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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A
SERMON
PREACHED
TO THE
HONORABLE HOUSE
OF
COMMONS,
At their late <HI>Solemne FAST,
Wedne&s;day,</HI> FEB. 26. 1644.</P>
<P>BY
JOHN MAYNARD, Mini&s;ter of the Word
of God at MAYFIELD in SVSSEX, and
a Member of the ASSEMBLY of
DIVINES.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI>
Printed by <HI>George Bi&s;hop,</HI> for <HI>Samuel Gellibrand,</HI> at
the <HI>Bra&s;en Serpent</HI> in <HI>Pauls Church-yard.</HI> 1645.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>A
SERMON
Preached to the Honorable Hou&s;e
of Commons, at their late Solemne FAST,
<DATE>Febr. 26. 1644.</DATE></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PROV. 23. 23.</BIBL>
<Q><P>Buy the Truth and &s;ell it not.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_TRUTH is the great bu&s;ines of the&s;e &s;tirring
Times; enquiries after <HI>Truth,</HI> di&s;coveries of
<HI>Truth,</HI> contending for <HI>Truth.</HI> This (I &s;up|po&s;e)
all parties pretend to, though never
&s;o contrary each to other. And among tho&s;e
who doe really aime at <HI>Truth,</HI> and meete in
the maine; no wonder though there be diffe|rences
in judgement, and conflicts about
&s;ome particulars, the parts of <HI>Truth</HI> being &s;o exceeding numerous,
the conceptions of men &s;o various, the eye of the inner man &s;o
dimme-&s;ighted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13 12.</NOTE> and apt to mi&s;take, while&s;t it looketh but <HI>through a
gla&s;&s;e.</HI> And indeede that the cau&s;e of <HI>Truth</HI> is of a tran&s;cendent na|ture,
and exceeding high concernement, the Wi&s;eman here &s;hew|eth,
&s;o advancing the worth of it, as to be bought at any rate, &s;o
<PB N="2" REF="3">
heightening the price of it, as not to be &s;old upon any termes. <HI>Buy
the Truth, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>This being one of tho&s;e entire portions of Scripture (as I con|ceive)
which have no nece&s;&s;ary connexion with that which goeth
before or followeth, &s;ome time may be &s;pared, which otherwi&s;e
&s;hould have been &s;pent, in &s;hewing the Coherence.</P>
<P>Neither doe I di&s;cerne any &s;uch difficulty in the words as needeth
much to retard our progre&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>[<HI>Buy</HI>] The Originall word may &s;ignifie either to buy or to po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE>
to get or keep po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion: and &s;o the exhortation may &s;uit all
&s;orts, Thou that wante&s;t the <HI>Truth,</HI> buy it: thou that ha&s;t it, keep
it: but the latter is manife&s;tly included in the negative, &s;ell it not.</P>
<P>[<HI>The Truth</HI>] The Hebrew note u&s;ed for empha&s;is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> demon&s;tra|tion,
&s;pecification, is not in the Text, and therefore I thinke our
Engli&s;h particle [<HI>The</HI>] (which an&s;wereth it) may be omitted,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE>
and we may read it, Buy <HI>Truth,</HI> as afterward <HI>Wi&s;dome,</HI> &amp;c. Not
the Wi&s;dome: and &s;o leave the word <HI>Truth</HI> in its ju&s;t latitude.</P>
<P>Here then is a point of Heavenly negotiation or Spirituall traf|fique
which the Holy Gho&s;t commendeth to all who de&s;ire to make
a wi&s;e improvement of that &s;hort &s;pan of time allotted them in this
world, and to give up their account with joy.</P>
<P>That &s;en&s;e which one Expo&s;itour giveth&punc;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pellican.</NOTE> maketh this place paral|lell
to that, Gal. 6. <HI>Let him that is taught in the word communicate, &amp;c.</HI>
though it be a truth cleerly held forth in Scripture, and may be ei|ther
included in this Text as a part of the &s;en&s;e, or inferred from it
as a con&s;equent, yet I conceive it is farre &s;hort of the full and direct
meaning of the place.</P>
<P><HI>I concurre with tho&s;e who under&s;tand it thus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mercerus. Junius. Jan&s;enius.</NOTE> Get po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the
<HI>Truth</HI> what&s;oever paines it co&s;t thee, whatever hazard it may lead thee
into, what&s;oever lo&s;&s;e or &s;uffering it may bring upon thee. Sell it not:
Doe not part with it to gain a world, leave it not, lo&s;e it not, for the great|e&s;t
advantage under Heaven.</P>
<P>In the words ye may ea&s;ily &s;ee two Propo&s;itions, 1. An affirmative,
or precept, <HI>Buy Truth.</HI> Secondly, A negative, or prohibition, <HI>Sell
it not.</HI> In the&s;e ob&s;erve 1. The Acts. 2. The Object: the
Act enjoyned in the precept or affirmative is, <HI>To buy,</HI> the Act for|bidden
in the negative or prohibition, is, <HI>To &s;ell.</HI> The object is the
&s;ame in both, <HI>Truth.</HI></P>
<P>The precept and prohibition of the&s;e two Acts in reference to
<PB N="3" REF="3">
the &s;ame object, are both of them ab&s;olute and peremptory, we
are ab&s;olutely commanded to buy <HI>Truth,</HI> peremptorily forbidden
to &s;ell it: and &s;o the parts of the Text mutually give light each to
other, &s;hewing that <HI>Truth</HI> mu&s;t be &s;o bought as never to be &s;old:
that he who buyeth it, cannot overbuy it, that he who &s;elleth it,
&s;hall be &s;ure to underfell it. It can never bee bought too deare,
it can never be &s;old at the true value. He that buyeth it at the highe&s;t
rate &s;hall be an happy gainer, he that &s;elleth it to the be&s;t advantage,
putteth it off with lo&s;&s;e, he maketh a mi&s;erable bargaine.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> But it may be &s;aid, the parts of the Text &s;eem rather to cro&s;&s;e than
to cleer each other: for if there be no &s;eller, there can be no buyers.
If the prohibition be ob&s;erved, forbidding all to &s;ell, the precept
cannot be performed, commanding all to buy. 
<MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> I an&s;wer, the pre|cept
and prohibition are of the &s;ame extent: all men are comman|ded
to buy, all men are forbidden to &s;ell: but they are not com|manded
to buy of men, who are forbidden to &s;ell, but of God,
who is the onely Proprietary of this rich trea&s;ure, and doth not
impo&s;e this Law of not &s;elling upon him&s;elfe.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. Rev. 3. 18. Mat. 25. 9.</NOTE> And therefore Chri&s;t
&s;aith to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea, I coun&s;ell thee to buy
of Me, gold tryed in the fire, &amp;c.</P>
<P>But the wi&s;e Virgins though they had oyl for their owne lampes,
yet they had none to fell or give.</P>
<P>From the precept or affirmative part, to which at pre&s;ent I in|tend
to confine my &s;elfe, give me leave to offer unto you this one
point of Doctrine, That</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Doctrine."> The purcha&s;e of <HI>Truth</HI> is of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity to all who will
be wi&s;e for their Souls.</P>
<P>In trading for things of the world there is a latitude, Merchants
have their liberty: they are not limited to one Port, nor re&s;trained to
one Mart, or to deal in one commodity: &s;o they make a good return,
it mattereth not much what kinde of wares they bring home. But
they who approve them&s;elves free of that <GAP DESC="foreign"> that glorious
Corporation in heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3. 20.</NOTE> &amp; trade to purpo&s;e for the things above, and
not prove bankrupts in the great day of account, a nece&s;&s;ity lieth
upon them, and woe unto them if they buy not <HI>Truth.</HI> Let their
Ships &s;eeme never &s;o well fraighted, their Shops and Ware-hou&s;e
never &s;o richly furni&s;hed, yet if they want this pearl of great price,
they are broken and undone for ever. The fooli&s;h virgins had their
lampes, and it may be for a time made as faire a blaze in &s;hew as
<PB N="4" REF="4">
tho&s;e of the wi&s;e: but they wanted <HI>Truth:</HI> their oyl was &s;pent, their
lamps were extingui&s;hed, they went to buy when market was done,
they called and knocked when it was too late, the doore was &s;hut.</P>
<P>For the cleering and proofe of the point, and our more orderly
proceeding, I de&s;ire you to con&s;ider with me the&s;e four things.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. What this <HI>Truth</HI> is, which we are required to Buy?</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. What it is to buy <HI>Truth?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Of whom it mu&s;t be bought?</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The nece&s;&s;ity of making this purcha&s;e.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>For the 1. Of the&s;e, what this <HI>Truth</HI> is which we mu&s;t buy, 1. There
is <HI>veritas rei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Veritas rei.</NOTE> or <HI>veritas in e&s;&s;endo,</HI> The truth of things, the truth of their
e&s;&s;ence or being: and &s;o all things that are, are truly the &s;ame which
they are, &s;o gold is true gold, oppo&s;ed to that which is fal&s;e and coun|terfeit,
but pretended to be gold. And this truth of things, is the con|formity
of things to the Divine intellect or knowledge of God. And
therefore (by the way) I conceive that tho&s;e lies are untruths which
are called <HI>mendacia ioco&s;a</HI> or <HI>officio&s;a,</HI> officiouslies, or lies in je&s;t, if they
be &s;uch as in no regard tend to our neighbours prejudice, are not &s;o
fitly ranked under the 9. Command. as reduced to the fir&s;t: becau&s;e
they contradict that <HI>Truth</HI> which is in the minde of God: for the
Lord in His infinite knowledge comprehendeth, and (as it were) a&s;|&s;erteth
all <HI>truth:</HI> and every untruth uttered by men is either a deniall
of &s;ome Truth which God affirmeth, or an affirming of &s;ome fal&s;e|hood
which God denyeth: and &s;o no man can utter any fal&s;hood
(though concerning matters of &s;mall moment) but in &s;o doing he
giveth God the lie. God His knowledge is the <GAP DESC="foreign"> or originall
<HI>Truth:</HI> and the truth of things is their corre&s;pondency thereunto, as
the truth of a copy is its corre&s;pondency with the originall. For
<HI>Truth</HI> carrieth a re&s;pect to knowledge, <HI>omne verum e&s;t intelligibile,</HI>
every Truth is in a capacity to be under&s;tood, and the Truth of
things is their conformity to a right under&s;tanding.</P>
<P>Now the truth of things may come under a two-fold Con&s;idera|tion,
1. Metaphy&s;icall, 2. Morall: and in both of the&s;e it &s;till hold|eth
good, their truth is their Conformity to the knowledge of God.
For 1. God knoweth what every per&s;on, action or thing is, and &s;uch
it truely is, as God knoweth it to be, and no other: and this I call
a Metaphy&s;icall Con&s;ideration. Secondly, God knoweth what eve|ry
per&s;on, Action or thing ought to bee, and &s;o farre as any of
the&s;e cro&s;&s;e this knowledge of God, they are fal&s;e in a morall Con|&s;ideration.
<PB N="5" REF="4">
They are true in a Metaphy&s;icall apprehen&s;ion, becau&s;e
they are &s;uch as God knoweth them to be, but they are fal&s;e in a
Morall notion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 1. 6.</NOTE> becau&s;e they are not &s;uch as God knoweth they
ought to be. <HI>The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous,</HI> how? with
approbation. This is true: but I think there is more in it: The Lord
knoweth what is that good way wherein men are to walk: and the
way of the Righteous is &s;utable to this knowledge of God, and &s;o
the Lord knoweth it, that is, looketh upon it as an object con|formable
to this knowledge of His; on the other &s;ide, He &s;aith to
the wicked,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 25. 12</NOTE> <HI>I know you not.</HI> I know what manner of per&s;ons ye
ought to be, but ye are men of another &s;hape, ye are not objects
conformed to this knowledge of Mine.</P>
<P>Secondly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Veritas. Scientiae.</NOTE> There is <HI>Veritas &s;cientiae,</HI> or <HI>veritas in cogno&s;cendo,</HI> Truth
of knowledge, and that in the creature is twofold, 1. Speculative,
which is a conformity of the under&s;tanding to the nature of things,
when the under&s;tanding of man &s;o judgeth of things as they are,
and the notions or conceptions of his minde are the very images
of tho&s;e things, this Conformity of his under&s;tanding to the
nature of things apprehended by him, is truth. Things are
true, as they agree with the knowledge of God: becau&s;e his know|ledge
is the Fountaine of all truth, as his e&s;&s;ence is the Fountain of
all being: But the knowledge of man is true becau&s;e it agreeth
with the nature of things. Secondly, The practicall truth of mans
knowledge is when together with a right apprehen&s;ion of the true
nature of things in the under&s;tanding, there is a frame of heart and
affections toward tho&s;e things, &s;utable to that apprehen&s;ion, when
the under&s;tanding rightly judgeth of things good or evill, and the
will and affections are regularly guided by &s;uch a right apprehen|&s;ion,
loving, imbracing, de&s;iring, delighting in that which the
under&s;tanding rightly judgeth to be lovely, de&s;irable, &amp;c. Hating,
abhorring, &s;hunning, &amp;c. According to that true intelligence which
the under&s;tanding giveth in of the nature of things or actions; then
there is a practicall truth in that mans knowledge. But when the
under&s;tanding rightly apprehendeth, and yet giveth way to the per|ver&s;ene&s;&s;e
of the will and di&s;tempers of the affections, this know|ledge
though &s;peculatively true, is practically fal&s;e.</P>
<P>Thirdly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Veritas Signi.</NOTE> There is <HI>veritas &s;igni,</HI> Truth of expre&s;&s;ion, Speeches,
writings, ge&s;tures, Actions, when truth po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the minde and
heart within and &s;hineth out at the windowes (as it were) when a
<PB N="6" REF="5">
mans words and conver&s;ation are the very image and Characters of
that truth which dwelleth in him, when hee knoweth and loveth
the truth, and &s;peaketh and walketh according to that truth which
he knoweth and loveth.</P>
<P>Now then what is that truth which we mu&s;t buy? 1. The true
knowledge of tho&s;e things which &s;erve for the perfecting of the
inner, and for the ordering of the outward man: the true know|ledge
of God, of Chri&s;t, of the my&s;teries of grace, of the wayes
of God, of the power of godline&s;&s;e, of the will of God in things
concerning the matter and manner of his wor&s;hip, and in tho&s;e
things that belong to our Places, Callings, Relations, in
ordinary and extraordinary occa&s;ions. Secondly, The Practicall
truth of the&s;e things, &s;uch a frame of heart as &s;uiteth with the
nature of the&s;e things rightly apprehended: which cannot be with|out
the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the things them&s;elves. Thou mu&s;t have God
dwelling in thee, thou mu&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e Chri&s;t and be made one with
him, thy body and &s;oule mu&s;t become a temple of the Holy Gho&s;t,
otherwi&s;e thou ha&s;t not this Practicall, through, and effectuall
knowledge of God and Chri&s;t: thou ha&s;t a &s;hadow of the truth
rather then the truth it &s;elfe. Thou mu&s;t have the truth of all &s;aving
Graces in thee, otherwi&s;e thou can&s;t not have an heart &s;uited to a
right apprehen&s;ion of Divine truth. La&s;tly, thou mu&s;t be &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;t
of the truth as to &s;peak the truth from the heart, and to walk in
the truth.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing to be enquired,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. What it is to Buy <HI>Truth.</HI></NOTE> is, what it is to buy truth.</P>
<P>To buy in generall, is, <HI>For a con&s;iderable value with con&s;ent of the
owner, to get the propriety and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of &s;omething which formerly
was not our own.</HI> He then that will buy truth, <MILESTONE N="1"> 1. Mu&s;t look upon it as
none of his own. A man doeth not buy that which hee is born to.
That which hee hath by inheritance he needeth not purcha&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 14. 18.</NOTE> <HI>The
&s;imple inherit folly.</HI> Such &s;illy ones we are all by nature: and our in|heritance
is folly &amp; fal&s;hood. This inheritance we have by de&s;cent:
our fir&s;t Parents <HI>changed the truth of God into a lye,</HI> forfeited their
po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of truth, and left us lies to inherit after them: and now
if we will enjoy any of the&s;e forfeited and confi&s;cated goods,
which the Lord hath ju&s;tly &s;eized into his own hands, we mu&s;t, buy
them as things which are no longer our own. He that is not convin|ced
of this, is never likely to buy. He that wil buy truth indeed mu&s;t
be of &s;uch a poore and humble &s;pirit as <HI>Agur</HI> was,<NOTE PLACE="marg">pro. 30. 2, 3</NOTE> <HI>&s;urely I am more
<PB N="7" REF="5">
bruti&s;h then any man:</HI> &s;o the tran&s;lation: but (as ye &s;ee) the word
[any] is in a &s;maller Character, not being in the originall: neither
doe I think it ought to be &s;upplied, but we are to read it thus, <HI>I am
more bruti&s;h then man,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> P&s;a. 49. 12</NOTE> according to that of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>man being
in honour abideth not: he is like the bea&s;ts that peri&s;h.</HI> Man being ho|noured
with the image of God in wi&s;dome and Holine&s;&s;e, his &s;pirit
&s;hining with the Beauty and glory of Divine truth, did not abide in
this condition, but lo&s;t the truth, yeelding him&s;elfe to be &s;educed
by the father of lies, and &s;o no longer had the wi&s;edom of man in
him, but degraded him&s;elfe from his created Dignity, deba&s;ed
him&s;elfe to the ranke of brute creatures, enthralled his immortall
Soul, and intellectuall nature to his bruti&s;h &s;en&s;es and affections:
and the next words of <HI>Agur</HI> confirm this &s;en&s;e, <HI>And have not the
under&s;tanding of Adam in me:</HI> that under&s;tanding and knowledge of
Holy truth which was in <HI>Adam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> and was properly belonging to
the nature of man. He that knoweth not thus much of him&s;elfe,
<HI>knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know,</HI> and is no fit Merchant to
Trade for truth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 3. 17, 18.</NOTE> Chri&s;t fir&s;t informeth the <HI>Laodicean</HI> of his wants,
<HI>Thou art wretched, and mi&s;erable, and poore, and blind, and naked:</HI> and
then coun&s;elleth him to buy, ver&s;. 18. Secondly, He that buyeth
giveth a con&s;iderable value. But alas, what have we to give that is
con&s;iderable? If we offer gold, or &s;ilver, what can we expect but &s;uch
an an&s;wer as <HI>Simon Magus</HI> had?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8. 10</NOTE> <HI>Thy money peri&s;h with thee, becau&s;e
thou ha&s;t thought that the gift of God may be purcha&s;ed with money.</HI> And
<HI>Solomon</HI> telleth us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 8. 11.</NOTE> <HI>This wi&s;dom</HI> of Divine truth <HI>is better then rubies:
and all the things that may be de&s;ired, are not to be compared to it;</HI> which
maketh good what I &s;aid before, we cannot buy truth too dear: all
outward things that can be de&s;ired, are not to be compared to it.
And therefore, we may conclude, This buying is not of the nature
of common contracts, in which there is a ju&s;t proportion between
the price and the purcha&s;e, but rather &s;uch as hath &s;ome remote
<HI>Analogy</HI> or re&s;emblance to it: &s;uch as that, where the Lord by
&s;olemn Proclamation offereth a free and open market,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. 55. 1.</NOTE> <HI>H<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">, every one
that thir&s;teth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: Come
ye, buy and eat; yea come, buy Wine and milk without money and with|out
price.</HI> And indeed who&s;oever getteth po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of &s;aving Truth,
he hath it by a free gift of meere grace: yet &s;o that we mu&s;t give up
what&s;oever is nece&s;&s;ary for the obtaining of <HI>Truth,</HI> and ca&s;t away
whatever may hinder us in the receiving or retaining of <HI>Truth,</HI> or is
<PB N="8" REF="6">
incon&s;i&s;tent with it. <MILESTONE N="1"> 1. We mu&s;t <HI>give up our &s;elves,</HI> our hearts, &s;pirits,
&s;ouls, bodies to the God of <HI>Truth.</HI> We mu&s;t bee content to part
with any outward things for the procuring and promoting of
<HI>Truth,</HI> for the &s;upporting and maintaining of <HI>Truth:</HI> we mu&s;t ac|count
our &s;elves gainers by every lo&s;&s;e which we can po&s;&s;ibly &s;uffer
for <HI>Truth.</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> 2. On the other &s;ide we mu&s;t <HI>renounce and ca&s;t away our
lu&s;ts,</HI> our own corrupt rea&s;on, blind, carnall notions and prejudices:
in a word, we mu&s;t out our &s;elves of our &s;elves, and yeeld up our
&s;elves into the entire po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Truth:</HI> and in all this we give
nothing unto God: for what&s;oever we give up to him for Truth,
is his own already, and cannot bee withheld from him, without
wrong and robbery, what wee ca&s;t away is wor&s;e then nothing,
and if we leave it not, we keep it to our lo&s;&s;e and utter undoing. It
remaineth then, that though we are &s;aid in &s;ome &s;ort to buy, yet
<HI>Truth</HI> is a mo&s;t free gift of God, and conveyed to man by a meere
Act of grace.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, If we will buy Truth, <HI>we mu&s;t get the propriety of it,</HI>
we mu&s;t make it our own, get it into our po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, have a &s;ure
intere&s;t in it and title to it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Iohn 2.</NOTE> <HI>For the Truthes &s;ake which dwelleth in us,
and &s;hall be with us for ever.</HI> Then hath a man bought the <HI>Truth,</HI>
when he hath &s;o owned it, and given it &s;uch po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of his heart,
that it is in him, as in an everla&s;ting Man&s;ion, &s;o as to dwell in him
and be in him for ever: when he is &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of the Truth, and the
Truth hath &s;uch po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of him, as to denominate and Characte|rize
him:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ioh. 3. 19</NOTE> according to that, <HI>Hereby we know that we are of the</HI> Truth,
<HI>and &s;hall a&s;&s;ure our hearts before him.</HI> As great Per&s;ons are denomina|ted
from their Seates, Mannor-hou&s;es, &amp;c. Such a Lord of &s;uch a
place: So he that will buy Truth mu&s;t get &s;uch po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it and
propriety in it, as that he may by good right take a title of honour
from the truth, his own con&s;cience bearing him witne&s;&s;e in the
Holy Gho&s;t, that he is of the Truth.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, Of whom mu&s;t we buy Truth?</P>
<P>This hath been intimated before,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deus e&s;t &s;umm &amp; maxima Veritas. Snarez.</NOTE> even of him who is the God
of Truth, who is the fir&s;t, the Highe&s;t Truth, the Fountain of all
Truth, who calleth him&s;elfe [<HI>I Am</HI>] becau&s;e he is in and of him|&s;elfe,
the onely infinite perfection of being, and &s;o the infinite
perfection of Truth. He &s;eeth and knoweth his own e&s;&s;ence infinite|ly
perfect and glorious, with a mo&s;t exact knowledge of infinite
perfection: and &s;ome have conceived that this contemplation of
<PB N="9" REF="6">
God the Father reflecting upon His owne Maje&s;ty and glory is the
eternall and un&s;peakable generation of the Son. But we are to &s;peak
&s;oberly of the&s;e my&s;teries &s;o farre above us:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. Hebr. 1. 3.</NOTE> How&s;oever when we
u&s;e Scripture-language, we are warranted by the highe&s;t Authority,
which calleth Chri&s;t the brightnes of his Fathers glory, and the ex|pre&s;&s;e
image of his Per&s;on: and the Son of God &s;aith of him&s;elfe,
I am the Truth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 14. 6. 17.</NOTE> And the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the
Son, is called the Spirit of <HI>Truth.</HI> To this fountain wee mu&s;t bring
our empty pitchers if we would be filled with the&s;e living waters,
and take in the&s;e pure &s;treames of <HI>Truth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4. 6.</NOTE> John <HI>being in the Spirit &s;aw
before the throne of God in heaven, a Sea of gla&s;&s;e like unto Crystall.</HI>
The Saints may have their Vials filled with <HI>Truth:</HI> but here is <HI>verita|tis
plenitudo,</HI> An Ocean and full Sea of Truth, and that without
mud or mixture, cleere as cry&s;tall, wherein the faithfull Soule
may &s;ee the glory of God &s;hining in the Face of Chri&s;t. Here is
the Springhead of Truth: and they which come not to God, and
are not inwardly acquainted with him in Chri&s;t, are &s;trangers to the
Truth, they never looked into this Sea of cry&s;tall, which is before
the throne of God.</P>
<P>And &s;o I come to the fourth and la&s;t particular, to &s;hew the ne|ce&s;&s;ity
of making this purcha&s;e, <MILESTONE N="4"> ye &s;ee it is ab&s;olutely commanded
in the Text: and becau&s;e a threefold cord is not ea&s;ily broken, ob|&s;erve
how <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;trongly twi&s;teth together a threefold charge in
a quick and pre&s;&s;ing &s;tile.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 4. 13.</NOTE> 1. <HI>Take fa&s;t hold of in&s;truction, 2. Let her
not go. 3. Keep her:</HI> and fa&s;teneth all with this knot, <HI>for &s;he is thy life.</HI> If
thou lo&s;e her, it is more than thy life is worth: it were better to part
with thy deare&s;t heart-blood: if thou get and keep the Truth, it will
keep thee alive in the very jawes of death: if thou lo&s;e it, thou art
dead while&s;t thou live&s;t, and in the road-way to everla&s;ting death.
What need we any farther witne&s;&s;e? yet if ye plea&s;e to hear an ar|gument
or two, take the&s;e briefly.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> 1.While&s;t we are travailing here in this world toward our long
home, our way lieth through a wilderne&s;&s;e, wherein are many by|pathes,
multitude of pa&s;&s;engers wandring out of the right way, a|bundance
of &s;nares and dangers, and above all we are wofully be|nighted
with the naturall darkne&s;&s;e and blindne&s;&s;e of our mindes:
now <HI>Truth</HI> is that <HI>Pillar of fire</HI> which &s;hould guide us in the way
wherein we mu&s;t walk, and direct us to the promi&s;ed re&s;t. And
though this Truth be never &s;o cleerly held forth unto us in the mini|&s;try
<PB N="10" REF="7">
of the go&s;pel, yet unle&s;&s;e we buy it and get po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it, &s;o
as to make it our own, and to have it dwelling in us, we are not
able to follow it. It is not enough to have the light of the Sun, ex|cept
withall there be a light in the eye to meet with that light with|out,
and take it in: &s;o that <HI>lumen externum,</HI> that externall light
of <HI>Truth</HI> which &s;hineth forth in the word, will never <HI>lead us to that
re&s;t which remaineth for the people of God,</HI> except there be al&s;o <HI>lumen
internum,</HI> an inward light of Truth, and principle of &s;aving know|ledge
&s;et up in the heart.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle having notably magnified his office,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3. &amp; 4. 2, 3.</NOTE> as in other re|&s;pects,
&s;o in regard of that lu&s;tre and brightne&s;&s;e of Divine Truth
which &s;hined in his Mini&s;try, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3. proceedeth in the next chap|ter,
and &s;aith that <HI>he had not handled the word of God deceitfully, but
by manife&s;tation of the truth</HI> &amp;c. It mu&s;t be objected, What is the
cau&s;e then that your Go&s;pel is hidden to many thou&s;ands? his
an&s;wer is ready: <HI>If our Go&s;pel be hid, it is hid to them that are lo&s;t,
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which be|leeve
not, le&s;t the light of the glorious Go&s;pel of Christ, who is the image
of God &s;hould &s;hine unto them.</HI> They want inward light, Satan the
prince of darknes hath filled them with darkne&s;&s;e within, they will
not buy the Truth, and &s;o the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, though it &s;hineth
out never &s;o gloriou&s;ly in it &s;elfe, yet it &s;hineth not at all to them:
as the Sun when it giveth the greate&s;t light, &s;hineth not to the blind.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. If we do not buy Truth, the Truth will witne&s;&s;e again&s;t us and
condemne us.</P>
<P>A nece&s;&s;ity lyeth upon us, either wee mu&s;t make the Truth our
owne, or el&s;e we &s;hall be &s;ure to have it our Enemy. Con&s;ider
that weighty &s;peech of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 12. 48.</NOTE> <HI>He that rejecteth me, and re|ceiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him, the word that I have
&s;poken, the &s;ame &s;hall judge him in the la&s;t day:</HI> Who is he that rejecteth
Chri&s;t? he that doth not receive his words, he that doth not buy
Truth, but &s;hutteth his eyes or heart again&s;t that light of Truth
which &s;hineth from the face of this Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. The&s;e
men perhaps may think in their hearts, We will have nothing to do
with this, which they call Truth, for which there is &s;o much con|tention,
nor with the way wherein it leadeth tho&s;e that receive it,
we will neither embrace nor oppo&s;e it. Nay, but &s;aith Chri&s;t, this
will not &s;erve thy turne, either thou mu&s;t receive it, or be judged
by it; if thou doe&s;t not buy this Truth and embrace it with thine
<PB N="11" REF="7">
whole heart, it will condemn thee at the la&s;t day. If men could ap|prehend
with what Maje&s;ty and authority that Truth of God which
now they ca&s;t behinde their backs will appear again&s;t them in the
day of Chri&s;t, how would their Souls tremble to de&s;pi&s;e it? How
would they yeeld them&s;elves convinced that the purcha&s;e of Truth
is of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity, what&s;oever it may co&s;t them? The proude&s;t
&s;pirits which now may think to out-face the Truth of God, &s;hall
then not be able to hold up their faces before it.</P>
<P>So much for the proofe and opening of this point: Let us &s;ee the
U&s;e of it:  and that may be, 1. For Reproofe, 2. For Exhortation.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="U&s;e"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproofe.</NOTE> 1. For Reproofe. 1. of tho&s;e <HI>who</HI> are &s;o farre from buying truth,
that they <HI>labour to &s;top the trade:</HI> Such were tho&s;e Expounders of <MILESTONE N="1">
the Law,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 11. 52.</NOTE> to whom the Lord Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>ye have taken away the key
of knowledge, ye entred not in your &s;elves, and them that were entring in
ye hindred:</HI> they kept the &s;tore-hou&s;e of truth locked up, and carried
away the key. How many have we had of late in this land led by
&s;uch a &s;pirit, who when the truth had many buyers beheld it with
an evill eye, like the Phari&s;ees complaining of the multitudes that
followed Chri&s;t?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 12. 19.</NOTE> <HI>the world is gon after him,</HI> It was a vexation to
their fal&s;e hearts to &s;ee the &s;treame of trade bend towards the Coa&s;ts
of truth: and e&s;pecially when any upon who&s;e habitations was a
famine of the word, travailed abroad to buy them&s;elves a little
food.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 41. 56.</NOTE> But how are we bound to ble&s;&s;e God who hath &s;tirred up your
&s;pirits, like &s;o many <HI>Jo&s;ephs,</HI> already to open many, &amp; to indeavour to
open all the &s;tore-hou&s;es of truth in the Land, that none may com|plaine
of want, who have hearts to buy? No wonder if the enemies
of truth oppo&s;e you in this worke. It cro&s;&s;eth their maine de&s;igne.
<HI>He that doth evill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, le&s;t his
deedes &s;hould be reproved. Can the Blackmore change his skinne, or the
Leopard his &s;pots?</HI> Doe we expect a reconcilement betweene light
and darkene&s;&s;e? Let all tremble to give them the right hand of fel|low&s;hip
in &s;topping the cour&s;e of the word of truth, and hindring
the worke of reformation.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. <HI>Of tho&s;e that are a&s;hamed of the truth:</HI> what hope is there that 
&s;uch will buy it? He that will buy it mu&s;t looke upon it <HI>as his
crowne.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12. <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> The Church was pre&s;ented to <HI>John</HI> in a vi&s;ion, <HI>cloathed with
the Sun, and the Moone under her foote, and upon her head a Crowne of
twelve Stars.</HI> The Churches cloathing and her Crown is Light and
Truth: Can any true-borne Childe of the Church account that his
<PB N="12" REF="8">
&s;hame which is his Mothers glorie? Let &s;uch weigh tho&s;e words of
him who is not a&s;hamed to call him&s;elfe the Truth, <HI>Who&s;oever &s;hall
be a&s;hamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and &s;infull generati|on,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 8. 38.</NOTE>
<HI>of him al&s;o &s;hall the Sonne of man be a&s;hamed, when he cometh in the
glory of his Father with the holy Angells.</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. Of tho&s;e <HI>who will not
take &s;o much paines as to re&s;ort to the market though it be neere their
owne doores:</HI> who gro&s;&s;ely neglect precious opportunities of hearing
the word upon &s;light pretences. Did they know the worth of truth,
and looke upon it as their life, they would not think every petty in|convenience
a ju&s;t excu&s;e. A little change of weather or di&s;temper
of body will not keepe tho&s;e within doores, who are nece&s;&s;itated to
&s;eek out for that without which they cannot live. Tho&s;e that fol|lowed
Chri&s;t &s;ometimes three dayes together,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 15. 32</NOTE> having nothing to
eat, might have had a fair plea in appearance to &s;hift off their atten|dance.
Such as will &s;uffer nothing in this ca&s;e, but make the hear|ing
of the word a meere recreation, when they can doe it with
ea&s;e and at plea&s;ure, are not likely to go to the price of <HI>truth.</HI> <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. Of
tho&s;e <HI>that come onely as meere &s;pectatours rather than buyers,</HI> who
view many glorious Go&s;pel-truthes openly propo&s;ed and freely
tendred to all, but are content to looke on whil&s;t others buy.
Such are our common &s;ort of ignorant hearers, compared to the
<HI>way &s;ide,</HI> who hear the word and under&s;tand it not. <HI>The &s;eed lieth
above ground:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13. 19.</NOTE> <HI>then commeth the wicked one and catcheth away that
which was &s;owne in his heart.</HI> The father of lies ea&s;ily robbeth &s;uch a
one of the word of <HI>truth.</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> 5. Of <HI>&s;uch as &s;eem to cheapen, but doe not
buy:</HI> tho&s;e who are &s;omewhat affected with the <HI>truth,</HI> and think it
worth the carrying home if they might have it at their own price:
they hear it, perhaps talk of it, repeat it, &amp;c. And of the&s;e there are
two &s;orts: the one compared to the <HI>&s;tony,</HI> the other to the <HI>thorny</HI>
ground: the former would own the <HI>truth,</HI> were it not accompanied
with the cro&s;&s;e: <HI>but when per&s;ecution ari&s;eth becau&s;e of the word, by
and by they are offended.</HI> They never gave the <HI>truth</HI> rooting in their
hearts, and &s;o when the Sun ari&s;eth it is &s;corched and withered. The
latter &s;uffer it to be overgrown and choaked with thornes: there
may be &s;ome &s;tirrings in their &s;pirits, &s;ome &s;pringings of their af|fections
upon the receiving of the &s;eed of <HI>truth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13. 22. Luke 8. 14.</NOTE> but then their un|mortified
lu&s;ts, the care of this world, and the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of
riches and plea&s;ures of this life draw away the &s;trength of their
hearts from the <HI>truth,</HI> and it becometh unfruitfull: they will not
<PB N="13" REF="8">
renounce their earthly-mindedne&s;&s;e or their voluptuous, ambitious,
corrupt affections to make a full purcha&s;e of <HI>truth.</HI> Herod <HI>did many
things and heard</HI> John <HI>gladly,</HI> but would not yeeld &s;o far to the com|mands
of <HI>truth,</HI> as to for&s;ake his <HI>Herodias:</HI> there was a thorny lu&s;t
which choaked all.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 19. 16.</NOTE> The yong man al&s;o &s;eemed willing to buy, <HI>What
good thing &s;hall I doe that I may have eternall life?</HI> what &s;hall I give to
buy <HI>truth?</HI> again, <HI>All the&s;e have I kept from my youth; what lack I yet?</HI>
Thus much I have offered if this be not enough, I am willing to
give more. I beleeve he thought hee offered like a chapman: But
when he heard Chri&s;t rai&s;e his demands &s;o high, <HI>Goe and &s;ell all that
thou hast and give to the poore,</HI> he brake off, <HI>went away &s;orrowfull,</HI>
as if the price had been unrea&s;onable. I feare, many who counte|nance
the cau&s;e of <HI>truth,</HI> &s;ome who are great actours in it, yea
&s;ome who may venture their lives in the pro&s;ecution of it may de|ceive
them&s;elves. There may be &s;ome thornes not rooted up, &s;ome
<HI>root of bitterne&s;&s;e</HI> not killed, &s;ome corrupt principle which may carry
men far this way, &s;ome by-end which may poi&s;on all. <HI>If I give my
body to be burned and have not love,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13. 3</NOTE> <HI>it profiteth me nothing.</HI> A man may
&s;eem to die for the <HI>truth,</HI> and yet never buy it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="U&s;e"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ex|hortation.</NOTE> 2. This is for for <HI>exhortation:</HI> 1. In generall to us all: 2. In &s;peciall
to tho&s;e whom the Lord hath honoured above others for the pa|tronage
and promoting of the great cau&s;e of his <HI>truth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Generall</NOTE> And 1. let me
&s;tir up you and my &s;elfe by all meanes to make this purcha&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. to make this pur|cha&s;e.</NOTE> 2. Not
to think any co&s;t too much for that purpo&s;e: concerning the former,
<MILESTONE N="1"> 1. Get a cleer and &s;olid under&s;tanding of all the main and mo&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;ary
<HI>truthes.</HI> Learn to be throughly acquainted with the Funda|mentalls 
of Faith.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim 3. 16.</NOTE> <HI>Great is the my&s;tery of godline&s;&s;e:</HI> And the know|ledge
of it is of great concernment: it is a great my&s;tery, and re|quireth
a deep &s;earch. An overly, &s;light, and &s;uperficiall view of tho&s;e
great &s;ecrets <HI>which the Angels de&s;ired to looke into,</HI> mu&s;t not &s;atisfie
them who will indeed buy <HI>truth.</HI> Labour for a right under&s;tanding
of the Al&s;ufficiency and infinite excellency of God in all his attri|butes,
as hee hath revealed him&s;elfe in his word: of the per|&s;on,
natures, offices of Chri&s;t, of the covenant of grace, of the
fountain of all &s;pirituall ble&s;&s;ings in heavenly things in Chri&s;t,
the eternall love and good purpo&s;e of God toward his, and tho&s;e
glorious wayes and meanes whereby the Lord is plea&s;ed to bring
poore lo&s;t &s;oules to glory, reconciling them to him&s;elfe by the
death of his Sonne, calling them by his Word and Spirit, uniting
<PB N="14" REF="9">
them to Chri&s;t, adopting them for his children and heires, ju&s;ti|fying
them freely by his grace, &s;anctifying, quickning, and keeping
them by his mighty power through Faith unto &s;alvation. The&s;e
and the like are e&s;pecially to bee &s;tudied, and wee are to take
heed le&s;t Satan intangling us in doubtfull di&s;putes about things of
an inferiour nature, &s;hould cunningly divert our thoughts from
&s;earching into the&s;e hid trea&s;ures. I confe&s;&s;e the rents and divi&s;ions
which follow upon contrariety of opinions are &s;ad, and &s;uch as
we have cau&s;e to lament: but I am per&s;waded this is not the onely,
nor the greate&s;t mi&s;chiefe. I feare Satan gaineth much advan|tage
by engaging young beginners and wanton wits in the agitati|on
of controver&s;ies ere they have laid the foundation, much more
before them&s;elves have taken root in Chri&s;t, or &s;o much as proved
them&s;elves to be in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t to be in them. <MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Let us la|bour
to make tho&s;e Truths which we under&s;tand, our owne: 1. By
mixing them with faith.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> Heb. 4. 2.</NOTE> <HI>The word preached did not profit the un|beleeving
I&s;raelites, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it:</HI>
they did but view, not buy the truth; we cannot make the truth our
owne, nor truly &s;ay, we have bought it, unle&s;&s;e we &s;o mixe and tem|per
it with faith as that it becometh one with our &s;oules, or rather
our &s;oules become one with it, faith &s;trongly clo&s;ing with the word,
dige&s;ting it, and &s;o leavening all the powers of the &s;oule with the
truth, and cau&s;ing them to reli&s;h of it. 2. By receiving the truth
in &s;incere love. No man buyeth truth, who doth not truly love it.
So much truth as thou love&s;t is thine owne. Some may ha&s;tily con|clude
from hence, Then all the promi&s;es of pardon are mine: for
the&s;e I love from my heart, though not tho&s;e precepts of obedience,
and qualifications of repentance, morification and holine&s;&s;e. But
know this, It is ea&s;ie to mi&s;take lies of our owne coyning, for God
his holy truth: for tho&s;e promi&s;es carrie a re&s;pect to their qualifica|tions,
and are true in relation to them: if thou &s;eperate&s;t what God
hath joyned together, thou hugge&s;t an Idoll of thine own braine and
do&s;t not embrace the truth of God, as the Devill in his temptations
mangleth the truth of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Math.</HI> 4.</NOTE> <HI>promi&s;sionem objicit, conditionem abjicit:</HI>
he objecteth the promi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jun. in Pa|rallel: Res tran&s;it cum onere.</NOTE> rejecteth the condition. But this is rather
to prophane the truth then to buy it. He that will buy, mu&s;t take
the commodity with all the appurtenances. This not receiving the
truth in <HI>love</HI> was the roote of that great Apo&s;ta&s;ie of the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 2. 10.</NOTE>
This beggered and undid them, they played with the light, and dal|lied
<PB N="15" REF="9">
with the <HI>Truth</HI> of God: and did not buy it and enrich them|&s;elves
with it, <HI>by receiving the love of the Truth, that they might be
&s;aved.</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. Labour to abound in the knowledge of the <HI>truth.</HI> A Mer|chant 
who hath made a good voyage, finding &s;uch a commodity ad|vantagious,
is encouraged to new adventures: that man never bought
any &s;aving <HI>truth,</HI> who &s;itteth down and thinketh he hath enough. If
once thou wert po&s;&s;e&s;t of the <HI>truth</HI> indeed, thy de&s;ires would bee
more and more enlarged toward it; many &s;eem to think they have
got <HI>truth</HI> enough already, more then they know what to do with,
&s;o much that they are troubled with it, it di&s;turbeth their &s;lumbring
&s;pirits, di&s;quieteth their con&s;ciences: The&s;e men are far from buy|ing
the <HI>truth;</HI> rather &s;ome truthes have &s;urpri&s;ed them again&s;t their
wills,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 21. 20.</NOTE> and are as welcome to them as <HI>Elijah to Ahab, Ha&s;t thou
found me, O mine enemy?</HI> But all that will buy <HI>truth</HI> let them hearken
to the Apo&s;tles Coun&s;ell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3. 16.</NOTE> <HI>Let the word of Chri&s;t dwell in you richly
in all wi&s;dome.</HI> <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. They that will buy <HI>truth</HI> mu&s;t &s;ubject them&s;elves 
to the power and command of it. A man mu&s;t not buy <HI>truth</HI> as he
purcha&s;eth outward things, to di&s;po&s;e of it at his plea&s;ure: thou
mu&s;t not buy it as men were wont to buy &s;laves, to keep it in bond|age,
to make it &s;erve thy lu&s;ts and ends, or to fetter it and impri|&s;on
it <HI>by withholding the Truth in unrighteou&s;nes:</HI> but as a man would
buy an office at Court, a place of &s;ervice and attendance upon a
Prince: in buying <HI>truth</HI> thou mu&s;t &s;ell thy &s;elf a &s;ervant to the <HI>truth,</HI>
give up thy &s;elf to be ruled &amp; guided by the <HI>truth.</HI> Some (I beleeve)
are troubled that they have more of the <HI>truth</HI> than they can well
rule: it meeteth and faceth them in many of their crooked by|pathes,
it is as a lighted torch to them when they are mo&s;t of all
retired in acting their works of darkne&s;&s;e: it is apt to interpo&s;e, yea
and to controll, it will not &s;uffer them to bee private when they
would: the&s;e would have <HI>truth</HI> en&s;laved, and lu&s;t predominant. But
to pretend to <HI>truth</HI> and not to allow it that Soveraignty which
belongeth to its place and dignity, is indeed to reject it. Let <HI>truth</HI>
rule thy judgement, will, and affections in all things. <MILESTONE N="5"> 5. Do not re&s;t
in meere notions of <HI>truth,</HI> but endeavour to have the <HI>truth</HI> of God 
realized to thy &s;oul. Labour to have thy heart po&s;&s;e&s;t with the &s;ub|&s;tance
and reality of Divine <HI>truth,</HI> to furni&s;h thy &s;elfe with tho&s;e
very things which thou finde&s;t cloathed with the <HI>truth</HI> of God in
Scripture.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5. 8</NOTE> Saith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Ye were &s;ometime in darkne&s;&s;e: but now
are ye light in the Lord.</HI> He doth not &s;ay, ye have light, but ye are
light, the light is realized in you, ye are transformed into the light,
<PB N="16" REF="10">
ye are become &s;uch indeed and in truth as the light di&s;covereth tho&s;e
to bee who are children of light. The word and <HI>truth</HI> of God
hath many beames of light in it, and we mu&s;t &s;eek to take them in
&s;o, as to find the reall effects of them in our &s;elves. Beleeve, and
thou &s;halt be &s;aved: there is a beame of <HI>truth:</HI> and then do we buy
this <HI>truth</HI> indeed, when we get that precious Faith of God his elect,
that Faith unfeigned which really uniteth the &s;oul to Chri&s;t, taketh
root in him, draweth life and &s;pirit from him, conformeth and &s;ub|jecteth
the &s;oul unto him. Take heed of Satans jugling, le&s;t he &s;ell
thee a counterfeit &s;tone in&s;tead of this precious Pearl: a fal&s;e Faith,
a vaine fancy, an empty &s;hadow of Faith: how many content
them&s;elves with this, becau&s;e it is of a low price, or rather may bee
had for nothing? But if ever that caution be needfull, it is in this
ca&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Caveat Emptor.</NOTE> <HI>Caveat Emptor,</HI> Let him that would buy <HI>truth,</HI> beware. It
is not in this ca&s;e, as when a man would buy a thing to plea&s;e a
childe, a &s;light toy of &s;mall value will &s;erve as well as a better: but
it is as if a man were to buy a &s;hip to tran&s;port him&s;elfe, his whole
family and all his goods into a far-country: were it not the extre|mity
of folly to venture all in a rotten ve&s;&s;ell for &s;aving of charges,
rather then with greater co&s;t to provide a &s;ub&s;tantiall bottome? Oh
let us tremble to embark our &s;ouls (more precious then the world)
together with all our eternall hopes in a leaking &s;hip of a rotten
faith, being to make &s;o great a voyage, among &s;o many dangerous
Rockes and &s;ands, through &s;o many &s;tormes and waves, which
were too much for the &s;ounde&s;t Faith to breake through were
it not <HI>kept by the power of God unto Salvation.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 13.</NOTE> Again, <HI>Ex|cept
ye repent ye &s;hall all peri&s;h.</HI> Doe not think thou ha&s;t bought this
<HI>truth,</HI> &s;o &s;oon as thy judgement is informed that this grace of re|pentance
is nece&s;&s;ary to &s;alvation, thou ha&s;t but viewed it yet, thou
ha&s;t not purcha&s;ed it. If thou wilt buy it indeed, thou mu&s;t have a
through change wrought in thy heart &amp; &s;oul, repentance from dead
works, repentance unto life: thou mu&s;t look upon thy &s;weete&s;t &s;ins
as thy bittere&s;t enemies, and feel them as they heavie&s;t burthens,
fleeing from them as from a Serpent, inwardly loathing, outwardly
leaving them. Thou mu&s;t labour for the <HI>truth</HI> of mortification, the
reall de&s;truction of thy lu&s;ts: as it is &s;aid of <HI>Ca&s;&s;ius Chaerea,</HI> a Pre|torian
Collonel or Tribune, when he and others con&s;pired the death
of that cruell tyrant <HI>Caligula,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Suet: in Calig.</NOTE> the &s;ignall word agreed upon was
<HI>Repete,</HI> &s;trike again: So thou mu&s;t not content thy &s;elf to make &s;ome
faint attempts again&s;t thy &s;innes, or a light skirmi&s;h as &s;ouldiers, at a
<PB N="17" REF="10">
mu&s;ter, but thou mu&s;t do it with all thy might: ha&s;t thou wounded
them, and do they yet re&s;i&s;t? <HI>Repete,</HI> &s;trike again and again, hate
them, pur&s;ue them to the death, give them no quarter, &s;pare them
not &s;o long as thou finde&s;t them &s;tirre or breath. Again, the Apo&s;tle
&s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14. 17.</NOTE> <HI>The Kingdom of God is righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, peace, joy in the Holy
Gho&s;t.</HI> This is a mo&s;t &s;weet and precious <HI>truth:</HI> would&s;t thou buy it?
If thou doe&s;t, thou buye&s;t a Kingdome, yea a Kingdome more
worth then all the Kingdomes of the world. But if thou wilt buy
it, indeed, thou mu&s;t have this Kingdome &s;et up in thy heart.
Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e mu&s;t reigne there, or Chri&s;t mu&s;t reign there in
righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and thou mu&s;t have a &s;oul &s;ubdued to his Scepter.
<HI>The Peace of God mu&s;t rule in thy heart:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3. 15.</NOTE> and that is peace in <HI>truth:</HI>
when &s;in reigneth, the &s;oul hath no peace with God, it may be in a
dead &s;leep. Then ha&s;t thou this <HI>truth</HI> of peace with God, when the
Peace of God ruleth within thee, &s;uppre&s;&s;eth mutinous affections,
&s;ubdueth rebellious lu&s;ts, when the winds and &s;ea obey it, and it hath
power to calme all the turbulencies and di&s;orders of thy &s;pirit. So
concerning joy in the Holy Gho&s;t, Thou mu&s;t have thy heart po&s;|&s;e&s;t
with this joy, if thou wilt purcha&s;e this <HI>truth.</HI> How many
read and hear of joy in the Holy Gho&s;t un&s;peakable &amp; full of glory,
but yet content them&s;elves with &s;uch joyes and delights as are full
of &s;hame, at lea&s;t full of vanity, and end in mourning and mi&s;ery?
the&s;e are fal&s;e joyes,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> as one &s;aith, <HI>Voluptates animi febres,</HI> earthly
joyes are &s;oul-feavers, carnall, &s;en&s;uall, &s;infull delights are even the
agues of the inner man. For what is the condition of a &s;oul given
up to plea&s;ures of this nature but to be in a continuall agitation be|tween
hot paroxy&s;mes or burning fits of lu&s;t, and cold &s;haking
fits of &s;hame and horrour. Now as there is a great difference be|tween
that unnaturall inflammation of a feaveri&s;h body, drinking
up the radicall moi&s;ture, &amp; wa&s;ting the &s;pirits, and that kindly wel|tempered
heat of an healthy body: &s;o there is a va&s;t di&s;tance between
tho&s;e vaine and earthly or impure and &s;infull delights, which wa&s;te
the con&s;cience, and tho&s;e &s;oul-ravi&s;hing, &s;weet, &s;erene and heaven|ly
joyes which flow from the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t into the brea&s;ts of
beleevers. I might adde many other in&s;tances, but I forbear.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6"> La&s;tly, if ye will buy <HI>truth,</HI> ye mu&s;t improve it. It is none of tho&s;e 
commodities which a man may buy, and then &s;uffer it to lie dead
by him:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 John. 4.</NOTE> no man buyeth the <HI>truth,</HI> but he that buyeth it for u&s;e. <HI>I re|joyced
greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth: as we have
<PB N="18" REF="11">
received a commandment from the Father.</HI> It is no arbitrary thing or
matter of indifferency, but one of the great commandments of
God, that we &s;hould walk in <HI>truth:</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> having told the <HI>Ephe|&s;ians,
Ye are light in the Lord,</HI> he inferreth, <HI>walk as children of light.</HI>
Then a man hath bought the <HI>truth,</HI> when he walketh in the light,
and power of Divine <HI>truth,</HI> when he prayeth, humbleth his &s;oul,
heareth the word, and performeth every act of Divine wor&s;hip in
&s;pirit and <HI>truth,</HI> out of &s;uch true principles, in &s;uch a manner, with
&s;uch a frame of heart and &s;uch aimes as the <HI>truth</HI> of God his word
requireth, when in his place and calling he improveth the <HI>truth</HI> of
God to all purpo&s;es. Tho&s;e things which men buy at high rates,
they de&s;ire to make the mo&s;t of. The <HI>truth</HI> of God being &s;o exceed|ing
precious and co&s;tly, tho&s;e that buy it &s;hould labour to improve
it to the uttermo&s;t. It is none of tho&s;e things&punc; which are the wor&s;e
for wearing.</P>
<P>2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Part of the generall Exhortation</NOTE> Let us be per&s;waded not to thinke any co&s;t too much that we
may buy <HI>truth.</HI> And fir&s;t, con&s;ider (I be&s;eech you) what we mu&s;t
ca&s;t away, which otherwi&s;e might hinder us either in getting or
keeping <HI>truth.</HI> 2. What we mu&s;t be content to re&s;igne and yeeld up
into the Lord his hands, that wee may buy <HI>truth.</HI> The former are
&s;uch things as are better ca&s;t away then kept, the very lo&s;&s;e of them
will be our gain.</P>
<P>1.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5. 8.</NOTE> In generall our lu&s;ts and &s;innes. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart: for
they &s;hall &s;ee God:</HI> an heart clean&s;ed from the filthine&s;&s;e of fle&s;h and
&s;pirit, is like a cleer gla&s;&s;e fitte&s;t to give a reflection of tho&s;e beams
of <HI>truth,</HI> which &s;hine from the face of God in Chri&s;t. <HI>The &s;ecret
of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will &s;hew them his Cove|nant.</HI>
They that will &s;ee cleerly, mu&s;t do away the&s;e &s;cales from the
eyes of the inner man. 2. In &s;peciall, let us renounce our carnall and
naturall wi&s;dom.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Cor. 3. 18 &amp;c.</HI> Intus <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">xi|flens prohi|bet <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE> 1. <HI>If any man among you &s;eemeth to be wi&s;e, let him
become a fool, that he may be wi&s;e: for the wi&s;dom of this world is fooli&s;h|ne&s;&s;e
with God.</HI> A &s;pirit emptied of all &s;elf-&s;ufficiency, and &s;elfe|conceitedne&s;&s;e
is be&s;t fitted to receive the wi&s;dom of God, and to
purcha&s;e His <HI>truth.</HI> 2. Lay a&s;ide all prejudices again&s;t the <HI>truth:</HI>
and fir&s;t quit all prejudices again&s;t the dignitie of Truth. Take heede
of thinking any Truth of God to be below thee, too meane for
thee to &s;toope to&punc; Do not thinke thy &s;elfe, thy place or parts too
high for the lea&s;t of God his holy Truthes.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4. 2</NOTE> <HI>Preach the word, be in&s;tant
in &s;ea&s;on, out of &s;ea&s;on,</HI> is a Truth of God which once was given in
<PB N="19" REF="11">
Charge to <HI>Timothy:</HI> but (&s;ome I beleeve) who pretended to be of
<HI>Timothy</HI> his Ranke, looked upon this truth as a thing below their
places. On the other &s;ide when a cau&s;e of Religion was brought be|fore
<HI>Galli<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">, he cared for none of the&s;e things,</HI> he had no lei&s;ure to &s;pend
time about words and names, his place ingaged him in Realities,
State-matters, &s;uch as were worthy of a <HI>Procon&s;uls</HI> Cognizance.
2. Take heede of prejudices again&s;t the nece&s;&s;ity of truth, looke not
upon it as a matter of indifferency. Regard it as that one thing ne|ce&s;&s;ary.
3. Renounce all prejudicate opinions of dangers or in|conveniences,
which &s;eeme to attend or follow truth, &s;uch as divi|&s;ions
and commotions: the&s;e (though accidentall to truth) doe or|dinarily
throng in after it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12. 51.</NOTE> <HI>Suppo&s;e yee that I am come to &s;end peace on
Earth?</HI> I tell you, Nay, but rather divi&s;ion: and that betweene
tho&s;e of neere relations, as it followeth there. Hereupon &s;ome &s;eeme
to be as much afraid of the truth, as of a ball of wilde-fire, they dare
not buy it: they would rather bani&s;h it out of their Coa&s;ts: where|as
truth is no way the cau&s;e, though the corruptions of &s;ome men
and their malignity again&s;t it, and the weakenes and mi&s;takes of o|thers,
often make it an occa&s;ion of tho&s;e ruptures. That there are op|po&s;itions
betweene the friends and enemies of truth, is not &s;trange:
but that there are di&s;&s;entions among &s;ome of tho&s;e, who unfained|ly
love and &s;eek truth, and agree in the mo&s;t and principall parts of
it, is &s;ad: yet let not this prejudice hinder us from buying and im|bracing
truth. Among&s;t tho&s;e who in the Apo&s;tles daies received
the Go&s;pell, and with joynt con&s;ent acknowledged the Lord Je&s;us
to be <HI>the Chri&s;t,</HI> there were differences about the ob&s;ervation of
<HI>Mo&s;aicall</HI> Rites, and Ceremonies: this prejudice did not keepe the
faithfull <HI>from imbracing and holding fa&s;t the truth of the Go&s;pell.</HI> In
<HI>Luthers</HI> time there were controver&s;ies betweene tho&s;e who were
newly come out of <HI>Babylon:</HI> this prejudice did not &s;o far prevaile
with the Godly, as to make them preferre their &s;laverie under <HI>Anti-Chri&s;t</HI>
above the &s;weete yoake of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> Let the unanimous and
full con&s;ent of the Godly in many, and tho&s;e the mo&s;t &s;ub&s;tantiall
parts of truth, encourage thee to buy the truth: let not their diffe|rences
about few and le&s;&s;e materiall things di&s;courage thee.
4. Ca&s;t off that prejudice which <HI>Satan</HI> may &s;ugge&s;t unto thee, in re|gard
of the meanene&s;&s;e of tho&s;e per&s;ons who hold forth the truth,
either as the Lord his Agents, whom he maketh u&s;e of to invite buy|ers,
the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pell, or as purcha&s;ers, who having
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bought the truth, de&s;ire to commend their penny-worths to others,
as <HI>Philip</HI> did to <HI>Nathanael,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 1. 45.</NOTE> <HI>We have found him, of whom Mo&s;es and
the Prephets did write, Je&s;us of Nazareth: Come and &s;ee.</HI> If any &s;uch
be contemptible in the eye of the world, as tho&s;e were who fol|lowed
Chri&s;t, whom the proud Phari&s;ees overlooked with &s;o much
&s;corne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 7. 49.</NOTE> <HI>This people who knoweth not the Law are cur&s;ed:</HI> Let not this
&s;eeme any di&s;paragement to the Truth of God which needeth not
borrow any thing from man: its owne &s;overaigne Authority is e|nough
to command all, its native beauty and proper worth is &s;uffi|cient
to commend it to all. When King <HI>Amaziah</HI> had &s;et up and
wor&s;hipped the Idolls of the &s;ame people, whom him&s;elfe had late|ly
overcome in battle: the Lord &s;ent him this Me&s;&s;age by a Pro|phet,
<HI>Why ha&s;t thou &s;ought after the gods of the people,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chro. 25. 16.</NOTE> <HI>which could not
deliver their owne people out of thine hand?</HI> This was a Truth which
carried &s;o much &s;trength and evidence of Rea&s;on in it, that it &s;eem|eth
to preclude all contradiction: yet &s;ee how pride and prejudice
again&s;t the per&s;on that held it forth, prevailed! &s;aith the King, <HI>Art
thou made of the Kings Councell? forbeare, why &s;houlde&s;t thou be &s;mit|ten?</HI>
Art thou a fit per&s;on to reprove a King? thou art none of the
Privie Councell: marke how the Prophet replyeth, and twice de|&s;canteth
upon the Kings words;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> <HI>I know that God hath Coun&s;elled to
de&s;troy thee, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t done this, and hast not hearkened to my
Coun&s;ell</HI> Doe&s;t thou de&s;pi&s;e my Me&s;&s;age becau&s;e I am not made of
thy Councell? Know this, that in this particular, the King of Kings
hath made me of his Councell, and the word which I brought is
the very Truth and Coun&s;ell of the great God, as thou &s;halt find to
thy ruine, ina&s;much as thou ha&s;t de&s;pi&s;ed it. The Truth of God nee|deth
not receive any reputation from rotchets or &s;carlets, if thou
de&s;pi&s;e&s;t it for the meanne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e that bring it, thou de&s;pi&s;e&s;t
Him that &s;endeth it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Let us con&s;ider what we mu&s;t give up or lay out for Truth
when the Lord calleth for it. And here ob&s;erve that although truth
be alwaies alike precious in it &s;elfe, yet at &s;ome time the purcha&s;e
of it is more co&s;tly then at other. Bread-Corne it is as good in it
&s;elfe, and as nece&s;&s;ary for the life of man at one time as at another,
yet ye know in &s;ome time of &s;carcity one bu&s;hell may co&s;t as much
as three or foure in times of plenty; but whatever it co&s;t it mu&s;t be
had, Men mu&s;t live: &s;o Truth hath its deare yeares, when tho&s;e that
will buy it, mu&s;t give greater rates than ordinary: but what&s;oever
<PB N="21" REF="12">
it co&s;t, it mu&s;t be had, we mu&s;t buy it, or el&s;e we peri&s;h: Now we <MILESTONE N="1">
mu&s;t alwayes give up our &s;elves to God, that we may buy truth,
our under&s;tandings, wills, affections, our &s;oules and bodies to his
guidance, &s;overaigne command and di&s;po&s;ing. And as it is &s;aid con|cerning
God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 32</NOTE> <HI>He that &s;pared not his owne Son, but delivered him up for
us all: how &s;hall he not with him al&s;o freely give us all things?</HI> &s;o on our
part, he that &s;incerely giveth up him&s;elfe to the Lord, to be wholly
his, how can he thinke any thing too dear when the Lord requireth
it? why did not the young man give up his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions upon Chri&s;ts
demand? becau&s;e he had not given up him&s;elfe. When the Lord
told <HI>Peter</HI> what he &s;hould &s;uffer for the truth, and by what death
he &s;hould glorifie God, he que&s;tioneth about his Fellow-Di&s;ciple,
(whether out of curio&s;ity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 21. 21, 22.</NOTE> or &s;ome &s;pice of envie, I know not) <HI>And
what &s;hall this man doe? Je&s;us &s;aith unto him, If I will that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee?</HI> If I will that he live till I come, and
call him in an ordinary way of vi&s;itation, and that the Truth of the
Go&s;pell &s;hall prove more co&s;tly to thee than to him, what doeth
that concerne thee? If both of yee give up your hearts to mee and
my truth, it is no great matter, whether it co&s;t you more or le&s;&s;e in
other regards. <MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Then yee mu&s;t buy truth though it co&s;t yee ne|ver
&s;o much of your trea&s;ures, either to procure the meanes, or to
maintaine the cau&s;e, or to retaine the profe&s;&s;ion and practice of
Truth. All the&s;e things mu&s;t be looked upon as lo&s;&s;e and dung in
compari&s;on of the excellency of Chri&s;ts truth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 16. 26.</NOTE> <HI>What is a man profited
if he &s;hall gaine the whole world, and lo&s;e his &s;oule?</HI> and if he leave the
truth, he lo&s;eth his &s;oule. It may &s;eeme the times are come upon
us, wherein the Lord will make di&s;coveries, who they are that prize
this earthly dro&s;&s;e above tho&s;e rich trea&s;ures of his Kingdome. Let
us not &s;ay in our hearts, we could willingly purcha&s;e truth, if it
might be had at &s;uch ea&s;ie rates as our Fathers bought it. No, if we
will not buy it now at &s;uch a price as it may be had, what&s;oever it
be, neither would we have bought it then, though at a lower rate.
And tho&s;e who lived and died in tho&s;e times, and purcha&s;ed truth
indeed, would have bought it at a farre higher rate, had it beene ex|acted
of them. He that giveth up his heart to God for truth, will
never breake off for the price: he that doth not yeeld up his heart,
doth never truly buy, though he liveth in the cheape&s;t times. <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. Be 
content to lay out your &s;trength for truth, to take any paines, to un|dergoe
any labour. What if any of you be forced to travell more
<PB N="22" REF="13">
miles than others? &s;uch a rea&s;on doth not keepe people from Faires
and Markets: although the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Merchant hath a longer voyage
to the <HI>Ea&s;t Indies</HI> than the <HI>Portugals</HI> by many leagues, this doth not
make them give over trading. Though it co&s;t thee more paines in
reading, &s;tudying, meditation, by rea&s;on of the &s;lownes of thy ap|prehen&s;ion,
weakenes of judgment or memory; more &s;triving in
prayers, more fears, more labouring with thine own heart to bring
it in &s;ubjection unto truth, than it doth &s;ome other, let nothing beat
thee off, buy it what&s;oever it may co&s;t thee. <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. Be content to en|gage
all the credit which thou ha&s;t with the world for the purcha&s;e
 of <HI>truth:</HI> Buy it with the hazard, and (if need be) the lo&s;&s;e of
thy reputation.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 12. 42 43.</NOTE> <HI>Among the chiefe rulers many believed <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">n Chri&s;t, but
becau&s;e of the Phari&s;ees they did not confe&s;&s;e him, le&s;t they &s;hould be put
out of the Synagogue; for they loved the prai&s;e of men more then the
prai&s;e of God.</HI> They valued their credit with men above the <HI>truth</HI> of
God: mi&s;erable folly! though the <HI>way of truth</HI> &s;hould be called here|&s;ie
(as in <HI>Pauls</HI> time) though the <HI>truth</HI> be &s;corned, reproached, evill
&s;poken of, though the wi&s;e men of the world thinke no better of
tho&s;e that buy <HI>truth</HI> than of &s;uch as pay dear for a trifle, and &s;ay
of them in their hearts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 26. 24</NOTE> A fool and his money are &s;oon parted,
 though thou mu&s;t bee counted a fool and a mad man, as <HI>Fe&s;tus</HI>
termed <HI>Paul,</HI> yet buy it how&s;oever. <MILESTONE N="5"> 5. Be content to buy <HI>Truth</HI>
with expence of time, though that be very precious, e&s;teem that
time well be&s;towed, which is laid out for <HI>Truth.</HI> Doe not &s;ay,
<HI>Wherefore is this wa&s;te?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aelian: <GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> Though time cannot be bought with gold,
yet it is well &s;pent for the purcha&s;e of <HI>Truth. Apelles</HI> beholding a
curious picture Drawne by <HI>Protogenes,</HI> admired the worman&s;hip:
but under&s;tanding that it had been &s;even yeers in hand, he &s;aid the
grace of the work was not an&s;werable to the time and paines be|&s;towed
upon it. But if tho&s;e whom the Lord in his providence hath
called together, &s;hall be able <HI>by the good hand of their God upon them,</HI>
to draw to the life that glorious body of <HI>Truth</HI> in all its lineaments
for matter of doctrine, wor&s;hip, government, di&s;cipline, I doubt not
but in conclu&s;ion it would be found time well imployed, though it
&s;hould co&s;t more moneths then &s;ome expected. And as in this more
publike enquiry after <HI>truth,</HI> &s;o in particular &s;earchings after it, bee
carefull to redeem time from other occa&s;ions, that thou maye&s;t
&s;pare it for buying of <HI>truth.</HI> It is part of the ble&s;&s;ed mans de&s;crip|tion,
His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in that Law, he
<PB N="23" REF="13">
doth meditate day and night. <MILESTONE N="6"> 6. Peace is one of the great 
ble&s;&s;ings of God upon a people, and yet if need be we mu&s;t part
with this al&s;o to purcha&s;e <HI>truth.</HI> If peace may be hadwith <HI>truth,</HI>
it is exceedingly to be de&s;ired, as in toher re&s;pects, &s;o for <HI>truths</HI>
&s;ake, to which (if well improved) it may be very &s;erviceable
and u&s;efull towards the opening of a free trade for <HI>truth,</HI> which
is many wayes ob&s;tructed and interrupted by war. But when
<HI>truth</HI> cannot be &s;ecured but by the &s;word, and all wayes are
tried which are con&s;i&s;tent with the purity, &s;afety, and honour of
truth, and recour&s;e is had to warre as the la&s;t remedie, in &s;uch a
ca&s;e peace it &s;elfe mu&s;t be broken, that truth may be pre&s;erved
and purcha&s;ed. <MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> Some may &s;ay, there is no &s;ufficient cau&s;e at this
day in relation to truth, <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> and the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of Religion, to ground
a nece&s;&s;ary warre upon. I an&s;wer, 1. I doe not take upon me to
a&s;&s;ert that this warre was primarily and originally a warre of Re|ligion.
But &s;econdly, if that were granted, I de&s;ire that ca&s;e be|tweene
the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> may be con&s;idered: The two Tribes
and an halfe beyond <HI>Jordan</HI> built an Altar by the River:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 22. 10. &amp;c.</NOTE> tidings
came to the re&s;t of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> who apprehended this as an Act ten|ding
to the fal&s;ifying and corrupting of the Truth of God, and
the Ordinances of his Wor&s;hip. This was conceived a ju&s;t ground
for a Warre: <HI>For the whole Congregation of the Children of I&s;rael
gathered them&s;elves together at Shilo to goe up to warre again&s;t them.</HI>
But yet de&s;iring a peaceable accommodation, if it might be had
without prejudice to truth, they re&s;olve to treate with them, and
&s;end <HI>Phineas</HI> a man of great eminencie, and ten Princes with him.
The&s;e deale throughly in the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and pre&s;&s;e it home upon
them: the Defendants make a free and candid declaration of their
intentions, &s;hewing that <HI>this Altar was not erected for Burnt of|fering
nor for Sacrifice, but onely for a Monument of their intere&s;t in
the God of I&s;rael:</HI> whereupon both the Amba&s;&s;adours and (at their
returne) the people were fully &s;atisfyed. Now &s;uppo&s;e this Altar
had beene built for &s;acrifice, as was &s;u&s;pected, and compare with
this the many hundred Altars (I beleeve) lately erected in this
Land, to the darkning at lea&s;t of tho&s;e great Truths of the Go&s;pel,
that Chri&s;t is the only Altar which &s;anctifyeth all the offerings of
the faithfull, that His Sacrifice of him&s;elf once offered by Him&s;elf
is the onely Propitiation: adde hereunto the Idolatrous bowings
<PB N="24" REF="14">
and cringings, the Crucifixes and Images &s;et up in many places,
the indeavours to corrupt the Truth and Doctrine of Chri&s;t in di|vers
points of great importance, the plots laid to &s;top the cour&s;e
of the Go&s;pell &amp; propagating of the truth, the ob&s;tinate re&s;i&s;tance
again&s;t &s;uch a Reformation as the Truth of God cleerely revealed
in His Word, requireth. &amp;c. And &s;ee whether there were not
many cau&s;es for a Warre again&s;t the Enemies of the truth in Eng|land,
for one which I&s;rael had, though that had beene &s;uch as was
&s;urmi&s;ed. Oh, that the Lord would deliver our King from tho&s;e
that are Adver&s;aries of his Truth, and make him an In&s;trument to
execute His wrath upon the great whore, that &s;o the Truth of God
might have a free pa&s;&s;age through the &s;everall Regions of the
World. I have read of &s;ome Mariners who being to&s;&s;ed on the &s;ea
in a Tempe&s;t, were &s;o &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ly &s;lavi&s;h, as to vow or pro|mi&s;e
at lea&s;t upon their &s;afe arrivall on the &s;hore, <HI>to build a Temple,
the mortar whereof &s;hould be tempered with Malm&s;ey:</HI> I de&s;ire it
may be con&s;idered whether tho&s;e be not more lavi&s;hly prophane,
who being terrifyed with the &s;tormes of warre, could be content
to make the &s;acred Truth of God (more precious then all the
golden veynes in the bowells of the Earth) to &s;erve in &s;tead of
mortar for the cementing or rather daubing up an un&s;ound peace
with men. <MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> But it may be &s;aid, the lo&s;&s;e of peace implyeth by con|&s;equence
the lo&s;&s;e of life, the expence of bloud: and <HI>precious in the
&s;ight of the Lord is the death of his Saints.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119. 15.</NOTE> <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> I an&s;wer, it is true, and
doubtle&s;&s;e <HI>The Lord will make inqui&s;ition for their bloud.</HI> And yet in
the la&s;t place, even this precious bloud of God his people is not
too precious to be adventured or &s;pent in the nece&s;&s;ary defence of
Gods Truth. Did not Chri&s;t him&s;elfe &s;hed his mo&s;t precious
bloud (worth more than all the be&s;t bloud under Heaven) to &s;eal
the Truth of the Go&s;pell, the truth of all the promi&s;es of the new
Covenant? none of all which had been true, if Chri&s;t had not &s;hed
his bloud to verifie them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1. 20.</NOTE> <HI>For all the Promi&s;es of God in him are yea,
and in him Amen.</HI> The Law is true, in it &s;elfe: but the Truth of the
Go&s;pell and Word of Promi&s;e dependeth wholly upon Chri&s;t.
The Law hath an intrin&s;ecall and native truth: <HI>Cur&s;ed is he that
continueth not in all things written in the Booke of the Law to doe them.</HI>
But the Truth of the Promi&s;e is borrowed: the promi&s;e of the
pardon of &s;inne, of ju&s;tifying the ungodly, of being mercifull to
<PB N="25" REF="14">
unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, pa&s;&s;ing by iniquity, blotting out tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions,
&amp;c. &s;eemeth to cro&s;&s;e the Truth of God, His Ju&s;tice and Holi|ne&s;&s;e,
if ye con&s;ider it without reference to Chri&s;t: It is true then
onely in Chri&s;t: the Truth of this Te&s;tament dependeth wholly
upon the death of the Te&s;tatour.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 18. 37</NOTE> <HI>To this end</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>was I borne,
and for this cau&s;e came I into the world, that I &s;hould beare witne&s;&s;e to
the Truth.</HI> How many thou&s;ands of God his Saints have drunk of
the &s;ame Cup in &s;everall Ages? <HI>It is appointed to all men once to dye:</HI>
and that is a ble&s;&s;ed improvement of death, when a man dyeth
not onely <HI>in</HI> the Lord, but <HI>for</HI> the Lord and His Truth: <HI>He that
lo&s;eth his life &s;hall find it:</HI> He &s;hall find mortality &s;wallowed up of
life: <HI>His life is hid with Chri&s;t in God,</HI> far above the reach of any
weapons of warre, and <HI>when Chri&s;t who is his life &s;hall appear, then
&s;hall he al&s;o appeare with him in Glory.</HI></P>
<P>And now give me leave,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. A more &s;peciall ex|hortation.</NOTE> <HI>Much honoured Worthyes,</HI> to be&s;peake
your &s;elves in the Name of the God of Truth: whom I looke
upon as precious In&s;truments&punc; of the Lord, for the advancing
and promoting of His Truth, Truth of doctrine, of wor&s;hip, of
di&s;cipline, truth and power of Godline&s;&s;e. Ye are farre engaged in
this Cau&s;e of truth already, and it concerneth you to goe on, both
in Con&s;cience and in point of Honour, but chiefely for the Ho|nour
of your God, who hath &s;o highly dignifyed and &s;o many
wayes encouraged you by notable te&s;timonies of His Pre&s;ence.
Let it appeare that ye are &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with the truth, &s;o overpow|ered
by the truth, that ye may ju&s;tly apply that of the Apo&s;tle to
your &s;elves,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 13. 8. Rev. 3. 14.</NOTE> <HI>We can do nothing again&s;t the truth, but for the truth:</HI>
and then Chri&s;t will not fayle to make good that title, which he
hath a&s;&s;umed to him&s;elf: <HI>The Amen, the faithfull and true witne&s;&s;e.</HI>
The People of God have repo&s;ed a great tru&s;t in you&punc; and they ex|pect
truth from you. And (ble&s;&s;ed be God) they have had their
de&s;ires in great mea&s;ure already an&s;wered: and the Worke is yet
in your hands, the&s;e fir&s;t-fruits &s;eeme to be pledges of a full Har|ve&s;t,
if our &s;innes doe not bla&s;t our hopes. One of the cleere&s;t evi|dences
(I conceive) which ye can give of the truth of your hearts
to the Publick Cau&s;e, is <HI>Selfe-denyall</HI> and <HI>quitting of Private In|tere&s;ts.</HI>
Of this ye have given reall demon&s;tration in your readines
to deve&s;t your &s;elves of militarie and civill dignities, that ye might
re&s;erve your &s;elves for your proper worke. Hereupon yee may
<PB N="26" REF="15">
with greater Authority exact truth from tho&s;e whom yee &s;hall
imploy, a true accompt of the publick &s;ervice, and for the future
(at lea&s;t) a true accompt of the publick trea&s;ure, though perhaps
for the time pa&s;t it may be difficult, if not impo&s;&s;ible, in regard
of tho&s;e many &s;udden exigents, confu&s;ions, unexpected occurren|ces
which have happened: yea, ina&s;much as ye have made your
&s;elves &s;uch eminent precedents of &s;elf-denyall, how can others
in mode&s;ty refu&s;e, if you require them <HI>not to &s;eeke great things for
them&s;elves,</HI> in making over much advantage of the publick mi&s;e|ries:
e&s;pecially &s;uch who&s;e &s;ervice is attended with no hazard,
and very little labour? &s;ome redre&s;&s;e in the&s;e things might encou|rage
the well affected to more cheerefulne&s;&s;e in a&s;&s;i&s;ting the com|mon
Cau&s;e, and &s;top the mouthes of others.</P>
<P>More particularly, let me be&s;eech you in the fir&s;t place <HI>to exa|mine
every man the truth and &s;incerity of his owne heart in managing
the great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e which yee have in hand.</HI> To profe&s;&s;e a mans &s;elfe
engaged in the Cau&s;e of truth, and yet to be &s;alfe-hearted toward
it, and to harbour treacherous aimes again&s;t it, is not onely con|trary
to the duty of a Chri&s;tian, but a thing far below the &s;pirit
and ingenuity of a Gentleman: it &s;uiteth better with the ba&s;enes
of common cheaters, then with men of place and worth. A
man who by his corrupt principles is led out of the way, and put
into a po&s;ture of defiance and open ho&s;tility again&s;t the truth, is
le&s;&s;e odious by many degrees then a fal&s;e brother. I am per&s;waded
there was more of the Devill in one <HI>Judas,</HI> then in all the <HI>High
Prie&s;ts Cavaliers,</HI> and that Chri&s;t re&s;ented more helli&s;h maligni|ty
in that one Traytours ki&s;&s;e, than in all their &s;words and &s;taves.
Wherefore,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6. 4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>Let every man prove his owne worke, and then &s;hall he
have rejoycing in him&s;elfe, and not in another. For every man &s;hall bear
his owne burden.</HI> It is not enough to joyne with tho&s;e who are &s;in|cere
in the Worke of the Lord, but every man mu&s;t prove his own
worke, with what heart, out of what inward principles, to what
end. upon what grounds and motives, in what manner he doth it,
that he may have rejoycing in him&s;elfe, and not in tho&s;e with
whom he joyneth in a good cau&s;e, nor by comparing him&s;elfe
with tho&s;e who either directly oppo&s;e, or ba&s;ely de&s;ert it. For in
the great day of account every man &s;hall beare his owne bur|den:
men &s;hall not be ranked on the right hand by whole Com|panies,
<PB N="27" REF="15">
Corporations, Regiments, Brigades, Armies, Hou&s;es of
Parliament, but as in that &s;earch which was made in <HI>Achan</HI> his
ca&s;e, <HI>they &s;hall be &s;ingled out man by man,</HI> and every mans worke
&s;hall be tried in particular.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Be united among your &s;elves in the great cau&s;e of <HI>Truth:</HI>
according to that of the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1. 27.</NOTE> <HI>Stand fast in one &s;pirit, with
one minde &s;triving together for the Faith of the Go&s;pel.</HI> The expre&s;|&s;ions
are &s;trong: he &s;peaketh to them as to Champions of the
<HI>Truth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. i<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">de Athleta. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> as the originall word importeth: and to whom may it
bee applyed if not to &s;uch <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">oble Champions as your &s;elves?
&s;tand fa&s;t, keep your ground, <HI>Servate gradum</HI> (as <HI>Beza.</HI>) main|tain
your &s;tation, and that in one &s;pirit, in the power and &s;trength
of that Holy Spirit of <HI>Truth,</HI> with one minde or one &s;oul, wre&s;t|ling
or &s;triving together, as if ye were a combination of many
bodies a&s;&s;ociated and concentred together by one &s;oul, as one
man with joynt forces contending for the <HI>Truth</HI> of the Go&s;pel,
and for the cau&s;e of <HI>Truth:</HI> &s;o &s;hould ye be able to &s;trengthen
your &s;pirits with that encouragement following,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 28.</NOTE> <HI>In nothing ter|rified
by your adver&s;aries, which is to them an evident token of per|dition,
but to you of &s;alvation, and that of God.</HI> Your uniting would
be a terrour to the adver&s;aries, a &s;trengthening to your &s;elves, an
encouragement to tho&s;e who are friends to the <HI>truth,</HI> and your
friends and &s;ervants for the <HI>Truthes</HI> &s;ake. If a noble Heathen out
of a morall bravery of &s;pirit, could <HI>privatas inimicitias reipublicae
condonare,</HI> pa&s;&s;e by private quarrells for the Common-wealthes
&s;ake: far be it from any Member of a Chri&s;tian Parliament not
to lay down all private grudges and cro&s;&s;e de&s;ignes at the feet
of this afflicted Church and State, far be it from them not to quit
them for the <HI>truthes</HI> &s;ake, le&s;t the cau&s;e of <HI>truth</HI> &s;hould mi&s;carry
through their default. If the greate&s;t per&s;ons who will approve
their hearts to God, mu&s;t throw down their Crownes at the foot|&s;toole
of Chri&s;t, how much more their corruptions? But e&s;pe|cially
let every one take heed of rai&s;ing or fomenting divi&s;ions
out of a &s;ecret de&s;ire to hinder the carrying on of the great work.
Differences in judgement about things directly relating to con|&s;cience
are to be pitied in contemplation of the common imbecil|lity
of mans under&s;tanding. But when men for &s;ini&s;ter ends de|light
to make rents or cheri&s;h factions, this is fearfull: let none
<PB N="28" REF="16">
&s;uch deceive them&s;elves, God is not mocked. In extraordinary
times, &s;uch as the&s;e upon which the providence of God hath ca&s;t
us, men have extraordinary opportunities of doing God more
then ordinary &s;ervice: and on the other &s;ide they have extraordi|nary
occa&s;ion of bringing more then ordinary guilt upon them|&s;elves,
and wrath upon their po&s;terity. This is a time when tho&s;e
who have hearts to improve it, may wonderfully further their ac|count:
and a time when men may exceedingly aggravate their
condemnation. <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. Let me be&s;eech you to go on, as you have begun,
in opening a free pa&s;&s;age and procuring a free trade and open
market for the <HI>truth</HI> of God, that all may have liberty and be
encouraged to buy and furni&s;h them&s;elves. And for this end to
remove of ob&s;tructions, in re&s;training the &s;preading of gro&s;&s;e
and dangerous errours and here&s;ies. I am confident in your wi&s;e|dome
and piety, that ye are far from entertaining tho&s;e motions
for an unlimited and prodigious licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, which &s;ome have
&s;eemed to plead for.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ve<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">itatem &s;ub ha&s;ta vendere: vel potius praedae et di|reptioni ex|ponere.</NOTE> What were this but to make port-&s;ale of the
<HI>truth,</HI> if not rather to give over the protection of <HI>truth,</HI> and to
expo&s;e it to be &s;poiled, &s;acked, and plundred in a promi&s;cuous way
by all &s;orts of enemies? Let it bee free for all &s;orts to buy any
<HI>truth</HI> of God, but let not Satans factours and pedlars have liberty
to vent his fal&s;hoods.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> <HI>Object.</HI>But &s;ome may &s;ay, either ye mu&s;t give liberty to all,
or el&s;e &s;hew no indulgence to any, who doe not in every point
comply with that which is e&s;tabli&s;hed by authority. <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> I an&s;wer, I
was never yet able to under&s;tand this Logick, the con&s;equence
&s;eemeth very &s;trange; I am &s;ure it will not be admitted in Chirur|gery:
if a man be con&s;trained to cut off a limme de&s;perately in|fected
with a gangrene, mu&s;t he therefore part with an u&s;efull
member for every little inflammation and di&s;temper?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Agelius, Si&s;innius. <GAP DESC="foreign"> Soz. lib. 7. cap. 12. Socr. lib. 3. cap 10. Soz. lib. 2. cap. 30.</NOTE> That
famous Emperour <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> did not only bear with the <HI>Novati|ans,</HI>
but countenance and familiarly con&s;ult with &s;ome of
them about Church-affairs (though differing in matter of di&s;ci|pline)
being &s;ound in the Faith and having pa&s;tors of eminent
gifts and godline&s;&s;e. And it is recorded of <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> that though
he made a law <HI>in terrorem</HI> which was &s;o comprehen&s;ive that the&s;e
were obnoxious to it, yet in point of execution he &s;pared them.
And the Apo&s;tle maketh a cleer difference: of one &s;ort he &s;aith,
<PB N="29" REF="16">
<HI>A man that is an heretike,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 3. 10.</NOTE> <HI>after the fir&s;t and &s;econd admonition reject,
knowing that he that is &s;uch, is &s;ubverted, and &s;inneth being condemned
of him&s;elfe.</HI> Of the other he writeth in a far different &s;traine, <HI>Him
that is weak in the Faith receive ye,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14. 1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>but not to doubtfull di&s;putations.
For one beleeveth that he may eat all things; another who is weak eateth
herbes. Let not him that eateth, de&s;pi&s;e him that eateth not: and
let not him which eateth not, judge him that eateth:</HI> and the
rea&s;on is very ob&s;ervable: <HI>For God hath received him.</HI> Surely much
re&s;pect is to bee had to tho&s;e who give forth &s;trong convincing
evidences that God hath received them, and that they have re|ceived
his <HI>Truth</HI> in love. If tho&s;e are to bee tenderly dealt
with in whom there is <HI>aliquid Chri&s;ti,</HI> &s;omething of Chri&s;t, how
much more they in whom there is <HI>plurimum Chri&s;ti,</HI> very much of
Chri&s;t, much of that unction wherewith hee was anointed
above his fellowes, much of tho&s;e graces which &s;erve for the
edifying of his my&s;ticall body, and much of tho&s;e which ac|company
&s;alvation.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Comment. de &s;tatu reipub. et relig. &s;ub Carol. 9. An: 1561: O&s;iand Cent. 16</NOTE> There is a pa&s;&s;age recorded, which hapned
between <HI>Anthony of Bourbon King of Navari<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> and the Amba&s;&s;a|dour
of Denmark:</HI> The King being a Peere of <HI>France</HI> and fir&s;t
Prince of the blood, challenged the Regency of that kingdom du|ring
the French Kings minority, and told the <HI>Dani&s;h</HI> Amba&s;&s;adour
that he hoped in &s;hort time to procure a free pa&s;&s;age for the Go|&s;pel
throughout the Kingdome of <HI>France:</HI> the Amba&s;&s;adour
&s;hewed him&s;elfe plea&s;ed with this, but withall admoni&s;hed him
to take care that <HI>Luthers</HI> doctrine, not <HI>Calvins</HI> might pa&s;&s;e for
current: the King replyed, <HI>Luther</HI> and <HI>Calvin</HI> agree in forty
points again&s;t the <HI>Pope,</HI> and differ from each other but in one:
let tho&s;e then who follow the &s;everall tenents of the&s;e two, joyn
their &s;trength again&s;t the common enemy, and at better lei&s;ure,
in a more convenient &s;ea&s;on compound their own differences. I
am per&s;waded, it is far from your Chri&s;tian Wi&s;dom and mode|ration
to e&s;teem alike of tho&s;e who ob&s;tinately &s;hut their eyes a|gain&s;t
the bright beams of <HI>truth</HI> where it &s;hineth out with full
rayes, &amp; tho&s;e who vary from you in le&s;&s;er things, wherein Scrip|ture-light
is not &s;o cleer, but that good eyes may judge diver&s;ly,
and hearts cordially affected to the <HI>truth,</HI> may for a time di&s;&s;ent. I
grant much prudence and many cautions are needfull: as 1. That
the per&s;ons be known to be mode&s;t, pious and peaceable, le&s;t
<PB N="30" REF="17">
&s;ome of another &s;pirit for evill ends &s;hould make claime to, and
&s;o abu&s;e &s;uch a liberty. 2. That all bitterne&s;&s;e, in&s;olency, tur|bulency
of &s;pirit, all reproachfull language and tumultuous car|riages
be forborne: for the&s;e (I am &s;ure) are no parts of <HI>liberty
of con&s;cience</HI> 3. That no Church-meetings for wor&s;hip be al|lowed
but in places known, that there may be free acce&s;&s;e for
any: in which re&s;pect I have often commended both the wi&s;e|dome
and ingenuity of the French Prote&s;tants, who in one of
their Treaties of peace (I take it) made this motion, that &s;ome
officer of the King might be deputed to be pre&s;ent at their a&s;&s;em|blies,
for preventing of State-jealou&s;ies and vulgar calumnies.
<HI>For he that doeth truth commeth to the light,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 3. 21.</NOTE> <HI>that his deedes may bee
made manife&s;t that they are wrought in God.</HI> Many other meanes
the Lord may &s;ugge&s;t unto you, for the ordering of things in
&s;uch a way, that &s;ome mens priviledge may not be other mens
prejudice, but that brethren may walk together in love, &s;o far
as they have attained, untill the Lord may plea&s;e to give farther
light.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4"> 4. It is a bu&s;ines worthy of your care to encourage the Mini&s;ters
of the Go&s;pel with a competent and comfortable maintenance,
that they may attend upon their calling without de&s;traction, and
that their hands may be &s;trengthened in the work of the Lord: in
&s;o doing ye &s;hall be fellow-helpers to the <HI>Truth:</HI> for the&s;e are
per&s;ons entru&s;ted by the Lord, as his agents, to call in men to buy
his <HI>truth.</HI> And for the &s;ame cau&s;e be plea&s;ed al&s;o to vindicate them
from the foul reproaches of tho&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 3. 13. 1 Cor. 4 3. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> who have <HI>The poi&s;on of a&s;pes
under their lips.</HI> A faithfull Mini&s;ter may &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle,
<HI>With me it is a very &s;mall</HI> (or the lea&s;t) <HI>thing that I &s;hould be judged
of you, or of mans judgement.</HI> But let it be con&s;idered whether
the <HI>truth</HI> be not concerned in it, if any through their own weak|ne&s;&s;e
&s;hall be di&s;couraged from buying, when they hear tho&s;e
whom the Lord imployeth as his tru&s;tees and factours to be cried
downe and &s;tigmatized for <HI>Baals prie&s;ts, limmes of the bea&s;t, Mini|&s;ters
of Antichri&s;t.</HI> The way to bring a &s;hop out of cu&s;tome, is
fir&s;t to bring it out of credit.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5"> 5. Procced in that worke (wherein ye have already made &s;o
good a progre&s;&s;e) in removing tho&s;e who are either unskilfull or
unfaithfull di&s;pen&s;ers of the <HI>truth,</HI> or who&s;e fingers are &s;o foul
<PB N="31" REF="17">
that they fully the <HI>truth</HI> by handling it, cau&s;ing the word and
way of <HI>truth</HI> to be evill &s;poken of, and di&s;couraging men from
buying. The very heathens may &s;hame tho&s;e who cen&s;ure you in
this: who &s;eem to have been very tender of the honour of their
idol-gods in this kinde.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Livy.</NOTE> <HI>Livy</HI> (as I remember) hath a &s;tory to
this purpo&s;e:<NOTE PLACE="marg">As they wor&s;hipped godde&s;&s;es or female gods, &s;o they had female Prie&s;ts. <HI>Soz l.</HI> 5. 15 <GAP DESC="foreign">. Senec.</NOTE> A Ve&s;tall virgine was &s;u&s;pected of incontinency
becau&s;e of her neatne&s;&s;e in apparell, courtly deportment or
&s;ome &s;uch thing, but being called in que&s;tion no &s;uch crime ap|peared
upon examination, yet was &s;he &s;ent away with a check
or admonition, &amp; willed to remember, <HI>Sancte magis quam &s;cite co|lendas
e&s;&s;e religiones.</HI> That the &s;ervices of their gods required rather
&s;anctity in tho&s;e that were actours in them, than any &s;uch curious
dre&s;&s;e as might carry an appearance of evill. And <HI>Sozomen</HI> in&s;ert|eth
the Copie of a letter written by <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate to <HI>Ar&s;a|cius</HI>
Arch-Prie&s;t of <HI>Galatia,</HI> requiring him to charge tho&s;e hea|theni&s;h
prie&s;ts under his &s;uperintendency, neither to haunt Thea|ters,
or (according to our times) &s;tage-playes, nor to frequent
Tavernes, and that upon paine of deprivation. <HI>Seneca</HI> in his Con|trover&s;ies
hath &s;uch a ca&s;e as this. A Virgine being taken captive
by Pyrates, was &s;old to a Pandour, pro&s;tituted in a Stewes, yet
pre&s;erved her virginity, and at la&s;t &s;lew a man in defence of her
cha&s;tity: whereupon &s;he was arraigned, and upon hearing of her
cau&s;e, acquitted: after this &s;he &s;ueth to be admitted as a Prie&s;t to
attend on one of their godde&s;&s;es: this barre was put in again&s;t her
plea by way of &s;uppo&s;ition: <HI>Tres petunt Sacerdotium: capta, pre|&s;tituta,
rea:</HI> Suppo&s;e three &s;everall Virgins &s;hould come in com|petition
for the Prie&s;thood, whereof one had beene captivated,
the &s;econd pro&s;tituted, the third arraigned, <HI>Omnibus nego:</HI> I re|ject
them all: much more when all the&s;e meete in one: and yet
in all the&s;e three was nothing criminall, but rather &s;omething of
di&s;paragement. How much more when the que&s;tion is concer|ning
the admi&s;&s;ion of men to the Mini&s;try of the Go&s;pell, or re|tayning
tho&s;e that were formerly admitted? &s;uppo&s;e one of them
a drunkard, another a &s;wearer, a third &s;uper&s;titious, a fourth an
ignorant per&s;on, a fift idle, &amp;c. <HI>Omnibus nego:</HI> none of them
&s;hall have my voyce, and what &s;hall we &s;ay of them in whom
many of the&s;e meete? It was further pre&s;&s;ed in behalfe of that
virgine, that her &s;uite &s;hould be regarded out of compa&s;&s;ion to her
<PB N="32" REF="18">
&s;ufferings, it was an&s;wered, <HI>Non facimus mi&s;erandos Sacerdote<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">:</HI>
In choo&s;ing Prie&s;ts we mu&s;t re&s;pect the honour of our gods, not
the mi&s;eries of tho&s;e who de&s;ire the office: the wants and nece&s;|&s;ities
of per&s;ons and families in this ca&s;e are not to be looked at,
but the glory of Chri&s;t and the wants and mi&s;eries of poore
&s;oules: yet I de&s;ire from my heart that mercie may be &s;hewed
them in other kinds, that they may have meanes of &s;ub&s;i&s;tance,
and tho&s;e who are knowne to be learned and &s;tudious may not be
deprived of their Libraries. La&s;tly, I be&s;eech you, &s;hew your &s;elves
tender of the honour of Truth it &s;elfe, in bridling tho&s;e who ca&s;t
foule a&s;per&s;ions upon it: rich wares troden under feele, and &s;poi|led,
may lie by neglected: buyers are nice, and will hardly come
off, unle&s;&s;e that which is tendered to them be &s;ightly. This the
Devill knoweth, and therefore &s;tirreth up his In&s;truments to
throw dirt upon the beautifull face of truth, not onely in blinde
corners, but al&s;o in pulpits and printed pamphlets. And, if it be|long
to a Court Martiall to do right to a man of quality in poynt
of honour, &s;urely it well becometh the &s;upreame Court of Parlia|ment
to vindicate the Honour of God his everla&s;ting Truth.</P>
<P>Many motives might bee u&s;ed to &s;et on the Exhortation
both generall and &s;peciall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Motives.</NOTE> exciting us to this great purcha&s;e
of Truth, and to the promoting of the cau&s;e of Truth. Much
might bee &s;aid of the glory, riches, maje&s;ty, beauty and di|vine
excellencie of truth and heavenly wi&s;edome, for which I re|ferre
you as to other Scriptures, &s;o in particularly to the eighth
chapter of this booke of Proverbs. Give me leave for the pre&s;ent
in few words to touch upon the&s;e three things, and &s;o conclude,
1. The power of truth, 2. The &s;peciall engagements obligeing us
of this Age and Nation to purcha&s;e and promote it, 3. A &s;erious
con&s;ideration of what value the truth will be at the la&s;t. Admira|ble
is the power and &s;trength of truth, for all that buy and po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;e
it, again&s;t all that either oppo&s;e or neglect it. All the mo&s;t
unlikely Prophe&s;ies of Scripture, have beene or &s;hall be accom|pli&s;hed
by the power of divine Truth: all the exceeding great
and precious promi&s;es of the Go&s;pell have beene or &s;hall be per|formed
by it: all the dreadfull threats verifyed. The Power of
truth ray&s;ed a Seede of the vanqui&s;hed woman, to brui&s;e the head
of the Serpent and god of the world. It brought the Son of God
to de&s;cend from His Throne of Supreame Maje&s;ty, to cloath him|&s;elfe
<PB N="33" REF="18">
with fle&s;h, &s;ubject him&s;elfe to the guilt of &s;inne and cur&s;e
of the Law, to the death and &s;hame of the Cro&s;&s;e, to drinke the
bitter Cup of his Fathers Wrath, and for that end to &s;u&s;pend the
excrci&s;e of His Authority in calling downe Legions of Angels
from Heaven to re&s;cue him out of the hands of his enemies. The
Power of Truth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 2.</NOTE> which is the Power of Chri&s;t Him&s;elfe, <HI>ray&s;ed
Him from the dead, and advanced Him to the right hand of the Throne
of the Maje&s;ty on High, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Yea this Power of truth what wonderfull alterations hath it
wrought in the world? how hath it di&s;&s;olved the &s;everall Mine|ralls
whereof that Image was compo&s;ed, the gold, &s;ilver,
bra&s;&s;e, and iron? broken in pieces famous Monarchies and Em|pires
of the world, bla&s;ted, and in great part already con&s;umed
the power of that man of &s;in, enfeebled the &s;trength of that
Bea&s;t whom the world wor&s;hipped and wondred at? It is admi|rable
to con&s;ider, how the &s;trength of divine Truth breaketh tho|rough
all oppo&s;ition,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3.</NOTE> beareth downe all re&s;i&s;tance, <HI>Pulleth downe
the mighty from their Seates, Exalteth the humble and meeke:</HI> wit|nes
a late and notable example in this Land, <HI>The Ruine of the Pre|lacy:</HI>
Truth had long &s;ince &s;poken it, <HI>I will &s;pew thee out of my
mouth:</HI> yea, &s;uch is the power of truth that it maketh its very
enemies &s;erve its ends, and in the mid&s;t of the mo&s;t perplexed
concurrence of &s;econd cau&s;es, cro&s;&s;e interferings and overthwart
interpo&s;ings of inferiour Agents, holdeth a &s;teady cour&s;e towards
its full accompli&s;hment, and moveth on in a &s;treight line to its
finall period: where it arriveth mo&s;t exactly in its owne proper
poynt of time. The Power of God his truth brought I&s;rael out
of Egypt,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 12. 41</NOTE> <HI>at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the &s;elf|&s;ame
day it came to pa&s;&s;e.</HI> All <HI>Pharaohs</HI> oppo&s;itions, all his tergi|ver&s;ations
could not prorogue the terme of <HI>I&s;raels</HI> bondage one
day beyond that terme which truth had prefixed: nay, the&s;e &s;er|ved
rather to &s;pinne out that <HI>interim,</HI> to fill up that voyde &s;pace
of time, that the truth might take place in its owne time. Woe
to them, who &s;tand up again&s;t the Power of truth at &s;uch a time
when any of its great workes are to be accompli&s;hed for the <HI>I&s;|rael</HI>
of God. Tho&s;e per&s;ons or what degree &s;oever, Meane men,
Nobles, Peeres, Princes, who happen to &s;tand up as Adver&s;aries
again&s;t the truth at &s;uch a time, &s;eeme to have beene borne in an
<PB N="34" REF="19">
evill houre. <HI>Pharaoh</HI> (I am per&s;waded) might have gone to his
grave with a great deale le&s;&s;e guilt upon his con&s;cience, had he
lived and reigned in another Age, and not at that time when the
Power of truth was to be put forth in. I&s;raels deliverance: &s;ome
of his Ance&s;tours (perhaps) had hearts as bad, but had no &s;uch
occa&s;ion in &s;o high a degree to trea&s;ure up wrath again&s;t their
owne &s;oules: the like may be &s;aid of his Courtiers and People,
that joyned with him in that de&s;igne. When the Lord by vi&s;ible
and glorious &s;ignes of the times and extraordinary di&s;pen&s;ations
of providence, owneth the cau&s;e of his People in bondage, and
&s;aith againe and againe, <HI>Let my People goe, let my People goe, that
they may &s;erve mee according to mine owne minde and direction,</HI> then
let men tremble to hearden their hearts and oppo&s;e God, le&s;t
in the i&s;&s;ue it appeare that <HI>for this cau&s;e they were &s;et up, that the
Lord might make his Power knowne upon them.</HI> On the other &s;ide the
Power of truth is &s;trong for all that embrace it, and labour to
promote it. It will carrie them through all dangers and difficul|ties,
and in the end crowne them with Glory. In a word, this
Power of truth is &s;ufficient to deliver poore &s;laves and captives
out of the power of Satan,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 8. 31. 32.</NOTE> and to make them free. <HI>Then &s;aid Je&s;us
to tho&s;e Jewes which beleeved on him, If ye continue in my word, then
are ye my Di&s;ciples indeed: and ye &s;hall know the Truth, and the
Truth &s;hall make ye free.</HI> In a Sea-fight betweene the <HI>Spanyards</HI>
and <HI>Hollanders,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Triumphs of Na&s;&s;au.</NOTE> it is &s;ayd that a poore captive in one of the Spa|ni&s;h
Galleyes, had his chayne wherewith he was fa&s;tned, broken
a&s;under by a Cannon &s;hot, him&s;elfe not hurt, and perceiving
that he was loo&s;e, leapt into the Sea with a Peice of his chayne
and e&s;caped to the other &s;hip, by this &s;trange providence regain|ing
his liberty: many &s;eeme afraid of the truth, e&s;pecially when it
commeth thundring like a Cannon &s;hot from the mouth of &s;ome
<HI>Boanerges,</HI> but if thou receive it, yeeld and &s;ubject thy &s;elf to it, it
will never hurt thee: no, it will breake thy chayne, tho&s;e chaines
of death and darkene&s;&s;e whereby Satan holdeth thee captive, and
make thee free, and though thou maye&s;t carry a piece of thy
chaine with thee to thy dying day, yet it will wholly free thee
in the end. Buy Truth, and walk in the power of the &s;pirit of
Truth, and ye &s;hall be mighty in the &s;trength of Chri&s;t <HI>to over|come,
and &s;hall &s;it downe with Him in his Throne, even as he over|came
<PB N="35" REF="19">
and is &s;et downe with His Father in his Throne.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Many and great ingagements lie upon us of this Nation,
and in particular upon us of this generation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Motive.</NOTE> to make us buy <HI>truth</HI>
and &s;tand for <HI>Truth</HI> to the uttermo&s;t. Wonderfully hath the
Lord wrought for the bringing in, the re&s;toring, pre&s;erving and
propagating of the <HI>Truth</HI> among us. To &s;ay nothing of the fir&s;t
introduction of the light, in or neere the Apo&s;tles times, How
graciou&s;ly did the Lord vi&s;it this Nation about 200. yeers before
<HI>Luthers</HI> dayes, by the mini&s;tery of <HI>Wickliffe</HI> and others, rai&s;ing
up a &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of faithfull witne&s;&s;es to &s;eal the <HI>Truth</HI> with their
blood in the &s;everall Reignes of our Kings, who according to
the blindne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e times gave their power to the Bea&s;t.
Then followed that &s;trange act of <HI>Henry</HI> the eighth, in aboli&s;h|ing
the <HI>Popes</HI> Supremacy: next, the wonderfull workings of our
God upon the heart and by the hands of our Engli&s;h <HI>Io&s;ias</HI> King
<HI>Ew<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">r<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> 6. In who&s;e Reigne it is very ob&s;ervable, that by an
admirable conjuncture of providence, the Churches of <HI>Ger|many</HI>
&s;hould be under per&s;ecution, and the Churches in this Land
&s;hould enjoy a &s;hort breathing time of Peace, that &s;o <HI>England</HI>
which had need to borrow light from forreigne parts, might be
&s;upplyed; from <HI>Germany</HI> Divines were called, both &s;uch as were
Orthodox, and &s;uch (it &s;eemeth) who were tainted with the
<HI>Lutheran</HI> errour, one at lea&s;t, viz: <HI>Brentius</HI> a man noted to bee
much infected a&s;well with that great errour of <HI>ubiquity,</HI> as that
of the <HI>Corporall pre&s;ence in the Sacrament,</HI> a per&s;on of eminent
authority for his Learning and manifold accompli&s;hments, and
one who had he accepted of the call,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vocatus a rege Angliae Edvardo ampli&s;simis promi&s;sioni|bus. Mel: Ad: in vita, Brontii.</NOTE> might have &s;owed &s;uch
&s;eed in one or other of our Univer&s;ities as might have over&s;pread
the Land, &amp; perhaps tho&s;e weeds which might have &s;prang from
it, would not have been rooted out unto this day, e&s;pecially if
that be con&s;idered that our leading men <HI>Cramner, Ridley, &amp;c.</HI> were
&s;uppo&s;ed not to be wel informed in that point at that time. I con|ceive
there was a gracious overruling providence of God in it,
diverting him, and moving him to decline &s;o faire an offer, though
(it &s;eemeth) hee was troubled to finde a place wherein to hide
his head with &s;afety. On the other &s;ide the Lord was plea&s;ed to
incline the hearts of <HI>Martyr, Bucer</HI> and <HI>Phagius,</HI> three pious and
Orthodox Divines to accept the call. What were all our multi|plied
<PB N="36" REF="20">
deliverances in the Reigne of Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> among the
re&s;t that of 88. And &s;ince her time from the <HI>Powder-trea&s;on,</HI> and
now of late a wonderfull &s;eries or large Catalogue of extraor|dinary
events brought about by the mighty hand of God; what
are all the&s;e (I &s;ay) but the glorious workings of our God for the
procuring and continuing unto us the&s;e precious opportunities
of buying <HI>truth?</HI> and therefore they ought to be mighty provo|cations
to our &s;pirits not to neglect &s;uch a price put into our
hands, unle&s;&s;e we will &s;hew our &s;elves of all people upon the
earth mo&s;t unthankfull,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 10. 12</NOTE> and &s;o mo&s;t unexcu&s;able. Let me name
one of the la&s;t &s;ort: that as in the dayes of <HI>Jo&s;h. The Lord hearke|ned
to the voice of a man, &s;aying, Sun &s;tand thou &s;till upon Gibeon, and
thou Moone in the valley of Aialon, and the Sun &s;tood still in the mid&s;t
of Heaven, and ha&s;ted not to go down about an whole day:</HI> &s;o whereas
our Parliaments have formerly been made like fleeting meteors
or falling &s;tars, giving &s;ome glimp&s;e of light and &s;uddenly vani&s;h|ing,
the Lord &s;hould now hearken to the cryes of His people,
and give us a fixed Parliament, like the Sunne &s;tanding &s;till in
the mid&s;t of Heaven, that &s;o there might be time for the di&s;co|very
and e&s;tabli&s;hment of <HI>Truth</HI> and for the &s;cattering of the
enemies of <HI>Truth.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> 3.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Motive.</NOTE> And la&s;tly con&s;ider what will be the value and price of <HI>truth</HI>
at the la&s;t on the death-bed, in the day of judgement. How many
thou&s;ands of gold and &s;ilver, yea of worlds (if they had them)
would the greate&s;t enemies or contemners of <HI>truth</HI> give at that
day, if then it might be had, if then they could purcha&s;e the &s;aving
knowledge of God, of Chri&s;t, of the Go&s;pel, the Truth of
Faith, repentance, &s;anctification? then a whole world for a
lamp full of this precious oyl. Certainly Truth is alwayes of the
&s;ame value, every whit as much worth now as it will be then:
But now men looke upon <HI>Truth</HI> as they do upon rich wares in a
dark-&s;hop, and &s;o undervalue it, whereas they take a full view
of the things of the world, and look upon them in the open Sun.
But then the Truth &s;hall be fully di&s;covered, men &s;hall &s;ee &s;uch
a light as they never &s;aw, a glorious irradiation, and Divine
brightne&s;&s;e from the face of Chri&s;t, and Truth &s;hall be exhibited
<HI>&s;ub dio,</HI> in the broad day-light in the cleer light of that Great
Day, to which the light which now we &s;ee by, is but as a twi|light
<PB N="37" REF="20">
or evening light. Then the worth of Truth &s;hall be fully
known: they that would not goe to the price of it &s;hall know
their lo&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Pet. 3. 10 <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> Oh ye that prize your wealth above the Truth, ye will
be of another minde when the pillars of the earth are trembling,
the heavens gathering together as a &s;croll, and pa&s;&s;ing away with
a great or hideous noi&s;e, the elements dropping or melting, the
earth and the works in it burnt up, if yee will &s;eeke for that
wealth which now yee value above the Truth, ye mu&s;t &s;eek it in
that heap of a&s;hes: and ye that preferre your plea&s;ures above it,
as they are but &s;hadowes now when they are at be&s;t, &s;o then they
will be torments, and ye that e&s;teeme your honours, credit, re|putation
and the prai&s;e of men above the Truth, ye will then
&s;ee that this was but a bla&s;t, an empty breath when ye enjoyed it,
and then it will be nothing, yea, it will turn into &s;hame and con|fu&s;ion
of face for ever. On the contrary, the beauty and glory of
truth will then &s;hine forth in perfection, &amp; they that bought it at
the highe&s;t rate &s;hall cleerly under&s;tand what a ble&s;&s;ed advantage
they have made. Oh that now we could be wi&s;e for our &s;ouls! Let
us be content to begger our &s;elves (if need be) that we may bee
rich. Give any thing to buy Truth. The time is &s;hort (as the A|po&s;tle
&s;aith) it remaineth then that tho&s;e which buy the things of
this world be as if they po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed not, as men ready to part with
them at any time, looking upon them as things that little con|cerne
them, carrying their hearts above them, keeping their &s;pi|rits
weaned from them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7. 30</NOTE> but that tho&s;e who buy Truth, bee as
tho&s;e that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e and improve it to the be&s;t advantage: <HI>For the
fa&s;hion of this world pa&s;&s;eth away: but the Word and Truth of God,
and the fruit, comfort and benefit of it endureth for ever.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
