dereth that it must be God which hath built and created all things, although because the number of his days be few, he could not see when God disposed his works of old; when he caused the light of his clouds first to shine, when he laid the corner-stone of the earth, and swaddled it with bands of water and darkness, when he caused the morning star to know his place, and made bars and doors to shut up the sea within his house, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." He hath no eye-witness of these things; yet the light of natural reason hath put this wisdom in his reins, and hath given his heart thus much understanding. Bring a pagan to the schools of the prophets of God; prophesy to an infidel, rebuke him, lay the judgments of God before him, make the secret sins of his heart manifest, and he shall fall down and worship God. They that crucified the Lord of glory, were not so far past recovery, but that the preaching of the apostles was able to move their hearts, and to bring them to this," Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Agrippa that sate in judgment against Paul for preaching, yielding notwithstanding thus far unto him, "Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian." Although the Jews, for want of knowledge, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God; yet "I bear them record (saith the apostle), that they have a zeal." The Athenians, a people having neither zeal nor knowledge, yet of them also the same apostle beareth witness, "Ye men of Athens, I perceive ye are decoidaiμovéσtεpoi, some way religious ;" (Acts xvii. 22.) but mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts, they have smothered every spark of that heavenly light, they have trifled away their very natural understanding. O Lord, thy mercy is over all thy works, thou savest man and beast; yet a happy case it had been for these men, if they had never been born and so I leave them. : 10. St. Jude having his mind exercised in the doctrine of the Judas vir saapostles of Jesus Christ, concerning things to come in the last time, piens et certi became a man of wise and staid judgment. Grieved he was to see the departure of many, and their falling away from the faith which before they did profess, grieved, but not dismayed. With the simpler and weaker sort it was otherwise: their countenance began by and by to change, they were half in doubt, they had deceived themselves in giving credit to the gospel of Jesus Christ. St. Jude, to comfort and refresh these silly babes, taketh them up in his arms, and sheweth them the men at whom they were of fended. Look upon them that forsake this blessed profession wherein you stand: they are now before your eyes; view them, mark them, are they not carnal? are they not like to noisome carrion cast out upon the earth? is there that spirit in them which crieth Abba, Father, in your bosoms? Why should any man be discomforted? Have you not heard that there should be “mockers in the last time?" These verily are they that now do separate themselves. 11. For your better understanding what this severing and separating of themselves doth mean, we must know that the multitude of them which truly believe, howsoever they be dispersed far and wide each from other, is all one body, whereof the head is Christ; one building, whereof he is corner-stone, in whom they, as the members of the body, being knit, and as the stones of the building, being coupled, grow up to a man of perfect stature, and rise to an holy temple in the Lord. That which linketh Christ to us is his mere mercy and love towards us. That which tieth us to him, is our faith in the promised salvation revealed in the word of truth. That which uniteth and joineth us amongst ourselves, in such sort that we are now as if we had but one heart and one soul, is our love; who be inwardly in heart the lively members of this body, and the polished stones of this building, coupled and joined to Christ, as flesh of his flesh, and bones of his bones, by the mutual bond of his unspeakable love towards them, and their unfeigned faith in him, thus linked and fastened each to other, by a spiritual, sincere, and hearty affection of love, without any manner of simulation; who be Jews within, and what their names be, none can tell, save he whose eyes do behold the secret dispositions of all men's hearts. We, whose eyes are too dim to behold the inward man, must leave the secret judgment of every servant to his own Lord, accounting and using all men as brethren, both near and dear unto us, supposing Christ to love them tenderly, so as they keep the profession of the gospel, and join in the outward communion of saints. Whereof the one doth warrantize unto us their faith, the other their love, till they fall away, and forsake either the one, or the other, or both; and then it is no injury to term them as they are. When they separate themselves, they are avroкATAKseparation. peroì, not judged by us, but by their own doings. Men do separate themselves either by heresy, schism, or apostacy. If they lose the bond of faith, which then they are justly supposed to do when they frowardly oppugn any principal point of Christian doctrine, 1. Heresy. this is to separate themselves by heresy, If they break the bond of unity, whereby the body of the church is coupled and knit in one, as they do which wilfully forsake all external communion with saints in holy exercises purely and orderly established in the church, Threefold this is to separate themselves by schism. If they willingly cast off, 2. Schism. and utterly forsake both profession of Christ and communion with Christians, taking their leave of all religion, this is to separate themselves by plain apostacy. And St. Jude, to express the manner of 3. Apostacy. their departure, which by apostacy fell away from the faith of Christ, saith, "They separated themselves;" noting thereby, that it was not constraint of others, which forced them to depart, it was not infirmity and weakness in themselves; it was not fear of persecution to come upon, whereat their hearts did fail; it was not grief of torment, whereof they had tasted, and were not able any longer to endure them: no, they voluntarily did separate themselves with a fully-settled and altogether-determined purpose, never to name the Lord Jesus any more, nor to have any fellowship with his saints, but to bend all their counsel, and all their strength, to raze out their memorial from amongst them. 12. Now, because that by such examples, not only the hearts of infidels were hardened against the truth, but the minds of weak brethren also much troubled, the Holy Ghost hath given sentence of these backsliders, that they were carnal men, and had not the spirit of Christ Jesus, lest any man having an over-weening of their persons should be over-much amazed and offended at their fall. For simple men, not able to discern their spirits, were brought, by their apostacy, thus to reason with themselves: If Christ be the son of the living God, if he have the words of eternal life, if he be able to bring salvation to all men that come unto him, what meaneth this apostacy and unconstrained departure? Why do his servant so willingly forsake him? Babes, be not deceived, his servants forsake him not. They that separate themselves were amongst his servants, but if they had been of his servants, they had not separated themselves. "They were amongst us, not of us," saith St. Infallible John; and St. Jude proveth it, because they were carnal, and had the faithful, not the Spirit. Will you judge of wheat by chaff, which the wind that they are hath scattered from amongst it? Have the children no bread, be God's chilcause the dogs have not tasted it? Are Christians deceived of that salvation they look for, because they were denied the joys of the life to come which were no Christians? What if they seemed to be pillars and principal upholders of our faith? What is that to us, which know that angels have fallen from heaven? Although if these men had been of us indeed (O the blessedness of a Christian man's estate!) they had stood surer than the angels that had never departed from their place: whereas now we marvel not at their departure at all, neither are we prejudiced by their falling away; because they were not of us, sith they are fleshly, and have evidence in dren. not the Spirit. Children abide in the house for ever; they are bondmen and bondwomen which are cast out.' 13. It behoveth you therefore greatly, every man to examine his own estate, and to try whether you be bond or free, children or no children. I have told you already, that we must beware we presume not to sit as gods in judgment upon others; and rashly, as our conceit and fancy doth lead us, so to determine of this man, he is sincere; or of that man, he is an hypocrite; except by their falling away they make it manifest and known that they are. For who art thou that takest upon thee to judge another before the time? judge thyself. God hath left us infallible evidence, whereby we may at any time give true and righteous sentence upon our. selves. We cannot examine the hearts of other men, we may our own. That we have passed from death to life, we know it, saith St. John, because we love the brethren: "And know ye not your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?" I trust, beloved, we know that we are not reprobates, because our spirit doth bear us record, that the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ is in us. 14. It is as easy a matter for the Spirit within you to tell whose ye are, as for the eyes of your body to judge where you sit, or in what place you stand. For what saith the Scripture? "Ye which were in times past strangers and enemies, because your minds were set on evil works, Christ hath now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to make you holy and unblamable, and without fault in his sight; if you continue grounded and established in the faith, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." (Coloss. i.) And in the third to the Colossians, "Ye know, that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of that inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." If we can make this account with ourselves; I was in times past dead in trespasses and sins, I walked after the prince that ruleth in the air, and after the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience; but God, who is rich in mercy, through his great love, wherewith he loved me, even when I was dead, hath quickened me in Christ. I was fierce, heady, proud, high-minded; but God hath made me like the child that is newly weaned. I loved pleasures more than God, I followed greedily the joys of this present world; I esteemed him that erected a stage or theatre more than Solomon, which built a temple to the Lord; the harp, viol, timbrel, and pipe, men-singers and women-singers were at my feast; it was my felicity to see my children dance before me; I said of every kind of vanity, O how sweet art thou in my soul! All which things now are crucified to me, and I to them: now I hate the pride of life, and pomp of this world; now "I take as great delight in the way of thy testimonies, O Lord, as in all riches;" now I find more joy of heart in my Lord and Saviour, than the worldly-minded man, when "his wheat and oil do much abound:" now I taste nothing sweet but the "bread which came down from heaven, to give life unto the world;" now mine eyes see nothing but Jesus rising from the dead; now my ears refuse all kind of melody, to hear the song of them that have gotten victory of the beast, and of his image, and of his mark, and of the number of his name, that stand on the sea of glass, "having the harps of God, and singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, O King of saints." Surely, if the Spirit have been thus effectual in the secret work of our regeneration unto newness of life; if we endeavour thus to frame ourselves anew; when we say boldly with the blessed apostle, in the tenth to the Hebrews, "We are not of them which withdraw ourselves to perdition, but which follow faith to the conservation of the soul." For they which fall away from the grace of God, and separate themselves unto perdition, they are fleshly and carnal, they have not God's Holy Spirit. But unto you, "because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts," to the end ye might know that Christ hath built you upon a rock unmovable ;, that he hath registered your names in the book of life; that he hath bound himself in a sure and everlasting covenant to be your God, and the God of your children after you; that he hath suffered as much, groaned as oft, prayed as heartily for you, as for Peter, " O Father, keep them in thy name; O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. I have declared thy name unto them, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved them, may be in me, and I in them." The Lord of his infinite mercy give us hearts plentifully fraught with the treasure of this blessed assurance of faith unto the end. heresy and apostacy. 15. Here I must advertise all men that have the testimony of The papists falsely acGod's holy fear within their breasts to consider, how unkindly and cuse us of injuriously our own countrymen and brethren have dealt with us by the space of twenty-four years, from time to time, as if we were the men of whom St. Jude here speaketh, never ceasing to charge us, some with schism, some with heresy, some with plain and manifest apostacy, as if we had clean separated ourselves from Christ, utterly forsaken God, quite abjured heaven, and trampled all truth and religion under our feet. Against this third sort, God himself shall plead our cause in that day, when they shall answer us for |