95 l. 9. for then r. that p. 102. l. 3. f. stars r. clouds p. 102. l. 17. for word r. clouds p. 120 l. 9. f. and r. of p. 139 l. 11. for this stake r. the stake p. 153 l. 11. for way r. wall p. 161. l. 13. for savages r. slaves p. 169 l. 13. for occulta r. occultae p. 181. l. 17. f. David r. Daniel p. 184. l. 23. for petivit r. petunt p. 200 l. 27. for ware r. wine p. 200. l. 29. for volunt r. nolunt p. 215. l. 13. bane left out Divine Meditations Consisting of Observations Applications And Supplications Vpon the Earth I. Meditation WAlking in the garden in the cool of the day among other things that offered themselves to my consideration I observed my mother the Earth whence I had my original and out of whose womb I had my being I considered how near of kin I was to those senceless clods that lay under my feet and that I was made of the same matter a little more refined and moulded up in a better form and was made by God a little walking breathing clay and shortly must return to my first matter for dust thou art saith God and unto dust thou shalt return These and the like thoughts had a various operation upon my soul sometimes it put me on to admire the workman that out of such a rude and indigested mass such course stuff could make so glorious a piece as the body of Man is and could indue it with such excellent parts and such noble faculties and make it such a rich cabinet fit to hold that precious Jewel the soul which when I had a little considered I began to glory that I was made a man and did not remain a senseless clod But on the other side when I considered my original and the rock whence I was hewn and the hole of the pit whence I was digged and that I could say to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister Job 17.14 I who was even now proud that I was a man began to vail my peacocks plumes when I beheld my black feet and to wonder at my own folly and when I beheld my mother and my relations I saw there was small cause of pride and little cause to boast of birth or bloud or great parentage or relations 't is a shame and sin for an angel to be proud much more for a dunghill-bird Oh my soul bless God that thou wast made a man and not a clod of clay a rationall creature and not a brute beast thou wast clay in the hands of this potter and mightest have been the most despicable creature that ever dropt from his fingers but he hath made thee little lower then the Angels and crowned thee with honour and dignity what cause then hast thou to admire thy Creator who made thee thus to differ and made thee capable of communion with him here and enjoying him for ever but beware of pride that raigning damning sin that turned Angels out of heaven Adam out of Paradice and many thousands into hell boast not of the greatnesse of thy stock the nobleness of thy bloud the honour of thy progenitors except thou ascend as high as thy great Grandmother the Earth who opened her womb to bear us all and ere long will open her mouth to receive us all where we shall be resolved into our first matter then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God that gave it 't is true thou hadst a more noble Father in whose image thou wast made but this image is lost and thou art become more deformed then thy Mother Oh my God! as thou hast indewed me with more noble faculties then many other of thy creatures that I might be better able to serve thee enable me so to do renew thy image in me which was lost by the fall and give me sincerity without which my condition will be worse then the beast that perisheth whose misery ends with his life but mine will begin at my death where much is given much will be required as thou hast made me a man let me act as a rational creature and answer the ends of my Creation Vpon digging the Earth 2. Med. DIgging and delving into the bowels of my Mother the Earth to bury those seeds from whence I expected a future encrease that portion of Scripture came fresh into my minde Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread till thou return to the ground out of which thou wast taken for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return me thoughts my work as it was a just punishment laid upon me for my sin so it did much resemble the digging of my grave and put me in minde of my mortality I began to think that ere long some one would do that for me which I did for these poor seeds lay me to sleep in the grave till the Resurrection and that my mother earth was as ready to receive me as them the pains and aches I felt the sensible decays in nature my gray hairs c. fastned this cogitation more home upon me I then began to think of the vanity of man that was but even now crept out from being earth and for a time made a great stir and bustle in the world and then made as much haste out again and like as stage-players every one acting a part upon the stage of the world some longer some shorter some better and some worse and then an exit comes and they disappear The godly they act a Comedy which begins bad but ends well the wicked a Tragedy which always ends in confusion yet whatever part men act few are willing to go off the stage the old man that hath out-lived his teeth his hair his sight and hearing and can hardly use his limbs and senses yet is loath to die too evident a signe his work for which he came into the world is not done viz. to make his peace with his God and to get an interest in Christ and title to glory the godly while they are here are every day quenching those coals which sin hath kindled with the tears of true repentance the wicked are carrying every day a faggot to encrease that fire that never shall be quenched thus 't is in the world as in a Fair or market there is a great crowd some going one way some another and every one driving on some designe or other O my soul must thou ere long be separated from the body by death how stands the case with thee art thou prepared for such a change or art thou not how doth thy pulse beat suppose this were to be the day of thy dissolution couldst look death in the face with comfort hast thou made thy peace with thy God hast thou got an acquittance sealed with the blood of Christ a discharge of all thy debts hast
seed fructify or one corn grow if God succeed not their endeavour oh the madness stupidity and egregious folly of Athiests that deny a diety and yet cannot make a fly or flea or the leaf of a tree without pre-existent matter nor put life into it when it is made nor know how it is done but many of them their lives are so debaucht that to still and quiet their inraged conscience they would fain race out and obliterate this principle imprinted in the soul by God himself viz. that there is a God but that there is no God they rather wish then believe but to return it is God that doth this work Mark 4.26 The Kingdom of heaven is as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring up and grow up he knows not how for the earth bringeth forth fruit of her self first the blade then the ear afterwards the full corn in the ear c. when we have done our duties we must rely upon God for the success and depend upon Gods providence if we cannot do it leave it to him that can let us do our part of the work and leave his part to him to do we cannot do his and he will not do ours it is our part to plow and sow and manure and till the ground out of which we were taken Gen. 2.15 but it is God that causeth it to fructifie and encrease he giveth us rain from heaven and fruitfull seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness Acts. 14.17 Diligence is our duty as the blessing upon it is his gift God placed no man upon the earth as he did Leviathan in the sea only to play therein but we are to work either with hand or head the thing that is good and in the sweat of our brow or brain we should eat our bread but when we have done all we must look higher for a blessing Deut. 28.12 the Lord shall open to thee his good treasure the heaven to give the rain unto the land in his season and to bless all the work of thy hand The stars are Gods store-houses which he opens for our profit and causeth them to pour out their influences upon the earth and thereby he scatters his riches to the world If we will cark and care about the event of things when we have done our endeavour no wonder if we faint under the burden if we take his part of the work upon us also no wonder if we truckle under it Now if his blessing be so necessary in temporals it is much more necessary in spirituals for none can make the soul fruitful but God do we not oft see the seed sown by the same hand and that it is watered by the same word yet it thrives in one field and not in another in one heart and not another why God causeth it to rain upon one field and not another and the field it raineth not on withered Amos. 4.7 those that live under the same Ministry sit in the same seat and have the same husbandry one remains barren the other fruitfull what is the cause but the north-wind and the south-wind the pleasant gales of the spirit blow upon one garden and not upon the other Cant. 4.16 when Christ was the preacher that which workt upon Peter workt not upon Judas not being made effectuall by God The springing of the seed also put me in minde of the resurrection the Apostle we finde illustrateth that point by this similitude 1 Cor. 15.35 36 37. but some will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain it may chance of wheat or of some other grain but God hath given it a body as it hath pleased him to every seed his own body the rotting of the body is but as the rotting of the seed in the ground that it may spring forth again with more vigour if God can say to this dead seed as sometime to the dry bones live why can he not say so to our dead bodies Is any thing too hard for the Almighty he that made them at the first of nothing can we imagine he cannot gather again together our scattered ashes and make it again into a body shall we think that to be impossible to God that seems hard to us if he say it shall be done shall we conclude it cannot be done Oh my soul use diligence both in thy general and particular calling but when thou hast done thy endeavour leave the success to God and not carkingly care nor doubtingly trouble thy self about the event and disquiet not thy self at what thou canst not help take not hâ—s work in hand lest thou canst not finish it leave not thy work undone for he will not do it diligence is thy duty yet promise not success to thy endeavours but depend upon him for a blessing if he give it bless him for it and let it more engage thy heart in his service if he deny it murmure not but wisely search out what was the cause some sin or other is pointed at in the suffering if thou finde it out remove the Achan and bless God for the providence it is better have a reformed heart then a full barn and as for spiritualls use diligence in the duties required but rest not in the work done if a blessing succeed let the Lord have his homage paid if that thou stand at a stay it is a signe some obstruction is between the head and heart that hinders the work rest not till it be removed if thou meet God in his ordinance bless his name for it if he absent himself let no duty please thee rest not till thou hast recovered sight of him as for the resurrection call not that to question which is so clearly held forth in his word heaven and earth shall pass but his word shall not pass till it be fulfilled what is too hard for an omnipotent arm he that made all things of nothing and he that every year raiseth a crop from dead seed why should we think it impossible for him to gather together our ashes however scattered and raise again our dead bodies to life it is thy great concern to live holily that thou mayst die happily and live with God eternally Oh my God enable me to commit all my concerns for soul and for body to thee and let me not murmure under any dark dispensation of providence however thou deal with me in reference to the body or these worldly enjoyments yet deal well with me in reference to my soul and in reference to eternity let the seed of grace grow and flourish let the weeds of sin be rooted out and let my soul like the good ground bring forth an hundred fold then shall I glorify thee when I
blazing star ominous to the beholders and hurtfull to those that enjoy it and proves ofttimes the devils lime-twigs to catch his fowls meat and drink are necessary yet to many their table becomes their snare and by a plentifull table they come to be guilty of gluttony and drunkenness wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and he that is overtaken with it is not wise I fed them to the full saith God and they were as fed horses every one neighed after his neighbours wife learning and great parts are lovely endowments and many times it proves dangerous and deadly the greatest scholars oft prove the greatest enemies to Christ and the greatest adversaries to the power of godliness In a word those that have most of the world have frequently the least of heaven Son saith Abraham remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luk. 16.25 Wealth many times swells men into a tympany not easily cured I know there are some that follow Christs counsell and make to themselves friends of this Mammon of unrighteousness but most do but encrease their account by them and at the reckoning-day will prove bankrupts and owe ten thousand talents more then they are able to pay earthly enjoyments usually rock men in the cradle of security and lull them asleep that they never wake till hell fire flames about their ears thus the rich man Luke 12.16 and that also Luk. 16.19 c. when the moon is at full it is furthest distance from the sun and nearest to an ecclips and the world many times interposeth it self between the full soul and the sun of righteousness relations and carnal friends oft-times prove snares thus they were to Job to Spira and to many more the things that are in themselves lawfull blessings yet abused prove our licitis perimus omnes immoderately used prove a sin and a snare oh my soul thou walkest in the midst of dangers snares are laid for thee in every creature in every corner trust not therefore to any the most innocent will betray thee if not heedfully observed and wisely enjoyed the most harmless nay the most necessary enjoyments are not free from snares a serpent may lie under thy feet poyson may be in thy cup or dish many temptations are in poverty more in plenty pray therefore with Agar not to have poverty nor riches but to be fed with food convenient Pro. 30.8 as a shoe too big or too little suits not the foot so an estate too big is troublesome and to little pinches a staff may help the passenger in his journey but a burden of staves will be his hinderance oh my God are there so many dangers that attend me both in reference to my body and my soul oh what need have I of divine protection Lord be thou my defender keep me under the shadow of thy wings O let not Satan the world or my own deceitful heart ever betray me but let me be kept by the mighty power of God unto salvation Upon a Toad 45. Med. OBserving as I walked in the garden in an evening a loathsom foul and ugly toad crawling in my way hasting from me as from a deadly enemy to hide her head in a hole to save her life and that from one that she had never wronged this sight occasioned me this Meditation how nigh akin am I to this poor creature this dispicable loathed and abhorred wretch there is but the sheers between us nothing but the makers will she is my sister and may claim the right of primogeniture as coming into the world before me we have the same original the same father and the same mother we were made of the same matter by the hand of the same workman but she hath the precedency in nature and came of the elder brother both of us were of the same clay and fashioned by the same potter hewn out of the same rock and digged out of the same hole of the pit and had it pleased the workman I might have been the toad and this the man no thanks to me that it was not so and it had been no wrong to me if it had been so I might have been crawling into that hole to save my life from one that desired my death and fed upon such loathsom meat that she feeds on but my God hath bestowed more upon me and denied it to her even so Lord because it hath seemed good in thy eyes oh my soul what hast thou done more for thy God then this poor creature hath done doubtless where more is given more will be required thou hast received ten talents for one nay an hundred for one how hast thou improved them and God expects from man much more service then from any other creature in the world being only fitted for communion with himself But hath not this despicable wretch which thou thinkest is not worthy to live served God in her place better then thy self and answered the end of her creation better then man and never transgrest her masters will nor her makers law as thou hast done a thousand times she desires nothing more then life and what is necessary to maintain it and fears nothing more then death and what tends to it and doth no hurt but it is imagined good to mankinde unless hurt or provoked and if she have a noxious quality it is questionable whether the sin of man hath not procured it God hath given thee the use of reason and made thee capable of communion with himself and enjoying him for ever and laid upon her far more innocent this punishment of being hated and abhorred of all and her life is put into thy hands and whosoever killeth her thinks he hath not offended thou canst walk free from fear when every one that sees her desires her death and plots her ruine and destruction what cause then have I to bless God that I was made a man and not a toad and that I had the use of reason given to me and not made a bruit but if I be not regenerate and born again if I have not the image of God renewed in me which I lost by the fall if I answer not the end of my creation and redemption if my sin be not mortified and the power of my corruptions abated if grace be not implanted in my heart by the spirit of God if I have not an interest in Christ and a title to glory if the mistical marriage be not made between Christ and my soul and my affections set upon him if any thing in the world lie nearer to my heart then he doth and be beloved above him the time will come and it will not be long first that I shall wish would God I had been made the toad and this toad the man for then my misery would have ended with my life when now it is like to begin at my death and
eternity of torments will be little enough to pay the debt which I owe but her debts being nothing but death will be soon discharged oh my soul if God do not distinguish thee from wicked men by grace as well as from this toad by reason thy misery will be far worse then hers and thy condition more forlorn Oh poor man whither art thou fallen thou wast in the creation made the glory of this Universe and all the creatures to be thy servants yea the angels to be Ministring spirits for thy good and now if God assist not in a new creation the meanest and most despicable of the creatures is in a better condition then thou art Oh sin what woful work hast thou made among us and of what a bewitched nature art thou and how hast thou infatuated us still to doat upon thee and to think thee lovely oh my God how good hast thou been to me and how evilly have I requited thee for thy good and how foolishly have I behaved my self to my own soul thou createdst me after thine own image in knowledge righteousness and true holiness and gavest me dominion over thy creatures thou madest me little lower then the angels and crownedst me with honour and dignity Psal 8.4 5 6. such I was when I past out of thy hand but I have lost this image by the fall and this supremacy and now this poor creature is in a better condition then I am by nature and never transgress thy laws as I have done but Lord thou canst renew thine image in me and bring me to my primitive happiness Lord do it then shall I praise thee with unfained lips that thou hast made me a man Upon the coursing of a hare 46. Med. BEing occasionally present at the coursing of a hare and my affection being tickled with the sport to see what turnings windings shifts and cunning evasions she had to delude her enemy and make an escape but all too little for she after came to be their prey that sought her life and to suck her bloud when I felt my affections thus to heat and close with the sport I began to check my self for it and to expostulate the case thus with mine own heart vain man what art thou doing whither art thou going art thou in heaven or on the earth that thy affections are so pleased is it God or the creature that gives thee this content alass what poor fading perishing joy is this and canst thou finde more delight in it then in the service of God or in communion with Christ Nay but art thou sure that these delights are lawfull if not thou hast cause to bewail it the thing may be disputable was it not the sin of man that brought this enmity and antipathy between the creatures and made them thirst after one anothers bloud Reverend Mr Bolton tels us this is the judgement of the best Divines that it was a fruit of our rebellion against God now if this misery was laid upon them for our faults it should be rather matter of our grief then sport and taking pleasure in their bloud is a vexing of their very vexation and we discover those weeds and seeds of cruelty to be too rank and luxurious in the soul and we degenerate in this below the beast of the field who as it is observed take not content in hurting one another but in case of hunger or anger they satisfy their appetite and rage sometimes with bloud but never their eye or their fancy Is the fruits of our sin become the matter of sport this consideration might work in us a contrary effect and I think much better but grant for no body will deny it that we have liberty given us to make use of this antipathy for the destroying of hurtful creatures and the enjoying of those that are usefull as these now under consideration which no doubt are given to us for food as well as others and grant that they cannot be so well taken any other way and their flesh to be best when it is thus hunted and chased yet it still remains disputable whether their death were ever appointed by God to be a matter of sport or a lawfull recreation to us to kill them is no doubt lawfull but to sport our selves in their death seems cruel and bloudy to delight more in seeing the shifts the poor creature hath to save her life an instinct given her by nature and to see her in the mouths of her bloud-thirsty enemies rending and tearing her in peeces without mercy then they do in the flesh it self which should be I think the cheifest end in this action seems cruel and bloudy recreation suppose thou heardest such a poor creature giving up the ghost to speak after this manner for it is no absurdity to fain such a speech oh man what have I done to thee or what evil is found in me that like a cruel enemy thou sportest thy self at my death I have lived upon my fathers allowance and never transgrest my masters will nor makers laws as thou hast done If thou take away my life what needst thou make a sport at my death If a sparrow fall not to the ground without Gods providence surely he takes notice of my death and the manner of it and I am part of the goods thy master commends to thee as a steward and for which thou must give an account I am thy fellow-creature made of the same matter by the same hand it was not all the men on earth could have created me or given me life my life was given me by God and now it is taken away in sport to please man take heed vain man that thus dost satiate thy self with my bloud lest at last thy condition be worse then mine and thy account heavier my debt is now paid by my death and my own sufferings but thine will never be discharged by thy self to eternity this pleasure thou hast now taken will be dearly bought and this flesh of miâ—e must be satisfied for hereafter if Christ be not thy surety nay O man thou knowest not but there are some enemies if God restrained them not that do as earnestly thirst after thy bloud as thou hast done after mine and would be glad to wash their hands in it however the devil is a more cruel bloud thirsty enemy to thy soul then these dogs are to my body and goes about day and night like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and take heed lest those dogs which have now drunk my bloud and are too often fed with the poors portion and deserve death as well as I being every way as noxious do not rise up against thee another day c. Oh my soul spend no more time in recreation then thou canst afford and that is but a little till thy main work be done and then spend no more in recreation then thy state will afford and that will not be much take heed that the poors
the Jewel we shall have the box if we buy the wine we shall have the cask and if we seek first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof all other things shall be added Mat. 6.33 most men begin at the wrong end they make sure the world and think then all is safe and heaven sure but would they make heaven sure riches should not be wanting but most men think that scraping and keeping together is the way to be rich but the holy Ghost teacheth us that it is giving and laying out is the way Solomon tells us he that gives to the poor lends to the Lord and he will repay him Pro. 19.17 and he that gives to the poor shall not lack Pro. 28.27 so that not getting but giving is the way to wealth but he shall have judgement without mercy that will shew no mercy Jam. 2.13 rich men are Gods stewards he trusts them with his store-house to give their fellow-servants their meat in due season and blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall finde so doing Mat. 24.46 but if insteed of feeding them they feed themselves and eat and drink with the drunken and beat their fellow-servants their Lord shall come when they are not aware and shall give them their portion with hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth but all places are too full of such evil servants and so is hell too such dust-heaps are found in every corner but those unmercifull men shall have their portion with the devil and the damned Mat. 25.34 when the charitable Christian shall have a portion in glory we are all Gods servants and have some talents or other to improve in his service to his glory which if we do we shall not be without our reward there is none saith God shuts the door of my house for nought or kindles a fire upon my altar for nought Mal. 1.10 he hath lent us our riches and yet if we improve them and employ them as we ought they will become our own and we shall send them to heaven before us where they will be made up into a crown for us this is the only good they can do the soul but whatsoever is not thus improved is lost yea worse then lost for it will be put upon our account and required of us when we give an account of our stewardship It is a great mistake and so it will be found when men think they have an absolute propriety in what they enjoy and may dispose of it at their pleasure Christ bids the young man sell all that he had and give to the poor and he should have treasure in heaven Mat. 19.21 and rich men are charged to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to give that they may lay up for themselves a good foundation against the evil day 1 Tim. 6.16 c. had rich men but Moses eye to see the wealth of heaven and the worth of it it were not hard for them to make such a choise as he did worldlings if they could have heaven without labour or cost they would accept of it if not they will not buy it at so dear a rate but Christians say as Mephibosheth let Zibah take all so I may enjoy the king oh my soul here is riches worth labouring for thou canst not buy this gold at too dear a rate the world thou maist and many do with the loss of the soul here thou canst not be disappointed whatever rate thou setst upon this treasure it is ten thousand times better lay hold upon this make heaven sure to thy self improve the world to a spiritual advantage then will thy riches encrease as the oyl in the cruse or like the bread in Christs hands or the water in a spring thy good works will follow thee to heaven when the world will leave her dearest minions oh my God let it be so say amen to my prayer let me have thee and I have all things necessary Upon mens misery labour and pains 73. Med. WHen I considered that man that was the chief of Gods workmanship and next to the angels the most glorious creature of the whole creation yea in his creation was made little lower then the angels and cloathed with honour and dignity Psal 8.5 and was made Lord over the works of Gods hands Gen. 1.26 yea God created him in his own image all these inferiour creatures were made for his sake and for his use and service he was their little Lord yea the angels themselves are ministring spirits sent out for the good of those that love God Heb. 1.14 the saints are the Church the spouse the bride the members of Christ and so seem to be in nearer union to him then the angels themselves some think the devils envied this and so fell from their own station thus you see how man in the creation was exalted to honour but on the other side I considered how man above all the rest of the creatures was more subjected to misery labour and slavery yea vexation of spirit then any other and many of them even worn out with carking cares and fretting fears with moiling toyling spending labour which tires their bodies breaks their sleep in the night when other creatures which were made for their use and are their servants rest secure and free from daily cares and nightly troubles many kindes of them are preserved without their pain all without their care or fore-cast the masters care for some and maintain them and God maintains the rest but it is not so with man he must eat his bread in the sweat of his brows how true is that of Joh chap. 5.7 man is born to labour as the sparks fly upwards all things are full of labour saith Solomon Eccl. 1.8 molestation and misery meet us at every turn the world saith one is a sea of glass for it is vanity mingled with fire for it is vexation Rev. 4.6 man is in a restless condition tossed to and fro like a football and here he hath no resting place when I sought out the cause of this why this noble creature should be thus subjected to trouble and sorrow more then any others I quickly found out it was Gods will and mans desert for had man continued in his primitive purity he had never had an aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to molest him but when he had sin'd God pronounced this sentence upon him in the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread which law never yet was reversed The beasts of the field never transgrest their makers law as man hath done and therefore never had such punishment threatned as man had though it is conceived they are sufferers for mans sin Rom. 8.20 had not sin gone before trouble and misery had never followed the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life and as sin brought death so also sorrow into the world
what cause then hath poor man to hugg such a viper in his bosome that feels so much the sad effects of it which is the cause of all temporal spiritual and eternal miseries which without repentance will cause not only a seperation of the soul from the body but also of the body and soul from God I considered also that though man were subjected to more care and trouble then other creatures were yet if he did his work well he was promised a greater reward and better wages then any other he shall be well paid for his pains and who will not take pains for profit it is fit that man that is promised a kingdome for one days work should work harder then he that hath but ordinary wages yea God hath gracious ends in these afflictions to his people by this means he lets them know their rest is not here and weans them from the love of the world which would undo them who otherwise would with Peter say it is good being here we are travellers and cannot expect rest in a journey or security in an enemies countrey the Samaritans would not entertain Christ because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem Luk. 9.53 and the world will not entertain Gods people because they have their faces heâ—â—enward Christ tells us in the world we shall have tribulation John 16.33 this is not a paradice but a purgatory to the saints we may say of this as one doth of the Straits of Megellan when a man is there which way soever he bends his course the winde will be against him but Christ hath overcome the world and will subject this enemy to us It is a great mistake to take this for our rest yet many do and rest here and it is all the rest they are like to have and a miserable portion it is to those that have the most of it there are none here live free from misery though some sinfully pass away their time idly sorrow will follow sin as the shadow doth the substance and if any can patch up a miserable happiness here yet it is short-lived and they know not whether it will be a day older when death comes eternal miseries will take date oh my soul art thou under suffering and hast no free-day do they come like waves of the sea one in the neck of another thank thy self and thy sin for it these are the fruits of thy beloved lusts when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam. 1.15 never expect to be free from suffering till thou be free from sin when thou smartest by affliction avenge thy self on thy sins and make thy heart smart for sin if sin be not forsaken thy sufferings will be more God will make thee bend or break under his hand but if thy sins be hated and repented despair not at thy troubles it is but the portion of Gods own people Abel began a health and all the saints that ever were are or shall be have pledg'd it round and some have drunk very deep and Christ himself drunk up the very dregs of it but if thou suffer for righteousness sake thou shalt be sufficiently rewarded yea thou maist rejoice and be exceeding glad for great will be thy reward in heaven Mat. 5.11.12 Oh my God thou hast afflicted me less then I deserve help me to patience under thy hand with correction give instruction and let no twig of thy rod be in vain fit my back for the burthen and then lay on what thou pleasest On the difference between a well manured and neglected Orchard 74. Med. WHen I observed the difference between a well-manured well-ordered and well-husbanded orchard and one that was slieghted neglected and carelesly heeded I observed the difference between diligence and negligence in the one I beheld the trees orderly ranked not too near nor at too great a distance carefully prun'd and freed from superfluous branches suckers clensed from moss and other offensive enemies manured dung'd fenced from the violence of cattle and in a word in a comely form and handsome to behold and the fruit answered expectation and made amends for the care and cost but the other was neither handsome to the eye nor profitable to the owner lying open to the beasts of the feild out of order and shape some too thick others too thin overgrown with moss suckers cankers and unprofitable branches the ground over-run with briars brambles nettles docks and other unprofitable weeds and the fruit thus choaked and spoiled proved accordingly by this I saw the difference between a good husband and a bad Solomon tells us the king himself is served by the field Eccl. 5.9 and so doubtless he is by the orchard but then it must be well husbanded Uzziah loved husbandry 2 Chr. 26.10 the orchard yields both meat and drink both food and physick profit and delight is here to be had but not without labour and diligence In all labour saith Solomon there is profit Pro. 14.23 that is all honest labour we should work with our hands the thing that is good some labour diligently to do mischief and take pains to go to hell there is small profit in this work and some as one saith do magno conatu magnus nugas â—gere they do take great pains to small purpose some take as much pains to spend their estate as others do to get it and more pains in the way to hell then others in the way to heaven but diligence even in earthly business is doubtless a commanded duty and negligence is a forbidden sin the one brings profit and the other loss diligence in an orchard brings in more then ordinary profit the Apostle commands those that will not labour that they shall not eat 2 Thes 3.10 paradice that was mans store-house was his work house also those idle persons that have little to do are usually set on a work by the devil for he takes up and employs such wanderers those that like body-lice live upon other mens sweat are not fit to live in a well-ordered common-wealth it is an apostatical command that we labour with our hands that we may be able to give to those that need Eph. 4.28 he shall be poor saith Solomon that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich Pro. 10.4 doing there must be or the beggar will catch us by the back it follows he that gathereth in summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame he that lets the offered opportunity slip may haply never recover the loss diligence usually though not constantly is attended with abundance but the sluggard shall be covered with rags we reade Pro. 24.30 that Solomon went by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and it was grown over with thorns thistles also had covered the face thereof the stone-wall thereof was broken down
such a soul that when she is in a deserted and as she imagines a forsaken condition seems dead and withered yet at the return of Gods pleased face seems fruitful and flourishing where there is life in the root it will spring when t is really dead winter and summer all is a case but though the winter may be long and sharp yet the spring will come and shew a difference between the living trees and the dead and though God hide his face for a season and absent himself for a time to see how his spouse will bear his absence and to try her affections yet this sun of righteousness will shine again and then where life is in the root it will shew it self in the branches for God will not forsake any really that are not dead utterly for a little while saith God I hid my face but with everlasting kindness will I remember her Isay 54.8 sometimes the poor soul verily thinks she is forsaken when God doth but like a father hide himself for a while to try the childes affection and every sigh and sob and sorrowful tear goes to the fathers heart his bowels yearn and he cannot long conceal himself that it is so between God and his children see that pregnant place Isay 49.14 c. but Zion said the Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me can a woman forget her sucking childe that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me never was tender-hearted father or indulgent mother more careful of their only childe then God is of his children he will never forsake those that do not forsake him he will never give a bill of divorce to any that are not willing to leave him so that you see here where there is life in the root the spring will come when it shall again germinate and bud but if it be really dead it can never recover but by the assistance of an omnipotent arm no more can a dead soul till it be grafted into the living vine then that which was dead before shall germinate and spring and when once thus transplanted it shall never wither though sometimes it may be winter with it and it make but a little shew yet the root of the matter is in it and when the spring returns it shall break forth God will never leave them nor forsake them See the Apostles confidence Rom. 8.35 38 39. who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword nay in all these we are more then conquerors through him that loveth us for I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord these men of all others have cause to live merrily yea though it be but assurance of adherence those that Christ loves he loves to the end oh my soul is it so that grace may be hid in times of desertion as the sap in the root in the winter season or as fire under the ashes or as gold in the mine or as a little Jewel in a great heap of ashes despair not then neither be discouraged though sometimes thy grace be out of sight and thy God hide his face and the sun of righteousness be clouded and thy comforts ecclipsed remember with David the days of old and the time when God did smile upon thee and though it be now winter the spring will return whom God loveth he loveth to the end yea with an everlasting love oh my God clear up my evidences for heaven and make out such discovery of thy love to my soul that I may never be willing to leave thee and then that thou wilt never forsake me Upon a great tree tossed with the winde 85. Med. WHen I observed some tall spreading trees stretching forth their branches on every side and were grown top-heavy how they were tost and tumbled with the winde and storms when smaller shrubs and lesser trees were more free and secure because they lay under the winde or had but a little inconsiderable head I saw and observed that it often came to passe that if these great trees bare any fruit it was blown down before it came to maturity and seldome came to good nay not only the fruit but the leaves also were forced off by the violent gusts and windes and storms and sometimes the boughs and branches also yea the tree it self is often born down by the tempest when those that were less and lower were more secure and brought their fruit to maturity with less danger and hazard This Observation made me think that these trees fittly resembled great men that made some profession of religion but few of them bring their fruit to maturity for these lye more open to temptations and are more liable to dangers then others are and the devil hath a greater spight at them then at others for they may do him more mischief and therefore he is more unwilling they should break prison then others and hangs more fetters and irons upon them great Commanders are more narrowly watcht if they are prisoners and more dearly ransomed then private souldiers hence it was that Elymas the sorcerer by the devils instigation sought to turn away Surgius Paulus the deputy from the faith Act. 13.8 as knowing he was like to be a leading man which way ever he took If great men have but leaves they are invyed for the leaves sake and few of them ever bring forth fruit to maturity yea the leaves themselves their very profession are oft times born down by the storm I have seen some that I verily believed were well rooted and grounded who yet upon approaching storms have truckled under them have hid their religion dissembled their profession and stole away from their colours and all for fear of leaving or losing any part of their estates This hath given me occasion sometimes to bless God that hath freed me from some of those temptations that others lie under and hath given me Agars petition neither poverty nor riches but food convenient and hath kept me almost all â—hy days in a suffering condition I considered I have the same nature as other men have had I but the same temptations I know not but I might have been as bad a great estate as it hath many cares and cumbers so many temptations accompanying it and some men cannot bear it no more then some mens heads can much wine or strong drink it is not the cage that makes the bird sing nor it is not abundance always that makes the heart light a staff may help a traveller but a bundle of staves will