out of Heaven for their sin nor prepared such a place of endless and unsufferable Torment for such as are found guilty of it in the General Account He had never brought such a Deluge upon the old World and swept away all of them save Eight Persons Nor dropt down such a consuming Fire upon those Four Citys and the Inhabitants thereof Man Woman and Child if he had not been a bitter Enemy to sin If you should see a Father that tenderly loves his Children and bears a most dear Affection to them to persecute them to the Death and express the greatest Cruelty towards them you would surely say that it must be some high Provocation that can thus prevail to extinguish such inbred natural Affection to them And if you could be consident that he were a just and righteous Person that would not do such a cruel Act without a great and weighty Cause you must then say That they must be guilty of some horrid Act that can thus turn the Bowels of such a tender Father and exasperate them into such a rage The Case is the same here only with this difference that God hath infinitely more love and tender bowels to us his Creatures and the Workmanship of his Hands than the tenderest Father or Mother here upon Earth Isaiah 49.15 Can a woman forget her sucking chila that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget but I will not forget And yet what terrible and remarkable Judgments doth he execute upon some of them both here and hereafter Not only single Persons but whole Nations yea how dreadful and heavy is his hand upon those that are his Children not only by Creation but Regeneration also insomuch that they often complain that the Arrows of the Almighty stick fast in them and drink up their Spirits Job 6.4 Thus Job David Heman and many others of God's dearest Servants have complained Can any Man of reason ever think that ever God thus deals with them without some great and weighty Cause especially when it is so certain that Fury dwelleth not in him Isaiah 27.4 And he cannot be moved by any of those wild irrational and ungoverned Passions as Man is He that believes not this either believes that there is no God or else knows not what such a Being doth essentially involve But yet though we have a fall certainly that God is more tender and affectionate to Men than any Father or Mother in the World yet it is as certain that he loveth Righteousness and Equity and Truth more than all the Creatures in the World because these are a part of his own Essence but Creatures are not And therefore he stands obliged to vindicate these though it be with the Ruin of all Mankind And thus he would certainly do even destroy all the Works of his Hands if his righteous Law which is but the Transcript of his Nature could not be otherwise righted He can make another World with a Word of his Mouth But he cannot make as I may say with reverence another God Every sin strikes at the very Being of God and toucheth the very Apple of his Eye And therefore the Word of God tells us plainly That Sin is the only Make-bate between God and his Creatures that hath pull'd down all those heavy Calamities and Judgments upon the World that ever we read or heard of But the Death of his only Natural Son for the Sins of the World which he took upon him to expiate and satisfie for is such a demonstration of God's deadly and implacable Hatred against all Sin and Ungodliness that no Man in reason should ever after doubt of it Every Man that is truly penitent and sorry for his sin is apprehensive of this in some good Measure And this is the First Act that Godly Sorrow and Repentance doth imply Secondly He that unfeignedly grieveth for his sin must be very sensible how dishonourable it is to God I know it 's beyond the reach of any Creature to do him any real Dishonour But yet doth he not lose his Reputation amongst Men by every sin that is committed Are not some or other animated thereby to do the like or else if it be secretly committed is not the sinner himself more hardned thereby and disposed to more perverse unworthy Apprehensions of God It is certain he is He cannot think him so holy just and righteous as he is because Judgment is not speedily executed on him And how doth the Devil triumph and all those malicious Spirits that attend him to see a Child so unnatural to his Father as every sinner is to God How doth it feed his Malice and Pride to see him make a Creature that cares so little for him as every sinner doth He that is affected with his sin to purpose knows and is cut to the heart for the dishonour done to him by his sin and that he hath so much stained his holy Attributes and Perfections and mis-represented him to the World Thirdly He that is truly penitent for his sin is deeply sensible of those great Obligations he lies under to perform a perfect obedience to God He is his Creature I and the chief of his Creatures in this lower World made on purpose for his service shaped in his own likeness fitted for it encouraged to it That can never be happy but in his Favour and therefore was sufficiently concerned to seek and prize it above all things And to shun and avoid sin whereby he must needs lose it All Creatures upon Earth were placed at his Feet and put into his Hands to give him their best Assistance and Encouragement for this Service The good and welfare of the whole inferiour World depended upon his Obedience to God and the observance of that Law he had written upon his very Nature And therefore so soon as ever he sinned he involved all the Creatures that were made subject to him in the same Curse and Condemnation so that the whole Creation is now in Bondage and groans to be delivered into the glorious Liberty of God's Children And the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 21 22. Never was any Child so much obliged to observe the Will of his Father Nor any Subject to Obey his rightful Prince and Soveraign Nor any Slave and Vassal to fulfil the Command of his Lord as we are to do the Will of our Creatour But what do I make such a Comparison as this There 's a thousand fold more obligation upon us to tender a perfect Obedience to God than there can be upon any Subject or Child or Servant to obey the strictest Laws of the best Father Lord or Sovereign here on Earth And yet what Man so mad as to incur their displeasure if they can help it Or who would not wash away such an Offence with many Tears if there were any hope to find Mercy and Favour with them in
when Conscience hath stirred thee when Sickness hath awakened thee when thou hast seen the fruits of a heart unacquainted with God and seldom conversant with him hast thou not promised and engaged to become more heavenly This thou hast done many and many a time or thou hast withstood the Light and shut thine Eyes wilfully against all the Calls of God by his Word or Rod and wilful ignorance will be as high an aggravation of thy sin as misimproved and abused knowledge and since it was thy duty every time thou didst approach to God to reinforce thy vow and promise if thou hast obstinately refused thou art virtually guilty of so frequent a breach of promise as it was thy duty to have promised And this is the first aggravation of the sin of forgetting God on their part that do forget taken from their breach of Vow and Covenant with him Secondly They that cherish not a worthy Remembrance of God are as highly guilty of Perjury as they are of perfidiousness Now an Oath is a faster obligation than either Promise or Covenant He that tieth himself by Oath to any performance doth ipso facto devote himself to all those Judgments that God shall think meet to bring upon him in case he swear falsly though it be in any little matter And God himself when he would give the highest security to Abraham for the confirmation of his Faith he takes an Oath Heb. 6.13 14. when God made Promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he swore by himself saying Surely in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying c. and it 's said Verse 17 18. God being willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an Oath That by two immutable things that is Covenant and Oath in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the Hope set before us and therefore as a Promissory Oath is here supposed to be a firm ground of confident expectation of the thing promised and to be the end of all distrust so an Assertory Oath is said vers 16. to be the end of all strife and the breach of this Bond is intolerable in all Societies And it is one of those sins which God chargeth upon the Ten Tribes when Hosea is sent to tell them the lamentable Tydings of their divorce from God in the Terms 〈◊〉 Râ—â—â—ama and Lo-Ammi 〈◊〉 they shall be no more his People and God will shew no more mercy to them Hos 10.4 They have spoken words swearing falsly in making a Covenant and this sin had perverted Judgment and turned it into Hemlock And the flying roll that is the terrible Curse of God was to enter into the House of the Thief and into the House of him that swareth falsly and to remain in the midst of it and consume it with the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof Zach. 5.4 And Jerusalem could stand no longer but must spue out the Inhabitants after Zedekiah had broke the Oath of the Lord made to the King of Babylon Ezek. 17.16 As I live saith the Lord God surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him King whose Oath he despised and whose Covenant he brake even with him in the midst of Babylon shall he die and Verse 18 19 20. seeing he despised the Oath by breaking the Covenant when lo he had given his hand he shall not escape Therefore thus saith the Lord As I live surely mine Oath that he hath despised and my Covenant that he hath broken even it will I recompence upon his own head And I will spread my Net upon him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me And you know it cost Saul seven of his Sons that were hung up to revenge the Oath he had broken to the Gibonites 2 Sam. 21.6 And 't is noted by Plutarch as one chief cause why Philip King of Macedon with all his posterity were so quickly destroyed because he made no Account of keeping his Oaths but swore and unswore as might stand with his interest And the story of Vladiflaus King of Hungary who had made a league with Amurath the Great Turk and bound himself to it by an Oath is notorious When the Turk began to be worsted Amurath drew the League out of his Bosom and lift up his Eyes to Heaven and said O thou Crucified Christ behold this is the Covenant thy Christians in thy name have made with me which they have violated If thou be God as they say thou art revenge the wrong now done unto thy Name and Me and shew thy Power upon thy Perjured People who in their Deeds deny thee their God Immediately after the King was slain and all his Army routed as may be seen in the Turkish History What a sin is it then to violate an Oath not made to Man but God himself and that in a matter of the highest moment in the VVorld 1. Fealty and Allegiance to him from those that are indebted to him no less than all they have or hope for And he that forgets God breaks this Oath of Fealty and Allegiance due to God for the meer benefits of his production and maintainance but signally renewed and expressed in Baptism for the mercy of Redemption by Christ under whose Command we did then list our selves and to whom we did sware Love and Obedience The word Sacramentum signifies such an Oath and this Sacrament is an allusion to the custom of VVar where every Souldier was to bind himself by a Military Oath to be true to his General To this Custom Christ the more fitly alludeth it in that Christianity is a Spiritual Warfare What a high Provocation must it needs be then to forget the Lord to whose Service and Remembrance we have so tied our selves VVhoever thou art that livest under the sound of the Gospel and that hast been sprinkled with the VVater of Baptism Thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God thou art under Vow Covenant and Oath to exalt God in thine Heart and throw out all other things to manage a daily VVarfare against all his Enemies and to subdue every Lust that would wipe out the Memory of God thy Redeemer and Saviour out of thy Heart This Oath hath been renewed also so oft as thou hast taken the other Sacrament So that thou hast all this weight to stand under in the day of the Lord if thou be found amongst those that forget the Lord. Thirdly Beside the Bonds of Vow Covenant and Oath thou hast the higher Obligations of a constant open Profession to shame thee for thine unmindfulness of God which must needs be a greater aggravation of this sin because it implies all the other and superadds pretended reallity in all these when it is nothing
perfect Obedience It was said of Luther that he could do what he would with God by Prayer If God be promoted in thy Heart as high as he was in Luth. thou shalt prevail with him as much as ever Luth. did I know thou hast no ground from the word to expect that God should satisfie thy desires in temporal things when they will not consist with the welfare of thy Soul But every desire that is honourable to God to grant and profitable to thy Soul to receive thou shalt have And when he denies thee what thou dost express he will give what thou dost imply and mean When he granteth not thy particular Request he will give thee thy general Request whatsoever thou askest it 's happiness that thou meanest that 's the general intent and meaning and this he will fulfil though not always in the same method it may be that thine own Wisdom suggesteth he will give thee money or money worth Thou shalt have thy desire in kind or value yea a frequent Remembrance of God will teach thee to pray so as thou shalt prevail and the knowledge of his Attributes and Perfections which the Remembrance of God doth imply will make thee so ingenious as to ask nothing that shall cross the Wisdom Justice or Holiness of God or be the least prejudicial to the merciful design of thy Salvation O what a priviledge is it to have such an open free access to him that can strangely turn things about when it pleaseth him and is wonderful in Counsel and mighty in Working Esay 28.29 with a promise to be heard to plead with God and get the Blessing for thy Self for thy Relations and for the Land of thy Nativity and by this means to be one of the Props and Pillars of the Nation of which thou art a Member This is an Honour indeed and an unvaluable Mercy which yet thou shalt partake of in that degree and measure as thou dost Remember him Fourthly To Remember God is the ready way to entail the Blessing of Heaven and Earth upon thy Seed and Posterity Children speed ordinarily according to their Parents interest or want of interest in God Those that die in Infancy it 's more than probable that they speed according as their Parents or those that have the nearest interest in them are in Covenant with God or out of Covenant And those that live beyond an Infants state have cause to count amongst the greatest of their early Blessings that they have either one or both Parents that are true Believers especially where the Faith of their Parents is gotten up to some degree of Eminency I would not intimate that the Lord doth never shew special love and mercy to the Posterity of the Wicked nor that he doth always impart saving Grace to the Children of the godly But I believe it will prove a rare case if one instance can be produced that all the Children of Believers if they have several are finally forsaken of God and denyed his saving Grace yea many times they are all remembred It is the Argument that Peter useth to perswade Faith and Repentance to his hearers in the first Sermon which he preached after Christs Assention and the Descension of the Holy Ghost that by this means Parents would bring their Children to participate in Gospel-mercy with themselves Acts 2.39 Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost For the Promise is to you and your Children And it hath the most general testimony of the soundest Writers that the Faith of the Parents is the condition of the Childrens right to Baptism The Profession of it in the Court of Men the Possession of it in the Court of Heaven * See the Reverend Mr. Baxters Dispu of right to Sacrament But be it how it will I am sure it 's a doleful condition to be the Child of wicked Parents that forget God and a mercy better than the biggest Portion can be left them to be the Seed of Parents that Remember him Thus saith the Lord c. Fear not O Jacob my Servant for I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my Blessing upon thine off-spring Esa 44.3 And as the special Promise was made to Isaac so even Ishmael fared the better for being Abraham's Seed And as it is threatned in one of the Prophets that the Seed of evil doers shall never he Renowned so the Posterity of those that Remember God are the most likely to be Remembred even in this Life and to be famous in their Congregation Men of Renown Num. 16.2 I do not mean for their worldly Pomp and Splendor but for their Grace Wisdom and Usefulness to the World To which sometime such a measure of these outward Blessings are added as may make their Grace more resplendent and them more serviceable to him that will most eminently reward it If therefore your own Bowels are dear to you and you desire that your Posterity should be blessed here and had in Eternal Remembrance hereafter advance God in your Remembrance Lastly This Exercise of thy Thoughts and Affections in the Remembrance of God is thy greatest Happiness as well as thy greatest interest I mean it will yield thee the highest Pleasure as well as the highest Profit I know to the ignorant that have no competent knowledge of God and such as are unwonted to these thoughts and have their Affections buried in the World and are loaden with divers Lusts no work is more unpleasant nothing that they will more decline Light it self is unpleasant to a sore and distempered Eye but those that are pretty well acquainted with the amiable Nature and Perfections of God and with such Thoughts and Meditations of him as will amount to a worthy Remembrance of him would not be untaught this Art for all the Pleasures which the World can supply to them These are the most reviving these are the most comforting these are the most satisfying Thoughts These are the most illuminating instructing perfecting Thoughts These are the Thoughts that best improve our present Comfort and our future Hopes From all these Heads I might particularly and distinctly shew how the sincere Remembrance of God doth make way for the greatest Pleasure viz. In that it doth 1. Clear and perfect the Understanding 2. Purifie and rejoyce the Heart 3. Revive the Spirit and actuate it to greater Life and Life is sweet 4. In that it doth quiet and satisfie the very Soul 5. Multiply and improve our present Comforts 6. And our future Happiness All these ways and many other doth this Remembrance of God contribute to our immediate Pleasure and Happiness That Soul must needs abound most with Life and Joy and Pleasure that hath most frequent access to the Fountain of all Life and Pleasure who enjoy themselves more than they if other things concur that are most under the power and command of
of it to set his Heart on a little fading Beauty Lying Honour Perishing Riches or unsatisfying Pleasure or Carnal Wisdom to be guilty of the greatest Folly that he may swagger a little while So it makes as wide difference in the Means and prevails with some to humble them that God may in his due time exalt them to emyloy their thoughts how to mortifie their Affections to the World how to strengthen the Love of God to root their Faith more deeply by a more frequent Exercise of it and how to get their Hearts more affected with the wonderful love of Christ This makes them so frequent in Prayer so attentive upon the Word so intent upon all Christs appointed Means that they may increase in Spiritual Understanding and Love when the Inconsiderate can dispence with these for a little worldly Gain or Ease and prefer Earthly Toyl and Labour before a little pains to get the true Wisdom and to save their Souls In the Name of God therefore I beseech you to consider if you would not be guilty of the greatest dotage and miscarry in the choice of your End and consequently of all the means If you would not take a Dream for Happiness and spend your Strength for nought and be forced to confess your Folly when you come to die Force your selves to Consider especially when you have the best advantages to promote Consideration when you have Time Leisure Health seasonable Instruction from the Word and Providence of God and you feel more sensible Conviction of the worth of God's Favour and the vanity of all things then consider and set it home and drive on to a Resolution to forget God no longer Consideration will help you to do this if you will follow it and encourage your selves to it and not check your Minds when they are thus employed Plead not your Ignorance and Unskilfulness do it as well as you can and use will make you more expert much less plead your Impotency and pretend that you are utterly unable If a little Worldly Trouble come upon you you can consider how to get out or shake off the Trouble If you are under a Reproach and a little Contempt of Men you can Consult and Consider how you may wipe it off and vindicate your Name and Credit But oh what thoughts of Heart and wise and deep Consideration to secure Life it self and the Comforts that are nearest and dearest to it These are Signs that we have the Faculty and can Consider about those things that we value or have any love to That Men are therefore so Inconsiderate in the Concernments of their Souls and about the matters of another Life It 's an evident Sign they value them not they care not for them to awaken such therefore and put them upon this great and necessary Work I shall suggest these following Proposals Incentives to Consideration FIrst You have matters of the greatest importance and necessity to Consider If it were only to live happily here and to escape the miseries of this Life it 's worth Consideration to bring this about but it is an Everlasting Life and Happiness that we are to provide for which if we do not compass it 's not the loss of this that will be our only Misery though it be an unspeakable unvaluable Loss But you must bear also the Wrath of God that will kindle on you like a devouring Fire and the Fury of a guilty awakened Conscience that will fall upon you like a Tempest and fright your Soul into Everlasting Dread and Horror And doth it not mightily concern us to Consider how to escape all this If thou hast any love to thy own Soul when the Qustion is whether thou shalt live or die for ever thou wilt Consider and thoroughly resolve thy self If thou hadst lost a dear and powerful Friend on whose Favour all thy Worldly Hopes did depend thou wouldst not refuse to let thy Thoughts run upon such a Subject as this is neither would it be tedious to thee to Consider how thou mightest obtain thy Pardon and regain his Favour The case is Ten thousand times worse incomparably more sad You have lost the Favour of God and are fallen under his Displeasure and you are like to perish for ever unless Consideration bring you to bewail your loss and sin which is the cause of it and bring you to Repentance and so prepare you to believe in Christ If you had some great business to dispatch intricate and doubtful you would endanger your Estate or Life if it were either neglected or imprudently managed who would not summon up all the Reason that he hath and consider well how he may dispatch it as successfully as he can And do you not perceive how absurd it is to be careless how your present Life is ordered that must decide the Case and Detriment how you shall live for ever and not to Consider and that to purpose how you may get Christ for your Friend to procure your Acceptance with God how to get the Holy Spirit of Promise to dwell in you to turn the stream of your Affections from Earth to Heaven and to subdue your Corruptions and to fortifie and encourage you against Temptations to put you upon your Duty and to enable you to a right Performance You will lay by such works as this or do it in a mad and careless fashion if you do not Consider why and how it must be done It 's Consideration that must shew you the truth and certainty of the Life to come the Glory of Heaven and what an intollerable loss it is to fall short of it It 's that must shew you what a Debter you are to God and to your Redeemer and the worth and excellency of your Soul and the necessity of a renewed Holy Nature and of an Humble and Self-denial Life Consideration I say must needs shew these things and affect your Heart with them and make you sensible how much they do import and how nearly they do concern you or you will never do them you 'll rather take the brutish Enjoyments that Inconsideracy will make you relish and chuse the Pleasures of Delirancy and Madness rather than pay so dear for true Wisdom as you must if you are a stranger to the fore-mentioned Consideration I say pay dear in respect of the Flesh and it's sinful Contentments which must lose their Lives in the Service of God and your own Souls though it will be unspeakably cheap when you have paid the most in this kind O how doth it import us to know God as our Maker Lord and Governour in such a manner as doth affect and captivate our Hearts to a voluntary and wilful subjection to him as our only Felicity How much doth it concern us to get such a clear sight of his amiable lovely Nature and most transcendent Persections as may possess our Souls with the highest Reverence of him and kindle the strongest love to him that the Remembrance
would more effectually stame and disgrace it thâ—n consideration would and â—â—erefore it saith 〈◊〉 it as Ahab of Micalâ—â— I hate it for it nâ—ver prophesieth good concerning mâ— buâ— evil 1 King 22.8 A little sober serious consideration would quickly tell a man what a worm he is as David saith and no man Psal 22.6 and what little cause he hath to swell and be lifted up and therefore while he hath a mind to be great in his own eyes and in the eyes of others he will not consideâ— 'T is not possible for a proud man whilst he continues to be such to let his mind loose to impartial consideration and meditation in the Word and Works of God He will quickly stumble at this Rock of Offence and dash his foot against the Cross of Christ and despise the humility and poverty of spirit that is such an essential property to all his true Disciples and Followers Isa 8.14 and Rom. 9.32 As ever you would have your minds free for consideration without which it is not possible to be wise to salvation take heed of an insolent haughty mind for such a one is always an unteachable mind 'T is the humble that God hath promised to dwell with and teach The rest will not be taught but say to the Almighty depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy ways Job 21.14 It 's a deep sence of emptiness and thirst after happiness that makes way for consideration but they that ae full and happy in their own account have no need of it nor will be brought to consider that they are poor and miserable and blind and naked Rev. 3.17 And yet without consideration they are lost for ever for there is no surer way than inconsideracy to the greatest poverty and shame Sixthly If you would tast the pleasure and partake of the great profit that consideration would be sure to bring along with it set your self in good earnest against a fickle slothful spirit I put these both together because I would not multiply particulars too far It is the natural disease of man's Soul since it hath forsaken God either to sit still and pine away in sloth and negligence or else to wander up and down from one variety to another both these extreams are too incident to the perverted nature of man stand in very great opposition to the duty of Consideration our corrupted minds are very prone either to sleep securely or else to dream and wander about either to be altogether idle or busie to no purpose They are both Feaverish Distempers of the Soul only one is the hot and the other is the cold Fit but they are both far enough from that sound and even Constitution wherein the health of the Soul doth consist The great difficulty of consideration lies in the aversness of our hearts to any fixed serious thoughts of any thing much more of God and the life to come and matiers of that nature The mind is of a wandring nature and quickly weary of continued pertinent orderly thoughts of any thing but yet those that have overcome that fickleness of a roving mind as to other things yet are backward enough to think with pertinency life and affections upon spiritual and eternal things It 's easie to let the mind wander from one object to another and very suitable to the fickle mutable nature of man that having left God is become most unlike him This is the temper of the greatest part of the world whose minds are become like a queazy or wanton stomack that must taste of this and that the other dish and cannot keep to any one so their minds and affections are now after this thing presently after another and are more alterable than the wind or weather First They are sick for this or that beloved Object and then by and by they are sick of it just now they are sick for the thought and desire of such a thing and presently they are as sick of the enjoyment of it and quickly forget it Hence it is that the Psalmist tells us That man walketh in a vain shadow and disquieteth himself in vain Psal 39.6 How can that man consider any thing as he ought or look beyond the Face and Appearance of any thing that distracts himself with such variety of thoughts such multiplicity of Objects that have not any any affinity with each other The Eyes of a Fool saith Solomon are in the ends of the earth Prov. 17.24 that is upon every impertinent idle object that concerns him not It would very much dispose our minds to that consideration I am speaking of to make the mind attend and keep close to the duties that concern us and the work that we are about The more we give it a liberty to fly about every where and to think of matters that concern it not the more unfit will it be to be confined to any serious consideration of Heavenly things And as a roving wandring mind is very unmeet for consideration so is a slothful lazy spirit that will not be at any pains in thinking though of the greatest matters in the world That when you would bring it on to consideration draws back and cries there is a Lion in the way Prov. 26.13 and is discouraged at every difficulty That will not undergo any labour first to clear the truth to the understanding and then to bring it to the heart The sothful man hideth his hand in his bosom will not so much as bring it to his mouth again saith the wiseman Pro. 19.24 No wonder if such a mind famish for want of knowledg that will not bend it self to consider of the things that concern its everlasting peace no wonder if the Vineyard of the slothful be overgrown with thorns and if nettles cover the face thereof and the stone Wall thereof be broken down Prov. 24.30 He must needs be Ignorant that will not search and hunt after knowledge and he must needs have a crude raw and undigested knowledge that will not Roast what he took in hunting and will not take the pains to work the truth upon his heart which he hath gotten into his mind Prov. 12.27 If you desire heartily to be rid of those distempers you must use force and violence with your thoughts and confine them when they would wander and spur them up when they would lie Idle Under God man hath the greatest command over his own mind and ought to use the authority God hath given him to compel it to the frequent exercise of this duty as you would deal with your beast that is skittish or jadish so you must deal with your mind if your horse be skittish and unruly you will use the curb and bridle to tame and bring him into order you must use the same prudence with a skittish unrulâ—â— mind that would not be under command but wander after its own imagination On the other side if your Herse be dull and jadish you will
weapons that were in their hands to ruin and destroy it All which laid together is no less than a demonstration of a Divine and Almighty Power in succeeding such an unlikely Work Secondly And as it was at first planted by no less than a Divine Power so the same mighty Assistance was necessary and therefore observable in its Propagation It was impossible that such a Doctrin should spread and subdue the World to its obedience as it quickly did unless infinite wisdom and power had made way and blessed it How could it have got so much ground and have run so swiftly thorough the World if he that rideth upon a Cherub and flyeth upon the wings of the wind Psal 18.10 had not carried it In the space of Thirty Years or thereabouts as appears by uncontrouled History it spread it self far and near not only in Judea and all Asia yea thorough the whole Roman Empire but beyond it also It sounded in the Ears of Parthians and Indians It shot it self like Lightning thorough the places where it made its progress and melted Mens Hearts whilst their Bodies were untouched Though it was such an Enemy to the Pride Pomp and Glory of the World which it was purposely intended to disparage that it might make way for a despised crucified Christ to reign in the Earth yet it soon got into the Courts of Princes and into the Consistories of Sage and Wise Counsellours and into the Academies of Learning and prevailed over all opposing power yea the more it was cut and wounded the more it grew up and shot forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Nazianz. Orat. Duris ut Ilex tonsa bipennibus Nigrae feraci frondis in Algido Per damna per caedes ab ipso Ducit opes animumque ferro Object And though bare Success be no Argument of Truth or a good Cause because we see that Lyes and Falsehood have succeeded and perverted very considerable Numbers of Men. Thus Mahumetism doth prevail over a great part of the World to this day Answer Yet in the Case of the Christian Religion a Doctrin so contrary to the World which hath been propagated not by Fire and Sword but by Argument and Perswasion by Sufferings and Persecution here Success is both a demonstration of Truth and of the Power of God when like Lightning as I said before it shall melt Mens Hearts and not touch their Bodies with any force As for the Religion of Mahomet it 's no wonder that such a carnal Flesh-pleasing Doctrin that doth so highly gratifie the Lusts of Men should so take with them and quickly spread it self especially when it had so many Advantages of Power and Policy to diffuse it Fire and Sword were the Arguments that Mahomet used to support his Cause and to encrease his Followers But Christ took a quite contrary course and very unlikely to succeed but that it had the Countenance and Approbation of Him who knew well enough how to prosper it with a mighty success With which since the Christian Cause hath been so miraculously blessed it 's a Proof beyond exception that God hath owned it and consequently the Scriptures that contain this Doctrin were inspired by God because they lay claim to such inspiration and pretend to be the Word of Almighty God This is more than sufficient to prove in the General God's Approbation of the whole Scripture But yet more particularly Consider how exactly the Promises and Threatnings of this Word have been fulfilled and made good in all Ages and Successions of the Church And this will manifest that God hath owned this Doctrin ex superabundanti After his Predictions concerning his own Death and Suffering and the Manner together with the Means and Instruments of it were accomplished and that he was Crucified by his own Country-men and mocked and spit upon and numbred amongst Transgressors his Garments parted his side pierced and such like circumstances punctually fulfilled according as he had foretold and that he was risen the Third Day and had shewed himself openly to his Disciples for their encouragement and the strengthning of their Faith and that he had ascended to Heaven in their sight He promised that he would send the Holy Ghost and endue them with power from above to work Miracles and to speak with Tongues which Promise was accordingly fulfilled For on the day of Pentecost when they were assembled at Jerusalem which other Histories as well as the Sacred affirm and none contradict He promised also his extraordinary Power and Presence with them and wonderful success and all came to pass in like manner He threatneth the hardning of the Jews and the conversion of the Gentiles And were they not accordingly affected Moreover he promised Blessing and Peace to the diligent observers of his Statutes And have not many remarkable Providences made good this Word of Promise With what joy and inward comfort unutterable have the faithful Servants of Christ triumphed in their very sufferings Many of the Martyrs that have sealed the Truth of Christ with their very Blood have sung at the Stake and have professed an inward ravishment of Spirit I and that Men of a grave and discreet and no Fanatical credulous Spirit Instances might be produced in great number Let Mahomet now or any other Religion whatsoever produce as good Testimony for the Truth of their Religion if they can as what is here produced to declare the Approbation Countenance and Favour of God to this Religion which Christ taught and his Followers embraced and maintained to the death And although God doth not daily shew forth these confirming Signs and Tokens of Christianity or that Religion which Christ in the New Testament hath taught both by his Mouth and Example yet sometimes he is pleased to give such clear and convincing Testimonies and Tokens of his Approbation not liable to any exception that they might be for standing Monuments to others ever after And such as will not acknowledge them but either take them for Fables or ascribe them to Chance or Fortune and act their wickedness in defiance of such Examples such Persons God meets with now and then even still to vindicate the Credit of those former Stories and to reinforce their Authority I could run over the Decalogue which is the sum and substance of the Divine Laws contained in the Scripture and shew you how God hath remarkably punished the more notable and famous Transgressours of all these Laws and the contempt of the Book in which these Laws are contained and the derision of his Messengers which he hath ordained to proclame and expound these Laws and to provoke and perswade Men to the hearty observance of them It would be an endless labour to produce all the Instances that are to be found in credible Authors of this kind So much in Confirmation of the Second Argument Argument III. 3. THose Writings that contain peremptory Predictions of Future Things purely contingent which no eye but God's could possibly foresee
endeavoured to suppress them They had certainly perished in the Flames long before now if God had not walked in the midst of Fire with them How did the Jews on the one hand and the Heathen Emperours on the other conspire both to root out the Men and the Doctrin which they published and taught You know what General Persecutions there have been at once of all the Christians throughout the World and how many Thousands have been slaughtered by the Roman Emperours Commands I need not tell you that there were Ten of these General Persecutions and yet all would not do Julian strictly prohibited all Christian Schools thinking by that Means to root Christianity out of the World and yet the Success was not answerable to his Malice Antiochus Epiphanes commanded all the Holy Writings should be burnt as the History of the Maccabees will inform you 1 Macc. 1.59 yet God preserved them And Dioclesian Author of the Tenth Persecution commanded by Proclamation the Holy Scriptures to be burnt where ever they were found throughout the Roman Empire as Euseb relates l. 8. c. 3. If the Scriptures had not been the Word of God they had never surviv'd so much Malice and the vigilant Endeavours of so many subtil and potent Enemies to destroy them out of the World nor escap'd the combined furious Attempts both of Jews and Gentiles to blot them out of the Memory of Mankind Moreover If all that were hitherto produced were not enough to demonstrate the Divine Authority of Scripture and to satisfie and confirm the Mind in this weighty Truth I might add by way of Accumulation other Proofs from the Majesty Purity and Efficacy of this Word which so far excels all Humane Writings in these particulars And also from the Profession of Men and Martyrs that did and were ready to dye for it Men of great Parts and Integrity that would not have parted with their Lives without a sufficient Cause As also from the destruction of the Grand Opposers of it And the Consent of so many Men in all Ages and those that had the greatest Advantages throughly to scan and know the Truth and the Assent of very Adversaries All which do prove ex super abundanti that the Scriptures are the most Sacred Word of God and Written by Divine Inspiration To conclude therefore with some little Exhortation in a Point of such Weight and Moment Remember in your Meditations to strengthen this Intellectual Grace which lies in the Firm and Active Belief of the Divine Authority of Scripture Get and keep such Clear Evidence and Demonstration of its Divinity that may satisfie your Soul and enforce the most practical Assent That you may read the Threatnings with Reverence and a suitable Fear as those that God will certainly make good and execute upon those that fall under them That you may read the Promises with full perswasion of their Accomplishment to those that have their part and interest in them and so feel the forcible power of them to quicken you to your Duty That you may read the Precepts not as idle Storys but as the Commands of God Look that you evidently see the Name of God upon the Doctrin and History thereof and it will have another Effect than a bare opinionative or implicit belief grounded upon the bare word of Man could produce Your Assent will be suitable to your Evidence and the Effect and Influence it hath upon your Heart and Life will be suitable to your Assent It 's time well spent to read over and consider those Treatises that convince the Divine Authority of Scripture The better the Ground-work is laid the more firm will the Superstructure be When once thou art solidly and throughly perswaded that God is the Author of the Scriptures thou wilt expect a Treasure there that is not to be found in any Humane Writings any farther than they contain this Doctrin in them If you delight in Falshood and Lyes and love Darkness rather than Light search not here nor expect that Scripture should gratifie you But if thou art a Lover of Truth a Lover of Wisdom then come hither and dig into these Mines and God that was the Author will open thine Eyes if thou truly desire to be informed Some Considerations to help on the daily Exercise of Faith in Christ or Subjection to the Sovereignty of our Redeemer Scriptures that require Faith in Christ and shew us its Nature 1 John 12. As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life Verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God Verse 36. He that believeth on the Son hath Everlasting life that is quo ad jus or Inchoative And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him John 5.40 Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life Luke 19.27 Those mine Enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Heb. 5.9 And being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Life and Salvation to all them that obey him Matth. 11.28 29. Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest to your souls John 5.22 23 24. For the Father judgeth no Man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son That all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which sent him Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death to Life BEfore I come to the Motives that should animate us to the frequent and delightful Exercise of Faith which must be daily kept in the Mind and Thoughts or some of the like Nature it 's necessary that we well understand the Nature of that Faith which is of such daily Use and unspeakable Advantage in the whole Christian Life For the better and more distinct Understanding whereof we must take notice that in the Word of God we are informed of a Twofold Kingdom of God 1. The First as Creatour 2. The Second as Redeemer And both these have their different Constitution and Administration Whilst Man stood in his Integrity he was under the Laws and Government of his Creatour and then Faith in God as his Creatour and Sovereign was the Radical and Fundamental Virtue which whilst it did continue firm and inviolate he was happy in the Favour of God and never
the Mansion where it dwells and like that cruel Emperour rips up the Womb that bare it and is both the Malefactor and Executioner yea and the very Death also that is inflicted I mean that I may avoid Metaphors and speak properly That Sin is both the meritorious efficient I and formal Cause of a great part of our Sufferings and Calamity though not in its formal yet in its material Consideration And as a Beast that being confined within its right Pasture by some Pale or Fence doth by the same violence break the Fence and hurt it self and get into more Feeding so doth every sinner by the same Transgression violate God's Law and his own Welfare and is both Active and Passive in the same inordinate Action For it 's one great End of God's Law to tye Mens hands that they should not hurt themselves So that God's Honour and Man's Safety do enter the very definition of all his Laws so great is the Wisdom of our Supreme Law-giver But the foregoing Similitude is but lame and doth not fully express the formal Effect of Sin as I may call it Tradition to Sin is threatned as the most fearful Judgment in Scripture Now God alone that can remove the Cause can also free the Sinner from the sad and woful Consequents and then Happiness will be the Result For he that is freed from all Evil whatsoever and yet hath an immortal duration must needs be happy For without the blessed Fruition of God such a reasonable Soul as Man hath that can see backwards and forwards and hath the Passions of Hope Fear Love Joy cannot possibly be at rest and cease from self-tormenting Thoughts and Actions Since therefore it 's God only that can supply all the Necessities of a rational Creature it follows that he only is the most suitable and proper good to such a Creature and therefore is principally and as far as is possible to be desired and loved This is the Third Reason why it is so highly congruous and doth so well beseem a reasonable Creature to love God above all Secondly As it is most highly Congruous and Reasonable so it is the Highest Dignity and Honour that a Rational Creature is capable of If Honour be truly to be estimated either by the Nobleness of the Act for which any one is honoured or the Persons in whose Esteem we are advanced both these ways be united to God above all things in Love is the highest honour that a Creature can ever arrive to unless it be to exchange sincerity of Love for Perfection or to add further degrees to this Love till it comes to its ultimum quod sic or vertical Point 1. There 's no Act that can put a greater Lustre upon the Agent than that which is directly exercised upon God especially in the way of Love For the Object as it gives Specification so it gives Worth and Nobleness to the Act and that reflects it upon the Faculty first and then upon the Agent whose Faculty it is For as the Act is more glorious that 's exercised about a Kingdom than that which is exercised upon lower and baser things so that Faculty is more noble that 's capable of doing such an Act than that which is capable only of doing the other Acts And by consequence he that steereth or governeth a Ship is more honourable than he that rows it Or rather a Prince is more honourable than a Plowman because his Acts are conversant about a nobler object This being past dispute it follows that the Servant of God is far more highly dignified than any other Servant whatsoever Now Love being the principal Part of his Service because it is the Service of the Heart which he chiefly requires It 's therefore the highest Honour to Love him with the whole Heart 2. And God esteems that Person most highly that thus loves him because All the Promises of the Gospel are made to such which are the highest Expressions of God's Bounty and Love And those whom he doth most richly endow and favour them he doth most highly honour Particularly 1. God dwelleth in them here 2. And they shall dwell with God hereafter Now what greater Honour can there be than Familiarity and Co-habitation with the Fountain of all Honour And as to love God superlatively and above all is 1. Most Reasonable 2. Most Honourable So Thirdly It brings in the greatest Profit and Advantage For hereby First If this Love prevail over all other Love it ascertains to us 1. That Relative Grace which consists in Pardon of all Sin Justification of our Persons Peace and Favour with God or Friendship with him and Sonship to him and Right to Heaven 2. And also to all Real Grace whereby every Christian is shaped and fashioned to the Divine Nature and Similitude And therefore may confidently expect that in the use of Means the Holy Spirit should enable him to thrive and bring forth the Fruit of a sounder Knowledge in Spiritual Things of Patience Humility Meekness Self-denial Temperance Brotherly Love and Charity every one of which is a Jewel of inestimable worth In a word He hath a sound Title by the Free Charter of the Gospel to all that Christ hath purchased and procured by the Merit of his Blood And as his Love encreaseth in the Degree and Measure and groweth towards Perfection so it doth encrease the Measure of every Grace And then Assurance which is the Consequent of an higher Measure of Grace than ordinary Christians aspire to usually flows in And then such a Measure of Boldness and Confidence in our Addresses to God as doth usually fill the Heart with daily Comfort Secondly And as this prevailing Love doth gather strength so Peace at Home and inward Calmness and Tranquility doth encrease And this is a continual Feast sweeter than all the troublesome disturbing Pleasures of the World The more any Soul is conscious to it self of a prevailing Love to God and that he hath the Supremacy in his Heart the more all his Faculties do unite and conspire to Quietness Rest and Peace For there 's nothing that puts a Man into Tumult and Disorder but the greedy desire after something that looks like Happiness but when it 's gotten proves no such thing and vexeth the Soul with Frustration and continual Disappointment Now the more the Soul is in love with God the more it is acquainted with the true happiness and is the less in danger to be diverted by false and lying Promises And when once the Soul hath got this Harbour it will stir no more out so as to forsake it but silently feeds on continual pleasure and dwells at ease as the Psalmist expresseth it Psal 25.13 And knows that all farther labour is vain unless it be to grow more deeply rooted in love And this Peace and inward Joy is always the Companion of Assurance in some sensible degree however it may perchance be wanting to those and altogether imperceptible that have the
unto God all ye lands Psal 5.11 But let those that put their trust in thoe rejoyce let them shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy Name rejoyce in thee Secondly Scriptures that command Praise Psal 35.28 My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long Psal 118.28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee Thou art my God and I will exalt thee Psal 34.1 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth Psal 66.2 Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious Psal 66.8 O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God in the Mountain of his Holiness Psal 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing praises unto his Name for it is pleasant Psal 147.1 Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Verse 12. Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Sion In the 148 Psalm all Creatures are called upon and excited to the praises of God which must be meant but objectively of all irrational Creatures And rational Creatures are implied when others that have not reason are spoken to Psal 148.13 Praise the Name of the Lord for his Name only is excellent and his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven Psal 149.1 Praise ye the Lord sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of the saints Psal 149.6 Let the high praises of God be in their Mouth 1 of the saints Psal 150.1 2 3. Praise ye the Lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power Thirdly Scriptures provoking to Thankfulness Psal 109.4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing we ought to give thanks Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him Psal 69.30 I will praise the name of God with a song and magnifie him with thanksgiving Psal 118.1 O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his Mercy endureth for ever Vers 29. The same Reason is insisted on 36 times Psal 136.1 2 3. And the Reasons largely insisted on in the rest of the Psalm Psal 26.6 7. I will wash mine hands in innocency and so will I compass thine altar O Lord that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wonderful works Psal 30.4 Sing unto the Lord ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness THere 's nothing that more becomes a Believer nor so well suits his Spiritual Heavenly Nature nor is a better Indication of a Child of God and one that hath attained to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ than to delight and be skilful in this Noble Work And without all dispute There 's nothing that a corrupt Heart is more averse and backward to and hath less skill in There is indeed a joyful merry Heart pre-requisite to this Exercise but such a one as the World intermedleth not with but is the greatest stranger to of all things you can imagine Though there 's none love Mirth and Joy so passionately as the worldling yet his Mirth is quite of another stamp It 's the meer distortion of the Countenance or at best but the dilatation of the Blood and Spirits It is not the delectation and contentment of the Mind and Spirit It 's the laughter of a Fool a meer brutish sensual delight that they are so fond of Not the solid serious pleasure of a Saint and one that is perfectly in his right mind And thus to be merry after their Fashion is no hard nor difficult Task 'T is but be Mad and let go the Reigns of all good Government of a Mans self It is but to gratifie every desire and live at Randome and prosper in Folly and this will screw up a Carnal Mind to very profuse Laughter and Merriment All the Town shall quickly hear of it and perceive it too plainly in the Vanity Pride and Insolency of their Carriage And there 's no surer way to damp and dead the Spirit of these Men and to drive them into a melancholy dumpish vein than to spring some Heavenly Discourse that savoureth of Heavenly Wisdom and tendeth to the Divine Praises It 's easie to vent a little Froth and Mirth at a Feast or in a Jovial Meeting or when the Spirits are cheared with Wine and Carnal Pleasure But to be glad in the Lord to rejoyce in the meditation of his Excellent Greatness and Perfection even when the Flocks are cut off from the Fold and there is no Herd in the Stall and the Vine yieldeth not her Encrease and the labour of the Olive doth fail and all Earthly Comforts are wanting Then to rejoyce in the most High and to vent forth freely in Thanks and Praises unto him is the Top and Perfection of Piety But this is a strain that the merriest Worldling can never reach while he continues to be such Other Mirth needs great Restraint but this hath need of all Encouragement and Promotion it being so much above the Sphaere of corrupted Nature to do it to purpose And as some slight Praise I doubt not may come from the Mouth of one not yet ingrafted into Christ by a lively Faith from the sense of Common Mercies and General Grace So on the other side even a Believer through the weakness of his Grace and the distemper of his Body and the want of Exercise in this Duty may make but little Musick and be a very Bungler in this Work And so lose the Comfort and Strength that a Heart fervent and frequent in this Duty would daily get But before I say any thing to stir up to this Exercise I will first shew what 's requisite to or implied in this Joy and Delight in God and true Gratitude and Praise I put them all together because there is much Affinity and Correspondence between them And therefore As to the Subject of these Acts or the Person that must exert them he must be thus qualified and prepared 1. He must be of an open cheerful Temper There 's none more unfit for this Duty than the lumpish sad and heavy Heart Though I deny not but sadness and heaviness of Spirit is sometimes a Duty after the Commission of sin especially great and wilful sin till by renewed Sorrow Confession and a more cautelous Heed to prevent it for the future and the application of Christ's Blood by Faith the Cause of such Sadness be removed But a constant habitual sadness and despondency that neither Faith nor
Reason can easily stir or command is a great Enemy to this Duty He therefore that would be always fit for this Duty must with all his Might resist the true and principal Cause of Sadness I mean Sin and when he cannot prevent it he must speedily repent of it and turn from it and renew his Faith in Christ and then his Soul will not refuse to be comforted but will chear up and at length attain such a good measure of Alacrity as will become Christianity and constantly dispose him to this Duty provided his Body be not oppressed with melancholy Fumes and Vapours For in such Case the Art of the Physician must be joyned with the fore-mentioned Prescriptions And such Temperance and Exercise of the Body must be used as may reduce it again and make it fit to subserve a chearful Mind There 's no greater pull-back nor obstruction to this becoming generous heavenly Work than a sower dejected and contracted Spirit The Jews had a Proverb amongst them that Spiritus sanctus non descendit super Animum maestum which though taken without limitation is not true because the Spirit of God works Godly Sorrow and dwells in the contrite Heart that 's broken for sin to revive comfort and bind it up again yet with some restriction it contains a very great Truth viz. That the Divine Spirit in it more Noble and Excellent Operations of Love Joy and Delight and those other Affections that have a very near confederacy with these and chearful Obedience which results from these doth not descend upon those that are of a sad and heavy Heart whilst such But they are first exhilerated and cheared by the Heavenly Comforter before they can get up to these higher Duties And though Godly Sorrow for sin be consistent enough with some Spiritual Joy and Concomitant Affections before mentioned whilst it keeps its just degree and measure yet when it proceeds to Heighth and Excess and goes beyond its just Bounds it greatly indisposeth to Works of that Elevation But the Sorrow of the World worketh Death and is therefore very inconsistent with Works that require the greatest Life yea the sorrow and dejectedness that arise from the Temper and Complexion of a Melancholick Body do very much hinder the Soul in these more sublime and raised Operations And the more voluntary it is through the wilful neglect of Means either Medicinal or Moral whereby it may be shaken off still the greater Enemy it is to the joyful Heavenly Work When therefore we prepare for this Work every weight must be cast away and the sin that presseth down and all indisposing dulness must be shaken off as much as may be And therefore Elisha to make way for the Holy Spirit in these noble Operations of it calls for a Musical Instrument 2 Kings 3.15 the better to compose and exhilerate his Mind And it came to pass whilst the Minstrel played that the Hand that is the Spirit of the Lord came upon him 2. He must be of a competent Candour and Ingenuity towards Men One that will readily do good and as easily acknowledge it when it is done by others That affects not to conceal his own Infirmities nor the Worth of others but can quickly spy out both That judgeth not according to outward Appearance but judgeth righteous Judgment And is prone to take every thing by the right handle and to pass the fairest construction upon every thing He that 's disingenuous and base towards Men will be so towards God For it is in other Affections as it is in Love Now he that loveth his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen Is the Argument of the beloved Apostle 1 John 4.20 3. He must be very well contented with his Condition None more Averse to the Duty in hand than he that 's displeased with his Estate How can that Man be thankful unto God for any thing he hath that liketh nothing Male-Content filleth a Man with rage and bitterness against every thing almost as supposing it to contribute something to his uneasie Condition It puts him frequently upon sinful study and contrivance to better himself And it is so far from disposing any to the sweet Temper I am now speaking of that it prompts him to be angry with every one Such a one tasts no sweetness in any good he hath be it never so great and therefore forgets all but his discontents He pores wholly upon his Misery and nothing else seems worthy his observation And that Man that hath no eye to observe any Comfort that he hath will never think himself obliged to him from whom they come and such a one is most unfit for a Thankful Acknowledgment 4. He must have made some good progress in the work of Mortification and be pretty well weaned from all Sublunary Good and Pleasure That hath no strong propension to Sensual Comforts and Carnal Delights but hath got a considerable Conquest over the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts And hath a Love that 's rational and doth propend most to that which most deserves it For how can he perform the highest Acts of Spiritual Life that is not first dead to those things that do stifle and utterly quench the Spiritual Life Or how can he thank God aright for any thing that is not in a capacity to make a true judgment of what God doth bestow which is the Case of every one that hath his Affections inordinately wedded to these Earthly Contentments Such a one cannot take a worldly Cross or Reproach and Shame and Sickness and other Afflictions to be such Mercies as they sometimes are nor thank God sometimes for them more heartily than for any outward prosperity 5. He must have a deep Sense and Perswasion of the Certainty and Excellency of Eternal Things The Immortality of the Soul The worth of God's Favour The unspeakable Misery of the damned And the Felicity of those that must live for ever with God otherwise the Pleasures of this World are but a Dream and the Happiness of this Life but a shadow and all the Comforts that are tyed to this state so fickle and unsatisfactory that a wise and considerate Man will not much regard them unless as they be Pledges and Fore-runners of a better Felicity and so cannot rise to any high pitch of Joy and Thankfulness whilst it hath no better Materials to erect such a Frame nor better Motives to this Duty Thus much for the Matter or what is prerequisite to make way for these High and Heavenly Acts of Gratitude and Praise which are always accompanied with some degree of joy and delight in God which formally and principally imply First A due observation and worthy estimation of the Amiable Perfections of God and of his Grace and Favours towards us If we overlook these and our Eyes be in the ends of the Earth when they should be intent upon the infinite Majesty and his Mercies towards us every