freely to us Therefore we are certain that we cannot be disappointed nor consequently have any ground of impatience or discontent in that which is our unum magnum the thing we chiefly value He that sets his intirest love on God yet hath a liberty to issue a subordinate portion of love to other good things as Health Peace Opportunities to do Good Wife Children Friends And in these he may be crossed and disappointed But the predominant love of God delivers the Soul from Discontent and Impatience even under these losses 1. Because the Soul is still assured of what it most values the love of God returned to the Soul which compensates and drowns the other loss and the discontent that may arise upon it 2. Because the Heart is satisfied that these losses come from the hand of him whom he loves of whose Truth Wisdom Love and Goodness he hath assurance and therefore will be delivered out in measure upon most just Grounds and for most excellent ends He sends an Instruction along with his Rod and the Soul reads love as well in the Rod of God as his Staff 3. Because the Love of God taking up the principal bent and strength of the Soul leaves but a gentle and moderate Affection to the things it loseth and consequently a gentle and easie parting with them or being without them The great tumult and disorder that is made in the mind upon Losses Crosses or Discontents is not so much from the Intrinsical Value of the things themselves but from the Estimation that is put upon them were the love to them no more than they deserve the Discontent and Impatience in the loss would be very little Our chiefest love when it is placed upon God it is placed where it should be and the mind is then in its right frame and temper and dispenseth his love to other things regularly and orderly and proportionably to their worth and thereby the Discontent or Trouble that ariseth upon their Loss or Disappointment is weighed out according to their true value agreeable to the just measure of Reason and Prudence But when our love is out of his place it becomes Immoderate and Disorderly and consequently the Discontents that arise upon Disappointments in the things we immoderately love become Immoderate Exorbitant Discontents Impatience and Perturbation of Mind 4. Our love to God brings us to a free Resignation of our will to His For we therefore love him because we conclude him most Wise most Bountiful most Merciful most Just most Perfect and therefore must of necessity conclude that his Will is the best Will and fit to be the measure and rule of ours and not ours of his And in as much as we conclude that no Loss or Cross befals us without his Will we do likewise conclude that it is most fit to be born And because he never Wills any thing but upon most Wise and Just Reasons we conclude that surely there are such Reasons in this Dispensation and we study and search and try whether we can spell out those Reasons of his OF MODERATION OF ANGER THe Helps against Immoderate Anger are of two kinds 1. Previous Considerations before the occasion is offered to habituate the Mind to gentleness and quietness 2. Expedients that serve to allay or divert Anger when the occasion is offered Of the first sort are these 1. The consideration of our own Failings especially in reference to Almighty God and our duty to him which are much greater than any demerits of others toward us I provoke my Creator daily and yet I desire his Patience towards me and find it With what face can I expect gentleness from my Creator if every small provocation from my fellow Creature puts me into passion 2. The consideration of the Vnreasonableness of that Distemper in respect of my self It puts me into a Perturbation and makes me unuseful for my self or others while the distemper is upon me It breaks and discomposeth my thoughts and makes me unfit for business It disorders my Constitution of Body till the storm be over It discovers to others my Impotency of Mind and is more perceived and observed by others than it can be by my self It gratifies my Adversary when by my Passion I improve his Injury beyond the value of it and injure and torment and damnifie my self more by my own Perturbation than he can by the injury he doth It evidenceth a Prevalence of my more inferior and sensual part common to me with the Beasts above my Reasonable and more Noble part Sometimes indeed a Personated Anger managed with Judgment is of singular use especially in persons in Authority but such an Anger is but a painted fire and without perturbation But a Passionate Anger upon Injuries received or upon sudden Conceptions of them is always without any end at all of Good either intended or effected Nay It is an impediment to the attaining of any Good end because it blinds the Judgment and transports Men into inconsiderate Gestures Words and Actions 3. Consideration in respect of others even of the very persons provoking It may be they are Instruments permitted by God as his Instruments either to correct or try me Peradventure God hath bidden Shimei curse David be not too violent against the Instrument lest peradventure thou oppose therein the principal Agent Again many Men are of such a pitiful constitution that their injuries arise from very Impotence of Mind in them Shall I be angry with them because they want that understanding they should have And yet it is very strange to see the weakness and folly of our nature in this Passion that it will break into a Perturbation even with Children Drunken Men Mad-men Beasts yea very dumb things Witness our anger with the Cards and Dice when their chances please us not which shews the Unreasonableness and Frenzy of this Passion 2. There be some Expedients against it even when the occasion is offered 1. Carry always a Jealousie over thy Passion and a strict Watch upon it Take up this peremptory Resolution and Practice I will not be angry though an occasion be administred And let the return upon that Resolution be the first act after the Provocation given For if a Man can but bring himself to this pass that he take not fire upon the first offer the Passion will cool A Man calls then his Reason about him and debates with himself Is there cause I should be angry Or is there any Good end attainable by it Or if it be what is the just medium or size or measure of Anger proportionable to that end And these Considerations will break the first on-set of Passion and then it seldom prevails For it is the first Wave that carries on the Perturbation to the end which if it be broken at the first Serenity of Mind is preserved with much Contentation and sense of advantage 2. Take up this Resolution never to give thy self leave to be angry till thou seest the just
the Writings of Men especially when written by several Men at several times their Writings do seldom or never agree but differ and cross one another And the reason is because they are written by several Men who are all guided by several Minds and Judgments But the Scriptures though written by several Men in several Ages many unacquainted with one anothers Writings yet they all consent and speak the same Truth which is an evidence that it was One and the same Spirit that did dictate them 2. It is not possible for any Man without Revelation from God to foretel things to come Now these holy Writings foretold things that most certainly came to pass in their several seasons though many Generations after the Prophesie written therefore they were written by Inspiration from God As for instance the Babylonian Captivity and the Deliverance from it by Jeremy the Persian and Grecian Monarchy by Daniel the Birth and Death of Christ the final destruction of Jerusalem and Dispersion of the Jews the Conversion of the Gentiles by Isaiah and the rest of the Prophets 3. The Matter contained in these holy Writings is that of the greatest importance the Will of God concerning Man the discovery of the Creation of the World by God of assurance of the Life to come of the means of Peace between God and Man These are things of the highest concernment in the World yet things which could never be discovered but by God himself and such as never any writings of Men only ever could discover or durst pretend unto The height and rarity and excellence and weight of the matter of these Books do evidence that they were the Revelations of God to Man and by his Providence committed to writing and delivered over to Mankind as the Rule to attain their Chief End 3. As the Rule to attain our Chief End must come from God and as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the Word of God so we say That these Scriptures are the Rule and the only Rule to attain our Chief End Good Books of other Men good Education good Sermons the determinations of the Church are good helps but there is no other Rule but this It is by this Rule we must try other Mens Books and Sermons yea the very Church it self Thus the Bereans tried the Doctrine of the Apostles themselves by the Scriptures which they then had and are commended for it Acts 17.11 And Peter prefers the evidence of the Scriptures before a voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1.18 19. And Christ himself appeals to the Scriptures to justifie himself and his Doctrine Joh. 6.39 And if the Scriptures be the only Rule 1. Then not a Natural Conscience especially as the case now stands with Mankind for that is many times corrupted and false principled puts good for evil and evil for good It is and may be a great help guide and direction not a perfect Rule 2. Then not the Writings and Traditions of Men God that appoints the End and Means must be the discoverer of the Means of our Salvation 3. Then not pretended Revelations those may be Mens imaginations or the Devils delusions to prevent and discover which God hath set up this great and standing Revelation of his Scriptures 4. Then not the Church for that may err and it hath no way to evidence it self but by the Scriptures which are its Foundation The business of Mans Salvation is of that importance and the Wisdom of God so great that he will not commit so weighty a matter to such uncertain Rules as these but hath provided one of his own making the Holy Scriptures Thesis III. The Principal Subject of the Scriptures is what Man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of Man It is the Principal Subject of the Scriptures 1. Because it is of the greatest importance and concernment Eccles 12.13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of Man Fear God which cannot be without the knowledge of him and keep his Commandments which contains his duty of Obedience to him 2. Because all the other Matters of the Scriptures have a kind of dependance upon and connexion with this Principal Matter or Subject But though this be the Principal Matter or Subject of the Scriptures yet they also contain very many other matters that do very much concern us to know and believe as namely What we are to understand concerning our selves the State of our Creation the Fall of Man the State wherein that Fall hath put all Mankind the means of our recovery the Immortality of the Soul the Resurrection the different estate of the good and bad after death the History of the Church and Houshold of God from the Creation of Man till some thirty years after the Resurrection of Christ and divers other and necessary Matters to be known both for our direction instruction and comfort And as the Scriptures do principally teach the Knowledge of Good and our duty as the principal Subject so they do principally teach it above other teachings or means It is true that the very Light of Nature doth teach us much of what is to be known concerning God and our duty to him As namely that there is a God and that there is but one God that this God is the first Cause and also the preserver of all things That he is Eternal without beginning or end Infinite Spiritual without mixture most Perfect and therefore most free most Powerful most Holy most Wise most Just most Bountiful and Merciful And upon all these Grounds the Light of Nature teacheth that he is to be Honored to be Feared to be Worshipped to be Obeyed This the Apostle shews us Rom. 1.20 For the Invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse And this light of Nature gives this Manifestation of God 1. By the Works of Creation and Providence 2. By the Workings of the Conscience 3. By a Traditional delivery over of some truths from man to man which by the study and pains of some wise men and Law-givers raised up by the Providence of God have been perfected and delivered over to others But the Preheminence of the Scriptures in their instruction of Mankind in the Knowledge of God and his duty to God appears partly in these considerations 1. The knowledge the Scriptures give in these things is more easie to be attained because it sets down these truths plainly that the most ordinary capacity may understand Whereas the knowledge of these things by the Light of Nature is more difficult requires much observation and industry and attention deducing and drawing down one thing from another and so arriving at their knowledge by much pains and study 2. The knowledge of these things delivered by the Scripture is much more
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