Two Sermons Upon Jude, Sermon 2
The second Sermon.
EPIST. IVDE.
17 But yee, beloved, remember the words, which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ.
18 How that they tolde you that there should be mockers in the last time, which should walk after their own vngodly lusts.
19 These are makers of Sects, fleshly, having not the spirit.
20 But yee, beloved, edifie your selues in your most holy faith, praying in the holy Ghost.
21 And keepe your selues in the louelove of God, looking for the merciemercy of our Lord Iesus Christ vntounto eternall life.
HAving otherwhere spoken of the words of Saint Iude, going next before, concerning Mockers, which should come in the last time, & backsliders, which even then fell away from the faith of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ; I am now by the aide of almighty God, and through the assistance of his good spirit, to lay before you the words of exhortation, which I hauehave read.
2 Wherein first of all, whosoever hath an eie to see, let him open it, and he shall wel perceiue, how carefull the Lord is for his children, how desirous to see them profit and growe vp to a manly stature in Christ, how loath to hauehave them any way mislead, either by examples of the wicked, or by enticements of the world, and by provocation of the flesh, or by any other meanes forcible to deceaue them, and likely to estrange their heartt from God. For God is not at that point with vsus, that hee careth not whether wee sinke or swimme. No, he hath written our names in the palme of his hand, in the signet vponupon his finger are we graven, in sentences not onelyonly of mercy, but of iudgement also we are remembred. He never denoū ceth iudgements again…t the wicked, but hee maketh some Proviso for his children, as it were for some certaine priviledged persons, Touch not mine annointed, doe my Prophets no harme, hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till wee hauehave sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. Hee never speaketh of godlesse men, but he adioineth words of comfort, or admonition, or exhortation, whereby wee are moued to rest and settle our hearts on him. In the second to Tim. the 3. Chap. Evil men; saith the Apostle, and deceiuers shall waxe worse and worse, deceiuing and being deceiued. But continue thou in the things, which thou hast learned. And in the first to Tim. the. 6. Chap. Some men lusting after money have erred from the faith, & pierced themselues through with many sorrowes. But thou, ô man of God, fly these things, and follow after righteousnesse godlines, faith louelove, patience, meeknesse. In the second to the Thessalonians, the second Chap. They that have not receiued the louelove of the truth, that they might bee saued, God shall send them strong delusions, that they may beleeue lies. But we ought to giuegive thanks alway to God for you, brethren, beloued of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit, and faith in the truth. And in this Epistle of S. …ude, There shall come mockers in the last time, walking after their owne vngodly lusts. But, beloued, edifie yee your selues in your most holy faith.
3 These sweet exhortations, which God putteth every where in the mouthes of the Prophets & Apostles of Iesus Christ, are evident tokens, that God si…teth not in heaven carelesse and vnmindfull of our estate. Can a mother forget her child? Surely a mother will hardly forget her child. But if a mother bee happily found vnnaturall, and doe forget the fruit of her owne wombe, yet Gods iudgements shew plainly, that he cannot forget, the man whose heart hee hath framed and fashioned a new in simplicity and truth to serue and feare him. For when the wickednesse of man was so great, and the earth so filled with crueltie, that it could not stand with the righteousnes of God any longer to forbeare, wrathfull sentences brake out from him like wine from a vessell that hath no vent. My spirit, Gen 6 3 & 13saith he, can struggle and striue no longer, an end of all flesh is come before me. Yet then did Noah finde grace in the eies of the Lord; Gen 6, 8 & 18I will establish my covenāt with thee, saith God, thou shalt goe into the arke, thou, and thy sonnes, and thy wife, and thy sonnes wiues with thee.
4 Doe we not see what shift God doth make for Lot, and for his familie in the 19. of Genesis, least the fierie destruction of the wicked should overtake him? Overnight the Angels make enquiry, what sons or daughters, or sonnes in law, what wealth and substance he had. They charge him to carie out al, whatsoever thou hast in the citie, Gen 19. 12.bring it out. God seemeth to stand in a kind of feare, least something or other would be left behind. And his will was that nothing of that which he had, not an hoofe of any beast, not a threed of any garment should bee singed with that fire. In the morning the Angels fayle not to call him vp,Gen 19. 15. and to hasten him forward, Arise, take thy wife, & thy daughters which are here, that they be not destroyed in the punishment of the Citie. The Angels hauing spoken againe and againe, Lot for all this, lingereth out the time still, till at the length they were forced to take both him, Ver. 16.and his wife, and his daughters by the armes (the Lord being mercifull vntounto him) and to cary them forth and set them without the citie.
5 Was there ever any father thus carefull to saue his child from the flame? A man would thinke, that now being spoken vntounto to escape for his life, and not to looke behinde him, nor to tarry in the plaine, but to hasten to the mountaine & there to saue himselfe, he should do it gladly. Yet behold, now he is so farre off from a chearefull & willing hart to do whatsoever is commanded him for his owne weale, that he beginneth to reason the matter, as if God had mistaken one place for another, sending him to the hill when salvation was in the Citie. Not so, my Lord, I beseech thee. Ver. 18.Behold, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou haste shewed vntounto me in saving my life. I cannot escape in the mountaine, least some evil take me and I die. Here is a Citty hard by, a small thing. O let me escape thither (is it not a small thing?) and my soule shall liue. Well, God is contented to yeeld to any conditions. Behold I hauehave received thy request concerning this thing also. I will spare this City, for which thou hast spoken; hast thee; saue thee there. For I can do nothing till thou come thither.
6 Hee could doe nothing! Not because of the weaknesse of his strength (for who is like vntounto the Lord in power?) but because of the greatnesse of his mercy which would not suffer him to lift vp his arme against that City, nor to power out his wrath vponupon that place, where his righteous servant had a fancie to remaine, and a desire to dwell. O the depth of the riches of the mercy and louelove God! God is afraide to offend vsus which are not afraid to displease him! God can do nothing till he hauehave saved vsus, which can finde in our harts rather to do any thing then to serue him. It contenteth him not to exempt vsus, when the pit is digged for the wicked; to comfort vsus at every mention which is made of reprobates and godlesse men; to saue vsus as the apple of his owne eie when fire commeth downe from heaven to consume the inhabitants of the earth, except every Prophet and every Apostle, and every servant, whom he sendeth forth, doe come loaden with these and the like exhortations, O beloved, edifie your selues in your most holy faith. GiueGive your selues to praier in the spirit, keepe your selues in the louelove of God. Looke for the merciemercy of our Lord Iesus Christ vntounto eternall life.
7 Edifie your selues. The speech is borrowed frō material builders, and must be spiritually vnderstood. It appeareth in the 6. of S. Iohns gospel by the Iewes, that their mouthes did water too much for bodilie food, Our fathers, say they, did eate Manna in the Desert, is it is written, He gaue them bread from heaven to eate; Lord, evermore give vsus of this bread! Our Saviour, to turne their appetite another way, maketh thē this answere, I am the bread of life, hee that cōmeth to me shall not hunger, and hee that beleeveth in mee, shall never thirst.
8 An vsuall practise it is of Satan to cast heapes of worldly baggage in our way, that whilest we desire to heape vp gold as dust, wee may be brought at the length to esteeme vilely that spiritual blisse. Christ, in the 6. of Matthew, to correct this evill affection, putteth vsus in minde to lay vp treasure for our selues in heaven. The Apostle, 1. Tim. 3. chapt. misliking the vanity of those womē, which attired themselues more costly, then beseemed the heavenly calling of such as professed the feare of God, willeth them to cloath themselues with shamefastnes and modestie, and to put on the apparel of good workes. Taliter pigmentatae Deum habebitis amatorem, saith Tertullian. Put on righteousnesse as a garment: in steed of Civit hauehave Faith, which may cause a savour of life to issue from you, and God shall be enamoured, he shal be ravished with your beauty. These are the ornaments, & bracelets, and jewels, which inflame the louelove of Christ, and set his hart on fire vponupon his spowse. We see, how he breaketh out in the Canticles at the beholding of this attire, How faire art thou, and how pleasant art thou, O my louelove, in these pleasures!
9 And perhaps S. Iude exhorteth vsus here not to build our houses but our selues, forseeing by the spirit of the Almighty, which was with him, that there should be men in the last daies like to those in the first, which should encourage and stirre vp each other to make bricke & to burne it in the fire, to build houses huge as cities, and towers as high as heaven, thereby to get them a name vponupon earth; men that shoulde turne out the poore, and the fatherlesse, and the widdow, to build places of rest for dogs & swine in their roomes; men that should lay houses of praier even with ground, and make thē stables where Gods people hauehave worshipped before the Lord. Surely this is a vanity of all vanities, and it is much amongst men, a speciall sicknesse of this age. What it should meane, I know not, except God hauehave set thē on worke to provide fewel against that day, when the Lord Iesus shal shew himselfe from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. What good commeth vntounto the owners of these things, saith Solomon, Eccles. 5.but only the beholding thereof with their eies? Martha, Martha, thou busiest thy selfe about many things, One thing is necessarie. Yee are too busie, my brethren, with timber, and bricke; They hauehave chosen the better part, they hauehave taken a better course, that build themselues. Yee are the Temples of the living God; as God hath said, I wil dwel in them, and will walke in them, & they shal be my people, and I wil be their God.
10 Which of you wil gladly remaine, or abide in a mishapen, a ruinous, or a broken house? And shal we suffer sinne, and vanity to drop in at our eies, and at our eares, at every corner of our bodies, & of our soules, knowing that we are the Temples of the holy Ghost? Which of you receiveth a guest, whom he honoureth, or whom he loveth, and doth not sweepe his chamber against his comming? And shal we suffer the chamber of our hearts and consciences to lie full of vomiting, full of filth, ful of garbidge knowing that Christ hath said, I, and my Father will come, and dwell with you? Is it meete for your Oxen to lay in parlours, and your selues to lodge in cribs? Or is it seemely for your selues to dwell in your setled houses, and the house of the Almighty to lie wast, whose house yee are your selues? Do not our eies behold, how God every day overtaketh the wicked in their iourneies, how suddenly they pop downe into the pit? how Gods iudgements for their times come so swiftly vponupon them, that they hauehave not the leasure to crie, Alas? how their life is cut off like a threed in a moment? how they passe like a shadow? how they open their mouthes to speake, and God taketh them even in the midst of a vaine or an idle word? And dare we for all this lay downe, take our rest, eate our meat securely and carelesly in the midst of so great and so many ruines? Blessed and praised for ever and ever be his name, who perceiuing of how senselesse & heavy mettall we are made,The sacrament of the L. Supper. hath instituted in his Church a spirituall supper, and an holy communion, to be celebrated often, that we might thereby bee occasioned often to examine these buildings of ours, in what case they stand. For sith God doth not dwell in Temples which are vncleane, sith a shrine cannot be a sanctuary vntounto him; and this supper is receaued as a seale vntounto vsus, that we are his house and his sanctuarie, that his Christ is as truly vnited to me, and I to him, as my arme is vnited and knit vntounto my shoulder, that hee dwelleth in me as verily as the elements of bread and wine abide within me, which perswasion, by receiving these dreadfull mysteries, we professe our selues to hauehave; a due comfort, if truly, and if in hypocrisie, then woe worth vsus. Therefore ere wee put forth our hands to take this blessed Sacrament, we are charged to examine, and to trie our hearts whether God bee in vsus of a truth or no: and if by faith and louelove vnfained we be found the temples of the holy Ghost, then to iudge, whether we hauehave had such regard every one to our building, that the spirit which dwelleth in vsus hath no way beene vexed, molested, and grieued. Or if it hauehave, as no doubt sometimes it hath by incredulitie, sometimes by breach of charitie, sometimes by want of zeale, sometimes by spots of life, even in the best and most perfect amongst vsus, (for who can say, his heart is cleane?) O then to fly vntounto God by vnfained repentance, to fall downe before him in the humilitie of our soules, begging of him whatsoever is needfull to repaire out decaies before wee fall into that desolation, whereof the Prophet speaketh, saying, Thy breach is great like the sea, Lam. 2. v. 13.who can heale thee?
11 Receiving the sacrament of the Supper of the Lord, after this sort (you that are spiritual, iudge what I speake) is not all other wine like the water of Marah, being compared to the cup, which we blesse? Is not Manna like to gall▪ and our bread like to Manna? Is there not a tast, a tast of Christ Iesus in the hart of him that eateth? Doth not hee which drinketh, behold plainely in this cup, that his soul is bathed in the blood of the lambe? O beloued in our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ, if yee will tast how sweet the Lord is, if yee will receaue the king of glory, Build your selues.
12 Young men, I speake this to you, for yee are his house, because by faith, yee are conquerers over Satan, and hauehave overcome that evill. Fathers, I speake it also to you, yee are his house, because yee hauehave knowne him, which is from the beginning. Sweete Babes, I speake it even to you also; yee are his house, because your sinnes are forgiven you for his namesake. Matrons and Sisters, I may not hold it from you, yee are also the Lords building, and, as S. Peter speaketh, heires of the grace of life as well as we. Though it be forbidden you to open your mouthes in publike assemblies, yet yee must bee inquisitiue in things concerning this building, which is of God, with your husbands and friends at home, not as Dalila with Sampson, but as Sara with Abraham, whose daughters yee are, whilst yee doe well, and build your selues.
13 Having spoken thus farre of the exhortation, as whereby we are called vponupon to edifie and build our selues. It remaineth now, that wee consider the thing prescribed, namely wherein we must bee built. This prescription standeth also vponupon two points, the thing prescribed, and the adiuncts of the thing. And that is our most pure, and holy faith.
14 The thing prescribed is Faith. For as in a chaine, which is made of many linkes, if you pull the first, you drawe the rest; and as in a ladder of many staues, if you take away the lowest, all hope of ascending to the highest will be remoued, So because all the precepts and promises in the law and in the Gospell doe hang vponupon this, Beleeue; and because the last of the graces of God doth so follow the first, that he glorifieth none, but whom he hath iustified, nor iustifieth any, but whom he hath called to a true, effectual, and liuely faith in Christ Iesus, therefore S Iude exhorting vsus to build our selues, mentioneth here expresly only faith▪ as the thing wherein we must be edified, for that faith is the ground and the glorie of all the welfare of this building.
15 Yee are not strangers & forrainers,Ephes: but citizens with the Saints, and of the houshold of God, saith the Apostle, and are built vponupon the foundation of the Prophets & Apostles, Iesus Christ himselfe being the cheefe corner stone, in whom all the building being coupled together, groweth vntounto an holy Temple in the Lord, in whom yee also are built together to be the habitation of God by the spirit. And we are the habitation of God by the spi…t, if we beleeue. For it is written, whosoever confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God, in him God dwelleth, and he in God. The strength of this habitatiō is great; it prevaileth against Satan; it conquereth sinne; it hath death in derision; neither principalities, nor powers can throwe it downe; it leadeth the world captiue, & bringeth every enimie, that riseth vp against it, to cō fusion and shame, and all by faith; for this is the victorie that overcommeth the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcōmeth the world,1 Ioh 4 1. Ioh. 5. but hee which beleeueth, that Iesus is the sonne of God?
16 The strength of every building, which is of God, standeth not in any mans armes or legs: it is only in our faith, as the valour of Sampson lay only in his haire. This is the reason, why wee are so earnestly called vponupon to edifie our selues in faith. Not as if this bare action of our minds, whereby wee beleeue the Gospel of Christ, were able in it selfe as of it selfe to make vsus vnconquerable and invincible, like stones, which abide in the building for ever and fall not out. No, it is not the worthinesse of our beleeuing, it is the vertue of him in whom we beleeue, by which we stand sure as houses that are builded vponupon a rocke. He is a wise man,Mat 7. which hath builded his house vponupon a rocke; for he hath chosen a good foundation, and no doubt his house will stand. But how shall it stand? verily by the strength of the rocke which beareth it, & by nothing else. Our fathers, whom God delivered out of the land of Egypt, were a people that had no peeres amongst the nations of the earth, because they were built by faith vponupon the rocke, which rocke is Christ. And the rocke, saith the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians, the tenth Chapter, did follow him. Whereby we learne not only this, that being built by faith on Christ as on a rocke,Rom. 11. and grafted into him as into an Oliue, wee receiue all our strength and fatnesse from him, but also that this strength and fatnesse of ours ought to be no cause why we should be high minded and not workeout our salvation with a reverent, trē bling, and holy feare. For if thou boastest thy selfe of thy faith, knowe this that Christ chose his Apostles, his Apostles chose not him; that Israel followed not the rocke, but the rocke followed Israel, and that thou bearest not the roote, but the root thee. So that every heart must this thinke, and every tongue must thus speake, Not vntounto vsus, O Lord, not vntounto vsus, nor vntounto any thing which is within vsus, but vntounto thy name onelyonly, only to thy name belongeth all the praise of al the treasures and riches of every Temple which is of God. This excludeth al boasting and vaunting of our faith.
17 But this must not make vsus carelesse to edifie our selues in faith. It is the Lord that delivereth mens soules from death, but not except they put their trust in his mercy. It is God that hath given vsus eternall life,1. Joh … but no otherwise then thus, If wee beleeue in the name of the sonne of God; for hee that hath not the sonne of God hath not life. It was the spirit of the Lord which came vponupon Sampson, & made him strong to teare a lion as a man would rent a kid: but his strength forsooke him, and he became like other men when the razer had touched his head. It is the power of God whereby the faithfull hauehave subdued kingdomes, wroug…t righteousnesse, obtained the promises, stopped the mouthes of Lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword: But take away their faith, and doth not their strength forsake them? are they not like vntounto other men?
18 If yee desire yet farther to knowe how necessarie and ne…dfull it is, that we edifie and build vp our selues in faith, marke the words of the blessed Apostles, without faith it is impossible to please God. If I offer vntounto God all the sheepe and oxen, that are in the world, if all the Temples, that were builded since the dayes of Adam till this houre, were of my foundation, if I breake my very heart with calling vponupon God, and weare out my tongue with preaching, if J sacrifice my body and my soule vntounto him, and hauehave no faith all this availeth nothing.No pleasing of God without faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Our Lord and Saviour therefore being asked in the sixt of S. Iohns Gospell, What shall we doe that we might worke the workes of God, maketh answer, This is the worke of God, that yee beleeue in him, whom hee hath sent.
19 That no worke of ours, no building of our selues in any thing can be available or profitable vntounto vsus, except we be edified & built in faith, what need we to seeke about for long proofe? looke vponupon Israel, once the very chosen and peculiar of God, to whom the adoption of the faithfull, and the glory of Cherubins, and the covenants of mercy, and the lawe of Moses, and the service of God, and the promises of Christ were made impropriate, who not onelyonly were the ofspring of Abraham, father vntounto all them which doe beleeue, but Christ their ofspring, which is God to be blessed for evermore.
20 Consider this people and learne, what it is to build your selues in faith. They were the Lords vine: he brought it out of Egypt, he threwe out the heathen from their places, that it might be planted, hee made roome for it, and caused it to take roote, till it had filled the earth, the mountaines were covered with the shadowe of it, and the boughs thereof were as the goodly Cedars. She stretched out her branches vntounto the sea and her boughs vntounto the river. But when God hauing sent both his servants and his sonne to visite this vine, they neither spared the one, nor receiued the other, but stoned the Prophets, and crucified the Lord of glory which came vntounto them, then beganne the curse of God to come vponupon them, even the curse whereof the Prophet David hath spoken, saying, Let their table be made a snare, Psal 69.and a net, and a stumbling blocke, even for a recompence vntounto them, Rom. 11.let their eies bee darkned, that they doe not see, bow downe their backs forever, keepe them downe. And sithens the houre, that the measure of their infidelitie was first ma…e vp they hauehave beene spoiled with warres, eatē vp with plagues s…ent with hunger and famine: they wander frō place to place, and are become the most base and contempt…ble people that are vnderunder the sunne. Ephraim, which before was a terrour vntounto nations, & they trembled at his voice, is now by infidelitie so vile that he seemeth as a thing cast out to bee trampled vnderunder mens feet. In the midst of these desolations they cry. Returne we beseech thee, Psal 18. v. 14.ô God of hosts, looke downe from heaven, behold and visit this vine: but their very prayers are turned into sinne, and their cryes are no better then the lowing of beasts before him.Rom 11. 20. Well, saith the Apostle, by their vnbeleefe they are broken of, and thou doest stand by thy faith. Behold therefore the bountifulnesse, and severitie of God; towards them severitie, because they hauehave fallen, Ver. 22.bountifulnesse towards thee, if thou continue in his bountifulnesse, or else thou shalt be cut off. If they forsake their vnbeleefe, and be grafted in againe, and we at any time for the hardnesse of our hearts be broken off, it will be such a iudgement, as will amaze all the powers and principalities which are aboue. Who hath searched the counsell of God concerning this secret? and who doth not see that infidelitie doth threaten Lo-ammi vntounto the Gentiles, as it hath brought Lo-ruchama vponupon the Iewes?Hos. 1. 9 not my people. It may bee that these wordes seeme darke vntounto you.Ver 6. not obtaining mercy. But the words of the Apostle in the eleventh to the Romans, are plaine enough, If God hauehave not spared the naturall branches, take heed, take heed, least he spare not thee. Build thy selfe in faith. Thus much of the thing which is prescribed, and wherein we are exhorted to edifie our selues. Now consider the conditions and properties, which are in this place annexed vntounto faith. The former of them (for there are but two) is this, Edifie your selues in your faith.
21. A strange, and a strong delusion it is where with the man of sinne hath bewitched the world; a forcible spirit of errour it must needs be, which hath brought men to such a senselesse & vnreasonable perswasion as this is, not only that men cloathed with mortalitie and sinne as we our selues are, can doe God so much service, as shall bee able to make a full and a perfect satisfaction before the Tribunall seate of God for their owne sinnes, yea a great deale more, then is sufficient for themselues; But also that a man at the hands of a Bishop or a Pope, for such or such a price, may buie the overplus of other mens merits, purchase the fruits of other mens labours, and build his soule by another mans faith. Is not this man drowned in the gall of bitternesse? Is his heart right in the sight of God? Can he hauehave any part or fellowship with Peter, and with the successours of Peter, which thinketh so vilely of building the pretious Temples of the holy Ghost? Let his money perish with him, and he with it, because he iudgeth, that the gift of God may bee sold for money.
22 But, Beloued in the Lord, deceaue not your selues, neither suffer ye your selues to be deceaued: ye cāreceiue no more ease nor comfort for your soules by an other mans faith, then warmth for your bodies by another mans cloathes, or sustenance by the bread which another doeth eate. The iust shall liue by his owne faith. Let a saint, yea a Martyr contēt himselfe, that he hath clensed himselfe of his owne sinnes, saith Tertullian. No saint or martyr can cleanse himselfe of his owne sins. But if so be a saint, or a martyr can cleanse himselfe of his owne sinnes, it is sufficient that he can doe it for himselfe. Did …uer any man by his death deliuer another man from death, except onelyonly the Son of God? he indeed was able to Safe Conduct a Theefe from the Crosse to Paradise: for to this end he came, that being himselfe pure from sinne, hee might obey for sinners. Thou which thinkest to doe the like, and supposest, that thou canst iustifie another by thy righteousnesse, if thou be without sinne, then lay downe thy life for thy brother; die for me. But if thou bee a sinner, even as I am a sinner, how can the oyle of thy lampe be sufficient both for thee, and for me▪ Virgins, that are wise, get yee oyle, while yee hauehave day, into your owne lamps. For out of all peradventure, others, though they would, can neither giuegive nor sell. Edifie your selues in your owne most holy faith. And let this be observed for the first propertie of that, wherein we ought to edifie our selues.
23 Our faith being such, is that indeed, which S. Iude doth here terme Faith, namely a thing most holy. The reason is this. We are iustified by Faith. For Abraham beleeued, and this was imputed vntounto him for righteousnesse. Being iustified, all our iniquities are covered, God beholdeth vsus in the righteousnesse which is imputed, and not in the sinnes which wee hauehave committed.
24 It is true, wee are full of sinne both originall, and actuall; whosoever denieth it is a double sinner, for he is both a sinner, and a lyer. To denie sinne, is most plainely and cleerely to proue it, because he that faith, he hath no sinne, lyeth, and by lying proueth that he hath sinne.
25. But imputation of righteousnesse hath covered the sinnes of every soule which beleeveth; God by pardoning our sinne hath taken it away: so that now although our transgressions be multiplied aboue the haires of our head, yet being iustified wee are as free, and as cleere, as if there were no one spot, or staine of any vncleanesse in vsus. For it is God that iustifieth, and who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen? saith the Apostle in the 8. ch. to the Romans.
26 Now sinne being taken away, wee are made the righteousnesse of God in Christ. For David speaking of this righteousnesse, saith, Blessed is the man whole iniquities are forgiuen. No man is blessed but in the righteousnesse of God. Every man, whose sinne is taken away is blessed. Therefore every man, whose sinne is covered, is made the righteousnesse of God in Christ. The righteousnes doth m…ke vsus to appeare most holy, most pure, most vnblamable before him.
27 This then is the summ of that which I say, faith doth iustifie: iustification washeth away sin: sin remoued, we are cloathed with the righteousnes which is of God: the righteousnes of God maketh vsus most holy. Every of these I hauehave proved by the testimony of Gods owne mouth. Therefore I conclude, that faith is that which maketh vas most holy, in consideration whereof it is called in this place, Our most holy faith.
28 To make a wicked and a sinful man most holy through his beleeuing, is more then to create a world of nothing. Our faith most holy? Surely Solomon could not shew the Queene of Saba so much treasure in all his kingdōe, as is lapt vp in these words. O that our hearts were stretched out like tents, & that the eies of our vnderstanding were as bright as the sunne, that we might throughly knowe the rich…s of the glorious inheritance of Saints, and what is the exceeding greatnesse of his power towards vsus, whome he accepteth for pure, and most holy, through our beleeuing. O that the spirit of the Lord would giuegive this doctrine entrance into the stonie and brasen hart of the Iew, which followeth the law of righteousnes but cannot attaine vntounto the righteousnesse of the law. Wherefore? saith the Apostle. They seeke righteousnesse, and not by faith. Wherefore they stumble at Christ, they are bruised, shivered to peeces as a ship that hath runne her selfe vponupon a rocke. O that God would cast downe the eies of the prowd, and humble the soules of the high minded, that they might at the length abhorre the garments of their owne flesh which cannot hide their nakednesse, and put on the faith of Christ Iesus, as hee did put it on, which hath said; Doubtlesse I thinke all things but losse for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lord, for whom I hauehave counted all things losse, and doe iudge them to be dung, that I might winne Christ, and might be found in him, not hauing mine owner righteousnes, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, even the righteousnesse which is of God through faith. O that God would open the Arke of mercy, wherein this doctrine lyeth, and set it wide before the eies of poore afflicted consciences, which fly vp and downe vponupon the water of their afflictions, & can see nothing but only the gulfe and deluge of their sinnes, wherein there is no place for them to rest their feet. The God of pittie and compassion giuegive you al strength & courage, every day, and every houre, & every moment, to build, and edifie your selues in this most pure & holy faith. And thus much both of the thing prescribed in this exhortatiō, & also of the properties of the thing. Build your selues in your most holy faith. I would cōe to the next branch, which is of Prayer, but I cānot lay this matter out of my hāds, til I hauehave added somwhat for the applying of it both to other, & to our selues.
29 For your better vnderstanding of matters contained in this exhortation, Build your selues, you must note, that every Church and congregatiō doth consist of a multitude of beleeuers, as every house is built of many stones. And although the nature of the mystical body of the Church be such, that it suffereth no distinction in the invisible members, but whether it be Paul or Apollos, Prince or Prophet, hee that is taught, or he that teacheth, all are equally Christs, & Christ is equally theirs: yet in the externall administration of the Church of God, because God is not the author of confusion but of peace, it is necessary that in every Congregation there be a distinction, if not of inward dignitie, yet of outward degree: so that all are Saints, or seeme to be Saints, and should bee as they seeme. But are all Apostles? If the whole bodie were an eie, where were then the hearing? God therfore hath giuen some to be Apostles, and some to be Pastours, &c. for the edificatiō of the body of Christ. In which worke we are Gods labourers, saith the Apostle, & yee are Gods husbandry, & Gods building.
30 The Church respected with reference vntounto administration ecclesiastical, doth generally consist but of 2 sorts of men, the Labourers, & the Building; they which are ministred vntounto and they to whom the worke of the ministery is committed; Pastours & the flocke, over whom the holy Ghost hath made them overseers If the Guid of a Congregation, be his name or his degree whatsoever, be diligent in his vocation, feed the flocke of God which dependeth vponupon him, caring for it not by constraint but willingly, not for filthie lucre, but of a ready mind, not as though hee would tyrannize over Gods heritage, but as a patterne vntounto the flocke, wisely guiding them: if the people in their degree doe yeeld themselues frameable to the truth, not like rough stone or flint refusing to bee smoothed and squared for the building: if the Magistrate doe carefully and diligently survey the whole order of the worke, providing by statutes and lawes, & bodily punishments, if need require, that all things may be done according to the rule which cannot deceaue, even as Moses provided that all things might be done according to the patterne which hee saw in the Mount; there the words of this exhortation are truely and effectually heard. Of such a Congregation every man will say, Behold a people that are wise, a people that walke in the statutes and ordinances of their God, a people full of knowledge and vnderstanding, a people that hauehave skill in building themselues. Where it is otherwise there, as by slothfulnesse the roofe doth decay, & as by idlenesse of hinds the house droppeth thorough, as it is in the 10. of Ecclesiastes, v. 18; so first one peece and then another of their building shal fall away, till there be not a stone left vponupon a stone.
31 We see how fruitlesse this exhortation hath bene to such as bend all their trauaile onelyonly to build manage a Papacie vponupon earth, without any care in the world of building thēselues in their most holy faith. Gods people hauehave enquired at their mouthes, What shall wt doe to hauehave eternall life? where-in shall we build edifie our selues? And they hauehave departed hōe frō their Prophets, & from their preists, laden with doctaines, which are precepts of men; they hauehave bene taught to tire out themselues with bodily excercise; those thinges are inioyned them which God did never require at their hands, and the things he doth require are kept frō thē; their eies are fed with pictures, and their eares filled with melodie, but their soules doe wither, and starue, and pine away; they crie for bread, and behold stones are offered them; they aske for fishe, and see they hauehave scorpions in their hands; Thou seest, O Lord, that they builde themselues, but not in faith; they feede their children but not with food; Their rulers say with shame, Bring, & not build. But god is righteous; their drūkennesse stinketh, their abominations ate knowne, their madnesse is manifest, the winde hath bound them vp in hir wings, and they shall be ashamed of their doings. Ephraim, saith the Prophet, is ioyned to Idoles, let him alone, I will turne me therfore from the Preists which do minister vntounto Idoles, & applie this exhortation to thē whom god hath appointed to feede his chosen in Israell.
32 If their be any feeling of Christ, and drop of heavenly dewe any spark of Gods good spirit within you, stirre it vp, be careful to build and edifie first your selues, & then your flockes in this most holy faith.
33 I say, first your selues; For he which wil set the hearts of other men on fire with the louelove of Christ, must himselfe burne with louelove. It is want of faith inour selues, My Brethren, which maketh vsus*Carelesse. retchlesse in building others. We forsake the Lords inheritance and seed it not. What is the reason of this? Our own desires are setled where they should not be. Wee our selues are like those women which hauehave a longing to eate coales, and lime, and filth; we are fed, some with honour, some with ease, some with wealth; the Gospell waxeth loathsome & vnpleasant in our tast; how should we then hauehave a care to feed others with that which we cannot fancie our selues? If faith wax cold, and slender in the heart of the Prophet, it will soone perish from the eares of the people. The Prophet Amos speaketh of a famine,Amos 8. 11. saying, I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. Ver. 12.Men shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north vntounto the east shall they runne to and fro to seeke the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. 1. Pet. 4. 17.Iudgement must beginne at the house of God, saith Peter. Yea, I say, at the sanctuarie of God this iudgemēt must begin. This famine must begin at the hart of the Prophet. He must hauehave darknes for a vision, hee must stumble at noone daies, as at the twi-light, and then truth shall fall in middest of the streets, then shall the people wander from sea to sea, and from the North vntounto the east shall they runne to and fro to seeke the word of the Lord.
34 In the second of Haggaie, speake now, saith God to his prophet, Speake now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel Prince of Iudah, & to Iehoshua the son of Iehozadak the high priest, & to the residue of the people, saying, who is left among you that saw this house in hir first glory, and how doe you see it now? is not this house in your eies, in comparison of it, as nothing? the prophet would hauehave all mens eies turned to the veiw of thēselues, every sort brought to the consideration of their present state. This is no place to shew what dutie Zerubbabel or Iehoshua doth owe vntounto God in this respect. They hauehave I doubt not such as put them hereof in remembrāce. I aske of you which are a part of the residue of Gods elect & chosen people. Who is their amongst you that hath takē a survey of the house of God, as it was in the daies of the blessed Apostles of Iesus Christ? who is there amongst you that hath seen & cōsidred this holy temple in her first glory? & how do you see it now? Is it not in comparison of the other almost as nothing whē ye look vpō thē that hauehave vndertakē the charge of your soules, & know how far these are for the most part growne out of kind, how few there be that tread the steps of their ancient predecessors, yee are easily filled with indignation, easily drawne vntounto these cōplaints, wherein the difference of present frō former times is bewailed, easily persuaded to think of thē that lived to enioy the daies which now are gon. Surely they were happy in cōparison of vsus that hauehave succeeded them: were not their Bishops mē vnreprovable, wis…, righteous, holy, tēperat, wel reported of even of those which were without? were not their Pastours, guids, & teachers, able & willing to exhort with wholsōe doctrine & to improue which gainesaid the truth? had they priests made of the refuse of the people? were men, like to the children which were in Niniveh, vnable to discerne betweene the right hand & the left; presented to the charge of their congregation? did their teachers leaue their flocks over which the holy Ghost had made them overseers? Did their Prophets enter vponupon holy things as spoils, without a reverend calling? were their leaders so vnkindly affected towards thē that they could find in their hearts of sel them as sheepe or oxen, not caring how they made them away? But beloued, deceaue not your selues. Doe the faults of your guids and pastours offeud you? it is your fault if they bee thus faulty. Nullus qui malū rectorē patitur, eū accuset, quia fuifuit meriti perversi pastoris subiacere ditioni, saith S. Gregory, whosoever thou art whom the incōvenience of an evil governor doth presse, accuse thy selfe, & not him. His being such is thy deseruing O yee disobedient children; turn again, saith the Lord, & the wil I giuegive you pastours according to mine own hart, ier. 3. v 14. 15.which shall feed you with knowledge & vnderstading. So that the only way to repaire all ruines, breaches, & offensiue decaies in others, is to begin reformation at your selues. Which that we may all sincerely, seriously, and speedily doe, God the Father grant for his sonne our Saviour lesus sake, vntounto whom with the holy Ghost, three persons, one Eternall and everlasting Gon, be Honour, and Glory, and Praise forever. Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · Richard Hooker, Two Sermons Upon Jude (1614)