplified by a Metaphor, he assures him of help, and that by faith he shall be preserved, and that he hearten his brethren. After Peter's brag, and Christ's answer, First, He shows how Satan as an enemy stands waiting and seeking to overthrow Christ & his Kingdom, by which he might shake the saith of all his followers: for if he had overthrown Him, than Faith and all had been dashed; So that, Satan's main drift to work man's eternal destruction, is to overthrow Christ and his Kingdom, and to drive man from C●rist, and to seek help elsewhere. Thus with Job, thus with Annanias, and thus with Christ in his temptations; still granting what Christ alleged, and still labouring again to trap him in that: for still he traps man in that wherein he stands; as the worlding, he fills them with fear, and pleaseth his lust, and the weak to work it out, and he laid load upon Paul, fightings without, and terrors within: And thus he lays reproaches upon the Truth, and blazeth the failings of the Faithful, to slander the Truth: for he is the accuser of the Brothers. 1. And herein stands the salvation of man, that he can deal with any thing but Christ; the wisest or holiest he can catch, and keep him in his sna●e, and fill them with fear or hope, that he sifts them & keeps them in his b●g. 2. For he hath power over man to tempt man in the heel and to sift man, and leave him nothing but brane: For when he hath ground man to powder, he sets his servant, the flesh, to sift him, and he reasons and looks from what he feels; and sues no help left, but all is gone: but Christ through patience overcoming him: Thus he Winnowed the Martyrs, and left nothing in the flesh to uphold them: and thus he works their good against his will to purge man of the flesh, and to drive him to Christ. 3. The whole truth is revealed by Fire: First, Thus he drives all another way, and he cares not what way he goes, so he looks not this way. 1. The Worlding he keeps in fear of want, or failing, or decrease, or uncertainty: and so keeps him close, like Israel in Egypt. 2. Others that look after Christ, yet keeps the World alive in the heart through Lust, and that all is theirs, they having right, must provide for honest things as that all is theirs, etc. and so he makes Fig-leafe-covering but the heart Rotten. 3. Others he lifts up above the simplicity of Christ and their own minds, by great, and high speculations, to falsify the Truth by false Doctrine: and all this to hid Repentance from man's heart, that so the Kingdom of Christ may not come. 4. Others, by joining something, as Circumcision with Christ: and the Gospel is perfected by the Law, and not the Law fulfilled by the Gospel. 5. Others he pursues with calamity and misery: as in ward Lust and Rebellion: frowardness of their own will and indisposition to any good, that so man might get ease thereby. 6 Others by losses, crosses, wants and troubles that he may distrust God, and cleave to the arm of flesh; and so consent to Rab●●ekeys Letter, saying, Thou trustest and believest in Christ, he will deceive thee; thou art forlorn and forsaken, it were best to look after other helps a little, and then trust God; so that, whither he offer Life, or threaten Death, he intends Death, & forsaken of Christ: for Paul he knows, & Christ he knows. 2. He never prevails so much as in a thriving way, whereby the heart becomes lifted up, he never overcomes to much by misery, let him fain as much as he will: all this is but to weaken the flesh, and to bring down high Mountains, and bring Job to lay his hand on his mouth, and repent in dust and ashes: So that, nothing preserves man, but a simple repenting heart. Sensible of weakness in the midst of greatest gifts. 1. The simplicity of the Gospel written in man's heart. 2. Simple believing and patience to suffer, and overcome: so with Christ, He was the Wisdom of the Father; he patiently bore the Wrath of the Father for man. To winnow you like Wheat, This was a coming, when the Shepherd was smitten, all friends forsook him: the Earth shook, Darkness was over all; Peter accused, the rest fled: Christ crucified like unto a murderer: laid in the grave: all gone, so that nothing was left: but the Wisdom that Christ had given them, and Faith in that Promise to believe, that he would come again: So that Ranson saw little to trust to, So that, There will come a Winnowing day upon all Flesh, good and bad, to destroy: and take from men all confidence in the Flesh, in which the Faithful shall be preserved by Faith, and Repentance and Patience. The Lord will in righteous judgement winnow the wicked, and Satan that falsifier? Where is Pharaohs Power, and Pompejy, and Dives, and Wealth of the Worldlings: and righteousness of Paul? Is it not all found too light? God hath had his Fan in his hand, & no unrighteousness shall stand before him: For they are like those chaff before the Wind: Woe to them that laugh for their covenant of Death shall be disannulled or broken. 1. For God makes way hereby for his mercy, and purifieth faith, and drived man to himself, though grievous yet wholesome. 2. All joy and life of Adam must be taken away, & nothing doth that, but Christ. 3. Then though Satan now insult and triumph like a King, yet he must be cast into the bottomless Pit, & all that obey him. 4. There is away that seems good bu● it must be tried and proves death: as that of Peter to Christ; save thyself: but this is not good. 1. Know then, that this day will come. We laugh & Feast and Drink, as though it would last always: but know as to a Scholar or idle Servant, that when he hath sported all these days, there will come a black-Munday and hard Work. So that, though we sport ourselves in quiet, cover our own guilt, delude sorrow, and drive it from our hearts, put off the evil day, play the Wanton with our knowledge, and Feast a while with Christ dainties; as he dealt with the Disciples, who brought them on by immediate power and love: but in the end, he must be taken away: So know, that these will fail; and nothing left, but naked Christ, a poor despised man: Let the Worlding know, that there will come a scattering night: where thou and thy guilty portion must part, & horror possess thy mind: which all thy Wealth will not quiet: Yea, thy Father and Mother, Children, etc. will be found too light in that day; Yea, thy joy, in thy Works and Knowledge. Then will he say, Bring out thy Righteousness, and all thy qualities of holiness, thy joy and comfort: thy Manna laid up: nothing then will serve, but praying to escape that hour, & yet shall not: but believing that his grace is sufficient. But we drink down sorrow like beasts, or we hid as under the World, or we make an aggreement, and put it off: We call for Mountains and high devotions to cover us, but all this would not free Job nor preserve Jeremiah, but down they must. So the time will come, that God will either by his Word and affliction try us, as by fire; and then shall we curse the day of our Birth; or else try us at Judgement, and say, What have I done unto thee? Wherein have I failed thee? what hast thou wanted? I warned thee of this night, and told thee of this time, but thou would not believe, thy Blood be upon thine own head. But I have prayed for thee. How shall man do in this day of Wrath? yet here is a friend at back, Christ praying, as to the men in the Ship, and he gone into a mountain to pray, So here he knew the sorrows of his people as a Man of sorrows, and so prayed for them; So that, here we see the brotherly care of Christ: So that, That in great Dangers and Weakness of man, Christ doth and is readiest to help. What care had he of his Disciples and how earnestly prayed he for them, Isa. 63. In all their afflictions he was: afflicted, he leaves the ninety and nine in the Wilderness▪ and seeks▪ the lost sheep. Heb. 6. We have a faithful. High Priest touched with our Infirmities. Like a loving brother, if his brother be overlaid, he pitieth his weakness and helps him: if he be beat, he stands by and cries: if he want, he gives him half: Or as the husband helps his Wife, runs & rides to do her good. For though he was the Word of the Father, yet he became a High Priest and fellow-feele, of our infirmities: he was given as a Testimony and witness to the People, and the first begotten of many. 1. What then are those high mystical Speculations and Comprehensions of Christ, making him so high: like speculative Angels? This is but an airy Christ, but our Christ is low and among us, suffering, watching & praying with us and for us. He comes not for these high thoughts, but for pure and contrite spirits. 2. What a hearting is this in trouble to endure, when Christ, like a husband is present in well and in woe? We think our case miserable: we bear the burden of sin: lo, he was forsaken and sick: he swate water and blood, he bears our weakness: but who feel it? he pities our tears, but who sheds them? he hears our cries, but who makes them? So that all high thoughted Religion is not of Christ, but of the Devil He came to bring down high mountains and Imaginations: We see then, that praying believers have a Friend at back: praying, when we are suffering. Friends may sail, and Riches may vanish, and life taken away: but he endures yesterday to day, and the same for ever. If then, we are weak & miserable, Christ is never wanting. That thy Faith fail not. And then let him do his worst, while thou sticks to me, and goes with me through death and hell: So that, The only way of safety in all straits: is a praying and believing heart: and while these continue: nothing can prevail, Psalm 107. They cried in their distress, and he heard them: we are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 6 8. When steadfast, resist in the Faith. Psalm. 9 They that know thy Name, trust in th●e. 1. For them, their cause is wholly committed to God, and to his Mercy. 2. These are the weapons that overcomes by suffering 3. These overcome the World, and crucify the flesh, which only work our bain. 1. But our mouths are stopped, and hearts straitened. We live by conceits only: we are full and pray not: Want makes man pray, and weakness, him believe: And so Satan never overcomes: none but wise & strong men, these Christ rejects 2. But the time may come, when we shall cry, and not be heard: whatever stops straitens and hinders prayer, is a snare: But O, Praying days are gone! But, Lord, increase Faith in all our hearts. When thou art converted, strengthen thy brothers. This is the monition that Christ left, and thou must go through much fear and have experience of sorrows: yet faith shall overcome, though Infidelity seem to overcome: yet shall faith discover it, and then by renewing Repentance, Faith shall restore thee: So that note: That the faith and comfort of a man being overclouded, and covered; is renewed by daily Repentance, as in David and Peter, and the Incestuous man. 1. For as Christ's Kingdom comes only to repenting hearts at the first: and as Sin in the World by accident, brought Christ into the World: So sense of sin in man's heart brings Christ thither. 2. Here is way made in man's heart for mercy and joy in Christ, & the heart driven to seek him in earnest. 3. Though man build hay and stubble on this foundation, yet God will destroy them by Fire & the Cross, and bring back Israel with joy that went out weeping. 1. But herein it is, that our Faith is turned to a dead and fleshly security, because repenting days are gone; we did repent, and felt the bitterness of sin, but it is all removed, and joy and freedom is come, & thou become secure: so that thus turns the eye from ourselves, and Christ too: and so repentance is hid from our hearts. Is sin less odious to God than before, or doth he more tolerate it in thee than others? Art thou not more guilty, having felt his love, to turn from him: Is not thy Pride, and Self-Will and Love thy security, and high thoughts as odious to him: and as great rebellion in thee, as was the wanton sins in the days of thy Ignorance. Hast not thou as much need of his grace, and power to preserve thee, as ever thou had to receive them? Shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace: Nay, as hard shall thou be sifted: but I will bring thee back by deep Repentance, and thy Faith shall revive, though for the present it fail. 2. So that Faith is not preserved, but by deep & daily humility and repentance: As Saint Paul, though he was partaker of great gifts, and more experience of God's love and power, than thousands, yet hereby was it preserved: He still rejoiced in infirmities, when he was weak, than he was strong: Great Knowledge, devote Holiness, and high Thoughts, choked Faith: only humility preserveth it. The one lives by opinion, as light as wind; but the other by Faith and mercy, he feels nothing but weakness and guilt. 3. Well-worth weak and repenting hearts, that weep with Peter, We deny him often, but repent seldom: What ever knowledge, or other thing they have, yet if this be kept lively, Faith shall not fail: though it be seemingly lost, and he turned his back, and he sees no way to peace: Yet wait a while, and light will spring out of darkness, and well-worth Cross that preserves Repentance in man, when he sees his own beastly guilt how he hath forsaken God, and run from him: and sees how all fails: then he returns: So it is hard to preserve Faith lively in prosperity. It is a great point of simplicity to enjoy all gifts, and yet look at none: We see then, whereby man is preserved in all straits, viz a praying and believing heart: all else vanish. 4. But praying days are gone. We have wept, but now rejoice: We were weak, but now strong in ourselves. Strengthen thy Brethren: Pity not me, nor weep for me: but weep for thyself: and pity thy Brothers: So that. As the life of Faith is in Christ only, see the practice of Faith is in love to the Brethren, David, Psal. 16. My goodness is nothing unto thee, but to the Saints that are in the Earth. Thus all rules of practice after Faith, that are established by Paul, are such like as help the weak, admonish the un-ruly, etc. and Christ left this his last Law, Love one another, and Faith works by love: This was Christ's practice all his days in doing good, & this is a free disposition of a Redeemed Spirit, the flesh seeks its own, but love doth not. 1. Thus is the Father's Love spread abroad, and the Truth of the Gospel; and the Church increased, and herein is the Communion of Saints. 1. But we all walk in the thearick knowledge of Faith and Christ, and nourish our thoughts therein; but we foresake the practice of Faith: for self-Love, and Pride hath drowned all hearty Religion. Do we help the poor, and relieve them? nay, we spoil them; do we bear with the Weak? nay, we judge them? do we cover the sins of others? nay, we spread them: Do we love our Enemies? nay, We hate them. 2. I wish we had less Knowledge, so we had more Faith and Love. Is it not a shame to see how Drunkards are linked together, and every Sect as one man; & yet, we that profess to believe in Christ, lead every man to his own gain: So we thrive, we care not who loss; who grieves and bears the burden of others. I will go with thee, though all forsake thee. Pride of heart, and overweening conceit of our own power, because of some singular gift above others is the ready way to fall before all; so it's in the Jews, Pharaoh, Nabuchadnezzar, Lucifer: So that, There is a presumptuous and proud careless confidence from the arm of flesh: which goes under the name of Faith, and lifts man up in security a while; but will fail in the end. Thus David, Psal. 30. And his numbering the people. SERMON XV. Dan. 3.16.19. Then Shedrach, Meshach, and Abedneg● answered and said to the King, O Nabuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. IN the former Chapter, Daniel had interpreted the King's Dream, concerning the Image of Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, and Clay, and the destruction of several Monarchies, by the Stone hewed out of the Mountain without hands; that is to say, The power of Christ, whose Kingdom should overcome all the rest, and be everlasting, never to be destroyed: by which the King was convinced to acknowledge the great Power and Wisdom of the God of Daniel: and sell into admiration, but understood not the Mystery of Christ therein, nor the downfall of his Kingdom, & therefore presently returns to his old Idolatry; So that, The Word of God from God, and the great work of his power, doth for the present put man to silence, and convinceth him: yet, where the heart remains hardened, and that the mystery of Christ is hid from man, he soon returns to his old vanity and Idolatry of his own heart. Thus they are often convinced by the great Works of God, Psal. 16. Yet forgot how they were brought out of Egypt, and walked not in the Covenant, but returned t● their Lusts: And the Pharisees in Christ's time often put to silence, but soon grew wise again to maintain there own Kingdom. Yea, how many of his followers, who saw his grea● Works, and confessed never man spoke like him, or did the like; spoke with such power and assurance, and yet forsook him: see the stony ground, and those of Judea. 1. For ease and peace, and prosperity being offered, and a man loath to live without them, they choke the Word. 2. The Knowledge of the Gospel without the power of Christ and his death, hardens above all; none such enemies to the simplicity thereof. 3. For if the Truth and Power of God be revealed, yet if God keep not the Promise of Repentance by the Cross, & so bring man under the power of that Word, he soon starts up and becomes Wise, and Righteous in himself: not in Christ in the flesh, not in Faith. 4. Though for the present it dash man, and convince him that he confesseth and sweareth that it is the truth; yet when it both crosseth his present ease and liberty, & brings no life but death for the present: he grows weary, unless the great power and love of God pursue his Soul by his Word and Cross. Hence comes so much back-sliding in the church, that men admire the great Power of God, yet not living in Repentance under the Cross. Every thing starts up, and so, they turn to the old way, or a new device of their own; but do not believe the downfall of their Kingdom for the present. For most men, when they have talked and showed abroad their Wisdom, Righteousness, and increased their Glory: they are the old men again: The World is welcome, and sweet, Sin as light, themselves at ease & secure, as they had never known such a thing. 1. And yet they know their ease and security ariseth not out of simple confidence of Faith, but hardness of heart: and clothed under a vail of Religion. 2. So it is a fearful thing to grow hardened after truth revealed; that man join hands with the World: & that sin become less sinful in conceit. This is a mere security and not Faith: for if a man fly off, and that the Word cease to judge man, arraigned at God's judgement seat: For Christ hath two judgements in man's heart, viz Judgement and Mercy: so it is said, Man must give an account of what he hath done, Yea, of every ●dle Word: which is true in man's heart: for they are judged, and man tormented, until he apply to mercy. For if he be not before one of these two, he is secure; may, this we see too common in all men. 1. For though they must be brought at one time or other, to be judged in themselves, and confess that it is ●he way of Faith: Repentance and Love it is the way of Life: yet how soon become hardened, and cast it off, cares not for it, but gets a life elsewhere: that they cannot say that their joy and pleasure, and life is in Christ, but in another: in his knowledge: and righteousness, and none abides: but with this Nabuchadnezzar falls off. But know, that this Word shall judge thee one day. 2. Hence we see, what a Fountain of Lust and Rebellion is in all men, believers and others, how often hath God expounded our Dreams, restored our freedom, given Life in Death? and how soon are we returned either to the World's shifts in straits, or forget the Lord, that brought us out of Egypt: and feed ourselves with pleasure. Nabuchadnezzar made an Image of Gold, fifthy cubits high: He had forgotten the God of Daniel soon, and now makes an Idol, for his own glory: & preservation, even thus doth all; So that, When man's heart turns away from God & Christ, that he is not known, believed and loved: every ma● set up the idol of his own Imagination in his heart: & forsakes the God of Heaven: that is to say, a God, a Christ: and a Righteousness, and Wisdom in Imagination. Thus every Nation had their Gods, all reasons are 〈◊〉 God framed or comprehended in the wit of man 〈◊〉 Therefore, God gave this great Law, Thou shalt hav● no other Gods but me. 1. Thus Satan is called the God of this World, wh● sets up his Law in man's heart. For there is in every man the sins of all men in the root, so that as the Heathen, that know not God indeed: yet had many Imaginary Gods: So all men that know not God, or forsake Christ, make many Christ's: though not all of o●● fashion, yet such as man's Imagination leads him to. 2. For man's heart must have something to uphold it, either real, or conceited; therefore, in want of th● God of life, he must have some God: and somethi● to trust to, or sometimes for which he must trust G●● the better: in all which, though it be nothing but the Idol of his Imagination, yet Christ must bear the Name He confesseth the God of Daniel, but hath an other Idol whom he worships. For doubt not, but all the Heathen had a general confused conceit of God: unto whom they then framed God a kind of relation in their conceit. For reason could tell them, that a creature could not save them: neither could Nabuchadnezzar believe, that any creature could yet save or deliver him when he counted himself the most patiented creature in the world: but had a conceit of God, unto whom he owed Worship: Some acknowledge the true Christ, but he is not the Saviour by whom they live, but something else: So that, Thus the World and the Church is full of Idolatry, every man setting up the Idol of his own heart. One sets up a Golden Image, as the King did here, and makes the World his great God. This he serves and trusts & worships; yea, in all his laws & threats, he fears the loss of his labour: For if this God smile, he laughs; if he frown, he grieves; if he threaten, he fears; if he promise, he believes: and this is the greatest God, most worshipped in the World. The rich adores it, the poor prays unto it, all bow unto it: But the great Idol in the Church, is man's knowledge and righteousness. This is that the false Apostles set up. This he decketh with Devotion, Ze●l and Charity, but yet not much of that; he worships God before this Idol, he acknowledgeth Christ, yet with circumcision joined, this we make only God, we bow down as unto it: Nay, the Idols of man's imaginations are endless. For the greatest contemplators, saith Luther, Are the greatest Idolaters, for they make an Idol of their own imaginations, or their speculations: Christ and Paul was none of these, they lay in misery, they believed God, they practised love, and went about doing good. 1. For by how much any goes about to comprehend Christ and his Word, not believing in him, from a broken and repenting heart, but from strength of imagination he is the great Idolater; but know these ar● cursed and the makers of them, they have mouths, but speak not; eyes, but see not the way of life: noses, but savour not the things of God; feet, but walk not in the ways and love of Christ; and they shall not all help in time of need. Thy Knowledge shall vanish, th● Righteousness be judged faulty, thy gold perish, and thy pleasures be turned into sorrow, and shall this God deliver thee? And all these are framed by man, that he may have ease and freedom elsewhere in the flesh, and have something to see and feel, that so he may live i● peace; but the true God is found in trouble, not at the sound of Music, but in woe and sighing: then is God present with these men, as, Daniel, Shedrach, Mechac● and Abednego, were accused by the Officers. This added to their Captivity, for that herein is doubl● bondage, though they were advanced as Rulers in Babylon, yet brings them into bondage: that they might not fit in Babylon, but upon their God and his Word, So that, When God intends good unto man, he keeps him under the Rod of misery without, and weakness within: that Faith may be kept pure, and the flesh a●● man may have no stay but in him. Thus with Job, David, Psal. 107.39. He brings dow● their heart with sorrow, thus with Christ 1. For till man be throughly whipped, he flies to so●● new shift, and God in love chaseth him from all hold● that he may not settle in carnality. 2. For Abraham had no Child, than Isaac was bo●● and then hope of him seemed to be taken away. Thi● was ever Gods dealing with his Church, they had som● breathing time: yet he renews his rod, when they gre● wanton and turn from him: Man would lay hold i● any thing, rather than drown: but thus God plunge● him into the deep, and then he prays. 1. Thus we all seek rest in the flesh, and find it: ar● say, We shall not be moved, the Pipe and the Tabr● is in our Feasts, but sorrow and repentance is hid fro● us: But if God intent thee good, he will keep thee from fleshly ease. Thou thinks it an heavy bondage, to lose wife, husband, world and all: but when guilt shall appear within, and God is departed, and death at hand; who shall comfort thee? 2. But we are altogether for ease and peace: Our Church is fleshly. The Church in Canticles, sought and enquired after him in the night, but no such need with us: we feel not the grief and captivity of others. They are now full, anon, taken away; Now in health, anon strucken dead. Children cries, wives lament; husbands slain, none left to comfort them: but cruel enemies to make an end of them: which shows the cursed strength of flesh, never well but under the rod. This made some ●un into Monasteries. We are not careful. That is, we seek no shifts, but trust ●n our own God; and fear not the fire, nor afraid but God will deliver us: So that, Faith only staying the heart, only Christ makes man ●old again from death and misery: and purgeth the heart from fear. This was promised by Christ, Be not afraid: so the Midewives of Egypt feared not the King, seeing him ●hat is Invisible. Thus the Martyrs not afraid to answer ●heir Adversaries. 1 For it overcomes the World, gives joy in tribulation, after patience, experience; Isa. 58. A Smith lif●●●ot up a hammer, but by me. 2. Man fears only so far, as he trusts himself or the ●reature. 3. Faith keeps the heart safe, whatever becomes of ●e flesh. 1. Now there is a fear natural, from Constitution. 2. A fear worldly, because we trust and love it. 3. A fear spiritual, either of wrath or judgement, or ●f fear in regard of himself and his own weakness and ●bellion● but fear makes man-believe. 1. Why doth man fear, but because he believes not? ●ence our shrinking hearts: that when trouble approacheth, he deviseth and invents how to answer & escape and recover. For affliction indeed shakes all frothy faith, but purifieth the rest as gold. 2. But woe to the hardened hearts, that fear nothing, because the World is strong in our hearts, but like blind byard run into a pit. 3. See the safety of believers, who have a friend at back; that when flesh pleads with Saul to David, thou art not able: and Jonathans' man: they are many judgeth nor after outward appearance, but believes and waits for deliverance: Be not afraid, only believe. 4. And this is the Fountain of all, the careful life of an unbelieving man: always caring to increase theirs: to be delivered, because they trust not in him that's able. Our God is able here, opposeth their God to the cumber & wrath of the King: we seek not thy favour nor life, nor ease: but our God whom we serve is our only ●tay: So that, The believing heart, so f●r as he believes in Christ, and Christ in him; in all extremities cries from a believing mind, None but Christ. Thus Solomon when he had tried all vanities, Psal. 73. I have none in heaven, save only thee. Eliah against Baal, The Lord he is God: And the Prodigal, Father, I have sinned against thee, therefore I am no more worthy to be called thy Son. Phil. For we are the Circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 1. For there is he that giveth life in death. 2. They are one by faith, as the husband & the wife. 3. This is the Law accomplished by the Gospel, against the world, who worship one God, and trust in another; nay, all have any but thee. Faith is a simple thing separate from all: Christ only lives in m●n, and answers Satan with this, Our God is able to deliver us. If he see it best. He can: to which will we are subject and believe his power: yet, if he see it not good, we believe his power, He is able to uphold us in suffering; & we are pleased with his will whatsoever: So that, So that simple believing of God's power, & free subjection to his will in all things, is the only stay & hearts ●ase of man in trouble and misery. As in Abraham, he believed that he was able to raise him up from the death, though he know not that he would; in that he submitted to his will, Rom. 11. Concerning Israel, God is able to graft them in again, & David, When he was driven by Absolom, God can bring me again to the City and Tabernacle, if not, here I am: let him do what seemeth him good: So saith the Leper, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean; and God can save by few as by many. For he that comes to God must first, believe that God is, that is to say, there is Power, and Truth, & Wisdom in him; who, by his Power commands the Heavens, and they were made: who causeth light to shine in darkness, Thus he argues in Isaiah and Jeremiah, It's I that measure the Sea in my hand. He that made the Heavens and the Earth, that doth lead through the Fire and Water, and brings down to Hell and Death. And this he hath promised, that he will not leave man in distress, but all shall turn to good. So that, to deny all creatures and strength of man, & believe his power: to deny ourselves, and be subject to his will is our only ease. For Christ so knew his Father was able to save him from that hour, yet was subject to his will, not my will, but th●ne be done. But Man hath a Will of his own, which God doth not always answer according to his fleshly appearance, which man seeks to accomplish by his own; or, because man sees not always a sign or way of deliverance in himself, he fears and thinks all is lost; when God in Wisdom hides all from him, and takes away all stays in the flesh, that he may despair in himself, and trust in another, and deny his will, that he may be made subject. Thus, we all deny the Power of God, & think there can be no comfortable living in the World without fullness of the World; nor that Wife and Children cannot live when we are gone, unless we leave them full portions: but who fed Elias, and the Widow of Sarepta? who fed the Ravens and clothed the Lilies? Nay, we do not see, that all the care and power of man cannot make him prosper, when God's hand is against him: and do we not see how many he raiseth out of the dust, and setteth them with Princes: and yet this we trust more than him: If we have friends and riches, we believe: if not, we fear, as though his power was limited to this. 1. Nay, thus in the way of Religion, we deny his power and will needs help God, as that he cannot save us without our help, Works, Wisdom, & righteousness and these must be set up to look at, and we behold Christ through these, and Circumcision: & so we stand not as Beggars to receive of his fullness, but as Traders in Religion, to bring something unto him, as a thousand Rams. 2. But what safety to the City, if God watch not, or what ease by rising early, if God bless not: so that none believes the power of God, but he that knows his own weakness, and of all creatures: For still God manifests his Power Wisdom, and Mercy in the Weakness, Foolishness, and Unworthiness of Man, and this believing Gods, Power, never more seen than in trouble; For while we are full, we believe, because of our fullness: but when all fails, than we deny him and limit him by, that we see, or feel; and hence, we deny him in our hearts: I shall never get out of this Misery; I cannot tell what course to take, I see no help, I have no friends: the enemies is full of Wrath and Power, I cannot escape his hand. Did he not put a Bridle in the Lips, and a Hook in the Nose of Senacherib, slaying a thousand and fifteen hundred in one night: Hath he not Promised to give thee a Mouth and Wisdom, therefore though thou canst not tell what to do, commit all to him, and see what he can do: As we do in any trouble, when we are weary with striving, we give our matters to another, to make what end he will, and we are content: So do with him, as Job, laying his hand on his mouth, and see what an End God made. Obj. Yes, I know God is able, but yet I know not that he will. Answ. In this nothing but subjection brings peace, for it is not our curious searching that finds it, We all lost to know and see, rather than to be subject to his Will in patience, We would all know the time when, & by what means, we would have it now and by Fire from Heaven. He hath promised and is able to supply our wants, but we would know and feel it, and have it in abundance. Thus, Man would be a chief Lord in the Church, and leave nothing for Christ to do, he would have all things in his own hands, and yet for aught I know, when man hath most, he believes God the least, and when he hath most confidence in himself he hath least in God. But these argued not with God, nor tempted him, but cast all upon him, he is able, and if he will, he can, and if not, his will be done. Thus man in strength of his own will fights against God daily; we pray, Thy will be done, but we never think of it: but rather that our wills might be accomplished, that His will might be the fulfilling of our lusts, rather than suffering want to believe Him. We profess that he will turn all to the good of His, we believe not truth, for else how comes this murmuring in want; but we think nothing can turn good, but that wherein we find present good: We would know and feel all, but believe and suffer nothing. And he will deliver us. They stick to the Promise, & are delivered: So that, Faith and sticking to the Word of Promise, gives assurance & frees man, when all else fails. Be it known, However He do, yet we will not forsake Him; So that, The believing heart willingly suffers all misery, rather than forsake God, or trust any, but Christ. As Paul, For I am not only ready to be bound, but to suffer all things. Then was Nabuchadnezzar full of fury; When he saw his power contemned, his will crossed, his glory thus opposed by these, and of another which he saw not, nor believed: his rage was kindled, and he grew mad, and commanded the furnace to be made seven times hotter than before; So that, The way of Faith doth most cross the power & wisdom of the world, of any thing; and therefore doth the World cast it off, and grows furious and mad against it. John preached Repentance, and they cast him into prison because he told them, that their high mountains must be cast down: and that in that way they could not be saved. Christ preached faith, to the convincing of the world, that they should believe, and they look at nothing but Him: And they hated the light, because their deeds were evil: Therefore, were they mad against Him. Paul preached Salvation by Christ, and overthrew circumcision, and they stoned Him. And so the elder brother, the prodigal; Luther preached free justification by faith, without the righteousness of man, and the whole army of Antichrist was up in arms against him. So these stick to God, and the King is furious. 1. For this leaves nothing for the heart to fix upon, but Christ, a thing unknown to flesh and blood: If man would fasten on the world and rest there, Christ shows it is a vain and a broken staff, & that a man's life stands not in that, for moths corrupt it; and as the rich man builded his barns, this night will they fetch away thy soul: So that the worlding hates it in his heart. 2. If man will fasten on his righteousness, & knowledge, opinion, or any quality, Christ's beats it down, & Paul makes it worse than nothing; and leavs all under sin: And so the wise and righteous men are always the greatest enemies to Christ: for they think much that all that which they have gotten with such labour & cost should serve for nothing: For man would have a life out of all things, but flees death in all things. 3. Nay if man think to store up joy and peace & ease by believing, and so make his mountain strong, by his revelations, gifts, and great joys. Yet than Christ also comes with darkness and sufferings, and seems to forsake these men: and this makes the stonny ground to fall off: and these for a time rejoiced in his light, but forsakes him after: So that, Christ may well say, Who hath believed our report? for of all other things this is least welcome to man: Nay, all hearts rise against it, but he that is down already. The Worlding is tied in his lust, and worldly confidence, and his ears stopped, and his heart riseth against it: for he would sit at ease and enjoy his portion: So also the righteous and religious man, that excelleth others, and professeth Christ; yet lives by circumcision: He storms and argues and disputs against it, and gets strong conceits and opinions to join the world, and ease, and Christ together, and none embraceth it, but the poor and miserable heart. SERMON XVI. Jeremiah 48.34 56 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel to thee; O Baruch; thou didst say, Woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow, I faint in my sighing, and I find no rest: Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus, That which I have builded, I will break down, & that which I have planted, I will pluck up: even this whole land. THese are the words of the Lord to Baruch by Jeremiah, to comfort him in the heaviness of his soul, because of the present persecution of the King and people of Judea against the word of the Lord, and the Book which he had written, from Jeremiah: As also, for the ensuing captivity which he saw: He expected peace and ease, when he had read the book to them: but for that they persecuted both Jeremiah and him: He looked they would have repent, but they are more hardened, and he hath less hopes than before: Upon which, 1. The Lord comforts him by the Prophet; wherein Baruchs' sorrow and grief is renewed and multiplied, and he left without any hope of ease or rest. 2. The Lord comforts him in his heaviness, he renews his threaten against Judea, that He will pull and pluck up that which He hath planted: ●he shows wherein is the cause of his sorrow, because he sought great things for himself. 3. A promise of safety, when evil shall fall upon all flesh; yet life shall be given him for a prey. Woe is me now. What is the grief of Israel, had Baruch the book, and cast the Word of the Lord away, and hardened himself in his clear sight revealed, so that judgement must come? So that, No sure sign of judgement, than of hardness of heart under the clear sight of the Gospel of Christ, Luke 13. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee: How often would I have gathered you together, as the hen gathereth her brood under her wings; and ye would not? Mat. 22. The unthankful guests were bidden, but hardened against it. T●is is the ab●sing of his long-suffering through hardness of heart that cannot repent, and yet judging others: as the unthankful servant, that eateth and drinketh with drunkards. In such security was Israel fallen now, for which Baruch mourned, that they cast off the words of Jeremiah, saying: It is false, and God would not cast off his: And so follow the Idols and Imaginations of thelt wicked hearts. This is the turning of Grace into Wantonness, like, those in Judea, for which judgement was prepared: they fed their bellies, & filled their purses by the Gospel, but not souls with Faith & Love. And it is a sign of death when Physic works not, but that the disease grows strong against it: so of the soul, when the Word of Life prevails not. This is a casting off God, whose goodness we have felt; so that now we live of ourselves, to work our own peace, procure life, prevent danger: for that is not now called to for counsel, nor is help called for as of old: and this is the hardness wherein to we are all s●llen, as woeful experience shows: And this is the condemnation, That light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. john 3. and this appears, when sin and rebellion is the same or the greater, and yet less burdensome, and evil than before. When knowledge of the Gospel hath shut up repentance from the heart, and pride hath drowned humility and love in himself, when God of his Judgements are not feared nor felt but we put the evil day far off when iniquity is grown great and impudent: and become as ordinary as our trades and callings are with us. Now the time was, when the disciples of Christ, and Apostles flocked in abundance and left all, as Alexander and Demas: but after a while they hardened & fell to the World and ease thereof. The Galatians would have plucked out their eyes, but after turned enemies in legal righteousness, but we to dead security, even thus with us: Time was, when the Word was precious, and prevailed to rule in us: but now we can abide it through wit and foreknowledge, and sleep quietly. 1. But well worth tender hearts who eat and live by the Word, whether it speak life or death: it prevails above all; and hence see the greatest provocation that ever was raised against God, whereby his own people had tasted of his love, and grown wanton in the flesh, and more fearful judgement fell upon them. So now, the silly ignorant wretch, when he hears but of any judgement, he trembles and blesseth himself after his own poor sighing fashion: but the wise and great devote ones they mock him, and say, Tush, this is nothing, we shall escape it, and call his word a lie: so that we may justly fear the sequel of these fearful signs, these more certain signs, than in Sun and Moon: For where is the mourning, weeping, and repenting heart? Where is the lowly, believing mind, that joys in tribulation? Where is the open, loving, single heart without respect. Well, nay, we cry, Woe is me now, for Israel hath cast off the Lord, and we fight against his Word: our long peace hath made us secure. The Word & Works of God are become a dallying to us, and we sing pe●●●, peace, and yet forsake the way and despise the Kingdom of peace. God hath added grief to my sorrow. New grief to my old sorrow, one grief after another, that I find no rest: though I faint in my sighing, see God's dealing: So that, God usually tries his to the bottom, and adds one affliction to another, to all which he loves, and suffers them not to find any ease and rest in the flesh. As with Job, Psal. 78. He brought down their hearts with sorrows, Psal. 77. He wept all night. Thus Paul had fightings and terrors: thus Christ, and the Martyrs even persecuted unto strange Cities: thus Abraham nothing left, Psal. 4. One deep calls another; thus the ways of Christ, and our conformity to his death; For until man be throughly whipped, and beat under, he runs to some new shift. 1. And so God in love chaseth him from all holes, as Abraham, though he was brought from his Country, yet he had no Children, than was Isaac given; then he had hope in the flesh, but he took that away. 2. Thus was Gods dealing with the Church, though they had some breathe given: yet, when the flesh b●gan to grow wanton and rejoice, and so they forget and turn from the God of their Life, th●n he sent his Rod to waken them, that they might not settle on their fleshly ease. 3 Thus will God work good out of evil, He lets Satan lose to whip & torment his for the destruction oh the flesh. 4. Man will lay hold upon any thing before he drown, yea, even a Lease, or Reed, but God plungeth him into the deep, and then he cries, and is heard. 5. Light afflictions makes man more wise and wilily to escape in the flesh; but sound and deep grief added to sorrow brings down the heart, and makes h●m pray: Thus we see all seeks rest in the flesh, and we have gotten the World to seed us, and Religion to ●●ver us, in prosperity and peace: and say, Soul take thine ease, and ●●t as a Queen, and say, We shall not be moved. We add joy to mirth, the Pipe and Tabret is in out Feasts, we drink and care, and laugh in the midst of our finning, but Sorrow and Repentance is hid from us: We have not resisted unto blood, nor affliction hath taken us, but such as with a little time of Wisdom could remove, or at least forget. 1. But know, if God intent thee good, he will add grief to thy sorrow: Thou thinks it a heavy thing, to lose Father, Husband, or Wife; but it will be a heavier thing to feel the burden of thy Spirit, when God hath turned his Face away, and taken all from thee: that thou fe●lest nothing but guilt within, and death approaching, and yet God absent: Then will grief be added to sorrow: Who then shall comfort thee? 2. Thus the Faith of our Church is all fleshly; fleshly joy, prosperity, cast, the Spouse of Christ, Canticles 1. Is black: and her Locks w●tt with dew in seeking her beloved in the night, and with weeping in the streets, but no such enquiry with us. Others endure grief upon grief Now full, anon taken away now in peace, anon Drumming, and Cannons roaring in the streets: now in Health and Lusty, anon struck dead in an instant: Children crying, Wives bemoaning, Maids ravished; Fathers & Husbands slain and none to comfort them; but unrully Soldiers to spoil them: These are days and places of Prayer: No ease in the flesh, but crying in the Spirit. 3. We see also the springing corruption of man, like the springing Willow, by the water side; cut it now, and it shoots out the next spring. 4. So that believers needs abundance of purging through affliction: For still we retain something, and gathers some hope from thence, and so flesh still renews again. This was it I think, which led some honest minds to betake themselves to such austere living: thinking thereby to tame the flesh; & voluntarily denying fleshly case, but yet it sprung up under a more spiritual form: but in a greater mystery of wickedness: For, look how far a man afflicts himself he is able to comfort himself: but if God add grief to thy sorrow, and lay it on indeed, it will fetch tears, yea, blood. 5. The way of man never sorrows till it be kindly, such as all flesh cannot ease: it was so with thee once, and why not now? It is but a light and fleshly sorrow for want of ease, that is eased by any thing in man: but a wounded spirit who can bear? but we take wounded flesh for spirit: For that is, when a spirit is wounded with guilt and want, because it hath followed and believed the flesh, and then as here is no way seen for recovery, but sighing and fainting therein, till God beyond hope, come. I will pull down that which I have builded. He will cast Israel away, whom He once choose for his only people: I will send them into Babylon, whom He appointed to dwell in Canaan, and to worship in Jerusalem, and all because their hearts were lifted against him in their imaginations: So that now he will pluck up all, that he may cast down their vain confidence, because they were hardened in security, and lifted up in pride: So that. God will certainly destroy and cast out the fairest gift given to man, when man's heart is lifted up thereby, and hardened therein. Thus he pulled down the confidence Israel had in the Ark: Thus he brings down David's high mountain, and Paul's rebellions: this was John's office to destroy high mountains: Paul had confidence in the flesh, but G●d laid it in the dust: So that after he confessed, That in me dwells no good thing, but is given only by Christ, in such humility and baseness, that man might not be lifted up, his kingdom not be here: He arrogated nothing to Himself, but to his father, Not mine, but him that sent me. 1. For Christ will pull down all other kingdoms, that he may erect his own, as in Daniel: the kingdoms vanished one after another. This is the stone hewn out of the rock without hands, and therefore Christ came to destroy the kingdom that the law had builded in man, and to convince the world of sin, because of righteousness which they had established: of judgement, because the Prince of this World judged falsely of Him. 2. For man is clothed in his gifts, as the Angels: & became strong and wise without God: He hath built him a city, provided a portion, working righteousness, full of knowledge, a God in his own eyes: but God will pull all these down that he may be God. 3. The weapons of our warfare are mighty through Him to pull down strong holds, not through ourselves: And this he doth by the power of the word, It is a mighty voice, and thereby lays low all man's thoughts for the present, and by the Cross kindly together. 4. All gifts that God gives to man are to show his power and love, for the good of others: not to make them the Idols of our own hearts, and say, These are thy Gods; O Israel. 1. Woe then to the Pride of man, who is lifted up by every gift: exalts himself, judgeth others, despiseth the weak; but such boasting must down: yea, whatever God gives them, he will take it again if you begin to store it up. 2. It is a great point of simplicity of heart, in the fullness of all gifts the hearts be low, & lifted up by none: when he hath seen all secure, he seethe none: and enjoyeth freedom, yet walks in fear: as the Child, though he want nothing, yet he hath nothing properly his own: God is and will be the keeper of his own gifts, which we put into the hands of flesh: O! therefore, lay your foundation on a Kingdom. 3. But know there will come a pulling down, as to Israel, when they sat by the Rivers of Babylon: What foolishness, when it is us that builds and plaints, and gathers and makes sure that which must be cast down and scattered? when thy mouth shall be filled with gravel, thy portion scattered, thy honour buried in dust: thy strong confidence perisheth, thy Soul carried into the land of darkness. 4. See the perverse heart of Man, and strength of fleshly heart, Who the more God bestows on him, the less he cares for him: like an untoward, Child keep him bare in Faith and dependence of his Father's love, and he prays, and believes, and is obedient: but fill his hand, and let him have his Lust, he sets his Father and Mother at nought: Yea, thus the Flesh makes advantage of the most excellent gifts: as b●re, even the joy, peace, and assurance God gives man: for man retains nothing, but is lifted up by it. And believes that it is God, but not man more humble and low to see his own vileness, saying, What is man, that thou regardest him? Dost thou seek great things for thyself, seek them not. Thou mourns & weeps, that this desolation must come It is because thou finds ease and peace, and great matters: no, all shall be taken away: Seek them not, for this is the cause why thou art so troubled, thy fleshly lusting, not throughly mortified and prepared in faith and patience to wait: So that, The main ground of all our misery and sorrow is, our lasting expectation of great ease and peace in the flesh, not faithfully prepared to be subject to Gods will, or content with his present portion. David looks that Absolom should be spared above all and therefore was so grieved at his death: yea, more than at the death of all the rest. Peter expected to have his life: & continue there in peace: therefore so wishing, that Christ should not go up to Jerusalem, when Hezekiah had overcome Senacharib: he thought he should live in peace, which made the message of death so heavy, Luk. 12. He said, Soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years: Take thine case, eat, drink, and be merry: therefore death was that night so fearful. 1. Thus we see in experience, and say: I was finely set, I had paid my debt, gotten a good portion; built an house, provided for wise and children in a good way of thriving, and very like to have risen: and now all is gone. For look how far the heart is lifted up in experience, so far it is cast down in the want of any thing. 2. Lust leads out the mind beyond present state, and sets a seeking great things, not content with present: & so both wanders in desires and uncertain hopes: & when they have gotten them with much toil, they are left in 〈◊〉 moment, and he laid in the dust. 3. This deprives man of present good ●nd what he hath, because of the want and expectation of what he would have. But subjection is necessary in all estates, thus we are carried still in expectation of great matters, that we forget the present one, of great riches, and certain inheritance for himself and his; and it may be; he or they dies a beggar. Another of great joy and comfort, and good will: keeps low his heart in sorrow. All expects a mending of their condition, which till it come, they pine and languish: The way of rest is to walk faithfully for the present, and reserve the issue unto God. SERMON XVII. Isa 64.6.7. But we are all as an unclean thing: all our righteousness is as filthy rags, and we all do fade as chaff or a leaf: and our Iniquities like the wind have taken us away. IN this Chapter is laid down the earnest desire of the Prophet, for taking away their rebellion & healing their pride and security: that so the judgement might be removed: wherein by a Metaphor; that nothing can reform Israel but God: descending by his power, and bringing down their high mountain. For he acknowledgeth that God is faithful and wonderful in his mercy to them that wait for him, and seek him in his way: for whom he hath done such great things as were never heard of, and then confesseth where the fault lies. In the former verse he shows how ready God is to meet him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness in his way, and that yet now he is wrath, because they have inned: but that in his way there is continuance of his mercy and goodness: and that man walking constantly therein, shall be saved. Then in the sixth verse, a map and a plain description of man's estate without God: & that is laid down. 1. Generally in their natural disposition, as filthy rags 2. In their holiness or devotion, allour righteousness are as filthy rags. 3. In their failing and fading in all goodness, like a leaf. 4. In their misery, their Iniquities like wind takes them away. 5. In their hardness, none calleth upon thy Name, or stirreth himself to take hold of thee. 6. God's absence from them, because of their Iniquities. 7. And last, they commit themselves to God in submission, as clay to the Potter, and so after, cries for mercy and reconciliation, and of restoring their captivity: In those is continuance and we shall be sav●d: In thy way there is safety and continuance, of comfort, if we had hearts to continue faithful therein. But we are: So that, Mercy, Love and Truth are a continual act in God, and never fails to man: but when man turns to himself and his own ways. But if man could continue constant in faith, he should be preserved in all dangers, His mercy endureth for ever, and his truth from generation to generation, etc. Mic. 6. Israel testify against me, wherein have I been wanting or failed thee. How did he continue his love to Israel? though they sinned, yet he continued a Father: though we sin, yet he abides saithful. Christ continues ever a faithful High Priest, & neve●●easeth to make Intercession. 1. For with him there is no shadow of turning: he changeth not as man: God is not yea and nay: as a man in war with his enemies: who hath a Captain wise and puissant to overcome, if they bear their station and fight in confidence: But if he out of his pride and infidelity run out into a way of his own, and trust his own devices, shall fall. It was, because he stayed not with the Captain: so it is with us, because we stay not with him, but run after some lust or device, and think to prosper, which skill fails. For when Israel stuck to the Covenant, and endured hunger and thirst: and drunk bitter waters, and waited on him in his way, they prospered: But when they began to lust, & turned from him, they fell through Infidelity. 2. For no length of time nor work of man, can alter him or his word; but man running from him, deprives himself. 3. For it was adam's running from God, and the Prodigal from his Father: and the Apostates, for denying and forsaking the faith: that was their undoing. 1. Hence we see, why our joy and peace continueth not, viz. because we continue not faithful in sticking to him; But, 1. Either bless ourselves with hearing of Redemption, and yet live by the world and the flesh. 2. Or tasting of the joy and freedom in the way of faith, thinks all is perfected, and lives not by faith, but the World creeps in. 3. Or receiving joy and assurance from God, thinks to store it up in ourselves: which was Adam's sin: For he that thinks to store up faith and love, etc. in himself; and thereby to please God, or to receive from God, is deceived. For there is faithfulness in God, and continuance in God, but not in man: So that, here is our error, we think to store up these by wit and diligence, and by faith; for there is no continuance or keeping of holiness in man, but in Christ; for He is our Holiness, and Redemption. Charge not God then, as those in Isaiah 58. as though he failed: for there is no failing in him, but condemn thyself: And yet God chargeth not man as though he had been a wanting to him, Isaiah 1. as though man can do any thing to Him: but because we are not fit to receive, O that my people would have heard: Because he hath not an ear to hear, and a heart to receive what God would bestow on him: Being forestalled with a conceit of his own gifts, the sin of the Angels. 3. Hence we see, how hard it is for man to continue in any good way: with God is continuance, man fails oft, for man is loath to lie in the dust still, and to suffer affliction, and mourn, but he will have some merry days: and if God give it not, he flies to the world, and seeks it there: And yet we know that man never finds life but in death, and Paul never rejoiced so much as in infirmities: which argues, we are abundance of flesh, but little spirit; for one hour that we live in the misery of our own spirits, we live then in pleasure or hopes of the flesh. But we are all as unclean things. He confesseth what man is, without God, viz. That man separated from God, and not guided by Him, is but vileness and vanity: a lump of filthiness, and good for nothing, till he be restored by mere mercy, and made subject to God, and live in Christ: Psal. 6 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? In us dwells no good thing, man is a thing of nought: Rom. 3. Their throat is an open sepulchre, etc. no steadfastness in the Angels, and who can say, My heart is clean? So David, Psal. 5. Daniel 9 confess what man is. 1. For God is the life, soul, and being of all creatures, and none lives but by Him: none but men and devils, but are subject to him, and obey his will: only man hath a will of his own which he would have to reign as God. 2. This is the common eye of the world: what malice & danchour, not the like amongst brute creatures; even minds to devour one another, wrong, murder, covetousness, pride, lusts, and all evil is committed amongst men, but all flowing out of this pit. 3. Nay the experience of every heart, understanding itself, sees it, dost thou not find in thyself a heart stuffed with pride, vain glory, lust, & filthy desires, that if the world did but know them thou wart ashamed for ever. 4. And that which makes him worst of all, this beggar will needs fit on horseback, and boast & proclaim himself to be some body. 1. But if man's eye were turned homeward, we should have no boasting: where thou may see in thyself the sins of all men in the world, Pharaohs hardness, cain's murder, saul's doubling, Judas treason, the fool's worlding: for we do the will and lust of the devil. 2. So that all thy good thoughts of thyself are from the devil, the father of lies: nay, when ever thou medles with any thing that is good, if it be not God that works in thee, thou mars it. Thou talks of Religion from a proud heart, and makes Religion to stink: thou prays out of a rotten heart, out of self-love for ease, and it is abominable, etc. 3. O that man saw the filthiness of his own heart! What a hase thing he is? It would both bring dow● his high thoughts of himself, and make him charitable to others. 1. Whence then is all this exalting of ourselves above others, as thinking we have some excellent gifts above others? is it not because we know not ourselves. 2. Whence is this seeking of glory one of another? but because we know not our vileness, we are loath to see any ill in ourselves, and thence so many excuses. 3. Whence is this judging and censuring of others? but because we think well of ourselves. Object. But God hath given excellent gifts to men, as Knowledge, Wit, Joy, Comfort, Faith, and Love, etc. Answ. This declares the goodness of God, not of man, this rests in God, not in man: this makes not man better in himself, but shows that God is better to him: for when man chokes himself with conceits of God's gifts as his own, he becomes proud. True it is, God restrain and order's man for good of others, but if he take good to himself, he is deceived. 4. Where then are all these good qualities that man brags of? True it is, for matters pollitical, God hath given gifts and fitness to man; but for the Kingdom of Christ there is no power, no fitness: all power is in Him, both in heaven and earth: For as in a Kingdom there is no power, no will but in the King, so in this: so that we greatly err in our conceits. We think Faith is a virtue, and quality, and power in man; but it is indeed the weakness of man trusting in another, when the weak, dead, and beggarly heart of man flies to and lives in another; so that, there is no goodness in man, but sight of vileness etc. 5. O! how much need we then to stand in need o● mercy who are vile, filthy, and rebellious? 6. And magnify we God's mercy and love, that on us, so vile, and wretched, hath showed mercy, and still keeps and preserves us. And all our righteousness is as filthy rags. 1. Here he shows, what man is naturally, in the general nature of man: and here he shows what he is in his better reformed qualities of Righteousness and Holiness: wherein he labours to bring down the high conceits of the Jews: Who accounted themselves the only Holy and Religious People: and that therefore, God would carry them into Captivity: But he tells them, that even all their righteousness, that they boast off, in respect of God, is nothing but filthiness and vanity: and so the Righteousness and Holiness of the most perfect man, whereby he labours to root out of man two things. 1. The conceits of all Righteousness in himself, and so pride and boasting, that man may know himself. 2. All Righteousness before God: but 1. For first, he doth not draw man from Righteousness, but from the opinion of Righteousness. 2. He speaks not of Righteousness towards man, but towards God: So that, Man's best Righteousness, and perfection of Holiness with God, and before him; as also all man's conceits of God's love and blessing in respect thereof, is nothing but filthiness, and iniquity, not able to uphold ●is heart, or preserve his peace in fiery trials. No ' steadfastness in Angels, Paul counted all loss & dross, Psal. 16. My goodness extends not unto thee, when we have done all that we can, we are unprofitable servants Isa. 66. Their righteousness is like the cutting off a dog's neck; where there was not a humble and contrite Spirit. 1. For the whole depraved nature of man is a like lust in all; and the restoring of Righteousness is, as man is: and abides in Christ, not as he is partaker of new qualities in himself, for Christ is the bringer in of everlasting Righteousness, and the King of Righteousness. 1. For the whole depraved nature of man is a like lust in all: and the restoring of Righteousness is, as man is: and abides in Christ, not as he is partaker of new qualities in himself, for Christ is the bringer in of everlasting Righteousness, and the King of Righteousness. 2. This doctrine stablisheth and preserveth Faith in the Church and heart of man: but man's righteousness destroyeth Faith, but Faith establisheth the Righteousness of God, and it is called the Righteousness of God, and infinite Righteousness, which swallows up all sin in a moment, so that Righteousness is preserved by Faith. 3. Faith by Righteousness, a Christian is not righteous formaliter, according to his substance or quality: but cretum praediuntum ad aliquam: In respect of the divine grace, and free remission of sin, Psal 32. Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and not who is made habitually righteous. 4. Man's righteousness is in another, viz. in Christ, who is made our Righteousness through Grace: For take Him away, and there rests nothing but Death: ●or the Law doth not make man righteous, but sinners ●nd lost men. Now Righteousness is twofold, Politia divina, Morale divinum. The first is that the Philosophers treat of, which is a Righteousness of just and equal disposition of mind and carriage of our actions towards others, doing right to all. That is called in Scripture the Righteousness of the Law, which is the righteous work of it in man; but that is nothing before God, for it is not wrought by God, nor for him, but man attributes it to himself, and thinks God should be pleased therewith also. Now this is good & sweet amongst men, but if man bring this before God, it is abominable. But the righteousness of Faith is another thing, viz. the righteousness of Christ made ours, standing in free remission of sins and the free grace of God: Therefore it is, that Christ is our Righteousness, as a thing out of man's self in another. 1. How far off from life are they then which well unrighteously in all things, both towards God and man. 2. Also those that hold the Truth in unrighteousness, which acknowledge the Truth of the Gospel; but submits not to the righteousness thereof, but run out after their own unrighteousness, and will never regard Go● nor his word of promise. 3. And such as makes themselves righteous, an● establish a righteousness of their own, and thence seek a ground of believing. 4. Others fall off from the Faith with the Galatians and when God, through His love, hath made the● sometimes obedient in love. 1. Fix their eyes upon that, and imagine themselves something, & that now they being made subject a● obedient, do look for a blessing thereupon: when, ala●● it is not one good thought of twenty. 2. But know, that all our Righteousness is in another, that man see no good thing in himself, but Sin 〈◊〉 Rebellion, and Death, etc. but all good in Christ, Wh● is made our Righteousness: For if man turn from Hi● he fails, if he abide in Him, he lives; Therefore a● Paul saith, I live not, but Christ lives in me. 3. But most lives by conceit of Christ, not Christ living in them; so that our power over sin, death, & hell, is not in ourselves, but in Christ, who daily crucifies the world; not any quality or disposition that we are brought to, but living in the sense of our own unrighteousness, and flying from ourselves, and so becomes Righteous in Christ. 4. Hence we see, that Faith, and all good is preserved to man, in daily and deep humility, when he daily lives in the life of Repentance, and is weak, and unrighteous, and unthankful; but daily waits for mercy: But when man becomes righteous in his own eyes, either because of that quality of Faith, or of Love, or Righteousness, than he is lifted up, and it becomes his own righteousness, and therefore filthy & nothing. 5. Walk in Righteousness, but take heed of looking at it; let it extend to man, that thou mayest justify thyself before them, else all the world shall condemn that, and the Gospel be slandered, but in respect of God, who is of pure eyes: bring nothing but Christ and his mercy, and then shall we see the Righteousness of God upon us. And we all do fade as a leaf. All our Righteousness being but hypocritical; and so we with it doth fall to nothing; So that. Where the Grace and Love of God by Faith, is not continued to man, there Faith and all Religion fades, & where Religion fades, there all joy and peace and happiness is lost, and comes to nothing: as Heb. 6 They tasted of the good Word of God, but yet fell away in the end: and Hymeneus & Phletus, and those in Judas: & Ephesus & Laodicea, Revel. 2.3. 1. For it is God only, that both by his grace both guides & preserves faith in man, As the tree planted by the Rivers of water, Psal. 1. 2. When this fades, man daparts from God, as Israel in the Wilderness, and so never comes into the the land of rest. 3. All things have a passage through man, and he gets a taste of good in them, but they fade in time: only God's love and mercy endures for ever. 4. When man returns into himself or the World, he soon grows weary; as the leaf, when the sap is descended into the root in the earth; so we, when the sap of God is descended. 1. Hence it is, that so much fair shining Religion comes to nought in the end, being but the work of man, it fades and dies in man; but that of God abides for ever. Thus have we seen much Religion die; What zeal and sorrow of heart? What love & affection to the truth itself? and now all is drowned up with a fleshly speculation of these things, but the life is gone. 1. Love is forcible, which if it rise but out of a strong stirring of natural affection it is soon lost; but if from real misery and distrust of himself, it abides with God, though clouded; but the foundation abides in God. 2. And even so will all our joy and peace & freedom fade: Where is that joy and sweet rest we have had, that earnest hunger and desire after Christ? Nay, it is gone, and we grown proud in knowledge: and for the simplicity of believing, turned it into an opinion of knowing; edifying one enother in love into fleshly honour, seeking it one of another, or censuring each other, or love and liking of the Word of Truth, into a judging and despising of the same: our love to each other into self-love, our love to Religion, into the love of the World. So that, hence it is, that our joy is departed from us, because we are departed from Christ: We joy in our fullness, power or knowledge, etc. yet will all fade as a leaf, and we also shall in the ●nd fade with it, we see it. Where is the glory and pleasure & fullness of our neighbours? is it not faded away, & turned into want and sorrow, and death itself? the youth and suckling, strong and aged, mother and child are all fallen into the dust; and it will be our portion, if righteousness and religion lie in the streets despised as it is. And our Iniquities like the wind hath taken us away. When we thought under a colour of righteousness to go on in the ways of vanity, and enjoy the World: yet at last, our Iniquities have prevailed and taken us away: So that, It is sin and rebellion against God which is the only way and cause of the destruction of man, and nothing but sin undoes man. Your Iniquities have separated betwixt God & you. Thus he complains against Israel in all the Prophets, because they sinned against me; and yet they sinned more and more, they are a stiff necked generation: for nothing makes God our enemy, but our running from him. 2. Loss and want never hurts man, but this perverts the mind. 3 Nay, this makes a man a slave to Satan, lusts and to worldly vanity which he secures all his life, and then dies, and they forsake him. Now this iniquity above all was their Infidelity and pride, denying God and Christ. 1. Thus are we all in misery and bondage and sees it not: nay, account this our happiness, and rejoice ●herein: We feel want of the World, riches & honour: but of the Word of Truth no want at all: but that wherein we most delight, shall be our overthrow. 2. Thus hath he dealt with our Land & Nation, it hath swept away whole Families & Towns, & yet we ●egard it not. For it is this that sets all plagues on fire. 3. We cry out under plague & death: O, when will ●his ill weather cease? But when wilt thou leave sin●ing against God? SERMON XVIII. ●sa 65 2 3.4 I was sought of them that asked not after me, I was found of them that sought me not: and I said, Behold me, Behold me, to a Nation that called not up●n my Name. IN this Chapter is laid down the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews; the freeness of God's mercy to the one, and the righteousness of his judgements to the other. Showing the constant dealing of God in his Church, calling in by the Word of Truth such as have been aliens and enemies thereto, & casting off such as have enjoyed it: yet walks stubbornly in pride after their own ways. The Jews were a people particularly chosen to God by a special Covenant, and preserved by his power, according to his promise: But the Gentiles were Heathen aliens and Idolaters, who walked every one after his own way; that had nothing to do with the Covenant and special blessing: Not that they were restrained from enjoying happiness, but that none should be blessed, but that cleaveth to the God of Israel and became a Jew. These were turned from their own ways to Gods, others fell from God to their own; for they retained his Word and way before them, yet did cleave to their own wits and wills, and thereby would accomplish his righteousness. The Gentiles enquired not after, nor sought God, till he sent his servants with the Word of Truth to them: finding them in their Idolatry and vain ways: said, Behold me, Behold me. For though some in all Age● were called in, because the Word light on them; yet this was the general and ordinary work: So that, See by that way● that seems most unlike to man● Wisdom, and most opposite to man's carnal Judgements doth God work and establish His Kingdom, and man● happiness: that his Power and freeness of his Grac● may appear. For they were grafted in contrary to Nature, so tha● all his Works are contrary to Nature: for though he destroy not Nature from its being, yet he destroys the Lif● & Kingdom that seeks in the creature without him: S● that, so long as man runs after his natural Inclination as we all do; he wanders from God's way therein. Fo● what an unlikely way is it to reason that by dying w● shall live, and by losing life, we shall find it: and by suffering, get the victory; Not that by dying in ourselves, we shall live in ourselves, but in another. How unlike, that Abraham an Idolater should become the Father of the faithful? For he sought nor nor enquired after him, yet God called and he obeyed: And Paul, the great enemy of Christ, yet was made the great Champion of Christ. Christ's way of suffering, is a way few do willingly embrace: We profess Christ and talks of Christ, but we s eek other ways to come by it, and keep this only alive in conceit: like a h●llow hearted friend, who bears fair and speaks well, but when it comes to it, will part with nothing. Thus Paul confounded all those reasonable ways of the false Apostles, and of their knowledge and righteousness, etc. and brings all to simplicity of Babes and helpless hearts; for they kept all alive in conceit, but their hearts covered. 1. Thus God makes man a depending creature, to wait only on his Power and Grace. 2. All the ways of God are wonderful to a believing heart, but whatever is within compass of reason is not wonderful. 3. This he doth, that he may hid pride from man: ●or so the Jews were grown haughty when they had ●elt his way of Faith, and wrought their own safety: For that way that man thinks to get life by devising, he ●hall not. Man grows wise to believe by it, and righteous to believe from it, and humble that he may gain ●he promise. But here simplicity of heart is lost: This ●s not the way but by being a fool, and sinner in himself: then he is found. Now this is abused by hardness of men's hearts, who ●herefore cast off fear, and saith, God will find me if I ●eek him not; and be merciful though I seek him not, ●nd follow not so hard after him: and so muzzled in security, because he saith, He can do nothing: this is the ●lead of a senseless heart in security: he saith, He can do nothing, abusing his absolute power and freeness of ●is merc●. But I may say, Have they not heard? Yes, the sound is gone through the World, so with thee: Hath he not sought thee, and called thee daily, and yet thou hardens thy heart against him? Thou hast not sought him, but he thee: and yet thou hidest thyself from him all thou canst. Thus doth every believing heart that knows himself, find in experience the wonderful power and mercy in Christ, when thou wast wallowing in thy gored blood? yea, following the sway of thine own will: yea, feeding thy heart with fleshly pleasures; then God knocketh at thy heart, when thou little thinks of him: nay, ever since, when thou felt nothing but guilt and death, & saw no other reason, yet than he gave life. Nay, when thou had in strength of wisdom, not from a troubled heart: thought to establish thy thought of happiness: yet he beat thee down. Yea, when thou thought thyself in the likeliest way to become happy, then proved it most cursed: & when thou seems most wretched, it becomes ever best from him: And all this God hath done, that thou mightest for ever believe him, who hath chosen and called thee one: thou knows most vile, rebel, lustful, covetous, unlikeliest of thousands. This confounds all the reasonable ways of fair projects which man hath framed to himself, either out of the world, or out of Religion to establish his thoughts of ease and happiness: for we see the offers of grace and his great works, and then reasons à posteriore: and thinks to ascend thence to happiness. But his grace is free out of our compass, & it is to be attended on. We would know a reason of God in all his works else we hold him not just. But what reason is it tha● ever the Gentiles should believe but his mercy? And thus, all Religion almost is but the fruit of ma● wit and brain, and not of a troubled heart, but for a● end of man's self. God's mercy is simple, and his work simple also: but all Religion that hath an end in man heart towards man, is not of God simple. So man is busy in seeking and working to make himself rich, searching & knowing to become wise & glorious; Nay, man labours to mortify the flesh, to get life thereby: but mortification to daily dying is life, but to get life thereby is death: for where man kills the flesh, to quicken Life, he loseth both: for all mortification so much urged by Christ & Paul, is only that care & diligence, according to that Wisdom given to us: that thereby the flesh and daily lust may be kept under, that the heart harden not by fleshly ease, & fullness, and so grow wanton; but not to give Life to the Soul, and so are all ways of mortification. It is good to restrain appetite, to keep out the World, to walk temperately, and soberly, and diligently in our calling: These are good and honest ways to be chosen, to keep under the rebellious Flesh: But to do these with an opinion of Life thereby, is most base and double dealing: for while we pretend to be humble, 〈◊〉 inwardly proud, while we seem to mourn, we laugh in ourselves; he that deals with Christ, must deal with a single mind, and shut all out at doors but Christ, and thou and Christ argue the case: What thou can plead for thyself, and thou shalt see all reason dumb, and nothing in thee, but a poor prisoner praying daily for pardon; and in nothing the freeness of his grace more appear, then in calling the Gentiles. This is it which Christ saith, They shall come from the east & west, etc. And the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out: So they are not happy whom man accounts, but whom God accounts so: What he did to those that knew nothing: but gropping after goodness, even sought it in man, and so thought that the Souls of those excellent men ascended, some into the Sun, Moon, and Stars, & became Gods; persecuted Christ evermore, even to those blind men he sent his speciallest messenger, that even was to open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light; So that, Whom God intends to make happy, he sooner or latter calls and brings his heart by the Word of truth out of the World and himself; and all to rest simply on him and believe, as Matth 22. Psal. 45. Harken, O daughter Zion: thou must leave thy Father's house, and Abraham, Gen. 12. etc. For man is gone out into the World and himself, else should we never have stood in need of this Word, but it should have lived in us for ever: but being gone from God, he sends out his message, saying, Go carry my will and promise to lost man, and bid him behold me. For this is the execution of his purpose, this calling is outward & inward. Outward in the outward dispensation of the Gospel, he lays before man his Will and Promise: and so man understanding and fixing thereon sees a kind of good in it, and approves of it. Inward, when through the inward power of the Truth, he finds out man's heart, and brings it to itself: separating it from the World and its own devices, in sorrow and misery: and to attend on his Promise, though man see nothing but death and misery: S● 〈◊〉 this calling is not as most think, a mending of this or that Action; but a destruction of all, and calling man from it, not to make him wise to fulfil his own will, but to lose it. The Word is Evocare, viz. Call out, as out of Egypt, have I called thee. Woe then to them that are daily sought and called, and have not an ear to hear: Like these Guests, Matth. 22. Their minds are shut up, they see not their own wants, nor the beauty of the Bridegroom set before them: God calls man to partake of his love: but man saith, I have another, and so the righteous Wrath o● God lights on him. For though some expound that 〈◊〉 Matth. 12. Calling those that were bidden: That this bidding is the universal grace given to all, and that callin● is a further grace added to the freewill: Yet, I take tha● adding● to be the Covenant made with the Jews, t● whom he offers the light of the Gospel; as, Acts the 18 This calling abides still in the use of the Gospel, as: Firs● To d●lly Repentance. 2. To believing. 3. To do his Will, in obedience of Love. 4. To suffer in Patience. To a Rebellious People. Though they pretended Holiness, and the service of God: yet they were grown Rebellious against his Will and Word: So that, There is in all men a Rebellious Will and Lust: yea, even in believers, which it ever leads man from God into misery, and bondage, as in Adam, and David. And Paul complains of it, Rom. 7. Gal. 5. This fights against the Spirit, though the will and desire of man be natural qualities, yet when they are set upon vain objects, and come to rule and draw, they ever bring into bondage. For, hereby is God more denied than by any: for though they know him to be true, they trust him not: and as for a stranger to deny and distrust a man is nothing, but for a Child it is Rebellion, and Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft, it denies God, and makes a Covenant with the Devil, and works through envy ever to destruction. Thus, unblief ever Rebels against God: yea, raiseth up arms against him: When he would be a King, no say they, This man shall not rule over us; but would reign as King themselves. But believers most of all, who dwell in the King's House, and profess alledgeance and service, and yet underneath, practice and labour that they may be King, and wear the Crown: and so are still drawn from God by Lust and fleshly Wisdom: And this may he say to our Land, he hath stretched out his hand long over us, but we still Rebel: witness, 1. That common trade of iniquity, as common as breathing. 2. That hardness of heart under the Veil of the Gospel 3. That heartless dealing betwixt Religion and the World. 4. That casting off the Word we profess, & believe not that to be true which we know, etc. This makes man an enemy to God, & this is it which makes thee cast the Son out of doors; we walk in a way that is not good, after our own thoughts. So the Lord may say: They have forsaken my Covenant. They follow their own, which leads into an ill way of Life. So that, When man forsakes the simple Word of God, and cleaves to the devices and inventions of his own thoughts, and follows them: he forsakes the way of Life, & chooseth the way of Death which never prosper. It was the Curse that lay on the Gentiles, That he suffered every one to walk in his own way, as Psal. 18. They would not hear, nor would have none of me, I gave them up to their own Counsels: Thus Adam and Israel forsook the way of the Covenant and Promise made to Abraham, and made a Calf, and murmured against Moses, etc. The wicked walk in a way that is not good, There is a way that seems good, but the Issues thereof are the Issues of Death. For though man was made righteous, yet he seeks many inventions, to save him: but not by the way of righteousness: He hath sold the Birthright, and Covenant, he hath forsaken with Esau: and now he would have the blessing by any means: He mourns & weeps for the blessing, & would have it though by killing his broth●r, & living in an hunting way. For man's way in himself is not able to guide him to happiness, for lust blinds him, and leads him to something that is sensual: reason is proud, and leads into all things visible, but Faith is the ground of things neither seen nor felt. But Christ's way which was the way of Life, was not after his own thoughts, but as the Father commands, so he speaks. He sought not his own glory, but did the Will of the Father, stablishing his Kingdom, & so his way was a new and living way, though the Veil of the flesh was rend: And so it is with man, not by a way of the Flesh; but to break through the Flesh, & by crucifying it, enter into the Holiest of all by Faith only. 1. This was the way prescribed to Israel, God brought them out by a strong hand, and weak means: as always in the whole course, that no power of the Flesh might appear, as David confesseth, they got not the land by their own power. 2. Then in the Wilderness, from one place to another, where they took no rest, but in the Covenant only. 3. Then through Jordan, the River of Tears. 4. Then overcame the enemy. 5. God left them a Law of love to walk by. 6. Commands not to join with the enemies, but to destroy them. But all these Israel forsook, & at the last grew so presumptuous in regard of their prosperity: and so wise in Religion, that they would not be beholden to God, but would save and free themselves by ways of their own, till at last they fell from God: and still they thought this was a holy and likely way: Thus the old course of the World is fallen upon the Gentiles, every man walks in his own way, and yet every man thinks his way is good, and like to prosper: as, 1. The Worlding, by getting, and gathering and making sure for future time: seems a safe way: but Christ's way was to forsake all the World, and had none of these. 2. The Wanton thinks his way right, because of his saint way of Repentance, and yet he fears, Ecclesiastes, That it will lead to a fearful end of judgement. 3. The Pharisees and false Apostles walk in a seeming way of holiness with Christ: but this makes Christ & all in vain, to join any thing with him: For Christ was to deny himself, and cleave to the Promise of Faith, yea, though he was to be taken from them, yet they should wait for the Promise of the Father: who should send the Promise of the Father within few days. Nay, we are grown so cunning in Religion that we can choose our Christ's own Way, and approve it, but walk not therein by the Spirit of Christ: but so follow Christ in our fleshly thoughts, but not by Faith alone, giving up ourselves in love to the good of others. So, we see Gods ways is not our ways, yea, & our thought and his words never agree together: one of these must be forsaken: either we must cleave to his Word, and forsake our own ways, or follow our own ways, and forsake his Word. But we live by thinking not by believing: Invent, devise and comprehend, that we may guide ourselves: but not rest in patience to believe another: Like the Prodigal: but see the good and safe way of Christ's; that stands in simple believing from a troubled heart, and in subjection to the Fathers will in love, in patience to bear his Cross. But this is grievous to fleshly thoughts but sweet and safe to the Soul. A people that provoked me to anger continually. That are hardened under the Love of Religion, & so presumptuous, that they rebel with a stout & stiff neck. So that, When man hath gotten the World into his heart, and some competent way of Religion to cover his rottenness, he ●●lls into herdnesse, security & presumption, and so sights against God with open face. Isa. 1. I have nourished a People, and they rebelled against me, and in Jeremiah, They murder and steal, and all under a collar of the Temple of the Lord: They have gotten a brow of brass, like those; Psal. 10. Pro. 1. Tush, there is no knowledge in the most high, For the knowledge of the truth without the power thereof, hardens above all, But the Truth in the power thereof; beats man down, and all things in man: to live in another, or not to live at all: not that the World and Religion can grow up together for then it chokes the Word, and we bec●me Rebellious as Adam. For now they sin with an authority, under the sore-knowing of a Saviour: Like a man in the King's house, that robbeth and oppresseth under the hope of Pardon. For whatsoever makes man strong hearted, is not Christ, for he melts the heart in sorrow and in love: For this is the greatest disgrace that can be; if a man must bring Christ to help forward his Lust, As to steal and oppress, and Christ must help us. Thus with us. God hath holden out his hand, but we dare provoke him to his face, and call his Word a lie, & run to other shifts; as though we seem to flatter a while, yet Religion is but made a way to bring about our own Lusts, as, 1. Do get the World more freely: or advance our glory, or keep peace: but all these covers a Rebellious heart: For if it were seen as thy Face, thou wert a shamed for ever. This is the greatest Rebellion in the Church, covered under Religion, & God most provoked thereby: For here man tempts God, and lays all blame on him, blindly waiting for his Power: yet hath no heart nor desire to return, storing himself with Riches and Righteousness, that he may not repent. But do we provoke him to anger, or rather ourselves to our own confusion? for we see how he dealt with Israel, led them captive, & then cast them off: Doubtless he was never more provoked, they sacrifice in Gardens, and burn Incense on Altars of Brick, which should have been on Altars of Stone, without a hammer. Thus he shows how they choose their own ways, that is to say, They sacrifice in Gardens when the Law was at Jerusalem: burnt Incense on Brick, which should have been on Altars of Stone without a hammer; as Christ the Stone hewn out of the Rock without hands: they lay among the groves there to inquire of the dead for the want of things, and not waiting on God, and the Words of the Prophets, They eat abominable broth, and swine's Flesh, both which were forbidden by the Law So that in all, they forsake Christ signified by all those and choose their own ways: and this is man's way in the Church: We offer not at Jerusalem, sitting at the door of the Tabernacle, weeping and confessing. Where is t●e Mercy Seat, and Ark of the Covenant: but in Gardens of Pleasure, in serving God at our leisure, and not on the Cornerstone, Christ Jesus, but on the Altar of our good qualities, which we have hewn to ourselves? We wait not on God, & his Will & Word, that we may know it: but in the dead groves of our devotions, and run back to these rotten effects of care & diligence. If the World show good signs, we believe: if we see signs and Wonders, we trust; we feed on Swine's Flesh, Flesh and broth thereof: That is, we feed on the Flesh and filthy World, which begets nothing, but phlegmatic and cold opinions instead of pure nourishment to Faith and Love. Stand by, for I am holier than thou: So with all these abominations, there went still a poisoned opinion of holiness and high thoughts, which made all stink in his nostrils. So that when with Religion there goes a high thought in man, and exalting of himself above others because of his Religion: it poisons all and stinks before God, and will bring man to a fearful fall at the last. Thus it was with the Pharisee, I am not as other man; as this Publican, Col. 2. Touch not, taste not, handle not. It was their practice when they had been at the Mercat, they washed: & the false Apostles thought themselves more acceptable to Christ, because they were circumcised: And those Gadders in the Church that went about talking, and thought because of their Religion, they should be respected and relieved, which Paul writes against, that they should not be suffered. Thus is Religion turned into man's own glory and not to Christ's glory. This flows from pride and self-love, which had its beginning in man, & ending in man, as all things do. This makes men Judges in Religion, and not Christ a Saviour: and so with all Religion, there grows up a cursed opinion and seeking of respect, which poisons all. But well worth that Religion where man is not listed up by it, and hath nothing, but all laid up and enjoyed in Christ, not in self. SERMON XIX. Isai. 63.1. Who is this that cometh from Edom with died garments from E●zra? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, and mighty t● save. IN the tenth verse of the former Chapter is a large promise of Man's Redemption by Christ, under the Type of Israel's deliverance out of captivity: as, Prepare the way of the Lord, cast up the highway, gather up the stones, lift up the Standard: The Lord hath proclaimed to the end of the World, to Zion: Behold thy salvation cometh, his reward is with him, and his work before him: That is to say, Make ready the hearts of men by repentance, and then salvation is at hand, and thou shalt be a holy people prepared of the Lord: Prepare the way, that is, let not Israel settle in Babylon, but come out: Remember Jerusalem, that you have lost the signs of my presence, the Ark of my Covenant, the Mercy-seat, and all the tokens of my Love: and that you are now strangers to me: so bring down their hearts, and make a way for my mercy, that I may do them good: that they long for my salvation, & they shall find it ready at hand. Let them not trust in their strength, nor rely on the favour of Babylon, the world, the Flesh; for they will still keep them bound: but return to me, and I will deliver them: so that; No mercy to man nor salvation from God, nor redemption by Christ, nor holiness by the spirit; but where God makes way in man's heart by daily repentance, & daily turning man's heart from the world, himself: and all things in true sense of his bondage, and longing of the soul after Christ. Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Psal. 107. He brought down their hearts with sorrow, & then had mercy on them. For all Israel's wander, he plague's them, till he made them yield and cry and pray: & then helps them in distress. It was John's office to make way for Christ; For what should Christ do with an hardened heart, filled with conceit of Wisdom, righteousness and the world or riches: For all afflictions that God lays on man, either in the world, or in himself by the word; is but to bring down the heart, to let him see how the World hath deceived him, sin hath beguiled him, and his conceits brought him into a false surmise; and so lets him see, what a little power he hath in himself: that so forsaking and turning to another, he may find mercy For though God give gifts to man, yet they are kept only in the hand of Faith: else man turns to them, and forgets God and himself: and so becomes proud and conceited, & becomes a Saviour to himself. But the salvation of God is never given but to repenting hearts, that are ashamed of themselves, and their own cursed & rebellious hearts, and in sighing & sorrowing, pray & seek for mercy. But we all would have salvation another way than by repentance, as one by knowing, another by dying, another by gathering strength; but none by denying themselves. Indeed we daily pray, Lord, forgive us our sins: but sin is not our burden, we would all have mercy to our hardened hearts. Nay, how far are we from the salvation of God, whose hearts never felt the bitterness of repentance, or are again hardened through knowledge. We all dream of being saved, but alace! there is no way in thy heart: Thou knows how little thou minds God or Christ at all; how little thy heart is troubled about life or death: but carried away with present loss. Where is the place that can witness thy sorrow and heaviness of heart, thy sighing & folding of thy hands? how little is it in thy thoughts? What hast thou done, & daily dost against God or thyself? How little art thou troubled about thy eternal being? no Repentance being wrought in thee, all Religion is but a matter of discourse and circumstance. But woe to us; for repenting days are gone: and so salvation hid: the time was, when we were sinners, & went mourning & weeping, & all our days were repenting days. And then were we ashamed to look into our own cursed hearts & vain ways, and all night our very dreams were on misery; & then light rose in our darkness: but now we are wise & righteous, & see not the pride & lust, & worldliness of our own hearts, even drowned in pride of our own hearts, & have a conceit of salvation in ourselves. Is sin less sinful than it was? Stand we not as much need of salvation as before? nay, our hearts are not prepared for mercy, but claim it as a due, and therefore is salvation far from us. But know, that before salvation or freedom come from Christ to our hearts: these high looks must down, & we carried into Babylon. God never casts his mercy upon hardened hearts, but the poor & mourners shall be comforted: So that faith & holiness is daily preserved by repentance & deep humility, when God opens the high way of our hearts, he gathers out the stones: & all his mercies, though they bring comfort, yet still more humbleness, that he should daily be so good & we so vile & rebellious; still so is mercy & salvation contained Who is this that cometh from Edom. That is, from the land of captivity, from Bozra the chief City of the Edomites, representing the great power of Satan, Flesh and the World wherein man is bound, & now comes the Prince and Captain of our Salvation out of our captivity and death, and is consecrated through suffering, even in death overcoming all things: & his garments red with the blood of the Sacrifice. Laying it down by way of admiration in the question & answer, containing wondering and Christ's answer. For the whole Chapter is a Prophetical Declaration of Redemption by Christ, and the state of man to be redeemed: as, 1. The Person or Redeemer, even Christ discovered by his power and strength; travelling in the greatness of his strength, and the rest: etc. 2. By his truth and righteousness, I that speak in righteousness. 3. The way & means how he hath done it, viz. First, By death under a Metophor, of Trading the Winepress 4. What he hath done, viz. Trodden them in his Wrath. Who is this that cometh. This shows the expectation of the captive Church, waiting for a deliverer according to the promise, after seventy weeks: so man after his long bondage under hell and Flesh, and seeing Christ a weak poor man, and that all in blood crucified, dead and buried: seems an unlikely man to reason, but in his answer, he puts away all doubts: & that he is the only man and Redeemer: So that, The weary waiting and forlorn heart of man, though he see little possibility to obtain life by Christ in sense & reason, but many more likely devices; ye shall never find freedom but only in him. For he was ordained of old to break the Serpent's head, and prophesied to bind up the broken hearted: Yet, what a do had he with his Disciples for to persuade them that He was He? but still they cried. Is not this joseph's Son, is this likely to be He: He only was Jobs refuge in all his afflictions, when he saw nothing but death, yet his Redeemer liveth. This he witnesseth by word and work. By word, I am come to save the World, I am the Resurrection and the Life. By works, How many poor, lame and blind did He help, which He was after to do spiritually: the afflicted he comforted as, Mary and the Prodigal: The Pharisees cried out, Who is this that forgiveth sins, that destroys the Law? Nay, others said, Except ye be circumcised, Christ cannot profit. 1. For he came to destroy the flesh, and redeem the spirit: therefore was he weak in the flesh, & strong in spirit, that he might cross the curious wit and pride of man: who looked for great things. 2. All things prosper according to his presence with man, and not he according to the power of the creature; all other things are but miserable comforters, only puts off for a time, but it comes again with all violence: like a sore that is ill healed. Yet, who hath believed this report, Nay, in any straits we look for other helps. The World saith, Come see what riches and certainty: I will relieve thy wants, be diligent, ply thy mind to me, and I will ease thee; and saith, Man: This is that comes with full hand and good gain: This is like to preserve so much Inheritance, so much coming in: and is yet never a whit eased, but a slave still. The flesh saith, Come to me; I come not in sadness and sorrow, but in mirth and pastime, and pleasure: I will put away sorrow from thy heart, and season all sadness with mirth: and yet for all this, in the midst thereof the heart is sorrowful. Reason saith, Come to me, & I will show thee a likely way; do good, work righteousness, see thy great knowledge, and good qualities: then believe that Christ may profit: but simple believing stands not in this, but in another thing: and when thou feels nothing in thyself, Reason would judge this but a blind way. Nay, saith Christ, But come hither, look on me, believe my Word: I am poor and needy in flesh, and so must thou be: I will deliever thy Spirit, and free thy mind: these deceive thee, but I speak in righteousness though I seem base, yet all power is given to me, and I am mighty to save. So that, he that looks for salvation by Christ had need of Faith, more than Wit: When the poor captive Soul sees nothing, but death and bondage, no power to free himself; and sees nothing but poor Christ, all wallowing in blood, shut up in the grave, sits mourning at the Sepulchre: and yet look for salvation in him: had need to pray daily, Lord, increase our Faith, and help our unbelief. And to this end would Christ confirm his Disciples in expectation of the Promise and Life by his Death, and to wait for the Holy Ghost by the Sacraments and pledges of his love and truth which he left them, saying, I know ye doubt and fear, and hereafter ye shall see me forsaken, judged, and crucified, and buried: and then will your hearts tremble: but that I have spoken in Righteousness: take this as a pledge of my love and truth, when ye come together, eat and drink this, & believe my Promise, & rejoice in me, & in my death: for though I must trade the Wine press alone, yet I will trade it in my Fury. I that speak in righteousness. The word of Christ is the word of righteousness to believing hearts, and shall be assuredly fulfilled to troubled Spirits. Mighty to save. So that, All power of saving man is in Christ: no power in man to procure or preserve his own safety. I have trodden the Winepress. So that, Jesus Christ hath under-gone the wrath of the Father for man, that he might redeem man from wrath, and by his suffering hath wrought Redemption for man. I have trodden the Winepress alone. So that, None partakes with Christ in the work of man's redemption, but he is the beginner & finisher of man's happiness. Mine own arm brought salvation. So that, When all power in man fails, & misery strikes: then is the power of God's spirit still at hand. I will trade down the people in my wrath. I will afflict as I have done my son, and bring down their strength, whereby they now stand without me: they shall taste of my wrath and see how good it is: So that, All shall sooner or latter taste of the Indignation of the Lord, that God may prepare man for mercy, and bring man out of himself and the world. Jobs spirit was drunk up with wrath ●aul was slain and stricken down to the earth 〈…〉 ●ade light of God, was brought unde● 〈◊〉 ●hat wrath did David suffer, even pains of he l; that made him cry out, & so was his joy restored: yea to Abraham, he seemed an enemy: yet in his subjection was the Covenant renewed, & Christ above all was sorrowful unto death & his soul a Sacrifice, & then he arose and ascended. For God will destroy all his enemies in man, that man may be freed, & those that stick to them shall be destroyed with them: that we may be conformed to our head, & so fitted for mercy in him, who came to sustain man under wrath: For how is he saved from wrath that is never under it? This were to save him in his fleshly way and hardness of heart: That just Law which man daily breaks, Thou shalt die the death, must be true in all, and kill man, that the second Covenant may live in man, and he thereby. God doth this to bring down man's heart and make him yield, for man can shuffle off many things, but this bitter hour past all help. But we all strive to go to Heaven with hardened hearts in beds of down and worldly fullness and ease: we make an agreement, & think we are harmless and innocent: and another, that he is a friend of God and his Word and Gospel: & another, that he is diligent, careful and righteous; and therefore thinks that he shall escape, and so would live and die without Repentance, Wrath and Misery; and yet Christ could not do that, and so none would drink of Christ's Cup But know, thought we can jest and talk it out, & cloth ourselves with conceits, and opinions: yet God will trample all these under foot: When his Wrath shall be revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of men, that hold the truth in unrighteousness: either by his Word and Spirit in man's heart, that he shall say: O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. When he shall knock at the door, or call for mountains to fall upon him: then shall he see what good he hath gotten with sticking so hard to the World, and to himself, but all too late. But yet to a believing and yielding heart, that judgeth himself and not God, in midst of Wrath, he remembers mercy: and even in this, he aims at man's good, though he see it not: For it is to whip and to beat man's proud heart, and fleshly confidence, and to cast out that proud and worldly Devil, and destroy the enemies that are in man's heart. Thus the wanton heart of man fights for ease in the Land of captivity, & would see no evil, but flee from wrath, through hardness of heart that cannot repent: and so heaps up Wrath against the day of Wrath. We would do evil, but would not feel it, nor hear of it: we would rebel against God, and follow our own Lusts, that we may live, and yet would have him to put up all: Nay, but the wise Father knows that this is the way to undo the wanton child, and therefore casts him off, leaves him to himself, that he may return by Repentance, saying, Thou knowest that I have been a Father to thee, I have provided for thee, when thou wast young, I mantained thee: When thou wast of age, thou would not be ruled: I was forced to cast thee off. This now justly come upon thee, yet seeing thou judgest thyself, and justifies me, I will take away my Wrath, and receive thee to mercy, that thou mayest praise me. But, first, he makes them drink of his fury: but our cursed hearts cry for ease and rest, but God will keep on the Rod till the heart be broken, and brought down, and make us like a drunken man, that is besotted with wine, that minds neither Wife nor Children, estate nor credit: So with us, when his Wrath lies on us, we can neither mind Wife, World, nor Children. For this sticks close, and nothing can ease? Riches are vain. Pleasures are gone, laughing is turned into mourning, and nothing can ease the heart but mercy: but how will these escape, when time of mercy is gone I will bring down their strength; So that, Gods saving way to man, is to bring down the strength of man in himself, that he may be exalted in another. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord. There is an endless Fountain of Truth and Righteousness in God, and incomprehensible mercy, which is never wanting to praying and miserable hearts. But man's forsaking and turning from that, is the cause of all misery unto man, as Psal. 81. Deut. 23. For he said, Surely ye are my people, etc. Here, he mentions his dealing with them in particular, that is to say, He ever had an eye over them for good, at least to testify his mercy, and, 1. He remembers their Adoption, with the truth and simplicity of their hearts; and though now fallen, yet they were his people, and would not lose their preservation. 2. He was their Saviour, and delivered them out of afflictions, wherein he was also afflicted. 3. There guide and governor, He led them all the days of old by the Angel of his presence, & then shows their Rebellion, & his mercy again in pardoning. They are my people. This he spoke in regard of his first choosing of them, and uprightness of their hearts then, and safety they were in through his Power: So that, True hearted simple minded men, were & ever shall be blessed of God, what ever gifts they have, when double and shuffling hearts shall be accursed. See david's plain and simple heart, when Nathan had opened his eyes, he did not shut them again; but though a King, and a fact discovered that might shame him, yet he goes not about to excuse it, but confesseth plainly, and doth penance to all posterity; yea, God is near to all that call upon him in truth, and the good ground are good honest and simple hearts; but the Pharisees that say they have no sin, do lie, and deal not truly: and a man is a liar to the Holy Ghost, to think to join with the Disciples in love, and yet keep the World in his heart to trust to; and in Christ was found no guile; and God loves truth in the inward parts. For this is the opening and uncovering of the heart to be capable of mercy, and so hence comes confessing and believing with all the heart: For covering is a greater hardness added to our former sin: It was sin in Adam to forsake God, but it was greater to cover it: and in Saul to spare Agag, but greater to excuse it, and lie to the Holy Ghost. This is a fight against Christ, and strengthening ourselves in something else, that we might not stand in need of him: Like the malefactor, that hath done evil, and yet will excuse it, and justify himself, he will be hanged indeed. For God is a God of truth, and works truth in the inward parts, and the power of truth is to discover the subtility of man and the Devil, and to convince the World, and to lay the heart naked and bare before God. Away then with all doubling lies, let God be true, and the Devil and every man a liar: From the beginning we all profess to love God, and believe in him, but we lie. But, Whence, then is this care and confidence in the World, this fear, and sorrow for loss: this pleading of our own Righteousness, to keep up conceit? We profess to love God above all, but we lie: Whence then is this self-love, & of the World? and we forsake him for a Morsel of Bread; that we love our Brethren. Whence then is this malice and revenge, this oppressing and grinding, this cusinning, and circumventing, and that we love the truth, and yet believe it not at all, but sell it for our own wills, and that God would change his will, and rather than we want, our Lusts. We are all knowing and devote men, but honest simplicity is lost among main, plain dealing is gone: So in Religion, truth and simplicity is gone: simple praying and believing from a troubled Spirit, is gone, simple love one to another, is gone: and every one judging another; and locked up in secret surmising: not bearing with infirmities, but blazing abroad the frailties of others. But God will find out all our falsehood one day, when all our excuses shall be as shiftless as to Adam: When he shall open the Books, and that are hid, laid open: Then shall thy Hypocrisy and double dealing be laid open, whither thou hast trusted God, or thyself; loved Him, or the World: Then shall it be seen, whether thou believed indeed and in truth: For true evidence shall come against thee a malefactor which thou canst not deny. It is not our simple sinning that hinders our happiness, for God will pardon? but it is our lying and covering it that hides us from Christ: As the Child that hath not only made a fault, but hides and covers it, is beaten double. This his Father cannot abide. God gives us true and simple hearts, we seek great gifts and qualities, and become wise; but lose innocence, and run from ourselves. In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the Angel of his presence saved them. Here is Christ suffering, who bore the infirmities of man in all weakness; So that, Christ the loving Saviour of man, partakes with man in all his misery; and lovingly helps when all fails, Heb. 2. Forasmuch as the Children were partakers of flesh and blood, etc. Heb. 5. He is a faithful high Priest subject to like infirmities; And was partaker with all that was miserable: but the Wealth and Glory of the World he had none of: Like a loving elder-brother that sees his younger overburthned, helps him: beaten, weeps, and hungry gives him meat. For he was the Word of the Father, & was God, yet he took upon him the form of a servant, and became flesh, and dwelled among us, that we might see him afflicted, suffering, forsaken; and yet he overcame all. For he came to help the afflicted, therefore he came in the flesh, that he might destroy flesh; & by enabling man to suffer, destroying fleshly lust in man. Thus was he given as a witness to the people, & the first-begotten of many: What then means these high thoughts, & soaring conceits that seek Christ in heaven, and think Him to be some angry spirit: and so rack their thoughts and beat their brains in comprehending Him, but lo, He is with the poor, afflicted and forsaken this high and full Religion he cares not for, nor hath any communion therewith. What a hearting then is this to patience, that like a loving husband, is with the wife in well and woe: thou thinks thy case singular, none like thee: thou poor, He poorer; thou wants the father's love, so did he; thou art persecuted, so he; unto death; thou sick, so ●e swa●e blood for sickness: But we have little fellowship with Him, for we are full and rich, and at ease; He bears our weakness, but who feels it: He wipes away tears, but who sheds them; He hears our cries, but who makes them: Nay, we are all Christ's to ourselves; therefore He is a stranger to us. All high flying Religion than is not of Christ, for he hath no communion with man, but in affliction, therefore Paul desired only to be partaker in his afflictions, for he hath not to do with rich men at ease, and he that saith, He hath fellowship with him and not in his death lies and deals not truly. It is not affliction that hurts or hinders man, but want of Faith; for he is afflicted with us, but because we do not believe his power and truth, nor are we patiented to want rest, therefore are we crushed under afflictions: we have not learned to lose the world and ourselves with him; the fire cannot fear them. And where man is partaker with Christ in afflictions he makes him also partaker with others, to mourn with them that mourn. But we are little disposed to the practice of Faith, while we judge others in stead of pardoning, we spread abroad their Infirmities, we spoil the poor: but believing miserable men have a friend at back that is with them: giving a mouth and wisdom, when friends and world fail: yet than He abides and fails not, but when they have least hope, they have readiest help and when they are weak, then are they the strongest. And the Angel of his presence. When they were brought low in affliction, and sat in sorrow, and helpless repenting hearts, than his love breaks out; So that, i● Christ is only present to afflicted spirits, and His love and compassion only, is the stay of repenting hearts, & nothing else. As here he alludes in the presence of the God of Israel, in their Redemption out of Egypt, when they knew not what to do; the Angel brought them out, went before them, and though they fell into many straits, yet the Lord pitied and helped them: yea though they rebelled daily, yet He afflicted and pardoned them: And His love and mercy is never seen so much, as in daily pardoning: for it is a burden that all the World cannot remove. For he was given to bear the infirmities of men, Mat. 11 If any be burdened he shall find rest to his soul: As in the Prodigal and the Publican, like a wise tender father, whose child hath want only run away, yet the father seeks him and finds him; First, le●s him sit forlorn in the wilderness, and seems to take no notice: then when he sits crying ou● of himself, O wretch that I am, that hath thus abused my good father, cast away myself and know not what to do but die and perish. Then he appears, and ●owns on him a while, but after, his heart be burst with sorrow, the father can no longer refrain, but smiles and comforts him, as Joseph to his brethren. For He came to seek and save that which was l●st, He came to redeem the captive spirit of man, that was locked up in fleshly bands and his own guilt: Not to ease the captive flesh of man, for many great afflictions lie on many, whom He never eases, because man cannot have his own Will and Lust and World and Ease and Glory: but these he pities not. But when the spirit mourns after God, and cannot be comforted by all the world, but sits in ashes, and cries in the night; the Sun than breaks out, and joy comes in the morning. But nothing is a burden to the spirit of man, but sin and guilt, and weakness: for other afflictions are burdens to the flesh, and they are helped: But in the afflicted spirit, there is such a depth of misery, that nothing can help but His Love & Spirit that He hath promised: As nothing can ease the heart of a rebellious child, but reconciliation with the Father, all ●hat man can do to help, can but strengthen ●●●●●m, His Love only stays the heart by Faith: all things d● but only put off, and that by strengthening conceit: bu● it returns again with greater violence, like ● wound ill healed. But this shows that we have little of Christ's company, save only His name among us: we talk of Him, & dispute and follow Him up and down to the Temple and seem to sat by His side, but w●●h proud hardened hearts. Nay, I judge whether thou art as well with Him as without Him, for any good thou hast by Him, save only a heartless & helpless hope: if thou may have the World, thou seeks no more: If thou have no more joy, than thou hast with him, it will prove but small. Nay, we are not for His presence, like an adulterous Wife that cares not for her Husband's presence: but if ever that heart be turned by Repentance, and possessed of its own guilt, than none but Herald Others thinks to procure His presence by trimming and garnishing a fair outside profession of Christ, and think, if they were more holy and righteous, than He would surely come: but we thus make a Christ to ourselves. But woe to that Righteousness that hides Repentance, and hardens the heart: Woe be to that Presumption that is lifted up above Mercy: Woe be to that Conceit of believing that joins hands with the World, and shuts man up in self-love: and woe to that Hardness of heart●, that despiseth long suffering, and heaps up Wrath against the day of Wrath. And hence we see, that where Repentance is hid from man, God's love and pity are far from him; whatever we have, it matters not, how Wise, Righteous, & Holy, Rich or Youthful we are, if any Hardness of heart goes with all: But we are full and sit as Queens and want nothing. Yet the day is coming, when we shall seek Him and shall not find Him: when all shall fail us, and we afraid to hear of His presence; when He shall sit as Judge, to judge the World, then shall we cry. O where is he now that we despised and set so light by? And then weep with Esau, and say, Father, hast th● not one blessing left? Bless me, even me also: Then shall he answer, nay, These are blessed, and shall be blesse● thou hast had the fullness of the earth for thy portion: b● my love and mercy thou regarded not. In his pity and love he redeemed and bore them. He● is the continuance of his love, notwithstanding thei● daily falling off: yet he guided and bore them as 〈◊〉 nurse in his arms all the ancient days, as he choose them in love and pity, and remains faithful to Abr●ham and his seed: So that, As God's love and pity without any thing in man, is the first fountain of life to man and only cause of his happiness; so is the same Love, Goodness and Power, the daily preservation and guide of man in the way of happiness through Faith. As Paul, by the grace of God, I am that I am, not I, but the grace of God in me: therefore doth the Lord so often remember Israel of his deliverance out of Egypt, the promise to Abraham that they might look at that Law, and depend on that Promise. How came Israel out of all these straits, but that God still pitied and forgave them, as David, how he prayed to be guided and preserved and relieved daily from God And this the Apostle strove for, that nothing might stand in the heart of man after grace received, but the same grace still: and further beats down all things else but this. For is not man as weak in himself, and Satan and the Flesh as strong as ever? Is not man as sinful, and His grace and help as needful as ever? For Paul of himself could not live, but Christ lived in him, and he waited therein, He hath delivered, and will deliver me. Christ did not work properly for himself, for man to guide himself by his own power: for this is not in man but in Christ, who is his Safety, Peace, Righteousness and Holiness, and all: for Israel was not able to stand before any enemy when they forsook the Covenant, for what shall uphold man under the cross, but his love and pity when all fails, As the Martyrs, was it their wit, or power, or strength of heart that preserved them? No, but the Power and Truth of Christ through Faith: For as the child hath nothing of his own, but lives at the father's appointment and providence: so we. See then, it is not as wise unbelieving men imagine, that after the mystery of the Gospel be revealed, and apprehended in flesh, turns back with Israel and become wise and righteous and strong in themselves; so it is with many that were sinners: but God received them to mercy, and now they work it out, beginning in the spirit, but ending in the flesh, and then think to recompense God. Is God more beholden to thee than before, or rather is not thy sinful lust, and pride, and worldly heart, and hypocrisy as hateful to God now: when thou hast the knowledge of his will as thou thinkest. But these are commonly the greatest backsliders; For though they stick unto Religion, yet they fall from Christ in Religion and conceit, and cloth themselves with his gifts: The World is in their hearts, Repentance gone, Prayer dead, Faith only in name. So that, to those he shall have just complaint; one is rich in the World, and cares not for his blessing, but he will turn it to a curse: another, is wise to guide himself, but will prove a fool and wander: another, is Righteous and rich in Knowledge, but a thief to God, and his mercy most shut from him: Whence, God shall judge and say, Thou of all others shouldest have trusted me, thou professed my Name, sat by my side: but thou art the great thief of all, for thou hast rob me of my glory, thou ran from me in pride: therefore, thou of all others art the farthest off mercy. See the wonderful love of God towards man, that pities man, that pities not himself: When the sturdy Child hath run away, yet having wrought his peace, he calls him back by his Word and pardons him: when the weak heart of man feels Danger and Wrath, and feels no ease to comfort him: when he is persecuted, and knows not what to answer, God puts a Word in his mouth. What a fool than is man, that hath such a pitiful Father attending for his good in all, and yet runs to the World and flesh, those cruel Tyrants, and seeks help there. So daily mercy in God, and misery in man, & Faith in God's Word, is man's preservation. Pray we then, that the Truth of the Gospel, & Faith may be preached in the Church, that man may have nothing to lean to but mercy; but how hard is this new way to continue, but we would still have something to feel and lean to, but not his mercy. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit. Such is the cursed nature and rebellious flesh of man: So that, Such is the rebellion of the fleshly nature of man, that the more goodness and love God shows to man, he is the more rebellious and wanton against God, & forgetful of himself to the losing of all. Israel, Jer. 2 David casts off God, when his mountain was strong and Judas: They turn the grace of God unto wantonness: And I nourished a people, and they have forsaken me: they abused the Patience of God. This is plain in experience, though God hath given us all enough in the World, that we see, or may see his blessing; who might have frustrated thy labour? yet how l●the to depend on this blessing, but would have all sure in the flesh by extremity. He hath verified, and yet we have not trusted His Word, but would have all in possession. For the fl●sh grows wanton by ease and fullness and it is the hardest thing of all to enjoy fullness, and yet the flesh not to be hardened thereby. T● keep Humility, Repentance, and Weakness a foot, when we feel rest and peace: but then man thinks it will never be night again: Like a wanton child, when he hath gotten what he would have, casts off the father, as the Prodigal, till he had spent all: How may we see it in children, when parents have cockered them, so that now they are the greatest vexation, and they wish they were dead or had never been born. For man dots on every thing, that he quite forgets the fountain, and makes it a foundation of future hopes Hence cometh so much looking at what we have seen and felt, and reckoning up old store, and thence arguing our present happiness. We are grown hardened and secure, and it may be, shall never taste the like again. But what a cursed thing is the heart of man, that God can do him no good, but he turns it to evil? as in all: thou never prays nor seeks hearty to God, but when need pincheth thee: then thou cries: but if he ease thee, thou casts Him off: As Israel, both in the wilderness and Canaan, to Dan and Beth-●l, and made agreement with the Canaanites, and after led captive, to killing of the Prophets: and afterward to persecute Christ himself, till they had lost all, and all under a colour of Religion. And so in the Worlding, God hath given all it into his hand, and he hath let into his heart, & made a god of it, & that World & worldly mind as God, he trusts it & loves it above him, saying, This is it that must ease my heart, so he grinds the poor, and oppresseth the needy. Others having tasted the goodness of God in Christ, have cast off fear, and thinks all is their own: under pretence of Religion they are grown wanton and worldly outright. Others, he hath pardoned a thousand times, and they are grown wanton, hardened and presumptuous to cast themselves down: thinking, but not believing that he will pardon, what ever they have done. Others, have health and strength; and do nothing, but serve their own Lusts: So that there is great danger in prosperity: there Satan traps man, than man grows secure, forgetful, and wanton: Watch, for there is danger of the Devil; shutting the heart in that fullness, and so stops the currant of his grace, No thriving in Religion but under the Cross, for man is never ought but then: What a rebellion's creature is man, and untoward child; that because God is good, therefore he will be nought: The Father cannot smile, but the child grows wayward, but when God seems evil, man is the best: but do we provoke him to anger, or ourselves to our own destruction; for he will say, I did thee good, and sent the Wealth & Health, & Riches, and would never have failed thee. I sent my Spirit which thou grieved, therefore, thou must want the comfort thereof at need. SERMON XX. Genesis 22.1. After these things God tempted Abraham, and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, here am I WE have heard of Christ's birth according to the Promise, and the wonderful treasure of all good, that was to be conveyed to the Church by him: the Church conceived joy, because they expected a Messiah was to come, and great hope offered by him; but no sooner was he come, but he was hunted with miseries, and never had rest in the flesh, till death was conspired and accomplished, that so man's faith might not be in the arm of flesh, but in the power and mercy of God. This we may plainly see in this story figured, than which not a more lively typ in the Scriptures; for Isaac being born, according to the Promise it could not be but Abraham rejoiced, and might have great hope even in Reason, that the Promise might go on: but that God might purge this, he takes Isaac away in the flesh, that the purity of Abraham's Faith might appear to all the World. In this Chapter is laid down the Story of Abraham and Isaac his Son. 1. The offering of Isaac at God's Commandment. 2. The Confirmation of the Promise, & renewing of the Covenant. 3. The posterity of Nahor, and family of Rebecca: in offering of Isaac, note; 1. The Purpose and Commandment of God, as a trial to Abraham. 2. The expectation of the Commandment, and Abraham's obedience in the Command. 1. The Time after these things. 2. The Author, God said to Abraham. 3 The scope, that is to 〈◊〉 Abraham. In Abraham we note 1. The expectation of the Commandment. 2. His obedience against nature in both overcoming: as, 1. His great power of Faith against Reason 2, Flesh which assaulted in divers circumstances. After these things, that is, after the many trials that Abraham had, now comes the greatest of all: for he had been sore tossed by nine trials, as the Hebrews note, and this is the tenth. 1. Forsaking his Country and all. 2. Fleeing into E y●e for Famine. 3. Loss of his Wife and danger of his Life. 4. War with four Kings for redeeming Lot. 5. Despairing of Issue, be married his maid. 6. Is glad to put her away and Child too, to please Sarah. 7. Is circumcised being old. 8. Loseth his Wife to Abimelech. 9 Cast out Ishmael and his Mother. Thus Abraham, after he believed the promise, and was assured of God's protection, was still exercised under the cross, that he might thereby have daily experience of God's truth and love, and that no fleshly reason might arise in him: and now behold, a greater than all these: for these are but as the prick of a pri● in regard of this, but now G●d comes even with a dart to strike him to the heart; So that Abraham had now more need of Faith than ever: yea, After all these things. So that, After man be brought to Faith, and believing the Promise: yet such are the sufferings to be endured hereafter: yet no constant safety and peace, but by the daily exercise and life of Faith, whereby he is to be preserved in all future dangers and temptations that in the flesh will light upon him. The just shall live by Faith: What wonderful assaults had David, what fightings had Paul? Satan seeks to devour who persist in Faith. 1. For the rest of the sufferings of Christ are to be accomplished in the flesh. 2. Many are baptised into the truth, that have not drunk of Christ Cup, nor baptised into his death: but slipping the hand of Faith, lean to the flesh, and overturned. 3. For there is a fleshly heart to be purged, and a World to be overcome, whereunto the power of God and Faith of man are as requisite as all these: Isaac must be slain. And can the fleshly will of man overcome these. 4. Thus God daily weakens the outward man, and renews the inward, that he may draw man to simplicity of Faith & Love, and to have his abiding in God: therefore will give him no rest elsewhere. 1. Thus is man deceived, when having had some light and love of God to shine in his dark Soul, thinks all is done, and Heaven obtained, and so grows presumptuous instead of believing. 2. Either proud, because he imagines to have power over himself in all, which is only in God, or securely presumes on God's power without either fear of Weakness, or Life of Truth upholding him, and so is daily led into temptation. 1. Thou shalt sometimes see the World smiling, and offering a fair bait and portion, and thy flesh gaping after it, and thousands ensnared thereby. 2. Sometimes good conceits, and by thoughts from that thou knowest, or from thy well qualified mind, which thou thinks adds much to thy Faith, but after these Isaac must die. 3. Or sometimes want, fear and trouble, looks grim at thee, and threatens the downfall of all, and if Faith do not uphold thee, how wilt thou stand: nay, thou shalt see secret lusts and desires, and delights in thy heart ease, and peace, etc. Which must all down, so that if God keep not Faith alive in man, weary and uncertain is his way. But let all lock for it, after many temptations still greater behind: one deep calls another, for man by the abuse of the liberty of Faith grows secure and proud, & that must down by the cross: we think when it is fair, it will never be soul, and when we are rich, we shall never be poor. Nay, but know that a quarter cross must come to pull that down: for that great enemy, that is, Death, is not yet vanquished, skin for skin, and all for life; so that the safe path of man is, to settle in nothing, but dwell with God, for Abraham might think now all is safe, seeing Isaac is born, and well grown; but no safety in that, for after a calm comes a storm, as we see it in the course of all things: so in man's heart day and then night, light and then darkness. God doth not take delight in afflicting his people, but rather than they shall return to the world, and delight and be deceived by the Flesh, that his truth should seem a lie, he will beat and strike the flesh, to the death, with one cross after another, till it be subdued. 4. Thus we know, God hath comed near us with many afflictions, and like Israel, when it is past, to fall to our courses again; but he will come nearer at last, till he bind us to himself that we dare not desire to start from him. 5. And we see what brings temptations & crosses, that is to say, when flesh makes use of God's truth to its own advantage, that man gins to think of ease and peace in the Flesh, then must the cross come or else thou wilt be lost. 6. But where will be our refuge when Isaac must be slain, for this will come: we have now fullness, health and peace, and prosperity and mercies of God on every side, but the day of temptation must come, when we must part with our dearest sons and careful father, thy kind mother and loving sister, thy beloved world and life itself: What then shall stay thee, or whether wilt thou flee? For be sure this day is coming on all Flesh. O happy he that hath the Truth of God to sustain him, and an obedient heart, a subject will, and a patiented soul that day: for to him only shall Isaac be raised from death, and be life in death. God did tempt and prove Abraham. This a temptation of trial, for otherwise God tempts no man, Jam. 1. Not that God was ignorant what was in him, but that God might manifest to the world the power and simplicity of abraham's Fai h, and to show what is the deliverance in all straits, that all believers may be blessed with faithful Abel and Abraham: So that, God sent this temptation to the purifying of his faith, and weakening of the Flesh, that nothing might be left to Abraham but God and his power and Truth to rest on, but God alone: thus to Israel, 1 Sam. 4. Deliver them into the hand of their enemies, that their trust in the Ark might fail: Thus to David, when he had numbered the People, and Psal. 107. When his mountain was made strong. For hereby he purifieth Faith like gold, 1. Pet. 1. Peter must be winnowed as wheat: for then all rejoicing is taken away in the flesh, when World and all fails. 1. For he seethe that man is apt to join with flesh against God, therefore he keepeth this down by daily suffering: for man is loath to lay hands on himself, therefore doth he fight against it in man, both by Word which if it prevail not, he adds blows to weaken the Flesh, that so man may see what a weak staff he hath trusted to: and often he crosseth his children therein when they have forsaken God: He takes away the World, because thou hast run to and trusted it; he suffers thee to fall because thou trusts to thy Righteousness: He hides his face because the Flesh grows wanton by his comforts: Thus God daily crosseth us, and we take no notice, and lay the blame on this or that, and flee to the World for help: but then he will come and whip thee yet more. 2. If the cross lie long on thee, the cause is, because there is yet some looking for help from Flesh, or some lust that will not yield: thy stubborn heart is yet hardened by fleshly hope: For when God hath accomplished his ends, then shall freedom come. 3. God seethe, that if we should prosper still, we should be undone: for fullness of Flesh, and simple believing, seldom go together: nay, he will still keep to such a diet, as thou shalt still have: So will he keep thee under some cross or temptation, that thou shalt still need his help, and by this Faith, see his power and truth. 4. That is Faith then and Religion that holds out in trial, for affliction detracts nothing from a man, but shows what a man is; if thy heart be not upheld by Isaac that is to say, the World, but by His Truth: what matters it, though Isaac be slain, therefore, Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation, that when temptation comes ye may stand and watch, that is, wait in Faith, pray and seek help in him that is mighty to save, so shall we be preserved; no hurt to man by the cross but much good; for, 1. Thereby Faith is purified. 2. The flesh weakened. 3. And love increased, for than is man pitiful to others 4. The word prospers, but never thrives but when the cross goes with it: For full hearts are unfit to receive it, and man at ease easily shuffles it. Take thy son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. This God saw in him, and would bring it under, to separe his heart from his dearest object to him only, Isaac was the only son of nature and of promise: So that, So there is in man, some only son by nature, of some dear object, which he loves, and wherewith he is entangled, which must be slain before man come to live in constant peace and fellowship with God. David and Absalon had great possessions, there it in the world a lust of the eye and flesh, etc. 1. For man fixeth on something in want of God. 2. While this lives, the soul lives in and by it. 3. This must die or man must perish. 4. And so far as man's heart fixeth on this, it separats from God. 1. So that the promise of Faith, and living thereby, doth separate man from the dearest object of nature, & makes man obedient to the will of God, even to the losing of all; as, He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me: He that will lose his life, shall save it: And Paul saith, My life is not dear, so that I may finish my course; for Christ loved not his life unto death: Paul could die at Jerusalem. Acts 21. For there through the world is crucified, and nature brought into subjection. 2. For not to love Isaac is unatural, and yet to dote on him, or to be tied to him, or place felicity in him, is bondage, and argues a self-will and love not mortified, as in David to Absalon; hereby, 3. God doth wonderfully free his people when by faith He knits man to himself: He lays nature under foot, that man may so enjoy all things in God, that his eyes may be still towards him, that he useth and enjoyeth, as not using. 4. This is to enjoy all things as lawful, that is, a lawful use of all things, and yet not to be brought under the power of any thing. 1. Away then with all halt and heartless obedience, when man out of fleshly knowledge seems to flatter God with a few sacrifices, which are nothing but the overplus and superfluity of thy peacefulness & fleshly will; but when he comes to be tried to the bott●m, starts back, as that obstinate disobedience in all; when man's lust hath ceased on an object and will not part: but is a law, that therein he fights against God in the way of Faith and Love, and man in the common way of Equity, that so have it, he will: though to his own and every one a beloved Isaac, that is, the treasure of his heart; which though he will communicate other things, yet this he keeps in his closet. Yea, man hath not only a natural love to the creatures, but further, thinks while it is but so, all is well: as to love wife and children, riches, etc. But know this, when it exceeds reason, the Philosophers call it, Dotting affection; it brings man into bondage, but more when it separats from God: For there is a love naturals which is soon satisfied, and there is a violent affection that ever breeds bondage; which placeth a happiness in that thing loved. 2. Thus we see, every man hath his Isaac that must be slain; for as Isaac was the natural son, yet must be sacrificed: So man hath not only the fruit of his own natural wit, but even the joys, peace & freedom that comes by the promise, that must be slain, or at least be offered to God, that man may not depend on these, but on the promise: that so he live not by high Revelations, but by the grace of God which is sufficient, as in Paul. 3. All obedience that issues not out of the ashes of Faith, or from the power of God's love rested on by Faith, is nothing: for not to obtain or coin a Faith thereby, but as a true expression of a believing heart: And this shows God's goodness to man, crossing him of his chiefest object, that so he may not cleave to it, but rest in God and his Truth alone. And get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there. Here is the great trial of Abraham, that he must offer Isaac in whom the promise rested: So that he takes away from his people all stays in the Flesh, yea, not only his beloved Son in nature, but also the Son of the Promise: and every part in whom the Promise should be accomplished: So that now Abraham hath nothing left but bare promise, and all those means whereby the promise should be accomplished taken away: So that, God will sooner, or latter take away from his people all stays in the flesh, though never so likely in Flesh or reason, that the believing heart may be bared and weakened, and rest purely and simply on God and his Truth. Thus he took from his Disciples, even Christ in the Flesh, also from Gideon, his great host: from the Jews their Temple and Ark, wherein they trust: yea, Jerusalem itself, that Jerusalem might come from Heaven, which is the Mother of us all, from David his high mountain. 1. Thus God keeps his Children weak and poor in the Flesh, that they may seek to him, & be strengthened by his power and Spirit. 2. Thus he makes way for believing, for while man hath any thing to look at, his eyes are turned from God nor doth he purely believe in him. 3. O! This promise is only open to the weak and poor, as Matth. 5. For none tastes of Wrath that fears it, nor none fails through weakness that feels it: The sturdy Oaks are shaken with the storm, when the bending Reed escape through yielding. 4. Though God have given Isaac, yet Abraham must not trust to him: so God gives joy, and Peace, according to the Promise yet may we not leave the Promise, and trust to these, nor tie the Promise to them. 1. Vain then is the stay of them, that have no other foundation, but what Flesh yields, which is nothing but shame: as also, those that tye God, and limit him to these, and believe only because of these: as the Worldling, because of Riches, the Pharisee, because of Righteousness: and Believers, which turn from the Promise, and fix on these only, are deceived: For God gives these at his pleasure, but his Truth must rest as man's Foundation. 2. But how will man do, when Isaac must be slain, & all thy hopes in the Flesh taken away: As thy Riches, Liberty, Joy, Peace, etc. Where will thy rest be then, as it was with the Martyrs. 3. Thus we see, how God in crossing man, blesseth him, by causing the outward man to perish, so the inner man is renewed. 4. Happy he, that enjoys all things in the Flesh, but fix on nothing, but enjoy, as not enjoying: rejoiceth, as not rejoicing: useth, as not using: But if man fix on any thing after the Flesh, it is the ready way to lose it: as to the Jews Temple, and David's high Mountain Abraham went three day's journey. And all this while he shown not the place, that Reason and Affliction might work their utmost spite in trial of Faith: So that, So doth God with man, he often defers deliverance to man, and hides from him a long time the purpose of his Love, that man may wait in Faith, & be weakened in flesh, and in waiting be delivered. Thus he made Israel to wait four hundred years, the Church waited long for the Promise of the Messiah: God hath put tim●● and seasons in his own power, and the Jews for a Messiah to come with worldly power: but God sent his Son in poverty, and weakness: This made Mordecai so confident, that if Esther refuseth, God would send deliverance some other way, For the vision is for an appointed time, H●b. 2. 1. This he doth to hid Pride from man's heart, and to make the World a fool, that when man most expects it, he defers it. 2 God hath a revealed will, which man is to believe: but a secret will, man is to wait on 3. God, first works all things down in man, & separats the heart from them before he comes 4. For God hath an end, and man hath need of sore afflictions, and when these are brought about, then will God come. Thus the husband man waits for the harvest: First, it is buried in the earth a long time, then appears a little, but subject to many frosts, blasts, and disasters, yet he waits thus. 1. Man draws on his misery, by anticipating God his thoughts, We think now, and now with David. O! when shall I come and appear before thee, and mine eyes sail with waiting, and yet he withholdeth: For thou art not yet subject, when thou sees the Wisdom and Righteousness of God, that thou can as willingly lie under, as wished to be delivered, then shall thou be freed: but so long as there remains a Will of thy own crossing his, this must first be brought under: For God sends light in darkness, life in death, therefore, because we are not yet dead, nor in darkness, the Promise is deferred: it is not enough that thou hast a foundation of Truth, but thou willed needs have a sign and assurance in flesh for the Spirit to rest on. 2. God hath given his Word and Promise that man is to wait on, but we are loath to travel three days, and stay till God show it: God hath said, I will deliver thee, but we would see some sign of it, he says, I will deliver thee, but we would have some other assurance than his Word of Truth, that is, Man would have some other stay beside Christ. 3. Wait then thou weary Soul on God though thou see no means, for deliverance will come: the weakling cries out, because he is not now delivered, he is quite forsaken: but God knows, thou hast a wanton wit and rebellious will to be subdued. 4. Nay, when God shows nothing but death, and to the eye of man, that life is farthest off: then is it the nearest: Abraham might be weary, but God stayed him: but patience with hope, preserved him: Man is weary of God's hand, even almost before he feel it, & dreams of nothing but deliverance: even like an impatient man, that feeling the biting Corassue, would have the plaster taken of, but the Wise Surgeon knowed, that the rotten flesh must be eaten out: so God will have the Flesh to be quiet, & the Spirit strengthened before he remove his Rod. For a whole offering: By which he was to be consumed, that there should be no memorial left, for so was the laws of the burnt-offerings: So that, Gods will is to be believed and obeyed of man without reservation, and the Flesh and World to be crucified without sparing any part thereof of all these that would rest in God. He will be loved with all the heart, and we must have no God but him: For this is the great Commandment, Israel must not leave a hoof behind in Egypt, he will be loved above Father or Mother. 1. For look what a man reserves to himself, he draws from God, and denieth him: acknowledging some other Gods besides him, and so the mind runs after it, as Adam did: and so we halt betwixt two opinions. 2. If it be spared a little, presently it gets strength, & will arise again, and so is a halting betwixt two. 3. Man spairs and reserves, but that wherein he thinks there is a good besides God, and so the heart runs after it, and so destroys Faith. 1. Some indeed wholly spare Isaac the World, and cannot abide to be touched. 2. Others offer their refuse with Cain, but reserve Isaac, nay, believers will still have some hold in the flesh, some reservation; so hard a thing is it to sacrifice all, they would have part of the World: some ease, peace, freedom, some assurance of Life and Gospel: but all these must be sacrificed. 4. Religion that is true, is then a simple thing and cannot mix itself with any thing, like quicksilver, or the turtle-dove. 5. Then the obedience of God's Children if it be simple it is total to all his will, though never so hard to flesh and blood. For these cannot enter into the Kingdom, and if it be in God and for God, why then not one as well as another: for all are a like in him, that is wholly given to God by Faith in him. So Abraham went three day's journey. And yet saw nothing, that Satan might all this while tempt and try him, and yet God still preserves him: This is God's dealing to believing man: So that, God usually tries his to the bottom, that they may be saved in the Faith, and show forth his power of truth and promise to all. Thus Job, and David, Psal. 77. Thus Paul; Christ & his Martyrers: thus was Satan let lose upon Abraham, 1. For while man is but crossed a little, he runs to other fleshly help, from one shift to another, as here Abraham might Reason though I be banished, yet I have the Promise, and though it be long deferred, yet Isaac is now born, but here God strikes down all these props at once. 2. God doth thus work good out of evil to man, he lets Satan lose to beat and canvisse man in the flesh; and drive him out, for he is the God of the World, and must rule there, that he may drive man home to God, but if man will make a Covenant with him, and stay there, he will be his Lord, and reward him. 3. Man will catch hold of any thing before he be well drowned, even a Leaf or Reed, but God plungeth him into the deep, & then he calleth from thence. 1. We have not yet resisted unto blood, no temptation hath taken us, but such as man can remove with the World or Reason fixed on the Truth revealed, or qualities: and so we get sin a hiding place in the flesh. 2. Believers need yet a great deal of purging through affliction, for still we retain something, because of which we hope and believe; but this is not plain dealing with God, nor pure believing. 3. But know, that day will come, when God will try us to the bottom, and leave neither Father nor Mother, Wit, nor Wisdom: we shall be put past all our shifts in the flesh: So that, 4. We see what a do God hath to bring man low enough: hence it is, that we are not enlivened, enriched and made free in God, because we are not poor, weak and blind in the flesh, but find ease there and rest. 5. Thus God secretly upholdeth his Children in affliction, though themselves see not how they are preserved, he still sends Life in Death, who know not how they are raised. Stay here, and I and the Lad; All left him, and he left these behind: So that, If man go to ascend to God, and meet him comfortably in any straight, no coming with Flesh and blood: but leave these, and fix on him in naked belief. So David with Goliath: so Christ was left alone, & none to assist. 1. For flesh and blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, and His ways cannot be comprehended. 2. Fleshly affection draw men to their own ends, but Faith only lays hold on Christ: these harden the heart, & give a hope without Faith, which God will not accept 3. These destroy Faith, for the Soul cannot live on both: thus would worldly men fain take the World to Heaven with them: yea, all are loath to leave all behind, but would have something to bear them company, what ever makes for hurting of man's flesh is man's death, let Flesh know nothing, nor rule nothing Then the Angel said, Stay thy hand. Here Abraham is brought to the pits brink, and sees no deliverance, but only is preserved by Faith, they saw nothing but death before them; Isaac willing and Abraham ready and content, both preserved by Faith, and subjected; So that, It is impossible for man to meet death willingly, or think thereof: but only when lively power of Faith upholds, and hath killed and crucified the Flesh and will thereof by the sufferings of Christ. This made Paul willing to leave this tabernacle: David to commend his spirit into the hands of God, and Christ his life to the father, and Martyrs to the fire. 1. For Flesh fears destruction of itself, and if it be not overcomed and preserved by another power, it dies before the time; death makes on end of all and leaves nothing, neither father nor friends, land nor riches but destroys all: for as here, Isaac is gone, all Abraham children at once, the means of promise, and also if that his life had been herein, he had utterly failed. 2. This is the great lust and enemy to be destroyed, for, skin for skin, and all that a man hath, will be give for his life: and yet to this we must all pass, it makes death so fearful to worldly hearts, it leavs nothing to hold by: other losses leave some hope of recovery but this without Redemption; and yet this will come, we see it before our eyes, even death coming when thou must part with thy dearest husband, loving wife, ●e●der children and kind brother, friends, lands, world and all, and see thyself gasping upon thy deathbed; here see Isaac on the Al●ar, and see how thou wilt hear it. 3. Yea, this makes death fearful to believers, because the Flesh is not mortified, but lives in them, & desires to live: and because they live not in God, would yet live in the world. All put this day afa● off, one is yet lusty and strong, or is yet weak, hopes to recover, and yet never willing to commune with death, because we live not in and by the death of the World: another is old, yet thinks he may yet laste many years: So that, Only the believing man, in whom life is already overcome, shall die cheerfully: as Paul, who said, I can die at Jerusalem: He sees that death shall free him from the world; the Flesh, lust and all. Stay thine hand. Now God comes with help at a pinch, when it is not expected; if Abraham had a desiring expectation of due deliverance this way, God would yet have tried him further: but seeing past help, and yet believing, he comes: So that, God comes to help his people in the fittest time, & when man in reason sees no help in the world or in himself: then is God ready at hand. As at the Red sea, so to Elisha, when the King of Assiria had besieged him in Dothan, there were mountains full of Chariots of fire: So to David against Goliath, Psal. 107. Hungry and thirsty, than they cried unto the Lord: The Publicans cried, Lord, be merciful to me, &c 1. For at first, God made all things out of nothing, and so brings light out of darkness, and the poor to confound the rich. 2. When the heart hath passed all fleshly power, than he rests in faith: for he hath nothing to trust to. etc. 3. Thereby are the sufferings of Christ accomplished in the Saints in earth, as with the Martyrs; when friends mourned, strangers bewailed, acquaintance pitied, their adversaries boiled in all wrath: and all hope of life past: yet then was God with them, and they joyful; as with the man that cried, Austin, He is c●me. 4. Yea, thus doth God weaken Flesh, by dissannuling the hope thereof: and makes his power known in fleshly weakness: for he both secretly upholds at present, and sends help when all is past hope. SERMON XXI. Isa. 9.6, 7, 8. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given: & the Government shall be upon his shoulders. IN this Chapter he comforts the Church against all darkness and desolation, threatened in the seventh & vl chapters: and that by promise of the Messiah: alluding to these calamities, that came both by Tilgath Pileazer, 2 Kings 15. And that great Salmanazer, King of Assiria, where all Israel was led captive, 2 Kings 17. And thirdly, yet greater, when Zenaucharib came upon them, in the days of Hezekiah, with two hundred thousand soldiers, and railed on the living God, even in that darkness, when they had no hope of safety. Then Hezekiah spread his letter before the Lord, and Isaiah the Prophet brought the message of safety, and that without the power of Israel or any man God would overcome: and so sent his Angel, and slew one hundred fourscore and fifty thousand of the Assyrians Armies: and here saith he, shall our deliverance be. He shows, it shall not be by man's power, no more than that: For thou multiplied the Nations, that is of Israel; they had a greater Army than before, yet more afraid: but now they rejoice as men in harvest. He shows the reason, for the yoke and burden of the oppressor is removed, and that without the power of Israel, even as in the day of Midian: then, A comparison of these, every battle is with blood, but this shalt be with consuming fire: Thou hast multiplied the Nations, but not increased the joy. Jerusalem had again gathered strength, yet behold, greater fear than before, 1 King. 19 First, for he never left afflicting, till he had wasted all their strength, and put them past it; till they bowed down in humility and fear, and spread the letter before the Lord; then comes the Angel; so with us: So that, It is not increasing our strength, wisdom or any gift, that easeth or rejoiceth the heart indeed: but man walking in faith, fear and humility and love, shall be comforted in God. Thus the Philistines and Goliath, and David, but still worse thereby: So the fool, Luk. 12. Jerem. 10. Let not the wise man rejoice. 1. For we are kept by the power of Faith unto Salvation. 2. It is the mourner that is comforted, not the joyful: yea, the poor that is enriched, and the rich sent empty away: Sow in tears, and reap in joy. 3. For hereby is the great power of God manifested. 1. Thus we see the World still multiplies riches and wealth, but not joy increased: so we all strive for this and that guilt, knowledge, righteousness, etc. And so we multiply our strength & conceit of Power in man, as though he would overcome the King of Ashur; yet this still riseth in man, but is the greatest opposite to Faith of all things. 2. Happy is he that casts down all, and spreads the heart before the Lord, who in himself trembles in every thing, and flies by faith to God; the Angel shall come in time, & man shall overcome, as Gideon did, Judges 27. God took from him all his strength: a●, 1. All that were fearful, and all that lay down to drink; so with us. 1. He takes away Infidelity, which was fearful. 2. Earthliness, and moves man to suffer, and then in that wearied and tired estate, he gives victory to Gideon. So that, Man's victory is obtained in weakness of man by the power of God: and till God have taken from him that strength and wisdom whereby he standeth, he never conquers: as Paul: When I am weak, then am I strong: of myself not able to think a good thought, but through his grace able to do all things. 1. For fear & weakness goes before faith, than faith follows: and if faith be preserved, than man is safe: but if a man wax strong in conceit: then farewell faith & fear, and then hardness comes. All the whole Scripture works to bring man down that he might rest in God, though he feel no strength, though he feel no reason, though be be in darkness; yet the promise in Christ dwells in all these. 2. For God is not in thunder & earthquake & winds, but in the soft, still voice, & resting heart of man in him 1. But man hath wit and lives by it; will, & follows is power, and guards: but all will fail: For where Infidelity is, or those that went on in worldliness, these were sent back: for there was thirty two thousand, but ten thousand went: and of these all, but three hundred that kneeled down to drink. So with us, most turn back from Christ's battle through infidelity: and others that seem to follow Christ most are subdued by the World: only a few content with present state follow the Lord in Faith: For in the most things we do fear through distrust, or else are stopped and cast back through the love of ease that we overcome not, as in the day of Midian. God sends his spirit into tender & soft hearts, but all things else are dry; & then when the heart is refreshed and strengthened, he sends his blessing in all he takes in hand. To Hezekiah the sign was, this year eat whatsoever groweth of itself, and the next year without sowing; So to us, He feeds us his own fullness without any help of man or nature, and then enables man to be a husband in the Church of Christ: and this shall be like joy in harvest-tide, Psal. 33. These battles were with noise & tumbling in blood, but this by the feeling of Wrath and Indignation, which at last shall fall upon the power of Satan through the love of Christ, and consume them: For unto us a child is born. Here is a Prophecy of Christ and his Kingdom and Government. 1 His Person is described unto us, with his Title and Office. 2. His Kingdom and manner thereof. 3. The cause, or fountain of all this zeal of Love unto us: h●re he shows the Propriety & Right that believers have in Christ, and by this Union the Victore comes: So that, Christ truly born to man, and living and ruling in the heart of man, and man subject to Christ, is the Food & Fountain of all good, Wisdom & Happiness to man. He is the Seed of the Woman that breaks the Serpent's head: He is our Wisdom and Righteousness, and Peace and our Life: For all live through him, Paul through him was able to do all things, He is the way, the Truth and the Life, Joh. 14. If you abide in Me, and my Word abide in you, ask, and it shall be given you: Christ is that Word of Faith by which all things are established and made: He is the Light & Life of Man: So that, When the ministry of the Word is form to the Image of Christ, and that Word lives in man, then enjoys he all that good and freedom promised in that Word. For look what Christ was, and did actually and bodily in the World, that he is, and d●th spiritually in the heart of man: He came by the will and promise of the Father, he was born, not of the will of the flesh: He wrought miracles to the believing man, so in us; gives sight to the blind; He taught and made known the Will, Love, and Purpose of the Father to the World: So in us: He was subject to live in love, so in us. ●he suffered freely, so us he enables & makes conquerors So it is plain, that the birth of Christ is the beginning and Fountain of man's happiness and freedom: & the Life of Christ with the Father, the life of happiness: and the Death of Christ, the accomplishment of man's blessedness and victory. See then, how all the whole truth of God gins & ends in one. That which was promised to Adam, and Abraham, is Prophesied of: Here is born in time, and sent to every believer, therefore, all our running about conceits, buildings and thoughts, and imagination's, and inventions, are but vain blasts; for here is all ●hat is substantial. But who hath believed our report, may Christ say; for. First, We hear of Christ born, baptised, persecuted and crucified, etc. But not to us; ray, we know this Christ after the ●●esh, we think well of him, and love the thoughts of ●im, but not born to us. Nay, we frame a Christ, and seem to worship him, but not given to us; nay, we have a conceit that he hath done all for us, but not born in us: we defend him, and plead for him, we dispute of him, we talk of him, we read of him: but not born to us. This teacheth, that Christ was promised of God, and sent in fullness of time, and then his spirit sent into the hearts of men. So there is a waiting for the promise under the Law: but in the fullness of time he shall be born and given. For he came, when man was out of hope; for there was nothing but vexation under the Maccabees, and the Romans, and then came a deliverer, and so to all men: When Sarah was past age, and without hope, than Isaac is born. So, when thou art past hope, and sees no Reas●n, then shall Christ be born to thee, for that is the fullness of time, and till then, the fullness of time is not come: And we see that Christ is nothing to man, till he be born in man, that the living Word of the Father live & rule in him beyond all Reason and Imagination of Flesh: For no Reason can be given of Christ to be born of a Virgin: nor that man should believe life in death, or a guilty man to be delivered. A Son is born; Here is the promise of a Messiah, & this already accomplished, both visibly to the World, and spiritually to believers: So that, No power of the adversary or Flesh is able to mak● void the Word of Truth, and Promise, nor shake th● heart of man: stayed thereon by Faith. As Abraham believed the Word against plain reas●: So the Promise of Caanan, Pharaoh on the one side and enemies in the way, and forty Kings in Canaa● resisted; yet thither they must. Heaven and Earth mu●● pass away, but not that Word of Truth. 1. For this purity of Faith, under the Cross, wh●● all sights against it, yet it stands. 2. By this, God is magnified, and man hath assurance of rest therein: as when man believes God's trut● though never so unlike; God preserves that man: For can any man stay a shower of Rain: take heed of fight against God. 3 Be subject and stay here, though thou see no likelihood, not striving what thou would have, but waiting what and when God will do his Will. 4. Here is the stay of believers, though they see no rest, yet they wait on God, and know, that in fullness of time the Child shall be born. 5. But though we have a sure word, we are loath to stay the fullness of time, but now man would be comforted, and then eased; but thou must be more weak, thy Wisdom and Righteousness must be trodden down, that nothing but God and his Truth may live in thee. A Son born: Some will have this meant of Hezekiah, or Isaiah: but it agrees not with the Text, but only of Christ the Word of the Father, which took our nature, that he might redeem us: and let us see the subjection and loss of all to way of freedom: These two natures joined in Christ by an Hypostatical Union, made a perfect Christ, as flesh and spirit makes in Moria a Christian: these not by confounding their natures, but by right ordering of both, yet remain distinct; the power of the Godhead shining through the Manhood, Ordering and Ruling, and Guiding in subjection to the Fathers Will So in us, Religion or Christ born in man, is not the confounding of nature in man, as with most beginning in the Spirit, but ending in the Flesh; as, First, In our glorious notions not rising from Christ, stirring up our present passions only flesh. Man's freedom is not helped by Flesh at all, but subjection only. Many Sons born to man, but Ishmaels' or Esau's; few have Christ form or born in them. The government is upon his shoulders. That is, the whole Rule whereby his Kingdom is ordered, is in him only; J●h. 5. The Father hath given all government to the Son: So that, The whole power of governing and guiding man, ●ests in Jesus Christ, and is enjoyed by Faith in him. All power is given to me both in Heaven and Earth●, to him belongs dominion power and glory. 1. For why he is King and Head of the Church. 2. By him only the power of Satan is subdued. 3. He is the cornerstone of all buildings. Now his power is not of the Flesh, for that was kept weak in him, and at last so dyeth in us; His Kingdom is not of this World, but Righteousness, Peace & Joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14. By righteousness of Faith and righteousness of Love: as peace in the heart, with subjection under the Cross, joy in assurance of the love: and joy in tribulation. But most are not governed by Christ, but by their own Wit, Will, World and Flesh. Where then is the power of man, whereby he thinks to obtain Life? It remains in Christ, only enjoyed by Faith from day to day: else how doth Christ rule? But most will have the government upon their own shoulders: He rules all by the Word of Truth, Psal. 45. His Sceptre is a right Sceptre, his Word returns not in vain, he bears up all by his mighty Word. He shall be called wonderful. Here is his title and of admiration, and to be referred to all his Wonders in his Wisdom and Counsel, in his Power, Love, & Peace: So that, So the way of Christ in bringing man back from death to life, is a wonderful way unknown to the World and Flesh: only known by Christ in the Word of Truth, Isa. 55. 1. My ways are not your ways, but look how far it is a wonderful way, that he prescribes in Matth. 16. To deny ourselves, to take up his cross, lose our life: It is called the mystery of the Kingdom, for Genesis 3. He ordained that man should never by that way of the flesh enter into life, but by another way that kills the flesh. 2. The way of Christ is opposite to the way of the World, that his glory may appear: For Israel, by want of Faith, stood in fear of the Army of the Philistines, but Jonathan and his Armour-bearer only discomfited by Faith, a wonderful power of God. 3. Thus God makes himself known in the earth by his great wonderful works: now Christ's way is wonderful, not only in his birth in earth without a Father, in Heaven without a Mother; but also in his miracles which were great: As in disputing at twelve years old, and fasting forty days: but also in his ministry, that a silly man opposing the whole hierarchy of the Pharisees and Jews, yet spoke with authority to the subduing of all, so in his Apostles for the wonderful evidence of the Truth, doth for the present, dash all contrary power, though afterward it rise again: He is also wonderful in the administration of his Kingdom, as he came to give us light, that sat in darkness and obscurity. 1. To give Life, and yet he died himself: and in Reason, was overcome in death, but that Faith believed the Resurrection. 2. To make us Rich, and yet he himself Poor. 3. To make us free, and himself bound. 4. To comfort us, and yet he himself cried out for comfort, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me; It must needs be some wonderful way that Christ hath to work a Redemption for me, and this by an unspeakable power and love, which is seen in all man's straits; as in prayer and affliction, temptation and death: as, 1. Man cries and prays to be eased like Paul for a prick in the flesh, God hears by a secret power, and grace and saith in Paul. 2. In affliction he lays Load, and yet preserves by feeling the Father's love. 3. In temptations justifies, and yet we feel no killing of the flesh. 4. Death comes, and yet we live in him, 1. Away then with that reasonable Religion, Christ's way is above, that man hath a ready way of Religion to do well, and know much, and so hath an opinion in Flesh, but not a stay to the Soul: also, a reason of love, as his neighbour and friends, but no reason to love Enemies: It must be a wonderful power of Christ that must separate man from himself in reason: it were likest that man should speed best that comes righteous to him, but not so he that comes a sinner. 2. We see then the necessity of Faith and the nature of it, that it is not a reasonable persuasion, but a powerful cleaving to Christ: & no dealing with God but by Faith: for Reason can make nothing of the ways of Christ. 3. Marvel then not though the World cannot away with it, the Wisdom of the World counts it foolishness, but Faith knows that Reason is a foolish counsellor; this is another title and property, or declaration of the Wisdom of the Father that was with him: he is the Counsellor, the Prophet of the Church, to teach it Wisdom, and guide it in the way of peace. So that the Fountain of all wisdom and counsel is in G●d, and none wise in matter of Religion & God, but they that are wise in, and truly know Christ. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are conveyed unto man as he believes & waits for he is made of God to us wisdom and righteousness, etc. If any obey my will, he shall know, whether this Doctrine be of God? 1. For he was in the bosom of the Father, and sent out to counsel and advise deceived men to turn to God again. 2. Man is blind, even the wisest of the World: & the cross of Christ is their greatest misery: for it is foolishness to them; and they cannot approve it: but the World thinks not so: for, who are counted so wise as the children of this World, who fight against God. 1. So God hath showed the way to prosper, that is to believe, trust and obey: but the wicked say not, bu● cark, care, and oppress: but the way of life, is a denial and loss of life and will: But they say, Save life and will: for man will either find a way of his own, o● help God in his way. 2. Some are wise above the Gospel and Christ, and will needs see into God's Secrets with their fleshly eyes: as Arminius, who will needs set rules and laws to God, which neither Arminian or witty man can do; & it is the very quintessence of wit that under-propps man, & this more crosseth faith than anything: the greatest Contemplatives, the greatest Idolaters: saith Luther. 2. How loath is man to be a fool, but he would appear to be somewhat: how he strains his Wit, & vents his conceits, that he may appear to know: Such a one knows more from curious searching and bat●ing his brains: than from Christ in the heart. There is two Counsellors to man. 1. Satan adviseth the Worldings to care & deceive, & the Wanton, to follow his pleasure: the Drunkard, his pots; the Hypocrite, his righteousness: yea, as an Angel of light be shines, as a false light to puff up himself. 2. But Christ counselleth otherwise. 1. To forsake the World and all. 2. To believe in him alone. 3. To love him. 4. To love one another. Wisdom without Christ can do nothing, but fill the heads, and that with conceits & opinions: but he is wise that is counselled by Christ, yet attending on him in that blindness of his Soul by faith, he shall be enlightened and know the will and secrets of the Lord: but man will needs know these before the time. An Exposition of some Verses of the fifth Chapter of Matthew, the Quality & Disposition of these that are Blessed BLessed are the pure in Spirit, consisting in what state. 1. The quality, is pure in Spirit: that is, whose Spirits have nothing to rest on, not comfort in it: but worn out of all hope and stay in the Flesh, is destitute of all help: but waits only on relief on God: So that, He only, whose heart is purged by the Word from all stays and hopes in the Flesh, is truly a Subject of mercy, and shall be enriched; and the only Guest at his Supper. So the Prodigal, we see the poor receives the Gospel the full stomach loatheth the honney-comb, Isa. 66. To him will I look that is of a contrite heart and humble spirit; Isa. 55. He that hath no money, come and buy. Poor, blind, miserable and naked: but on the contrary, as the Elder-brother, all is mine, I am rich enough: So not many rich, not many mighty, etc. but poor A small thing is welcome to a poor man, when the rich despiseth great gifts: now the poor man is naked, nothing to cover him: famished, nothing to fill his belly, as the Prodigal was, unable to help himself: and thence hopes for help. Rich and full hearts have no room for Christ, when man conceits of some quality in himself, and whereby he hopes. The cause why we are not helped is, because we are not poor enough. See the bounty of God, who is ready to help the needful; the misery of poor in the world that find no help, is, because they seek it in the World. Blessed are they that mourn. Here is the second sort of blessed men, not the merry Pharisee, but the mourning humble and dejected men: this follows the former, like an Orphan destitute, poor, none to help, mourns: So that, He that mourns and weeps in himself, and finds no comfort in himself, or the World; he rests in God by Faith, but shall be comforted in God's time. God looks to him that is of a humble Spirit, as Hagar sitting and weeping at the Well, because she was comforted. In the Law they brought sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle, and there wept and mourned till the atonement came, Psal. 102. They that go forth weeping shall return rejoicing. For this argues a repenting heart, and forethinking of the time misspent, therefore the Kingdom of God i● come near; These men reverence the World & themselves, and finding no hope thereby, cry and weep for help: for these hearts lie open for comfort, when the light merry hearts despise God and promise. 1. This is not a mourning for loss or cross. 2. Nor a howling because of misery only. 3. Nor desperate as Judas, but a sight or sensible beholding of guilt and weakness, and time misspent condemning himself. 2. A burden lying on, & seeing no means to recover. 3. With strong cries for mercy and pardon, but most are far from this; for fullness hath made us merry, every man rejoicing in his portion: First, the Worlding is merry in his thriveing. 2. The wanton in his pleasure and lust, the Hypocrite in his conceited Righteousness: Now, we all go forth rejoicing, and come in weeping: and believers often overtaken with this, that is, in a fond lightness without sense of themselves: sometimes resting securely, because they think God will come, but mourns not; sometimes lifted up with a conceit of what the Spirit enjoys not. But happy he that sits mourning like a turtle-dove after his God, and never merry without him; so he shall be comforted: This is reserved in God's time and hand, wherein, see the impatience of weaklings: who, because he comes not now, are ready to cast off all: and others, who will needs appoint the time, and loath to stay the fullness thereof: And this God will do according to his own will, and not thine limiting God; destroyeth and crosseth Faith: there must be a going forth of thyself, weeping that thou hast so long fought against God, and returning to a God, who will meet thee with joy and gladness: that thou hast found him whom thy Soul loves, but it must be as in Canticles. When thou hast lest expectation thereof, we all desire to know that God loves us, thence believe, that he doth love us. Blessed are the meek: This is opposed to the pride of the Pharisees, who are lift up above others. 1. But lowly and meek minded men, who are humble and lowly in themselves, are the only happy men, Isa. 66. With such God dwells. They are Gods Saints, as the Publican, & he that humbles himself is fitted for all estates, his mind framed to all: not seeking to bring things to his mind, but things are brought to his mind. 2. He only is capable and lives by mercy, that hath no good thought of himself, this is not a softness of nature, and freting within, nor a Pharisaical hanging down the head, nor lurking quiet, like a dog under a cudgel: But a simple and true understanding of himself, his weakness and vileness, and so adjudging of himself, and justifying others. This reproves that high minded pride & conceit of our own, yea, because we think basely of others: thence we have a good conceit of ourselves: This is not simple plain dealing, but the most quiet way is, when a man is kept low in himself, and still exalted in God, hereby nothing happens: but he sees he hath deserved it, he justifies God in all his ways. He shall inherit the earth. That is, the good of all blessings; and be blessed in all his ways and creatures on earth, for his mind hath not far reach, and so he is content with any estate: again proud minds, who enjoy no good in any thing, their mind is still above their estate, and they still in want, and they that are lifted up in all they enjoy, are like beggars on horseback. The way of prosperity is, when the mind is low, for than it is out of Satan's reach: as Christ was by suffering, as a Lamb overcame all. Bl●ssed are they that hunger and thirst. Hence the mind feeling a want and hungering after Righteousness in Christ, is blessed, and shall be satisfied, Isa. 55. Psal. 63. Which hunger is, 1. A panting of the stomach for want of moisture. 2. A desire of food above all 3. A l●nging and fainting t●ll he be satisfied, & how sweet is Christ to him: Th●s Righteousness is. 1. Of Faith. 2. Inward rectitude. 3. Outward holiness, that so he may be one with Christ in the Covenant of love, unity of Will, and life of Christ, to the glory of the Father. But we all faint after the World, nothing can satisfy: these men are never satisfied, but the other shall be satisfied: he shall have an hundred sold here, etc. Jam. 4.5. They ask me, and obtain not, because it is to spend on lusts: Wait, thou hungriest, and in his time he will come, and that shortly: when thou art separated from all other: Thy Soul can be satisfied with no other: thus like a loving Wise, longing after her husbands coming home. Blessed are the merciful. Here is another sort of blessed men, that is, whose hearts are brought down: that out of sense of their own misery and weakness, sin and rebellion: they become tender hearted men, and pitiful and merciful to others that are in any strait: So that, Tender hearted men are blessed men, and fit for God's mercy, Psal. 41. Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy. Psal 112. A good man is merciful and dareth. Isa. 57 1. Merciful men are taken away from the evil to come; I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat, Mat. 25.42. And Christ so pitied poor, blind & lame, desolate men: & was ever ready to help, that he might draw all men to depend on mercy. For he whose heart dwells in love, dwells in God: in nothing do we more resemble Christ, who was ever disposed thereunto: even when his Disciples would have hindered him: See what this is. 1. There may be liberality out of pride, and yet no love, 1 Cor. 15. 2. There may be a tender and open nature, and yet no mercy. But this not a tender hearted disposition from nature, but from a true sight of our own vileness and unworthiness and sense of God's mercy in Christ, sensible of others miseries and willingness and readiness to help, according to our power, without pinching, grudging, or base respect: such is Gods and Christ love to us. 1. The ground, God's mercy by Faith; breaking the heart and working Life in us. 2. The nature is pitiful, free, open-hearted, helpful. 3. The object is Want, Misery, Wrong, Injury, Woe. Then woe to mercielesse worldings, who are sensible of no man's misery but their own, as a hardhearted usurer: a close fisted niggard, grinding Landlord: yea, mercieless, who, with Judas grudge at parting with any thing, & though they profess kindness, yet when need comes, hearts and purses pinch together. See that heartless show of Love and Faith without the power thereof, when it comes to-tryal, that when it comes to part it & Mammon, that was never parted; it goes to the quick: as if a man should part with life and all; and hence so many excuses: as I have not, now I have a charge, etc. When, if a man would forbear idle expenses and his surfeiting, it would provide for all the poor in a Paroch. Object. They are all lazy people. Answ. It is for want of thy education but maintenance is love. Thus we see Christ is full of talking, believing men, and worldly knowledge: every man full of opinions and high thoughts, but no love. This Religion is in vain; yea, most men love all men till they grow poor, but then casts him off, like those, Luke 5. That called rich friends, etc. So we lend, give and help those that need not, but to further their covetousness: but from poor, turn away. But man hath such love for himself, that he hath none for others, but Paul bids, put on bowels of mercit and tenderness, etc. 1. Consider the estates of others, and put ours in their case. 2. God's mercy to thee, thou rich, and they poor. 3. That thou shalt never be poorer for it: & that thou shald obtain mercy both of God and man, not for this but the word is such. So that, God's mercy and goodness shall not be a wanting, and man's heart shall be open towards merciful men and they shall nor want, Psal. 37. I never saw the righteous forsaken; That is, merciful men. 1. For the hearts of all men do bless them. 2. They live in sense of misery and weakness, and so sensible of mercy, but most men live of and by themselves, and find no need of mercy, and so mercy is shut against them. 3. Happy he that waits still for this, it cannot be wanting, for these judge themselves, & justify God. 4 Suffer all things patiently. 5. And are open-hearted to pray to God, and show mercy to others. Blessed are the pure in heart. These are opposed to the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees, which under show of Religion, reserved to themselves rotten hearts and the World therein, which so muzzled their minds, that they saw nothing: Purity is a metaphor taken from neatter metal, etc. Which it not mingled with any filth, but clear from the Fountain: So we say, Pure water like gold, and that is separated from all other things, and is simple: So that, Poor and simple minded men, who walk in simplicity of Religion, is blessed therein, James 3.1. Wisdom from above is, First, pure, then peaceable, that is the seed in good ground, that is, good honest & simple hearts, 1. Joh. 3. He that hath this hope purgeth himself as he is pure, for the heart joined, or mixed with any other thing, mars it. 2. This was Adam's simplicity that is joined to God only, which purity is a mind cleaving to nothing but God only, and simple truth, like a wise to her husband, expecting nothing but what he is. 3. Intention upright, though occasion failing, there is a purity Legal, and Evangelical, the one is in Rules, the other in Faith and Love; singling out the heart to Christ only: the heart is pure, when it is not mingled with its own desires and lusts, and the pure Faith believeth God without this or that, a pure love without condition, or end. 4. A pure zeal for God only. Away then with all glistering Religion, to cover rotten hearts with. But we deal not simply in any thing, but have self-respects and seekings, seeking ourselves: for we deal not simply in any thing. The pure heart than is he that sees that iniquity in himself; that he loathes himself: & so is purged by the Laver of Regeneration. They shall see God. This is not by curious comprehension but by simple believing: that is, that God would show himself in mercy, love & wisdom to them: So that, The poor and simple believing heart truly understands the way of God, and sees him in his goodness: and God reveals Secrets to them that fear him, and to none else: Psal. 25. 1. None hath seen God but he, none knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him, Psal. 36. In his light we shall see light, for self-knowledge and lust blinds the most of all. 1 Cor. 8. He that thinks he knows something, knows nothing at all: he that will become wise, must become a fool: God chooseth fools. 2. If the mind cleave, or look at any thing else, it draws a vail that is sees nothing. There are some that imagine a shape, and so seem to see blindly, attending in saith upon them: the light shines. Thus we are all full of knowledge and false light, but have not pure hearts: we must be wise, as Serpents and innocent as Doves. For, if man see God by Faith: he trusts, loves and fears, and is subject to him; all knowledge else, leaves a man whore he was, save this: it lifts him up against God. See the way how man is blinded, he hath a self desire of his own good, overruling, which sets wits a working to find that good under the Sun. This bears off God, and so lights hold of Religion: and so strains all his power to comprehend this God and good in him, and becomes a Master: and so rules and orders it, according as he thinks it may best make for his good not knowing what it is to receive freely, and live by Faith. Give me then a pure heart, and a simple believing mind; for that's worth all knowledge: without this, all knowledge else leaves man, that he date not trust, nor love that thing which he sees: Yet, this is all that he hunts after, rather to know after the flesh, than to believe by faith. Blessed are the Peacemakers: Opposed against the Pharisees busy pride, and judging others: Yea, Christ could not be quiet in life for them: So that, Christ's Religion is a peaceable Religion, and makes men peaceable, James 3. Wisdom from above is pure & peaceable. 1. For it pulls down pride. 2. It sets man at work with himself, and none else. 3. It lays low the World, which sets all at strife: yet this quiets all. 1. Yea, though not of the same opinion, yet peaceable. 2 Though not familiar, yet peaceable. 1. This is against that Religion, that's nothing but busy quarrelling for victory in this or that opinion; and that only in opposition to Church, striving about Christ's coat. 2. These that are busy with others, not themselves: that starts quarrels, and suits for trifles. 3 Religion is not against peace, but for the peace of a Land. 4. They are at enmity with none, but themselves: yet bold and stout in Christ's cause, as Martyrs. 5. Decay of Religion is the cause of all contention: walk peaceably, and meddle with thyself. Seek peace, and prevent variance: and lose any thing rather than peace. SERMON XXII. 1 Sam. Chap. 15 Ver. 13 And Samuel came unto Saul, & Saul said unto him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have, &c THis Chapter declares Gods dealing with Saul, for his double dealing in the matter of Amalek: These Amalekites were those enemies which first withstood the passage of Israel as Mount Seir, as they passed towards Canaan: against whom, Moses and Aaron and Joshua warred, who would have driven Israel back again into Egypt: against whom the Lord threatened that he would destroy them from off the earth, and have War with Amalek, from generation to generation, Exod. 17.14. To those the Lord sends Saul to destroy them: and he dealeth haltingly therein, and for that is cut off. Further note, that these Amalakites were of the seed of Esau: For Amaleck was the Son of Elyphaz, Esau's eldest Son, which he had by a concubine, Gen. 36. So that they were the Edomites, who were still enemies to Israel. Here is Esau against Jacob still, that is, the of spring of the flesh hated of God, hunting after the world: So that, Such and so are the corrupt will, & fleshly lusts of man: like these Amalekites: born of the flesh, hated of God, & forsaken; hunting after the World, fight against the spirit of man; heir of the Promise, & hindering in the way towards the Lord of rest. Nay, and when they were to enter into Canaan, they stopped the way; and after, when they were entered, they disturbed Israel's peace, as here: So that, Those enemies must be subdued and routed out, before man can have any rest in the Land of the living, 1. Pet 2. Fight against the Soul. Gal 5. War against the spirit. These have fleshly reason for their kingly will, and affections for their Captains. 1. These like Amaleck, one while seeks comfort to the Flesh: cannot abide to want. 2. Sometimes to deny God through carnal reason; nay, in believers, when we should walk with God in assurance of Faith and subjection of love: then starts up some fleshly power or other, either a man hath some worldly power to follow, or some fleshly will to stick to: or quietness, ease and peace to preserve: or, something that he dotes on, and follows not God according to the Covenant. 1. This shows that we have not rest in our God only: because the Sons of Esau: the Edomites yet remain in our Land, and oppress the way of God and of Christ: And why not peace in thy heart? because the Amalakites yet live in thy heart, enemies with in thee: Thou sighs without, with this want and that wrong, this inconveniency and distrust, that do daily vex thee. For take away these, and rest will come in all losses and crosses. O that man would once war against himself to destroy these enemies! Thou art busy against every body but thyself, when thou should be against no body but thyself, or else against something else; as avoiding this or that: Nay, stay thyself and take up these, and so shalt thou have peace; but these must be destroyed without any reserving. 1. If it first draw from the Covenant and Faith in Christ. 2. If it strengthen thy own will. 3. If it make flesh wanton, and so harden the heart, kill it. Nay, Christ will destroy that kingly reason, which will need fight against God and all his people: And that when God hath said, Israel shall rest: Amalekites saith no. So this turns the truth of God into a lie. We see then that the Church need not fear her Enemies, for God will root them out of the earth, and have continual War with them that withstand his Truth and Covenant: so that while thou sticks to him thou art safe: nay, and he will war with the seed of the Flesh in man. Doth he war against lust, and will daily by his word? Nay, God is, and will be an enemy thereto; for the Law condemns it to death, and the Gospel is the Executioner of the Law, and kills it in the heart of man: but if man will spare these, God will destroy man with them, for they must be destroyed, do thou what thou can to save them: for all Flesh is grass, and thou thinks to preserve them, yet they must down, or else Israel and Saul himself must perish. But the power whereby thou seest, that is Moses, praying and crying to God, gave them one blow; and then at last Joshua, even Jesus, the Captain of Faith, hewed them in pieces: So that the power is, 1. Prayer. 2. Faith waiting on God, when the heart is turned to pray: then victory, but not by the power of Israel, not sword of Saul, but by God's grace and arm; vers 7. 1● Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have performed the Commandments of the Lord. Now when Samuel came to see what Saul had done, and to make known what God had determined: Saul gins to justify himself, though he knew himself guilty: and to keep peace within & approbation without: So that, So it is with all naturally, that when God finds ou● man by the light of his Truth, that man labours naturally to justify himself, and to cover his guilt, though to his destruction, rather than to confess, that he may have mercy. So to Adam: so the Pharisees and the Lawyer willing to justify themselves. 1. For there is no power in nature to condemn itself. 2. Flesh cannot be, but it must needs have hold of something. 3. And the Soul must have something to uphold, for the natural of iniquity is in every one: We all desire approbation. Thus all the World is busy in sewing fig-leaves to hid their own guilt. And this stops the course of Faith and Prayer, every one labours still to make good what he doth get; peace within, approbation of others: Yet this approbation we all desire: & so make best of the worst, if we may keep credit. Hence so many excuses as here in Saul, when w● seem to condemn ourselves, than we justify our selve● and hope, because of our confession to find mercy. I● is a great point of simplicity to do good, and not t● have an eye to it: but still here ariseth a thought o● being something, because of that: everyone is approving of the good, but thinks none of the evil in themselves, 〈◊〉 so imagines a power in themselves, which destroy Faith It is but a poor comfort that man gets by his obedience to the Law: nay, God will find out many 〈◊〉 blaiting Lust, & Iniquity in thy heart, as hereafter. What meaneth then: Here Samuel discovers his Hypocrisy, for he discovers, wherein he had failed: So that When man hath justified himself, and hid himself in the depth of his own counsel, yet there remains in man a Legion of Rebellion, which hinders his peace, and which God will find out in the end: as to Adam, and the Young Man, and the Rich Fool. 1. For man's pride ariseth from ignorance in himself. 2. Adam slips over these easily, & with little notice. 3. After Faith, and a desire to obey God, yet there remains a rebellious flesh, and ease, and peace, which he would preserve. Thus we all keep up a conceit of ourselves: but than what means this following of the World, this envy, hatred, these wring, & pinch, & covetousness? What means then Saul seeking to justify himself? Samuel discovers his Hypocrisy: And that by bringing before him the spoil that he had reserved underneath, & as in Saul, so in us: Saul had done something, but there rested a whole herd to be destroyed: So that, When a man hath tasted of God's love and mercy, and it may be hath inclined to do Gods will, yet there is a troup of rebellious lusts and affections underneath, which both darkens the light of Faith, and keeps man's Soul in bondage: and either they or we must be destroyed. Thus to the young man, Matth. 19 The rich fool, and Adam. 1. For all men, like Israel, think they should have rest, so soon as they are passed the Red-Sea; when, alace, there are bitter waters to drink; hunger & thirst to be endured, and the Amalakites to be slain. Here is the daily exercise and power of Faith and of Christ in man, in subduing these enemies under foot, to the perfecting of our freedom, and establishing everlasting Righteousness. That man daily feeling these Rebels within him, may see his Weakness and Rebellion, & may flee daily from himself to God for victory: For he that partakes of Christ's death once through Faith to his Redemption by the power of the same death, dies daily; that so h● may live into God. Thus deal Hypocrites, when looking upon the● own righteousness, grow high minded, and strongly presumptuous, not feeling these base filthly lusts, be● lie underneath: nay, thus we imagine to ourselves a● opinion more by a thousand times, than we enjoy indeed: Thus are those deceived, who tasting som● sweetness of Faith and God's love, sit down & thin● all things is done, and Heaven obtained, when indeed they then shrink from God, and themselves too; an● then arise a Legion of Lusts that are unkilled. There is then a beginning of steadfastness in going on in Religion, these beginnings may utterly fa● where the others follows not: there is a believing 〈◊〉 Righteousness, but there must be a believing by th● same faith, and a daily feeding on God's goodness and truth. 1. And hereby appears how apt man is to flatter himself without cause, thinking all is well, when it is nothing so: When the Prophet comes, and by the Word of Truth divides betwixt the marrow and the bone: For thou sayest, Thou believest God and thy confidence is in Christ, and that he is, and will be a Father unto thee; but what means the leaning to, and looking at the works of thy hand, or quality of heart, and increase of confidence thereby: Why then is there such seeking for, and trusting to thine own power? why art tho● then so vexed for want, joy, peace and fullness? Why then dost thou so dote upon the World? so lifted up it fullness, & cast down in want? Thou sayest, Thou lover God and Christ, and his Word; what means then this self-love? wherein thou hast always a self aim? 2. This casting off Christ: and seeking ease in the flesh; What means then this little respect to the Gospel and so careful for all things else? 3. What means this censuring, and judging & condemning others, this opening their shame, and this preying into their faults; this back-bitting & insulting, ●his hardness of heart, and unmercifulness to them in ●ant? this pinching and grudging, and grinding their ●aces; this contention and unwillingness to forgive? ●hou sayest, thou hatest the World, Sin and Lust; but, ●hy then is thy willing serving of it, and this rejoicing 〈◊〉 it, and mourning for want, and this total employment about it: and these burning lusts, and fiery ma●ice? Thou sayest, Thou wilt suffer any thing for Christ, as Peter: but, what meaneth then thy swearing ●nd fore-swearing, for these great vexations, for these earthly crosses, and this fear of loss, and danger of Death? So that it is not as we imagine, when the Word of Truth comes. O! that men would cleave to this Word of Truth in Spirit, it would either hue Agag in pieces, or else Saul should be cut off thereby. O! that we lived daily in the true understanding of ourselves, this would destroy vain glory and pride: We think because we have now a good motion, and ●hen a sweet joy, and feeling, that God must needs love for these; but we see not the lowing and roaring rebellions of the heart that fight against Christ. And thus most men deal with Saul, by halfs in Religion, because they begin to look with Flesh at the conquest that they have gotten, when thousands are behind, verse 15. We have brought then from the Amalekits. Here Saul again excuseth himself, and pleads their intent to offer Sacrifice, as afterward, verse 21. So that, So thus in all men not mortified through Faith, would still have both Joy and Faith, and a Will and Word of his own. So with Adam, so with Peter; He would have had case in the Flesh, and Christ's company too, so the young man, Matth. 19 see all unmortified. For, till by the power of God in the cross, the Flesh be subdued; it seeks to live as well as the spirit, & save itself: For there is a self-confidence, a wisdom and a love: which would turn all to its own advantage, which indeed should know or effect nothing at all, and so draws the mind after it. Thus, we dally with God in the way of Faith, by sparing things that are profitable pleasures. And thus man excuseth this, or this: I do to follow the World that I may be better sitted to serve God, & to do good to others: and so it appears? that it is the end indeed: nay, thus we dissemble with God: For when we say, We would live in freedom and joy: that in that joy we might better praise God our maker: but the end indeed, is for the good and ease of ourselves, & the flesh especially, in things that perfect our ease and peace: & though the mind be thereby ensnared, we yet deal easily with it, and thus we still reserve our fat things, and deal favourably with them, and these are our greatest enemies. Then Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own eyes: This is God's message wherein he reckons up his favours to him: and secondly, his rebellion against those: I raised thee up of nothing, why didst thou fall on the prey as though I would not have rewarded thee? This Message and Word was to convince Saul of his disobedience: and, 1. He shows the door of mercy. 2. The way of Life; So that, The free grace of God is the fountain of life to man, and when man is vile and nothing in himself, then is the power of God most shown. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, He hath filled the hungry, and sent the Rich empty away. For so is man capable of grace, and the power of God is magnified in weakness: What is it that stops thee free grace of God to man, that is that strength and worth of man, that thinks he hath; for were man little enough, he would pray, cry, and believe, and fear: all mischief enters in at the door of pride, or rather, this is the door that shuts our Christ: we still muse what we are, but not what God is: Then in this little and low condition to wait on God in the Word of Truth, and by Faith to walk in his power, shall destroy all enemies but when we fight with our power, and so cut & carve to please the flesh, and when we depart from the Word of Truth, we never prosper: not that man by thinking basely shall procure peace, but when simply he is so: so God is, and will be with him, but man's perverse way is, to turn from his God, and fall upon his prey. So that, the daily way of misery to man is his disobedience and forsaking the way of Faith, and turning to the prey. So Adam, so David, & Paul to his Revelations, so the Prodigal would have the prey; so Demas turned to the prey; nay, almost all have been caught in this snare: For such is the force of sensual lust & imagination, that where God doth not mightily preserve, man still turns hither. For the Word of Truth is the Life of man, which, while it lives in man it suffers nothing else to live in him: but when man turns from this, in comes a Legion of lusts and base affections, and imaginations, but this lays all low. Thus we fall on the prey of the World, which ensnared all men, even believers themselves, thus God bids flee the filthiness that's in the World through lust, and promiseth that he will be with us, but this we forsake and gather Mammon before hand, and fall on the prey, and this chokes all. So believers dots also on the liberty of the Gospel, and turns it to wantonness, & turns to the prey; yea, whatever God doth to man, man turns to it, & simplicity of Faith is forsaken. But see our safety, God being our portion & freedom & his Word our Life; so shall we live for ever, verse 20 And Saul said, I have obeyed: Here is saul's second excuse, wherein he defends himself, that he had done the Commandment of God, which indeed he had done in part; for he had killed many of the Amalekits, but yet with reserving part of the Spoil to himself. 1. He sought honour of Samuel. Therefore he brought Agag alive, and slew him not. 2. The Riches, in sparing the , under the pretence of sacrifice: so it is with all double hearts in Religion: So that, Man by the light of the Law, shining into him; and working fear by the light of the Gospel manifested, working freedom; may restrain and rectify many things with a seeming obedience: yet still with a reservation to himself: and some gain to be gotten, which mars all. As the young man, Matth. 19 Had done much, with a reservation of false confidence Ezzra, 3.3. Their hearts ran after covetousness; so those Libertines, 1. Pet. They promised liberty, they had great swelling Words, etc. Satan is as a Saphira, Acts 5. For nothing goes through flesh but Faith in God, and the power of God in man, this purifies all: but flesh would still have something, and that makes our obedience not simple. For man is seldom so separate from himself in pure love unto God, but some self-love there is, that is to his fleshly will sticking to him, and purloining something into his pouch to feed flesh with all. For man's natural power being enlightened by the evidence of Truth, discovering both the happiness of believers: and the misery of the rest: doth produce in man an obedience according to his apprehension: and so far as the blind light works upon him: but he never c mes to a real and actual denial of himself: but there is a building up of his hope thereby: not to a simple hearty believing, and so living: but still with a reservation of believing his own work and love of himself, and such is the Religion of the most. We spare the King and far of the Flock: for there is a reservation almost in all: For, when man would bel●eve and lief for ever, and with all their hearts; see what a reservation hangs on Righteousness, Reason & self-Conceit, so we believe God, but neither because we are such and such. So there is a stop in our Faith: we still have an eye to something else in our Faith. And so for love, we love God, but with this limitation, not so much, because, it is good in itself, & truly manifest to us: and that it is good to us, and so man's self still comes in, for want of mortification: For hardly do we any thing wherein we have not some respect to ourselves. And for the Word, we see Religion is the only way, and God the only good, but still there sticks in us a great liking of the World: we hope for a good in it, & find a marvellous sweet therein. So that none hath any reason to be proud in Religion, though he have obtained, and done that which many have not done, yet there is still more that he knows not, loves not, does not; it may be thou hast a little Faith, and now and then trusts God, but for the most part denies him, and trusts thyself and arm of flesh, or trusts him for this, or that reason: so a little love to God, but a full love to the World, and thyself. And here we see, that in all Religion two things poisons all, viz. vain glory, and a beloved World: for, First, we still would have it; therefore we limit all to this only, for we have so many reservations for the World, as a care, time, love, delight, etc. Yet God is shut out of all; yea, after experience of God's love, how freely do we return to the World again. Religion then is an absolute yielding ourselves to God and his grace, without reservation of thoughts: ●hat Agag, that great Captain of michief even Infidelity, and fleshly Confidence, wherein Amalekite ●rusted: yea, the Infant and Suckling in broad Lusts, & ●pen; these outward objects must be slain, and that by 〈◊〉 pure believing, and loving obedience to the Father's ●ill: here we see, that all cover will not serve the turn. For when Samuel comes, all is destroyed; well-worth him, that is open-hearted, to confess and live by mercy. See the difference of men's double hearts, that are still building up and excusing, and always on their own side to build up man: But Faith sets a man against himself, and always on God's side, pulls him down, and all things in man: For often greatest noughtiness is covered, and hatched under pretence of Religion, as that of Jezabel to Naboth. See in the World, what covering of lust, and oppression, what greediness, when man thinks that for Religion he should be respected, but Faith and Love teacheth no such thing? Then Samuel said to Saul, Hath the Lord as great delight. So Samuel pursued him still by the Word of the Lord out of all holds, and yet by the Word of the Lord, opposeth his good seeming intent: laid down by a question, that Saul might make answer, and be convinced in himself. 1. He casts out all conceits of a Sacrifice to please God, while the heart is not subject. 2. He illustrats it by way of comparison of these two, that is, Obedience is better than Sacrifice. 3. He amplifies it by the contraries, for Rebellion is as the sin of Witch craft. 4. He denounceth Gods righteous judgements against Saul, wherein the cause is in Saul: to declare the quality thereof: The judgement itself, hath rejected thee, etc. First, note, how Samuel pursues him, till he make him yield at last to the judgement? So that, This the proper effect of the Gospel, viz. The proper and kindly working of God's Truth in man, is still to bring man down and all things in him, to lay him low in himself: that he may be exalted through mercy i● Christ. Let man deny himself, and become a Fool: saying In me dwells no good thing, I am not able to think an● good thought; all our Righteousness is as a filthy clout, Phil. 3. All these are but dross. Thus the Word brings all Sacrifice to nought, the Law given in Thunder to shake man's heart: the Promise made freely, without any respect of man's Righteousness, that man may purely believe. Nay, and the power whereby all is accomplished is in God, not in man; that man, li●e a beggar, daily may wait there: Thus it brought Paul to his knees. First, brings man to fear and weakness, before it bring him to Faith, and it keeps him in fear, that he may rest in God. For man is grown proud and wise against God, else, he had never stood need of his Word; for it should have been a living Word in his heart for ever: as Paul, The weapons of our warfare are mighty, to bring down strong holds. But see the very truth is perverted by man, for though Samuel come to beat Saul of his hold, yet he still finds other shifts: like a wily Fox: So men grow wise and cunning, and are listed up thereby: yea, most yield fleshly obedience to this spiritual truth, and thereby becomes holy in conceit. Others conceiving gloriously of Christ, and thence grow high minded: for knowledge puffs up, and so becomes a man of high thoughts: but that man in whom the Word lives, and man by it keeps the eye inward towards himself, and keeps down all high thoughts in a quiet sense of their own Weakness and Vanity, to attend with a crying and praying heart for mercy: which is sweetly enjoyed and not lifted up: but man freed and not hardened thereby: but out of feeling of himself, is pitiful towards all, judgeth none but himself. This shows the wonderful power of God's truth that it will make Saul to bow, so of any man, even Pharisees for the present, though afterward they get up again: Now it is not Sacrifice that he looks for, but a believing loving heart: So that, All Service and Sacrifice that men seem to offer to God, not flowing from a loving heart, are nothing with him. These are like the cutting off a dog's neck, Isa. 1. Who required these things at thy hand? Psal. 50 I reprove thee not, because of thy Sacrifice, wherewith shall I appear, etc. For he stands not need of thee, neither can he be moved by them, unless we think as Balaam, with his seven Bollocks and Rams. These are born of the flesh, Children of the bond Woman and not of God, nor by promise: Righteousness is nothing, when we make it away to Faith, but when it is an expression of a believing heart than it is sweet. Now it is not Sacrifice that he condemns, but the cursed opinion that goes with it: Like that in the Law, a daily singing, a daily sacrifice: so with us, when we do it with an evil intent, and not out of a simple mind. But we have one sacrifice that is Christ only, who hath sacrificed life and all, and that is it that pleaseth God. Thus it is with us also, our obedience is but to sacrifice to our God at Gilgall, that is, to purge sin, and to please God: that we may get an opinion that God is well pleased for that: but this opinion ma●s all, it is not our obedience that is any thing to God in the Work, but our yielding heart: For most have looking to that which they have done, some looking at it, as Pharaoh. This crosseth the free sacrifice of love; it is a great point of simplicity in the height of our obedience still to be more vile, and this is the power of Faith, for it shows from whence we had it, not by our own power; Nay, when even in our own selves, we are opposite to God: he hath vouchsafed his grace. The only sacrifice of God is a broken and contrite heart, sacrifice thyself, and it is in stead of all thy lusts, desires, case, peace, life and all; and when thou hast done that, thou shall have, as Christ, had victory over all; a Resurrection, a Freedom and a Glory: and so shall sit at Christ's right hand by Faith till all be subdued to thee, and then man offers sacrifice of praise, confessing his name, not to purge sin, but in expression of God's love and manifestation, and that in love and mercy and not in sacrifice. Obedience is better than Sacrifice; So that, That which is accepted, is an obedient heart, subject to the Fathers will in love, is the Life of all Religion, and better than a thousand Sacrifices, Isa. 50. God opened mine ear, and I was not disobedient, and Samuel said, Speak Lord, for thy Servant heareth, Christ yielded himself to the Father: Also David, the will of the Lord be done, and Christ to the Pharisees, Ye tithe mint, anise and cummin etc. Psal. 8. If my people had harkened. For God is the sole Lord over all, and man a silly creature, and as the life of a subject is in obedience to a Prince, so here, is man's happiness in yielding to Gods will; for that must stand whether man be obedient or not, for disobedience was that which cast off Adam and Israel: that is, because man will needs be God. Now obedience is twofold, of Faith and Love. Obedience of Faith is, when the clear evidence of the Truth of the Promise, and man's Reason and Wisdom ●eelds to that Truth: as Moses at the Red-Sea, and Abraham: When man sees no reason in himself, that God should or will keep promise, but the contrary, he seeing nothing but rebellion and iniquity, & yet stick● to that, where all reasonable ways of the World, and all threats of Satan are overcome, though the World threaten want: yet he believes fullness, for this is the will of God that ye believe. But most believe not, but rebel in this, for though God hath promised, yet we obey not, believe not, but give the promise the lie: and say, That God will not do, and therefore fear. So that infidelity is the great Rebel that strikes at the Truth of God, which a man cannot endure. This Faith also mars not obedience, in neither limiting God a time but waiting: nor a measure, but believing that it shall be our rest. Obedience of love is the end of the Law, where the love of Christ enforceth man: and this is a sweet and free yielding up of a man's life unto God, as a Sacrifice, Rom. 12. Which cannot be till our bodies and flesh be sacrificed. and then in the Spirit of our minds we are revived according to the will of God This is not to be a foundation of Faith, but a necessary expression of the love and goodness of God to man: This flows from Faith naturally, there is nothing but rebellion and lust, if Faith fail to wait on God: God doth this obedience, and man fleeth, and man seeketh shifts, or some device. The intent is, doing what he commands not, because the Law forceth so many thievish hearts are bound to be true, but not from the heart. And warms of God's love in the heart to suffer for his sake, what ever befalls, as the Martyrs did: but this shows the little obedience in man: For indeed neither will ye yield, but the old contention remains, whether shall be God: Faith and Love is the obedience & life of man, and when man lives in 〈◊〉 yielding temper, nothing can vex him: let impossibility come, and he is obedient and suffers: And so was Christ, obedient unto the death of the Cross. But, while man hath a will and love of himself, he is never freely obedient, but would frame Gods will to his: and to hearken to Satan's voice raither than Gods: So that, An open ear to hear, and a heart to believe and obey the voice of God, and the Word of Truth, is better than all seeming sacrifice a man can offer, Isa. 45. Incline your ears, etc. Then shall ye hear the voice of God, and he that hears, shall live: He opened mine ear, and I was not disobedient. So to that end, God hath given his Word to man, that thereby he might be called back again to God: Therefore God saith, cry aloud to man, and bid him return and come and live for ever, and so he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. When God sets his love, and mercy, and truth to, or be●ore man: and when man attends and meets God here, then is that Word accomplished to man. But Christ may still say, Who hath believed our report, as to Israel, but Israel would not hear: for man hath two Preachers before him still. 1. Satan, who by his Ministers, the World and the Flesh daily, whispers, and calls man to obey: as to Christ, Satan saith, I will give thee all those: the World calls, here is Riches, the flesh calls, here is peace, ease and honour: God calls, and saith, Here is all in me: Now look whose voice takes place, and is believed, so man prospers. Man hears as God manifests, and herein is a reasonable mystery and spiritual power: by the one, man grows wise, and by the other, faithful and obedient. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Man through rebellion of his own heart, and stubborness of his own will, runs away from God: forsakes the Covenant of peace, casts off obedience and himself to misery in the end, as Pharaoh and Saul here. SERMON XXIII. 1. Sam 4.3.4.5. So when the people were come into the Camp, the Elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us this day before the Philistines. When God had governed Israel by Judges for many years, and manifested his power and truth by his Priests and Prophets, in bringing them into the Land of Promise, according to the Covenant; and given them many victories over their enemies. Israel grew secure and presumptuous, yea, the Egyptian Priest himself grew so careless of the Lords sacrifice: yea, even Ely himself, committed them into the hands of his Sons, who filled their bellies and lusts, and that without reproof: Whereupon the Lord intended to destroy that vain confidence, and to proceed against the house of Ely, which he foretelleth in the second Chapter, by a man of God; and in the third, by Samuel, which in the fourth Chapter, he brings to pass. First, by giving Israel into the hands of their enemies once again, and then delivering the Ark into the hands of the Philistines, destroying Ely and his two sons. After Israel had received the overthrow at the hands of the Philistines, they make way for a second, by running further from God; So that, This is the way of man, for man by every affliction is either brought nearer to God, or else driven farther from him, and so makes way for greater evils to befall him. As David, who to hid his shame, ran into murder: so Adam having sinned to hid his shame, hides himself from God; so Saul to the Witch of Endor; like a child that grows more cunning, after the whip, more w●lly, but not more wise: And this through stubborness and hardness, and pride of wit. But Joshua, when they f●ll before Ai, never ceased till he had found out the curse from God, & cast out the execrable thing. Many things light upon man that touch not his heart but is so blinded with lust and self-love; that the light of the truth leads him not out, but his wit will needs guide him; God doth nothing in vain If man regard not Process, or any hatchment that is coming, he shall see that a writ of Rebellion is coming: and if he regard not that, than a Bailiff comes, and to prison he must: and that God by the righteousness of the Law may bring down man's high heart, that he may depend on mercy. Thus man grows more vile after a judgement to prevent it, but no more yielding and obedient to ●scape it. It may be, God hath taken away thy wife, thy husband and father, thy stay and rest; and yet thou only invents new devices to rise, but returns not to God that smote thee. But look for it, if God have com● near thee and thou yet blind, he will come nearer thee yet, if he intent thee good. Shall God be still mocked, to see that nothing doth man good, till his heart be brought down and flee all, that he may rest in God? For he hath as much to do, to bring down thy wit, as thy will, and to destroy thy carnal confidence, and draw thee from thy object. All misery come in at the door, that is by fleeing from God. Yea, thus doth God deal with his people & children, he delivers them into the hand of their enemies: and then they think to work it out: and still God makes their works void; then they seek to know all, and he makes that void, etc. and suffers nought to prosper, till man rest in Faith. The Ark had remained in Shilo three hundred years, from J●shua's time: as Jos. 18.7. All the time of the Judges, and now must for the security of Israel be removed away: So that, The long continuance of the Gospel is no argument to prove the perpetuity thereof in any place. As to the Jews and Churches of Asia and Corinth. So when man grows more secure thereby, God must remove it, even so to man, Thou hast lived in the light and peace with God, but if a man grow wanton thereby, the light will grow to darkness: If with Israel thou grow confident of these in thyself, because of these privileges, they will not stand. In the words, note Israel's fainting and trouble ●f heart upon their overthrow. 1. Their fleshly device for future safety. 2. Their vain confidence in that device, that it might save them. 3. Their vain joy arising thence. 4. The fear of the Philistines. 5. Israel's overthrow, and loss of the Ark, when the Lord had not given them the Victory, they fainted & began to inquire and murmur, as they did by the Word of Samuel, but not by believing hearts; but now, because they had a Prophet, they were strong enough: So that, A faithless way is a fearful fainting way, and a fainting way is always vexed and tormented at the heart by every cross, where faith waits not in subjection to Gods will and truth. So the Disciples, Why do you fear, O you have little faith? But saith David, I will not fear what man can do unto me: no, not if ten thousands compass me about Mat. 16. Peter was compassed with fear when Christ should suffer, because he savoured not the things of God. Nay, Experience teacheth us, that faithless men are ever afraid at every rumour of danger: At the last day, men's hearts shall fail them for fear of that day: When a believing man, with David & Paul goes through all dangers with courage: as those, Heb. 11. And the Martyrs, nay, in man's self he shall find, that when faith is darkened, he fears every thing, but when he believes, 〈◊〉 overcomes all. For man walks in darkness, therefore is the way so fearful: as crosses threaten some ruin to man's fleshly Kingdom, which lust would not part with all, & he sees no other. This is it that makes the World so full of f●ar: yea, other faith, fear or security fills all: nay, every cross to the worlding gives a wound to the heart: But, What shall his case be, when all shall be taken away. Even so is all the Power and Will of man, whereby he stands full of fear, because he trusts not God. Not a fe●r in regard of our weakness, and so attending on faith, but a bottom fear, for want of God & his power: and therefore, a running to man's shifts. No safe way to man then, but by believing under the cross, and never to judge according to ourselves, but still s●●ing and feeling the weakness of man to wait on him in patience. Come, let us fetch the Ark from Shilo. Here is their device, which seem like to them: but prospered not: So that, All fleshly devices of Man's wit, without simple-hearted believing, may gain a brain hope: but sh●ll fa●l and come to nought, when man comes to his 〈◊〉 Fleshly wisdom is a fool in God's matters, ever leading man to a way that will not prosper, though it shape like to the eye of man. By this, Satan beguiled Eve, and thought to have seduced Christ to argue the Father's love by Wisdom, that is not subject to the Law of God, when Israel believed, Gideon, Jonathan, and David overcame with a few, contrary to all reason: When they eyed reason only, than saul's Armour and David's one hundred and fifty thousand could not prevail. 1. For God hides his ways from the wit of man, and reveals it to Babes. 2. Satan lurks here to oppose the way of Faith, God hath revealed his Wisdom: but hereby Man becomes wise against God, and gives him the lie. Thus man deviseth a device against God, and thinks thereby to thrive: and Satan thereby befools man, propounding unto him a likely way, great power and approbation, that he may fix thereon; and yet hath not God in the very eyes of the World frustrated their devices: as when thou hast great Riches, Land, Wisdom, Friends, and what not, had built him an nest that he might never want: yet, he had never good days therewith: but either he hath spent all to beggary, or a slave to it while he hath it: or a languishing of sickness: had not God's foolish way of faith been better. Thus Satan casts a mist before the eye of Faith when he would bring God & his way within compass of man's wit. Now in the Church, we grow wise to comprehend the very purpose of God, & give a reason of his will, & set a law to his justice: & feign a reasonable way of believing, & his free will & the foreseeing of Faith: God choose man: but it is so reasonable a Doctrine, it cannot prove true: for God's truth was ever foolishness to wise men. See the difference of God's way and man's wit. 1. The one is always dark and uncertain. 2. The other sure, the one forsakes God & his Word, the other cleaves to it; The one seems well and ends ill, the other contrary. The safe way of man is not to trust the device of man, for thou hast seen these fail thee; nay, when they seem likest the other quiet contrary, therefore never dispute how like or unlike, but lay down all & believe. Hadst thou no Lust, nor Will, nor Wit to trust to: then had Satan no power against thee: For either thy Wit, or thy Will draws thee, on thy Will, when thou art not subject in patience: thy Wit, when thou wilt do God's Work, thine own way is here. They would fight God's battles, but would not attend on him at Shilo, his own place. But would draw him from thence to them, so we would have God with not but not wait on him: we would have the promise fulfilled, but not wait the time; So that, The sure way is to wait on God in his way, though we see no way out of Reason. Abraham abode in Canaan as a stranger, Moses and Joshua at Jordan, etc. For the vision is for an appointed time. Thus man works his own woe, when he either invents a way of his own, and will not stay: or joins fleshly Wisdom, for the furtherance of God's will; or impatience of delay, appoints a time: Take heed of preserving any thing before God, and his Work and Promise. Many are never well, unless the Father be still playing with them. That it may save us. Here is self-confidence, not that they thought the Ark could save them: but because if they had the Ark with them, God would save them: This is not simple believing, but with relation to something else than God; So that, Such is carnal confidence in man, it is a snare of Sa●an wherein he entangles men to draw the heart to look at some Work or Gift of God, and so to believe, because of that; and not for his simple truth and providence. So David thought, that because of the thousands of Israel, he should preserve himself; and Israel in Aaron's time, These are thy Gods, O Israel, Psal. 30. Thou hast made my Mountain strong, it shall never be removed. The Pharisees they were righteous. For this is to build a house on the sand, for there is no cause that moves God to do good, or man to believe God, but his simple Word and Truth, though God shine and manifest himself in all things; yet when the Soul is turned from God to them, they become snares, as the brazen Serpent, for the mind must have something to rest on. So that, when God is wanting, Satan the God of this World brings in the fullness of the World, and the certainty thereof, and presents them to man. 1. Fullness of Riches and Friends will supply. 2 self-righteousness, and many lusts and failings of love; saying, They will preserve thee. 3. Or, a carnal beholding of Christ, as here to the Ark 4. Yea, believers are thus drawn, when Christ lives not in them, they suffer with him: but in all there is a bottom darkness, and fear of hardness and self-pride. Here, Satan lays the foundation of all iniquities; for why doth man covet, oppress, deceive; but that the World may be his stay, and his confidence? as, 1. Either a blind security, from little meddling; or, a blind presumption, because he hath this or that more than others: & yet no more certain, nor better satisfied. Thus, the blind World is deceived: every man staying his mind, by looking at something that he hath, or labours to get, something that he hath not; that it may save him, as the rich fool; nay, were it for thy riches and friends, where were thy believing. Thus, all things become snares, when the mind is fixed on them, and man ties God to them: which is not a believing of God, but of that portion. We should work Righteousness, but not look at that Righteousness, attend on the Ark, but believe not in it, but rejoice in it with God. Adam might use all creatures, but not see a good in them, it is a great point of simplicity to enjoy all, and not to depend on it; but rejoice in it with God, and thereby to see the Fountain from whence it flowed, and the weakness of man: Nay, such is the deceit thereof, that it lifts man up above himself; man shouts before the victory. But there will come a day of mourning to Israel, this Ark and Riches shall be taken away: SERMON XXIV. 1. Samuel 5.1, 2, 3, 4. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God, and carried it to Ashdod from Eben-ezer. THus we see the fall of Israel for trusting in their inventions, and forsaking the power and truth of God. The Ark is now taken from them, and Hophnie and Phinias the Priests also: and now they are lest desolate, for Eli is now dead, according to the Word of the Lord, which we see must stand: So that, No power or device of man shall be able to dissannul, or make void the Word of God: but it shall stand & be accomplished both to believers, & against the wicked, though man fight against it, and seek to escape it. He hath spoken, and shall he not perform it: Yea, Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but his Word shall not pass: He hath said, That Saul shall be cut off, all the World cannot uphold him: He hath promised to Abraham, nothing shall hinder: neither four hundred and thirty years' time: nor the power of Pharaoh, nor difficulties in the Wilderness; nor forty Kings in Canaan: Hath he said, That Messiah shall come, he shall be born in the fullness of time? Hath he said He will preserve David: all the power of Saul, or Goliath shall not kill him? Hath he promised Life to believers, then though Satan rebel and rage, yet the promise shall be Yea, & Amen? For he is not man, that he should lie God shall justify his righteous judgements, that he hath done nothing to man, but he hath told it to man before. Hereby appears the purity of Faith, and power of God, under the cross: that though man think to shift it, yet judgement shall come: And though man see no Reason, nor help, yet abiding by the Word of God: he shall find help and be delivered: For David saith, Psal. 15. An honest man will keep his Word though to his hindrance, much more God: For there is nothing to hinder him, He rules man and not man him. But man fights against this, and rather strives to make the Truth of God a lie, than to yield and be subject; God hath said, He will destroy that man, that runs on in wickedness: and that the wicked, that forget God shall be turned into hell: and yet these men believe it not, but make God a liar, as the Serpent did to Eve, and say, Tu●h, God regardeth not good or evil: or that he is not that he is: or doth not that which he hath spoken: So the stubborn casts off his Father's threats, till he be cast out of doors. Others think they shall devise some way hereafter to escape: they take any course, rather than believe him: and yet we have seen it with our eyes: Did he not say, He would cut off Saul, and destroy Jerusalem; cast off the Jews, and call in the Gentiles: Remove his Candlestiks, and take away his Kingdom, and hath he not done these? Nay, hath he not said, That the drunkard shall come to poverty, and shame: and doth he not say, That the usurers and oppressors shall not prosper to the third generation, and that the generation of the just shall be blessed, & do we not see it well. Know then, though thou make a mock of it, & of us poor silly flesh, as thou art: and cast it off, and thinks to escape: Yet be sure; it will meet with thee, He should not be a God of truth if thou perish not, holding on thy course: but thou wilt reply, Doth he not say also, That this brings a heart that cannot repent, and thou more unpat than before? But he did not excuse his Word to the Ninevites: yet, for the condition of Repentance was understood his general promise; If he return and forsake his way, he will have mercy. So that the alteration was in the Ninevites, not in God. Nay, how often doth believers start from this, & believe rather their own devices than God, hath he not said: That nothing but Faith and Love avails: & yet we fix our eyes and hearts on something else: Nay, we believe the truth, because of something else, and not all things for the truth's sake; neither because of this or that: raither than because the truth hath spoken. S● that the way of safety is to believe God in faithfulness: shall he speak and not man regard? Therefore, if thou have never so likely means to uphold thee in the flesh, yet if thy heart run from God therein, it will not prosper: and though thou see no way of safety, yet abide patiently by the Word, and wait not what thou would have done, but what he saith: For the vision is for an appointed time: but though we have a sure Word, we are to stay the appointed time: for we would be now eased, then comforted; yet rest: thou hast a sure foundation, and it may be thou must become yet more weak; Thy Wisdom Righteousness and Power must yet be more trodden down: that so nothing may live in thee, but truth only: As with Abraham, when there was nothing but the truth of the Promise left. The Philistines took the Ark of God. The fear of the God of Israel, was upon all Nations, as upon the Philistines here in these Words. 1. The Philistines taking the Ark & carreing it to Ashdod, one of their chief Cities. 2. Their setting it up by Dagon their God, the fall of Dagon at the presence of the Ark. 3, Their repairing and setting up again. 4. The second fall, with the loss of his head and hands. First, the Ark was taken away, for Israel was grown secure, because of samuel's words. The Ark, and Eli the Priest, they were proud, and fat in their own conceit: and so had turned Faith into a blind presumption, and security: therefore, it was taken away: So that, When Man by reason of any gift, or privileges: grows proud and secure in himself: not sensible of his own weakness and power; and the promise of God: this is the way to lose it. When David was lifted up in his high mountain, he was soon brought low: and when Paul was lifted up in abundance: he had a prick in the flesh: When Israel made a Covenant with death, God disannuled it. If Nebuchadnezzer be lifted up, upon his Babel's he must be brought down amongst the Beasts: The Jews being a people always boasting, they came to be no people. 1 So thus we forsake God, and cleave to the creature 2. Hereby simplicity of believing is lost, & changed into vain and fleshly confidence. 3. This is the way to purge the old heart, and to bring in the heart to God, or else would man never return to him; if he should prosper. 4. Nothing more opposite to the grace of God, than the pride of man: This was the sin of the Angels, being so proud, and doting upon their own excellencies, they despised God in whom they should have been preserved. And yet this is the snare we all fall into: we enjoy nothing, but the mind is fixed on it, and grows proud of it, and imagines ourselves to be strong and safe, because of it: when it is only in the hand of God to be given, and taken at his will, and pleasure, all gifts are to be rejoiced in, but not to be proud of; while we rejoice only, the mind is kept humble: seeing the fountain, and feeling his weakness: but pride hardens and makes secure. Nay, what gift is it we look not at, and think ourselves the better for it: and that our Faith and Hope is nourished by these as much as God's truth and love is enjoyed: Hath not the rich man more confidence, that he shall not want than the poor man? hath not the righteous man more confidence, his state is good, than the desolate wretch? and yet his righteousness, as his own, brings no ground to believe, but only Gods free grace. Is this any thing but Pride and Security? & making the arm of flesh his stay: Yea, thus are believers drawn: take we heed, that this be not the way for our Land to lose all: we shall brag of our peace, till we lose it, and of our pride, till we be subdued: yea, of our wealth till we have lost all: yea, of the Gospel, till it be taken from us, as here they did the Ark. But it is God's goodness to cross all his, in that wherein they are misled; that man may see what a weak creature he is, and what a weak staff he hath trusted to, as the World, and now is gone; as knowledge, and now as he had neither known God, nor himself. But know, there will come a parting day from thy dearest object; thy careful Father, tender Mother, dearest Infants, loving Brother & Sister: & all, because thou dot●st on them: The way of safety, is to enjoy all in God, but trust nothing else, and forget all behind. They brought the A●k, and set it by Dagon. They thought the God of Israel was a terrible God, and all Nations stood in fear of him; therefore, they set him by Dagon: thinking now, they should be sure to overcome: This Dagon was their Idol, from the navel downward like a fish, and upward like a man; but this prospered not them to win God; and Dagon, to trust to the World, and conceive on this God, as they did on Dagon, it would not serve; So that, No joining of the Ark and Dagon in our house, nor God and Mammon in our heart: nor fleshly Wit, nor God's Truth cannot suit together in God's Kingdom. Christ saith, Ye cannot serve two masters, God and Mammon, Christ and Bellial: Christ & Antichrist, if God, be God, serve him, Rom. 5.6. Know you not to whom ye give yourselves Servants: his Servants you are. This is putting new wine into old bottles: Christ gives the Reason, either he will love the one and hate the other: or else forsake the one and stick to the other: The Soul cannot intent two objects at once. For, look what respect we have to the one, it draws from the other, God is a spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and truth, trusted and loved with the spirit of our minds; else no communion with him. For as a man hath a Garment, a Body and a Soul: So Religion, the garment is the outward form of Actions, Righteousness, Holiness, the body is Truth: Righteousness revealed to the Church, apprehended by man, but the Soul of it is the Spirit, even God himself: as the Garment and Body without the Soul, are but dead Corpse, and so this without God: So Paul distinguished man, into Soul, Body and Spirit: by the Body, the outward Mass of flesh: the Soul, the vital power and sensitive appetites, and natural understanding: by the Spirit, the immortal, or inward part, in right disposing of which, stands man's peace and happiness. For if the Body be in health, and the Soul in Life amidst the fullness of its natural objects: yet no rest, unless the Spirit be satisfied also: now when the Spirit of our minds is drawn by sensual power to bodily objects, it wants Life: But leaving all these, being guided to, and joined to God and Christ, it is then satisfied: and the body cannot be nourished with the pleasure of the Soul without food, nor the Soul with the food of the Body without its objects: neither can the Spirit without them both, without its proper objects & food. So that the confounding of these is the confusion, & unrest of the Soul. And yet alace! it is thus in the World: men will needs join God and Dagon; Christ and Mammon, without any trust, or thought of God at all, like beasts: Others keep a form of God after the flesh: as they acknowledge his power, and see his justice, & fear & worship him, with a far off worship: but the heart bows to Mammon, loves and cleaves to him above all. Nay, believers join these together, some put confidence in God, but more in the World; yea, how soon after God hath showed himself to man by his truth and love; doth he join heart and hands with the World again? So that indeed this eats out all Religion amongst us. And for fleshly Wisdom, how doth this draw from simple believing, & ask a reason, disputing with him: & joining the power of man & the power of God: & so making man's freewill a worker with God: So that it is, that man believes not God. True it is, that man is the subject in whom God works, yet the life and power of believing & working is in God, and given to man by Faith according to the Promise: and though Paul say, They are workers together, yet it is in regard of manifestation, not of any power they had over the hearts of men. Nay, let this God of Israel be our only stay, and lay saul's Armour aside: so man abiding in his simple and naked heart, full of weakness, like a Child, waiting on God's simple truth, the Father will come: but when man thinks to help God, he mars all. Neither is this a way to security, but only unto those that pervert all truth unto their own destruction: For this is not a secure resting at all adventures, as though the forlorn child could sit down at all adventures, and say, It cannot help myself, my Father must come or I must be lost, but not sensible of his own misery, and forlorn estate: As the Prodigal seeks, and cries, and prays, till he come: this keeps him fro● sleeping: so with us. So that, Religion is a simple thing and cannot mix itself with any thing, like the Truth, that joins to none till death: but simply waits on God with Faith and Love. But when man brings in Dagon, and sets him up: the Soul of man abhors it: or is joined to it, or is deceived: Then no bringing in of Religion into a fleshly mind but first, Dagon must down: then Religion will stand. If ever it be offered to a Worldly mind, it is not an unwelcome guess, for the Life of that Soul is elsewhere: It is in the World and pleasures thereof: but the Spirit is dead within them. Dagon was fallen, Thus the power of God destroys the Idol; So that, Thus the Truth of God prevails against the Idol, and will not suffer any thing to stand equal with God in man's heart. Paul destroyed circumcision from Christ, and Christ & the young man, his weapons taken from him, his high thoughts pulled down. And thus God's warriors pulls down groves, and destroys Idols. That God may thereby let man see the weakness of all power in the creatures. This is the proper work of the Word to pull down high imaginations, and lay them low as the valyes: This truth discovers the vanity of all the rest: but we, with the Philistines, are still building up Dagon: nay, the Ark is not yet come to us, because Dagon is yet standing. But know, that it must down: So that man's happiness is in the fall of the flesh, and all the power thereof. SERMON XXV. Mark 14.27. I will smite the Shepherd, and the Sheep shall be scattered. CHrist by his death, hath borough life; this death was spoken of by the Prophets, and often foretold by Christ: and spoken of more at large, and now is come by suffering to lose all: that he may gain all: after that he had comforted His Disciples, and left them the pledge of his Love: he Prophecies of the trouble that shall come to them hereby: that they may now begin to suffer with him. 1. Grievous wants and persecutions to the offending of all. 2. That man shall not stand at that day by any power at all in man. In the same he lets them see, that this is the way they must still follow. This is a sacrifice of his death, whereby the same through Faith is confirmed to us: He shows what shall become of the head; and that they should be offended: So that, Though we live in the light of the Gospel, and Sunshine of God's blessing: yet there will come a day that will dash all, and lay it in the dust. So to David, Abraham, and the Rich Fool. For life gotten by the creature must be laid away; Christ is the common stock of believers. Woe to the World, for all high mountains must down, thy dearest object and thou must part: When Israel was boasting of the Temple, than was the Lord removing it from Shilo, or destroying: that new Jerusalem might come from heaven. See how thou wilt do, when this night comes, we provide light, fire and houses, against cold and night: but forget this night. Let believers look for it in their greatest fullness and prosperity, for than will God take away these, that he may be perfected in God. I will smite the shepherd: Yea, Christ in the flesh, that he may rest solely and simply in God. Abraham, and the Prodigal. Paul, I know none after the flesh, by taking away fuel from it: So that, This is the way to bring man to God, to purify Faith, to subdue the World, and make God's power known. This he doth. 1. In that great tribulation that lies all on heaps. 2. By his love that kills all at the heart, but then we grow wise in the flesh, to separate the confused heap. 3. By the cross that wears out all the flesh also. Woe to them that have none other stay, how will they do, when their Shepherd shall be smitten, like an Orphan, when the Father is dead? See the vanity of man, that would still have some hold in the flesh. But herein doth God bless his people, when by clearness of his truth, he destroys all imaginations: & by the cross, destroys all lust: and leaves man nothing, but God and his Truth. 4. The freedom and happiness of man in knowing & savouring nothing after the flesh, Rom. 8. This is not to walk after the flesh but after the spirit. For that which man thus knows, he knows not: and that which he loves not, thus he lusts after; for thus to know God, or to love him, is not to know him: but to know, will, and love all things in God, is to know him indeed: for that man which knows in the flesh, it is not of God, but his own imaginations. And there will come a scattering day to all fleshly imaginations, as to Jerusalem, and David's high mountain, when knowledge shall vanish, and man's fleshly hopes shall be destroyed: Where then will man appear? Thy Husband, thy Child, thy Idol, thy Portion, thy Idea, thy Shapes of Fancy, all shall vanish; yea, thy shepherd too, and nothing left, but God and his Truth: Where then will thy fleshly heart rest? So that, To believe and trust, when all is scattered, is to believe simply: For to believe, when all is joy and peace, is rather to believe after the flesh, and because of them; which is a turning from God, to his gifts, and then we loss them: but to believe, when we are killed, as Job, and the Martyrs: this is to believe God in and from God, and to love in and from him. When Peter said, Though all forsake thee, etc. Here is Piters' blind confidence, wherein, note this comparison of his; though others shall, yet not he; So that, Pride of heart advancing itself above others, out of a self conceit of some singular gift or power, is the ready way to a fearful fall below all. As Proverbs, Pride goeth before destruction, Luk 18. The Pharisees, So Israel, So Pharaoh, The Jews, Nabuchadnezzar, and Lucifer. For this is a turning away from God, & becoming a God to himself. These conceits arise from the devil, and sets God at nought, destroys Faith, and sets up man's fleshly conceits like a Queen. These have been the ground of all factions in the Church. God will leave this man free to himself, and others that dote upon him. Thus we see, that man is a proud creature, he gets nothing but he is lifted up by it: nay, most labour for abundance, not for necessity: so much as they may excel. This conceit sticks fast in all, arising from blindness in regard of our fullness: for thou mayst see the iniquity of all men in thyself. But faithful men fear and distrust themselves above all, relying on God. I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee. Peter had a blind confidence, not knowing the weakness of man: So that, Man that is presumptuous and bold through fleshly confidence, and his self-power shall never stand nor prosper. There, this is David, Psal. 30. and Israel against the Philistines: but David's boasting elsewhere was in God only, through God, we shall do great things. For man's standing & preservation is not of himself. This is a sandy foundation, for as it was but flesh, so it boasted: So, when the foundation was removed, the flesh feared. Thus man walks presumptuously in all things thinking; I will do this or that, when often he is prevented, and yet will not see it. But that man walks safely, that walks in fear: for he trusts none but God, and as he fears, so he believes: Faith in God makes man humble in himself. No surer sign of a fall in believers: than when they begin to boast: nay, this man denied above all; So that, How far a man is lifted up in any thing, so far he must fall. SERMON XXVI. Mark 13.35.36. Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house come; whether at Even, or at Midnight, or at the Cock-crowing; or in the morning: lest he coming suddenly, find you sleeping. WE see it verified in this our Brother which we heard the last day, viz. That there is no confidence to be put in man; Neither for his wit, power, wealth, or continuance: For we see it daily to be true, That his breath goeth forth, and he returns to his earth, etc. Which is here apparent before us: For was not he with us at our last Brother's burial: and behold, we are now come to accomplish his. It's not long, but even one day since that he was in life and liking as you are, he sit as you sit, in place & credit of the World, as you are: he heard where you ●ow hear: he prayed, where you now pray, he walked strong & lusty upon this earth: which must now devour and shut her mouth upon him: and yet could neither the Riches of this World, nor the cries of his Children, nor favour of Friends beg him of Death, or keep him from the grave; but down he must, to accomplish the Will of, and Purpose of his Maker. And thus we see what a day: yea, what a night may ●ring forth, to make the House desolate, the Children Fatherless: to separate the Brother and Sister: never to ●ee each other any more, in the flesh. And thus we see the Lord comes daily amongst us, ●hough we think ourselves secure, because as yet we ●ave escaped that common judgement, so frequent in ●ur neighbour towns: yet, God lets us see that he hath ●oe destroying Angels than one which are kept in the ●cret of his Counsel, and strikes according to his purpose; and will sometimes, by a long easy str●●k: ●metimes; by a sharp, and shorter blow; sometimes: 〈◊〉 a sudden stab of his providence, that cannot be re●ted: yet not sudden, in respect of God, with whom 〈◊〉 things are determined: but in regard of our securi●: For as one saith, Non subito minantur, qui semper ●tant se esse morituros. Nothing sudden, but what is 〈◊〉 expected. Only this learn by Gods dealing with ●n. That we have no surer time of life, than he had. And that it is neither wit, nor wealth, strength nor health, that can prolong thy days: or put off death or secure thee one hour. Therefore learn by him, to watch till our master come, which is the lesson Christ would teach his Disciples in these Words, and in this whole Chapter, which is a Prophecy, and foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the coming of Christ; the one, a figure of the other: From verse 24. He shows the sign of the end of the World: and thereby, stirs up all to wait, because of the uncertainty: not known to the Son o● Man, which verse 34. He amplifies, or illustrats, by 〈◊〉 parable, of a man going into a far Country, leaves his house, and appoints work to his Servants, and command the Porter to watch, and thereupon applies the parable and renews the caveat, in these words: wherein. 1. A caveat for all to watch, & wait for death & doo● 2. His reason from the uncertainty of the time thereo● 3. The danger of being taken unprepared, lest he sin us sleepping. 1. The master of the house, viz Christ is gone into a f● Country, viz. Far from the knowledge of all human fleshly wisdom, and given authority to his Servants viz. to his Ministers, to guide and govern his Chur● and Household, by his Word and Discipline, & to eve● man his work, viz. His Word to husband, and to wa● in love and do good to all: to further his glory & kingdom, as he gave the Vineyard to husbandmen, viz. H● Gospel: and commanded the Porter to Watch, viz. 〈◊〉 Ministers to watch ●ver the flock: Therefore, he b● both Ministers and people watch; & attend his comi● in faithfulness; that so, they waiting in Faith, may ●ceive mercy: So that, The work of a believing heart and faithful serva● here is nothing else, but a daily waiting of the will 〈◊〉 pleasure of the Lord, by Faith and patience in love, attending his coming by death and doom. This Christ often gives in charge as Luk. 1.21. M● 24. Luk. 12. And this Job practised, 14.14. This P● saw, and waited for, 1. Tim. 4. I am now ready t● offered, and 2. Cor. 5. We sigh and groan, desiring to go hence, and he with the Lord, and the Martyrs. 1. For here we have no habitation, but like Pilgrims in tents. 2. For God hath sent us hither a while, to accomplish his Will according to his Word: but our abiding hereafter is eternal, not to build a rest here: or, think our houses shall continue; but to wait on his coming: when we shall have the reward and doom, that lasteth for ever. We see it in all faithful Servants, how careful they are to have all in a readiness, when the Master comes home: and the Maid, how doth she sweep, and wash, and scour, that her Masters may find all right: but the careless, they sport and ravel, and spend and waste on their Lusts: and when they have done, lie down and sleep, and say, Nay, the Master will be long before he come. 1. And thus it fareth with the secure World, we watch all opportunities but this: When a man hath a great business to do, O! how he museth, and thinketh, and studieth night and day; be it su●e in Law, or an other project, or danger upon the event; whereof depends his making or undoing? how doth h● neglect no inferior business? He runs and rides, b● spares no pains against that day, that he may be provided for good issue And have we any greater busi esse than this; yea, when he hath a sum of money to pay; how he cares & casts about? And is not here a great account to make? nay, how do we watch for a fair day in harvest, and ply our time: and yet this great business we heed not? 2. Nay, nothing ill make us wait on God, but the Cross: as to the Disciples, Do we watch to get out of the World: or rather, to run farther into it: As it was in the days of Noah; so now, nay worse: For now the World is drowned in carelessness, witness, our excessive drink, and endless drunkenness; our too common trade of userie, and oppression; our neglect of the Word and Sacraments: that we watch nothing, but our lusts, and pleasures: Mammon and our own Wills: and like these waste our Master's goods, and strike our Fellow-servants, and withhold a portion from the poor. Will not the Lord of the Church call for a reckoning for these: and if we be taken in these, woe unto us? We know what is the hire of such faithless Servants. We watch the plague to prevent death, but we wait not on God to meet death: we watch the enemies of our Land, that we be not surprised: but we have an enemy within, that will overthrow us: We provide against famine, and yet ourselves pine. Now this watching is not any power in man to preserve himself, but sensible of his own weakness to preserve himself, and longing to be with Christ. 1. That we wait in Faith upon the Word of Christ, believing the promise, though we see nothing but misery; and death, yet expecting life and freedom according to that Word. 2. That we be working in love, and obedient to his Will, not seeking, or serving our own Lusts: even so, as we would have Christ to find us, when he comes. 3. Truly knowing our own danger, & the strength of the Devil, and the World over us, daily drawing us to forget this day. That which Christ said, come, is, or should be the care of all our Watch. 1. If our love were to Christ, would we not wait for him as the Wife for her Husband, and the Child for the Father? 2 If we knew our danger, we would not sleep, and suffer our House to be broken up. 3. If we b●●leve the nearness, or uncertainty of his coming, We would watch better. For we know not when our Master will come. So th● in this we see the reason, viz. The uncertainty of th● t●me of his coming. 1. The certainty of his coming, that the Master will return; Death and Doom shall light upon all. 2. That he will come at an unset time, when the World is secure. 3. That none shall escape it. 4. That every one shall be accountant. No escaping of this day, for as the balliff, it pursues man though he flee as a Traitor, and having arrested him, Physicians nor friends: cannot bail him, but he must die. When the Scripture speaks of this day, it seems to hasten it, a● though it were at hand, even on our necks, as, Dan. 7.9 10. And Paul, upon whom the ends of the World are come, And Peter, The end of all things are at hand, but of that day, knows no man; The Father hath put them in his own power; So that, The days of man are only numbered of God, and the hour of death unknown to man, but he will come when he thinks least thereof. When they cry, Peace, peace, etc. And yet it cannot belong to any: and for the general day, all the Prophecies of Christ are near fulfilled, as the spreading of Error; and Heresies, Wars: Plagues and Prodigies are now abroad; Faith scarcely found, trade of iniquity in growth: Love extinct: And if the Gospel be preached through the World, it may be before we part this place. 1. How fond are they then that will calculate this day: as the Heathen of old, by their Chemic year, and golden number, fifteen thousand years: as also the Chi●eans in Augustine's time: Who said, It should be four hundred years after the Ascension; and Papists by the ●oming of Antichrist; who was to be of the Tribe of Dan, and reign three years and a half in Jerusalem, and subdue all the World, and then shall the end come; But let God be wise, and all men fools and liars; for this is not to be known; but waited on in all straits and wants. 1. He will come it may be in the first or second watch or at the dawning. 2. At death, not as thou lustest: for we would all have him to stay till the dawning: But attend, and he will come. O! What a day will that be, when thou looks for Life and Wealth, etc. And Death comes and will not stay? Lest ye be found sleeping. None so great danger to man, as a sleepy security, and mindlessenesse of his own frailty, and the judgements of God. Thus, Sodom, and the Old World, And so shall the coming of the Son of man be: Wealth and Riches make secure, as Luk. 12. Pleasures of the flesh makes secure, as Sodom: yea, the freedom of the Gospel makes secure, being turned into the flesh: nothing keeps man waking but the Cross: and thus the World is fallen a sleep, only dreams of these things. But a waking day will come: when the sound of the Trumpet of the Word sounds in thy heart: or if not, the sound of the last Trump; and then happy he, whom the Master shall find waking. FINIS. The Preface of Mr. BRIERLY. I Wots not what acquaint humour now of late, To write these numbers, set my Pen agate; But whilst my drooping Muse, in sundry fashions Was drawing Portracts of some private passions: There was presented, to my troubled thought, This World's wide Sea, which fiercely raged & wrought Thereon Christ's Ship, fore toast with gast did blow, By Satan raised, the same to overthrow. I much, much longing, the Sl●● should split, To find the Jonah that did trouble it. First here at home, did set myself to see; And ask my Conscience, if I were not He: Which, though it showed me cause enough, and more: Yet, not for any message that I bore. What hurt, if others, to themselves would try, And each one in his heart, say, Is it I? That all might join, their best endeavours more, Peace to pursue: then they have heretofore. My flesh presented me, with many wrongs Of lots cast on me, by some adverse tongues; Who pressed me much to tell, what Country ground My breeder was, and whither I was bound? To whom, I say, that I from Canaan came: Of which both coast, and language too, I am: And would posterity to understand, I serve the Great GOD, both of Sea and Land; Or at the least, I do desire to do, And by his Servants: to be held so too. Though I must say, In me, there's much out-straying, And in the unregenerate part, gainsaying. My Message is for Peace, and unity, For fear God's Church, should much indanger'd be. These are the special, not the only end, Why on this subject I some speeches spend: For my intent is too, to keep this glass, To view my mind hereafter, what it was. That this against my face, may witness bear, If I gainsay; what I have written here. If any say, w●ile fools do undertake it, A parable seem worse for him that spoke it. I say, I have been trained in Christ his School, So long I trust, I am no wilful fool: But such a fool, I much desire to be, As Gods true Wisdom may remain in me. If he grant that, let men speak on, and spare not; For I at all, for other wisdom care not. But to conclude, lettsome may think it wrong; I numbers use, not liberty of tongue: And hold that measures limit one to sore, I say, if free, I had said little more; Only expect not here such frame and order; As in G●y Gardens framed in bed and border, Which through fair Allies, answering to the eye, In well proportined uniformity. But some wild Forest work, or ill fenct fields; Where grow at tandom, such as Nature yields. A Cowslop, Daffadil, perhaps a rush Sometimes arose; but ne'er a Bramble bush. In sine, a speech, where things at next are sets As memory, objects, and occasions met: Irregular my Muse, hath traced the bent Of such occasions, as still give it vent. A course by some, but now of late begun; Where those that method want, may row and run. Professedly, and find a shelter fit, To cover wants, and suit a running Wit: An ess-bee, or some such little thing, Which honey bears, and yet without a sting. The thing as yet, requires to shadow out, My silly knowledge could not bring about: But what I thought was needful to be told, As I am able, I do this unfold. Of True CHRISTIAN Liberty. I Was sometime (as the● a stricter man) By some good fellows, termed a Puritan. How I deserved that name, though I'll not say; Since best men now, must bear that brand away, But lately (ay me) Grace hath waxed cool; Flesh playing truant out of Moses School. Not through the Liberty that Faith doth give; But for because, much Adam yet doth live: Which ever and anon, or more or less; Is turning God's grace into wantonness. And now men say, I'm deeply drowned in Schism, Retired from God's grace unto Grindletonism: So that I now, a Liberty do hold, Which neither Grace, nor Godly Wisdom would, I grant, how far the Liberty I have, Is not in God, were better be a Slave: And further thus, what works of grace I do, If any are, but weak and slender too: What wicked ones may think or censure me, Is (I confess) a thing doth little move me: But that God's Children hardly should conceit me, Whose precious balms, I rather wish should bee● me. Thou God forbidden, or that my latter age, Should be secluded from thy heritage. I mean the fellowship of Saints below, Which if I want, I whither shall I go. In some friends lately, I have Strangeness seen, I once thought, could not possibly have been: If O my God, this rent from thee arise, Then smell the savour of a sacrifice: But if some other Sun of man have done it, Cursed be that sin, which at the first begun it But, what are these, which in God's Church I hear? These strange contentions, stirred up every where? Manasses now with Ephraim contending, And Ephraim back again, his counter forces bending: 'Gainst little Judah, both of them partaking Ruben's divisions, great heart sorrow making. O let not thus Christ's seamless Coat be torn, Or Zion travel, and no Child be born: By that foul sin, which shares with bloody Sword, This live Child's limbs, accursed before the Lord: And that hard mother Stepdame judged to be, That can not grieve her son thus mangled see. But lest I too much from myself should wander, I freely grant; this is at all ●o slander. That once (when time was) I did thus mu●h see, Which now is almost, out of memory; To wit, a wondrous beautiful condition, On that which now, is termed new Religion: By name deliverance, free Justification; True Liberty, glad tidings of Salvation: Which may be called new too, in some respects, Of objects, times, and different effects. As which the Spirit of our mind renews, Which to Samaria, was so joyful news. New wine, first Love, the Christians sweet beginnings: Fine gold, rich pearls, the godly Merchant win, Christ's yoke made easy, by the spirits oils, The Joy of Harvest, or dividing spoils: Not that I then did, or do look to find Some strange Religion, of another kind, Then that, wherein I ever have been trained, Since first, I from my mother's breast was waned. For so to do, as I consider well, Were t● make sure work, soon to get to Hell: But even the same (say I) that hath been taught, Since God his Gospel, into England brought; Gods very Truth, which that it doth not fit All ears and seasons: man is faulty yet. But to be short, than was the time (alas) I can but only say, That then it was. I was (I say) more sensible of sin, And of the danger, it had brought me in: But shall I now, begin God's love to story To me his wretch, and is it for his glory; Especially, If I shall there withal, Show how his favours on a dunghill fall; For though Sunbeams, do draw from flowery brinks Sweet smell, yet carrion send forth filthy stinks. Lord, I confess much sown, small increase found Of fruitful crop, within my barren ground. O let my soul ne'er draw this curse upon her, Thou canst not bless her, but with taint of honour. 'Tis only thou, who canst an answer yield, Whether I Dunghill be, or fruitful field: But if at all, thou ought in me hast sown, Bring to perfection, that which is thine own: And leave me not (as sin gives cause to doubt) Among these Virgins, who shall stand without, Nor what I have, from me in Judgement take, But me a harvest for thy mercy's sake. I will say on then, what my Conscience tells me, And clear the truth, since thus the case compels me. The Good I did (I say) seemed then more slender, The ill more vile, my Conscience much more tender, Then now it is: as having felt the smart Of God's great judgements, with a troubled heart. God's Spirit (what say I) who now scarcely know, If e'er I ●elt it truly, yea, or no; God's Spirit I say, for so as then I thought, Had to my Soul, such happy tidings brought Of God's great mercy, in delivering me, Who had so long tried the forbidden Tree: And thereby plunge me in such deadly danger, As to God's Covenant almost made me stranger: That then me thought, I felt his love more free, Then I before, could it conceive to be. His love more free, (I say) myself more vile Then ere before, unless I me beguile: Then say I, what? Not liberty to sin, Because of freedom God hath set us in. So that one may, whoredom and these commit, And not withstanding, not offend in it. Nor that the Spirit, so renews the will, As quite excludes all motions unto ill, O Blasphemy! dute any brag of ground; Wherein there may such cark o● grace be found: Nor of God's presence, knew I ere such sense: As drives from his, all sin and doubting thence: So that one would not thereof be beriven, No not to change it, for the joys of Heaven: Nor that the Spirit, doth without the Word, Unto our Souls sufficient light afford. Nor that one may, adventure on a sin, Because God will be glorified therein. But this I saw, that there's a rest of faith, Which sets Believers free from hell and death: That out of us, our health and life is wrought: That out of us, the same is to be sought. That Gods elect, even from their second birth, Unto their death, are strangers on the earth. That precious liberty, they thereby win: How sweet a thing it is to master sin: How this new Law doth set Believers free, How Christ his yoke is perfect liberty. How this can be, that men can part from ill, When dangerless, they may do what they will. That God sometimes, his presence so reveals; That for the time, both sin and sorrow vails: How such shall think that while, be't short or long, They never shall move, their hi●l is made so strong: That more one doth from this degenerate, The more he falls to pride or worse estate: How God doth draw, by his sweet cords of love Souls here below: to live with him above: Who whil●s they see, Gods will is so (o strange) Their present bless, for greater would not change. Not but, that they full freedom would require, But thus to Gods will, linked is their desire. Wha● power with God, this law of love doth give, How in his Members, Christ is said to live. How grace doth with a Metamorphose strange: Deep threaten into exhortations change. That th'World Flesh, Sin: yea, Satan and the rest, Are for God's Children forc't to work the best. So God for his, good out of ill doth draw. What's life to God, what's death unto the Law. How first the Law, doth Man in bondage bring; How Christ his death hath ta'en away the sting. But now of late (as I must needs confess To God's great glory, and my shame no less: I have been through the Tempter's subtlety, Tossed with temptations of inconstancy: Not in respect of our Religion's ground, I ever doubted to be safe and sound. But in regard of some particulars, About the which, have been so many jars: As whether there be any living wight, Who like to Gideon, walking in his might: Doth sin down right, like Midian's host destroy, Whose heart God fills with such continual joy: In his great love, such strength against their sin; That faith in them, hath long unshaken been. In which his love, their souls are so set free, As they therein can walk at liberty. Such as that sin, can neither break their peace, Nor upright walking, confidence increase. This height of Grace, do so exceed my skill, I needs must say, that title it who will: For mine own part, I utterly disclaim it; I mean the having, not the will to gain it: No, not the will to gain it, so I say; Wherein I trust, I go not far astray: For sure I am, if faith were fir●ly ●here; It Lion like, the limbs of sin would ●ear: More faith, more love the surer is the knot: Yea, such a one, as sin dissolveth not: But rather shrinks to nearly to approach The Mint of faith, its copper c yn to broach: Or if it do, it's but as though a rush, 'Gainst shining shields, his pricks should proudly push. But woe is me, how should I frame my tongue, That some men here, should not conceive me wrong: I do not I, broach news of such a state, Where blocks of sin lie not in grace's gate. But that his heart's more safe, that's better guarded; That fortress surer, which is strongly warded. Faith is a fortress, Love lies strong within To keep the hold, lest Foes should enter in: When Gods bright cloud his Temple doth fulfil, Less room I trow, remains therein for ill: The Bridegroom's presence, whiles the same doth last, Works joy and cheer, men need not then to fast: Though slender shot, doth cause the Fool to fall, Canons scarce make sign on the Castlewall: The Assailants strength, the Objects weakness do Ever contrare, to make a deadly blow. This is the cause, why tender flesh by dint Of sturdy steel, receives so deep a print: And here especially, it must be so, Where th'ones strength doth, from th'other weakness grow: Like mushrooms, which from harreness of soil, Doth suck his sap, and filthy liquor boil. And if you think, whiles Faith stands firmly sound, Yet sin that while, can strike as deep a wound, As where ●ts weak, you speak things quite contrary, And so affirm impossibility: Indeed I grant most men coin such a Faith, As may of sin abide the better breath, And not be sick; but such a Faith say I Will with his Master live, and with him die. So then such Faith my soul desireth not As is a Poison, but an Antidote: Not such as flesh might freely sin as much As it desires, and conscience feel no truth: But a perfume which casts such smells behind it, As foul, as made us cannot once abide it: Such as prevents that sin, can bring no smart, For that it first so purifies the heart: And though this life afford it not in prime, The less it is, the more the fault is mine. And who imagines sin and this agreeing, Feigns a new fiction never yet in being: Yet is it true, that our Salvations ground, Rests not herein, what good in us is found: But in another, higher seat doth sit, Whick makes our works but underlings to it: Hereof it comes that our Divines well say, (Which words Lewd men may wrest another way) That if from works, or more, or less, thou measure Thy certainty, thou heapest copper treasure: Since God in Christ before all times and place, By His Decree, determined our case; Not from the good that we should after do, But of free choice ordaining us thereto Then make not that a cause which is th'effect, Of God's dear love in them, He doth elect: But whoso draws from Faith by true descent, The Pedigree of Works as consequent, May thereby judge if no such fruits appear, That sound assurance is in no ways there: For good and ill trees by their fruits are known, And fruitful seed will spring, where it is sown. So when I say, I wish in God his love, Such confidence, as sin might not remove. My meaning is, I wish a ●aith so stable, As t'enter therein, sin might not be able: Or if it did, yet hope should not be lost, But hid in him, whom it so dearly cost. As i● that case, when Sin and Law is over, This were I trow the next way to recover: Nor would this cause God's goodness to despise: But in new life still more and more to rise: Unless Corruption do abuse the same: Which if it do, yet grace is not to blame. And 'tis most true, that Unbelief is Mother Of every sin, adulteries; thefts and other: By which is writ, the sins of graceless men, With Diamond point, and with an Iron-pen: For Conscience Paper is, Ink unbelief; Th'affections Pen men, whereof Will is chief. So then lewd life, and true ●aith are no kin. For Christ is not the Minister of sin. Nor yet doth freedom, preaching in such minds, As that sweet Doctrine fitted for it finds: By its own kind, abroad such bastards set, More than doth Nature monstrous shapes beget: But if this new cloth wider make the rent, It only falls out so by accident: As when it meeteth with an hardened heart, Which wholesome food to poison will convert; As oft it doth too (I confess) yet so: As that the Law of other sort makes moe: I mean of Hypocrites, who while they hear The hideous thunderings, of the same through fear: Work with a vengeance, till their backs do break; Wishing mean while, their wrath on God to wreak: Who still (think they) most like a cruel Master, Lays on more load, and bids them work the faster, Yea gathering ever, where he hath not strawn: And heaping profit, where he hath not sown These when they see, the Law no mean, nor measure, Doth hold in loading, than they take more leisure. And having not the Son, to set them free, Are tired at length, break out at liberty: And so a freedom, of their own they have; But such a liberty, as God never gave. Whereout off too springs th'Atheist filthy swine, The carnal Protestant or Libertine: Or else such Hypocrites, as still make sure, They take no peace, but what they may endure: Gaining like peace, by that their formal walking. As doth the Fowler get, by Fowlers stalking: Much like the Crab, their eye sight one way bending, The whiles their footsteps are another ●e●ding: Whereby it falls out, that these counterfeits, Are of all other seldom set in Straits. Whiles formal walking keeps them flesh & bone, From being br ken on the Cornerstone: A cause, why Harlots, place in heaven find, Before that w●●ke proud Pharisaic kind. As for the Law, this ground of Faith it gaineth, That graceless men, it civilly restraineth; At le●st, until some exigent betid; Such as it said; and ●ake them turn aside. Then wha● ways best, for thee who art a gleaner, To make thy God herein the greatest gainer. Since that most like, as in our Statute Law; Ou● of the yoke, lewd men their necks can draw: By this or that exception; or pretence; Or otherwise, by wresting of the sense: And that in our Experience every day, Those words prove true, that Christ himself did say. We pipe to you, yet you no measure keep; We mourn to you, and yet you do not weep. 'Tis not (alace,) in offering oil, though fountains; Nor though all thine, were sheep upon the Mountains: Nor that thou dost thy Neighbour sorrows grieve, Nor yet the poor with all thy goods relieve. 'Tis not in this, nor that corruption killing; No, nor in Rivers of salt tears distilling. 'Tis not thy foot, from outward evils turning, Nor yet thy body given to the burning. It neither is in this, or that man's teaching, Nor is it in the Law, or Gospels preaching. No, no, 'tis not in him, that wills or runs; But in God's mercy, which creates us sons: Yea, Lord, it is thy Spirits mind that blows, Which none can tell, from whence or whither goes. But saith one (for so I hear one say,) I thought at length, these fellows would display What minds they bear, reposing in such wise Themselves in God, the means they do despise. O God forbidden (alace,) let not one brother Such eager censures lay upon another. The means I reverence, as the thing whereby, God saves his Children ordinarily: Nay, th'only way, wherein all Gods elect, H●s saving Grace, a●d blessing can expect. Nay, who neglects much more who it contemns, God's Ordinance, for his souls health condemns. Yea, 'tis in brief, God's worthy Instrument: Used in his hand, his Children to prevent. Yet he offends not, who more p races puts Upon the workman: then the axe that cuts. Nor is his tool the worse: Nay who contends For workmanship, the tool therewith commends: Like th'Orator, who whiles of kin doth raise Himself, the while, he Eloquence doth praise. For he who saith, that God alone doth all, Makes not men dead stones in the living wall. Yet this in reverence, we must all confess, What good in us is found, beet more or less, Is of the Spirit, which like sap even flows From out the root, even to the utmost boughts; Itself transforming into divers actions, As numbers do, into their several fractions: Nay, rather like, the sap within the tree Which grows both branch, and bud, and fruit to be: Yea, and leaves also: for 'tis nothing else, But sap which runs through Nature's secret cells, Into the tender tops, itself conveying: It's sap, green liquor, more and more, conveying: Till it to leaves, and fruits, from whence it lies, In sundry sorts, and shapes diversities: Where Nature taking time by the warm Sun, Frames and concocts it, till the work be done: When as, by wondrous workmanship we see, It turned from sap to leaf, and bud and tree: Being in hardness, fashion, collar, taste Transformed, and in new mould and manner cast: And so is called by another Name, Then merely sap, whereof at first it came: Yet is it of none other Nature made, Then that whereof, it first beginning had. Even so, the Spirit: is the root and ground Of all the Good, that is in any found. As for example, into thy froward Will. Flows God, and doth its hollow cisterns fill: Whereby such sweetness to thy soul it sendeth, As to its lure full bu●imely it bendeth. Likewise he doth, invest thy inward sight, And fills thy understanding part with light; With these much like, the moon making thee shine With borrowed light, which yet he counteth thine. Lord, is it so, that we so base and vile, Shall with thy beauty be adorned the while. Shall thy life streams from out our bellies pour; And yet for all that, be accounted our. Wilt thou bestow both wine and milk, yet say, That it is bought, though we have nought to pay: Then Lord, so do, let me right beauteous be Through thine own beauty, which thou sets on me. My Soul into the wilderness allure: Speak kindly there, and it to me assure My Father's house: O! cause me to forsake, That thou mayst in me greater pleasure take: Yea, be it so Lord (as spoke the Mother Maid) So be it Lord, to us as thou hast said: Then ours shall be the joy, and endless bless, As thine the Kingdom, power and glory is. But to return, me thinks, it should be best, For winning Souls in Christ, his rule to rest: Who meeting one, that needs would Heaven get By his good works, a cumbrous task himset. Now of this sort, all unregenerate be; Who Christ his blood, their ransom doth not see: For having not that endless blessed Store; Which, whoso hath, is rich for evermore. They of their works, will needs a present bring, Such as may gain the favour of the King: Which whiles they strive at, with a bended back Still, still they strive, and still they strength do lack; And thus must needs, to exigent them drive, Who that in vain, against the stream do strive For struggling till, they see that what's amiss: More than th● other infinitely is: Mean while, G●ds Trumpet, sounding in their ears Blasts of amazement, horror, blood, and fears: Then Clouds of wrath begin to boil and brighten, And thundering Canons, in the Conscience lighten: Their high topped Mount doth smoke, and quake, and quiven; The Rocks do rend, & into splinters shiver: And were't not that, sometimes a small still voice, Doth cause a stand, the Soul her sails would hoist, And into Straits, of deep despair straight run her; Crying to Rocks, and Hills to fall upon her. Yet must I grant, a lower sail doth carry: Go smoothly on, and times and tides do tarry: Dancing full defly, in a merry gale. With wind and weather, to the black Prince hall. But of these paths, its difficult I say: Which a man takes at turning of the way. Whether towards the cape good hope aright. On terrors tide, or senseless sound he light. And where before I say the Law doth drive Those from self trust, who for performance strive: It's only objectively that I mean, After the letter and the outward strain: Even so far forth, I say, as means can go, In such like working, and no more but so: For 'tis God's proper work the soul to waken, It's he that hath the Conscience tardy taken. But what need is there thus t'apologize, For who thinks I the work master despise. When I say this or that, the means effecteth, Though it be never named who directeth; For men will think my meaning to be this, God's Words the Tool, himself the Workman is: Let none è contra then (whiles thus I praise, God all as worker) thence conclusion raise. I utterly the means thereby exclude, Nay wish they should not past their place intrude, Yet true it is, they ofttime so do. Through our default, not by their nature too: Men therein towards Papistry much bending, Beginning their Devotion there, and ending: And that's more danger as I understand, Than doubt of leaning on the other hand: Yet this I say, that who excludeth either, disjoineth those which God hath linked together. Yet do I wish man would in any case, Give both of these their due and proper place: And let who fear (when as they hear some say, That God in working bears the praise away. Lest man thereby secure of means should grow: Beware, lest they to far on lest hand go: By giving so much to the outward deed, As they thereby, mere Formalists may breed, If men here in an equal hand would carry: None need about this point so much to vary. For Paul but plants, Apollos he doth water: But God alone yields both the work and matter. And in this race men bend their bodies whole, And stir their stumps, and lo●k at God the Geale. It's read in Wars, some Nations set before them: Their chiefest Virgins, to show valour for them. The Crown of Life, puts much more life within, And makes men strive, Immortal prize to win. I mean this Crown, but as it m●n respecteth: Not as it back to God again reflecteth, And yet there is a motive more than this, Which not by Nature, explicable is. And yet no dream, no fancy, nor temptation, Nor to be called in scorn New Revelation: Which as I take it on me to express it: So 'tis most true: I cannot I: confess it: Nor do hereby boast myself to know it, But sure I am, some of God's Children do it: If any know it not, yet scoff it so: Let him before God answer thereunto: But those that do, say what they list, and spare not: For well I hope, that scoff at it they dare not. But whither run I, all I have to say; Is that God's Word affordeth us the way. For winning souls, who first for sturdy Rocks, A hammer hath for sin and Satan's locks: A powerful key with many wondrous wards; From which no time, nor place so secret guards. For every sickness, Medicines sweet affording; To every person, and degree according. Not only so, but teacheth to apply; And giveth reasons, when, and where and why; As bidding us not grieve, whom God would glad: Nor strengthen them, whom he would have be sad. As Reasons serve, rebuke, exhort, reprove: And all these with long-suffering, and with love: Yea, warn the wicked of his wicked way, On mourning Souls, some balm of Gilead lay. With many other such like rules: yet this May be a thing too, which belonging is: And that is Christian Wisdom, to discern The proper state of those who are to learn. Whether wild fallow, that needs ploughing up, Or gapeing dry, that showers of grace would sup: Like skilful cooks in season to prepare, And each Stomach, wholesome fitting fare. I w●uld not be mistaken here, as though M● me●ning were, s● deep in others bow To draw: as ●hat I here presume to lay A Pl ●form to direct our Preachers way. No, no, let none once such intention dream: If ●ny do, I speak it not to them. My meaning only is to manifest, Wh● I d● h●ld in this, as in the rest. I h●ld it fit, that each one fitted be, As to his need, and want do best agree: Which being difficult of to discern, (Those needing most, who lest desire to learn) Teachers must crave God's spirit so to find it, For in their own case, hearers oft are blinded. Thinking they knew enough, we wish more still, Then can be kept subjected to their Will: Or comforts to their hardened hearts applying, Else loading Conscience, that's already lying: The first (I needs must say) is oftener seen, For in the latter, few to blame have been: Most hearers being such, whose wounds do fester: Needing sharp cor'sives, more than healing plaster: And holy things must not be cast to Dogs, Nor precious gold, before such angry Hogs. For though these Haltion days, which God hath sent: Men may the Churches orderly frequent, And so be formal: th'unassailed Senses Blinded, and gulled, with Satan's sly pretences: The strong man armed, in peace possession keeping, Trials not rousing yet the dog that's sleeping. Yet sure full many, who the means thus use: Do not forthwith, God for their portion choose. But rather in the Closet of their Hearts: With Sin and Satan, secretly take parts: Yea all that live in unregenerate state: Do God his truth, and Children deadly hate: Whom i● they could but at a dead lift see: On God himself they would revenged be. Who being so to that they love so dear: They cannot choose, but needs his Force must fear: Knowing, if he live; they are sure to smart, For that from which, they are so loath to part: Whose forced good works, though ●e regardeth not, Those dear earned goods, that one a stone are got. Yet are they turned through his o'er ruling hand, For him and his, in righ● good stead to stand. To make his power known, and shall to th'free, Hewers of wood, and water bearers be. But to return, most hearers bring now: Such as the truth in, words at least allow. Yet wanting vigour, in the inward part: Gods graces into wantonness convert: Yea Gods dear Children, which regenerate be; (So far as carnal) are not herein free. For Wanton flesh soon taking heart at grass, The soul bewitcheth with her whorish face; And saith, since Christ's robes on man, never fear it; thou'rt safe enough, though slovenly thou wear it. It's meet, the hammer of the Word should wound: The Laws loud Trumpet, much and often sound To such hard hearts: for it's at all no wrong; Since Law and Works of right to them belong: At least so far forth, as they carnal be, Or not engraft in Christ, the living Tree: And so works taught them, in another kind: Than those that are of a more freer mind: At least, until it bring their brazen face, And iron sinnew into other case: For there's difference, and a main one too: 'Twixt works that carnal, and regenerate do: So do the Governments, that they are under, Differ as far, as heaven and earth is sunder. Th'one under grace, things good and well do act: Th'other bond slaves, rest with the ontward fact. Yet is the first far nobler Government, Harmonious, and full of sweet content: As which doth here, with noblest minds accord, How much more fitting for the noblest Lord. Especially, since where man cannot look, He ope'ns and reads it in the heart-sealed Book. It's this, no doubt, which shall forever be The Saint's Companion, through Eternity. This golden Rule, which to be wished were, Instead of all Laws, might be Ruler here. And no discouragement to Princes tho, Whose Rule were nearest to G●ds ●rder so. Then should long sufferance sweetly make supply, To friend or foe, to any Injury If Injury at all amongst so many, Graces of Love, there could be offered any: Which reaches foes, for a regenerate state: To friends and foes, its goodness will impart. It's general unto Christians in their way: And unto foes, to win them if they may. Which may be so, yet wickedness and sin, Through indulgence, men though not fostered in. (For evermore, he loves his friend most dear, Who least can with his faults and strayings bear.) This is that love, which from good conscience springs And a pure heart, like to the heavenly Kings: Who is love's fount, pure, infinite divine, Who sends his sun, on good and bad to shine. Then would be pouring out abundantly, To other men, as God had poured to thee. Yea far beyond ability, a will: As large as is the light, that all doth fill. Then would be no envying one another, Nor lifting up ourselves above our brother. Nor yet disdain with th'elder son to see, The younger in his Father's grace to be. No though the while, his brother's feast did laste, Sour herbs instead of dainties he should taste. No contumelious, nor opprobrious words: Which wound the heart, more deep than piercing swords. No seeking for our private wants supply, Letting our Countries, and out neighbours lie. No Practices, no bitterness, no hate 'Gainst private persons, or the public state: No ill surmise allowed in friend or foes, Without a toyed and a grounded cause. No prejudice, against a deadly teacher, Nor fear of words, wrong wrested from the Preacher. No busy hunting after higher places, Nor no disdaining men of meaner graces. No soul rejoicing, in committing sin, ●ut Gods sweet savour, and go●d conscience in. No wrong invasions, n●r no hateful jarring: No disobedience, nor no cause of warring: Nor any thing, which might a hindrance be, ●o sweet concordance, and firm amity. ●ave that perhaps our conscience would not reach, To guide us what's most fit to do in each. But if the judgement were enlightened too Accordingly, than were no more . But sweet content, a life of joy and mirth; And in a word, a Heaven upon the earth. A goodly golden Common-weal to see, Through love each others Lord, and Man to be. But since not had on earth, God hath even here, The better our Infirmities to bear, Full well provided Commonwealths and States; Masters and Servants, Subjects, Magistrates. Such men as may, the sword of Justice draw, Wrongs to redress, and keep lewd men in awe. With other sundry means to end the strife, And difficulties of this present life: Which all are Rudiments, and helps to lead Towards that life, where none of these shall need. Without the which who could remain an hour, But violence would life and goods devour Which shows how much, we here estranged be, From that perfection of Eternity. I term it thus, since most here, if not all, Is violent, so not perpetual. At least so far, as God doth not reduce, And recreate it: for his nearer use. Which I confess, the more that he shall d The less corruption it is subject to. As being brought to that sweet calm and peace, The very Centre of all happiness. Yea spiritual made, which how much more they be, With this his nature, nearer they agree. For even these, our Massy bodies shall, Again be raised bodies spiritual. Yet so, as they must holy be and pure; For otherwise, he can them worse endure. Hereof he natures, goodly order set; As shadow (though but of a portion yet) In this that actions, natural we see; Furthest from violent coaction be: Wherein the Creature, doth itself intent, Towards that calm, and uncreated end. In which fair Book, are plainly manifested, God's power and purpose, towards man regressed. Who such a stamp, on silly man can frame; Like to himself, I do not say the same: For his pure Essence, Infinite in bless; To Creatures in communicable is. Two Infinits there cannot be for letting: And bounds and limits, each to other setting: So Creatures he, out of himself createth; Whiles he his working, outwardly dilateth; Outward, I say dilateth, for within; The Trinity, hath each to others been Eternally: most letles of distraction, In some serene, calm, pure, perpetual action. Without all motion, change or alteration: Which is far otherwise in this Creation. Which made of nothing, daily doth intent Towards a Period, and a final end. And would accomplish it, save that this power, Upholds the former, and matters every hour: For this our world is but the younger brother, So called by some a shadow of the other; That spiritual, and immaterial He, The second ●erson in the Trinity: And hath a temper, said to be compound, Of parts in nature quite contrary found: A cause yet too why creatures it produceth, Of sundry shapes, and for so divers uses: For, God forbidden, I should in any case, Once seem God's Works and Creatures to debase. The least of whom that live the heavens under, Than they have parts, contain more cause of wonder: But thus considered, as we them compare, With their Creator, so they nothing are. Who all their parts creates, and frames and joins, Whose least parts bigger than the other loins: In whose wide womb all creatures lie unmolded, Before all times, unsearchably unfolded: Whose spiritual nature is without exception, Most infinite in Goodness and Perfection: The very Heaven of a blessed Soul, (Though I a place grant too above the Pool) These things to creatures, never can agree: Which only spiritual in a measure be. And circumscript, subject to time and place: Motions, exposes, changes, and disgrace By Nature; save as it is said before) As to perfection, God shall them restore: Which shall be once, when they are purified: And spiritual made: their nature rectified: Extract into a quintessence so pure: As mere created Natures can endure. Lessons hereof, some Artists seem to spell By Nature: as in Mathematics skill. Who (void of Rules, in th'abstract) through defect; Place its perfection in the Intellect. As that which is more spiritually intent: And so by consequence, more excellent. For spirits do all bodies far exceed; As forms above their matter, have their meed. I do not say, with some all spirits be No substances, but mere quality. But this I say, These are so near of kin, That with one name, they sometimes named been. And what in us, but quality men call, In our Creator is essential: From whose pure Fountain, Streams still overflow To Creatures, as from head springs rivulets do. Love, patience, meekness, peace, ●nd righteousness, Joy, wisdom, pity, truth and holiness. No marvel then, though a regenerate soul, Down these clear Streams, of God's pure pleasure roll And bathe itself wi●h sweetest delectation: Re-sold therein by wondrous transmutation: Re-sold I say, l●ke th'air which some conclude, Those cold moist concaves of the Earth include: Till in that Kingdom having long conversed: It's turned to water, and in springs dispersed: Made fellow rivulet, with the rest to be: To run along in one fraternity. Or (if it fit seem) like clouds of water, From which the Sun, extracting subtle matter, Changeth them peice-male, till the whole dilated, Be into the air, in time evaporated: The airs kind kinsman, 'twixt itself and water: Becoming so, a partial Moderator. Thus doth the Soul, most truly undergo, Both generation, and corruption so: Though not for substance, yet for quality; Till in God's Image it invested be. The rather when, this body too is made: To the pure soul then subordinate: Like those in Luke, who bidden go, did run; Do this, and it was incontinently done: For bodies once, their Souls must fitly suit, It's pure designs, better to execute: While both full blessed, eternally shall run, Down those life Streams, till Gods good will be done. And as his Will is evermore a doing. So shall that stream be evermore a flowing: They needless of constraint, herein for thriving, As water is oft down the Channel driving. Or as the Tree, which doth by Nature grow, Bears fruit and blossoms, though none bid it so: Which Kingdom here is actually begun, So soon as one, by faith is made a Son. And as the Soul, within the body lives, And thereunto, both life and motion gives. So doth God's Spirit, the soul therein abiding, With endless pleasures and delight it giving; Wherein the lesser violence doth need; Nearer men are to happiness indeed. As liker to the purest Nature, which In all compleatness of perfections rich: Who needs no labour, nor no motions make, For any business he doth undertake: But is an Eye, a Hand, a Tongue and Ear, On all occasions, when he list, and where: Yea is that Ear, that at one Instant hairs, Within, without, and far beyond the Spheres: That Eye which doth most infinitely see, What's past, what's present, what shall ever be. A powerful hand (where e'er he list to show it) To hurt or help, and when he list can do it. That Wisdom deep, that understanding might, To whom all Secrets, and all hearts are light. That will which is a work, and when it listeth, No Creature in the Heavens, nor earth resisteth: That Providence, which with one act doth guide, What shall for all Eternity betid: That Sinnowie love, which in embracing Arms Clasps all his Creatures, and them sweetly warms. And in a word, that good without defection, Which is incapable of Imperfection. How can that Soul then, but most blessed be, Who bears a part in this sweet Harmony, So far as Creatures can in any wise, With this their great Creator sympathise? This is that Ocean of Immortal Bless, Wherein the blessed Soul sweetly swallowed is, Born and contained, for 'tis more right to say, That rather it contains, and bears than they. That River pure, from Paradise that's flowing: On whose green Banks, the Tree of life is growing. With monthly fruit, with leaves that never fail; All sicknesses, and maladies to heal; That cheerful, fresh, and everlasting spring: Which stintless, endless, boundless joys do bring: Pure light where birds of Paradise are skirming: Clear Streams, where fishes numberless are swimming Fresh Floods, whose Channels, love is ever filling: Their blessed body, through whose veins distilling. O Sacred Mount, where love do build her nest! O, World of Immortality and rest! When shall my soul once and for ever be; Wholly possessed, and swallowed up of thee; Of thee the harbour of all happiness, The Sea of comfort, Son of Righteousness: Of thee who art the life, the light, the love, Of those celestial Citizens above. Of thee, whose face, makes Saints and Angels sing: So as therewith, the heavenly voults do ring. Here (by the way) consider if there were: Some tastes (as why not) of such comforts here. Whether it might not, cause the heart to see, Some taken up, with that sweet melody. As mourning now, were to the Soul a task: As far more fit to give thanks, than ask. (As th'one of these, quite void of th'other be not: How ever men, sometimes in that case see not) How ever to, mourning (I must confess) More suits this life, and man's great wretchedness. I dare not then (where I can sometimes find, Men less to craving, more to thanks inclined) But think, they thus do, as then taken up, With God's bright face, and pleasures of his cup, For though that flesh, may counterfeit a joy: That proveth not God's Children for a toy. For its apparent, that such cases are; (As both experience, and God's Word declare) Whereof example, David's Psalms display, In many a sonnet, and melodious lay. When thanks and joy, as prompt and kindly be, As are requests and moans in misery: And tell me then, whose lot it is to see: That which to most men, is a mystery. I mean whose soul a load of sin doth press: Much like a Mountain, for it weighs no less. The Lord discovering by a wondrous light, To thy wracked Conscience, such a ghastly sight. As makes thy heart to quake, thy bones to quiver, Thy flesh to fail, and scorcheth up thy liver. So as thyself, art to thy own self seeming, A lost damned devil in thy own esteeming. Unworthy being, food, bread, life, that for, Hate to thy sin; thy soul thou dost abhor. Tell me how then, In such a case can frame, T'agree thy heart and tongue to praise God's Name: Whether thanksgiving to such a time as this; Or prayers or groan, more agreeing is. If thou in this case, blames not groans and prayers; Nor wilt if others, much, much thanks in theirs. Since it is like, there was a time before, When they were less in thanks, in groan more. I rather think, them nearer God to be; Unless their carriage show the contrary: Not judging they omit sins, to confess: Because they see their own much holiness. But if their joy now is, or e'er was true: There hath or will come times, wherein to rue. In fi●e suppose, thy hearts with child of praise: To Gods Name here, thou now gins those lays: Yea that celestial and melodious song; Which to the Heavens more properly belong; And feeling in thyself a reason why, Thou art thus moved to this melody: And no more plain a token can there be, Of God's true grace and thy felicity. For who his friend with thankfulness can greet, For that whereof, he never felt the sweet: Which grace of God is hardest there to find, In my conceit, of any other kind. At least wise, for myself, I'll not deny; This in my own self, I can least espy. I mean, I can most hardly come to know, If e'er I truly gave God thanks or no: Reasons whereof, are these (as I conceive) We love ourselves well, we would still receive. Were our thirst kindly, we are thirsty land; We never love, to look on empty hand. Our flesh is lusty, and our souls are lank: So that we have no hearts at all to thank. But to return, to do God's pleasure, is, Of God's dear Saints, the happiness and bless. No other thing, but instruments to be, In our God's hand, his Name to glorify. In which his will, blessed souls for ever biding, In that calm road, to watch his ebb and tiding: And therewithal (or in or out the bay) With sweet breathed sighs of love wasted away. What course the Current of God's pleasure runs, Which is that very liberty of Sons Imparted to them, not by verbal telling: Nor laboured out, as Words are done by spelling: But secretly, th'anointing doth convey Into their hearts, to will, to do and say. Yea that anointing, which without all measure, Remains in him, who is the very treasure: From head to members, still itself conveying, As head springs do in thousand Channels straying; Or as in Organs, one self breath fulfils, Proportionally, the great and little quills: Causing the less, as well as bigger speak; And in each time, in order silence break: So doth God's Spirit, which is his very love, Whereby he loves himself, and his doth move. Towards himself (which too his working power And doth before, at Sea and Land devour, Laying the mountains and the valleys plain, That nothing might Gods children's wills restrain) Cause man within the living stock to thrive, Or move, as do great wheels the lesser drive: So that this will is Gods primarily, Yea, even man's too in a next degree; As fully as his eating, drinking, sleeping, Standing, or walking, health or harbour keeping. For who gives power these things to will or do? The very same that gives the other too. O happy grafts, who thus transformed be, Into the Nature of this living Tree; Whose leaves are ever flourishing and green, And roots fast fixed, the liquid streams between. You Demigods, who to this Mount can say, Pluck up thyself and plant thee in the sea? Whose wills from Gods, receiving still their bent, May in a sort be called Omnipotent: At least, so far as by his Spirit ye Are set a Work, his instruments to be. Though here in measure, after to fulfil, In perfectness the pleasure of his will: Who, from the hot breath of God's spirit bear Tidings of joy, alarms oft of fear: The great Kings Heralds now proclaiming pity, Anon for sin, destruction of a City. Whose souls down deep in Gods sweet secrets dive, As fish in wholesome streams play, live, and thrive: Whose sure presages, (oracles say I) God's light reveals, his power doth ratify. Dear messengers whom God doth oft employ, To kill and quicken, plant and to destroy: Whose fatal Judgement justly to come under, Is to be Butt, for God's bright bolt and thunder. O let me Anchor underneath your Lee; But ne'er spread ensigns of an enemy. Now Gods will thus revealed is termed commanding, So called (as seems) for our weak understanding: At leastwise as commandment doth imply, Unaptness, or inflexibility. Which though by Angels done, and out of hand, Yet as but can, with Angel's Nature stand; Whose absolutest Actions, never are such; As to approach an uncreated pitch. Yet is me thinks, life to a free concurring, Of Stream with Stream, moved by the Fountains stirring: Always remembering, that within the head, Lies all the life, that's in the members spread. Yea Christ himself, when once he hath put down, Authority and Power, shall yield the Crown. To God the Father: that the Deity May all in all his dear loved Members be. Authority and Power, thus much importing, By Law and Ordinance, a forced extorting. And thus Christ's Prayer, for his is verifi'de That he in them, and they in him abide. Who doth both will, speak, think, and live, and move In every soul unite to him in Love: Like as the Soul, still in the body's senses: Its executions outwardly dispenses. Thus God doth use to execute his will, In such (I say) as he vouchsaves to fill; Though he such Organs, needeth near a deal: But all is done, for silly man's avail: Needs not (I say) who to himself is store, Of all rich Treasures, as is said before. Yet by a new and living way found out, Better to bring his blessedness about: That he might man, his late lost treasure win; His Jemm, House, Temple, to delight him in. He bows his heart by love from him to draw, What never could be wrung out by the Law. Can not (I say) in reverence be it spoken For by God's Power his will is never broken: So be obtained, till from himself first shedding His love: He set a second love a breeding. For such is Man, for frowardness and teen: As some crabbed, dogged cur, that I have seen: Which you may take: and all to beat and bang him, To make him stoop, and you shall sooner hang him. Who with the Marigould shuts 'gainst a storm: But opes at-large, when beams of grace shine warm. This way God deals and takes delight in this, That thus in him his spouse delighted is: Like a most kind and tender hearted Lover, Who his own dear heart's joy, and grief, doth suffer: Or Friend on whom, his friends content rebounding, Is to his heart, a double joy resounding. As of a well moved lute, the trembling strings, Unto a well moved ears, sweet murmur: Or as two souls, by ligaments from either, Within one body, were unite together. Thus well the Father with his soon agrees; And thus the Son partakes his qualities. Yet here but in a measure I confess, For we are here but in a wilderness; Where penury of bread and water wring us, Where foes assault, and fiery serpents sting us. Where lusting thoughts, from Egypt store defile us, Where Midianites entrapping snares beguile us. Our health more resting (for our Faith is small) That we are known, then that we know at all. For were it full, our joy would be so strong, This mortal life could not continue long. But here the best, do but in little measure, Enjoy that rich inestimable treasure; As Vessels that contain, not past their bearing; Or bodies that endure, not past their wearing, Though I confess a difference of degree, Is here as well, as shall hereafter be: Some newly born, and in the Mother's lap; Which skill no more, than sweetness of the pap. Who (save in their desires) do quite disclaim All hopes of Sonship, to belong to them: Whose hate to sin, is yet so wondrous sore: Then yield to it, they'd rather die before. Some in the vigour of their youthful prime Suffer and do, by intercourse of time: Now soy'ld (their Arms, not closely clasping on) Yet Victors in the spiritual fight anon. Some Father's grow● both circumspect and wise, In spiritual combats through long exercise; By constant walking in a godly way, Able for God, both much to do and say▪ For though our deeds do nothing add nor minish To God nor to what Christ (not we) could finish; Yet, that it may be better manifested, That this life bread is thoroughly digested: It's looked for ●hat it the eaters drive, In courage, strength, and manly acts to thrive: For sweet it is one's heritage to see, But sweeter far to feel it so to be. Now here through sanctity we entrance make: Yea, sound possession of God's kingdom take. Our God being like some wondrous loving Father. Who choosing an adopted Son, the rather To let his Son his mind the better know, That all is his, and that he means it so: Not only by his writings doth convey, Or state him in his live all he may: That he far off in other countries' being, Might feed his hopes, by seals and writings seeing, But gives him leave, and freely bids him come: And in his life-time makes his house his home: Allowing him his diet at his Table, And for his horse, a standing in his stable. Provision of his Chamber, and his Bed, To come and go, and rest his weary head. This man can then by demonstration show, That he is heir; yea, feels the same is so. Now for our present case t'apply this to it, I will forbear, since every one may do it. Only I say, who truly is an Heir Of Christ his Kingdom, makes his entry here: Yea, some enjoy it in a great degree, Great in itself, though not respectivelie. What measure though I deal not here to say, Meddle not with that, who meddle with it may: Wherein thou needs exceeding wary be, Of judging others by what is in thee. For shall I others gifts and graces stint, Because myself can see no farther in't? And who art thou that d●rest so confine God's bounty to that straitened breast of thine? True grace still eminent, of grace will own, Admire and reverence where the same is known: Not once disdaining to be thought to be Inferior to another in degree. For this one thing that we do somewhat think us, To nothing, in the pit of pride doth sink us: Not that but shows sometimes for substance goes, And that men ofttimes are deceived so: But ignis fatuus never yielded smoke, Nor Owls long hidden lie within the poak. Yet that no hindrance is, why some indeed And verity may not in grace exceed. Such mastery t' obtain against their sin, Such constant feeling of God's favour win. So comfortable and so sweet abode, Such fellowship and walking with their God, That nature, nay, themselves shall much admire, That e'er they should continue or acquire: (As some of our late well approved Divines, Have testified in their new extant lines) Why should it so incredibly be thought, That men should into such a case be brought: As both we find the Scripture doth avow, And good men's past experience too allow? And who art thou dar'st scoff at, or deny, That for sincerity thou ne'er didst try? Nay, canst thou do it, tell me by the way? (That its impossible, I do not say) Since grace there is, and grace its face doth show, Why judgest thou the heart thou dost not know? I grant thou may est upon the parties, where Some answerable fruits do not appear. Pronounce that they but rotten branches be, And no sound members of the living tree: But therewithal beware, that thou good seed Do not pluck up together with the weed. Give me a man that can himself set free, From imputations of Hypocrisy: For still more labour he bestoweth in it; More cunningly, men thinks: he strives to spin it. Since this is so, what means hast thou to spy it: More probably, than th'other to deny it. So then where thou good signs sees, how much less Canst thou these Parties charge with doubleness. Not that but Maskers by contempt, awateing Those apeish Jugglers, and their counterfeiting: Who having not the heat of Grace within; A superficial self wrought web, begin: Self wrought (I say) for where true grace is seen: The Parties Patients, more than Actors been. Still understand me, not in any case: The means hereby, I lessen or debase. Since commonly, God in and by the means; Bestows on his, this rich and happy gains. But to return, mistake I confess, In Christians one another sort no less: That Hypocrites, I willingly let pass, Who counterfeiting what he never was. As one who doth the praise of goodness favour; The thing itself, yet never the rather savour: Who by his seeking, how to be accounted, 'Mongst such, as to some pitch of grace are mounted: And outwardly the business undertaking, Quite ●ars the matter, in the very making. These I let pass, being such defigured mates: As makes themselves unbid associates. Of them I nothing say, but of dear brothers, Of mis-conceits, 'twixt Christians, one and others. But out, Alace! will no man undertake? 'Twixt Paul and Barnabas accord to make: Mu (I the man, so far unfit) be he Somewhat to say? or nothing said must be: Or is the one part, so obstinately bend; It may be counted labour vainly spent. Or have the other eyes, and do not see: Nor can with meekness they restored be. Or if not so, do brethren quite give over, To labour so, their brethren to restore; Or do their Conscience testify that ever They thereto have employed their best endeavour? Or is the one part willing, and the other Backward unto the duty of a Brother: Or would in meeting still more jars arise, And cause the one part th'other to despise. Raising an heap of doubts and quarrels more, Than ever came in question yet before. Or is't in vain to strive? that inward light, That some decernes, to paint to others sight: Would some disdain to hear, or to be told, Of mysteries that meaner men behold? Or think they should be thereby much despised, At least accounted not so well advised: Or hath the one part cause of jealousy, That th'other deals not in sincerity? Is any side with prejudice so led, Words may not rightly be interpreted? Is any side (say I) must taking parts, Remain, where should be Harmony of hearts? Or, is their main truths left undescried: Or, are men carnal, or is Christ divided? But, O! what means and parties might be found, To search out these things to the very ground? For, as for me, I am a silly man, Unable and unfit these things to scan: To whom it may be said, look thine own eye, Before thou fault in others dost espy: But 'tis no spying faults, where what's amiss, Through misconceits, one labours to redress: And lo, how Zion droops, love lies along, Even like to die, who then can hold his tongue? Then somewhat will I say, and somewhat must, Though sin say no, and I lie in the dust: And if that any these my words despise, Say, he hath met with one more bold than wise: And if he listeth let him add this too, Who can more boldly then blind byard do. And if he think a Mediator still, Should be a man discreet of place and skill, Of good desert, who needs not be ashamed, To find a fault, where faults are to be blamed, To either part indifferent, or at least One, who on all sides hath some interest: And he that judgeth me to be none such, Well far his heart, I will not blame him much. For I am greatly conscious to myself. Of indiscretion, ignorance and pelf; Yea, sin and weakness, insomuch that I, At all disdain not to be said so by: Yet thus much say I for apology, I take not on me this or that to be: Nor seek I the pre-eminence and state, To be some dooms-man things to arbitrate: But leave to each man, as he thinketh best, To censure it, and me even as he list, Praying that Gods, not man's regard, may be In chiefest honour, and respect with me; Not that I light esteem man's love or hate, But would to Gods, keep man's subordinate. And for my taking parts, my answers this, I see not where a real difference is; For this I count as none, where men accord In substance, though some difference be in word; But had there been, and I had therein ranked me, I know not who would for my Work have thanked me: Nor seek I for't, for that, nor for this stuff, Which though perhaps it now endure a snuff: Some honest heart may yet, when I am dead Vouchsafe to Read, and think not evil said: And howsoe'er the manner I may miss, I'm sure I know what min intention is. In fine let this serve for a period here, If ill I say, let all men witness bear. For difference than I say, I do not see, In these Garboils a main one yet to be: If men by rule of Charity be led, That things may rightly be interpreted: For as I grant some worthy to be checked, Because dark speech they do too much affect, So by misunderstanding, answer me, May not some hearers too blame worthy be. Far b● it from me here in any wise, For dark and doubtful speech t'apologize: Much less for that accursed worthy hating Damned Romish practice of Equivocating; The which though by Nature all men liars be, Who willingly maintains, accursed he: Nor do I judge of Charity as blind. But say it's no sharp censurer by kind; Whiles Christ and his Apostles plainly spoke, Did their true sense each hearer undertake; Nay, who'll deny, God doth to some unfold, That others cannot see though they be told, No, though thou spell them in the plainest ways, Withal the best words thou canst once devise. For what sees flesh, or man regenerate too, So far as blind corruption hath to do? Which may a reason be, why this man brands That for obscure himself not understands. Like him that cried, the candle gives no light, When as (poor man) the want was in his sight: That man whose speech is out of feeling spun, Thinks it perspicuous as the midday Sun: Not that I here do go about to blame Some, (who at others landlie though) exclaim, With such like words: O these are they that see That which to us is but a Mystery: Nor that I point out, or exemple sie For eminence, this or that man, I, Nor yet the other for defect in grace, Once aim at, or endeavour to debase: But say, who scorn that other should discern More than himself, this lesson well must learn. Take heed of thinking he doth somewhat know, Lest he know nothing as he ought to do: I speak to them too, who disdains at such As simpler he, and know not yet so much. And whereas there be more or less degrees, Of spiritual insight each one sees: I lay this ground, more grace one hath, still he Thinks other better than himself to be: For why in others man th'effects but knows, Within we see sin in the very cause: And that is plain in this, that in their hearts, Such are more vexed than all their other parts; Nor say I now, that Nature cannot see, In humane learning, difference of degree, And as is said, Grace hath for other eyes, And Wisdom to discern too, none denies: Yet one main property of clearly seeing, Is not to much to eye ones own well being. But with good Job, to listen too not scorn, His Maid's admonishment, though basely born: I oft have heard a godly man confess, Himself beholding for his skill no less, And spiritual insight how to bare the face, And secret passages, 'twixt sin and grace: To some one poor distressed Soul that lies, With bleeding, and with sore and blubbered eyes, Who never a letter know, can on the Book, Nor dare for sin, scarce up to Heaven look: Then all his Studies, or his humane guides, Books, or what other humane help besides: And good cause why such folk have so clear fight, For God sets in the Soul his candle light: Yea, makes it even a Holy School, wherein His Spirit and Satan strong disputants been; The Soul mean while, yea oft the Body walking, The hands at work, the tongue employed in talking. The eyes at view, I almost said even sleeping: Hear these two talk, their acts in earnest keeping, Which needs must be a passing way to fill, That simplest Soul with wondrous spiritual skill: And this made David too a good practiser, Then all his learned teachers so far wiser, As to speak truth: how should it other be, But such must practise of necessity So deep impressions both of love and fear, Stamped in their Souls of things that touched so near? And this hath made some speak, how much they found, Themselves to Prayer and Temptation bound, For finding out of that hid Scripture sense, They ne'er could gain by labour nor expense, Learning and Arts, as handmaids unto Grace, My meaning is, by no means to debase; For where these two have both their proper site, That man must needs prove rarely exquisite: But that's where Grace the other closely doth lay, Down under hatches from the light of day, For ken itself once ne'er, so little stronger, It will be Mistress, but the Maid no longer: A cause why those, who lay as chiefest ground, Bare Eloquence, doth yield so harsh a sound, And burden so, a sanctified ear, With such a weight, as grievous is to bear: True Eloquence I blame not, but such froth, As all in sounds out from the speaker goeth: The base-born Imp, whose pedigrees derived From spurious Seed, of learning wrongly wived, Blame-worthy most, when as in holy writ Affected Humane Flowers varnish it. True Eloquence is in its splendour, where Fullness of matter, words doth overbear: Setting the heart of such a large extent, Like a full Vessel that must needs have vent: Or well-charged Piece, whose bullet fircely drives, So violent, that it with lightning strives: The chief intention which one hath in hand, Being how to make his hearer understand, As best content, when he th'impression leaves, And clearest sight of what himself conceives: Unlike that Soldier, who more cares in fight, Fair to discharge, then where his bullet's light: Still Gentlemen fair and far off the shoot, Missing the Paper, and sometimes the Butt. But the good Archer, who the Game would win, Cares not how fairly, but how near the pin. Accordingly things are to hearers brought, As they before are in the speakers wrought: For what man gives another of a store Which himself hath not in some sort before? A cause why such whose heart and tongue agree, So wondrous powerful in their preaching be, And those who teach not by experience so, So little profit by their preaching do. What use hath eloquence, but to impart, To other men, the language of the heart: Wherein the plainest words that wit can find, Will come far short to model out the mind? So almost infinite and ne'er divine Words, rather seem its language to confine; Whereto, yet all that may most fitly sort, The speakers thoughts most lively to import: Whereby more light to hearers may accrue, Yea, though it seem ne'er so strange and new, Are commendable, yea, necessary too. (Though most men think its but too much ado) And plain, another thing than words high born, Where wind instead of Substance doth adorn: Which Sermons stuffed with eloquence and phrase, ne'er pierce means hearts, but sets the wits at gaze: The Preacher's, like the neat spruce City Dame, Who, when an hungered from a feast she came, And asked by her Maid (and therewith chidden) Why she eat not with others that were bidden? Said fool, the cause I feasts frequent I trow, Is not for meat, but manners there to show. Now for new words, some men as error-breeders, Condemn, and term them fruits of fancie-feeders: To this I say, and hope I say aright, Some words termed new, oft gives a greater light Into the Spirits meaning of the Word, Then otherwise a sentence will afford. Always foreseen, they do not disagree, With that sound touch stone of all verity: Nay, of absurdity, nor error sound, Which if they do, than cast them to the ground: Because man's wit subject to falsity, And thereto prone, by Nature as we see, Doth catch an error sooner from a word, Then credit to long tales of Truth afford. In which respect our words we well must scan, As is observed by a worthy man: New words must too be moulded in a mind, Enlarged by grace, and helped by nature's kind: For Nature here a handmaid we exclude not, So she into her mistress room intrude not: Since Grace must somewhat have to work upon, No Seeds takes rooting on a naked stone, Grace yielding oft accordingly improvements, As Nature doth fit, or unfit endowments: For to the well-tuned Lute, the oaten quill, Yields (for delight) though man'd with ne'er such skill Herein a large imagination much Availeth to the yielding forth of such: Which is for every form, a formless table, And how much larger, so much better able, To bear and represent to judgement's eye, More lively Pictures to shape speeches by. It's a good help, I say, namely in this, That many a figure therein framed is; And yet the sentence ne'er th'obscure neither, But more apparent made by much of either: And if you say, that figures little need Where truth is meant, to stand in any stead; I say, read but our Saviour's life throughout, Tell me what Chapters you can find without, I almost said, what verses? sure if any, Full well I wots there be not very many: For this frail Life so slender knowledge brings, We see but here the outward side of things, And must the same express, not as we please, But as we may, by such weak means as these: Weakness I do not to the Word impute, But say words serve, our weak conceits to suit, Wherein the Lord to silly manward bends, And to our weak capacity descends. Yet is itself unsearchable profound, Where Elephant may swim, and find no ground; And doth in glory infinitely shine, Being one with that Majesty Divine: Which though I do not, nor yet rightly may, Of God's Word (as 'tis writ in Paper) say In that respect a Creature, yea, also Shall fade and perish, as such Creatures do. But to leave this, we judge here by events, Our senses guided by mere accidents, And must have things in such a sort expressed, As fitteth our Capacities the best; For in their cause to know things as they be, This is reserved for Eternity. Save that sometimes some glimpses of that Light, Shine here at seasons to our inward sight: Of spiritual things while God (a spirit being) Shapes some good Souls a shred of his own seeing, Which might be cause why Prophets could foretell, What divers ages afterwards befell. But now for uncouth words, if those I say, Hurt; 'tis where pride and arrogance bear sway, Men speaking things ne'er in themselves discerned, But only at the mouth of others learned: Wherein I wish myself, and all men wary, How we in these respects ourselves do carry: And that Paul's counsel well observed may be, Be wise according to sobriety. But herein many I believe have been, Yea, and yet are too much defective in: Nor do I strive hereof myself to free, But wish clear sight, my sailings more to see: For this it is in some declining case, As (woe is me) what wanes are oft in Grace: When as the flesh gins to grow secure, The spirits Curb unwilling to endure, Temptations baiting of their eager charge, Grace leaving for a time my heart at large, High self-conceits in me not downright killed, Rather the heart with foul presumption filled, Most ready all God's promises to take, That to security may furtherance make: The judgement full of these conclusions stuffed, (Which by the way doth make the heart so puffed) These, and such like, that my salvations free, That works but only show my Faith to be: That though God doth not alwayet manifest To me his love, nere'lesse in his own breast, It's sure enough, as marks and mercies past, Witness whereof perhaps some heartless taste, Doth then remain, recorded long before, Within the Register of memories store, Which morsels, when the flesh hath got: it hies, And then unto a stomach crowd applies: From whence down to the spiritual members sent They breed exceeding hurtful nutriment; This peradventure may be reason why, Some on marks passed so loath are to rely, Which used to lead though to a higher measure, Are to the Soul a very worthy Treasure. (For that the flesh these to its ●urther fall Converts; the new man cannot do withal) These help too, as a staff to lean upon, Oft in afflicted Souls when feeling's go. They hurt by accident, when from supply Of some rare Preachers sweet delivery; The flesh ideas to itself doth frame, Of freedom, which (alace) is but in vain, Which falling on a Stomach sitting for it, Makes new Creation droop, and sore abhor it: And oft with Paul to sigh and look about it, And cry for help and means to go without it, When yet perhaps it proves a faster guest, Then to be packing at the first request. For carnal reason its a steadfast friend To all designs whereto the flesh would bend: I call these Stomaches crowd in this respect, For their spiritual calors' great de●ect: For sure there's times, when as God's Children are Like Bees in wi●ter season, branches bare, Yet seasons too, when he their Vessels sins, And warms their hearts, as with refreshing wires: Yea, when God's spirit, the sweet & pleasant showers Of promises, into their bosoms pours: The season warm, the ground well digged and dressed, Whereby it moisture better may digest: Where lack of Sun and moisture more t●en needs, There oftimes many a beg and ma●●ish breeds. As in our neighbour Irish ground by name, We have at large experience of the same; For give some Soil more moisture than behoves, And it forthwith into a quag-mire proves. But Rivers in God's Sanctuary flow, And stand not in such filthy puddles so. This may because, why Christ himself did say, To his Disciples ready then away: Yet many things I have to say to you, But you are weak, and cannot bear them now. Wise Fathers let their Sons have liberty As they have wit to guide it: for we see, Let th'heir in noneage feel himself young master, 'Tis all to nothing but he'll prove a waster: Makes revel rout, let's silver handfuls shiver, Thinking his portion will last out for ever, And of his Patrimony gets such vent, That ere full age, oft stock and all is spent. Alace, poor Child, through want of wit and skill ●n right discerning of the good and ill: Himself he thinks how so ill he merit, His loving Father ne'er will disinherit. Whereby such bl●ws he to his livel'hood gives, As he shall hardly see through while he lives: Or else at least it brings a smarting skin, And many a heavy frown to hedge him in, With threats, that if such courses be not left, He suit shall of his birthright be bereft; Whereof, the whiles he lives in deadly fears, Himself he more on his good carriage bears: Bringing home often many a weary back, With Inning that, which he before did slack. And with hard toil, and sweat out of his brows, Offer such fruit, as in his garden grows: For it's not ill, that such lewd lads as he Should know themselves within command to be: Yea, and be taught by strict, strict observation, What 'tis to be out of God's frame and fashion: And not to have his lands till he can use them, Lest he, by prodigality abuse them. For most of young men have their youthful fits, Oft coming to their lands before their wits; And commonly are called Bucks o'th' first head, ne'er weighing how their Father was bestead: Whiles with great toil, and sweat of brows, he bought Th'inheritance which now they set at nought, Who play at fast and lose, light come, light gone, Like snow in Summer, on a Sun-hot stone. These must be first taught by the Road to know What 'tis to use their Patrimonies so. What if such life be still continued? No hope for them, but disinherited. And still, as they are of a duty quailing. Their Master never of due reckoning failing. This tutors them, and as a hired groom, Still holds them under, till their freedom come. But that once there, than all that's past they see Mere Rudiments, and but School-fashions be: Wherein un'wares, they have been trained long, To get them skill, and pluck their plums among; Yea, hard hemmed in, by th'masters straighter hand, Till they their state might better understand: Much like the untamed Colt, the Horse, or Mule, Who (if he show his strength) no man can rule. But true skill comes not till the time appointed, That they are with the Spirit of Sons anointed: Whereof more measure one enjoys indeed, The lesser he of Rudiments hath need: For Childhood thoughts, and skill, but like it brings, But riper age doth banish Childish things: And now the ground of learn well begun, He needs not each inch to his rules to run. Not that I dream of such a rule erected, As that God's Word should so become neglected: But that th'spirit, which from the word ne'er swarves, Guides all God's Children as occasion serves: And leading them to what's there spoke or meant In express words, or by good consequent: Whereof the very scope, the mould, and frame Is in the heart deep written by the same, And is to every one his heap of Treasure, According to his several pitch and measure, Serving for Life and Actions as a Law, There-out sound rules and lineaments to draw: Whereby Gods Children in good measure can Make up the model of a Christian man: As from that store-house where things old and new, The good householder for his household drew, Wherein the Spirit, with the written Word, In one self same doth evermore accord. Which word of God so spoken by the spirit, May fitly well, the name of inward merit: This term I use, its working to express, And in no humour of new fangleness. Here by the way, I would desire amain This grant of thee that fearest God, to gain, That is, as I would none should be obscure, In wilful use of words which doubts procure: So thou shouldst still too hasty censures fly, Since who's in fault it may a question be: He, for dark speech uneasy to be found, Or thou, because thou'rt weak to understand. I heard a good man once new Phrase control This for example (inward in the Soul) Which me thinks deep impression (I profess) Doth in th'affections fitly well express, For which that he good cause, yet did not know I dare not judge, but think it might be so: For reverence, which I to his learning bear, His wisdom, godliness and silver Hair, But that he wanted knowledge how to give A tolerable sense thereof, who can believe: It may be he dislike it as a guest, Bred as he thought in a distempered breast. But woe is me, why do we go to wars? And make a breach about these verbal jars? I wish that Charity may every where, In these contentions equal balance bear, And yet no further than things do accord With verity, and wisdom of the Word: Word-striving (with a good Divine) I say, I much mislike, and wish they were away: As our dear mother's loss, much more than gain, And therewithal She's wearied out in vain: Yet grant I too, some things but verbal seem, Which we at no hand lightly may esteem; Proving (in Christ his Ship) like little holes, Or some small clew, which like the snowball rolls, Whereof enough examples might be yielded, Of Heresies, of small beginnings builded: As of Nestorius, Eutiches, and others: Those base-born buds, and hateful brood of brothers, Against the which, good warnings well to arm In these worst times, I grant will do no harm. Christian's must still labour to bear a mind, Not seeking faults, nor in plain misses blind: Not seeking cause (I say) like him which to His question, whether man helped God or no, In any work: end answered with denial, Is said t'exclaim, and make a strange replyal: Alleging for his proof this pregnant ground: Out of the Judges easy to be found: Where those are termed accursed by the Word, Who 'gainst the mighty helped not the Lord. Nor may we be like Anaxagoras, Who could not see that Snow white collored was. But to return whence I but lately left, God's Sons must once be of self-works bereft. When they as dung, shall suffer all disgrace, And faith and love take standing in their place, And that the Heavenly Sabbath dawning is, When we from our works rest, as God from his: I do not such a resting here maintain, As may cessation from good duties gain: But such a seizing as is from the Law, A resting in our Saviour's yoke to draw: Not that the Law is for its substance changed, But to God's Saints in other order ranged. It's nature now in Christ so qualified, That its grim face we better may abide: At least the while its glory passeth by, Close in the cliffs of Christ his wounds we lie. Whether like him, who once appeal did make, From Philip sleeping to the same awake: Flying for refuge, we in safety be Under that perfect Law of Liberty: Which flying is by faith, a still relying On God's free favour, both alive, and dying: Whereout our Sabbaths works, which now are sport, Though heretofore performed in slavish sort: For neither circumcised, nor otherwise, But a new Creature God doth chief prize. Yea, this is it wherein he pleasure takes, And which in works, a real difference makes: According to which rule, who walketh, he Shall ever happy, and most blessed be. Wherein, if any to the Angel's train, Of pitch, or parity could here attain; Who oft on earth by God's permission walk, Yea, eat and drink, converse with men, and talk, (Acting Gods will) yea in a sort do bear Heaven still about them, as they sojourn here, Ever remaining in that happy case, As to behold the heavenly Father's face: Then should they have, I dar be bold to say, As little need of Rudiments as they. For to the pure even all things holy be, But to th'impure they fall out contrary. To every one as he in grace doth grow, Things are to him according thereunto: But, for because man's nature is but frail, And destitute of means full soon would quail, God of his mercy doth us here afford, Prayer, Public, Private, Sacraments, the Word, Temples, and Preachers, Times, and Seasons fit, And set apart for due frequenting it: Wherein I see not, but there needs a strife In me, much like as for my limbs and life; I mean to find God's presence in the means, For else the outward action little gains: Which blessing yet I cannot look to find, Unless myself closely to the means I bind: Yea, when I feel my heart most backward bend, Then most of all it needeth sore constraint, (As 〈◊〉 hardened 〈◊〉 and much unfittnesse, In stocking duties bear me woeful witness) F●r things in me are not yet brought about, That th'inner man can bear the other out, But still need unto all good means to press. (As freely to God's glory I confess) But if that any (as it may be some) Conceives he is to such perfection come, As that his life a holy Sabbath is, Though he task, work, and time, set duty miss: Yet midst of all his worldly vocation, His heart is up in prayer and meditation, And that good thoughts in ordinary greet him, Upon occasions still as any meet him: So that his actions, yea, his thoughts and words Glory to God, and good to men affords, (As in some measure novices in grace On others God may banquet for a space, I say in measure, for I do not hold Perfection here, as I before have told.) I envy not his case, happy man he, Let him rejoice in God, and pity me: And were it not, that men are bound to fear And reverence to God's ordinance bear, And might a Christian dangerless dispense, With other Christians welfare or offence, (For aught I see) I should go near it, I, To think himself he might so edify, And with set times and duties, to be bold, And by his inward strength, firm footing hold. But seeing (as aforesaid) flesh is frail, And cannot look at Heaven, but through a vail, God's brightness being clearer than the light, Which seen in strength, would quite put out the sight: That Rudiments much like our bonnets brim, Will help our eyesight, though themselves be dim. I dare not for a world of gold advise, Men to forbear the least, lest, exercise, That any help or furtherance may afford, To God-word, and hath warrant from his Word: No, though they lived in the clearest light, That ever yet enjoyed earthly wight. For (were there no cause else) God's ordinance, though Neglect thereof no man could answer to: The simpleness whereof none may despise, Since by those foolish things, God daunts the wise: There may be in God's child, I grant, sometimes, (As in the top-branch of his first love-primes) Feeling himself deep in God's graces died: His Soul in God's pure streams well satisfied, Through much conversing in that spiritual business In Bodily less care and more remissness. I call this Bodily, the Church's order, In things that Christian liberty afford her: Set forms of duties; yea, the outward Letter, Time, person, place, all Rudiments the better: There's difference twixt bare actions (as to live) Or well, or ill, which form to actions give: I only mean herein [I do profess] That very form, which men call outwardness: An accident which to the Subject clings, And not the solid substance of the things: Nor outwardness as 'tis Hypocrisy. For so it is an evil quality: And every act so qualified is sin, Which I would no man should be fostered in: But I mean that for which (in every nature) Its Subject doth receive its form and feature, Which is the base portion of the two, That in God's service here on earth, we do: Herein, if any miss themselves shall find it: When deadness after shall give breath to mind it. Which here I'll not condemn, nor commend it, Let them who stir the controversy, end it. Only I say, as I have said before, Were we spiritual wholly, then no more: But instantly these Rudiments withal, Would of themselves, even by their nature fall. The Soul then from these outward things be freer Whereby it might enjoy its God th'nigher. For to the Soul, things earthly are a let, Made Rudiments, to serve our weakness yet: This may be cause, why in our spiritual home, Our bodies too shall spiritual ones become. Now of God's presence what's obtained below, I take not on me to express it, no. And whether, or how far one may remit, Or, what in each degree, is meet and fit. Yet this I say, if I in some man see, Show of more grace than e'er was yet in me. Whose life and carriage I cannot detect, The same apparently to contradict: (For I'll not plead for all, who do profess, By goodly words, their own much holiness) So be't he climb no more, but what the Word Saith, God to his both may, and do afford; Do others as they please, I dar not, I; That this their show may be in truth deny. For though Hypocrisy oft spins a thread, Good corn can hardly be discerned from weed: Yet mark what way a man his carriage bends, 'Twill give good light, whether his journey tends: Captains love Camps, Scholars attend the Schools, Husbands the ground, baby's please babes & fools. This world was but King Alexander's walk, Kingdoms, and Crowns the subject of his talk. Niggard's do love to talk of niggardize, And liberal men, of liberal things devise. Weak archers shoot but at a little length, For as the man's, so likewise is his strength: God hath his Davids from whose breast there springs, Thoughts of great hearts like the sons of kings; Of whom let this a special token be, That their own worths they least of all do see. I undertake not here to know or name, Particular examples of the same: Though whiles I see myself quite overrun; With sundry novices but new begun: And thinks (by them) what more 'tis like there be, Well grounded ones, and of antiquity: Whereof some samples (not to me unknown) Have been, who now do reap what they have sown: Whose testimony I dare well believe, Which by occasion I have heard them give: That they some late years of their h●r● abode: Sweet comfort, joy, and fellowship with God; Did constantly (or for the most part) keep; Wherewith I doubt not, but they fell asleep: Of whose both life and death to testify: Let all who knew them speak as well as I. I say, whiles that some, such as these I knew: I find good cause to hope there are ●n●●gh. But who of this thing would yet further know, Gen. 5.22. Luke 4.6. Let him to God's word and experience go: More yet I say, who makes the King a feast: And seeds him with the dish he loveth best: Though (in the mean time) somewhat serviceable Be (through that care) neglected in the stable. It shall not be so blamed (if blamed at all) As if it touched the presence or the hall, And Ordinances, so in themselves accord, That each to others time, and turn afford. Now't may well be, the spiritual mouth doth rest, From chewing whilst the stomach doth digest: Nature in man corrupt and finite too, Cannot with all things have at once to do. As for example, hear and read and pray, One me suffice to bear the mind away. Since there is still, as saith the wisest King, A seasonable time for every thing, The use whereof, I wish men wary in, Lest aught neglected should become a sin. See how God dealt with Moses when he broke Through zeal the Tables, which himself did make. And at the Rock again, how unbelief: A sin scarce named, did bring so wondrous grief. I● fine, let Christians, labour to be wise, And Paul the Apostle counsel not despise. The best gifts still desiring, until they Attain unto the more excellenter way. The which when any shall attain unto: Th'anointing will direct them what to do: But still in spiritual things fly we extortion. Bearing ourselves but after saiths' proportion. For we are yet as little children here, And do ourselves but like to children bear. How ere ●●ts eye the main chance, look to that: Lest that the leaner kin● devour the fat. Thus I let pass the body's slackness too, Such duties; as God's Spirit wills it do. Since where that is and cherished, Satan's seed I● sown; temptations and illusions breed: And say, men may (the soul in some good plight) Drawing the body after wi●h delight:) Have this last dish, not all in order get, Or if it be not so observed yet: Through a desire to void what Paul so fears, Th'observing days and times, and mouths and years. Since outward exercise small good doth bring: But Godliness is good for every thing: Believing that this outward man's own dying. Is inwards greater comfort, and reviving. As where (è contra) th' inward man decays: Th' outward itself into its room conveys. Some may think thus, I say, and that withal; The constant use of outward things let fall: Through a persuasion, that such strict observance: Is not a course becoming sons, but servants. By outward things note, still I mean such duties, As may be called the Churches outward beauties: As thinking thus, the more the bodies bound To these; the more the Soul's in darkness drowned. For still God's spirit is of aspiring nature, Seeking the clearest view of God's bright feature: And gladly here would find it, but alace, Things are not yet comed to that happy pass: For till it be refined, this house of clay, Weighs overmuch to soar with quit away. I speak not here with purpose or intent, To give true zeal the least discouragement, Which on the wings of faith doth mount and hie, And takes no resting underneath the sky. But wish men jealous of such freedom found, Which leave at large, the outward man unbound. For though in such transcendent state as this God so upholds, men go not oft amiss. Yet is it possible for one to stray Wherein our nature weakness doth bewray. Whereof this an occasion, but no cause May be, as are of bribery wholesome Laws. But say some (for that time) with merry gale, Float on their sail, puffing up withal. Yet may it prove ( they shall touch the shore) They'll be constrained perforce to ply the ore? How confident are some in this estate, That there then comfort never shall abate. Still having in their month this cheerful song, They ne'er shall move, their hill is made so strong: That no temptation ever shall prevail, To cause their faith to faint, much less to quail? But all like clouds before the summer Sun, Shall fade and vanish till they quite be done. That they unshaken, still may make abode, Like a strong pillar in the house of God. What may one say to this then? bid God speed them, Or else with Joshua, challenge and forbidden them. I neither blame, nor this do justify, But if men thus believe, so do not I. I mean, It is no sound Axiom general: But who holds so, under reproof do fall: Only I say it may be some men's case, Particularly God's mercies thus to trace: And if it be an error, or a sin, Then it's the same that David once was in; And I say more, it's ordinary too, Most of God's Saints in this state thus to do: Which from what Spirit, it doth or may arise: I leave to better judgements to advise: And thus conclude, what is to me if short, God cut their days; and mean while fit them for't? By letting them within his bosom lie, To rest them in his lap, until they die; So many tho: As make this general, (As I have said) under reproof do fall: For that God's Word always remaineth true, God's Church shall wain, and strength again renew. And like the Moon still have its time and turns: Yet with the bush consumes not, though it burns. But to return; this sense of graces slacking, Satan then vantage of men's tempers taking: Sets in the brain, what in the heart should lie: To make them wise, above sobriety. Inciting them through latcheate felt of grace, The Stock of liberty to spend apace: An still to hold on in their former course: Then which to men, thus fitted, none is worse; As though one of five hundred pounds' revenue, Should after a thousand, speed and keep retinue; Or like the younger son of some Esquire, Who brought up with such diet and attyr: As fits his Father's house: after keeps State: On a poor farm, and lives at former rate. Forgetting his Annuity, but run; Maintain a farmer, not a gentleman. Some men are thus deceived for finding grace: In the first prime thereof, put forth apace: Much like those trees, which digged and dressed will do, Bear more that year, than afterwards in two. Or the young child, which at the first doth thrive: More in one year, than afterwards in five: The humour radical, being at that time In its full vigour in the very prime: Grace (with the corn of Hezekiahs' growing; The first and second year without their sowing: They think that soil the third year also will, By God's sole blessing, bring a harvest still: And so forbear to blow again and sow; And ply their works as other neighbours do. But times will tell them, thus they ' l little win, And find their gain, but slowly coming in. I do not speak against it though that we Should in this prime estate industrious be: But labour then, I count it is but small; I scarce know, if I should it labour call. Since God's true service is to such a bless; Yea to the holiest, most delightful is: Provided that it much much spiritual be, For such with that estate will best agree: Yea all things to the spiritual men they do, Are holy, grace doth alter nature so: I mean as far, as they regenerate been, In which respect, it's said, they cannot sin. And so far too, as th'act itself not ill, Repugnant so to Gods revealed will. I say Christ's yoke is then no such great toil, (When th' hearts fresh anointed with the spirits oil) As afterwards when th'old man stronger grows, Which as he wins ground, still the new doth lose. And thus I count the worse, the new man speeds: More industry and labour still there needs. The Prophet saith, I'll wise and warry be, In perfect way, until thou come to me. The ground when barren, must have greater toil For lesser gain, then in a fruitful soil Some (having tried these things) cry out that this, No other but a mere delusion is. I mean who try the danger to rely, Without like inward power, or liberty. And in lose hearts, it doth in very deed Dangerous errors and confusion breed. By accident, while men will take in hand To know above, what they do understand: And these are in this manner said to know, Whose brain without the heart in these things go. This is that new cloth on th'old garment spent, Which is a cause, that all the whole is rend: And that new wine into old bottles filled, Which makes both wine and vessels to be spilled: Which if Christ's words (as they needs must) be true, God's not a workman which makes pieces new. But all at once, new hearts, new hands, new will; New love, new hate, new joy, new fear, new skill: If any frame; and have not all of these, Proportionable, such their labour lose. As who of liberty, such teachers been, As little lack of being slaves to sin. Sometimes confess they being on the score, Of upright Christians (so esteemed before) Thinking themselves so too, hold this for lewd: Till after they repentance had renewed. But O so sweet then was that little crumb More sweet than honey, or the honeycomb, For want of this renewing oft a heart, That cools in grace, to works would backward start: Nature and reason for the soul refining, To make her worthy thereunto inclining. That so works might stifle and stop the breath, And thrust themselves into the room of faith. The part regenerate, that it might obtain Its ancient fellowship with God again. Not so as though the part regenerate smelled The Hirelings task, but much much carnal felt, The whole to be; and so must needs come under: The burning mountain, and the voice of Thunder: Or else become these two extremes between, Of neither party, but a libertine: It's not brain knowledge that doth make men free, But where God's Spirit is, there is liberty. In quantity as faith proportionable: And other graces too are answerable: Then who so is in this untoward state: (With those who fear God worse, than death to ●ate) As they can neither make themselves believe; The Laws their Lord, nor yet by faith can live. Their way is this, since they will needs be free: Map of their Faith, to let obedience be. And judge, if small, or none be this proceeder; According thereunto is that its breeder. It's wantonness, which makes this Word so ha●ed: I mean, the Word, Liberty, and so be rated. To wit, when such as Liberty profess, Thus turn God's Graces into wantonness. There is an holy Liberty I grant, Which may the Devils, and all gainsayers daunt: And therein also difference of degrees; As in the brightness of the Stars thou sees: Which (with our late Divines) I think more clear: In our posterity shall yet appear. When once the Stone, that's cut withouten hand, Shall like a mountain cover Sea and Land. When God by his sore plague, shall on a day: Leviathan, that crooked serpent stay. When he shall so his vineyard purge and fine, That men shall sing of red and purest wine: When under David, his anointed King, He his out of Captivity shall bring: When they who once did pierce his dearest son; Shall weep and mourn, for that which they have done: When a New Temple God shall fashion so: As streams of life, shall from the threshold slow. Where shall resort (devoid of Dogs) the clean: For it's no carnal Liberty I mean. But of this pitch: this Iron-age comes short: God hath no doubt his time reserved sored. When as his Church, even here on earth shall close: With this sweet doctrine, faster I suppose; Yea, even now I dare not say, but some May to good measure of perfection come. As good presages, for hereafter be, Of New Jerusalem's prosperity: As Wickliff and John Huss in ages past; Were of that time, when Luther came at last. I fancy no particulars herein; Be who they may, who have or first begin. If thou seest some to aim at here and fall, Thou thinks to stand, look to thyself withal: But that it may appear, this Sate's not feigned, Look Master Rogers how it is attained: Which if that some in weaker means have got: Gods mighty power, and working limit not: If such through want of constant strictness lose it; Take thou good heed, who better knows to use it. The well beloved, sometimes skippeth in; When almost past, all confidence we been: And whether his abode be short or long; Whiles it remains, it makes a cheerful song: Until which time, let still God's Child expect God in the means, and watch but for the effect, It's inward work, which out the other bears; It's the first mover, that first moves the spheres. Let that within still guide the rains, or curb And sort thy motion to its proper orb; And if at any time, flesh get the rain: Rest not until, it be redeemed again. For otherwise, insensibly will grow, A senseless slumber, and thou shalt not know: Or such occurrences, as whereof the least, May bring more danger, than can be expressed: As sloth, profaneness: and such like the seeds Of many hateful, and accursed weeds. The while men do, the stock of grace imbessil; Striving to carry sail above their vessel. The head unwealdy for the body grown, Makes topsy, turvye, all quite overthrown. This is ov'rwise, and overjust to be, Whereby, so many desolate we see. To censure strange opinions, which I know not: I may not take upon me, No, I do not. But this is blamed in Familists I hear, Which others also may have cause to fear: All I can say, is I would have men be Wise (as is said) after sobriety. (For he that faith's proportion will exceed, Loseth his labour, and withal his meed) Yet to beware too, then in no wise plead For backwardness and standing in a stead: By these and like words, men not angels are, Who love to climb, a fall let them beware: To dream of constant fellowship with God; For weeks and months, is but conceits and odd; These and such phrases, while men often use, Many do them to sloathfulness abuse. I know they have their use and proper place: But such is seldom, and a rarer case. While men to press to good works are too slack, Striving to keep a straight unstrained back. For we must wisely words and speeches sort, After as times, place, persons fitteth for't: Had one to Paul's work, proud Galathians taught; St. James his doctrine, he had over reached: Or this to James, his Auditors applied, That faith alone sets free, had gone aside: Though both be true, each must applied be, Still to men's several necessity: Witness the State in general of the World, Which into such security is hurled. Security, nor Ignorance I trow: For most have knowledge, more than will to do. Though I must say, to know and not practise, Is no sound knowledge counted by the wise. And though it may be thought to little sense, Preposterous, and of bad consequence. The body to an action should be pressed, Before the heart be thereto well addressed: Yet true it is hand work in brick and clay, Will cause long looking for a holy day. Or at the least a groaning underneath, Such burdens as do make men pant and breath. And (as before I said) men must wisely do, In perfect way, till God come thereunto. And (this though grace be weak) will not be vain, Th'embers blown up, it will revive again. That being to the spirit liberty, Which to the Flesh will yoke and bondage be. O what an hunger was in many late, To search and labour out this spiritual state. Which ground in some, I trust laid long ago; The next work now is, how to build thereon: Always foreseen, that from the living spring: Our works their liveliness and vigour bring: Which though they want their measure that they should: (Grace being in the wain as I have told) Whereby, men them unsavoury works may call, Yet better half-loaf, than no bread at all. But to end this, like brother with his brother, The Law and Gospel, must be each with other: With fire and hammer, that to break the rocks: And this to quicken dead and withered Stocks: Then afterwards, the Law of Liberty, Doth follow both these necessarily: Which I according to the Scripture hold, To be the Law of love (as I have told. When as the love of Christ doth men constrain, Duty and Love to yield to God again. Wherein because, the flesh is wondrous slow: And doth unwilling to God's service go: Let rules be urged strictly in God's blessing; Yea to good duties, let there lack no pressing, And all well-willers say, God speed the plough: For there's on all hands backwardness enough. Witness the tracts, that some good men have made, Which lie but in our houses for a shade: I mean to make ourselves believe to know, Is our desire that we might somewhat do. When I myself have had one seven year, And yet for practice, ne'er a whit the near. Though for that purpose, this good Book was meant. Not Speculation or mere Compliment. * Roger's his practice of Christianity. And if I should affirm my chiefest let: Was that I could not find companions yet, To join therein (for th'Author who did make it: Prescribes Societies, should undertake it. My heart oft tells me, Thus I grant that slackness Of other men, is my most cause of slackness: Then in conceit I run through thick and thin, Some fellowship with God, this way to win: Whiles for the passing sweet, my soul sees in it; I seem (I say) full ready to begin it: Satan and Oppositions crouching low, At such a time, for danger of a blow: Or like an Angel, then at least appearing, Whiles he's but tidings, so far off him hearing: So seeking to persuade me, all is quiet: I need not undertake so strict a Diet. Self-love still telling me, as said before, That one foot forward is at least a score. Then blame I each one's backwardness to join; Like one that had in hope a Mint of coin: And still my hart, when Partners are most scant; Seems most desirous, and at greater want. Till giving th'onset, and things further trying: I find good cause to charge my heart with lying. For when in sooth, thereto I have disposed me; I find things cross, which ne'er before opposed me: Many a Lion in the way to let me: How e'er my will seemed on the way to set me. Whereas again, it keeps so great a toil For company, I find a plot or soil; By Satan laid, more lively to express, In others sloth; mine own much forwardness: Thereby into my secret thoughts to wring, A hideously and most pernicious thing. In blameing here, myself I'll not excuse Others, who do these worthy means abuse. For I protest, I cannot this deny; I find the most as backward too as I. Whereas it were meet, that brother with his brother, To the found practice, should invite each other. But a main cause, why most of us in vain, Endeavour this same practice to attain: Is for because, we do not so begin: As those who would so rich a treasure win; That is with Prayer and fasting wear sin out: Nor this great work, the whole man set about: But this shall be, when as God's precious love Shall warm our hearts, and cold affections move; Which if it be Lord, in that good season when; Thou sees it best for every one, Amen. But now for that, from which I have so strayed: Of which I trow, the Devil the ground work laid: Yet not without God's just decree and will: His own good ends, and purpose to fulfil. I mean in plain terms the earnestness and strife, Which in God's heritage is now so rife. Between the Grindletonians, so men call them: And for distinction, let that Name befall them: Distinction, without difference, let it be; For real difference, yet I cannot see; Between the Grindletonians, I say, And those that do oppose them at this day: Which needs must minister both grief and dread; To all live members, of the living head. Grief to behold, God's people thus distracted: Fear, lest through Satan's wiles, some harm be acted. I mean, lest men, through wont love abate, And Satan, their affections alienate. I speak not this for nothing, for I find His subtlety already in this kind. Even in mine own experience (I profess) As to God's glory, freely I confess. For while, I in thess Controversies bending: My best endeavours, for their better ending: Did find men's zeal (I say not stomaches) great: Barring (in my conceit) my hopes to treat. My Choler (from pursuing the disease) Be urged upon the party's selves to cease: Pressing me through some such unlooked for sound, Of misconstruction, which in some I found: To adverse thoughts sleely insinuated: Which yet no sooner I espied, but hated. Or else at least, mislike myself herefore, Because I could mislike these thoughts no more. But O let all God's Children warrie be; How they (but on plain grounds) vouch enmity: Rather instruct, if any one be blinded, With meekness such, as are contrary minded: Unless he prove a stiff and hopeless foe, Then let the Church a God's name use him so: For ought I know, the nearer I agree With opposites (keeping the verity) Liker I am (if any grace be in him; I mean mine enemy) by love to win him: A good old man, whom I myself well knew; There's divers yet alive, can vouch this true: Did by the blessed Virgins (but due) praise, Th'affections of some Popish people raise. Yea such devotion and attention win, And of good harvest, greater hopes begin: In one plain sermon, to allege no more; Then some more learned men did in a score. Now handling of the Controversy tho, I must commend as necessary too. Yet only to be used for shunning harms: When fair means boot not, than men take up arms. There's yet a course myself and others do, But overmuch in controversies go. And that is, where we think men are astray; We range as far the quite contrary way. Thinking we shall by setting these to these, Our adverse part at least wise counterpoise: When oft like him, that feared his house would fall) We prop so hard, it overturneth all. There was upon a time a question stirred, What was the testimony of the spirit: One answered, he held it to be this: When by God's spirit, one assured is. By reason out of Scripture of his case, Another said, That same an error was. For that the Spirit withnesseth (quoth he) To speak in proper terms (immediately) Yet he in fine concluded so to do, Was one kind of his testimony too: The answerer by this conceived, he smelled Th'opposers moving, and his pulses felt; That either he mistook himself opposed: When (he conceits) th'answer for peace was choosed. When as [immediate] is so harsh to many, As 'tis not almost yielded to by any: Or else, perhaps some over by conceit, Espied in answerer, he down would beat; This was in't self good, and perhaps did need: And well may such endeavours ever speed. Thus for because the godliness of such, And gravity thereto induce me much. Since learning and experience ought no less, Then draw respect and reverence I confess: Thus I expound him: but ne'er less I think, He did not sleep; though he then did wink. But let me never put the Sail-cloath to That I may better by the Ruther do: For how this wrought, I say not, this I wots, It brought forth an effect some wished not. But leave we this, where men do chief set Themselves 'gainst error, and profaneness yet: Their hearts run right, give every man his due, Th'affections godly, so the ground be true; Which doubt I do not meddle to decide: But leaves to better judgements to be tried. For I disclaim myself a judge to make, To controvert, or parts herein to take. But hereto chiefly my endeavours bend To gain accord, and prejudice prevent. However I have been deemed heretofore, A partial censure [if yet no more] If any say the Bonito, and I Do now live in the Sea, now in the Sky; Whom both the Sea disclaimeth for a fish, And Butcher's Shambles for a Yeaster Dish: Whom fowls pursue, when he the sky doth scour, And falling fishes eagerly devour. I answer, I still wish, I may, as best In God, and Conscience, testimony rest: If I well do, no matter who hath eyed it; If I ill do, no forge, from whom I hid it. Whiles Conscience knows, my sins recorded be Before a Judge; from whom I cannot fly. If I the world's applause, and favour gain; If he accuse, their praises are but vain. Fame sometimes may a false alarm send, The conscience never, but of this an end. Then thus I say, Who for God's honour sight: Let them go on, yet in the spirits might: But from God's Church, foul rancour keep thee hence, And every spot of hellish virulence. Let zeal and knowledge evermore agree, And ne'er let strife, but on just causes be: Which is the end, whereat God's people aim: And to their knowledge will pursue the same: More striving how to cause, men truth to know: Then how to give their skill the overthrow: Wherein, I no man's practice do accuse: So nor himself, nor others he abuse. How ever haply, some of pregnant wit, With some such weening may their fancies fit: Or else on my dejected state they meant; To give their ready wit and will the vent. Let me propound, for resolution's sake; So will I do: for no disputes I'll make: Only I say, If any list be stirring: He's Master of his Speech (I of my hearing) If it be true (as sound Divines consent) Faith most opposed, is then most eminent: And by th'Apostle termed the Evidence: Of things not now discerned by the sense. So called when weak, as when in strongest plight; (For it's expressed by term indefinite) To wit to each one, who in truth believe; An Evidence, sound and demonstrative Yea, that which doth God's children's hearts uphold In Crosses, and Temptations manifold: Yea, in their doubtings and afflictions so, As they despair not, as the wicked do: Whereon it follows of necessity, It must be active, and inherent be. And if it be injustice to detract From what one Brother doth well say or act: Nay, if too sharp a censure be but laid, On what's apparently ill done or said; And thus to judge, he carelessly doth miss, When yet through ignorance perhaps it is; Or this sin was deliberately done, When rashness might his reason overcome: ●his on presumption, when as yet he may, ●pon infirmity be drawn away: ●hat of ill conscience or of hate to me, ●hen want of heed, or other cause might be. ●ea, if we must still make the best we can, ●f th'words and actions of another man: So he be upright hearted, and his Word, ●r Act, a good construction may afford) ●f these be so, from hence then doth the doubt, ●hich I would be resolved on issue out. ●ut I speak, let me of one great crime, Wherein I have been charged in any a time ●o wit, with too much bolstering indulgence ●f words, that savour error and offence: acquit myself, if words so do it can, ●nd that clear me, which may another man: ●f not, my case shall so much lesser grieve me, because I know yet one that will relieve me. 〈◊〉 say, I have been wary as I could, ●s for myself, that I no error hold) 〈◊〉 ever since this variance did arise, ●he same in others not to Patronise; ●or any man, wherein I found him savour, ●f new fond Phrases, did I therein savour. 〈◊〉 ●ould then do no less, though I had smarted, Where I conceive man to be upright hearted] ●●d while such speeches from their mouth I hear, 〈◊〉 fitly may a good construction bear] ●t them interpret in the better sense: ●hich I might do [I trust] without offence: ●●d help them what I could too to express, ●heir true intent, [for I could do no less] ●t labour others might their meaning see: ●hom I perceive misunderstood to be. ●is might be done, yet none such overflow Charity, as some have termed it tho: ●hiefly, since conscience tells me, I did never, ●t what I judged the speaker meant deliver. Racking no strained sense from any word, But what the same might pregnantly afford: Which practice I should rather deem a mean Not error to confirm, but to reclaim, Whiles erring judgements (be so) men reduce, And words ill placed from error and abuse: Unto the Touchstone that it may agree With God and good men in the verity; Which to my simple skill, I still shall pray, I may endeavour to my dying day: Yet God forbidden, thou Lord of Heaven should, That I the least encouragement should yield To any one, to hold what is not sound, And in God's word hath not a settled ground: How far that's from my will, O Lord, thou knows, Though I therefore all earthly hopes should loss. Let ne'er such venom in my secrets lodge, Wherein let Christians charitably judge. Nor would I willing aught a triflie call, Which may to Truth be prejudicial. In least, least measure, for I this can find, That Moses might not leave a hoove behind, And if I herein any hindrance be, 'tis, (Lord, thou knowest) that I do not see: For well I wots, God's truth is all so dear, That one small titles loss he cannot bear: In all this speech, I do not undertake, All that are taxed with error, clear to make. Nor free the best, that they do never miss, (For who in earth so sound of judgement is) But things amiss, and presently retracted, And not with wilful obstinacy backed. There I must judge men teachable to be, And dar not brand them with inconstancy: Nor yet all such erroneous judgements call, Lest my reproof too large a compass fall. Nor that the man (time past) misled of late, Reforming judgement doth equivocat. Unless I know him commonly to use, Thus his own tongue, and others cares t'abuse: But I deny not, I have found some wrong, Wherein if I accorded to their song; Or to my skill have such a different lay, I leave it unto other men to say. Or did I ought unblamed pretermit, 'Twas that whereof I either doubted yet: Or fit occasions served not thereto, Which in reproofs must be observed you know. Yea, many lessons thereto needful are: Easy to miss, unless one be ware, Which might be cause (sometimes perhaps) wherefore I kept me silent, and reproof forbore. Yet ne'er so (to my knowledge) as for stay, I gave to error any willing way. For therein, first, God's word must be the ground, Next we thereto, by calling should be bound: Then see if others might not better do it, Also, whose ears thou makest witness to it. Lest to the man's less credit with his friends, Or more discredit with his foes it tends: Though in some cases, we, (I grant it true) Paul's rule against Saint Peter must pursue. Now furnished as is said, set in God's place, Then must one next put on th'offenders case; That as his sin he may not spare to blame, For love to him, and zeal to God's great Name. Yet must he with such self passion press, As not to seem too much compassionless. The heart then settled right for zeal and love, Calling from God assistance from above: Before one speak, in speaking for his grace, And for a blessing, for the after-space. Go on a God's Name in God's ordinance, And hope he'll thereto give his furtherance. Now I'll not say, that thus myself still do, But where I miss, I am blameworthy too; Nor hold I me excused to stand aloof, Though all these be not, and forbear reproof: To every party as occasion serves, And the condition of his case deserves. For he who doth not, [yet would variance end] 'Gainst every let in either parties bend: Wrongs both himself, and others, and sure he, Who sorts with all, shall not my dayman be. True charity will never presuppose, Men use sharp language only to their foes: Shall I in sight, where one my blow diverts, Conclude, he needs must with my foes take parts. As though, where brethren jar, brother with brother Kerbing the one, I needs must spare the other: Who sees in me, or deems [say so] some faults, And deals not plainly with my Soul, but halts. The which reproof may be in Charity, According as our Saviour's speeches be; It's no friends part to cease, or speak or do To either part, as one finds reason too. Unless perhaps, some party think him free, From all reproofs, such one shall go for me: If in the matter he deserve no blame, Nor in his ends, nor carriage of the same. I'll no● excuse myself, for my part neither, But I may join in missing too, with either. For should [as God forbidden] ones spiritual eye, Not keep its proper site, but stand awray: Then though the same be ne'er so clear and bright, That man [the while] shall never see aright: Whom with the Eunuch, one might thus demand What thou condemnest, dost thou understand? Saint Peter saith, some men there be, who do Rashly condemn the thing they do not know: The cause is where a beam doth blind the eye, Through a false glass, those other do espy. The Crab persuades sin fish, they wrongly swim, Because they go not backward way with him: Lord still pres●erve me, that I never may, Of good things which I know, not evil say. I trust, I shall under thy guidance go, My eyes and heart may be, not tainted so: I grant that passion doth sometimes prevail, To cause me greatly in my carriage fail; Yet doth my conscience testimony give me, My zeal did ne'er [unless my heart deceive me] In those Garboyes on th'other object but, But on the door of reconcilement shut: For as I saw strife to a period tend, Accordingly my passion drew to end. Now let me go on forward with my task, And resolution to my question ask: Whether the while God's Children doth despair, Their faith than lying on the lowest stair, Resisting unbelief? though in their will, So as it can the Soul not wholly spill; Or keeping sin at least un-interessed, That so the whole is no thereof possessed? And so as it was at first, stark dead in sin, Before God did his work of grace begin. So some small head, and real difference yielding, Between those hearts that have, & want that shielding Whereby men do not in that weary Day, Back slide for ever, and fall quite away. Whether this Faith in case, as now you hear, May yea, or no, name of assurance bear: And whether this may not in right good sense, Comparative be spoke, without offence. If thou the same from some Divine should hear; Who well reputed for his soundness were? [How these are thought on? who so termed it? The question wholly I will pretermit] Nor ask I this, cause some gainsay the same, For that I them thus covertly would blame. Nor to give way for weaklings more to languish, Who are already in distress and anguish: The whiles they want sense of assurance then, T'exclude themselves from all believing men. But say their weakness must be well regarded: And such terms used, as Satan's blows be warded: As Paul the Corinth's warns 'gainst his devices, Not ignorant of his fly interprises, Wherein a faithful Teacher ever treads, That tried way, which Christian wisdom leads. But woe is me, what might I frame to say, Is there no means to lavish strife away? I ask but this sad question, that do I, men's hearts (ay me) somewhat to qualify? As I could do to divers others more: Of such like sort, if it were needful so: Not to cross any, for it is now no season, Nor I fit man, to pro and contra reason. Since in my Soul, I love and reverence bear, To all the parties meant or mentioned here; Or if 'twere any failing be herein: For by respects, I hate it as my sin. As judging all, even in my very heart, (Set prejudice aside) to take one part; And verily believing to be true, The Devil himself, and all his damned crew, Shall ne'er, (if kindness re united were) The limbs thereof again in sunder tear. But, Lord, it may be, thou who knows th'event, Will work by some more gracious instrument: So be it then, to t'honour of thy Name, By whomsoever, I'll glory in the same. For this shall vex, or little trouble me, (So some effect it) whether I, or he; But that in strife, 'twixt Father and the Mother, Cherish the one, and I offend the other: Whereof there is no cause, for aught I know, Save that some good men understand it so. Mean while, for Zion sake (as said before) I'll make request; till I can speak no more: And would rejoice, could I but rubbish bear, The walls thereof a little to up-rear; Although to me, so clogged with sin and pelf, It may be said, Physician heal thyself: Yet I'll wish well, be it so as it may, By God's good grace unto my dying-day: And who can less do that was never styled, And hopes he is the Churches lawful child: Which name, suppose I still deserve among, Such other Children, as to her belong. Yet, Lord, (I trust) not banished by thee. Her rods not Serpents, but chastisements be: Which (while they) threat, let me at any hands, Not spare, but search well how the matter stands, Within myself, for many sins I have, Which I confess: for heavy blows might crave: Yet God forbidden (where conscience sets me free) Her deadly blows I should apply to me. What hath been said, I know both where and when, I take not t'out as meant to other men. Knowing no cause in me, nor him that spoke it, I should mere bastard be, or be so take it: But say he meant me, as I said before. Let me not spurn, but search myself the more. Which howsoever meant delivered so. Few else save enemies do undergo; Yea, enemies of such transcendent pitch, As never after other are so rich: Which to point out in our new Church's state, I dar not meddle with at any rate. For aught I in myself can see, or may, Full easily stink back and fall away: But what good works thou once in me hast wrought, Lord, I have hope shall never come to nought: Not through my strength, but for because that he, Is still the same, that hath redeemed me. But to conclude, I wish the Church's peace, That all heart-rysings (not of God) may cease. That no grudge may be smothered in suspense: But set at one, by friendly conference: That those who Christian liberty doth teach, Be not accused: they carnal freedom preach: That men be wary freedom to apply, Where is more need to teach the contrary: That those who seek men to good works to draw, Be not condemned as Preachers of the Law: No, though they teach it as the Law indeed, Because most hearers do such teaching need: That though some term them so, none storm nor wonder, More than if men should call them Sons of Thunder: The Law and Gospel, rules works be pressed, As shall appear to Christian wisdom best: That each one therein labour to be plain, That speeches still in the best sense be ta'en. That all the members of one body may, Hold truth in love, cast prejudice away: That each 'mongst others may their gifts dispense, That each with other lovingly converse; That none from God's Church excluded be, But such as is indeed an enemy. That odd conceits of every idle head, Be not upon the guiltless parties laid: That all good means be used to satisfy God's Church, where but the least suspicion lie: Hearers, while Preachers have the word in hand, Apply themselves rightly to understand: That Teachers still in every thing they say, Make it as plain to hearers as they may: That Brethren may not so each other hate, But warn, and war'nd be of their wretched state. In brief that each to other say, and do, As he desireth to be done unto: And he that is the very God of peace, Shall make love grow, and all contentions cease: If any think too far at once I leap, Himself is free to do as much as cheap. By ROGER BRIERLY, sometimes Minister at Grindletion Chappel in Craven. THE LORDS REPLY. IS this thy state, and dost thou now confess? That lost thou art, and dead in sinfulness; Hath Death now ceased upon thy buildings great, Thy righteousness, and all thy high conceit? Is sin and death thy portion now? and can Thou not lay th'blame on any other man? And is that witness now within thy mind, That die thou must, unless thou mercy find? And art thou now that sinful man alone, To free and save thee, is there now not one? And art thou now like to the Prodigal, That goodness in thee, there is none at all? And art thou now that Publican so poor, That thou hast nothing laid up in that store, To boast and brag as did that Pharisee; But lies along in doleful misery? And is thy heart within the inward ground, Truly in want, and in deep sorrow found? And doth thy cries therefrom to me arise? Am I that only one, whereto thine eyes, Are firmly set, so that from me alone, Thou looks for life, or else thou looks for none? And wilt thou here thyself fit all alone, To wash my feet with tears, with sigh and groan? Hath all things else denied thy woeful cry, And is there none that doth thy tears espy? Is all things in thee now come to an end? That thou to me this woeful cry doth send: THE SOULS ANSWER. YEa, Lord thy Word, by which thou named art, Hath sound me out, and made my soul to smart: So mighty is thy Word, and prevalent; Who can withstand, it makes my heart to rend. For under it I judged stand: therefore To thee I'll cry, for I am low and poor. And I have none, but thee alone: and I To thee will cry, to heal my malady. Here will I stay: thy word hath slain my heart, And here I'll lie, until thou heal my smart: Thy only hand, O Lord, that hath me slain: Can raise me up, and heal my wound again. My breach is great, my load I cannot bear; My sins are great: my sorrow is my cheer. In sad laments, My cry is still to thee, That thou would mercy show, and pity me: Thy mercy Lord, which in thy bosom lies: To that I cry, to heal my maladies. THE LORDS REPLY. IS this thy voice, and are thy cries so strong, And wilt thou lie before me all along? As though with violence in sunder thou, Would break the heavens, that mercy to thee now May speak to thee: and from thine eyes dispel That misty cloud, which is thy present hell. Is this the thing, that thou woulds have tell me, And hid it not, for I assure it thee? If sin be sin, and thou a sinner be: And so remains, condemned for to die. And is there none of all thy friends at all, That can relieve, or ransom thee from thrall? I tell thee true, as sure as I do live, Thou shalt not die, for for thee I will give My only son, and he sh●ll pay the prize Of all thy debt: I swear it to thee thrice: For rather then, that thou in this thy state Should die, and from my love st●nd separate: I will perform that which before all time. Was wi●h me then, and in my love did shine. My word is past, to thee it shall appear, Which shall thy nature once again up rear By assuming it to myself wherein: I will a living life to thee begin: For I to death, in that same nature, thine Will subject lie, that then the Godhead mine May there appear to be that mighty one, The which shall trush, like to a mighty stone, Thine Enemies, and captive lead them all: And thee redeem out of thy sinful fall. For I will that decayed nature thine Assume unto my word: the Godhead mine: Wherein, I must perform my Father's will: And andergoe his mighty wrath until It satisfied be for every one; And thus thy debt, I will discharge alone; And when thy sin, and death and hell and grave Hath got on me, whatever they could crave: Then I'll triumph, and captive lead them all; And free thy Nature from thy former fall. And in the same, I will triumphant ride Unto my Father, there I will abide At his right hand: there I will reign so long, Till sin and death, and all that darkness strong Stand subdued, among my people all; And then the Kingdom to my Fathers shall Be resigned: that so for evermore, He may be all in all, as heretofore. THE SOULS ANSWER. NOw Lord, what lets, that this thy love to me, Doth not yet shine unto my heart so free? To make me know, and fully understand My happiness, which yet is in thy hand: Wilt thou not now, at this same present time Declare thy Kingdom to this sense of mine: I fain would know, how thou thy love to me Would so confirm, that I may cleave to thee? THE LORDS REPLY. O Stay a while, that way I'll from thee go; And thou after thy flesh and sense also Shall not me know: for I will far ascend Above those thoughts: yet I an ear will lend Unto thy cry, yet is it fit for thee; Thou still attend, in thy humility: The time and season that the Father hath Kept to himself, (for so the Scripture saith) I tell thee true, this way thou looks for me; I will not come, but that way will leave thee. Which when I go, it shall thy sense so try; That down shall fall, that which thou lifted by. And this is fit, it should be done to thee, Or else the Comforter thou shalt not see. Let not thy heart, at this be so aghast; As though it should for ever with thee last: I'll come again, according to that life Of holy Ghost, so that no evil strife Shall shut thee out, from my dear love wherein, I will a living life to thee begin. Then let not sorrow fill thy heart so fore, As though that thou should meet with me no more. Wait but a while in that Jerusalem, And thou shall see again that blessed Stem: (Jerusalem) thy heart, that now lies desolate, Which of my presence makes so high a rate; As by the flesh, a Tabernacle there Might builded be, to keep thee out of fear. It matters not, though from thy sense I go: I will not leave thee now, and always so. For when thou thinks, that I am gone for ay, Wait thou that while; for than 's the time I say: That I'll appear: my spirit it shall descend Into thy heart: and thee it shall defend From all thy foes, which do encamp thy soul: And bring thee where, thou shalt without controul● Received be, into that lasting peace, Which shall abide, and in thee never cease. For than I will give thee my spirit which shall Seal thee to me in that true love withal: My tokens true (which shall not thee beguile) Shall be within thy heart and mind, and I'll, So charactere my love therein, that none Of all thy foes shall hurt thee, for that stone: That I have cut out of my mountain great, Shall fill thy heart, and unto dust shall beat Thine enemies all: and in thy heart I'll write Again my Law; that first I did indite: And therein shall my spirit freely move; Which shall be witness of my dearest love. And in thy heart there shall my temple be, There will I dwell, so I assure it thee: And thou in me shall be thy resting place From all thy sins, in this my day of grace; And live in me, by my own life alone: And thou in me, and I in thee be one. This is my word, from me to thee it's gone: And shall prevail, as that chief corner stone: That shall be laid within thy heart so low, That death and hell shall never overthrow. THE SOULS ANSWER. NOw Lord, what have I more to thee to say? This breaks my heart, I can it not deny. That golden chain, that's tied about my neck; That word of thine, that gave my foes the check. Hath wounded me, and win my heart that so, From thee, and from thy Word I cannot go: Here will I dwell, my heritage doth stand, On thee alone, and builded by thy hand. And I will feed by that same waterside That floweth from thee, and I will abide Within thy house, thy praises forth to tell: (Thy house my heart) there will I with thee dwell: For there I shall behold thy wonders all, Thy lovely works, freeing my soul from thrall: That piercing word, that made my heart to bow, And all my Forces for to overthrow: That pure truth that made me naked lie, And baired my heart, before thy seeing eye: As in that day, in Eden's garden I Did eat and drink of the forbidden Tree: That living Word, wherein thy footsteps shine In love to me, in purest streams divine Of thy true light: that now my heart so free Of thee shall boast, of that same liberty: Where I shall stand in that same truest vine, And root of life: whereout in me may shine Thine own life streams, for ever to declare Thy loving wonders, in me great and rare. And that I may, Lord, grant me still mine aid: Thy Spirits life, as unto me thou said: Whereby thou mayest within my heart indite Thy living Word; That Lord, I pray thee write In Table of this meek'ned heart of mine: That there thy Image once again may shine In living power, and lively streams again. From thence may run in such a heavenly strain, As I may live, and in such union dwell With love divine, as may again (I'll tell) Reduce my soul from all duallitie, And set me fast in perfect unity: From whence, as from a perfect fountain fair May spring in me these lively graces rare. Whereby, I may in those same lively streams Preserved be, and by those heavenly beams, I so may flourish in that living way Of life: So that with Paul, I then may say, It is not I, but that sweet loving store Of thy own grace: praised be thy Name therefore. THE LORDS REPLY. HAth now my word prevailed with thee so far, That from myself one jot thou wilt not dar To turn aside, nay art thou in such love With me, that like the bravest turtle dove Thou wilt love still; though absent from thee I May seem to go, and thou in darknessly? And doth thy cries from hence to me arise? From this same love, is there none other prize That can prevail, but here thou wilt abide, And fit alone, by this same water side? And hast thou now none other fountain sweet, And canst thou now none other lovers greet? If love be love, and thou a lover be, And so thou lives, and from me will not flee: I tell thee true, my love I'll to thee give, And will thee aid, for with me thou shalt live: But one thing I will let thee understand, How I my love, my truth, my mercy, and My graces all shall in thee be declared, The way wherein, I have myself prepared: For that some way I will thy senses cross, Thy fleshly understandings I will toss: For that same way which in thy wisdom by, Hath learned out my mercy for to spy: Nay though it be in highest gifts of grace: If by thy flesh thou there my paths would trace Thou'l be deceived, my graces in thy mind, And all my gifts in their own proper kind. Shall then shine forth, when thou in weakness stands, And bears thy death, under my great commands, Behold the way that I before thee went, It was the cross, that way I ever meant Thee for to trace my steps, and there sojourn In lowest death, where flesh may always mourn, And down may come that high conceited thought, That to thy soul, thy ruin ever brought: And there remain in that same grave with me, Where flesh may lie, but thou that time shall be Raised up again, so shall my life appear Victor to be, which then will shine so clear Within thy heart, which strongly shall confirm My love to thee, which is without all term: In this thy death mine aid thou still shalt find, To bring thee through (according to my mind) Thy troubles all, which unto thee appears, In thy own sense, which works thee all thy fears: Come therefore sweetly, lie thee down with me, Under my cross, that fearful mighty tree; Fear not my cup, for I have drunk before A health to thee, to cure thy wound and sore. This is that way by which I will destroy The strongest lust, which doth thy soul annoy; For life divine is to thy flesh the crossed To kill thy lust, and on the same to toss: And if thou drink and taste not hearty Of this my cup, thou hast no part with me! For more thou comes to taste of this cross, And deeper that thou drinks of all thy loss; So much the more my life shall thee defend, And thou with me shall to that pitch ascend Of freedom, so that all thine enemies now. Shall be subdued, I do to thee avow: And then my love most noble and divine, In midst of darkness, in thy heart shall shine, Which will cause thee to sing, and leap, and dance, And me alone, in all thy thoughts advance: Who in this mount my glory so doth shine, To free thy heart from misty clouds of thine, In that clear light of spirits life which shall Dispel those clouds, in sunder rend them all; And out of death bring forth that life I say, Which will lead captive that wherein thou lay. Therefore lie down, and drink hereof a main; This is that way the which will bring thee gain, For in thy death thy life thereout shall spring, And that's the way whereout I will thee bring, Into that land of peace and rest, wherein Thou shalt be fed with all contents, and in That Paradise, I will so with thee dwell: That unto thee I will my wonders tell. My Word, my Name; and that ingraved form Of my own life, so that to thee no storm. Shall once arise, my love to overthrow, Or for to draw thy mind from me to bow; For why thy help I have in Me so laid, And in my Son, as heretofore I said: Which shall remain as that chief cornerstone, That shall abide, when flesh is dead and gone. At this the powers of Death and Darkness all, Thy guilty heart, that thou got in thy fall: That wisdom thine, that lifted thee on high, In this my day they shall all vanquished lie; And I will live triumphantly in thee; As I am one, so shalt thou be in me. I was once dead, but now alive I am, To quicken thee, in me the new Adam. From whence shall rise a living child in thee, Which shall attain the full Felicity: Nay, I myself in all my graces rare, Will there appear, and in this union bore My bosom so, in that anointing free, The which shall raise thy heart in such degree Of raptures hy, that now thou shalt despise Thy fleshly self, with all base vanities. Nay, hence shall spring that living life again, And in shall come that truth, that substance main. Wherein there's life, and thou as one freeborn, Shall be the heir, though bondmen mock and scorn. For though thy fleshly dead, and in thee there No hope remains: for none can there appear: Though glorious shows in strength of nature did Show forth their force; yet now they lying hid, Under that curse, where desolate they stand, And barren in wildernesses land: Yet ●●nce shall rise that righteous seed, which shall Bring forth in thee, (in my free graces all) My Law, my Truth, and I will it indite Within thy heart, in love so will I write It all, in lively living life Divine, And freedom true, which shall in thee so shine: As that it shall install thee once again, In Sonship true, so that from thence amain, May flow again, as from a fountain clear, Such freeborn fruit, as may in thee appear To be the fruit of that same living tree, That's my free grace, that all the world may see, That grace is grace, and that by it alone My people live, and by that Cornerstone: Th're filled with my righteousness so clear, That sin in them it shall no more appear: For they in me before my Father's face Shall clothed be, all decked with my grace: Where shall no spot at all on them be found, That's clothed here, and settled on this ground: And there abids, as he abids in them, Who is the root, they branches, he the stem. This is that freedom, whereunto I'll bring My Sons again, where they shall mount and sing With Simeon, that sweet and pleasant song, And shout it forth with all my Saints among. THE SONG OF THE SOUL'S FREEDOM. NOw let thy servant, Lord, depart in peace, For I have seen from thee such great increase Of grace and truth in that same little seed, Which thou hast sown for me, when I stood need. When Sin, & Death, when Hell, & Darkness great, When loss, when cross, about my heart did beat: When angry thou as judge to me did shine, And I stood judged within my conscience, mine, Such witness had, that I could plead no more, My sin did mount to such a mighty score. When all my friends from me a loof did stand, When lovers all ran far away, yea, and, When I lay dead, and hopes I then had none Of life: but laying comfortless alone. Then thou declared to me that time I say, Thy saving health, wherein, O Lord, for ay, In peace I'll rest, as unto me thou said, From all my fears, for thou hast so displayed Thy freest love, that makes my heart rejoice And mount, and sing with Simeon that voice: Now let me, Lord, depart in peace anon, For I have seen thy great salvation: Thy words enough, I thereon will depend, In it there's life, and it will me defend, And bring me forth into that light wherein, I shall remain, and with high Cherubin, Shall show forth, what with thee I have seen, In my return, as it hath with me been. I have none other Song but this to sing, What thou hast done for me, that I will bring Before thy Saints; that they also with me, May sing it forth, in sweetest melody: As none else can but them whom thou alone, Hath so redeemed by that same cornerstone, That lieth lowest in the building so, That simmoned they are for so to do: Which freedom brings in such great mighty store, That sing that song they will for evermore. Then thou my Soul sit here in silent rest, Under his wings in whom thou thus art blest, And wander not, nor let thy gadding mind, Be turned about (thy Spirit for to blind) Into the flesh, as though that heavenly thing, Thou there would keep, and to thy sense would bring Thy freedom now, and think thereby to hold, That in thyself, which no man ever could: And soar not up into thy thoughts so high: But lie thee down in true humility: And eat thy portion there with that content, That faith doth bring, and be thou patiented. A word's enough, he will supply thy want. There's all in him, how can there then be scant: Nor turn thou back unto thy pleasures vain, Nor unto Mammon's filthly sordid gain; Such lovers all too base are for thy mind, Who now stands free in such a heavenly kind Of noble birth, nay, what shall I say more? An heir with Christ (as was said heretofore: Of that same Crown, which links thee into one, Where freedoms stands, beside which there is none. And that I may, Lord, take into thy hand My life: for all's at thine own great command: If thou wilt speak, thy word it will suffice, Then speak it, Lord, let not my foes arise Me to prevent, of this thy pearl great. O then speak, Lord, and so they shall retreat, And then full safely I shall walk along With thee: though with my wicked foes among. I sojourn still until that precious time, Of Jubill come, that full deliverance mine; That Jubill time, O! when shall it appear To free me from my burdens that are here: Me thinks I long, my heart it would be gone, Out of this clay, unto that only One. But I must stay, and in this house abide, Till gold from dross, be true and fully tried. And sin, and death hath done their worst, and then Shall life come in, and that same last, Amen. Shall then make up both breach, and ruins all, That hath befallen, the Saints since Adam's fall. The which shall then full gloriously appear, When God in man his Kingdom shall up rear. When God is all, and man brought home in one, That's the Kingdom: or else I say there's none. For Kingdoms else before him they shall fall, And come to end, though they be ne'er so tall: Then hasten, Lord, this Kingdom that is thine, That I in thee, may in thy oneness shine: That thou in me, and I in thee still may Remain in one eternally, I say. Where I may cast before thy face my crown, Where thou abides in that same highest throne Of glory great, where all things end in one, And thither brought by the chief corner stone: Where Saints and Angels in true unity, One song shall sing in God eternally. Amen Lord, hasten this thy pointed day, It's in thy hand, yet still for that I'll pray, That when thou hast brought all things into one, We all thy Saints may live in thee alone: And thou in us may be our heaven always, Which shall remain that mighty longest day, That mighty longest day, that Alpha one, That last Omega, who is God alone. Amen, Amen, O Lord, I do thee pray, To bring my soul to this thy holy day: For thou art First, and thou will be the last, Of all that is to come or hath been past, That glory, honour, power, and due praise, May be of all returned to thee always. The corner stone out from the Father came, Was laid in blood for to declare his name, His grace, and love, unto fallen men (alace) And by an oath, so interposed was, To reconcile to God his creature man, So as no Angel, nor no creature can: So that his glory did surmount the bound, Of all darkness in this wide world round: Yea it did shine through sin, through death, through hell And grave, as doth the Scripture fairly tell, And if his splendour shine through such darkness, Then doth it shine within all men no less: To be the life of them who do receive it, And judgement unto them who do reject it: Thus is he set, the fall, and rise again Of some, and all, as will appear full plain; When he as judge such witness will produce, That who rejects shall be without excuse: Let all men then, what talon God doth give, Improve it so, as he therein may live. And give account what gain comes in thereby Unto his Lord, lest not so doing dye. Then see thy Talon be not laid within Thy carnal earth, which no good gain can win; But exchange that which of thee is carnal, Into a state that is spiritual: So shalt thou build upon the corner stone A good increase, while carnal earth brings none, In Jordan's water Christ baptised were By John, so plunged over head and ear, The Holy Ghost descending on him so, That he our sorrows bare, and rude our woe; And was the man, who did repentance bear For all men's sins, that he might wash them clear, And after that, that he was so baptised, His after life was all then sacrificed Up unto death, and in death baptised, And by the spirit, he again was raised, Into the heavenly being there to reign In power great, until he come again: In watery tears and siry blood was he, So plunged in our Saviour for to be; Thus water, fire, and blood was mingled For him to drink, In all the tears he shed, Thus water washed, and burning blood did cleanse, In one baptism, so for to dispense, Water, and blood, distinguish we may so In two, though one, and so there be no more Baptisms, but one, which cleanseth sin away, By Jesus, in his water and blood for ay: For God in three distinguished may be, And yet but one there is in verity. Thus we may drink with Christ his water so In watery tears, and unto blood may go And drink thereof, to take with him a sup, Though two, yet is but one devincing cup. SELF CIVIL WAR. I Sing not Priam, nor the Siege of Troy, Nor Agamemnon's War, with Thestilis Joy, I sing myself my Civil Wars within The Victories I hourly lose and win; The daily battle, the continual strife: The Wars that end not till, I end my life; And yet not mine alone, not only mine: But every on's thats under the honoured Sign Of Christ's his Standard, shall his Name inroul With holy vows of body and of soul. Vouchsafe, O Father, succour from above: Courage of Soul, comfort of heavenly love: Triumphant Captain, glorious General, Furnish me Arms from thine own Arsenal: O sacred Spirit, my Spirits assistant be, And in this Conflict, make me conquer me. Virtue I love, I lean to vice, I blame This wicked World: yet I embrace the same, I climb to Heaven, I cleave to the earth both: I love myself, and yet myself I loathe. Peaceless, I peace pursue in Civil War With, and against myself, I join, I jar. I burn, I frieze, I fall down, I stand fast, Well, ill, I sare, I glory though disgraced, I die, I live, I triumph put to flight, I feed on cares, in tears I take delight, My slave base brave I serve, I run at large In liberty; yet lie in Jaylours' charge. I strike, I struck myself; I kindly ken Work mine own woe, rub gall, & rouse my spleen: Oft in my sleep, to see rare dreams, I dream: Waking mine eye, doth scarce discern a beam, My mind strange Megrim whirling to and fro, Now trusts me hither, thither doth me throw: Into divers fractions, I myself divide: And all I try, I fly on every side: What I but now desired, I now disdain; What late I weighed not, now I wish again: To day, to morrow: this, that now anon: All nothing crave, I ever, never one: But Combitant, unready for the field: To tardy take, I (after wounds) my shield: Still hurled headlong to unlawful things, Down-dragging vice, me easily downward dings: But sacred virtue climbs so hard and high, That hardly can I her steep steps descry. Both right and wrong to me indifferent are, My Lust is law, what I desire I dar: Be there so foul a fault, so fond a fact, Which folly ask, fury dare not act: But artless, heartless in religious cause, To do her lessons, to defend her Laws. The all proof Armmour of my God I lose: Fly from my charge, and yield it to my foes: Guilty of sin, sins punishment I eat, But not the guilt, before the offence be done. For how could shunning of a Sin ●nsue, To be the occasion of another new. Oft and again, at the same stone I trip: As if by falling, I learned not to slip. Alive I perish, and myself undo, Mine eyes self-willing, wise and witting too. Sick to myself, I run for my relief: Moore sicker of my Physic, than my grief: For whilst I seek my swelting thirst to suage, Another thirst more ragingly doth rage. Whiles burnt to death, to cool me I desire, With flames, my flames: with sulphur quench I fire: Whilst that I strive, my swelling waves to stop; More stormilie about they toss my top. Thus am I cured, this is my common ease; My medicine still worse than my worst disease. My sores with sores, my wounds with wound I heal, Whilst to myself, myself I still conceal. And, O! what leagues, what truces make I still, With Sin, with Satan, and my wanton will? What slight occasions do I take to Sin? What silly crimes am I entraped in? What idle cloaks for crimes? what nets to hid, Notorious sins already long descried? I writ in ice, winds witness, signed with showers, I will redeem my Soul, life's former hours: But soon the swing of custom, whirl-wind-like, Rapting my passions ever fashion sike: Transports me to the contrary alone, Faint guard of goodness, armless Champion▪ My green-sick taste doth nothing sweeter find, Than what is bitter to a gracious mind. Egypt's fat fleshpots, I am longing for, The eternal Manna, I do here abhor. World's Monarch, Mammon, Dropsy mystical: Crowned round faced Gods, I join belial: Mydar's desire, the miser's only trust, The sacred hunger of Pactolian dust, Gold, gold bewitches me, and frets accursed, My greedy throat, with more than Dipsian thirst. My mind's a gulf, whose gaping nought can stuff, My heart a hell, that never hath enough. The more I have, I crave the less content, In store more poor, in plenty indigent. For of those Cates, how much soe'er I cr●m, It doth not stop my mouth, but stretch the same: Sweet useries infestuous interest: For Dollars, dolours hoardeth in my Chest. The world's slave confits, and the minds sweet pleasure Insatiate both both boundless bot● past measure. This Cleopatra, that Sardonaple; For huge annoys brings joys both short and small. O! miracle begot by Heaven in Earth, My mind divine, my body brute by birth, O! what a monster am I to depaint, Half friend, half fiend, half savage, half a saint. Higher than my fire, doth my gross earth aspire, My raging flesh, my restless force doth tire. And drunk with worldly lusts, deep sunk in sleep, My spirit the spy, that wary watch doth keep, Betrays at last, woe, that I trust it so, My Souls dear kingdom to her deadly so, Through ●a●es Charybdis, and through gulfs of grief, Star-la-board run, I sailing all my life In merry, sorry seas, with wind at will. My Ship, my flesh, my sense my Pilots still: As in a most seditious common-well: Within my breast I feel my lust rebel, Against their Prince my furious people use, Their awlesse Prince dare his own Law despise. Mine Er's an outlaw, and my struggling Twins, Jacob and Esau never can be friends. Such deadly seed, such discord, such despite, Ever 'twixt brethren such continual sight. What done in me, another doth, not I, Yet both, alace, my guest and enemy. My mind unkind, subordined by my so, Indeed within me, but not with me tho: Near, yet far off, in fleshly count be filled, And with the world's contagious filth defiled. I am too narraw for my own desires: Myself desires me, what my flesh requires. Fearful I hope, careful secure, I languish. Hungry too full, dry drunken, sugared anguish. Weary of life, merry of death, I suck Wine from my Punice, honey from the rock Disordered order, mournful merriment, Dark-day, Doomsday, dull, double, diligent. Infamous fame, known error, skilless skill, Mad mind, rood reason, an unwilling will. A healthy plague, a wealthy want, poor treasure; A pleasant torment, a tormenting pleasure. An odious love, an ugly dentie base: Reproachful honour, a disgraceful grace. On thorns my Grapes, on garlic grows my Rose, On crumbs my sums, from flint my fountain flows. In showers of tears mine hours of fears I mourn, My looks to btooks, my beams to streams I turn; Yet in this torrent of my torments rise, I suck annoys and drink the joys of life; A fruitless tree, a dry deflowered flower, A feeble force, a conquered conqueror: A fickly health, dead life, a restless rest, These are the comforts of my soul distressed, O how I like, dislike, desire, disdain, Repel, repeal, loath, and delight again! O what, whom, whither, neither flesh nor fish, How weary of my life! again I wish, I will, I nill, I nill, I will my mind, Persuading this, my mood to that's inclined: My lose affections, Proteus like appears In every form at once, it frowns and flears: Mine ill goodwill is vain and variable, My Hydra's flesh buds heads innumerable: My mind's a grief, a Labyrinth my reason; Mine eye false spy, the door to fancy's treason: My rebel sense, self soothing still affects What it would fly, what it would ply neglects: My flothing hope with passions storms is tossed, Even now to heaven, even then to hell almost, Concording discord doth my life sustain, Discording concord kills me soon again: Myself at once I both displease and please, Without myself, myself I feign would ease; For my too much of me, me much annoyed, And myself plenty my poor self destroys, Who seeks me in me, in me shall not find Me as myself, Hermaphrodite in mind. I am at once Male, Female, Neuter yet, What ere I am, I cannot mind I weet. I am not with myself as I conceive, Wretch that I am, myself, myself, deceive: Unto myself I do myself betray, I from myself banish myself away: Myself agrees not with myself a jot, Knows not myself I have myself forgot. Against myself I have moved wars unjust: I trust myself, and I myself distrust. Myself I follow, and myself I fly; Besides myself, and in myself am I. Myself am not myself, another same Unlike myself, and like myself I am Self sons, self furious, and thus wayward else I cannot live with, nor without myself. FINIS.