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retain faith in the heart, but we must also strive to expreffe it two wayes.

1. In the fruits of faith, good life.

2. In the outward profeffion, as the Apostle doth joyne them Rom.o. together, with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousneffe, and with the tongue he confesseth to falvation:

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Against thofe Nicodemites which come to Chrift by night, and all those who think it enough to referve the heart for God, though their outward deportment be fashioned to the time and place and perfons, where, when, and with whom they do live.

5. S. which ftandeth for Semper, alwayes, which doth exprefs perfeverance; for it is no true faith if it do not hold outto the end. Let us now put all together; a true faith must be entire, worksing alwayes by love, so that men may see our good works, and glorifie God which is in heaven.

In a word, the faith here mentioned is an holy apprehenfion, and a bold application of the favour of God to his Church, in the mediation and merits of Jefus Chrift,by whom we do beleeve that God is in Chrift reconciling us to himself, and the juft man doth live by this faith.De verbis hactenus.

The words thus cleared, we come now to the divifion of this

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It containeth an Antithefis, wherein two contraries are fet in Soppofition one against the other.

1. The man that is lifted up;

12. The juf man.

1. Of the firit he faith, non recta est anima ejus, his foule is not upright.

2. Of the fecond he faith, ex fide vivet, he shall live by faith. In the first I note two things.

1. His notation, Elevatus, lifted up.

2. His cenfure, Non recta eft anima, his foule is not upright. His notation: Elevatus.

This is a thing that God loves not; for it it faid, God refifteth the proud; that is the point of doctrine in this place.720 God taketh offence at fuch as are lifted up.

It was the fall of the Angels that kept not their first estate, èro fimilis altiffimo. 225

It was the fall of man: Behold man is become like one of us,knowing good and evill.

Some think this part of the text meant of Nebuchadnezzar, the proud King, whole heart was fo big fwolne with his great victories, that in the ruffe of self opinion he ascribed all to himfelf, and therefore was turned to graze, as in the ftory of Dani els prophecie we read.

Remember the fearful quarrel of Chrift with Capernaum, And thon Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shait be thrust downe Luk.io.15

to hell.

It is one of the works of the preaching of the Gofpel, I may call it one of the miracles of the power of our ministry.

Every mountain and hill shall be brought low.Chryfoft.Elatos & Superbos nomine montis denunciat, he cals the proud by the name Luk. 3.5. of a mountain; the early and the later rain that falleth on them doth flip off and fall into the under vallies,and the vallies (as the Plalmift faith) do abound with corne.

The power of the Word extendeth to the humiliation of many that are lifted up; for it revealeth unto us Chrift, without whom we can do nothing, without whom no man cometh to the Father. And this leaves us nothing to lift us up.

I have spoken of this fin out of the former chapter, where the Chaldeans proud of their victories, do rejoyce and afcribe the glory thereof to themselves. And from the mouth of an heathen man, Artabanus the Uncle of King Xarxes I take it, gander De Herodit. us eminentissima quaque deprimere, his reaton, Polymnia Quia Deus neminem alium quàm feipfum finit magnifice de (e fentire.

Yea fometimes we finde when God doth owe a man a fhrewd turn, he will lift him up himself that he may throw him downe; as David complaineth, Thon haft lifted me up, and caft me dorone. But the lifting up here understood, is the pride of heart which

keth men to esteem of themselves above all that is in them; fuch are their own Parafites; and the Wiseman faith, there is more hope of a foole then one of thefe.

In this Argument I went to farre in the former chapter, as to teach you two things,

1. To decline this as a difeafe.

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2. To embrace the remedies against it.

8. Reafons I gave against it to perfwade declining of it. 1. It trefpafleth primum & magnum mandatum legis, the first and great Commandment of the Law,&c.

2. Connumerat nos filiis Sathane, patri fil. Superb.

3. Exterminat charitatem, voluntas Dominium exercet.
4. Subjicit nos oppofirioni divine, Deus refistit fuperbis..
5. Tollit à nobis talentum dum noftra quærimus..
6. Male nos decet, poore and proud.

7. Nullum vitium Sathana magis placet.
8. Superbus ingratus, and fo omnia dixeris.

The remedies, 1. Serious confideration of our felves..
2. Studious searching in the word of God.
3. Putting our felves often in the fight of God.
4. Frequent cafting up the favours of God to us.
5. Earnest and devout prayer.

This is a flie and cunning infinuation of Satan, to lift us up in our own opinion; there is a tang of our hereditary corruption that runnes in the fame channel with our blood; we are all apt enough to value our felves above the lone price.

Few of the mind of Agur the son of Jakeh, 1 am more brutish then any man.

Few of the mind of Saint Paul, Of whom I am cheif.

It is a great victory that a man hath gotten of himself, if he be once able to keep himself under; for whether we do encrease in outward goods or spiritual graces, we shall have much adoto avoid this fin.

2. The cenfure, Non eft recta anima ejus.

This Phyfitian doth search the disease to the bottome, he finds where the fault is; the foule is naught, the inward man is corrupt.

And if the light that is in us be darknesse, how great is that darkneffe? It is the fearcher of hearts and reines, that findeth this fault; who but he can examine and try the inward man?

We see what bodie, what complexion, what stature man hath; we may see what honours he attaineth in the world, how he encreaseth goods, what delights a man useth for recreation; we cannet fee what fouls men have, rectas an obliquas.

But

But if we fee and obferve men proud and lifted up high in their own opinion, we fee there is cause of fear, that they have not rectas animas, right fouls.

And though the judgment of our brethren belong not to us,

yet let us judge our felves by this; for if we do finde in our felves an elevation above our pitch, that either the opinion of our wif- Doftr. dome and strength, or riches, or honours, or friends do fwell us, it is a certain Symptome of a difeafed foul.

1. Because this lifting up doth diflodge God from the foul, he will not dwell with a proud man, he hath fo declared himself.

Reaf. J.

For thus faith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, Ifa.57.15. whose name is holy: I dwell in the hight and holy place, with him alJo that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble: to revive the spirit of the contrite ones.

Now as Auguftine laith, Vita corporis anima, vita anima Deus. If he fay to our foul, I have no delight in thee, we may complain in pace mea amaritudo, our foul is fick even to the death,

2. Because this pride of life which lifteth us up, is not able to Reaf. z. keep us up; for the elevation of our fouls is like the violent cafting up of an heavy body into the aire, which will fall down againe with its own weight; it is a mans own luft that draweth and dri- Jam.1.14 veth and forceth him up.

And if Satan do put his help to it to lift us up, he will be the firft, that will put hand to the cafting of us down again,

When he had lifted up Chrift to the pinnacle of the Temple,

the next temptation was, Caft thy felf down.

3. Because this pride of life filleth the foul fo full of it felf, that' there is no roome for the fpiritual graces of God to dwell there; Chrift lodged in a ftable, quia non erat locus in diverforio

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4. Because as the eating of fomethings doth put the mouth Reaf. 4 out of tafte, that it cannot relifh wholefome food; fo the plea-. fing of the fouls palate with the lufhious fweetneffe of temporal vanities, doth make the foul out of tafte with the bread of life, that wholefome dyet which should keep our fouls in health. ok

Let us make profit of this Doctrine,

1. Let it be the main and cheif care and ftudy and endevour of our whole life to get and keep animam rectam, an upright

foule.

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To keep your accompts ftrait, to keep your estate upright;to keep your body in health by a regular obfervation thereof, to keep. your intereft in the love of your freinds: all thofe be lawful cares of life, and this is an incumbent duty which obligeth and enga geth all men but let not thefe cares fwallow us up, and devour our whole life.

These things perish in the very ufing of them.

The foul of every man, that, is the man; if that be not kept up. right, What profit will it be to a man to winne all the world, and Loofe the foul?

In the laft day an upright foul will be able to ftand it out before the judgment feat, when they that have kept all things upright but their fouls, fhal fee that none but upright fouls are happy.

2. Let us therefore not ftand wishing I would I had fuch a foul; as Balaam, I would I might die the death of the righteous; but let us ftudy and ufe the means to get fuch a foul. These are

1. The Word; for in that the Spirit fpeaketh; there is a found of the voyce that commeth to the ear, that is not enough, there is the Spirit speaking to the foul; that's the Sermon, the Spirit of God is the Preacher, the fouls of men are the audience. So the Pfalmift,

I wait for the Lord, my foul doth wait, and in his Word do I hope,

2. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper; for that is fpirituall meat and drink, the Pabulum anime, it is both meat and medi cine, worthily received; it is Emanuel, God with us.

I may fay to you my brethren, as Chrift faid to the woman of Joh. 4. 10. Samaria: If you knew the gift of God,, and understood what grace is offered you in the word and Sacrament, and how beneficiall they are, how nourishing, how cordial to the inward man; you would not come to the Word when your leafure ferved, but you would put by ail bufineffes, and make them attend that service: you would not receive the sacrament once a year, if fo much;but your Word would be Defideria defideravi comedere hoc pascha. I only fay with Christ,

If you know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

3, Confeffion to God is another good means; keep the foul

upright

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