THE ORACLE OF GOD. A Sermon appointed for the cross, and preached in the cathedral Church of St. Paul, in London, on the 20. day of December, being the Sunday before Christmas, Anno Dom. 1635. By John Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex LONDON, Printed for J. P. and are to be sold by Andrew Greeke and Charles Greene. 1646. Perlegi hanc concionem, cui titulus (God's Oracle) in quâ nihil reperio sanae fidei, aut bonis moribus contrarium. Tho. weeks, R.P. Epi. Lond. Cap. Domest. TO THE RIGHT honourable CHRISTOPHER CLETHEROW, Lord Maior of the honourable City of London; whose dignity and prosperity, God long continue. WHat it pleased your Honour to desire, may it please you also to accept (a poor man's Sermon.) I have no other plea, nor other hopes nor means to find grace in your eyes (seeing I am a stranger,) but only for that Grace's sake, which is the theme and subject, the pith and marrow of my text. In a word therefore, As Jacob prayed heartily for his sons, when they went to present themselves before Joseph, Gen. 43. 14. God Almighty give you mercy in the sight of the man: Such is my hearty prayer to Almighty God; God Almighty give me mercy in your sight, and you in his sight, Oratum est, Your honour's poor servant and suppliant, John GORE. THE ORACLE OF GOD. 2 COR. 12. 9▪ My Grace is sufficient for thee. IT is well known that this Sunday, and some of the rest that are gone before, are commonly called in our Liturgy by the name of Advent-sundayes, as you would say in plain English coming Sundays. And wot you why? because therein we do thankfully celebrate and solemnize the blessed time and memory, of our saviour's coming to us in the flesh, and his arrival from heaven in this vale of misery. If any man desire a reason why we celebrate the coming of our Saviour in so solemn, so sacred, and so settled a manner, being gone and past 1600 years ago? Saint John hath given me an answer to my hand, Because grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, Ioh. 1. 17. When Jesus Christ came from the bosom of his Father, he came not empty-handed, nor unprovided: but brought Truth and Grace into the world with him: Truth to direct us to heaven, and Grace to deliver us from hell: and that's a Congiary that deserves commemoration to the world's end. If any man shall yet further inquire, what is this Grace to us? or what are we the better for the Grace that he brought? For that my text will resolve you, and make it evidently appear unto you, that Christ is no niggard of his Grace, neither doth he keep it to himself (as Nabal did his victuals) but doth graciously impart it, and mercifully bestow it, so much upon every one, as he seeth in his wisdom to be enough and sufficient for him. My Grace is sufficient for thee. And let that suffice for the occasion and choice of my text, that it is not {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, not altogether unsuitable and impertinent to the time. Come we now to the Text itself, which is nothing else but The Oracle of God, or God's own immediate voice, not disdaining to utter itself from Heaven, for the comfort and satisfaction of his poor distressed Suppliant here on earth. Fur thus stood the case. Our Apostle at this time was punished with two strange and strong afflictions, the one internal, the other external; the one he termeth the thorn in the flesh, the other the Messenger of Satan that buffeted him. By that same {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, thorn or splinter in the flesh. I suppose he did mean his own concupiscence, his own corruption and lust, which is as painful and vexatious to a tender soul, as a thorn in the hand, or a splinter under the nail, is irksome and grievous to the tender flesh. By that {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, the messenger, or the angel of Satan, must needs be understood the devil's temptation; for before that wicked one come himself, he sends his Messenger or his angel before him to make way for his entertainment, and as Elisha said of the King of Israel's man which was sent to behead him, 2 Reg. 6. 32. Is not the sound of his Master's feet behind him? so believe it, whensoever an evil temptation, or a temptation to evil doth come before, the devil himself who is the master and maker of it is not far behind. Now mark how this evil angel used, or rather abused S. Paul; the Text saith, He fell foul upon him, and buffeted him▪ now you know that buffeting is a malicious act joined with violence, or a violent act joined with malice, and it signifies unto us, what a malicious mind the devil bears to God's especial servants; if he cannot by fair means entice, and allure, and inveigle them to sin; if God will give him leave, he will fall upon them by foul means, even {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, to buffet them, and enforce them in a manner to sin against God and their own souls. Thus sorely was our poor Apostle haunted, thus cruelly was he handled, both with venomous corruptions within, and with violent temptations without, so that neither inwardly, nor outwardly: he could be free or at liberty to enjoy himself and his God: Whereupon (saith the Text) He besought the Lord thrice, that they might depart from him; all his desire, all his prayer to God was, to be rid of these annoyances. Now mark the answer, and observe the Oracle of Almighty God. Just as some skilful physician, when his Patient in a fever calls for drink, gives him a syrup, or some conserve, and so quencheth his thirst in a better kind, than drink could do: so dealt the Lord with Paul, who was now in a spiritual fever, and cries out amain, (as it were for drink) that is, for some present refreshing, and release of his punishment. God seems to take no notice of that, but quencheth his soul's thirst in a better kind, gives him a spiritual conserve, endues him with his Grace, and let that content thee (saith God) let that suffice thee; for that, even that alone is entirely enough and sufficient for thee. My Grace is sufficient for thee. From which passage of God's providence (before I come to particulars) give me leave to commend unto you this brief observation in general: viz. That if after all our prayers, after all our entreaties and importunities with God for private and particular favours and mercies▪ as for health in time of sickness, for ease in time of pain, for rest and deliverance in the time of trouble and affliction: Though God should seem to take no notice of us, but deny or withhold all these things from us; if he do but condescend unto us in this one thing (as he did to Saint Paul) if he do but vouchsafe us his Grace, Summam votorum attigimus, we have as much as heart can wish, we have that which is in stead, or in lieu of all the rest. As the Jews write of their Mannah, that it had in it Omne delectamentum, all manner of delightful tastes, and was in stead of bread, in stead of meat, in stead of all kinds of dainty fare; so may it truly be affirmed of the Grace of God, that it is in stead of health, in stead of wealth, in stead of all other earthly blessings whatsoever: so that as a man that walks in the sun, never looks nor regards whether the moon or the stars shine or no, because he hath no need of their light: so he that enjoyeth the light of God's countenance, that hath the Grace of God to befriend and bestead him▪ needs care the less for these inferior commodities, these Bonae scabelli (as the Fathers call them) these goods of God's footstool; because, if he have them not, God will so provide he shall have no need of them. In a word then, if thou wert put to thy choice, as Solomon once was, to ask any one thing at the hands of God, and to have promise of acceptance, what should that one thing be? wouldst thou ask for riches, or pleasure, or long life, & c? Alas, all these things thou mayst have, (as many a man hath had) and be never the holier, never the happier, never the higher in God's account and favour: Leave therefore all these things to God's disposal and dispensation; let God do with thee for these things what seemeth good in his own eyes: but pitch thou thy heart, and the desire of thy soul upon that Vnicum necessarium, that one thing necessary (which our Saviour speaks of) in comparison whereof all other things in the world are needless and superfluous, I mean upon the Grace of God, and nothing else; and in thy daily prayers to Almighty God, let this evermore be the main of thy requests. Whatsoever thou deniest me for other things, Lord, grant me thy Grace, and it is sufficient. My Grace is sufficient for thee. Out of which words I shall endeavour to show you four remarkable points, perhaps not unworthy your observation. 1. The meaning of the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, or what is meant by the Grace here spoken of. 2. The Author or the owner of this Grace, whose it is, and to whom it doth of right belong, and that is to God, as the next word implies, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, My Grace. 3. The efficacy or virtue of this Grace, what it profiteth, and whereunto it availeth, and that's expressed in the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, it is sufficient; and therein I shall show you, how, and wherein the sufficiency of God's Grace doth consist. 4. The Application of this Grace, or the bringing of it home to the conscience and soul of each believing Christian, and that I gather out of the last word, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, that God doth not say in general {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, My Grace is sufficient for all; nor in special {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, My Grace is sufficient for many; but in particular, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, My Grace is sufficient for thee, and so for me, and so for every one upon whom God in mercy is pleased to bestow it, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, My Grace (saith God) is sufficient for thee. Of these in their order as briefly and effectually, as God and his good Spirit hath enabled me; and first of the meaning of the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, or what is meant by the grace here spoken of. By the grace of God (in few words) I conceive to be meant nothing else but the favour and good will of God; that which the schoolmen term Complacentiam Dei, the well-pleasedness of God: the same which the Scripture calleth Lucem faciei, the light of God's countenance, Psal. 67. 1. Because as God is said to frown and bend his brows upon the wicked train, Psal. 34. so on the contrary, he seems to smile (as it were) and to look amiably and lovingly, and lightsomely upon all them that are in grace and favour with him. It is an usual expression among us to say, such a one is in great grace with the King, or in great grace at the Court, we mean, he is in great favour there. And it is a phrase no less usual in Scripture, Gen. 6. 8. Noah found grace in the sight of God, i. e. he found favour in his sight; and God Almighty saith of Moses Exod. 33. 12. Invenisti gratiam coram me, Thou hast found grace in my sight, i. e. favour and good acceptance: And so the Angel greets the blessed Virgin, Luke 1. 28. Fear not Mary, Invenisti gratiam, Thou hast found grace, i. e. thou art highly favoured of the Lord. So that the grace of God, and the favour of God are (as Joseph said of Pharaoh's dreams) both one and the same. Now the thing that I muse upon is this, that the grace and favour of God is thus often, if not always expressed in the Bible, sub termino inveniendi, under the name and term of finding: It is not barely said of Noah, and Moses, and the Virgin Mary, fuerunt, they were in grace and favour with God, but invenerunt, they found it: this phrase doth certainly seem to imply (as Oleaster well observes) that the grace and favour of God is sometimes found, as a poor man finds a treasure, or a bag of gold, non industriâ, sed casu; not by any industry or painstaking for it, but merely by casualty and God's providence in it. As when Joseph's brethren found their money in their sacks mouths, it enriched them, and it ravished them too, with wonder and admiration, Gen. 42. 28. in like manner, when a poor disconsolate wretch, shall without all desert, and beyond all expectation, find a sensible experiment of God's favourable goodness towards him; how can he choose, but even bless himself, and say, Lord, what am I that such a favour should be cast upon me! In a word, as Jacob answered his aged father when he questioned him about the matter of his venison, Gen. 27. 20. How is it that thou hast found it so quickly my son? (saith he) Because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand. In like sort, if any shall seem to question the matter, how it comes to pass that some one man findeth favour and riseth to preferment so easily and so quickly over that some others do, which to our thinking deserves it better, In promptu ratio, the Lord their God brings it to their hand: when God brings a blessing to hand, the labour is not long to find it. But that by the way. I shall here take occasion to resolve you of two questions, which do offer themselves to your consideration; the first is this, when a man wants the grace and favour of God, how shall he do to find it? the second is like unto it, when a man hath found God's grace and favour at his need, how shall he do to keep it, that he do not forfeit it, nor lose it again? I will answer you for both, in a word. Dost thou want the Grace of God, and fain wouldest find it? Thou must do two things for it. First, thou must depreciari teipsum (it is tertullia's word) thou must disparage and disgrace, thou must humble and abase thyself before the face of God: for if that be true which our Saviour saith, Ioh. 10. 35. non potest solvi scriptura, The Scripture cannot be broken: then no man living can find Grace with God, but he that is truly humble (for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble) Let one example serve for all, and it is a seasonable one for this time: that of the blessed Virgin, of whom we spoke before: The Angel told her (as you have heard) that she was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, highly or extraordinarily in favour with God, for indeed she had such grace, as never mortal woman had the like with God, to be made {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, the Mother of God, and to bear him in her body, who in his body bare away the sins of all the world; to give her own Saviour suck; it was a favour beyond expression: well, but whence came this to pass that the Virgin Mary found this favour with God rather than any other Virgin in Israel? no doubt (as our Saviour said in another case) many widows were in Israel in the days of Elizeus, but to none was the Prophet sent, save only to the widow of Sareptah: So, many Virgins were in Israel in the days of the Virgin Mary, yet to none was the Angel sent, but to her only: And why to her, and not to them? she that knew it best, gives the reason herself in her Magnificat which we daily read; My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour; for why? Respexit humilitatem (saith she) he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden. It was not then for her loveliness, but it was for her lowliness; not for her handsomeness, but for her humbleness that she found such grace and favour with God above her fellow Virgins: Other Virgins there might be that were as chaste as she, as beautiful as she, and far more wealthy and gay than she was; but no Virgin in Israel, nor in all the world, was so humble nor so lowly as she was; and this was the only materia struendae misericordiae, (if I may so speak) the matter that God's mercy had to work upon; that, that only, was the foundation and groundwork of all the grace and favour that she found with God. In like manner, if thou dost desire to be partaker of the same mercy, to find favour with God as she did, thou must also be partaker of the same humility, thou must be humble and lowly as she was: do as benhadad's servants did to Ahab, 1 Reg. 20. 31. We have heard (say they) that the Kings of Israel are merciful kings, let us go then and put sackcloth upon our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and so humble ourselves before him, peradventure we shall find favour with him, that we shall not die but live: So thou hast heard that the God of Israel is a merciful God, stand not then upon terms of ease or state if thou lovest thyself, but go and humble thyself unto him, prostrate thyself before him, pray and seek his face in the lowliest, the dejectedst, the devotest manner that possibly thou canst express both with thy body and with thy soul, and (Believe it for a truth) if any thing under heaven bring thee into favour with the God of Heaven, that will do it, depreciare teipsum, to disparage thyself. Secondly, thou must Appropriare Christum, thou must appropriate Christ unto thyself, thou must shroud thyself under thy saviour's wings, thou must sue to God under his protection and patronage, and as the Herodians, Act. 12. made friendship with Blastus the King's chamberlain to help them into favour with Herod; so must thou make friendship with Jesus Christ, for it is he and only he that can help thee into grace and favour with thy God. Gratificavit nos in dilect● (saith the Apostle, Ephes. 1. 6.) He hath brought into grace, or he hath made us accepted in his beloved son. Gratiam pro Gratiâ (saith Saint John elsewhere, Ioh. 1. 16.) We have received Grace for Grace; that is, for the Grace and favour that Christ hath with God, we also are received into grace and favour with him: For otherwise, as Elisha told the King of Israel, 2 Reg. 3. 14. As the Lord liveth were it not that I regard the presence of Jehosaphat, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee: So stands our case with God, we are of ourselves such vile bodies (as the Apostle rightly terms us, who shall change our vile bodies) I mean so foul and so full of corruption and lust and sin, so odious and abominable in the holy eyes of God; that as the Lord liveth, were it not that God doth regard the person, the presence and the prayers of Jesus Christ our true Jehosaphat, he would not look to us nor see us: but that (as he saith himself,) This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. (There come we into favour) and mark, that he doth not say, This is my beloved son which pleaseth me well, but in whom I am well pleased; which intimates a further matter unto us; namely, that our blessed Saviour doth not only please God his Father, for his own part, but that God in him, and for his sake is well pleased even with them that are in themselves (as the Prophet speaks) even vessels wherein there is no pleasure, Ier. 22. 28. Thou therefore that desirest to get into favour with thy God, flatter not thyself in thy own eyes, think not that God will accept thee for thy own person, or for any other personal qualities or abilities that are in thee; but as Jacob shrouded himself under the garments of his elder brother, and by that means got him the blessing of his Father; so do thou shroud thyself under the garments of thy elder brother in Heaven; I mean, as the Apostle speaks, Labour to be found of God, not having on thy own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ by faith: Say as Tertullian doth, Mihi vendico Christum, mihi defendo Iesum; claim thou thy part, stand thou for thy right in Jesus Christ; and as thou art a Protestant, so make this protestation before God and the world, that thou hopest for grace and mercy, not by any merits or deserts of thy own, but merely by the merits, and by the spirit, by the death, and by the Blood of Jesus Christ. This is another infallible way for a man to find the Grace and Favour of God, that wanteth it, Appropriare Christum, to get an interest into God's beloved son, our dear and precious Saviour. 2. Now for the second question; Hast thou found the favour of God, and fain wouldst keep it? Thou must {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, (it is the Apostles own word, Gal. 2. 14.) Thou must walk with a right foot to godward; or as John Baptist expresseth it in other terms, thou must Rectas facere semitas tuas, Make thy paths straight; the meaning is, Thou must bind thyself to the good behaviour unto God, thou must resolve against sin and evil, and set thyself constantly, carefully, sincerely to walk with God, so far forth as frailty shall permit thee, so that though there fall out many intercurrent infirmities in the course of thy life, for a man may, etiam in bono itinere pulverem colligere, gather dust and soil even in a good way, yet let it be the general drift and desire of thy soul, in nothing, willingly to fin against God, but in every thing to please him, and to approve thyself unto him: which if thou dost, see what will follow upon it, Psal. 84. 11. The Lord will give Grace and Glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly with him. The Scripture saith of Enoch, that he was Raptus a fancy malitiae, snatched (as it were) out of this wicked world, as a brand is snatched out of the fire and saved from burning; that is, he was translated alive from earth into Heaven, and never felt, nor tasted of death: This (you will say) was an extraordinary favour of God, but what might be the reason of it? Moses tells us, Gen. 5. 24. it was because he walked with God; the Apostle commenting upon it, Heb. 11. 5. saith, it was because He pleased God, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, (is the word) which signifies, he gave God content, or kept God's favour and good will; so then, the way to keep God's favour and good will, is to please God, and give him content; and the way to do that, is to walk with God as Enoch did. But what doth Moses mean by walking with God, how may that be done? Answ. Generally, A man may then be said to walk with God, when he leads his life in such a way as God doth best accept, in the way of godliness and Honesty, in the way of temperance and sobriety, in the way of diligence and industry; when a man hath a mind on God in all his ways, and desires God's protection and conduct to guide his feet into the way of peace. This is, in a general sense and acceptance to walk with God more particularly; A man is then said in proper sense to walk with God, when he walks with none else but God; as Isaac did when he sequestered himself, and went out alone into the fields to meditate and to pray, Gen. 40. 69. (The word (Suach) signifieth both, then went he out to walk with God: And indeed there is no such time for a man to converse with God, and (as the phrase is in Job) to acquaint himself with the Lord, as when he is solitary, private, and alone: If any thing grieve a man, or lie heavy upon his conscience, when he is Alone, he may freely disburden his heart into the bosom of God. If a man have faulted any way, or done amiss for want of good takeheed, when he is Alone, he may freely and fully bewail and bemoan, and even beshrew and shrive himself unto the Lord his God. If a man want any good thing that's requisite and necessary either for the body or the soul, when he is Alone, he hath free and full opportunity to beg and to entreat it, to win and to obtain it at the hand of God. No such time for a man to reconcile himself, and to make his own atonement and his peace with God, as when he is Alone. In a word then, if thou dost desire to keep the favour of the Lord, and to abide in his grace and his goodwill; do as Isaac did, take one turn with thy God every day thou risest; steal away from thy earthly occasions (as our Saviour stole away from his earthly Parents) to do the business of thy heavenly Father, or as the Apostles word, 2 Pet. 3. 9 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, to retire and repent. Let no day pass thee without some commerce and conference with thy God; and (Believe it) if there be any means in the world to fasten and rivet the favour of God unto thy soul, that will do it, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to walk aright with God. I have done with the first general part of my Text concerning the meaning of the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, or what is meant by the Grace here spoken of: Come we now to the second, and that is the Author and Owner of this Grace, expressed in the next word ({non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}) God claims it as his own peculiar) and calls it by a term of propriety, My Grace, to show that none hath to do with the dispensing of that but himself alone. Now if you mark the course of Scripture, you shall observe that there is not any thing which belongs to man, but in one place or other God claims it for his own. Though he hath given the earth to the Children of men, yet hath he not alienated it from himself, but that still, The Earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof: whatsoever fullness the earth affords us, whether it be Fields full of corn, Folds full of sheep, Orchards full of Fruit, Tables full of meat, &c. all these fullness are the Lords, who openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness. And not only the earth in general and the fullness thereof, but the very cattle and Beasts of the earth, are all the Lords too: Psal. 50. 10. All the Beasts of the forest are mine (saith God) and so are the cattle upon a thousand Hills. The Beasts of the forest (we know) are ferae naturae, of a wild unruly nature, they know no Master, acknowledge no owner, are in subjection to no keeper; yet because the Lord takes care of them, gives them their being, and provides them their food, therefore doth he justly claim them for his own, and saith, (All the Beasts of the forest are mine) and so are all the cattle upon a thousand hills▪ whether they be sheep or goats; neat or fowl; there's no man living hath any right unto them upon earth, but he holds it in capite, and hath his right from the God of Heaven. Not only so; but the very corn in our barns, the Wine in our Cellars, the wool upon our sheep's backs, the Lord claims for his own, as ye may see, Hos. 2. 8, 9 For God bestows his blessings, as the sun doth his beams, in such a manner, as that they depend still upon himself after he hath bestowed them. Nay to come nearer yet, the very money that is in our purses or coffers, whether we keep it close to hatch a purchase; or put it out, as the Lion puts out his claw to rend and gripe the poor needy borrower; wheresoever God finds it, he claims it for his own, Hag. 2. 8. The Silver and the Gold is mine; and as little conscience as men make of their gains, they must one day be accountable to the Lord, How they got it, how they used it, and how they wasted it. All this is to let us understand to whom we are beholden for our Lands, for our goods, and for whatsoever else we inherit or enjoy in this world, even to the Father of lights, (as James termeth him, Iam. 1. 17.) from whom both {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, both gifts and goods, and all descend unto us; therefore as in the sacrifices of old, whosoever had the flesh, God had the fat; so whosoever hath the goods of this world, let God have the glory, for his they are, and from him we have and hold them. But there is one thing in my Text, for which we are more beholding to God, then for all the rest; and that is for His Grace, other things though they come originally from God, yet they come mediately by the means of other instruments, by Parents or Friends, or Benefactors▪ but Grace is a thing that comes solely, and only, and immediately from God; as there was no corn to be had in Egypt, but from the hand of Joseph, so no grace to be had on earth, but from the hand of God: he is the God of all Grace (as Saint Peter truly styleth him) there is no grace whatsoever that is wanting in man, but there is a gracious supply to be had in God, which made David (as it were) in a rapture to cry out and say, Oh taste and see how gracious the Lord is, Psal. 34. 8. First taste, and then see; because as a man can never truly tell the sweetness of Honey, till he have tasted it first▪ so can he never truly see nor perceive, nor understand how gracious a God the God of Heaven is, till he have first had a taste of God's Grace, and an experience of God's favour in himself and for his own soul. taste then and see how gracious the Lord is: Gracious in his Throne, for it is the Throne of Grace, Heb. 4▪ 16. gracious in his spirit, for it is the spirit of Grace, Zach. 12. 10. Gracious in his Word, for it is the Word of Grace, Act. 20▪ 30. and above all, gracious in himself, for he is the God of Grace: yea, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, The God of all Grace, 1 Pet. 5. 10. And therefore dost thou desire wisdom? He is the God of that Grace; dost thou want patience? he is the God of that too; dost thou stand in need of Faith, or Hope, or Charity? he is the God of all these▪ Oh what a gracious God do we serve, and what graceless beasts we are if we serve him not, seeing he hath grace sufficient for all his servants? My Grace (saith God) is sufficient for thee. In a word then, forasmuch as all Grace is of God, that He, and none but He, hath the disposal and the dispensation of it to whom he pleaseth; take (I beseech you) into your consideration these brief advertisements following. 1. Ne deficias, do not fail of it; It is the Apostles own caveat, Heb. 12. 15. Look diligently lest any man fail of the Grace of God. God for his part is so gracious, that he denies his grace to none, but offers it, and (I may say) gives it to every one that will but ask and accept it, as the Scripture saith of Araunah, 2 Sam. 24. 23. when he offered King David his Oxen for a sacrifice, and his threshing instruments for wood to burn them; the Text saith, All these things did Araunah as a King give unto the King: whereas we know, he did not give them, because David would not accept of them, but his will was to have given them, and that the Holy Ghost accounts as a gift, and so recordeth it. In like sort, God offers his grace in the Word and Sacraments, his will is graciously and freely to bestow it, if sinful men were but like-minded to receive it, and to make themselves capable of so great a mercy by desiring it. It was God's own proposition to his own son, Psal. 2. 8. postula a me, &c. desire of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, &c. If he that was sole heir of Heaven and Earth (haeres ex toto ass, as the Romans used to style them) could no otherwise come by his inheritance but by way of petition to desire it afore he had it, much more so is it with us; where no desire is, look for no gift, no prayer, no grace. We see in Esay, God makes a gracious promise to his people, that he would put away all their sins, and take them all into his favour, as though they had never sinned; but mark the condition, for all these things I will be sought unto (saith God.) So though God offer his Grace to men, he will not force it upon them against their wills, he will have them sue for it, he will have them desire it, or they may thank themselves if they go to hell without it; and God may justly complain of them, as David did of Naball, 1 Sam. 25. 21. All is in vain that I have done for these men. Seeing then there is no backwardness in God to make denial of his grace, but he is willing to bestow it upon all that are desirous to embrace it; Oh be not wanting to thy own mercy, ne deficias, do not fail of it. 2. Seeing that Grace is the Lords, nè superbias, be not proud of it, do not {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, (as Saint James his word is, chap. 3. 5.) do not magnifically lift up thyself above thy brethren whose graces are not so eminent as thine: but rather as the ears of corn, and the boughs of trees, the more they are laden with fruit, the lower they hang to the earth, so the more god hath laden thee with his graces and favours, be thou so much the more lowly in thy own eyes; and think not scorn to do as thy God does, who though his Glory be above the Heavens, (saith David, Psal. 113. 6.) yet he doth Abase himself to behold the things that are in the earth; and as the more direct the sun is over us, the shorter and lesser is the shadow: so the more that God's grace is over thee, and in thee, the lesser let the shadow of pride be seen to come from the: for consider (saith the Apostle) What hast thou that thou hast not received? or what is that thou canst properly call thine own, but mendacium & peccatum, lying and sin? as our Saviour said of the devil, John 8. when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh de suo, of his own, God never put that into him: so for thy sins thou must thank thyself, or rather indeed beshrew and blame thyself, for they are thy own; but if thou hast any grace or any virtue in thee, thank God for that; for it is not thine, it is the Lords: seeing than thou art but a Tributary to God, and hast nothing that good is, but what thou art beholding, and must be countable to the Lord for it, nè superbias, be not proud of it. 3. Seeing Grace is the Lords to bestow on whom he pleaseth, nè invideas, do not envy it, let not thine eye be evil because God is good, nor think the worse of another man because God is better to him then unto thee: for God's grace is his own, he may give it to whom he will. When God shall take off his grace, and of his good Spirit (as Samuel said to Saul) shall give it to a Neighbour of thine that is better than thou: what cause hast thou to be envious at this? and not rather to humble thyself, and think that (as Daniel told the King, chap. 5. 27.) God hath weighed thee in a balance, and found thee, minus habens, wanting to God and to thyself, and therefore hath justly withholden his favour from thee, and given it to one that will use it better, for his glory, and for the Churches good, far be it from any child of God to cherish in his breast the spawn of that old serpent the devil; for envy is no better; (as the learned have well observed) there is so near a resemblance betwixt an envious man and the devil, that in the book of God the one is taken for the other; so the devil is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} an envious man (Mat. 13. 28.) & an envious man is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a devil (Ioh. 6. 70.) How far better would it become us in this respect to be {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, like the Angels of Heaven; who now at Christmas time, when they saw that our Saviour would in no wise take their nature which was far better than ours; but took our nature upon him, which was far worse than theirs, and which was most of all, and would have gone most against our stomachs, commanded them to worship it, Heb. 1. 6. they were so far from envying, or taking offence at this; (as that elder brother did in the Gospel, when the younger was received to grace after his riotous course) that even than they sung an Anthem for the joy of our happiness, and even to this day; (Saint Peter tells us, 1 Pet. 1. 12.) they do {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, stoop down (as it were) in duty and love, to honour the mystery of Christ's incarnation, and to admire the Grace and favour of God to mankind: In a word then, seeing that the honouring of God's grace wheresoever it lights, is a quality so angelical; and the contrary so diabolical, let it be thy practice evermore to reverence him that hath it, to judge thyself unworthy of it, seek it in God's name, and get to be partaker in it, but in any case ne invideas, do not envy it. 4. Seeing that Grace proceeds from so holy a fountain as is the Lord, ne Abutaris, do not abuse it, do not vitiate nor stain it with sin, as Lot entreated the men of Sodom, Gen. 19 8. that they would not abuse the Angels of God, seeing they were come to shelter themselves under the shadow of his roof; So let me entreat you all in the Name of Christ that you would not abuse the graces of God, seeing they are come from Heaven to take shelter and harbour in your breasts and bosoms. The Apostle speaks of some (Iud. 4.) that turn the grace of God into wantonness; and that's a woeful kind of alchemy (as one saith singularly well) would he not esteem that man prodigally foolish and mad, that would spend all his time, all his stubstance, and all his industry to find out a perverse philosopher's stone, that should turn all the gold it touched into lead and dross? even such are they that pervert the grace of God, and turn it into wantonness, into lasciviousness, into all manner of scurrility and deboistness, and never lin, till they have made a poison of an Antidote, and baned themselves with that which would have been their bliss, Lucerna Dei inspiritu hominis (saith Solomon, Pro. 20. 27.) The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord; it implies, that a man naturally walks in darkness, which is full of error, and full of terror, till God in mercy set up a candle in his soul, (I mean) endues him with knowledge and grace from heaven, that he may show him the path of life, and to avoid the snares of death. Now you know, that a candle naturally burns upwards, if you take it and turn it the wrong way, and hold it downwards, it dies and goes out alone, so fares it with {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Graces and gifts of God, as Wit and wisdom, Knowledge and Learning, and all these are the candles of the Lord, and are purposely given us to light us up to heavenward; but if we take God's candles and hold them downward, turn them the wrong way, and apply and abuse them to sin; it is much to be feared, the light of God will go out, and thou shalt be left at the length in a place of utter darkness. Therefore as thou tenderest the favour and goodwill of God, and the eternal welfare of thy own soul, deal not with the Graces of God, as Jehu dealt with Jehoram's messenger, 2 Reg. 9 do not turn them behind thee, and make them serve against their own masters; but remember that if the sons of Jacob would not endure to have their sister abused (Gen. 24. ult.) how dost thou think thy God will endure to have his grace abused, and to be prostituted to every sin? In a word, as Reuben said to his distressed brethren, (Gen. 42. 22.) did not I speak unto you saying, Sin not against the child and ye would not hear? Oh be not you like them, monitoribus asperi, so careless and regardless of divine admonition; but remember that you have been spoken unto, that you have been warned of God not to sin against your own souls in this too common kind, but if the Lord have betrusted you with his grace, labour to cherish it, and (as the Apostles word is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 2 Tim. 1. 6.) to blow it or stir it up, as we do a dying fire, to kindle and quicken it by the use of good means, but in any case, ne abutaris, abuse it not. 5. Lastly, seeing thou hast to do with the grace and favour of God, ne diffides, do not distrust it, do not make any doubt or question of it but it will bestead thee, and befriend thee, and be firm and sure unto thee at any time of need. It is the Apostles own advertisement, 1 Pet. 1. 13. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, trust perfectly on the Grace that is revealed and brought into the world by Jesus Christ. It is a thing that a man may lean his whole weight upon, and venture his whole estate upon, and pawn his life and soul upon, the certainty, the truth, and the infallibility of God's heavenly grace to all that make their peace, and put their trust in him. fear not Mary (said the blessed Angel to the blessed Virgin) for thou hast found favour with God: as if he had said, Let them fear that are out of God's favour, let them be distrustful that are wicked and deceitful, that make no conscience of their ways, but live in the displeasure of an angry God; paveant illi, let them fear; but noli tu, fear not thou, be thou steadfast & unmovable in thy affiance to God, for why? invenisti gratiam, thou hast found favour with him, in whose favour is life, and whose grace will be thy guide unto the day of death. In a word then, (to close up this point) As I said before, so I say it over again, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, gird up the loins of your minds, and trust perfectly to the Grace of God; do it not in any wavering, or timorous, or unconfident manner, as if God were like the Poets Tenedos; Stati● malefida carinis, a trustless Anchor-hold to the sea-beaten Traveller; or like those deceitful Jews, (Ioh. 2. 24.) to whom our Saviour durst not commit himself, though they seemed to believe in his Name. Oh let not thy heart entertain the least suspicion, the least jealousy of the faithfulness and fidelity of thy God; but try him by thy prayers, and trust him by thy faith, and urge him with this Text that now is preached unto thee, (as St. Austin saith his mother Monica did, Chyrographa tua ingerebat tibi, Lord (saith he) she urged thee with thy own hand-writing) tell him but how hard the world goes with thee, and then say ere God have done with thee, if thou dost not find his Grace to be sufficient for thee. And so I am come in the third place to show you the efficacy and virtue of the Grace of God, how and wherein the sufficiency thereof doth consist; {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, (saith the Text) My Grace is sufficient. The principal things whereunto the Grace of God (and besides God's Grace, nothing else under heaven) is available or sufficient, are these that follow. 1. Ad Cond●nandum, to pardon and forgive us all our sins, which would be the bane and destruction of all our souls. Grande est barathrum peccatorum meorum (saith a Father) sed major est Abyssus misericordiae Dei: Great is the gulf and whirlpool of my sins, but greater and deeper is the bottomless Sea of God's Grace and mercy: see that place, Rom. 5. 20. where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound: Hast thou abundance of sins, let not that dishearten thee, God hath abundance of Grace; if thy sins be great, his Grace is greater than thy sins, and far more sufficient to justify, than all thy sins are to condemn thy soul. Only ne desis, be not thou wanting to God in thy prayers and repentance, and his Grace shall never be wanting to thee in thy pardon and forgiveness. What a golden sentence is that of St. Chrysostom, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}; Thou dost not, thou canst not so much desire to have thy sins forgiven thee, as God doth desire to forgive thy sins unto thee. I forgave thee all thy debt, because thou desiredst me, (said that gracious Lord to his ungracious servant, Mat. 18. 32.) intimating unto us, that if God do not forgive us our debts, if he do not pardon and remit our sins; we may thank ourselves, the fault is our own, because we do not desire him, for if we desired him, he would do it. In a word then, as our Saviour asked the Cripple, John. 5. 6. Wilt thou be made whole? so, wilt thou be made holy and clean, and fit for absolution from God? dost thou desire in sincerity and truth to have thy sins remitted, and thy soul absolved by the blood and death of Jesus Christ? to have all thy misdeeds expunged and blotted out, that they may be as if they never had been? Then take the Prophet Esai's counsel (Esay 43. 25, 26.) put God in remembrance of these things: (it is a pregnant place, I pray read and remember it) I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins: (there's a gracious promise; but mark the condition in the next immediate words) put me in remembrance (faith God) and I will do it, and not otherwise: for though God remember all our sins, and can tell them better than our own souls; yet he doth not remember them to our comfort, but rather to our confusion, unless we tell him and put him in remembrance of them: so that the only way to put our sins out of God's remembrance, is to put them into his remembrance; the only way to make God forget them, is daily and hourly to declare them and put him in mind of them. If therefore thou canst not be so good as thou wouldst, be not ashamed, be not afraid to tell God how evil thou art; tell him how ungodly, how unthankful, how unprofitable a servant thou hast been unto him, and desire God to mend thee, and make thee such a one as he would have thee: And as Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate & begged the body of Jesus; so go thou to God and beg the Spirit of Jesus; even that spirit of grace and Supplication (which the Prophet speaks of, Zach. 12. 10.) which will come down from heaven and bring into thy soul, first Supplications to prepare thee; secondly, Grace to assure thee of the free and full forgiveness of all thy sins: And then let thy sins be what they will be, sins of death, sins of blood, sins of hell; if thou canst find in thy heart to pray, God will find in his heart to pardon, for his Grace is sufficient to do it. That's the first. 2. The second thing whereto the sufficiency of God's Grace doth belong, is ad consolandum to comfort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way be comforted. I should have fainted (saith David, Psal. 27. 13.) for all my worldly comforts, but that I steadfastly believed, to see the Lord's good grace in the land of the living, (that is) to see it before he died; therefore we read, 1 Sam. 30. 6. when he was in great distress, had neither house nor home to shelter him, neither wife, nor child, nor friend to be any comfort to him, but his own very soldiers began to talk of stoning him; Then (saith the Text) David comforted himself in the Lord his God. hear this thou poor disconsolate man, that art (as thy Saviour was said to be) {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, sad round about; thou that lookest into thy purse, and there is no comfort, money is gone; that lookest into thy cupboard, and there is no comfort, provision is gone; that lookest into thy barn and storehouse, and there's no comfort, corn and wares are gone; that lookest in thy heart, and there's no comfort, cheerfulness and joy is gone: Then look up to God, and there is comfort to be had: if there be any water, it is in the Sea; if there be any light, it is in the Sun; if there be any comfort, it is in God. Therefore the Apostle justly calleth him, The God of all consolation, 2 Cor. 1. because when all other comforts fail, there's comfort to be found in God. For believe this for a truth, there is no man's case, no man's estate, no man's soul is desperate to God; but when they are at the lowest ebb, at the poorest stay, at the most forlorn hope; then doth God speak peace unto their souls, then doth he draw out those same ubera consolationes, those breasts or dugs of consolation (which the Prophet speaks of, Esay 66. 11.) and drops down that same {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that sincere milk of heavenly comfort, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart. The Hebrews observe that one and the same word (nakam) signifieth, first to repent, and then to comfort; and it may be well applied to this purpose: that true comfort belongs to none but such as are truly penitent: so our saviour tells us that the holy Ghost whom he calls the Comforter when he cometh, the first thing he will do, is to convince the world of sin; that is, first put men quite out of comfort in themselves, than put them into comfort by their Saviour. In a word then, forasmuch as comfort cannot be had without repentance, nor repentance be endured without comfort, nor either of these be attained without God; it remains, that as the daughter of Caleb besought her earthly father (Iud. 1.) so we beseech our heavenly Father, to give us the Springs above, as well as the Springs beneath; I mean, that Irriguum superius, the spring of grace & comfort from above, as well as that Irriguum inferius, the spring of sorrow and repentance from beneath: and then let our discomforts and discontents be what they will, we shall have grace sufficient from God to countervail them all, and as Philip said to our Saviour, Ioh. 14. 8. Lord show us the father and it sufficeth us; so though our sins confound us, and our consciences condemn us, Lord sh●w us thy favour, and 'tis sufficient for us. 3. The third is Ad sanandum, His Grace is sufficient to cure and heal us of all those {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} those bodily ailements and infirmities which God for sin doth inflict upon us, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}▪ from those scourges and rods (as the Holy Ghost termeth sore diseases, Luk. 7. 21.) for indeed they are the very rods which God useth to chasten and correct us for our follies: I say, there is no rod so sharp, no disease so sore, but God's grace is sufficient to heal it and to take it off. I am R●peca (saith God, Exod. 15. penult.) I am thy physician, or I am the Lord that healeth thee: and if God be the physician, his Grace is the physic, for whosoever be the instrument of our health, God is the author, his Grace is it that doth the cure. Therefore in common speech, when any outward malady doth befall us, where of we know no second cause; we use to say (and we say well) that it came by the Grace of God: now if thou believest that it came by God's Grace, believe this also that by the same Grace it shall (in God's good time) be remedied, and removed and done away, for (as St. James saith in another case) God giveth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace, and showeth more favour, to heal those that are sick and broken in heart, than to break their hearts, with sickness that were well and whole; both are from the same Grace, but the one more especially than the other. But then the main point for satisfaction will be this: seeing it is in the power of God's Grace to cure all infirmities, and that in a moment, with a word-speaking, (as the Centurion said, speak but the word, and my servant shall be whole.) Why will God suffer so many of his own Patients, that have no physician but himself, to lie languishing so long under his own hand, and seem to take no notice of their miseries? The best answer I can give, is that of our Saviour to his Mother, John 2. 4. Nondum venit hora, My hour is not yet come; for you must conceive there are two kinds of hours; we have our hour, and God hath his hour. As soon as we begin to sicken, that we feel but any pain, or find the want of any ease; then is our hour to be healed, then do we cry out, as 'tis fit we should, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak, Lord heal me for my bones are vexed, Psal. 6. 2. But God hath another hour, and that you shall find, 2 Chron. 7. 14. When my people humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, (that is, when they are bettered and amended by my afflictions) Then (saith God) will I hear in heaven, and have mercy upon them, and heal their Land. God complains of that people in many places, that their hearts were waxen fat, that they would not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts, Ne convertantur ut sanem, Mat. 13. 15. lest they should be converted, and I should heal them. So that the time of our conversion is God's healingtime; First, labour to be converted, and then look to be healed, and not before. So Acts 3. 19 Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and then (and never till then) look for a Tempus refrigerii, a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We read, Numb. 12. 14 When Myriam was strucken with leprosy, Moses was importunate with God to heal presently out of hand; Heale her now, O Lord, I beseech thee; Heale her now. No (saith God) I will not heal her yet, she shall stay the time that I have determined upon her, for if her Father had but spit in her face, should she not have been ashamed and kept in for seven days, &c. So persuade yourselves of this, that there is a {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} an appointed time that God hath set down with himself in heaven, when and wherein his mercy shall appear on earth for our recovery; and till that time we must wait, (as David saith, Psal. 123. 2.) As the eyes of a servant wait on the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maiden on the hand of her Mistress, so do our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us. mark that same donec misereratur, until he have mercy: that is, though God show thee not mercy, this day, nor to morrow, nor the next day, may be, not till a long time after; yet, let not thy heart be dismayed, but let thy soul truly wait upon God, until he show thee mercy, let him show it when he will. In the mean time know, thou art under the hands of a wise and gracious God, who measures every dram of sorrow that thou feelest, who will not only be about thy bed, but will ever make all thy bed in thy sickness, and will so establish and under▪ prop thee with his Grace; that though thy body lie in pain, thy soul shall lie at case; though thy outward man consume and melt away for very heaviness, yet that same Interior cordis home, (as Saint Peter speaks) the inner man of thy heart shall be so strengthened with might, and armed with patience, and guarded with peace, that neither pains of death, nor the powers of Hell shall ever be able to prevail against thee. In a word, if ever it shall please God to cast thee down upon that same, Lectum languoris, that bed of languishing, which David speaks of, Psal. 41. 4. (for that we all must make account of) though we now lie and laze upon our beds, the time may come that we shall lie and languish on our beds; wishing (as they did in Deuteronomy,) when 'tis morning, would God it were evening, and when 'tis evening, would God it were morning. If ever such a doleful time should happen to thee, I pray God of his mercy look graciously upon thee, and say unto thy bleeding soul, as he did once to that forlorn Infant, Ezech. 16. 6. Dixi in sanguinibus, &c. when thou wast in thy blood, I said unto thee, live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live; if God do but say, thou shalt live; though thou wert in thy blood, though thou wert in thy grave, his Word shall fetch thee, for his Grace (if it stand with his glory) is sufficient to heal thee. 4. The last and chiefest thing whereunto the Grace of God, and nothing else but God's Grace, is sufficient, is Adsalvandum, to save the soul of every one that hath it. The Apostle calls it, The Grace that bringeth salvation, ({non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Tit. 2. 11.) for as the wickedness of man bringeth destruction, so the Grace of God bringeth salvation to every soul that entertains it. Saint Paul is direct, Ephes. 2. 5. By Grace ye are saved; whether it be meant of the Grace of God within us, which our Saviour compares to Salt, Mark. 9 50. (Habete salem in vobis, &c. have Salt in yourselves, and peace with one another) because as Salt preserves the flesh, so doth Grace preserve the spirit from corruption and rottenness in sin: or whether it be meant of the Grace of God that is over and above us, I mean, his favour and loving kindness which lighteneth upon us from Heaven; (as we pray in our liturgy, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee,) Take it either way, it holds good and true; for by the one we are prepared for salvation, by the other salvation is prepared for us; the Grace of God within us prepares us for salvation; the Grace of God over us prepares salvation for us: so both ways 'tis our happiness, By Grace to be saved. It was God's merciful promise, Deut. 11. 12. Mine eyes shall be upon this Land from the beginning of the year, to the end thereof; Such is God's goodness where he bestows his Grace, such a care hath God of their souls, that his eye is upon them from the beginning of their conversion, to the end of their salvation: and as his eye is upon them to watch over them, so his hand is with them to conduct them in the right way of pleasing God, and of saving their own souls, Deut. 33. 3. All his Saints are in thy hand: as a Father leads his child, so doth God lead his Saints by his Grace, and by his good Spirit, from all things prejudicial, to all things profitable, to his service and their own salvation. (To conclude this point) because (as the schoolmen say well) Ad singulos actus desideratur Gratia, a man hath need of Grace to every action that he takes in hand, and that he can do nothing well without it; let us all desire of God (as it is in the Collect) That his special Grace may evermore prevent and follow us, first, that God would prevent us with his Grace, to put into our hearts good motions, good thoughts, and good desires; and secondly, that it may follow us too, (as the water of the rock followed the camp of the Israelites to the Land of Promise, 1 Cor. 10. 4.) so that God's Grace may follow, accompany, and go along with us in this world; and never leave us, never forsake us till it hath brought us to the end of our Faith, which is the salvation of our souls, according to that, Psal. 109. ult. Dominus ad dextram, &c. the Lord is at the right hand of the poor, to save him from all them that would condemn his soul, where note that he doth not say, the Lord is at their left hand (which is as I may term it) the lazy hand, to save men in their negligent and idle courses; But he is at their right hand (which is the working hand) to save all them that work for their salvation, and carefully use the means to save themselves: which thing if thou make a conscience to do, though thy sins and thy enemies should conspire to condemn thee, Thy God and his Grace will be sufficient to save thee. And so at length, I am come aboard the last and long desired part of my Text, which contains the application of all in particular, which hath been spoken and delivered in general; drawn out of the word ({non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}) My grace is sufficient for thee, so that, as it is said of our Saviour, Mat. 21. 45. that his Doctrine was so punctual, and clapped so close to the consciences of his Auditors, that the Pharises knew he meant them: So by that time I have done with my Text, (neither will I be long in doing it) I trust you shall perceive that God's meaning was to you, when he spoke to Saint Paul, and told him that His Grace is sufficient for him. Briefly then, see what Paul was, and say what thou art; if your case be the same, your comfort is the same; for God is no accepter of persons, his Grace is as sufficient for the one, as for the other. 1. Saint Paul was Homo in Christo, he was a man in Christ, as you may see by the second verse of this chapter (I knew a man in Christ, that was taken up into the third Heaven:) Art thou such a one? I mean, art thou regenerate and become a new creature? (for he that is in Christ is a new creature. 2 Cor. 5. 17.) dost thou daily renew thy repentance, and renew thy obedience, and renew thy duty and devotion to God? And is it a grief to thy soul, that so much of the old leaven, thy old corruption remains still in thy heart? Then take this holy Scripture to thy comfort, and assure thyself, though thy conscience disquiet thee; God's Grace will be sufficient for thee: contrarily, if thou be'st an old weather-beaten sinner, an old rusty drunkard, swearer, and that standest at a stay, and gatherest sin, like an old tree that stands and gathers moss; I must say unto thee (as Peter said to Simon Magus, Act. 8.) thou hast neither part nor portion in this privilege; thou art not a man in Christ, and consequently canst claim no interest in the Grace and favour of God. 2. Saint Paul was Homo in Cruce, a man upon the cross, Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ; and elsewhere, Colos. 2. 24. I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh: whereupon (saith a Father) quid deest passioni Christi, nisi ut nos similia patiamur, what is, or what can be wanting to the sufferings of Christ, but that as he took up his cross, so we take up ours and follow him: for Vae portantibus crucem, & non sequentibus Christum, woe to them that are crucified, and not with Christ; that bear the cross, and follow not Christ, but turn from him clean another way. It is well known that afflictions go under the name of crosses; now a cross was a piece of wood for a malefactor to die on, there was no other use of a cross but that: Affliction therefore is called a cross, because it should have the nature and power of a cross, that is, it should be a means to crucify and mortify all carnal lusts and affections in us; that the more we are afflicted, the more we should die to sin, and the less life and power should our corruptions have in us. Thus it was with Saint Paul, is it so with thee? dost thou wish and desire the death of thy sins? dost thou make this use of thy afflictions, even to die daily? (as the Apostles speaks) dost thou every day drive one nail into the body of sin, I mean one sigh or groan to God against it? dost thou labour to draw blood of thy soul (as they drew blood of thy Saviour) I mean, the tears of true repentance? and is it a death to thy heart, that thou canst not die unto sin, and live unto God, as thou shouldest and oughtest to do? Then look no further for Hearts-ease, but to the words of my Text, and assure thyself, what ever Crosses be upon thee, God's Grace (in God's good time) shall be sufficient to case thee. Contrariwise, if thou be'st one that dost {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, (as Saint Stephen speaketh, Act. 7. 51.) one that dost fall cross and contrary to all but to thy sins, and art indeed a very cross to God himself and to his good Spirit, by thy perverse ungodly courses, I must say unto thee, as the Prophet Esay saith, Esay 3. 6. Woe be unto thy soul, for thou hast rewarded evil unto thyself: thou forsakest thy own mercy, and deprivest thyself of the comfort of God's Grace in the time of need. 3. Saint Paul was Homo in negotiis, a laborious man, a man full of employments, 1 Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more than all my fellow-Apostles (saith he) yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me. (there's an honest acknowledgement by whom he profited.) And elsewhere he tells the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 11. 9 When I was with you and wanted, non obt●rpui, I was not chargeable nor burdensome to any man. The Learned observe, that word hath his weight from Torpedo, which signifieth a Crampfish; a Fish (they say) that hath such a benumbing quality, that the cold of it will strike from the hook to the line, from the line to the goad, from the goad to the arm, from the arm to the body of the fisher, and so benumb him, & take away all use and feeling of his limbs: His meaning is, that he was none of those idle drones, that by their laziness and lewdness do even chill, and benumb, and dead the charity of well-disposed people; but as he laboured in preaching, so he wrought in his calling too; and put himself to any pains, rather than be chargeable or burdensome to any friend or stranger: and by this means it came to pass, that what he wanted at home, he found it abroad; and God's grace that was with him did ever supply him with that which was enough and sufficient for him. Is it so with thee? Thou that art a poor man, art thou also an industrious and a painful man? that as Jacob got the blessing in the garment of Esau, which signifieth, Working; so dost thou work and take pains to get the blessing of thy God? dost thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good, that thou mayest rather be charitable, then chargeable to him that needeth? and will not thy honest labour maintain thee, nor suffice the charge that daily lies upon thee? Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee, and let not thy wants nor thy necessities dismay thee, for there is a God above that hath sufficient for thee; contrarily, if thou be'st one that live in pleasure (as Saint Paul saith of that widow, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, she was dead even while she lived) one that spendest thy time in this world, no otherwise than that Leviathan doth in the Sea, only by taking thy pastime therein, or like those lilies that our Saviour speaks, that neither labour nor spin, but only make a fair show as long as it will hold: Then as Jehu said to Joram, What Peace? so may I say to thee, What Grace? or what favour canst thou look for at the hands of God? 4. Saint Paul was Homo in aerumnis, a man full of cares. I do not mean of carnal or worldly cares, or such as Martha's were, for the things of this life; for these he had cast upon God, and had learned in whatsever estate he was, therewith to be content; but I mean of spiritual, divine, religious cares, for the health and welfare of the soul, such as he commends in the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 7. 11. as being the first fruits of Grace and godly sorrow ({non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, What carefulness it hath wrought in you) how much it wrought in them, I know not; but sure I am, it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care, and that of the better kind: first, an immediate care for himself, and his own soul, lest after he had preached unto others, himself should be a castaway, 1 Cor. 9 27. secondly, a charitable and that a Catholic and universal care for all Churches and Christian souls under the cope of heaven. 2 Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in ecclesias quantumvis remotas affectus, quam si illas humeris gestaret (as Beza said of Calvin) he was no less tenderly affected for those Churches that were remote and far off than if he had borne them upon his own shoulders, and carried them (as Nurses do their Babes) in his own bosom. But his third and most especial care was for the souls and saving health of his little children (as he calls them, Gal. 4. 20.) Of whom he traveled in birth till Christ was formed in them. His care was greater for them, than either for himself, or any others; and he gives his reason {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, for (saith he) I stand in doubt of you. Good Parents the more they love their children, the more they stand in doubt of them, lest they should fall to any defection, or decline to any corruption, or come to any disaster when they themselves are dead and gone. This made Saint Paul in such perplexity for them; and yet were they but his spiritual children; what care then (may we think) would he have taken for them, if they had been his natural children too? then might he justly have used that word, and said {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, I am in doubt of you: for {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in Greek signifieth both dubius and pauper, doubtful and poor; for none have so much reason to be doubtful of their children's welfare as they that are poorest and have least to leave them. They may justly fear (as the woman of Tekoah said to David, 2 Sam. 14. 7.) lest their coals should be quenched: (for so she calls her child her coal; for as coals either warm or burn, as they are used, so do children either comfort or cross their parents as they prove) now when a poor man shall die and leave his coals, I mean his Orphans behind him: such is the world, that where you shall light of one good body that will be a means to cherish and maintain and keep them alive, there be twenty to that one so unchristianly and uncharitably minded, that they care not how they use them, yea though they quench and crush, and put them clean out. And hence come those {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, those perplexities and doubtful cares of tender-hearted Parents for their Children. Hast thou therefore many little ones, and little to leave them? and doth thy heart even yearn with care and fear to forethink what shall betide them, when thou by death art taken from them? I will give thee the same counsel that I desire of God to take myself, and that's this, Cognovisti Gratiam Dei, (saith our Apostle, Colos. 1. 6.) Thou knowest the Grace of God: thou knowest that to be a sure stay when all other props and stays are done away: That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breaks: Make trial of that. Do by thy Children as Saint Paul did by his brethren, Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God, and to the word of his Grace; Lay them down at the feet of Jesus Christ, as they in the Primitive Church, laid down their money at the feet of the Apostles; desire God to be their Father, Christ to be their Guardian, the Holy Ghost to be their Guide; and when thou hast done so, then as David saith, Psal. 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem, return unto thy rest, O my soul, then settle and assure and resolve thyself, that Heaven shall want mercy, and earth means, before any of those that are under God's protection and patronage shall want maintenance. Never be in doubt what shall become of them, knowing that His Grace is sufficient for them. I might add hereunto many particulars; as that Saint Paul was homo in vinculis, a man in bonds, but the Grace of God unloosed them all: that he was Homo in necessitatibus, a man in wants, but the Grace of God supplied them all: that he was Homo in periculis, a man in many perils and dangers, but by the Grace of God he escaped them all: that he was Homo in tentationibus, a man mightily troubled with temptations, but by the Grace of God he overcame them all: All these I purposely overslip (which perhaps might comply with many a man's condition, and conduce to his comfort) but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the rest, that S. Paul was, as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee, and every Christian soul to be. 5. Homo in Coelestibus, a man of an heavenly disposition; though his bodily abode was upon earth, yet his {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, his soul's commerce, and conversation was in heaven, Phil. 3. 20. no marvel then, that being so much acquainted with God, as he was; and so conversant in heaven, which is Gremium Gratiae, the lap and bosom of Grace; if, as 'tis said of Saint John that leaning in the bosom of Christ, he thence sucked out his heavenly knowledge; So St. Paul being so intimate, and so entire with God who is the God of all Grace (whatever else he wanted) could not possibly want Grace sufficient for him. In a word then: Is it so with thee though in a far inferior degree? Art thou, as every good Christian is, and aught to be {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, a Citizen of Heaven? Dost thou account that thy home, and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time? and as our Saviour set his face to go to Jerusalem, Luke 9 51. Dost thou set thy face to go to heaven? doth thy heart stand Heaven-ward? Art thou bound for that coast? (as Paul went bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, Act. 20.) I mean, dost thou set thy affections upon things above, upon God and his Grace? and not on things below, upon the world and her goods which drown men's souls in perdition? Art thou one of that same Generis Aquilini, of that Eagle kind, whereof our Saviour speaks, Mat. 24. (where the body is, thither will the eagle's resort) the body of thy Saviour thou knowest is in Heaven, and doth thy soul resort often thither? dost thou wish (as Macarius did) {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, that thy soul might go up into heaven with thy prayers, and there abide for ever with God? Then, what Nathan said to David in a case of conviction, I dare apply to thee in a case of comfort; Thou art the man whom God delighteth to favour: and therefore as the Patriarchs are said Heb. 11. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, even to kiss and embrace the promises of Christ: so do thou even clasp and hug this promise of Grace to thyself; and let neither thy wants, nor thy weaknesses dismay thee, for both in life and death thou shalt find God's Grace to be sufficient for thee, which God of his mercy grant unto us all, &c. Amen. FINIS.