his Word Christs blood saith Zanchie was shed as well for ablution as for absolution as well to cleanse from the soil and filth of sin as to clear and assoil from guilt of sin Rom. 6.5 6. God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Ephes. 1.4 They therefore that never come to be holy were never chosen He is said to have given himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purge us to be a peculiar people unto himself zealous of good works Tit. 2.14 Luke 1.74 75. Yea the Lord binds it with an oath that whomsoever he redeemeth out of the hands of their spiritual enemies they shall worship him in holiness and righteousnesse all the dayes of their life Luke 1.73 74 75. 1. Pet. 2.24 and Tit. 2. The grace of God which bringeth salvation teacheth us that we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and that we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world vers 12. By all which it is plain that as Christs blood is a Charter of pardon so withal it is a Covenant of direction and he that refuseth to live as that covenant prescribes may perish as a malefactor that is hanged with his pardon about his neck Sect. XXI But alas say what can be said carnal men who love their sins better then their souls will answer all yea confute whatsoever can be al 〈…〉 with God is mercifull Or in case that will not serve yet they have another shift or rather the enemy of mankinde will furnish them with an evasion telling them that they have a strong faith good hearts and mean well they repent of their sins have as good wishes and desires as can be are elected hope to go to heaven as well as the best c. But to every of these I answer First true faith purifieth the heart and worketh by love consumeth our corruptions and sanctifieth the whole man throughout so that our faith to God is seen in our faithfulnesse to men our invisible belief by our visible life Faith and holiness are as inseparable as life and motion the Sun and light fire and heat ice and coldnesse the spring and greenness the rose and sweetness steel and hardness crystal and clearness pitch and foulness honey and sweetness Again faith believeth the threats of the Word together with the promises Now thou who pretendest belief in the promises shew me thy belief in the threatnings For didst thou believe the truth of those menaces which God hath denounced against unclean covetous ambitious unjust envious malitious persons and such like sinners how durst thou then so wallow in these sins that if God instead of Hell had promised Heaven as a reward unto them thou couldest not do more then thou doest Why shouldest thou deceive thy self with an opinion of faith when indeed thou believest not so much as the Devil does for he believes namely the threatnings of the VVord and trembles for horror Iam. 2. but thou goest on in sin even mocking at the menaces and in the infidelity of thy heart givest them the lye saying no such thing shall befall thee But Invadunt urbem somno vinoque sepultam when they shall say peace and safety then comes on them sudden destruction 1 Thes. 5.3 Though those Persecutors of Christ and murtherers of the Lord of life were the Devils children as they were plainly told by truth it self Ioh. 8.44 yet they most confidently believed and stiffly maintained that God was their father verse 41. And so will the worst of men in these dayes such as do nothing but sin and make others sin such as glory in and maintain their sins Again as faith is wrought by Gods spirit so where it is wrought it brings forth the fruits of the Spirit mentioned Gal. 5.22 23. whereas presumption as it is of the flesh so it brings forth the fruits of the flesh verse 19.20 21. But it is very easie to believe thinks the sensualist yes but why Satan troubles not such for then he who begot this presumptuous faith in him should be divided against himself Nay Satan confirms him in this his deceit Besides this is a sure rule that that perswasion onely which follows sound humiliation is faith that which goes before it is presumption And as Ambrose speaks no man can repent of sin but he that believes the pardon of sin nor none can believe his sins are pardoned except he hath repented Besides how easie a matter soever thou thinkest it is to believe he that goes about it shall finde it as hard a work to believe the Gospel as to keep the Law and onely God must enable to both and yet so far as we come short of either so far forth we have just cause to be humbled if we consider how God at first made us and how wofully we have unmade our selves But Sect. XXII Secondly as for their good hearts and meanings they may think what they will but every wise man knows that the outward actions declare the inward intentions A good conversion is proved by a good conversation There is no heart made of flesh which at some time or other relents not even flint and marble will in some weather stand on drops Men may flatter God with their mouths and with their tongues dissemble with him when their hearts are not upright with him Psal. 78.36 37. and indeed they whose words and deeds are faulty and evil and yet plead the gooodness of their hearts toward God are like malefactors who being convicted of theft or the like naughtiness by plain evidence to their faces do appeal to the testimony of such persons for their purgation as they know cannot be found And in case the hearts of such men could be seen of others as their works and words are their hearts would appear worst of all as they do to God who seeth them Nor is any evil in the mouth or hand which was not in the heart first of all as the stream in the fountain And let a vicious man boast never so much of his good heart I will as soon believe him that saith he hath the Philosophers stone and yet lives like a begger which two hang together like a sick mans dream VVe have good hearts and mean well alas poor ignorant souls for every drop of wickedness that appears in the life there is an ocean in the heart The heart of man is deceitfull above all things and while he thinks there is no deceit in it even in that he is most of all deceived Sinners are like that peremtory Sexâ—on that said howsoever the day goes I am sure the clock goes right So that the Spanish Proverb does every way please me defienda me dios de mio God defend me from my self Carnal men are apt to boast of the goodness of their hearts but a mans heart is as arch a Traitor as any he shall
bloody to him to his and thine own soul none that have eyes in their heads and open can be so sottish But Sin is like the juice of poppie called Opium which if the quantity exceed bringeth the patient into a deep sleep that he never awaketh Sinners dream they are awake but indeed they are fast asleep yea with Sardis they are dead while they think they are alive And indeed this misprision or mistake this very opinion of being in ease good enough keeps a man out of all possibility of being bettered for what we presume to have attained we seek not after Yea this conceited righteousnesse is the onely cause of all unrighteousnesse and many a man had been good if he had not at present so thought himself Until Paul was humbled to the very ground trembling and astonished he never asked Iesus what wilt thou have me to do And the like of those Converts that were prickt in their hearts at Peters searching Sermon upon their being convinced that they were the murtherers of the Lord of Life Acts 2.36.37 38. Sect. XXVI In the last place touching their Election this is an infallible truth Whomsoever God hath appointed to salvation to them he hath appointed the means also which is holiness Indeed a man may be so bold of his Predestination as to forget his conversation so he may dream himselfe in Heaven and waken from that dream in Hell Gods purpose touching the end includes the means Though God had promised Paul that his company should not be drowned yet he told the Mariners that unless they kept in the ship they should be drowned Acts 27.22 23 31. as if their safety should not be without means Rebekah had Gods Oracle for Iacobs life yet she sent him away out of Esaus reach It was impossible for Herod to hurt the child Iesus yet he must flie into Egypt And so I have shown in the last place what are the conditions of the new Covenant and to whom the promises belong which is all that I undertook Now if men will yet goe on and perish in their impenitency their blood be on their own heads and not on mine I have discharged my duty Nevertheless least the single evidence that I bring from the Word of Truth should not prove sufficient to gain your credence to what hath been spoken And because examples give a quicker impression then arguments I have one thing more to crave of thee which is that thou wilt also hear the confession of two parties in the ensuing or second part of this Discourse that were lately in thy very condition though now by the Infinite goodness of God they have their eyes opened and their hearts changed to see and know both what it is to be in the state of nature and what to be brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God that so by a three fold cord you may be drawn to accept of salvation upon Gods own terms whereas otherwise you can no way escape his eternal wrath The ensuing or second part which I would request you to read and minde is A happy Conference between a Formalist converted and a loose Libertine intituled An experimental Index of the Heart And so much of the first Part the second followeth FINIS Sold onely by Iames Crump in Little Bartholomews VVell-yard and by Henry Cripps in Popes-head-Alley At the same places there are also to be sold five and thirty other Pieces of Practical Divinity composed by the same Author 1660. This sheet and half with â—ower other sheets of as considerable matter are all to be had for a Penny at the Black Swan by Moorâ— gaâ—e AN Experimental INDEX of the HEART OR SELF-KNOWLEDGE In which As in a Looking-glasse the civillest of men may see what need they have of a Redeemer and that it most deeply concerns them with all speed to sue out their pardon in Christ and to rely wholly and only upon Free-grace for pardon and Salvation except they prefer an everlasting furnace of fire and brimstone in Hell before an eternal weight of superabundant glory in Heaven as all most sottishly do that by sinne and Satan are bewitched Drawn up and published for the good of all By R. Younge of Roxwell in Essex Florilegus Add this as a Third Part to the Trial of true Wisdom and those Three Fundamental Principles of Christian Religion Intituled A short and sure Way to Grace and Salvation Sect. XXVII A Loose Libertine meeting with his Friend that had lately been a Formal Christian he greets him as followeth SIR methinks I have observed in you a strange alteration since our last meeting at Middleburrough not only in your behaviour company and converse but even in your countenance What is the matter if I may be so bold Convert Truly Sir you are not at all mistaken nor am I unwilling to acquaint you with the cause if you can affoard to hear it Soon after my return into England I was carried by a Friend to hear a Sermon where the Minister so represented the very thoughts secrets and deceitfulnesse of my heart unto my conscience that I could not but say of him as the woman of Samaria once spake of our Saviour He hath told me all things that ever I did Which made me conclude with that Vnbeliever 1 Cor. 14 24 25. That God was in him of a truth nor could he ever have so done if he were not of God As the young man in the Gospel reasoned with the Pharisees touching Iesus when he had opened his eyes that had been blind from his birth Joh. 9.32 33. Whereupon I could have no peace nor râ—st untill I had further communed with him about my estate for I found my self in a lost condition touching Eternity It faring with me as it did wiâ—h those Iews Act. 2. when Peter by his searching Sermon had convinced them that Christ whom they had by wicked hands crucified and slain was the only Son of God and Lord of glory ver 36 37. And having had the happinesse to enjoy the benefit of his sage advice as I stood in need thereof God having given him the tongue of the learned to administer a word in season to them that are weary Isa 50.4 I blesse God his Word and Spirit hath wrought in me such a change and strange alteration that it hath opened mine eyes that were blind before inclined my will to obedience which before was rebellious softened my heart sanctified and quite changed my affections so that I now love that good which before I hated and hate that evil which before I loved and am delighted with those holy exercises which heretofore did most displease me and am displeased with those vain pleasures and filthy sins which in times past did most delight me Which is such a mercy that no tongue is able to expresse For till that hour I went on in the broad way and worlds road to destruction without any mistrust whereas now God hath been pleased to
righteousness hath not shined unto us nor hath the Son of righteousness arose upon us What hath pride profited us or what good hath our riches and our vaunting brought us with more of the like for which read Wisdom 5. And what is the cause they acknowledg not the same now but their blindness and folly and because they put their own faults in that part of the wallet that is behind them but ours in the other part or end which is before them For self-examination would make their judgements more charitable Read also these Testimonies John 15.21 16.2 3. Mar. 16.23 22.29 1 Cor. 2.8 Isa. 5.20 But I will give you other instances Was it not an argument that Haman was blinde who thought Mordecaies not bowing the knee to him a more heynous offence then his own murthering of thousands Were not the Iews Scribes Pharisees blind who could see more unlawfulness in the Disciples plucking a few ears of Corn on the sabbath-day and the man's carrying his bed then in their own devouring of Widows houses who thought they might better murther Christ then others believe in him and be themselves the greatest of sinners then our Saviour to be in company with sinners Was not Ahab blinde who thought Elijah more troubled Israel in doing the will of the Lord then himself in provoking the Lord above all the Kings of Israel that were before him And the like in our dayes Is it not the manner of thousands with us not only of Clownes and ill-bred people who walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness whom St. Peter cals bruit beasts led with sensuality and made to be taken and destroyed But of proud wits who one would think should have more brains and know something to speak evill of the things which they understand not 2 Pet. 2.12 Yea how severely will they censure not only things indifferent but the most holy and approved good duties in the godly while they will patiently passe by the most heynous crimes as cursing blaspheming c. in themselves and others an infallible signe of a man not born a-new Yea will they not more deeply censure our serving of God then their own blaspheming of him and think it a more heynous offence in us to be holy then for themselves to be prophane and persecute holinesse And what one does is a law to the rest being like a flock of sheep which if they but see one take a wrong way all the rest will follow As you may see in the Example of Corah and his two hundred and fifty followers in Demetrius and his fellows in their quarrel against Paul and his companions And lastly in Lots neighbours Gen. 19. where you shall read that when some Godlesse persons had assaulted him and his two Angels before night all the men of the City from the young even to the old from all quarters compassed the house round seeking to break it open railing upon and reviling him Yea though they were strook with blindnesse they would not leave off untill they had wearied themselves and felt fire and brimstone about their ears vers 4. to 2 5. Natural men in heavenly things resemble Shel-fish that have no smell Or the Camelion that hath no taste Nor do they see any more then the meer barke or out-side of spiritual performances 2 Sam. 6.16 And the Flesh Satans ready instrument will be ever suggesting to them strange surmises touching what the Religious either say or do And still the more sottish the more censorious For where is least brain there is most tongue and loudest Even as a Brewers Cart upon the stones makes the lowdest noise when his barrels are emptiest They that know least will censure most and most deeply It is from the weakest judgements that the beaviest judgement comes And so the more censorious the more sottish seem they never so wise in the worlds account For admit they have a shew of wisdome yet for matter of Religion and saving knowledge they know not their right hand from their left as it fared with those sixscore thousand Ninevites Jonas 4.11 So that it 's no disparagement to us seem they never so learned As what but their ignorance makes them so censure us They suspect much because they know little as children in the darke suppose they see what they see not Yea a Dogge will be very violent in barking at his own shadow on a wall or face in a glasse The Duke of Vondosme seeing his own and others faces in a well call'd for ayd against the Antipodes Paglarencis thought himselfe cozened when he saw his sow had eleven Pigs and his Mare but one Foale that would be confest So that they are like Harpast a blinde woman in Seneca's family who fouud fault with the darknesse of the house when the fault was in her want of sight Or the Owle that complained of the glory of the Sunne when the fault was in her own eyes Or like Pentheus in Euripides his Bacchus who supposed he saw two Sunnes two Thebes every thing double when his brain alone was troubled Or those that are vertiginous who thinke all things turn round all erre when the errour is onely in their own brains And so much for caution to the one § 60. Secondly for comfort to the other If all natural men are like Sampson without his guide not able without the Holy Ghosts direction to finde out the Pillars of the house the principles of faith let us not wonder that they sweâ—ve so much from the godly in their judgement and practice As is it any strange thing to see a blinde man stumble and fall Neither let us be discouraged maugre all their slander opposition Nor think the worse of our selves if such shall reproach us never so The Corinthians exceedingly slighted Paul he was this and he was that But what says Paul With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you 1 Cor. 4.3 4. VVe know little children will often laugh at wise men when they are about serious and necessary affairs which notwithstanding is not an argument of the unworthiness of the things they laâ—gh at but of the folly of them which laugh Will the Merchant be discouraged because his wine pleaseth not a sicke mans palate Much lesse cause have we to be discouraged by their distaste or dislike of us and our actions as having more certainty to rely upon they perhaps have sense reason and experience to rely upon but we have them with the advantage of Gods Word and Spirit and Faith three infallible witnesses Yea we have great cause to rejoyce that they revile and speak evil of us For this is both a token of perdition to them and to us of salvation and that of God as the Apostle phraseth it Phil. 1.28 True they may raise any slander upon the best of us as the Chief Priests did upon our Saviour Math. 28.13 14. and that slander may be believed time out of
men scoff and scorn you and why is it But because you delight no less in goodness then they do in lewdness Because you in great love to their souls will be at the cost to give them Books thereby to convince them of their swearing and cursing and use the likeliest means to stop them in their way to destruction because you would draw them to heaven as they do many to hell A grievous fault if a wise man may have the judging of it As I pray consider of it you that have brains It s no fault in them to be perjured but for you to keep your vow and promise which you made in your baptism is both a crime and shame It hath ever been the worlds great quarrel we refuse to pledge them in their wicked customes and will rather obey God then men As wherefore was Cain wroth with his brother Abel and afterwards flew him but because his own works were evil and his brothers good 1 John 3.12 Wherefore was holy David had in derision hated standered contemned and made a by-word of the people a song of the drunkards But because he followed the things that were good and pleasing to God and in him put his trust Psal. 11.2 and 22.6 7 8. and 37.14 and 69.10 11 12. Why were all the just in Solomons time had in abomination and mockt of the wicked but because they were upright in their way and holy in their conversation Prov. 29.27 Or those numberless number of Martyrs Rev. 6.9 even killed but for the word of God and for the testimony which they maintaineâ—t That great Dragon the Devill and his subjects make war and are wroth with none but the woman and her seed which keep the Commandements of God and have the testimony of Iesus Christ Revel 12.17 Lot vexed himselfe because he saw men bad these because they are good not because Gods Law is broken but because others keep it better then themselves It is the cursed zeale of these men to maligne the good zeale of all men But Sect. 3. Secondly men hate scoffe and scorne you but who are they not such as these a crew of Drunkards Psal. 69.12 or a sort of vitious persons following their owne lusts 2 Pet. 3.3 Or a company of abject persons Psal. 35.15 like those enemies Acts 17. lewd fellows of the baser sort ver 5. A rout of prophane godlesse irreligious Atheists and ignorant fools that do no more know the power then Turks and Heathens know the truth of godlinesse Psal. 14.1 to 6. And it is a shrewd suspition that he who is a mocker is an Atheist It well becomes him to mocke at Religion that denies a God And its evident enough that he denies a God that mocks at godliness However take this for a rule As Cham was worse then Noah whom he derided and Ishmael worse then Isaac whom he mocked and Saul worse then David whom he persecuted And Iezebel worse then Naboth whom she defamed and murthered So they that are wont to jeere and persecute others have greater faults themselves and cause to be jeered and despised by others the which they know not how to cover but by disgracing of others And let them but spye as they are as Eagle-eyed to our faults as they are pur-blinde to their owne the smallest spot in a good mans face it shall excuse all the sores and ulcers in their bodies Again Sect. 4. Thirdly why do these and the Devill hate you but because God hath chosen you Why are you a thorne in their eyes as Iob was in the Devils but because you fare better then they As why did Cain envy and hate Abel but because the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and his offering he had no respect Gen. 4.4 5. Wherefore did Saul so hate and persecute David but because he was so praised and preferred of the people before himselfe And the Lord was with David and prospered him in every thing he tooke in hand 1 Sam. 18.7 8.12 13.28 29. Davids successe was Sauls vexation Yea he found not so much pleasure in his kingdome as vexation in the prosperity of David And so of his brother Eliabs envy and ill will to him 1 Sam. 17.28 And of the Elder brothers envy in the parable to his younger brother when his father so kindly entertained him Luk. 15.25 26 27 28. which is meant of the Iewes envying the Gentiles conversion Envy is sicke if her neighbour be well and the good mans honour is the envious mans torment As it fared between Haman and Mordecai and as hereafter the glory of Christ shall add to such Reprobates confusion when they are driven to confesse This is he whom we once had in derision But Sect. 5. Fourthly are you scoft scorn'd for goodness a great matter our Saviour Christ was far wose dealt withall Yea his whole life even from his Cradle to his Grave was nothing else but a continued act of suf 〈…〉 Saboth-breaker c. was scoft at scorned scourged crucified and what not Yeâ— he suffered in every place in every part In every place hunger in the Desart resistance in the Temple sorrow in the Garden contumelies in the Judgement Hall crucifying without the City c. In every part his eyes ran downe with teares his temples with blood his eares tingled with buffettings glowed with reproaches They afflicted his taste with gall spit in his face pierc't his head with thornes his hands and feete with nailes his side with a spear his heart was full of sorrow his soule with anguish his whole body was sacrificed as an offering for sinne And yet he suffered all for us to the end he might leave us an example that we should follow his steps Neither was it so much what he suffered as with what affection willingnesse and patience he suffered that did nobilitate the merit of his sufferings And the Disciple is not above his Master Matth. 10.24 25. Shall wee then thinke much to taste of that Cup of which our Saviour dranke so deep Christ wore a Crowne of Thornes for me and shall I grudge to weare this Paper cap for him said Iohn Huss when they put a cap upon his head that had ugly Devils painted on it with the Title of Heresie The Apostle gives a generall testimony of all the Saints in the Old Testament saying some endured the violence of fire some were wrack'd others were tryed by mockings and scourgings bonds and imprisonments some stoned some hewen in sunder some slain with the sword and the like being such as the world was not worthy of as you may read Heb. 11. Yea our Fore-fathers here in England most willingly under-went those fiery trials and shall any of Christs band shrinke under the burthen of an ayery tryall onely Neither have any of Gods Children from the first to the last been exempt from suffering what you do namely tongue-persecutiou And it is an everlasting rule He that is borne after the
nor subtill as Bias spake wisely of her or rather not only simple as a Dove to think no evill but also wise as a Serpent to discern all things and see what is evill 2. For our tallying of words as it argues little discretion in him that doth it so it is of as little use except the standers by want information of thy innocency and his guiltinesse which gives the occasion Wherefore in hearing thy own private and personall reproaches the best answer is silence but the wrongs and indignities offerâ—d to God or contumelies that are cast upon us in the causes of Religion or the Church may safely be repayed If we be meal-mouthed in Christs and the Gospels cause we are nâ—t patient but zeal-lesse Yea to hold a mans peace when Gods Honour is in question is to mistake the end of our Redemption 1 Cor. 6.20 What saith the Apostle Ioyn with patience godlinesse 2 Pet. 1.6 for else patience without godlinesse while it receives injury of man may do more injury to God Neither is there a better argument of an upright heart than to be more sensible of the indignities offered to God than of our own dangers And certainly no ingenuous disposition can be so tender of his own disgrace as the truâ— Christian is at the reproach of his God as we see in Moses who when Aaron and Miriam offered him a private injury it is said his meeknesse was such that he gave them not a word Numb 12. But when the people had fallen to idolatry and he heard them murmur against their Maker he spares neither Aaron nor the people but in a godly fit of zeal takes on at them yea breaks the Tables in pieces Exod. 32. A meek Lamb in his own cause a fierce Lyon in Gods Yea it was alwayes his manner to plead the peoples cause to God with prayers and tears but Gods cause against the people with sword and revenge And thus it fared with David who was a man deaf and dumb and wholly senselesse at Shemei's private reproach when he cursed him cast stones at him called him murtherer and wicked man 2 Sam. 16. But not so at Goliahs publick revilings of God and his Church no not at Michols despising his holy zeal in the publick service of God 2 Sam. 6. In these cases how full of life and spirit and holy impatiencie did he shew himself to be And our Saviour Christ who suffered himself to be spit upon buffeted crowned with Thornes c. without giving an angry word but when he saw the Tempple abused he burned in a zealous anger against them took a scourge and whipt the buyers and sellers out saying Ye have made my Fathers house a den of thieves Matth. 21.12.13 3. Touching our actions whether it be in thine own cause or in the cause of God and Religion thou maist not be a revenger All that private persons can do is either to lift up their hands to Heaven for redresse of sinne or to lift up their tongues against the sinne not their hands against the person Who made thee a judge is a lawfull question if it meet with a person unwarranted True Phineas in the case of Zimry and Cozby lift up his hand and thrust them both through with a spear And when Moses saw the Aegyptian smiting the Hebrew he smote the Aegyptian but they had peculiar warrants signed from Heaven either by instinct or speciall command which we shall expect in vain Well may we flee from danger as Iacob fled from Esau Moses from Pharaoh David from King Saul Elias from Iezabel Paul from the Damascens and Christ himself from the Iews And expect to finde comfort in our flight even a City of refuge as Iacob found favour in Labans house Moses a rich Father-in-Law Elias an Angel to feed him Paul spirituall brethren to comfort him besides the holy Ghost the true Comforter But the weapons of a Christian in adversity ought only to be patience and prayer for as Theodoret saith If Muentius and Maximinian in the heat of zeal shall rayl on wicked Iulian at a Feast justly may their deaths be cast upon their petulancy but not upon their Religion Yea the Councell of Eleberis decreed that if any man did take upon him to break down the Heathens Idols and were slain in the place that he should not be reckoned among the Martyrs Indeed God so loves this heat of zeal in all the carriages of his servants that if it transports us too far he pardoneth the errour of our fervency rather than the indifferency of lukewarmnesse as may be seen in that act of Moses when being wroth with the people about the molten Calf he brake the Tables in pieces Exod. 32. Neverthelesse if we shall either out of superstition or presumption do that we have neither calling nor warrant for out of the Word such our works be our intention what it will are but the blinde whelps of an ignorant zeal and an unadvised zeal when knowledge is not made the Pilot of devotion may be more prejudiciall than a cold remissenesse Swift horses without a skilfull waggoner and full sayls without a good Pilot endanger more Object Every base nature will be ready to offer injuries where they think they will not be repaid he will many times beat a Coward that would not dare to strike him if he thought him valiant as a Cur that goes through a Village if he clap his tayl between the legs and run away every Cur will insult over him but if he bristle up himself and stand to it give but a counter-snarle there 's not a Dog dares meddle with him Answ. Neverthelesse avenge not thy self but give place unto wrath and that for conscience sake Rom. 12.19 If thou receivest wrong in thy person goods or good Name it is the Magistrates office to see thee righted and for this cause ye pay also tribute He is the Minister of God for thy wealth to take vengeance on him that doth evill and for the praise of them that do well neither doth he bear the sword for nought Rom. 13.4 5 6. 1 Pet. 2.14 Now in this case he that hath endamaged me much as you have some that will deprive men of their possessions and then perswade them to be content cannot plead breach of charity in my seeking â—â—s Restitution and because patience without discretion wrongs a good cause I will so remit wrongs as I may not encourage others to offer them and so retain them that I may not induce God to retain mine to him Have you not seen a Crow stand upon a Sheeps back pulling off wool from her side even creatures reasonlesse know well whom they may be bold with that Crow durst not do this to a Wolfe or a Mastiffe the known simplicity of this innocent beast gives advantage to this presumption Meeknesse of spirit commonly drawes on injuries and the cruelty of ill natures usually seeks out â—hose not who deserve worst but who will bear
condition no less than if hee should send an Angell to tell us hee knew it and his knowledge compared with his mercy is the â—ust comfort of all our sufferings O God! wee are many times miserable and feel it not thou knowest even those sorrows which we might have thou knowest what thou hast done do what thou pleasest CHAP. 36. That all afflictions from the least to the greatest do come to pass not by accident chance or fortune but by the especiall providence of God Section 1. 2. WEe shall bear the cross with more patience and comfort If wee consider that all afflictions from the least to the greatest do come to pass not by accident chance or fortune but by the speciall providence of God who not onely decreeth and fore-appointeth every particular cross Eccles. 3.1 Rom. 8.28.29 but even effecteth them and brings them into execution as they are crosses corrections trialls and chastisements Isa. 45.7 Amos 3.6 and also ordereth and disposeth them that is limiteth and appointeth the beginning the end the measure the quality and the continuance thereof yea hee ordereth them to their right ends namely his own glory the good of his servants and the benefit of his Church Ier. 30.11 Gen. 50.19 20. 2 Sam. 16.10 Psal. 39.9 God useth them but as instruments wherewith to Work his good pleasure upon us As what are our enemies but God's Axes to cut us down not for the fire but for the God's Masons to hew us here in the Mountain that wee may bee as the pollished corner stones of the Temple Psal. 144.12 Or admit the Mason pulls down the House it is not with an intent to destroy it but to re-edifie it and raise it up again in better form and fashion Gods scullions to scowre up the vessell of his House that they may bee meet for the Masters use If then they bee but as instruments and tools in the hand of the workman wee must not so much look to the instrument as to the Author Gen. 45.5 and 50 20. Well may the Priests of the Philistims doubt whether their plague bee from God or by fortune 1 Sam. 6.2 9. but let a Ioseph bee sold into Egypt he will say to his enemies Yee sent not mee bither but God when yee thought evill against mee God disposed it to good that hee might bring to pass as it is this day and save much people alive Or 〈◊〉 a David bee railed upon by any cursed Shimei hee will answer Let him alone for hee curseth even because the Lord hath bid him curse David who dare then say wherefore hast thou done so 2 Sam 16.10 Or let a Micha bee trodden upon and insulted over by his enemie his answer will bee no other than this I will bear the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill he plead my cause and execute judgment for mee Micha 7.9 The believer that is conversant in God's book knows that his adversaries are in the hands of God as a hammer ax or rod in the hand of a smiter and therefore as the hammer ax or rod of it self can do nothing any further than the force of the hand using it â—â—ves strength 〈◊〉 to it so no more can they do any thing at all unto him further than it is given them from above as our Saviour told â—â—late Ioh. 19.11 See this in some examples you have Laban following Iacob with one troop Esau meeting him with another both with hostile intentions both go on till the uttermost point of their execution both are prevented ere the execution for stay but a while and you shall see Laban leave him with a kiss Esau meet him with a kiss of the one hee hath an oath tears of the other peace with both God makes fools of the enemies of his Church hee lets them proceed that they may bee frustrate and when they are gone to the uttermost reach of their teather hee pulls them back to the stake with shame Again you have Senacherib let loose upon Hezekiah and his people who insults over them intolerably 2 Kings 18. Oh! the lamentable and in sight desperate condition of distressed Ierusalem wealth it had none strength it had but a little all the countrey round about was subdued unto the Assyrian that proud victor hath begirt the walls of it with an innumerable army scorning that such a shovell-full of earth should stand out but one day yet poor Ierusalem stands alone block'd up with a world of enemies helpless friendless comfortless looking for the worst of an hostile fury and on a sudden before an Arrow is shot into the City a hundred fourscore and five thousand of their enemies were slain and the rest run away 2 Kings 19.35 36. God laughs in heaven at the plots of Tyrants and befools them in their deepest projects If hee undertake to protect a people in vain shall earth and hell conspire against them Nothing can bee accomplished in the Lower House of this world but first it is decreed in the Upper Court of heaven as for example what did the Iews ever do to our Saviour Christ that was not first both decreed by the Father of Spirits and registred in the Scriptures for our notice and comfort They could not so much as throw the Dice for his Coat but it was prophesied Psal. 22.18 and in Psal. 69.21 It is fore-told that they should give him gall in his meat and in his thirst vinegar to drink the very quality and kind of his drink is prophesied yea his face could not be spit upon without a prophesie those filthy excrements of his enemies fell not upon his face without God's decree and the Prophets relation Isa. 50.6 Yea let the Kings of the earth bee assembled and the Rulers come together Let Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel gather themselvs in one league against him it is in vain for they can do nothing but what the hand of God and his Counsell hath before determined to bee done as Peter and Iohn affirmed to the rest of the Disciples for their better confirmation and comfort Act. 4.26 to 29. No notwithstanding the Devill raged the Pharisees stormed Herod and Pilate vexed Caiaphas prophesied all combined and often sought to take him yet no man laid hands on him untill his hour was come that God had appointed so that by all their plots they were never able to do him any more hurt than onely to shew their teeth Ioh. 7.30 If wee are in league with God wee need not fear the greatest of men Indeed 〈◊〉 was Pilates brag to Christ knowest thou not that I have power to crucifie thee â— Ioh. 19.10 And Labans to Iacob Gen. 31.29 I am able to do you â—huâ—â—â— but they were vain cracks for doth not Pharaohs overthrow tell all boasting Champions that an Host is nothing without the God of Hosts Yea Satan himself was fain to say unto God in Iob's case stretch out now thine
hath been to serve Satan and fulfil the lusts of the flesh VVe even suck in iniquity like water 〈…〉 It hath been the course of our whole life to leave that which God commands and to do that which he forbids The Word and Spirit may work in us some flashes of desire and purposes of better obedience but we are constant in nothing but in perpetuall offending onely therein we cease not for when we are waking our flesh tempts us to wickednesse if we are sleeping it sollicits us to filthiness Whatever God commands we do the contrary We prophane his Dayes contemn his Ordinances resist his Word grieve his Spirit misuse his Messengers hate our reprovers slander and persecute his people seduce our friends give ill example to our neighbours open the mouthes of God's and our enemies to blaspheme that glorious Name after which we are called and the truth we profess Yea we have done more against God in one week then we have done for him ever since we were born and whereas the least of Gods mercies is greater then all the courtesies of men we are not so thankfull to him for them all as we are to a friend for some one good turn Sect. XV. Neither are we sufficient of our selves to think much less to speak least of all to do ought that is good 2 Cor. 3.5 Iohn 15.4 5. There is so much wearisomness pride passion lust envy ignorance awkwardness hypocrisie infidelity vain thoughts unprofitableness and the like cleaving to our best actions to defile them that even our praying and fasting and repenting our hearing believing and giving our holiest communication our most brotherly admonition c. are in themselves as filthy rags Isa. 64.6 were they not accepted in Christ covered with his righteousness and washed white in his most precious blood Our very righteousness is as a menstruous cloth Isa. 64.6 What then is our sinfulness As bring we our lives to the rule Look how many sins are cherished so many false gods there are chosen Look how many creatures thou inordinately lovest fearest trustest rejoycest in so many new gods hast thou coined and wilt thou not then pleade guilty when the first and second Commandment arraigneth thee Thou canst not away with swearing but dost thou reprove others for their swearing Didst thou never hear Sermons unpreparedly irreverently c Does thy heart upon a Sabbath rest from worldly thoughts much more thy tongue from worldly speeches There is murther of the heart hatred Hast not thou murthered thy neighbours soul by thy negligence perswasion evil example c. Thou hast not stoln but hast thou not coveted Hast thou been liberal to those that are owners of a part of thy goods hast thou not robb'd thy brother of his good name which is above silver and gold Hast not thou robb'd God of his worship of his Sabbaths of his Tythes c. Lying flattering detracting listning to taâ—â—s yea not defending thy brothers good name is to bear false witness 〈…〉 very first motions of sins springing out of our hearts though presently rejected and a thousand the like and yet for every drop of wickedness that is in the life there is a sea in the heart that feeds it Sect. XVI True if thou lookest on thy sins in Satans false glass that will make them seem light and contemptible but behold them in the clear and perfect gâ—ass of Gods law and they will appear abominable Which makes our Saviour call hatred murther a wanton eye adultery c. Yea consider thy sins rightly and they will appear as the Iudasses that betrayed the Souldiers that apprehended bound smote and wounded thy Saviour as the gall and vinegar in his mouth spittle on his face thorns on his head nails in his hands spear in his side c. This is the way to know thy self sinful and as thus to know thy self is the best Divinity as Demonax said of Philosophy so thus to aggravate thy sins in thine own sight is the only way to have them extenuated in the sight of God Whence the more holy a childe of God is the more sensible he is of his own unholiness thinking none so vile as himself as it fared with holy Iob Iob 40.4 and 42.6 and with Isaiah chap. 6.5 and 64.6 and with Saint Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 Rom. 7.14 to 25. and with holy David who almost in every Psalm so much bewails his sins originall and actual of omission and commission Carnal men are only troubled for those sins that appear to the world but those in whom Christs is formed anew think they cannot be humbled enough for their evil thoughts vain and unprofitable words for the evil which cleaves even to their best actions for sins of omission as the want of faith and love and repentance want of the true fear of God the neglect of preparation and unprofitable hearing of praying and reading in their families of instructing their children and servants of sanctifying the Sabbath and seeing that all under them do the same their unfruitfulness under the means of grace their not growing in grace and the like And thus do all experimental Christians all that have spiritual eies The want whereof I take to be the cause of all desperate wickedness as what else but invincible ignorance is the cause why wickednesse so abounds in every corner oâ— the Land Sin indeed at first was the cause of ignorance but now ignorance is the cause of Sin swearing and lying and killing and stealing and whoring abound saith the Prophet because there is no knowledge of God in the land Hosea 4.1 2. It is a people that do erre in their hearts saies God Why Because they have not known my ways Psal. 95.10 Ye are deceived saith our Saviour because ye know not the Scriptures neither the power of God Matth. 22.29 VVhen Christ wept over Ierusalem what was the cause Even their blindnesse If thou hadst known saith he at the least in this thy day those things which now are hid from thine eyes Luke 19.42 Because men know not the wages of evil therefore they do it and because they would securely do it therefore they refuse to know it O that men knew how good it is to obey to disobey how evil for this would soon disperse and dispel all the black clouds of their reigning sins in a moment If they were wise saith St. Bernard they would fore-see the torments of Hell and prevent them but they that wander in by-paths declare themselves ignorant of the rightway of salvation Rom. 3.17 I grant many that are wicked have a shew of wisdom but let them seem to know never so much yet it is through ignorance that they do so ill Sect. XVII And so having given you a short survey of our wretchedness by reason of Original sin and actual transgressions by which we must confess to have deserved double damnation I come now to declare the means which God of his infinite goodnesse hath found out both for
know what it is by effect and experience To have as expert a tongue and as quick a memory as Portius a perfect understanding great science profound eloquence a sweet stile To have the force of Demosthenes the depth of Thesius the perswasive art of Tully c. if withal he wants Grace and lives remissely With the Astronomer to observe the motions of the heavens while his heart is buried in the earth to search out the causeâ—f â—f many effects and let pass the consideration of the principal and most necessary With the Historian to know what others have done and how they have sped while he neglecteth the imitation of such as are gone the right way With the Law-maker to set down many Lawes in particular and not to remember the common Law of nature or Law general that all must die Or lastly with Adam to know the Nature of all the Creatures and with Solomon to be able to dispute of every thing even from the Cedar to the Hyssop or Pellitory when in the mean time he lives like Dives dyes like Nabal and after all goes to his own place with Iudas Alas many a Fool goes to hell with lesse cost less pains and far more quiet that is but raw knowledge which is not digested into practice It is not worth the name of knowledge that may be heard only and not seen Ioh. 13.17 Deut. 4.6 Good discourse is but the froth of wisdom the sweet and solid fruit of it is in well framed actions that is true knowledge that makes the knower blessed We only praise that Mariner that brings the ship safe to the haven What sayes Aristotle to be wise and happy are terms reciprocal And Socrates that learning saith he pleaseth me but a little which nothing profits the owner of it either to vertue or happiness And being demanded Who was the wisest and happiest man He Answered He that offends least He is the best schollar that learns of Christ obedience humility c. He is the best Arithmetitian that can add grace to grace he is the best learned that knows how to be saved Yea all the Arts in the world are artless Arts to this Sect. 45. THe best knowledge is about the best things and the perfection of all knowledge to know God and our selves Knowledge and learning saith Aristotle consisteth not so much in the quantity as in the quality not in the greatness but in the goodness of it A little gold we know is more worth than much dross a little diamond than a rocky mountain So one drop of wisdom guided by the fear of God one spark of spiritual experimental and saving knowledge is more worth than all humane wisdom and learning yea one scruple of holiness one dram of faith one grain of grace is more worth than many pounds of natural parts And indeed Faith and Holiness are the nerves and sinews yea the soul of saving knowledge What saith Aristotle No more than the knowledge of goodness maketh one to be named a good man no more doth the knowledge of wisdom alone cause any person properly to be called a wise man Saving knowledge of the truth works a love of the truth known yea it is a uniform consent of knowledge and action He only is wise that is wise for his own soul he whose conscience pulleth all he hears and reads to his heart and his heart to God who turneth his knowledge to faith his faith to feeling and all to walk worthy of his Redeemer He that subdues his sensual desires and appetite to the more noble faculties of reason and understanding and makes that understanding of his to serve him by whom it is and doth understand He that subdues his lusts to his will submits his will to reason his reason to faith his faith his reason his will himself to the will of God this is practical experimental and saving knowledge to which the other is but a bare name or title A competnet estate we know well husbanded is better than a vast patrimony neglected Never any meer man since the first knew so much as Solomon many that have known less have had more command of themselves Alas they are not alwayes the wisest that know most For none more wise and learned in the worlds account than the Scribes and Pharisees yet Christ calls them four times blind and twice fools in one chapter Matth. 23. And the like of Balaam 2 Pet. 2.16 who had such a prophetical knowledge that scarce any of the Prophets had a cleerer revelation of the Messiah to come And the same may be affirmed of Judas and Athitophel for many that know a great deal less are â—ar wiser Yea one poor crucified thief being converted in an hours time had more true wisdom and knowledge infused into him than had all the Rulers Scribes and Pharisees It is very observable what the High Priest told the Council as they were set to condemne Christ Ye know nothing at all he spake truer than he meant it for if we know not the Lord Iesus our knowledge is either nothing or nothing worth Rightly a man knows no more than he practiseth It is said of Christ 2 Cor. 5.21 that he knew no sin because he did no sin in which sense he knows no good that doth no good These things if ye know saith our Saviour happy are ye if ye do them Joh. 13.17 And in Deut. 4.6 Keep the commandements of God and do them for this is your wisdom and understanding before God and man What is the national sweetness of Honey to the experimental taste of it It is one thing to know what riches are and another thing to be Master of them It is not the knowing but the possessing of them that makes rich Many have a depth of knowledge and yet are not soul-wise have a liberary of divinity in their heads not so much as the least Catechisme in their consciences full brains empty hearts Yea you shall hear a flood in the tongue when you cannot see one drop in the life Insomuch that in the midst of our so much light and means of Grace there be few I fear that have the sound and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified which was the only care and study of St. Paul 1 Cor. 2.2 Sect. 46. ANd that I am not mistaken the effect shews For if men knew either God or Christ they could not but love him and loveing him they would keep his commandments Ioh. 14.15 For hereby saith St. John It is manifest that we know him if we keep his commandments 1 Joh. 2.3 But he that sayeth I know him and yet keepeth not his commandments is a lyar and there is no truth in him ver 4. What saith our Saviour This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Joh. 17.3 But how shall a man know whether he hath this knowledge Answ. St. John tells you in those last words mentioned
But in praying for Wisdom do not pray for it without putting difference desire not so much brain-knowledg as to be Soul-wise and then you will imploy your wisdom to the glory of the giver Let thine hearts desire be to know God in Christ Christ in Faith Faith in good works to know Gods vvill that thou mayest do it and before the knowledg of all other things desire to knovv thy self in thy self not so much thy strength as thy vveakness Pray that thine heart may serve thee insteed of a commentary to help thee understand such points of Religion as are most needful and necessary and that thy Life may be an Exposition of thy invvard man that there may be a sweet harmony betwixt Gods VVord thy judgment and vvhole conversation that what the natural man knoweth by roat thou mayst double by feeling the same in thine heart and affections As indeed experimental and saving knovvledg is no less felt than knovvn and I cannot tell how comes rather out of the abundance of the heart than by extreme study or rather is sent by God unto good men like the Ram that was brought to Abraham when he would have Sacrificed his son Isaak When Christ taught in the Temple they asked Hovv knovveth this man the Scriptures seeing he never learned them So it is a wonder what learning some men have that have no learning Like Prisilla and Aquila poor Tent-makers who were able to school Apollos that great Clerk a man renovvned for his learning What can we lay to it For no other reason can be given but as Christ said Father so it pleaseth thee For as Jacob said of his venison when his Father ask'd how he came by it so suddenly Because the Lord thy God brought it suddenly to my hands So holy and righteous men do more easily understand the words of God than do the wicked because God brings the meaning suddenly to their hearts as we read Luk. 24. That Christ standing in the midst of his Apostles after he vvas risen from the dead opened their understandings that they might understand clearly the Scriptures and vvhat vvas vvritten of him in the Lavv of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms vers 44.45 Lo how suddenly their knowledge came unto them But see what a general promise God in the Person of wisdom hatâ—h made to all that serve him Prov. 1. Turn you at my reproof and behold I will pour out my spirit unto you and make known my words unto you vers 23. And Psal. 25. The secrets of the Lord are revealed to them that fear him and his covenant is to give them understanding vers 14. These secrets are hid from the wicked neither hath he made any such covenant with them but the contrary As see Dan. 12.10 Unto you it is given to knovv the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven but to othres in Parrables that they seeing should not see and hearing they should not understand Luke 8.10 Mark 3 11 Matth 13 13 Again It is not enough to pray except also it be in Christs name and accrding to his vvill believing to be heard for his sake and that it be the intercession of Gods ovvn spirit in you And being truly sensible of your sins and wants that you chiefly pray for the pardon of sinne the effusion of grace and for the assistance of Gods Spirit that you may more firmly believe more soundly repent more zealously doe more patiently suffer and more constantly persevere in the practice and profession of every duty But above all you must know that as Sampsons companions could never have found out his Riddle if they had not plowed with his heifer so no man can know the secrets of God but by the revelation of his Spirit 1 Cor. 12.8 Mat. 16.17 Yea suppose a man be not inferiour to Portius or Pythagoras who kept all things in memory that ever they had read heard or seen To Virgil of whom it is reported that if all Sciences were lost they might be found again in him To Aben Ezra of whom it was said that if Knowledge had put out her candle at his brain she might light it again and that his head was a throne of wisdome or Iosephus Scaliger who was skilled in thirty Languages Yet if he want the Spirit of God to be his teacher he is a dunce to the meanest and most illiterate believer For one excellent and necessary prerogative of the spirituall man is this he hath God for his teacher he learns the Counsels of God of that spirit which onely knoweth Gods counsels Luk. 21.15 which is no small priviledge for the scholar learns quickly when the Holy Ghost is his teacher the Eye sees distinctly when the Holy Ghost doth enlighten it With the Spirits helpe the meanes can never be too weake without never strong enough Luk. 24.44 45. Pro. 1.23 § 51. Fourthly Thou must get an humble conceit of thine own wisdome The first step to knowledge is to know our own ignorance We must become fools in our own opinion before we can be truly wise as the Apostle sets it down 1 Cor. 3.18 And indeed the opinion of our knowing enough is one of the greatest causes of our knowing so little For what we presume to have attained we seeke not after Yea the very first lesson of a Christian is humility He will teach the humble his way Psalm 25.9 Jam. 4.6 1 Pet. 5.5 And he that hath not learned the first lesson is not fit to take out a new Pride is a great let to true wisdome For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Jam. 4.6 1 Pet. 5.5 Whence it comes to passe that few proud wits are reformed Iohn 9.39 And for this cause also did our Saviour propound his woes to the Pharisees his doctrines to the People A heart full of pride is like a vessell full of aire This self-opinion must be blown out of us before saving knowledge will be poured into us Christ will know none but the humble and none but humble souls truly know Christ. Now the way to become humble is by taking a serious view of our wants The Peacocks pride is much abated when she looks on the blacknesse of her legs and feet Now suppose we know never so much yet that which we know is far lesse then that which we are ignorant of and the more we know the more we know we want Pro. 1.5 7. Psal. 73.22 And the lesse sensible we are of our blindness sicknesse deformity c. the more blinde sick and deformed we are Fifthly Thou must labour to get a true and lively faith For as without faith we cannot please God so without faith no man can know God Faith most cleerly beholds those things which are hid both from the eye of sense and the eye of reason Iohn 12.46 Vnregenerate men that want faith are like blinde Sampson without his guide Or like Poliphemus who never had but one eye and that Vlysses
are cursed of every one and counted conâ—â—â—â— Jer. 15.10 It faring with many as it did with Caius Selius of whom 〈…〉 were wont to say that he was a good man but he was a Christian. 〈◊〉 but a spark of fervent devotion break out in a famâ—ly all the rest 〈…〉 clamours as when bells ring disorderly every one is ready with his 〈…〉 disgraced he must be for a Puritan Roundhead or Phanatick but only by Laodiceans Indifferency strives to dash zeal cut of countenance And the reason is wheresoever Christ comes there will be opposition When Christ was born all Ierusalem was troubled and Herod cut the throats of all the children in Bethlem so when Christ is born in any man the soul is in an uprore and Satan with his instruments are ready to kill in him every good motion though it be never so little a babe You cannot anger a wicked man worse then to do well yea he hates you more bitterly for this and the credit you gain thereby then if you had cheated him of his patrimony with your own discredit Whereas if a man will but bear them company in their sins drink swear temporize contemn holiness mis-spend his time haunt Taverns play the good fellow and do as the rest do he shall have the approbation and good word of the greatest number Yea if none would be precise in their actions nor reprove others for their evill courses if they would but be prophane and wicked and make no bones of sin â— their malice would cease and we should not have a Roundhead or a Phanatick in all the world Neither is Christ a sign to be spoken against of many in Babylon or Assyria but of many in Israel Luke 2.34 where Religion is profest publikely Yea when sincerity is wanting the neerer the line with any opposition the greater eclipse The Gadarens but besought Christ to depart his own countrymen drave him out and cast him down headlong Luke 4.29 And who was his greatest enemy but his greatest friend even one of his houshold Chaplains and who but Ieremies familiars watched for his halting Yea commonly vertue fares hardest from such as should and seem to uphold her for the chief Persecutors of Christ and his followers are not profest Atheists or Turks or Iews but such as hold some great place in the Church And intruders upon other mens right can endure any man how bad soever rather to live by them then the servants of him whom they intrude upon as you may see Matth. 21.33 to 39. where those farmers of the vineyard did not kill the theeves robbers and spoilers of the vineyard but the servants yea and the son too and the end of all was that they might take the inheritance And indeed it hath been the complaint almost of all that have written that they have suffered most from such as profest the same Faith and Religion with them And so much touching the main difference between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman CHAP. XIII I Might go on and shew you that as they hate and persecute the 〈◊〉 because they do well so likewise because they fare well and are 〈◊〉 before them As why was Cain wroth with his brother Abel and after 〈◊〉 him as affirmeth the holy Ghost but because the Lord had respect unto and to his offering but unto Cain and his offering he had no respect 〈◊〉 Why did Esau hate Iacob and purpose to kill him but because of the 〈◊〉 wherewith his father blessâ—d him Gen. 23.41 Isaac's blessing 〈…〉 hate Again wherefore did the Philistâ—nes and 〈…〉 stop up his wells and banish him from them but because the Lord so abundantly blessed Isaac as appears Gen. 26.12 to 18. Wherefore did Iosephs Brethren hate him not being able to speak peaceably unto him and after sell him into Egipt but because his father more favoured him and they fearâ—d he should reign over them Gen. 37.4 to 9. If Ioseph be his fathers darling he is his brethrens eye-sore Wherefore did Saul persecute David and pursue after him from place to place to take away his life but because he was so praised and preferred of the people before himself and the Lord was with David and prospered him in every thing he took in hand 1 Sam. 18.12 13 28 29. Davids successe is Sauls vexation yea he findes not so much pleasure in his Kingdome as vexation in the prosperity of David And lastly for I passe by the Elder Brothers envie in the Parable against his younger Brother when his Father so royally entertained him at his return Luke 15.28 which is meant of the Iewes envying the Gentiles conversion and many the like instances Why was Eliah wroth with his younger brother 1 Sam. 17.28 but because he should be more exalted And I doubt whether Davids brethren were more glad that Goliah was slain or angry that he was slain by their brother For envie is sick if her neighbour be well and the good mans honour is the envious mans torment as it fared between Haman and Mordecai as hereafter the glory of Christ shall add to these Reprobates confusion when they are driven to confess this is he whom we once had in derision Luke 13.28 I might also apply all this to many in our times As why do many mens hearts rise against every holy man they meet as some stomacks rise at the sight of sweet meats Why do all drunkards and vitious livers hate the religious and so belch out their enmity and spleen against them in raising and spreading of slanders as they do but although partly to rescue themselves from contempt and to procure a contrary esteem by putting a foul and ugly vizard upon vertue and decking up vice in a gorgeous and comely attire yet chiefly because they partake of the divine nature and are one with the Father and the Son John 17.14.21 22. 2 Cor. 6.18 I might I say be large upon this and many the like but I must only mention them CHAP. XIV SEcondly Another cause is their Ignorance They shall hate and persecute you yea they shall excommunicate and kill you for my Names sake saith â—ur Saviour to his Disciples because they have not known the Father nor me â—ohn 16.2 3. and 15.21 And again they are an offence unto us because â—hey understand not the things which are of God but the things which are of men â—atth 16.23 And are deceived because they know not the Scriptures neiâ—â—â— the power of God Matth. 22.29 Luke 19.42 This the Apostle conâ—â—â— to have been the cause of his persecuting the Church 1 Tim. 1.13 〈…〉 soon as he was enlightned with the saving knowledge of the truth 〈◊〉 his note with his name and preached that faith which before he 〈◊〉 Yea the most ugly and monstrous wickedness that ever was 〈◊〉 or brought forth into the world calleth ignorance mother Had 〈…〉 says the Apostle they would not have crucified the Lord of glory 〈…〉 Acts 3.15 17.
〈◊〉 forgive them saith he of his murtherers for they know not what they do And why have the Kings of the earth in all ages banded themselves together against the Lord and against his Christ Psal. 2.2 but because they knew him not Ioh. 15.21 they see no more then the barâ— or outside of spiritual things 2 Sam. 6.16 And the flesh Satans ready instrument will be ever sugesting to them strange surmises touching what the Religious either say or do as is evident by what is recorded of Michal 2 Sam. 6.16 of Nicodemus Joh. 3.4 of Festus Act. 26.24 and lastly of Paul before his conversion 1 Tim. 1.13 It is the nature of ignorant and carnal men that walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness whom Saint Peter calls brute beasts led with sensuality to speak evil of the things which they understand not 2 Pet. 2.12 especially in judging acts of zeal and piety their opinion still lights upon the worst sense like them in Act. 2. who mocked the Apostles when they were filled with the Holy Ghost and hearing them speak languages which they understood not cried out These men are drunk with new wine Until we be born again we are like Nicodemus who knew not what it was to be born again Ioh. 3.4 Until we become zealous our selves we are like Festus who thought zeal madness Act. 26.24 Until we be humble our selves we are like Michal who mocked David for his humility and thought him a fool for dancing before the Ark 2 Sam. 6.16 Yea to such as shall perish or are for the present in a perishing condition all Religion seems foolishness 1 Cor. 1.18 CHAP. XV. THirdly They therefore speak evil of us and do all the evil they dare to us Because we will no longer run with them to the same excess of riot as the Apostle acquaints us 1 Pet. 4.4 When our affections like wild and mad horses are violently galloping to Hell if the Spirit of God by repentance as with a bridle suddenly gives a jerk and turns them another way yea sets them going as fast in the narrow path towards Heaven presently those our companions in the broad way stand marvelling at us that we break off company and envy to see themselves cashiered The Israelites were never set upon by Pharaoh and all his Forces until they were got out of his land So long as S. Paul joyned with the High Priests and Elders to make havock of the Church he was no whit molested by them but when he became a convert and preached in the name of Iesus none so hated and persecuted as he That great Dragon the Devil and his subjects wicked men make war and are wroth with none but the Woman that is the Church and the remnant of her seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Iesus Christ. Revel 12.17 The Accuser of the Brethren makes choice of wicked men to traduce thosâ— whom he cannot seduce as he desireth as we may plainly see in our Saviours example who notwithstanding he fulfilled all righteousness and did all things well for in his mouth was found no guile nor fault in his manners nor errouâ— in his doctrine Which of you said he can rebuke me of sin Yet the world traduced him for a Samaritan a Blasphemer a Sorcerer a wine-bâ—â—ber 〈◊〉 enemy to Caesar and what not Thus they deal with the godly as sometimes a lustfull perso◠〈…〉 chaste woman when he cannot take away her honesty he will take away 〈◊〉 credit brag of effecting his will with her when yet he could never have adâ—mittance into her company Besideâ— how should those enemies of holinesse work their will upon us if they did not thus cast aspersions upon and accuâ—â— us How should Naboth be cleanly put to death if he be not first accused of blasphemy 1 Kings 21.13 and the like of Ioseph Eliah Ieremiah Susanna Paul Steven and our Saviour Christ himself Alas they well know and their Consciences spare not to tell them that the men whom they nick-name and asperse are honester men and more righteous then themselves as Pharaoh was forced to confess touching Moses Exod. 10.16 27. And Saul touching David 1 Sam. 26.21 yea I know they are perswaded well of them even when they speak most to the contrary we know Pilate judged Christ guiltlesse but yet he put him to death And Festus acknowledged that Paul waâ— without crime yet he left him in prison I dare say Tertullus knew that he lyed when he called Paul a pestilent fellow c. his conscience could not chuse but answer him thou lyest in thy throat Tertullus Paul is an honester man then thy self and the like of our accusers at this day but malice regards not how true any accusation is but how spightful I grant that in many caseâ— they think as â—ll of us as they speak and the reason is when they want evidence their manner is to judge of us by themselves as it fared with Nero who verily beleeved that all men vvere Libidinists because himself was such an one and indeed their own guiltinesse is a main and usual cause of their censuring and slandring us for most commonly suspition proceeds from a self defect and a bad construction from a bad mind Deceitfull ever will mistrustfull be But no distrust is sound in honestie And it is a rule which seldome fails That as Cham was worse then Noah whom he derided and Ishmael worse then Isaac whom he mocked and Saul worse then David whom he persecuted and Iezabel worse then Naboth whom she defained and murthered and Herod worse then Iohn Baptist whom he beheaded So they that are wont to slander jeer and persecute others have themselves more cause to be jeered and judged by others Experience sufficiently onely acquaints us what they are and the examples before rehearsed And will any wise man stumble at Religion for such mens scoffs and reproaches CHAP. XVI FOurthly Another Reason is They know their glory and credit with the world is greatly eclipsed by such as excell in vertue Their vitious lives are plainly reproved and their persons most grievously shamed by the holy conversation of good men And this makes them smut the face that is fairer blemish honest mens fame by their censuring and â—nspersions that they may mirtigate their own shame with others discredit like Potiphars wife they pretend we are guilty that themselves may be taken for innocent And have they not reason so to do Yeâ— for the whiter the Swan is the more black is 〈…〉 that is by her and how is a vitious person discredited and made 〈◊〉 by the vertuous life of an holy man We know straight lines 〈…〉 câ—ooked And it is easie to guesse that Pharaohs fat Kine 〈◊〉 the lean ones more ill favoured A swarthy and hard featured visage 〈◊〉 not the company of clear beauties It s a plain case if the Gospel should risâ— sin and error must go down Herod thought he could
Psal. 119.103 This likewise was Ioâ—s judgment who affirmeth That wisdome cannot be valued with the gold of Ophire the precious Onyx or the Saphire That the gold and the chrystal cannot equal it and that the exchange thereof shall not be for jewels of fine gold That no mention shall be made of corral and pearles for the price of wisdome is above Rubies that the Topaas of Aethiopia shall not equal it neither shall it be valued with pure gold Job 28.12 to 20. Neither was this the case only of Paul and David and Iob and such like Champions in grace but every Believer findes the same in some measure They can truly say unto God with the Prophet Ieremy Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoycing of my heart Jer. 15.16 They meet with Christ himself in his Word and Ordinances where is also the water of Regeneration the wine both of consolation and compunction the bread of life the oyl of gladnesse the honey-comb of grace the milke of the Gospel c. But how unlike to these are natural men Natural fools indeed who esteem not at all of Heavenly treasures spiritual enjoyments or riches of the mind There is a mighty difference between Davids or Pauls spirit and the spirit of these Salvage Swine whose only delight is to root in the earth Who are only pleased and taken with the musick of their money in that they are altogether unacquainted with soul-comforts and heavenly enjoyments As acorns were thought very good untill wheat was found out and bread before Manna came But had they tryed both estates as Believers have done they would find that content the poor mans riches were far sweeter than desire the rich mans poverty and that the ones wisdome and spiritual treasure will bring them to those joyes that neither eye hath seen nor ear heard neither hath ever entred into the heart of man to conceive 1 Cor. 2.9 while the wisdom and wealth of these stupified worldlings if they take not heed will bring them to those endlesse miseries that cannot be exprest nor conceived by any heart were it as deep as the Sea And yet these forsooth repute themselves and are reputed the wisest of men But pittifully do they erre in every thing that are not instructed by the Word and Spirit The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foollishnesse unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual discerneth all things 1 Cor. 2.14 15. which is a text or lesson worthy to be learned of all that are in their natural estate O that they would but seriously ponder the words For then they would see that simple or shallow honesty will prove more profitable in the end than the profound quick-sands of craft and policy Then their neglect would not be most in that wherein their care should be the greatest But the world hath alwaies had a mean and base esteem of Christ himself and therefore no marvell if they esteem so little of his grace and Spirit The Gadarens preferred their Swine before him the Iews Barrabas Iudas thirty pieces of silver whereas St Paul wanted words to expresse how he valued him and therefore breaks off with O the depth Rom. 11.33 Neither can Christ or indeed the meanest saving grace that he bestowes upon his be valued with ten thousand worlds But hear another reason why miserable muckworms are so transported with earthly trash which the godly so little regard A main cause is this Men of the world as they know not what the riches of the mind means so they have no hope of a better life after this This is all their Heaven and here they have all their portion they are like to have Psal. 73.12 Deliver my soul from the wicked saith David from men of the world who have their portion in this life whose bellyes thou fillest with thy hid treasure their children have enough and leave the rest of their substance to their babes Psal. 17.14 But my teeth shall not water after their dainties Wo be to you that are rich saith our Saviour for ye have received your consolation Luke 6.24 All here none hereafter and hereupon they covet riches and honours and pleasures so excessively and insatiably Nor can it be otherwise in reason for nothing but the assurance of heavenly things makes us willing to part with earthly things Neither can he contemn this life that knows not the other But this is the priviledge of Piety The rich man hath not so much advantage of the poor in injoying as the religious poor hath of the rich in leaving Neither is the poor man so many pounds behind the rich for this world as he may be talents before him for the world to come So that there is no learning this art without being religious For you will be covetous untill you be gracious And during the time of your greedinesse you shall never be satisfied because happinesse is tied to goodnesse by the chain of Providence CHAP. XII Now if thou wouldest become godly in good earnest if thou wouldst have this change wrought in thee and have thy affections so altered as to find more sweetnesse in spiritual things than ever thou hast done in thy worldly enjoyments be sure to begin at the spring head I mean thy heart This is Gods own counsel to the men of Ierusalem Ier. 4. O Ierusalem wash thine heart from wickednesse that thou maist be saved How long shall thy wicked thoughts remain with thee vers 14. It is idle and to no purpose to purge the channell when the fountain is corrupt Had Elisha cast the salt into the brooks and ditches the remedy must have striven against the stream to reach up to the springs Now it was but one labour in curing the fountain Our heart is a well of bitter venomous water our actions are the streams in vain shall we cleanse our hands while our hearts are evil Whence the Apostle orderly bids us first be renewed in the spirit of our minds and then let him that stole steal no more Ephes. 4.23 24 28. But alas how many are there that set the cart before the horse and begin to change their lives before their hearts but if we shall be advised so to do it is not advisedly It is most ridiculous to apply remedyes to the 〈…〉 skilfull Physician that when the head-ach is caused by the distemperature of the stomach would apply outward remedies to the head before he had purged the stomach where lies the matter that feeds the disease To what purpose is it to crop the top of the weeds or lop off the boughes of the tree when the root and stalk remain in the earth Cut off the sprig of a tree it grows still a bough an arm still it grows lop off the top yea saw it in the midst yet it will grow again stock it up by the root then and not till then it will
he should have held Mordecai's stirr up much lesse have changed preferment with him That Mordecai should be lifted up into Hamans favour at Court and Haman should be exalted to that fifty cubits eminency above ground in Mordecais room But go we on Love will cause us to open our hands unto such as are in want and lend or give them sufficient for their need as God commands Deut. 15. 8. It will make us of Iobs spirit who would not eate his morsells alone but invited the fatherlesse to eate with him Job 31.17 It will make a man love his enemies and do good for them that do hurt to him Luke 6. 35. Yea if need so require as in a famine or common persecution it will make us sell our possessions and goods and distribute them to all as every one hath need as did the Christians in the Primitive Church Acts 2.44 45. And lastly which is above all It will make a man to lay downe his life for the brethren 1 John 3.16 Whereas he that hath not this Christian grace feels and is sensible of common calamities just so much as appertains to his own private estate interest and no more It is the want of compassion that takes no compassion of others wants Yea this is an argument that the love of God is not in us 1 John 3.17 Whatsoever we thinke or say it is not at all in us Iohn 3.14 15.17 CHAP. XVIII Again It 's impossible that he who hath love should be ungratefull Mary Magdalen had received much and this made her love much and loving much she thought nothing too much to bestow even upon the most remote members of Christ to expresse her thankfulnesse Luke 7.38 And the like of Naaman when Elisha had done that great cure upon him whose hands were no lesse â—ull of thankes then his mouth Dry and barren profession of our obligation where is power to requite are unfit for noble and ingenuous spirits And so of Iacob If saith he I come again unto my fathers house in safety then shall the Lord be my God and this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be Gods house and of all that he shall give me I will give the tenth unto him again Gen. 28.21 22. And Hannah who vowed a vow and said O Lord of Hosts if thou wilt looke on the trouble of thine hand-maid and remember me and not forget thine hand-maid but give unto thine hand-maid a man Childe then I will give him unto the Lord all the dayes of his life and there shall no razor come upon his head and she did it accordingly 1 Sam. 1.11.27 28. An ingenuous disposition cannot receive favours without thoughts of return Behold thou hast been carefull for us sayes Elisha to the Shunamite with all this care what is to be done for thee wouldst thou be spoken for to the King or to the Captain of the Host what is there to be done for thee And when he understood that a sonne was the onely thing she wanted and desired her husband being old he obtained of the Lord to fulfill her desire 2 Kings 4.13 to 17. Both Christ and the Angels the Prophets and Apostles were wont to be very beneficial guests to their hostes and hostesses and ever payd a blessâ—ng for their entertainment Elias requited his hostesse with a supernatnrall provision He gave also her owne and her sons life to her for his board Yea in that wofull famine 1 King â—7 He gave her and her sonne their board for his house-room Yea it is storied of Pyrrhus an Heathen that he did exceedingly grieve for that a friend of his hapned to dye before he had required his many favours Those hearts that are truly thankâ—ull delight no lesse in the repayment of a good turn then in the receit and do as much study how to shew their fervent affections for what they have received as how to compasse favours when they want them Their debt is their burthen which when they have discharged they are at ease and not before Resembling Homer who never forgot to requite a benefit received nor could be at rest untill he had done it CHAP. XIX Nor can there be a better signe of true love and â—ound amendment then that we can be content to be loosers by our repentance Many formall penitents have yielded to part with so much of their sinne as may abate nothing of their profit It is an easie matter to say yea and think what they say to be true that they love God and Christ. There is no Dives among us but he thinks scorne to be charged with the want of love What not love God But aske his conscience the next question What good hast thou done for his sake No he can remember none of that no goodnesse no workes of mercy or charity hath come from him all his life long But know this thou wretched rich miserly muckworme that thoâ— artbound to performe these works of mercy to the poore both ouâ— of duty and thankefulnesse to him who hath given thee thy selfe and all that thou hast Yea if thou beest not a meere beast or blocke When thou beholdest them the poor I meane behold how thou art beholding to Him that suffered thee not to be like them Hath God given thee all things and dost thou then thinke it a great matter to give him back something especially seeing thou givest him but of his owne as David gladly acknowledged 1 Chr. 29.14 For shame consider of it and let thy conscience make answer to what I shall aske thee what can be more equall and just then to give a little unto him who hath given all unto us especially seeing he hath granted unto us the use onely of what we possesse reserving still the chief propriety unto himselfe and to spare something unto the poor out of our abundance at his request who hath not spared to give unto us his onely begotten and dearly beloved sonne that by a shamefull death he might free us from everlasting death and condemnation and purchase for us eternall happiness Yea in truth what madnesse is it to deny being requested to give at his appointment some small portion of our goods who by his owne right and authority may take all And what senselesse folly were it to turne away our face from him when he asketh in the behalfe of the poor some earthly and momentaâ—y trifles from whom we expect as his free gift Heavens felicity and everlasting glory CHAP. XX. But to drive home this duty to mens consciences see further what cause we have to extend our liberality to the relief of Christs poore members For here I shall take occasion to slide into a discourse which in the Title page 1 durst not once mention as well knowing how averse most men are and how desperately most rich mens hearts are hardned against the poore whereof I le onely give you an instance Some six years since having taken no small paynes
that it shall be so For he speaks far otherwise of the unmercifull as Psal. 109. Let his children be fatherlesse and his wife a widow Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg their bread I pray mind it let them seek their bread also out of desolate places Let the extortioner catch all that he hath and let the strangers spoile all his labour Let there be none to extend mercy unto him mither let there be any to favour his fatherlesse children Let his posterity be cut off and in the generation following let their names be blotted out and the memory of them cut off from the earth Because mark the reason he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy Vers 6. to 17. all which he speaks by the spirit of prophesie Though indeed we want not examples of this in every age Was not this fulfilled in Haman and is it not fulfilled daily in our experience For hence it is that riches ill got or I 'l kept shift masters so often But take some other instances out of the Scriptures of both kindes Ionathan is payd for his kindnesse to David in Mephibosheâ—h Iethro for his love to Moses in the Kenites 1 Sam. 15.6 some hundreds of years aftet he their Ancestor was dead The Aegyptians might not be unkindly dealt withall for their harbouring the Patriarchs though they afflicted their posterity But the Moabites and Ammonites were either to dye or not to enter into the congregation of the Lord to their tenth generation because they met not Gods Israel with bread and water in the wildernesse Deut. 23.3 4. God caused Soul to spare all the Kenites for that they had shewed mercy to Israel who otherwise had all of them been destroyed 1 Sam. 15 6. Another example you have in Iob 21.18 19 20. all which shewes that God usually blesseth and rewardeth the children for their fathers goodnesse The loving kindnesse of the Lord saith the Psalmist endureth for ever and ever upon them that feare him and his righteousnesse upon childrens children Psal. 103.17 And so on the other side Eternall payments God uses to require of their persons onely temporary often times of succession as we sue the Heyres and Executors of our debtors Now if this be so that what the liberall man gives his seed shall inherit then the good provision that we should make for our Children coâ—sists not so much in laying up as in laying out and more in making provision for their soules then for their bodies I confesse it is the case of niâ—e parts of the Parâ—â—ts throughout the Lâ—â—d to provide for their childrens bodies not for their soules to shew that they begat not their soules but their bodies to leave faire estates for the worser part nothing for the estate of the better part They desire to leave their children great rather then good and are more ambitious to have their sons Lords on earth than Kings in heaven But as he that provides not for their temporall estate is worse then an Infidell 1 Tim. 5.8 So he that provides not for their eternall estate is little better then a Devill The use which I would have you make of the premisses is this Let none refuse to give because they have many children but give the rather out of love to and for their childrens sakes that God who as you see hath ingaged himselfe may be their Guardian and provide and take care for them Or if not for their soules yet for thine owne For why shouldest thou love thy children better then thine owne person and in providing for them neglect thy selfe Yea why shouldst thou preferre their wealth before thine own soule and their flourishing estate in the world which is but momentany and mutable before the fruition of those joyes which are infinite and everlasting Will it not grieve and gall thy conscience another day to thinke that for getting or saving some trifles for thy posterity on earth thou hast lost Heaven or to remember that thy children ruffle it out in worldly wealth and superfluous abundance when thou shalt be stripped of all and want a drop of cold water to cool thy scorching soul in hell CHAP. XXXV Thus I might go on and inlarge my selfe upon this and add thereunto many other reasons First in regard of God Secondly in regard of Christ. Thirdly in regard of the poore Fourthly in regard of others I should also according to the order first proposed shew what are the ends to be propounded in our giving almes and lastly the severall impediments that hinder men from giving but I finde which when I fell upon it I did not foresee matter representing it selfe like those waters in Ezekiel Chap. 47. which at the first were but anckle deep and then knâ—e deep and then up to the loynes which afterwards did so rise and flow that they were as a River which could not be passed over Or like that little cloud which Elias his servant saw 1 Kings 18. Much hath been said of this subject bnt much more might be said for I could carry you a great way further and yet leave more of it before then behind But I am loth to tire my Reader or cause any to make an end before they begin as not seldome doth Addition in this case bring â—orth substraction and more writ cause lesse to be read Wherefore I will onely give you the sum of some few particulars briefly and leave the rest That little which I intend to deliver is First the neer communion that is between the poor and us with our head Christ. For besides the civill communion that is between all men as being of one fâ—â—sh the off-spring and generation of God Act. 1â— 28 9. The senâ—es of the same Father Adam and Noah and so brethren one with another and proceeding as so many flowers from one root many Rivers from one fountain many arteries from one heat many veines from one liver and many sinews from one braine And likewise of the same Country Common-wealth yea of the same City and Corporation yea perhaps neer Neighbours and parishioners every of which the Holy Ghost maketh a sufficient argument to move us to do these works of mercy in relieving the poor Isa. 5.8.6 7. There are many spirituall respects and divine relations which make a more neer communion between Christians one with another for we are elected to the same eternall life and happinesse we are not onely Gods workmanship created in Adam according to his owne glorious image but re created and restored unto the divine Image lost by Adam in Christ the second Adam we are redeemed in our soules and bodies with the same precious blood of Iesus Christ we are partakers of the same calling whereby we are chosen out of the world and gathered into the Church and communion of Saints that we may inheriâ— eternall gloâ—y together and that out of darknesse into maâ—vellous light and out of a desperate condition to be partakers
heart he is a friend to none but himself His Charity begins at home and there it ends To urge or perswade him to be liberal is all one as to intreat a Tyger to be tame and gentle or a Wolf to be pittiful and mercifull There is such an antipathy between his heart and one that is in distress that he hath not the patience to hear a poor man speake yea out of a desperate resolution to give him nothing he wil not vouchsafe to look upon him but turn his face or eyes another way as though the poore man were such an eye-fore as might not be endured And this he does for fear of being infected with the contagion of the poor mans misery or lest it should cause a spmpathy and â—â—llow-feeling of his calamity or lest his coâ—scious eyes should check his churlish heart and put him in mind of his barbarous inhumanity But let all such be assured that as they turn away their eyes from the poor in the day of their misery so the Lord wil turn away his face from them in the day of their calamity And as they have stopped their ears at the cry of the poor so they themselves shall cry and God will not hear them as it is Prov. 21.13 And just it is that as the unmerciful wil not hear others when they stand in need so God should not regard them when they shal stand in need Blessed are the merciful saith our Saviour but that stands not with his disposition for the penny which comes out of his purse is like a drop of blood drawn from his heart and his reward shall be answerable The covetous man's heart is like his Chest ever close shut except it be to receive He is sparing niggardly in giving but open handed to receive whatsoever is brought like an Hog or Medler he never does good to any til he be dead and rotten He is like a Butlers earthen box out of which nothing can be drawn til it be broken Or some kinde of Vermine which is of no use til uncased He resembles a spunge that soaks up excessively but til Death comes with his Iron grasp to squeeze him he will not yeild one drop Onely then some good comes of his Goods Indeed it is great pity the State does not by him as Epaminondas did by such another who having notice of a rich man that had no care of the poor but would answer them like churlish Nabal Shall I give my meat and drink unto men whom I know not Or like Cardan Doctor of Physiek in Rome who when Out-landish Schollars came to him would answer them What have I to do with Forraigners I am Cardan I care for no man except he brings me money sent a poor man to him and commanded him under great penalty to give him presently six hundred Crowns who hearing it came to Epaminondas and asked him the cause thereof Who replyed This man is poor and honest and thou who hast cruelly robbed the Commonwealth art rich and so compelled him to be liberal in spight of his teeth Howbeit if they hanged him up as Atillus a good King of this Land did all oppressors of the poor and distributed their Goods to those they had impoverished they did him no wrong But for want of this like Horse-Leeches or a sort of Vermin too homely to name that have no place for voidance of their excrements being nevertheless very insatiable they swell with sucking of blood and so burst O the wretched and sad condition of a sordid sensual self-lover of a covetous miserly muck-worm and the small hope there is of his being better The salvage creatures as Lyons Tygers Bears c. by Gods appointment and instinct came to seek the Ark men did not onely slight it but scorned and scoffed at it Nebuchadnezzar was more a Beast before he grazed in the Forrest then while he did or afterward The death of Christ darkned the Sun shoke the earth clave the Rocks opened the Graves and raised the dead all could not put faith into the Iews hearts brutish yea even senseless Creatures are more sensible then corrupted reason And of all the rest of the Iews the Scribes and Pharisees who were covetous were the least sensible because they did shut their eyes stopt their ears and barrocado their hearts against all our Saviour did or said which is just the case of these men All objects to a meditating Solomon a wise and holy Christian are like wings to reare and mount up his thoughts to Heaven But these sit like sots under the sound of Gods Word and are not at all sensible yea though they feel his Ax at the root of their consciences be smitten with some remorse yet they go on in sin But what became of Pharoah that would not hearken to Moses though he came with a Message from God Of the rich Glutton that made no more reckoning of Moses and the Prophets Of Lot's sons in Law that counted their Fathers fore-warnings a meer mockage The Birds of the Ayre seem to be wiser then we for when they know the Gin they will avoid it But we knowing the Devils illusions yet wilfully run into them Sin blinded Sampson so that finding Dallilah's treachery three times could not be warned although he never found her true in any thing Iudg. 16. The case of all impenitent sinners but especially of the covetous as hereafter they wil acknowledge when Hell Flames hath opened their eyes which Covetousness hitherto hath blinded and made meer Atheists for they acknowledge no other God but Mammon Every covetous man is a close Atheist as thinking it weakness to believe wisdom to profess any Religion The Children of Israel would not believe Samuel before they saw a miracle 1 Sam. 12.16 c. should the covetous man see as many miracles as Moses wrought before Pharoah he would be the same man stil and a rare miracle it wil be if ever he be saved as our Saviour shews Mar. 10.25 CHAP. LI. ANd so you have in this and the other two parts of the Poors Advocate the necessity the matter the manner the nature the kinds the quantity the subject the object the time or continuance the means the motives the ends the impediments the remedies of this most excellent Grace or Christian Duty so oft pressed patterned and commended in the Word It remains onely that I should apply them for I have more need to press the payment then prove the Debt though sure I am it is from the foulness of mens stomacks prevailing above the goodness of the food if what hath been delivered does not prove effectual Wherefore in the first place Hath God so strictly commanded it And is there such a necessity of shewing mercy to the poor members of Iesus Christ That there is no being saved without it hath God therefore given us all that we may impart some part thereof to others that want Shall God have glory by it Hath
tryumphed over his enemies when most they seemed to tryumph over him Col. 2.15 And the Martyrs who are said by the holy Ghost to overcome the great Dragon that old Serpeut called the Divell and Satan in that they loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 12 11. Their conquering was by dying not by killing and can the back of Charity now bare no load are the sinews of Love grown so feeble And holy David who when he had Saul at his mercy in stead of cutting off his head as his servants perswaded him only cut off the lap of his garment and after thought that too much also And at another time when the Lord had closed him into his hands finding him asleep in the Fort in stead of taking away his life as Abishai counselled him he took away his Spear and in stead of taking away his blood from his heart he takes a pot of water from his head That this kinde of revenge for a man to finde his enemy at an advantage and let him depart free is generous and noble beyond the capacity of an ordinary man you may hear Saul himself confesse 1 Sam. 24.17 to 23. Again when the King of Syria sent a mighty Host to take Elisha and the Lord had smote them all with blindnesse and shut them into Samaria what doth the Prophet slay them No indeed the King of Israel would fain have had it so his fingers itcht to be doing but Elisha commanded bread and water to be set before them that they might eat and drink and go to their Master 2 King 6.22 So a Christian truly generous will omit no opportunity of doing good nor do evil though he have opportunity for to may and will not is the Christians laud. Which yet is not all for besides that it is the most generous noble valiant wise divine and Christianlike revenge to passe by and forgive injuries our Saviour Christ in whom is the fountain of all wisdome and knowledge as all the senses are in the head Zach. 4.12 allowes none for magnanimous but such as together with forgiving blesse those that curse them and do good to such as hurt them Matth. 5.44 The case of Moses Steven and many others as I shall shew in Chapter 31. which is true generosity indeed But how contrary is the opinion of the World to the judgment of God and the wisest of men concerning valour For should the greatest and gravost Divine in the Land preach this our impatient Gallants would not beleeve but that it consists in a brave revenge and that an humble patience is an argument of basenesse and that every wrong or disgracefull word is quarrell just enough to shed blood And lest there should want offences or they give place unto wrath as the Apostle adviseth Rom. 12.19 they will strive for the way or contend for the wall even to the death which proves them to be as wise as a wall for they come short of the wisedom of beasts Pliny tells us of two Goates Mutianus being an eye-witnesse which meeting on a straight and narrow bridge that the one could not passe by the other nor turn aside to return back again neither made his way by overturning the other but the one lay down that the other might go over him I pray God their too much turning to the right hand before man cause them not to be set at Christs left hand with those Goates which are destined to everlasting fire But certainly if they amend not their course God shall condemn them for invading his office for vengeance is his and that they call courage he shall judge outrage Woe is me into what unhappy times are we fallen and how hath the devill blinded and bewitcht our Gallants that the wretchedest and basest cowardise should ruffle it out in the garb of valour while the truly valiant passe for and are reputed cowards And how great is the corruption of mans heart which is not ashamed of things shamefull and yet ashamed of things wherein they ought to glory Is this courage to kill one another for the wall as though either of their honours were of more worth then both their souls Yea suppose they overcome is not this power of theirs the greatest infirmity for whether they thus die or kill they have committed murther if they kill they have murthered another if they die they have murthered themselves Surviving there is the plague of conscience dying there is the plague of torments if they both escape yet it is homicide that they meant to kill O that they would take notice of this and lay it to heart But what 's the reason of this their mistake what makes them judge Iob a fool and count David a coward for their humble patience this is the difference there was the faith and patience of the Saints here is the infidelity and impatience of sinners whom the Devill hath bewitcht to glory in their shame or in plain English a reprobate judgment is the only cause for with them every vertue is counted a vice and every vice a vertue as their own words witnesse in nicknaming each vice and grace with opposite titles But as when it was objected to a Martyr that his Christ was but a Carpenters sonne he answered yea but such a Carpenter as built Heaven and Earth so we grant we are Cowards as they tearm us but such cowards as are able to prevail with God Gen. 32.26 28. Exod. 32.10 And overcome the World the Flesh and the Devill 1 Joh. 5.4 Gal. 5.24 1 Joh. 2.14 which is as much valour and victory as we care for CHAP. XIX That suffering is the only way to prevent suffering 3. BEcause suffering is the only way to prevent suffering Revenge being one of those remedies which not seldom proves more grievous than the disease it selfe When once Xantippe the wife of Socrates in the open street pluckt his cloak from his back and some of his acquaintance counselled him to strike her he answers You say well that while we are brawling and fighting together every one of you may clap us on the back and cry Hoe well said to it Socrates yea well done Xantippe the wisest of the twain When Aristippus was asked by one in derision where the great high friendship was become that formerly had been beâ—ween him and Aeschiâ—es he answers It is asleep but I will go and awaken it and did so lest their enemies should make it a matter of rejoycing When Philip of Macedon was told that the Grecians spake evil words of him notwithstanding he did them much good and was withall counselled to chastise them he answers Your counsel is not good for if they now speak evil of us having done them good only what would they then if we should do them any harm And at another time being counselled either to banish or put to death one who had slandered him he would do neither of both saying It was not a sufficient cause to condemn him and
for banishing it was better not to let him stirre out of Macedoneia where all men knew that he lyed then to send him among strangers who not knowing him might admit his slanders for truth better he speak where we are both known then where we are both unknown And this made Chrysippus when one complained to him that his friend had reproached him privately answer Ah but chide him not for then he will do as much in publike Neglect will sooner kill an injury than Revenge These tongue-squibs or crackers of the brain will die alone if we revive them not the best way to have them forgotten by others is first to forget them our selves Yea to contemn an enemy is better then either to fear him or answer him When the Passenger gallops by as if his fear made him speedy the Cur followes him with open mouth and swiftnesse let him turn to the brawling Cur and he will be more fierce but let him ride by in a confident neglect and the Dog will never stir at him or at least will soon give over and be quiet Wherefore when aspersed labour as the eclipsed Moon to keep on our motion till we wade out of the shadow and receive our former splendor To vex other men is but to prompt them how they should again vex us Two earthen pots floating on the water with this Inscription If we knock we crack was long ago made the Emblem of England and the Low-Countreys When two friends fall out if one be not the wiser they turn love into anger and passion passion into evil words words into blowes and when they are fighting a third adversary hath a fair advantage to insult over them both As have you not sometimes seen two neighbours like two Cocks of the Game pick out one anothers eyes to make the Lawyers sport it may be kill them As while Iudah was hot against Israel and Israel hot against Iudah the King of Syria smote them both At least Sathan that common and arch enemy will have us at advantage For as vain men delight when two Dogs or two Cocks are a fighting to encourage and prick them forward to the combate Even so doth Satan deal with us Controversies like a pair of Cudgels are thrown in by the Devill and taken up by male-contents who baste one another while he stands by and laughs And we cannot please the Divell better for as the Master of the Pit oft sets two Cocks to fight together unto the death of them both and then after mutuall conquest suppeth perchance with the fighters bodies Even so saith Gregory doth the Devill deal with men He is an enemy that watcheth his time and while we wound one another he wounds and wins all our souls Thus like the Frog and the Mouse in the Fable while men fight eagerly for a toy the Kite comes that Prince and chief Foul that ruleth in the aire and snatcheth away both these great warriours Or like two Emmets in the mole hill of this earth we fight for the mastery in mean while comes the Robin-red breast and picks both up and so devours them But on the other side by gentlenesse we may as much pleasure our selves It is said of Aristides when he perceived the open scandall which was like to arise by reason of the contention sprung up between him and Themistocles that he besought him mildly after this manner Sir we both are no mean men in this Common-wealth our dissention will prove no small offence unto others nor disparagement to our selves wherefore good Themistocles let us be at one again and if we will needs strive let us strive who shall excell other in vertue and love And we read of Euclides that when his Brother in a variance between them said I would I might die if I be not revenged of thee he answered again Nay let me die for it if I perswade thee not otherwise before I have done by which one word he presently so won his Brothers heart that he changed his minde and they parted friends Milde words and gentle behaviour may be resembled to Milk that quencheth Wild-fire or Oyl that quencheth Lime which by water is kindled And this was Davids way of overcoming 1 Sam. 24. He whose Harp had wont to quiet Sauls frenzie now by his kindnesse doth calm his fury so that now he sheds tears instead of blood here was a victory gotten and no blow stricken The King of Israel set bread and water before the host of the King of Syria when he might have slain them 2 King 6.23 What did he lose by it or had he cause to repent himself No he did thereby so prevent succeeding quarrels that as the Text saith the bands of Aram came no more into the Land of Israel so every wise Christian will do good to them that do hurt to him yea blesse and pray for them that curse him as our Saviour adviseth neither is he a fool in it for if grace comes and nothing will procure it sooner than prayers and good examples though before they were evil enemies now they shall neither be evil nor enemies It was a witty answer of Socrates who replied when one asked him why he took such a mans bitter railing so patiently It is enough for one to be angry at a time For if a wise man contend with a foolish man saith Salomon whether he be angry or laugh there is no rest Prov. 29.9 whereas gentle speech appeaseth wrath and patience bridleth the secret pratling of mockers and blunteth the point of their reproach Had not Gideon Judg. 8. learned to speak fair as well as to smite he had found work enough from the swords of Iosephs sonnes but his good words are as victorious as his sword his pacification of friends better than his execution of enemies Vers. 2 3. As it is not good to flatter or lye no more is it in some cases to speak the truth we know the Asse and the Hound in the Fable were both kild by the Lyon the one for hiâ— slattery in commending the sweetnesse of his breath the other for his plain dealing when he affirmed it had an ill savour whereas the Fox by pretending he could not smell by reason of a cold he had got saved his life Rage is not ingendred but by the concurrence of cholers which are easily produced one of another and born at an instant When the stone and the steel mâ—ets the issue ingendred from thence is fire whereas the sword of anger being struck upon the soft pillow of a milde spirit is broken The shot of the Cannon hurts not Wool and such like yeelding things but that which is hard stubborn and resisting He is fuller of passion than reason that will flame at every vain tongues puff A man that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green and open which otherwise would heal and do well Anger to the soul is like a coal on the flesh or garment cast it off suddenly it doth
receive what-ever comes or is offered them be it bribe or other sinful bait not once thinking this is forbidden fruit and thou shalt die the death That think the vowed enemy of their souls can offer them a bait without a hook you cannot but acknowledg them stark fools though thou thy self beest one of the number Again for men to dishonour God and blaspheme his Name while he does support and relieve them to runne from him while he does call them and forget him while he does seed them To imitate the Common Protestants in Queen Maries time who laughed the Martyrs to scorn and esteemed them superstitious fools to lose their lives and fortunes for matters of Religion accounting faith holinesse immortality of the soul c. meer fopperies and illusions To be quick-sighted in other mens failings and blinde to their own Are not these so many infallible properties of a fool and yet these are the lively characters of every sensuallist In so much that if I should give you a list or Catalogue of all the fools in one City or County You would blesse your selves that there are so few Bedlam houses and yet so many out of their wits that can not perceive or discern the same And yet no wonder for as I told you-ere-while Sensual men are so be-nighted and puzled with blindnesse that they know no other way then the flesh leads them Yea many by losse of conscience become Atheists and by losse of reason Beasts Yea to any thing that is spiritually good the natural man is blinde and deafe and dead as ye may see by these ensuing Scriptures 1 Tim. 5.6 Rom. 1.21 22 25. Ephes. 5.14 Isa. 6.9 10. John 12 40. Psal. 69.23 Matth. 4.16 15.14 Ephes. 4.18 19. 5.8 1 Pet. â—9 Acts 28.27 Rom. 11.8 Matth. 23.16 17.19.24.26 27.3 4 5. 2 Pet. 2.16 Revel 3.17 Rom. 6.13 8.11 Micah 7.16 Psal. 58.4 Eph. 2.1 If our Gospel he hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded 2 Cor. 4â— 3 4. But it is otherwise with the godly as let Satan or the world offer a wise Christian the bait of pleasure or profit his answer shall be I will not buy repentance so dear I will not lose my soul to please my sense If affliction comes he will consider that Gods punishments for sinne calls for conversion from sin and in case God speaks to him by his Word to forsake his evill wayes and turn again to him he will amend his course lest if he heare not the word he should feel the sword Whereas nothing will confute a fool but fire and brimstone The Lord spake to Manasses and to his people but they would not regard Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the Captains of the Host of the King of Ashur that took Manasses and put him in fetters and brought him in chains and carried him to Babel 2 Chron. 33.10 11. Fools saith holy David by reason of their transgression and because of their iniquity Psal. 107.17 From which words Musculus infers that all wilfull transgressors are arrant fools And it is the saying of Cardan That dishonesty is nothing else but folly and madnesse Yea Solomon throughout all his Proverbs by a fool means the natural man and by a wise man a man sanctified O that it were rightly learned and laid to heart by all that are yet in the state of un-regeneracy for it is every one of their cases To conclude in a word Without knowledge the soul is not good Prov. 19.2 The ignorant cannot be innocent I am the light of the world sayes our Saviour John 8.12 12.46 Where light is not Christ is not for Christ is light § 59. And so according to my skill I have performed what I at first promised It remains before we leave it that some use be made thereof that so both wise and weak may learn something from what hath been spoken of this subject Wherefore in the first place If it be so that both the sensual and rational even all that are yet in their natural estate are uncapable of divine and super-natural knowledge that they are blinde touching spiritual things Then let not any carnal wretch hereafter dare to speak evill of the things actions or persons that are out of the reach of his capacity but silently suspend his judgement untill he be better informed For as it pertaineth not to the Rustick to jugde of letters So it belongeth not to natural men to judg of spiritual things Yea let those ignorant ones that have used to speak evill of the way of truth learn to kick no more against the pricks lest they bring upon themselves the same curse that their fellows did who brought up an evill report of the Holy Land Num. 13 32 33. 14.23 14. Yea put case they shall think they do God good service in it as many do in persecuting and putting to death his children and Ambassadors John 16.2 as a world of examples witnesse Yea the Iews thought they did marvellous well in crucifying the Lord of life But what says the holy Ghost Prov. 14. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death vers 12. Even the Powder-traytors thought they merited when they intended to blow up the whole State Alass Natural men are no more fit to judge of spiritual matters then blinde men are sit to judge of colours And yet none more forward then they as you may see by those blinde Sodomites that dealt so roughly and coursely with Lot and his two Angels Gen. 19.1 to 12. That they are ignorant and so unfit is evident of what is recorded of â—ichâ—l 2 Sam. 6.16 Of Nichodemus John 3.4 Of Festus Acts 26.24 And lastly of Paul before his conversion I was saith he a blasphemer a persecutor and an opposer of Christ and his members but I did it ignoâ—â—â—â—ly through unbelief 1 Tim. 1.13 It 's worth your observing too that 〈◊〉 no sooner enlightned with the saving knowledge of Iesus Christ 〈◊〉 was of a contrary judgement and preached that faith which before â—e â—â—â—demned and persecuted And this will be every one of their cases 〈…〉 if not in this life yet hereafter when Hell flames hath opened their eyes they will confesse We fools thought his life madnesse and his end to be without honour How is he now numbred with the children of God and his lot among the Saints And when they shall see it they shall be troubled with horrible fear and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation so far beyond all that they looked for and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves This is he whom we once had in deâ—ision and in a proverb of reproach therefore have we erred from the way of truth we wearied our selves in the way of wickedness and destruction but as for the way of the Lord we have not known it The light of