were light, but light by reflection, by illustration of a greater light. And as in the first creation, Vesper et mane dies unus, The evening and the morning made the day, evening before morning, darkness before light, so in our regeneration, when we are made new creatures, the Spirit of God finds us in natural darkness, and by him we are made light in the Lord. But Christ himself, and he only, is Illa lux, vera lux, That light, the true light. Not so opposed to those other lights, as though the apostles, or John Baptist, or the faithful, who are called lights, were false lights; but that they were weak lights. But Christ was fons lucis, the fountain of all their light; light so, as nobody else was so; so, as that he was nothing but light. Now, neither the apostles, nor John Baptist, nor the elect, no nor the Virgin Mary (though we should allow all that the Roman church ask in her behalf) for the Roman church is not yet come to that searedness, that obdurateness, that impudency, as to pronounce that the Virgin Mary was without original sin, (though they have done many shrewd acts towards it, to the prejudice of the contrary opinion) yet none of these were so light, as they were nothing but light. Moses himself who received and delivered the law, was not so; and to intimate so much, there was an illustration, and irradiation upon his face, but not so of all his body. Nay, Christ Jesus himself, who fulfilled the law, as man, was not so; which he also intimated in the greatest degree of glorification which he accepted upon earth, which was his transfiguration, for, though it be said in that, That the fashion of his countenance was changed, and his garment was white, and glistered, yet, Lineamenta Petro agnoscibilia servavit, He kept that former proportion of body, that Peter could know him by it. So that this was not a glorifying of the body, and making it thorough light; but he suffered his divine nature to appear and shine through his flesh, and not to swallow, or annihilate that flesh. All other men, by occasion of this flesh, have dark clouds, yea nights, yea long and frozen winter-nights of sin, and of the works of darkness. Christ was incapable of any such nights, or any such clouds, any approaches towards sin; but yet Christ admitted some shadows, some such degrees of human infirmity,

as by them, he was willing to show, that the nature of man, in the best perfection thereof, is not vera lux, tota lux, true light, all light, which he declared in that Si possibile, and that Transeat calix, If it be possible, let this cup pass'; words, to which himself was pleased to allow so much of a retractation, and a correction, Veruntamen, yet Father, whatsoever the sadness of my soul have made me say, Yet, not my will but thine be done; not mine, but thine; so that they were not altogether, all one; human infirmity made some difference. So that no one man, not Christ, (considered but so as man) was tota lux, all light, no cloud. No not mankind, consider it collectively, can be light so, as that there shall be no darkness. It was not so, when all mankind was in one person, in Adam. It is said sometimes in School, that no man can keep the commandments, yet man, collectively, may keep them. They intend no more herein, but that some one man may abstain from doing any act against worshipping of images, another from stealing, another from adultery, and others from others. But if it were possible to compose a man of such elements, as that the principalest virtues, and eminences of all other men, should enter into his composition, and if there could be found a man, as perfect in all particular virtues, as Moses was in meekness, (who was a meek man, above all the men that were upon the earth1o) yet this man would not be vera lux, tota lux, true light, all light. Moses was not so meek, but that he slew the Egyptian, nor so meek, but that he disputed and expostulated with God many times, passionately. Every man is so far from being tota lux, all light, as that he hath still within him, a dark vapour of original sin, and the cloud of human flesh without him.

Nay not only no man, (for so we may consider him in the whole course of his life) but no one act, of the most perfect, and religious man in the world, though that act employ but half a minute in the doing thereof, can be vera lux, true light, all light, so perfect light, as that it may serve another, or thyself, for a lanthorn to his, or thy feet, or a light to his, or thy steps, so that he or thou may think it enough to do so still. For, another man may do so good works, as it may justly work to thy shame, and confusion, and to the aggravating of thy condemnation, that thou

livest not as well as he, yet, it would not perchance serve thy turn, to live but so well; for, to whom God gives more, of him he requires more. No man hath veram lucem, true light, thorough light; no man hath meridiem, augem, that high point that casts no shadow, because, besides original sin, that ever smokes up, and creates a soot in the soul, and besides natural infirmities, which become sins, when we consider grace, no man does carry his good actions to that height as, by that grace, which God affords him, he might do. Slacker men have a declination even in their mornings; a west even in their east; coolings, and faintnesses and afternoons, as soon as they have any dawnings, any break of day, any inchoation of any spiritual action or purpose. Others have some farther growth, and increasing, and are more diligent in the observation of spiritual duties; but yet they have not their meridem, their augem, their noon, their south point, no such height, as that they might not have a higher, by that grace which they have received. In the best degree of our best actions, particularly in this service, which we do to God at this hour, if we brought with us hither a religious purpose to sanctify this festival, if we answer to the callings of his most blessed Spirit, whilst we are here, if we carry away a detestation of our sins, and a holy purpose of amendment of life, this is a good degree of proficiency, and God be blessed, if any of us all arrive to that degree; but yet, this is not vera lux, true light, all light; for, who amongst us can avoid the testimony of his conscience, that since he begun this present service to God, his thoughts have not strayed upon pleasures and vanities or profit, and leaped the walls of this church, yea, perchance within the walls of this flesh, which should be the Temple of the Holy Ghost? Besides, to become vera lux, tota lux, true light, thorough light, requires perseverance to the end. So that till our natural light go out, we cannot say that we have this light; for, as the darkness of hell-fire is, so this light of this heavenly fire, must be everlasting. If ever it go clean out, it was never thoroughly kindled, but kindled to our farther damnation; it was never vera lux, true light, for, as one office of the law is, but to show sin, so all the light of grace may end in this, to show me my desperate estate, from the abuse of grace. In all philosophy

there is not so dark a thing as light; as the sun, which is fons lucis naturalis, the beginning of natural light, is the most evident thing to be seen, and yet the hardest to be looked upon, so is natural light to our reason and understanding. Nothing clearer, for it is clearness itself, nothing darker, it is enwrapped in so many scruples. Nothing nearer, for it is round about us, nothing more remote, for we know neither entrance, nor limits of it. Nothing more easy, for a child discerns it, nothing more hard, for no man understands it. It is apprehensible by sense, and not comprehensible by reason. If we wink, we cannot choose but see it, if we stare, we know it never the better. No man is yet got so near to the knowledge of the qualities of light, as to know whether light itself be a quality, or a substance. If then this natural light be so dark to our natural reason, if we shall offer to pierce so far, into the light of this text, the essential light Christ Jesus, (in his nature, or but in his offices) or the supernatural light of faith and grace, (how far faith may be had, and yet lost, and how far the free-will of man may concur and co-operate with grace, and yet still remain nothing in itself) if we search farther into these points, than the Scripture hath opened us a way, how shall we hope to unentangle, or extricate themselves? They had a precious composition for lamps, amongst the ancients, reserved especially for tombs, which kept light for many hundreds of years; we have had in our age experience, in some casual openings of ancient vaults, of finding such lights, as were kindled, (as appeared by their inscriptions) fifteen or sixteen hundred years before; but, as soon as that light comes to our light, it vanishes. So this eternal, and this supernatural light, Christ and faith, enlightens, warms, purges, and does all the profitable offices of fire, and light, if we keep it in the right sphere, in the proper place, (that is, if we consist in points necessary to salvation, and revealed in the Scripture) but when we bring this light to the common light of reason, to our inferences, and consequences, it may be in danger to vanish itself, and perchance extinguish our reason too; we may search so far, and reason so long of faith and grace, as that we may lose not only them, but even our reason too, and sooner become mad than good. Not that we are bound to believe anything against reason, that is, to believe, we know

not why. It is but a slack opinion, it is not belief, that is not grounded upon reason. He that should come to a heathen man, a mere natural man, uncatechized, uninstructed in the rudiments of the Christian religion, and should at first, without any preparation, present him first with this necessity; Thou shalt burn in fire and brimstone eternally, except thou believe a Trinity of persons, in an unity of one God, except thou believe the incarnation of the second person in the Trinity, the Son of God, except thou believe that a virgin had a Son, and the same Son that God had, and that God was man too, and being the immortal God, yet died, he should be so far from working any spiritual cure upon this poor soul, as that he should rather bring Christian mysteries into scorn, than him to a belief. For, that man, if you proceed so, Believe all, or you burn in hell, would find an easy, an obvious way to escape all; that is, first not to believe hell itself, and then nothing could bind him to believe the rest.

The reason therefore of man, must first be satisfied; but the way of such satisfaction must be this, to make him see, that this world, a frame of so much harmony, so much concinnity and conveniency, and such a correspondence, and subordination in the parts thereof, must necessarily have had a workman, for nothing can make itself: that no such workman would deliver over a frame, and work, of so much majesty, to be governed by fortune, casually, but would still retain the administration thereof in his own hands that if he do so, if he made the world, and sustain it still by his watchful providence, there belongeth a worship and service to him, for doing so that therefore he hath certainly revealed to man, what kind of worship and service, shall be acceptable to him: that this manifestation of his will, must be permanent, it must be written, there must be a Scripture, which is his word and his will: and that therefore, from that Scripture, from that Word of God, all articles of our belief are to be drawn.

If then his reason confessing all this, ask farther proof, how he shall know that these Scriptures accepted by the Christian church, are the true Scriptures, let him bring any other book which pretendeth to be the Word of God, into comparison with these; it is true, we have not a demonstration; not such an