Commentary on Numbers

We have spoken already of two of the standards, and two other remain behind to be spoken off. In this verse, Moses enterlaceth the placing and situation of the Tabernacle, which was so inuironed with the Levites, and they flanked and fortified with the whole host, that it remained in the middes, to wit, in a place of the greatest safety and security, fittest for access in regard of the people, and hardest for access in regard of their enemies. For being placed in the middes of all the host, the Israelites might more easily approach, having a commodious ingress and egress, and regress unto it: and the enemies (if any should enterprise to trouble them) should not be able by any means to disturb and disquiet them, albeit they deferred it never [Doctrine 4] so much. So then we see, that the place of the Tabernacle was not set in a corner of the host, or at the one side, or out of the host, but is commanded to be pitched in the midst of the people. Hence it appeareth, that when the Lord was angry with his people, and would no longer reueile himself unto them by his presence among their tents, it is said, Moses took his Tabernacle and pitched it without the host, and called it Ohel-moed, that is, the Tabernacle of the Congregation; Exod. 33, ver. 7. Here the people were to meet together: here the people were to ask counsel of God: and here the Oracle of God would give answer unto them. True it is, this is not to be understood of that holy place, made to be a worldly, that is, an earthly and temporal Sanctuary, called the Tabernacle, whereby they might have a visible testimony of the presence of God, (albeit some are of that opinion) whether we consider the time, or the coming of Moses from the mount, or the order of the History. In respect of the time, because the making of that great Tabernacle followeth afterward, Exod. 35. In respect of coming from the mountain, because Moses was newly descended, the idolatry of the people newly revenged, and no sufficient leisure afforded for so great a work: lastly in respect of the order of the history, because it must be inverted and transposed. Neither was it some peculiar Tabernacle which Moses erected specially for the service of God (as others suppose and surmise) seeing we read of no such commandment given unto him, and it is not to be thought, he would invent anything in the service of God, for which he had no word or warrant. For if in the building of the great Tabernacle he did frame all things, even to the rings and pins, to the snuffers & snuff-dishes, according to the pattern shown unto him in the mountain: how shall we imagine he would set up a Tabernacle of his own head without the warrant and direction of God? Now, assuredly we cannot understand it of the great Tabernacle, much less of any peculiar tabernacle beside, whose author God is not remembered to be: but of the Tent or Tabernacle of Moses, which serving first for his private use, is here appointed y ^e place where God would manifest himself unto them; so that the removing of it out of the hoaste, is made a sign of his anger and displeasure. To this purpose Moses speaketh afterward, when the work of the Tabernacle was finished, The cloud of the Lord was upon the Tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all his journeys: where he showeth what was the place appointed for it, namely, to be ever in the sight of all the Israelites. Thus doth Moses speak in the second verse of this chapter, Every man of the children of Israel shall campe by his standard, and under the Ensign of his fathers house, far off about the Tabernacle of the Congregation shall they pitch. This doth the Prophet Ezekiel testify, Chap. 37. I will make a covenant of peace with them, and I will set my Sanctuary among them for evermore, my Tabernacle also shall be with them, &c.

This ordering of the place of the Tabernacle, [Reason 1] was not without reason. For first, God doth hereby admonish them, that they should always have him before their eyes, lest they should forget his worship, or offend him with their sins. Hereunto cometh that which the Lord saith, Levite. 26. I will set my Tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not loathe you: and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. If the place had been farther removed from their sight, they would have forgotten God and his worship, and more easily have broken out into sin against him.

Secondly, he had respect indifferently unto [Reason 2] all the tribes. For if any had pitched their tents farther then others from the Tabernacle, they would have quarrelled and complained, that they had been contemned and despised. Everyone would have been ready to give wrongful judgment, and to interpret it as done of set purpose to his disgrace. Now, by this situation of it, the mouths of all persons are stopped, and perpetual silence enjoined unto them, that they should quietly keep their standings, and rest contented with the ordinance of God.

Thirdly, the Levites were hereby put in mind of their duty, and therefore are lodged [Reason 3] about it, as likewise it was about the Temple, as afterward we shall see by the example of Solomon. It was their duty to look to the worship of God, and to instruct the people that should come unto them: for their lips must preserve knowledge, and the people should seek it at their mouths, seeing they are appointed to be the messengers of the Lord of hosts. Neither need they go far to learn this, inasmuch as they could not abide in their places, but they had a warning before their eyes, to perform their office.

The uses, of placing the Tabernacle after [Use. 1] this manner, are many. First, it assureth us of this excellent promise, that God will ever be in the middes of us, and settle his rest and residence among us. Hereunto cometh the saying of Moses, Levite. 26. I will set my Tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not loathe you: and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. So the Prophet having assured them, that his Sanctuary should be settled, and his Tabernacle placed among them, doth add, yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Seeing therefore the situation of the Tabernacle was such, set up in the middes of the Tribes, so that three of them pitched before, three of them behind, and three of each side, in this respect God is said to dwell in the mids of them, because his Tabernacle which he made his habitation, was in the middes of the host. Now we must know how God is said to dwell among us. For we must make a difference between his general presence, and his special presence. His general presence is in all places: his special presence is in his Church His general presence is of his power: his special presence is of his grace and favor. There is a common manner of God's being everywhere, and in all things, by his essence: there is another special way of God's being present, as that which is loved is present in him that loveth; according to that which Christ hath said, John. 14.23. If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and he will come unto him, and will dwell with him. It was (we see) God's will to have the Sanctuary seated in the mids of all the people: not that he was enclosed in that Ark, or in the Tabernacle, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain: but to give them a visible token, that they should not doubt at all of him. For such is our weakness and infirmity, that we are always ready to suppose, that he turneth his back to us, and thinketh not upon us, and is too far absent from us, to succor and sustain us with his hand. Therefore then it was the pleasure of our God, that the Tabernacle should be among the people, as a certain warrant of his power and presence, of grace and goodness, which he hath promised to all the faithful. And no man can indeed call himself a believer, unless he be thoroughly persuaded, that God is with him: yea, this is our comfort and bringeth peace unto our souls, to consider that God is in the middes of us. True it is, God doth sometimes seem to be absent from us, and to hide his countenance from us, and utterly to forget us: yet even then he is with us, and within us, albeit it pleaseth him to try our faith & patience by that means. Again, it is most true, we have not now the Tabernacle with the instruments thereof: yet notwithstanding he standeth not far from us, neither casteth us off from him, but this favor is bestowed upon us in more plentiful measure and in a more ample manner, then it was upon the ancient people under the Law. This appeareth unto us many ways. For first we know, how God is joined unto us in the person of his own only Son. For this cause also is Christ called Emmanuel, that is to say, God with us. In him dwelleth the fullness of the godhead, so that he is God manifested in the flesh, and we are made members of his body. Though he be now ascended up into heaven, yet he faileth not to fill all, and we are made bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; so that there is no greater conjunction between the husband and the wife, then is between the Son of God and us. He said to his disciples, I am with you, even unto the end of the world, Matth. 28. Whereby he meant to strengthen them in all the dangers and conflicts which they should sustain.

Secondly, we have with him the preaching of the Gospel, whereby God is as it were brought down to reside and remain among us. So long as the word which is the scepter of his kingdom is with us, we shall not need to fear he will go from us, neither shall be constrained to make long journeys to seek him out. When once his word is departed, and the Gospel gone, his standard is removed, and he is quite turned from us. It is in vain to dream to find him, when we cannot find him in his word. Hence it is, that Abijam telleth Jeroboam that made Israel to sin, that God was gone from them, seeing he had driven away the Priests of the Lord the sons of Aaron: and on the other side he joineth together the presence of the Lord and the preaching of his word, saying, Behold this God is with us as a Captain, and his Priests with the sounding trumpets to cry an alarm against you. This then is a special token of God's special presence, when he sendeth his word as a gracious rain upon his inheritance, and thereby watereth the dry furrows of the barraine hearts of his people.

Thirdly, we have the promise of his presence and the seals thereof in his Sacraments, whereby we are at one with him, and he with us. Whensoever we meditate of our baptism, the Son of God doth witness unto our spirits, that we are clothed with his righteousness, as with a garment: for all such as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Whensoever we receive the Supper of the Lord, he showeth us that he is our food, and that the bread which we eat at our tables, and in our houses, doth not nourish us better, then we be nourished by his substance at his heavenly table, insomuch that we live in him, by him, and through him: according to the testimony of John, Ch. 6. Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day: for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Thus we are spiritually one with him, and mystically he is one with us, so that we have a communion with him as the members have with the head: so that we must receive it as most true which the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 10. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? for we that are many are one bread and one body, because we all are partakers of one bread.

Fourthly, when we come together in the Church to call upon his Name, he is near unto us, and most familiar with us. For our LORD Jesus Christ assureth us, that he is there among us, whensoever we are assembled in his Name; and by lifting up our eyes, and holding up our hands toward heaven, we show that our coming thither is to present our selves in the sight & presence of our God To this purpose our Savior saith, Math. 18, 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them: so that we must consider, that we are here not only before the Angels of heaven, but also that the Son of God both seeth and heareth us. True prayer doeth ascend up to Heaven as Incense, and lifteth us up to talk familiarly with God, and bringeth down his blessings upon us: except we use this heavenly exercise whereby we speak to him, he is a stranger to us, and we are strangers to him.

Lastly, he dwelleth among us whensoever he preserveth us from evil, and delivereth us from our enemies. If the favor of GOD were not a shield & buckler about us, to preserve and protect us from our enemies, we should lie open to ten thousand dangers and deaths. If our Lord had not a continual care over us, and stood not mightily for our defense, we should be a prey to the iaw of the Lyon, and should perish every minute of an hour. We are of our selves over-weak, and have no means to deliver our selves: this is our comfort, that God is on our side, & dwelleth among us. Let us also take heed we walk in fear before him, and do not provoke him to wrath and indignation against us by committing evil in his fight, who can abide nothing that is profane or polluted, as Deut. 6, 15. The Lord that is in the midst of thee, is jealous, beware therefore that his wrath kindle not, lest thou be rooted out of the Land which the Lord thy God hath given thee. To this purpose the Apostle speaketh, 2 Cor. 6. Ye are the Temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell among them, and walk there: and I will be their GOD, and they shall be my people: wherefore come out from among them, and separate yourselves, saith the Lord, and touch none unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. This showeth, that we ought to walk always as in God's presence, and to consider evermore that his eye is upon us. Our bodies are the temples of the holy Ghost for him to dwell in. If then we shall defile them, and make them as swine-styes, we grieve the holy Spirit whereby our adoption and redemption are sealed, and drive him from us, and chase him away out of our hearts.

[Use 2] Secondly, albeit the placing of the Tabernacle in the midst of the host be gone and past long ago, and were verified among the Jews under the shadows of the Law: yet it serveth to teach us to what end God hath instituted civil States and Common-wealths in this world, to wit, to be stays and props to the Church, to uphold and strengthen the same, that the people of God may assemble together in peace and quietness, and be free from all dangers of malicious enemies that labor to do evil to the Sanctuary. To this purpose the Prophet teacheth, that The Name of the Lord shall be declared in Zion, & his praise in Jerusalem, when the people shall be gathered together, and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. And Psal. 122. Jerusalem is built as a City, that is compact together in it self, whereunto the Tribes, even the Tribes of the Lord go up according to the Testimony to Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. Heereby we are put in mind of three notable duties.

First of all, let all persons, Princes, and people, high and low, do good to the Church of God, and employ their best endeavours to promote the glory of God, and the safety of the Church. For wherefore was the Tabernacle taken and pitched in the midst of all the host, not placed in a corner, nor set in the skirts of that mighty army, but was inuironed round about with the strength of Israel: but to teach us, that this must be the end we ought all to aim at, that it is our duty to the utmost of our power to procure the peace of Zion, & the prosperity of Jerusalem, all the days of our life? For even as the hills and mountains did compass about Jerusalem, to defend it from all dangers and invasions of enemies: so ought all the faithful that are the friends of the Church, seek to defend it from all such as seek the ruin and destruction thereof. They have a promise made unto them, that they shall prosper that prefer it, Psal. 122, 6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: let them prosper that love thee. Such was the zeal of David for the house of God, that it even consumed and eat him, as the people declare, Psal. 132. Lord, remember David with all his afflictions, who sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, saying, I will not enter into the tabernacle of mine house, nor come upon my pallet or bed, nor suffer mine eye to sleep, nor mine eye-liddes to slumber, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob, &c: Loe, how great his care and zeal was to build the Temple, and to further the worship of God: he spared no cost, but opened the treasures of his house to employ them this way. Thus it ought to be with us, it is the chief end why God doeth bless us with the blessings of this life, that we should pay him his tribute, and be content to depart from them when his glory & worship do require it. If we care not how bountifully we spend and lavish in unprofitable, nay in ungodly uses, and pinch for a penny and an half-penny employed to charitable and godly purposes: we make it manifest to all men that the glory of God is not before our eyes, nor his worship any whit regarded of us. And hence it is, that God oftentimes curseth our store and substance, and bloweth upon it, that it flieth away as the wind that cometh not again. Let us therefore be wise hearted, to refer our goods, our lives, and all that we have, to seek the good of the Church, that it may be safe; and then shall we be safe under the shadow of it. On the other side, the Lord denounceth a sore and severe threatening against all such as do wrong to the Church, so that he will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy pate of him that walketh in his sins. This appeareth by the prayer of the Church, Psal. 74. Think upon thy Congregation which thou hast possessed of old, and on the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed, and on this mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt: lift up thy strokes, that thou mayest forever destroy every enemy that doth evil to the Sanctuary. Such shall never prosper, (albeit they may flourish for a time) that hate the Church which God loveth.

Secondly, it is the duty of all persons to assemble together, to hear his word, all excuses and delays set apart. For wherefore was the Tabernacle placed in the mids, but to bind all persons alike to come to the exercises of religion, and to perform public worship to God? Jereboam's calves (who made Israel to sin) were set, one in the North part of the land, the other in the South; but the Tabernacle of God was settled in the middes among them, that all men should have access unto it, and that no man should color his absence with any pretences. Hence it is that the Prophet, declaring, that GOD had chosen Zion and loved to dwell in it, saying, This is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have delight therein, doth add, We will enter into his Tabernacles, and worship before his footstool. A notable encouragement to move us to resort & repair oftentimes to the place of God's worship, seeing he maketh it his habitation and resting place, and the house where he will dwell, and where we shall find him in time of need. A strong persuasion to work a desire and delight in us to go to the Lord's courts, that we may behold the majesty of the king of glory. To this purpose speaketh David in another Psalm. The mountain of God is like the mountain of Bashan, it is an high mountain as mount Bashan: Why leap ye, ye hie mountains? as for this mountain, God delighteth to dwell in it, yea the Lord will dwell in it forever. Where he teacheth, that God's Church, in regard of merciful promises, heavenly graces, and noble victories, doth excel without comparison all worldly things, and all earthly places. All assemblies though never so glorious and glitering outwardly, must give place to it, and are as nothing being matched with it: inasmuch as the excellency, beauty, and continuance of the Church goeth beyond all other congregations of men. Hereupon he inferreth, Thy Congregation dwelled therein: for thou, O God, hast of thy goodness prepared for the poor. If then we would dwell with God, let us repair to his house: if we would see him, we shall see him there: if we would hear him, we shall hear him there: if we would know him, we shall know him there: for his face is to be seen there, his voice is to be heard there, his presence is to be found there. O let us prefer one day in his courts before a thousand elsewhere. Let us rather desire to be door-keepers in his house, then dwellers in y ^e palaces of the wicked. If they were called and accounted blessed that stood in the presence of Solomon: how much more blessed and happy are they that stand in the presence of God, and worship toward his holy Temple. Let the same mind and affection therefore be in us which was in David, to say with him with a feeling heart, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will require, even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to visit his Temple. Where shall we find in our days this longing, and holy desire to speak with God in his word and worship? where are the ancient wishes of the Saints, thinking it long before they came and appeared in the presence of God? where is now the panting of the soul, and fainting of the heart, and the rejoicing of the flesh in the living God, like unto the earth that gapeth for the showers of rain to refresh it? We are an unthankful people, whom plenty and abundance have glutted, and made to loathe the heavenly Manna given to us.

Thirdly, let us not stand in fear of any enemies, as if they could bear and beat down the Church before them, and raze the foundations of it to the ground; neither let us as graceless children forsake our mother, for fear of troubles that may come vpō her. True it is, the Church of God hath many enemies that threaten the ruin thereof, and employ all their wiles and fetches to work the subversion of it, as if an huge and heavy millstone were cast at it, or as if a mighty tempest were fallen upon it, or as if a sudden flood of waters did overflow and overwhelm it. Nevertheless the Church is set in a safe place, they shall not be able to hurt it: it hath a safe keeper that neither slumbereth nor sleepeth; they shall not be able to destroy it: the gates of hell, and the power of the devil are set against it, but they shall never have victory over it. They may well assault this City of our God, cast their trenches against it, build Forts and Barricadoes against it, yet they shall never win it, but their losses shall be greater then their gains. Let us comfort our selves in this, that it is impossible the Church should fall, being borne up and upholden by so strong a pillar. For as when we become the enemies of God, & despise his majesty, he is able quickly to consume & confound us: so whē we be in his safe keeping, he will maintain & defend us in such sort, as the Lions & asps, the dragons & wild beasts (whereof we are most afraid) shall not be able to destroy or annoy us. Therefore the Lord speaketh, Deut. 7. Thou shalt not fear them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a God mighty and dreadful, he will root out all these enemies before thee by little and little. First he 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 willeth them not to be afraid of their enemies, and afterward he addeth the reason, because God is among them. We are all of us as in the Tabernacle and tuition of God; let us put on the shield of faith, to repulse all fear: he will not leave us, nor forsake us, so that we may boldly say, The Lord my deliverer, I will not fear what man can do unto me. Let us hold our selves to his promises, and assure our selves of his succor.

[Use. 3] Lastly, this situation of the Tabernacle serveth to conclude the full and final happiness of the faithful, which is begun in this life, but shall be consummated in the end of the world. Then will God dwell with us, and we shall dwell with him: then we shall be admitted into his presence, and never be cast out: then no evil shall touch us, or come near us, and no good thing shall be wanting unto us, that we can desire. Hereunto the Apostle alludeth, Revel. 21. I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them▪ and they shall be his people, and God himself will be their God, &c. Consider here the blessedness of that people that shall ever enjoy the immediate presence of such a God as is the fountain of all happiness. True it is, God doth dwell among his people in this life, and he is not far from everyone of them, inasmuch as they have their spiritual life and birth from him: howbeit, it doth not appear to others, nor sometimes to our selves what we shall be.

The Tabernacle of God seemeth now to be removed out of our sight, and to be set in a dark corner, where it lieth hidden. We are here subject to many temptations of sin, to many sicknesses and sorrows, to many pains and aches, to many losses & troubles, which often cause us to sigh and lament: we have not hearts of iron and steel, nor bodies of stone or oak, that cannot be touched with any feeling. We must all pass through these afflictions and tribulations, as the children of Israel passed through the red sea. But when the Lord (who is an infinite and endless treasury of all good things) shall bring us into his heavenly Tabernacle in the new Jerusalem, we shall stand in need of no good thing, we shall stand in fear of no evil thing, in both which consisteth true felicity. The old Jerusalem, though it were called the holy City, and place of God's worship, had many unclean persons dwelling in it: the Tabernacle of the Testimony, though it figured the conjunction of God with his Saints, had many profane persons resorting to it: but in the heavenly Jerusalem, and the heavenly Tabernacle (which is the Kingdom of glory) there shall be no unclean thing, there shall rest no vile person, all shall be holy and pure indeed. In them shall be no confusion, no disorder, no broils, no tumults, no turmoiles, no tempests, no sin, no sinful thing, no effect of sin. The Apostle saith, We look for a new heaven & a new earth, according to his promise, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Then we shall weep and lament no more, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor crying: y ^e tears which we shed shall be wiped away: the sins which provoke God, shall be blotted out: the kingdom of the devil shall be thrown down, and the kingdom of Christ set up: death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire, and whosoever is not written in the Book of life: long white robes shall be put upon us, we shall hunger and thirst no more, neither shall the Sun shine upon us, neither any heat come near us, For the Lamb which is in the middes of the throne shall govern them, and shall lead them unto the lively fountains of waters, &c. This is the dignity unto which we are advanced by Christ our Savior: we shall dwell with God, the great king of glory. Now we are tossed with many storms and tempests. Sometimes we are persecuted and banished from our country: sometimes we are imprisoned, and destitute of things necessary; poor, hungry, thirsty, naked, weary, cold, faint, and feeble, yea subject to a thousand mischiefs, and dangers, miseries and encombrances. In the middes of this boisterous sea of confusions, this is our comfort, that God will rid us, and release us out of them all, and bring us into the quiet haven of rest and happiness. Why then should we be cast down in our temptations, or why should we think that God hath forsaken us? We shall shortly be with the Lord, and the Lamb which taketh away the sins of the world, he will feed us with all heavenly▪ and spiritual dainties. Here we assembled together in tabernacles and Temples, and Churches for the performance of divine duties, where God vouchsafed to be present according to his promise, Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there I am in the middes of them. There were the Sacrifices and Sacraments, there was the Law and the Gospel taught. These were worthy and notable signs of God's presence. But the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all, hath neither tabernacle, nor Temple, nor material building, nor place of instruction, nor sacrifices, nor Sacraments, nor sign of the presence of God. For John describing the state of glory after this life, saith, I saw no Temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are the Temple of it: and this City hath no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did light it, and the Lamb is the light of it. Happy are they that enter into this city, where God is the Temple, where God is the Sun, where God is the Moon, where God is all y ^e light thereof, and all the glory and defense thereof. It is a glorious thing in this life, to be Kings and Princes, and to sit upon the throne of majesty: but when they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, they shall lay down all earthly pomp and magnificence, receiving so great glory in that glorious city, that the glory which they had as kings and Princes shall vanish away, as the light of a candle at the shining of the Sun. The glory of the least of God's Saints is so excellent, that Solomon in all his glory, was never arrayed nor advanced like one of these.

The end of all this is, to teach us that we ought to be even ravished with an earnest and longing desire to dwell in this heavenly tabernacle, and to labor to have our hearts purged from an evil conscience, knowing that no unclean thing shall enter into it, neither whatsoever worketh abominations and lies. Everyone will seem desirous to dwell in the Lord's Tabernacle, and to come to heaven: but they are loath to leave their sins.

But let us not deceive our selves, neither let us sooth and flatter our selves in our evils; if we follow our ungodly ways with greediness, and will not forsake our wickedness, we shall have the door of God's kingdom shut against us.

We have heard before how the Tabernacle of the Congregation was placed in the midst of the host, and compassed about, both in front and flanke, standing strong in battelled in their array, ready to receive a shock, if any enemies should offer to enter upon them. In these words is laid before us the third company of this mighty Army, the principal whereof was Ephraim, and his Partizans are Manasseh and Benjamin, appointed to march under his Ensign, and to be after a sort ranged under his colors. It is not unknown to any that are meanly conversant in the holy Scriptures, that Joseph and Benjamin were the only children of Rahel, the true and beloved wife of Jacob, and that both Manasseh and Ephraim, were the children of Joseph, and that the elder was Manasseh, the younger Ephraim, who notwithstanding hath the first place of honor and preeminence assigned unto him, and Manasseh the first borne is compelled to be his underling. What could Ephraim claim above his brother, or what had Manasseh done to be put behind? It pleaseth God oftentimes to make the first last, and the last first: to thrust down the elder into the place of the younger, and to advance the younger into the seat of the elder.

This appeareth in many places of the Book of Genesis, and is so ordinary and common, as it need not to be set down. To insist only upon the present example, we read that when Joseph brought his two children before his sick father, Jacob stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, directing his hands of purpose, neither could be drawn to remove them, but blessed them that day, and said, In thee Israel shall bless and say, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh; and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Thus God's judgment is oftentimes contrary to man's, and he preferreth that which man despiseth. A notable example whereof we have in Samuel, when he was sent to anoint David King, and had the eldest son of Jesse before him, he said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him: but the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I have refused him: for God seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. Samuel was an holy Prophet of God, yet he faileth in binding God's grace to the ordinary course of nature. [Doctrine 5] We learn from hence, that God bestoweth his gifts freely, both when he will, and where he will, and to whom he will. He giveth as a bountiful and gracious father, the graces of election, adoption, justification, sanctification, and all other his benefits of his free love and favor. He lifteth up whom he will, he passeth by, he forsaketh, he putteth and pulleth down whom he pleaseth. Some gifts are temporal, and some eternal: some earthly, and other heavenly: and of both sorts it may be truly said, Who separateth thee? and what hast thou that thou hast not received? if thou hast received it, why rejoicest thou, as though thou hadst not received it? This is set down in the song of Hannah, The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low and exalteth: he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, & lifteth up y ^e beggar from the dunghill, to set them among Princes, and to make them inherit the seat of glory. This appeareth most plainly and evidently in the gifts of God, belonging to a better life, and accompanying salvation. The free grace of god in Christ, is y ^e fountain from whence saluatiō floweth, yea it is y ^e beginning continuance, & ending of our salvation. The truth hereof may be made plain by y ^e particular rehearsal of the several parts thereof, if we consider our election, redemption, calling, faith, justification, regeneration, love, good works, remission of sins, and perseverance in good things unto the end. No man can be saved, and obtain eternal life, except he be predestinated and elected thereunto, before the foundation of the world: for the kingdom of heaven is not given but to those to whom it is prepared of the Father, Matth. 20.23. and 25.34. But election is not of works, but of grace, and therefore is called the election of grace. This appeareth, Ephe. 1. He hath predestinated us to be adopted through Jesus Christ in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, &c. No man could be saved, except Christ had come, and had satisfied the justice of God for the sins of the world by his precious blood; for there is no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved, Act. 4.12. but all his benefits proceed from grace and the everlasting love of God toward us, as John. 3. God so loved the word, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. No man can be saved, except he be effectually called to Christ and his Gospel, outwardly by the word, and inwardly by the Spirit: but whence proceedeth this grace, but from grace? as the Apostle testifieth, 2 Tim. 1. He hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us through Christ Jesus, before the world was. No man can be saved, except he hath faith in Christ; for the just shall live by faith, Hab. 2.4. and without faith it is impossible to please God, Heb. 11. But from whence have we faith? By grace, as the Apostle witnesseth, Ephe. 2. By grace ye are saved through faith, & that not of yourselves. None can be saved, except he be justified, as Psa. 34.15, 16. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry; but the face of the Lord, that is, his anger and indignation, is against them that do evil, to cut off their remembrance from the earth. But our justification cometh from grace, as Rom. 3. We are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. No man can be saved, except being justified by faith, he be also sanctified and renewed by the spirit of regeneration; for except a man be borne again, of water and the holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, John. 3. But whence have we this, but from the grace of God? as the Apostle expresseth, Tit. 3. The bountifulness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, and according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of the new birth, and the renewing of the holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. No man can be saved without good works, and a careful and constant endeavor to walk in them; for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, unto good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them, Ephe. 2.10. But how are we enabled to perform them, but by the grace and free gift of God? as Ezek. 36. A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your body, and I will give you an heart of flesh: and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

The like may be said of remission of sins. No man can be saved without continual forgiveness of sins, for into many sins and offenses we fall daily, I am, 3.2. But this is given us through his grace only, as the Prophet teacheth, Isaiah 43. I, even I am he that putteth away thine iniquities for mine own sake, that is, for no deserts of thine, but thorough grace and favor, and will not remember thy sins. and Ephe. 1.7. We have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to his rich grace. Lastly, no man is saved, except he persevere and continue in faith, in love, in Christ, in repentance; in Christ, and in all good works, as Matth. 24. he that endureth unto the end, he shall be saved, and Revel. 2.10. Be thou faithful unto the death, and I will give thee the crown of life: but from what root and fountain proceedeth this gift? and from whence hath it his beginning? The Apostles and Prophets tell us most plainly and directly, as Jer. 32.39.40. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. God that hath begun his good work in his Saints, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now as we have said of all the rest, so we may say of eternal life, that it is the free gift of God, and therefore all his gifts, and our salvation, come not from our our merits, but from his mercies; not from our deservings, in whole, or in part, but from his free favor in Christ Jesus.

Let us come to the reasons, and consider [Reason 1] aright the causes hereof. First of all, God will have the praise and glory of his own works, and will not give and grant over the same to another. But if the graces of his Spirit were well deserved of us, and not freely bestowed upon us, we had matter of rejoicing in our own selves, and of boasting against God. The Apostle having shown that the righteousness of God is made manifest without the Law, saith, Where is then the rejoicing? It is excluded. And touching Abraham th • father of the faithful he saith, If Abraham were justified by works, he hath wherein to rejoice, but not with God.

Likewise writing to the Ephesians, chap. 2. By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of GOD, not of works, lest any man should boast himself. So then he giveth all his gifts freely, that he may have the whole praise of his mercy. But so much as we take to our selves, so much he loseth of his glory.

[Reason 2] Secondly, he knoweth we have nothing of our own, we crave our daily bread and drink at his hands. We are beggars and destitute of all good things, and never are able to supply our own wants. Our own penury is such, that we have nothing to boast off, but our misery, poverty, blindness, nakedness, and wretchedness. We were (saith the Apostle) dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past we walked, according to the course of this world, and after the Prince that ruleth in the air, even the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. We are unable to think or to do anything: it is God must work in us the will and the deed: it is he must draw us before we can run after him, or come unto him: and without him we can do nothing, no not so much as think one good thought, or speak one good word, or practice one good work.

[Reason 3] Thirdly, he is a debtor to no man, neither can any of right challenge anything at his hands. He loved us first, and not we him: he made us, and not we our selves: he gave to us, and not we to him: we receive of him, not he of us. The Apostle saith, Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who was his counselor? or who hath given unto him first, and he shall be recompensed? for of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory forever, Amen. Whereby we see he freely bestoweth all things, he oweth nothing of duty he offereth injury to no man, whether he grant, or withhold; whether he give little or much, liberally, or sparingly: to many, or to few. Seeing then, we are to acknowledge his glory▪ and our own poverty, and seeing he oweth nothing to any man, neither is run behind hand in arrearages, as being thereby bound to help him: it followeth that God offereth his gifts and graces freely and frankly unto us.

[Use. 1] What is now to be learned from hence? and what may be gathered for our instruction? First, it serveth to reprove the Church of Rome, that maintain the rags and relics of the old Pelagians, and refuse to have the grace of God freely bestowed upon them, lest they should be too much beholden unto him, and therefore they build the castle of man's salvation upon themselves, and lay the ground-work of it upon their own strength, and refuse to set it upon the pillar of God's grace. This appeareth in three respects, in their doctrine of foreseen works, in their doctrine of merits, and in their doctrine of man's free will to good. Thus they build the tower of Babel, that is, of confusion, and establish false causes, touching the order of man's salvation, and err grievously in the beginning, continuance, and perfection thereof. Now, that we do them no wrong at all, in charging them thus far, let us make it manifest in ever particular. The first stone of this tower they lay in such works, as (they say) serve to prepare men to justification, & so they make the foreseen faith of the elect, to be the cause of the election to grace and glory, & that God hath chosen those to eternal life, whom he foresaw would believe and persevere therein unto the end. This hangeth the whole frame of salvation upon the pin of man's faith, as the moving or procuring cause, and not upon the purpose and pleasure of him that calleth us: whereas man's salvation abideth sure and firm, stable, and certain, through him only that hath loved us, and called us to his excellent knowledge; and therefore faith foreseen, is not the cause of it. The Apostle reasoning of the cause of our election, never affirmeth it to be of him that believeth, but of him that calleth: for then it might be said to be of our selves, Ephe. 2. which cannot be. Again, if we observe the golden chain, wherein the causes of our salvation are linked together, we may strongly conclude this point. For our faith is in time after the grace of God, and therefore cannot be the cause of grace, and consequently of election. It is against all rules of right reason, that that which cometh after, should be any cause of that which goeth before. But faith is one of the effects of election, in as much as God hath chosen us, not because he knew we would believe hereafter, but to the end we should believe, that is, that he might bestow upon us faith, and so save us in his own Son, Ephe. 1.4. Tit. 1.1. Act. 13.48. We are elected, that we should be holy; and faith is said to be proper to the elect, and so many believed, as were ordained to everlasting life.

Thirdly, we are elect, as taken out of the common mass of corruption, as the sons of wrath, borne dead in sins, while we were yet enemies unto him. Now, such as God justifieth, such he also chooseth, and decreeth to justify, as Rom. 4.5. and 5.8. Unto him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness: and God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But in the sons of wrath, and in such as are borne dead in sins, no faith at all could be foreseen: so that the foreseeing of faith could not be the cause of election. For if that which doeth come after, cannot be the cause of that which goeth before, as we have shown already: much less can that which is not at all, be the cause of that which is.

Fourthly, faith is the gift of GOD. It is given of God to us, and the work of GOD in us, John. 6.29.44. This is the work of GOD, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. So the Apostle saith, Unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also for to suffer for his sake, Phil. 1.29. It is he that bestoweth it, and increaseth it. Before this gift, there is nothing in us but infidelity and unbelief. As it is not in man's power to repent when he will, but when God will, Lament. 5.21. Ierem. 31. Psal. 51. Act. 11.18. 2 Tim. 2.25, 26. so it is not in man's power to believe when he will, John. 12.39, 40. albeit he have the means, though he hear the word, and partake the Sacraments; wherefore this cannot be the cause of God's election, as if he were moved to elect us by that as by a cause, which he bestoweth upon us, after we are elected: for then the same thing should be the cause of it self, and before it self, which is against natural sense, right reason, and true religion.

Lastly, if faith foreseen were the cause of election, then infidelity foreseen should also be the cause of reprobation: but this is false because then all mankind should be reprobated and rejected, forasmuch as the whole mass of mankind is corrupt, and God could foresee nothing in it, but incredulity and unbelief. Thus we see, that our election dependeth not upon our own works, or our own faith, or anything in our selves, but on the mercy & love of God; there was no cause in us to move him. For if anything had been in us, we might be said to have the first stroke in our salvation, & to lay the first stone in that building, and God should come after us, or behind us. True it is, he hath determined to elect us, and to save us of his good pleasure, but he will bring it to pass by means, to wit, by the merits of Christ, by calling of us, by giving of us faith, by justifying of us, by sanctifying of us, and by working in us such like effect.

Secondly, this doctrine overthroweth all merits and deserts of man, which abolish the free grace of God. God's mercy is our merit; our works are not, neither can be our merit. If our election be by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace: But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work were no more work, as the Apostle concludeth, Rom. 11.6. We are justified through faith in Christ: in him standeth our salvation, and by his merits we are made righteous. Christ Jesus is the corner stone of the building, Ephes. 2. he is the foundation of the building forasmuch as other foundation none can lay, 1 Cor. 3. he is also the highest stone of the building, notwithstanding the mountains, that is; the strongest opposition of enemies. But let us see what merit is, that our understanding may be the better, and our judgment the sounder touching this matter. Merit is a work undue, to which we are not bound, making the reward and recompense that was not due to be due. When a debtor satisfieth his creditor, he payeth that which he oweth him, he giveth no more then is due unto him by Law and equity, by reason and conscience: neither doth he deserve any thanks, but through the fault of men, as the heathen knew well enough, who confess that such was the corruption of the times, that when a man brought to another, even his own, he was to be thanked. Christ our Savior, a better master, teacheth us this more fully, Luk. 17.8. When a man hath a servant, who girdeth himself, and serveth him till he have eaten and drunken, Doth he then thank him because he hath done the things that were commanded him? I trow, nay; so likewise ye when ye have done all those things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do. Wherefore, we make a weak plea to plead our own merits, who have nothing but by the merits of Christ. But it will be objected, [Objection.] that we find in Scripture no mention at all of the merits of Christ. I answer, [Answer.] It is true concerning the word it self. Nevertheless, if they will conclude anything against the merits of Christ, because the bare name in so many letters and syllables, is not extant in the word of God, they may as well gainsay the Trinity, refuse the Sacraments, deny the Catholic Church, and hold the Son not to be consubstantial with the Father; Forasmuch as none of these are expressed there. But if they mean, and understand the thing it self, then we have the merits of Christ plentifully preached unto us in the holy Scripture, to whom the whole work of our salvation is ascribed. The Apostle teacheth, that our redemption is a possession purchased by him, that is, purchased by the merit of his death. And in the former Epistle to the Thessalonians, he saith, God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, procured unto us by his merits. So in the twentieth chapter of the Acts, Paul, in his exhortation to the Elders of Ephesus, willeth them carefully to feed the flock of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood: where he maketh the blood of Christ meritorious. And elsewhere he saith, we are justified by his blood, and reconciled to God by his Son, and so shall be saved by his life, Rom. 5.9, 10. If then we challenge anything to our selves, we take so much from Christ's worthiness. He was not bound in any bond unto us, who, being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal to God. Wherefore, our works can challenge nothing at God's hands, for as much as whatsoever we can do, is as due debt unto him. Thus the Apostle speaketh, Rom. 8. Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; whereby he understandeth the contrary, as a member opposed; but we are debtors to the Spirit, to live after the Spirit.

So then our spiritual life, is called a debt, which is true in many respects. First, in regard of our creation: Secondly, in regard of our redemption: Thirdly, in regard of our glorification. Our spiritual life is due to God in regard of our creation, because it is God that hath made us, and not we our selves: we are the work of his hands, who hath created us according to his image, and thereby bound us; as by a strong band to know him, and worship him. Hence it appeareth, that Adam himself in his estate of innocence, could have claimed nothing of God by merit, because whatsoever he was, he was it by him; & whatsoever he had, he had received it through his gift, so that he should have paid him with his own, which deserveth no thanks, as we heard before. True it is, man fell away, defaced and deformed this image, and made himself liable to eternal destruction: howbeit, he could not thus shake off the yoke of his neck, nor the fetters from his feet, nor acquit himself of the debt and obligation, when of a debtor to God, he made himself a bondslave to the devil. A debtor riotously wasting his goods, and carelessly consuming the stock and substance that he hath, and thereby making himself a bankrout, is not discharged of his debt, but standeth bound to pay it as before. God will not loose his right, nor let go his hold, and therefore, albeit we are started back from him, he remaineth the same; & as he made us, so we remain obliged unto him. Hence we see, what is the reason, why God commandeth duties of us in his Law, that neither we, nor our fathers are able to perform.

If a father should require that of his son, or a master exact of his servant that which were impossible to do, as to travel an hundred thousand mile in one day, or to fly up to heaven, might he not be thought to be a tyrant? But the case standeth not between God and us, as between a father and his children, or between a master and his servants. For he chargeth no more upon us, then he had enabled us to do, and had given us strength to perform, so that if there be any impossibility to do it, the fault resteth in our selves, and not in God. It is no cruelty in him to require so much of us as he doth, but iniquity in us that doth disable us. He abideth the same that he was, but we abide not the same that we were: so that there is no change in him, but the change is in us: so that where he had graciously bestowed much, he may justly require the more. Again, our spiritual life is a debt, and our works due to him in regard of our redemption, justification, and sanctification; in consideration of all, the which we owe our selves wholly unto God, and he in justice may require all the service that we can possibly perform unto him. A servant bought with money and redeemed out of bondage, is a debtor to his master, and is wholly at his commandment, because he oweth to him his life, his liberty, and all that he hath. How much more then must we consider our selves to be wholly the Lord's, to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives, being redeemed from the bondage of sin and slavery of Satan, not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb unspotted and undefiled, 1 Pet. 1. Neither were we once only made free men, but moreover are laden with many benefits by this our Savior and redeemer, being regenerated with his Spirit, to walk before him in newness of life. So that our unthankfulness is exceeding great, if forgetting the greatness of our deliverance; we return to our vomit again, as dogs, and lie wallowing in the mire as filthy swine.

Lastly, in regard of the benefits to come, which by the Spirit of Christ, we do certainly expect and look for, to wit, our resurrection of the body, and glorification in the heavens.

These being exceeding blessings, do make us infinite debtors unto God. Hence we learn to detest the heresy of Popish hypocrites, that dare boast of the merits of the Saints, and of works of supererogation, an evident argument of intolerable proud spirits. For debt and merit are quite contrary; they are so opposite the one to the other, that the first being established, it overthroweth the second, as Rom. 4.4, 5. To him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt: but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

If then our whole life be a debt of the Spirit, it must of necessity be false, that there is any meriting of life and salvation by any works, either of congruity, or condignity, or supererogation. For whatsoever it pleaseth them to prate of merits, either publicly, or privately to their disciples, dare any of them when they are ready to go the way of all flesh, and must be presented before the eternal judge, dare any of them, I say, desire of God to give them according to their merits? dare any in the pride of his heart so exalt and lift up himself, as to pray, Lord, I am worthy of thy mercy, I have deserved thy kingdom, pay me that thou owest unto me, I desire nothing at thy hands gratis, or freely, my works are truly and properly meritorious, I have a right to heaven, and deserve it worthily? I expect not eternal life as an alms, but as a price due unto my labors, I am content thou enter into judgment with me, for I have righteousness in mine own person, and therefore I crave not to be accepted in thy beloved, but in myself. Lord, thou hast made me able to merit heaven for myself, and the • efore repay me according to my worth.

I think none of them are come to this presumption, to plead for themselves with God, & therefore whatsoever they write, whatsoever they speak, whatsoever they resolve and determine in their schools and pulpits, they deny it, & renounce it wholly at the point of death, & with their own mouths condemn their own folly. In their life they talk of merits, but at their death they are glad to call for mercy: & so by their own practice prove and confirm the truth of the doctrine of the Protestants, howsoever against the light of their own consciences they oppose themselves flatly as enemies unto it. The debt of the creature, even of the man regenerate, is greater then he is able to pay the thousandth part; nay the more he payeth, the more he oweth; and is bound to pay, forasmuch as the benefits of God do daily grow and increase toward him, and abound in a wonderful measure, that they augment the debt, & strengthen y ^e obligation. Neither can they escape and avoid the force of this, [Objection.] by a frivolous and false distinction, that our works are not indeed meritorious in the rigor of Justice, or absolutely considered in themselves, but that they are so by the ordinance and acceptation of God. [Answer.] For albeit God accept of our works, and reward them even to a cup of cold water, Mat. 10. yet he accepteth them not as merits, but as the due obedience of his sons, which he recompenseth freely and fully, because he that cannot lie or deceive, hath promised the reward. Neither is it the ordinance of God, that we should merit by our obedience, but that we should perform the worship and honor that is due unto him, Tit. 3.4. Act. 15. Let them therefore show us, where God hath made any such promise unto us to accept our works as merits, and we will believe them. The Lord gave the Israelites the land of Canaan, not for their works, but for his own love, and mercy. If they could not merit the earthly Canaan, how should any deserve the heavenly? We are taught to pray to GOD to give us our daily bread. If we cannot merit the food of this life, no not one morsel of bread, but must crave it of him as poor beggars do an alms, at the doors of men: much less can we merit everlasting life, which is the gift of God, Rom. 6.23. For what is a bit of bread in comparison of the kingdom of heaven? or what is the food of the body, in respect of the food of the soul? Lastly, this doctrine destroyeth another bulwark of the Church of Rome, whereby they set up man's nature, and that is free will, teaching that there is a cooperation of man's free will, with God's free grace in the first act of our conversion. A doctrine full of pride and folly, as well as the former, for as much as this is to part stakes between God and our selves, and to divide our conversion between him and us, and consequently to ascribe as much to man as to God. Christ saith, that without him we can do nothing, we cannot come unto him, except the Father draw us, John. 6. It is God that doth work in us the will and the deed, saith the Apostle. We are all by nature corrupt, there is no part sound in us, or without us. We are not only as crazy or sick, but as dead men. God doth all, and we nothing in good things. He preventeth us with his grace, he prepareth us by his word, he inclineth us by his Spirit, and worketh both the beginning and the ending of our Salvation. Wherefore the Church of Rome is deceived, that make us to be as the man that fell among thieves who left him wounded and half dead. We ar • f • llen into the hands of a more cruel and ble ••• y tyrant, who left us not half dead, but hath taken away life from us, and brought us under the dominion of death. We teach that we are able to do no good; we have stony hearts, and are strangers from the promises of God. They divide our goodness between God and man, as when an horse is hardly able to draw a Coach, another cometh, who being coupled with him, do work and walk together: so as that which one could not do alone, he is able be •• g helped by another, who by their joint la • ours stir it forward. True it is, to use • eanes to obtain faith and repentance, is in our own power after a sort. A man may go from place to place, enter into the house of God, or not enter, hear the word or not hear, meditate upon it, or not meditate; as it is said of Herod an unregenerate man, Mar. 6. that he heard John gladly when he preached the word. This therefore is left unto us, and put as it were into our hands to make us without excuse, and to teach us to condemn our selves and not God. How many are there that are ready to lay the fault of their infidelity upon God, because (they say) he giveth them not faith, so that it is not in their power to believe? But why do they not that which is in their own power? True it is, God is not bound to give faith to any, or to turn his heart. The cause of infidelity is in himself. Nevertheless, God hath not left himself without witness, nor man without excuse. He carrieth a judge in his own bosom, that shall be able to convince him.

For why do not men that which they are enabled to do? why do they not attend to his word, as to his ordinance? why do they not make conscience of absenting themselves from the preaching of it? They may come if they will, but they will not. They excuse themselves as the guests in the Gospel: they have ears to hear, but they regard not: they have feet to carry them into the Church, but they are slow to this duty, and swift rather to any other: they have eyes to read the Scripture, yet they seldom or never read it: they have hearts to meditate on the word, but they think upon nothing less. Therefore all these outward helps shall be sufficient witnesses against them

Now then, albeit we may perform such duties before remembered touching the means of our salvation, yet to assent to the word by faith, that thereby we may be converted, enlightened, called, and regenerated to eternal life, is in the hand of God only, and cannot be performed of us.

[Use. 2] Secondly, seeing God's gifts are freely given by him, it is our duty to depend upon him, and to ask them at his hands when we want them. We learn to whom to go, and what way to enter that we may obtain thē. We all stand in need of his help for our souls and bodies. In the soul is ignorance, presumption, blindness, and hardness of heart: pray to him to remove these evils, and as it were to pluck these noisome & loathsome weeds out of our gardens by the roots. If we think our selves able to do it, we deceive our selves. If we feel the burden of our sins to press us, and to lie heavy and hard upon our souls, we must go to him that hath borne them in his body, and is able to take them away. He calleth such unto him as are weary and heavy laden, with promise and purpose to ease them. If we want anything for our body, he that is the Creator of the body will not suffer us to pine away, he will not leave us and forsake us. Let us not trust to our own labors, nor riches, nor abundance, as the rich man did in the Gospel, Luk, 12: considering that no man's life consisteth in the multitude of his riches. Hence it is, that our Savior willeth us to ask, and we shall receive: to seek, and we shall find, Math. 7. If we suppose we may attain unto his blessings any other way then by prayer, we are altogether ignorant of the way that leadeth to his Treasury. For, Except the Lord keep the City, the watchman waketh but in vain: & except he build the house, they labor in vain that are the builders of it, Psal. 127, 1. It is in vain for us to rise up early, and to sit up late, and to eat the bread of sorrows, which worldly men take to be the only means to thrive: it is the blessing of GOD upon the hand of the diligent that maketh rich. Let us therefore season and sanctify the works of our hands & the labors of our callings, that so we may have comfort and find rest in this troublesome sea. This will make our labors sweet and pleasant, when we get our living in the sweat of our brows. Besides, when we find any defect of grace in us, or any weakness in spiritual things, as all the faithful do more or less, let us come to him that giveth freely and liberally, and reproacheth no man. He it is that will supply our wants, and increase his gifts in us. This coming unto him for all needful graces, hath many branches that belong unto it, which Christ pointeth unto, Math: 13: when he saith, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field, which when a man hath found, he hideth it, and for joy thereof departeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buieth that field. If we will attain unto grace, we must depart with somewhat, we must sell all that we have. That which is our own is sin; but we are loath to leave it and depart from it. It cleaveth fast to the ribs, & sticketh fast in the bones, that it will hardly out of the flesh. We delight in it, we make make much of it, we are wholly addicted to it. It may seem a strange speech, that we are said to sell all that we have, and buy that we have not. For what have we to sell unto God? or what can we give unto him? or what are we able to buy at his hands? Our selling of all, is our parting or departing from our sins; our leaving of them, our renouncing of them, so that we are determined to keep them no longer. As it is in bargains and purchases between party and party, whosoever buyeth anything, giveth and taketh; he parteth with somewhat, and receiveth somewhat by exchange: so must it be between Christ and us in this spiritual bargain and sale. We leave that which is evil, we receive that which is good. There is no man that selleth one sin for naught, he hath his reward a thousand fold, because he selleth it to Christ, the best rewarder. All men are content here to sell to him that will give most. Christ is the best chapman, the best buyer, he giveth eternal salvation to us. To draw us from our sins, that do us the greatest hurt, and bring infinite danger upon soul and body, he offereth to recompense us an hundred fold more for withdrawing our hearts from our sins, then the world can reward us for the using of them. Art thou not steadfast in religion, but as a reed shaken with the wind, sometimes carried one way, and sometimes inclined another way? Sell this thy doubting and wavering unto Christ, be no longer unstable & unsettled, and he will give thee constancy to continue unto the end, and will strengthen that which he hath wrought in thee. Art thou puffed up with pride in apparel? Sell this corruption, and he will garnish thee with better garments; he will clothe thee with his innocence and righteousness, that the filthiness of thy nakedness shall not appear. Art thou poor and needy? Christ saith unto thee, The Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head; Wilt thou provide for thy children & thy household? David saith, I was young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread, Psal. 37, 25. Now in this selling of our sins, and parting from them, we must observe these particulars.

First, that it must not be for a short time or for a season, but forever. We must not sell our sins for a season only, but renounce all right, title, interest, and propriety in them; we must depart from them with a full purpose and resolution never to take them up again, never to practice them anymore. To sell anything, is to alienate the property of it from our selves. Blessed are all such sellers. In this point therefore we must not be lenders, as they that challenge the right of being owners, but quite and clean put from our selves all title to our former sins. Many indeed lay them down for a time, as hypocrites do, wiping their mouths with the harlot, and returning to their vomit with the dog, or to their wallowing in the mire, with the swine. Thus it fareth with such as come to the word and Sacraments of God, with profane and unreformed hearts. They seem godly while they are in the Church; but their righteousness is but as the morning dew, they hang down their heads as a bulrush for a time, & afterward they are as bad or worse then they were before. This is nothing in the sight of GOD, except we utterly forsake our sins. True it is, the faithful and godly man may fall into some sins which they have forsaken, as Abraham did in denying his wife, but they must do it, as strangers to it, not as owners of it, for it is none of theirs, they have given over the use of it, and the right unto it. It is the man that is unregenerate, he may lay lawful claim unto it: as for us, it is no more ours, then the house that we have sold, and so alienated it from us.

Secondly, there is another kind of sale that is faulty and deceitful, which is, when we are content to sell some of our sins, but we will not sell all of them. Some there are so covetous, that they will part from nothing, they will sell nothing: Though they be never so well offered, they are so in love with their own faults and folly, that they will keep them still, albeit to their infinite hindrance & loss, even the loss of their souls. Others are content to lend their sins, but they will not leave them: they are willing to abstain from them for a time, but they will not renounce them forever. These are like the Israelites, who albeit they were brought with a strong hand out of Egypt, yet they had a mind to return thither again, they thought upon the fish which they did eat there, and remembered the Cucumbers and the Melons, the Leekes, the Onions, and the Garlicke; these they lusted after with all their soul. Or as Lots wife being delivered out of Sodom, as a firebrand out of the burning, or as two legs, or a piece of an ear out of the mouth of the Lyon, Amos 3, 12, and 4, 11: even a little remnant out of the common destruction of the City: she looked back again toward Sodom, and had her mind there upon such things as she had left behind: which showeth she had not sold all, but as he that lendeth his goods looketh for them again, so would she fain return to those things that yet she retained in her heart. If the case be better with us, and that our righteousness exceed these, yet let us not flatter our selves, and deceive our own souls, forasmuch as we must go farther, and step many degrees beyond them. For albeit we can be content to sell, and to sell forever, yet there is more required of us, so that we may say with Christ, One thing is wanting, we must sell all, and must keep back nothing. We must not sell as Ananias & Sapphira did, they kept back part of the price: so many make sale, but they are deceitful Merchants, they will not pass all, but leave out somewhat in the bargain. So do many deal doubly with God, they desire to forgo their sins, but they will keep somewhat. But he cannot be mocked or cozened of us. We must renounce our sweet sins & our profitable sins, with all the appurtenances and dependencies unto them. We must abstain from all appearance of evil. We must pull up these weeds by the roots, that they grow not in the gardens of our heart again. God will have all that is ours left, or else he accounteth nothing truly left. Herod was content to hear John, to fear him, to reverence him, to do many things that he required, and to reform many evils that he reproved, and himself had practiced, but when he told him, he must not marry his brothers wife, he stopped his ears and would not hear, he was determined to keep that one sin. The hypocrites in Micah are ready to come before the Lord, and to bow themselves before the most high, to offer Rivers of oil and the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul: nevertheless the Prophet telleth them that God liketh not of this bargain, inasmuch as he requireth of them to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God. We are like unto the young man mentioned in the Gospel, whom Christ is said to have loved, When he was bidden to sell all that he had, he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved. When Moses was come to age, he refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, and chose rather to suffer adversity with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season: but we would be content to serve Pharaoh and God also: to join our selves to the Church, and yet to be friends with the world: to live in the Spirit, and yet to follow the delights of the flesh together. The Apostle accounted all things as loss, and esteemed them as dung, that he might win Christ, Phil. 3, 8. Wherefore let us follow his steps, and be able to say with the Apostles, Loe, we have left all, and have followed thee, Mar. 10, 28. If then we make show of selling all our sins, and retain any part or parcel of them unto our selves, it shall do us no more good, then it did Ananias & Sapphira to sell their possession, and to keep back part of the price, which kindled such a fire, as that it consumed them both.

Thirdly, there is another error in the sale of our sins, when we exchange sin for sin. These men sell one sin to buy another, which is a base and beastly kind of merchandize, & a carnal and corrupt trading, which God never accepteth or commendeth. It is no true repentance to turn from one sin unto another, as unruly beasts that break out of one ground into another. True repentance is a turning of the heart from all sin. The repentance of one sin truly, bringeth with it the repentance of all known sins.

Whosoever forsaketh riotousnesse of life, & betaketh himself to covetousness, changeth his sin, but not his heart: as he that is vexed with one kind of fever, by disordering of himself turneth that into another, into a worse fever. Such a man getteth not health, but altereth the disease. So is it in the diseases of the soul, we chop and change with God, we run out of one evil into another. When we are escaped out of one snare of Satan, he is ready to catch us with another. When we are plunged out of the gulf of despair, wherein we stick fast as in a deep pit of mire and clay, he faileth not to tempt us unto presumption, and to carry us aloft in his arms, that he may give us the greater downfall. Hence it is, that Christ our Savior willeth us daily to pray unto the Father, that we may not be led into temptation, but be delivered from evil. For he is an enemy that never resteth, but seeketh as a roaring Lyon whom he may devour. If he cannot keep us in superstition he will draw us to profaneness. If he cannot hold us in the ways of the Gentiles, he will make us lead our lives as loose and licentious Christians. If he cannot deceive us to believe there are many God's, he will tempt us to think that there is no God, no hell, no heaven: This is to pass from one extreme to another, as it were from drunkenness to thirst: whereas true repentance is a changing of the mind, going out of one extreme into the mean, in which we ought continually to continue. And thus we do sell all that we have, all that is ours: howbeit this is not enough: for we must also buy this pearl and treasure, that it may be made ours, which otherwise is not ours. To this are required these three things: First, we must hunger and thirst after it. Secondly, we must receive and retain it. Thirdly, we must grow strong by it, and steadfast in it. Touching the first, we must know that there must be in us a spiritual appetite, that our hungry and thirsty souls may be refreshed by the holy ordinances of God. We must come unto Christ the fountain of all grace; if we be athirst, he will not send us away empty. Indeed we ought to have a feeling of our own misery, but this must always be joined with a desire to drink of his mercy. The knowledge of our own wants must go before, but the feeling of his goodness must follow after. Hence it is, that the Apostle Peter saith, Desire the sincere milk of the word, but he addeth this condition, If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Secondly, it is our duty to receive & retain that which we have bought, and not suffer it through carelessness and negligence to slip from us. The wise-man exhorteth us to buy the truth, but not to sell it. We have liberty given us at our own discretion to chaffer and change for temporal commodities, we may buy and sell, we may sell and buy, we may let go from us or purchase unto us: but we must take heed we do not so with heavenly things, they are of another nature. When we have sold for gain an earthly thing, we may buy it again at our pleasure or leisure: but if we forgo heavenly wisdom and riches, it may be we shall never get it again, we are in danger to leave it and lose it forever. Wherefore Christ our Savior speaketh to y ^e church in Thyatira, w ^ch ▪ we ought all to hear and receive as a commandment given unto us; Hold fast till I come. We see how hand-fast worldly men are in the things of this life, they will by no means let them go, nor suffer them to be wrung and wrested from them. O that we would do the like in better things; when we have gotten true religion in our hearts, and planted the fear of God in them, as it were in the doors of our houses: O that we would deny and defy whatsoever goeth about to pluck it & convey it from us. If the world, or the flesh, or the Devil, our three mortal enemies shall assault us, to hold us in their snares, let us break their bands, & cast them to the ground, and tread them as dung under our feet. Lastly, it is our special duty to increase daily in grace, and to grow strong in it, as men that go from strength to strength. It is the exhortation of Paul to Timothy his son, that he should be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 Tim. 2, 1. writing to the Philippians, he stirreth them up to stand fast in the Lord, Phil. 4, 1. He warneth the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, Eph. 6, 10. He admonisheth the Corinthians, to stand fast in the faith, to quite them like men, and to be strong, 1 Corin 16, 13. The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, prayeth for them, that the GOD of peace would make them perfect in every good work to do his will, working in them that which is well pleasing in his fight, through Jesus Christ, Hebr. 13, 21. It is a good thing that the heart be stablished with grace, Heb. 13, 9: and that we be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we are all well assured that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, 1 Cor. 15, 58. We must have our hearts settled and constant in good things, that we be not as children, carried about with every vanity. We must be resolute in the truth, and stand, having our loins girt about with the truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, &c. As we grow in age, so let us grow in grace: and as every year addeth to our life, so let it add to our faith. If we stand at a stay, we shall never come to the ende of our race: but if we grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall receive the ende of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls.

Thirdly, we learn to confess from whence [Use. 3] we have received life temporal, spiritual, and eternal, one following another, and all begun in this life and to acknowledge our thankfulness to God for these his blessings. The temporal is common to us with the wicked, but the other two, to wit, the spiritual and eternal life are proper to the elect, and make them Citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Hence it is, that the Prophet saith, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases: who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. He respecteth not what we are, or what we are worthy of, but as he loved us before we were, which argueth the bottomless sea of his grace toward us, so he never ceaseth to follow us with his mercy, & to add love to his love, always preventing us with his liberal blessings. True it is, the gifts of God are great toward us in regard of temporal things, which are of the least and lowest nature, forasmuch as in him we live, & move, and have our being: he blesseth us, he keepeth us, he preserveth us, he defendeth us, and suffereth nothing to do us hurt: but besides these, he giveth us to believe, he calleth us to the knowledge of his truth, he justifieth us, he sanctifieth us, he redeemeth us, he establisheth us that we shall never be removed; and all these are freely and frankly bestowed upon us, not purchased by us. Howbeit, we shall never understand the foundation of God's mercy, nor learn the height, the breadth, and bottom of his love, until we come to behold and consider our free election and salvation to be merely by his grace. And if once we come to the understanding hereof, it will be most forcible above all the former reasons to move us to magnify his goodness, and to give up our selves wholly to him, and consecrate all that is in us to his glory. Indeed this consideration y ^t we have received life & health, and peace, and liberty, & all things belonging unto them (if we had no farther cause) ought to move us to thankfulness & obedience: but this layeth the groundwork, and reacheth to the top of all, that he loved us before the world was, and therefore we must love him again, extol his praise, confess his Name, and fear to offend him, and serve him in righteousness and true holiness all the days of our life. This is the beginning and as it wer the first step to true humility; it is a forcible weapon to strike down all pride and presumption, and to give them their deaths wound: it stoppeth the mouths of arrogant men, who would gladly sacrifice to their own nets, and build their salvation upon themselves. Therefore the Prophet saith in the Name of the Lord, I will establish my Covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth anymore, because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God. He will have no flesh to rejoice in it self: he will have the whole glory of our salvation: he saw us polluted in our own blood: he found us cast out into the open field, to the contempt and loathing of our person: he set his love toward us, and spread his skirt over us, and covered our nakedness, and said unto us when we were in our blood, Live, to the end we should challenge no part of his work to our selves. Vndeserued love is a great binder. There is no love comparable to this love, which began before we began, and shall live when we are dead and buried. Our salvation having so sure a foundation, is more firm then the frame of heaven and earth: whereas if it were built upon our selves, and committed unto our selves to be kept, alas, it would quickly fall down as a ruinous Palace, or a tottring wall, and we could have no certainty or assurance of it, yea, albeit we were renewed to our first innocence, as appeareth in Adam, who fell in the garden, as the Angels themselves had done before that were in heaven. But seeing it is hid with God and put into his hands as a faithful Creator, no creature shall be able to take it from us, as no creature could give salvation unto us. So then, it behooveth us to give him praise for beginning his work in us, for the continuance of it in us, and to crave of him the full & perfect finishing of it unto the day of JESUS CHRIST.

Fourthly, this putteth us in mind to use [Use. 4] all meekness and moderation toward others that are not yet called to the knowledge of the truth, but wander as blind men that cannot find the way. For seeing our calling and conversion, and every good gift is of God's grace, it showeth that there is no difference between them and us by nature, but by grace; we have nothing of our selves, being as far from heaven as the most profane, but all is of God's good pleasure. We are all equal and no way better: we are all the children of wrath, as well as others. It is a true saying, that there are many sheep without, and many wolves within. We see this in the examples of the Gentiles, of Manasseh, of Mary Magdalene, of Paul, & many others, of whom we shall speak afterward. The Church of the Jews confess, that they had a little Sister which had no breasts: and Christ himself teacheth, he hath other sheep which are not of this fold, whom also he must bring home, & they should hear his voice, so that there should be one fold, and one Shepherd, John 10, 16. Thus it should come to pass, when the time appointed was come, that GOD would enlarge Japheth, that he should dwell in the tents of Shem, Gen. 9, 17. This use hath many branches, as a fruitful Tree that spreadeth it self many ways.

First, it belongeth unto us to pity them that go astray, & to bewail their ignorance. What grief doth it move, and how great compassion doth it work in us by the instinct of nature, to see a man blind, or dumb, or deaf, or in any misery and necessity? But this is the condition of all unregenerate persons, they are blind and see nothing, 2 Pet. 1. They are dumb, and deaf, and dead men, Eph. 2, 1. They have not the life of God in them, they can stir neither hand nor foot toward the kingdom of heaven.

Secondly, if any of our brethren be fallen, let us put under out hand to stay them or raise them up, knowing that it is our duty to exhort one another, lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; and so much the rather let us be careful herein, because the day of the Lord draweth near. If the Ox or Ass of our enemy be ready to lie down under his burden, we are commanded to help him up: and therefore much more we ought to do it unto our brother.

Thirdly, we must condemn no man rashly, nor sit down in the seat of God to judge another man's servant, which standeth or falleth to his own master. Let us set before us the example of God, who is very pitiful and merciful. He calleth at all hours, who hath the times and seasons in his own power, Math. 20, 6. Acts 1, 7. as the householder that hired laborers into his Vineyard all the day long, even unto the last hour. Besides, we are warned not to judge, lest we be judged, Math. 7, 1. So that with what measure we mete to others, with the same it shall be measured to us again. Let us beware of rash judgment, & headstrong and headlong affections. Let us judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, 1 Cor. 4, 5. Many things are hidden for a while, which time shall discover: for though the darkness of the night may cover them, or the ignorance and willfulness of man hide them, yet they shall be revealed, and shall not be unpunished.

Lastly, it is our duty to pray for their conversion that are not converted, and to offer them the means that they may be converted. We must be gentle unto all men, and patient toward them, instructing them with meekness that are contrary minded, proving whether God will give them repentance, that they may be recovered out of the snare of the Devil, 2 Tim. 2, 25. We see how Christ prayed for his enemies, that they might have their ignorance pardoned, Luc. 23, 34. Stephen desired that the sins of his persecutors might not be charged upon them, Acts 7, 60. Paul earnestly wished & craved that Agrippa might be converted, and altogether be made a Christian, Act. 26, 29. Hence it is, that many which persecuted Christ, and crucified the Lord of glory, though they were most horrible transgressors, yet heard the word, were pricked in their hearts, and did lay hold on eternal life, Acts 2, 41, 37. Let us commit the success evermore unto God, that hath the hearts of all men in his own hand. If notwithstanding the word of salvation offered unto them, they shut their eyes, and stop their ears, & harden their hearts, & will not turn, lest they should be saved; let us not be curious to search the causes why they do not believe, or expostulate the matter with them through impatience, but rather leave them to the mercy or justice of GOD, whose judgments are unsearchable, and as a pit whose bottom cannot be sounded: and give unto him humble thanks that hath opened our ears, that we may hear, & our eyes, that we may see clearly into the secrets of his Law. Let us praise him for revealing his truth to us, rather then inquire why he dealeth not so with all others.

Lastly, seeing the gifts of God are freely [Use. 5] bestowed, let us follow the example of our heavenly Father, that is, let us give freely and liberally, and be content to lend to the poor, looking for nothing again, according to the counsel of Christ our Savior. God looketh for no good turn at our hands, our well-doing cannot extend unto him, Psal. 16. He standeth not in need of our help, he wanteth nothing. This use is concluded in the latter end of the fifth chapter of S. Matthews Gospel, where Christ exhorteth to love our enemies, & to do good to them that hate us, &c: That we may be the children of our Father which is in Heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, &c. We are commanded to abound in this grace of liberality toward the poor members of Christ, as GOD hath abounded in the fruits of love toward us. We are not ignorant of Christ's dealing toward us, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich, 2 Cor. 8, 9. Our abundance must supply the want of others, that there may be an holy kind of equality, as it was among them that gathered Manna, He that had gathered much, had nothing over: and he that had gathered little, had no lack. Hence it is, that the Apostle James saith, He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shown no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Whosoever therefore hath this worlds good, and seeth his brother in need, how dwelleth the love of God in that man, if he shut up his bowels of compassion from him? 1 John 3, 17. We see this in the example of the rich man in the Gospel; he had occasion of showing mercy offered unto him, poor Lazarus lay at his gate; but he closed his eyes and would not see him; he shut up his heart and would not relieve him: and therefore it came to pass that as he denied the crumbs that fell from his table, a small alms: so he could not obtain a drop of water, a small refreshing. As he stopped his ears, and would not hear, so he asked only to have the tippe of the finger dipped in water to cool his tongue, and yet could not be heard. When the Sodomites had once filled up the measure of their sins by pride in themselves, & contempt of the poor, God rained down storms and tempests of fire and brimstone, so that they were utterly consumed, Ezek. 16, 49. Gen. 19, 24. Hence it is that Christ our Savior saith, Make to yourselves friends of unrighteous, mammon, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations, Lu. 16, 9. He meaneth not by the Mammon of unrighteousness, such riches as are wrongfully and unjustly gotten; for GOD accepteth not such alms or gifts at our hands, neither is he well pleased with such sacrifices, though we give them to the poor, and should relieve thereby the necessities of the Saints: but he calleth them so and giveth them that title, because they may fraudulently, wickedly, and wrongfully be taken from us: so that it containeth the force of a reason, why we ought not niggardly and sparingly to hoard them and heap them up to our selves, forasmuch as we may be robbed of them by the unfaithfulness of servants, by the violence of thieves, by the cunning of forgers, by the force of oppressers, by the deceitfulness of borrowers, by the vnconsciablenesse of sellers, by the covetousness of Land-Lord's,, by the biting of userers, by the falsifying of measures and weights, by the couzening of bankrouts, and by such like instruments of injustice. The things of this life are all uncertain, we may return to the earth and leave them, or they take their wings and fly up to heaven, and leave us. True it is, we are not to give hand over head without discretion and difference, neither to maintain strong and sturdy beggars, neither idle and loitering persons, that are able▪ to labor and will not: but wear to consider the wants of such poor as are diligent in their places, especially the poor Saints, and those that are of the household of faith. The alms of Cornelius did ascend up in remembrance before God, Acts 10, 4. Tabitha is commended to be full of good works, and alms deeds which she did, so that the widows shown unto Peter the coats and garments which she made while she was with them, Acts 9, 36.39. And howsoever this be a sacrifice well pleasing unto God, sweet in his nostrils as incense, yet it is unpleasant and unsavory to many men, so that they shun it, and take no delight in it. Hence it is, that they have many shifts to put it off, and are wise to invent and allege many reasons to spare their purses. Some say for themselves, Alas, I am [Object. 1] poor and have but a little, and therefore how should I give relief unto others? I answer, we must remember the poor widows mite, [Answer.] she had but little, and yet is commended, that she cast it into the Treasury, Luc. 21, 4. If we have but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, Elijah must have part of it, and be relieved with it, 1 Kings 17, 12. All that do not receive, should give. The man that getteth his living by his labor, and the servant that earneth wages, should lay up somewhat for the poor. Such as are married and keep houses, and have a family of their own, for which they are to provide, have many ways of employment for their money, and many charges lie heavy upon them both of Church and Common-wealth, besides the care of house-keeping and bringing up their children: the servant hath none of these burdens lying upon him, he hath none to maintain but himself, and therefore he may better spare somewhat for the poor then many others. And who seeth not, that for the most part they spend their wages a thousand times worse, in revelling, in rioting, in drinking, in dalliance, in feasting, in apparel, and in such like excess? One penny bestowed upon the poor, shall be more acceptable to God, and more comfortable to themselves, then many pounds spent in vanity. And howsoever it be a more blessed thing to give then to receive, Acts 20, 35. yet if God have denied us the ability, and means to do good, he accepteth the desire instead of the deed: If there be in us a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not, 2, Corin. 8, 12. Again, others say, they must [Object. 2] spare for their children; God hath given them many, and if they should not provide for thē, they were worse then Infidels, and have denied the faith. They can allege, that the fathers must provide for the children, not the childrē for the fathers. But they must know, [Answer.] that such as spare more then is meet without conscience of this duty, without care of the poor, without employing their substance to y ^e ends for which it is given, do gather without mercy, and bring a curse upon their riches, that shall make havoc of them in a moment, and as a swift wind blow them away. We read of many in holy Scripture, that have been cheerful givers, and distributed in the simplicity of their hearts: shall we think that these had no families to maintain, no childrē to bring up, no daughters to bestow, no kindred to relieve? Yes, no doubt many of them had particular charges of their own, wives, children, fathers, mothers, kinsfolks, and yet they forgot not this distribution. The first Christians sold their substance and laid it down at the Apostles feet, to be divided as everyone had need. And the Churches which were in Macedonia, sent relief to others even above their ability, 2 Cor. 8, 3. They were poor themselves, and yet of their poverty they were content to depart with somewhat. Albeit they had little, yet of that little they were willing to give somewhat. Oh, but if [Object. 3] we should follow such examples, we may want our selves; and bring our wives & children unto beggary. I answer, [Answer.] if we extend our liberality, and the bowels of pity unto other, GOD that hath the hearts of all men in his own hand, will move them to pity us, that we shall taste the fruit that we have sown, and find others as merciful to us as we have been merciful unto others. Liberality is as seed that is sown in the earth. It shall yield a plentiful harvest, and it shall bring to some an hundred fold, to some sixty, and to some thirty fold. As we sow, so we shall reap: if we sow plentifully, we shall reap plentifully: if we sow sparingly, we shall reap sparingly. It is a fruit of infidelity and unbelief, to call the promises of God into question, and when he promiseth to bless us, to fear that he will forsake us. He hath given us his word, that he which lendeth unto the poor, shall not lack, and assureth that he will pay us again. Would we desire a better paymaister? Can we desire or wish for any that is better able, or more willing? The Prophet speaking of his own experience telleth us, that he was young and now is old, yet he never saw▪ the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging [Object. 4] bread, Psal. 37, 25. Lastly, others pleading for their Corban, and loath to part with anything, allege, that the poor for the most part are lewd and lazy, ungodly and unthankful, wicked & unworthy to have any relief, they cannot afford a good word to their benefactors. I answer, that albeit idle persons are rather to be punished then maintained in their idleness, yet the Apostle after reproof of such persons, addeth this exhortation, But ye my brethren, be not weary in well doing, 2▪ Thess. 3, 13. Be it that it fall out so (as sometimes it doth fall out) that the tongues of these evil men curse us, yet their loins shall bless us, as Job testifieth, chapt. 31. Declaring that albeit many things fell out to restrain the course of liberality, as their multitude, importunity and ingratitude that are in need, yet he could not be hindered by any of them, from showing mercy unto them, considering, that if we feed them, their bellies shall bless us: if we clothe them, their loins shall bless us: if we visit them in sickness, their bodies shall bless us; nay their souls shall bless us, albeit their tongues revile us, and their mouths be full of cursing and bitterness. Let us therefore turn our selves from them unto God, who will reward every good work, even to a cup of cold water. Heereby we shall testify our religion to be sincere: hereby we shall be like our heavenly Father, & assure our hearts that we are his children: hereby we shall be made conformable unto Jesus Christ our head, who being equal in glory with his Father, and being in the form of God, made himself poor that he might enrich us: hereby we shall provide well for our selves, by making us friends with the riches of unrighteousness: yea hereby we shall heap coals of fire upon y ^e heads of all unthankful persons, doing good for evil, and showing mercy to them that do not deserve any mercy at our hands.

We are now come to the last standard, expressed in these words. These three, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, that is, the Tribes that descended of them, being three of the sons of Jacob, doth the Lord in this place cast into the last squadron to make up the fourth battailion. And albeit they were set in the last and lowest company of the army, yet we do not read that during the long time of their tarriance in the wilderness, (which was the space of 40, years,) they opened their mouths against the ordinance of God, or murmured through impatience and discontentment at the order established among them; neither did other murmur at them, albeit some of the children of the handmaids were preferred before the natural sons of Leah and Rahel. An host of men consisting of great multitudes, is like a full or corpulent body that needeth not any external means to throw it down, it being ready to ouerweigh and ouersway it self through it own heaviness. Many estates and kingdoms arising from small beginnings, as it were large stoods from little fountains, have proceeded & swelled so great, that the bigness thereof is comberous to themselves, and the puissance of so mighty people hath wrought their own destructiō. Thus it fell out in y ^e commonwealth of Rome, whose proper power & strength (wanting a foreign enemy to encounter with all) wrought it own ruin; so that it had no greater opposite then it own too great felicity. But not to trouble our selves with foreign examples, let us briefly touch the example of the Disciples of Christ: they were few in number, they were a little company, like a small boat that might be easily ruled and governed, inasmuch as they had the best Master that ever was to stand at the stern: yet they no sooner heard of Christ's departure out of the world, but they condemned parity, and contended for superiority, Math. 20, 20. Thus we see what our nature is: one man cannot abide any to be his equal, another cannot suffer any to be before him. Wherefore to cut off all occasion of emulation, and to teach them the benefit of contentation, the Lord assigneth to every Tribe his standing place: and they in humility and obedience rested in the room & rank that God in mercy appointed for the general benefit of the whole, and the particular good of everyone among them.

Verse 25, 26. [The standard of the Campe of Dan, shall be on the, &c.] The three combined together in this army (whereof Dan was principal, the other two, Asher & Naphtals, were assistants) are indeed the children of the handmaids, inasmuch as Rabel in grief of her barrenness, giveth her maid unto her husband, who beareth him Dan and Naphtali: Leah also following her sisters example, giveth him her maid, who beareth & bringeth forth Asher. There can no reason be assigned by man, why they should go march in this order then in any other, but only the good pleasure of God: yet they are quiet, and strive not one against another, being brethren one to another. From hence we learn, that everyone [Doctrine 6] ought to be contented with his present estate: I say, how mean soever our condition be, yet God requires it as a special duty at our hands, that therewith we be content. Hereunto cometh the commandment given by the Apostle, 1 Corinth. 7, 20, 24. Let every man abide in the same calling, wherein he was called. To the same purpose he teacheth elsewhere, that Godliness with contentment is great gain: and afterward, Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. And as he delivereth this doctrine by precept, so he sealeth it up by practice and experience, Phil. 4, 11, 12. I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content: I know both how to be abased, & I know how to abound: everywhere, and in all things I am enstructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. It is a great and wonderful knowledge, and very hard to be practiced, to know to be rich, that is, to use riches soberly: it passeth our reach, unless we have a special and extraordinary grace given unto us. We must learn also, what it is to be poor, which is as hard a lesson as the former; forasmuch as we are ready to murmur under the Cross: whereas though we should walk naked, be hungry and thirsty, be afflicted and pass by the sword, yet we ought to be patient, & our trust must not fail which we have in God, who will feed us in the time of famine.

[Reason 1] The reasons hereof are of great force, and carry authority unto our consciences. First, God knoweth what is best for us, far better then we our selves do. We seek oftentimes to be aloft, but God seeth it better for us to be below: we desire to be rich, God seeth it better for us to be poor. Had it not been much better for Hamman that was advanced to honor, to have sat in the dirt, or on the dunghill all the days of his life, thē in all the height of his honor, to be hanged on the Gallows which himself had set up for another, and so to taste first of the punishment he had devised? Had it not been better for the rich man to be clothed with rags instead of purple robes, & to eat a dinner of green herbs instead of his delicious fare, then after all his pomp and pride to be tormented in hell fire? We are oftentimes ignorant of that should do us good: God is ignorant of nothing. We are ready to embrace that which will do us hurt, it is God that in mercy withholdeth it from us, and us from it. A sick person longeth greatly for those things which increase his disease, and bring him in danger of death; but the learned and expert Physician will not suffer him to taste of them. A child thinketh he is hardly dealt withal, that he is restrained of his desire, but his wise and discreet parents are constrained to bridle him of his lust, and that for his own good. So dealeth God with us, we are as sick persons that must be dieted, we are as little children that must be overruled: the Lord our God is a loving Father, he is a tender Physician over us, who albeit he deny us that we desire, yet he will withhold nothing frō us y ^t he knoweth to be good for us.

Secondly, we have this comfortable promise from him, that he will never fail us, nor [Reason 2] forsake us, whether we have little or much, whether we be in prosperity or adversity. It is he that feedeth the fowls of the air, it is he that clotheth the Lilies of the field: much more then are we assured that he will feed us and clothe us, who are more of value then all the rest of his Creatures. This is the reason urged by the Apostle, Heb. 13, Be content with those things that ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me. Where he putteth us in mind of the continual care of God for us, and that his providence watcheth over us, which he opposeth as a buckler against the common temptation that assaulteth us, to wit, the fear of being quite forsaken of him, and left unto our selves, from whence ariseth distrust in our hearts.

Thirdly, nature it self is content with a little, [Reason 3] inasmuch as this is the common condition of all mankind, Princes and people, high and low, noble and unnoble: it brought us naked into the world, and naked it will earry and convey us out of the world, according to the saying of Job concerning himself, Naked came I out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, &c. There are two points of man's life, his entrance into the world, and his departure out of the world: there is but little distance, as it were a step and a stride between them. For what is our life but a vapor? The space that is in the midst, which is the time of our life between our birth & our death, hath many differences and diversities that make us unlike one to another: some are poor, and some rich, some have great abundance, some have nothing at all. But in the point from whence we come, and in the point to which we tend, we all meet: the beginning of our life, and the ending of our days are both alike, there is no difference between them. Dust returneth unto dust, and earth into the earth again. If a man have a little journey to make, and a small way to travail, it is folly and vanity to make great provision for it; as he that hath need but of one pitcher of water, shall not deal wisely to go about to draw out a great River. So then, to desire superfluities, is to make open war against the order of nature. This reason is set down by the Apostle, in the place before alleged, where the doctrine had his confirmation; for having shown that when God granteth us raiment to clothe our bodies, and giveth us food to fill our bellies, we ought to be content, he annexeth this consideration to strengthen it, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. We see men die daily, and led to it as flocks of sheep: and when we have taken care day and night what to eat, what to drink, and what to put on, we bear nothing to the earth, but a winding sheet to cover our shame, and to hide our nakedness.

Fourthly, let us consider the contrary fruits. [Reason 4] Such as have a resolute purpose to grow rich, do refer hereunto all their thoughts, words, and deeds, they so thirst after the treasures of this world; that nothing is so sacred and religious, which they will make any conscience to violate, but they overthrow all law of God and man, and nourish in them the root of all evil, and fall into a bottomless pit of all mischiefs. This the Apostle meaneth, when he saith, They that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. Such are as poor beasts y ^t are fallen into the snare of the hunter. The devil is a mighty hunter, he hath many grins to catch us and entrap us, walking about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour. We are compassed about with the devil and his angels, as with an army of wolves and wild beasts; oppressed with injuries, and ouerborne with violence: yet being under the protection of our God, we cannot fail, but be well counterguarded. He hath promised he will have a care of us, so that the Lions shall want and suffer hunger, and not always be able to find their prey, though they be cruel and ravenous: but the faithful man though he have neither teeth nor paws, nor take any man's goods away by fraud or force from him, yet God feedeth him and supplieth all his wants; so that everyone should be pleased with his present estate and means of his maintenance, how mean soever.

The uses follow, which naturally arise frō [Use 1] hence; and those of reproof shall have the first place, which are of diverse sorts. They break out and transgress against this principle, that are discontented with their present estate, and do murmur & grudge at the hand of God upon them, and withal repine at the good estate of others. Thus it fared with the people of Israel sundry times, sometimes▪ through want of bread, Exod. 16, 2. Sometimes through want of water, Exod. 17, 2. Sometimes through want of flesh, Numb. 11, 4. Sometimes through fear of their enemies, Numb. 14, 2. Sometimes through danger of the way, by which they were to pass, Numb. 21, 5. They were never long contented with one estate, but brake out through impatience against God, and brought upon themselves diverse plagues and judgments whereby they were consumed. Thus is it with many in our days, if we be pressed with any want of good things; or if we be chastened with the feeling of any evil things, we break out into rage and choller, and will not submit our selves to him that striketh us. If we be bitten a little with famine, and have not our necessities by & by supplied, we cry out against God and man, we are ready to say, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we put on? If we fall into any sickness, that continueth with us, we think God hath forgotten us or forsaken us, if he do not presently remove his hand from us, and that no man hath felt that which we feel. If we be in any trouble by losses of temporal things, though they be but trifles, by and by we imagine we are undone, it is too late with us to think how to live, and we are more out of patience, then if we had lost the love and favor of GOD. Thus doth the bitter root of infidelity stick in our hearts, & it brancheth forth into open rebellion against God, like the child that murmureth under the rod; for as that is the cause that the father taketh up the whip to whip him again, so our resisting the hand of God when it is heavy upon us, doth not call in the judgment, but rather constraineth the Lord to scourge us again, & to lay upon our backs more strokes and stripes then he did before. The way to call in his corrections is, to submit our selves unto him▪ to confess our offenses, to acknowledge his just judgments, according to the saying of the Prophet, I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou diddest it, Psal. 39, 9.

Secondly, it reproveth such as use unlawful means, ungodly shifts, & wicked policies to enrich themselves. These men care not what ways they use, or what courses they take to get goods, & to heap up riches for themselves & their posterities, whō they desire to raise up on high, and to make great in this world. This insatiable humor is as the dropsy, or rather as the grave that never saith it is enough. It is ever craving more, as a gulf or whirl-pool ready to receive, but not apt to show what it hath received: and therefore doth God oftentimes cross, and not give any blessings to their labors. These make themselves unfit for holy desires, for heavenly meditations, and for the kingdom of God. If any should ask them, whether their meaning be to make thenselves drudges to the world, bond-slaves to the Devil, and so to cast themselves headlong to destruction both of body and soul, they would quickly answer, No; and defy those that should charge them with it. Notwithstanding, this inordinate affection bewrayeth what lieth in the heart, and discovereth that they go about to cast themselves away wittingly and willingly, and to undo themselves utterly. Wherefore, to the end we may use our riches aright, we are to practice two points: First, we must be poor in spirit, not glutted in them, nor glued to them, for then we shall be deceived by them; according to the counsel of the Psalmist, Trust not in oppression, become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. We must not be tied to our riches that we can never get from thē, but so to account of them, that whensoever it shall please God to make us poor, and to take our riches from us, to render up y ^e whole into his hands, to forgo them willingly, and to resign them up to him that gave them, & is able to restore them. When Job had lost all his cattle and children, and was fallen from the top of felicity to the lowest vale of misery, he could say with a quiet spirit, Blessed be the Name of the Lord, it is he that hath given, it is he that hath taken them away. This willingness to depart from them at the Lord's call, doeth make it manifest that he never made the wedge of gold his hope, nor said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence: he rejoiced not because his wealth was great, nor because his hand had gotten much, as he declareth in the protestation that he maketh of his integrity. Whereby he showeth, that there passeth a secret communication & conference between the rich man and his riches, applauding himself for his money that he hath. True it is, a man will not speak unto his riches, nor cannot hear his riches answer him: there passeth not an express dialogue between the monied man and his money, when he openeth his chest, or vnlocketh his coffer: but he useth this manner of speech by way of faigning the persons, to set forth the folly & vanity of such as have store and abundance; they make a secret kind of compact and conspiracy with their gold and silver, they set down their rest in it, they repose their trust upon it, and will rather leave all then depart from it. Nevertheless, he doth not reprove all joy and gladness when their goods increase. It is lawful to rejoice in all the blessings of God that he giveth, and we receive. He requireth this at our hands, as it is expressed, Deut. 12, 7. Ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall • rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. This mirth and gladness is so far frō displeasing God, that it is rather a fruit of the faith and fear which is in us toward him, forasmuch as we learn thereby to praise his name, to confess his goodness, & to yield him thanks for the benefits which he bestoweth upon us. He speaketh therefore of a blind rejoicing, of carnal mirth and profane jollity, such as is among worldlings, who are carried away with a love of their riches, so that they forget God & remember no more their own frailty and mortality. This is a frantic joy that turneth us away from God, and maketh us drunken in the pleasures of this life. Secondly, while we enjoy & possess the things of this world, we must not keep them to our selves, but know how to use them moderately, as God hath commanded. They are given unto us to be used, they are as a talent committed unto us, for which we must give an account. And when the day of audit cometh, & we can say no more then that we have glutted our selves with them, and starved our neighbors, woe will be unto us, the rusting of them shall be a witness against us, and shall eat our flesh as it were fire. It was not so with Job, whose example we alleged before: he did not withhold the poor from their desire, nor cause the eyes of the widow to fail: he did not eat his morsels himself alone, but the fatherless did eat thereof: he never saw any perish for lack of clothing, nor any poor without a covering. This was the use he made of his goods, to show pity and mercy when he saw any in adversity. If we say only, My friend, God help thee; & never succor him, it is no better then a mere mockery, & hypocrisy, to make show of love, and yet to do them no good. God hath made us stewards of his goods which he hath committed unto us; if we shall devour all our selves, and not communicate anything to such as have need, we shall one day pay sweetly for this rigor and cruelty, when we shall receive according to our deserts: for we also our selves must appear before God, who will deal with us as we have dealt with others. He hath shown all goodness & kindness unto us, and this ought to have been a rule & example unto us to show mercy to our brethren: but because we have shut up our compassion from them, we shall receive judgment without mercy: and as we would not hear thē in their necessity, so God will stop his ears against us in our misery. If we be careful of these two points in the use of this worlds good, that we do not put our trust in them, but employ them to the good of others, we shall never be drawn away by the nets of Satan, to take away other men's goods wrongfully, to snatch and catch what we can from them, and to circumvent them in our dealing with them. Thus then are they met withal, that use deceit and fraud to beguile & deceive whom they can. This is the tradesmans sin, that careth not how he selleth. He spreadeth his net to catch his brother; and all is fish with him that cometh into the net: he preieth upon him that cometh unto him, as if every buyer or brother were an enemy. He will not stick to swear & to forswear himself, he maketh no conscience to lie at all assays. He forbeareth not to use naughty devises and wicked practices to enrich himself and impoverish another. The root of all these is discontentment with our estate, that we have not learned to rest our selves well pleased with that condition wherein GOD hath set us, and therefore we covet to rise higher then God affordeth means, and to catch frō others that which belongeth not unto us.

Secondly, hereby direction is given unto [Use 2] us touching the things of this present life, what we may crave and desire of God in our prayers. This is called in the Lord's prayer, Our daily bread for the day, Luc. 11, 3. We have liberty only to pray for competent and convenient food, and that only for the day. This we see in the practice of Jacob, Gen. 28, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. He desireth not great riches, or honors, or might, or majesty, or earthly excellency & renown, but food and raiment. These two necessary things he contenteth himself withal, and suffereth not his affections to wander farther. Hitherto cometh the prayer of Agur, Prov. 30, 7, 8, 9. Two things have I required of the Lord, deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty, nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, & say, who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain. This ought to be the substance and subject of our prayer: a competent measure of earthly things ought to content us: we must ask bread, not fullness of bread: raiment, not costly raiment: necessaries, [Objection.] not superfluities. But may not a man provide for the time to come, and lay up in store for the times of need? I answer, [Answer.] yes, he may, he ought, as God shall afford the means. This is a point of wisdom that God alloweth. It is a token not of niggardliness and miserableness, but of frugality and foresight, when goods gotten are for good uses reserved, and afterward profitably employed, and therefore is not forbidden. But we must remember these cautions and conditions: First, they must be justly gotten. Things evilly gotten, are as evilly kept, & oftentimes as evilly consumed. A little well gotten, is better then the treasures of iniquity. One morsel of bread obtained by the sweat of our brows, is better then an house filled with robbery. That which is not well gotten, is not ours, but another man's. Secondly, as that which is laid up must have a sure foundation, it must be justly and rightly gotten, so we must not put our trust and confidence in it. If God do but blow upon it, he can drive it away, as chaff before the wind: and if he do not take it from us, yet he can make it to be unprofitable unto us. Though he take not away our garments, he can make them that they shall not warm us: and our food that it shall not nourish us; so that albeit we have bread, we shall not have the staff of bread; to teach us, that Man liveth not by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Thirdly, it must not be laid up to be meat for the worm and the canker, but to be spent in lawful uses. Our families challenge one part, the Church of God another, the poor Saints another, yea we are debtors to them that dwell afar off, even to the Turks and Infidels, so it be done in Christ, not against Christ: for we must do all for the truth, nothing against the truth. These rules of restraint being observed, it is required of all, especially of those of mean condition, to have an eye to the time to come. We must consider, not only how we may live presently, but how we may maintain our selves hereafter. Now we live in health, in wealth, or at least in a competent measure: we live in days of plenty, of peace, of liberty, and freedom to follow our business. We have our limbs and strength of body able to labor and take pains. We know not what times and tempests hang over our heads. We may be visited with sickness, or pinched with poverty, or have our limbs taken from us; we may be stricken with blindness, or lameness: and if none of all these afflictions come upon us, yet the infirmities of old age will overtake us, which is as the night wherein we cannot work. Then the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders shall cease because they are few, & those that look out of the windows shall be darkened: so that we should labor in the days of our youth, & in the flour of our age, while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Age is an hasty thing, it tarrieth for no man, it will creep upon us sooner then we are aware. Wherefore doth GOD give unto us all these means and this blessed opportunity▪ (which being once gone cannot be called back) but that we should make use of it? There is no day, but it hath his night: there is no calm, but it hath his storm: there is no peace, but it hath his war: there is no health, but it hath his sickness. Though we have now sufficient, we know not (alas) what experience we may have of want, and how soon also. We should therefore provide in time of our health, to keep us in our sickness: we should labor in youth to keep us in age: and lay up in time of plenty, to furnish our selves against dearth and scarcity. We see the providence that was in Joseph, he laid up corn in the plentiful years, to serve them & save them in time of famine, and therefore he preserved the lives of many thousands, Gen. 41, 48. The Apostles provided afore hand to send succor and relief to the Church of Judea, being fellow-members of the same body, and professing all one communion of Saints. So the Apostle teacheth, 1 Tim. 5, 8. If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse then an Infidel. But Christ our Savior saith, Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, [Objection.] where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, Math. 6, 19. If then he forbid all men to lay up, who shall dare to hoard up anything? I answer, [Answer.] he forbiddeth in some sort, not simply: to wit, to lay up with respect to our own private profit only, without respect of the good of the Church or Common-wealth; as if he had said, Take heed that ye gather not riches for your own use and benefit alone, as if none should live in the world besides yourselves, and so make your treasures your trust, & place your happiness and felicity in them. But our happiness must be in heaven, and in the life to come, where it cannot be taken from us. Again, [Objection.] it will be said that Christ forbiddeth the care of the things of this life, and to take thought what to eat or what to drink, or what to put on, Math. 6, 25. I answer, there is a double care, [Answer.] a lawful and an unlawful, a godly and an ungodly care. The lawful and honest care is that, whereby a man provideth for things needful in time to come. For if then we should begin to provide: necessaries when we are presently to use them, we should be like to soldiers, that are to seek for armor when they should put it on; or like the foolish Virgins mentioned in the Gospel, that went to buy oil for their Lamps when it was too late. There is an unlawful care, which is joined with distrust. Such men do neither deal uprightly and justly in their callings to labor the thing that is good, and to get the thing that is honest in the sight of all men; neither yet commit the success of their labors to the blessing of God, but use shifts that stand not with equity and a good conscience. This maketh the heart heavy, & withdraweth us from prayer, from hearing the word, and from the worship of God. This is that which Christ forbiddeth in this place. If it be farther objected, [Objection.] that Christ saith, Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow will take thought for it self: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; Math. 6, 34. I answer as before, [Answer.] that the purpose of Christ is not to persuade any to sloth and idleness, or to slake in us diligence in our callings, but to draw us from all inordinate and distrustful care for the morrow, whereby we vex our minds with trouble and turmoile for things unnecessary. Every day by reason of man's sin, hath grief enough, and therefore should every day content it self with his own care, and not cast his projects for days and years.

But while we condemn the unlawful carking, let us take heed we do not cast away that honest and holy care of providing things needful in time to come. Christ our Savior had a bag to keep provision for himself and his Disciples, which Judas bare, John 13, 29. Hence it is also, that he gave commandment, that they should gather up the broken meat, and addeth this reason, that nothing be lost. This serveth as a notable instruction for men of mean ability and small means, to teach them to provide in time for the maintenance of themselves and their families. This concerneth artificers & tradesmen, husbandmen and day-laborers, to seek as thrifty men to save somewhat (as they say) against a wet day. They must labor and take pains while their strength is great, and their sight is good: that when they shall be old, or weak, or blind, and every way unable to follow their calling, they may find means to maintain them of their own, and not seek relief abroad, and so be a burden unto others: yea when GOD shall call them out of this world, (as we hold our life and all things else with the greatest uncertainty) we may leave our wives and children wherewith they may live with comfort, and not depend upon the kindness and courtesy of other men. This is a point little regarded of drunkards and vnthrifts, who, if they may have for the present to satisfy their lusts, care not though they bring their seed to beggary. Woe be to such merciless Creatures, more cruel then the Tiger or the Bear, exposing their posterity to a sea of miseries. These are worse then the sauages & infidels, and have denied the faith.

Let all poor men beware of idleness; let them not spend in a moment that which hath been long in getting: let them not consume that little which they have in belly cheer, & delicious fare, and in costly apparel, but use the creatures of God soberly, moderately, & sparingly; considering both the shortness of their own lives, and the hardness of other men's hearts. Let them not give sleep unto their eyes, nor slumber to their eye-liddes. Let the sluggards go to the Ant, and learn wisdom by her ways, which having no guide, overseer, nor ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest, Prov., 6, 7, 8.

Thirdly, seeing it is required of us to have [Use 3] contented minds, it putteth us in mind of this duty, that we avoid covetousness which is directly contrary to contentation. It is a common corruption y ^t taketh hold of our corrupt nature, & a fruit of the old man which must be mortified of all the children of God, and so much the rather because it stealeth vpō us at a sudden, and draweth away our hearts from God and godliness. This is the use directly touched and taught by the Apostle, Heb. 13. Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. The greatness of this sin is such that it causeth a man to be an idolater, as Ephe. 5.5. Col. 3.5. This ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of God, and of Christ. The covetous are idolaters or worshippers of idols two ways. First, because they prefer their riches in their affections before God, the gift before the giver of them; depending upon them as upon God, trusting in them, as in God, saying unto them, Thou art my confidence, as we heard before out of the book of Job.

Secondly, because they account their life to consist in their riches, and to rest upon their wealth, rather then to stand on the providence of God, failing of all comfort, and hope, and joy, when their wealth faileth them. Satan used this bait to bring Christ himself to idolatry, when he offered unto him the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. How easily we slip into this sin, appeareth by the example of the rich man that came unto our Savior; when he was bid sell all that he had, he went away pensine and sorrowful, Matth. 19. Hence it is that he saith in another place, Take heed and beware of Covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. We are ready to flatter our selves, and to say to our soul, Thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry: until it be said unto us, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee, then whose shall those things be, that thou hast provided? This is a sin, not only in the rich, but also in the poor. True it is, such as are in want and necessity, do wash their hands as innocent in this matter, but they do it as Pilate did touching blood, which notwithstanding did cleave so fast unto his loins, that all the Fullers earth, and all the waters in the Sea, could not wash away the guilt, and stain thereof from him. So the poor for the most part, put this sin far from them, and think it doth not belong unto them: they cry out against the rich, because they are covetous, as blind men deceiving themselves, and beholding their own faces in a false glass. For first of all, they use ungodly shifts, and unlawful means to store themselves, which is right covetousness. They care not how they come by meat, money, corn, or anything so they may have it.

Again, they bear not the burden of poverty patiently, but murmur and grudge at it, nay, at him that sendeth it: but whosoever disdaineth his present state, because it is not higher, richer, and better, is covetous: therefore the poor may be covetous.

Furthermore, they are oftentimes idle, and live by the sweat of other men's brows, and break out into pilfering and stealing, and so not only covet, but catch and convey unto themselves other men's goods. This also is covetousness, and this is a common sickness and disease of the poor. For as pride may walk and iet up and down in a russet coat, so may covetousness lodge in a simple and smokie cottage. But in whomsoever it be, whether in the rich or poor, it is a dangerous evil, it bringeth the covetous man to destruction of body and soul. It brought the leprosy upon Gehazi, that coveted the silver, and garments that Naaman offered, Elisha refused, but he accepted. It brought a more heavy plague upon the soul and conscience of Judas, for when he had betrayed his master for thirty shekels, in horror of himself, and of his fact, he went and hanged himself. He was brought up with Christ and lived with him, who had instructed him not to covet after silver, nor gold; he heard his doctrine, and beheld his miracles, yet he was infected with this disease, worse then the dropsy or the hungry evil. It seeth nothing in another without grieefe and sorrow, and is never well contented until he have it himself, and then he cannot be satisfied, but still he would have more.

The more he hath, the more he thinketh he hath not. The more full his coffers are, the more he judgeth them to be empty: for as much as he wanteth as well those things that he hath, as those things that he hath not. It is a great blessing of God, that the earth yieldeth the fat of wheat: but the covetous man is not a little grieved, that instead of ears of corn, it doth not shoot and send forth leaves of gold, that every river doth not run with streams of gold, and that the barraine mountains have not gold to be digged out of them, instead of stones. He is oftentimes grieved at the seasonableness of the weather, at the fruitfulness of the seasons, at the plenty of all things, at the increase of the earth, and at the sweet influence of the heavens; he taketh it heavily, when there is store and abundance, that there is no want, nor crying in our streets; because he cannot fell his corn, his cattle, and commodities at the dearest rate. He hateth all men, both rich and poor: the rich, because he doth not possess that which they have: and seeth them to abound as well as himself, whereas he cannot abide that any should enjoy anything, and thinketh it lost that passeth by his door: the poor, because they crave somewhat of him, which he is as unwilling to leave as his life: and therefore as if he were hurt, and wronged with all, he is angry and offended with all.

The more he hath, the more he craveth and coveteth. Even as the drunken man is more vexed with thirst, then he that useth to drink with sobriety and moderation, and is therewith contented: so the covetous person, that hath the greatest plenty, is much more tormented with desire of more, then he that is satisfied with a small portion, or pittance of the things of this life.

It falleth out oftentimes that such as have least charge lying upon them, are most over-charged with this, as with a most heavy burden. This is that vanity that Solomon pointeth out, Ecclesiastes chapter 4. There is one alone, and there is not a second, yea, he hath neither child, nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he, For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? It is not abundance, or masses and mountains of gold and silver that can quench this insatiable thirst, but thereby it is rather increased. For as more wood put to the fire, augmenteth the flame and the heat: so the desire of many by addition of wealth, is multiplied. He is fitly compared to the man possessed with an unclean spirit, who wore no clothes, but had his dwelling among the tombs and mountains: no man could bind him nor tame him, but he brake the fetters and pulled the chains asunder, and cut himself with stones, Mar. 5.3. Luke 8.27. He was exceeding fierce, but covetous men are far worse. He that was possessed, was delivered by the word of Christ, and the devil was driven away, and left his hold: but they that are servants, or slaves to their money, will not hearken unto Christ; they have so much of this earth in their ears, or rather in their hearts, that albeit they hear him daily preached unto them and sounding as a shrill or loud trumpet, yet they believe not, they yield not, they obey not. The man possessed spared not such as came near him: but they spoil and rauin as well afar off frō them as hard by them; they spare none whom they catch in their snares, not friends, not kinsmen, not brethren: they tear them, and rent them in pieces, whomsoever they can compass. He went naked: but these clothe themselves sumptuously (except such as grudge themselves apparel) with the spoils of others, as if they had taken them prisoners in the day of battle, and make them go naked, or in thread-bare coats that come in their way. He smote himself, not knowing what he did: but these smite and kill others secretly, they grind the faces of the poor, and pull off the skin from their backs. He abode among the graves and tombs of the dead; but these are very sepulchers themselves. For what is a tomb, but a stone covering the body of the dead? What then? are not their bodies much more wretched and miserable then those stones, which cover their dead souls, dead in sin, and as stinking carcasses casting out a loathsome savor? And to this purpose Christ speaketh to the Pharisees, Matth. 23.27. Ye are like to whited sepulchers, full of extortion & excess, full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

This sin hath diverse branches under it, according to the diverse practices of it, first, when men seek only or principally for worldly goods, neglecting or not regarding spiritual graces in comparison of them. We are charged to lay up our treasure in heaven, where the moth cannot corrupt it, nor thieves steal it. We are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. But whatsoever God require of us, the greatest sort do what they list: for as Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, Heb. 12.16. So do profane men sell their souls for old shoes, and salvation purchased by Christ at a most dear rate, for a song. This may seem strange unto some, but there is nothing will appear more true, if we consider the course of the world, and observe the lives of men. This is the sin of our age, wherein the least profit and pleasure is cared for above true religion. Every drunken feast is cause sufficient with us to intermit y ^e worship of god. Every profane meeting of profane men, is valued and prized above the word of the eternal God. Every feast that after a heathenish manner is yearly solemnized, giveth occasion to multitudes to profane and pollute the Sabbath that ought to be sanctified with public and private duties agreeable unto it; and to set that banket at naught to which God inviteth us by his Ministers. Our thoughts, our meditations, our desires, our delights, are so taken up with earthly things, that though there be much preaching, there is little profiting; though there be much teaching, yet there is little hearing, little obedience.

The second branch of covetousness, is to put our trust and confidence in the things of this life, which is the idolatry of the heart, as we noted before. If we set our hearts upon our goods, we make them our God, and the earth our happiness. Hence it is, that Christ maketh it so hard a matter for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, as for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, Matth. 19. because they trust in their riches, Mar. 10.24. Likewise the Apostle chargeth Timothy to charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, neither trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, 1 Tim. 6.17. The third branch is, when we regard and respect only our selves. It is not enough, that we do no harm with them, God requireth that we do good. Christ shall say at the last day, I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not: go into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels. That evil servant that did not divide his substance among his fellow servants, perished through his covetousness: and he that received one talent, and digged in the earth to hide it, had it taken from him, and heareth this sentence denounced against him: Thou wicked and slothful servant and unprofitable. God bestoweth not his blessings upon us to fat our selves with thē, as Oxen in a stall, or as swine in a stye, without all consideration of the Church, or Common-wealth, or of the poor: but he hath made us stewards and disposers of them to the glory of God, and the good of others.

[Verse 31. All they that were numbered in the campe of Dan, &c: ] We see in this place that this last standard beareth the name of Dan; whereby we see that God raiseth up as a chief instrument in this mighty host, one of the lowest sort, one that was obscure in the family of Jacob; which serveth to magnify the mercy of God, & to depress the pride of man. Jacob in his last will and testament, foretelleth the estate of this Tribe, Gen. 49, 17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels, so that his rider shall fall backward: which declareth, that the power & might of this Tribe should not be great, but prevail rather by fraud and deceit. Thus Sampson prevailed against the Philistines, and afterward they overcame the City Laish, and burnt it with fire. We learn from hence, that it pleaseth God oftentimes to choose and use the weakest & meanest men, to be instruments for the accomplishing of his greatest works. He maketh choice of inferior things to perform his decrees, and to do good to his Church, and to serve him wheresoever he purposeth to employ them. This appeareth clearer then the Sun throughout the Scriptures, in preferring the younger before the elder, in the calling of many Judges, in the election of many Kings, in the separating of many Prophets, and in the ordaining of many Apostles, who were of little reckoning and estimation before their honor and advancement, to verify that which the Psalmist saith, Psal. 75, 6, 7. Promotion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from the South, but God is the Judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. Saul was a seeker of his fathers asses, and though he found not them, he found the kingdom, Samuel being sent to anoint him, 1 Sam. 10. David was the youngest of his fathers house, and the lowest among one of the lowest families, left with the sheep in the wilderness, according to that in the Psalm, He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepefolds, from following the Ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. And as God chose him from feeding a flock of sheep, to feed a better flock, so he chose some of his Apostles from catching fish, to catch fowls. Peter was a fisherman, as before him Amos was an heard-man. Thus did God throw down the strong walls of Jericho, not by might of men, nor by munition of war, but by Rams horns, which were blowed by the Priests, Josh. 6, 20 In the creation, he brought light out of darkness, the fowls out of the waters, and all things out of nothing, Gen. 1, 3, 20. Heb. 11, 3. Christ wrought many of his cures in like manner, in healing the blind man; for he spate on the ground, & made clay of the spettle, and then anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay: then he had him wash in the pool of Siloam, who by and by went his way, & washed, and came seeing, John 9, 6, 7. Likewise in the work of our redemption, the truth of this is more apparent, for he wrought by contraries, bringing life out of death. He came down to the earth, to lift us up into heaven, Eph. 2, 6. He suffered the punishments of our sins, that he might make us free from them, Math. 11, 28. 1 Pet. 2, 24. He perfectly fulfilled all righteousness, that he might cover our unrighteousness, Rom. 5, 19. And to the end he might fully satisfy for our sins, he was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Corin. 5, 21. He was bound, that we might be loosed: he was condemned, that we might be acquitted: he was crucified in his body, that he might nail our sins to his Cross, and fasten them there forever, Col. 2, 14. He took upon him the curse due to us, that he might appease the wrath of his Father against us, Heb. 10, 10. He died for us, that we might live: he was buried and laid in the grave, that he might overcome death in his own cabin and den, Acts 2, 24. Lastly, he rose again as a Captain and Conqueror from the dead, and could not be holden of the sorrows of death, that we should walk in newness of life, Rom 6, 4. All these examples, of Saul, of David, of Amos, of Peter, of Christ, of the Patriarchs, of the Prophets, of the Judges, and of the Apostles, serve to teach us this truth, that it is the manner of God's dealing, to make choice of small means to effect great matters, and to single out weak instruments to work out worthy enterprises.

Neither ought this to be marvelled at, as [Reason 1] strange in our eyes. For if there were no other reason to induce us to believe it, the only will and good pleasure of God ought to be sufficient, as being the highest moving cause, and indeed the cause of all causes. His will is a law, and who shall herein control him of error, or convince him of folly, or condemn him of insufficiency? If he will let the full & rich go away empty, who shall say unto him, Why dost thou so? Or who can accuse him of rashness? This is that which Christ our Savior setteth down, Luc. 10, 21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that 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. Where we see, he maketh the pleasure of God to be the stay of himself: so it ought to be with us, if we once come to know what seemeth good in the eyes of God, though we know no more, though we can see no farther, and though ten thousand reasons as a mighty army may seem to encounter against it, yet we must rest our selves upon it as upon a rock, and build our house upon it as a foundation.

[Reason 2] Secondly, this serveth best to make manifest the glory of God, when as great things are done by a weak hand. Now, the weaker the instruments are, which he setteth on work, the more evidently is his power seen, and the better doth his praise appear. This gave David comfort and assurance being a stripling, unarmed and vntrained to the field, to encounter hand to hand in a single combat with a mighty giant: he doubted not to overcome him, but was persuaded in his heart of his help that never forsaketh his that trust in him and call upon him, that he should smite him with his sling, & take his head from him with his sword, and give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines, unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth: and he maketh this the reason of all, That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 1 Sam. 17.46. This also doth the Apostle infer and enforce in another kind, speaking of our salvation and redemption, and of those that are counted worthy to be partakers of them, 1 Cor. 1.26. You know your calling, how that not many wise men after the flesh, nor many mighty, nor many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: the weak to confound the mighty: the base and despised to bring to naught things that are magnified in the eyes of men, That no flesh should glory in his presence, &c. according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. His glory is less advanced and set forth by great persons; they are as a cloud before our eyes, or as amist▪ and veil to overshadow us, and to keep from us the glorious light of the bright shining Sun, I mean the glory of the mighty God: as the Lord himself teacheth Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me, Judge. 7.2. So then, whether we do consider the first moving cause which is the will of God, or the last final cause which is the glory of God, it appeareth he will oftentimes accomplish great things by means and instruments of low degree.

[Use 1] Let us proceed to the uses, and handle them briefly. First, forasmuch as God advanceth weak things to work out the decree of his providence, we may truly conclude from hence the powerful hand of God, that is able to bring to pass whatsoever he pleaseth. He worketh after the pleasure of his own will, sometimes by weak means, sometimes by no means, sometimes above means, and sometimes contrary to means. When the chiefest among the sons of men will bring anything to pass, they make choice of the fittest and forwardest means, even such as are most likely in the eyes of men, and in the judgment of the world. When Solomon purposed to build the Temple for the worship of God, he made choice of the fittest wood, and of the fittest workmen: it was in him to choose them, but it was not in him to qualify them whom he findeth in themselves to be unfit. But it is not so with God, he oftentimes employeth the most backward, untoward, unlikely, impossible; because he is able to fit them and furnish them with power, strength, and ability to go through with the work that he setteth them about: so that we may cry out with admiration, How great and wonderful is his Name in all his actions! This is concluded directly, Psal. 8. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy Name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens: out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Where we see, that upon God's choice of weak and infirm instruments, he gathereth the excellency of his Name, and the greatness of his power, which he repeateth again in the last verse, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy Name in all the earth. There is none is above him, none is equal unto him, none can be matched or compared with him: all things are put under his feet.

Secondly, we learn another truth to be [Use 2] acknowledged of us, that all things are not to be respected according to the outward appearance. We are oftentimes deceived, and cannot see into the works of God. Our Savior speaketh notably to this purpose against the Pharisees, Luke 16. Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed amongst men, is abomination in the sight of God. This may not any way seem strange unto us, forasmuch as God respecteth no man's person, as Gal. 2. where the Apostle proving himself to be an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, who called him from heaven to preach the Gospel, saith, Of these, who seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's person) for they who seemed to be somewhat, in conference added nothing to me. In these words he speaketh of the Apostles, Peter, James, and John, that had been poor fisher-men, and men of small reckoning and respect, yet they were honored of God to be Apostles and planters of Churches, so that he saith, It skilleth not what they have been in times past. Every man therefore is to be esteemed according to his calling, and to be accounted off according to the grace of God given unto him. Many that are first, shall be last, and the last shall be first. We must esteem of men, not as they have been, but as they are. When men have repented, we may not upbraid them with their lives past, nor cast in their teeth, their former offenses. We must not take occasion by the infirmities of men's actions to contemn their persons. Such is the merciful dealing of God toward us, that he accepteth not of us as we have been, but as we are when we repent and return unto him.

It is the policy of Satan, and the impiety of his instruments to object the weakness and slips of our life past: but we say unto him, and unto them all, Tell us not what we have been: but tell me what by the mercy of God I am, and what by the strengthening Spirit of God I will be. I am a sinner, I confess it: howbeit, I am a penitent sinner. We are not therefore to be carried away with the consideration of men's persons and outward quality or condition of life, as country, or kindred, or sex, or age, or birth, or riches, or poverty, or learning, & such like; for as much as God giveth not his gifts according to the outward appearance of the person, but according to his wisdom and pleasure, which are always just, and respecteth not the rich more then the poor, for they are all the work of his hands, Job 34.19. This doth the blessed Virgin acknowledge, Luk. 1. that the Lord regarded the low estate of his handmaid, so that thenceforth all generations should call her blessed. Hence it is that he reproved the human judgment of Samuel, beholding the person of Eliab the eldest son of Jesse, and saying, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him: Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart, 1 Sam. 16.7. Those whom God honoreth we must honor, and despise no man for the meanness of his place, and baseness of his person, and lowness of his condition. They are therefore justly to be reproved that reject the Ministry of the word, in regard of the simplicity of their persons that are the Ministers: as they dealt with Christ our Savior, Is not this Joseph's son? from whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him? Is not this the Carpenter? the son of Mary? the brother of James and Ioses, and of Judah and Simon? and are not his sisters with us? Thus they were offended at him. Hence it is, that Christ saith unto them, A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house, Mar. 6.4. It skilleth not whether the Ministers be rich or poor, wise or simple, noble, or unnoble; if they say unto us, Silver and gold have we none but such as we have we give unto you, Act. 3. we must accept of them and of the word of reconciliation, and account their feet beautiful that bring glad tidings of good things. Though they bring heavenly treasures in earthly vessels, yet the excellency of the power is of God: so that the meaner the person of the Minister is, the more we ought to magnify the Author of their ministry, remembering always that we ought not to have the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons.

Thirdly, for as much as God vouchsafeth [Use 3] to choose weak agents to promote his causes and to further his works, we conclude from hence that fearful is the estate of the wicked; if their eyes were opened to behold it, and their hearts enlightened to take notice of it. Howsoever they set their horns & heads on high, and exalt themselves in their own pride, yet the poorest and simplest means strengthened of God, and armed by his power, shall be able to bring them down to the ground, and to lay their honor in the dust. They shall know one day that they fight against God, and rebel against the most High, who wanteth no weapons to destroy them; he can arm the least things against them, as we see in the destruction of the Egyptians, to wit lice, flies, frogs, grasshoppers, and such like, all brought upon them by the rod of Moses. This use is concluded by the Prophet Isaiah, Chap. 27.11. When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding, therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favor. He showeth in these words, and in this place, the certainty of the destruction of the enemies of the Church, their defensed cities shall be desolate and left like a wilderness. But how shall this be? God needeeth not the power of mighty enemies, he needeth not armies of men, or legions of Angels, or such like strong means to effect it, the women shall come and set them on fire, that is, weak means and silly creatures, even such as are by nature fearful, an army of Hartes shall have strength and courage enough when God setteth them on work. Great is the force of weak Soldiers under such a Captain. If they that have the least power and policy be made the Lord's workmen, and employed in his service; who shall be able to daunt them and to drive them from their work? who shall fray them and affright them, and make the rest of them turn their backs? They have their calling and commission, and they canneuer cease, until they have ended the business, and finished the work to which they were sent; according to that which Gamaliel saith of the preaching of the Apostles, being in themselves, & of themselves simple and unlearned men, Refraine from these men, and let them alone, &c. for if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God, Act. 5. This is little regarded or considered of the enemies of God, and the persecutors of the Church, they run on in their wild courses, & think they can do what they list: whereas they lie open to every judgment, and every creature shall be able to work out their destruction.

[Use 4] Fourthly, seeing it seemeth good to God to accept of their service that seem farthest off and most unlikely to do him service: let no man presume upon the greatness of his gifts, and the excellency of his calling: let him not lift up himself above others, to think himself better & prefer himself before his brethren, neither contemn them of lower degree, of meaner place, of lesser gifts. The heart is of the Lord, the blessing is of the Lord, the success is of the Lord. Hence it is that the Apostle saith, Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou, that thou diddest not receive? Now if thou diddest receive it, why doest thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? 1 Cor. 4.7. Our Savior rebuketh a young man that would not give over the world, and telleth him, the first shall be last; and the last, first, Such as in the visible Church have the chief place, and in the opinion of men are in greatest account, because they carry the greatest name of piety and holiness, are nothing less inwardly then that which they appear outwardly, and therefore notwithstanding the room and reputation that they hold in earth, they shall be quite shut out of the kingdom of heaven, as was verified in the Scribes and Pharisees, and all hypocrites, who for a pretence made long prayers, but shall receive the greater damnation. This he showeth farther by the similitude of an householder, who hired laborers at all hours into his vineyard, and thereupon concludeth the point again, that the first shall be last, and the last first. Presume not therefore of thyself, neither glory in thine own works, nor boast of thine own gifts: it may please God to sanctify others to go before us, and to make them out run us that set out after us. He accepteth them that are of smaller gifts and lower place, and therefore we ought not to reject them or contemn them. When he chose special witnesses of those things that he spake and did, and sent them out to heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, to give sight to the blind, and to preach the Gospel, he did not call the learned & wise men of the world, but simple fishermen and such as the world accounteth idiots, and men of no fashion, or estimation. Such then as seem to be behind, are taken forward, and made more profitable then those that were before them. We see this in Amos, He was no Prophet, nor a Prophets son, but an heardman and a gatherer of Sycamore fruit: the Lord took him as he followed the flock, and said unto him, Go, Prophecy unto my people Israel. The like we might say of Paul, he was most unlike to be called and to be employed in the affairs of the Church, as himself confesseth, and the history of the Acts importeth, 1 Tim. 1.13. 1. Cor. 15.8, 9. Act. 8.1. and 9.1. Ephe. 3.8. He confesseth that before his conversion to the faith, he had been a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious: consenting to the death of Stephen, and breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord: one borne out of due time, the least of the Apostles, the least of all Saints, not meet to be called an Apostle, but rather a destroyer of the faith of the brethren. But when he came to preach the faith which before he destroyed, he was nothing inferior to the chief Apostles; more then a Minister of Christ, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft; loving him very much, of whom he had received much, so that he gave no place to the residue of the Apostles.

Even as in the manner of the natural generation, we see that oftentimes, such as are of weakest nature and constitution of body, are blessed with increase of children, and a plentiful posterity, more then those that are of stronger complexion: so such as have mean gifts, and lesser knowledge, and perhaps never trained up in the schools of the Prophets, may save more souls, and bring more to God then such as have taken many degrees, and have attained to a great depth, and profoundnesse of learning, as we shall have occasion farther to show in this book. What then? are Universities to be despised? are schools of learning to no purpose? No: [Answer.] they are nourceries of knowledge, human and divine. They are as those rivers that water the garden of God. The Lord bless them that bless those places, and curse them that are enemies to the peace and prosperity of them, and thrust thorough their loins that wish their hurt, neither let them which go by, say, The blessing of the Lord be upon such, we bless you in the Name of the Lord. Nevertheless, the Lord is not bound to such as are brought up in those places: but maketh the labors of those that want the Arts and Tongues, being conscionable in their callings, very available, to the glory of his Name, and to the saving of many souls.

Lastly, we are put in mind of this duty, that [Use 5] we ought not to rest upon flesh and blood, as upon a reed that will deceive us, but upon God the Rock of our salvation. Some put their trust in horses, and some in chariots, Psal. 20. and some in Princes, Psal. 146. We can make no resistance against the weakest things, which are as warlike weapons, that never return empty, but even they shall be able to push us down and to prevail against us, and to destroy us utterly. Let us not therefore lift up our minds against God, but humble our selves before him. Our strength is nothing, our multitudes are nothing, our Armor and munition is nothing, if God fight against us. Let us not think to escape his hands, who is able to arm few against many, and the weak against the strong, as 1 Sam. 14.6. where Jonathan saith to the young man y ^t bare his armor, Come and let us go over unto the Garison of these uncircumcised, it may be that the Lord will make for us: for there is no restraint of the Lord, to save by many or by few. The same in effect David speaketh to the Philistime, The Lord saveth not with sword and spear, (for the battle is the Lord's) and he will give you into our hands. Thus also Asa cried unto the Lord his God, when a great host of a thousand thousand, came out against him: Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: Help us, O Lord, our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy Name we go against this multitude; O Lord; thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee. We must therefore renounce all pride in our selves, and that vain confidence which will deceive us. We have to do with God. If he will destroy us, and deliver us as a prey into the jaws of death, though there be no enemy to resist us, nor power of man to overcome us, yet we may not secure our selves, nor suffer our hearts to be compassed about with presumption, as with a chain, he is able with the breath of his nostrils to blow us away, that we shall be no more.

This use is concluded by the Prophet Jeremiah, chapter, 37.9.10. Thus saith the Lord, Deceiue not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. Whereby we see that destruction of a kingdom, or of a city dependeth not upon a multitude of men, or upon the valiantness and violence of soldiers, but upon the pleasure of God, who executeth his judgments by what hands soever he will. For when a few and poor remnant remain, and those of wounded men half dead, and wholly unable to resist, even such as are thrust thorough with the sword, gasping for life, and ready to give up the Ghost: yet shall they recover the battle that was lost, and obtain the victory, and conquer the conquerer, and strike down as bulrushes the strongest and choicest men that before prevailed and had the upper-hand.

A notable example and memorable exploit whereof we have recorded in the Turkish history, concerning a Christian soldier, who sore wounded and all bloody, seeing Amurath the third king of the Turks, coming after the victory that he had obtained, to take a view of the dead bodies, which without number lay on heaps in the field like mountains, seeing him I say, rose up as well as he was able in staggering manner (as if it had been from death) out of an heap of slain men, and making toward him, for want of strength, fell down diverse times by the way as he came; at length drawing nigh unto him, as though he would have craved his life of the tyrant, and in honor of him have kissed his feet, suddenly stabbed him in the bottom of his belly with a short dagger, so that the conqueror was conquered, and presently died.

Thus it is with poor weak men when God strengtheneth them, for the feeble become strong, and the strong feeble.

Hitherto, we have spoken of the order prescribed unto Moses, and the people, to be observed: now followeth briefly the execution of the commandment, as the conclusion and shutting up of the Chapter, in these 3 verses. Howbeit before y ^e performance thereof, Moses addeth two cautions necessary to be observed and considered. First, the total sum of them that were numbered before, which amounted to the number of six hundred thousand, and three thousand, five hundred and fifty. Loe, how great the blessing of God was in multiplying his people, and what the truth of his promise is, that he made to Abraham.

Secondly, the exemption of the Levites, who were acquitted and discharged out of the former muster, being appointed to another office of another nature, verse 33. Then is annexed the obedience it self, to the commandment of God: set down both generally, The children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses: and then particularly in two points, They pitched by their standards, and they set forward everyone according to their families, according to the house of their fathers. No man murmured at the order of God, no man enuyed his superior, no man contemned his inferior, but all of them rested in his ordinance, & marched according to his direction and appointment. We learn from hence, that it is the duty of God's children [Doctrine 8] to yield obedience, not only to some, but to all the commandments of GOD. God requireth at our hands, a full and entire obedience.

Do we require commandments to confirm this unto us, or would we have examples? Let us consider both. And first for precept. The Apostle is plain, 2. Corin. chap. 7.1. Having these promises, let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Where we see he persuadeth to make a through work, to cleanse our selves, not only from some filthiness, and to retain some, but from all: not only of the body, but of the soul, even of the whole man. Likewise, in the former Epistle, chap. 5.7. purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. He confesseth that they were renewed and regenerated in part, and therefore concludeth, must proceed and go forward until the work be wholly finished. For the word is compounded, signifying not only to purge, but as much as may be possible to purge out quite and clean, as the Israelites were commended, when they celebrated the Passover to put away all leaven from them, so that whosoever had any in his house, should be cut off from his people.

To this purpose cometh the exhortation of the Apostle, Heb. 12.1. Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience unto the race which is set before us. As if he had said, forasmuch as we have so great a multitude of believers (which he compareth to a cloud that is thickened, compacted, or gathered together in the middle region of the air, of vapors) we must do as they that run in a race; they do not only cast away clogges and impediments, but whatsoever may hinder them in their course, as the cares of this life, the delights of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and generally everything that may cloy us, and clog us in our spiritual journey.

Thus we see, how we are commanded to cleanse away all filthiness, to purge out all leaven, to cast aside every weight. Behold, how the Apostle addeth universal notes in every of these places. But are these precepts without examples? are they mere speculative considerations without their use? No: we have in the Scriptures of the New Testament, many among the faithful that receive this commendation from the mouth of God. It is noted concerning Noah, Gen. 6.22. that he did according, to all that God commanded him, even so did he. It is recorded of Moses, that when Pharaoh did give them and their children liberty to go into the wilderness, to serve the Lord, only their flocks and their herds should be stayed: he answered boldly, Our cattle also shall go with us, there shall not an hoof be left behind, Exodus chapter 10.26. It is testified by the Evangelist Luke, touching Zechariah and Elizabeth, that they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless, Luke 1.6. All these particular testimonies do teach us, that it is our duty to labor earnestly and carefully to perform a pure and perfect obedience unto all the commandments of the Lord, that we may be entire, wanting nothing.

Now we come to the reasons, that we may [Reason] be farther confirmed in this truth. First, consider the nature of God, he is perfect in himself, and perfect in all goodness toward us. He faileth in nothing, so that he may truly say, what could I have done more then I have done? we must therefore answer in duty and obedience unto him. Hence it is, that Christ saith, Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven, is perfect, Matth. 5. If then we must be like him, and resemble him, we ought to strive to be like him in perfection.

Secondly, Christ Jesus is a perfect Savior, [Reason] a perfect redeemer, a perfect mediator. He hath fully finished our salvation, and he died to satisfy for all our sins. If he were but half a Savior, a party obedience might be sufficient on our part. But he never left the work of our redemption, until he had appeased the wrath of his Father, and nailed all our sins unto his Cross. This caused the Apostle to say, He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, Tit. 2.14. Seeing then that Christ Jesus hath redeemed us from all sin, it followeth necessarily that we should follow after all righteousness, and make conscience of all sin.

Thirdly, in respect of the commandments [Reason 3] themselves; for as an heathen man said of moral virtues, that they were linked together as in a chain, so that he which had one truly, had all of them: so we may much better say of the Laws of God, that as there is one lawgiver which is the Author of them all, so they are all knit in a knot together, that the knot cannot be loosed, but all are dissolved. Or they being ten words are as a band, having ten conditions; if one of them be broken, the whole band is forfeited. The testimony of the Apostle James fully accordeth and agreeth hereunto, chap. 2. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet faileth in one point, he is guilty of all: for he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law. Whosoever breaketh one commandment, and maketh no conscience thereof, but saith he doubteth not to be dispensed withal for it, and that he shall find God merciful unto him therein, hath made himself guilty of the whole Law and of the punishment due to the transgressors of it.

Fourthly, there is nothing done of us in [Reason 4] this flesh, but GOD will bring it into judgment. We run into many evils, because they seem little, and the hedge of God's word is easily leaped over. The wise man teacheth us, Eccl. 12. that God will bring every work unto judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. If he said, God will bring many things to judgment, we might have hoped some things should be exempted. But forasmuch as we must account with him for all things, even for every idle word, (as our Savior teacheth) it followeth that we ought to make conscience of all our ways and works whatsoever.

Fifthly, all things commanded of God from [Reason 5] the greatest unto the least, are most just and equal, and therefore to be observed diligently without all parting or partiality. The Prophet reproveth the house of Israel, that said, The way of the Lord is not equal. But the Lord saith, O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? This reason is urged by the Prophet David, Psal. 119. I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right: and I hate every false way. His testimonies are righteous and very faithful, which he hath commanded, and therefore he hateth from the bottom of his heart all wicked ungodly ways. So then, whether we consider the nature of God, that he is perfect; or the redemption of Christ, that it is perfect; or the dignity of the law that it is perfect: in all these respects, we conclude this truth as honey gathered from many flowers, That it concerneth everyone of us to yield obedience to all the Laws and commandments of God.

[Use 1] Now let us come to the uses which giveth an edge to the doctrine it self. And as it serveth to reprove, so the reproof is of diverse sorts.

First of all, it condemneth those that waste themselves, and spend their strength chiefly about the things of this world, and never labor after regeneration and the things of the Lord. These men never think of any obedience: How far then are they from perfect obedience? when will these come to the journeys end, that are not yet set forward in the ways? When will they finish their salvation, that have not yet made a beginning? How do they look to receive the price, that sit still, and do not yet run in the race? or how shall they obtain an incorruptible crown, that do not strive for the mastery? These think they have no souls to save, or that there is no God to serve, or that there is no life to come, or else they would not live as beasts, or as the horse and mule that are without understanding. If they live as men that regard not the kingdom of heaven, they shall one day know that there is an hell: and if they regard not to obey God, they shall hereafter reap the fruit of their disobedience. Samuel teacheth, that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity, and therefore all such as reject the word of the Lord, he will also reject them from his kingdom, and from the glory of his presence.

Secondly, such are reproved as content themselves with a small measure of knowledge and obedience, of faith and repentance. For many there are in the Church that think they know enough, or at least y ^t much knowledge is not necessary; like to the Deputy mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, that the doctrine of Christ, was a matter needless, frivolous, impertinent, and unnecessary, and a curious question about words and names, whereof a man might be ignorant without danger.

Thus do these judge of religion and of the Law of God, they account basely of it, as a thing that may best be spared. If they had truly tasted of the sweetness of God's word, it would bring them altogether into love of it. Let us therefore labor to grow in grace until we come to perfection, 2 Pet. 3. For whosoever thinketh he hath already attained unto it, greatly deceiveth himself: we have as yet scarce laid the foundation, and do we as men besotted with folly and spiritual pride, imagine we are come to the top? We are like unto them that are in a dream, that think they are eating to the full, and behold when they awake they are hungry and empty: or they that deeply conceit they are drinking, and when they arise, they see they are thirsty: so is it with these men, they are fast asleep; and do but dream, when they suppose all the world is made of knowledge: whereas if they had shaken off this spirit of slumber, and were thoroughly come to themselves, they would bewail their own ignorance, and as poor blind souls condemn their own foolishness.

Let us therefore store our selves with it: we shall herein (if in anything beside) find the prouer be most true, that store is no sore. It is the ground of our obedience: forasmuch as we can obey no farther then we know. The servant can obey his masters will, no farther then he knoweth it. An ignorant servant must of necessity be a disobedient servant. So is it with every Christian man, his obedience cannot go beyond his knowledge.

Thirdly, it serveth fitly and fully to reprove those that do halt with God, and yield a maimed obedience unto him. The sacrifices of God under the Law, must be whole & sound, not halt, not maimed, not lame: so should our obedience be under the Gospel. Men will not allow of a servant that performeth such service as he requireth at his hands, when it is done to halfs: and do we think to be accepted of God, when we cut off his worship in the middes? We deal with God as the king of Ammon dealt with David's messengers; he shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, 2 Samuel chapter 10. verse 4. So do we shave off half of his service, and think to make him be content with that or with nothing. If Christ Jesus had so rewarded us in performing the work of our redemption, and had left off before he had brought it to perfection, woeful had our condition been, it had been good we had never been borne. For if he had not thoroughly finished it, we could not have been saved. Hence it is, that in his prayer to his Father, he saith, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17. Why do we then reward him so unkindly? or what evil hath he done unto us, that we should deal so with him? As he teacheth, that we cannot serve God & Mammon: so we cannot serve God and our selves. There is no parting of stakes with him. He hateth party-coloured Christians, he will have the whole man, the whole obedience, or else he rejecteth all.

Saul performed part of his will, but because he did not all that he required, he was cast off, 1 Sam. 15. Would we have him partly to love us, and partly to hate us? partly to be pleased with us, and partly to be offended? God doth not thus divide his love and hatred. Whom he loveth, he loveth freely, wholly, effectually. He so loved us, that he spared not his own Son, but gave him for us. The like love ought we to return unto him again. Herod hearing John Baptistpreach the word, reformed himself in many things, Mar. 6. Simon Magus was baptized, and professed the faith, and continued among the people of God, and wondered at the signs and miracles that were done. But except our righteousness do exceed the righteousness of these men, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. All these are half Christians that serve God to halfs, like the Jews that spake half Hebrew, and half Ashdod: and worship God in one part, and the devil in another, like the Colony of the strange nations transplanted in Samaria, that feared the Lord, and served their graven images also; who while they would needs do both, are expressly charged not to fear the Lord, neither to do after the statutes, and ordinances, and commandments, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. So is it with all such as yield an imperfect and unsound obedience; they think they serve God and obey his commandments, but they are greatly deceived, and they may justly be charged not to serve him at all.

For who required this half or halting obedience at their hands? Against all this maimed and mangled duty, we will oppose the practice of David, a man after God's heart, in the 119. Psalm, where he many times discovereth his zealous affection, as verses 5.6. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments. And verse 13. with my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. And verse 101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep thy word. Where we see his manner of serving the Lord, how far different it is from ours: he had respect unto all his commandments, & not to some only: he refrained his feet from every evil way, & not frō some only. Let us follow his worthy & holy example, and do that which is right in the sight of the Lord, and not turn aside from anything that he commandeth us all the days of our life; so shall God's name be glorified, so shall he be well pleased with us, and so shall we have comfort, and others instruction through our obedience.

Lastly, they are also reproved, that think it enough to serve God outwardly to be seen of men, and worship him through hypocrisy, like unto them that look to the garment, but neglect the body; so do these look to the body, but neglect the soul. For as we shown before, that he who maketh no conscience of one commandment, but of purpose and custom breaketh the same, is guilty of all, because if like occasion were offered▪ he would break all the rest, James chapter 2. verse 10. So such as look only to the outside, and to turn their face toward religion, do make it manifest that there is no religion in them at all.

It is strange to see how smoothly and devoutly some will carry themselves, who notwithstanding bewray the hollowness of their hearts. These are they that make clean the outside of the cup, and of the platter: that are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness, Matthew chapter 23.25, 27. Thus it fared with Judas, he served God outwardly, and the devil possessed him inwardly. If a man could deceive the eternal God, as well as blind the eyes of a mortal man, there might be some color for this colorable worship. But God is not mocked. He that framed the heart, looketh into the heart, and searcheth into the corners and secret chambers of the heart. And albeit it be deceitful above all things, yet it cannot deceive him. There was never in any age, place for hypocrisy: but in regard of the loose and corrupt times into which we are cast, if we were but politic and worldly-wise, we would be anything, rather then hypocrites, which is to expose our selves to all infamy, contempt, and reproach. Religion among the greatest sort is made a by-word, and the religious make themselves a prey. What wisdom then is in us to lay open our selves to such indignities, obloquies, slanders, and false accusations, and in the mean season to want the inward peace of a good conscience, and true comfort of a pure heart, and that which is more then all, to want the favor of God, and his loving countenance toward us, who hateth us as his secret enemies for our hypocrisy? Hypocrites therefore are justly abhorred of God & man. They draw near to God with their mouths, but their minds are far from him, Matt. 15. Their worship is like to counterfect money, which is gilded outwardly: but within is nothing but brass, or such like base stuff, so that all is not gold that glistereth: Or like the apples which grow at the dead Sea (where sometimes. Sodom and Gomorrhah stood) which are fair in color, beautiful in show, and marvelous in greatness; but when you come to touch them, or to handle them, they turn to dust, and cast out a filthy savor, more unpleasant to the nostrils, then they were pleasant before to the eyes. Thus it is with hypocrites, they appear beautiful before men, they love to be well thought off by them, and have many times more glorious shows then other that are more sound within, because they study nothing else but how to get the applause and praise of the world. Such a one was Judas among the Apostles: Such were Ananias and Sapphira among the disciples. Let us take heed we be not like them, or if we will be like them, let us know, that as we join with them in their sin, we must also partake with them in their punishments; who died not the common death of men, but the one hanged himself, the others were smitten with sudden death at the voice of Peter, as with a thunderbolt, so that they fell down, and never rose up again. A just reward of all such as have a conscience gilt, or rather guilty of the horrible sin of hypocrisy. If a man go about to deceive his neighbor, how is he spoken against? but if he go about like a wretch to cosin his master, or his father, how do all men point at him as a varlet, and abhor him as a beast? God is our Master, our Father, our Husband, our King, all Titles of honor are due unto him, and too little for him, forasmuch as no dignity, or excellency, or superiority, can be given unto him, but his Majesty and honor surmounteth them all: shall we then go about to deceive and circumvent him, though we could carry it away cunningly, and not be espied? Know therefore, that he detesteth all such wickedness, more then man doth the deceitfulness that is practiced against himself.

The first example of hypocrisy, that we have in the Scripture, is Cain; he came to the worship of God with his brother, but because his heart was not upright, God had no respect unto him, nor to his offering, no more then if he had cut off a dogs neck, or had offered swine's flesh, but rejected both his person and his oblation. The like he speaketh to the Israelites, that pleased themselves in outward ceremonies, and turned the worship of God into a lie, Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit: will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other God's whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my Name, and say, We are delivered, to do all those abominations? Is this house which is called by my Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord, &c. Where we see, we cannot deceive the eye of the Lord with a lie, he knoweth our wicked hearts, and will find us out to bring us to shame in this life, and to destruction in the life to come. We may not dally with him, we cannot deceive him: notwithstanding all our windings and turnings, and altering our selves into all shapes, he will find us out to the contempt of our persons, to the shame of our faces, and to the astonishment of all that behold us.

Secondly, seeing it is a special duty belonging [Use 2] unto us, to yield obedience to the whole will of God and to all his commandments, we have from hence a preservative from the poison that is cast out against us, as it were dung in our faces, to make us deny the faith, renounce our Religion, and start back from our most holy profession. For seeing we must perform perfect obedience, and not limited as we think good, we have direction how to serve him, that he may accept of us, and be well pleased with us. If then Satan the master of all mischief, and the author of all confusion, raise up cursed instruments, brought up as cunning scholars in his own school, to scoff at us, and to scorn at our obedience, we must comfort our selves in the Lord, and commit our selves to the word of his grace, knowing that it is God who requireth this entire obedience at our hands, and delighteth in such sacrifice as is without blemish.

Let it not trouble us that we hear such slanderous words, such false reports, and devilish lies, cast out against us: let us commit our causes to him that judgeth uprightly, who will justify us in the ende, and condemn our enemies. Let us be able to say with the Prophet▪ All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. These are the days of sin, wherein iniquity hath already gotten the upper hand, and such as are truly religious are made a proverb. God requireth of us that we be pure: but who are in greater disgrace, then such as study after purity and true holiness?

If we labor to lead our lives according to the Laws of God, we shall be upbraided with Puritanism: and as the enemies of Daniel could find no accusation against him, except they find it against him, concerning the Law of God: so do our enemies deal with us; when they can catch no advantage against us, they pick a quarrel with us about the Scriptures and our profession, as if it were a shame to read the Scriptures, or a disgrace to follow after holiness of life.

The Apostle teacheth, that we must be blameless, and pure, as the sons of God in the middes of a naughty and crooked nation, among whom we are to shine as lights in the world, Philippians chapter 2.15. And again, Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things. Our Savior, the author of our salvation, and the finisher of our faith, pronounceth that the pure in heart are blessed. Paul willeth his scholar Timothy to keep himself pure, and to take heed lest he make himself partaker of other men's sins. 1 Tim. 5.22. He commandeth all men to pray, everywhere lifting up pure hands without wrath or doubting: and to have the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. And in the second Epistle, he chargeth him to fly the lusts of youth, and to follow after righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with them that call on the Lord with pure heart. Here we see what God requireth of us and what he speaketh unto us; this is his voice that ought to sound evermore in our ears, Be blameless, be pure, be the sons of God, in the middes of a naughty nation; blessed are the pure: have pure consciences, pure hands, pure hearts; whatsoever things are pure, and of good report think on them. True it is, there have always been hypocrites in the Church, and there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness, Pro. 30.12. What then? shall we whip their faults upon the backs of those that are of no kin unto them? For the faithful, though they have in them many frailties, and infirmities, yet are washed by the blood of Christ, and by the Spirit of God from their sins, that they have no dominion over them, and exercise no kingdom in them. Was it ever allowed in any court of Justice and judgment, to take one for another, to accuse one for another, & to condemn one for another? It is the Law of God, that every soul should bear his own sin: that neither the father should bear the iniquity of the son, nor the son of the father: that the righteousness of the righteous should be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked should be upon himself, There was one hypocrite in the family of Christ: should this tend to the reproach of Christ himself, or of the rest of the disciples? ought they to bear the blame of his iniquity? or ought all to be censured alike? or ought we to make no difference? Thus it was in the family of Adam from the beginning, he had not only faithful Abel, but faithless Cain. Thus it was in the family of Noah, before the Flood, he had as well cursed Ham, as blessed Shem. Thus it was in the family of Abraham, and of Isaac, after the Flood; and where not almost? So that we are not to condemn all for some, one for another, the godly for the hypocrites.

But if we cannot call them back from this false judgment, and rash censuring of the innocent, let us comfort our selves in the uprightness of our own own hearts; and when we cannot secure our selves from their unjust accusations, let us be careful and watchful over our ways, that we give them no just occasions. This shall be Armor of proof, and as a brazen wall, to give no offense, and to keep a clear conscience before GOD and men. If then they reproach us, and speak all manner of evil against us, let us possess our souls with patience, and let us rejoice and be glad, in as much as we are partakers of Christ's sufferings. The Spirit of glory, and of God resteth upon us. Let us not be ashamed, but glorify God in this behalf. Thus we shall make them ashamed, that falsely accuse our good conversation. It falleth out no otherwise with us, then it hath done with y ^e Saints, and dearest servants of God.

The Apostle putteth us in mind of this truth, by occasion of that fell out in Abraham's house, which then was y ^e visible Church of God, Gal. 4. As then he that was borne after the flesh, persecuted him that was borne after the spirit: even so it is now. It seemeth strange unto them, that you run not with them unto the same excess of riot, and therefore they speak evil of you, who shall give account to him that is ready to Judge the quick and the dead, 1 Pet. 4.5. But let not us think it strange to suffer for Christ's sake, who suffered much more for us, the just for the unjust, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steppes. If any man therefore suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this behalf, knowing that hereunto he is called. Affliction for the Gospel is the badge of Christ, and an exceeding honor before men and Angels: so that when we are reviled, and reproached, let us not render like for like, nor be dismayed or pulled back from our profession, but go lustily forward, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. according to the exhortation of the Apostle, Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but be partaker of the affliction of the Gospel, according to the power of God. 2. Tim. 1.8. that we may be able truly to say, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. It is better to obey God then man: and to incur the displeasure of man, then to procure and purchase the indignation of God.

We have not yet resisted unto blood, neither have we endured the fiery trial, as many of our deer brethren and sisters have done before us.

Let us not be daunted with a word, or with big looks, and stern countenances, but rather prepare our selves for a fresh assault and new encounter, and say with the Apostle, With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self, 1 Cor. 4.3.

Lastly, considering the manner of that obedience [Use 3] which we owe, and ought to perform to God, it is our duty to endeavor to please him in all things, and to labor to obey him carefully & circumspectly in all his commandments. The nearer we come to the mark set before us, the more we please him; & the more we please him, the better we are accepted of him. The Apostle Paul had run long in this race, he had made many straight steps toward the kingdom of heaven, yet he saith, I have not already attained unto perfection, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus: this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, & reaching forth unto those things which are before. Such as come nearest to obey all the laws of their Prince, are most of all commended, and are accounted the best Subjects: such as perform all the commandments of their masters, are accounted to be the best servants: and such as execute the will of their fathers, and please them in all things, are reputed to be the best children. How then cometh it to pass, that whereas zeal is commended in everyone, in the subject toward his Prince, in the soldier toward his Captain, in the servant toward his Master, &c. such should be least commended, nay altogether discommended and disgraced, that perform most duty to GOD, and labor to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ? 2 Cor. 10, 5. It is strange to see how precise the most men are in all other things, and how loose and licentious in the matters of God, wherein notwithstanding we ought to be most conscionable. It is to be wondered at, to behold the preciseness that is in the world, in all matters, except in religion. We are very curious to have our apparel sit neatly and smoothly, that it be without spot or wrinkle: much more then ought we to be curious and careful in the discharge of our duties unto God, according to the rule of his word. In all things that concern the body, whether meat, or drink, or apparel, or our own delights, no man is ignorant how straight and strict men are. Their eyes are so quick, their ears so dainty, their taste so delicate, that if the least thing be amiss, or out of square, they are displeased and discontented: and yet these men, in things of an higher nature, and concerning a better life, run so wide, and take such liberty, that they think to please God with anything, and to make him take half stakes with them. If we have any garments made for us, and brought unto us, which have anything amiss in them, that we find them not exactly fit for us, but either too big or too little, too long or to short, to wide or too straight, we fret and fume, we chide and chafe, as men beside our selves. Oh, that there were such harts in us to please God Oh, that we would look so narrowly to our own souls. In our apparel, nothing must be out of order in matter or form, to the very skirts and borders of them: but in our lives we can be content to be out of frame, to have poor, rent, and ragged souls, and never to put upon us the rightousnesse of Jesus Christ, as the richest robes, and most precious garment. The like we require in dressing our meats, which we do in attiring of our bodies; which are ordained for the belly, and the belly for them, albeit God w • ll destroy both it and them, 1 Cor. 6, 13. The least fault is soon espied, the offenders like to be turned out of service, and we soon driven out of our little patience. Nay, in our ordinary delights and recreations, which serve only to please the ear, we see how he that is skillful in music, cannot abide the least jar and discord, if he espy one finger set out of order, or hear the missing of one minim rest, how impatient is he? how much discontented? how doth he testify his dislike with hand and foot? But touching the leading of our lives and the ordering of our actions, whereupon dependeth the everlasting salvation or damnation of our souls, though there be a thousand jars, and ten thousand discords in them, we think the harmony good enough, and all things to be in tune. This use that now we urge, hath many branches, as furtherances of purity and perfection in us.

First, we must labor to have pure and upright hearts, which giveth life to all our actions, and is much accepted of God. It is the counsel of the wise man, Prov. 4. Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life: and chap. 23. My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. It is as the wheel of the clock, that moveth all the rest: it is the root that giveth life to the boughs and branches, and maketh the Tree yield his fruit. It is the fountain that sendeth forth sweet or bitter waters. Heerevpon the Apostle exhorteth, Heb. 3. Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. A pure heart is the scourge of hypocrisy, and as a strong hammer that serveth to break it in pieces. This is first to be looked unto; reform it, and thou art all clean. It is the direction that Christ giveth unto us, Math. 23. Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. It is a vain thing to be clean without, & unclean within: to have the outward man appear fair and smooth; and the heart to be foul and filthy. Such then as begin not at the heart, begin at the wrong end. They take long and needless pains, that think to stop the streams, while they let the spring alone. The heart in the body is the member that first hath life in it: so is it in the spiritual life. Hence it is, that the Scripture commendeth unto us the simplicity of the heart, Eph. 6, 5. Col. 3, 21 the circumcision of the heart, Rom. 2, 29: the meditation of the heart, Psal. 19, 15: the uprightness of the heart, 1 Kings 3, 6: a wise & an understanding heart, 1 Kings 3, 9: a perfect heart, 2 Kings 20, 3. 1 Chron. 28, 9: a faithful heart, Nehem. 9, 8: an upright heart, Psal. 11, 2: a pure heart, Psal. 24, 4. Math. 5: a prepared and fixed heart, Psal. 57, 7, and 108, 1, and 112, 7: an honest and good heart, Luc. 8, 15: joyfulness and gladness of heart, Deut. 28, 47; a broken and a contrite heart, Psal. 51, 17: a tender heart, 2 Chron. 34, 24: an heart of flesh, Ezek. 11, 19: a new heart and new spirit, Ezek. 18, 31, and 33, 26: a purified heart, Acts 15, 9: an enlarged heart, 2 Cor. 6, 11: the good treasure of the heart, Luc. 6, 45: and a true heart, Heb. 10, 22. These and many such like testimonies, teach us to begin our repentance from dead works and reformation of life at the heart, & that until we set our hearts and our souls to seek the Lord, we dally with God, and never seriously set upon that work.

Secondly, we must be free from any purpose to live in any known sin, and must be inclined to everything that is good, so that we should be able to say with Paul, 1 Cor. 4, 4. I know nothing by myself, yet I am not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord. The Apostle knew nothing for which he should condemn himself. Hence it is, that the Prophet saith, Psal. 119. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end. And a little before he saith in the same Psalm, I have sworn and will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. So ought all the faithful to bind themselves by a solemn vow and promise to stir up their zeal, and kindle their affections to all good duties. It is recorded to the perpetual praise & commendation of Asa, that he moved the people of Judah and Benjamin to enter into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul, That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman: And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with Trumpets, and with Cornets: And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire, and he was found of them, and the Lord gave them rest round about, 2 Chron. 15. Happy are they that set before them this example, as a pattern and president unto them, to resolve fully with themselves to cast from them all sin as a filthy clothe, and to settle their hearts to seek the Lord, and to hate with an unfeigned hatred, whatsoever may be any hindrance or impediment unto them.

Thirdly, we must all take notice of our own wants and imperfections, and earnestly bewail them and mourn for them. It is a degree toward perfection, to acknowledge & confess our imperfections, and to be grieved for them. For no man can have a feeling of infirmities, but by the work of God's sanctifying Spirit. It is a grace of God to know the want of grace. The ungodly are not acquainted with it, they think themselves full, they hunger and thirst after carnal things, but never after spiritual and heavenly things. The blessed Virgin in her song showeth, that He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away, Luc, 1, 53. There is a perfection in God's children accompanied with much imperfection, and strength mingled with much weakness, Phil. 3, 15. So that albeit the faithful find their own infirmities, yet they do not please themselves in thē, but continually strive against them, and more and more get the upper hand of them.

Fourthly, we must make conscience of the least sin, that we may be afraid of the greatest. When David had cut off the lap of Saul's garment, his heart smote him, 1 Sam. 24, 5. How could he be induced to shed one drop of his blood, that confessed he ought not to have touched the lap of his garment? The Apostle requireth of us to abstain from all appearance of evil, 1 Thess. 5, 22. If we cast out the mote that is in our eyes, we cannot suffer a beam to stick in them. If we would learn indeed and in truth to strain at a gnat, we should not so easily swallow a Camel. The wages of all sin is death, and therefore we should fear to run into any sin. Pull out the sting of this serpent in the beginning. Cure this sickness at the first, lest it grow incurable. Cut down the tree while it is young and green; one stroke now will do more good, then an hundred when it is grown old, and tough, and hard. The labor is little at the beginning, but custom in sinning, groweth into another nature.

Fifthly, we must grow ftom good to better. We must not always be babes and sucklings, children and weaklings, but evermore grow in grace. There is a perfection of Christians to which we must be led, as Heb. 6, 1: where he moveth them, that leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, they should go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God. Not that any perfection can be attained in this life, as the Anabaptists and other fantastical persons dream off most falsely, not knowing themselves nor the law of God: but we must aim at it as at a mark, and make it the end of all our works, forasmuch as in the School of Christ we must wax old, evermore learning somewhat. God accounteth us as pure, & accepteth us as pure (albeit we attain not unto the parts of perfect purity,) for these causes and considerations of apprehension, regeneration, imputation, and glorification. For though we be sanctified in part, yet Christ calleth the Church his Love, all fair, pure as the Sun, clear as the Moon, bright as the Morning; because we lay hold on the righteousness of Christ by faith, the work of regeneration is begun in everyone of us, and goeth forward by degrees; the perfect purity and perfection of Christ is ours for the present, in whom we are accounted pure: and for the time to come, we have the promise of glorification, when we shall be without spot or wrinkle, and made so absolutely pure, as if we had never been defiled with sin.

Lastly, it is our duty to pray unto God to give us upright hearts, which in themselves are crooked and corrupt. The Apostle in the shutting up of the Epistle to the Hebrews, prayeth for them, that God would