of my Reputation hath been my darling that I valued highest of any thing in the World and consequently a blemish cast upon me in this behalf would wound me deeper than any worldly loss yet a consequent of greater Importance would follow upon it which I value higher than my Reputation viz. The Honour of God the value and esteem of Religion would be wounded through this wound yet if this should befall me am I in a frame and temper of mind to bear it as I should can I be contented to sit under Reproach and Infamy with Patience and Quietness of mind can I content my self with the secret witness of my own Conscience attesting my Innocence though the Imputations under which I fit are as black as Hell can I chearfully make my secret appeal to the Searcher of Hearts and please my self with the Serenity of his Countenance towards me though I am cloathed with Calumnies and Reproaches can I wait his time for my Vindication and content my self though the World never know my Innocence so as my God and my Conscience can attest it if I have not arrived at this temper and pitch of mind it should be my labour to attain it for without it I sink under my Reproaches and Infamies but if I have attained it then under the most dark and cloudy storm of undeserved Reproach and Infamy I enjoy a Goshen within my self I have a beam of light that follows me in the blackest night and I Conquer my Reproaches by suffering them 5. But though this exercise of putting our selves under Notional Afflictions is of singular use to habituate and fit us for such a temper as becomes such a change yet this is not all Afflictions are not only Notional and Possible but there is something more in it there is a greater Probability of them than to be freed and exempt from them they are not only under that degree of things that may be but they come near to that degree of things that must be and that in these respects 1. In respect of our Sin and Demerits Although Afflictions many times are not principally intended as Punishments but are sent for higher ends yet it is most certain that they are deserved to be inflicted as Punishments and are in their own nature a most necessary consequent of Sin They are not expiatory or satisfactory Punishments but they are most certainly Fruits and Effects of Sin and worldly Crosses and Calamities do as naturally flow from precedent Sins as the Crop doth from the Seed that is Sown Now in as much as every day I commit some Sin or other it is no wonder if I reap the Fruits of it in Affliction It is a wonder rather that I meet with no more Calamities and Crosses in this World and it is a Mercy if I meet with them only in this World and not both in this and that which is to come Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the Punishment of his Sin Certainly though they were no Devil or Wicked Men to inflict Punishment upon me as long as I carry Guilt and Sin about me it s no wonder if it raise storms upon me and therefore I have no cause to hope for an Immunity from Trouble so long as I have no Immunity from Sin 2. In respect of our Corruption we have seen Troubles and Afflictions under the former Consideration Sub ratione poenae under the nature of a Punishment in this Consideration sub ratione medicinae in the nature of a medicine The former shews somewhat of the Divine Justice to inflict them the latter much of the Divine Mercy to apply them The truth is our Natural Corruptions are very Many and very Great and for the most part they are most disorderly and dangerous when our condition is Prosperous it is indeed the Fewel of our Corruptions Pride and Vain-glory and Carnal Confidence and Security and Luxury and Intemperance and Insolence and Arrogance and Forgetfulness of God and of our selves and of our Mortality and of our Duty and a Thousand such kind of Vermin do grow and thrive upon Prosperity God Almighty therefore sends Crosses and Afflictions and Troubles and those to cure and chase away and starve these evil Beasts And let any Man observe it either in himself or others we are generally the worse for Prosperity and generally the better under Adversity what ever Sects or Professions we are of and it is a far greater difficulty to manage a Prosperous Glorious condition than a low or Afflicted condition Many times when I have read in the Scriptures that Affliction is the Lot of the Righteous and in the World ye shall have Tribulation I have looked upon it not only as the Issue of the Devil and wicked Mens hatred but also as the Wise Dispensation of Almighty God to suffer it for it is for their Safety and Benefit Affliction doth in no sort so much endanger a good Man to lose his Innocence Worth and Virtue as Prosperity Wealth and Honour do and therefore I have alwayes thought that Man the securest from Afflictions upon this account that useth his Prosperity with the greatest Piety Watchfulness Moderation and Equality of mind because such a Man keeps a check upon his Corruptions and so stands in less need of this Physick he is like a Man that in his health keeps a good and orderly Diet whereby in probability he stands in less need of a Corrective for Peccant Humours 3. As God out of his Mercy to Good Men sends many times Afflictions to cure or allay their Corruptions So the Devil or evil Men will be sure to inflict them out of Hatred and Envy at their Graces Marvel not if the World hate You it hated Me before it hated You. And it is a great marvel if any Good Man escape Afflictions upon this account for if he be such a one as being in Prosperity sets his Heart too much upon it then the Devil and the World endeavours to deprive him of his Comfort to draw him to Murmuring and Discontent and using of unlawful Means or unworthy Compliances to preserve that which he so much loves or if he be a Man that in his Prosperity keeps his Heart in a right frame and temper then the World or the Devil being disappointed in that condition endeavours to shake him with the other extream and though in reference to both there is Envy and Malice in the Devil inflicting yet there is Mercy and Wisdom in God permitting it in reference to the former for the checking and curing of this growth of Lust and Corruption in reference to the latter for the Tryal of the Sincerity of his Graces as in the case of Job 4. Another reason of the Necessity of Afflictions to Good Men is to carry their Hearts upwards and to make them reach after their Everlasting Hope and set a price upon it The Good things of this World though in our judgment we set not the like esteem
that hath learned the Nature of the Soul and thinks that by death it shall attain a better or at least not a worse condition hath a great freedom from fear of Death and no small viaticum to attain Tranquillity of mind in his life And many such instances are given by the Stoicks especially Seneca and by Tully But when the latter came to an exquisite apprehension of his danger from Anthony his Philosophical Notions and Contemplations were too weak to bear up his mind against those fears and therefore in his Sixteenth Epistle Lib. 10. to Atticus he writes to him to this effect If thou hast any thing to comfort me gather it up and write it not out of Learning or Books for I have these here with me Sed nescio quomodo imbecillior est medicina quam morbus But I know not how it comes to pass the Physick is too weak for the Disease And Job though a Wise and Experienced Man and bore up pretty well in his Afflictions yet his friend Eliphaz tells him and that truly Job 4.3 5. Behold thou hast instructed many and thou hast strengthned the weak hands but now it is come upon thee thou faintest c. Men may have excellent Theories to support in Affliction and can apply them to others in that condition with singular dexterity and advantage yet when the case comes to be their own their Spirits sink under them because these Theories many times flote in the Understanding but are not digested deeply and practically in the Heart Secondly What ever you do gain this Habit and Temper of Mind Actuate and Exercise your Faith make even your Reckonings get your Peace and Assurance setled before Sickness comes For a Man in any kind of suffering besides possibly may learn them because his mind is or may be in his intire strength but most certainly Sickness is an ill time to begin to learn these Contemplations unless they are learned before the Distempers of the Body discompose the Mind and make it unfit to begin to learn It is a time when that which hath been before fitted and laid up in store in the Soul must be drawn out and exercised but it will be a most difficult business then to begin that Lesson which should be learned in Health though practised in Sickness II. Thus much for our Preparation to meet Afflictions Now concerning our carriage under them First In the beginning and first Onset of any Affliction be very careful to keep the Mind in a due temper Call in all your Aids of Reason Religion and Duty to keep you in a right frame and temper of Moderation for Affliction of any kind when it hath lain a while upon a Man will probably bring him into order but at the first Onset the Passions begin to flie out and play reaks and disorder the Soul and fill it with Perturbation Then immoderate Anger or Murmuring or immoderate Sorrow or Fear flie out and Men thereby become less able to bear for the future and many times flie out into that Immoderation and Distemper at first either in Thoughts or Words or Actions that they are sorry for after and so draw upon themselves a double trouble First to Repent of their folly and immoderation and then to fit themselves for sufferings it throws more grains of Sin into the Scale of Afflictions and makes it heavier and many times longer than otherwise it would be And after such Perturbation and Exorbitancy of Passion upon the first inroads of Affliction a Man hath much ado to bring himself into a right and due temper This was Jobs case in the beginning of his Affliction he flies out into more Impatience and Disorder than all the rest of the time therefore beware and see thou keep thy mind in temper and check Perturbation at the first Onset call together all thy Grace and Resolutions and Reason to keep thy mind in due temper at first Secondly On the first Onset of any Affliction Lift up thy heart to God desire his Assistance and Grace to inable thee to carry a due temper and frame of Heart This is not only thy Duty and expected from thee by God but it is a singular help to inable thee to avoid any present Distemper For first it is a means to supply thee with more strength from Heaven to order thy self aright 2. It brings thy Soul into the Presence of God before whom it were a shame to bring any Perturbation the Passions and Distempers of our Minds are under an aw in his Presence 3. It is a diversion of the present bustle and stir that Passions are apt to make and being diverted at first they do not so suddenly nor so easily fall into a disorder Commonly Passions are most disorderly and impetuous upon the first occasion And if they be then interrupted or diverted the succors even of common Reason much more of Grace have opportunity to rally themselves and prevent Immoderate Perturbation Thirdly Make as speedy an Inquisition as thou canst into thy own state and what the cause of this Affliction may be Let us search and try our ways is the voice of every Affliction and commonly every Affliction upon any person that lies under any Sin unrepented of and not forsaken soon leads the Conscience to point out that Sin and indeed most Afflictions in such a case carry upon them the very Inscription of the Sin and bear some Analogy or Proportion with it Adonibezeks Cruelty and Davids Adultery were as it were written in the Punishments they suffered and might easily bring them to their remembrance If thou sufferest in thy Estate consider whether either Immoderate Worldliness and Covetousness or Confidence and Glory in thy Wealth went not before If thou sufferest in thy Name consider whether thy Reputation hath not been thy Idol or whether thou hast not born thy self too high upon thy Reputation and so of other Crosses Fourthly If upon this inquiry thou findest Sin written upon thy Sufferings or in the bottom of them speedily Repent of that sin Humble thy self in the sight of God for it take up Resolution against it This is the voice the injunction that this Rod gives thee and here thy special duty is Humiliation Fifthly If upon search thou findest thy Heart and Conscience clear look upon this Affliction as a Dispensation sent from God and with all Humility submit to his hand and know that the most Wise God sends it for most wise ends though thou seest not any Enormity in thy self that might deserve it It may be it is to exercise thy Patience thy Faith thy Dependance upon him It may be he discerns that some Temptation is like to meet with thee or some Corruption is growing in thee that thou dost not perceive and he sends this Messenger to divert the one and to prevent the other study to improve this Affliction to that end and here thy special duty is Patience and Vigilance Sixthly But it may be upon this search
mind 1. The former part of this Duty is to Know our Creator This is that which aged David commended to his young Son Solomon 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son Know thou the God of thy Father And we have Two excellent Books wherein the Knowledge of God is discovered to us the Book of his Works the Works of his Creation and Providence and the Book of his Word contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament wherein he is more fully and explicitly and plainly discovered unto us These Books we are often to read and consider And this is the chief reason why Understanding and Reason is given unto Mankind and not unto the Beasts that perish namely that we might improve it to the attaining of the Knowledge of Almighty God in the due consideration of the Works and Word of God and hereby we learn his Eternity his Infiniteness his Wisdom his Power his Goodness his Justice his Mercy his Alsufficiency his Soveraignty his Providence his Will his Purpose concerning Mankind his Care of them his Beneficence towards them And the Nature of this Knowledge is not barely Speculative but it is a knowledge that is Operative that perfects our Nature that conforms it to the Image of that God we thus know that sets Mankind in its due state and station keeps it in its just subordination unto the God we thus know which is our greatest Perfection This Knowledge must necessarily make us love him because he is Good Merciful Bountiful Beneficent and therefore the Wise man chuseth to express him by that Title of Creator from whom we receive our very Being and all the good that can accompany it This Knowledge teacheth us to be thankful unto him as our Greatest Benefactor to depend upon him because of his Power and Goodness to fear him because of his Power and Justice to obey him because of his Power Justice and Soveraignty to walk before him in Sincerity because of his Power Justice and Wisdom In sum the several Attributes of Almighty God do strike upon the choicest parts and faculties and affections and tendencies of our Hearts and Souls and do tune them into that order and harmony that is best suitable to the perfecting of our Nature and the placing of them in a right and just posture both in relation to Almighty God our selves and others 2. The second part of our Duty is To Remember our Creator thus known which is to have the Sense and Exercise of this Knowledge always about us to set Almighty God always before our eyes frequently to think of him to make our application to him For many there are that may have a knowledge of God but yet the exercise of that knowledge is suspended sometimes by Inadvertence and Inconsiderateness sometimes by a wilful Abdication of the exercise of that Knowledge And these are such as forget God that have not God in all their thoughts that say to the Almighty Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways The Benefits of this Remembring our Creator are very great 1. It keeps the Soul and Life in a constant and true and regular frame As the want of the Knowledge so the want of the Remembrance of God is the cause of that disorder and irregularity of our minds and lives 2. And consequently the best Preventive of Sin and Apostacy and Backsliding from God and our Duty to him 3. It keeps the Mind and Soul full of constant Peace and Tranquillity because it maintains a constant humble and comfortable converse of the Soul with the Presence and Favor of God 4. It renders all conditions of life comfortable and full of contentment because it keeps the Soul in the presence of God and communicates unto it continual Influxes of Contentment and Comfort for what can disturb him who by the continual Remembrance of his Creator hath the constant acquaintance with his Power Goodness and Alsufficiency 5. Though no Man hath ground enough to promise to himself an Immunity from Temporal Calamities yet certainly there is no better expedient in the World to secure a Man against them and preserve him from them than this For the most part of those sharp Afflictions that befal Men are but to make them Remember their Creator when they have forgotten him that he may open their ears to Discipline and awake them to Remember their Creator Read Job 33. A Man that keeps about him the Remembrance of his Creator prevents in a great measure the necessity of that severe Discipline 6. In short this Remembrance of our Creator is an Antidote against the Allurements of the World the Temptations of Satan the deceitfulness of Sin It renders the best things the World can afford inconsiderable in comparison of him whom we remember it renders the worst the World can do but little and contemptible so long as we Remember our Creator it makes our lives happy our deaths easie and carries us to an everlasting Injoyment of that Creator whom we have here remembred The Injunction of the Duty of Remembring our Creator is the more importantly necessary 1. In regard of the great consequence of the benefit we receive from it as before 2. In regard of the great danger of omitting it The truth is the greatest part of the miscarriages of our lives are occasioned by the want of the remembrance of our Creator then it is that we fail in our Duty when we forget him 3. In regard of the many Temptations this World affords to make us forget our Creator the Pleasures and Profits and Recreations and Preferments and Noise and Business of this Life yea many of them which are in themselves and in their Nature lawful are apt to ingross our Thoughts our Time our Cares and to leave too little room in our memory for this great Duty that most deserves it namely The Remembrance of our Creator Our memory is a noble Cabinet and there cannot be a more excellent Jewel to lodge in it than our Great and Bountiful Creator yet for the most part we fill this noble Cabinet with pebles and straws if not with dung and filth with either sinful or at least with Unprofitable Impertinent Trifling Furniture 2. The Season for this Duty that is here principally commended is The days of our Youth And the Reasons that commend that Season for this Duty are principally these 1. Because this is the most Accepted Time God Almighty was pleased under the Old Law to intimate this in the reservation to himself of the first fruits and the first born And surely the first fruits of our Lives when dedicated to his remembrance are best accepted to him 2. Because this Season is commonly our Turning Season to Good or Evil. And if in Youth we forget our Creator it is very great difficulty to resume our Duty Commonly it requires either very extraordinary Grace or very strong Affliction to reclaim a Man to his Duty whose Youth hath been seasoned with ill Principles
Angel of the Lord smote him Acts 12.23 and when the great King was puffed up with the greatness of his Glory and Power then the Message comes that the Kingdom is departed from him Dan. 4.13 And commonly God takes that season to punish the whole stock of Sins that a man hath committed when his heart is most lifted up Pro. 16.18 Pride goeth before destruction Again Presumptuous Sins these bid defiance to the Name of God to his Truth his Justice his Power his Presence Deut. 29.20 The Jealousie of God will smoke against such a Man Scandalous Sins in those that bear or profess the Name of God 2 Sam. 12.14 by this occasion is given to the Enemies of God to blaspheme Inadvertence and want of Consideration of the Works of God Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operations of his hands therefore shall he destroy them and not build them up Psal 28.5 God therefore doth dispense many of his works of Providence that Men should wisely consider of his doings and declare his work Psal 64.9 This Inadvertence partly disappointeth God of his End and robbeth him of his Glory Misapplication of events either to false causes Idols Fate Fortune or only to Second causes without the due attribution of all to the most Wise and Powerful Counsel of the Mighty Lord Deut. 8.17 18. And thou say in thy Heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is hee that giveth thee power to get Wealth So for promotion Psal 75.6 Victory Isay 10.5 O Assyrian the Rod of mine anger 13. but he saith by the strength of mine hand have I done this and by my Wisdom And as in things concerning others this Observation is to be used so principally in the Occurrences and Providences concerning thy self to labour to know that all things that befal thee come from the most Wise and Just hand of God in all thy Blessings acknowledge his Mercy and labour to find him in them in all thy Afflictions acknowledge his Justice and his Wisdom Labour to find out the Cause and give him the Glory Now concerning the Order of this Petition it fell not in the first place by Chance but he that was the Wisdom of the Father placed it there upon most just Reasons 1. The Glory of God is that which is first to be sought for because it is the chief End of God in all things and that which he principally intended He made all things for his Glory Vide Isa 43.7 21. The first and highest Duty of Man is to Love God and Love to God will carry the Heart to desire that first which God first wills in so much as if the Glory of God must be lost or the Soul that loves him the perfection of Love will choose the preservation of his Glory rather than of it self if it were possible Vide Exod. 32.33 Rom. 9.3 2. It is the Justest and only Tribute that all Creatures can return to God for their Being and Blessing Such is his infinite Self-sufficiencie that it is impossible he can receive any good from them that receive their Being from him Job 35.7 If thou be righteous what givest thou him Psal 16.2 My goodness extendeth not to thee But the return of the Honour and Glory and acknowledgment of his Goodness is all that the Creature can give and that he is pleased to accept Psal 50.15 I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 116.12 Whatshall I return unto the Lord for all his benefits to me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And according to this Debt of Duty which the Creatures owe to God for their being so we find them according to their several capacities and conditions bringing in their Tribute Revel 5.13 And every Creature which is in Heaven in the Earth and under the Earth and in the Sea heard I saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for Ever and Ever 3. It is the best preparative for the Heart that approacheth to God in Prayer to be first taken up withal If in the ordinary Actions of our Nature the Glory of God should affect our heart and be the End at which we should aim 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye Eat or Drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God And if the Son of God in this Pattern of Prayer begins his Petitions with the sanctifying of his Name it is certainly most necessary that the heart of him that sets upon this Duty be taken up with the consideration of the Honour and Majesty of him who will be sanctified by all that draw near unto him and to carry that End through all our Prayers lest while we repeat the words of this Petition we take the Name of God in vain seemingly praying for the Glorifying of that Name which we at the same time dishonour either for want of a due consideration of his Majesty or for want of making his Glory the Rule and End of our Prayers This first Petition therefore requires that the Heart be duly affected with the Glory of that Name which it invokes and duly acted and directed to that Glory and that this Petition be drawn through all the rest of our Requests These ensuing Considerations therefore arise from the placing of this Petition first in this Prayer 1. As thou prayest that his Name be hallowed so in all thy Request labour to Sanctifie the Lord in thy Heart Sanctifie him in his Greatness and Majesty with honourable and reverent thoughts of him in thy Heart with an aweful and humble carriage both of thy inward and outward man as in the presence of the Great and Glorious King of Heaven and Earth Sanctifie him in his Authority and Sovereignty by calling upon him in Obedience to his Command and Will who hath Commanded it by acknowledgment of thy dependance upon him Sanctifie him in his Power and All-sufficiencie by casting thy self upon him who is Mighty to Save and to fulfil thy most Extensive and Large Requests Sanctifie him in his Goodness and Mercy which is infinite more large to pardon thy Sins to supply thy Wants and to fill thee with all good Things than thy Necessities or the widest compass of thy Soul can be to ask Sanctifie him in his Truth and Faithfulness by a recumbence and resting upon his Promises that no one thing shall fail of all the good things that he hath spoken that no man shall seek his Face in vain that he that hath said Whatsoever thou shalt ask in his Son's Name he will give it that hath granted us access unto him upon the purchase of his Son's Blood will in no sort
sensible Creatures of their dependance upon God for their livelihood and much more is required and that most justly from Man It is an act of Mercy and Bounty for God to promise and to give and an act of Duty and Recognition for Man to seek 2. It brings the Soul more to see and to acknowledge and magnifie that Mercy that is given when it is first sued out from God by Prayer A Blessing obtained upon Prayer carries a more immediate impression of the Liberality of God than when it is given unsought for 3. It makes a Blessing the more acceptable when obtained and the more comfortable and contenting in the enjoyment when a man together with the Mercy he receives receives also a sense of the Mercy and Goodness of God coming with it and as in respect of this concomitance so it most times falls out that such blessings so obtained are more suitable and seasonable and ample and useful than such as come in an ordinary way of Providence 4. It fits a man with a better mind to use them with Thankfulness unto God with Sobriety and yet with Cheerfulness when a man shall consider that this blessing I had from the hands of the Almighty God derived to me by that means that he hath enjoyned Prayer bottomed upon his Promise The disturbance that growes to any man in any condition is either out of a disproportion of his condition to a right mind or desire or a disproportion of his mind to a right fruition A Blessing obtained by Prayer avoids both it brings a proportionable good to his mind and desire and it suits the Mind with a proportionable temper to the blessing Eccl. 6.2 Solomon tells us of a man to whom God had given Riches and Wealth and Honour so that he wanted nothing that his heart could desire yet God gave him not power to eat thereof the discomposure of his Mind robbed him of fruition as equally as if he had not had the possession But the blessing of Wealth gotten By Prayer is accompanied with a Mind to use it comfortably and chearfully yet soberly and humbly Sin hath put a curse in the Creatures that they prove unuseful and it hath put a Curse in the Soul that it corrupts the Creature as an ill stomach doth good nourishment so that oftentimes they are occasions of Excess and Intemperance of Pride and Haughtiness of Carnal Confidence and forgetting of God Prov. 30.9 lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Prayer is by the free Goodness of God made a means to take out the Curse from both it sanctifies the Creature 1 Tim. 4.5 Every Creature of God is sanctified by the Word and Prayer by the Word of Command given to the creature to make it serviceable and by the Word of Promise given to the user and by Prayer laying hold upon that Promise and suing out that Blessing that is contained in it and it sanctifies the heart keeps it in dependance upon God in confidence in him in Sobriety before him it teacheth him that the Blessings of this Life come from him are his Blessings my Corn and my Wine and my Oyl And accordingly the Heart is tutored to use them with all Moderation Thankfulness and Contentedness 1. Give us c. Give us our Bread not Pay it us as a Duty The best Title we have to all our Blessings is Free Gift God did not nor could at first owe to any thing its Being and having given a Being to any thing he owes it not Preservation nor the means of it but the gift of the latter is as free as of the former When God said to man In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3.19 he gave him not his Bread as the wages of his Labour but annexed his Toil and Labour as the Curse of his Life and yet such is his Mercy that he gives us our Bread for asking it Matt. 7.11 How much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him O Lord I have no title to the necessaries of my Life but thy free gift and bounty and had I any yet my continual Sins do every moment forfeit that title The Beggar that begs bread at my door hath a better right to the bread he begs as against me than I have to the bread I eat as from thee I come therefore before thee for the necessaries of my life with all abhorrence and detestation of any Merit in my self to deserve them they are thine before thou givest them and they are not mine unless thou givest them and when thou hast given them they are still thine and blessed be thy Name that thou art pleased to give them me for the asking Nor doth my asking of my Bread at thy hands deserve the Gift of it to me but it is the means which thou hast sanctified by thy free promise to procure them for me 2. Give us our Bread We cannot give it our selves our Good is not in our own hands nor power it is he that giveth thee power to get Wealth Deut. 8.16.19 without his Blessings my Labours and Projections will prove fruitless it is vain to rise early and to go to bed late Psal 127.2 or if they arrive to acquire the Bread I want yet he can blow upon it and makes holes in my Bag Hagg. 1.6 9. Can send Worms into my Manna Exod. 16.20 or if my Store become not unserviceable for me yet it must be his Blessing that must enable me to eat of it Eccles 5.19 and 6.2 I will therefore be honestly industrious to get my Bread for it is my Duty Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread But I will not be solicitous touching the Event for he hath said I will not leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 And if the Providence of God second my Endeavours yet I will not sacrifice to my Net Hab. 1.16 But with acknowledgment bless the hand of God that gives me the Bread and labour and pray to make it bread to me for man cannot live by bread alone Matt. 4.4 But by that word of Blessing whereby he makes it my dayly bread 3. Give us our bread yet if thou give it not give us Contentedness for what cause have we to murmur at the denial of that which thou art not bound to give or if thou turn our dayly bread to bread of Carefulness or of Affliction yet give us Patience and we shall be able to live upon this bread Our dayly bread is thy free gift and therefore if thou give it not it is no injury nor cause of repining This Day or Day by Day And why not bread for to morrow as well as for to day the reason of the Prayer is contained in our Saviours Command Matt. 6.32 Take no thought for to morrow And the Reasons of that Command are these 1. To keep us in a continual Dependance upon God
of God to soften that heart again 2. Make a frequent and serious Examination of thy past Actions measure them by the Rule of the Word of God and find out that accursed thing whatsoever it be that is displeasing to him so that as much as may be thou maist distinctly and with reference to particular sins or faults or failings pray over this Petition There is not a day but by a wary observation thou wilt not only find a general indistinct distemper which is to be the subject of this request but particular special eminent Evils that deserve a particular reflection upon them in the repetition of this Petition Let us search and try our wayes and turn to the Lord our God And to this end 3. Endeavour to keep thy Conscience always Wakeful Vigilant Tender be content to listen to her chidings she soldom quarrels without a cause but suppressing checking and stifling the language of Conscience makes her at last either sullen or senseless or outragious A vigilant Conscience will prevent thee from many sins but if it do not it will tell thee of them and bring thee upon thy knees and make this Petition seasonable and a Pardon gotten thereupon acceptable and comfortable for how can that Man with any sense beg Pardon for a sin when he scarce finds himself sensibly guilty of any This Petition is delivered up but carelesly and coldly and fruitlesly by such a person 4. Give God the Honour of his Justice even when thou suest for the Benefit of his Mercy in aggravation of thy sins to the due height in owning damnation and utter rejection as the just reward of every sin humble thy Soul truely and deeply for it This will make thy Prayer earnest and thy Pardon dear it gives to God the Honour of his Justice and the Glory of his Mercy which is all the Tribute thou can'st pay unto him for his free Goodness in giving thee that Pardon without which thou wert eternally lost 5. Give thy Mediator the Honour and End of thy Redemption Thy Saviour died it is true to obtain thy Pardon but wilt thou continue in sin that Grace may abound sin that thou maist be pardoned and renew thy sins that God may renew his Pardon God forbid Thou dost as much as in thee lyeth disappoint the End of Christ's Death who therefore died that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Let the begging of thy Pardon be ever accompanied with a resolution not to offend again otherwise God that sees thy heart looks upon thy asking of Pardon as a higher and more impudent and presumptuous sin than that which thou seemest to beg the forgiveness of 6. Upon the discovery of any particular sin which in a special manner concerns thee beware of these things 1. Sleeping in it without recourse to God for Pardon for it or slipping over it in thy Prayer without a particular animadversion upon it Be content to open this sore The longer it is kept covered the worse it is Thou must know that every sin is written before God with a point of a Diamond and though thou art contented to forget it or by incursion of time to wear out the remembrance or at least the horror of it yet it is written and thou shalt be sure to hear of it and the longer it continues the harder thy heart grows and the deeper doth the canker and stain of that Sin work and spread into thy Soul and the more difficultly is thy Pardon obtained and yet the less earnestly sought It is a secret curse in thy bosom that makes all thy services to God unacceptable and unsavory and who can tell when the decree may come out when this Sin will ripen into an eminent Judgment Therefore clear thy account with God betimes let not the guilt of a Sin lye long upon thy conscience but make thy peace betimes sue out thy Pardon speedily Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth 2. Yet after a Sin freshly committed fall not presently to beg thy Pardon till thou hast humbled thy Heart and put it into a fit frame to come into the presence of God till thou hast got a sense that it is an evil thing and a bitter to depart from him till thou hast crept to thy Saviours Feet for his Blood to wash thee and for his Righteousness to cover thee and for his Mediation to bring thee otherwise a defiled polluted creature into his Fathers presence under his Patronage till thou hast mourned over him whom thou hast pierced and been ashamed before him of thy miscarriage and acted thy Faith upon his All-sufficient satisfaction till thou hast taken up Resolutions of future amendment and then in the Name and Mediation of thy Saviour fall upon thy knees and beg thy Pardon As we forgive our Debtors Luk. 12. For we forgive our Debtors Here we Learn 1. That it is our Duty to forgive others Matt. 18.21 22. Upon their repentance Luk. 17.4 If he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him and that upon these considerations 1. From that conformity that is or should be in our Nature to the Nature of God he is slow to anger and of great Mercy Psal 145.8 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7.18 And Christ coming to renew the broken Image of God in Man and to renew him after the Image of him that created him doth enjoyn imprint this part of the Divine Image Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful And Mercy in the Heart is that excellent habit from whence forgiveness proceeds And hence it is that where the Spirit of Christ comes it assimilates the Nature to that disposition Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is Long-suffering Gentleness Meekness 2. From that great commandment enjoyned by God in the Moral Law Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And much more inforced under the new Covenant even to the Love of our very Enemies Matt. 5.44 I say unto you Love your Enemies and consequently forgive your Enemies for Love is that affection that produceth Pardon and this injunction lyes upon us under the same obligation whereby we are bound to love our Brethren for the Love we owe to God is that grand Obligation that binds to whatsoever he commands Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Therefore if ye love me love and pity and pardon your Enemies 3. From that great Equity and Reason the proportion of Gods dealing with us Matt. 18.32 I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee Colos 3.13 Forbearing one another and forgiving one another even as Christ
Almighty God in the entrance into our Prayers And because our thoughts are easily taken off from these considerations and like Moses Arm our Faith soon declines and our light soon burns out and because there is an equal necessity of Intention of spirit as well in our last request as in our first our Saviour teacheth us to remind those considerations that may support and fortifie our Souls in the close of our Prayers as well as in the beginning that so the consideration of Almighty God his Power and Goodness who is the Beginning and the End the First and the Last may be also the Beginning and the End as of our Prayers so of all our Services Thine is the Kingdom Thou art the only and absolute and rightful Soveraign of all thy Creatures and to thee do all the Creatures in the World owe an Infinite subjection for by thy Power and Goodness they were created and are preserved and yet if it were possible that Infinitude could admit of degrees the children of Men owe a more Infinite subjection unto thee than any of the rest of thy Creatures for thou yet sparest unto them that being that by sin they have forfeited unto thee and yet more than this those whom thou hast redeemed by the Passion of thy Son and sanctified owe thee yet a more Infinite debt of subjection than the rest of the Children of Men and because thou art our King whither should we go to make our requests but unto our King in whom all Authority is justly placed and if thou art our King it is but reasonable for me to desire That thy Name may be glorified that all the subjects of thy Kingdom according to their several conditions may Magnifie and Glorifie the Name of their King That thy Kingdom may come with evidence and demonstration of it self and that all thy Creatures as they owe a just subjection to thee so they may duly perform it that those that have rebelled against thee may return and be brought into subjection to thee that though other Lords have had an usurped dominion over us yet that thy Kingdom may break in pieces all Usurpations and recover thy revolted subjects unto their just Allegiance That thy Will the only rightful Law and Rule of Justice may be done in all places of thy Dominion in Earth and Heaven and that all thy Creatures may submit freely to this thy Will which is the only rule and measure both of their perfection and obedience The Wills of Earthly Kings are subject to Error Oppression and Injustice and therefore thy Providence hath regulated their administrations by Laws and Rules but thy Will is the only Rule Exemplar and Foundation of Justice therefore let thy Will be done That thou wouldest give us our daily bread when the seven years of plenty had filled Pharaoh's store-houses and were after entertained with seven years of Famine the Egyptian's cryed unto their King for bread Gen. 41.55 And whither should we go for Bread for our Bodies but to our King who is Lord of all the store of the World and gives meat to all his Creatures in their season and feeds the young Ravens when they cry And whither should we go for bread for our Souls but to Thee our King who hast intrusted this Bread of Life under the hands of our Joseph our Saviour that thou wouldest Forgive us our sins For our sins are as so many Treasons against thy Majesty and thou alone canst remit against whom alone we can offend the pardoning of Sins as it is thy peculiar Prerogative for who can forgive sins save God only so it is thy Property a part of thy Name pardoning iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.7 That thou wouldest deliver us from Temptation the cause of sin and from Evil the fruit of sin from the incursions of that Rebel against thy Majesty the Prince of Darkness for whither should the Subjects fly for Protection but to their King and though that Prince hath a Kingdom too yet it is regnum sub graviore regno the very Kingdom of Hell is subject to thy Authority and therefore as thou art our King we beseech Thee Protect and Deliver us And the Power There may be a lawful and a just Authority where yet there wants Power to act it but as thou hast a just Sovereignty and Authority over all thy Creatures so thou hast an Infinite Power to do whatsoever thou pleasest nothing is too hard for thee Evil Men and evil Angels though they resist thy Authority cannot avoid thy Power My requests that I have here sent up unto thee they are great requests but yet they are all within thy Power to grant Sin hath drawn a cloud and darkness over our understandings that we cannot see thee It hath infused a malignity into our wills that we cannot abide thee and how then shall we sanctifie that Name which we know not or if we know yet we hate it But thou hast Infinite Power to scatter this darkness that we may see thee to conquer this perversness that we may love and glorifie thee The Prince of darkness hath set up his usurped power and is become the Prince of the World and sets up strong holds in our hearts and mans them with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness but thou hast Infinite Power even by a poor despised Gospel to pull down these strong-holds to subdue those Principalities and Powers to bind the strong man that keeps the House and to set up thy Throne and thy Kingdom even where Satan's seat is The state of our nature is so changed that we that were once fitted for an obedience to thy Will are now become enemies to it resisters of it dead to the obedience of it but thou hast infinite Power by thy very Word of Command to quicken us as well as to create us to change our Natures to conform our Wills to the obedience of thine that so thy Will may be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Sin hath put a curse into the Creature that it hath lost much of that effectual power to support and to preserve our Nature that once it had and it hath put a disorder into the whole Creation so that it is a wonder to see that such a World of men and Creatures amongst whom sin hath sown such a disorder and enmity should be one able to live by another yet thou hast power to remove that curse to provide for the several Exigencies of all thy Creatures according to their several conveniencies to feed us in times and places of necessity to make a Raven our purveyor a Cruise of Oyl or a Barrel of Meal to be a supply for three years Famine Our daily sins committed so often against so great a duty against so many Mercies so much Patience so much Love so much Bounty received from one that owes us nothing are enough to sin away any stock of Pardoning Mercy and Patience below Infinitude But thou hast
thou dost find the true cause of thy suffering is for Righteousness sake for keeping a good Conscience for the honour of thy Redeemer for adhering to the Truth and that this is the cause that stirs up evil Angels and evil Men against thee and then indeed thy suffering loseth the name and nature of an Affliction and becomes an Honour a filling up of the measure of thy Saviours sufferings a suffering that hath not only a Blessing in it but it is a very Blessing it self for Blessed are ye Mat. 5.10 if Men persecute you for Righteousness sake Suffering for or under a Sin committed requires thy Repentance and Humiliation for it is a Judgment Suffering without any Sin before hand signally requiring it requires thy Patience and Vigilance it is an Affliction but suffering for the Testimony of a Good Conscience requires thy Rejoycing it is a Persecution But beware thy Heart deceive the not and make thee believe thou sufferest for a Good Conscience when it may be it is for thy Folly or Frowardness in this case though they that inflict Punishment may want somewhat of that Charity and Moderation that is fit yet thou hast reason to repent for thy Folly and not to Glory in thy Suffering we are wonderful apt to believe well of our selves and flatter our selves many times into the title of Persecution when it is but the fruit of our Folly and Inconsiderate Rashness Seventhly Receive and bear all thy Afflictions with Humility and lowliness of mind for it is a Message sent to thee from the most Wise and Soveraign Lord of the World though it may be by the hands of a most vile and unworthy Man It was an excellent temper in David that when his disloyal Subject cursed him restrained the just indignation of his followers Let him alone it may be the Lord hath commanded him to Curse It may be the Instrument executes his own Malice and Spight and it may be thou canst not find any Signal cause of this Affliction even from the hand of God yet be not Vindictive against the Instrument he doth Gods Errand though he vent his own Malice receive Gods Message and leave the Revenge to him that hath reserved it to himself as his own Prerogative and it may be he will burn the Rod when he hath done with it Neither storm at Gods dispensation it may be thou hast deserved it though thou dost not see it or If thou hast not give leave to thy great Soveraign to deal with his Creature as he pleaseth and put thy mouth in the dust Eighthly Receive it Thankfully as well as Humbly Know that it is sent from the most Wise and Merciful God what he doth he doth upon most excellent Grounds and Reasons It may be it is Preventing Physick against a greater mischief It may be it is for an Improvement of thy Grace it may be it is intended as an evidence that thou art a Son and not a Bastard it may be it is to wean thee from the World it may be it is to fit and qualifie thee for a greater Blessing and to give thee a capacity to receive and bear such a Benefit which without the Preparation of an Affliction would make thee Proud it may be it is to make thee an Example a strengthning to others it may be it is because thy Good things are reserved for the better World and therefore thy Evil things are dispensed to thee here If God be thy Father trust his Wisdom because he is God and trust his Love because he is thy Father and then thou canst not doubt that any thing that he sends deserves thy Thanks though thou seest not wherein the Benefit of it lies Be contented herein with an Implicite Faith and be Thankful to him at all adventures A Cup of Wormwood would not be reached to thee from so Wise and so Good a Father but that his Love and thy Benefit is mingled with the bitter Cup though thou canst not at present taste the one or the other Ninthly Bear it Patiently and Quietly 1. If it come for thy Sins thou hast reason to bear it patiently for it is but the fruit of thine own Plant the Crop of thine own Seed Why doth the living Man complain a Man for the Puuishment of his Sin Thou hast procured it to thy self be contented to bear the issue of thine own way 2. Bear it patiently for it might justly have been worse and more severe thou wantest somewhat that another injoys but hast not thou somewhat that another wants thou hast lost a considerable part of thy Estate but hast thou not somewhat left or if thou hast lost all hast thou not still thy Health and thy limbs that may supply thy necessities by honest Labors thou hast lost thy Limbs or thy Health but dost thou not injoy thy Senses and thy Understanding and Reason thou hast lost thy Reputation Honor and Esteem in the World but hast thou not thy Integrity and Uprightness the Witness and Serenity and Peace of thine own Conscience thou hast lost many of thy near Relations but hast thou not some left thou art visited with Sickness and Pain but hast thou not seen some that have had more acute and less strength to bear them and less hopes to be delivered from them and less means to support them but suppose thou hast lost all thy Wealth thy Reputation thy Health thy Friends yet hast thou not Peace with God the Light of his Countenance the Assurance of his Favor the Hope of Eternal Life and wouldst thou exchange this Hope for the return of all thy Temporal Comforts and Advantages believe it that Mans condition cannot be exquisitely miserable where there is any Hope much less where there is such a Hope a Hope that out-weighs whatsoever the World can afford or inflict a Hope that is so much the nearer to fruition by how much the greater thy External pressures are when thou dost deserve the loss of all thou hast reason to be patient if thou dost injoy any thing the Interrogation of the Prophet is pathetical Why doth the living Man complain a Man for the Punishment of his Sin Where there is Life there is Hope and for a sinful Man to complain while he yet is living carries with it the conviction of the unreasonableness of his complaint because he injoys somewhat that yet he deserved to lose 3. Bear it patiently because it is but short though it be never so sharp it may be that the same God that inflicted or permitted it is at this instant resolving to turn thy Captivity to give thee Beauty for Ashes And what an unseemly thing will thy Impatience be How troublesome will the remembrance of it be to thy Soul upon the change of thy condition How much wilt thou be ashamed at thy return of thy undecency of thy carriage under thy Affliction I am perswaded there was nothing more sowred Jobs returning Prosperity than the remembrance of his