must learne to wait on God from day to day it is thy obedience his glory if thou bee rich thy account will bee the harder to make Things themselves are not good to thee but in their lawfull use they serve not thy turne except thou serve God with them make not that a snare to entangle thee in vanity which is given thee for the exercise of vertue Alas why complainest thou when any crosse interrupts thy worldly proceedings and dost not feele the losse of spirituall grace whiles thou art thwarted in a good course by sinne why art thou so well pleased at good successe and dost not rejoyce rather for the good seedes of thy regeneration for the fruits of thy faith hope love zeale patience chastity meeknesse temperance sobriety and the rest for that thou hast found or art directed in the way to find the treasure of inestimable worth and value to wit the keeping of a good conscience this that thou dost not ought to make thee mourne and lament and thou shouldest not take comfort in that wealth which keeps thee from feeling thy dayly want and enjoying sound prosperity Meditation 20. Of Giving GAining is good if it bee to give for Giving is better God gaines nothing by any yet gives all that is his perfection the light of the Sun and Moone the influence of the Planets the sweetnesse of the aire the variety of seasons the fatnesse of the cloudes the fruitfulnesse of the earth the fulnesse of the Sea the vertue of herbes the beauty of flowers the profit of beasts and cattle the price of Gold Silver and pretious stones are nothing to him nay the redemption of mankind the gathering of the Saints the gifts of the Church the graces of men our regeneration sanctification prayers sacrifices and services are nothing to him for he is his owne perfection ours it is to gaine and give receive and bestow of all things besides God it may be said what have they which they have not received yea the creatures which have most as Angels and men have received most and are the more bound to the giver wherefore their first perfection is to receive but because to give to bestow is a farther extent of perfection and more answerable to the perfection of him which is the giver of all good therefore is it a better thing and as our Saviour said by Pauls report a more blessed to give rather then to receive a better good the chiefe good a better good that 's vertue the chief good that 's happinesse the life of every vertue is action and happinesse the perfection of actions and action of vertue is nothing else but a giving of good in some kind as the act of justice to give every one his owne of fortitude to give courage against death of temperance to give a measure to pleasures of prudence to give order to affaires of liberality to give gifts where and when it is convenient and therefore as wee say there is a kind of justice in all vertues so is there a kind of liberality though one kind of giving for his use and excellency be so specially called for he which giveth of his owne to relieve another doth it most freely without any consideration to move him besides the love of vertue and for the good which comes thereof is deemed a God amongst men for which cause Princes are by a speciall title termed Gods because as their places require them to doe all vertuous actions more then others so above all they are enabled to give liberally and by giving to helpe many he that doth good unto his neighbour according to the action of any vertue gives him his helpe more worth then goods and therefore gives in the true nature of giving and if his helpe be for the soule and the life to come the gift is greater then if it pertained to this life only and yet I know not how they which give out their goods freely to the comfort of others win a more deep affection and excellent reputation then they which doe good according to any other vertue yea a liberall man hath the commendation of all vertue hee is thought wise because he knowes the true use of riches valiant because he can overcome the covetous desire which rules too many just because hee willingly makes that to be anothers which is his owne because he thinkes it more due unto him for the good which may come thereof temperate because hee doth withdraw much from superfluity and excesse that he may have wherewith to doe others good and hee will spend the lesse to give the more Wee must gaine then that wee may give and wee must receive that wee may bestow and doe good with that wee have the one is blessed for the other and therefore the latter rather blessed then the other but hee which thinkes that to keepe in his gaines is the only way to doe himselfe good as if they were all lost if others should occupy with him hath as poore a trade as he which hid his talent in a napkin of which came no advantage for lack that it was not put out every Christian must know himselfe to bee as it were the stomach to digest and disperse those gifts which he receiveth to the good of Christs body Christ emptied himselfe to fill us hee being rich saith Paul for your sakes became poore that you through his poverty might bee made rich What he got of his Father by his holy life or patient death he bestoweth on us and what he might justly claime at our hands for his gifts bestowed on us he leaves to bee disposed by us to the good of our mother as the Tithes of our goods on the Ministers which watch not for his but our good Almes of our goods which the poore receive and hee accepteth and rewardeth as if they were bestowed on himselfe and if he bestow a spirituall grace on mee he looks not for the returne but puts it over to the brethren as when he said I have prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not strengthen thy brethren and for the good instruction which wee receive in the Church to our soules health hee bindes us to teach and exhort one another A Christian then hath a life both active and passive the one all in receiving the other all in giving he doth receive faith hope charity and all this while nature doth nothing grace doth all then after by grace he liveth in doing good according to his faith hope and love the first life brings him into the favour of God the second into the possession of his kingdome to doe thy selfe most good is to depart with thy goods unto others and in this cause they are kept better to serve thy turne then if they were in thine owne keeping for if thy treasure be in the hand of the poore Christ is thy treasurer who will make thee good account of all such expenses I speak strange things to the eares
I am bound to bee thankfull unto him in which I am to take comfort this is my duty to follow his calling to be obedient to his government herein standeth my eternall happinesse or bee it that I doe not beleeve or love God or live in his feare yet is not this in my power to amend or have I any just cause of excuse examine not Gods decrees by thine owne reason or those lawes of justice which wee are bound to observe feare his Majesty humble thy selfe before his presence seeke his mercy receive not grace in vaine there is no way to heaven but a holy life and hee that purposeth thou shouldest besaved doth call thee to faith and repentance If thou avoid the meanes to attaine unto either thou â—…est thy selfe out and art an â—…my to thine owne Soule if thâ—… come unto God he will not reject thee wherefore aske for grace that thou maist come without which thou shalt never come and it is necessary for thee to know this lest thou shouldest trust to nature and not seeke grace or despaire when thou seest thou canst not attaine unto it by thine owne strength Aske not how he is mercifull which saveth a few and condemneth many how he is just which by his will so bringeth it about that wee are all in the cause of damnation but beleeve it aske not why God doth not change the wills of wicked men with whom and in whom hee doth not cease to worke but reverence his decree whose judgments are just though unknowne But thou art much troubled and vexed to heare this doctrine and so are many others this trouble this vexation if thou belong to God shall turne to thy good for it shall so humble and cast thee downe that thou shalt wholly depend on God and give him his glory but if thou belong not to him thou shalt complaine and murmure more and more and be nothing the better nothing the neare for God will not cease to be God though wee beleeve not nor good though we be wicked But who will care to beleeve to amend his life to strive against sinne if it be not in us if without us God have disposed of us surely none of himselfe can or will they only doe whom God doth vouchsafe to enable The word of God which is his revealed and conditionall will is unto some the savor of life unto life and unto others the savor of death unto death to none the savor of life but to those that beleeve to none the savor of death but to those that beleeve not he will have all men to be saved if they will them selves and hee forsakes none but they that forsake him these things are for us to marke and observe yet to beleeve or not to beleeve to will salvation or to will it not doe depend upon a higher will whose law is unknowne to us wee must live by that which is revealed and adore that which is hidden from us so shall wee neither neglect our duty nor deprive God of his glory and majesty Meditation 5. Of Patience THere is none which can bee merry none rich none well friended none in authority none have ever good successe more safely then a Christian for in all these he useth a good conscience yet because such a streame of prosperity is dangerous to mans frailty hee is not to looke for his heaven here but elsewhere because he is now in triall not in triumph a pilgrim and not at home that many troubles must bee suffered either to purge him of vice or for his better exercise of vertue and both to Gods glory I see nothing more necessary for him then Patience a vertue which doth harden him to follow Christ willingly and quickly in bearing the Crosse and if wee consider our Saviours life wee may observe that he used no one vertue more then Patience not only in his Passion but in the whole course of his life which as it were nothing but a Passion throughout so was it but an exercise of his continuall patience wee must suffer many things of our adversaries which will oppose themselves to our vocation it is not in our power to put them by and take them quietly wee cannot without patience Yea which is worst of all God will seeme sometimes to be against us and taking from us inward consolation will leave us to sorrow and sadnesse of spirit as if we were forsaken these things befell unto our Lord who used Patience as the best remedy teaching us not only to beare his Crosse but how to beare it also till it shall please God to returne againe unto us with comfort Wee must have patience to beare great tentations as well as small and to beare them as long as it pleaseth God whether great or small great troubles will need great Patience and small troubles enduring long no small Patience Now the Christian is to be exercised grievously continually because God meanes to make him partaker of a great victory a great reward Faith is necessary for our entrance into the Church hope to nourish faith and love is the fruit of faith and briefe of all the Commandements see here the summe of divinity But without Patience wee cannot abide in the Church for being once offended wee shall lose them except we have Patience Why is it said Woe bee to him that hath lost patience belike it is the last losse If a Master of a Ship lose his Anchor or Maine-mast or a Saile those are great losses yet to be repaired but if it be said once he hath lost his Ship wee know hee hath lost all and perhaps himselfe too so if wee lose a time of Prayer or the exercise of reading and meditation an occasion of doing good if wee stagger in faith these are heavy losses indeed yet particular and recoverable but if it be said wee have lost Patience what meanes it but that wee have lost all and our selves too Wherefore well is it said Woe be unto him that hath lost Patience Patience is as it were the second concoction of all vertues and drawes from them whatsoever is for the strength and nourishment of a Christian life if this be weake in working our strength is small From faith Patience drawes confidence from Hope perseverance from Love cheerfulnesse They which are Saints in Heaven are said to have Palmes in their hands a resemblance of Patience by which they are victorious Patience is a remedy in those causes which nothing else can remedy Shew thy faith to the persecutor he will not suffer thee to enjoy it except thou wilt lose liberty goods friends and life what will become now of thy faith except thou have Patience shew thy charity to thine enemy hee will despise it hee will wrong thee still more and more what then will become of thy charity if thou have not Patience let it bee knowne that thou art an upright man the Devill will tempt thee outwardly and inwardly and what will become
past have not refused to be Shepheards and they which at this day doe rule in the State have this as no meane title of their authority to be stiled Shepheards of the people yea God himselfe doth vouchsafe to expresse the Government which he taketh over his people under the title of Shepheard and Christ Jesus our Lord who died for mankind is called the great Shepheard of our Soules And indeed the charge over a flock or people are much like wee in England have a great desire to deale on Sheep and it is one of the chiefest commodities in the Countrey they are so profitable their Wool is in great request at home and with strangers their bodies are good for meat or medicine yea their very excrement have their use they are gentle of nature not dangerous to be handled as other beasts which are armed to defend or offend howbeit in this doth not the resemblance hold so well but if you respect the weaknesse and necessities of Sheep it may notably expresse the care the faithfullnesse the diligence which God useth in governing his people God is desirous to rule his servants as a flock of Sheep not for any great profit he can make of them neither is it intended of him which needs it not or lookt for there where it cannot be had for though their bodies were of excellent imployment by creation yet what are they of themselves since Adams Fall but cages of uncleane Birds nests of sinne grievously tainted with a sicknesse that in Sheep makes carcasse and Wool unprofitable It is alone then for our profit that hee will have us under government the Laws which he makes are not for his owne good which is infinite goodnesse in himselfe but for ours neither the courses which wee undertake under his direction for his happinesse who is eternall happinesse himselfe but for ours True it is that he addeth unto his Law authority to make us the rather yeeld unto that which is for our benefit and from his authority doth proceed reward or punishment that wee may know hee commandeth not in vaine Moreover the government of men as they best know which know State matters is the men themselves being so variable full of discontent and malice above all Creatures if wee will count them tame because of reason wee shall find them wild and savage by evill course and custome of life notwithstanding God doth make them so his owne whom he rules as his flock that none shall be able to pull them out of his hands he will not lose one of the least of them he leaveth the ninety and nine to seek out the wandring and lost Sheep and when he hath found him layeth him on his shoulders with joy and returning home maketh merry with his Neighbours for the Sheep that was lost but is found he knoweth his Sheep and is known of them he will lay downe his life for his Sheep and will not forsake them he bringeth them into the sweet pastures of his holy Word and refresheth them with the coole Waters of his Spirit he hath a rod and a staffe the rod keeps in his Sheep and the staffe keeps out the Wolfe by all which it commeth to passe that no flock is in such state as his they have a comely order in their going forth a provident provision of needfull things and sure safety all about them happy is he that can say The Lord is my Shepheard he that is not of this fold is of the Devils wast Christ hath many promises of good to be done unto his flock and for his flockes sake it is he cannot abide the Wolfe of which one is no good Neigbour and the other a deadly enemy to Sheep I count him the Wolfe which is the knowne adversary and the Goat is the loose Christian the adversary hath a bloudy mind and the loose Christian is offensive by an ill life Meditation 13. Dulnesse of Spirit THere is no disease more dangerous to a religious Soule then dulnesse or heavinesse of Spirit which makes the ground of the heart so cold that the seed of grace lyeth for a time as it were dead and hath no growth it makes the Christian either fearfull or slow to doe good and layeth him open to tentations it ariseth from the corruption of nature which is froward increaseth by diseases and discontentments and groweth to a head by particular doubts and uncertainties it hath strange Symptomes even in those which have beene well schooled and trained up in Christianity it suggesteth and would perswade them well-neare that it is all as well with the godlesse as the godly that he is in as good cause that sweareth as he that feareth an oath that an upright conscience is but a ceremonious scrupulosity formality and complement may serve as well that the world is not so unworthy a thing as lightly to be set by and the joyes of Heaven belong rather to Angels then men it is offended at hearing or reading Gods word prayers good workes holy meetings and hath some exception against them all it will perswade thee in particular that God doth not regard or so much as respect thy service and close with thee this at last if thy calling bee so worthy as thou wouldst make it yet art thou unworthy of thy calling unfit and so farre from speeding in it that it were better for thee to doe any other thing or just nothing I know not whereunto I may better compare this disease then to that which in women yong with child they call Longing when the stomach stopt with ill humours the appetite is altered and the Patient importunately desireth strange meats so in this cause naturall inbred corruptions striving against grace and abounding within doe alter the godly appetite making Gods servant loath his ordinary diet and exercises as being uncomfortable unsavory and to affect strange things contrary to the health of the Soule They which travell by Sea when they see it once calme and on a sudden to dance and shake and know no cause why looke for a tempest shortly after so this dulnesse or heavinesse which is so unquiet and out of order goeth many times before some greater sinne let it be considered whether such a kind of dulnesse came not on David before his adultery and numbring the people on the Disciples before they forsooke their master and specially on Peter before he denied his Lord. I put a difference betweene this heavinesse or dulnesse of spirit and that hardnesse of heart deadnesse or benumming which is proper to the wicked in cause for that proceeds from customes and habits in sinne from wilfull stubbernesse this from the reliques of corruption yet abiding in Gods children in degree that is without sense or feeling Like a lethargy this hath some resistance and like the fit of an Ague in event that doth make them worse and in the end overcome them this the godly doe overcome and after grow the better advised The meanes to avoid
that is great in the world think not then too highly of transitory things nor too basely of thy selfe remember what thou hast received and whereunto God calleth thee and thou shalt have no cause to complaine of thy lot Meditation 18. Suspition I Know not wherefore Suspition is good except on just cause and then it is providence but to make our idle conjectures the arrowes and other men the butts and to hit them which are not in our way because wee have a crooked aime this is for want of charity and from too much love of our selves wee love our selves so well that wee would have all men worse then our selves and so little doe wee love others that wee care not how bad wee make them If Suspition hunt like a yong dogge which knowes not his game it is taken oft with a lye and falls soone into a dead fault but if it worke an experience and triall it gives soone over where it is not good and never holds but where it should Vaine feares and vaine suspitions are much like for feare makes us suspect the helpes which might do us good and Suspition makes us feare friends which meane us no hurt and both betray their followers feare to danger and Suspition to shame the one by refusing her owne strength the other by discovering his owne weaknesse If Suspition come of weaknesse it is the more tolerable but if for want of charity and strengthned with malice it is intolerable and to be hated for it rangeth farre and runneth riot and will bee under no command you shall never satisfy it though you would neither can it satisfy it selfe but by complaints What poyson lieth hid under Suspition may appeare because it breedeth jealousy betweene man and wife for what is jealousy but the Suspition of a stranger In this cause the parties are so disquieted that the joy which they took by each other doth decay their society becomes odious and a cursed parting the bane of holy wedlock followes The suspitions man as he is no good husband so is he a bad neighbour and a worse friend an unruly servant and a crooked master he mistakes more then he takes in good part he will not lend a good turne for feare of losing his labour and and yet hath lost all judgment because he will not lend so much as a good opinion hee heares what men speak when they are silent and seeth them doing something amisse when they are asleepe he doth challenge the fairest proceedings of a foule intent he thinkes all men naught and is the worst himselfe he trusts no man in private and is publiquely noted he hath a window in every mans breast and an eye into every mans window a cleare minde thinkes of others as of himselfe at all times he doth passe over that which may have any good construction many times takes no notice of ill or offence he consults not with tales and opinions but out of discretion and observes both what humane society doth require and how far charity must bear and may win a stranger Meditation 19. Of Gaine A Desire of Gaine if wee have a greater desire of Gods glory and the common good if it be limited within the bounds of nature and honesty if it be our owne and not to gaine by anothers losse is not to be condemned yet are wee scarsly to desire Gaine by our Saviours rule That which wee may lawfully desire we may honestly seeke but Christ will not have us seeke the things belonging to Gaine but to the kingdome of God and to accept the other as it falleth out meaning that our whole purpose of living here should be set on our spirituall life with God to make our advantage that way and that our naturall and civill life should receive their convenient blessings from God without our cark or vexation though not without our employment without gaining our affections though commanding our meanes There is sometimes a fault in the desire when it is greedy and in the Gaine when it is filthy and commonly a greedy deâ—ire doth not refuse filthy Gaine and when they goe both together it is the worse Usury is not only a desire but a greedy desire of filthy Gaine yea unsatiable and cruell a Gaine and a staine to the Soule of him that useth it a Gaine and a paine to the heart of him that payeth it a Gaine and a traine of the Devill by the love of mony to bring men to perdition Yea but much good commeth to the Common-wealth by usury and the like is said of witch-craft men else will not lend as much to say as they will not be Christians but will you bee so bold as to condemne all usury I referre you to your conscience a little rectified deale as you would be dealt withall abuse not thy neighbours want use the honest meanes of some calling depend on Gods blessing and tell mee what course of usury is lawfull many lend not for themselves but for Orphanes A speciall cause and hath speciall rules of conscience many pay use the occasion of borrowing may accuse or excuse the greatest Gaine and the surest profit is God lives for it hath the promises of this life and that which is to come and joyneth piety with prosperity But what are promises worth say some who will stand on them promises are but debts and debts are not willingly paid though promised by forfeit under hand and seale True betweene man and man but betweene God and man not so because his promise is better then any mans performance think not small of the promise of his love But I see no experience I have no feeling of this promise David did when he said I never saw the righteous forsaken David many times beleeved without feeling and so doe thou if thou find it hard pray that thou maist for it is full of reward If thou be godly I permit thee to deale with the earth or naturall ready and ordinary Gaine shee takes no hurt thou much advantage thy diligence maketh her bountifull thou lendest a little and shee payes thee home with great store I know thou wilt as willingly deale with the poore an excellent usury God is the pay-master not according to thy merit but far above of his owne mercy for the interest of unrighteous Mammon behold a crowne of righteousnesse with Christ for him forsake Father Mother Brother Sister House and what not else and receive a hundred fold is not this Gaine enough will not such Gaine content thy desire this or none Two things hast thou oh my soule to avoid about worldly Gaine distrust if it come not security if it doe Doe thy meanes faile thou hast a father carefull of thee above all meanes Art thou not rich to the world it is better 〈…〉 rich towards God of a liâ—… give a little God respecteth according to that a man hath not according to that he hath not and loveth a cheerfull rather then a costly giver thou
as necessary there should be a judicious and discreet hearer as a wise and learned speaker for to what end is seed cast into the ground if the soile be not apt to receive it weeds may choak and a barren ground yeelds bad increase So to what end are words committed to those eares which by reason of troubles and other affections can make no use of them It hath beene observed of our time that wee have much Preaching and little knowledge and yet more knowledge then conscience much teaching and little faith and yet more faith then charity the fault perhaps is not in the matter or manner of Preaching but unsufficiency of hearing whereas if wee had every of us as great care to be good hearers as to meet with good Preachers it would be sooner remedied for a well prepared hearer may profit by a teacher of meane gifts and yet Paul himselfe cannot profit a bad hearer Let us not therefore thinke that the whole efficacy of Preaching doth depend on the ability of the Preacher for besides that God hath his ordinary blessing going forth with his word It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdome of Heaven they that come with true hearts provide eares which are more fruitfull then others by a hundred fold and as there is an art of speaking so also is there an art of hearing wherefore take heed how you heare and howsoever let Ministers be instant in season and out of season which if they be dumb or idle they cannot doe Meditation 41. Greatnesse subject to flattery ALl praise the rich man to the skies yet none of these praises are his owne for either it is his Prince which doth grace him or his house which is descended unto him his stately buildings which others have plotted and perfected for him or his goodly furniture which money hath procured or his long traine and attendance which the world lends him or his parkes ponds pastures mannors walkes all which though they be parcell of his riches yet are they no part of the man neither abide they long with him without change but who almost dares praise a good man yet all his praises are meerly his owne and within him and when thou praisest a man for his honesty who can deny but that thou praisest the man for himselfe yet loath wee are to praise a man for honesty without the accesse of authority wealth honour and rather these without the other therefore I say that rich men have about them more flatterers then friends yea in the abundance of all things they want some to tell them the truth When wee heare praises wee should suspect them not to bee ours but some matter of circumstance when wee heare reprehension let us make account of it as our owne for either it is a fault or may be and in this cause it is better with the good then with the rich for the good have many about them which will rather slander then want matter to lay against them they will rather spite them with deeds then smooth them with glosing speches backbite rather then beare with them pick quarrels rather then live at peace with them which crossing course of theirs makes the good better it causeth them all the while to look more warily to themselves but the rich man is taken in the flatterers net like a Larke whiles he playeth with the glasse of vaine glory Meditation 42. Content ABsolute Content to which no degree of perfection can be added is in God only who hath it everlastingly in himselfe of himselfe for himselfe and is not any thing distinct from him but his nature and essence There is a Content qualified according to the state and degree of the creature as in Angels and men who have reason to know and will to desire and meanes to be possessed of their good whence this content doth grow so that this Content is not so in the creature but that he must seek it elsewhere it is not so of him but that he must be beholding to a higher cause it is not so for him that he should rest there but be moved thereby to glorify God it is not so one with him but that there is great ods betweene them Content as it is in man may be said to be true or false the false is but a picture or counterseit of Content without the thing without life proceeding from the enjoying of good which seemes so but is not either because it is abused or is in his owne nature evill and they which have this Content are alwaies miserable because of false opinions which blind reason and unruly affections suggest unto them and therewith so pervert their will that they are not long of one judgment or resolution but like a troubled and running streame in which may be seene no constant image of Content and this notwithstanding is the only Content which most part of men doe finde and therefore at last when they think to be most at ease they grow weary of themselves and all things else shewing well by their labours and paines taking that they did much desire the true Content but tooke not a right course for it The true Content therefore is a calmnesse or quietnesse of the soule resting and setling it selfe on true good and is either begun or increasing as in good men whiles they live or consummate and full as when they goe hence to that other life for men which receive Content receive it not all at one time but by certaine degrees of growth and as is the spring of vertue so of Content Neither have they it so that this clearnesse and calmnesse is alwaies in them alike for as long as they live they shall find alteration but in the other life nothing shall trouble their Content as evill and offences shall be taken away for they shall receive the full measure of every part of their Content and that without mixture of any object which might procure discontent here there is sinne remayning and miseries which follow the condition of sinners but there they that come shall leave sinne and misery behind them here there are but few Sabbaths in respect of the common daies there it is a continuall Sabbath in which freed from all necessities which this life requireth wee shall wholly bestow our selves on our chiefe good and this chiefe good shall be bestowed on us and hence will spring out unto us living and over-running streames of content The content which doth begin and increase with good men while they live may be said to be particular or generall the particular proceedeth from the particular fruition of divers good things as they are successively attained and do every one tend to generall content which is caused from the fruition of happinesse it selfe such as may man obtaine in this life that is when all the causes of content meet and are knit together though in a meaner degree and with imperfection whereas that which wee