A SERMON PREACHED ABOARD of the GLOBE the 18. of May, Anno 1617. At an Anchor by the Cape of Good Hope, in the Bay of SOULDANIA, 34. Degrees to the Southward of the equinoctial line.  
By WILLIAM LESK, Minister of God's Word.  
Entertained by the Honourable Company of Merchants trading into East India, for the instruction and comfort of the Fleet, by them sent forth for those Eastern parts Anno, 1614 (* ⁎ *)  PSAL. 71. VERSE, 17, 18. 
O God thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.  
Now also, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this Generation, and thy power unto every one that is to come.  
LONDON, Printed by George Purslowe, and are to be sold at his house near the East end of Christ-Church. 1617.   

TO THE TRVELY Honourable, and right Worshipful Knight, Sir THO. SMITH, Governor of the East India, Muscovia, Summer islands, and French Companies, etc. All increase of Grace, Health and Happiness in this life, and Glory in that which is to come.  
JOSEPH (Honourable Sir) in the wisdom and great goodness of God's all-ruling providence, being by Pharaoh delivered from the violence and oppression of his mighty, but malicious enemies, throughout the whole course of his life thereafter, testified his thankfulness unto the great God of Heaven, for so comfortable a blessing, by his effectual and earnest endeavours, 
Gen. 41.33, 34, 35, 36. & 47.11, 12.  making both for the advancement of God's glory, and good of the Commonwealth wherein he lived: as his wise, grave, and discreet counsel for provision against the famine to come, and charitable feeding of the Lords chosen, sufficiently witness: there needeth no application: for it is a great deal better known, then that by my pen the fame thereof can be increased, how seriously (the success still answering the zeal and greatness of your endeavours) since the first time it pleased our gracious Sovereign to cast his eye upon your singular and rare endowments, you have taken to heart this holy task. Leaving therefore the wise and discreet carriage of the Honourable Embassage unto the Emperor of Muscovia, by his Majesty imposed and laid upon you, your more than ordinary care of increasing the Trade of Merchandise, beneficial unto ●●l, but especially unto Islanders, whereof our ●●e●ies themselves being judges, we are inferio●● unto none; your great and manifold adventures unto far distant and remote Countries, for animating and encouraging of others unto the like attempts, your bountiful expense and charges upon new Discoveries, your liberal maintaining of men skilful in the Mathematics, and other Sciences, making for the direction of Seafaring men, in conducting their ships into whatsoever parts of the world, and, which both in Policy and Piety exceeds all, your Christian commiseration and favourable acceptance indifferently of all poor distressed men, in whom sparkles of Ingenuity, and ripeness of judgement, whereby in time the Commonwealth may be benefited, are in any competent measure to be seen: whence it comes to pass, that many, who otherwise should have lain buried in the pit of oblivion, for want of preferment, forced to betake themselves unto the basest and most servile employments, live now in some eminency and places of note in their Countries, being helpful rather then chargeable unto others: all which making rather for posterity, then present gain, (for what benefit can your grey hairs expect by Plantations, Discoveries, and other Attempts of that or the like nature?) afford sufficient matter of a right large and ample Discourse, being a subject well worthy and deserving the applause and commendation of a learned Writer, unto whom (although in duty as far obliged as any) leaving the exact performance of so great & weighty an employment, I shall at this time content myself with a brief remembrance of the reason moving me to publish these slender Meditations under the covert and shade of your protection, I mean your religious care, in furnishing the Ships and Factories under your government, with painful, learned, and conscionable Preachers and disposers of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, whereby God is glorified in the assemblies of your servants, and they themselves, although (the supply of their necessities so requiring) for a season deprived of the benefit and comfort of their Country, live as at home in regard of spiritual food: In which respect, as in general, all that love the prosperity of Zion, are obliged, and become debtors unto your devotion: so more particularly, those unto whom the propagation of God's worship, after a special manner, is committed: but of all, most especially we, who in this kind have been eye-witnesses of your care, executioners of your zeal, and objects of your manifold and great favours, for Christ and the Gospel's sake, conferred and bestowed upon us. The due consideration whereof, makes me an humble suitor, that according to your wont respect, and reverence of the meanest endeavours of this nature, you will be pleased to safeguard and protect from the slanderous and carping tongues of malicious Atheists, this small Treatise, that under your name of all good and godly men justly honoured, coming into the public view of the world, God in some measure thereby may be glorified, his people edified, and others of your quality and condition, as by many other means, so by this small exercise, understanding the religious course of your government, may thereby be incited and stirred up unto the like proceed: according to that of our Saviour, Let your light so shine before men, 
Mat. 5.15.  that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.  
Your Worships in all humble duty to be commanded, WILLIAM LESK.   

A Sermon preached aboard of the Globe, riding at Anchor in the Bay of SOULDANIA.  Matth. 11. Verse 28.29.30. 
Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.  
ALthough in the day of his Creation, Man was in the riches of the bounty and great goodness of his Creator, made Lord of the World, and Commander of whatsoever breathed upon the face of the Earth; 
Gen. 1.18. & 14.  the heavens serving for his use, the Earth for his habitation, the Stars for signs, for seasons, for days and for years, and all the creatures as bondmen attending his beck, ready to yield homage and obedience unto him, as their lawful Commander: yet the Almighty, 
Esay 42.8.  who will not give his glory unto another, made him not so absolute, but that still he had a necessary dependence and deeply engraven reference unto a superior power: for even in the height and greatest of his perfection, there was by the finger of God powerfully rooted in the furthest and most secret corners of his heart, a natural instinct, that Honour and Homage was due from him unto a greater than himself; which directed by an understanding rightly informed, and affections in nothing swerving from the true verdict and sound judgement of the intellective part, directly guided, and in all safety conducted this noble creature unto the great Creator of Heaven and Earth, as the only true object of his submission, unto whom jure creationis he was in duty bound to perform obedience. In the fruition of whom, as he then enjoyed all happiness; so well might he have still continued in the same perfection, if the malice of Satan had not inclined the freedom of his will unto the worse part. But alas, after this doleful and never-sufficiently lamented alteration, he was in justice, by the righteous judge of the world, so disarmed and stripped naked of, if not all, yet the greater part of his former dignity, that, that which was before the cause of his greatest happiness, is now the original of all the confusion, which in the very rudiments and first principles of Religion far and near covereth well-nigh the face of the whole earth: for the natural instinct spoken off before, since the fall deprived of the eye of understanding, whereby it was sometimes directed in the right way, is now the ground of all the Diversity, Schism, and Division, which (proh dolour) is every where to be seen both in the object and manner of divine worship, all men agreeing upon this, that there is a God to be worshipped, according to that of the Heathen, 
Cic. lib. 1. de Leg.  Nulla gens tam effera, nulla natio tam barbara, cui non insideat haec notio, esse Deum, There is (saith he) no Nation so rude, nor people so barbarous, where this Principle, That a God is to be worshipped, is not acknowledged and received as an undoubted truth: all (I say) agreeing upon this, but by disobedience deprived of the eye of righteous judgement, ever have, and to this day still do grievously and grossly err, both in finding out the person of him that is to be worshipped, and in the manner how, being found, this Homage is to be performed: as easily might, at great length, by special induction of Nations, Countries, and People, worshipping the Sun, the Moon, Fire, Water, and other Elements, particularly be dilated, if Histories both sacred and profane did not furnish every meanest capacity with too too many examples of Cats, Cows, Stocks, and Blocks, which have been thought not unworthy of divine worship; so deeply is this principle, That there is a God, rooted in the heart of man, that howsoever otherwise beyond all measure ambitious and proud, yet rather than he will have no God, he can be content to submit himself unto the basest of the creatures that possibly can be named. Thus man, with Elymas the Sorcerer, 
Act. 13.11.  wandering to and again, as one deeply plunged in a Labyrinth of more than Egyptian darkness, should for ever thus have continued, without so much as in the least measure approaching unto, much less attaining the end of his labour, if the God of all comfort & consolation, moved only with pity & commiseration towards the workmanship of his own hands, had not, beyond all expectation, yea to the great astonishment both of men and Angels, found out a means, whereby man, enforced to seek, but never able to find, might be directed unto the true object of that worship & obedience, which by a deeply rooted instinct he was in duty bound to perform unto a superior power, in the right acknowledgement & due performance whereof his greatest felicity and happiness doth consist: which howsoever by divine dispensation it was at the first revealed only a far off, 
Gen. 3.15.  The seed of the woman shall tread down the head of the serpent; and afterwards, for many years together, in that ancient Commonwealth, whereof amongst all Nations, the Lord was pleased to make choice for placing his Name from hand to hand, under types & figures, darkly conveyed: yet when the fullness of time was come, 
Galat. 4.4.  God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that are under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, who from Heaven miraculously declared to be the Son of God, and by the Father anointed, for the performance of this great and weighty employment, 
Matth. 3.17.  invites all that desire the knowledge of the true God, 
Esay 61.1.  leaving the by-ways and beggarly rudiments of worldly elements, to come unto him as the only mean by the decree and determination of the sacred Trinity appointed for reducing and bringing back wretched man, so far estrayed, unto the knowledge and understanding of the true God. 
joh. 14.6.  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me: Come therefore unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  
First, 
Matth. 11.27.  Come. Because all things are delivered unto me of my Father: So that in me alone is to be found whatsoever is requisite and necessary for the safeguard and salvation of your souls: for there is none other Name under Heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved, 
Act. 4.12. joh. 7.37.  but the name JESUS: If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living Water: Come therefore unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Secondly, unto me. Come unto me: Without any the least expectation of Enthusiasms, or immediate revelations from the Father: For God, 
Heb. 1.1.  who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spoke in time passed to the Fathers, by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, 
Coloss. 2.3.  and in whom are laid up all the treasures of true Knowledge and Understanding: Come therefore unto me, as the ordinary means from above appointed, for effecting and bringing this matter to pass. This is my well-beloved Son, 
Matth. 17.5.  in whom I am well pleased, hear him: For in and by the Mediator between God and man, God is reconciled unto man, and man reunited unto his Creator, for the attainment of everlasting happiness: Come therefore unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Thirdly, because the remembrance of former transgressions, and guilt of sin and iniquity, how manifold or gross soever, should not so far prevail, as to dishearten or discourage us from undertaking this holy enterprise: Therefore expressly he sets down the quality and condition of his guests, naming even that which the subtlety and craft of Satan might otherwise have haply used as a stumbling block, to hinder and let men from coming unto him: For how soon man gins, in any least measure, to think upon reformation of his wicked and evil courses, than our Adversary the Devil, 
1. Pet. 5.8.  who goeth about as a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour, unmaskes whatsoever formerly he hath kept secret, and amplifieth to the full those things, which when he did leave, he laboured greatly to extenuate and value at the smallest rate. Come therefore unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: 
Esay 61.1.2.3.4.5.  because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the , to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn in Zion, to give unto them Beauty for Ashes, the Oil of joy for Mourning, the Garment of Praise for the spirit of Heaviness, that they might be called Trees of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Fourthly, because men, to their endless and irrecoverable loss, should not wrest or pervert that which goeth before in the seven and twentieth verse, No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him: As if the grace of God were in Christ jesus offered only to some few of those that labour and are heavy laden under the burden of their sins: therefore (all) are mentioned. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
Esay 1.18.  and I will give you rest. If your sins were as red as crimson, come unto me, and I will make them as white as snow: At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his wickedness, and cometh unto me, though his sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool: If ten Lepers come unto me, although they be even ten, they shall all be cleansed of their loathsome and filthy disease: although your souls be as blind with the dust and dirt of Iniquity, as was Bartimeus the beggar, come unto me, and ye shall receive sight: If your transgressions be such, and so many, that even a Legion of devils torture and torment your souls, come unto me, and you shall find rest: If from the Womb you have been so lame and cripple, that you are unable to move one hayre-breadth towards the Kingdom of Heaven, come unto me, and I will enable your joints: If you have so long lain in the puddle of sin, that with Lazarus you stink in the grave of Iniquity, come unto me, and I will breath in your face the breath of life, whereby you shall be made living souls: where all are invited, there none is excluded: where such as labour and are heavy laden under the burden of Sin and Iniquity, are willed to come, there a secret reason is given, why the mercy and favour of God, offered unto all, is not by all received, because all do not labour, and are heavy laden under the burden of their sins: for Christ came not to save the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance: the whole need no Physician, but such as are maimed and lame under the intolerable weight of their transgressions. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.  
To the end then, that comfortably and with profit we may come unto Christ, it is necessary, that we labour, and be heavy laden under the burden of sin, that our hearts be ready to melt, because of our transgressions, and our souls standing at the gates of death, because of the intolerable weight of iniquity, which can never sufficiently be effected without a distinct knowledge of the nature, quality and condition of sin; because the natural and unborn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and self love which deeply lieth rooted in the heart of man, seconded with the malicious subtlety of the common enemy of man's salvation, so dulls and darkens the eye, and edge of his understanding, that he is more than blind in censuring and valuing of his own actions; whence it comes to pass, that often he persuades himself that he is in a direct & strait course, or at least meanly to err, when as he lies deeply plunged in a filthy sink and loathsome puddle of all manner of wickedness: now sin is known by the Touchstone of God's Law; according to that of the Apostle, 
Rom. 3.20. & 7.7.  By the Law is the knowledge of sin; I had not known sin but by the Law, for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet; for whereas all other learning serves rather to blow up the heart of man with an idle opinion, and vain conceit of his own worth, founding nothing else in his ear, but shrill and loud blasts of the excellency of his soul, the wonderful fabric and making of his body, the goodly sympathy, and fellow feeling, which every part, faculty, and power hath one with another, and the sweet harmony, and concord of the whole compound, the Law of the Lord is that which bewrayeth and layeth open unto man, the ugliness of his heart, the nakedness of his imaginations, and the perverseness of his ways: to the Law therefore and to the testimony; if they soul spenke and think not according unto this word, 
Esay 8.20.  it is because there is no light in it; therefore DAVID speaking of this Law saith, that it is perfect, converting the Soul, that it is sure, making wise the simple, that it is right, rejoicing the heart, that it is pure, enlightening the eyes, that it is true, and righteous altogether, 
Psal. 19.7.8, 9, 10. & 1.2.  more to be desired then gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb: Blessed therefore is the man, whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his Law doth meditate night and day.  
Secondly, because man (naturally) is so bewitched with the pleasures of sin, and glued to the alluring, and enticing sweetness of wickedness, that a bare knowledge of the nature of transgression, is never able to bring this labour and wearisomeness upon his soul; therefore, after that by the Law we have attained unto the knowledge of sin, it is necessary that we understand the value and esteem which it hath in the eyes of the Lord, by himself at great length revealed in his Word; sometimes, by speeches and words full of dislike, and disdain: My people ask counsel at their stocks, 
Hos. 4.12.  and their staff declareth unto them, for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. God saw the wickedness of man that it was great in the earth, and that every Imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually; 
Gen. 6.5.  therefore it repent the Lord that he had made man upon the earth, and it grieved him at his heart: your Incense and Sacrifices are abomination, 
Esay 1.15.  because your hands are full of blood: sometimes, he denounceth heavy judgements against the children of disobedience, thereby to testify his great dislike of Iniquity; The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, 
Gen. 6.13.  & behold, I will destroy them with the earth. If thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, 
Deut. 30.17, 18.  but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish: and sometimes again, he inflicts exemplary punishments upon such as delight and take pleasure in the ways thereof; as the destruction of the primitive world, the overthrow of Sodom, and rejection of the jewish Nation sufficiently witness.  
Thirdly, because then, commonly, men take most to heart offences committed, and fear to belch out mischiefs, wherein otherwise they could be content, at random greedily to wallow, when as they understand their courses to be odious and displeasing unto men of great power and might: for herein stands the difference between Princes, and peasants, that all fear to offend, or give distaste to the one; whereas no man will restrain, or curb any of the mean●st of his desires, for avoiding the offence of the other; therefore it is requisite and necessary, to the end that we may labour, and be heavy laden under the burden of our sins, that we be not ignorant of the unspeakable power, might and majesty of Almighty God: For this cause it was that at the giving of the Law, whereby we come unto the knowledge of sin, 
Exod. 19.18.  the Lord appeared after so fearful and terrible a manner, that all the people that were in the camp trembled for fear, that thereby seeing the greatness of his power, in whose sight sin is loathsome and abhorred, they might fear to commit iniquity, and tremble at the remembrance of by gone transgressions; yea commonly, when as the Almighty publisheth and proclaimeth unto the world, his dislike and detestation of sin, there are still let fall some flashes and apparent significations of his might, majesty, and power: Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, 
Esay 1.24.20.  the mighty One of Israel, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies. If ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.  
Fourthly, and lastly, because the nature of man is ever to put from him the evil day, blessing himself in his heart, and saying; I shall have peace, 
Deut. 29.19.  though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: therefore for attaining the effect aforesaid, it is expedient that men thoroughly be persuade that the Lord hath appointed a day of recompense, wherein every man shall be rewarded according to that which he hath done in the flesh, 
Rom. 2.6.  whether it be good or bad. Now these things thoroughly learned, 
1. Cor. 5.5. 2. Cor. 1.14.  cannot but bring us to a true sense and feeling of the heavy burden and intolerable weight of sin and iniquity; and consequently to labour and be heavy laden under the burden of our transgressions, whereby we come to have interest in this comfortable invitation, and are made capable of the large, and ample promise annexed thereunto: Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; not immunity and freedom from the temptations of Satan, the troubles of the world, and crosses incident unto us whilst we live here upon earth: No, no, for through many tribulations we enter into the Kingdom of heaven; if we be without chastisements, whereof all are partakers, we are bastards, and not the Sons of God; for the Lord whom he loveth he chastiseth, and he correcteth every Son whom he receiveth: but the words that I speak unto you are spirit and truth; in the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me peace: be of good comfort I have overcome the world: 
joh. 16.33. & 14.27. & 15.11  Peace I leave with you, my Peace I give you, not as the world giveth give I unto you: these things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. For the rest which Christ here promiseth unto such as come unto him, must of necessity be of the same nature with his Kingdom, because of temporal felicity he himself publicly professed that the Foxes had holes, and the Fowls of the heaven had nests, but the Son of man had not whereon to lay his head: Come therefore unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and you shall have my joy fulfilled in you; howsoever, as concerning the things of this life, 
joh. 17.13.  you must resolve to take up my yoke, and learn from the entertainment which I have had in the world, that the Father in this life will not have his children free from temptation and trouble: Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
joh. 15.16.  the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent, greater than he that sent him: if they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; take up therefore my yoke and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: 
jer. 11.11.  I was like a Lamb or an Ox that is brought unto the slaughter, and being in the form of God, made myself of no reputation, took upon me the form of a servant, and was found in fashion, as a man humbling myself unto the death, even the death of the Cross; 
Phil. 2 7, 8.  learn therefore of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: but because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your hearts: nevertheless I tell you the truth, 
joh. 16.6, 7.  it is expedient for you to stand in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths and walk therein, 
jer. 6.16.  and ye shall find rest for your souls; for though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day: whosoever then will come unto me, let him take up his cross and follow me, for my yoke is easy, and my burden light; because God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it; 
1. Cor. 10.16.  for the Almighty by the gracious influence of his holy Spirit comforts, upholds, and strengthens his children in the time of trouble, whereby that becomes easy and light unto them, which otherwise they could never possibly be able to bear, according to that of the Apostle: Blessed be God, 
2. Cor. 1.1.3, 4, 5.  even the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God; for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.  
The words divide themselves into two several branches, in the first whereof Christ graciously invites all such as labour, and are heavy laden under the burden of their sins, to come unto him, as the only Physician and comforter of perplexed spirits, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The second contains a main condition, with all care and diligence, sincerely to be performed by such as accept and embrace this comfortable offer; take upon you my yoke and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden light: the invitation affords these particulars to our consideration; first, the exhortation itself, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden; secondly, a large and ample promise annexed thereunto, and I will give you rest, or as it is in the next Verse, and you shall find rest unto your souls. In the invitation we are first to consider the particle or word of exhorting (Come:) Secondly, the quality and condition of the guests invited, ye that labour and are heavy laden: Thirdly, the number of them (all:) and Fourthly, the feast-maker, or he by whom these guests are invited (Me) come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden: the promise after the same manner, resolves itself into these particulars; first, the thing promised (rest) secondly, the quality of it, it is a gift, and thirdly, the guide from whom the same is to be expected (I) come unto me, and I will give you rest. In the second part of the Text, the condition to be performed by such as accept Christ's offer is first generally propounded, take upon you my yoke; secondly, the same is by two several arguments, particularly enforced, whereof the first, set down in the end of the 29. Verse, is taken from Christ's own example; Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in mind: the second, from the facility and ease of this task, in that which followeth, for my yoke is easy and my burden light; of these then in order, and first of the first.  
Come: this word is diversly taken in text of holy Scripture, sometimes it is a word of exhortation, which looking back upon something to be forsaken, implies a secret reason why departure is to be made from the same, in which sense it is then commonly used, when as one stepping out from the rest, exhorts & entreats others to enterprise or undertake this or that: thus jacobs' sons upon the approach of their brother joseph, encourage one another, for effecting and bringing to pass their unlawful ends; 
Gen. 37.20.  Come now therefore and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we shall say, Some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what shall become of his dreams: and Balack in his speech unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, 
Numb. 23.27.  and I will bring thee unto another place, peradventure it will please God that thou mayst curse me them from thence: and in the Parable of the Householder, who going into a far Country, let out his vineyard unto tenants, the husbandmen upon the coming of the Heir, are brought in after this manner, speaking one to another, This is the Heir, come, let us kill him, 
Matth. 21 38.  and let us seize on his inheritance. Come (saith the Prophet David) and hear, 
Ps. 66.16. & 24.11.  all ye that fear God, and I will declare what the Lord hath done for my soul. And again, Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Sometimes again it is a word of command and charge, as appeareth by the messages of the two Captains, whom Ahaziah sent for Eliah the Prophet; Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down: 
2. Kings. 1.9. & 11.  O man of God, thus hath the King said, Come down quickly. Both which significations of this first word applied unto the present occasion, afford streams of great comfort and consolation unto perplexed spirits, that the Son of God jesus Christ stepping (as it were) out from amongst his brethren, should friendly exhort, beseech and entreat, that forsaking their wretched and miserable estate, the momentary pleasures of sin, the bondage of Satan, and allurements of this wicked world; now, at length they would be content to shelter & safeguard themselves under the covert and shade of his protection: or otherwise for expressing of his further care, and more earnest desire of the salvation of our souls, that knowing the natural and imborne backwardness of the heart of man, in embracing and entertaining motions making for the good and everlasting happiness of his soul, he should as Lord and Master command, and charge us leaving our former wicked, and evil courses, to come unto him, the only fountain and wellspring of true happiness: howsoever than the words thus expounded afford many singular and extraordinary comforts unto distressed and diseased souls: yet if in this place we understand (come) to be the same that (believe) we shall not come far short of the true sense and meaning of the speaker; as by collation and conference of other Scriptures of like nature evidently doth appear: Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life; No man cometh unto the Father, 
joh. 5.40 & 14.8. & 6.44.  but by me: No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him: Faith then in the Mediator jesus Christ is that, whereby broken and contrite spirits, labouring, and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find rest unto their souls: not a bare knowledge of the History of holy Scripture; for then the devils might challenge interest in Christ's death, as well as others, 
jam 2.19.  because Saint james witnesseth; The devils believe and tremble: but besides this knowledge, there must be an assurance, grounded upon the authority of God's word, that for Christ his sake, God is reconciled unto us; according to that of the Apostle, Being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred year old, 
Rom. 4.18, 19, 20, 21.  neither the deadness of Saras womb: he staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory unto God, being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform: so that the saith whereby we come unto CHRIST, hath his seat in both parts of the soul, in the intellective or understanding part, a sure and certain knowledge of the truth of those things which are to be believed; for faith, as the Apostle witnesseth, is the substance of things hoped for, 
Heb. 11.1.  and the evidence of things not seen. And again, therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, 
Rom. 4.10.  not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. And in the will, faith leaveth an assurance, that God is both able, and in due time will make good in our particular the general promises of Mercy and Grace, according to that of the Apostle, I am persuaded, that neither Death, nor Life, nor Angles, 
Rom. 8.38, 39  nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ jesus our Lord. Therefore it is, that almost every where the Holy Ghost speaking of things, for Christ his sake in due time to be conferred and bestowed upon us, he speaks of them in the time past, as if already we were in full possession thereof: Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, 
Ephes. 1.3.  who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ jesus, in whom we have: edemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace: but God, who is rich in mercy, 
Ephes. 1.7. & 2.4, 5, 6.  for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins and trespasses, hath quickened us together, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ jesus. Such than is the assurance which faith leaves in the heart, that the believer speaks and thinks of the promises of mercy and salvation, as of things present, whereof already he is in full possession: again, that in faith there is not only a sure and certain knowledge of the History of God's holy Word, but also an assurance of the love and favour of God in and for the mediation of jesus Christ, these subsequent Scriptures sufficiently witness: 
Rom. 5.1.  Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord jesus Christ. Now this is certain, that the knowledge of the History of God's holy Word is so far from quieting and bringing peace unto the souls of men, that on the contrary, it serves rather more and more to increase amazement, fear, and terror in their hearts: according to that of S. james, 
jam. 2.19.  The Devils believe, and tremble; they believe, that is, by the History they know the wrath of God to be so fierce against Sin and Iniquity, that it can be expiate and done away by no other means, but by the death of his only begotten Son: by the knowledge of the History of God's holy Word, they understand themselves finally, and without all hope of redemption, wholly to be rejected and cast off: by the History they know, that JESUS is appointed judge both of Men and Angels, and that for ever they shall have their abode in everlasting misery and torment; therefore they believe and tremble. Man likewise, in the knowledge of the History, what can he see, but every where manifest tokens of the wrath of God against sin? as Death, Disease, and divers other calamities, usually ensuing and befalling us whilst we live here upon earth; and which most of all increaseth our fear, that the wrath and indignation of the Almighty is such, and so great, against all manner of iniquity, that it could by no other means be appeased, but by the death of his only begotten Son JESUS CHRIST: all which bringing rather matter of horror and fear, than peace unto the souls of men, there must be something else besides Historical knowledge, in that faith, whereby being justified, we have peace with God; which can be nothing else, but an assurance of the love and favour of Almighty God, in, and for the mediation and all-sufficient sacrifice of his dearly beloved Son JESUS CHRIST; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. 
Abak. 1.4.  To the same purpose makes that of Abbakuk; The just shall live by faith. No man liveth by an Historical knowledge of the Word of God; which, as even now, at great length, hath been delivered, furnisheth rather matter of horror, desperation, and fear, then of life, health, happiness, and the like: therefore the faith spoken of by the Prophet, must, besides knowledge, be an assent unto and assurance of the love and favour of God, in, and for the mediation of his Son. Thirdly, S. Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians, so plainly maintains and powerfully avoucheth the assurance of faith which now we have in hand, that if there were no more, this one Scripture may well serve for confirmation of the same: 
Eph. 3.12.  In whom we have boldness with confidence by the faith of him: and again, Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of grace, 
Heb. 4.16.  that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Who, knowing only the History of God's holy Word, dare presume boldly and with confidence to approach and draw near unto the dreadful Majesty of Almighty God, whom as an angry & severe judge he seethe ready to power down the viols of his fierce wrath and indignation upon the transgressors of his Law; that faith then, whereby with boldness confidently we present ourselves before God, besides knowledge of the History, must of necessity have an assurance of reconciliation in JESUS CHRIST. 
Gen. 4.4.5.24. & 49.20.  This is that faith whereby Abel became more acceptable in the sight of the Lord, than his brother Cain; Enoch walked with God, and was seen no more; jacob dying, took order for his burial in the promised Land; 
Luke 7.48.  and Marie Magdalene obtained free pardon and forgiveness of all her transgressions. If therefore ye have this faith, Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  
Come. From this, and other Texts of holy Scripture, 
Psal. 50.15.  of the same or like nature: as, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me: 
Mal. 3.13.  Return unto me, and I will return unto you: Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: Wash ye, 
Zach. 1.4.  make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgement, 
Esay 1.16.17.19.  relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow: if ye will be obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land. The Sanballats' and subtle Sophists of these last days gather, I cannot tell what natural and imborne ability and power in man, ex puris naturaelibus, as they say, to perform obedience unto the Commandments of God; because first it were in vain to exhort, advise, request, and beseech such as wholly and altogether are impotent and unable to hearken and obey: again, the large promises of health and happiness, in case of obedience, were mockages rather than true promises, if there were no power at all in man to perform the Commandment; as if seeing a man altogether deprived of the use of his legs, one should promise him great sums of money, with all celerity and swiftness, speedily to run a race, whom he very well knew unable so much as to stand, much less swiftly to run. Being then that the Lord commands, exhorts, adviseth, and by large and ample promises allures men to the obedience of his Commandments, it must of necessity follow, that there is some power and ability in them for the performance of this obedience: Christ his Come unto me, than puts us in mind, that if we will, we may believe in the Mediator between God and man; if we list, there is power in us enough to obey his commandment; and if carefully we bestir ourselves, there is no want of strength in our hearts to corporate and work together with the Spirit of God, for consummating and bringing to full perfection the work of our salvation; for else the great Shepherd JESUS CHRIST would not require that of us which altogether we are unable to perform. But needless multiplication and increase of words removed and set aside, if these men can be persuaded to turn unto the sixth of S. john's Gospel and four and fortieth verse, they shall find the same mouth, that in the Text which now we have in hand, invites and exhorts such as labour and are heavy laden, to come unto him, there publicly preaching unto the jews: No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. Where is now their imborne strength? What is now become of their natural ability in spiritual things? And of what validity and force, I pray you, is their strong Goliath, taken from the nature of Christ's speech? If no man can come, except he be drawn, certainly of ourselves we are dead in sins and trespasses: 
Ephes. 2.5.  if we must be drawn, than we are not sufficient of ourselves to think a good thought, 
2. Cor. 3.5.  much less to do any thing that good is: if we must be drawn unto Christ, then naturally every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil continually. In like manner, the same Spirit, 
Gen. 6.5.  which by the mouth of Malachi exhorts Israel to turn unto the Lord their God, by Ezechiel professeth, 
Mal. 3.7.  That he will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them: That he will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them an heart of flesh, 
Ezech. 11.19, 20.  that they may walk in his Statutes, and keep his Ordinances, to do them, and they shall be his people, and he will be their God: and again, I will give them one heart, and one way, 
jerem. 32.39.  that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them. That then we walk in the obedience of God's commandments, it is the Lords own blessing, and not any natural or imborne strength of ours: according to that of S. Cyprian, Dei est, inquam, 
Cyp. lib. 2. Ep. 2.  Dei est omne quod possumus, inde vivimus, inde pollemus, inde sumpto & concepto vigore hic adhuc positi futurorum indicia praenoscimus; Whatsoever we are able to do for the attainment of everlasting happiness, is to be ascribed unto the grace and gift of God; it is from God, I say, and not our own: for in him we live, by him we are enabled, and from him endowed with strength, living yet here upon earth, by the eyes of faith we behold and look upon the badges and notes of everlasting happiness. And S. Augustine speaking to the same purpose: Nemo se palpet, 
Aug. Hom. 49. in joan.  de suo Satanas est: tollat homo peccatum quod suum est, Deo justitiam relinquat; Let no man, in the matter of regeneration, ascribe any thing unto himself, for of ourselves we are adversaries, and opposite unto the ways of righteousness: Let man then, if he must needs challenge aught to himself, take to him the sinful part, which is his, ascribing all his righteousness unto the Lord. Therefore the Prophet David blusheth not to beg at the hands of the Lord, even the beginnings and first steps of holiness, 
Psal. 51.10. & 119.18.35.34.35.  Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me: open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law: make me understand the path of thy Commandments, so shall I talk of thy Precepts: give me understanding, and I shall keep thy Law, yea I shall observe it with my whole heart: make me to go in the path of thy Commandments, for therein do I delight. What then had David of his own? or where was his natural and imborne strength, whereby he was able of himself to do somewhat towards the attainment of everlasting happiness? a clean heart and a right spirit he begs to have created within him: now creatio est ex nihilo, this is the difference between made and created; that making presupposeth the substance of the thing made, to have been before, being nothing else in itself, but inductio novae formae, the bringing of a new shape, fashion, or form upon an old subject, as to make a Ship, a Boat, an Oar, or the like, is nothing else but to square and proportion Timber and Wood, which (haply) long, or (at least) sometime before hath had his being, into form and fashion, fit to swim or sail in the Sea: but to create, is of nothing to make some substance. If then David must have a clean heart and a right spirit created in him, it will of necessity follow, that there was at this time no such thing to be found in his breast: Secondly, he crane's not only a clean heart and a right spirit to be created in him; but Lord open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law: give me understanding, and I shall keep thy Law: make me to go in the path of thy Commandments. As if Hanna, having by prayer and supplication obtained a son at the hands of the Lord, should beg safe deliverance at the Throne of God's mercy, professing thereby, both the conception and birth to be from above. Just so, David having begged the foundation and ground, a clean heart and a right spirit, finding in himself not so much as ability and strength, to make use of the Lords blessings for the salvation of his soul, much less power to do any thing that good is, he sueth, That the Almighty, having of nothing framed the new man in his heart, he would be pleased to open his eyes, that he might see, and strengthen his limbs, that he might walk, and firmly tread within the Courts of his Sanctuary. Thus than you see, what warrant the adversary hath from this and such like Scriptures, for maintaining a position so prejudicial unto the all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ's death. But what then, may some man say, is the meaning of God's holy Spirit, in these and the like kind of speeches? Unto which question I had rather answer by Saint Augustine, than mine own mouth: who disputing against Pelagius the same very question which now we have in hand, speaks after this manner, 
Aug. de lib. Arbit. cap. 16.  jubet Deus quae non possumus, ut noverimus quid ab illo petere debeamus; Therefore (saith he) God commands us often to do those things which he knows us wholly unable to perform, thereby to teach us what to ask, beg, and crave at his hand. And again, 
Aug. de corrept. & great. cap. 3.  O homo in praeceptione cognosce quid debeas habere; in correptione cognosce tuo te vitio non habere; in oratione cognosce unde accipias quod vis habere; O man, in and by the commandment learn what thou oughtest to have; in punishment, that thou thyself art the cause of all thy wants; in supplication and prayer, understand from whence supply of thy defects is to be had: for as a broken-winged Fowle, by offering to fly, perceives the defect and decay of that part of her body, which before she thought to be sound; so man, being by divine authority commanded to perform these and these spiritual duties, in ipso conatu, in the very attempt and enterprise itself he is informed of his own inability and weakness. Come then unto me, doth not, as the Papists falsely imagine, argue any natural or imborne strength in man, for the performance of spiritual duties, but is a means which it pleaseth the wisdom of Almighty God to use for bringing of him to the knowledge and acknowledgement of his natural and imborne frailty, and by consequence, unto a begging of things necessary unto endless and everlasting happiness, from the Throne of his mercy: according unto that of S. Augustine, Ideo jubet ut facere jussa conati, 
Epist. 89.  & in nostra infirmitate sub lege fatigati, adiutorium gratiae petere noverimus; Therefore (saith he) God commands, that in the enterprise and attempt of obedience, by reason of our manifold infirmities wearied under the yoke of so absolute and perfect a law, we may learn to sue unto the Throne of God's mercy, for the gracious assistance of his holy Spirit, whereby we may be enabled to perform that which he so justly doth exact and require at our hands.  
Unto me. The soul of man guilty of many heinous abominations, and understanding both the fierceness of God's wrath and indignation against the breach of his Law, and great power which he hath to do what he will for the overthrow & final subversion of his enemies, seeks nothing more, than how to appease this consuming fire, and be in favour with this great and dreadful judge of the World. The Books and Learning of the Heathen are able to afford no direction in this case, because they themselves blinded with a vain conceit of Righteousness, were altogether ignorant of the great misery, by the fall of our first parents brought upon the whole posterity. The Penmen of Holy Scripture have discovered two means for effecting and bringing this matter to pass, which S. Paul calls the Law of Works, & the Law of Faith, Where is boasting then? 
Rom. 3.27.  It is excluded: By what Law? Of Works? Nay, but by the Law of Faith. The first, howsoever it be in itself sufficiently able safely to conduct us unto the Haven of everlasting happiness; yet in regard of our inability and weakness to perform the condition of perfect obedience, contained therein, it becomes rather an accuser and upbraider of our misery, than a wholesome salve of sick and diseased souls: according to that of the Apostle, Now we know, that what things soever the Law saith, 
Rom. 3.19, 20.  it saith to them who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God: therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh living be justified in his sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin: And again, The Law worketh wrath, for where no Law is, 
Rom. 4.15.  there is no transgression. For this cause it was, that the Prophets and Preachers of that ancient Church, before the coming of Christ, have from time to time taught God's people to appeal from this, where no comfort was to be found, unto the Law of Faith in jesus Christ, 
Rom. 3.25.  whom God hath set to be a propitiation for the remission of sins, through faith in his blood: that Adam, whom the voice of God summoning & citing to appear before the Tribunal of his justice, made afraid, may by a more gentle and mild voice, 
Gen. 3.10. & 15  The seed of the woman shall tread down the head of the serpent, be comforted and set on foot; and David, in whose flesh there was no soundness, 
Psal. 38.3.  because of the Lords anger, nor rest in his bones, because of his sin, might in the promise of the Gospel, In thy seed shall all the Nations of the world be blessed, 
Gen. 26.4.  fully be strengthened & raised up. These things, in former ages more obscurely delivered unto the faithful of those times, at Christ's coming into the world, were publicly and plainly preached unto the Church: first extraordinarily from Heaven, This is my well-beloved Son, 
Matth.  in whom I am well pleased, hear him: and again, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shallbe to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord: & this shallbe a sign unto you, 
Luk● 〈…〉  Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Secondly, a great deal more at large by himself and his Apostles: I am the Door of the sheep, 
joh. 10.9. & 8.10. & 7.37.38.  by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture; I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life; If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, he that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living water. The Law justifieth no man without perfect obedience: according to that of Moses, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them; 
Deut. 27.26.  our works even when they are at the best, being foully bedaubed with the blots and blemishes of the old man, can deserve nothing but vengeance from him, who in justice rewardeth, nothing coming short of the least circumstance and title of his Law: Come therefore unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; by faith then in the Saviour of the world, jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven, and we again received into the favour of God.  
All universality of grace, by virtue of this, and other Scriptures of the same or like nature by some maintained, and from hence, by others, in large and learned discourses powerfully confuted, I forbear in this place so much as to name, because the words rightly considered, give not the least occasion of any such discourse, challenging rather the conveyance of comfort unto the most heinous, gross, and grievous sort of those transgressors, who labouring, and heavy laden under the burden of their sins, come unto Christ, than any such general interest in Christ's death unto all: For as Satan, the common enemy of man's salvation, hath great variety and store of sleights and subtleties to hinder our approach unto the Throne of grace; so this is none of the least, that with great enlargement, and amplifications he sets before our eyes, the sins and offences which formerly we have committed, thereby to make us despair of God's goodness and mercy: this was that School where Cain learned that doleful doctrine, My sins are greater than can be forgiven: this was the stratagem which brought wretched judas unnaturally to become the executioner of his own body; to speak nothing of many others, who even in our times, by this means, have been brought to commit things, far misbeseeming their holy profession; therefore, for preventing of so great harm, otherwise like to ensue and fall upon the creature, it hath pleased the wisdom of God's holy Spirit, so to publish the riches and great depth of his mercy, that Satan's subtlety may prevail against none, how great and grievous transgressors soever, in the least measure industrious and careful of the salvation of their souls: for this cause it is, that sometimes in the plural number he is called, the Father of mercies: 
2. Cor. 1, 3, 4.  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, 
Psa. 103.9, 10, 11, 12, 13.  by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God: sometimes a merciful and gracious Lord, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, such a one as will not chide always, nor keep his anger for ever, who dealeth not with us after our sins, nor rewardeth us after our iniquities; for as high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him: as far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us; like as a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him: and again, 
Exod. 34.6, 7.  The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin: and sometime he is said to be rich in mercy and grace: God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, 
Eph. 2.4, 5.  that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and kindness towards us, through Christ jesus: 
Rom. 2.4.  and in the Epistle to the Romans, Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, forbearance and long suffering, not knowing, that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance: I will spare them (saith the Lord, by the mouth of the Prophet) as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
Mal. 3.17.  There is then no sin so odious and abominable in the sight of God, but upon a true sense and feeling of the loathsomeness of the same, by faith, in the Mediator, jesus Christ, free pardon and forgiveness is assuredly to be looked for, and expected from the Throne of mercy, and grace: Come therefore unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool; for if the wicked will, turn from all his sins that he hath committed, 
Eze. 18.21, 22.  and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die; all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him, in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.  
Ye that labour, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such as be skilful in the original tongues, make this difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that the latter generally signifying whatsoever labour, exercise and travail; the first betokeneth a painful, wearisome, sorrowful, and heavy labour, so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, labour is the cause of wearisomeness or painful, and tedious employment; and therefore the Septuagint, and other Translations of the old Scripture into the Greek tongue, have used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in such places of the old Testament where the Original expresseth such and so great overspending of the vital parts, by reason of too much sorrow, grief, labour and toil, that without present succour, relief, and comfort, nothing but death and fearful dissolution is undoubtedly to be expected: as in that of Deuteronomy, Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, 
Deut. 25.17, 18.  when ye were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble, behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary. And again, Ahitophel offering his service unto Absalon against David, 
2. Sam. 17.2.  saith, I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: I have given you a Land, for which ye did not labour, 
Josh. 24.13.  and Cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them: What! Did not Israel labour for the Land of Canaan, for which they had many sharp skirmishes, and encountered with many several oppositions? Yes verily, but because of the extraordinary assistance of God's holy Spirit, and unaccustomed presence of his almighty power, and outstretched arm, whereby they subdued those nations with great facility and ease, they might well have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but they had not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it was unto them some kind of exercise, but not an overspending, and outwearing of their strength; sometimes again, the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used, for expressing of those places of the old Testament, where the Original signifieth a conjunction of labour, sorrow, travel, heaviness and pain: Man is borne unto trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. 
job. 5.7.  And again, the days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore, 
Psal. 90.10.  yet is their strength labour and sorrow. Thirdly, the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used by the Penmen of holy Scripture, for expressing the variety of tribulation, calamity and cross, under which in this life the Saints continually groan: 
1. Cor. 4.11, 12.  Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and labour working with our own hands. 
1. Tim. 4.10.  And again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for therefore we labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe: 
Mat. 26.9.  and in the 26. of S. Mathews Gospel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Why trouble ye the woman, for she hath wrought a good work on me? In like manner, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in weariness and painfulness, 
2. Cor. 11.27.  in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in coldness and nakedness: and again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, neither did we eat any man's bread for nought, 
2. Thes. 3.8.  but wrought with labour and travel, night and day, that we might not be chargeable unto any.  
From hence then it is easy to understand who, and what manner of guests they be, whom Christ so friendly exhorts, all by-respects set aside, directly to come unto him: First, such as either in the Ceremonies of the ancient Law, the traditions of men, or precise and strict performance of the Moral Law, with great labour, perplexity, & trouble, seek the favour of God, peace of conscience, and everlasting happiness; but after unexpressible anguish, finding rather further torture & torment of conscience, than any least beginnings of ease, are ready to give over, as men by their own endeavours wholly and altogether unable to stand in the presence of a consuming fire; those our Saviour jesus Christ lovingly invites, not to despair in this their wrestling with the wrath of God, nor any longer to confide and trust in their own righteousness, whence no comfort at all is to be expected; but altering their course, to come, or believe in him, unto whom all things requisite and necessary for the safeguard, and salvation of men's souls are given of the Father, unto which sense the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or heavy laden, fitly doth agree: for the Law is by the Prophet, 
Esay 9.4.  compared to a burden, Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian: and again, They bind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers; 
Mat. 23.4.  such then as confident in their own strength, have earnestly endeavoured the atonement of Righteousness, by the works of the Law, but by experience, finding the heaviness of this yoke, and greatness of their inability, by their own endeavours, to stand in the presence of so great and terrible a judge, are truly humbled and cast down, upon the sense and feeling of this their weakness; such (I say) are fit guests for CHRIST'S Table, as appeareth by his reply upon the Pharisees modest and discreet speech, 
Mark 12.34  Thou art not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. The second sort of guests, whom by these words Christ so favourably invites to come unto him, are those, who upon a sense and feeling of their manifold transgressions, the apprehension of the wrath of God, and horror of the last day, are at the pit and pinch of desperation itself, whereunto also the word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, very fitly doth accord and agree; for Esay speaking of the burden of sin and wrath of God, saith, He hath borne our griefs, 
Esa. 3.4.11.  and carried our sorrows, yet did we esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted: he shall see the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied, by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities: 
Zach. 5.7.  and Zacharie speaking to this same purpose saith, that Wickedness sitteth upon a talon of lead: and David speaketh of transgression, as of a heavy burden: Mine Iniquities are gone over mine head, 
Psal. 38.4.  as an heavy burden they are to heavy for me; so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, without either violence or straining, are properly understood of such as labour and are heavy laden, under the weight and intolerable burden of their sins.  
Thirdly, such as under the heavy burden of cross and calamity are grievously perplexed, and borne down, but finding no ease, nor way to escape, are ready well-nigh to sink under the burden; those, Christ lovingly and friendly exhorts, not because of their present calamities to think themselves cast off of God, or debarred from the Kingdom of Heaven; but all such extremes set aside, to come unto him where undoubtedly they shall find rest unto their souls, either by a final removal of their calamity, as Hanna, Mordecai, Rebecca, and divers others: or mitigation, and assuaging the heat of their tribulation, 
Gen. 39.21. Dan. 6.12. & 3.23.  as joseph whilst he lived in Pharaohs jail, Daniel in the lions den: or if their further good require continuance in tribulation, by the sweet influence of his holy Spirit, quieting and calming their distressed and perplexed spirits in the agony and greatest heat of the fiercest temptations, as Stephen in his martyrdom, David in the days of his ttouble, and the blessed Apostles in their several persecutions for the Gospel's sake. These then being the guests, whom so lovingly Christ bids, and comfortably invites to come unto him; it is easy from bence to understand who they be that debar and make themselves uncapable of the grace of Christ: First, such as drunk with a vain conceit and opinion of their own righteousness, think themselves sufficiently able to perform and obey the commandments of the Lord, and consequently feel not themselves labouring, and heavy laden under the burden of their sins: Secondly, Epicures, and all such as weigh not, nor regard their sins, think not upon the wrarh of God, and terror of the last judgement, but carelessly contemn, neglect and despise the same; of whom the Apostle speaking, saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Ephes. 4.19.  who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lascivionsnesse, to work all uncleanness with greediness: Thirdly, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such as besotted with the dainties and soft allurements of the world, feel not their miserable and wretched estate, in regard of their manifold transgressions and dreadful judgement of Almighty God, nor think upon the favour and grace of God here, and everlasting happiness in the life to come: Fourthly, and lastly, such as upon the sense and feeling of their sins, and apprehension of God's wrath and indignation against them for their transgressions, being thoroughly humbled and cast down, choose rather to sink in the bottomless pit of death and desperation, then to come unto Christ jesus, the Spiritual Physician, and Comforter of sick and diseased souls.  
And I will give you rest. Fear of punishment, and hope of reward, are two main motives, whereby man is either encouraged in the ways of godliness. or restrained from transgressing the Commandments of the Lord: and therefore in the book of the Law, where summarily, and in general, is set down whatsoever elsewhere throughout the Text of holy Scripture is more at length delivered, Moses under those two comprehends all the motives which possibly can be devised and found out, either for animating and encouraging of man unto the better things, or dissuading of him from the worst, See, I have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil, 
Deut. 30.15, 16, 17, 18.  in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgements, that thou mayest live and multiply, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the Land whither thou goest to possess it: but if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the Land whither thou passest over jordan, to go to possess it. And again, It shall come to pass, 
Deut. 38.1.15.  if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high, above all Nations of the earth: but if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. In like manner have the Lords proceed been with particular persons: 
Gen. 4.6, 7.  And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? if thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door. 
2. Sam. 7.14.  I will set up thy Seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom; I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit Iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. 
1. Kings 3.14.  If thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and commandments as thy Father David did walk, than I will lengthen thy days. And here, in the Text which now we have in hand, Christ friendly inviting such as labour and are heavy laden, to come unto him, the exhortation is enforced by an ample and large promise of reward, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For as the elements of the world naturally incline each of them to his own Region and place of abode: so the soul of man, by transgression having fallen from his rest, is so perplexed and wearied, wandering to and again, that it hearkens unto nothing more willingly, than motions and means serving for that purpose: 
Confess. lib. 1. cap. 1.  according to that of S. Augustine, Cor nostrum creasti ad te Domine, & nisi te, nunquam satiari potest; O Lord, thou hast created our souls to thine own image, so that but in thee they never receive content. Which our Saviour well considering, useth the same as an unfaileable argument to induce and persuade us to come and drink freely of the waters of life, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and I will give you rest. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is commonly used, when as after labour and toil we betake ourselves unto tranquillity and ease, for refreshing of our weary, over-spent, and decaying strength: as in that of Lucian, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, after long and tedious sickness receiving or enjoying rest: and Suidas, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, who would not out of misery and tedious employment, come unto rest? And thus the Greek Translation useth the word, in expressing the Lords speech unto David, concerning his son Solomon, 
1. Chron. 22.9.  Behold, a son shall be borne unto thee, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about him. But most frequently in the text of holy Scripture, this word is used to express the tranquillity and calmness of the mind: as in the fift of Genesis, and nine and twentieth verse, old Lamech supposing that his son had been the Messiah promised in the Garden, calls him Noah, saying, This son shall comfort us, concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. Where the Greek Translations use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Whereunto our Saviour alluding, saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Come unto me, and I will give you rest. Giving us thereby to understand, that he is that true Noah, from whom the holy Patriarches, labouring under the burden of sin and iniquity, did expect and look for rest unto their souls. In like manner, the day of festivity and joy, which the jews celebrated upon the news of their deliverance from the treacheries of wicked Haman, and sentence of death formerly passed upon them, is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a day of rest and tranquillity. And again, the refreshment which Saul, vexed with the evil spirit, received by David's Music, the Greek Translation expresseth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
1. Sam. 16.23.  so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. From hence then it is easy to understand the nature of this promise, which Christ here in the Text makes unto such, as labouring and heavy laden under the burden of their sins, come unto him for relief and comfort, viz. in this life, refreshment, rest, and ease unto their souls, from the consuming heat of God's wrath, the rottenness of sin, and heat of the torment, and torture of conscience, which formerly they have endured; and in that which is to come, perfect joy, felicity, and happiness, being freed from all misery whatsoever. Therefore S. Peter calls the time of Christ's coming unto judgement, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the times of refreshing, or rest. What pains are answerable unto so great a reward? Shall not the children of this life rise up and condemn us in the last day, who refuse no travel, perplexity, and trouble, for attainment of worldly preferment? Which gotten, is first corruptible, and subject to the outwearing power of time; secondly, uncertain, and doubtful, after a world of misery and trouble undertaken for attainment of the same. I will not now speak of Alexander his travails, in subduing Asia, of Annibal his labours, in passing from Spain over the Alps into Italy, Xerxes his perplexity during his abode in Europe, together with many other of that nature: whereof some, after unspeakable pains, have come short of their ends, as Xerxes of the conquest of Europe, Annibal of Italy, Crassus and Antonius of Persia: others, after great labour and pain, have still continued uncertain, fearful, and in doubt, till the very moment and last period of enjoying their ends. What warrant had Alexander for his assurance of subduing Asia? Augustus of Pompey, Cassius and the like? and all subject to corruption; for where are now the great Monarchies of Assyria, Media, Persia, Grecia, and of the Romans? well then, being that men undergo such and so great labour and toil, for attaining uncertain and corruptible glory, what should we do for attaining the rest spoken of here in the Text, which once gotten, is free from all corruption, and whereof by the means here mentioned, we may undoubtedly be assured?  
Take upon you my yoke. As man by nothing more is encouraged to undertake great & weighty matters, then by hope and expectation of reward, so failing and coming short of his ends, he seldom misseth shameful Apostasy, and defection from his former resolution; yea oftentimes, although the error be in his own false conceit, and misunderstanding of the promise. Thus Israel hearing in Egypt, that a Land flowing with milk and honey was prepared for them, and that the Lord himself would safely conduct them into that good Land; O they are a fire, till the journey be in force; but how soon as come to the red Sea, they see themselves environed with great and high mountains on the one side, the Egyptian forces on the other, and the raging waves of merciless water before their faces, how soon they came into the desert and barren wilderness, and heard of the great strength and walled Cities of Canaan, as men frustrate and disappointed of their promised reward, like broken bows they start back, and make defection from their former profession. Many, in hope and expectation of future preferment, followed Christ in the beginning of his ministery, fond dreaming of a temporal kingdom: but perceiving, in process of time, all things to fall out quite contrary, the Text saith, That they went back, 
joh. 6.66. 2. Tim. 4.10. Luk. 22.4.  and walked no more with him. This was Demas his bane, judas his ruin, Simons overthrow, and a great stumbling block unto the two disciples journeying towards Emmaus, as by their own conference evidently doth appear, 
Act. 8.19.  We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done: yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the Sepulchre, and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of Angels, 
Act. 24.21, 22, 23, 24.  which said, that he was alive. Therefore Christ, for preventing of this so great an inconvenience, hath from time to time laboured rightly to inform such as come unto him, of the nature and quality of the entertainment, which from his hands is to be expected. Thus the Pharisee offering his service, heareth, That the Foxes have holes, 
Matth. 8.20.  and the Birds of the Heaven have nests, but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay his head. And here, in the Text which now we have in hand, having comfortably invited all such as labour and are heavy laden under the burden of their sins, to come unto him, with a promise of rest; lest men hereupon should promise unto themselves worldly pleasure, temporal felicity, and the fulfilling of the delights and desires of the flesh, the missing whereof might afterwards occasion a disgraceful apostasy and defection from this holy profession: therefore after the promise, immediately he subjoins a large commentary and exposition of his former words, Take upon you my yoke: As if he should have said, I came not to cleanse you from your sins, that being reconciled and received again into the love and favour of Almighty God, you should challenge liberty and freedom, without all restraint, at random to wallow in sin and iniquity: it is neither a bodily nor fleshly rest, which from me is to be looked for and expected; for why should the followers of a Prince, whose kingdom is not in this world, dream of such things? but the rest which I promise, is spiritual, Come unto me, and you shall find rest unto your souls. As concerning the things of this life, you must learn to put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Our freedom in Christ jesus then is not such, that as lawless men we may do what we list: but on the contrary, being engrafted into his mystical body, we must take upon us his yoke of repentance and faith; by the one putting off, concerning our former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; and by the other, being renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Neither is the Rest by Christ jesus promised, a cessation of tribulation and cross, but by faith being united unto the great Shepherd, we must take upon us his yoke of calamity and trouble: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, 
Matth. 16.24.  and follow me. Take upon you my yoke: The word yoke, in his proper signification, is an instrument framed by the wit and invention of man, for combining and joining beasts together in Carts or Coaches, for the more easy and swift carriage of ponderous and weighty things; wherein three things offer themselves to our consideration: first, a distinct and several kind of labour and working; for beasts under the yoke are confined unto one particular manner of travail: secondly, the weight and heaviness of the burden; for yoking presupposeth an intention in the owner, to lay more upon the beasts then otherwise conveniently they could be brought to bear: and thirdly, the cruelty of the driver; because beasts under yoke, restrained from working as they would, are bitterly pushed and pricked forward with goads, whips, scourges, and the like: From which three properties of a yoke, the Penmen of holy Scripture have drawn three several metaphors, using the word sometimes for the doctrine, instruction, and teaching, wherein the Lord trains and brings up his Church here upon earth: because as a yoke confines beasts unto a definite and certain kind of working; so doctrine, institution, and teaching, commands us to think, speak, and do after this or that manner: These have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds, 
jer. 5.5.  that is, they have forsaken and cast off the obedience of God's commandments. If in this sense we understand Christ his words, the meaning will be, that by faith in his death we are not so freed from the yoke of his Law, as that we have liberty to do what we list; but by faith in the Mediator being reconciled unto God, we are to take this yoke upon us, using the Law as a guide, a path, and sure way, to walk and pass through the wilderness of this life, into the spiritual Canaan of everlasting happiness. Herein then stands the difference between Christians and jews, as concerning the works and observation of the Moral Law, that the one is bound to a strict performance of the exquisite and exact justice required therein, upon pain of death and everlasting damnation: according to that of Moses, 
Deut. 27.26.  Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law, to do them. But Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law; 
Gal. 3.13.  so that we are not confined within these straits, either by perfect and absolute obedience to purchase life, or in case of defect and failing in the least, to expect the fearful sentence of death and damnation to pass upon us; howsoever a serious and earnest endeavour be required in putting off, concerning our former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 
Eph. 4.20.  and putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ: for the more that we are bound to the mercy and favour of God, the more are we obliged to conform ourselves to his good will and pleasure. 
Rom. 9.21.  Being then, that by faith in his Son we are freed from the curse of the Law, the Father, for Christ his sake, accepting our half-maimed and imperfect obedience as absolute and without blame, let it beget in our hearts rather a more earnest endeavour of performing the Law, as a perfect path of righteousness, then careless Epicurism, in following our own ways; professing and saying with the blessed Apostle, 
Rom. 7.22.  I delight in the Law of God, after the inward man. Sometimes again, because of the second property, the word Yoke is used for the heavy burden, perplexity, and sorrow, which in case of disobedience the Law bringeth upon the souls and consciences of men, in which respect the Law is often called a yoke: 
Act. 15.10.  Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the Disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? that is, Why labour ye to entangle and bring again within the curse of God's Law those, who by faith in Christ may well be freed therefrom? 
Gal. 5.1.  And again, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage: in which sense, Christ his my yoke imports an Antithesis and opposition between the Law of Faith and the Law of Works: as if he should have said, You have heretofore laboured and been heavy laden under the intolerable yoke and heavy burden of the Law, which was never able to afford you any comfort, or give rest unto perplexed spirits; 
Rom. 3.20.  for by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh living be justified in his sight: take therefore upon you my yoke of the Gospel, & you shall find rest unto your souls. Sometimes, because of the third property, the word yoke is used, for the hard usage, calamity and tribulation, which men receive & endure at the hands of others; Of old time I have broken thy yoke, & burst thy bonds: 
jer. 2.20. & 28.2.14.  Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the King of Babylon: and again, I have put a yoke of Iron upon the neck of all these Nations, that they may serve Nabuchadnezzar King of Babylon. And in this sense (although I neither dare, nor do reject the former) after a special manner are Christ his words here to be understood, that in this life such as come unto him, stand in need of calamity and tribulation, for suppressing and keeping down the exorbitant wickedness, and unruly wantonness of the flesh. Take upon you my yoke, then is the same with that of our Saviour: If any man will come after me, 
Mat. 16.24. & 10.30.  let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me: and again, He that taketh not his cross and followeth me, is not worthy of me: Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.  
The happiness then which we find in Christ jesus, 
Mark 8.34.  doth not consist in the delights and pleasures of the flesh, but in the quieting calmness of the mind: Come unto me and ye shall find rest unto your souls; let us not then be dismayed or cast down, if so be, seeking rest and quietness, by faith in the Son of God, we be environed with the snares of calamity and tribulation; for it is the goodwill and pleasure of our heavenly Father, to lay this yoke upon us whilst we live here upon earth. First, to call to our remembrance, the general Apostasy and defection by us in our first Parents, made from the Lord our God: for the world knoweth not the fearful disease, loathsome contagion, and fierce wrath and indignation, thereby violently drawn upon the whole posterity: and consequently, by the rears of repentance, and faith in the Mediator, sue not for atonement, nor seek to be reconciled unto this consuming fire: Therefore, it pleaseth the wisdom of our great Advocate, to lay this yoke upon the necks of his Disciples, that by these sour fruits, understanding the bitterness of the root, they may thereby be incited and stirred up to sue unto the true Elisha, 
2. King. 2.19. & 4.40.  JESUS CHRIST, for curing these poisoned waters, and sweetening this deadly meal: Secondly, thereby to beget in our hearts a deeper consideration, and higher esteem and value of our atonement and reconciliation made by the death and all-sufficient sacrifice of jesus Christ: the better the patient understands the danger of his disease, the more thankful is he unto the Physician for his cure: the more evidences & unfallible arguments that men have of death, the more joyfully and gladly do they receive their pardon: he that's adjudged to be burnt quick, escapes afterwards with the loss of a finger, by this small taste better knows the greatness of the judge his favour, then if so be he had not at all felt any heat of the fire: Even so the sufferance of temporal afflictions, the least part of that which our sins have deserved at the hands of the Lord, makes us understand the great obligation, wherein we are bound unto the Son of God, by whom we are redeemed from so great damnation, and more thankful unto his holiness for so great a blessing; for if so be these excrements be so heavy, what should the whole burden have been? if we find such and so great difficulty in bearing the smallest and least part: what if the whole desert of our transgressions had been laid upon us? Thirdly, the yoke of calamity and tribulation serves for preventing of future slips, according to that of the Prophet Danid: 
Psal. 119.67. & 71.  Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word: And again, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes: for as the bitterness of sour and unsavoury things makes the suckling forbear and refrain the dug, whereunto he otherwise he naturally inclineth. Just so the bitterness of calamity and tribulation, which for Iniquity lieth heavy upon the dearest of God's children, makes them forsake and renounce the pleasures of sin, from whence otherwise they could not so easily be weaned and kept back.  
And learn of me: There is no doctrine more harsh and unsavoury unto the natural man, then that of the cross; therefore when as mention is made thereof, usually it pleaseth the wisdom of God's holy Spirit to subjoin words of encouragement and comfort, as in that prophesy of Israel's tribulation in the land of Egypt: Know for a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs, 
Gen. 15.13, 14.  and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and also that Nation whom they shall serve, I will judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance: and again, These things have I spoken unto you, 
joh. 15.33.  that in me ye might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world; as here in the Text which now we have in hand, Christ in the beginning of the Verse, having spoken of a yoke, lest thereupon men should be discouraged and disheartened from coming unto him, he is not content to promise unto them in the agony, & greatest heat of affliction rest unto their souls, that though the outward man perish, yet the inward man shall be renewed day by day; though the body be dead, because of sin, yet the spirit shall live, because of righteousness; though the flesh be destroyed, yet the spirit shall be saved in the day of the Lord jesus: but for their further encouragement he adds two forcible and effectual arguments, for begetting in their heart's patience and constancy in bearing of this yoke: the first whereof is taken from his own example, which ought so much the more to prevail with us, as he is is more worthy & in the favour of God than we; learn therefore of me, that the father in this life will not have his children free from the yoke of calamity and tribulation; for if we be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, we are bastards and not the sonne● 〈◊〉 God: because the Lord whom he loveth, he chastiseth and correcteth every son, whom he receiveth; and certainly, if we ponder and weigh things in an even balance, this cannot but prevent every least beginning of discontent, that we taste of no other cup, then that whereof the Son of God hath liberally drunk before, there is no other measure given us, then that which jesus Christ hath formerly received: 
1. Pet. 2.21.  Hereunto (saith the Apostle) were ye called, because Christ also suffered, leaving for us an example that we should follow his steps: and again, Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son: 
Rom. 8.29.  that as he in all meekness and lowliness of mind, submitted himself to the good will and pleasure of his heavenly Father; so by his example we might learn to do the same: according to that of the Apostle: Being found in fashion as a man, 
Phil. 2.8.  he humbled himself, and became obedient unto the death, even the death of the Cross: And again, Though he were a Son, 
Heb. 5.8.  yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion, shout, O Daughter of jerusalem, behold, thy King cometh unto thee, 
Zach. 9.9.  he is just and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an Ass, and upon a Colt, the Foal of an Ass. For herein stands the difference between the Godly and the wicked, in carrying about the badges of guilt, that the one doth it with unspeakable wrestling, repining, grudging, murmuring, and fretting against the Lord: but the other with all meekness and lowliness of mind, submit themselves under the afflicting hand of Almighty God, and why? because they understand their afflictions to proceed from a loving and gracious Father, who will do nothing but for their good, howsoever for the present his proceed be sour and unsavoury unto the natural man: but the wicked seeing nothing, but the fierce countenance of an angry judge, fret and fume against him as the enemy and destroyer of their being. If the judgement of God be denounced a●●●●st Cain for his offence, 
Gen. 3.13.  as an untamed Heifer he will kick against his Maker: My punishment is greater than I can bear; 
1. Sam. 3.18.  but let Samuel deliver unto Eli never so harsh news, the grossest of his carriage shall be, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good: If Ahitophel be disgraced, the Gallows shall bewray the implacable discontent of his heart: but although King David be openly reproved for his sin, humble confession is the worst entertainment that he gives the Lords message, learn therefore of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  
My yoke is easy: The second argument which Christ useth to persuade such as come unto him, with patience and constancy to take his yoke upon them, is taken from the easiness, and facility of the task: things light and easy to be performed are at the command of a Superior, with great patience and constancy cagerly to be taken in hand; especially, being exceeding profitable, and making for the good of the Patient, but so it is, that my yoke is easy, and my burden light.  
First, because of the perpetual assistance of my holy Spirit, whereby you are strengthened in the inner-man, the better to bear the afflictions which outwardly you suffer in the body: according to that of the Apostle: 
1. Cor. 10.13.  God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  
Secondly, it is easy, because of the unspeakable felicity and happiness, which after small continuance it brings unto the Patient: Our light affliction, 
2. Cor. 4.17.  which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory: And again, 
Rom. 8.18.  I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Therefore Saint Paul speaking of himself, saith, 
Coloss. 1.24.  Who now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the Church. And again, 
Rom. 5.3.  We rejoice in tribulations: my brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.  
My yoke. First, because according to my good will and pleasure, I impose and lay the same upon the necks of my followers: for afflictions come not unto the Saints by chance, or fortune, but from the Lord; according to that of job, 
job. 1.21. & 5.17, 18.  The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the Name of the Lord. And again, Happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty, for he maketh sore and bindeth up, he woundeth and his hands make whole: Secondly it is his yoke, because in his own person he hath deeply tasted the bottom and very dregs of this Cup; according unto that of the Prophet, He is despised and rejected of men, 
Esay 53.3, 4, 5, 6.  a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him. Thirdly, he calls it his yoke, for difference and distinctions sake between the afflictions of the godly, and punishments of the wicked: the one beareth the yoke of God's fierce wrath and indignation, because of their abominable transgressions; but the other, the yoke of fatherly correction: the one yoke is imposed and laid on, for the destruction and overthrow of the patiented; but the other, for the chastisement of sons, that thereby they may learn, not to provoke their heavenly Father unto further displeasure. Fourthly and lastly, Christ calls it my yoke, in regard of the gracious assistance of his holy Spirit, whereby he comforts, upholds, and strengthens the hearts of his children, for the more patiented and constant bearing of the same: For we have not an High Priest, 
Heb. 4.15.  which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things tempted as we are, ●hat he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Blessed therefore be God, even the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. To whom, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, praise, and glory, now, and for evermore. Amen.  
FINIS.