IT is well knowne that this Sun­day, and some of the rest that are gone before, are commonly cal­led in our Liturgy by the name of Advent-sundayes, as you would say in plaine English Comming Sundayes. And wot you why? be­cause therein we doe thankfully celebrate and solem­nize the blessed time and memory, of our Saviours comming to us in the flesh, and his arrivall from heaven in this vale of misery. If any man desire a [Page 2] reason why we celebrate the comming of our Savi­our in so solemne, so sacred, and so setled a manner, being gone and past 1600. yeares agoe? Saint Iohn hath given me an answer to my hand, Because grace and truth came by Iesus Christ, Ioh. 1. 17. When Jesus Christ came from the bosome of his Father, he came not empty-handed, nor unprovided: but brought Truth and Grace into the world with him: Truth to direct us to heaven, and Grace to deliver us from hell: and that's a Congiary that deserves commemoration to the worlds end. If any man shall yet further inquire, what is this Grace to us? or what are wee the better for the Grace that hee brought? For that my text will resolve you, and make it evidently appeare unto you, that Christ is no niggard of his Grace, neither doth he keepe it to himselfe (as Nabal did his victuals) but doth graci­ously impart it, and mercifully bestow it, so much upon every one, as he seeth in his wisdome to bee enough and sufficient for him. My Grace is suffici­ent for thee. And let that suffice for the occasion and choyce of my text, that it is not [...], not al­together unsutable and impertinent to the time.

Come we now to the Text it selfe, which is no­thing else but The Oracle of God, or Gods owne im­mediate voyce, not disdaining to utter it selfe from Heaven, for the comfort and satisfaction of his poore distressed Suppliant here on earth. Fur thus stood the case.

Our Apostle at this time was punished with two strange and strong afflictions, the one internall, the other externall; the one he termeth the Thorne in [Page 3] the flesh, the other the Messenger of Satan that buf­feted him. By that same [...], Thorne or splinter in the flesh. I suppose hee did meane his owne concupiscence, his owne corruption and lust, which is as painfull and vexatious to a tender soule, as a thorne in the hand, or a splinter under the nayle, is irkesome and grievous to the tender flesh. By that [...], the messenger, or the angell of Satan, must needs bee understood the Devils temptation; for before that wicked one come him­selfe, hee sends his Messenger or his Angell before him to make way for his entertainement, and as E­lisha said of the King of Israels man which was sent to behead him, 2 Reg. 6. 32. Is not the sound of his Masters feet behinde him? so beleeve it, whensoever an evill temptation, or a temptation to evill doth come before, the devill himselfe who is the master and maker of it is not farre behinde. Now marke how this evill angell used, or rather abused S. Paul; the Text saith, He fell foule upon him, and buffeted him▪ now you know that buffeting is a malicious act joyned with violence, or a violent act joyned with malice, and it signifies unto us, what a malici­ous minde the Devill beares to Gods especiall ser­vants; if he cannot by faire meanes entice, and al­lure, and inveagle them to sinne; if God will give him leave, he will fall upon them by foule meanes, even [...], to buffet them, and enforce them in a manner to sin against God and their owne soules. Thus sorely was our poore Apostle haunted, thus cruelly was he handled, both with venemous cor­ruptions within, and with violent temptations [Page 4] without, so that neither inwardly, nor outwardly: hee could bee free or at liberty to enjoy himselfe and his God: Whereupon (saith the Text) He be­sought the Lord thrice, that they might depart from him; all his desire, all his prayer to God was, to be rid of these annoyances. Now marke the an­swer, and observe the Oracle of Almighty God.

Just as some skilfull Physitian, when his Patient in a feaver calls for drinke, gives him a sirrope, or some conserve, and so quencheth his thirst in a bet­ter kinde, than drinke could doe: so dealt the Lord with Paul, who was now in a spirituall feaver, and cryes out amaine, (as it were for drinke) that is, for some present refreshing, and release of his punish­ment. God seemes to take no notice of that, but quencheth his soules thirst in a better kinde, gives him a spirituall conserve, endues him with his Grace, and let that content thee (saith God) let that suffice thee; for that, even that alone is entirely enough and sufficient for thee.

From which passage of Gods providence (before I come to particulars) give me leave to commend unto you this briefe observation in generall: viz. That if after all our prayers, after all our entreaties and importunities with God for private and parti­cular favours and mercies▪ as for health in time of sicknesse, for ease in time of paine, for rest and deli­verance in the time of trouble and affliction: Though God should seeme to take no notice of us, but deny or with-hold all these things from us; if he doe but condescend unto us in this one thing (as [Page 5] he did to Saint Paul) if he doe but vouchsafe us his Grace, Summam votorum attigimus, wee have as much as heart can wish, wee have that which is in stead, or in liew of all the rest. As the Jewes write of their Mannah, that it had in it Omne dele­ctamentum, all manner of delightfull tastes, and was in stead of bread, in stead of meate, in stead of all kindes of dainty fare; so may it truly bee affir­med of the Grace of God, that it is in stead of health, in stead of wealth, in stead of all other earthly blessings whatsoever: so that as a man that walkes in the Sunne, never lookes nor regards whe­ther the Moone or the Starres shine or no, because he hath no need of their light: so hee that enjoyeth the light of Gods countenance, that hath the Grace of God to befriend and bestead him▪ needs care the lesse for these inferiour commodities, these Bonae scabelli (as the Fathers call them) these goods of Gods Foot-stoole; because, if he have them not, God will so provide he shall have no need of them. In a word then, if thou wert put to thy choise, as Salomon once was, to aske any one thing at the hands of God, and to have promise of acceptance, what should that one thing be? wouldst thou aske for riches, or pleasure, or long life, &c? Alas, all these things thou mayst have, (as many a man hath had) and be never the holyer, never the happier, never the higher in Gods account and favour: Leave therefore all these things to Gods disposall and dispensation; let God doe with thee for these things what seemeth good in his owne eyes: but pitch thou thy heart, and the desire of thy soule [Page 6] upon that Vnicum necessarium, that one thing neces­sary (which our Saviour speakes of) in comparison whereof all other things in the world are needlesse and superfluous, I meane upon the Grace of God, and nothing else; and in thy daily prayers to Almigh­ty God, let this evermore be the maine of thy re­quests. Whatsoever thou denyest me for other things, Lord, grant me thy Grace, and it is sufficient.

Out of which words I shall endeavour to shew you foure remarkable points, perhaps not unwor­thy your observation. 1. The meaning of the word [...], or what is meant by the Grace here spoken of. 2. The Author or the owner of this Grace, whose it is, and to whom it doth of right belong, and that is to God, as the next word implyes, [...], My Grace. 3. The efficacie or vertue of this Grace, what it profiteth, and whereunto it availeth, and thats exprest in the word [...], it is sufficient; and therein I shall shew you, how, and wherein the sufficiency of Gods Grace doth consist. 4. The Application of this Grace, or the bringing of it home to the conscience and soule of each belee­ving Christian, and that I gather out of the last word, [...], that God doth not say in generall [...], My Grace is sufficient for all; nor in speciall [...], My Grace is sufficient for many; but in particular, [...], My Grace is sufficient for thee, and so for me, and so for every one upon whom God in mercy is pleased to bestow it, [...], My Grace (saith God) is sufficient for thee.

[Page 7]Of these in their order as briefly and effectually, as God and his good Spirit hath enabled me; and first of the meaning of the word [...], or what is meant by the grace here spoken of.

By the grace of God (in few words) I conceive to be meant nothing else but the favour and good will of God; that which the Schoolemen terme Complacentiam Dei, the well-pleasednesse of God: the same which the Scripture calleth Lucem faciei, the light of Gods countenance, Psal. 67. 1. Because as God is said to frowne and bend his browes upon the wicked traine, Psal. 34. so on the contrary, hee seemes to smile (as it were) and to looke amiably and lovingly, and lightsomely upon all them that are in grace and favour with him. It is an usuall expression among us to say, such a one is in great grace with the King, or in great grace at the Court, we meane, he is in great favour there. And it is a phrase no lesse usuall in Scripture, Gen. 6. 8. Noah found grace in the sight of God, i. e. hee found favour in his sight; and God Almighty saith of Moses Exod. 33. 12. Invenisti gratiam coram me, Thou hast found grace in my sight, i. e. favour and good accep­tance: And so the Angel greets the blessed Virgin, Luke 1. 28. Feare not Mary, Invenisti gratiam, Thou hast found grace, i. e. thou art highly favoured of the Lord. So that the grace of God, and the fa­vour of God are (as Ioseph said of Pharaohs dreames) both one and the same. Now the thing that I muse upon is this, that the grace and favour of God is thus often, if not alwayes exprest in the Bible, sub termino inveniendi, under the name and terme of [Page 8] finding: It is not barely said of Noah, and Moses, and the Virgin Mary, fuerunt, they were in grace and favour with God, but invenerunt, they found it: this phrase doth certainely seeme to imply (as O­leaster well observes) that the grace and favour of God is sometimes found, as a poore man findes a treasure, or a bag of gold, non industriâ, sed casu; not by any industry or paines-taking for it, but meerely by casualty and Gods providence in it. As when Iosephs brethren found their money in their sackes mouthes, it inriched them, and it ravished them too, with wonder and admiration, Gen. 42. 28. in like manner, when a poore disconsolate wretch, shall without all desert, and beyond all expectation, finde a sensible experiment of Gods favourable goodnesse towards him; how can hee chuse, but even blesse himselfe, and say, Lord, what am I that such a favour should be cast upon me! In a word, as Iacob answered his aged father when hee questioned him about the matter of his venison, Gen. 27. 20. How is it that thou hast found it so quickly my sonne? (saith he) Because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand. In like sort, if any shall seeme to question the matter, how it comes to passe that some one man findeth favour and riseth to pre­ferment so easily and so quickly over that some o­thers doe, which to our thinking deserves it better, In promptu ratio, the Lord their God brings it to their hand: when God brings a blessing to hand, the labour is not long to finde it. But that by the way.

I shall here take occasion to resolve you of two [Page 9] questions, which doe offer themselves to your con­sideration; the first is this, when a man wants the grace and favour of God, how shall he doe to finde it? the second is like unto it, when a man hath found Gods grace and favour at his need, how shall hee doe to keepe it, that hee doe not forfeit it, nor loose it againe? I will answer you for both, in a word.

Dost thou want the Grace of God, and faine wouldest finde it? Thou must doe two things for it.

First, thou must depreciari teipsum (it is Tertul­lians word) thou must disparage and disgrace, thou must humble and abase thy selfe before the face of God: for if that bee true which our Saviour saith, Ioh. 10. 35. non potest solvi scriptura, The Scripture cannot bee broken: then no man living can finde Grace with God, but he that is truely humble (for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble) Let one example serve for all, and it is a seasonable one for this time: that of the blessed Virgin, of whom wee spake before: The Angel told her (as you have heard) that shee was [...], highly or extraordinarily in favour with God, for indeed shee had such grace, as never mor­tall woman had the like with God, to bee made [...], the Mother of God, and to beare him in her body, who in his body bare away the sinnes of all the world; to give her owne Saviour sucke; it was a favour beyond expression: well, but whence came this to passe that the Virgin Mary found this favour with God rather then any other Virgin in [Page 10] Israel? no doubt (as our Saviour said in another case) many widdowes were in Israel in the dayes of E­lizeus, but to none was the Prophet sent, save onely to the widow of Sareptah: So, many Virgins were in Israel in the dayes of the Virgin Mary, yet to none was the Angel sent, but to her onely: And why to her, and not to them? shee that knew it best, gives the reason her selfe in her Magnificat which we daily read; My soule doth magnifie the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour; for why? Respexit humilitatem (saith shee) Hee hath regarded the lowlinesse of his hand-maiden. It was not then for her lovelinesse, but it was for her lowli­nesse; not for her handsomenesse, but for her hum­blenesse that she found such grace and favour with God above her fellow Virgins: Other Virgins there might bee that were as chaste as shee, as beautifull as shee, and farre more wealthy and gay then she was; but no Virgin in Israel, nor in all the world, was so humble nor so lowly as she was; and this was the onely materia struendae misericordiae, (if I may so speake) the matter that Gods mercy had to worke upon; that, that onely, was the foundation and ground-worke of all the grace and favour that she found with God. In like manner, if thou dost desire to bee partaker of the same mercy, to finde favour with God as shee did, thou must al­so be partaker of the same humility, thou must bee humble and lowly as shee was: doe as Benhadads servants did to Ahab, 1 Reg. 20. 31. We have heard (say they) that the Kings of Israel are mercifull kings, let us goe then and put sackcloth upon our loynes, and [Page 11] ropes upon our heads, and so humble our selves before him, peradventure wee shall finde favour with him, that we shall not die but live: So thou hast heard that the God of Israel is a mercifull God, stand not then upon termes of ease or state if thou lovest thy selfe, but goe and humble thy selfe unto him, prostrate thy selfe before him, pray and seeke his face in the lowliest, the dejectedst, the devotest manner that possibly thou canst expresse both with thy body and with thy soule, and (beleeve it for a truth) if any thing under heaven bring thee into favour with the God of Heaven, that will doe it, depreciare te­ipsum, to disparage thy self.

Secondly, thou must Appropriare Christum, thou must appropriate Christ unto thy selfe, thou must shrowd thy selfe under thy Saviours wings, thou must sue to God under his protection and pa­tronage, and as the Herodians, Act. 12. made friend­ship with Blastus the Kings Chamberlaine to helpe them into favour with Herod; so must thou make friendship with Jesus Christ, for it is hee and onely he that can helpe thee into grace and favour with thy God. Gratificavit nos in dilect [...] (saith the A­postle, Ephes. 1. 6.) Hee hath brought into grace, or hee hath made us accepted in his beloved Sonne. Gratiam pro Gratiâ (saith Saint Iohn elsewhere, Ioh. 1. 16.) Wee have received Grace for Grace; that is, for the Grace and favour that Christ hath with God, wee also are received into grace and favour with him: For otherwise, as Elisha told the King of Israel, 2 Reg. 3. 14. As the Lord liveth were it not that I regard the presence of Iehosaphat, I would [Page 12] not looke toward thee, nor see thee: So stands our case with God, wee are of our selves such vile bo­dies (as the Apostle rightly termes us, who shall change our vile bodies) I meane so foule and so full of corruption and lust and sinne, so odious and abominable in the holy eyes of God; that as the Lord liveth, were it not that God doth regard the person, the presence and the prayers of Jesus Christ our true Jehosaphat, he would not looke to us nor see us: but that (as he saith himselfe,) This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. (There come we into favour) and marke, that he doth not say, This is my beloved Sonne which pleaseth mee well, but in whom I am well pleased; which in­timates a further matter unto us; namely, that our blessed Saviour doth not onely please God his Fa­ther, for his owne part, but that God in him, and for his sake is well pleased even with them that are in themselves (as the Prophet speakes) even ves­sels wherein there is no pleasure, Ier. 22. 28. Thou therefore that desirest to get into favour with thy God, flatter not thy selfe in thy owne eyes, thinke not that God will accept thee for thy owne per­son, or for any other personall qualities or abilities that are in thee; but as Iacob shrouded himselfe under the garments of his elder brother, and by that meanes got him the blessing of his Father; so doe thou shroud thy selfe under the garments of thy elder brother in Heaven; I meane, as the Apo­stle speakes, Labour to be found of God, not having on thy owne righteousnesse, but the righteousnesse of Christ by faith: Say as Tertullian doth, Mihi ven­dico [Page 13] Christum, mihi defendo Iesum; claime thou thy part, stand thou for thy right in Jesus Christ; and as thou art a Protestant, so make this protesta­tion before God and the world, that thou hopest for grace and mercy, not by any merits or deserts of thy owne, but meerely by the merits, and by the spirit, by the death, and by the Blood of Iesus Christ. This is another infallible way for a man to finde the Grace and Favour of God, that wanteth it, Appropriare Christum, to get an interest into Gods beloved Sonne, our deare and precious Sa­viour.

2. Now for the second question; Hast thou found the favour of God, and faine wouldst keepe it? Thou must [...], (it is the Apostles owne word, Gal. 2. 14.) Thou must walke with a right foot to God-ward; or as Iohn Baptist expresseth it in other termes, thou must Rectas facere semitas tuas, Make thy paths straight; the meaning is, Thou must binde thy selfe to the good behaviour unto God, thou must resolve against sinne and evill, and set thy selfe constantly, carefully, sincerely to walke with God, so farre forth as frailty shall per­mit thee, so that though there fall out many inter­current infirmities in the course of thy life, for a man may, etiam in bono itinere pulverem colligere, gather dust and soyle even in a good way, yet let it be the generall drift and desire of thy soule, in no­thing, willingly to finne against God, but in every thing to please him, and to approve thy selfe unto him: which if thou dost, see what will follow upon it, Psal. 84. 11. The Lord will give Grace and Glory, [Page 14] and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly with him. The Scripture saith of Enoch, that hee was Raptus a facie malitiae, snatcht (as it were) out of this wicked world, as a brand is snatcht out of the fire and saved from burning; that is, Hee was translated alive from earth into Hea­ven, and never felt, nor tasted of death: This (you will say) was an extraordinary favour of God, but what might bee the reason of it? Moses tells us, Gen. 5. 24. it was because Hee walked with God; the Apostle commenting upon it, Heb. 11. 5. saith, it was because He pleased God, [...], (is the word) which signifies, Hee gave God content, or kept Gods favour and good will; so then, the way to keepe Gods favour and good will, is to please God, and give him content; and the way to doe that, is to walke with God as Enoch did. But what doth Moses meane by walking with God, how may that be done? Answ. Generally, A man may then be said to walke with God, when he leads his life in such a way as God doth best accept, in the way of Godlinesse and Honesty, in the way of temperance and sobriety, in the way of diligence and industry; when a man hath a minde on God in all his wayes, and desires Gods protection and conduct to guide his feete into the way of peace. This is, in a generall sense and acceptance to walke with God more particularly; A man is then said in proper sense to walke with God, when hee walkes with none else but God; as Isaack did when hee sequestred himselfe, and went out alone into the fields to meditate and to pray, Gen. 40. 69. (The [Page 15] word ( Suach) signifieth both, then went he out to walke with God: And indeed there is no such time for a man to converse with God, and (as the phrase is in Iob) to acquaint himselfe with the Lord, as when hee is solitary, private, and alone: If any thing grieve a man, or lye heavie upon his conscience, when he is Alone, he may freely dis­burden his heart into the bosome of God. If a man have faulted any way, or done amisse for want of good take-heed, when he is Alone, hee may freely and fully bewaile and bemone, and even beshrew and shrive himselfe unto the Lord his God. If a man want any good thing thats requisite and neces­sary either for the body or the soule, when hee is Alone, he hath free and full opportunity to beg and to entreat it, to win and to obtaine it at the hand of God. No such time for a man to reconcile him­selfe, and to make his owne attonement and his peace with God, as when hee is Alone. In a word then, if thou dost desire to keepe the favour of the Lord, and to abide in his grace and his good-will; doe as Isaack did, take one turne with thy God e­very day thou risest; steale away from thy earthly occasions (as our Saviour stole away from his earthly Parents) to doe the businesse of thy hea­venly Father, or as the Apostles word, 2 Pet. 3. 9. [...], to retire and repent. Let no day passe thee without some commerce and conference with thy God; and (beleeve it) if there bee any meanes in the world to fasten and rivet the favour of God unto thy soule, that will doe it, [...] to walke aright with God.

[Page 16]I have done with the first generall part of my Text concerning the meaning of the word [...], or what is meant by the Grace here spoken of: Come we now to the second, and that is the Author and Owner of this Grace, exprest in the next word ( [...]) God claimes it as his owne peculiar) and calls it by a terme of propriety, My Grace, to shew that none hath to doe with the dispensing of that but himselfe alone.

Now if you marke the course of Scripture, you shall observe that there is not any thing which be­longs to man, but in one place or other God claimes it for his owne. Though he hath given the earth to the Children of men, yet hath hee not alienated it from himselfe, but that still, The Earth is the Lords, and the fulnesse thereof: whatsoever fulnesse the earth affords us, whether it be Fields full of Corne, Folds full of Sheepe, Orchards full of Fruit, Tables full of Meate, &c. all these fulnesses are the Lords, who openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousnesse. And not onely the earth in generall and the fulnesse thereof, but the very Cattell and Beasts of the earth, are all the Lords too: Psal. 50. 10. All the Beasts of the Forrest are mine (saith God) and so are the Cattell upon a thousand Hills. The Beasts of the Forrest (we know) are ferae naturae, of a wilde unruly nature, they know no Master, ac­knowledge no owner, are in subjection to no kee­per; yet because the Lord takes care of them, gives them their being, and provides them their food, therefore doth he justly claime them for his owne, and saith, (All the Beasts of the Forrest are [Page 17] mine) and so are all the Cattell upon a thousand hills▪ whether they be sheepe or goates; Neate or Fowle; there's no man living hath any right unto them upon earth, but he holds it in capite, and hath his right from the God of Heaven.

Not only so; but the very Corne in our Barnes, the Wine in our Cellars, the Wooll upon our Sheepes backes, the Lord claimes for his owne, as yee may see, Hos. 2. 8, 9. For God bestowes his blessings, as the Sunne doth his beames, in such a manner, as that they depend still upon himselfe af­ter he hath bestowed them. Nay to come neerer yet, the very money that is in our purses or coffers, whether we keepe it close to hatch a purchase; or put it out, as the Lion puts out his claw to rend and gripe the poore needy borrower; wheresoever God findes it, hee claimes it for his owne, Hag. 2. 8. The Silver and the Gold is mine; and as little con­science as men make of their gaines, they must one day be accountable to the Lord, How they got it, how they used it, and how they wasted it. All this is to let us understand to whom wee are beholden for our Lands, for our goods, and for whatsoever else we inherit or injoy in this world, even to the Father of lights, (as Iames termeth him, Iam. 1. 17.) from whom both [...], and [...], both gifts and goods, and all descend unto us; therefore as in the sacrifices of old, whosoever had the flesh, God had the fat; so whosoever hath the goods of this world, let God have the glory, for his they are, and from him we have and hold them.

But there is one thing in my Text, for which we [Page 18] are more beholding to God, then for all the rest; and that is for His Grace, other things though they come originally from God, yet they come mediate­ly by the meanes of other instruments, by Parents or Friends, or Benefactors▪ but Grace is a thing that comes solely, and onely, and immediately from God; as there was no corne to be had in Egypt, but from the hand of Ioseph, so no grace to bee had on earth, but from the hand of God: Hee is the God of all Grace (as Saint Peter truely stileth him) there is no grace whatsoever that is wanting in man, but there is a gracious supply to be had in God, which made David (as it were) in a rapture to cry out and say, Oh taste and see how gracious the Lord is, Psal. 34. 8. First taste, and then see; because as a man can never truely tell the sweetnesse of Honey, till hee have tasted it first▪ so can hee never truely see nor perceive, nor understand how gracious a God the God of Heaven is, till he have first had a taste of Gods Grace, and an experience of Gods favour in himselfe and for his own soule. Tast then and see how gracious the Lord is: Gracious in his Throne, for it is the Throne of Grace, Heb. 4▪ 16. gracious in his spirit, for it is the spirit of Grace, Zach. 12. 10. Gracious in his Word, for it is the Word of Grace, Act. 20▪ 30. and above all, gracious in himselfe, for Hee is the God of Grace: yea, [...], The God of all Grace, 1 Pet. 5. 10. And therefore dost thou desire wisedome? Hee is the God of that Grace; dost thou want patience? hee is the God of that too; dost thou stand in need of Faith, or Hope, or Cha­rity? he is the God of all these▪ Oh what a gra­cious [Page 19] God doe we serve, and what gracelesse beasts we are if wee serve him not, seeing hee hath grace sufficient for all his servants? My Grace (saith God) is sufficient for thee.

In a word then, forasmuch as all Grace is of God, that He, and none but He, hath the disposall and the dispensation of it to whom hee pleaseth; take (I beseech you) into your consideration these briefe advertisements following.

1. Ne deficias, doe not faile of it; It is the Apo­stles owne caveat, Heb. 12. 15. Looke diligently least any man faile of the Grace of God. God for his part is so gracious, that he denyes his grace to none, but offers it, and (I may say) gives it to every one that will but aske and accept it, as the Scripture saith of Araunah, 2 Sam. 24. 23. when hee offered King David his Oxen for a sacrifice, and his threshing in­struments for wood to burne them; the Text saith, All these things did Araunah as a King give unto the King: whereas we know, he did not give them, because David would not accept of them, but his will was to have given them, and that the Holy Ghost accounts as a gift, and so recordeth it. In like sort, God offers his grace in the Word and Sa­craments, his will is graciously and freely to be­stow it, if sinfull men were but like-minded to re­ceive it, and to make themselves capable of so great a mercy by desiring it. It was Gods owne propo­sition to his owne Sonne, Psal. 2. 8. postula a me, &c. desire of mee, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, &c. If hee that was sole Heyre of Heaven and Earth ( haeres ex toto asse, as the Romans [Page 20] used to stile them) could no otherwise come by his inheritance but by way of petition to desire it afore he had it, much more so is it with us; where no de­sire is, looke for no gift, no prayer, no grace. Wee see in Esay, God makes a gracious promise to his people, that he would put away all their sinnes, and take them all into his favor, as though they had ne­ver sinned; but marke the condition, for all these things I will be sought unto (saith God.) So though God offer his Grace to men, hee will not force it upon them against their wills, hee will have them sue for it, hee will have them desire it, or they may thanke themselves if they goe to hell without it; and God may justly complaine of them, as David did of Naball, 1 Sam. 25. 21. All is in vaine that I have done for these men. Seeing then there is no backwardnesse in God to make deniall of his grace, but he is willing to bestow it upon all that are desi­rous to imbrace it; Oh be not wanting to thy owne mercy, ne deficias, doe not faile of it.

2. Seeing that Grace is the Lords, nè superbias, be not proud of it, doe not [...], (as Saint Iames his word is, chap. 3. 5.) doe not magnifically lift up thy selfe above thy brethren whose graces are not so eminent as thine: but rather as the eares of Corne, and the boughes of trees, the more they are laden with fruit, the lower they hang to the earth, so the more god hath laden thee with his graces and favours, be thou so much the more low­ly in thy owne eyes; and thinke not scorne to doe as thy God does, who though his Glory bee above the Heavens, (saith David, Psal. 113. 6.) yet hee [Page 21] doth Abase himselfe to behold the things that are in the earth; and as the more direct the Sunne is over us, the shorter and lesser is the shadow: so the more that Gods grace is over thee, and in thee, the lesser let the shadow of pride bee seene to come from the: for consider (saith the Apostle) What hast thou that thou hast not received? or what is that thou canst properly call thine owne, but men­dacium & peccatum, lying and sinne? as our Savi­our said of the devill, Iohn 8. when hee speaketh a lye, hee speaketh de suo, of his owne, God never put that into him: so for thy sinnes thou must thank thy selfe, or rather indeed beshrew and blame thy selfe, for they are thy owne; but if thou hast any grace or any vertue in thee, thanke God for that; for it is not thine, it is the Lords: seeing then thou art but a Tributary to God, and hast nothing that good is, but what thou art beholding, and must be countable to the Lord for it, nè superbias, bee not proud of it.

3. Seeing Grace is the Lords to bestow on whom he pleaseth, nè invideas, doe not envy it, let not thine eye be evill because God is good, nor thinke the worse of another man because God is better to him then unto thee: for Gods grace is his owne, he may give it to whom he will. When God shall take off his grace, and of his good Spirit (as Samu­el said to Saul) shall give it to a Neighbour of thine that is better then thou: what cause hast thou to be envious at this? and not rather to humble thy selfe, and thinke that (as Daniel told the King, chap. 5. 27.) God hath weighed thee in a ballance, and found [Page 22] thee, minus habens, wanting to God and to thy selfe, and therefore hath justly with-holden his favour from thee, and given it to one that will use it better, for his glory, and for the Churches good, farre be it from any child of God to cherish in his breast the spawne of that old serpent the Divell; for envy is no better; (as the learned have well observed) there is so neere a resemblance betwixt an envious man and the Divell, that in the Booke of God the one is taken for the other; so the Divell is called [...] an envious man ( Mat. 13. 28.) & an en­vious man is called [...] a devill ( Ioh. 6. 70.) How farre better would it become us in this respect to be [...], like the Angels of Heaven; who now at Christmas time, when they saw that our Saviour would in no wise take their nature which was farre better then ours; but tooke our nature upon him, which was farre worse then theirs, and which was most of all, and would have gone most against our stomackes, commanded them to worship it, Heb. 1. 6. they were so farre from envying, or taking of­fence at this; (as that elder brother did in the Gospel, when the younger was received to grace after his riotous course) that even then they sung an Anthem for the joy of our happinesse, and even to this day; (Saint Peter tells us, 1 Pet. 1. 12.) they doe [...], stoope downe (as it were) in duty and love, to honour the mystery of Christs incarna­tion, and to admire the Grace and favour of God to mankinde: In a word then, seeing that the ho­nouring of Gods grace wheresoever it lights, is a quality so Angelicall; and the contrary so diabo­licall, [Page 23] let it bee thy practice evermore to reverence him that hath it, to judge thy selfe unworthy of it, seeke it in Gods name, and get to be partaker in it, but in any case ne invideas, doe not envy it.

4. Seeing that Grace proceedes from so holy a Fountaine as is the Lord, ne Abutaris, doe not abuse it, doe not vitiate nor staine it with sinne, as Lot entreated the men of Sodome, Gen. 19. 8. that they would not abuse the Angels of God, seeing they were come to shelter themselves under the shadow of his roofe; So let mee entreate you all in the Name of Christ that you would not abuse the graces of God, seeing they are come from Heaven to take shelter and harbour in your breasts and bo­somes. The Apostle speakes of some ( Iud. 4.) that turne the grace of God into wantonnesse; and that's a woefull kinde of Alchymie (as one saith singular­ly well) would he not esteeme that man prodigally foolish and mad, that would spend all his time, all his stubstance, and all his industry to find out a per­verse Philosophers stone, that should turne all the gold it touched into lead and drosse? even such are they that pervert the grace of God, and turne it in­to wantonnesse, into lasciviousnesse, into all manner of scurrility and deboistnesse, and never lin, till they have made a poyson of an Antidote, and baned themselves with that which would have beene their blisse, Lucerna Dei inspiritu hominis (saith Sa­lomon, Pro. 20. 27.) The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord; it implyes, that a man naturally walkes in darkenesse, which is full of errour, and full of ter­rour, till God in mercy set up a candle in his soule, [Page 24] (I meane) endues him with knowledge and grace from heaven, that he may shew him the path of life, and to avoid the snares of death.

Now you know, that a candle naturally burnes upwards, if you take it and turne it the wrong way, and hold it downewards, it dyes and goes out a­lone, so fares it with [...], Graces and gifts of God, as Wit and Wisdome, Knowledge and Learning, and all these are the candles of the Lord, and are purposely given us to light us up to hea­venward; but if wee take Gods candles and hold them downeward, turne them the wrong way, and apply and abuse them to sinne; it is much to bee feared, the light of God will goe out, and thou shalt be left at the length in a place of utter darkenesse. Therefore as thou tenderest the favour and good­will of God, and the eternall welfare of thy owne soule, deale not with the Graces of God, as Iehu dealt with Iehorams messenger, 2 Reg. 9. doe not turne them behinde thee, and make them serve a­gainst their owne masters; but remember that if the sonnes of Iacob would not endure to have their sister abused ( Gen. 24. ult.) how dost thou thinke thy God will endure to have his grace abused, and to be prostituted to every sinne? In a word, as Ru­ben said to his distressed brethren, ( Gen. 42. 22.) did not I speak unto you saying, Sin not against the child and ye would not heare? Oh bee not you like them, monitoribus asperi, so carelesse and regardlesse of di­vine admonition; but remember that you have beene spoken unto, that you have beene warned of God not to sinne against your owne soules in this [Page 25] too common kinde, but if the Lord have betrusted you with his grace, labour to cherish it, and (as the Apostles word is [...] 2 Tim. 1. 6.) to blow it or stirre it up, as we do a dying fire, to kindle and quicken it by the use of good meanes, but in any case, ne abutaris, abuse it not.

5. Lastly, seeing thou hast to doe with the grace and favour of God, ne diffides, doe not distrust it, doe not make any doubt or question of it but it will bestead thee, and befriend thee, and be firme and sure unto thee at any time of need. It is the Apostles owne advertisement, 1 Pet. 1. 13. [...], trust perfectly on the Grace that is revealed and brought into the world by Jesus Christ. It is a thing that a man may leane his whole weight upon, and venture his whole estate upon, and pawne his life and soule upon, the certainety, the truth, and the infallibility of Gods heavenly grace to all that make their peace, and put their trust in him. Feare not Mary (said the blessed Angel to the blessed Vir­gin) for thou hast found favour with God: as if he had said, Let them feare that are out of Gods favour, let them be distrustfull that are wicked and deceitfull, that make no conscience of their wayes, but live in the displeasure of an angry God; paveant illi, let them feare; but noli tu, feare not thou, be thou stead­fast & unmoveable in thy affiance to God, for why? invenisti gratiam, thou hast found favour with him, in whose favour is life, and whose grace will bee thy guide unto the day of death. In a word then, (to close up this point) As I said before, so I say it over againe, [...], gird up the loynes of your [Page 26] mindes, and trust perfectly to the Grace of God; doe it not in any wavering, or timorous, or unconfi­dent manner, as if God were like the Poets Tenedos; Stati [...] malefida carinis, a trustles Anchor-hold to the sea-beaten Traveller; or like those deceitfull Iewes, (Ioh. 2. 24.) to whom our Saviour durst not com­mit himselfe, though they seemed to beleeve in his Name. Oh let not thy heart entertain the least sus­pition, the least jealousie of the faithfulnesse and fi­delity of thy God; but try him by thy prayers, and trust him by thy faith, and urge him with this Text that now is preached unto thee, (as St. Austin saith his mother Monica did, Chyrographa tua ingerebat tibi, Lord (saith he) shee urged thee with thy own hand-writing) tell him but how hard the world goes with thee, and then say ere God have done with thee, if thou dost not finde his Grace to bee sufficient for thee. And so I am come in the third place to shew you the efficacie and vertue of the Grace of God, how and wherein the sufficien­cy thereof doth consist; [...], (saith the Text) My Grace is sufficient.

The principall things whereunto the Grace of God (and besides Gods Grace, nothing else under heaven) is available or sufficient, are these that follow.

1. Ad Cond [...]nandum, to pardon and forgive us all our sinnes, which would bee the bane and de­struction of all our soules. Grande est barathrum peccatorum meorum (saith a Father) sed major est Abyssus misericordiae Dei: Great is the gulfe and whirlepoole of my sinnes, but greater and deeper [Page 27] is the bottomlesse Sea of Gods Grace and mercy: see that place, Rom. 5. 20. where sinne abounded, Grace did much more abound: Hast thou abundance of sinnes, let not that dishearten thee, God hath abun­dance of Grace; if thy sinnes be great, his Grace is greater then thy sinnes, and farre more sufficient to justifie, than all thy sinnes are to condemne thy soule. Onely ne desis, be not thou wanting to God in thy prayers and repentance, and his Grace shall never bee wanting to thee in thy pardon and for­givenesse. What a golden sentence is that of St. Chrysostome, [...]; Thou dost not, thou canst not so much desire to have thy sinnes forgiven thee, as God doth desire to forgive thy sinnes unto thee. I forgave thee all thy debt, because thou desiredst mee, (said that gracious Lord to his ungracious ser­vant, Mat. 18. 32.) intimating unto us, that if God doe not forgive us our debts, if he doe not pardon and remit our sinnes; we may thanke our selves, the fault is our owne, because we doe not desire him, for if we desired him, he would doe it. In a word then, as our Saviour asked the Cripple, Iohn. 5. 6. Wilt thou be made whole? so, wilt thou bee made holy and cleane, and fit for absolution from God? dost thou desire in sincerity and truth to have thy sinnes remitted, and thy soule absolved by the blood and death of Jesus Christ? to have all thy misdeeds expunged and blotted out, that they may be as if they never had beene? Then take the Pro­phet Esaies counsell ( Esay 43. 25, 26.) put God in remembrance of these things: (it is a pregnant place, [Page 28] I pray reade and remember it) I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake, and will not remember thy sinnes: (there's a gracious pro­mise; but marke the condition in the next imme­diate words) put mee in remembrance (faith God) and I will doe it, and not otherwise: for though God remember all our sinnes, and can tell them better than our owne soules; yet hee doth not re­member them to our comfort, but rather to our con­fusion, unlesse we tell him and put him in remem­brance of them: so that the onely way to put our sinnes out of Gods remembrance, is to put them into his remembrance; the onely way to make God forget them, is daily and hourely to declare them and put him in minde of them. If therefore thou canst not be so good as thou wouldst, bee not ashamed, bee not afraid to tell God how evill thou art; tell him how ungodly, how unthankfull, how unprofitable a servant thou hast beene unto him, and desire God to mend thee, and make thee such a one as he would have thee: And as Ioseph of Ari­mathea went to Pilate & begged the body of Iesus; so goe thou to God and begge the Spirit of Iesus; even that spirit of grace and Supplication (which the Prophet speakes of, Zach. 12. 10.) which will come downe from heaven and bring into thy soule, first Supplications to prepare thee; secondly, Grace to assure thee of the free and full forgivenesse of all thy sinnes: And then let thy sinnes bee what they will bee, sinnes of death, sinnes of blood, sinnes of hell; if thou canst finde in thy heart to pray, God will finde in his heart to pardon, for his Grace is [Page 29] sufficient to doe it. That's the first.

2. The second thing whereto the sufficiency of Gods Grace doth belong, is ad consolandum to com­fort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted. I should have fainted (saith David, Psal. 27. 13.) for all my worldly comforts, but that I steadfastly beleeved, to see the Lords good grace in the land of the living, (that is) to see it before he dyed; therefore we reade, 1 Sam. 30. 6. when he was in great distresse, had neither house nor home to shelter him, neither wife, nor child, nor friend to be any comfort to him, but his owne very souldiers began to talke of stoning him; Then (saith the Text) David comforted himselfe in the Lord his God. Heare this thou poore disconsolate man, that art (as thy Saviour was said to be) [...], sad round about; thou that lookest into thy purse, and there is no comfort, money is gone; that lookest into thy cubbord, and there is no comfort, provision is gone; that lookest into thy Barne and Store-house, and there's no comfort, Corne and wares are gone; that lookest in thy heart, and there's no comfort, cheerfulnesse and joy is gone: Then looke up to God, and there is comfort to bee had: if there bee any water, it is in the Sea; if there bee any light, it is in the Sun; if there be any comfort, it is in God. Therefore the Apostle justly calleth him, The God of all consolation, 2 Cor. 1. because when all other comforts faile, there's comfort to bee found in God. For beleeve this for a truth, there is no mans case, no mans estate, no mans soule is desperate to God; but when they are at the lowest ebbe, at the [Page 30] poorest stay, at the most forlorne hope; then doth God speak peace unto their souls, then doth he draw out those same ubera consolationes, those breasts or dugges of consolation (which the Prophet speakes of, Esay 66. 11.) and drops downe that same [...] that sincere milke of heavenly comfort, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart. The Hebrewes observe that one and the same word ( nakam) signi­fieth, first to repent, and then to comfort; and it may bee well applied to this purpose: that true comfort belongs to none but such as are truly peni­tent: so our Savior tels us that the holy Ghost whom he calls the Comforter when he commeth, the first thing he will doe, is to convince the world of sinne; that is, first put men quite out of comfort in them­selves, then put them into comfort by their Savi­our. In a word then, forasmuch as comfort cannot be had without repentance, nor repentance be en­dured without comfort, nor either of these be at­tained without God; it remaines, that as the daugh­ter of Caleb besought her earthly father ( Iud. 1.) so wee beseech our heavenly Father, to give us the Springs above, as well as the Springs beneath; I meane, that Irriguum superius, the spring of grace & comfort from above, as well as that Irriguum infe­rius, the spring of sorrow and repentance from be­neath: and then let our discomforts and discontents be what they will, wee shall have grace sufficient from God to countervaile them all, and as Philip said to our Saviour, Ioh. 14. 8. Lord shew us the father and it sufficeth us; so though our sinnes confound [Page 31] us, and our consciences condemne us, Lord sh [...]w us thy favour, and 'tis sufficient for us.

3. The third is Ad sanandum, His Grace is suffi­cient to cure and heale us of all those [...] those bodily ailements and infirmities which God for sinne doth inflict upon us, [...] ▪ from those scourges and roddes (as the Holy Ghost ter­meth sore diseases, Luk. 7. 21.) for indeed they are the very rods which God useth to chasten and cor­rect us for our follies: I say, there is no rod so sharpe, no disease so sore, but Gods grace is suffi­cient to heale it and to take it off. I am R [...]peca (saith God, Exod. 15. penult.) I am thy Physitian, or I am the Lord that healeth thee: and if God be the Phy­sitian, his Grace is the Physicke, for whosoever be the instrument of our health, God is the Authour, his Grace is it that doth the cure. Therefore in common speech, when any outward malady doth befall us, where of we know no second cause; wee use to say (and we say well) that it came by the Grace of God: now if thou beleevest that it came by Gods Grace, beleeve this also that by the same Grace it shall (in Gods good time) bee remedied, and re­moved and done away, for (as St. Iames saith in a­nother case) God giveth [...], Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace, and sheweth more favour, to heale those that are sicke and broken in heart, than to breake their hearts, with sickenesse that were well and whole; both are from the same Grace, but the one more especially then the other.

But then the maine point for satisfaction will be this: seeing it is in the power of Gods Grace to [Page 32] cure all infirmities, and that in a moment, with a word-speaking, (as the Centurion said, Speake but the word, and my servant shall be whole.) Why will God suffer so many of his owne Patients, that have no Physitian but himselfe, to lye languishing so long under his owne hand, and seeme to take no notice of their miseries? The best answer I can give, is that of our Saviour to his Mother, Iohn 2. 4. Nondum venit hora, My houre is not yet come; for you must conceive there are two kindes of houres; wee have our houre, and God hath his Houre. As soone as wee begin to sicken, that wee feele but any paine, or finde the want of any ease; then is our houre to be healed, then doe wee cry out, as tis fit we should, Have mercy upon mee, O Lord, for I am weake, Lord heale me for my bones are vexed, Psal. 6. 2. But God hath another houre, and that you shall finde, 2 Chron. 7. 14. When my people humble them­selves, and pray and seeke my face, and turne from their wicked wayes, (that is, when they are bettered and amended by my afflictions) Then (saith God) will I heare in heaven, and have mercy upon them, and heale their Land. God complaines of that peo­ple in many places, that their hearts were waxen fat, that they would not see with their eyes, nor heare with their eares, nor understand with their hearts, Ne convertantur ut sanem, Mat. 13. 15. lest they should be converted, and I should heale them. So that the time of our conversion is Gods healing­time; First, labour to be converted, and then looke to be healed, and not before. So Acts 3. 19. Repent and be converted, that your sinnes may be blotted out, [Page 33] and then (and never till then) looke for a Tempus refrigerii, a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We read, Numb. 12. 14 When Myriam was strucken with leprosie, Moses was importunate with God to heale presently out of hand; Heale her now, O Lord, I beseech thee; Heale her now. No (saith God) I will not heale her yet, shee shall stay the time that I have determined upon her, for if her Father had but spit in her face, should she not have beene ashamed and kept in for seven dayes, &c. So perswade your selves of this, that there is a [...] an appointed time that God hath set downe with himselfe in heaven, when and wherein his mercy shall appeare on earth for our recovery; and till that time we must wait, (as David saith, Psal. 123. 2.) As the eyes of a servant wait on the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a mayden on the hand of her mistresse, so doe our eyes waite upon the Lord our God, untill that he have mercy upon us. Marke that same donec misereratur, untill hee have mercy: that is, though God shew thee not mercy, this day, nor to morrow, nor the next day, may bee, not till a long time after; yet, let not thy heart be dismayed, but let thy soule truely wait upon God, untill hee shew thee mercy, let him shew it when he will. In the meane time know, thou art under the hands of a wise and gracious God, who measures every dram of sorrow that thou feelest, who will not only be about thy bed, but will ever make all thy bed in thy sicknesse, and will so establish and under▪ prop thee with his Grace; that though thy body lye in paine, thy soule shall lye at case; though thy out­ward [Page 34] man consume and melt away for very heavi­nesse, yet that same Interior cordis home, (as Saint Peter speakes) the inner man of thy heart shall bee so strengthned with might, and armed with pati­ence, and guarded with peace, that neither paines of death, nor the powers of Hell shall ever be able to prevaile against thee. In a word, if ever it shall please God to cast thee downe upon that same, Le­ctum languoris, that bed of languishing, which Da­vid speakes of, Psal. 41. 4. (for that wee all must make account of) though we now lie and laze upon our beds, the time may come that wee shall lye and languish on our beds; wishing (as they did in Deu­teronomy,) when 'tis morning, would God it were evening, and when 'tis evening, would God it were morning. If ever such a dolefull time should hap­pen to thee, I pray God of his mercy looke graci­ously upon thee, and say unto thy bleeding soule, as he did once to that forlorne Infant, Ezech. 16. 6. Dixi in sanguinibus, &c. when thou wast in thy blood, I said unto thee, live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live; if God doe but say, thou shalt live; though thou wert in thy blood, though thou wert in thy grave, his Word shall fetch thee, for his Grace (if it stand with his glory) is sufficient to heale thee.

4. The last and chiefest thing whereunto the Grace of God, and nothing else but Gods Grace, is sufficient, is Adsalvandum, to save the soule of every one that hath it. The Apostle calls it, The Grace that bringeth salvation, ( [...], Tit. 2. 11.) for as the wickednesse of man bringeth de­struction, [Page 35] so the Grace of God bringeth salvation to every soule that entertaines it. Saint Paul is di­rect, Ephes. 2. 5. By Grace yee are saved; whether it bee meant of the Grace of God within us, which our Saviour compares to Salt, Mark. 9. 50. (Ha­bete salem in vobis, &c. have Salt in your selves, and peace with one another) because as Salt pre­serves the flesh, so doth Grace preserve the spirit from corruption and rottennesse in sinne: or whe­ther it bee meant of the Grace of God that is over and above us, I meane, his favour and loving kind­nesse which lightneth upon us from Heaven; (as we pray in our Liturgie, let thy mercy lighten up­on us, as our trust is in thee,) Take it either way, it holds good and true; for by the one we are pre­pared for salvation, by the other salvation is pre­pared for us; the Grace of God within us prepares us for salvation; the Grace of God over us pre­pares salvation for us: so both wayes 'tis our hap­pinesse, By Grace to bee saved. It was Gods mer­cifull promise, Deut. 11. 12. Mine eyes shall bee upon this Land from the beginning of the yeare, to the end thereof; Such is Gods goodnesse where hee be­stowes his Grace, such a care hath God of their soules, that his eie is upon them from the beginning of their conversion, to the end of their salvation: and as his eye is upon them to watch over them, so his hand is with them to conduct them in the right way of pleasing God, and of saving their own soules, Deut. 33. 3. All his Saints are in thy hand: as a Father leads his childe, so doth God lead his Saints by his Grace, and by his good Spirit, from [Page 36] all things prejudiciall, to all things profitable, to his service and their owne salvation. (To conclude this point) because (as the Schoolemen say well) Ad singulos actus desideratur Gratia, a man hath neede of Grace to every action that hee takes in hand, and that he can doe nothing well without it; let us all desire of God (as it is in the Collect) That his speciall Grace may evermore prevent and follow us, first, that God would prevent us with his Grace, to put into our hearts good motions, good thoughts, and good desires; and secondly, that it may follow us too, (as the water of the Rocke followed the Campe of the Israelites to the Land of Promise, 1 Cor. 10. 4.) so that Gods Grace may follow, accompany, and goe along with us in this world; and never leave us, never forsake us till it hath brought us to the end of our Faith, which is the sal­vation of our soules, according to that, Psal. 109. ult. Dominus ad dextram, &c. the Lord is at the right hand of the poore, to save him from all them that would condemne his soule, where note that hee doth not say, the Lord is at their left hand (which is as I may terme it) the lazy hand, to save men in their negligent and idle courses; But he is at their right hand (which is the working hand) to save all them that work for their salvation, and care­fully use the meanes to save themselves: which thing if thou make a conscience to doe, though thy sinnes and thy enemies should conspire to condemn thee, Thy God and his Grace will be sufficient to save thee.

And so at length, I am come aboard the last and [Page 37] long desired part of my Text, which containes the application of all in particular, which hath beene spoken and delivered in generall; drawne out of the word ( [...]) My grace is sufficient for thee, so that, as it is said of our Saviour, Mat. 21. 45. that his Do­ctrine was so punctuall, and clapt so close to the consciences of his Auditors, that the Pharises knew he meant them: So by that time I have done with my Text, (neither will I bee long in doing it) I trust you shall perceive that Gods meaning was to you, when he spake to Saint Paul, and told him that His Grace is sufficient for him.

Briefly then, see what Paul was, and say what thou art; if your case be the same, your comfort is the same; for God is no accepter of persons, his Grace is as sufficient for the one, as for the other.

1. Saint Paul was Homo in Christo, he was a man in Christ, as you may see by the second verse of this chapter ( I knew a man in Christ, that was taken up into the third Heaven:) Art thou such a one? I meane, art thou regenerate and become a new creature? (for he that is in Christ is a new creature. 2 Cor. 5. 17.) dost thou daily renew thy repentance, and renew thy obedience, and renew thy duty and devotion to God? And is it a griefe to thy soule, that so much of the old leaven, thy old corruption remaines still in thy heart? Then take this holy Scripture to thy comfort, and assure thy selfe, though thy conscience disquiet thee; Gods Grace will be sufficient for thee: contrarily, if thou beest an old weather-beaten sinner, an old rusty drunkard, swearer, and that standest at a stay, and gatherest [Page 38] sinne, like an old tree that stands and gathers mosse; I must say unto thee (as Peter said to Simon Magus, Act. 8.) thou hast neither part nor portion in this priviledge; thou art not a man in Christ, and con­sequently canst claime no interest in the Grace and favour of God.

2. Saint Paul was Homo in Cruce, a man upon the crosse, Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ; and elsewhere, Colos. 2. 24. I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh: whereupon (saith a Father) quid deest passioni Christi, nisi ut nos similia patiamur, what is, or what can be wanting to the sufferings of Christ, but that as he tooke up his Crosse, so wee take up ours and follow him: for Vae portantibus crucem, & non sequentibus Christum, woe to them that are crucified, and not with Christ; that beare the Crosse, and follow not Christ, but turne from him cleane another way. It is well knowne that afflictions goe under the name of cros­ses; now a Crosse was a piece of wood for a male­factour to dye on, there was no other use of a crosse but that: Affliction therefore is called a crosse, be­cause it should have the nature and power of a Crosse, that is, it should be a meanes to crucifie and mortifie all carnall lusts and affections in us; that the more we are afflicted, the more wee should dye to sinne, and the lesse life and power should our cor­ruptions have in us. Thus it was with Saint Paul, is it so with thee? dost thou wish and desire the death of thy sinnes? dost thou make this use of thy af­flictions, even to die daily? (as the Apostles speakes) dost thou every day drive one naile into the body [Page 39] of sinne, I meane one sigh or groane to God against it? dost thou labour to draw blood of thy soule (as they drew blood of thy Saviour) I meane, the teares of true repentance? and is it a death to thy heart, that thou canst not dye unto sinne, and live unto God, as thou shouldest and oughtest to doe? Then looke no further for Hearts-ease, but to the words of my Text, and assure thy selfe, what ever Crosses be upon thee, Gods Grace (in Gods good time) shall bee sufficient to case thee. Contrary­wise, if thou beest one that dost [...], (as Saint Stephen speaketh, Act. 7. 51.) one that dost fall crosse and contrary to all but to thy sinnes, and art indeede a very crosse to God himselfe and to his good Spirit, by thy perverse ungodly courses, I must say unto thee, as the Prophet Esay saith, Esay 3. 6. Woe bee unto thy soule, for thou hast rewarded evill unto thy selfe: thou forsakest thy owne mer­cy, and deprivest thy selfe of the comfort of Gods Grace in the time of need.

3. Saint Paul was Homo in negotiis, a laborious man, a man full of imployments, 1 Cor. 15. 10. I la­boured more then all my fellow-Apostles (saith hee) yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with mee. (there's an honest acknowledgement by whom hee profited.) And elsewhere he tells the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 11. 9. When I was with you and wanted, non obt [...]rpui, I was not chargeable nor burthensome to any man. The Learned observe, that word hath his weight from Torpedo, which signifieth a Cramp­fish; a Fish (they say) that hath such a benumming quality, that the cold of it will strike from the [Page 40] hook to the line, from the line to the goad, from the goad to the arme, from the arme to the body of the fisher, and so benum him, & take away al use and fee­ling of his limbes: His meaning is, that he was none of those idle drones, that by their lazinesse and lewdnesse doe even chill, and benumme, and dead the charity of well-disposed people; but as he la­boured in preaching, so hee wrought in his calling too; and put himselfe to any paines, rather then bee chargeable or burthensome to any friend or stran­ger: and by this meanes it came to passe, that what he wanted at home, he found it abroad; and Gods grace that was with him did ever supply him with that which was enough and sufficient for him. Is it so with thee? Thou that art a poore man, art thou also an industrious and a painfull man? that as Iacob got the blessing in the garment of Esau, which sig­nifieth, Working; so dost thou work and take paines to get the blessing of thy God? dost thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good, that thou mayest rather bee charitable, then chargeable to him that needeth? and will not thy honest labour maintaine thee, nor suffice the charge that daily lyes upon thee? Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee, and let not thy wants nor thy necessities dismay thee, for there is a God above that hath sufficient for thee; contrarily, if thou beest one that live in pleasure (as Saint Paul saith of that widdow, [...], she was dead even while she lived) one that spendest thy time in this world, no otherwise then that Leviathan doth in the Sea, onely by taking thy pastime therein, or [Page 41] like those Lyllies that our Saviour speakes, that nei­ther labour nor spin, but onely make a faire shew as long as it will hold: Then as Iehu said to Ioram, What Peace? so may I say to thee, What Grace? or what favour canst thou looke for at the hands of God?

4. Saint Paul was Homo in aerumnis, a man full of cares. I doe not meane of carnall or wordly cares, or such as Martha's were, for the things of this life; for these he had cast upon God, and had learned in whatsever estate he was, therewith to bee content; but I meane of spirituall, divine, religious cares, for the health and welfare of the soule, such as he commends in the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 7. 11. as being the first fruits of Grace and godly sorrow ( [...], What carefulnesse it hath wrought in you) how much it wrought in them, I know not; but sure I am, it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care, and that of the better kinde: first, an immediate care for himselfe, and his own soule, lest after hee had preached unto others, himselfe should be a cast-away, 1 Cor. 9. 27. secondly, a charitable and that a Catholicke and universall care for all Chur­ches and Christian soules under the cope of heaven. 2 Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in ecclesias quantumvis remo­tas affectus, quam si illas humeris gestaret (as Beza said of Calvin) hee was no lesse tenderly affected for those Churches that were remote and farre off than if hee had borne them upon his owne shoul­ders, and carried them (as Nurses do their Babes) in his owne bosome. But his third and most especiall care was for the soules and saving health of his lit­tle [Page 42] children (as he calls them, Gal. 4. 20.) Of whom he travelled in birth till Christ was formed in them. His care was greater for them, than either for himselfe, or any others; and he gives his reason [...], for (saith he) I stand in doubt of you. Good Pa­rents the more they love their children, the more they stand in doubt of them, least they should fall to any defection, or decline to any corruption, or come to any disaster when they themselves are dead and gone. This made Saint Paul in such per­plexity for them; and yet were they but his spiritu­all children; what care then (may we thinke) would he have taken for them, if they had beene his na­turall children too? then might he justly have used that word, and said [...], I am in doubt of you: for [...] in Greeke signifieth both dubius and pauper, doubtfull and poore; for none have so much reason to bee doubtfull of their childrens welfare as they that are poorest and have least to leave them. They may justly feare (as the woman of Tekoah said to David, 2 Sam. 14. 7.) lest their coales should be quenched: (for so shee calls her childe her coale; for as coales either warme or burne, as they are used, so doe children either comfort or crosse their parents as they prove) now when a poore man shall dye and leave his coales, I meane his Orphans behinde him: such is the world, that where you shall light of one good body that will bee a meanes to cherish and maintaine and keepe them alive, there be twenty to that one so unchristi­anly and uncharitably minded, that they care not how they use them, yea though they quench and [Page 43] crush, and put them cleane out. And hence come those [...], those perplexities and doubtfull cares of tender-hearted Parents for their Children. Hast thou therefore many little ones, and little to leave them? and doth thy heart even yearne with care and feare to fore-thinke what shall betide them, when thou by death art taken from them? I will give thee the same counsell that I desire of God to take my selfe, and that's this, Cognovisti Gratiam Dei, (saith our Apostle, Colos. 1. 6.) Thou knowest the Grace of God: thou knowest that to bee a sure stay when all other props and stayes are done away: That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breakes: Make tryall of that.

Doe by thy Children as Saint Paul did by his brethren, Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God, and to the word of his Grace; Lay them downe at the feet of Jesus Christ, as they in the Primitive Church, laid downe their money at the feet of the Apostles; desire God to bee their Father, Christ to be their Guardian, the Holy Ghost to bee their Guide; and when thou hast done so, then as David saith, Psal. 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem, Returne unto thy rest, O my soule, then settle and assure and resolve thy selfe, that Heaven shall want mercy, and earth meanes, before any of those that are un­der Gods protection and patronage shall want maintenance. Never bee in doubt what shall be­come of them, knowing that His Grace is sufficient for them.

I might adde hereunto many particulars; as that Saint Paul was homo in vinculis, a man in bonds, but [Page 44] the Grace of God unloosed them all: that he was Homo in necessitatibus, a man in wants, but the Grace of God supplyed them all: that he was Ho­mo in periculis, a man in many perills and dangers, but by the Grace of God he escaped them all: that he was Homo in tentationibus, a man mightily trou­bled with temptations, but by the Grace of God he overcame them all: All these I purposely overslip (which perhaps might comply with many a mans condition, and conduce to his comfort) but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the rest, that S. Paul was, as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee, and every Christian soule to be.

5. Homo in Coelestibus, a man of an heavenly dis­position; though his bodily abode was upon earth, yet his [...], his soules commerce, and conver­sation was in heaven, Phil. 3. 20. no marvell then, that being so much acquainted with God, as hee was; and so conversant in heaven, which is Gremium Gratiae, the lap and bosome of Grace; if, as tis said of Saint Iohn that leaning in the bosome of Christ, he thence suckt out his heavenly knowledge; So St. Paul being so intimate, and so entire with God who is the God of all Grace (whatever else hee wanted) could not possibly want Grace suf­ficient for him. In a word then: Is it so with thee though in a farre inferiour degree? Art thou, as e­very good Christian is, and ought to be [...], a Citizen of Heaven? Dost thou account that thy home, and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time? and as our Saviour set his face to goe to Ie­rusalem, Luke 9. 51. Dost thou set thy face to go to [Page 45] heaven? doth thy heart stand Heaven-ward? Art thou bound for that coast? (as Paul went bound in the spirit to Ierusalem, Act. 20.) I meane, dost thou set thy affections upon things above, upon God and his Grace? and not on things below, upon the world and her goods which drowne mens soules in perdition? Art thou one of that same Generis Aqui­lini, of that Eagle kinde, whereof our Saviour speakes, Mat. 24. (where the body is, thither will the Eagles resort) the body of thy Saviour thou knowest is in Heaven, and doth thy soule resort often thi­ther? dost thou wish (as Macarius did) [...], that thy soule might goe up into heaven with thy prayers, and there abide for ever with God? Then, what Nathan said to David in a case of conviction, I dare apply to thee in a case of comfort; Thou art the man whom God delighteth to favour: and therefore as the Patriarchs are said Heb. 11. [...], even to kisse and embrace the pro­mises of Christ: so doe thou even claspe and hugge this promise of Grace to thy selfe; and let neither thy wants, nor thy weaknesses dismay thee, for both in life and death thou shalt finde Gods Grace to bee sufficient for thee, which God of his mercy grant unto us all, &c. Amen.