the soul By these Hand-maids he wooeth the Mistress But the sick bed is a Book in which I may read their deceitfulness and treachery their perfidiousness and fallacies and thereby learn to avoid them Further I may read the sinfulness of sin in others sickness That Parent must needs be a deformed monster that begets such uncomely and ill-favoured children In the dreadful effects I may behold the poisonous cause Man had never known sickness in his body if he had not known sin experimentally in his soul T is the plague and stone of the heart that causeth those in the flesh When I behold the sick man labouring under his distemper how he is chastened with pain upon his bed and the multitude of his bones with strong pain so that his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat How his flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen and his bones stick out he is filled with tossings too and fro unto the dawning of the day When I behold his eyes sinking his heart panting hiâ— Wife and Children wailing and wringing their hands his friends weeping his tongue faltering his throat ratling his breath failing his strength languishing his whole body in a cold clammy sweat wrestling with his pain and disease may I not well cry out O what an evil is sin which bringeth all this upon the poor Children of men My Redeemer is therefore said to bear our sicknesses because he bare our sins in his body on the tree 1 Pet. 2. 24. Mat. 8. 17. And in all his applications for the cure of the diseased he had an eye to the root of the malady To one that was diseased he said Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee To another Sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee When the Angel was smiting Israel with a Pestilence holy Davids thoughts ran upon the procuring cause I have sinned I have done very wickedly My God teacheth Israel the grievous nature of their defilement in the greatness of those judgements which they brought upon them Speaking of his severity towards them he tells them Thy way and thy doings have procured those things unto thee this is thy wickedness because it is bitter because it reacheth unto thine heart Ier. 4. 18. Our bodies are full of natural corruption because our souls are full of moral corruption O how fitly may I therefore when I behold the evil of affliction on others abhor and bewail the evil of sin in my self Once more I may be instructed in the necessity of a timely preparation for such an hour of affliction Can I think a â—ick bed a fit place an hour of pain and grief a meet season to begin that great business of turning from sin of loathing my self for all my abominations and working out my own salvation Is it rationally to be imagined that trembling joynts dazelled eyes a fainting heart failing limbs a body full of aches and diseases a soul sympathizing with it and full of vexation and grief should be fit instruments about such a work which an angelical strength and agility and freedom is little enough for Ah What wise man would build his eternal making and welfare upon such a tottering and sandy foundation The greatest strength and longest time and most vigorous health is not in the least degree too much for this needful and weighty business and shall I put it off till my strength fails my health is gone and my time near its last sand Lord Beside all these I may learn the excellency of thine Image and thy favour Sickness cannot waste them nor death it self destroy them Where the Curtains are drawn and the windows close in the darkest chamber of the dying man the comeliness of thy likeness and the sweetness of thy love are most sparkling and glorious The want of outward comforts doth convince the unbeleiving world of the worth of eternal blessings When the flesh and world that made shew of such love to their deluded favourites turn them off in their extremity as the Jews did Judas complaining to them of his-folly and wickedness What is that to us see thou to that Thou standest by and ownest thy servants thou knowest their souls in their days of adversity and how-ever thou dealest with them in their health wilt be sure to tend and look to to be both Nurse and Physitian to thy sick children Thy grace is a reviving Cordial and thy love will make even death it self a sweet and desireable dish O help thy poor servant to gain much spiritual good by those natural evils which others suffer As others sickness speaketh these things to mine ears and their conditions make them visible to mine eyes do thou write them in my heart that all such providences of thine towards others may make sin more ugly the world more empty thy graces and favour more comely and desireable and that furthering my purity at present they may further my eternal peace hereafter Finally I Wish that the sickness of others may cause me to be the more industrious in a faithful improvement of my health and take me wholly off from priding and pampering and making provision for that flesh which is so apt to breed diseases and in its greatest beauty and strength is so near to death The goodliest structure of body is but earth a little better wrought or more curiously then usually moulded up and with an ordinary disease is mard and defaced and so calleth on me to be humble rather then lifted up The Flesh that I provide for my flesh is not more subject to corruption or more perishing then the flesh for which it is provided Within a few days I shall have an end both of food and feeding O that I might waste that body in Gods service which will ere long waste with sickness spend and he spent in his work who gives me my health and strength and hath promised a bountiful reward Sure I am I can never bring them to a better Market nor put them off at an higher price Is it not better to consume my flesh in doing good in glorifying my God then with idleness and ease or with distempers and diseases Satans servants do not grudge to give their prime and cheif their healâ—h and strength to their lusts and shall not I give mine to my Lord Ah Lord an unthankeful selfish unbeleiving heart hath too much â—indered me from and disturbed me in those excellent duties which thou callest me to O deliver me from it for thy mercies sake Strengthen me by thy good spirit both to do good to and receive good by such as thou chastenest with sickness so to consider the poor and afflicted and to visit others in my heath that thou mayst visit me with thy saving health strengthen me upon my bed of languishing and make all my bed in my sickness that my most mortal sickness may not be unto death eternal but for thy glory and my passage into endless bliss yea
a necessary cause is a sin and bringeth great disadvantage both upon our selves and others 1. Upon our selves we lose those helps which God hath afforded for the edification of our souls Fire laid abroad qâ—ickly abateth nay goeth out when if it be raked up together it continueth and increaseth I suppose the Spirit of God is so exact in registring the absence of Thomas from the Apostles company when Christ vouchsafed them his personal and gracious presence and the sad fit of unbelief which he fell into upon it partly as a warning to all Christians that they lose not such seasons as they love their immortal souls Ioh. 20. 24 25. But Thomas one of the twelve was not there when Iesus came The other Disciples therefore said unto him We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them Except I shall see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my fingers into the print of the Nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe Had Thomas been present when the Lord appeared how strongly might he have withstood Satans assaults against his faith His senses had been sufficient to have confuted the father of lies and helpful to have quencht his fiery darts but by his absence how dangerously was he shaken in that fundamental truth Satan hath a wonderful advantage of that person whom he meets without any warrant from God alone If I travail alone between Sun and Sun I have the Law for my protection that if I be robbed I may recover my loss of the Country but if at other times it is at my own peril If I be alone at the call of my God either when secret duties or my particular calling require it and my grand enemy set upon me I may expect help from him whose work I am about but if when he commandeth me to associate with his people I needlesly wander from them and any hurt befal me I must thank my self and look for no reparation at his hands It is observable that the house of Iobs Eldest Son which was the grave wherein all his children were buried stood alone otherwise the wind from the Wilderness could not have smote the four corners thereof O t is dangerous to be solitary when God requires thy company amongst his chosen There is a wo to him that is alone such a man shall be sure to have Satan for his companion He is ever ready to assault when none is neer to assist Eve was tempted with too much success when she was alone without her Husband Dinah gadding from her fathers house was defiled Ioseph was then assaulted when the whole Family was gone save the instrument of the assault How soon are straglers snapt up when those that march with the body of the Army are safe Pyrates lye skulking to find a Vessel sailing alone when those that sail in company are a convoy to each other They who separate are soon seduced The Cormorant or Sea-Eagle hath this property that she will not seise upon the fish in the water when they are in sholes but when single she makes them her prey Solitude is not more hurtful to the body then to the soul and to nature then to grace When David was an exile from the society of the Israelites and wandred abroad he fell into diffidence and distrust nay into hard and blasphemous thoughts of God as if he had forgotten to be gracious as if he himself had cleansed his heart in vain He then said in his haste that all men even Samuel who had anointed him to the Kingdom and promised him from God that he should be King were lyars It is a disadvantage to others When Saints do not meet together their love cooleth nay contentions frequently follow to the hardening of the wicked and the discouraging of the weak The Temple or body of Christ is not built up with blows and Schismes The parts of the Temple were framed and squared in Lebanon at the rearing of it up in Zion there was no noise either of Axe or Hammer Babel it self could not be built by divided tongues muchless Sion by divided hearts When Christians divide and separate weak beginners know not what to do whom to follow but are ready to say with Cicero when Caesar and Pompey were at odds Quem fugiam scio quem sequar nescio I know whom to flie but I know not whom to follow O how dreadful are the consequents of such civil wars Discord is not without cause described by the great Italian to be cloathed with a garment of divers colours made up of patches and they rent cut and torn her lap fâ—ll of writs citations processes and arrests attended onely wiâ—h Clarks Scriveners Atturneys and Lawyers but she was followed with bitter clamours and diswal howlings Melancthon perswading the Protestants in his time to peace tells them a parabolical story of the Dogs and Wolves who were meeting to fight one against another The Wolves sent out their Scout to know the strength of their adversaries The Scout returns and tells the Wolves that indeed the Dogs exceeded them in number but they need not fear them for he had observed they were not like one another Besides they marched as if they were offended rather with themselves then their enemies grinning and snarling yea biting and tearing one another therefore let us not be discouraged but march on resolutely Dissention amongst men brings destruction on men A Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand They who imbodied toâ—â—â—her may be able to overcome thousands divided and taken singly may be overthrown by a very few The hardest Adamant if once broken flieth into such small dust that its scarce discernable and so cometh to nothing The people of God have not seldom made themselves a prey to Persecutours by their heart burnings and divisions When the Town is once set on fire by the Granadoes shot in from them that besiege it the enemies hope to take it with the more ease Naturalists tell us that a Punice stone cast into the waters though it be never so big whilst it remains entire and the parts hold together t will swim above the water but break it once in peices and every part sinks to the bottom Truly such often times is the state of the faithful They who holding together are safe and as a bundle of stâ—ves not to be bowed when parted and taken singly are easily broken It is the Shepherds observation that when Sheep Butt one against another it s a sign of foul weather and of an approaching storm We have too much cause to fear that the Schismes and Contenâ—ions in the Church of God at this day do portend some heavy judgement to hang over our heads SECT III. I Shall now direct thee Reader how 〈◊〉 â—xercise thy self to godliness in Christian Company First I must give thee a Word of Caution Take heed of those sins which Christians when they accompany together are most prone to Saints are apt to
good Companions will advise and direct my feet in the ways of peace If I fit in darkness and see no light by their counsel and comfort I may learn the way out of the mist. If I am perplexed in any labyrinths they may help me to unty that knot of which I have been labouring long in vâ—in to find an end If I be falling they will be props to support me if I wander they will be guides to reduce me if I be dull they will be whet-stones to quicken me if I do well they will be fathers to encourage me whatever my want be they will endeavour to supply me and whatever my condition be they will be like-minded both weeping with me in my sorrows and rejoycing with me in my joys Besides if I expect the presence of my God who is rich in mercy and the God of all consolations where can I find him sooner then in his Temple they are the Temple of God and I will dwell in them His Saints on Earth are his lesser Heaven wherein he takes up his abode O my soul what an Argument is here to perswade thee to fellowship with the Saints Theirs is the onely good fellowship Their Communion is a Conjunction in the service of thy God and tendeth abundantly to thy spiritual advantage and edification Thy Redeemer calls them the light of the world and they will guide thee in the way which he hath cast up The salt of the earth and they will preserve thee from corruption Their conversations are living Commentaries upon that word which is thy rule and so will both plainly teach thee thy duty and powerfully provoke thee to do it Their expressions will by savoury and help thee to learn the language of Canaan The tongue of the just is a tree of life and beareth excellent fruit The lips of the righteous feed many Besides amongst these Children thou mayst be sure to meet with the everlasting Father Where two or three are gathered together in my name I will be in the midst of them Though but two or three that the wicked despise them for their paucity though two or three never so low and mean that the world scorns them for their poverty yet if gathered together in his name they shall not fail of his presence Surely nothing will prevail more with a faithful Spouse to joyn with any company then this She shall meet with her beloved Husband amongst them O of what great price is this one promise I will be in the midst of them His presence like the nearer approaches of the Sun in the Spring will refresh their hearts with the warm beams of his love when they are chill and almost dead with the cold of frights and fears and cause in their souls a new shooting of grace that notwithstanding any foregoing winter of barrenness they shall now abound in the fruits of righteousness What can they or thou O my soul want which his presence will not supply Art thou laden with sin he can give thee rest art thou full of sorrows he is the conâ—olation of Israel art thou poor in grace with him is durable riches and righteousness art thou dull and dead in spirituals he is the Lord of life and can quicken thee He hath power enough to subdue all thy lusts he hath wisdom enough to resolve all thy doubts he hath grace enough to pity all thy weaknesses and mercy enough to pardon all thy unworthiness He is able to save to the uttermost Nay thou hast not only his Promise to meet thee in his Garden amongst his people but thou hast also his Performance of it for thine encouragement Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them Peace be unto you And when he had so said he shewd unto them his hands and his side then were the Disciples glad when they had seen the Lord Then said Iesus unto them again Peace be unto you As my Father hath sent me so send I you And he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost O the value of those Jewels which are lockt up in this Cabinet All the Crowns and Scepters of the world had they been thrown in amongst the Disciples could not have caused the thousandth part of that comfort nor have brought any degree of that profit which the Disciples had by the presence of the holy Jesus Consider his words Peace be unto you peace be unto you Never did sweeter words or more melodious musick ever sound in humane ears What tidings could be more welcom to them that had known the terrors of an angry God and felt the curses of his righteous Law Didst thou never see a poor debtor arrested by severe Serjeants and hailed to the Goal in which nasty miserable place he was like to continue whilst he lived with wringing of hands and watering of cheeks and doleful screeches and afterwards upon the payment of his debts by some loving Surety with what clapping of hands and gladness of heart he was enlarged If so thou hadst some poor resemblâ—nce of that exuberancy of joy which the Disciples felt when they saw the Lord and heard those blessed words Peace be unto you They were all liable every moment to the arrest of divine justice for those vast sums which they owed to the Holy and Jealous God and in continual danger to be hurried by Divels his Officers to the Prison of Hell whence they could never have come out Now his appearance to them did evidence that the Law was satisfied that all their debts were discharged in that the Surety who took upon him the payment of them was by order of the Iudge released What news could find more acceptance with those that dreaded the fury of the Lord more then death and esteemed his favour far before life then that which did speak him reconciled to them And farther observe the work of the blessed Redeemer And he breathed on them Receive ye the Holy Ghost As if he had said I know your unbeleiving hearts will think the news of a reconciled God and of peace with him too good to be true behold therefore his love-token Receive the earnest of his favour his holy Spirit who knoweth his mind fully and was at the Council-Table of Heaven when all your names were engrost in the book of life and all the methods of grace and good-will towards poor sinners were debated and concluded and is sent to you on purpose to reveal them to you and assure you of them and therefore is an unquestionable evidence that he is at one with you This O my soul was the blessed Heavenly Banquet which the Redeemer entertained his Disciples with when they met together and wouldst thou miss such a feast for all the World Lord thou lovest the Assemblies of thy Saints they are the habitations
through thy strength ponder all thy sayings in my heart and make them the rule of my life I will delight inâ—thy law and meditate therein day and night I will give diligence to reading be frequent in hearing and uniform and coustant in obedience to it I will teach it diligently my children and talk of it when I sit in mine house and when I walk by the way when I lye down and when I rise up I will bind it for a sign upon my hand it shall be as a frontlet between mine eyes I will make thy statutes my songs in the house of my pilgrimage I will rejoyce in thy testimonies more then they that find great spoils I will chuse thy statutes as my heritage for ever for they are the joy of my heart I will delight in the law of God after the inner man I will incline my heart to keep thy statutes always unto the end I have sworn and I will perform that I will keep thy righteous judgements But ah Lord what do I say I have even cast thy law behind my back I have broken thy bands asunder and cast thy cords from me My carnal mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be I can of my self break thy law but onely through thy strength keep it I have gone astray like a lost sheep O seek thy servant and I will keep thy statutes Be surety for thy servant for good that I may observe thy precepts I am a stranger in this earth hide not thy commandments from me Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not unto covetousness Make me to go in the path of thy commandments for therein do I delight Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I will keep it unto the end Giâ—e me understanding and I shall keep thy law yea I shall keep it with my whole heart Thou art good and dost good O teach me thy statutes Thy hands have made me and fashioned me O give me understanding that I may keep thy commandments I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart O send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me unto thy holy hill unto thy heavenly habitation Then will I go into the presence of God even of God my exceeding joy Yea upon the harp will I praise thee O God my God for ever Fourthly If thou woulst exercise thy self to godliness in Solitude Accustom thy self to soliloquies I mean to conference with thy self He needs never be idle that hath so much business to do with his own soul. It was a famous answer which Antistenes gave when he was asked what fruit he reaped by all his studies By them saith he I have learned both to live and talk with my self Soliloquies are the best disputes every good man is best company for himself of all the creatures Holy David enjoyneth this to others Commune with your own hearts upon your bed and be still Selah Psal. 4.4 Commune with your own hearts when ye have none to speak with talk to your selves Ask your selves for what end ye were made what lives ye have lead what times ye have lost what love ye have abused what wrath ye have deserved Call your selves to a reckoning how ye have improved your talents how true or false ye have been to your â—rust what provision ye have laid in for an hour of death what preparation ye have made for a great day of account Vpon your beds Secresie is the best opportunity for this duty The silent night is a good time for this speech When we have no outward objects to disturb us and to call our eyes as the fools eyes are always to the ends of the earth then our eyes as the eyes of the wise may be in our heads and then our minds like the windows in Solomons Temple may be broad inwards The most successful searches have been made in the night season the soul is then wholly shut up in the earthly house of the body and hath no visits from strangers to disquiet its thoughts Physicians have judged dreams a probable sign whereby they might find out the distempers of the body Surely then the bed is no bad place â—o examine and search into the state of the soul. And be still Self-communion will much help to curb your head-strong ungodly passions Serious consideration like the casting up of earth amongst Bees will allay inordinate affections when they are full of fury and make such an hideous noise Though sensual appetites and unruly desires are as the people of Ephesus in an uproar pleading for their former priviledge and expecting their wonted provision as in the days of their predominancy if conscience use its authority commanding them in Gods name whose officer it is to keep the Kings peace and argue it with them as the Town-Clark of Ephesus We are in danger to be called in question for this days uproar there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this days concourse all is frequently by this means husht and the tumult appeased without any further mischief Selah This signifieth elevation or lifting up either the mind or voyce or both For the matter of it it importeth 1. An Asseveration of a thing so to be Hence the Chaldee Paraphrast and some other Hebrews have turned it For ever The foregoing assertions are true and shall be so for ever 2. An Admiration at it Such truths call both for our assent and wonder Selah is affixed by way of Emphasis to note the excellency of the thing asserted and the impression it should make upon our spirits As David enjoyned this duty to others so he practised it himself Psa. 77. 6. I call to remembrance my song in the night I commune with mine own heart and my spirit made diligent search He communed with his own heart was not a stranger at home Indeed an Hypocrite as the Philosopher speaks of a vicious person is not friends with himself but endeavours more to avoid himself then any others and is never in so bad company as when he is alone for then he is forced to keep company with himself Where conscience is an abused and incensed Judge t is no wonder that a guilty malefactour would flie from its presence The servant that hath rioted all day is unwilling his Master should reckon with him at night The Heathen persecutors would not hear the Christians because their cause would have appeared so just that nature it self would have justified them The ungodly will not for a contrary reason hear the indictments which conscience prefers against them because their cause will appear so bad that they cannot avoid condemning themselves It may be said of whorish hearts as of the Harlot Her feet abide not within her house But the sincere Christian that allows himself in no sin delights to commune with his own soul and when he is debating things with his own conscience
esteems himself in good company He had rather Gods deputy conscience should admonish him to contrition then that God himself should do it to his confusion According to the Apostles Doctrine Every one of us must give account of himself to God therefore every one of us must take account of himself befare-hand It will be but a sad account which some will give at the great Audit-day when conscience shall confess against them They made me keeper of others vineyards but my own vineyard have I not kept And it is but a poor trade that they drive at present who make little use of their Shop-books The greatest Merchants and the most thriving are much in their Counting-house 5. In solitude accustom thy self to secret ejaculations and converses with God Lovers cast many a glance at each other when they are at a distance and are deprived of set meetings A little Boat may do us some considerable service when we have not time to make ready a great Vessel The casting of our eyes and hearts up to Heaven will bring Heaven down to us My meditations of him shall be sweet Psa. 104. 34. Secret ejaculations have meat in their mouths and will abundantly requite such as entertain them If they be much in our bosomes as Abishag in Davids they will cherish us and put warmth into us They are sweet in the day like the Black-bird cheering us with their pleasant noats and do also afford us wiâ—h the Nightingale songs in the night A true Israelite may enjoy more of his God in a Wilderness then in an earthly Canaan Christians are nearest their heaven when farthest from the Earth What care I how much I am in solitude so I may but enjoy his desirable society Ah how foolish are those persons that neglect the improvement of this glorious priviledge They that like swine can look every way but upward may well lie rooting in the earth desiring no more then fleshly pleasures because they know no better Surely the company of my God is of such weighty consequence and universal influence that I need no other I can have none to equal it The society of my best friends for all their love to me and tenderness of me is but as the company of Snakes and Serpents to the company of my God They have not pity enough for the thousandth part of my misery nor power enough to answer in any degree my necessities Their hearts are infinitely short of my Gods his love to me like his being is boundless but their hands come far short of their hearts though they are not unwilling they are unable to relieve me How often have I told them of my doleful case and distressed condition in vain when thereby I have rather added to their afflictions then lessened my own But my God is all-sufficient both for pity and power he hath bowels and mercy enough for my greatest sufferings and sorrows and strength and might enough for my support and succour My best friends are waspish and upon a small cause are ready to snap asunder their friendship when my Gods good will everlasting and thongh he scourge me he will is never remove his loving kindness from me What need I those puddle streams whilst I have this Well of living water O let me enjoy him more though I never enjoy frâ—end more Because I shall have opportunity to speak more to soul conferences and also to converse with God in secret duties in other parts of this Treatise I shall speak no more in this place A Good Wish about the exercising our selves to Godliness in Solitude wherein the former particulars are applied THe blessed and infinite wise God who made my soul for himself and knoweth it will never be satisfied without himself commanding me in all company to converse with his sacred Majesty and calling me sometimes to solitude that being freed from worldly distractions I might have more of his society I Wish that my nature may be so sutable to his holy being and my love so great to his gracious presence that though his providence should cast me alone into a Prison yet enjoying his favour there I may esteem it sweeter and pleasanter then the stateliest Palace It is both his precept and my priviledge that in the greatest company I should be alone to him and in my greatest solitude in company with him There is not the most solitary place I can come into nor the least moment of my life but I have still business with my God and such as is neither easie nor of mean concernment All my transactions with men about House or Land or Food or Cloaths or the most necesâ—ary things of this present life are nothing to my businesse with God about my unchangeable being in the other world If they were all laid in the ballance with this they would be found infinitely lighter then vanity and nothing My understanding is ready to be overwhelmed with the apprehension of an endless eternal state All my business with meat or drink or sleep or family or friends or mercies or afflictions nay or the means of grace or ordinances themselves is no more worth or desireable then they tend to the furthering my everlasting good All other things are but as passengers to which I may afford a short salute but it is my home where I must abide for ever that my heart must be always set upon and it is my God upon whom this blissful endless life depends that I have most cause to be ever with O my soul by this thou mayst gather with whom to deal and about what to trade when thou art alone tell me not henceforward in the words of the lazy worldling I am idle for I have nothing to do Hast thou pardon of sin the Image of thy God an interest in thy Redeemer freedom from sin the Law the wrath to come a title to life and salvation to get and secure without which thou shalt be a firebrand of hell for ever and hast thou any while any time to be idle Hast thou that high that holy that weighty work of worshipping and glorifying the great God of Heaven and Earth and of working out thy own salvation and yet hast thou nothing to do O that I might never hear such language in thy thoughts much less read it in thy life when thou hast so much business of absolute necessity to be done lying upon thy hands that if all the Angels in Heaven should offer thee their help unless the Son of God himself do assist thou canst not dispatch it in many millions of ages Lord I am thine absolutely thine universally thine all I am is thine all I have is thine O when shall I live as thine I have no business but with thee and for thee O that I could live wholly to thee I confess it is thine infinite graâ—e to suffer such a worm as I am to converse with thy glorious Majesty that Heaven should thus stoop to earth
discern and discover the secret lusts which are hugd in their hearts Besides their consciences being defiled as well as other faculties are not so true to them as to convince them powerfully of that pride hypocrisie unbelief impenitency atheism and ungodliness which they are guilty of And Satan hath a strict watch over them to keep them asleep in sin not caring so men go to hell whether they go thither in the dirty road of scandalous and crying crimes or in the cleanly path and through the fair Meadows of Civility Whether the person be scandalous or civil it will be needful to let in light at some crevice and not to leave the sinner wholly in the darkness of despair The good Samaritan poured Oyl as well as Wine into the wounds of him that fell among Theives A little hope may melt that heart which despair would harden Sturdy Theives have wept at the news of a Reprieve that have stormed and raged at the sentence of Condemnation But this is wisely to be done lest the sinner be encouraged to presume Lenity is to be joyned with Severity Let there be love but not emboldening them to sloth let there be terror but not driving them into a fury saith Gregory If the sick person be one that is judged a true member of Christ then speak to the excellency of Grace and Christ and Heaven to the certainty and worth of those promises that are entailed on beleivers to make his passage into the other world as comfortable as thou canst It will be fit also to speak to those graces of Faith Patience Love Heavenly-mindedness and Ioy in God which should be minded and exercised in a time of sickness how the time of affliction is the spring the special time wherein those graces should shoot up and shew themselves that God expecteth some service from him under his fickness and that his last works should be better then his first If he be under doubts and fears for Satan will take the advantage of his sickness to assault him with his fiery darts and Saints are too apt to Question Gods love when they feel his hand the weakness of the body discomposing the mind and denying it the free exercise of spiritual judgement then advise him to review his former experiences of divine goodness and trials of divine grace within him to hold fast on Jesus Christ and to consider that sickness is common to men good as well as bad that though they differ vastly in the other world yet not at all in their passage thither Singular Saints have been afflicted with the sorest sickness Iob was a none-such for sanctity yet full of sores It s a question whether he were more eminent for corporal distempers or spiritual health Hezekiah David Asah Paul Epaphroditus were all thus chastened of the Lord but not condemned with the world Whatsoever the sick person be whether gracious or graceless it will not be amiss to mention the three great lessons which God would teach every one by affliction 1. The emptiness of the world appearing in its inability to afford the least ease to the body or comfort to the soul of the sick how little worth is that which fails a man in his greatest need 2. The preciousness of Christ and Grace and the Promises of the Gospel which can enliven and encourage a dying person that can cause light in darkness joy in sorrow and life in death that can enable a Christian to rejoyce in tribulation and to welcome pain and sickness nay and the very King of terrors and to look into the other world with comfort and confidence 3. The sinfulness of sin which is the original of all diseases and aches and greif and separation of friends and losses and miseries whatsoever The Rabbies say that when Adam tasted the forbidden fruit his head aked T is clear sin is the original of sickness The body is the instrument of unrighteousness therefore the subject of diseases For this cause many are weak and sick 1 Cor. 11. 30. All the evil in this and the other world are the issue and off-spring of sin Ah! what a root of bitterness is that which brings forth such bitter fruit Be sure to take the thoughts of the sick off from resting in Physitians or any means used for their cure Thâ—s was the fault of good Asah 2 Chron. 16. 12. Let them know that it is God that wounds and he onely that can heal and therefore he must not be tempted either by despiâ—ing those helps which his providence giveth or by relying on them Hippocrates gave this counsel to all Physitians that when they went upon any occâ—sion to visit their Patients they should consider first of all whether there was not divinum aliquod in morbo something of God in the disease if so he held the Patient to be desperate and his recovery impossible Cujus contrarium verum est If it were the hand of God that smote them the same hand can help them for with him nothing is impossible Let them understand that sickness hath a supernatural as well as a natural cause That all diseases are like the Centurions Servants at the command of God He saith to one Go and it goeth to another Come and it cometh to a third Do this and it doeth it God would have the Israelites know that not onely Sword and Famine and Captivity but also Pestilence Consumptions Feavers and Burning Agues are sent from Heaven Deut. 28. 21 22. He causeth those stormes and tempests and quarrels and contentions that are between the humours in our bodies to their disturbance and destruction therefore Moses beholding the whole body of the Jews except two renowned members corrupted for he lived to see all that came out of Egypt besides to die cryed out Thou turnest man to destruction and â—ayst Return ye children of men SECT V. 3. DEal closely and faithfully with him Let not fear of giving distaste or hope of some advantage to thy self make thee false to the soul of the sick Do not play the part of a Mountebank in using palliating medicines to allay the distemper or Anodynes to stupifie the patient and neglect the root of the malady Alas carnal wretches are prone enough of themselves to deceive and flatter their own souls till it be too late for second thoughts and the wicked one will be at their beds side to hinder if it be possible all means from awakening and undeceiving them be careful therefore lest thou shouldst be any way accessary to Satans design Sin is like the little Serpent Aspis which stings men whereby they fall into a pleasant sleep and in that sleep die sinners need all the rouzing and affrighting considerations that may be He that gives a potion which instead of furthering health procureth death is a Murderer The Flatterer is like the worm Terendo mentioned by Pliny in Nat. Hist. as soft as Silk in the feeling of the hand but it biteth so hard with the
evil thoughts Matth. 15.19 that is the nest in which those Hornets breed The heart is the original of sinful words as well as sinful thoughts Out of the heart proceed false witness blasphemies Matth. 15.19 They were in the heart before ever they were in the tongue It s faid of the Weasel that it conceives at the ear and brings forth at the mouth Every sinner conceiveth at the heart what he brings forth at the mouth Such stinking breath comes from rotten inwards The heart is the â—â—â—sel of poisonous liquor the tongue is but the tap to broach it Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh The heart is the Forge also where all our evil works as well as words are hammered out Out of the heart proceed murthers and thefts and adulteries and fornicaâ—ions Matth. 15.19 You will say that murthers and thefts are hand-sins and that adulteries and fornication belong to the eye and outward parts of the body but alas the heart is the womb wherein they are conceived and bred the outward parts are but the Midwives to deliver the mother of those monsters and to bring them into the world An evil man out of the evil treasure in his heart bringeth forth evil things There is no sin but is drest in the withdrawing room of the heart before it appear on the stage of the life Apollidorus dreamed one night that the Scythians had taken him and flea'd off his skin with an intent to boil him and as he was lifting into the Cauldron his heart said unto him It s I that have brought thee to all this There is a real truth in this that the heart brings men both to all their sins and all their sufferings As the Chaos had the seed of all creatures and wanted nothing but the motion of the good Spirit to produce them so the heart hath the seed of all evil and wanteth nothing but the motion of the evil spirit and a fit opportunity to bring it forth It is in vain to go about an holy life till the heart be made holy The Pulse of the hand beats well or ill according to the sâ—ate of the heart and the inward vital parts Our earthly members can never be mortified unless the body of sin and death be destroyed The foul bird of sin must be killed in the nest the heart or it can never be thrown on the dunghil die in the life Therefore the Holy Ghost calls on men to take away the cause if they would have the effect to cease O Ierusalem wash thy heart from wickedness Cleanse your hearts ye sinners and purifie your hands ye double-minded first the heart cleansed then the hands Ier. 4.14 Iames 4.7,8 If the chinks of the ship are unstopt t will be to no purpose to labour at the Pump It is not rubbing or scratching will cure the itch but the blood whose corruption is the cause of it must be purified When the water is foul at the bottom no wonder that scum and filth appear at the top There is no way to stop the issue of sin but by drying up the matter that feeds it As Moses cast the tree into the bitter waters and sweetned the Springs And as Elijah cast salt into the fountain and thereby healed the waters so the salt of grace must be cast into the Spring the fountain of the heart or the streams of the life will never be sweet Till trees are grafted and their nature altered all the fruit they bring forth is wilde and harsh and little worth Till the Christian is grafted into Christ and a new and another nature be infused into him all his fruit is unsavoury and unacceptable to God vain and unprofitable to himself Such a one is like a Cypress tree fair to look on but barren Like a Painter he may make a great stir about the colours and shadows of things the form of Godliness and shew all his wit and art and skill in expressing the outside but wholly neglecteth the substance and contemneth the inward parts the power thereof There be several things which may help to make the life fair in the eyes of men but nothing will make it amiable in the eyes of God unless the heart be changed and renewed Indeed all the medicines which can be applied without the sanctifying work of the Spirit though they may cover they can never cure the corruption and diseases of the soul. The best man without this is like a Serpent painted as it were without but poysonous within As the herb Biscort he may have smooth and plain leaves but a croked root Or as a Pill be guilded on the outside when the whole mass and body of it is bitterness It is one thing to be angry with sin upon a sudden discontent as a Man may be with his Wife whom he loves dearly and another thing to hate sin as that which we abhor to behold and endeavour to destroy A filthy heart like a foul body may seem for a while to be in good plight but when the heats and colds of temptations appear t will bewray it self Some Insects lye in a deep sleep all the Winter stir not make no noise that one would think them dead but when the weather alters and the Sun shines they revive and shew themselves So though lusts may seem dead in an unregenerate man they are only laid asleep and when opportunity is will revive Shame may hide sin but it will not heal â—â—n Corruption often lyeth secret in the heart when shame hindereth it from breaking out in sâ—abs and boâ—ches in the life Some court holiness as hard in shew as Saul did Samuel to be honoured before the people when like him they hate it in their hearts Fear may do somewhat to curb a vitiated nature but it cannot cure it The Bear dares hardly touch his desired honey for fear of the stinging of the Bees The Dog forbears the meat on the Table not because he doth not love it but because he is afraid of the Cudgel Many leave some sin in their outward actions as Iacob parted with Benjamin for fear they should starve if they kept it who are as fond of it as the Patriarch of his Child This inward love of sin is indeed its life and that which is most dangerous and deadly to the soul. As an imposthume is most perillous for being inward and private Rocks under water split more vessels then those that appear above water so sin raigning onely in the heart is oftentimes more hurtful then when it rageth in the life Such civil persons go to Hell without much disturbance being asleep in sin yet not snoring to the diâ—quieting of others they are so far from being jogged or awaked that they are many times praised and commended Example Custom and Education may also help a man to make a fair shew in the flesh but not to walk after the spirit They may Prune and Lop sin but never stubb it up
his duty and leaves all to his father who knoweth what he hath need of But the Covâ—tous who like the barren womb hath never enongh pines with fear of want can neither eat nor drink nor sleep quietly lest he should lose what he hath or not have sufficient to hold out nay he will not allow himself convenient food or raiment though he have never so much but like a beast feeds on thistles when he hath all sorts of provision upon his back Temperance hath health and strength with it and thereby renders the other comforts of this life savoury and comfortable so also Chastity But â—luttony and Drunkenness and Whoredom bring weakness and sickness on mens bodies and imbitter all other blessings besides the fear of being discovered to the shame and disgrace of the Authors which tormenteth not a little There is comfort in dealing honestly and righteously but if a man will cheat and cozen and filtch and steal no wonder if he tire his head with plots and projects â—o carry it on cunningly and secretly and terrifie his heart with apprehention that it will be known and then he shall be branded for a knave or suffer the penalty of law in a more severe degree The sinner is hurried hither and thither by his opposite Lords and contrary lusts and torn piecemeal by them as a man by beasts which draw the parts of his body contrary ways The Commands of sin are harsh and heavy No Tyrant ever put his subjects upon more crabbed painful work But the Commandments of God are not grievous 1 Joh. 4. 3. Sin is sâ—avery and its servants worse then those that row in Turkish Gallies but Gods law is a law of liberty and they walk at liberty who seek his precepts The ways of sinners are called crooked ways rugged ways which are unpleasant to travail in but the ways of God are called strait ways plain paths which are delightful to passengers I am confident the true Christian hath more true pleasure in suffering for Christ or one act of mortification or victory over one lust then the highest earthly Potentate hath in his largest dominions in the multitude of his subjects in the richness of his kingdoms and in all the honour that is done him or good things enjoyed by him all his days 3. It is the most profitable Calling Reader this argument is Achilleum or instar omnium the strongest argument and instead of all with most men gain is the great God of this world that commandeth all their heads and hearts and hands to whom they bow down the knees both of their bodies and souls The theif murderer are quickened by this to their hellish trade Come let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause We shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil Prov. 1. 9 10. The Sechemites upon this ground will endure the pain of Circumcision and throw up their former religion Shall not their beasts and their cattel and their substance be ours The Soul for this will scale the Walls and leap upon the Pikes and run upon the Mouth of the Cannon The Husband-man for this will rise early go to bed late eat the bread of carefullness toyl and moyl all day and make a drudge a slave a pack-horse of himself all the year The Merchant for this will plough the Ocean dance upon the surging billows suffer many dangers and deaths through his whole voyage The Shop-keeper for this will croud into any hole of the City break his sleep waste his health run about hither and thither early and late Gehezi Achan Iudas Balaam for this will venture their bodies their souls any things all things Profit is such a bait that all will bite at The Devil that Arch Politician who hath had so many thousand years experience besides his extraordinary natural knowledge could not judge any Topicks more likely then this to take with our blessed Saviour All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me The gods themselves were said by the Athenians to be corrupted with Philips gold that their Oracles still were in favour of him Money is the absolute Monarch which can put men upon the most dangerous defignes Therefore Cassius surnamed the Severe one of the wisest of the Roman Judges in all doubtful Causes that came before him would demand Cui bono Who gained or had the profit well knowing that that is the bias which turneth men aside to wrong others and the heady wanton horse which breaks through the fence to trespass upon neighbours Now Reader If profit will prevail with thee Godliness with contentment is great gain All the gold of the world is dross all the diamonds of the world are dirt all the gaines of the world are loss to this gain of Godliness Egypt watered by Nilus hath four rich harvests say some in less then four months Solinus saith the Egyptian fig tree beareth fruit seven times in a year Godliness brings forth 30 60. 100. fold increase It giveth an hundreth fold in this world and in the world to come life everlasting After ye had your fruits unto holiness in the end everlasting life Mat. 19. 29. Rom. 6. 22. Did the sinner but believe Scripture that speaks the infinite reward of holiness he would quickly set up this trade Pinder the Poet saith in regard of the fertility of Rhodia and the wealth of the inhabitants that it rained gold in that country The fruit of wisdom is better then silver and the gain thereof then fine gold She is more precious then Rubies and all thou canst desire is not to be compared to her Prov. 3. 14 15. Lucian fancieth all the Heathen gods and goddesses sitting in Parliament and each making choice of that tree which best pleased them Iupiter chose the Oak for its strength Apollo the Baytree for its greeness Neptune chose the Poplar for its length Iuno chose the Eglantine for its sweetness Venus chose the Myrtle-tree for its beauty Minerva sitting by demanded of her Father Iupiter why since there were so many fruitful trees they all had chosen barren ones He answered Ne videanâ—ur fructu honorem vendere Lest they should seem to sell honour for fruit Minerva replied Well Do what you please I for my part make choice of the Olive for its fatness and fruitfulness They all commended her choice and were ashamed of their own Folly This fiction doth fitly represent the foolishness of men at this day in chusing the honours and preferments and glory of the world which are barren and unfruitful things of no wâ—rth in the other world before that honour which is from God and the eternal weight of glory and also the convictions of their consciences another day which will force them to be ashamed of their own folly and to commend the choice of a Christian for preferring grace and godliness which will stand him in stead in an hour of
quarrels but keep the peace without a Bond. It is the base and vile bramble the fruit of the earths curse that teareth and renteth what is next it Plutarch reports of a falling out between two famous Philosophers Aristippus and AEschines and how after some time Aristippus went to AEschines saying Shall we not be friends before we be a Table-talk to all the town Yea with all my heart saith AEschines Remember then saith Aristippus that thrugh I am your Elder yet I sued for peace True replieth the other I acknowledge you the better and worthier man for I began the strife but you the peace In this Pagan glass many Christians may see their own deformities for even Heathen agree with Scripture in this first particular That they are most wise and prudent who are most meek and peaceable 2. The other which floweth from the forementioned verse is That the Christians meekness must be mixt with wisdom The Apostle calls it meekness of wisdom meekness opposeth fury in our own quarrel not zeal in Gods cause The same Spirit that appeared in the forme of a Dove appeared also in the form of fiery tongues It may be my duty to be silent when I am wronged but its sinful not to speak when God is reproached Though I may compound for my own debts yet I have no power to compound for anothers It s a singular mark of a Saint to be wet Tinder when men strike fire at himself and touch-wood when men strike at God The meekest man upon the face of the earth was the fullest of fury in the cause of Heaven Numb 12. 2. Exod. 32. A skilful Musitian knoweth when to strike a string of a lower sound when of an higher A wise Christian knoweth when to abate when to increase his heats Naturalists observe of Bees that they will ordinarily suffer any prejudice when they are far from their Hives and their own particular is onely concerned but when they are neer their Hives that their Common wealth is engaged in their combats they are furious and will lose their lives or conquer Thy work O Christian is not to abate the least of Gods due but to pocket up many private injuries and to forgive thy personal debts Be not like some as cold in Gods cause as if they had neither sense nor life and as hot in their own as if their work were to make good the opinion of Democritus that the soul is of the nature of fire nothing else but an hot subtle body dispersing it self into fiery atomes Excess of fury is a spiritual frenzy and its ill for them who come within the biting of such mad beasts I have reast of Themistocles that having an House to let he pasted on the Door Here is an House to be hired that hath a good Neighbour It s a great comfort to dwell by a pious and meek person but no small cross to live neer the peevish and passionate A meek man is a good Neighbour in these respects For 1. He is so far from wronging others that he will forgive those that wrong him He is not onely contrary to them who like furious Curs fall upon every one that passeth by without the least cause but also if he be wronged he never studieth revenge though he may seek sometimes for Iustice. The world hath learned of the Divel to offer injuries and he hath learned of God to suffer injuries He dares not usurpe Gods Throne but leaves his cause to the Judge of all men Lev. 19. 18. He knoweth also that good men must have their grains of allowance and Children of the same Father are too prone to quarrel therefore he beareth both with the bad and the good with the former for Christs sake with the latter because they are Christs seed Now such a one is a good Neighbour Calvin said though Luther should call him Satan yet he would honour Luther as a faithful servant of God It s reported of Cato that when a rash bold fellow struck him in the Bath and some time after came to ask him pardon he had forgot that he had been injured Melius putavit non agnoscere quam ignoscere saith Seneca He scorned to approach so neer revenge as acknowledge that he had been wronged It s below a generous Moralist to take notice of petty affronts He kils such slimy wormes by trampling on them The Christian upon a better consideration destroyeth those vermine with the foot of contempt He hath experience what millions of pounds are forgiven him by God and therefore out of gratitude cannot but pardon some few pence to man Forgiving one another as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you Ephes. 4. 32. He knoweth that he needeth favour from others for his offences against them he doth not always walk so carefully but some time or other he hath bespattered those that went neer him and it s but just that he should allow that pardon which he expecteth Eccles. 7.21,22 Tit. 3. 2 3. Shewing all meekness towards all men for we our selves were sometimes foolish living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another The Lacedemonians were wont to pray in their publique service that the Gods would enable them to bear private wrongs with patience 2. A meek person will part with much of his right to buy his peace Where he may not wrong his family too much nor dishonour his God he will yeild far to preserve or purchase a friend Though his priviledge be superior yet he can be contented to hold the stirrup to others and give them place Abraham was the Elder and the Nobler man yet he offereth Lot his choice of the Country and was willing to take what he would leave SECT VI. SEcondly If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness in thy dealings with all men look not onely to the manner of thy dealing but also to the principle Thy righteous courteous and meek carriage must proceed from obedience to Gods command Many of the Heathen as thou hast heard were just in their contracts they would as soon die as deceive Now how wouldst thou know whether thou exceedest them but by a principle of Conscience from which thou actest If Pagans and Christians be found travelling in the same path the onely way to difference them iâ— to enquire whence they both sat out and whither they are going what is the principle from which they act and what is the end of their journey According to the principle of a man such is his end If the Barrel of the Musquet be crooked it will never carry the Bullet right therefore thy principle must especially be minded There be many things that move orderly and yet their motion is not from a principle of life as a Mill moveth by reason of the water yet is no living creature An outward principle of custome or fashion or glory may make a man just and patient in his actings many do the things commanded not because they are
will suffer then not to publish what thou art is a sin The light of Religion ought not to be carried in a Dark Lanthorn and to be shewn onely when thy own interest will permit and at other times to be hid Christ tells us Whoâ—oever shall deny me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 10. 33. Not to confess Christ openly when thou art called to it is to deny him And expect the same measure from Christ in the other world which thou givest to him in this How justly will he be disowned for a servant hereafter that was ashamed to own so Noble a Master here And how dreadful will his condition be whom Christ shall deny before his Father All thy happiness depends upon his confessing thee If he disclaim thee Divels will lay claim to thee and theirs thou shalt be for ever It concerns thee therefore to confess Christ how dear soever it may cost and to own Religion in all companies for thou mayst truly say what an honest man did being occasionally in a Pyrates Ship when t was searcht and the Pyrates cryed out Wo be to us if we be known he said Wo be to me if I be not known There are a sort of men that like Mercury the Good-fellow Planet are according to their company good if with the good bad if in conjunction with bad but the true Christian hath not so learned Christ. He who like the Mariner changeth his course upon the change of the weather is but an unsound Professour We read of some that feared the Lord and served graven Images 2 King 17. 41. They divided themselves between the true God and Idols As the Jewish Children which spake half Hebrew and half in the language of Ashdod Nehem. 13. 24. and as some Gentlemen that speak Italian when they are amongst Italians French amongst French men and order their language answerable to their associates So some that would be called Christians change themselves both for words and deeds into the nature of their Companions Amongst the godly they own God but amongst the wicked they deny him They alter their colour as the Sole say Naturalists according to that which is nearest and expose the Name of God rather then their own to contempt Beza saith of Baldwinus that he had Religionem ephemeram A Religion for every day Some men have a deportment sutable to all with whom they converse resembling such as are sinful and dissembling with them that are holy These are either ashamed or afraid of Christ both which are unreasonable 1. Some will not own him out of shame though he be the glory of his people Israel The Paint of women in some Countries is the Dung of the Crocodile and their sweet powder the excrement of a Cat yet people can esteem these their honour The Drunkard can boast of his strength to drink The cunning Cheat of his deceitful doings And alas many Christians are ashamed of Christ. O how unworthy is it that wicked men should glory in their shame and good men be ashamed of their glory that the scum of Hell should be prided in and the Soveraign of Heaven be esteemed a disgrace that some should with brows of brass boast of the ugly Monster begotten of Satan and others not dare to own the fairest of ten thousands and the onely begotten of the Father It s reported of Aristotles Daughter that being asked what colour was best she should answer the blush colour Diogenes was wont to say that Blushing was the colour of vertue How ever this colour may be commendable on other occasions its abominable in the cause of Christ David saith I will speak of thy judgements before Kings and will not be ashamed Psa. 119. 46. Neither the greatness of their power nor the brightness of their splendour shall make me bashful and ashamed to own thee Shame doth excellently become sin but it s wholly unbecoming the blessed Saviour Rom. 6. 21. Mark 8. 38. 2. Some will not own Christ out of fear As an Owl peeps at the Sun out of a Bâ—rn but dares not come near it So some peep at the Sun of righteousness but stand aloof as if they were more afraid to be nigh God then the Devil This made Peter deny his Master How daunted have many been to look danger in the face He who had sometimes courage enough to take a Lion by the beard lost his colour and changed his behaviour before wicked Achish Slavish fear is a great foe to Godliness The Great Philosopher gives this reason why the Camelion changeth colour so frequently he being a fearful creature swelleth by drawing in the air hereby his skin is pent in and made smooth and more apt to receive the colour of those objects that are next him They who are fearful of suffering will easily if their company require it change their colour and disown their Saviour Timerous creatures will run into any unclean places for shelter when a magnanimous spirit in a good cause will defie death it self He who fears his skin is no friend to his soul but will defile the latter to defend the former Fear surprising the heart takes it away and makes the Christian weak and then 't is no wonder if the smallest blow conquer him and like a Reed he bend with the least blast of wind but how unreasonable is it that any should be afraid to own the blessed Saviour when in sticking close to him is their only safety Nothing can hurt thee but sin t is that alone which exposeth thee to injuries and miseries if thou fearest that thou needest fear nothing else What a foolish bargain dost thou make by denying Christ to make wicked and weak men thy seeming friends and the jealous God thy real enemy Is not he distracted who to avoid the scratch of a pin layeth himself open to the shatering of a Cannon And art thou not worse if to avoid the fury of poor Mortals thou incurrest the wrath of the Almighty Remember that the fearful are the first in the black list for the eternal fire Rev. 21. 8. and do not play the Coward as Furius Fulvius to sound a retreat when thou shouldst as a man of courage sound an Alarm The Mulberry tree is esteemed the wisest of all Trees because it onely bringeth forth its leaves after the cold frosts be past but in Christianity he is a fool who dares not profess himself a Christian till dangers be over St. Austin in his Confessions relates a story of one Victorinus who being converted because he had many great friends that were Heathens durst not own Christ publiquely but went to Simplicianus and whispered him in the ear I am a Christian but Simplicianus answered him Vix credo nec deputabo te inter Christianos c. I do not beleive it nor will count thee a Christian till I see thee profess it openly Victorinus at first derided this answer but afterwards considering the
Order Every star must give light in its own and proper sphere 1. There is an authorative publick counselling admonishing c. which belongeth only to Pastors lawfully called Observe what the holy Ghost saith Are all Apostles Are all Prophets Are all Pastors Are all Teachers No all are not gifted for it It would much reflect upon the King of Heaven to send servants upon such weighty errands that were unfit for them and did rather render their business ridiculous It s no easie thing for a person to be qualified for a publick preacher The great Apostle cryeth out Who is sufficient for these things though the voyce of ignorant men is Who is not sufficient for these things Besides all are not called to it It is not gifts and parts that will make a Subject an Officer at home or an Ambassador abroad but a Commission from his Prince Let no man take this honour upon him unless he be called of God as was Aaron There be many works which private Christians may not meddle with as to consecrate things to constitute Ecclesiastical laws to excommunicate to receive in those that are cast out to administer the Sacraments c. But those works which they may and ought to do as to exhort advise admonish comfort c. they must do them as private members not as publick Officers in the name or stead of Christ and to private members not to the Church 2. There is a private charitative counselling comforting admonishing others this may belong to any Christian so he keep within his own place and carry himself therein according to Divine commands for God hath made no man a Treasurer but every man a Steward of those talents with which he is intrusted Hence the Apostle frequently commandeth believers to mind these duties Gal. 6.1 Heb. 3. 13. 1 Peter 4. 11. But in these Christians must keep within their bounds as fixed Stars give light to others continuing still in their own orbs and not as Planets according to some wander up and down out of their places The members of the body do not intrude into each others office Vzzah's upholding the Ark when shaken though questionless out of a good design yet was the cause of his death and instead of furthering it hindred its march towards the place of its rest Private Christians ought to be serviceable to each other in these particulars 1. In instructing the ignorant Among Christians there are many who have but ignorant heads though they have holy hearts though for the time they have enjoyed the means they might have been teachers of others yet themselves had need to be taught the first principles of the oracles of God Now the work of knowing men must be to instruct such though they be dull and heavy we should bear with them and condescend to them St. Austin said he would speak false latine if his bearers understood it better then true By many blows we make a nail enter into an hard board by precept upon precept and line upon line we may beat truths into the heads of them that are very dull Iobs friend tells him Behold thou hast instructed many Job 4. 3. In this sense Iob was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame eyes to prevent their wandring in a wrong way and feet to prevent their stumbling in the right way David was no Priest yet he would teach others Gods precepts When he had once tasted Gods love others should taste some honey dropping from his lips Then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee Psal. 51. It is a noble Work for Christians that have abilities and understanding to take some pains to teach and instruct them that are ignorant They cannot worship God as they ought because they are unacquainted with his Word and Will How can a servant please his Master that doth not know his pleasure They cannot do the good they should because they know not their duty They who are almost quite blinde will do but little work They are more open to temptation both from evil men and the evil one because of their ignorance It s as easie to give a child poison as wholesom milk because it hath not wisdom to discern the difference It s not hard to put the poison of error into their mouths who are but babes in understanding When the quick-sighted walk steadly these dark-sighted persons walk stumblingly in the way of Gods commandments O do what thou canst Reader to inform such poor creatures in the truths of God for as the Eunuch said to Philip How should they understand unless some one guide them We count it worthy and honourable to teach others some curious Art or high calling sure I am there is a day coming when to have taught one poor Christian how to serve God better and to honour him more will cause more comfort and bring more credit then the instructing thousands in the greatest and deepest mysteries of Nature or Art 2. By quickening the slothful The Eagle loveth her young yet when they are ready for flight and lye lazing in their nest she will pierce and prick them with her claws to make them flye abroad Love to others souls should stir us up to rouze drowsie Christians out of their spiritual slumbers and lethargies One Bell man that is stirring at midnight by crying Fire Fire awakens hundreds that were fast asleep in a short time One lively active believer acquainting men with the jealousie and justice of God and his severe proceedings against secure persons who neglect their spiritual watch may quickly call them from their beds to their watch and work Consider one another saith the Apostle to provoke one another to love and to good works Heb. 10.24 The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Consider â—ne another into a Paroxysm a violent heat of an Ague or Fever to make each other fervent and fiery in love and good works Consider one anothers backwardness and dulness and provoke one another to your duties and that with diligence Consider one anothers states and conditions and provoke one another to a sutable seriousness in working out your salvations Consider one anothers hinderances and temptations and weaknesses and provoke one another to love and to good works Christians should say to one another as Iudah to Simeon his brother Come up with me into my lot that I may fight against the Canaanites and I will go up with thee into thy lot Help me by jogging and awakening me if I sleep and I will do as much for thee Iudg. 1.13 And encourage one another as Ioab his brother Abishai 2 Sam. 10. 11,12 And he said If the Syrians be too strong for me then thou shalt help me but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee then I will come and help thee Be of good courage and let us play the men for our people and the Cities of our God And the Lord do that which seemeth him good
burned We strike fire by meditation to kindle our affections This application of the thoughts to the heart is like the natural heat which digesteth the food and turneth it into good nourishment When we are meditating on the sinfulness of sin In its nature its contrariety to God his being his law his honour its opposition to our own souls their present purity and peace their future glory and bliss In its causes Satan the wicked one its Father the corrupt heart of man its Mother In its properties how defiling it is filthiness it self how infectious it is overspreading the whole man polluting all his natural civil spiritual actions making his praying hearing singing an abomination how deceiving it is pretending meat and intending murder In its effects the curse of God on all the creatures evident by the vanity in them the vexation they bring with them in the anger of God on sinners apparent in those temporal punishments spiritual judgements and eternal â—orments which he inflicteth on them I say when we meditate on this we should endeavour to get our hearts broken for sin ashamed of sin and fired with indignation against sin O what a wretch am I should the soul think to harbour such a Traytor against my Soveraign What a fool am I to hug such a serpent in my bosom What sorrow for it can be sufficient What hatred of it is enough What watchfulness against it what self abhorrency because I have loved it and lived in it can equal its desert O that I could weep bitterly for the commission of it and watch narrowly for the prevention of it and pray-fervently â—or pardon of it and power against it How much am I bound to God for his patience towards so great a sinner How infinitely am I engaged to Christ for taking upon him my sins T was infinite condescention in him to take upon him my nature but O what humiliation was it to take upon him my sins What life can answer such love what thankefulness should I render for such grace such goodness The close applying of our meditations to our hearts is like the applying and rubbing in oyl on a benummed joynt which recovers it to its due sense He that omits it doth as a chapman that praiseth ware and cheapens it but doth not buy it and so is never the better for it David proceeds from meditation of Gods works to application of his thoughts Psal. 8.2,3,4 When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers c. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou dost thus visit him 5. It is a serious applying of some sacred subject that his resolutions may be strengthned against evill and â—or good The Christian must not onely pray his good thoughts but practice them he must not lock them up in his mind but lay them out in his life A Council of war or of State is wholly useless if there be none to execute what they determine That Kingdom flourisheth best where faithful execution followeth sound advisements Therefore the Heathen pronounced that City â—afe which had the heads of old men for consideration and the â—ands of young men for execution Action without consideration is usually lame and defective consideration without action is lost and abortive Though meditation like Rachel be more fair execution like Leah is most fruitful The beasts under the law were unclean which did not both chew the cud and divide the hoof Ruminatio ad sapientiam fissa ungula pertinet ad mores Chewing the cud signifieth meditation dividing the hoof an holy conversation without which the former will be unprofitable saith Austin Reader Hast thou thought of the beauty and excellency of holiness in its nature its conformity to the pure nature and holy commands of the blessed God in its causes the Spirit of God its principal efficient the holy Scriptures its instrumental In its names it s the image of God the divine nature light life the travel of Christs soul grace glory the Kingdom of heaven In its effects or fruits how it renders thee amiable in Gods eye hath the promise of his ear is entituled to pardon peace joy adoption growth in grace perseverance to the end and the exceeding and eternal weight of glory and hast applied this so close to thy heart that thou hast been really affected with its worth and wished thy self enriched with that jewel though thou wert a beggar all thy life and resolved with thy self Well I will watch and weep and hear and pray both fervently and frequently for holiness I will follow God up and down and never leave him till he sanctifieth my soul Now I say to thee as Nathan to David when he told him of his thoughts and resolution of building a temple Do all that is in thine heart for God is with thee 2 Chron. 17.2 or as God to Moses concerning the Jews They have well spoken all that they have said O that there were an heart in them to keep my commandments It s well thou art brought to any good purposes but it will be ill if they be not followed with performances Good intentions without suitable actions is but a false conception or like a piece charged without a bullet which may make a noise but doth no good no execution Indeed there is no way better to evidence the sincerity of thy intentions then by answerable actions David was good at this I thought on my wayes there was his serious consideration and turned my feet to thy testimonies there is his holy conversation So again I will meditate on thy precepts and will have respect to thy testimonies T is in vain to pretend that like Moses we go into the mount of contemplation and converse with God unless we come down as he did with our faces shining our conversations more splendent with holiness This saith the cheif of the Philosophers will a man to perfect happiness if to his contemplation he joyn a constant imitation of God in wisdom justice and holiness Thus I have dispatched those five particulars in meditations The first three are but one though for methods sake to help the Reader I spake to them severally and are usually called Cogitation the other two Application and Resolution Cogitation provides food Application eats it Resolution digests it and gets strength from it Cogitation cuts out the sute Application makes it up Resolution puts it on and wears it Cogitation betters the judgement Application the affections and Resolution the life It s confest this duty of set meditation is as hard as rare and as uneasie as extraordinary but experience teacheth that the profit makes abâ—ndâ—nt recompence for our pains in the performance of it Besides as Milstones grind hard at first but being used to it they grind easily and make good flower so the Christian wholly disused to this duty at first may find it some what difficult but afterwards both facile and fruitful Reader to help thee
for the least of their offences how he hath manifested his justice in the deluge brought on the old world in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in his carriage towards Apostate Angels rebellious Israelites his own chosen people and the Medâ—atour his own Son when he took upon him mans sin in the instruments of eternal death which he hath prepared in Hell for sinners and the solemn triumph which justice shall have at the great day and to all eternity in the other world 5. His holiness how he loaths sin with the greatest abhorrency cannot behold the least iniquity shoots the arrows of his vengeance against its actours and authors will be sanctified in or upon all that approach him is terrible in his holy places forbiddeth the least complyance with sin though but in a sudden thought and makes it his end in his providences ordinances the gift of his Son his Spirit to make men holy I might shew how it exalteth him in all his properties but I pass on It glorifieth him in every part of it Its precepts and commands speak his purity and dominion its promises and covenant speak his boundless mercy and compassion its threatnings and comminations speak his justice and jealousie its prophesies and predictions speak his wisdom and omniscience The Scripture tendeth also to the eternal good of men It is helpful to beget a soul to Christ Of his own will begat he us again by the Word of truth The Word of grace is instrumental for the conveyance of grace Act. 2.37 Rom. 10. 14. It is helpful to build the soul up in Christ as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. 2. Grace is increased by the same means by which it is generated as the same Sun that begets some living creatures is helpful for their growth The Word of God of stones raiseth up children to Abraham and of Children maketh Young men and Fathers It is so penned that all sorts of persons all ranks of Christians may be directed into the way of truth and guided by it in the way of life It is able to make us wise to salvation To shew the path of life 2 Tim. 3. 15. Psa. 16. 11. As Ioshua it leads the Israelites into Canaan All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable 1. For Doctrine Where Scripture hath not a tongue to speak I must not have an ear to hear Scriptura est regula fidei Scripture is the rule of faith Hence the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is called a foundation Ephes. 2. 20. 2. For reproof It is the hammer of Heresies Ignorance of Scripture is one main cause of error Ye err not knowing the Scripture By this sword of the Spirit Christ vanquished Satan Mat. 4. 4. and the Jews Ioh. 5.45 and Sadduces Mat. 22.29 Lapidandi sunt haeretici sacrarum literarum argumentis Hereticks are to be stoned with Scripture arguments saith Athanasius The Word of God hiâ—s that unclean bird in the eye and wounds it mortally 3. For correction of manners The sword of the Word pierceth the sinners conscience like Christ to the woman of Samaria It tells him all that ever he did and makes him smite upon his thigh and say What have I done Scripture is a glass which sheweth him the spots that are in the face of his heart and life 4. For instruction in righteousness It is the way in which we should walk the rule of our spiritual race What is written on some Psalms may be written on every Psalm and Chapter in the whole Bible Maschil or Psalm for instruction Its precepts teach us what to follow its prohibitions tell us what to forsake Its promises are to allure us to sanctity its threatnings to affright us from sin the good example of the Saints speaketh as Christ to Peter Follow thou me the wicked actions and ends of sinners cry aloud as Abner to Ioab Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the end 5. For comfort There is no such cordial for a fainting spirit as a promise in the Word The Gospel in the Greek is glad tidings and not without cause This is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickned me When souls have been ready to despair under the sense of their wickedness and to sink in deep waters the Word of God hath held them up by the chin and preserved them from drowning Vnless thy law had been my delight I had perished in mine affliction 6. For salvation the Word is called the Kingdom of heaven partly because it revealeth Gods thoughts of such an inestimable happiness to the children of men The celestial Canaan was terra incognita till that discovered it He hath brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel partly because it prepares the soul for heaven the Word sanctifieth and so saveth precious souls By filling us with grace it fitteth us for glory Rom. 1.16 Ioh. 17.17 Partly because it is the seed of heaven As the Harvest is potentially in the seed and a tall Oke potentially in an acorn so heaven and eternal life is potentially in the Word of life It is called The grace of God that bringeth salvation It bringeth salvation to men and it bringeth men to salvation Secondly Consider it O my soul in its properties they will also speak its preciousness 1. It is pure and holy there are some dregs that will appear in the exactest writings of the best men when they have been shaken by a critical hand but none could ever justly fasten the least filth upon the holy Scriptures The Word of Christ is like the Spouse of Christ There is no spot in it The Alcoran of Mahomet alloweth Polygamy promiseth sensual pleasures as the reward of his servants but the Scripture winketh not at the least sin no not so much as in a motion of the heart or a glance of the eye and its promises are also pure and spiritual The Doctrine of the wisest Heathen and Philosophers were a mixture of good and bad Theft was no fault amongst Lycurgus Laws but if done slily commended highly Aristotle permitted revenge and obscene jesting which Scripture expresly forbids Thy word is very pure The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times There is not the least dross of evil or error in it 1. It s principal Author is the original and exemplar of all holiness his nature is the pattern and his will the rule of purity Exod. 15. 4. Isa. 6. 3. 2. The Scribes of it were holy men moved and actuated by the Holy Ghost 3. It s effect is to sanctifie and make holy Ye are clean through the word that I have given you 4. The matter of it is holy Its commanding part is holy The Law is holy just and good Rom. 7. 12. It s assertory part is holy what it affirmes to be is what it denyeth to
holiness Even Benhadad the King of Syria an enemy to the Prophets and People of God in his health will send a Prince to Elisha with a large present and most submissive expressions thy Son Benhadad in his sickness 2 King 7.9 Sickness gives men a double advantage for holiness 1. It takes off their hearts from creatures by teaching them experimentally what a poor weak cordial the whole creation is to sick or dying men When men are strong and lusty they can taste and savour earthly things carnal comforts hinder their endeavours after spiritual They take up with creatures as Esau and say they have enough but sickness makes them know the emptiness of all sublunary things When men are sick they cannot rellish the worlds dainties and delicates The preferments and riches and pleasures of the earth are all unsavoury and uncomfortable to them They now see the vanity of those things which heretofore they so much idolized how unable they are to revive their fainting spirits or to allay their pain or purchase them the least ease or procure them the least acceptance in the other world and hence the price of the worlds market falls abundantly in their judgements Bernard tells us of a Brother of his that when he gave him many good instructions and he being a Souldier regarded them not he put his finger to his side and told his Brother One day a Spear shall make way to this heart of thine for admonition and instruction to enter 2. In sickness conscience is usually allowed more liberty to speak its mind and men are then more at leasure to hear it In health their callings or friends or lusts or sports or some carnal comfort or other take up their hearts and time that conscience must be silenced as too bold a Preacher for offering to disturb them in their pleasures or if it will use its authority and continue to speak in Gods name and forbid their foolishness and Atheism and sensuality and prophaness they are deaf to its calls and commands and drown its voice with the noise of their brutish delights But in sickness they are taken off from their trades and pastimes and merry meetings and jovial companions when their bodies are weak their fleshly lusts are not so strong as formerly whereby conscience hath a greater opportunity to tell them of their miscarriages and wickedness and they themselves are more attentive to its words and warning Reader It s a special peice of wisdom to improve such a season for the good of thy Neighbours soul. When the Wax is softned then we clap the Seal upon it lest it harden again and be incapable of any impression When the hand of God hath by sickness made the heart of thy wicked friend or brother soft and tender then do thy utmost to stamp the Image of God upon it Paul would preach whilst a door was opened and there was likelyhood of doing good It s a great encouragement to work when the subject upon which we bestow our pains seems capable of what we prosecute and probable to answer our labour We have some heart to strike a nail into a bâ—ard because there is hope it will enter but no list to drive a nail into a flint because we despair of effecting it The Smith strikes when the Iron is hot he knoweth if he should stay till it is cold his labour would be in vain Friend take the advantage of others bodily sickness to further their spiritual health lest they either die in their sins or harden upon their recovery Opportunity is like a joynt in some part of a fowl which if we hit upon we may easily carve and divide the fowl but if the Knife fall on this side or that side of the joynt we do but mangle the meat and take pains to no purpose It is the speech of Master Richard Rogers in his seven Treatises I have visited some persons that have been condemned to die in whom through the blessing of God upon his endeavours I have found as good signs of saved persons as of any that died in their beds not having tasted of repentance before 2. It s a special opportunity of Receiving good We are taught more effectually by the eye then by the ear The sight of a sick or dying person hath often a strange and a strong operation upon the beholder When the Father heard of one that sinned notoriously he cried out I may be as bad as this man is When thou seest one dangerously sick thou mayst think with thy self I must â—e as this man is sick unto death when none of my Relations or Possessions can afford me the least comfort and O how much doth it concern me to prepare before-hand for such an hour If this mans work be now to do when his life is ending how sad is the condition of his precious soul O that I were wise to consider timely and to provide seasonably for my latter end The sight of a dead man was instrumental to the spiritual life of Waldus The sight of others sickness may well quicken me to the greater industry and diligence after spiritual health Do I behold my Neighbour whose Sail formerly sweld with a full gale of worldly enjoyments now wind-bound chained to his chamber or fettered to his bed unable to rellish his food or take any comfort in his friends Do I see him full of Aches and Pains Tossings and Tumblings crying out in the evening Would God it were morning and in the morning Would God it were evening because of the anguish of his Spirit Do I behold his cheeks pale his eyes sunk his lips quivering his loyns trembling his heart panting and nature striving and strugling with the disease to keep its ground and yet at last forced to quit the field and leave the victory to its adversary how many excellent observations may I draw from such a Text What a fool am I to trust the world which leaves this man in his greatest want How mad am I in loving sin which is the cause of all these crosses and miseries and which makes death so mortal to poor souls Of how much worth and value is the blessed Redeemer who will comfort a Christian in such a time of need and carry him through his last conflict with joy and conquest How careful should I be to get and keep a good conscience which in such a day of extremity will yeild me true courage and confidence The wise man doth not without cause tell us It is better to go into the house of mourning to the terming or charnel-house then to the house of feasting for that is is the end of all men and the living will lay it to heart Eccles. 7. 2. Men in a house of feasting are apt to be forgetful of their duty to God themselves and their Neighbours Isa. 22. 13 14. Amos 6. 3 6. Isa. 5. 11 12. When the body is filled the soul is often neglected Iob was afraid of this in
that in the other world I may stand among thy Sheep on thy right hand and hear that blessed heart-chearing voice Come thou blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for thee before the foundation of the World For I was hungry and thou gavest me meat I was thirsty and thou gavest me drink I was a stranger and thou didst take me in I was sick and thou visitedst me when my soul shall be above all sin and my body above all sickness and both blessed in thy favour and fruition for ever and ever Amen CHAP. VIII How a Christian may exercise himself to Godliness on a Dying Bed SIxthly and Lastly Thy duty is to exercise thy self to Godliness if God give thee opportunity on a Dying Bed The work of a Saint is to glorifie God not onely in his life but also in his death The Silk-worm stretcheth out her self before she spin and ends her life in her long wrought clew The Christian must stretch out himself on his dying Bed and end his life in the work of his Lord. Every Man by his death payeth his debt to nature He is earth in regard of his Original creation and must be earth in regard of his ultimate resolution Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. 19. The Sinner when he dyeth payeth his debt to Sin Satan and the Law To sin as he is the servant of unrighteousness and so must receive its wages which is death To Satan as he hath sold himself to work wickedness at his will and so must have his tempter to be his eternal tormentor To the Law as he hath violated its precepts and commands and therefore must undergo its punishment and curse The Saint when he dieth payeth his debt to God for he oweth him honour as well by his death as by his life Hence we read not onely of their living in the Lord and to the Lord but also of their dying in the Lord and to the Lord Rom. 14. 8. Rev. 14. 13. Which though some expound in that place of the Revelations to the cause for which they died they did not dye out of humour or obstinacy or any carnal selfish interest but purely as Martyrs at Gods call and for Gods cause They loved not their lives to the death for the testimony of Iesus Yet the words may as clearly speak 1. The state in whiâ—â— they died They died in the favour of God reconciled to him through the death of the Mediatour The Castle of their souls was not taken by storm or in a state of emnity and opposition but by a quiet voluntary sâ—rrender or in a state of peace and amity 2. The manner of their deaths They died in the fear of God they exercised grace as well in sickness as in health and when dying as when living their spiritual motions were quick when their natural motions were slow Plutarch reports of Lucius Metellus high Priest of Rome that though he lived to a great old age his voice did not fail him nor his hand shake in his sacrificing to the Gods It s said of Moses when he was a hundred and twenty years old and dyed that his natural sight did not fail him neither was his heat abated So it may be said of the Christian that though he die old his spiritual sight doth not fail him nor his divine heat abate As Caleb he is as strong in regard of grace his inward strength when he is entering into the promised Canaan as he was when he first went forth as a spie by faith to search the land flowing with milk and honey The Heathen counted him happy that dyed either in the midst of the goods of fortune hence they say if Priamus had died a little before the loss of his Town he had died the greatest Prince in all Asia or in the exercise of their moral vertues Hence they so highly extol Seneca and Socrates who seemed to dare even death it self out of resolution and fortitude Though those seeming vertues were but as Austin terms them Splendida Flagitia Famous Vices and their confidence arose not from any grounded knowledge of their good estates but from their blindness and ignorance of their depraved wicked and woful estates He is the happy man indeed that dieth in the faith that sleepeth in Iesus that goeth to his grave in the exercise of grace The Master of Moral Philosophy commendeth that Pilot whom a Ship-wrack swalloweth up at the Stern with the Rudder in his hand The most high God commendeth that person whom death seiseth doing the work for which he was sent into the world Even the blind Mole if Naturalists may be credited opens his eyes when he comes to dye and the crooked Serpent stretcheth out her self straight when she is going to fetch her last breath and shall not the Saint be best at last Reader Observe how careful the Saints have been to do their last work well and to go out of the world like some sweet spices perfuming the room in which they fetch their last breath with holiness and leaving a sweet savour behind them Jacob when dying worshipped leaning on his staff Heb. 11. 21. What a Character doth he give of the Angel of the Covenant and what blessings doth he pray for and prophesie to come on his children when he was going from them How was his heart enlarged in pantings after the Lord Christ Gen. 48. 16. and 49. per tot The living waters of his graces ran with the greater strength when they were emptying themselves into the Ocean of glory Moses like the dying Swan sings most sweetly being to go up to Mount Nebo to dye there What excellent doctrines reproofs instructions doth he deliver to the Israelites How pathetically rhetorically divinely doth he dictate his last legacies to his Political children who can read and not be ravished with wonder and delight Deut. 32. 33. Ioshua like the morning star shines brightest at last He gives his people so strict a charge to serve the Lord such gracious counsel when he was going the way of all the earth that it could not but be remembred many days after Dying Ioseph will lay his bones at stake for Gods faithfulness and that he will visit Israel and deliver them out of Egypt Sampson did the Church of God much service in slaying more of her enemies at his death then in his life Iulius Caesar among the Romans and Olympia the Mother of Alexander among the Grecians were famous for their care to die handsomely and not to commit at last any ill beseeming action whereby their memories should have been rendred inglorious But the Christians care hath always been to die holily and to do their God most service when they are going to that place where they shall do him no more in a proper sense Philosophers tell us that the soul upon deaths approach is more divine and supernaturally inclined certain it is the soul of a Saint onely doth then more
answerable to my peril and my danger Lord when that day and hour draweth near that I must go hence and be no more seen do thou draw near in boundless mercy to my poor soul When I must enter into the Chambers of death and make my bed in the grave save me from the paws of Satan and the power of Hell that the bottomless pit may not shut her mouth upon me and give me to triumph in that hour of tribulation as knowing that neither tribulation nor persecution nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor life nor death can seperate me from thy love which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I Wish that when I am going to the place of silence I may speak the excellencies of my God and make his praise glorious It is the unhappiness of worldlings and wicked men that they cannot when they dye commend the principles whence they have acted nor the vain pleasures which they have minded and pursued How many of them whose lives have been nothing but a bundle of false-hood and lies when God hath called them to leave the world have spoken truth and told their Friends and Relations that sin is an evil and bitter thing that carnal pleasures are guilded poisons that the greatest and choicest of worldly comforts though they may have honey in their mouths have a sting in their tailes and what a vain empty nothing the whole creation is How often have they complained how the world hath deceived them the flesh deluded them and Devil beguiled and destroyed them It is my priviledge as well as my duty to extol my Master whom I have served to commend the sweetness of his ways the pleasantness of his worship the reasonableness of his precepts the richness of his promises and the vastness of that portion which he hath laid up for his Children when they come to age I have sometimes tasted his work and ways to be sweeter then the honey and the honey comb I have viewed by faith his reward to be vastly glorious and beyond all apprehensions excellent O why should I not diswade others from their eager pursuit of foolish fading shadows and perswade and encourage them to earnest endeavours after real substance and durable riches The sinner who hath wallowed all his life time in the mire of filth and wickedness will when he comes to dye and begins to return to his wits from his own experience of the emptiness and unprofitableness of his ungodly courses and from the convictions of his natural conscience acknowledge a sober sanctified conversation to be safest and the ways of God to be most gainful and upon these accounts advise his friends and relations to forsake and abandon the lusts of the world and flesh and to follow after holiness as they would be happy eternally And have not I much more cause to shew my abhorrency of sin and love to my Saviour and his image when I am entering into my Fathers house The sinner hath onely found at last a fleshly life to be vain and fruitless and is like to pay dear for his learning but I have known the paths of piety to be paths of pleasantness and rejoyced more in them then in all riches The sinner hath onely the dim light of nature to shew him the loathsomness of vice and the loveliness of grace but I have the holy Spirit of my God to enlighten my mind in the knowledge of both The sinner hath only a carnal love to his Neighbours and Kindred he knoweth not what it is to love them in Christ and for Christ I have some knowledge of the love and Law of Christ of the worth of their souls of the price paid for them by the Lord Iesus and their unchangeable conditions in the other world O that my language to them might be somewhat answerable to the love of Christ to me Lord It is unrighteousness to die in debt to man and not to endeavour to make them satisfaction according to my power I am sure to dye in thy debt for I am less then the least of all thy mercies and unable to requite thee for the smallest of thy favours It is my comfort that all the recompence thou expectest is a thankful acknowledgement and hearty acceptance of thy grace and good will O what injustice and ingratitude were I guilty of should I deny thee so small a request Be pleased to help thy servant in his last hours both to accept unfeignedly of thy grace for his own good and to acknowledge thy good will and bounty and faithfulness to thy glory for the good of others I Wish that my lost breath may be drawn Heaven-ward I mean that I may enter praying into the house of blessing and praise I am no Christian if I do not give my self to prayer whilst I live It is one choice piece of my spiritual Armour whereby I have often assaulted and conquered my soul-enemies It is the Ambassadour which I have many a time sent to the heavenly Court that always received a favourable Audience and obtained his errand It is the Vessel which hath brought me food from far and ever returned richly laden if it were not my own fault It is the element in which I live the aliment by which I subsist the pulse the breath of my soul without which it must needs dye On my death-bed I have as much need of its succour as at any season My adversaries will then imploy their greatest power and policy to rout and ruine me I am but weak flesh and blood altogether unable to combat with Principalities and Powers and how can I expect supplies from the Lord of Hosts unless I send this Messenger to intreat it My wants and weaknesses at such a time will be more then ordinary Faith must then be acted in spight of all the frights and fears which a malicious Devil and an unbeleiving heart from the number and nature of my sins the strictness of the law and the justice of God may put me to Repentance must then be exercised and my sins lye nearer my heart then my sharpest diseases In patience I must possess my soul under all the pains and pressures which the wise God shall lay upon me I must then chearfully submit to the divine pleasure and by my willingness to leave all the world to go to Christ shew that I hate Father Mother Wife Child House Lands Life and all for Christ. Those graces and many other must be put forth at suâ—h a time none of which I can do by my own power and therefore have abundant cause to fetch help from Heaven by prayer Besides the distempers of my body will discompose my soul and unfit it in a great measure for all holy service Again my Benefactors my near Friends and Relations the poor afflicted Church of God do all call aloud to me to pray for them as the last kindness I shall ever do for them I profess
by the roots All that these can do is to make a man like a grave green and flourishing on the surface and superficies when within there is nothing but noisomness and corruption It hath often appeared that those means which the great Moralists have used to bridle their lusts and passions have rather like strong sents to Epileptick bodies raised them then recovered them Indeed if the cheif fault were not in the vital parts then outward applications might be effectual but when the heart and lungs and inwards are all corrupted Plaisters applied to the face or hands or thighs or sides will do little good When the fault is in the foundation of an house it cannot be mended by Plaistering or rough-cast A Leopard may be flea'd but he is spotted still because the spots are not onely in the skin but in the flesh and bones and sinews and most inward parts When the disease is accidental as to lose the sight by the Small-Pox or the like there the Physick of morality may be advantagious but where the disease is natural as in the man that was born blind there Physick will do no good a miracle alone must restore such a one to his sight Unsanctified persons at best act from themselves and therefore for themselves As the Kite they may spread their wings and soar aloft as if they touched Heaven when at the highest their eyes are upon their prey upon earth Lucullus told his guests when he had feasted them liberally and they had admired his bounty in their costly entertainment Something my Friends is for your sakes but the greatest part is for Lucullus his own sake An unconverted person may do something some small matter for the sake of Religion from common gifts of illumination c. but the most that he doth is for his own sake for that credit or profit which he expecteth thereby If any thing be enjoyned which thwarteth his interest he will reply with Ajax when commanded to spare Vlysses In other things I will obey the Gods but not in this Reader Make sure of this inward change otherwise though thy conversation may be specious it can never be gracious nor thy profession durable If the house be built on loose earth it will never stand long When the principles are variable and uncertain so will the practices be If the arguments upon which thou takest upon thee the livery of Christ and the grounds of thy engagement in his service be not firm and constant the love of God and hope of eternal life c. such as the world and flesh cannot over-top thou wilt throw up thy profession and leave thy Master when thou art offered in thy blind judgment a better service though it be but the pleasures of sin for a season with eternal pains at the end of them for thy soul and Saviour and eternal salvation How well may he prove a Bankrupt who is worse then naught when he first sets up I wonder not that many pofessors disown the Lord Jesus when they were ignorant why they at any time owned him He that takes up Religion on trust will lay it down when it brings him into trouble As the Celendine springeth and floweth at the comming of the Summer birds but withereth at their departure And the Corn that promiseth a good Harvest in the Blade is blasted in the Ear because its root is withered and naught So the person that hath no sound foundation though he seem to look high will never hold out The Turnsel makes a shew for a time with white velvet leaves and yellow flowers but fadeth away without bringing forth any fruit Christ tells us some which heard the word though for a season they rejoyced in it when tribulation came because of the word were offended at it because they had no root To prevent that sad Apostacy which many are guilty of to their eternal undoing Friend consider serionsly beforehand what it will cost thee to be a Christian indeed A foolish builder that undertakes to raise a structure as high as Heaven and pondereth not the charge thereof gives over before he hath half finished it and so loseth all his expence and labour As in marriage one that is wise and considereth the person his portion and his precepts with the cares and burdens that are incident to that condition for such must have trouble in the flesh and after this upon mature deliberation accepteth him for an Husband will stick and cleave to him loyally and faithfully whatever befalls him whereas a foolish Maid that hudleth up a match in haste hand over head promising her self nothing but delight and pleasure when she comes to suffer poverty or imprisonment or disgrace with her Husband repenteth of her bargain and forsakes the guide of her youth So the Christian that hath duly pondered the excellencies in Christ his misery without Christ absolute necessity of Christ what love and joy and peace and endless bliss God offereth with his Son what Christ expecteth from all that will be married to him even the denyal of themselves the taking up of their Cross the contempt of Father Mother Wife Children Estate Life and all for him and after he hath duly considered all this gives himself up to Christ will be faithful unto death and own the Lord Jesus Christ whatever it may cost him when the man that followeth Christ for the loaves or for fashion or on a sudden strikes a league with him expecting nothing but comforts and joy in his contract will quickly leave him if called to suffer with him He that followeth Christ he knoweth not why will forsake him he knoweth not how If thou art Reader to begin this work of entering thy self into Christs Army I would advise thee to bethink thy self upon what grounds thou engagest in his quarrel For Christians are not called to their spiritual war for love of fighting as Cocks that fall to it upon sight of each other Consider the enemies thou art to fight against how potent and crafty and cruel they are continually seeking thy destruction the Captain thou art to fight under how wise he is to direct and command thee how able to protect and defend thee how faithful and bountiful to crown and reward thee the excellency of the cause it is for thy soul thy God thy Saviour thy salvation the dangers thou must encounter and hardships thou willt be called to endure the certainty of thy conquest how impossible it is to miscarry in so just a quarrel under suchâ— an Almighty Captain and then list thy self to fight the good fight of faith and fear not but thou shalt be more then a conqueror through him that loves thee Secondly If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness Live by Faith The life of Faith it s the onely life of holiness and unbelief is the mother of all Apostacy When God would perswade Abraham to sincere and singular godliness he doth it by offering him sure footing for his faith I am
course will be hindered Indeed as God could preserve our bodies without food or any sustenance by his omnipotent power as he did Moses and Elijah forty days together but he will not where he affordeth ordinary means So he could preserve our souls in life without ordinances but he will not where his providence giveth us opportunity to enjoy them Reader I must say to thee as Iacob to the Patriarchs Behold I have heard that there is Corn in Egypt get you down thither and buy for us that we may live and not dye Behold thou hast heard there is spiritual food in Heaven the Son of Ioseph hath his granaries full of Corn go thou thither daily by sacred duties that thy soul may live and not dye There is a sensible decay of the strength in Husbandmen whose work is great upon one days abstinence If tradesmen grow careless of their business and neglect their Shops they quickly decay in their estates When Christians grow careless of duties and neglect their Closets t is no wonder that they decline in their spiritual stocks When the Moon hath her open side downward she decreaseth but when her open side is upwards towards Heaven she increaseth in light There is no growing in grace and holiness but by conversing with Heaven Grace like Armour may easily be kept bright if it be daily used but if it hang by the wall it will quickly rust and cost much time and pains to scoure Much fasting takes away the stomach and omission of Closet duties at one time makes a man more backward to them and dead about them another time When a Scholar hath plaid the Truant one day its difficult to bring him to School the next day Fear and Shame both keep him back when he comes thither he is the more untoward about his book Our deceitful hearts after they have discontinued holy exercises and are broken loose are like horses gotten out of their bounds not found or brought back without much trouble When an instrument is daily plaid on it s kept in order but if it be but a while neglected and cast into a corner the strings are apt to break the frets to crack the bridge to flye off and no small trouble and stir is requisite to bring it into order again We read of the Iews daily sacrifice which was Morning and Evening Exod. 29. 38. and 30. 7 8. David was for Morning and Eveningâ— and Noon-tide Psa. 55. 17. Daniel was three times a day upon his knees Dan. 6. 10. In the Morning the Saints were at their devotion which is thought to be the third hour when the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles Act. 2. 15. This is deemed to be our ninth hour The midle or mid day prayer was termed the sixth hour which is our twelfth Ioh. 4. 6. At this time Peter went up to the house top to pray Act. 10. 9. The evening Prayer was at the ninth hour which is our three a clock in the After-noon Now Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour Act. 3. 1. So Cornelius Act. 10. 30. At the ninth hour I prayed in my house Some think the Primitive Christians had these three hours in such regard and use that thence they were termed Canonical hours David tells us Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgements Psa. 119. 164. The more frequent a Christian is at holy duties supposing he doth not make the commands of God to interfere and neglect his calling and family when his presence is required in them the more thriving he shall be in his spiritual trade The oftener we go to the Fountain or River the more water we bring thence As Runners in a Race do daily diet their bodies and use exercise to keep themselves in breath that they may be more able and active when they run for the wager whereas if they should neglect it they would grow pursie and shortwinded and unlikely to hold out when they run for the Garland So Christians who would hold out to the end and so run as to obtain must be daily feeding and dieting their souls and renewing their strength by these means which God hath appointed As the Sun is the cause of life and groweth in vegetables so is the Son of God the efficient cause of motion and growth in Christians where the Son is present in any soul there is spiritual moâ—ion and growth budding and blossoming and bearing fruit but when the Sun with-holds and with-draws when this Sun departs the soul is at a stand Now Ordinances are the means whereby the Mediatour conveys heat and life and growth to men CHAP. XI Means whereby Christians may exercise themselves to Godliness Frequent Meditation of the day of judgement A daily Examination of our hearts Avoiding the Occasions and Suppressing the beginnings of Sin SEvently If thou wouldst exercise thy self to Godliness Meditate much upon the day of Iudgement They will prepare themselves best to the battel who always hear the sound of the last trump in their ears Zisea that valiant Captain of the Bohemians commanded his Country-men to flea off his skin when he was dead and to make a Drum of it Which use saith he when ye go to battel and the sound of it will drive away the Hungarians or any of your enemies Could the Christian but with Ierom hear the sound of the last trumpet in his ears at all times it would encourage him in his spiritual warfare and enable him to fight manfully and to cause the enemies of his salvation to flee before him He who can frequently by faith view the Judge sitting on his Throne of Glory hear the last trumpet sounding behold the dead raised the books opened the godly examined by the Covenant of grace all their duties graces services sufferings publiquely declared approved and rewarded the wicked tried by the Law of works all their natural defilements actual transgressions in thought word and deed which ever they were guilty of with their crimson bloody circumstances openly revealed their persons righteously sentenced to the vengeance of the eternal fire and that sentence speedily without the least favour or delay executed on them will surely loath sin as that which brings him certain shame and torment and follow after holiness which will be his undoubted credit and comfort at that day The Apostle writing to the Iews concerning the terror of that day how the Heavens must pass away with a great noise and the Elements melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works therein burnt up makes this use of it Seeing then that all those things shall be dissolved What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness And again Wherefore beloved seeing ye look for these things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameness He had need to be exact in his conversation who must