I am bound to bee thankfull unto him in which I am to take comfort this is my duty to follow his calling to be obedient to his government herein standeth my eternall happinesse or bee it that I doe not beleeve or love God or live in his feare yet is not this in my power to amend or have I any just cause of excuse examine not Gods decrees by thine owne reason or those lawes of justice which wee are bound to observe feare his Majesty humble thy selfe before his presence seeke his mercy receive not grace in vaine there is no way to heaven but a holy life and hee that purposeth thou shouldest besaved doth call thee to faith and repentance If thou avoid the meanes to attaine unto either thou â—…est thy selfe out and art an â—…my to thine owne Soule if thâ—… come unto God he will not reject thee wherefore aske for grace that thou maist come without which thou shalt never come and it is necessary for thee to know this lest thou shouldest trust to nature and not seeke grace or despaire when thou seest thou canst not attaine unto it by thine owne strength Aske not how he is mercifull which saveth a few and condemneth many how he is just which by his will so bringeth it about that wee are all in the cause of damnation but beleeve it aske not why God doth not change the wills of wicked men with whom and in whom hee doth not cease to worke but reverence his decree whose judgments are just though unknowne But thou art much troubled and vexed to heare this doctrine and so are many others this trouble this vexation if thou belong to God shall turne to thy good for it shall so humble and cast thee downe that thou shalt wholly depend on God and give him his glory but if thou belong not to him thou shalt complaine and murmure more and more and be nothing the better nothing the neare for God will not cease to be God though wee beleeve not nor good though we be wicked But who will care to beleeve to amend his life to strive against sinne if it be not in us if without us God have disposed of us surely none of himselfe can or will they only doe whom God doth vouchsafe to enable The word of God which is his revealed and conditionall will is unto some the savor of life unto life and unto others the savor of death unto death to none the savor of life but to those that beleeve to none the savor of death but to those that beleeve not he will have all men to be saved if they will them selves and hee forsakes none but they that forsake him these things are for us to marke and observe yet to beleeve or not to beleeve to will salvation or to will it not doe depend upon a higher will whose law is unknowne to us wee must live by that which is revealed and adore that which is hidden from us so shall wee neither neglect our duty nor deprive God of his glory and majesty Meditation 5. Of Patience THere is none which can bee merry none rich none well friended none in authority none have ever good successe more safely then a Christian for in all these he useth a good conscience yet because such a streame of prosperity is dangerous to mans frailty hee is not to looke for his heaven here but elsewhere because he is now in triall not in triumph a pilgrim and not at home that many troubles must bee suffered either to purge him of vice or for his better exercise of vertue and both to Gods glory I see nothing more necessary for him then Patience a vertue which doth harden him to follow Christ willingly and quickly in bearing the Crosse and if wee consider our Saviours life wee may observe that he used no one vertue more then Patience not only in his Passion but in the whole course of his life which as it were nothing but a Passion throughout so was it but an exercise of his continuall patience wee must suffer many things of our adversaries which will oppose themselves to our vocation it is not in our power to put them by and take them quietly wee cannot without patience Yea which is worst of all God will seeme sometimes to be against us and taking from us inward consolation will leave us to sorrow and sadnesse of spirit as if we were forsaken these things befell unto our Lord who used Patience as the best remedy teaching us not only to beare his Crosse but how to beare it also till it shall please God to returne againe unto us with comfort Wee must have patience to beare great tentations as well as small and to beare them as long as it pleaseth God whether great or small great troubles will need great Patience and small troubles enduring long no small Patience Now the Christian is to be exercised grievously continually because God meanes to make him partaker of a great victory a great reward Faith is necessary for our entrance into the Church hope to nourish faith and love is the fruit of faith and briefe of all the Commandements see here the summe of divinity But without Patience wee cannot abide in the Church for being once offended wee shall lose them except we have Patience Why is it said Woe bee to him that hath lost patience belike it is the last losse If a Master of a Ship lose his Anchor or Maine-mast or a Saile those are great losses yet to be repaired but if it be said once he hath lost his Ship wee know hee hath lost all and perhaps himselfe too so if wee lose a time of Prayer or the exercise of reading and meditation an occasion of doing good if wee stagger in faith these are heavy losses indeed yet particular and recoverable but if it be said wee have lost Patience what meanes it but that wee have lost all and our selves too Wherefore well is it said Woe be unto him that hath lost Patience Patience is as it were the second concoction of all vertues and drawes from them whatsoever is for the strength and nourishment of a Christian life if this be weake in working our strength is small From faith Patience drawes confidence from Hope perseverance from Love cheerfulnesse They which are Saints in Heaven are said to have Palmes in their hands a resemblance of Patience by which they are victorious Patience is a remedy in those causes which nothing else can remedy Shew thy faith to the persecutor he will not suffer thee to enjoy it except thou wilt lose liberty goods friends and life what will become now of thy faith except thou have Patience shew thy charity to thine enemy hee will despise it hee will wrong thee still more and more what then will become of thy charity if thou have not Patience let it bee knowne that thou art an upright man the Devill will tempt thee outwardly and inwardly and what will become
drop taken out of the sea of Gods mercy Love is a briefe of the Law a legacy of Christ the cognizance of a Christian the life of a good conscience the assurance of prayer the strength of devotion the prop of patience and in a word the band of perfection The love that we owe is unto God but God will have the duty discharged to his image our neighbour to his members our brethren specially where this duty may give most evident token of love as when wee provide for the poore which can make no recompence or pray for our enemies which hate us Indeed thou losest nothing by giving to the poore for it is put on his score to whom thou owest thy selfe it is repaied by him who hath given himselfe for thy redemption and will give himselfe unto thee for thine eternall salvation Thou findest no cause to love thine enemy neither did God to love thee God loved thee without an example but hath left it to thee for thy imitation for so well hee loves thee that he would have thee like himselfe Hee loved thee freely for himselfe thou must love freely too but for his sake is not this cause enough God bids thee shall the countenance of an enemy dismay thee this is the way pointed out by God and blessed by him to make thy foe thy friend fall it out otherwise he is thy friend more than his owne he gives place to thee in goodnes strive not thou with him who shall be worst After love hath dispatcht her duties abroad she returneth home and doth privately converse with God and this is an entring into the chamber of her well beloved Let mee dye if the wealth of the covetous or the honours of the ambitious or the delicates of the voluptuous be to be envyed and not rather contemned in respect of this if thou know it thou desirest nothing else if not any thing Meditation 3. Of Passions Passions are originall and naturall they are bred with us they are a part of us wee can no more leave to be without them then to be mâ—n yet are they the baser part of the minde for their familiarity with the sanses and hence the Philosophers thoâ—…ht did arise their disorder but if the minde it selfe be insected how can there he cleane And if the eve be darknesse what light can there be in the members yet vertue is the government of Passions and all vertues whereby man doth imitate Gods holinesse or righteousnesse are but well governed Passions Mans vertue is in the middest of much weakenesse and therefore his victory the more commendable And of all victories it is the best when one overcomes himselfe Many have been invincible abroad which have beene overcome by their owne weakenesse at home I feare nothing so much as treason within I speake it without pride through the gift of God I know more than many though I know nothing as I should and yet practise but little according to my knowledge I know what piety what common duty doth require yet stand I unresolved or slow I have much bettered my judgement by hearing but am a very Infant in performing what I have heard I am more sound alone than in company more upright for strangers than in my owne or friends cause I am not so bad in intent as in event What I do not prevent I would gladly amend I thought not on that which after makes mee wonder how I could forget all this I impute to passion Religion sanctifies passion by opposing a fit object as love as much as you list so you love God hate as much as you list so you hate sinne rejoyce alwayes but rejoyce in goodnesse be sorry too but let it be the sorrow of repentance Wee may bee full of hope but as pilgrimes bound for heaven Wee ought to feare so that it be to offend God Will we envie it must bee that others goe not beyond us in well-doing will we be jealous it must bee that nothing defile our conscience Wee have wherein to trust if it be in Gods grace and wherein to distrust if it bee in our owne nature Likewise there is a holy confidence a holy despaire the one claimes Christs merits the other denies her owne That revenge also is just whereby wee debarre our selves of the occasions which led us into sinne Yea passions here doe passe into another nature as anger into zeale for Gods glory love into charity sorrow into repentance pity into almesdeeds hope into patience feare into watching and prayer mirth into thanksgiving confidence into perâ—everance The inconstancy of the wind makes the Pilâ—t at sea watchfull and the disorder of our affections ought to make us advised As is a horse without a bit so are our affections without understanding let reason rule the reines lest thou bee overthrowne Hast thou to deale with a cunning man which is like to overtake thee or a great man which will be too hard for thee or a hasty man which will offer to hurt thee or with a lewd man which may corrupt thee looke well about thee there is more danger from thy owne passions then from any or all these It is good to doe nothing in passion give time to reason and use the helpe of prayer and thou shalt anon espy the depth of some temptation which lies commonly hid under an ordinary passion There are tentations of all sorts and for all sorts of passions for merry men unlawfull pleasures for sad men uncomfortable despaires for presumptuous crying sinnes for angry men quarrels and brawles Looke to thy passions and thou maist prevent many though not all temptations Meditation 4. Of Providence Thou art not able to change the course of nature it is only in the power of God who made it The second cause is tied to the first but the first worketh freely either with it or without it Hath God taken order for one part of his worke and not for all Thou hast a free will not to be constrained true yet is this thy will subject to the highest and first will which moving all our willes is moved of none Thou must needs follow it that will not follow thee God made mee in the first man as in my cause and hee made the first man for himselfe Wherefore the fall of man did not crosse his supreme counsell for then should not that have beene which notwithstanding he did most willingly and justly suffer Is it Gods will then that all men should be concluded under sinne that hee might have mercy on whom hee would and whom hee would he might justly forsake so it followes Yet is his will no cause of sinne but a rule of all righteousnesse so ought I to beleeve Well doth God looke on mee in the face of his well beloved do I beleeve the Christian Faith doe I desire to doe all Christian duties strive I against mine owne corruptions this is Gods speciall favour unto mee it is his worke in mee for which
betweene Faith and profession but if his Workes bee good and godly thou maist boldly presume that the Sunne of righteousnesse is risen on him and hath with his beames of Religion enlightned him wherefore James saith Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this to visit the fatherlesse and widowes in their adversities and to keep himselfe unspotted of the world marke how he judgeth of Religion not by Faith but obedience and yet there is no Religion pure but by Faith because Faith is also to be tried by obedience in the sight of men as obedience by Faith before God And Christ useth the same direction Hereby shall all men know you are my Disciples if yee love one another and love as yee know containeth all duties of the Law and hence is Christs answer in the Gospell to such as shall say at the day of judgment Have not wee taught and preached and done great Workes in thy name Depart from me I know you not all yee workers of iniquity Christ looked not on their profession but practice There is a knowledge of the truth and that wee have from Faith beleeving in the Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and there is an experience of the truth when the vertue of these things beleeved doth worke in our lives as when by the power of Christs Death wee die unto sinne and by the power of his Resurrection wee arise unto newnesse of life and by the power of his Ascension are heavenly minded When wee are come to knowledge wee passe on to trust and confidence by applying to our selves the promises of the Gospell so when wee are come to this trust wee must passe on to experience and triall in our lives by imitating those things in our selves which Christ hath done for us this is that which Saint Paul saith wee all behold as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the spirit of God God sheweth his face open to us in the Gospell wee behold it by Faith wee are changed into the same by speciall trust and confidence that the things there promised belong unto us as remission of sinnes the righteousnesse of Christ freedome from death and the gift of eternall life and wee passe from glory to glory by the experience spoken of when the vertue of the things wee beleeve doth worke in our lives and make us holy as he is holy and wee have both righteousnesse inherent and imputed and for this cause Paul speaking of the same matter to the Philippians doth not count himselfe perfect or to have as yet attained the full end of his calling for though he had begun in the first degree to beleeve and gone forward to the second for application yet had he much to doe in the last as long as it should please God to lend him life But you will say what doth the vertue of Christs Passion Resurrection and Ascension belong to us As the sap of the stock belongs to the graft so wee being grafted into Christ by a lively Faith that vertue of his whereby hee overcame death rose againe and ascended must needs grow up in us to bring forth like fruits and to signify this union he in other places is called the head and the faithfull members of the same body a vine and the faithfull branches of the vine and how this union is made betweene Christ and the faithfull the Sacrament of Christs blessed body and bloud doth not only represent but that it is done also as often as the faithfull doe rightly receive the same it doth testify and therefore there is not bare bread or a signe only but the body and bloud of Christ really yet not grosly as the Papists imagine but after a heavenly manner to the Soule to Faith neither is it necessary for this union and the benefit thereof that it should be locall so as Christs body must enter into ours but when Faith doth embrace Christ crucified for us that the Spirit whose power is not tied to distance of places make the faithfull man partaker of those gifts and graces of his redemption which can be no otherwise derived unto him but from the humane nature of Christ which suffered and as hee is a member of Christ Meditation 11. Of Merit THere is a great question betweene the Papists and us what workes please God best either such as are done to Merit or of duty they say workes done of duty have lesse zeale but belike they separate duty from love wee say workes done to Merit savor more of pride and cannot please God of themselves because they want duty and if wee should joine with them in an issue about zeale it might bee proved that their zeale for the glory of God is not so great which worke to Merit as the others Saint Paul as appeareth in his Epistle to the Philippians wrought not to Merit but of duty and love he which worketh to Merit must remember what is past and examine all his workes from the beginning to the end whether they be worhty that reward which he meanes to challenge but Saint Paul working of duty forgot what was past as though he had done nothing and his mind was only on that which he might be able to do farther as long as God would give him life according to that of our Saviour When yee have done all that you can say you are unprofitable servants as if he should say thinke so meanly of what you have done that you count it your duty to doe much more as long as you live even as much as you can and yet shall you be unprofitable servants both in respect of the grace used and not turned to the best advantage and in respect of the glory to bee received for which you can give no worthy recompence saving that it is the fathers will for my sake to give it to you what he hath promised he will in justice performe Belike Christ when he spake so much of duty meant to take zeale from workes nothing at all but to adde the more love and willingnesse which is the cause of zeale to the base and slavish mind a benefit past is of no force whereas the free and gentle heart is disposed towards a good turne received but because both they and wee agree thus farre that good workes are necessary let us rather busy our selves about doing well then disputing wittily God grant that I may remember I am a Christian if this bind me not to doe good nothing will if I doe unfeignedly what I can God will bee mercifull where I faile and Christ will rather want merits then I shall want reward Meditation 12. Pastorall cure THey which know what belongs to a flock are not ignorant of the care of a Shepheard or the necessities of Sheep neither is it an unworthy consideration for out of Shepheards have been taken Kings and Kings in time
that is great in the world think not then too highly of transitory things nor too basely of thy selfe remember what thou hast received and whereunto God calleth thee and thou shalt have no cause to complaine of thy lot Meditation 18. Suspition I Know not wherefore Suspition is good except on just cause and then it is providence but to make our idle conjectures the arrowes and other men the butts and to hit them which are not in our way because wee have a crooked aime this is for want of charity and from too much love of our selves wee love our selves so well that wee would have all men worse then our selves and so little doe wee love others that wee care not how bad wee make them If Suspition hunt like a yong dogge which knowes not his game it is taken oft with a lye and falls soone into a dead fault but if it worke an experience and triall it gives soone over where it is not good and never holds but where it should Vaine feares and vaine suspitions are much like for feare makes us suspect the helpes which might do us good and Suspition makes us feare friends which meane us no hurt and both betray their followers feare to danger and Suspition to shame the one by refusing her owne strength the other by discovering his owne weaknesse If Suspition come of weaknesse it is the more tolerable but if for want of charity and strengthned with malice it is intolerable and to be hated for it rangeth farre and runneth riot and will bee under no command you shall never satisfy it though you would neither can it satisfy it selfe but by complaints What poyson lieth hid under Suspition may appeare because it breedeth jealousy betweene man and wife for what is jealousy but the Suspition of a stranger In this cause the parties are so disquieted that the joy which they took by each other doth decay their society becomes odious and a cursed parting the bane of holy wedlock followes The suspitions man as he is no good husband so is he a bad neighbour and a worse friend an unruly servant and a crooked master he mistakes more then he takes in good part he will not lend a good turne for feare of losing his labour and and yet hath lost all judgment because he will not lend so much as a good opinion hee heares what men speak when they are silent and seeth them doing something amisse when they are asleepe he doth challenge the fairest proceedings of a foule intent he thinkes all men naught and is the worst himselfe he trusts no man in private and is publiquely noted he hath a window in every mans breast and an eye into every mans window a cleare minde thinkes of others as of himselfe at all times he doth passe over that which may have any good construction many times takes no notice of ill or offence he consults not with tales and opinions but out of discretion and observes both what humane society doth require and how far charity must bear and may win a stranger Meditation 19. Of Gaine A Desire of Gaine if wee have a greater desire of Gods glory and the common good if it be limited within the bounds of nature and honesty if it be our owne and not to gaine by anothers losse is not to be condemned yet are wee scarsly to desire Gaine by our Saviours rule That which wee may lawfully desire we may honestly seeke but Christ will not have us seeke the things belonging to Gaine but to the kingdome of God and to accept the other as it falleth out meaning that our whole purpose of living here should be set on our spirituall life with God to make our advantage that way and that our naturall and civill life should receive their convenient blessings from God without our cark or vexation though not without our employment without gaining our affections though commanding our meanes There is sometimes a fault in the desire when it is greedy and in the Gaine when it is filthy and commonly a greedy deâ—ire doth not refuse filthy Gaine and when they goe both together it is the worse Usury is not only a desire but a greedy desire of filthy Gaine yea unsatiable and cruell a Gaine and a staine to the Soule of him that useth it a Gaine and a paine to the heart of him that payeth it a Gaine and a traine of the Devill by the love of mony to bring men to perdition Yea but much good commeth to the Common-wealth by usury and the like is said of witch-craft men else will not lend as much to say as they will not be Christians but will you bee so bold as to condemne all usury I referre you to your conscience a little rectified deale as you would be dealt withall abuse not thy neighbours want use the honest meanes of some calling depend on Gods blessing and tell mee what course of usury is lawfull many lend not for themselves but for Orphanes A speciall cause and hath speciall rules of conscience many pay use the occasion of borrowing may accuse or excuse the greatest Gaine and the surest profit is God lives for it hath the promises of this life and that which is to come and joyneth piety with prosperity But what are promises worth say some who will stand on them promises are but debts and debts are not willingly paid though promised by forfeit under hand and seale True betweene man and man but betweene God and man not so because his promise is better then any mans performance think not small of the promise of his love But I see no experience I have no feeling of this promise David did when he said I never saw the righteous forsaken David many times beleeved without feeling and so doe thou if thou find it hard pray that thou maist for it is full of reward If thou be godly I permit thee to deale with the earth or naturall ready and ordinary Gaine shee takes no hurt thou much advantage thy diligence maketh her bountifull thou lendest a little and shee payes thee home with great store I know thou wilt as willingly deale with the poore an excellent usury God is the pay-master not according to thy merit but far above of his owne mercy for the interest of unrighteous Mammon behold a crowne of righteousnesse with Christ for him forsake Father Mother Brother Sister House and what not else and receive a hundred fold is not this Gaine enough will not such Gaine content thy desire this or none Two things hast thou oh my soule to avoid about worldly Gaine distrust if it come not security if it doe Doe thy meanes faile thou hast a father carefull of thee above all meanes Art thou not rich to the world it is better 〈…〉 rich towards God of a liâ—… give a little God respecteth according to that a man hath not according to that he hath not and loveth a cheerfull rather then a costly giver thou
conclusions may more specially bee deduced but the life of action lies in circumstances the soule where of is Consideration wherefore contemplation reades mee over a lesson which Consideration doth make mee perfect in by observation experience correction Blessednesse which is the perfection of man hath his beginning from Contemplation but his consummation in us by Consideration for as by that I know God who is the cause of causes so by this I love God who is the last end The soule doth performe some actions without discourse so doth it move the body receive digest bestow the meat for nourishment and in those it so falls out because the end is as present as the meanes namely the life of the body but those actions which tend unto her owne proper end or rather of the whole shee doth not produce without discourse because the meanes are nearer and the end farther of Angels for the perfection of their nature doe all their actions without discourse but as the Angels herein are above men so man by the priviledge of discourse above all other Creatures for as in a Mill the stones know not what thing meale is nor to what end neither the wheeles nor the Water which driveth them about but the Miller only which sets the Mill to worke so none of the Creatures of this world know their owne worth or employment but only man which is Lord over them and hath not only the use of particular objects but of common notions also and beholding causes in their effects and ayming at a farther by the next doth sort convenient means to their proper ends and all ends to the chiefe end What a high art is Consideration which doth effect such wonderfull things out of one good it multiplies many and makes her advantage of evill it takes on her the cure of our weakest and worst parts and addeth both comelinesse and grace to the best where Consideration is all things are done orderly but they which by chance doe a good without it doe lose the commendation of their worke for want of it yea of such force is it that actions not speeding in the end yet set a foot by Consideration retaine still the praise of vertue it hath as it were the true touch of that stone whereby Gold is knowne from other metals for so by it wee discerne betweene that which is honest profitable and pleasing preferring honesty to the rest as Gold to other metals it doth cause profit and pleasure to give place to honesty and out of honesty requites us with true profit and pleasure but if profit and pleasure strive with honesty to have their turnes served first or without it then it sheweth them to be base metall and nothing worth that such profit is but losse such pleasure but sorrow and that indeed there is nothing either profitable or pleasant which agreeth not with honesty As they which behold other mens buildings walke in other mens Parkes solace themselves in other mens Gardens make a use to themselves though the possession belong to another so doe we neither heare any thing spoken or see any thing done neither is there any object proposed unto us whereof by Consideration wee may not make some use unto our selves though the matter belong to others And herein is the busy body faulty which medling with all kind of matters doth desire to be a party in possession where he hath nothing to doe whereas if he had Consideration he might take notice of any mans dealing for his owne use and doe no wrong for he cannot bee accounted a busibody which out of Consideration observeth for his owne use from those things which belong not unto him Excesse of anger or pleasure is the greatest enemy to Consideration and the promoter of all hasty and forward attempts which end in sorrowfull events but the feare of death and other miseries are lessened by Consideration Meditation 30. Subjection BEtter well markt then a whole eare is the husbandmans Proverb for the beast which straies away is the sooner owned and brought home againe with a marke but without it lost better to be under government then to follow a loose and lawlesse life better to be trained up under the discipline of the Church then to range at liberty as an Ethnick It was the better for the prodigall youth that he went out a sonne though he returned a sinner and hee receives more liberty by his comming home then he found abroad his Father knowes him the house receives him the fat Calfe is provided for him and all make merry with him The Church doth exercise authority over them which beare the mark of Christ and if there be cause why it doth correct them according to the quality of their faults sometimes by words chiding them sometimes by deeds suspending them from the Sacraments or excommunicating them from the society of the Church and if the Church perceive that any hath entred through hypocrisy and is now discovered by blaspheming the truth which is a casting off of Christs marke such a one it doth remove by the eternall curse Atha Maranatha and for such a one indeed had it beene better never to have received that mark and for those also which in the end doe fall from the Church contemning the order thereof though not cursed but they which are the true members of the Church take great profit by those censures for though they fall oft times through humane frailty yet the Church doth not cease to acknowledge them for her owne because they beare the marke of Christianity and taking a speciall care of them doth by this discipline bring them againe to repentance and amendment of life they are converted they are received they are confirmed more then before and the Church is glad of them as a woman of the child wherewith shee hath long travailed howbeit with them which are without the Church medleth not therefore runne they on still in sinne to their owne perdition as they which are utterly lost in the waste of this world because they have not the mark of Christ Count it thy greatest good in this life that Christ hath markt thee for his owne by baptisme that thou livest under the discipline of that Church wherof he is the head and therefore suffer thy selfe to be rebuked privately openly and if any greater correction befall thee humble thy selfe repent amend and this priviledge that thou art markt by Christ shall restore thee againe to thy former estate and thou shalt be his more then before only beware of hypocrisy which one day shall be discovered and turne not back like a dogge to his vomit for such have their end worse then their beginning and it is better never to have knowne the way of righteousnesse then afterwards to depart from the holy commandement by a wilfull heart into which extremity they are at last led which use not their most honourable profession with a good conscience The fall of a starre is fearefull
law had figures for the time of grace the law came by Moses so grace and truth is come unto us by Jesus Christ whose Gospell is Preached in all the world what divisions and strife are risen up about it as was foretold how many enemies hath it which with open force resist it how many false brethren which undermine it how many loose libertines which live under the shadow but will not be ruled by the power of it how doth faith waver and charity waxe cold the world sway and the Church suffer heresy prosper and truth pine If all the works of God hitherto have had their just course and time will he faile trow yee in the last act nay some part of this act is begunne already by the comming of Christ into the flesh for after this comming of him it is said He that beleeveth not in the Sonne of God is condemned already but the second comming of Christ shall be a full consummation Is he come in humility to suffer and save and will he not come in glory to put downe all his enemies I will not say oh foolish and slow of heart that were too mild for such mockers but oh hard hearted and desperate wretches who because they will not now beleeve the truth of a finall judgment shall hereafter feele the terror and punishment of eternall condemnation Meditation 36. Afflictions AFflictions are ever profitable to the godly but there are very few of such and it is commonly seene that men after a long and strong disease are much worse then before so that the fire of naughtinesse which for a while lay covered under the embers of their disease having gotten but a little vent breaketh forth the more forcibly and the floud of their corruption stopped for a while by the opposition of their paines having gotten some small passage doth recover his course with the greater violence It is very true that in our troubles wee can call our selves to account and pray to God with many vowes and promises of amendment but no sooner doth he remove his hand then wee start aside from our new resolutions and follow our old by as and how commeth this to passe because wee were brought unto it by constraint wee did complaine and cry but more for feeling of anguish and paine like beasts then any inward remorse or touch of conscience wee were not offended at our sinnes but wee are sorry for the losse of our health and liberty wee humble not our selves before the Lord but it is grievous unto us that his hand is heavy on us wee long not after the health of our soules but wee enquire after all meanes to remove the disease from our bodies therefore as soone as wee have our will satisfied in this respect and seele our strength returne wee get cut as men shut up long in Prison and forget all the good thoughts which came to us in extremity and as it fell out with the children of Israel that because they were neare the good land and might have entred into it by the conduct of God and would not therefore returned they back againe and their carcasses perished in the wildernesse so in this cause because wee were neare to amendment of life and might have beene partakers thereof through the mercy of God and would not therefore fall wee back to our old sinnes and in them wee perish A godly mind may thrive well in trouble but he that is not prepared before hand shall find little comfort in it the sunne which melteth the wax hardneth the clay spices when they are beaten smell the better but there are other things which never smell so ill as when they are most handled these sudden flashes terrify many but they enlighten none but such as live in the inward light Alas what an interest hath sinne in us when wee have once yeelded unto it wee beare not only the guilt of what is past but wee are ever after the more prone to doe the like againe So that there is no purgation so strong no Affliction of such force to cleanse us of it without the speciall gift of his heavenly grace which no sooner said but Lazarus comes forth Therefore are wee to look to our very beginnings and if wee have made any entrance to draw back with speed for sinnes of custome are like an old Gout which knowes no remedy yet despaire not at any time rather resist then give place if the tempter suggest unto thee the greatnesse of thy sinnes let it serve this way to make thee humble thy selfe more and to aske pardon if thou desire heartily to amend and commit thy cause to him which died for thee thy sinne cannot hurt thee for he which giveth the desire will bring it to effect but herein beware of hypocrisy if God point unto thee particularly by any Affliction take it as a medicine from thy heavenly Physitian for thy soules health and let it be more displeasing that thou hast offended God then that the crosse is offensive to thee seek the health of thy soule more then the removing of outward crosses and use all meanes to be such a one in health as thou didst desire to be in sicknesse in all Afflictions look not so much to the rod as to the â—miter who if thou take it patitiently doth correct thee in love if otherwise in anger and indignation Meditation 37. Humane society MAn is by nature sociable and framed thereunto by reason and speech whereunto he doth the more willingly apply himselfe though with some particular disadvantage because of the necessities of life which seeme to require Society for many commodities necessary to life are had in a Society not otherwise to be obtained this hath drawne men from wandring up and downe to certaine places of abode from dennes to houses from Woods to Townes and Cities from barbarous manners to civility and rather to commit themselves to the authority of an orderly government by Lawes for their safety then to languish in an idle and unprofitable loosnesse without the use of one anothers helpe and Society hence have beene erected so many States and Common-weales the glory of all ages But yet this Society how agreeable soever to mans nature doth not fully content it neither doth man find in man that which may satisfy his desire for man being made after the Image of his maker doth take more delight to see himselfe in the patterne of his first beauty then to see his owne face in the face of his brother and though he need not for this purpose the use of his eyes so much yet doth the soule more perfectly discourse and understand when it lifteth it selfe up to God then when it doth converse with man Againe the happinesse which wee are to receive in a humane Society doth proceed from the Society which wee must first seek for with God and from the duty wee owe unto him wee rightly learne how to frame ourselves in all inferiour duties
as necessary there should be a judicious and discreet hearer as a wise and learned speaker for to what end is seed cast into the ground if the soile be not apt to receive it weeds may choak and a barren ground yeelds bad increase So to what end are words committed to those eares which by reason of troubles and other affections can make no use of them It hath beene observed of our time that wee have much Preaching and little knowledge and yet more knowledge then conscience much teaching and little faith and yet more faith then charity the fault perhaps is not in the matter or manner of Preaching but unsufficiency of hearing whereas if wee had every of us as great care to be good hearers as to meet with good Preachers it would be sooner remedied for a well prepared hearer may profit by a teacher of meane gifts and yet Paul himselfe cannot profit a bad hearer Let us not therefore thinke that the whole efficacy of Preaching doth depend on the ability of the Preacher for besides that God hath his ordinary blessing going forth with his word It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdome of Heaven they that come with true hearts provide eares which are more fruitfull then others by a hundred fold and as there is an art of speaking so also is there an art of hearing wherefore take heed how you heare and howsoever let Ministers be instant in season and out of season which if they be dumb or idle they cannot doe Meditation 41. Greatnesse subject to flattery ALl praise the rich man to the skies yet none of these praises are his owne for either it is his Prince which doth grace him or his house which is descended unto him his stately buildings which others have plotted and perfected for him or his goodly furniture which money hath procured or his long traine and attendance which the world lends him or his parkes ponds pastures mannors walkes all which though they be parcell of his riches yet are they no part of the man neither abide they long with him without change but who almost dares praise a good man yet all his praises are meerly his owne and within him and when thou praisest a man for his honesty who can deny but that thou praisest the man for himselfe yet loath wee are to praise a man for honesty without the accesse of authority wealth honour and rather these without the other therefore I say that rich men have about them more flatterers then friends yea in the abundance of all things they want some to tell them the truth When wee heare praises wee should suspect them not to bee ours but some matter of circumstance when wee heare reprehension let us make account of it as our owne for either it is a fault or may be and in this cause it is better with the good then with the rich for the good have many about them which will rather slander then want matter to lay against them they will rather spite them with deeds then smooth them with glosing speches backbite rather then beare with them pick quarrels rather then live at peace with them which crossing course of theirs makes the good better it causeth them all the while to look more warily to themselves but the rich man is taken in the flatterers net like a Larke whiles he playeth with the glasse of vaine glory Meditation 42. Content ABsolute Content to which no degree of perfection can be added is in God only who hath it everlastingly in himselfe of himselfe for himselfe and is not any thing distinct from him but his nature and essence There is a Content qualified according to the state and degree of the creature as in Angels and men who have reason to know and will to desire and meanes to be possessed of their good whence this content doth grow so that this Content is not so in the creature but that he must seek it elsewhere it is not so of him but that he must be beholding to a higher cause it is not so for him that he should rest there but be moved thereby to glorify God it is not so one with him but that there is great ods betweene them Content as it is in man may be said to be true or false the false is but a picture or counterseit of Content without the thing without life proceeding from the enjoying of good which seemes so but is not either because it is abused or is in his owne nature evill and they which have this Content are alwaies miserable because of false opinions which blind reason and unruly affections suggest unto them and therewith so pervert their will that they are not long of one judgment or resolution but like a troubled and running streame in which may be seene no constant image of Content and this notwithstanding is the only Content which most part of men doe finde and therefore at last when they think to be most at ease they grow weary of themselves and all things else shewing well by their labours and paines taking that they did much desire the true Content but tooke not a right course for it The true Content therefore is a calmnesse or quietnesse of the soule resting and setling it selfe on true good and is either begun or increasing as in good men whiles they live or consummate and full as when they goe hence to that other life for men which receive Content receive it not all at one time but by certaine degrees of growth and as is the spring of vertue so of Content Neither have they it so that this clearnesse and calmnesse is alwaies in them alike for as long as they live they shall find alteration but in the other life nothing shall trouble their Content as evill and offences shall be taken away for they shall receive the full measure of every part of their Content and that without mixture of any object which might procure discontent here there is sinne remayning and miseries which follow the condition of sinners but there they that come shall leave sinne and misery behind them here there are but few Sabbaths in respect of the common daies there it is a continuall Sabbath in which freed from all necessities which this life requireth wee shall wholly bestow our selves on our chiefe good and this chiefe good shall be bestowed on us and hence will spring out unto us living and over-running streames of content The content which doth begin and increase with good men while they live may be said to be particular or generall the particular proceedeth from the particular fruition of divers good things as they are successively attained and do every one tend to generall content which is caused from the fruition of happinesse it selfe such as may man obtaine in this life that is when all the causes of content meet and are knit together though in a meaner degree and with imperfection whereas that which wee
call consummate in the life to come is in his highest degree and without this imperfection Content as it proceeds from a comfortable use of particular things is either in respect of things tending to the being of life or to the well being and they which tend to the being of life are of two sorts some without which life cannot be as dirt and apparell others without which it cannot be else so liberally and worthily maintained as riches friends dignities and degrees of life and they which tend to wel being are also of two sorts some which are but meere helpes as arts and sciences some which are the well being it selfe of life as wisedome prudence morall vertues for in all these things as there is a good in respect of the giver and the end for which hee gives them so out of them particularly there doth arise a particular and generally a more generall content and therefore both these may be considered againe as outward or inward content the outward is that which commeth from externall things and yet no false content though they be common both to good men and bad And though I said before that false content is that which proceedeth from things seeming good and are not for they are indifferent and have their name from the use to them that use them well they are good but else not so and as flowers or fruit which otherwise would corrupt are preserved in sugar so those outward things which otherwise might prove to be evill are preserved in goodnesse by the sweetnesse and strength of vertue This then is the difference betweene the content which groweth from inward and outward things that outward things are not content in it selfe but as referred to the inward and inward things are content unto it selfe without the outward There be two things which helpe the good in the use of outward things first they have a right judgement of them to know that they are not simply good or necessary but indifferent and secondly they are indifferently disposed towards them to have them or to be without them when they have them they are content with them as they have them because of the good use which is to be made of them and when they have them not they are contented to have used them well and to be no more busied with them as setting their minds on the better things and without this equability of mind there is no content to be had in outward things the inward content is from the true knowledge of God the feeling of his favour and the testimony of a good conscience that wee heartily desire in all our life to obey him and this workes a wonderfull content when as the heart loving God and desiring him doth feele it selfe beloved againe of God yea loved first and before he himselfe did know how to love God and whence all his love and duty doth grow But here it may perhaps be said that they which serve God have the least content of all men for the world is against them and they against the world and as for these things wherein doth consist their chiefe content if wee shall beleeve them they complaine they want much and have very little as the Prophet David where hee saith As the Hart panteth for the rivers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God What content might that soule have which was so emptied with neede and so stretched out in desire and lived in expectation of the good it had not From that antipathy which is betweene the world and Gods servants doth arise their chiefest content for instead of the world they have God to be their steward and provider and the godly soule which having tasted of the sweetnesse of Gods mercy findeth unspeakeable content therein and thirsteth to drinke more yet without discontent though not without desire and this humility and vehement appetite in the children of God maketh their content the greater Thinke what a wretch thou art and most unworthy of that content thou oft feelest that thy content is choaked by turning thy desires after vanity or sinne which are the poyson of content labour by obedience and patience in the end to attaine full content in the meane space be not out of heart if many times thou have it not for God will try thee by all meanes seeke content in the best things else thou wilt lose it in all Meditation 42. Malice and Pride THe worke of sinne is an imitation of the devill but there are two which practised by men do make them in a short time as cunning as their crafts-master and to turne as right after him as any child can after his father they are Malice and Pride the devils malice is so great towards God though his Lord that there can be nothing more hatefull unto him than to be obedient to his will whose service wee count perfect freedome and doth for this cause what in him lyes that the holy and just lawes of God should be held of no force no authority by breaking them himselfe and causing others so to do and by maintaining lawes of his own repugnant to Gods as Idolatry Magicke and the like and so much doth hee please himselfe in this course that hee counteth himselfe and his followers for this doing better and more noble than other creatures as Angels and men which continue in obedience whom hee esteemes but as base slaves for that as hee saith they consent to live in such a bondage whereas living as hee doth under no command they might at least be Gods themselves in conceit and therefore against all such for the malice hee beares to God and obedience to him hee bendeth all his force and sleights if he cannot winne them hee will weary them and hee boasteth that hee hath more to follow his command than God hath And there is nothing that doth vexe him more and indeed it is his hell that when hee hath most deeply plotted and diligently practised to bring to passe a mischiefe to the dishonour of God or the hurt of his servants hee perceiveth himselfe in the end to come short of his purposes because the goodnesse of God by infinite wisdome power and mercy doth over-reach the depth of his malice using him onely to discover his owne naughtinesse but turning the businesse to his owne glory and the good of his servants and leaving him at last unto his shame as in the fall of Adam affliction of Job and the passion of our Saviour this makes him to eate and teare himselfe that hee should be but an instrument which would be counted a master of the worke and in all these appeareth his malice his pride is so great that though hee know himselfe to be over-ruled by Gods power and cannot go beyond the length of his chaine though hee suffer extreme punishment for his rebellion as separation from the divine presence and horror and though hee knowes God is very mercifull yet disdaines hee to