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<DATE>2007-12-07</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE ORACLE OF GOD.</P>
<P>A Sermon appointed for the Cro&s;&s;e, and preached in the Cathedrall Church of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> in <HI>London,</HI> on the 20. day of <HI>December,</HI> being the Sunday before Chri&s;tma&s;&s;e, <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1635.</P>
<P>By <HI>Iohn Gore</HI> Rector of <HI>Wenden-lofts</HI> in <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>J. P.</HI> and are to be &s;old by <HI>Andrew Greeke</HI> and <HI>Charles Greene.</HI> 1646.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
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<P><HI>Perlegi hanc concionem, cui titulus</HI> (Gods Oracle) <HI>in qu&acirc; nihil reperio &s;anae fidei, aut bonis moribus contra|rium.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Tho. Weekes, R.P. Epi. Lond. Cap. Dome&s;t.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER CLETHEROW, Lord Maior of the honourable City of <HI>London;</HI> who&s;e dignity and pro&s;perity, God long continue.</HEAD>
<P>_WHat it plea&s;ed your Honour to de&s;ire, may it plea&s;e you al|&s;o to accept (<HI>a poore mans Sermon.</HI>) I have no other plea, nor other hopes nor meanes to find grace in your eyes (&s;eeing <HI>I</HI> am a &s;tranger,) but only for that <HI>Grace's &s;ake,</HI> which is the theam and &s;ubject, the pith and marrow of my text. In a word there|fore, As <HI>Iacob</HI> prayed heartily for his &s;ons, when they went to pre&s;ent them&s;elves before <HI>Io&s;eph,</HI>
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<HI>Gen. 43. 14. God Almighty give you mercy in the &s;ight of the man:</HI> Such is my hearty prayer to Almighty God; God Al|mighty give mee mercy in your &s;ight, and you in his &s;ight, <HI>Oratum e&s;t,</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Honours poore &s;ervant and &s;uppliant,
IOHN GORE.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>THE ORACLE OF GOD.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>2 COR. 12. 9&punc;</BIBL>
<Q>My Grace is &s;ufficient for thee.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IT is well knowne that this <HI>Sun|day,</HI> and &s;ome of the re&s;t that are gone before, are commonly cal|led in our Liturgy by the name of <HI>Advent-&s;undayes,</HI> as you would &s;ay in plaine Engli&s;h <HI>Comming Sundayes.</HI> And wot you why? be|cau&s;e therein we doe thankfully celebrate and &s;olem|nize the ble&s;&s;ed time and memory, of our Saviours comming to us in the fle&s;h, and his arrivall from heaven in this vale of mi&s;ery. If any man de&s;ire a
<PB N="2" REF="4">
rea&s;on why we celebrate the comming of our Savi|our in &s;o &s;olemne, &s;o &s;acred, and &s;o &s;etled a manner, being gone and pa&s;t 1600. yeares agoe? Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> hath given me an an&s;wer to my hand, <HI>Becau&s;e grace and truth came by Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, Ioh.</HI> 1. 17. When Je&s;us Chri&s;t came from the bo&s;ome of his Father, he came not empty-handed, nor unprovided: but brought <HI>Truth</HI> and <HI>Grace</HI> into the world with him: <HI>Truth</HI> to direct us to heaven, and <HI>Grace</HI> to deliver us from hell: and that's a Congiary that de&s;erves commemoration to the worlds end. If any man &s;hall yet further inquire, what is this <HI>Grace</HI> to us? or what are wee the better for the <HI>Grace</HI> that hee brought? For that my text will re&s;olve you, and make it evidently appeare unto you, that Chri&s;t is no niggard of his <HI>Grace,</HI> neither doth he keepe it to him&s;elfe (as <HI>Nabal</HI> did his victuals) but doth graci|ou&s;ly impart it, and mercifully be&s;tow it, &s;o much upon every one, as he &s;eeth in his wi&s;dome to bee enough and &s;ufficient for him. <HI>My Grace is &s;uffici|ent for thee.</HI> And let that &s;uffice for the occa&s;ion and choyce of my text, that it is not <GAP DESC="foreign">, not al|together un&s;utable and impertinent to the time.</P>
<P>Come we now to the Text it &s;elfe, which is no|thing el&s;e but <HI>The Oracle of God,</HI> or Gods owne im|mediate voyce, not di&s;daining to utter it &s;elfe from Heaven, for the comfort and &s;atisfaction of his poore di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Suppliant here on earth. Fur thus &s;tood the ca&s;e.</P>
<P>Our Apo&s;tle at this time was puni&s;hed with two &s;trange and &s;trong afflictions, the one internall, the other externall; the one he termeth the <HI>Thorne</HI> in
<PB N="3" REF="4">
the fle&s;h, the other the <HI>Me&s;&s;enger</HI> of Satan that buf|feted him. By that &s;ame <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Thorne</HI> or &s;plinter in the fle&s;h. I &s;uppo&s;e hee did meane his owne concupi&s;cence, his owne corruption and lu&s;t, which is as painfull and vexatious to a tender &s;oule, as a thorne in the hand, or a &s;plinter under the nayle, is irke&s;ome and grievous to the tender fle&s;h. By that <GAP DESC="foreign">, the me&s;&s;enger, or the angell of Satan, mu&s;t needs bee under&s;tood the Devils temptation; for before that wicked one come him|&s;elfe, hee &s;ends his Me&s;&s;enger or his Angell before him to make way for his entertainement, and as <HI>E|li&s;ha</HI> &s;aid of the King of <HI>I&s;raels</HI> man which was &s;ent to behead him, 2 <HI>Reg. 6. 32. Is not the &s;ound of his Ma&s;ters feet behinde him?</HI> &s;o beleeve it, when&s;oever an evill temptation, or a temptation to evill doth come before, the devill him&s;elfe who is the ma&s;ter and maker of it is not farre behinde. Now marke how this evill angell u&s;ed, or rather abu&s;ed S. <HI>Paul;</HI> the Text &s;aith, He fell foule upon him, and buffeted him&punc; now you know that buffeting is a malicious act joyned with violence, or a violent act joyned with malice, and it &s;ignifies unto us, what a malici|ous minde the Devill beares to Gods e&s;peciall &s;er|vants; if he cannot by faire meanes entice, and al|lure, and inveagle them to &s;inne; if God will give him leave, he will fall upon them by foule meanes, even <GAP DESC="foreign">, to buffet them, and enforce them in a manner to &s;in again&s;t God and their owne &s;oules. Thus &s;orely was our poore Apo&s;tle haunted, thus cruelly was he handled, both with venemous cor|ruptions within, and with violent temptations
<PB N="4" REF="5">
without, &s;o that neither inwardly, nor outwardly: hee could bee free or at liberty to enjoy him&s;elfe and his God: Whereupon (&s;aith the Text) <HI>He be|&s;ought the Lord thrice, that they might depart from him;</HI> all his de&s;ire, all his prayer to God was, to be rid of the&s;e annoyances. Now marke the an|&s;wer, and ob&s;erve the <HI>Oracle</HI> of Almighty God.</P>
<P>Ju&s;t as &s;ome skilfull Phy&s;itian, when his Patient in a feaver calls for drinke, gives him a &s;irrope, or &s;ome con&s;erve, and &s;o quencheth his thir&s;t in a bet|ter kinde, than drinke could doe: &s;o dealt the Lord with <HI>Paul,</HI> who was now in a &s;pirituall feaver, and cryes out amaine, (as it were for drinke) that is, for &s;ome pre&s;ent refre&s;hing, and relea&s;e of his puni&s;h|ment. God &s;eemes to take no notice of that, but quencheth his &s;oules thir&s;t in a better kinde, gives him a &s;pirituall con&s;erve, endues him with his <HI>Grace,</HI> and let that content thee (&s;aith God) let that &s;uffice thee; for that, even that alone is entirely enough and &s;ufficient for thee.</P>
<Q>My Grace is &s;ufficient for thee.</Q>
<P>From which pa&s;&s;age of Gods providence (before I come to particulars) give me leave to commend unto you this briefe ob&s;ervation in generall: <HI>viz.</HI> That if after all our prayers, after all our entreaties and importunities with God for private and parti|cular favours and mercies&punc; as for health in time of &s;ickne&s;&s;e, for ea&s;e in time of paine, for re&s;t and deli|verance in the time of trouble and affliction: Though God &s;hould &s;eeme to take no notice of us, but deny or with-hold all the&s;e things from us; if he doe but conde&s;cend unto us in this one thing (as
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he did to Saint <HI>Paul</HI>) if he doe but vouch&s;afe us his <HI>Grace, Summam votorum attigimus,</HI> wee have as much as heart can wi&s;h, wee have that which is in &s;tead, or in liew of all the re&s;t. As the Jewes write of their <HI>Mannah,</HI> that it had in it <HI>Omne dele|ctamentum,</HI> all manner of delightfull ta&s;tes, and was in &s;tead of bread, in &s;tead of meate, in &s;tead of all kindes of dainty fare; &s;o may it truly bee affir|med of the <HI>Grace</HI> of God, that it is in &s;tead of health, in &s;tead of wealth, in &s;tead of all other earthly ble&s;&s;ings what&s;oever: &s;o that as a man that walkes in the Sunne, never lookes nor regards whe|ther the Moone or the Starres &s;hine or no, becau&s;e he hath no need of their light: &s;o hee that enjoyeth the light of Gods countenance, that hath the <HI>Grace</HI> of God to befriend and be&s;tead him&punc; needs care the le&s;&s;e for the&s;e inferiour commodities, the&s;e <HI>Bonae &s;cabelli</HI> (as the Fathers call them) the&s;e goods of Gods Foot-&s;toole; becau&s;e, if he have them not, God will &s;o provide he &s;hall have no need of them. In a word then, if thou wert put to thy choi&s;e, as <HI>Salomon</HI> once was, to aske any one thing at the hands of God, and to have promi&s;e of acceptance, what &s;hould that one thing be? would&s;t thou aske for riches, or plea&s;ure, or long life, &amp;c? Alas, all the&s;e things thou may&s;t have, (as many a man hath had) and be never the holyer, never the happier, never the higher in Gods account and favour: Leave therefore all the&s;e things to Gods di&s;po&s;all and di&s;pen&s;ation; let God doe with thee for the&s;e things what &s;eemeth good in his owne eyes: but pitch thou thy heart, and the de&s;ire of thy &s;oule
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upon that <HI>Vnicum nece&s;&s;arium,</HI> that one thing nece&s;|&s;ary (which our Saviour &s;peakes of) in compari&s;on whereof all other things in the world are needle&s;&s;e and &s;uperfluous, I meane upon the <HI>Grace of God,</HI> and nothing el&s;e; and in thy daily prayers to Almigh|ty God, let this evermore be the maine of thy re|que&s;ts. <HI>What&s;oever thou denye&s;t me for other things, Lord, grant me thy Grace, and it is &s;ufficient.</HI></P>
<Q>My Grace is &s;ufficient for thee.</Q>
<P>Out of which words I &s;hall endeavour to &s;hew you foure remarkable points, perhaps not unwor|thy your ob&s;ervation. 1. The meaning of the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, or what is meant by the <HI>Grace</HI> here &s;poken of. 2. The Author or the owner of this <HI>Grace,</HI> who&s;e it is, and to whom it doth of right belong, and that is to God, as the next word implyes, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>My Grace.</HI> 3. The efficacie or vertue of this <HI>Grace,</HI> what it profiteth, and whereunto it availeth, and thats expre&s;t in the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, it is &s;ufficient; and therein I &s;hall &s;hew you, how, and wherein the &s;ufficiency of Gods Grace doth con&s;i&s;t. 4. The Application of this <HI>Grace,</HI> or the bringing of it home to the con&s;cience and &s;oule of each belee|ving Chri&s;tian, and that I gather out of the la&s;t word, <GAP DESC="foreign">, that God doth not &s;ay in generall <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>My Grace is &s;ufficient for all;</HI> nor in &s;peciall <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>My Grace is &s;ufficient for many;</HI> but in particular, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>My Grace is &s;ufficient for thee,</HI> and &s;o for me, and &s;o for every one upon whom God in mercy is plea&s;ed to be&s;tow it, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>My Grace</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>is &s;ufficient for thee.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="7" REF="6">Of the&s;e in their order as briefly and effectually, as God and his good Spirit hath enabled me; and fir&s;t of the meaning of the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, or what is meant by the grace here &s;poken of.</P>
<P>By the grace of God (in few words) I conceive to be meant nothing el&s;e but the favour and good will of God; that which the Schoolemen terme <HI>Complacentiam Dei,</HI> the well-plea&s;edne&s;&s;e of God: the &s;ame which the Scripture calleth <HI>Lucem faciei, the light of Gods countenance, P&s;al.</HI> 67. 1. Becau&s;e as God is &s;aid to frowne and bend his browes upon the wicked traine, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 34. &s;o on the contrary, hee &s;eemes to &s;mile (as it were) and to looke amiably and lovingly, and light&s;omely upon all them that are in grace and favour with him. It is an u&s;uall expre&s;&s;ion among us to &s;ay, &s;uch a one is in great grace with the King, or in great grace at the Court, we meane, he is in great favour there. And it is a phra&s;e no le&s;&s;e u&s;uall in Scripture, <HI>Gen. 6. 8. Noah found grace in the &s;ight of God, i. e.</HI> hee found favour in his &s;ight; and God Almighty &s;aith of <HI>Mo&s;es Exod. 33. 12. Inveni&s;ti gratiam coram me, Thou ha&s;t found grace in my &s;ight, i. e.</HI> favour and good accep|tance: And &s;o the Angel greets the ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, <HI>Luke 1. 28. Feare not Mary, Inveni&s;ti gratiam, Thou ha&s;t found grace, i. e.</HI> thou art highly favoured of the Lord. So that the grace of God, and the fa|vour of God are (as <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Pharaohs</HI> dreames) both one and the &s;ame. Now the thing that I mu&s;e upon is this, that the grace and favour of God is thus often, if not alwayes expre&s;t in the Bible, <HI>&s;ub termino inveniendi,</HI> under the name and terme of
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finding: It is not barely &s;aid of <HI>Noah,</HI> and <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Virgin <HI>Mary, fuerunt,</HI> they were in grace and favour with God, but <HI>invenerunt,</HI> they found it: this phra&s;e doth certainely &s;eeme to imply (as <HI>O|lea&s;ter</HI> well ob&s;erves) that the grace and favour of God is &s;ometimes found, as a poore man findes a trea&s;ure, or a bag of gold, <HI>non indu&s;tri&acirc;, &s;ed ca&s;u;</HI> not by any indu&s;try or paines-taking for it, but meerely by ca&s;ualty and Gods providence in it. As when <HI>Io&s;ephs</HI> brethren found their money in their &s;ackes mouthes, it inriched them, and it ravi&s;hed them too, with wonder and admiration, <HI>Gen.</HI> 42. 28. in like manner, when a poore di&s;con&s;olate wretch, &s;hall without all de&s;ert, and beyond all expectation, finde a &s;en&s;ible experiment of Gods favourable goodne&s;&s;e towards him; how can hee chu&s;e, but even ble&s;&s;e him&s;elfe, and &s;ay, Lord, what am I that &s;uch a favour &s;hould be ca&s;t upon me! In a word, as <HI>Iacob</HI> an&s;wered his aged father when hee que&s;tioned him about the matter of his veni&s;on, <HI>Gen. 27. 20. How is it that thou ha&s;t found it &s;o quickly my &s;onne?</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>Becau&s;e the Lord thy God brought it to my hand.</HI> In like &s;ort, if any &s;hall &s;eeme to que&s;tion the matter, how it comes to pa&s;&s;e that &s;ome one man findeth favour and ri&s;eth to pre|ferment &s;o ea&s;ily and &s;o quickly over that &s;ome o|thers doe, which to our thinking de&s;erves it better, <HI>In promptu ratio,</HI> the Lord their God brings it to their hand: when God brings a ble&s;&s;ing to hand, the labour is not long to finde it. But that by the way.</P>
<P>I &s;hall here take occa&s;ion to re&s;olve you of two
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que&s;tions, which doe offer them&s;elves to your con|&s;ideration; the fir&s;t is this, when a man wants the grace and favour of God, how &s;hall he doe to finde it? the &s;econd is like unto it, when a man hath found Gods grace and favour at his need, how &s;hall hee doe to keepe it, that hee doe not forfeit it, nor loo&s;e it againe? I will an&s;wer you for both, in a word.</P>
<P>Do&s;t thou want the Grace of God, and faine woulde&s;t finde it? Thou mu&s;t doe two things for it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, thou mu&s;t <HI>depreciari teip&s;um</HI> (it is <HI>Tertul|lians</HI> word) thou mu&s;t di&s;parage and di&s;grace, thou mu&s;t humble and aba&s;e thy &s;elfe before the face of God: for if that bee true which our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>Ioh. 10. 35. non pote&s;t &s;olvi &s;criptura,</HI> The Scripture cannot bee broken: then no man living can finde Grace with God, but he that is truely humble (for God re&s;i&s;teth the proud and giveth grace to the humble) Let one example &s;erve for all, and it is a &s;ea&s;onable one for this time: that of the ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, of whom wee &s;pake before: The Angel told her (as you have heard) that &s;hee was <GAP DESC="foreign">, highly or extraordinarily in favour with God, for indeed &s;hee had &s;uch grace, as never mor|tall woman had the like with God, to bee made <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Mother of God, and to beare him in her body, who in his body bare away the &s;innes of all the world; to give her owne Saviour &s;ucke; it was a favour beyond expre&s;&s;ion: well, but whence came this to pa&s;&s;e that the Virgin Mary found this favour with God rather then any other Virgin in
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<HI>I&s;rael?</HI> no doubt (as our Saviour &s;aid in another ca&s;e) <HI>many widdowes were in I&s;rael in the dayes of E|lizeus, but to none was the Prophet &s;ent, &s;ave onely to the widow of Sareptah:</HI> So, many Virgins were in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in the dayes of the Virgin <HI>Mary,</HI> yet to none was the Angel &s;ent, but to her onely: And why to her, and not to them? &s;hee that knew it be&s;t, gives the rea&s;on her &s;elfe in her <HI>Magnificat</HI> which we daily read; <HI>My &s;oule doth magnifie the Lord, and my &s;pirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour;</HI> for why? <HI>Re&s;pexit humilitatem</HI> (&s;aith &s;hee) <HI>Hee hath regarded the lowline&s;&s;e of his hand-maiden.</HI> It was not then for her loveline&s;&s;e, but it was for her lowli|ne&s;&s;e; not for her hand&s;omene&s;&s;e, but for her hum|blene&s;&s;e that &s;he found &s;uch grace and favour with God above her fellow Virgins: Other Virgins there might bee that were as cha&s;te as &s;hee, as beautifull as &s;hee, and farre more wealthy and gay then &s;he was; but no Virgin in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> nor in all the world, was &s;o humble nor &s;o lowly as &s;he was; and this was the onely <HI>materia &s;truendae mi&s;ericordiae,</HI> (if I may &s;o &s;peake) the matter that Gods mercy had to worke upon; that, that onely, was the foundation and ground-worke of all the grace and favour that &s;he found with God. In like manner, if thou do&s;t de&s;ire to bee partaker of the &s;ame mercy, to finde favour with God as &s;hee did, thou mu&s;t al|&s;o be partaker of the &s;ame humility, thou mu&s;t bee humble and lowly as &s;hee was: doe as <HI>Benhadads</HI> &s;ervants did to <HI>Ahab, 1 Reg. 20. 31. We have heard</HI> (&s;ay they) <HI>that the Kings of I&s;rael are mercifull kings, let us goe then and put &s;ackcloth upon our loynes, and</HI>
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<HI>ropes upon our heads, and &s;o humble our &s;elves before him, peradventure wee &s;hall finde favour with him, that we &s;hall not die but live:</HI> So thou ha&s;t heard that the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> is a mercifull God, &s;tand not then upon termes of ea&s;e or &s;tate if thou love&s;t thy &s;elfe, but goe and humble thy &s;elfe unto him, pro&s;trate thy &s;elfe before him, pray and &s;eeke his face in the lowlie&s;t, the dejected&s;t, the devote&s;t manner that po&s;&s;ibly thou can&s;t expre&s;&s;e both with thy body and with thy &s;oule, and (beleeve it for a truth) if any thing under heaven bring thee into favour with the God of Heaven, that will doe it, <HI>depreciare te|ip&s;um,</HI> to di&s;parage thy &s;elf.</P>
<P>Secondly, thou mu&s;t <HI>Appropriare Chri&s;tum,</HI> thou mu&s;t appropriate Chri&s;t unto thy &s;elfe, thou mu&s;t &s;hrowd thy &s;elfe under thy Saviours wings, thou mu&s;t &s;ue to God under his protection and pa|tronage, and as the <HI>Herodians, Act.</HI> 12. made friend|&s;hip with <HI>Bla&s;tus</HI> the Kings Chamberlaine to helpe them into favour with <HI>Herod;</HI> &s;o mu&s;t thou make friend&s;hip with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for it is hee and onely he that can helpe thee into grace and favour with thy God. <HI>Gratificavit nos in dilect<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> (&s;aith the A|po&s;tle, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1. 6.) Hee hath brought into grace, or hee hath made us accepted in his beloved Sonne. <HI>Gratiam pro Grati&acirc;</HI> (&s;aith Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> el&s;ewhere, <HI>Ioh. 1. 16.) Wee have received Grace for Grace;</HI> that is, for the Grace and favour that Chri&s;t hath with God, wee al&s;o are received into grace and favour with him: For otherwi&s;e, as <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> told the King of <HI>I&s;rael, 2 Reg. 3. 14. As the Lord liveth were it not that I regard the pre&s;ence of Ieho&s;aphat, I would</HI>
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<HI>not looke toward thee, nor &s;ee thee:</HI> So &s;tands our ca&s;e with God, wee are of our &s;elves &s;uch <HI>vile bo|dies</HI> (as the Apo&s;tle rightly termes us, who &s;hall change our vile bodies) I meane &s;o foule and &s;o full of corruption and lu&s;t and &s;inne, &s;o odious and abominable in the holy eyes of God; that as the Lord liveth, were it not that God doth regard the per&s;on, the pre&s;ence and the prayers of Je&s;us Chri&s;t our true Jeho&s;aphat, he would not looke to us nor &s;ee us: but that (as he &s;aith him&s;elfe,) <HI>This is my beloved Son in whom I am well plea&s;ed.</HI> (There come we into favour) and marke, that he doth not &s;ay, This is my beloved Sonne which plea&s;eth mee well, but in whom I am well plea&s;ed; which in|timates a further matter unto us; namely, that our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour doth not onely plea&s;e God his Fa|ther, for his owne part, but that God in him, and for his &s;ake is well plea&s;ed even with them that are in them&s;elves (as the Prophet &s;peakes) even ve&s;|&s;els wherein there is no plea&s;ure, <HI>Ier.</HI> 22. 28. Thou therefore that de&s;ire&s;t to get into favour with thy God, flatter not thy &s;elfe in thy owne eyes, thinke not that God will accept thee for thy owne per|&s;on, or for any other per&s;onall qualities or abilities that are in thee; but as <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;hrouded him&s;elfe under the garments of his elder brother, and by that meanes got him the ble&s;&s;ing of his Father; &s;o doe thou &s;hroud thy &s;elfe under the garments of thy elder brother in Heaven; I meane, as the Apo|&s;tle &s;peakes, <HI>Labour to be found of God, not having on thy owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t by faith:</HI> Say as <HI>Tertullian</HI> doth, <HI>Mihi ven|dico</HI>
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<HI>Chri&s;tum, mihi defendo Ie&s;um;</HI> claime thou thy part, &s;tand thou for thy right in Je&s;us Chri&s;t; and as thou art a Prote&s;tant, &s;o make this prote&s;ta|tion before God and the world, that thou hope&s;t for grace and mercy, not by any merits or de&s;erts of thy owne, but meerely by the merits, and by the &s;pirit, by the death, and by the Blood of <HI>Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> This is another infallible way for a man to finde the Grace and Favour of God, that wanteth it, <HI>Appropriare Chri&s;tum,</HI> to get an intere&s;t into Gods beloved Sonne, our deare and precious Sa|viour.</P>
<P>2. Now for the &s;econd que&s;tion; Ha&s;t thou found the favour of God, and faine would&s;t keepe it? Thou mu&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign">, (it is the Apo&s;tles owne word, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2. 14.) Thou mu&s;t walke with a right foot to God-ward; or as <HI>Iohn Bapti&s;t</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it in other termes, thou mu&s;t <HI>Rectas facere &s;emitas tuas, Make thy paths &s;traight;</HI> the meaning is, Thou mu&s;t binde thy &s;elfe to the good behaviour unto God, thou mu&s;t re&s;olve again&s;t &s;inne and evill, and &s;et thy &s;elfe con&s;tantly, carefully, &s;incerely to walke with God, &s;o farre forth as frailty &s;hall per|mit thee, &s;o that though there fall out many inter|current infirmities in the cour&s;e of thy life, for a man may, <HI>etiam in bono itinere pulverem colligere,</HI> gather du&s;t and &s;oyle even in a good way, yet let it be the generall drift and de&s;ire of thy &s;oule, in no|thing, willingly to finne again&s;t God, but in every thing to plea&s;e him, and to approve thy &s;elfe unto him: which if thou do&s;t, &s;ee what will follow upon it, <HI>P&s;al. 84. 11. The Lord will give Grace and Glory,</HI>
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<HI>and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly with him.</HI> The Scripture &s;aith of <HI>Enoch,</HI> that hee was <HI>Raptus a facie malitiae,</HI> &s;natcht (as it were) out of this wicked world, as a brand is &s;natcht out of the fire and &s;aved from burning; that is, Hee was tran&s;lated alive from earth into Hea|ven, and never felt, nor ta&s;ted of death: This (you will &s;ay) was an extraordinary favour of God, but what might bee the rea&s;on of it? <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> tells us, <HI>Gen.</HI> 5. 24. it was becau&s;e <HI>Hee walked with God;</HI> the Apo&s;tle commenting upon it, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11. 5. &s;aith, it was becau&s;e <HI>He plea&s;ed God,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, (is the word) which &s;ignifies, Hee gave God content, or kept Gods favour and good will; &s;o then, the way to keepe Gods favour and good will, is to plea&s;e God, and give him content; and the way to doe that, is <HI>to walke with God as</HI> Enoch <HI>did.</HI> But what doth <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> meane by <HI>walking with God,</HI> how may that be done? <HI>An&s;w.</HI> Generally, A man may then be &s;aid to walke with God, when he leads his life in &s;uch a way as God doth be&s;t accept, in the way of Godline&s;&s;e and Hone&s;ty, in the way of temperance and &s;obriety, in the way of diligence and indu&s;try; when a man hath a minde on God in all his wayes, and de&s;ires Gods protection and conduct to guide his feete into the way of peace. This is, in a generall &s;en&s;e and acceptance to walke with God more particularly; A man is then &s;aid in proper &s;en&s;e to walke with God, when hee walkes with none el&s;e but God; as <HI>I&s;aack</HI> did when hee &s;eque&s;tred him&s;elfe, and went out alone into the fields to meditate and to pray, <HI>Gen.</HI> 40. 69. (The
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word (<HI>Suach</HI>) &s;ignifieth both, then went he out to walke with God: And indeed there is no &s;uch time for a man to conver&s;e with God, and (as the phra&s;e is in <HI>Iob</HI>) to acquaint him&s;elfe with the Lord, as when hee is &s;olitary, private, and alone: If any thing grieve a man, or lye heavie upon his con&s;cience, when he is <HI>Alone,</HI> he may freely di&s;|burden his heart into the bo&s;ome of God. If a man have faulted any way, or done ami&s;&s;e for want of good take-heed, when he is <HI>Alone,</HI> hee may freely and fully bewaile and bemone, and even be&s;hrew and &s;hrive him&s;elfe unto the Lord his God. If a man want any good thing thats requi&s;ite and nece&s;|&s;ary either for the body or the &s;oule, when hee is <HI>Alone,</HI> he hath free and full opportunity to beg and to entreat it, to win and to obtaine it at the hand of God. No &s;uch time for a man to reconcile him|&s;elfe, and to make his owne attonement and his peace with God, as when hee is <HI>Alone.</HI> In a word then, if thou do&s;t de&s;ire to keepe the favour of the Lord, and to abide in his grace and his good-will; doe as <HI>I&s;aack</HI> did, take one turne with thy God e|very day thou ri&s;e&s;t; &s;teale away from thy earthly occa&s;ions (as our Saviour &s;tole away from his earthly Parents) to doe the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of thy hea|venly Father, or as the Apo&s;tles word, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3. 9. <GAP DESC="foreign">, to retire and repent. Let no day pa&s;&s;e thee without &s;ome commerce and conference with thy God; and (beleeve it) if there bee any meanes in the world to fa&s;ten and rivet the favour of God unto thy &s;oule, that will doe it, <GAP DESC="foreign"> to walke aright with God.</P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="11">I have done with the fir&s;t generall part of my Text concerning the meaning of the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, or what is meant by the Grace here &s;poken of: Come we now to the &s;econd, and that is the Author and Owner of this Grace, expre&s;t in the next word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) God claimes it as his owne peculiar) and calls it by a terme of propriety, <HI>My Grace,</HI> to &s;hew that none hath to doe with the di&s;pen&s;ing of that but him&s;elfe alone.</P>
<P>Now if you marke the cour&s;e of Scripture, you &s;hall ob&s;erve that there is not any thing which be|longs to man, but in one place or other God claimes it for his owne. Though he hath given the earth to the Children of men, yet hath hee not alienated it from him&s;elfe, but that &s;till, <HI>The Earth is the Lords, and the fulne&s;&s;e thereof:</HI> what&s;oever fulne&s;&s;e the earth affords us, whether it be Fields full of Corne, Folds full of Sheepe, Orchards full of Fruit, Tables full of Meate, &amp;c. all the&s;e fulne&s;&s;es are the Lords, <HI>who openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</HI> And not onely the earth in generall and the fulne&s;&s;e thereof, but the very Cattell and Bea&s;ts of the earth, are all the Lords too: <HI>P&s;al. 50. 10. All the Bea&s;ts of the Forre&s;t are mine</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>and &s;o are the Cattell upon a thou&s;and Hills.</HI> The Bea&s;ts of the Forre&s;t (we know) are <HI>ferae naturae,</HI> of a wilde unruly nature, they know no Ma&s;ter, ac|knowledge no owner, are in &s;ubjection to no kee|per; yet becau&s;e the Lord takes care of them, gives them their being, and provides them their food, therefore doth he ju&s;tly claime them for his owne, and &s;aith, <HI>(All the Bea&s;ts of the Forre&s;t are</HI>
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<HI>mine)</HI> and &s;o are all the Cattell upon a thou&s;and hills&punc; whether they be &s;heepe or goates; Neate or Fowle; there's no man living hath any right unto them upon earth, but he holds it in <HI>capite,</HI> and hath his right from the God of Heaven.</P>
<P>Not only &s;o; but the very Corne in our Barnes, the Wine in our Cellars, the Wooll upon our Sheepes backes, the Lord claimes for his owne, as yee may &s;ee, <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 2. 8, 9. For God be&s;towes his ble&s;&s;ings, as the Sunne doth his beames, in &s;uch a manner, as that they depend &s;till upon him&s;elfe af|ter he hath be&s;towed them. Nay to come neerer yet, the very money that is in our pur&s;es or coffers, whether we keepe it clo&s;e to hatch a purcha&s;e; or put it out, as the Lion puts out his claw to rend and gripe the poore needy borrower; where&s;oever God findes it, hee claimes it for his owne, <HI>Hag. 2. 8. The Silver and the Gold is mine;</HI> and as little con|&s;cience as men make of their gaines, they mu&s;t one day be accountable to the Lord, How they got it, how they u&s;ed it, and how they wa&s;ted it. All this is to let us under&s;tand to whom wee are beholden for our Lands, for our goods, and for what&s;oever el&s;e we inherit or injoy in this world, even to the Father of lights, (as <HI>Iames</HI> termeth him, <HI>Iam.</HI> 1. 17.) from whom both <GAP DESC="foreign">, and <GAP DESC="foreign">, both gifts and goods, and all de&s;cend unto us; therefore as in the &s;acrifices of old, who&s;oever had the fle&s;h, God had the fat; &s;o who&s;oever hath the goods of this world, let God have the glory, for his they are, and from him we have and hold them.</P>
<P>But there is one thing in my Text, for which we
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are more beholding to God, then for all the re&s;t; and that is for <HI>His Grace,</HI> other things though they come originally from God, yet they come mediate|ly by the meanes of other in&s;truments, by Parents or Friends, or Benefactors&punc; but Grace is a thing that comes &s;olely, and onely, and immediately from God; as there was no corne to be had in <HI>Egypt,</HI> but from the hand of <HI>Io&s;eph,</HI> &s;o no grace to bee had on earth, but from the hand of God: <HI>Hee is the God of all Grace</HI> (as Saint <HI>Peter</HI> truely &s;tileth him) there is no grace what&s;oever that is wanting in man, but there is a gracious &s;upply to be had in God, which made <HI>David</HI> (as it were) in a rapture to cry out and &s;ay, <HI>Oh ta&s;te and &s;ee how gracious the Lord is, P&s;al.</HI> 34. 8. Fir&s;t ta&s;te, and then &s;ee; becau&s;e as a man can never truely tell the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of Honey, till hee have ta&s;ted it fir&s;t&punc; &s;o can hee never truely &s;ee nor perceive, nor under&s;tand how gracious a God the God of Heaven is, till he have fir&s;t had a ta&s;te of Gods Grace, and an experience of Gods favour in him&s;elfe and for his own &s;oule. <HI>Ta&s;t then and &s;ee how gracious the Lord is:</HI> Gracious in his Throne, for it is <HI>the Throne of Grace, Heb.</HI> 4&punc; 16. gracious in his &s;pirit, for it is <HI>the &s;pirit of Grace, Zach.</HI> 12. 10. Gracious in his Word, for it is <HI>the Word of Grace, Act.</HI> 20&punc; 30. and above all, gracious in him&s;elfe, for <HI>Hee is the God of Grace:</HI> yea, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>The God of all Grace, 1 Pet.</HI> 5. 10. And therefore do&s;t thou de&s;ire wi&s;edome? Hee is the God of that Grace; do&s;t thou want patience? hee is the God of that too; do&s;t thou &s;tand in need of Faith, or Hope, or Cha|rity? he is the God of all the&s;e&punc; Oh what a gra|cious
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God doe we &s;erve, and what gracele&s;&s;e bea&s;ts we are if wee &s;erve him not, &s;eeing hee hath grace &s;ufficient for all his &s;ervants? <HI>My Grace</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>is &s;ufficient for thee.</HI></P>
<P>In a word then, fora&s;much as all Grace is of God, that He, and none but He, hath the di&s;po&s;all and the di&s;pen&s;ation of it to whom hee plea&s;eth; take (I be&s;eech you) into your con&s;ideration the&s;e briefe adverti&s;ements following.</P>
<P>1. <HI>Ne deficias,</HI> doe not faile of it; It is the Apo|&s;tles owne caveat, <HI>Heb. 12. 15. Looke diligently lea&s;t any man faile of the Grace of God.</HI> God for his part is &s;o gracious, that he denyes his grace to none, but offers it, and (I may &s;ay) gives it to every one that will but aske and accept it, as the Scripture &s;aith of <HI>Araunah, 2 Sam.</HI> 24. 23. when hee offered King <HI>David</HI> his Oxen for a &s;acrifice, and his thre&s;hing in|&s;truments for wood to burne them; the Text &s;aith, <HI>All the&s;e things did Araunah as a King give unto the King:</HI> whereas we know, he did not give them, becau&s;e <HI>David</HI> would not accept of them, but his will was to have given them, and that the Holy Gho&s;t accounts as a gift, and &s;o recordeth it. In like &s;ort, God offers his grace in the Word and Sa|craments, his will is graciou&s;ly and freely to be|&s;tow it, if &s;infull men were but like-minded to re|ceive it, and to make them&s;elves capable of &s;o great a mercy by de&s;iring it. It was Gods owne propo|&s;ition to his owne Sonne, <HI>P&s;al. 2. 8. po&s;tula a me,</HI> &amp;c. de&s;ire of mee, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, &amp;c. If hee that was &s;ole Heyre of Heaven and Earth (<HI>haeres ex toto a&s;&s;e,</HI> as the <HI>Romans</HI>
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u&s;ed to &s;tile them) could no otherwi&s;e come by his inheritance but by way of petition to de&s;ire it afore he had it, much more &s;o is it with us; where no de|&s;ire is, looke for no gift, no prayer, no grace. Wee &s;ee in <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> God makes a gracious promi&s;e to his people, that he would put away all their &s;innes, and take them all into his favor, as though they had ne|ver &s;inned; but marke the condition, <HI>for all the&s;e things I will be &s;ought unto</HI> (&s;aith God.) So though God offer his Grace to men, hee will not force it upon them again&s;t their wills, hee will have them &s;ue for it, hee will have them de&s;ire it, or they may thanke them&s;elves if they goe to hell without it; and God may ju&s;tly complaine of them, as <HI>David</HI> did of <HI>Naball, 1 Sam. 25. 21. All is in vaine that I have done for the&s;e men.</HI> Seeing then there is no backwardne&s;&s;e in God to make deniall of his grace, but he is willing to be&s;tow it upon all that are de&s;i|rous to imbrace it; Oh be not wanting to thy owne mercy, <HI>ne deficias,</HI> doe not faile of it.</P>
<P>2. Seeing that Grace is the Lords, <HI>n&egrave; &s;uperbias,</HI> be not proud of it, doe not <GAP DESC="foreign">, (as Saint <HI>Iames</HI> his word is, <HI>chap.</HI> 3. 5.) doe not magnifically lift up thy &s;elfe above thy brethren who&s;e graces are not &s;o eminent as thine: but rather as the eares of Corne, and the boughes of trees, the more they are laden with fruit, the lower they hang to the earth, &s;o the more god hath laden thee with his graces and favours, be thou &s;o much the more low|ly in thy owne eyes; and thinke not &s;corne to doe as thy God does, who though his Glory bee above the Heavens, (&s;aith <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 113. 6.) yet hee
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doth <HI>Aba&s;e him&s;elfe to behold the things that are in the earth;</HI> and as the more direct the Sunne is over us, the &s;horter and le&s;&s;er is the &s;hadow: &s;o the more that Gods grace is over thee, and in thee, the le&s;&s;er let the &s;hadow of pride bee &s;eene to come from the: for con&s;ider (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>What ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI> or what is that thou can&s;t properly call thine owne, but <HI>men|dacium &amp; peccatum,</HI> lying and &s;inne? as our Savi|our &s;aid of the devill, <HI>Iohn</HI> 8. when hee &s;peaketh a lye, hee &s;peaketh <HI>de &s;uo,</HI> of his owne, God never put that into him: &s;o for thy &s;innes thou mu&s;t thank thy &s;elfe, or rather indeed be&s;hrew and blame thy &s;elfe, for they are thy owne; but if thou ha&s;t any grace or any vertue in thee, thanke God for that; for it is not thine, it is the Lords: &s;eeing then thou art but a Tributary to God, and ha&s;t nothing that good is, but what thou art beholding, and mu&s;t be countable to the Lord for it, <HI>n&egrave; &s;uperbias,</HI> bee not proud of it.</P>
<P>3. Seeing Grace is the Lords to be&s;tow on whom he plea&s;eth, <HI>n&egrave; invideas,</HI> doe not envy it, let not thine eye be evill becau&s;e God is good, nor thinke the wor&s;e of another man becau&s;e God is better to him then unto thee: for Gods grace is his owne, he may give it to whom he will. When God &s;hall take off his grace, and of his good Spirit (as <HI>Samu|el</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Saul</HI>) &s;hall give it to a Neighbour of thine that is better then thou: what cau&s;e ha&s;t thou to be envious at this? and not rather to humble thy &s;elfe, and thinke that (as <HI>Daniel</HI> told the King, <HI>chap. 5. 27.) God hath weighed thee in a ballance, and found</HI>
<PB N="22" REF="14">
thee, <HI>minus habens,</HI> wanting to God and to thy &s;elfe, and therefore hath ju&s;tly with-holden his favour from thee, and given it to one that will u&s;e it better, for his glory, and for the Churches good, farre be it from any child of God to cheri&s;h in his brea&s;t the &s;pawne of that old &s;erpent the Divell; for envy is no better; (as the learned have well ob&s;erved) there is &s;o neere a re&s;emblance betwixt an envious man and the Divell, that in the Booke of God the one is taken for the other; &s;o the Divell is called <GAP DESC="foreign"> an envious man (<HI>Mat.</HI> 13. 28.) &amp; an en|vious man is called <GAP DESC="foreign"> a devill (<HI>Ioh.</HI> 6. 70.) How farre better would it become us in this re&s;pect to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, like the Angels of Heaven; who now at Chri&s;tmas time, when they &s;aw that our Saviour would in no wi&s;e take their nature which was farre better then ours; but tooke our nature upon him, which was farre wor&s;e then theirs, and which was mo&s;t of all, and would have gone mo&s;t again&s;t our &s;tomackes, commanded them to wor&s;hip it, <HI>Heb.</HI> 1. 6. they were &s;o farre from envying, or taking of|fence at this; (as that elder brother did in the Go&s;pel, when the younger was received to grace after his riotous cour&s;e) that even then they &s;ung an Anthem for the joy of our happine&s;&s;e, and even to this day; (Saint <HI>Peter</HI> tells us, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. 12.) they doe <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;toope downe (as it were) in duty and love, to honour the my&s;tery of Chri&s;ts incarna|tion, and to admire the Grace and favour of God to mankinde: In a word then, &s;eeing that the ho|nouring of Gods grace where&s;oever it lights, is a quality &s;o Angelicall; and the contrary &s;o diabo|licall,
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let it bee thy practice evermore to reverence him that hath it, to judge thy &s;elfe unworthy of it, &s;eeke it in Gods name, and get to be partaker in it, but in any ca&s;e <HI>ne invideas,</HI> doe not envy it.</P>
<P>4. Seeing that Grace proceedes from &s;o holy a Fountaine as is the Lord, <HI>ne Abutaris,</HI> doe not abu&s;e it, doe not vitiate nor &s;taine it with &s;inne, as <HI>Lot</HI> entreated the men of <HI>Sodome, Gen.</HI> 19. 8. that they would not abu&s;e the Angels of God, &s;eeing they were come to &s;helter them&s;elves under the &s;hadow of his roofe; So let mee entreate you all in the Name of Chri&s;t that you would not abu&s;e the graces of God, &s;eeing they are come from Heaven to take &s;helter and harbour in your brea&s;ts and bo|&s;omes. The Apo&s;tle &s;peakes of &s;ome (<HI>Iud.</HI> 4.) that turne the grace of God into wantonne&s;&s;e; and that's a woefull kinde of Alchymie (as one &s;aith &s;ingular|ly well) would he not e&s;teeme that man prodigally fooli&s;h and mad, that would &s;pend all his time, all his &s;tub&s;tance, and all his indu&s;try to find out a per|ver&s;e Philo&s;ophers &s;tone, that &s;hould turne all the gold it touched into lead and dro&s;&s;e? even &s;uch are they that pervert the grace of God, and turne it in|to wantonne&s;&s;e, into la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, into all manner of &s;currility and deboi&s;tne&s;&s;e, and never lin, till they have made a poy&s;on of an Antidote, and baned them&s;elves with that which would have beene their bli&s;&s;e, <HI>Lucerna Dei in&s;piritu hominis</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Sa|lomon, Pro. 20. 27.) The &s;pirit of a man is the candle of the Lord;</HI> it implyes, that a man naturally walkes in darkene&s;&s;e, which is full of errour, and full of ter|rour, till God in mercy &s;et up a candle in his &s;oule,
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(I meane) endues him with knowledge and grace from heaven, that he may &s;hew him the path of life, and to avoid the &s;nares of death.</P>
<P>Now you know, that a candle naturally burnes upwards, if you take it and turne it the wrong way, and hold it downewards, it dyes and goes out a|lone, &s;o fares it with <GAP DESC="foreign">, Graces and gifts of God, as Wit and Wi&s;dome, Knowledge and Learning, and all the&s;e are the candles of the Lord, and are purpo&s;ely given us to light us up to hea|venward; but if wee take Gods candles and hold them downeward, turne them the wrong way, and apply and abu&s;e them to &s;inne; it is much to bee feared, the light of God will goe out, and thou &s;halt be left at the length in a place of utter darkene&s;&s;e. Therefore as thou tendere&s;t the favour and good|will of God, and the eternall welfare of thy owne &s;oule, deale not with the Graces of God, as <HI>Iehu</HI> dealt with <HI>Iehorams</HI> me&s;&s;enger, 2 <HI>Reg.</HI> 9. doe not turne them behinde thee, and make them &s;erve a|gain&s;t their owne ma&s;ters; but remember that if the &s;onnes of <HI>Iacob</HI> would not endure to have their &s;i&s;ter abu&s;ed (<HI>Gen. 24. ult.</HI>) how do&s;t thou thinke thy God will endure to have his grace abu&s;ed, and to be pro&s;tituted to every &s;inne? In a word, as <HI>Ru|ben</HI> &s;aid to his di&s;tre&s;&s;ed brethren, (<HI>Gen. 42. 22.) did not I &s;peak unto you &s;aying, Sin not again&s;t the child and ye would not heare?</HI> Oh bee not you like them, <HI>monitoribus a&s;peri,</HI> &s;o carele&s;&s;e and regardle&s;&s;e of di|vine admonition; but remember that you have beene &s;poken unto, that you have beene warned of God not to &s;inne again&s;t your owne &s;oules in this
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too common kinde, but if the Lord have betru&s;ted you with his grace, labour to cheri&s;h it, and (as the Apo&s;tles word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1. 6.) to blow it or &s;tirre it up, as we do a dying fire, to kindle and quicken it by the u&s;e of good meanes, but in any ca&s;e, <HI>ne abutaris,</HI> abu&s;e it not.</P>
<P>5. La&s;tly, &s;eeing thou ha&s;t to doe with the grace and favour of God, <HI>ne diffides,</HI> doe not di&s;tru&s;t it, doe not make any doubt or que&s;tion of it but it will be&s;tead thee, and befriend thee, and be firme and &s;ure unto thee at any time of need. It is the Apo&s;tles owne adverti&s;ement, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. 13. <GAP DESC="foreign">, tru&s;t perfectly on the Grace that is revealed and brought into the world by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. It is a thing that a man may leane his whole weight upon, and venture his whole e&s;tate upon, and pawne his life and &s;oule upon, the certainety, the truth, and the infallibility of Gods heavenly grace to all that make their peace, and put their tru&s;t in him. <HI>Feare not Mary</HI> (&s;aid the ble&s;&s;ed Angel to the ble&s;&s;ed Vir|gin) <HI>for thou ha&s;t found favour with God:</HI> as if he had &s;aid, Let them feare that are out of Gods favour, let them be di&s;tru&s;tfull that are wicked and deceitfull, that make no con&s;cience of their wayes, but live in the di&s;plea&s;ure of an angry God; <HI>paveant illi,</HI> let them feare; but <HI>noli tu,</HI> feare not thou, be thou &s;tead|fa&s;t &amp; unmoveable in thy affiance to God, for why? <HI>inveni&s;ti gratiam,</HI> thou ha&s;t found favour with him, in who&s;e favour is life, and who&s;e grace will bee thy guide unto the day of death. In a word then, (to clo&s;e up this point) As I &s;aid before, &s;o I &s;ay it over againe, <GAP DESC="foreign">, gird up the loynes of your
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mindes, and tru&s;t perfectly to the Grace of God; doe it not in any wavering, or timorous, or unconfi|dent manner, as if God were like the Poets <HI>Tenedos; Stati<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> malefida carinis,</HI> a tru&s;tles Anchor-hold to the &s;ea-beaten Traveller; or like tho&s;e deceitfull <HI>Iewes, (Ioh.</HI> 2. 24.) to whom our Saviour dur&s;t not com|mit him&s;elfe, though they &s;eemed to beleeve in his Name. Oh let not thy heart entertain the lea&s;t &s;u&s;|pition, the lea&s;t jealou&s;ie of the faithfulne&s;&s;e and fi|delity of thy God; but try him by thy prayers, and tru&s;t him by thy faith, and urge him with this Text that now is preached unto thee, (as St. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith his mother <HI>Monica</HI> did, <HI>Chyrographa tua ingerebat tibi,</HI> Lord (&s;aith he) &s;hee urged thee with thy own hand-writing) tell him but how hard the world goes with thee, and then &s;ay ere God have done with thee, if thou do&s;t not finde his Grace to bee &s;ufficient for thee. And &s;o I am come in the third place to &s;hew you the efficacie and vertue of the Grace of God, how and wherein the &s;ufficien|cy thereof doth con&s;i&s;t; <GAP DESC="foreign">, (&s;aith the Text) <HI>My Grace is &s;ufficient.</HI></P>
<P>The principall things whereunto the Grace of God (and be&s;ides Gods Grace, nothing el&s;e under heaven) is available or &s;ufficient, are the&s;e that follow.</P>
<P>1. <HI>Ad Cond<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">nandum,</HI> to pardon and forgive us all our &s;innes, which would bee the bane and de|&s;truction of all our &s;oules. <HI>Grande e&s;t barathrum peccatorum meorum</HI> (&s;aith a Father) <HI>&s;ed major e&s;t Aby&s;&s;us mi&s;ericordiae Dei:</HI> Great is the gulfe and whirlepoole of my &s;innes, but greater and deeper
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is the bottomle&s;&s;e Sea of Gods Grace and mercy: &s;ee that place, <HI>Rom. 5. 20. where &s;inne abounded, Grace did much more abound:</HI> Ha&s;t thou abundance of &s;innes, let not that di&s;hearten thee, God hath abun|dance of Grace; if thy &s;innes be great, his Grace is greater then thy &s;innes, and farre more &s;ufficient to ju&s;tifie, than all thy &s;innes are to condemne thy &s;oule. Onely <HI>ne de&s;is,</HI> be not thou wanting to God in thy prayers and repentance, and his Grace &s;hall never bee wanting to thee in thy pardon and for|givene&s;&s;e. What a golden &s;entence is that of St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">; Thou do&s;t not, thou can&s;t not &s;o much de&s;ire to have thy &s;innes forgiven thee, as God doth de&s;ire to forgive thy &s;innes unto thee. <HI>I forgave thee all thy debt, becau&s;e thou de&s;ired&s;t mee,</HI> (&s;aid that gracious Lord to his ungracious &s;er|vant, <HI>Mat.</HI> 18. 32.) intimating unto us, that if God doe not forgive us our debts, if he doe not pardon and remit our &s;innes; we may thanke our &s;elves, the fault is our owne, becau&s;e we doe not de&s;ire him, for if we de&s;ired him, he would doe it. In a word then, as our Saviour asked the Cripple, <HI>Iohn. 5. 6. Wilt thou be made whole?</HI> &s;o, wilt thou bee made holy and cleane, and fit for ab&s;olution from God? do&s;t thou de&s;ire in &s;incerity and truth to have thy &s;innes remitted, and thy &s;oule ab&s;olved by the blood and death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t? to have all thy mi&s;deeds expunged and blotted out, that they may be as if they never had beene? Then take the Pro|phet <HI>E&s;aies</HI> coun&s;ell (<HI>E&s;ay 43. 25, 26.) put God in remembrance of the&s;e things:</HI> (it is a pregnant place,
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I pray reade and remember it) <HI>I even I am he that blotteth out thy tran&s;gre&s;sions for mine owne &s;ake, and will not remember thy &s;innes:</HI> (there's a gracious pro|mi&s;e; but marke the condition in the next imme|diate words) <HI>put mee in remembrance</HI> (faith God) and I will doe it, and not otherwi&s;e: for though God remember all our &s;innes, and can tell them better than our owne &s;oules; yet hee doth not re|member them to our comfort, but rather to our con|fu&s;ion, unle&s;&s;e we tell him and put him in remem|brance of them: &s;o that the onely way to put our &s;innes out of Gods remembrance, is to put them into his remembrance; the onely way to make God forget them, is daily and hourely to declare them and put him in minde of them. If therefore thou can&s;t not be &s;o good as thou would&s;t, bee not a&s;hamed, bee not afraid to tell God how evill thou art; tell him how ungodly, how unthankfull, how unprofitable a &s;ervant thou ha&s;t beene unto him, and de&s;ire God to mend thee, and make thee &s;uch a one as he would have thee: And as <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> of <HI>Ari|mathea</HI> went to <HI>Pilate</HI> &amp; begged the body of <HI>Ie&s;us;</HI> &s;o goe thou to God and begge the Spirit of <HI>Ie&s;us;</HI> even that <HI>&s;pirit of grace and Supplication</HI> (which the Prophet &s;peakes of, <HI>Zach.</HI> 12. 10.) which will come downe from heaven and bring into thy &s;oule, fir&s;t Supplications to prepare thee; &s;econdly, Grace to a&s;&s;ure thee of the free and full forgivene&s;&s;e of all thy &s;innes: And then let thy &s;innes bee what they will bee, &s;innes of death, &s;innes of blood, &s;innes of hell; if thou can&s;t finde in thy heart to pray, God will finde in his heart to pardon, for his <HI>Grace is</HI>
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<HI>&s;ufficient</HI> to doe it. That's the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>2. The &s;econd thing whereto the &s;ufficiency of Gods Grace doth belong, is <HI>ad con&s;olandum</HI> to com|fort tho&s;e &s;ad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted. I &s;hould have fainted (&s;aith <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 27. 13.) for all my worldly comforts, but that I &s;teadfa&s;tly beleeved, to &s;ee the Lords good grace in the land of the living, (that is) to &s;ee it before he dyed; therefore we reade, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 30. 6. when he was in great di&s;tre&s;&s;e, had neither hou&s;e nor home to &s;helter him, neither wife, nor child, nor friend to be any comfort to him, but his owne very &s;ouldiers began to talke of &s;toning him; <HI>Then</HI> (&s;aith the Text) <HI>David comforted him&s;elfe in the Lord his God.</HI> Heare this thou poore di&s;con&s;olate man, that art (as thy Saviour was &s;aid to be) <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&s;ad round about;</HI> thou that looke&s;t into thy pur&s;e, and there is no comfort, money is gone; that looke&s;t into thy cubbord, and there is no comfort, provi&s;ion is gone; that looke&s;t into thy Barne and Store-hou&s;e, and there's no comfort, Corne and wares are gone; that looke&s;t in thy heart, and there's no comfort, cheerfulne&s;&s;e and joy is gone: Then looke up to God, and there is comfort to bee had: if there bee any water, it is in the Sea; if there bee any light, it is in the Sun; if there be any comfort, it is in God. Therefore the Apo&s;tle ju&s;tly calleth him, <HI>The God of all con&s;olation, 2 Cor.</HI> 1. becau&s;e when all other comforts faile, there's comfort to bee found in God. For beleeve this for a truth, there is no mans ca&s;e, no mans e&s;tate, no mans &s;oule is de&s;perate to God; but when they are at the lowe&s;t ebbe, at the
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poore&s;t &s;tay, at the mo&s;t forlorne hope; then doth God &s;peak peace unto their &s;ouls, then doth he draw out tho&s;e &s;ame <HI>ubera con&s;olationes,</HI> tho&s;e brea&s;ts or dugges of con&s;olation (which the Prophet &s;peakes of, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 66. 11.) and drops downe that &s;ame <GAP DESC="foreign"> that &s;incere milke of heavenly comfort, to revive the &s;pirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart. The <HI>Hebrewes</HI> ob&s;erve that one and the &s;ame word (<HI>nakam</HI>) &s;igni|fieth, fir&s;t to repent, and then to comfort; and it may bee well applied to this purpo&s;e: that true comfort belongs to none but &s;uch as are truly peni|tent: &s;o our Savior tels us that the holy Gho&s;t whom he calls the Comforter when he commeth, the fir&s;t thing he will doe, is to convince the world of &s;inne; that is, fir&s;t put men quite out of comfort in them|&s;elves, then put them into comfort by their Savi|our. In a word then, fora&s;much as comfort cannot be had without repentance, nor repentance be en|dured without comfort, nor either of the&s;e be at|tained without God; it remaines, that as the daugh|ter of <HI>Caleb</HI> be&s;ought her earthly father (<HI>Iud.</HI> 1.) &s;o wee be&s;eech our heavenly Father, to give us the Springs above, as well as the Springs beneath; I meane, that <HI>Irriguum &s;uperius,</HI> the &s;pring of grace &amp; comfort from above, as well as that <HI>Irriguum infe|rius,</HI> the &s;pring of &s;orrow and repentance from be|neath: and then let our di&s;comforts and di&s;contents be what they will, wee &s;hall have grace &s;ufficient from God to countervaile them all, and as <HI>Philip</HI> &s;aid to our Saviour, <HI>Ioh. 14. 8. Lord &s;hew us the father and it &s;ufficeth us;</HI> &s;o though our &s;innes confound
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us, and our con&s;ciences condemne us, <HI>Lord &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">w us</HI> thy favour, and 'tis &s;ufficient for us.</P>
<P>3. The third is <HI>Ad &s;anandum,</HI> His Grace is &s;uffi|cient to cure and heale us of all tho&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign"> tho&s;e bodily ailements and infirmities which God for &s;inne doth inflict upon us, <GAP DESC="foreign">&punc; from tho&s;e &s;courges and roddes (as the Holy Gho&s;t ter|meth <HI>&s;ore di&s;ea&s;es, Luk.</HI> 7. 21.) for indeed they are the very rods which God u&s;eth to cha&s;ten and cor|rect us for our follies: I &s;ay, there is no rod &s;o &s;harpe, no di&s;ea&s;e &s;o &s;ore, but Gods grace is &s;uffi|cient to heale it and to take it off. <HI>I am R<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">peca</HI> (&s;aith God, <HI>Exod. 15. penult.) I am thy Phy&s;itian,</HI> or <HI>I am the Lord that healeth thee:</HI> and if God be the Phy|&s;itian, his Grace is the Phy&s;icke, for who&s;oever be the in&s;trument of our health, God is the Authour, his Grace is it that doth the cure. Therefore in common &s;peech, when any outward malady doth befall us, where of we know no &s;econd cau&s;e; wee u&s;e to &s;ay (and we &s;ay well) that it <HI>came by the Grace of God:</HI> now if thou beleeve&s;t that it came by Gods Grace, beleeve this al&s;o that by the &s;ame Grace it &s;hall (in Gods good time) bee remedied, and re|moved and done away, for (as St. <HI>Iames</HI> &s;aith in a|nother ca&s;e) God giveth <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace, and &s;heweth more favour,</HI> to heale tho&s;e that are &s;icke and broken in heart, than to breake their hearts, with &s;ickene&s;&s;e that were well and whole; both are from the &s;ame <HI>Grace,</HI> but the one more e&s;pecially then the other.</P>
<P>But then the maine point for &s;atisfaction will be this: &s;eeing it is in the power of Gods Grace to
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cure all infirmities, and that in a moment, with a word-&s;peaking, (as the Centurion &s;aid, <HI>Speake but the word, and my &s;ervant &s;hall be whole.</HI>) Why will God &s;uffer &s;o many of his owne Patients, that have no Phy&s;itian but him&s;elfe, to lye langui&s;hing &s;o long under his owne hand, and &s;eeme to take no notice of their mi&s;eries? The be&s;t an&s;wer I can give, is that of our Saviour to his Mother, <HI>Iohn 2. 4. Nondum venit hora, My houre is not yet come;</HI> for you mu&s;t conceive there are two kindes of houres; wee have our houre, and God hath his Houre. As &s;oone as wee begin to &s;icken, that wee feele but any paine, or finde the want of any ea&s;e; then is our houre to be healed, then doe wee cry out, as tis fit we &s;hould, <HI>Have mercy upon mee, O Lord, for I am weake, Lord heale me for my bones are vexed, P&s;al.</HI> 6. 2. But God hath another houre, and that you &s;hall finde, 2 <HI>Chron. 7. 14. When my people humble them|&s;elves, and pray and &s;eeke my face, and turne from their wicked wayes,</HI> (that is, when they are bettered and amended by my afflictions) <HI>Then</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>will I heare in heaven, and have mercy upon them, and heale their Land.</HI> God complaines of that peo|ple in many places, that their hearts were waxen fat, that they would not &s;ee with their eyes, nor heare with their eares, nor under&s;tand with their hearts, <HI>Ne convertantur ut &s;anem, Mat.</HI> 13. 15. le&s;t they &s;hould be converted, and I &s;hould heale them. So that the time of our conver&s;ion is Gods healing|time; Fir&s;t, labour to be converted, and then looke to be healed, and not before. So <HI>Acts 3. 19. Repent and be converted, that your &s;innes may be blotted out,</HI>
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and then (and never till then) looke for a <HI>Tempus refrigerii,</HI> a time of refre&s;hing from the pre&s;ence of the Lord. We read, <HI>Numb.</HI> 12. 14 When <HI>Myriam</HI> was &s;trucken with lepro&s;ie, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was importunate with God to heale pre&s;ently out of hand; <HI>Heale her now, O Lord, I be&s;eech thee; Heale her now.</HI> No (&s;aith God) I will not heale her yet, &s;hee &s;hall &s;tay the time that I have determined upon her, for if her Father had but &s;pit in her face, &s;hould &s;he not have beene a&s;hamed and kept in for &s;even dayes, &amp;c. So per&s;wade your &s;elves of this, that there is a <GAP DESC="foreign"> an appointed time that God hath &s;et downe with him&s;elfe in heaven, when and wherein his mercy &s;hall appeare on earth for our recovery; and till that time we mu&s;t wait, (as <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <HI>P&s;al. 123. 2.) As the eyes of a &s;ervant wait on the hand of their ma&s;ters, and the eyes of a mayden on the hand of her mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, &s;o doe our eyes waite upon the Lord our God, untill that he have mercy upon us.</HI> Marke that &s;ame <HI>donec mi&s;ereratur,</HI> untill hee have mercy: that is, though God &s;hew thee not mercy, this day, nor to morrow, nor the next day, may bee, not till a long time after; yet, let not thy heart be di&s;mayed, but let thy &s;oule truely wait upon God, untill hee &s;hew thee mercy, let him &s;hew it when he will. In the meane time know, thou art under the hands of a wi&s;e and gracious God, who mea&s;ures every dram of &s;orrow that thou feele&s;t, who will not only be about thy bed, but will ever make all thy bed in thy &s;ickne&s;&s;e, and will &s;o e&s;tabli&s;h and under&punc; prop thee with his Grace; that though thy body lye in paine, thy &s;oule &s;hall lye at ca&s;e; though thy out|ward
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man con&s;ume and melt away for very heavi|ne&s;&s;e, yet that &s;ame <HI>Interior cordis home,</HI> (as Saint <HI>Peter</HI> &s;peakes) the inner man of thy heart &s;hall bee &s;o &s;trengthned with might, and armed with pati|ence, and guarded with peace, that neither paines of death, nor the powers of Hell &s;hall ever be able to prevaile again&s;t thee. In a word, if ever it &s;hall plea&s;e God to ca&s;t thee downe upon that &s;ame, <HI>Le|ctum languoris,</HI> that bed of langui&s;hing, which <HI>Da|vid</HI> &s;peakes of, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 41. 4. (for that wee all mu&s;t make account of) though we now lie and laze upon our beds, the time may come that wee &s;hall lye and langui&s;h on our beds; wi&s;hing (as they did in <HI>Deu|teronomy,</HI>) when 'tis morning, would God it were evening, and when 'tis evening, would God it were morning. If ever &s;uch a dolefull time &s;hould hap|pen to thee, I pray God of his mercy looke graci|ou&s;ly upon thee, and &s;ay unto thy bleeding &s;oule, as he did once to that forlorne Infant, <HI>Ezech. 16. 6. Dixi in &s;anguinibus, &amp;c.</HI> when thou wa&s;t in thy blood, I &s;aid unto thee, live; yea, I &s;aid unto thee, when thou wa&s;t in thy blood, <HI>live;</HI> if God doe but &s;ay, thou &s;halt <HI>live;</HI> though thou wert in thy blood, though thou wert in thy grave, his Word &s;hall fetch thee, for his Grace (if it &s;tand with his glory) is &s;ufficient to heale thee.</P>
<P>4. The la&s;t and chiefe&s;t thing whereunto the Grace of God, and nothing el&s;e but Gods Grace, is &s;ufficient, is <HI>Ad&s;alvandum,</HI> to &s;ave the &s;oule of every one that hath it. The Apo&s;tle calls it, <HI>The Grace that bringeth &s;alvation, (<GAP DESC="foreign">, Tit.</HI> 2. 11.) for as the wickedne&s;&s;e of man bringeth de|&s;truction,
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&s;o the Grace of God bringeth &s;alvation to every &s;oule that entertaines it. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> is di|rect, <HI>Ephe&s;. 2. 5. By Grace yee are &s;aved;</HI> whether it bee meant of the Grace of God within us, which our Saviour compares to Salt, <HI>Mark. 9. 50. (Ha|bete &s;alem in vobis, &amp;c.</HI> have Salt in your &s;elves, and peace with one another) becau&s;e as Salt pre|&s;erves the fle&s;h, &s;o doth Grace pre&s;erve the &s;pirit from corruption and rottenne&s;&s;e in &s;inne: or whe|ther it bee meant of the Grace of God that is over and above us, I meane, his favour and loving kind|ne&s;&s;e which lightneth upon us from Heaven; (as we pray in our Liturgie, let thy mercy lighten up|on us, as our tru&s;t is in thee,) Take it either way, it holds good and true; for by the one we are pre|pared for &s;alvation, by the other &s;alvation is pre|pared for us; the Grace of God within us prepares us for &s;alvation; the Grace of God over us pre|pares &s;alvation for us: &s;o both wayes 'tis our hap|pine&s;&s;e, <HI>By Grace to bee &s;aved.</HI> It was Gods mer|cifull promi&s;e, <HI>Deut. 11. 12. Mine eyes &s;hall bee upon this Land from the beginning of the yeare, to the end thereof;</HI> Such is Gods goodne&s;&s;e where hee be|&s;towes his Grace, &s;uch a care hath God of their &s;oules, that his eie is upon them from the beginning of their conver&s;ion, to the end of their &s;alvation: and as his eye is upon them to watch over them, &s;o his hand is with them to conduct them in the right way of plea&s;ing God, and of &s;aving their own &s;oules, <HI>Deut. 33. 3. All his Saints are in thy hand:</HI> as a Father leads his childe, &s;o doth God lead his Saints by his Grace, and by his good Spirit, from
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all things prejudiciall, to all things profitable, to his &s;ervice and their owne &s;alvation. (To conclude this point) becau&s;e (as the Schoolemen &s;ay well) <HI>Ad &s;ingulos actus de&s;ideratur Gratia,</HI> a man hath neede of Grace to every action that hee takes in hand, and that he can doe nothing well without it; let us all de&s;ire of God (as it is in the Collect) <HI>That his &s;peciall Grace may evermore prevent and follow us,</HI> fir&s;t, that God would prevent us with his Grace, to put into our hearts good motions, good thoughts, and good de&s;ires; and &s;econdly, that it may follow us too, (as the water of the Rocke followed the Campe of the I&s;raelites to the Land of Promi&s;e, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. 4.) &s;o that Gods Grace may follow, accompany, and goe along with us in this world; and never leave us, never for&s;ake us till it hath brought us to the end of our Faith, which is the &s;al|vation of our &s;oules, according to that, <HI>P&s;al. 109. ult. Dominus ad dextram, &amp;c.</HI> the Lord is at the right hand of the poore, to &s;ave him from all them that would condemne his &s;oule, where note that hee doth not &s;ay, the Lord is at their left hand (which is as I may terme it) the lazy hand, to &s;ave men in their negligent and idle cour&s;es; But he is at their right hand (which is the working hand) to &s;ave all them that work for their &s;alvation, and care|fully u&s;e the meanes to &s;ave them&s;elves: which thing if thou make a con&s;cience to doe, though thy &s;innes and thy enemies &s;hould con&s;pire to condemn thee, Thy God and his Grace will be &s;ufficient to &s;ave thee.</P>
<P>And &s;o at length, I am come aboard the la&s;t and
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long de&s;ired part of my Text, which containes the application of all in particular, which hath beene &s;poken and delivered in generall; drawne out of the word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) <HI>My grace is &s;ufficient for thee,</HI> &s;o that, as it is &s;aid of our Saviour, <HI>Mat.</HI> 21. 45. that his Do|ctrine was &s;o punctuall, and clapt &s;o clo&s;e to the con&s;ciences of his Auditors, that the Phari&s;es knew he meant them: So by that time I have done with my Text, (neither will I bee long in doing it) I tru&s;t you &s;hall perceive that Gods meaning was to you, when he &s;pake to Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> and told him that <HI>His Grace is &s;ufficient for him.</HI></P>
<P>Briefly then, &s;ee what <HI>Paul</HI> was, and &s;ay what thou art; if your ca&s;e be the &s;ame, your comfort is the &s;ame; for God is no accepter of per&s;ons, his Grace is as &s;ufficient for the one, as for the other.</P>
<P>1. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was <HI>Homo in Chri&s;to,</HI> he was a man in Chri&s;t, as you may &s;ee by the &s;econd ver&s;e of this chapter (<HI>I knew a man in Chri&s;t, that was taken up into the third Heaven:</HI>) Art thou &s;uch a one? I meane, art thou regenerate and become a new creature? (for he that is in Chri&s;t is a new creature. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. 17.) do&s;t thou daily renew thy repentance, and renew thy obedience, and renew thy duty and devotion to God? And is it a griefe to thy &s;oule, that &s;o much of the old leaven, thy old corruption remaines &s;till in thy heart? Then take this holy Scripture to thy comfort, and a&s;&s;ure thy &s;elfe, though thy con&s;cience di&s;quiet thee; Gods Grace will be &s;ufficient for thee: contrarily, if thou bee&s;t an old weather-beaten &s;inner, an old ru&s;ty drunkard, &s;wearer, and that &s;tande&s;t at a &s;tay, and gathere&s;t
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&s;inne, like an old tree that &s;tands and gathers mo&s;&s;e; I mu&s;t &s;ay unto thee (as <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Simon Magus, Act.</HI> 8.) thou ha&s;t neither part nor portion in this priviledge; thou art not a man in Chri&s;t, and con|&s;equently can&s;t claime no intere&s;t in the Grace and favour of God.</P>
<P>2. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was <HI>Homo in Cruce,</HI> a man upon the cro&s;&s;e, <HI>Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Chri&s;t;</HI> and el&s;ewhere, <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 2. 24. I fill up that which is behind of the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t in my fle&s;h: whereupon (&s;aith a Father) <HI>quid dee&s;t pa&s;sioni Chri&s;ti, ni&s;i ut nos &s;imilia patiamur,</HI> what is, or what can be wanting to the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t, but that as he tooke up his Cro&s;&s;e, &s;o wee take up ours and follow him: for <HI>Vae portantibus crucem, &amp; non &s;equentibus Chri&s;tum,</HI> woe to them that are crucified, and not with Chri&s;t; that beare the Cro&s;&s;e, and follow not Chri&s;t, but turne from him cleane another way. It is well knowne that afflictions goe under the name of cro&s;|&s;es; now a Cro&s;&s;e was a piece of wood for a male|factour to dye on, there was no other u&s;e of a cro&s;&s;e but that: Affliction therefore is called a cro&s;&s;e, be|cau&s;e it &s;hould have the nature and power of a Cro&s;&s;e, that is, it &s;hould be a meanes to crucifie and mortifie all carnall lu&s;ts and affections in us; that the more we are afflicted, the more wee &s;hould dye to &s;inne, and the le&s;&s;e life and power &s;hould our cor|ruptions have in us. Thus it was with Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> is it &s;o with thee? do&s;t thou wi&s;h and de&s;ire the death of thy &s;innes? do&s;t thou make this u&s;e of thy af|flictions, even to die daily? (as the Apo&s;tles &s;peakes) do&s;t thou every day drive one naile into the body
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of &s;inne, I meane one &s;igh or groane to God again&s;t it? do&s;t thou labour to draw blood of thy &s;oule (as they drew blood of thy Saviour) I meane, the teares of true repentance? and is it a death to thy heart, that thou can&s;t not dye unto &s;inne, and live unto God, as thou &s;houlde&s;t and oughte&s;t to doe? Then looke no further for Heart&s;-ea&s;e, but to the words of my Text, and a&s;&s;ure thy &s;elfe, what ever Cro&s;&s;es be upon thee, Gods Grace (in Gods good time) &s;hall bee &s;ufficient to ca&s;e thee. Contrary|wi&s;e, if thou bee&s;t one that do&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign">, (as Saint <HI>Stephen</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Act.</HI> 7. 51.) one that do&s;t fall cro&s;&s;e and contrary to all but to thy &s;innes, and art indeede a very cro&s;&s;e to God him&s;elfe and to his good Spirit, by thy perver&s;e ungodly cour&s;es, I mu&s;t &s;ay unto thee, as the Prophet <HI>E&s;ay</HI> &s;aith, <HI>E&s;ay 3. 6. Woe bee unto thy &s;oule, for thou ha&s;t rewarded evill unto thy &s;elfe:</HI> thou for&s;ake&s;t thy owne mer|cy, and deprive&s;t thy &s;elfe of the comfort of Gods Grace in the time of need.</P>
<P>3. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was <HI>Homo in negotiis,</HI> a laborious man, a man full of imployments, 1 <HI>Cor. 15. 10. I la|boured more then all my fellow-Apo&s;tles</HI> (&s;aith hee) <HI>yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with mee.</HI> (there's an hone&s;t acknowledgement by whom hee profited.) And el&s;ewhere he tells the <HI>Corinthians, 2 Cor. 11. 9. When I was with you and wanted, non obt<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rpui, I was not chargeable nor burthen&s;ome to any man.</HI> The Learned ob&s;erve, that word hath his weight from <HI>Torpedo,</HI> which &s;ignifieth a Cramp|fi&s;h; a Fi&s;h (they &s;ay) that hath &s;uch a benumming quality, that the cold of it will &s;trike from the
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hook to the line, from the line to the goad, from the goad to the arme, from the arme to the body of the fi&s;her, and &s;o benum him, &amp; take away al u&s;e and fee|ling of his limbes: His meaning is, that he was none of tho&s;e idle drones, that by their lazine&s;&s;e and lewdne&s;&s;e doe even chill, and benumme, and dead the charity of well-di&s;po&s;ed people; but as he la|boured in preaching, &s;o hee wrought in his calling too; and put him&s;elfe to any paines, rather then bee chargeable or burthen&s;ome to any friend or &s;tran|ger: and by this meanes it came to pa&s;&s;e, that what he wanted at home, he found it abroad; and Gods grace that was with him did ever &s;upply him with that which was enough and &s;ufficient for him. Is it &s;o with thee? Thou that art a poore man, art thou al&s;o an indu&s;trious and a painfull man? that as <HI>Iacob</HI> got the ble&s;&s;ing in the garment of <HI>E&s;au,</HI> which &s;ig|nifieth, <HI>Working;</HI> &s;o do&s;t thou work and take paines to get the ble&s;&s;ing of thy God? do&s;t thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good, that thou maye&s;t rather bee charitable, then chargeable to him that needeth? and will not thy hone&s;t labour maintaine thee, nor &s;uffice the charge that daily lyes upon thee? Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee, and let not thy wants nor thy nece&s;&s;ities di&s;may thee, for there is a God above that hath &s;ufficient for thee; contrarily, if thou bee&s;t one that live in plea&s;ure (as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith of that widdow, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&s;he was dead even while &s;he lived</HI>) one that &s;pende&s;t thy time in this world, no otherwi&s;e then that <HI>Leviathan</HI> doth in the Sea, onely by taking thy pa&s;time therein, or
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like tho&s;e Lyllies that our Saviour &s;peakes, that nei|ther labour nor &s;pin, but onely make a faire &s;hew as long as it will hold: Then as <HI>Iehu</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Ioram, What Peace?</HI> &s;o may I &s;ay to thee, <HI>What Grace?</HI> or what favour can&s;t thou looke for at the hands of God?</P>
<P>4. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was <HI>Homo in aerumnis,</HI> a man full of cares. I doe not meane of carnall or wordly cares, or &s;uch as <HI>Martha's</HI> were, for the things of this life; for the&s;e he had ca&s;t upon God, and had <HI>learned in what&s;ever e&s;tate he was, therewith to bee content;</HI> but I meane of &s;pirituall, divine, religious cares, for the health and welfare of the &s;oule, &s;uch as he commends in the <HI>Corinthians, 2 Cor.</HI> 7. 11. as being the fir&s;t fruits of Grace and <HI>godly &s;orrow (<GAP DESC="foreign">, What carefulne&s;&s;e it hath wrought in you)</HI> how much it wrought in them, I know not; but &s;ure I am, it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care, and that of the better kinde: fir&s;t, an immediate care for him&s;elfe, and his own &s;oule, <HI>le&s;t after hee had preached unto others, him&s;elfe &s;hould be a ca&s;t-away, 1 Cor.</HI> 9. 27. &s;econdly, a charitable and that a Catholicke and univer&s;all care for all Chur|ches and Chri&s;tian &s;oules under the cope of heaven. 2 <HI>Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in eccle&s;ias quantumvis remo|tas affectus, quam &s;i illas humeris ge&s;taret</HI> (as <HI>Beza</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Calvin</HI>) hee was no le&s;&s;e tenderly affected for tho&s;e Churches that were remote and farre off than if hee had borne them upon his owne &s;houl|ders, and carried them (as Nur&s;es do their Babes) in his owne bo&s;ome. But his third and mo&s;t e&s;peciall care was for the &s;oules and &s;aving health of his <HI>lit|tle</HI>
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<HI>children</HI> (as he calls them, <HI>Gal. 4. 20.) Of whom he travelled in birth till Chri&s;t was formed in them.</HI> His care was greater for them, than either for him&s;elfe, or any others; and he gives his rea&s;on <GAP DESC="foreign">, for (&s;aith he) <HI>I &s;tand in doubt of you.</HI> Good Pa|rents the more they love their children, the more they &s;tand in doubt of them, lea&s;t they &s;hould fall to any defection, or decline to any corruption, or come to any di&s;a&s;ter when they them&s;elves are dead and gone. This made Saint <HI>Paul</HI> in &s;uch per|plexity for them; and yet were they but his &s;piritu|all children; what care then (may we thinke) would he have taken for them, if they had beene his na|turall children too? then might he ju&s;tly have u&s;ed that word, and &s;aid <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>I am in doubt of you:</HI> for <GAP DESC="foreign"> in Greeke &s;ignifieth both <HI>dubius</HI> and <HI>pauper,</HI> doubtfull and poore; for none have &s;o much rea&s;on to bee doubtfull of their childrens welfare as they that are poore&s;t and have lea&s;t to leave them. They may ju&s;tly feare (as the woman of <HI>Tekoah</HI> &s;aid to <HI>David, 2 Sam.</HI> 14. 7.) le&s;t their coales &s;hould be quenched: (for &s;o &s;hee calls her childe her coale; for as coales either warme or burne, as they are u&s;ed, &s;o doe children either comfort or cro&s;&s;e their parents as they prove) now when a poore man &s;hall dye and leave his coales, I meane his Orphans behinde him: &s;uch is the world, that where you &s;hall light of one good body that will bee a meanes to cheri&s;h and maintaine and keepe them alive, there be twenty to that one &s;o unchri&s;ti|anly and uncharitably minded, that they care not how they u&s;e them, yea though they quench and
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cru&s;h, and put them cleane out. And hence come tho&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign">, tho&s;e perplexities and doubtfull cares of tender-hearted Parents for their Children. Ha&s;t thou therefore many little ones, and little to leave them? and doth thy heart even yearne with care and feare to fore-thinke what &s;hall betide them, when thou by death art taken from them? I will give thee the &s;ame coun&s;ell that I de&s;ire of God to take my &s;elfe, and that's this, <HI>Cognovi&s;ti Gratiam Dei,</HI> (&s;aith our Apo&s;tle, <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 1. 6.) Thou knowe&s;t the Grace of God: thou knowe&s;t that to bee a &s;ure &s;tay when all other props and &s;tayes are done away: That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breakes: Make tryall of that.</P>
<P>Doe by thy Children as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> did by his brethren, <HI>Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God, and to the word of his Grace;</HI> Lay them downe at the feet of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as they in the Primitive Church, laid downe their money at the feet of the Apo&s;tles; de&s;ire God to bee their Father, Chri&s;t to be their Guardian, the Holy Gho&s;t to bee their Guide; and when thou ha&s;t done &s;o, then as <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <HI>P&s;al. 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem,</HI> Returne unto thy re&s;t, O my &s;oule, then &s;ettle and a&s;&s;ure and re&s;olve thy &s;elfe, that Heaven &s;hall want mercy, and earth meanes, before any of tho&s;e that are un|der Gods protection and patronage &s;hall want maintenance. Never bee in doubt what &s;hall be|come of them, knowing that <HI>His Grace is &s;ufficient for them.</HI></P>
<P>I might adde hereunto many particulars; as that Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was <HI>homo in vinculis,</HI> a man in bonds, but
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the <HI>Grace</HI> of God unloo&s;ed them all: that he was <HI>Homo in nece&s;sitatibus,</HI> a man in wants, but the <HI>Grace</HI> of God &s;upplyed them all: that he was <HI>Ho|mo in periculis,</HI> a man in many perills and dangers, but by the Grace of God he e&s;caped them all: that he was <HI>Homo in tentationibus,</HI> a man mightily trou|bled with temptations, but by the Grace of God he overcame them all: All the&s;e I purpo&s;ely over&s;lip (which perhaps might comply with many a mans condition, and conduce to his comfort) but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the re&s;t, that S. <HI>Paul</HI> was, as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee, and every Chri&s;tian &s;oule to be.</P>
<P>5. <HI>Homo in Coele&s;tibus,</HI> a man of an heavenly di&s;|po&s;ition; though his bodily abode was upon earth, yet his <GAP DESC="foreign">, his &s;oules commerce, and conver|&s;ation was in heaven, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. 20. no marvell then, that being &s;o much acquainted with God, as hee was; and &s;o conver&s;ant in heaven, which is <HI>Gremium Gratiae,</HI> the lap and bo&s;ome of Grace; if, as tis &s;aid of Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> that leaning in the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t, he thence &s;uckt out his heavenly knowledge; So St. <HI>Paul</HI> being &s;o intimate, and &s;o entire with God who is the God of all Grace (whatever el&s;e hee wanted) could not po&s;&s;ibly want Grace &s;uf|ficient for him. In a word then: Is it &s;o with thee though in a farre inferiour degree? Art thou, as e|very good Chri&s;tian is, and ought to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, a Citizen of Heaven? Do&s;t thou account that thy home, and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time? and as our Saviour &s;et his face to goe to <HI>Ie|ru&s;alem, Luke</HI> 9. 51. Do&s;t thou &s;et thy face to go to
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heaven? doth thy heart &s;tand Heaven-ward? Art thou bound for that coa&s;t? (as <HI>Paul</HI> went bound in the &s;pirit to <HI>Ieru&s;alem, Act.</HI> 20.) I meane, do&s;t thou &s;et thy affections upon things above, upon God and his Grace? and not on things below, upon the world and her goods which drowne mens &s;oules in perdition? Art thou one of that &s;ame <HI>Generis Aqui|lini,</HI> of that Eagle kinde, whereof our Saviour &s;peakes, <HI>Mat. 24. (where the body is, thither will the Eagles re&s;ort</HI>) the body of thy Saviour thou knowe&s;t is in Heaven, and doth thy &s;oule re&s;ort often thi|ther? do&s;t thou wi&s;h (as <HI>Macarius</HI> did) <GAP DESC="foreign">, that thy &s;oule might goe up into heaven with thy prayers, and there abide for ever with God? Then, what <HI>Nathan</HI> &s;aid to <HI>David</HI> in a ca&s;e of conviction, I dare apply to thee in a ca&s;e of comfort; <HI>Thou art the man</HI> whom God delighteth to favour: and therefore as the Patriarchs are &s;aid <HI>Heb.</HI> 11. <GAP DESC="foreign">, even to ki&s;&s;e and embrace the pro|mi&s;es of Chri&s;t: &s;o doe thou even cla&s;pe and hugge this promi&s;e of Grace to thy &s;elfe; and let neither thy wants, nor thy weakne&s;&s;es di&s;may thee, for both in life and death thou &s;halt finde Gods Grace to bee &s;ufficient for thee, which God of his mercy grant unto us all, &amp;c. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
