A20559:181
The bright star which leadeth wise men to our Lord Jesus Christ, or, A…
The bright star which leadeth wise men to our Lord Jesus Christ, or, A familiar and learned exposition on the ten commandments gathered from the mouth of a faithful pastor by a gracious young man, sometime scholar in Cambridge.The bright star which leadeth wise men to our Lord Jesus Christ, or, A familiar and learned exposition on the ten commandements gathered from the mouth of a faithfull pastor by a gracious young man, sometime scholler in Cambridge.
London: printed by John Harison for Thomas Man, 1603London: printed by Iohn Harison for Thomas Man, 1603
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
He that hath all these things keepeth the law of God; indeed no man can fulfil it, neither is it required of Gods children, that they should: because they be under grace, and not under the law, for the rigour of it. But for those that be out of Christ, this condition is proposed to them, win it and wear it, keep the law in full perfection, & have happiness in full perfection, but break it in the least title, & loose your salvation: those which are not in Christ are thus bound, but those which are his members, & that are made one with him by faith, are under grace, & there is a more favourable obedience required of them, not to fulfil the law in the extremity of it, but to keep the law in the uprightness of their harts, and to do so much as Gods spirit that is bestowed on them, gives them power to do.
He that hath all these things keepeth the law of God; indeede no man can fulfill it, neither is it required of Gods children, that they should: because they be vnder grace, and not vnder the law, for the rigour of it. But for those that bee out of Christ, this condition is proposed to them, winne it and weare it, keepe the law in full perfection, & haue happinesse in full perfection, but breake it in the least title, & loose your saluation: those which are not in Christ are thus bound, but those which are his members, & that are made one with him by faith, are vnder grace, & there is a more fauourable obedience required of them, not to fulfill the law in the extremitie of it, but to keepe the law in the vprightnesse of their harts, and to doe so much as Gods spirit that is bestowed on them, giues them power to doe.
But now to return to the doctrine it self, whosoever loves God, must in this manner as hath been spoken keep the law of God. This is proved 1. John 5. 3. 4. This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. Is it so may one say? then that is a very hard piece of work, few can do that, nay saith he, his commandments are not grievous, for all that is borne of God over cometh the world, he shows that a christian so far as he is regenerate, he hath conquered the world, and then Gods commandments cease to be burdensome, for the things that make Gods commandments heavy unto us, is our worldliness and fleshly lusts which strive against the spirit, but when Gods spirit which regenerateth us, hath set down and over come those lusts, in that measure, Gods commandments are very easy & lightsome, & we shall with as much comfort and quietness obey them, as Adam in his innocency, when we are once truly converted, according to the measure of our conversion. It is a most tedious thing to a christian hart, to obey the devils commandment, but it is most joyous to follow Gods. As if it were permitted to a christian man, for the while, to steal, to lie, to commit adultery, and to break the sabbath, or such like, why, his soul would abhor it, and he would rather die