believe we are well when our case is too much to be lamented and God hath not left this Town altogether without this Mercy If Consideration be so preparative to the highest Wisdom and so necessary to the Knowledge and Love of God and all solid Content and Peace then all the means whereby it is promoted should be welcome to us And our Deafness to these Providences and Inconsideracy notwithstanding we have so many advantages to bring us to Consideration of their miserable woful condition that forget God hath the greater sin This is the second help to Consideration that should humble us for the neglect of it viz. because we have so many advantages to awaken us to this duty Thirdly As Consideration is a work of absolute necessity where there is time and Capacity in regard of the worth and greatness of the matters which so much concern us and in regard of the help and assistance that God gives us to this duty so the Fruit and Benefits of Consideration are unspeakably great I shall name two 1. It is Wisdom to consider yea it 's both a sign and a cause of it where Consideration is it argues there is Wisdom already and the frequent exercise thereof will make the Person wiser and both are intimated Psal 107.43 Whoso is wise will observe these things There Consideration is a sign of Wisdom and they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. Here it is the cause it produceth Understanding and Wisdom in a higher measure so that Wisdom is both the antecedent and consequent of Consideration and doth both go before and follow after it Sin in Scripture is frequently branded with the name of Folly because it proceedeth from Folly and maketh a Man more and more foolish that committeth it Psal 85.8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his People and to his Saints but let them not turn again to folly i. e. Sin Job 4.18 He charged his Angels with Folly that is with Sin and so threw them down to Hell And they that are guilty of it are called Fools and Foolish Psal 5.5 The Foolish cannot stand in thy sight Who are they the later clause telleth us Thou hatest all the workers of Iniquity And that it proceedeth from Folly from whence it is denominated we have evidence enough in Scripture The Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God Psal 14.1 Where Atheismâ—s ascribed to Folly as the Fruit of it First a Fool and then an Atheist where by Fool is meant not a Natural or one that 's born with a Crack or Defect in his Intellectuals but one that 's weak thorough wilful Inconsideracy and by works of Darkness hath clouded and sotted his Understanding as those in Rom. 1.21 Whose foolish Heart was darkened by their vam Imaginations So Jer. 4.22 My People is foolish they have not known me The sense whereof may be so as to make Folly either the cause or the effect of not knowing God viz. Because my People are Foolish therefore they know not me or else because they are ignorant of me therefore they are Foolish Now then as nothing doth more promote Folly than Inconsideracy so nothing doth more befriend Wisdom than Consideration It digs deep and finds out the bottom and discovers the highest Cause of all things which is the true Description of Wisdom contemplative or as it is in the Understanding for so the Schools define it Sapientia vera est radicare de omnibus secundum altissimam Causam Altissima autem Causa est Voluntas divina sive lex quae voluntatem Dei Hominibus manifestat When the careless inconsiderate Person whom God hath blessed with Health and Content and Success looks no higher than the Air he breaths in to which he ascribes his Health or the Estate he hath to which he attributes his Content or his own Prudence to which he imputes his Success On the other side when the Inconsiderate Person whom God hath afflicted is pur-blind and can see no farther than an unwholesome Air a bad Dyet an envious troublesome Neighbour or the general Contagion now among us by the which he thinks he is afflicted in his Estate Name or Health I say when the Inconsiderate Person either in Prosperity or Adversity stops here and goes no further the considerate Person is wise indeed and looks above and beyond all these and seeth the Spring that setteth all the Wheels a going the primitive and over-ruling cause that commands all the other 1. Suitably to their own Nature 2. And according to the counsel of his own will In the one appears his admirable Wisdom in the other his Almighty Power And according to this judgment of things he is both affected and instructed and therefore his Heart is not lifted up with Pride but thankfulness unto God when he is enriched with his Mercies and the Streams wherewith he is refreshed set his Heart a longing for the Fountain This effect upon David had all his temporal Mercies they made him cry out for the Living God Psal 84.2 My Soul thirsteth for God for the Living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 42.2 And this influence they will have in a sincere degree and measure upon all true Believers neither will they make any sinful haste to get away from the Rod when God sendeth it they know nothing can come without his special appointment And therefore though Troubles flow in upon him and come toward him like a swelling Tide and threaten to swallow him up though Enemies come upon him with Rage and Fury and the Devil and his own Corruption come upon him like a Tempest as if they would bear down and utterly overwhelm him yet in this he is confident he cannot utterly sink if he be a Believer Though a sinner doth evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him but it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he feareth not God Eccles 8.12 13. So Esay 3.10 Say ye to the Righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings And as Consideration is the direct way to Wisdom which is in the Understanding so it is a ready way to that other Wisdom which is in the practical Faculties This Wisdom the Schools define to be Habitus discretivus optimi Finis Electivus optimorum mediorum Such a habit as disposeth a Man to discern and intend the best end and to elect the best means The highest end that an inconsiderate Man doth intend is no higher than the World it is at best but some Sensual Comfort some Carnal Satisfaction that 's fitted to his baser part and does no better service than accommodate his Flesh I confess his Soul also may seem to be content whilst he hath a fulness
assisted in preparing their hearts and exciting their affections and graces when they draw nigh to God in that most awful solemn Ordinance of the Lords Supper By John Flavel Minister of Christ in Devon Duodecimo price 1 s. 6 d. A peaceable resolution of Conscience touching our present Impositions wherein Loyalty and Obedience are proposed and setled upon their true Foundation in Scripture Reason and Constitution of this Kingdom against all resistance of the present Powers and with compliance with the Laws so far as may be in order to Union with a Draught or Specimen for a Bill for Accommodation Octavo price 2 s. A Memento for English Protestants c. with an Answer to that part of the Compendium which reflects on the Bishop of Lincolns late Book Quarto price 1 s. 6 d. Naked Truth the first Part being the true state of the Primitive Church by an humble Moderator price stitcht 1 s Causa Dei or an Apology for God wherein the perpetuity of Infernal Torments is evinced and Divine Goodness and Justice that notwithstanding descended c. By Richard Burthogge M.D. The Narrative of Robert Bolron of Shippon Hall Gent. concerning the late horrid Popish Plot. The Narrative of Lawrence Mowbray of Leeds in the County of York Gent. concerning the late horrid Popish Plot. Tully's Select Orations All Mr. Gouges Works Octavo Horrid Popish Plot in a Pack of Cards A second Pack continuing a Representation of their Villanous Design from the publication of the first Pack to the last Sessions of Parliament begun Octob. 21. 1680. A third Defence of the Cause of Peace proving 1. The need of our Concord 2. The impossibility of it on the terms of the present Impositions against the Accusations and Storms of viz. Mr. John Hinckley a nameless Impleader a nameless Reflecter or Speculum c. Mr. John Cheney's second Accusation Mr. Roger L'Estrange Justice c. The Dialogue between the Pope and a Phanatick J. Varney's Phanatick Prophesie Sacra Unio or an Holy Union chiefly proposed to the Divided Protestants in England and extensively to all other Christians abroad in the world according in Fundamentals and disowning the Popes Supremacy and Image-worship Whereto is added this needful advice that they all bear one with another in things which they cannot yet in their Conscience agree upon as Rites Ceremonies and Discipline together with the Protestants Religion 's Fundamental Doctrine and four Tables containing the Popish Religion at large and Grecian and Abasine and Muscovian written at this time of need in English and Latin for the good and Conservation of all true Protestants in Europe and all other good Christians in other parts of the world where the Latin is understood By Christopher Jelinger M. A. Some Arguments to assure and perswade the Infallible Truth and Divine Authority of Scripture for the Exercise of that part of Faith that consists in the Intellects Assent Argument I. THose Writings whose Pen-men were Authorized and approved by God must needs be of Divine Authority But the Writings of the Old and New Testament had such Pen-men Therefore c. The Major Proposition is beyond all doubt and past dispute The Minor Proposition viz. That the Pen-men of the Old and New Testament were Men Authorized and approved by God in that very Work is evident in that these Writers did attest and prove the Inspiration they did pretend to by frequent Reall and uncontrouled Miracles which none but God could enable them to do For First They were unquestionably above the power of meer Man Secondly These Writers thereof must derive their power from some invisible Author either Good or Bad But from the Devil or any bad Spirit they could not For First Some at least of those Miracles which were wrought by the Pen-men of the Old and New Testament were without the Spehre of all natural Causation and were such as no created Cause or meer natural Agent can possibly produce by the meer stock of their own strength Now the bad Spirits are no better than Creatures and can work no other waies but by natural Efficiency and Causation and therefore could not do some of these works Such was the Raising of the Dead to Life and the giving sight to those which were born perfectly blind Not to instance in any other Though perchance to cure all sorts of Diseases with a word and in a moment is more than the Devil can seemingly imitate or any one can do that hath not assistance from God Now the Rule is certain A privatione ad habitum non datur Regressus naturaliter if the privation be Total Nam productio totius entis entis ex materiâ prorsus ineptâ are the Specialties of God alone and Prerogatives Royal annexed to his Crown who hath ordained the constant course of Causes and Effects which we call Nature or the Course of Nature and hath made all those Agents that work in that orderly Course which we call Natural Causes Secondly If the evil Spirits could do such works as these which yet they cannot as hath been proved yet it would be inconsistent with the infinite Wisdom Truth and Goodness and the nature and being of that Government which as supreme Rector of Mankind he doth exercise to suffer his Creatures to be thus deluded and to leave Man under an Impossibility of ever attaining to the knowledge of his Will in a rational way and by such objective Evidence as may work conviction upon his own Faculties and the Faculties of others with whom he shall discourse Thirdly And yet if the Devil could do such works and God should permit him neither of which can be as hath been made appear yet it would not consist with his own interest to countenance and credit such Writers as these were and to Confirm Such a Doctrin that 's so destructive to his nature and that tends so visibly to the overthrow of his Kingdom For if Satan were thus divided and should fight after this desperate Manner against himself his Kingdom could not stand Mat. 12.25 Which is the very strength of our Saviours Argument when he was calumniated by the Jews to have wrought those mighty works which he did by the Power of Belzebub Undoubtedly either the Devil himself must want that that 's Essential to an Intelligent Being c. Spirit and void utterly of all understanding or else the man must that can think the Devil would so effectually promote his own Downfal and strike such a blow at the very Root of his own kingdom For we see by Experience where this Doctrine is once received the worship of Devils and all Magick Arts and impious Practices do forthwith vanish And the one true God is served with detestation of Devils And the Doctrine of Christ for Confirmation whereof these works were done forbids us to worship Devils and draws us away from all pollutions wherewith the evil Spirits are delighted Whose power and Force was broken by Christ's coming as Porphyry himself
of him may be our sweetest daily Exercise and Imployment But without Consideration you cannot approach him nor get any transforming reviving sight of him His Ways are in the Seas and his Paths are in the deep Waters and Foot-steps cannot be known nor track'd without frequent Exercise of your Considering Faculty Psal 77.19 Secondly As we have the matters of greatest importance and necessity to Consider so we have many special advantages to excite and awaken Consideration One would think the worth and weightiness of the Object should be spur enough to quicken us to this Work and command our thoughts if there were no other motive to prick us forward but we have many current helps many a loud call from the Word of God set on by his appointed Servants that are sent forth on purpose upon this Errand Many providential help both sweet and terrible and something besides the common course strange and unusual and therefore more fit to set the Mind a thinking from what cause they come and what they drive at The veryest Atheist is sometime blank'd at some strange and unheard of events and knows not what interpretation to make of them nor whether to refer them for having denied the true Author of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They become vain in their imanations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And their foolish Heart is darkned Rom. 1.21 Yea that arch Opposer of Providence Epicurus himself had not made such a progress in Forgetfulness of God and the denial of a Deity governing and over-ruling the Affairs of the Earth but that he was so startled by some effects that he observed that he could not utterly wipe the notion of a Providence out of his Mind When a Blasphemer is struck dead in the very Act of his Blasphemy and Vengeance lights upon another with a fearful imprecation in his Mouth and some effects are so anomalous and besides the course of Nature that it is no thanks to the most Atheistical to bring in their Witness and to confess the Wisdom and Power and Justice of God Let a Man that truly worshippeth and feareth God in such a time of dreadful and publick Calamity as this is applaud the Justice of God and freely confess his handy work and assign the notorious publick allowed and encouraged sins of the City and Nation for the meritorious and provoking Cause It may be a purblind thick sighted Beast whose God is his Belly and whose Glory is his Shame that is drunk with Sensual Pleasure Phil. 9.13 will tell you that such a mortality comes about in the revolution and circle of so many years and will rake the Kennel for the Cause and ascribe the effects to the naughtiness of the Streets rather than to the naughtiness of their Hearts or look up to the true efficient to whom these causes they usually fasten upon are but subservient and all that they might hide their shame and that they might perswade themselves and others that their sin hath no hand in bringing such a scourge upon us but yet for all that when the Judgment comes a little nearer to them and begins to find them out and awaken them to Consideration which they had no time for when they were running from one brutish pleasure to another then they begin to see and to be confounded with shame They cannot now laugh out of their Hearts all serious thoughts of a Life to come nor make a jest of a Holy Life as they did in the day of their delusion but would give a World if they had it to die the death of the Righteous No wonder that strange and extraordinary Providences whether they be of Mercy or Judgment jostle the most sottish and inconsiderate Mind and awaken it to think other thoughts of all things than they did before and enforce an Heathenish Earthly Mind that spent all its thoughts upon vanity before to say that all is but vanity and God's Favour is the only ground for true Contentment if this good fit would last which Consideration hath brought him to But alas â—o sooner is the Providence over that brought him to Consider but he grows careless again and sleeps into Atheism and whilst things run in a constant Channel and keep a constant course God is not in all his thoughts Psal 10.4 Now they think that Repentance and Faith and Self-denial are the work of Cowards yes and such as believe that God hath as great hand in the orderly course and motion of things as when they go out of order and Water that is a fluid body and should run stands still and Fire that should burn doth not Let but a Man consider and it 's as easie to believe that it s as great a power must enable the Sun to run it's race as to stand still or go backward to preserve the Societies of Men as destroy and waste them with a devouring Plague All the difference is Men now consider that would not before and conclude at least that it 's the safest course to live the Life of the Righteous though there were no God and oh that all would so conclude and hold fast such a conclusion and live accordingly then they would quickly see more and more evidence of God in the Word and the necessity of his Service and the excellency of his ways and rise up to a higher conclusion That when as before they could say it was the safest way to renounce worldly Pleasure and to mortifie their Lusts and to addict themselves to the Love and Service oâ— God now they would be able to say that it 's perfect madness not to take this course It 's a Wisdom to be laughed at to be wise for this Life and neglect the Life to come A little Consideration would shew the nakedness of such pretended Wisdom and among other helps this of Publick Calamity where Plague or Famine or any extraordinary Judgment sweeps away thousands calls the rest to come and behold the works of the Lord what Desolations he hath wrought among us Psal 46.10 Be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the People I will be acknowledged by these careless and Atheistical Sinners ver 11. And if the Lethargy of Mens Minds be not great they will consider those that were even lost before for want of attention to the Word and Works of God will awaken now or it 's too much to be feared never shall I call it therefore a Judgment or a Mercy which the compassionate God hath sent upon this Nation that gives us so much advantage to come to sober thoughts Doth it not give some check whether we will or not to the external acts of Pride Luxury and Uncleanness whereby the inward Acts are weakened and we have time to reason with our selves and are better disposed to consider when freed from the clog of worldly cares and from the fumes of a surfeited Body overcharged with Meat and Drink and from the flattering Friend that make us
Excellency and Perfection may justly challenge our greatest Love and Esteem yet the unparallel Good he hath done us doth call for much more Nimii durus est Animas saith Seneca qui si Amorem non velit impendere nolit rependere It 's a base Nature indeed and highly unreasonable that will not pay Love with Love Can we be content to receive all from God and to repay nothing back again He that gives him not the prime and choice of his Affections gives him nothing in the Scripture Account yea he is reputed a Hater of him Luke 14.26 If any Man come to me and hate not that is love them not less his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple Let but some of those Numberless Favours which thou hast received from him be but a while considered and it will utterly shame and put to silence this odious sin And the unthankful hard-hearted sinner that is not melted by such love as this must needs be confounded in the serious thoughts thereof either here or hereafter Here in Repentance or hereafter in Torment 1. Thou hast thy very Being from him without which thou wert uncapable of any Love or Kindness from God or any Creature He gave thee that very Heart which thou deniest him and whereby thou slightest him He gave thee thy Memory to remember him Thy Mind to think upon him He gave thee that Faculty of Love that it might burn continually towards him Ungrateful Soul to set any thing above him in thy Love and Esteem That hadst been a Brute and no Man if it had pleased him and might'st then have wanted such a gift to bestow on him or any other thing 2. The same Hand that gave thee thy Being at the first doth yet continue it and preserve thee every Day and Night every Hour and Moment If he should but subtract his Hand thou would'st soon dye and return to thy Dust again Thou hast forfeited Life and deserved Death over and over How oft hast thou run upon destruction and he hath saved thee and reversed the Sentence of Death when the Law hath condemned thee And lengthned out this Life to thee that thou might'st repent and live for ever And dost thou live by his meer grace and favour every day and yet lovest him not above all other things This is highly absurd and unreasonable 3. Thy Life and all other Comforts are not only the Fruit of his Bounty but of his meer Grace and Mercy They have been all forfeited a thousand times over Every Sin calls for Sentence and Execution upon the sinner and condemns him to universal want and misery But the Blood of God hath purchased them back again to thee and the hand of God hath restored them and recovered so base a Wretch into a state of favour and condition of hope And under each of these comprehensive Mercies infinite particulars might be reckoned up And now what canst thou set up in Competition with Him Thy Wit Thine Understanding Thy Health Strength Beauty Friends Riches Honour Life Or any Provision that 's made for it These all belong to him They are his Talents Art thou a Debter to all or any one of these that thou shouldst serve love or esteem them more than him who is so incomparably thy Benefactor Reason 3d. Thirdly God deserveth our greatest love because he is to us The most suitable Good Now that 's the most suitable good that doth most fitly and fully supply all our Necessities and satisfie our most rational Desires Now who or what can pretend to compare with him in this respect or stand in a competition with him There are Two great Necessities which every Soul lies under 1. The one is in respect of Sin The 2d in respect of Suffering and Misery which Two comprize all the Wants and Necessities of Man Both which none is capable of removing but Christ our Redeemer who is God-Man blessed for evermore And for the first Sin It exposeth every sinner to two great Wants The One of Pardon The Other of Sanctification In the want of either of which it 's plainly impossible that any Man should be happy And this needs no other Proof that the bare Explication of what Pardon and Sanctification are 1. Pardon is but the Removal of Guilt which every Sinner doth contract Now Guilt being an Obligation unto Punishment Pardon must needs be the dissolving or nulling of that Obligation which if it should continue and not be removed the guilty sinner must needs be terrified and affrighted with the sense of his obnoxiousness to God's displeasure who perfectly hates Sin and loves Justice and Righteousness more than all his Creatures and therefore must needs resent any Affront done to them as it were to the Apple of his Eye where such Guilt lies upon any Creature which sense cannot but arise in every Sinner when Conscience is awake which will be sooner or later And then he that knows God is his Enemy cannot sure be happy since he hath infinite power and wisdom against him And this is the very Case of every one that lies under Guilt unremoved he hath Almighty God for his Enemy And as the want of Pardon cannot consist with Happiness so neither can the want of 2. Sanctification For as he that hath God for his Enemy cannot be happy so neither can he that is an Enemy unto God And such a one is every unsanctified and unrenewed Soul who being unlike to God cannot take pleasure in him nor have any complacency in those things which are suited to his blessed Nature But loves them just as the Bird doth the Snare from whence he will fly and escape with all the speed he can But he that cannot love God above all and delight chiefly in his Ways can never be happy because these are the only Ways that can perfect his Nature and make him happy Pardon and Sanctification being thus explained it evidently follows by clear consequence that without these two the sinner cannot be happy but such a one is every Man and therefore without these two Supplies no Soul can be happy Thus much being evident and demonstrable it is as plain that none can remove the Guilt and Filth that sin implies but God who alone can remit sin and sanctifie the sinner and dispose him by Holiness to the Love of God and all Righteousness wherein his chief happiness doth consist The Second grand Necessity which Man lies under which indeed comprehends all Necessities whatsoever is Misery or Suffering which comprizeth all that Evil in Effect which sin doth in the Cause All that Sickness and Sorrow and Trouble and Fear and Discontent and Death and those sad Expectations after it are the Fruit and Effect of Sin by Resultancy oftentimes and always by way of a Righteous Punishment and Compensation Yea Sin is such a Monster that it not only deserves but also inflicts Evil upon
the Mansion where it dwells and like that cruel Emperour rips up the Womb that bare it and is both the Malefactor and Executioner yea and the very Death also that is inflicted I mean that I may avoid Metaphors and speak properly That Sin is both the meritorious efficient I and formal Cause of a great part of our Sufferings and Calamity though not in its formal yet in its material Consideration And as a Beast that being confined within its right Pasture by some Pale or Fence doth by the same violence break the Fence and hurt it self and get into more Feeding so doth every sinner by the same Transgression violate God's Law and his own Welfare and is both Active and Passive in the same inordinate Action For it 's one great End of God's Law to tye Mens hands that they should not hurt themselves So that God's Honour and Man's Safety do enter the very definition of all his Laws so great is the Wisdom of our Supreme Law-giver But the foregoing Similitude is but lame and doth not fully express the formal Effect of Sin as I may call it Tradition to Sin is threatned as the most fearful Judgment in Scripture Now God alone that can remove the Cause can also free the Sinner from the sad and woful Consequents and then Happiness will be the Result For he that is freed from all Evil whatsoever and yet hath an immortal duration must needs be happy For without the blessed Fruition of God such a reasonable Soul as Man hath that can see backwards and forwards and hath the Passions of Hope Fear Love Joy cannot possibly be at rest and cease from self-tormenting Thoughts and Actions Since therefore it 's God only that can supply all the Necessities of a rational Creature it follows that he only is the most suitable and proper good to such a Creature and therefore is principally and as far as is possible to be desired and loved This is the Third Reason why it is so highly congruous and doth so well beseem a reasonable Creature to love God above all Secondly As it is most highly Congruous and Reasonable so it is the Highest Dignity and Honour that a Rational Creature is capable of If Honour be truly to be estimated either by the Nobleness of the Act for which any one is honoured or the Persons in whose Esteem we are advanced both these ways be united to God above all things in Love is the highest honour that a Creature can ever arrive to unless it be to exchange sincerity of Love for Perfection or to add further degrees to this Love till it comes to its ultimum quod sic or vertical Point 1. There 's no Act that can put a greater Lustre upon the Agent than that which is directly exercised upon God especially in the way of Love For the Object as it gives Specification so it gives Worth and Nobleness to the Act and that reflects it upon the Faculty first and then upon the Agent whose Faculty it is For as the Act is more glorious that 's exercised about a Kingdom than that which is exercised upon lower and baser things so that Faculty is more noble that 's capable of doing such an Act than that which is capable only of doing the other Acts And by consequence he that steereth or governeth a Ship is more honourable than he that rows it Or rather a Prince is more honourable than a Plowman because his Acts are conversant about a nobler object This being past dispute it follows that the Servant of God is far more highly dignified than any other Servant whatsoever Now Love being the principal Part of his Service because it is the Service of the Heart which he chiefly requires It 's therefore the highest Honour to Love him with the whole Heart 2. And God esteems that Person most highly that thus loves him because All the Promises of the Gospel are made to such which are the highest Expressions of God's Bounty and Love And those whom he doth most richly endow and favour them he doth most highly honour Particularly 1. God dwelleth in them here 2. And they shall dwell with God hereafter Now what greater Honour can there be than Familiarity and Co-habitation with the Fountain of all Honour And as to love God superlatively and above all is 1. Most Reasonable 2. Most Honourable So Thirdly It brings in the greatest Profit and Advantage For hereby First If this Love prevail over all other Love it ascertains to us 1. That Relative Grace which consists in Pardon of all Sin Justification of our Persons Peace and Favour with God or Friendship with him and Sonship to him and Right to Heaven 2. And also to all Real Grace whereby every Christian is shaped and fashioned to the Divine Nature and Similitude And therefore may confidently expect that in the use of Means the Holy Spirit should enable him to thrive and bring forth the Fruit of a sounder Knowledge in Spiritual Things of Patience Humility Meekness Self-denial Temperance Brotherly Love and Charity every one of which is a Jewel of inestimable worth In a word He hath a sound Title by the Free Charter of the Gospel to all that Christ hath purchased and procured by the Merit of his Blood And as his Love encreaseth in the Degree and Measure and groweth towards Perfection so it doth encrease the Measure of every Grace And then Assurance which is the Consequent of an higher Measure of Grace than ordinary Christians aspire to usually flows in And then such a Measure of Boldness and Confidence in our Addresses to God as doth usually fill the Heart with daily Comfort Secondly And as this prevailing Love doth gather strength so Peace at Home and inward Calmness and Tranquility doth encrease And this is a continual Feast sweeter than all the troublesome disturbing Pleasures of the World The more any Soul is conscious to it self of a prevailing Love to God and that he hath the Supremacy in his Heart the more all his Faculties do unite and conspire to Quietness Rest and Peace For there 's nothing that puts a Man into Tumult and Disorder but the greedy desire after something that looks like Happiness but when it 's gotten proves no such thing and vexeth the Soul with Frustration and continual Disappointment Now the more the Soul is in love with God the more it is acquainted with the true happiness and is the less in danger to be diverted by false and lying Promises And when once the Soul hath got this Harbour it will stir no more out so as to forsake it but silently feeds on continual pleasure and dwells at ease as the Psalmist expresseth it Psal 25.13 And knows that all farther labour is vain unless it be to grow more deeply rooted in love And this Peace and inward Joy is always the Companion of Assurance in some sensible degree however it may perchance be wanting to those and altogether imperceptible that have the
Earth move about and the Heavens to stand still which if it be supposed yet must be the effect of an infinite Power It 's the description that 's usually given of a wise Man That he is one that wonders at nothing because they suppose Ignorance to be the Cause of wonder And therefore the more we know and understand any thing the less we wonder at it But yet for all this I may take the boldness to say That he is a wise Man indeed that wonders not at every thing Especially if he be one that hath Wit enough to see the impregnable Difficulties that stand in the way and hinder a distinct and perfect understanding of any the least of God's Works And this is another Confideration that will do good service in provoking us to the Praises of the Lord if it be weighed with an undisturbed silence and attention 2. As it will advance a Heart in Praises and Thanksgiving to God and help on this noblest part of God's Worship to behold these Three great Attributes of his Wisdom Goodness and Power as they shine forth in the Works of Creation and Providence about the unreasonable Creatures So 2. It will elevate a Soul yet higher and make it more fit for the work of Thankfulness and Praise to ponder these Attributes as they are made glorious in and about the reasonable and intelligent Creatures And here I shall pass over the Angels the most noble Creatures which God hath made And because this is an Argument most likely to move us with the greatest force Let us more particularly insist upon his Goodness towards us 1. In giving us a Nobler Being than he hath done to any other visible Creature He hath stamped his Image upon Man more lively than he hath done upon any Creature if you look on him barely in his Natural Capacity as consisting of a Body and Soul The one Corruptible The other Incorruptible The first he hath in Common with other Creatures but the other is a peculiar Glory that God hath put upon no other Creature here below besides himself And yet in his very Body he far surpasseth all his Fellow-Creatures If you consider well the Comeliness and Propoâ—ition of Parts the well mixing of the Humours that give the Colour and the pure lively Spirit that gives Air and Motion to the several Parts his erect stature and the symmetry of the whole To say nothing of Speech that 's peculiar to Man alone all other Creatures must submit and bow before him But as to his Moral Capacity There 's no other Creature here below that hath any Lineament of his Maker's Image but Man only He alone was intended to represent his Maker in Righteousness and true Holiness and had a Capacity first to be honoured in his Service and to be made happy in his Eternal Enjoyment The rest of the Creatures as they have their Face downward so they have no disposition to look so high as to their Maker nor any tendency of love or desire towards him For God having made them uncapable of any such Acts or Habits expects no such Service at their Hands But God made Man for his own immediate Service and therefore gave him a Nature suited to that imployment He did not only bestow on him the Faculties of Understanding and Will but endued them with the knowledge and love of God that by the exercise of these Acts he might find out the Rest and Happiness that he doth so indefatigably seek after 2. He gave him Seigniory and Dominion over this lower World Psalm 8. As all things were made for his use and service so they were given into his hand to dispose of And they had no power to cross his Command or disobey till he had rebelled against his Maker They were all ready at his service to go and come at his beck and to execute his pleasure to their utmost strength and capacity Gen. 1.28 And God blessed them that is Adam and Eve and said to them Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth See also Gen. 2.19 20. And Man wanted not the Faculty to discern the Nature and Vertue of every Creature and for what uses they might serve Yea the Inferiour Heavens were made to accommodate him and every way God dealt with him as a Bountiful Lord and most Liberal Benefactour The Sun was made to enlighten him and the Heavens to chear him and make the Earth fruitful with their Influences which was to bring him forth it s various Productions for his several uses and occasions And who that hath the Heart of a Man and not of a Beast can think of such Munificence and Bounty which God hath exercised towards him and not abhor ingratitude And even feel himself delighted in the Praises of his so great Benefactour 3. When he had undone himself and had involved his Soul and Body in Misery unspeakable the Lord did not utterly forsake him as he deserved but he set his Wisdom a work to contrive a way how to salve the honour of his Justice and yet save the miserable Rebels from destruction When we were all fallen short of the Glory of God he found out a Method to recover us into Happiness again And when no Creature in Heaven or Earth could do such a Favour for us the Son of God became Man and dyed for us that he might satisfie offended Justice and vindicate the honour both of the Law and Law-giver and procure Terms of Peace and Favour for us O what a Remarkable Sentence is that which should be engraven upon the Heart of every sinner When we were without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly Rom. 5.6 This is a faithful saying indeed and worthy of all acceptation 1. highest and most thankful entertainment that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 4.9 10. We had been now bound hand and foot and shut up in outward darkness and had been Fuel to the Wrath of God and the Flames of Hell which are kindled thereby and had been tormenting our Souls with the bitter remembrance of our sin who are or may be comforted with the blessed Tydings of the Gospel What a comfortable Thought should it be to us when we lye down and when we rise up to remember that Christ is risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15.20 To understand which Text of Scripture it 's necessary that we be informed that sin having brought a Curse upon Man and upon the Earth for his sake and all the Fruit it brought forth the Sacrifice of the First-Fruits among the Jews to which the Apostle here alludes was appointed by God as a Means whereby the whole Harvest might be sanctified and secured and the Curse removed Which First-Fruits were a Type of Christ by