Ot true coFluer0r1. God intended to fit ;phiskingdome among you, and to offer youthemeanes how you might hauecome to' raigne for euer with himin his glory. Againe; Chri(t threatened the Iewesof theirvnthankfulneffe, that thekingdom eafged Jhow1d betakenfrem rheme:that is,theGofpel (hoúld no longer be preached among a Mo _r t them, and fothey thould be deprived of all ordinary manes of life eternall.The word that beremoued,& when ir is oncegone;be Cure that thegatesofbeauen are even barred vpagainfl you. We scade that ',webwhen helaw in histrauell, the ladder of God, and the Angelsa(cending &defcending, and had the comfortable promife of faluation and of Godscontinual! pretence and afsiflancemadevnta him,thenawakinghefaid, ThisisnoneotherbuttheboafèofGoel,t5.thirittbegateof dGkn,áB.rà:. {ieaaen a : fo that where God doth pleafeto manifdit & make knowne the tweet- nes &riches ofhis mercy(as he doth inhis word &Sacraments)there is thegate ofheaten,there isthe wayand paffagevnro happines.Chrifl reproueth the Phari. (esand Doorsofhis time;Woe be toyoa(faith he)yonbauefßat up thekingdome of heasen beforemen.. Ifyou demand how it wasintheir power to(hut vp heaueu, h Mat.aa. ourSauiour himfelfe(baiexpoundie ,yehaue takenawayehe keyof knowledgeFahey fLuke:r,g:, nonzkd thepeople inignorance , and did not teach them the wayesof God, as they ought todoe; therefore theywere laid tofloppevpthe way to heaueu : fo that where knowledge is offered, thetruth taught , the do&rineoffaluationdif couered, there the gate ofheaven is opened, therethe way tohappinefleis made plaineto all that delire to enter in into it. As thépreachingof the Gofpel is cal- id the way and entrance, into the kingdome of gloryin heaueu; loare thofe inward graces'which the Lord worketh in his children by the word, filedwith the fame names for whichpurpofe Ireferre you but toone place ofS. Freer t e a.Pct;ra where the Apoftlecommending vnrothem to whom he wrote many graces, as vertae,faith, (bnoreledge;temperance, patience, godlineffe, brotherly kindneße,lone,and exhorting them by theft things tomakedu. rcalbng andeledlianfare, addesthis as a reafon ; By thismeatus an entrance fbaflbe miniflredvnroyouaboandantly, into the eaerlafling kingdomeofour Lordand Skioar lefu: Chrift. Sothat chefe graces bellowed in this life, doe glueau entrance into that Irappine{lewhich is looked for intire life to come. And therefore alto the Apoflle Tad calleth than(pi- ritual! graces, ridhteoafnefie, peace, icy in the holyChatt, the kingdemeofGod h hRum,tq.zy becaufe where they are, there the Lord raignes, and they which are endued with them , (hall raigne for euer withhim in his glory. So that by this that I have (aid it isplaine, that according to the language oftheScripture, this title (the kingdomeof heaven) doth fitly appertain onto the goodmeanes which the Lord kath appointed , by which tobring vs to this kingdome whether it be the outward exercife of the word and Sacraments, or thein- ward grace which by the outward meaner heeconueyeth into thehearts of his chores. And in this fenfe is this phrafe the kingdome ofbeasen., to bee taken in this place : fo that when it is laide, Thekietgdöiode ofhearses, it is all one as ifit had beene faide thus; The meaneroffaluation, by which the way to heaueu is made known unto vs, and the true knowledge of God, and ofhis SonneChrifl, begotten in our hearts, is asatreafare hid inthe fseld,si e. Out ofthis interpretation whichoutoftbe Scripture I haue iuRifiedtouching 1he doff. thispisarfe,the kingdome beaaen, we may by theway learnt thus much:That no man (halbeadmitted into the kingdomeofheaaen hereafter whodoth not make entrance into it in thislife. For feeing(ashash binproued)the kingdome of God bath twodegrees;(It is begun here onearth,it is perfited&madevp hereafter)it mull needsfollow, that no man (hallpofleffe it inheauen,that doth not takepof- fefsion hereone earth. The manneroffpeakingviedinScripture ,isforopening ofthis point worth thenoting. Oat Sauiour in his a prayer title beforehisdeath faith, that to knowGodand bimWhom beebathTent Cbrifflefsse,is life eaerlafting': 116473 Z a make
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