they walk and covers their misery and danger so that they neither see nor fear the dreadful tribunal of that just Judge who will condemn all Apostates that turn from the right way They walk saith the Apostle in the vanity of their mind having the understanding darkned being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart being past feeling they have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness Ephes 4.17 They count their life a market for gain and say we must be getting every way though it be by evil means Wisd 15.12 And then it often happens by a just judgment that their faith comes to be as debaucht as their life that having long said it by their wicked deeds they at last say it in their heart that there is no God 3. I have already and cannot too often note the cause of this evil that is Adam who by his sin not only lost the uprightness of his will but also the true light of his understanding so that in him who was the stock and root whence all men grow we were depriv'd of both And now this corruption of the will inclines man to self-love vain glory and an imperious pride to covetousness sloth sensuality and looseness And in the darkness of the understanding exposeth him to ignorance and false apprehension of things to doubts errors and lies and makes him have an aversion to good and serious thoughts Thus man is become earthly weak and distemperd unable to resist the sinful motions of his own heart and unable to know or to attain true felicity but rather as it is written His ways are always grievous and God's judgments are far above out of his sight Psal 10.5 And he now being alienated from God to whom all things should be refer'd is also a stranger to virtue which consists in the intention in being design'd to please God rather than in the act But that Soul which by the Grace of our Blessed Jesus is redeem'd from this power of Satan and slavery to sin is also enabled to cleave stedfastly to God in whom it enjoys Peace and joy and full satisfaction all that can make him intirely happy for he is unreasonable and too unsatiable to whom God is not sufficient CHAP. XVI Another reason why so many miss of their end their living too much by sense 1. WHereas reason it self teaches and all men freely confess that things to come should be prefer'd to things present heavenly things to things earthly and things eternal to things that last but for a short time 't is hard to conceive why so many who believe and acknowledge this yet by their actions strongly deny it In worldly matters and such as concern this present life they are very active very wise and very laborious in others they seem to have neither sense nor reason If you speak to them of God of Holy-Living and Life Eternal they understand you not or they presently forget what you said Things material and perishing are sensible and therefore more regarded and set by though oftentimes experience will force them to know that all human concerns are flitting uncertain and very deceitful yet men follow sense and they soon return to embrace those things which custom and a familiar converse hath made dear to them 2. The fall as I said of our first Parents is the head-spring whence all this mischief flows from it proceed all temptations as also the darkness and inconstancy of our minds but the more immediate cause of it which I now consider is the imbecillity depravation and weakness of the faculties of our souls which have no right apprehension of the things of God and but an imperfect confused notion of the amazing concerns of Eternity The loveliness of virtue and the great deformity of sin the terrors of death and the dread of God's righteous judgments the joys of Saints above and the grievous torments of the wicked in hell these are but words which we hear we have dark and narrow conceptions of them we understand not of how great an importance they are and therefore we are not so affected with them as to be made wise unto salvation Of things offer'd to our consideration we only mind that least outward part which falls under the reach of sense but we attend not to that which is less sensible though more considerable and apt effectually to work upon the mind Thus in sin we look most of all to what 's temporal we are more concern'd for the impairing of our same and the diminution of our worth or self-complacency than for having offended God and made our selves obnoxious to an infinite pain Likewise in a dying man we most observe what is in view outward symptomes and accidents little regarding the more essential adjuncts which concern the soul and are of far greater moment And we conceive of the last judgment and the unquenchable flames of Hell which are imperceptible to sense as of things which are nothing to us and which we have no interest to mind 3. The same deception also extends it self to things present which gratifie our appetite we take notice only of that outside which pleaseth us and so deplorable is our sottish mistake that we count our selves very happy to enjoy that for a moment which must make us eternally miserable Every man knows his Soul is immortal and many Philosophers have writ great things upon that subject but where are they that are solicitous for its well-being after death Do not most men neglect their soul and live as if it were to die with the body The mischief is that generally men live neither by faith nor by reason they follow blindfold and brutishly just as sense leads them avoiding carefully what is now troublesom to the flesh as if nothing else were to be done here and nothing else fear'd hereafter CHAP. XVII That we being the Children of God ought to be guided by his Spirit and by the example of Christ 1. IF a man should rightly understand and seriously consider that God by a gracious adoption owns him for his son that he is redeem'd by the Bloud of Christ and born again by Holy Baptism into the hope of Eternal Life he would doubtless esteem it his noblest title and his greatest honour he would despise all earthly advantages and mind and value nothing but what is Divine and Eternal and passionately desiring to come to his Father he would do nothing unworthy of him As he that acts the King on the stage though it be but a vain shew to delight vainer people yet is careful to do and to speak nothing but what befits a King so and much more careful should a Christian be to do nothing unworthy of that honourable name which makes him a brother and disciple of Jesus and an heir of his Heavenly Kingdom And as a picture-drawer when he is upon a great design fixes his
eyes and mind on that Original which he means to copy So should a follower of Christ in all his words and actions set before himself his Master's Life as the most perfect exemplar he is resolv'd to imitate and never to swerve from 2. Now he that professeth Christ and remains in him should walk as he walked carefully observe and follow the steps of his new and better Lord. For as whilest we remain in the state of Nature and follow its instinct we are Children of wrath and are slaves to Satan and to our own lusts so now we are redeem'd from that unhappy slavery by the bloud of Christ his Grace must be the principle of all our actions we must carefully follow him whose members we are 1 Cor. 15.47 The first man is of the Earth earthly the second man is the Lord from Heaven therefore as we have born the Image of the Earthy we should also bear the Image of the Heavenly making that our first and chiefest care that we walk worthy of our high calling as being led by his Spirit from whom we have our highest title for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his saith the Apostle Rom. 8.9 3. Now he alone hath the Spirit of Christ whose outward and inward life that is whose actâ—ons and affections are according to the Pattern of Christ's blessed example who endeavours always to speak and act as Christ his Master did According as we are exhorted not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit being created anew in Jesus Christ unto good works We should look unto the Rock whence we are hewn not living after the methods of depraved man but walking in the ways of that righteous God from whom we have our being that we being holy in all manner of conversation may be own'd to be the children of our Father which is in Heaven For he certainly is no child of God who is not led and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ CHAP. XVIII The Just liveth by faith not by the laws of flesh and bloud 1. FAith is to all virtues and to a Christian life the same thing as the root is to the tree the foundation to the building and the Spring to the fountain for it is the first lesson of Christianity from whence we learn all the rest there we must first begin and without it it is impossible to please God for the just lives by faith The Commendation Job gives to wisdom Chap. 28. is justly due to Faith Faith being the principle of it and likewise it is evident and granted by all wise men that Solomon's high Encomium of Wisdom doth but set forth the Divine excellencies of Faith Wisd 7. Gold in respect of her is as little sand and silver shall be counted as clay before her she is a treasure unto men that never faileth which they that use become the friends of God She is the brightness of the everlasting light the unspotted mirrour of the power of God and the Image of his goodness The doctrine of Faith apprehended by Faith teacheth us all Truth informs our Souls what we ought to love what to shun and what to pursue It teacheth us that what the world counts good is evil And that worldly calamities are good if indur'd patiently It teacheth us to despise things visible and temporal and all that which is for no use but to the material part of us It teacheth us to know God and to know our selves which is the true saving knowledge and the highest of our wisdome And it frees us from the pernicious errors of this foolish world and from its wretched slavery to make us wise unto salvation and set us at perfect liberty 2. There is a vast distance and great contrariety betwixt the instructions of faith and the customs of this present world but then Christ who delivers the first being ever true and infallible it is clearly our duty and interest to live by faith and not by sense to follow the holy light of our holy faith not the wicked example of this wicked world And withal 't is much to be observ'd that depraved as we now are there is nothing in us nothing in our nature but what is contrary to the principles of the Christian Faith and altogether destructive of them For 't is the constant dictate and endeavour of flesh and bloud and natural reason to procure by all means possible a well-being to our selves in this present world without taking any further care of a better life and a blessed Eternity This evil men have from Adam and from those lusts which reign in their mortal bodies and the best of men have still some cause to groan under the sense of it Rom. 7. The good that I would I do not and the evil which I hate that I do O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death St. Paul answers the Grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ will deliver us For by Grace we are sav'd from our blindness and impotency and enabled to see and chuse that which is good and to perform the same and the first and chiefest work of that grace is faith whereby we are united to Christ and receive a new life from him CHAP. XIX That Faith works in a Christian self-denyal and contempt of the World 1. GReat is the power and strength of Faith for it makes the faithful Christian to be as it self is unshaken and unmovable The true believer whose faith is lively and active regards and seeks nothing but God and in him alone finds light and peace delight and full satisfaction but in the world and in the sons of men he finds neither rest nor pleasure for in time of need there is no help in them They are like all other things under the Sun perishing and unstable so that he that relies on them must expect the same destiny whereas he that trusts on God who is unmoveable is established for ever As the Saints that see God as he is become like unto him so should our life express the holiness of our belief our actions should be a lively representation of what we see by faith and we should glory in nothing but in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ which to the lovers of this present world is a reproach and an offence 2. The first man indeed in the state of his innocence might have come to Bliss by a free and lawful use of those good creatures which God had prepar'd for him in the delights of Paradise but after he had rebel'd against God and infected his unborn posterity with sin the Divine Wisdom appointed another way to Bliss that is the way of the Cross and Self-denyal through which Christ himself past and appointed the same to all his followers saying Luke 9.23 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross daily and follow me And again Luke 14.26 33.
most gracious Providence and interpret the most afflictive events as signs of his care and good will for us casting our selves into the arms of his infinite mercies and suffering him to fit us for himself by what means he pleaseth 4. Slanders Treacheries Oppressions Losses Rapes Thefts Sicknesses Plagues Famines and all other calamities publick or private they are all sent and appointed by God for to punish or reclaim wicked men or else to exercise and perfect the Righteous therefore under the sense or apprehension of any of these let a Christian humble himself and worship and say with patient Job Blessed be the name of the Lord. Masters commit their work and their affairs to trusty servants and yet acquaint them not with their secret intents and all the train of their designs so should we like faithful and humble servants yield to God chearfully an active or passive obedience in all things unconcern'd for the final event how in any particulars God will dispose of us or of others taking that to our selves which our Blessed Lord told St. Peter once What is that to thee follow thou me follow me whatever happens and mind nothing else If thou art entred upon a good design some profitable undertaking and canst not go on with it by reason of sickness or some other hindrance which thou canst not help grieve not and be not dejected for God knows what is best for thee follow him wheresoever he calls Thus if we would meekly entertain Gods will and be guided by it Peace and Tranquillity would dwell in our hearts and perturbations could have no access to the place wherein God dwells and reigns CHAP. XXXI Of the Resignation of our selves to God in all things 1. 'T IS good to wish that God would afflict us and that we may suffer for him and from him but 't is yet better to be wholly devoted to him so as to follow without anxiousness or reluctancy whithersoever he is pleased to lead Natural life shews it self by the acts of sense and motion Spiritual life by the cessation of those acts when we no longer live our selves but Christ lives in us For he that truly forsakes himself and transfers the motions of his mind and the liberty of his will to God lives here as a new born Infant without choise or desires of his own having wholly permitted himself to the Divine guidance he is free from himself and lives the life of Grace In all cross accidents he looks and rests upon Providence and of all the World calls nothing his own because he himself is not his own but Gods in whose hand he is as an instrument to be done with and put to such use as the Master shall please He is not curious and inquistive after Divine secret Counsels but he adores them and believes them to be always just and equitable and therefore in what matter and for what cause soever God is pleased to determine any thing he assents and yields and thinks it best 2. He depends upon God for all the concerns of Nature of Grace and Glory and divesting himself of his own liberty he chuseth Gods will and makes it his own And whereas by natural corruption man hath too much complacency in himself and delights in the best acts of his will rather as his own than as good whence proceed many troubles he that hath parted with his own will to make it one with Gods suffers no grief in himself nor any creature but always rejoyceth in his acquiescence to the Divine pleasure At best if natural affections cannot be quite subdued yet this prevails and the man easily overcomes his sorrows and finds in God peace and satisfaction None can resist the Almighty he doth whatsoever pleaseth him and his will must absolutely take place in all things therefore better it is willingly to follow than be drag'd better it is to comply with than to be forc'd by it 3. Our content and tranquillity consists in our meek subjection to the will of God And even if we have fallen into great and mischievous sins though we are seriously to repent to chastise and afflict our selves yet we must not give way to distracting perturbations and a tedious and confused spirit but rather we must humbly implore the Divine mercy which permitted us to fall that we might not be high-minded but fear and be sensible of our own frailty in our fall and of the Divine Grace when we rise up again and stand we must patiently wait upon God and beg for Pardon and the return of his favour with a contrite heart and without impatience or amazement make it our diligent study and indeavour to mortifie our sins and amend our lives A faithful and wise servant under God seeks and desires nothing but that his Lords commands may be fulfilled he will always be disposed to say from his heart Thy will be done I am ready to do and suffer thy pleasure Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Mat. 11.26 Wilt thou grant me health and plenty and inward peace and joy or wilt thou have me be poor and sickly and to live in mournful sadness and spiritual driness thy will be done do with me what thou pleasest for I am wholly thine 4. This preparedness of mind and indifferency to all things that God shall please to send will free a man from all anxious troubles and fears and from being cast down nay will make him undaunted always peaceable or always victorious in all adversities We are forbidden by our Saviour Christ to be solicitous about food and raiment how much more about superfluous things which minister only to vanity We must do our duty and leave all to God and rest our selves upon his gracious and Almighty will for even the peace of the Soul is lost if it be sought too anxiously Too much care and inquisitiveness after things to come betray a timerous and unsettled mind not yet resign'd to God and are the effects of self-love afraid to suffer any thing God who sees all things from above knows what is best for every man and he sweetly and powerfully disposing all things takes a special care of that man that depends and relies upon him CHAP. XXXII That the Hope of our Salvation must rest upon God 1. A Man guided by the Christian wisdom will not only as the Gospel commands leave all temporal things to Gods disposal taking no thought for the morrow but also commit his Soul and Salvation to him who never faileth them that trust in him In this hope and in conforming his will to Gods will he will work out his Salvation admiring and reconciling together the Divine Justice and Mercy and yet not seeking to enter into the deep abyss of Gods secret judgments and decrees a bold presumption which belongs to none but to wicked impenitents whose desperate Lives make their Souls desperate because they will not leave their sins and return to God 'T is true indeed