LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

The Eleventh SERMON. (Book 11)

PART II.

PROV. XXIII. 23.

Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdome, and instruction, and understanding.

YE have heard of part of the payment: But the price of the Truth is yet higher, and there is more to be given. And indeed we shall find that the mer∣chandise is unvaluable, and that it will be cheap when we have given all for it. What are the Va∣nities of the world, yea what is the whole World it self, nay, what is our Understanding, Will, and Affections, what is Man, in comparison of that Truth without which he is worse then nothing? What is it then that we must lay down more when we come to this mart? We must part with that which cleaveth many times so close unto us that we cannot so much as of∣fer any thing for the Truth. First, we must remove all Prejudice out of our minds, that they may be still tanquam rasa tabula; though they have something written in them, yet that they receive not any opinion so deeply in as not to be capable of another which hath more reason to commend it; that they cleave not so close to that which was first en∣tertained upon weak, peradventure carnal, motives, as to stand out a∣gainst that which bringeth with it a cloud of witnesses and proofs, yea light it self, to make entrance for it. Secondly, we must remove all Malice, all distast and loathing of the Truth; we must take heed we do not wilfully reject it, as if it concerned us not, nor were worth the buying. Till our mind be clear of both these, Prejudice and Malice, we may talk of the Truth, but onely as a blind man doth of the light; we may commend the Truth, but as a man of Belial may honour a Saint; we may cry out, Magna est Veritas, & praevalebit,* 1.1 and yet the Truth hath no power at all over us; we may look upon our selves as Temples de∣dicated to the Truth, and yet we put it far from us. These two e∣vil Spirits then we must cast out before the Spirit of Truth will enter into us. I shall now therefore shew the horrour and danger of them both, that ye may eject them, and so become fit merchants of the Truth.

I. Praejudicium est, quod obstat futuro judicio, saith the Civilians; Prejudice is that which hindreth and keepeth off any further and future judgment. It hath alwaies Pertinacie to accompany it, which as a rock beateth back all those batteries which Reason can make. The mind

is so setled upon one conclusion that it looketh upon all others as false, though they be true:* 1.2 Our own sentence is like the Law of the Medes and Persians, unalterable: We are resolved 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Philosopher speaketh, to hold fast our conclusion, against all the strength of reason and argument that can be brought to the contrary. This is in effect to do what the Spies did who were sent to view the land of Ca∣naan,* 1.3 to bring up an evil report of the Truth, that we dare not venture to buy it; this is to condemn the Truth, and suffer no advocate to stand up and speak in its defense. Nor indeed do we lie and labour so much under the rage of our Affections as under the tyranny of Prejudice, For our Affections most commonly are blind, and so without prejudice. When they carry us along with violence, we do not judge, but chuse. Ʋnicuique sua cupiditas tempestas est; Every mans inordinate desire is not onely a wind to drive him forward, but a tempest to wheel and whirl him about from errour to errour, till a spirit of giddiness possess him that he cannot discern any thing as it is. And as, according to the common saying, nulla tempestas diu durat, no tempest is long, but soon breatheth it self out, so is it here; the cloud of Passion is quickly blown over,* 1.4 and then the eye is clear. In his Wrath Esau will kill his brothor Jacob: but when time had turned his fury away, he became a brother again, and ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and wept. Then he would shed his brothers bloud, now his own tears. David's Lust brought him to a forbidden bed; but the voice of a Prophet maketh him wash it with tears. Fear made Peter deny and forswear his Master; but the crowing of a cock and a look from Christ make him deny his denial, and weep bitterly. What is done out of Affection, we do we know not how: we do it, and the greatest reason we have many times, is, because we do it. If in passion we pass any judgment, it is not long-lived, but wasteth and de∣cayeth and dieth with the passion. But Prejudice is a rooted and la∣sting evil; an evil we are jealous of, because we think it good; we build upon it as upon a foundation; and he that but breatheth upon it, that but looketh towards it, appeareth as an enemy that cometh to dig it up. Sometimes indeed Prejudice is raised in us by the Affections; sometimes the Affections intermingle and interweave themselves with it; but com∣monly the Affections come in the rear of Prejudice, and follow as its effects, and help to strengthen it. We love him that is of our opinion, because it is ours; and we hate him that contradicteth it. Upon the same reason we are afraid of every profer, angry at every word that is spoken against it. And this gathereth every conventicle, mouldeth e∣very sect, coineth every heresy: This is that Sword which our Saviour speaketh of,* 1.5 that divideth a man from his father, and the daughter from her mother, and maketh enemies of those who are of a mans own houshold: This is that East wind which bringeth in those Locusts that cover the face of the Church,* 1.6 and make it dark, and eat up all those fruits which we should gather. Prejudice then doth suppose Judgment. Judgment doth in a manner form it: otherwise it could not be Prejudice. Nor do we understand by Prejudice all judgment made and passed before-hand in the mind: For such judgment may be true as well as false. Nor would we so free the mind from Prejudice as to leave it unsetled and in doubt, determining and concluding nothing: For this were to cast out the soul it self, by depriving it of Reason, and Judgment, which is the prime act and proper effect of Reason, without which it cannot be an humane Soul. We leave the mind free to judge; but not so to dote on and deifie its own decree and determination as to

fall down and worship it; so to favour and fix upon it. so to stand to it, as to stand strong, or rather stubborn, against all those reasons that are fit and ready, and may be brought to oppose and demolish it. Nor do we hear mean those conclusions which are known and assen∣ted to as soon as they are tendred and presented to us, which with their light overcome us, and make us yield at the first sight; as, That we ought to worship God, live honestly, injure no man, give every one that is his, be grateful to our benefactors, honour our parents, and the like: For here Prejudice hath no place: In these our first judgment is our last, because it must needs be right: Once we determine, and proceed no further. But we understand those deductions and inferences which we make when we apply those known truths to particular practice; which peradventure we may do with diligence, and with the help and advice of others, and yet not so build and establish our conclusions as to make them necessary, everlasting and indisputable. For a man may dishonour God when he thinketh he worshippeth him; one may op∣press his neighbour, and call it justice; be profane, yet canonize him∣self for a Saint; conclude one beholding to him, whom he injureth; be disobedient to his parents, and think he honoureth them; lift up his heel against his patrone, and yet perswade himself that he exactly ob∣serveth all the rules of gratitude. Here Prejudice may come in, and be as a veil before our eyes, that we cannot see the Truth which we should buy for our use; which must needs withdraw it self when we worship our own imaginations, when we conclude and rest upon that judgment as right which we have preconceived, when we set up those reasons which peradventure we framed when we consulted with flesh and bloud, against all that can be said to the contrary, and precondemn all other judgment as false, because it steppeth from this and cannot agree with it. Suppose the first judgment in these be true, yet is it no derogation from the Truth in this kind to be put to the question.* 1.7 If we be in the faith, yet we may examin our selves,* 1.8 and be ready alwaies to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. If the Spirit be of God, yet it may be tried whether it be of him, or no.* 1.9 Every thing of this nature may be brought to the trial,* 1.10 that we may hold fast that which is good. But then, if it be true, yet it is not alwayes so certain as those speculative conclusions and known principles which none ever yet denied who had but so much reason as to prove him a man. To be deaf therefore to all other information under pretense of infallibility, to shut out a clearer light upon presumption that he is fully enlightned already, ejus est qui mavult didicisse quàm discere, is the property of him alone who loveth his credit more then the Truth, and counteth it a dis∣grace or punishment to learn any thing. In conclusions then of this na∣ture the mind must ever be free and disengaged, not so wedded to its own decrees as to be averse and strange when a fair overture is made of better. For I may erre as well as judge aright. For how hath Errour so multiplied, and whence proceed the greatest part of the errours of our life, but from this presumption, That we cannot erre? If men were either impartial to themselves, or so humble as to hearken to the judgment of others, the Prince of this world would not have so much in us, nor should vve be in danger of so frovvard a generati∣on. If men vvere not so soon good, they would not be so often evil. Nor doth this vvillingness to hear reason blast or endanger that Truth vvhich Reason and Revelation hath implanted in us; nay, it rather vvatreth it, and maketh it flourish. For vvhen hath gold a brighter lustre then vvhen it is tried? And this attentiveness and submission

to what may be said either for or against it, is a fair evidence that we fell not upon it by chance, but have fastned it to our soul by frequent meditation, and are rooted and established in it. Neither doth it ar∣gue any fluctuation or wavering in the mind, or unfixedness of judge∣ment. For he doth not waver who followeth a clearer light and bet∣ter reason, and cleaveth unto it. Mutatio sententiae non est inconstan∣tia, saith the Oratour: To disanul a former judgment upon better e∣vidence, is not inconstancie; it is the stability rather and persevering act of Reason, its certain and natural course, to judge for that which is most reasonable. And the mind doth no more waver in this, then the Planets do erre or wander; which are said to do so, because they appear now in this, now in that part of the heavens, but yet they keep their constant and natural motion. For this entertaineth Truth for it self, and suffereth not Errour to enter but under that name, and, when Truth appeareth in glory, in its rayes and beams, in that light which doth best discover it; chaseth Errour away as a monstre, and boweth to the sceptre of Truth. It is never so wedded to Errour though never so specious, as not to be ready to give it a bill of divorce when Truth shall offer it self to its embraces. But it may be said, That the mind must needs waver and be lost in uncertainties, because it strugleth as yet with doubts, and knoweth not whether there may not be better reasons brought then those which she hath already signed and subscribed to. I say, this is not true: Nay, rather the mind doth therefore not waver or fluctuate, because it doth not know it. For till it do know that better reasons can be brought, it is bound to that conclusion which, for ought yet appeareth, hath the best to confirm it. Any evidence is the best till a better be brought: And until a better be brought, it is not Prejudice to lay claim to the best. We are yet in via, in our way; we yet dwell in houses of clay and tabernacles of flesh; we struggle with doubts and difficulties; Errour and Misprision are our compa∣nions here: In many things we erre all; and in many things we erre in which one would think it were impossible to mistake, and are never more deceived then where we think our selves infallible. God alone hath this prerogative, Not to erre, To see all things exactly with a cast of his eye, and ad nudum, as the Schools speak, naked as they are. Our knowledge in comparison of his is but ignorance: We have need of in∣struction upon instruction,* 1.11 precept upon precept, line upon line, and that day unto day, every day, should teach us knowledge. That knowledge and certainty we have is such as we are capable of, and such as is availa∣ble to that end for which we were made, sufficient to entitle us to hap∣piness; but is not like that in God, but rather an uncertain 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 or kind of doubting in comparison of his infallibility. Our certainty is such as the wisdome and goodness of God hath fitted to our condition in this life: and it is then in its 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and perfection when we give diligence to use those means that are afforded us that we may judge rightly of all things, when we judge according to that light and evidence which shew∣eth it self, and judge not otherwise till a clearer light appeareth. Thus S. Paul was a Champion of the Law, and after a Martyr of the Gospel; Thus he persecuted Christians, and thus he died a Christian. Thus St. Peter would not converse with the Heathen,* 1.12 as polluted and unclean; and thus he after looked upon them as purified by God, preached to them, and baptized them. This hath brought into the world all those Re∣cognitions, Retractations, Recantations, which are not onely as con∣fessions, but triumphs over a conquerred errour, rejoycings and jubi∣lees of men who had sat in darkness but have found the light. He

who is not fitted and prepared for better information, and will not yield upon surer evidence, but so magnifieth the impressions that were first made in his mind as to rest upon them as infallible, maketh himself aut Deum aut bestiam, as the Philosopher speaketh, either a God, or a beast; and the more a beast by making himself as God, undeceiveable and that cannot erre: for so, as a beast, he lieth under every burden, every errour, though it be so gross and mountainous as to press him to death. In a word, he that doth not empty his mind of Prejudice, that doth not ex∣pectorate and drive this evil far from him, is not fit to be a purchaser of the Truth. Dedocendi officium gravius & prius quàm docendi; Our first task and hardest is to unlearn something that we have been taught; and after with more ease we shall learn better. We must first pluck up the weeds, that Truth may fall as in good ground, and bring forth fruit.* 1.13 For that is good ground, not onely where Truth groweth, but which is fit to re∣ceive it. All forestalled imaginations and prejudicate opinions are as thorns to choke it up; or they make the heart as stony ground, in which if the Truth spring up, it is soon parched for lack of rooting, and withereth a∣way. What can that heart bring forth, or what can it receive, which is full already?

Ye have heard what Prejudice is: In the next place consider the dan∣ger of it, how it obstructeth and shutteth up the wayes of Truth, and leaveth them unoccupied, or, to allude to the words of my Text, how it spoileth the market. I have shewed you the Serpent; I must now shew you its Sting. And indeed as the Serpent deceived Eve,* 1.14 so Prejudice deceiveth us. It giveth a No to God's Yea; maketh Men true, and God a liar; nulleth the sentence of death, and telleth us we shall not die at all. Ye shall die, if this be the interpreter, is, Your eyes shall be opened; and to deceive our selves is to be as Gods, knowing good and evil. I do not much mistake in calling Prejudice a Serpent. For the biting of it is like that of the Tarantula: the working of its venome maketh men dance and laugh themselves to death. How do we delight our selves in errour, and pity those who are in the Truth: How do we lift up our heads in the wayes that lead unto death, and contemn, yea persecute them that will not follow us! What a paradise is our ditch, and what an hell do we behold them in who are not fallen into it! Our flint is a diamond, and a diamond is a flint; Virtue is vice, and vice virtue; Errour is truth, and truth errour; Heaven is covered with darkness, and hell is the king∣dome of light. Nothing appeareth to us as it is, in its own shape; but Prejudice turneth day into night, and the light it self into darkness. A setled prejudicate, though false, opinion will build up as strong resoluti∣ons as a true one. Saul was as zelous for the Law as Paul was for the Gospel: Hereticks are as loud for a fiction as the Orthodox for the Truth, the Turk as violent for his Mahomet as the Christian for Christ. Habet Diabolus suos martyres, Even the Devil hath his Martyrs as well as God..* 1.15 And it is Prejudice that is that evil Spirit that casteth them into fire and into water, that consumeth or drowneth them,* 1.16 that leadeth them forth like Agag, delicately, to their death. If this poison will not fright us, if these bitings be insensible, and we will yet play with this Serpent, let us behold it as a fiery Serpent, stinging men to death, enraging them to wash their hands in one anothers bloud, turning plow shares into swords, and fithes into spears, making that desolation which we see on the earth, beating down Churches, grinding the facc of the innocent, smoking like the bottomless pit, breathing forth Anathemaes, proscripti∣ons, banishment, death. If there be war, this beateth up the drum; If there be persecution, this raised it; If a deluge of iniquity cover the

face of the earth, this brought it in. Is there any evil in the City which this hath not done? This poison hath spread it self through the greatest part of mankind; yea, even Christendome is tainted with it: and the effects have been deadly. Errour hath gained a kingdome; and in the mean while Truth, like Psyche in Apuleius, is commended of all, yet re∣fused of most; is counted a pearl and a rich merchandise, yet few buy it. Ye have seen it already in general and in gross: We will make it yet more visible, by pointing as it were with the finger, and shewing you it in particulars.

And first, its biting is most visible and eminent in those of the Church of Rome. For ye may even see the marks upon them, Obstinacy, Per∣verseness, Insolency, Scorn and Contempt, a proud and high Disdain of any thing that appeareth like reason, or of any man that shall be so cha∣ritable as to teach them, which are certainly the signs of the bitings of this Serpent Prejudice, if not the marks of the Beast. Quàm gravis incu∣bat! How heavy doth Prejudice lie upon them, who have renounced their very Sense, and are taught to mistrust, yea deny, their Reason? Who see with other mens eyes, and hear with other mens ears, nec animo sed auribus cogitant, do not judge with their mind, but with their ears. Not the Scripture but the Church is their oracle: And whatsoever that speaketh, though it were a congregation of hereticks, is truth: And so it may be, for ought they can discover. For that theirs is the true Ca∣tholick Church, is the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that which must be granted and not further sought into: Once to doubt of it, is heresie. This prejudice once taken in, That that Church cannot erre, and though not well digested, yet in a manner consubstantiated and connaturalized with them, frustra∣teth, yet forbiddeth, all future judgment, yea inhibiteth all further search or enquiry, which may uncloud the Reason, and bring her into that re∣gion of light where she may see the very face of Truth, and so regain her proper place, her office and dignity, and condemn that which she bowed and submitted to when she was made a servant and slave of men, and taught to conclude with the Church, though against her self, to say what that saith, to do what that biddeth, to be but as the echo of her decrees and canons; though it be but in one, as in her Bishop; in many, as in the Consistory; in more, as in a general Councel; though it be but a name. For they that lie under this prejudice, in a manner do profess to all the world that they have unmanned themselves,* 1.17 blown out that candle of the Lord which was kindled in them; that they received eyes, but not to see; ears, but not to hear; and reason, but not to understand and judge; that they are ready to believe that that which is black is white, and that snow it self is as black as ink (as the Academick thought) if the Pope shall think good so to determine it. To dispute with these is operam ludere, to lose our labour and mispend our time. It is altogether vain to seek to perswade those who will not be perswaded though they be convinced, nor yield when they are overcome. Though seven, yea seventy times seven, wisemen bring reason and arguments against them, they do but beat the air. What speak we to him of colours who must not see, or urge him with reason who hath renounced it? There cannot be a more preva∣lent reason given then that which Sense and Experience bring: yet we see Bread and it is flesh; we see Wine, and it is very Bloud, because the Church saith it. There cannot be a more reasonable thing then that Reason should be our judge: yet Reason is not Reason, if the Church say it. They that will not believe their Sense, how can they believe their Reason? And how can they believe their Reason, who have debauched and prostituted it and bound it to the high Priests chair?

Do they give that honour unto the Saints which is due unto God alone, and call upon them in the time of trouble?* 1.18 It is very right and meet and our bounden duty so to do; for the Church commandeth it. Must there be a fire more then that of Hell? The Church hath kindled it. Must the Me∣rits of the Saints be drawn up into a common treasury, and thence showred down in Indulgences and supplies for them who are not so rich in Good works? The Church is that treasury; and her breath hath called them up. Whatsoever is said or done must have a Bene dictum, and a Bene factum subscribed under it, is Truth and Righteousness, if the Church say and do it. So the Church is let down, as the Tragedians used to do some God or Goddess when they were at a loss or stand, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as by slight and engine, to solve the difficulty and untie the knot, and so make up the Catastrophe. Or it serveth them as Anaxagoras his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the Metaphysicks, to answer and defeat all arguments whatsoever. And this prejudice of theirs they back and strengthen with many others; Of Antiquity; making that most true which is most antient, and the Truth it self a lie if it shewed it self in glory but yesterday. And yet omnia ve∣tera nova fuere; that which is now old was at first new: and by this argu∣ment Truth was not Truth when it was new, nor the Light Light when it first sprung from on high, and visited us. Truth, though it find Profes∣sours but in its later age, yet is the first born; because Errour is nothing else but a deviation from it. Errour cometh forth last, and layeth hold on the heel of Truth, to supplant it. They have another prejudice, of Councels; as if the most were alway the best, and Truth went by voices. Nazianzen was bold to censure them, as having seen no good effect of any of them. And we our selves have seen, and our eyes have dropped for it, what a mere name, what prejudice can do with the Many, and what it can countenance. Besides these, they have others; Of Miracles, which were but lies: Of Glory which is but vanity: Of Universality, which is bounded and confined to a certain place. With these and the like that first prejudice, That the Church cannot erre, is underpropped. And yet these depend upon that: Such a mutual implication there is of Errours, as in a bed of Snakes. If the first be not true, these are nothing: And if these pillars be once shaken, that Church will soon sink in its reputation, and not sit so high as to dictate to all other Churches in the world. And these are soon shaken: for they are but problemes, and may justly be called into question and brought to trial. For if they have any thing of Truth, it is rather verisimile then verum, rather the resemblance of Truth then Truth it self: And this a foul errour may have. And to fix my judgement upon a resemblance, is most prejudicial. For a thing may be like the Truth, and appear in that likeness, which is not true, and therefore must needs be false. A resemblance or likeness participateth of both, and may be either true or false. I have looked too long a∣broad upon this Queen of Churches; but it was to set her up as a glass to see our own. She saith we are a schismatical, we are bold upon it that we are a Reformed Church; and so we are. But may not Prejudice find a place even in Reformation it self? May we not dote upon it, as Pygmalion did upon the statue, and so please and flatter and laugh our selves to death?

Illiacos intra muros peccatur, & extra.* 1.19

Rome alone is not guilty of Prejudice, but even some members of the Reformation also, who think themselves most nearly united to Christ when they run furthest from that Church; though sometimes by so doing they run from the Truth. For what is this else but prejudice, to judge all is well with us because the lines are fallen to us in so pleasant a place

as a purged Church? to be less reformed, because that is Reformed? or to think that an heaven and happiness will be raised up and rest upon a word, a name? What is this but to run round in a circle, and to meet the Church of Rome where we left her? What is this but to speak her very language, That to be in this Ark, this Church, is to be safe? and, when a floud of Sin and Errour hath overwhelmed us, to think we are secure∣ly sailing to our Ararat, our eternal rest? Or what hope is there that he should grow and encrease in grace, who, if he be planted once in this Church, or that Sect, counteth himself a perfect man in Christ Jesus? Al∣most every Sect, and every Congregation laboureth under this prejudice, and feeleth it not, but runneth away with its burden, Oh unhappy men they that are not fellow-members with us! though it be of such a body as hath but little Charity to quicken it, and no Faith to move it, but a phansie. Yet these cannot but do all things well; these cannot erre: and they who will not cast in their lot with them,* 1.20 and have the same purse, are quite out of the way, can speak nothing that is true, nor do any thing that is good.* 1.21 Do ye not see the Pharisees spread their phylacteries? do ye not hear them utter the same dialect?* 1.22 We are not as those Publicanes. I might enlarge my self: but I know ye understand me, and can tell your selves what might be said further by that which hath been said already. To be yet more particular; The Lutherane Church doth grant indeed that every particular Church may erre; and so doth not exempt it self: But do not many of them attribute as much to Luther as the other do to their Church? Are they not ready to subscribe to whatsoever he said, upon no other reason or motive but because he said it? Do they not look upon him as upon a man raised up by God to redeem the Truth, and shew it to the world again, after it had been detained in unrighteousness and lost in ceremony and superstition? And is not this Prejudice equal to the for∣mer? Do not they depend as much upon a person as the Papists do upon their Church, so that to them whatsoever he said is as true as an article of faith, and whatsoever is not found in him is heretical? quasi fas non sit di∣cere, Lutherum errâsse, as if it were unjust and an injury to think that Lu∣ther could erre in any thing. I accuse him not of errour; yet we know he was but a man; and we know he erred, or else our Church doth, in ma∣ny things: It were easie to name them. But suppose he had broached as many lies as the Father of them could suggest, yet those who in their opinions had raised him to such an height, would with an open breast have received them all as oracles, and have licked up poison if it had fal∣len from him. For they had the same inducement to believe him when he erred which they had to believe him when he spake the Truth. We do not derogate from so great a person; we are willing to believe that he was sent from God as an useful instrument to promote the Truth: But we do not believe that he sent him as he sent his Son into the world, that all his words should be spirit and life;* 1.23 that in every word he spake, who∣soever heard him, heard the Father also. Thus ye see how Prejudice may arise, how it may be built upon a Church, and upon a person, and may so captivate and depress the Reason that she shall not be able to look up, and see and judge of that Truth which we should buy. I might in∣stance in others, and those too who have reformed the Reformation it self, who have placed the Founder of their Sect as a star in a firmament, and walk by the light which he casteth, and by none other, though it come from the Sun it self; Who fixing their eye upon him alone, follow as he led, and in their zele and forward obsequiousness to his dictates ma∣ny times outgo him, and in his name and spirit work such wonders as we have shrunk and trembled at. But manum de tabula, we forbear; lest

whilest we strive to charm one serpent, we awake an hundred, and those such as can bite their brethren, as Prejudice doth them. I shall but in∣stance in two or three prejudicial opinions which have been, as a portcul∣lis, shut down against the Truth.

The first is, That the Truth is not to be bought, nor obtained by any venture or endeavour of ours, but worketh it self into us by an irresistible force, so as that when we shall have once got possession of it, no principa∣lities or powers, no temptation, no sin can deprive us of it, but it will a∣bide against all storms and assaults, all subtilty and violence; nay it will not remove, though we do what in us lieth to thrust it out; so that we may be at once possessours of it, and yet enemies to it. Now when this opinion hath once gained a kingdome in our heads, and we count it a kind of treason or sacrilege to depose it, why should we be smitten,* 1.24 why should we be instructed any more? Argument and reason will prove but paper-shot, make some noise perhaps, but no impression at all. What is the tongue of the learned to him who will hearken to none but himself? We talk of a preventing Grace to keep us from evil; but this is a prevent∣ing ungracious perversness to withhold us from the Truth. For when that which first speaketh in us, which we first speak to our selves, or others to us, who can comply with that which is much dearer to us then our selves, our corrupt humour and carnality, when that is sealed and ratifi∣ed for ever, advice and counsel come too late. When Prejudice is the onely musick we delight to hear, what is the tongue of Men and Angels, what are the instructions of the wise, but harsh and unpleasant notes, ab∣horred almost as much as the howlings of a damned spirit? When we are thus rooted and built up in errour what can shake us? It is impossi∣ble for us to learn or unlearn any thing. For there is no reason we should be untaught that which we rest upon as certain, and which we received as an everlasting truth written in our hearts by the finger of God himself, and that, as we think, with an indeleble character. Or why should we studie the knowledge of that which will be poured by an om∣nipotent and irrefragable hand into our minds? Who would buy that which shall be forced upon him? When the Jew is thus prepossessed, when he putteth the Word of God from him,* 1.25 and judgeth himself unworthy of ever∣lasting life, then there is no more to be said then that of the Apostles, Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Another Prejudice there is powerful in the world, somewhat like the former, namely a presumption that the Spirit of God teacheth us imme∣diately, and that a new light shineth in our hearts never seen before; that the Spirit teacheth us not onely by his Word, but against it; That there is a twofold Word of God; 1 Verbum praeparatorium, a Word read and expounded to us by the ministery of men; 2. Ver••um consummatorium, a Word which consummateth all; and this is from the Spirit. The one is as John Baptist, to prepare the way; the other as Christ, to finish and per∣fect the work. It pleaseth the Spirit of God, say they, by his inward operation to illuminate the mind of man with such knowledge as is not at all proposed in the outward Word, and to instill that sense which the words do not bear. Thus they do not onely lie to the holy Ghost, but teach him to dissemble; to dictate one thing, and to mean another: to tell you in your ear, you must not do this; and to tell you in your heart, you may: to tell you in his proclamation,* 1.26 you may not be angry with your brother; and to tell you in secret, you may murder him: to tell you in the Church,* 1.27 you must not make his house a den of thieves; and to tell you in your closet, you may down with it even to the ground.

* 1.28Inde Dolabella est, at{que} hinc Antonius, inde Sacrilegus Verres.

From hence are wars, contentions, heresies, schismes; from hence that implacable hatred of one another, which is not in a Turk or a Jew to a Christian. For tell me; What may not they say or do who dare pub∣lish this? when their Phansie is wanton, It is the Spirit; when their Hu∣mour is predominant, It is the Spirit; when their Lust and Ambition car∣ry them on with violence to the most horrid attempts, It is the Spirit; when they help the Father of lies to fling his darts abroad, It is the Spirit. It is indeed the Spirit, a Spirit of illusion, a bold and impudent Spirit, that cannot blush. For when it is agreed on all sides that all necessary truths are plainly revealed in Scripture, what Spirit must that be which is sent into the world to teach us more then all? In a word, it is a Spirit that teacheth us not that which is, but that which our Lusts have already set up for truth; A new light, which is but a meteor to lead us to those pre∣cipices, those works of darkness which no night is dark enough to cover; Such a Spirit as proceedeth not from the Father and the Son, but from our fleshly Lusts,* 1.29 from the beast within us, that fighteth against our Soul.

I am weary of this Spirit: I am sure the world hath reason to be so, and to cast it out. There is a third, which I am ashamed of; and I have much wondred that ever any who with any diligence had searched the Scriptures, or but tasted of the word of truth, could have so ethnick a stomach as to digest it. But we see some have taken it down with plea∣sure; and it serveth as hot waters, to ease them of a pang, of that worm which gnaweth within them. Shall I name it to you? It is Tying of the Truth to the wheel of Fortune, or, to set it forth in its fairest dress, to the Providence of God; which moveth in a certain course, but most uncertain to us, and is then least visible when it is most seen: A Preju∣dice raised out of prosperity and good success; Which befalleth the bad as well as the good,* 1.30 as the Sword devoureth one as well as another. If Event could crown or condem an action, Virtue and Vice were not at such a distance as God and Nature have set them: That would be Virtue in this age which was Vice in the former; that which is true to day, might be false to morrow. For the same lot befalleth them both: That storm which now beateth upon the one, may anon be as sharp and violent a∣gainst the other. And indeed Virtue is most fair and glorious in the foulest weather. This action hath prospered in my hand, Therefore God hath signified it as just, is an argument which an Heathen would deny who had but seen the best intentions and goodliest resolutions either by subtil∣ty or violence oft beaten down to the ground. Certainly no true Israe∣lite could thus conclude,* 1.31 who had seen Josiah walking in all the wayes of David his father,* 1.32 and yet at the last stricken down by the hand of Pha∣raoh Nechoh in the battel at Megiddo. It was indeed the argument of the Epicure against the Providence of God,* 1.33 Aedes saepe suas disturbat; That Jupiter let fall his thunderbolts upon his own houses and temples. But the Christian can draw no such inferences and conclusions; who know∣eth the wayes of God are past finding out;* 1.34 that the world must be crucified unto him, and he unto the world; that he must* 1.35 make his way through many afflictions and troubles to his everlasting rest. All that can be said, is▪ God permitteth it: For for any command, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; where is it to be found? And how can we conclude of that which we do not, can∣not know? Permit it he doth; and so he doth all the evil in the world: for if he did not permit it, it could not be done. Hence it is that the storm falleth upon the best as well as upon the worst: But

to the one (though ye call it a Storm) it is indeed a gracious rain, to wa∣ter and refresh them; as for the other, it sweepeth them away and swal∣loweth them up for ever. God's Judgements are, like his Spirit,* 1.36 a wind that bloweth where it lifteth; and we hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth; neither for what cause in particular they are sent, nor what is their end. Permission is no fit basis to build a Command upon: Nor can Approbation be the consequent where Per∣mission onely is the antecedent. We can no more draw such a conclu∣sion from such premisses, then we can strike water out of a flint, or fire out of a cake of ice. The wicked prosper in their wayes; Every Sor∣cerer is not struck blind; Every sacrilegious Ananias is not stricken dead; Every Sodom is not consumed with fire: But this doth not justifie Sorcery and Sacrilege and Unnatural lust. And, The righteous are cast down, and perish; Every just man doth not flourish as a green bay-tree; Nay rather (as the Apostle saith, Not many wise, not many noble,* 1.37 &c. so) not many just, not many righteous do flourish: But this doth not con∣demn Innocency, nor on the sudden as it were transubstantiate and change Virtue into Vice. I have the rather brought this Prejudice forth, and exposed it to shame, because it is common, especially amongst the common sort, who are as good Logicians as they are Divines, whose ve∣ry natural Logick, their Reason, is tainted and corrupted by the world, in which they live, and to which in a manner they grow. It is vox po∣puli, the language of the Many, and it is taken up too oft; He hath taken a wrong course; Ye see God doth not bless it: This is not just; For it doth not thrive. A Prejudice this, which quite putteth out their eyes, that they cannot distinguish evil from good, nor good from evil; the Devil's snare, and he hath scarce such another in which he taketh so many. He was un∣fortunate; Therefore he was not wise: He prospered in his wayes; There∣fore his wayes were right. It is plebiscitüm, an Ordinance of the people: And sometimes it is senatus consultum, an Ordinance of those who count themselves wise: And it hath been rescriptum Imperatoris, the rescript and determination of the highest: A Prejudice, which may drive a man, like Nebuchadnezzar, amongst beasts, and make him worse then they; An opinion, which first withereth a soul, that it can bear no fruit, and then leaveth it as fuel for hell fire for ever; An opinion bellied like the Tro∣jane horse, in which lie lurking oppression, Deceit, Treason, all the ene∣mies of Truth, and the Father of lies, the Devil himself, ready to break forth, and destroy and devour a soul; A foundation and basis large e∣nough to raise a Babel upon, all the evil we can do, all the evil we can think, even confusion it self. The hope of good success may flatter me into the greatest sin; and when success hath crowned that hope, it will dress that sin in the grave mantle of Virtue and Piety, and so shut out Repentance for ever.

Ye see the danger of Prejudice. It lieth as a serpent in our way,* 1.38 as an adder in our path, to bite our heels, to hinder us that we cannot travel to the market where Truth is to be bought. Let us therefore lay aside all Prejudice, and as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Truth,* 1.39 that we may grow thereby. Let us not build our faith upon any particular Church, or Sect: For it is possible that a Church may erre, and so de∣ceive us. Hear, O Israel, when the Church speaketh; but not so as when God speaketh and publisheth his commands. Hear the Church,* 1.40 but then when she speaketh the words of God. Let not a name and glorious title dazle our eyes. He will make but an ill bargain who wanteth his eye∣sight. Again, let not the authority of any man be the compass by which we steer. For it may point to Beth-aven, and call it Beth-el; present us with a

box whose title is TRUTH, when it containeth nothing but the poyson of Falshood. Why should there be such power, such a spell, such witch∣craft in a name? Why should the Truth be built upon a Church? which must be built upon it, or else it is not a Church. Or why upon a name, which, though it be glorious in the world, is but the name of a man, who is subject to errour? Tolle mihi è causa nomen Catonis, saith Tully. Cato was a name of virtue, and that carried authority with it; and therefore the Oratour thought him not a fit witness in that cause against Muraena. So tolle è causa nomen Augustini: Take away the name of Augustine, of Lu∣ther,* 1.41 of Calvine, of Arminius, when ye come to this mart. There is but one name by which we can be saved; and his name alone must prevail with us:* 1.42 He onely hath authority, who is the Authour and Finisher of our faith. Let us honour others, but not deifie them, not pull Christ out of his throne, and place them in his room. There is not, there cannot be any influence at all in a name to make a conclusion true or false. If we have fixed it on high in our mind, as in its firmament, it will sooner dazle then enlighten us. And it is not of so great use as men imagine. For they that read or hear can either judge, or are weak in understand∣ing. To those who are able to judge and discern Errour from Truth, a Name is but a name, and is no more esteemed. For such look upon the Truth as it is, and receive it for it self. But as for those who are of a narrow capacity, a Name is more likely to lead them into errour then into truth; or, if into Truth, it is but by chance; for it should have found the same welcome and entertainment, had it been an errour, for the Names sake. All that such gain, is, They fall with more credit in∣to the ditch. Wherefore in our pursuit of Truth we must fling from us all Prejudice, and keep our mind, even after sentence past, free and en∣tire to change it upon better evidence, and not tye our faith to any man, though his rich endowments have raised his name above his brethren; follow no guide but him that followeth right Reason, and the Rule; not be servants of men: for though they be great, yet there is a greater then they; though they be wise, yet there is a wiser then they, even he that is the Truth it self. Let Augustine be a friend, and Luther a friend, and Calvine a friend, but the Truth is the greatest friend, without which there is no such thing as a friend in the world. When the rule is fixed up in a plain and legible character, though we may and must admit of the help of advice and the wisdome of the learned, yet nothing can fix us to it but right Reason. He who maketh Reason useless in the purchase of Truth, maketh a Divine, and a Christian, a beast, or a mad man. Su∣prae hoc non potest procedere insania: It is the height and extremity of madness, to judge that to be true and reasonable which is against my Reason. For thus we walk amongst Errours as Ajax did amongst the Sheep, and take this or that Errour for this or that Truth, as he did the Rams, one for Menelaus, another for Ulysses, and a third for Agamem∣non. It hath been said indeed that right Reason is not alwaies one and the same, but varieth and differeth from it self according to the diffe∣rent complexions of times and places. But this even Reason it self con∣futeth. For that which is true at Rome is true at Jerusalem; and that which was true in the first age of the world, is true in this, and will be true in the last, though it bind not alike. That Truth which concern∣eth our everlasting peace,* 1.43 that which we must buy, is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. And as the Truth, so our Reason is the same; even like the decrees proposed to it,* 1.44 it never changeth. This candle, which God hath kindled in us, is never quite put out. Whatsoever a∣greeth with it is true, and whatsoever dissenteth from it is false. Affe∣ctus

citò cadunt, aequalis est ratio, saith the Stoick: The Affections alter and change every day; but Reason is alwaies equal and like unto it self, or else it is not Reason. The Affections, like the Moon, now wax, anon wane, and at length are nothing: They are contrary one to another, and they fall and end one into another. What I loved yesterday, I lothe to day; and what now I tremble at, anon I embrace: What at the first presentment cast me down in sorrow, at the next may transport me with joy. But the judgement of right Reason is still the same. She is fixed in her tabernacle as the Sun, still casteth the same light, spreadeth the same beams, rejoyceth to run her race from one object to another, and discovereth every one of them as it is. When we erre, it is not Reason that speaketh within us, but Passion. If Pleasure have a fair face, it is our Passion that painteth it. If the world appear in glory, it is our Pas∣sion that maketh it a God. If Death be the terriblest thing in the world, it is our Fear and a bad Conscience that make it so. Right Reason can see through all these, and behold Riches as a snare, Pleasure as deceit∣ful, and Death, though terrible to some, yet to others to be a passage into endless life. We may erre with Plato, and we may erre with So∣crates: we may erre out of Passion and Prejudice; these being the Mother and Nurse of Errour: But that we should erre, and yet have right Reason on our side, is an errour of the foulest aspect; for it pla∣ceth errour in Truth it self; which is not Truth but as it agreeth with right Reason. It is true indeed, right Reason hath not power enough of it self to find out every Truth. For as Faith,* 1.45 so all the precepts of Truth are the gift of God, commentum Divinitatis, saith Tertullian, the invention of the Deity. But it is true also, that Reason is sufficient to judge and discern them when they are revealed, according to his mind who re∣vealed them, and set up this light within us to this end. Though the thing be above Reason, yet Reason can judge it true, because God, who is Truth it self, revealed it. Take away the use of Reason, ye take away all election and choice, all obedience, all virtue and vice, all reward and punishment. For we are not carried about in our obedience as the Sphears are in their motions, or the brute creatures in theirs, as natural or irra∣tional agents. Nor can he who maketh not use of his Reason on earth be a Saint in heaven. We are rewarded, because we chose that which right Reason told us was best: And we are punished, because we would not discover that evil which we had light enough to see, but did yield to our lusts and affections, and called it Reason. The whole power of Man is in Reason; and the vigour and power of Reason is in Judgment. Man is so built, saith S. Augustine, ut per id quod in eo praecellit attingat illud quod cuncta praecellit, that by that which most excelleth in him, Reason, he may attain to that which is the best of all, eternal happiness. Ratio omnis honesti comes est, saith Seneca: Reason alwaies goeth along with Virtue. But when we do evil, we leave Reason behind us, nor is it in any of our waies. Who hath known the mind of the Lord at any time?* 1.46 or who hath been his counseller? It is true; here Reason is blind. Though it be decked with excellency, and array it self with glory and beauty,* 1.47 it hath not an eye like God, nor can it make a law as he, or foresee his mind. But when God is pleased to open his treasury, and display his Truth be∣fore us, then Reason can behold, apprehend and discern it, and by dis∣course, which is the inquisition of Reason, judge of it how it is to be un∣derstood and embraced. For God teacheth not the beasts of the field, or stocks, or stones, but Men made after his own image. Man indeed hath many other things common to him with other creatures: but Reason is his peculiar. Therefore God is pleased to hold a controversie with

his people, to argue and dispute it out with them, and to appeal to their Reason;* 1.48 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Judge within your selves. To judge what is said, is a privilege granted to all the children of men, to all who will venture for the Truth. It is time for us now to proceed to the other hin∣drance of Truth. Therefore

II. We must cast away all Malice to the Truth, all distasting of it, all averseness from it. Certainly this is a stone of offense, a bulwork, a mountain in our way, which if we remove not, we shall never enter our Canaan that floweth with milk and hony, we shall never take posses∣sion of and dwell in the tabernacles of Truth. Now Malice is either di∣rect and downright, or indirect and interpretative onely: And both must be laid aside. The former is an affected lothing of the Truth; when the Will affecteth the ignorance of that which is right, and will erre because it will erre, when it shunneth, yea hateth, the Understanding when it presenteth it with such Truths as might regulate it and divert it from er∣rour; and this to the end that it may beat back all remorse, silence the checks and chidings of Conscience, and slumber those storms which she is wont to raise, and then take its fill of sin, lie down in it as in a bed of roses, and solace it self and rejoyce and triumph therein. Then we are embit∣tered with hony, hardened with mercy, enraged by entreaties; then we are angry at God's precepts, despise his thunder-bolts, slight his promises, scoff at his miracles: Then that which is wont to mollifie, hardeneth us the more, till at length our heart be like the heart of the Leviathan, as firm as a stone,* 1.49 yea as hard as a piece of the nether mill stone. Then satis nobis ad peccandum causa, peccare; it is a sufficient cause to do evil, that we will do it. And what impression can Truth make in such hearts? What good can be wrought upon them to whom the Scripture attributeth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.50 a reprobate mind; who have 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a reverberating mind, an heart of marble, to beat back all the strength and power of Truth; unto whom God hath sent 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.51 strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; who hold the Truth in unrighteousness, and suppress and cap∣tivate it, that it cannot work its work; who oppose their Wrath to that Truth which perswadeth patience, and their Lust against that which would keep them chast; who set up Baal against God, and the world a∣gainst Christ?* 1.52 These are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, past feeling, and have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. They are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.53 they have their understanding darkned. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, For wickedness by degrees doth destroy even the principles of goodness in us,* 1.54 blindeth our eyes, and taketh away our heart, as the Pro∣phet speaketh, and maketh us as if we had no heart at all: Either 1. by working out of the understanding the right apprehension of things. For when the Will chuseth that which is opposite to the Truth, non permittit Intellectum diu stare in dictamine recto, it swayeth the Understanding, taketh it off from its right dictates, maketh it deny its own receptions, so that it doth not consider that which it doth consider; it averteth and turneth it to apply it self to something that is impertinent, and maketh it find out reasons, probable or apparent, against that Truth which had its former assent, that so that actual displacency which we found in the en∣tertainment of the contrary may be cast out with the Truth it self. We are willing to leave off to believe the Truth, that we may leave off to condemn our selves. When this light is dim, the Conscience slumbreth; but when it spreadeth it self, then the sting is felt. In our ruff and jolli∣ty we forget we have sinned: but when the hand of vengeance removeth the veil, and we see the Truth which we had hid from our eyes, then we call our sins to remembrance, and they are set in order before us. Where

there is knowledge of the Truth, there will be conscience of sin; but there will be none if we put that from us. Or else 2. positively; when the Will joyneth with Errour, and embraceth that which is evil, and then setteth the Understanding on work to find out the most probable means, and the fairest and smoothest wayes to that which it hath set up for its end. For the Understanding is both the best and the worst counseller. When it commandeth the Will, it speaketh the words of wisdome, giveth counsel as an oracle of God, and leadeth on in a certain way unto the Truth: But when a perverse Will hath got the upper hand, and brought it into a sub∣serviency unto it, then, like the hand of a disordered dial, it pointeth to any figure but that it should: Then it attendeth upon our Revenge, to undermine our enemy; it teacheth our Lust to wait for the twilight; it lackeyeth after our Ambition, and helpeth us into the uppermost seat; it is as active for the covetous as for the liberal, and filleth his garments; as conclusive for the malicious as for the meek, and filleth his hands with bloud; findeth out as many waies to destruction as it can to life. This in Scripture is termed Folly, and Errour.* 1.55 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no understanding, saith God by his Prophet; not that they had no understanding, but that they used their understanding a∣miss, making it a conduct to them in their evil waies, which should have been their guide in the waies of Truth. Where is the wise?* 1.56 where is the disputer of this world? We may look upon them with admiration, and bow before them as the grand Sophies of the world: But in the book of God, where Wisdome it self speaketh, they have their true name, and are set down for Fools. Now as there is a direct, positive and wilful Hatred of the Truth, so there is also Malitia interpretativa, as the Schools speak, a Malice which doth not shew its face so openly as the other, is not so soon understood by our selves or others, but may easily be discovered and found out if we take the pains to interpret it; a Malice which we carry about with us when we think it is not near us. And this is it; When we use no more diligence to know the Truth then if we did directly affect Ignorance, when we have so low an opinion of it that we think it not worth the sa∣luting, nisi in transitu, but onely by the By. This, if ye open and inter∣pret it, is no better then Malice. For, not to love the Truth, is to hate it; not to draw it near to us and embrace it, is to thrust it far from us. La∣ta••culpa, nimia negligentia, saith the Civile Law; A careless negligence is a great fault; Malitiae soror, saith the Poet, the sister of Malice, and goeth hand in hand with her. For what is the reason that Folly is with us? The Heathen could tell us, Quia illam fortiter non repellimus; Because we like its company well enough, and do not rouse up our selves to drive it away: Quia citò nobis placemus; Because we are soon at peace and well pleased with our selves; because we do not open our breasts to the Truth, but to our own and others flatteries, and touch but lightly upon so great a thing. Thus at once we love the Truth, and hate it; will not be better because we think our selves the best; are soon wise, and ever foolish. I may call this a Pharisaical, hypocritical Malice, which hideth and sheweth it self all at once. We cannot give a more favourable interpretation, but must needs look upon it as a malicious distast of the Truth. It is neither a willing nor a nilling to refuse the Truth, properly so called: for we neither chuse it, nor absolutely refuse it; we neither seek it, nor plainly shun it; but stand still when we should make hast towards it; hold the price in our hand, and never profer it, but (what Antony imputed to Augustus as an argument of his cowardise) lie supinely on our backs, and look up to hea∣ven, when we should fight, when we should be up and doing. This is properly, I say, neither a chusing nor a refusing: But because it should be

one of them, and is not, it is therefore in esteem the contrary. Because we do not love the Truth, to which our Love is due, we may be truly said to hate it: Because we do not lay down the price for such a jewel, it is argu∣ment of force enough to make it good, that it is not in all our hearts. This interpretative Malice hath taken hold of the greatest part of mankind, and so entangled and puzzled them in the mazes and labyrinths of Er∣rour, that they wander from vanity to vanity, and can never find the way out. Many are hurried away by their Affections; more swallowed up by Prejudice, and buried therein as in a grave. Few there be that are professed enemies to the Truth; but this indirect Hatred of it even cove∣reth the face of the earth like a deluge, and there remain but a few souls within the Ark. Every man almost commendeth Truth, yet most pro∣scribe her, and give her a bill of divorce: Every man professeth himself a Scholar of the Truth, but few learn it: Every man cometh to the mark∣et, but few buy. The Bloud thirsty will detest cruelty in others, and yet wash his feet in the bloud of the innocent: The Oppressour will plead for mercy to the poor, and yet grind their face; will cry down persecu∣tion, and yet raise one: The wanton will fling a stone at an adulterer; and defile himself: The Intemperate will make a panegyrick on Temperance, and be a beast. Virtue, I say, is as the Sun; and we see it: but when we should receive its rayes and influence into our selves, and grow thereby; we turn away our face, and understand not what we do understand, and see not when we see: we see it at distance; but, when we should draw it near unto us, and apply it, we are stark blind. Then Cruelty is Mercy; Oppression, justice; Intemperance, temperance; an Evil is any thing but what it is.* 1.57 Thus the Prophet saith of the Jews, My people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no un∣derstanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no know∣ledge. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Justine Martyr; This ignorance sometimes is called Ignorance, and sometimes hath the name of knowledge in the Scripture. Such knowledge is igno∣rance; nay, it is worse then ignorance, because we draw it not forward to its end, but run to the contrary, and so fall more dangerously then if we saw nothing at all, but were blind indeed. Again, how many pre∣cepts of Truth are there, which, though delivered in plain terms we will not understand?* 1.58 When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And a reason is annexed; And thou shalt be blessed: for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrecti∣on of the just. Yet what rich mans table is furnished with such guests? Do we not look upon this Evangelical precept as the Priest and the Levite did upon the wounded man,* 1.59 and pass by on the other side? We are so far from counting it a duty; that it appeareth to us a mere solecisme and gross absurdity in behaviour: And we doubt not to receive the reward pro∣mised, though we make not our selves ridiculous by performing the duty. Again,* 1.60 Lend, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, looking for nothing again. The words are plain, and they are the words of Wisdom; and yet what can be more he∣retical to the covetous? In udo est veritas: All the truth we have floteth upon our tongues: Why else should any Truth distast us? why should we be displeased at any, afraid of any, neglect any, as if it concerned us not; Why should we take any Truth down by halves? To instance in the sum of Religion;* 1.61 Our Saviour commandeth, Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect: but how easily do we perswade our selves that we have nothing to do with this precept! how perfuncto∣rily do we look upon it! what tricks and devices do we seek to shift it off withall! It may be but a Counsel, we think: Or, if it be a Precept, it is

in Perfection as in Baptism, Votum sufficit; A wish, a desire is enough: God will favour our weak endeavours; nay, approve our negligence. Hence we make no progress in the waies of piety, dwell and delight in errour, and neglect that Truth which might save us. Quis haec instituit Tropica? Christ, I am sure, never set up these Tropicks. Do we preach to you Christian Liberty? Ye kiss our lips, and are ready to cast it over you as a cloak of maliciousness.* 1.62 But do we then go about to take it from you, when ye make so bad use of it, and to put your wedding garment about you, even Charity, which should bound and confine your Liberty? Then we are looked upon with an eye of contempt, as bringers-in of new doctrine. Do we build up to the Saints of God assurance of salva∣tion? Ye are in heaven already: For when this news is brought, every man almost is a Saint. But do we tell you that this Assurance is no arbi∣trary thing, to be taken up at pleasure, but the offspring and fruit of some∣thing else? do we beseech you not to deceive your selves? do we tell you what ye call Assurance, may be a groundless phansie, carnal security, or stupefaction? Behold, then your countenance is changed, and we are not the same men, nor our feet so beautiful as before. And the reason hereof is, Because we love no more Truth then is for our turn. Per∣fection we will learn, but not learn to be perfect: Freedome we like, but not to be restrained: Assurance we will build upon, but not build up an assurance. Thus far we will go, but proceed no further; take the Truth, as the Devil urged Scripture, by halves; take that part of it which com∣plieth with and flattereth our distempers, and neglect and never seek into the rest; veritatem summâ terrâ quaerere, seek for the Truth in its top and surface, but never dig deep for it, for fear of raising up against our selves noysome damps and poisonous fogs from this rich mine of Truth. And thus we may be enemies to the Truth when we think we love it; and, though we do not bid open defiance to it, yet be at as sad a distance from it as they that do. For to defie the Truth, and not to care for it, differ not so much, but that they both end in the same fatal ignorance, and both leave us in the dark. To conclude; Let us offer violence to our selves, and redeem our selves from these. Let us moderate and regulate our Af∣fections, and take from them all the strength they have to hinder us in our purchase: Let us remove all Prejudice, that we may be fit to judge a∣right of all things: And let us not harden our hearts when Truth is rea∣dy to make its impression in them; nor yet have little heart to it, which is in effect to harden our hearts. For Truth will neither dwell with him who shutteth it out, nor yet with him who maketh no preparation to re∣ceive it; neither apply it self to our Pride, nor to our Sloth; neither en∣ter a man of Belial, nor a lukewarm Laodicean. Till the mind be clear of these, no light can enter; till the heart be disburdened of these, it is an hard and an heavy heart, not fit to be lifted up unto the Truth. Thus much of the Impediments to be removed.

It behoveth us in the next place to consider what Helps the God of Truth affordeth us for the obtaining of the Truth, and to make use of them. There be indeed many, but I shall name but three.

1. Meditation, or a fixing of our thoughts upon the Truth, a continual survey of the beauty of it, a recollecting our selves, a renewing the heat and fervour that is in us. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Philosopher, Me∣ditation is a kind of augmentation or growth. This will make the Truth more visible and clear, and more appliable then before. The Word writ∣ten is but a dead letter; the Word spoken is but a sound; but Meditati∣on maketh it of energy and force to quicken and enliven us. It is like those Prospectives which this later age hath found out, whereby we dis∣cover

Stars which were never seen before, and in the brightest stars find spots otherwise not to be discerned. By Meditation we see Christ at the right hand of God, and the glory and riches of the Gospel: By it we be∣hold the World lothsome, which before we doted on; God's Statutes most delightful, which before we abhorred; Afflictions profitable, which be∣fore we trembled at: By it we find out the plague of our hearts, and the leprosie of our souls, which before appeared to us as spots, as nothing. This help we have by Meditation.

2. Prayer. Oratio viam ostendit, & nos deducit, saith Bernard; Prayer sheweth us the way, and leadeth us along in it. It draweth down grace, to supply the defect of nature; it calleth for strength and wisdome, to resist and overcome temptations; it procureth the assistance of the Spirit, to relieve and uphold the infirmity of the mind; it carrieth us on chearfully to this Mart, so that neither hopes nor fears can turn us out of the way. Certainly Prayer for the Truth can never return empty, see∣ing it asketh that which God is most ready to give, which he putteth to sale continually.* 1.63 The heathen Oratour could discover so much; Fa∣ciles sunt preces apud Deos, qui ultra nobis viam salutis ostendunt. When God calleth us to him, and we desire to come near him, we pray for that which he would have. Prayers may be heard and rewarded, and yet not granted. Non tribuit Deus quod volumus, ut tribuat quod malumus, saith Hierome: God doth not give us what we will, that he may give us that which is better. Our prayers for temporal blessings may seem to be but spiritual flatteries, wherein we speak God fair for our own ends. Like Quadrigarius his darts,* 1.64 our prayers, if shot upwards, fly more sure to the marke; but if downwards, at our own ends, seldome hit. Exauditur Diabolus,* 1.65 non exauditur Apostolus: The Devils had their request granted; yet we read that the Apostle was denied. But he that prayeth for the Truth, prayeth in the name of Christ; he that desireth that which appertaineth to salvation,* 1.66 orat in nomine Salvatoris, prayeth in the name of his Savi∣our, and therefore cannot be denied. Earnest Prayer for the Truth sea∣soneth the heart, and maketh it, as the Father speaketh, exceptorium ve∣ritatis, a fit receptacle of the Truth. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Angel to the Centurion;* 1.67 Thy prayers are come up for a memorial before God. It is an illusion to the Incense under the Law. Our Pray∣er first ascendeth as incense, and cometh up unto God as a sweet-smelling savour, and then down cometh an Angel, the Truth, to tell us so, to assure us that our suit is granted. Our Prayer ascendeth, and in its ascent rai∣seth up the heart to heaven, where it entreth the treasury of God, and obtaineth this Pearl. I will not say, with some, that Prayers do this ex opere operato, by the very repetition, by numbring them out by tale, as they do their beads. This hath too rank a savour. Yet, I know not how, after the heat of devotion and fervency of Prayer there follow those holy fires, and strange and glorious irradiations and illuminations, which present and shew themselves to us in our search of Truth. When by Prayer we have as it were reposed and lodged our souls in the bo∣some of our heavenly Father, there are presently poured back upon us, even in the midst of our common actions, celestial and divine cogitati∣ons; and the image and copy of our devotions is still obvious to our eye, and followeth us whithersoever we go. Our Prayers are as Mu∣sick in the ears of the most High; and our improvement and encrease in knowledge is the resultance. And as he that hath looked on the Sun with a steady eye, hath the image of the Sun presented to him in every object which he beholdeth; so he that fixeth his thoughts on God, and is as it were lift up near near unto him by true devotion,

must needs find light in all his waies, and feel the efficacy of his prayer in his daily conversation.

3. Exercise and practice of those Truths we learn. Without this, Pray∣er doth not ascend as incense from the altar, but as common smoke, and hath no sweet savour at all. Without this, Meditation is but the motion and circulation of the Phansie; the business, or rather idleness, of that sort of men who come into the market onely to look on and gaze; the mind flieth aloft, but like those birds of prey which first towre in the air, and then stoop at carrion: But the practice of the Truth we know doth fix it to us, and make it as it were a part of us; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Stoick speaketh, driveth the doctrine home,* 1.68 as a nail fastned by the Masters of the assemblies. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Philosopher; What we learn to do, we learn by doing. One act of Charity prompteth me to another: One denial to my appetite draweth on another, and that a third, and at last I put on resolution, and am rigid and obstinate to its solicitations: One conquest over a temptation strengthneth me for a se∣cond. As it was said of Alexander, Quaelibet victoria instrumentum se∣quentis, Every victory he got made way to another; so every step in the waies of Truth bringeth us not onely so far on our way, but enableth us with more strength to go forward; and the further we go, the more active we are. He that giveth a peny to the poor, and inureth his hand to giving, may in time sell all that he hath,* 1.69 and at last lay down his life for the Gospel.

Aude, hospes, contemnere opes.* 1.70

It is but putting on courage, and attempting it, which is the fairest bid∣ding for the Truth; and then we who see it but through a cloud, darkly,* 1.71 through a cloud of Affections, through a cloud of Prejudice, yea through darkness it self, an inward detestation of it, shall with open face,* 1.72 as the Apo∣stle speaketh, behold the glory of it, and be changed into the same image, from virtue to virtue, from profers to resolutions, from beginnings to per∣fection, even by the power of that Truth which we behold. And this is truly to buy the Truth, to buy it, not for ostentation, but for use; to buy it, not to be laid up in a napkin,* 1.73 but to demonstrate its activity against all il∣lusions, that they deceive us not; against all occasions, that they withdraw us not; and against all temptations, that we be not led into them. And thus, as it is with the Angels, Contemplation shall not hinder but promote our Obedience, and our Obedience exalt our Contemplation: and by working by the Truth, we shall more nearly behold the copy by which we work, and be more familiar with it. To conclude; These things we must lay down, and these means we must make use of, if we intend to pur∣chase the Truth, and make it our possession.

And now ye see what it is to buy the Truth. I now pass to the negative part of my Text, Sell it not: And this may serve for my Conclusion. For one contrary interpreteth another. If to buy the Truth be to seek and draw it to us for our use, then to sell it must needs be to put it from us, to give it up to our Passions, our Prejudice, our Distast or Malice, and so to alienate it that it shall be as a thing that concerneth us not, of no use to us at all. Venditio omnem contractum complectitur; saith the Civile Law. And in this sale there is a contract with our Affections and Lusts, with the World, with every Trifle and Vanity; which is in effect a contract with the Devil, himself. By this we part with all our right and title, and fling it from us. Now as the buying of the Truth of all bargains is the best; because, whereas in all other bargains, let them be driven how you can, the gain of one party is loss to the other, in this bargain there is onely gain, and no loss at all; the buyer gaineth, and yet no seller

loseth: so the sale of the Truth of all bargains is the worst and the most foolish. For in other sales however somebody ever loseth, yet somebody getteth; what the seller loseth, the buyer getteth: but when the Truth is sold, there is nothing but mere loss; no man is, no man can be, the better for the sale of the Truth:

Vendentem tantùm deserit & minuit:

Onely the seller groweth the worse; there is no buyer groweth the bet∣ter. When Ahab came to Naboth to procure from him his vineyard. Give me,* 1.74 saith he, thy vineyard, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard then it; or I will give thee the worth of it in money. See here three mighty tempters, the King, Money, and Commodity, whereof which is the strongest it is hard to determine: the weakest of them prevaileth with most men: Notwith∣standing Naboth holdeth out against them all;* 1.75 The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. Beloved, the Truth is our lot, our inheritance. Agnoscite haereditatem in Christo, saith the Fa∣ther; Acknowledge and keep the inheritance ye have by Christ; not Peace onely, but Truth also, which is the mother of Peace. Let no temp∣tation, though as strong as the King, as Money, as Profit, make us yield to the sale of it; but let our answer be like that of Naboth, God forbid that we should give away the inheritance of Christ: God forbid that, when the World proferreth fairly to us, we should give it for a smile; or, when our Lusts solicit, we should give it up to satisfie them; or, when the Per∣secutor breatheth nothing but terrour, we should sell it to our fears, and at every question that is asked us deny and forswear it: God forbid we should sell it, as bankrupts do their lands, for want; or, as wantons do, for pleasure; or, as cowards do, for safety; or, as Esau did his birthright, for hunger; or, as the Patriarchs sold Joseph, for envy. For this were to sell our selves for that which is not bread.* 1.76 Let the Truth be like the Land of promise, which might not be sold for ever,* 1.77 because it was the Lord's: and so Truth is the Lords: and to be destitute of the Truth,* 1.78 is to be without God in this world. Let us therefore love the Truth, and keep it and hold it fast; and we shall find the merchandise thereof better then the merchandise of silver,* 1.79 and the gain thereof then fine gold.* 1.80 The merchants hereof are princes, and the most ho∣nourable traffickers of the earth, even Kings and Priests unto God. The Lawyers question to Christ was,* 1.81 What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?* 1.82 The answer whereunto is, Keep the commandments, that is be∣ing interpreted, the Truth: for they both interpret each other. This is the price of eternity: With this in our hearts, in our inward parts, but made manifest by our hands, in our outward actions, we draw near unto happiness in full assurance of faith: With this we purchase peace here; for it is one seal to the covenant of peace; and it shall open the gates of heaven, and give us possession of the kingdome of peace, with the God of Truth and Peace, for evermore. Which God grant. Amen.

Notes

• * 1.1

  1 Esdr. 4.41.
• * 1.2

  Dan. 6.8, 12.
• * 1.3

  Numb. 13.32.
• * 1.4

  Gen. 27.41, 44, 45. Gen. 33.4.
• * 1.5

  Matth. 10.34, 35, 36.
• * 1.6

  Exod. 10, 13, 15
• * 1.7

  2 Cor. 13.5.
• * 1.8

  1 Pet. 3.15.
• * 1.9

  1 John 4.1.
• * 1.10

  1 Thes. 5.21.
• * 1.11

  Isa. 28.10, 13. Psal. 19.2.
• * 1.12

  Acts 10.
• * 1.13

  Matth. 13.5-8.
• * 1.14

  Gen. 3.1-5.
• * 1.15

  Mark 9.22.
• * 1.16

  1 Sam. 15.32.
• * 1.17

  Prov. 20.27.
• * 1.18

  Psal. 50.15.
• * 1.19

  Hor. l. 1. Ep. 2.
• * 1.20

  Prov. 1.14.
• * 1.21

  Matth. 23.5.
• * 1.22

  Luk. 18.11.
• * 1.23

  John 6.63.
• * 1.24

  Isa. 1.5.
• * 1.25

  Acts 13.46.
• * 1.26

  Matth. 5.21.
• * 1.27

  Matth. 21.13.
• * 1.28

  Juven. Sat. 8.
• * 1.29

  1 Pet 2.11.
• * 1.30

  2 Sam. 11.25.
• * 1.31

  2 Kings 22.2.
• * 1.32

  2 Kings 23.29.
• * 1.33

  Lucret. l. 2.
• * 1.34

  Rom. 11.3••. Gal. 6.14.
• * 1.35

  Acts 14.22.
• * 1.36

  Joh. 3.8.
• * 1.37

  1 Cor. 1.26.
• * 1.38

  Gen. 49.17.
• * 1.39

  1 Pet. 2.2.
• * 1.40

  Matth. 18.17.
• * 1.41

  Acts 4.12.
• * 1.42

  Hebr. 12.2.
• * 1.43

  Hebr. 13.8.
• * 1.44

  Prov. 20.27.
• * 1.45

  Eph. 2.8.
• * 1.46

  Rom. 11.34.
• * 1.47

  Job 40.9, 10.
• * 1.48

  1 Cor. 11.13.
• * 1.49

  Job 41.24.
• * 1.50

  Rom. 1.28.
• * 1.51

  2 Thes. 2.11. Rom. 1.18.
• * 1.52

  Eph. 4.19.
• * 1.53

  Eph. 4.18.
• * 1.54

  Hos. 4.11.
• * 1.55

  Isa 5.13.
• * 1.56

  1 Cor. 1.20.
• * 1.57

  Jer. 4.22.
• * 1.58

  Luke 14.13, —14.
• * 1.59

  Luke 10.31, 32
• * 1.60

  Luke 6.35.
• * 1.61

  Matth. 5.48.
• * 1.62

  1 Pet. 2.16.
• * 1.63

  Cic Orat. de arusp. resp.
• * 1.64

  Gell. l. 9. c. 1.
• * 1.65

  Matth. 8.31, 32. 2 Cor. 12.8, 9.
• * 1.66

  Joh. 16.23.
• * 1.67

  Acts 10.4.
• * 1.68

  Eccl. 12.11.
• * 1.69

  Matth. 19.21.
• * 1.70

  Virg. Aen. 8.
• * 1.71

  1 Cor. 13.12.
• * 1.72

  2 Cor. 3.18.
• * 1.73

  Luke 19.20.
• * 1.74

  1 Kings 21.2.
• * 1.75

  v. 3.
• * 1.76

  Isa. 55.2.
• * 1.77

  Levit. 25.23.
• * 1.78

  Ephes. 2.12.
• * 1.79

  Prov. 3.14.
• * 1.80

  Isa. 23.8.
• * 1.81

  Revel. 1.6.
• * 1.82

  Matth. 19.16, 17.