not to judge presently of the Plague of Leprosie but to shut the person suspected up seven days and then to view him and if the case were not clear to shut him up seven days more and after that seven days more before he was condemned and what is the Gospel of this but to condemn rash censuring of any much more of the godly Hath not my God told me He that answereth a matter before he heareth it it is a folly and shame to him Prov. 18. 13. Lord thou understandeth what an unruly member my tongue is how hard to be kept within the bounds of sobriety towards my self or charity towards others O be pleased to undertake for me and keep thou the door of my lips It is not good to speak evil of those whom I know bad but it s much worse to speak evil of those who may prove good Should I declare others failings upon certain knowledge it sheweth some want of charity but should I publish their faults upon a bare supposition it would argue a want of honesty O let me rather erre on the right hand in my charitable thoughts of those that are bad then on the left in my censorious opinion of those that are good For though he may be evil that speaks good of others upon knowledge yet he can never be good himself that speaks evil of others upon suspicion I Wish that I may be so far from speaking ill of them that are good that I may rather be silent then without a just cause and call speak ill of them that are evil Though the wicked like Dogs fall upon the Sheep of Christ with open mouth and strive to bury their good names in the open Sepulchre of their wide throats yet the Sheep of Christ do rather suffer their rage with patience then render reviling for reviling My God hath commanded me to bless them that curse me and to pray for them that despitefully use me and how contrary am I to his Precept if I pay them in their own coin and open my mouth in backbiting them because they are forward to slander me It is enough for them that have not a God to undertake their cause and revenge their quarrels to do it themselves If I be one of Christs members he reckoneth all the wrongs offered to me as done to himself and he will one day vindicate his own honour and mine to the full when the sinner shall answer for all his treasonable expressions with Hell flames about his ears The tongue that now is blistered with blasphemies against God and his people at that day will be in a light flame and beg in vain with Dives for a little water to cool it I may therefore be quiet in all such cases and commit my cause to him that judgeth righteously He that is robbed may not seek for reparation from the Country if the Felon at the Assizes be Convicted and Executed I need not fear but the Iudge of the whole earth will at the general Assize do justice upon those Thieves that steal away my credit and good name and so in the mean time may well be contented He that is sure of double interest hereafter may with the more comfort forbear his money at present Besides by declaring his faults onely to fill up a void space of time I injure both him and my self whether my report be true or false if my report be false I wrong him by slandering and murdering his name undeservedly and I wrong my self by contracting the guilt of so great a sin If the report be true I walk contrary to Gods comâ—mand speak evil of no man and so deâ—ile my own soul and set him at a further distance from Religion hardening his heart against any future reproof as judging it to proceed from malice and so I do what lyeth in my power to destroy his soul. Besides all this I may injure my hearers and make them accessary to my sin Lord thou hast given me my tongue that it might be a trumpet to sound thine honour and that therewith I might speak good of thy name and not to speak evil of others O let my glory sing of thee and not be silent open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise but let me prefer an unprofitable silence before sinful speaking Help me to take heed to my ways that I offend not with my tongue and to keep my mouth with a bridle that I may not wander from thy Commandments I Wish that I may to the utmost of my power be serviceable to the souls of my fellow-members The members of the natural body are not idle or unprofitable but give and receive nourishment for the increase of the whole body They do not seek themselves or their particular interests apart but the good of the whole and their own profit in relation thereunto Nay the eye watcheth for all the members and helpeth to adorn them and not it self the hands work to maintain and cover the whole remaining themselves naked Why should it not be thus in my Saviours mystical body My God hath given me and others graces and gifts for that purpose and commanded me Occupy till I come and should I suffer them to rust for want of use I should be found at last but an unprofitable servant The several creatures whether superiour or inferiour do all instruct me by their patterns in this lesson of improving my talents and forbid me to bury them in the grave of idleness If I look up to the highest heavens I may see with an eye of faith those Sons of God Angels his diligent Servants and putting forth those abilities which they have received both for the glory of their Creatour and the good of their fellow-creatures Though they are the eldest house and compared with us the first born of the creation yet they do not as the eldest sons of some men plead that priviledge to patronage and cloak sloth and idleness but as they have higher and more noble natures so they are more active and industrious then others as appears both by bearing their parts in the celestial quire and in being ministring spirits for the good of them that are heirs of salvation If I look to the natural Heavens there with an eye of sense I may see the great Candle and Luminary of the World not folding up those rayes and cherishing vertues which he hath received but communicating them freely for the warming and refreshing terrestrial bodies though he gains nothing by it but is many times requited with the darkning his glory by earthly vapours If I look lower I may observe the earth even wasting and wearing out her self to nourish and inrich others She hath received a power of fructifying and giving sap to that which groweth upon her and loe like a tender Nurse how liberally doth she give that milk to all that hang on her breasts though it tend to her own weakening The various inanimate and
prudent questions to the sick concerning the condition of their souls The ignorance of a Physitian may occasion the death of the Patient Some practitioners in Physick who intend much good do much hurt for want of judgement to find out the tempers and distempers of the sick A mistake in soul-cases is of more hazard then in body-sickness If I undertake to humble a person who is already cast down sufficiently and wants a Cordial or to comfort one who is full of presumption already and needs a Corrosive how good soever my meaning may be my acting is evil and instead of releiving I may destroy my Brother The Eastern Churches did not without cause enjoyn the Minister or such as were appointed to visit the sick to continue with them seven days together that in that space they might discover the man before they applied themselves to him either in a way of Admonition or Counsel or Consolation Iobs friends when they came to visit him spake not a word either reproving or advising him till they heard him open his mouth and curse the tongue that told the news of his birth The knowledge of the sick mans spiritual condition is as it were the foundation upon which we must build all our discourse with him and prayers to God for him or at least it is the rule by which we must build and therefore it s very dangerous to mistake in it If the Foundation be laid ill the superstructure will never stand well If the rule be crooked the building cannot be strait A blind Archer may as soon hit the Mark as one ignorant of his Neighbours state advantage his soul. SECT IV. 2. APply thy self to him sutably to his condition As the conditions of men are several so must the Application be that which cures one may kill another One medicine will as soon cure all diseased bodies as one way all sick souls Indeed the Physick to be prescribed every Patient is the same for substance The blood of Christ By his stripes we are healed but there are several ways of tendering this to sinners that they may be prepared for it and give it all acceptation that Physick which is given to one in a Potion is given to another in a powder to a third in an electuary to a fourth in a pill according as it will be most prositable and most acceptable to them It s not easie so to write the bill that the sick may receive what is prescribed to his greatest content and advantage For as many perish errore medici as vi morbi by the error of the Physitian as by the power of the disease Though I judge it next to impossible for me to set down exactly and fully directions answerable to the difference of sick persons condition disposition education calling guilt c. yet I shall speak to the most ordinary cases and be careful not to omit the main work namely that which concerneth the conversion of graceless and Christless persons if on a sick bed God peradventure will give them repentance If the sick person be judged carnal and unregenerate for the Tree is known by its Fruits Besides it s no breach of charity to fear the worst of them whose lives do not speak a positive holiness especially whilst we are endeavouring their good then in general I would advise thee to speak 1. To the depravation of mans nature and the transgressions of life with the sad aggravations thereof How holy man was by creation how universally and desperately vicious he is by his fall from God and what horrid unthankfulness he is guilty of in continuing in sin notwithstanding the grace that is offered to him in the Gospel It s fit to speak to the purity and equity of the Law of God and to the difference and contrariety of his heart and life to it to the sinfulness of sin in its offensiveness and opposition to the nature and word of an infinitely Holy Glorious and Gracious Majesty in its destructiveness to the present peace and future perfection of his own precious and immortal soul and in that the stain of it is so deep and the venome of it so great that nothing beneath the blood of God could wash out its spots or be a sufficient Antidote for its poison Tell him of the folly of sinners in refusing Heaven for Earth Angelical Delights for brutish Pleasures the blessed God for a base lust and of his own madness likewise in running on so eagerly upon his own ruine against the counsels of men the commands threatnings and intreaties of God the convictions of his conscience the calls and invitations of a loving Redeemer and the motions of the holy Spirit 2. Speak to the merit of sin how it being committed against an infinite Majesty deserveth infinite wrath and severity Tell him that the Wages of Sin is death temporal spiritual eternal Acquaint him with the justice holiness and jealousie of God how he will by no means clear the guilty but hath threatned all manner of plagues and judgements on the workers of iniquity and cannot fail in the least of accomplishing his word how he is resolved to make all the Children of Men feel sin to be an evil and bitter thing either in broken bones on earth or broken backs and endless torments in hell Let him know his own obnoxiousness by reason of his many and greivous sins to the curse of the Law the wrath of the Lord and the vengeance of the eternal fire Tell him that he is by nature a Child of Wrath an Enemy to God and an Heir of Hell that it had been just to have cast him out of the Womb into Hell that Gods patience in bearing with him thus long will but increase his condemnation and endless misery unless he prevent it by sincere conversion This is the first thing requisite in order to the recovery of his soul. Till sin be discovered in its hainous nature and bloody colours it will never be lamented nor the Saviour esteemed according to the duty of the Sinner The first thing usually which the Spirit doth in the change of a sinner is to convince him of sin Joh. 16. 8. And this is also first in the Ministers commission Acts 26. 18. The great neglect of this in Ministers and others is one reason that so few Sinners are awakened the needful work of humiliation is so dangerously slighted that poor souls go sleeping and dreaming all is well till they come to be undeceived in Hell 3. Speak to his own inability to help himself that no less then infinite power can recover him out of his miserable condition Men are prone to act like Brutes when they are wounded to undertake the licking themselves whole as if it were an easie thing to renew a carnal creature and heal vitiated nature but alas the work is not so soon done It s another manner of work to open the blind eyes and â—â—liven the dead soul then the secure careless worldling
17. Stones of the same building then which there cannot be a more firm connexion and branches of the same Vine then which there cannot be a more inherent inoculation How Pathetically doth the loving Redeemer exhort his Disciples to love and oneness He giveth them his precept A new Commandement give I unto you that ye love one another not but that it was an old duty but because envy and malice had prevailed so much among the Jews that to love was a new thing Again This is my commandment that ye love one another as if there were nothing else that he required but this or as if this of all the Commandments was that which Jesus loved best He sets before them his own pattern As I have loved you so ought ye to love one another The love of Christ should prevail with Christians to lay down their lives for him and shall it not prevail to lay down their strifes among themselves Further How affectionately doth he pray to his Father to bestow this blessing upon them That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me i. e. Father did we ever fall out was there ever any discord between us why then should they that are thine and mine disagree Ioh. 17. 21,22,23 Mark these three particulars about this prayer 1. The Petitioner that is Christ who was the wisdom of the Father in him dwelt the treasures of wisdom and knowledge He fully understood what request would be most advantagious for his people Besides he was the Head and Husband of his Church naturally caring for her welfare as his own and so his love would prompt him to desire what his wisdom saw most conducing to her happiness 2. The repetition of his petition He begs the same boon of his Father four times in three verses He had the Spirit without measure and so could not be guilty of vain taâ—tologies Surely then that which Christ whose wisdom was unsearchable and whose love to his beyond all compare doth press with so much earnestness and instance must needs be of very great weight and consequence 3. The particular season of this petition for unity or the subject of it He had in the former part of his prayer confined himself within the narrow compass of the Apostles but in the 20. v. having made a perfect transition from them to all believers wordâ— he is importunate with his Father for their union and unity When the dearest Redeemer puts the whole company of believers together both Jews and Gentiles that were at that present or ever should be in the world he pitcheth upon this as the most eminent petition he could put up for them It is not That they all may be enriched or honoured upon earth nay it is not That they all may be adopted sanctified and saved but That they all may be one as we are one as if the whole Kingdom of Grace and Glory did consist in this and as if this once obtained all were done that was needful for them Besides he makes this the visible character of their Christianity that badge which would publish to all they met their relation to Christ By this shall all men know ye are my Disciples if ye love one another this is the livery which will speak to what Master ye belong By this not by casting out Devils but by casting out Discord not by releiving one another occasionally but by loving each other fervently shall all men know ye are my Disciples The differences amongst Christians can never be sufficiently lamented That they who are all near to God should behold one another afar off and they who are all acquainted with Christ should be unacquainted among themselves Iob laments this fault in his three friends These ten times have ye reproached me are ye not ashamed that ye have made your selves strange unto me Job 19.3 That they who are brethren begotten of the same Father born of the same Mother fed at the same Table educated under the same Tutor attended with the same Servants arrayed with the same Garments and heirs of the same Inheritance should be strange to one another is a great a gross shame Many hundred Devils can agree together in one man and yet in some parts not ten Christians can agree together in one house One of the Fathers was so much affected with the divisions of Christians that he profest himself ready to let out his heart blood to cement them together Both the honour of Religion and our own interest do both command us to unite It was no small reflection on Christians that Mahomets great champion should have cause to say I shall sooner see my fingers all of a length then Christians all of a mind T is true till we have all one eye we shall never in all things be of one judgement but must a small difference in opinion cause such a distance in affection Must we make the Devils and enemies of Christ musick by our discords when the foes of God and our own souls are in sight of us shall we be fighting to make them sport and to give them an opportunity to destroy us The wicked of the world warm themselves by that fire of division which the heats of some weak Christians kindle It is observable that the Spirit of God mentioning the contention between the herdsmen of Abrahams cattel and the herdsmen of Lots cattel immediately subjoyns in the same verse And the Canaanite and the Perezite dwelt then in the land Gen. 13.7 Some think to shew the occasion of the difference betwixt them their cattel increasing so much and those Nations dwelling among them they had not sufficient room and therefore wrangled Others think that latter clause is inserted to shew the hainous aggravation of their sin It had been bad enough to have quarrelled where none but Saintâ— had been in company and spectators of their strife but it s much worse to fall out in the midst of their enemies hereby they expose their profession to derision and their persons to destruction Plutarch observes that Dion calmed the boisterous spirits of his mutinous Souldiers by saying Your enemies yonder pointing to the Castle of Syracusa which he then besieged behold your mutinous behaviour And shall neither the eyes of men nor Angels nor of God himself which always observes the strifes and contentions amongst his children prevail with them to put a way envying and variance and emulation and wrath and perswade them to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace The foolish Cranes by fighting beat down one another and so are taken Civil dissentions make
3. Think he did it ignorantly that had he known the consequence he would not have been guilty of such a crime Surely the man thought no hurt he spake on a sudden such words came out of his mouth before he was aware or he would never have spoken them I my self in an heat might have been as harsh When high winds blow storms will follow 4. If thou canst not be perswaded but the injury was wittingly offered then think He was overcome with some great temptation There were extraordinary fumes at that instant flying up into his head which made him talk idly and of which now he may be repenting before the Lord. The strong man was too hard for the weak Christian. Flesh and blood was easily conquered by Principalities Powers I may well forgive him his sin will cost him sorrow enough before his Father smile on him III. The Natural burthen as I may call it though it hath a relation to spiritual but not fully in the former sense of their infirmities Some by reason of bad instruments are but bunglars at their work They have naturally understandings very dull to receive and memories very slow to retain spiritual things They have ill constitutions of body and thereby the worse frames of soul and the more apt to be peevish and fretful Now we exhort you brethren that ye support the weak and be patient towards all men 1 Thes. 5. 14. All the persons in Gods family are not of the same height and strength though some are Old Men and Fathers and others are Young and strong yet some are little Children Babes in Christ some can go alone or with a little help if you hold them but by their leading-strings but others must be carried in arms and will require much love and patience to overcome their childish frowardness Christ winks at their weaknesses who hath most reason to be moved with them though his disciples were raw and dull and slow to believe and understand yet he bears with them Nay though when he was watching for them and in his bloody sweat his whole body being in a goar blood under the weight of their and others sins on his back and they lay sleeping and snoring and could not watch with him one hour he doth not fall fiercely upon them but calmly asketh them Could ye not watch with me one hour and afterwards excuseth it for them First From the natural cause There heads were full at that time ofâ— fumes Their eyes were heavy with sorrow They were full of grief for their dear Master and their sorrow hindring the digestion of their food filled them with vapours which ascending to their brains inclined them to sleep Secondly From the Moral cause they would but they could not The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak there better part would move more swiftly and do any thing at my call and command but their flesh draweth back and makes them drive heavily It s no wonder that their pace is so slow when like the snail they have such an house such an hinderance upon their backs The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Who can think of this infinite grace of the blessed Redeemer in making such an Apologie for them whom he had such cause to be full of fury against and not be incited to imitate so admirable a pattern There is another famous instance in the Old Testament and that is Gods patience towards peevish Ionah by which all may see how much he bears with his froward children First Ionah runs from his business God sends him to Niniveh he will go to Tarshish here was plain rebellion against his Soveraign One would have expected that the jealous God should have given him a Traytors wages and when he was at Sea have suffered the Ocean of waters to have swallowed up his body and the Ocean of fire and wrath his soul but loe he cannot permit his Ionah to perish he will rather whip him to his work then let him wander to his ruine But how gentle is the rod God cannot forget the love of a Father though Ionah forget the duty of a childe but will rather work a miracle and make the devourer his Saviour then Ionah shall miscarry T is true he was tossed with a violent tempest and thrown over-board but God provided him a shelter before the storm and prepared a Whale to swallow him down not for his destruction but his deliverance And the Lord spake to the fish and it vomited up Jonah upon the dry land Well now the childe is brought home you will look that he should make some recompence for his former disobedience by his faithfulness and diligence for the future that the danger he had been in the death he had so narrowly escaped the miracle which had been wrought for him and the extraordinary mercy he had so lately received should have melted him wholly into Gods mould and have made him like Abraham to have come up wholly to Gods foot But alas he addeth sin to sin and neither mercy nor misery prevail with him to know himself Indeed he undertakes the journey and message he was called to upon a second command but as unwillingly as the Bear goeth to the stake After he had pronounced a sentence of death upon the Ninivites and shewed them a warrant under the high Gods hand and seal for their speedy execution how ill doth he take it that upon their humble petition a Reprieve should be granted them he frets inwardly against God and through the exceeding heat of his heart his tongue blisters with casting Gods mercy in his teeth He was wrath for that in which he had cause to rejoyce His love to his brethren might have made him glad of their escape and his love to his God should have quieted him in all his wise and holy proceedings But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry and he prayed unto the Lord O Lord was not this my saying in my Country for I knew that thou art a gracions God c. Therefore O Lord take away my life He quarrels with Gods providence and he doth as it were twit God with that which is the glory of all his Attributes and actions and the best friend the poor children of men have his Grace and Pity desiring rather the destruction of above sixscore thousand persons then that himself by the blind ignorant world should be reckoned a false Prophet Behold impatience in its largest dimensions Ionah will dye because so many thousands are allowed out of infinite kindness to live O what a nest of vermine was in the womb of this disobedience Here is pride both in preferring his own will before Gods and in his unwillingness to suffer a little in his repute in the eye of the people Here was passion to the height and that against God himself Here was murmuring against sparing mercy and the Divine pleasure Here was unbelief as if God could not repair his
mischief they conceive for lack of the Midwifery of fit instruments and opportunities to bring it forth Good men are unable to act all the good they would because they want power and ability for Execution As Paul acknowledgeth that he was better at willing then performing but every man hath liberty to devise and meditate to study and contrive what he willâ— Though a mans hand or actions may be over awed and over-ruled against his own will yet his heart and thoughts cannot As he thinks in his heart saith the wise man so is he Pov. 13. 7. Practiceâ— may be swayed by outward ends but the thoughts are always genuine and natural Violence may cause the former but love carrieth the latter in its own way Hence good men have been signalized for Saints from the holiness of their thoughts They thought upon his name they meditate in his law day and night and they have even appealed to God with comfort upon their confidence of their uprightness from the goodness of their thoughts Try me O God and know my thoughts as being the purest and most unfeigned issues of the soul Mal. 3. 17. Psalm 1. and such as have least danger of infection from forreign aimes It s observable also that wicked men are set forth by this secret mark They devise mischief they imagine wickedness the thoughts and imaginations of his â—eart are evil God is not in all his thoughts because as Adam begat a son after his own likeness so doth the heart of every man beget thoughts according to its own likeness whether it be spiritual or carnal The Bowl runs as the Bias inclines it The Ship moves as the Râ—dder steereth it and the mind thinketh according to the predominancy of vice or vertue in it The more the fire of grace burns clear in the soul the more of these sparks will ascend towards Heaven The more earthly a soul is the more his thoughts will tend downward the more he will mind earthly things Philip. 3. 17 18. Naturalists tell us of the Gnomon commonly called the Mariners needle that it always will turn to the Northâ—star though it be closed and shut up in a Coffer of Wood or Gold yet it loseth not its nature So the true Christian is always looking to the star of Iacob whether he be shut up in a Prison or shut himself up in his Closet he is ever longing after Jesus Christ. A true lover delights most to visit his friend alone when he can enjoy privacy with him Our blessed Saviour doth not without cause call the Pharisees Hypocrites though they faâ—ted and prayed and gave much almes because they performed those duties chiefly if not onely in company and to be seen of men The applause of others was the weight that set their clocks a going when that was taken off as when they were alone they stood still Therefore Christ adviseth his Apostles to take another course if they would evidence the truth of their Christianity Enter into thy closet shut thy door and pray to thy father in secret One fervent prayer in secret will speak more for our sincerity then many in publique Mat. 6. â—â—it When a Prince passeth by in the streets then all even strangers will flock about him and look upon him but his Wife and Children think not this enough but follow him home and are not satisfied unless they can enjoy him there A false Christian and one that is a stranger to God if he have but a superficial view of him in his Courts is pleased but the true believer and one that is nigh to him in Christ must have retired converses with him in his Closet or he is not contented SECT III. I Come now to shew how a Christian should exercise himself to godliness in Solitude 1. If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness when thou art alone guard thy heart against vain thoughts This is the first work to be done without which all that I have to commend to thee will be in vain It s to no purpose to expect that a glass should be filled with costly wine when it s filled already with puddle water When the house before-hand was taken up by strangers there was not room for Christ himself in the Inne If such flies be suffered and allowed in our hearts they will spoil our best pots of Oyntment Some persons though poor when they are solitary delight in the fancies and imaginations of great preferments and pleasures and riches as if they were real whereas they are the meer Chimera's and Fictions of their own brains and have no existence but in their thoughts No wonder our Saviour saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Out of the heart of man proceedeth madness Mark 7.21,22 Such thoughts are distracted thoughts and sutable to those that are out of their wits who please themselves in thinking that their filthy holes in Bedlam are stately Palaces that their nasty rags are royal robes that their iron fetters are chaines of gold and the feathers stuck in their caps are imperial Crowns As the Spanish Page in an high distemper of fancy imagined himself to be some great Emperour and was maintained in that humour by his Lord so some foolish men build these Castles in the air and then allow themselves a lodging in them Others please themselves in the thoughts of sinful sports or cheats or unclean acts and sit brooding on such Cockatrice eggs with great delight It is their meat and drink to roul those sugard-plums under their tongues Though they cannot act sin outwardly for want of strength of body or a fit opportunity yet they act sin inwardly with great love and complacency As Players in a Comedy they act their parts in private in order to a more exact performance of them in publique Others entertain themselves with needless and useless thoughts such as tend neither to the informing the mind nor reforming the heart or life Like vagrants a man meets with these in every place but can neither tell whence they come nor whither they go they have neither a good cause nor do they produce any good effect Such thoughts might be in a Davids heart but they were the object of his hate Psa. 119. 103. I hate vain thoughts The best Christians heart here is like Solomons ships which brought home not onely Gold and Silver but also Apes and Peacoks it hath not onely spiritual and heavenly but also vain and foolish thoughts But these latter are there as a disease or poison in the body the object of his grief and abhorrency not of his love and complacency Though we cannot keep vain thoughts from knocking at the door of our hearts nor from entering in sometimes yet we may forbear bidding them welcome or giving them entertainment How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee Jerem. 4. 14. It s bad to let them sit down with us though but for an hour but its worse to let them lye or lodge with us It s
they die and all else are weary of them may well cry out by way of admiration O Lord the earth is full of thy goodness The earth is full of thy glory What rich mines may I dig out of the bowels of the earth when my God is angry the earth shakes and trembleth and the foundations thereof are moved and shall not my flesh tremble for fear of the God of the whole earth and my soul be afraid of his righteous judgements His hand hath laid the foundation of the earth and his right hand hath spanned the Heavens â— when he calls they stand up together and shall not I hear his call and obey his command Lord if the earth be thine and the fulness thereof the world and all that dwell therein Whos 's then am I Surely thine O help me to disown all title to my self to quit all my interest in my self and to live as one that is not his own but the Lords the earth is full of thy riches let my heart be full of thy righteousness and that will turn earth to me into heaven whilst I am full of thy likeness and thy love If we consider the Ocean that amazeth a beholder with its fierce countenance and seems to have neither banks nor bottom how it threatens the earth with its boysterous billows as if it intended to swallow it up in a moment and yet when it hath swoln it self to the height of its pride and its insulting waves have shewed their teeth how soon it retreats like a coward as if it were afraid of the smallest worm and had already outgone its bounds and commission what innumerable Fish both small and great take up their chambers in the waters and finde their food in the jaws of that devourer what multitudes of massy Vessels she fetcheth off from one Island and carrieth upon her back as a Porter his burthen and sets them down safe at another how she playeth with them what frights she puts them in by the way as men do little children tossing them up to heaven and then throwing them down again as if her belly should be the certain place of their burial and after all her frowns and fury refresheth them with her smiles and favour and doth but prepare them thereby to salute their harbour with the greater joy and gladness how she sendeth out of her store-house provision for the several families of the world furnishing the several pipes and aquaeducts of the earth with fresh springs and streams for the comfort of Man and Beasts If we but confider these things what cause shall we have to say with the Psalmist They that go down into Ships see his wonders in the deep and with those Mariners What manner of man is this whom the Winds and the Seas obey What manner of God is this who gathereth the waters of the Sea together and layeth up the Floods in store-houses who shutteth in the Ocean with bars and doors and saith Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed who puts a bridle in the jaws of such a monster and when she threatens nothing but death and destruction puls her in and makes her retreat to her own den without doing the least hurt O what a God is this whom the rugged blustring winds and raging boistrous seas obey What excellent conclusions may a Christian gather from such premises Do the Winds and Seas obey God as stubborn and surly as they are and shall not I obey him Are they kept within their banks and shall not I be kept within my bounds Lord thou stillest the noise of the Seas the noise of the Waters and the tumults of the people O why dost thou not quiet the headstrong passions in my breast Thou observest how they roar and make a noise continually what frightful stormes they raise within me If thou wouldst but say to them in their height and heat Peace be still there would presently ensue a calm O suffer not these high winds to overturn me nor these swelling waters to overwhelm me I am even ready to sink save me Master or I perish Thus a Christian may consider the works of God either collectively or severally both in their insides and outsides to his marvellous advantage As the Rabbies say of the Word I may say of the Works of God Turn it over and over and over again for all is in it Turn them over and over and over again for all is in them There is wisdom in them in their variety diversity of natures subordination and serviceableness each to other O Lord how marvellous are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all There is Power in bringing with a breath the whole Creation out of the barren womb of nothing He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast There is Mercy in providing so bountifully for every of his creatures The whole earth is full of thy goodness There is Faithfulness in upholding all things in their being Thy faithfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abideth yea mercy and truth meet together Thy mercy O Lord is in the heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds Every of Gods works is so profitable that as the Aromatick fruit not onely the kernel is a Nutmg but the skin of it is Mace As in a fair suit of Arras though the hangings never appear to their full advantage but when they are opened in all their dimensions and seen together yet a small shread may assure you of the excellency of the colours and richness of the stuff So though the Divine Perfections would appear most in their beauty and glory if we were able at one view to behold the whole world in its several eminencies and beauties yet a little part of it may speak the worth and richness of the whole It was an honest speech of a Monk who being asked how he could endure that life without the pleasure of books answered The nature of the creatures is my library wherein when I please I can muse upon Gods deep Oracles The Egyptians were instructed by Characters and Hieroglyphicks by something presented to the eye notions were represented to the understanding Reader it is thy priviledge that thou mayst perform this duty in any place No sight no sound but may afford matter for meditation If thou walkest in thy garden thou mayst turn it into an Eden by delightful meditations Dost thou behold the flowers standing in their ranks what a goodly shew they make thou mayst think what a lovely â—ight it is to see Christians contînuing in those several places and stations in which God hath set them Some flowers open and shut with the sun so doth the Christian observe the shining and withdrawing of the Sun of righteousness Some flowers dye having a worm gnawing their root so will all hypocrites wither and come to nothing notwithstanding their gaudy shew Flowers are tender things and must
cometh such pride and carnal confidence in prosperity but because men beleive not the meanness and vanity and emptiness of riches and that divine mercy not the merits of men are the original of them There is no sin so monstrous but unbeleif will venture upon it He that beleiveth not will never be allured by divine promises nor affrighted at divine threatnings nor obey divine precepts nor submit to divine providences As Cicero said of Parricide I may say of Unbeleif It s a teeâ—ing vice a well of wickedness many sins are bound up in it No wonder the Apostle gives such a serious warning and so strict a charge against Infidelity as the mother and nurse of all Apostacy Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbeleif whereby ye depart away from the living God Heb. 3. 12. The superstitious Pagans thought that their Idol Vibilia kept them from erring out of their way The religious Christian knoweth by experience that his faith keeps him within the limits of his duty Faith ingrafts the soul into Christ and into the fellowship of his death by which the old man is crucified and the body of sin destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin Rom. 6. 5,6,7,8 For therefore did Christ bear ouâ— sins in his body on the tree that we might become dead to sin 1 Pet. 1. 24. Faith enableth the soul to conquer sin by enabling it to overcome the three grand provocations to sin The World the Flesh and the Wicked one There is neither of these enemies but Faith hath wounded mortally 1. Faith enableth to overcome the World the World indeed hath conquered millions the greatest Souldiers have been slain by it Alexander could subdue the Nations in it but could not subdue his Affections to it As great a conqueror as he was over it he was its slave and vassal for his ambition was still larger then his Dominions But faith cloathing the Christian with the Sun helps him to trample this Moon under his feet This is your victory over the world even your Faith 1 Joh. 6.4 The World hath two faces the oneâ— ugly and deformed toâ—affright the Saint the other comely and painted to allure him to sin but Faith seeth how pittiful onely touching the body her threatnings are and how poor onely skin-deep her promises are and makes the soul to disdain both It was by Faith that Luther could say Contemptus a me Romanus favor furor I scorn both Romes favour and Romes fury The worlds Furnace and Musickâ— are much alike to a Beleiver he is blind and deaf nay dead to both The special object of Faith is the Cross of Christ whereby saith the Apostle I am crucified to the world and the world to me Tickle a dead man or lance him it s all one he is sensible of neither As Fabricius the Noble Roman told Pyrrhus who one day tempted him with Gold and the next day sought to terrifie him with Elephants I was not yesterday moved with your money nor to day with your beasts So Basil when first offered preferment and afterward threatened with imprisonment if he would not deny Christ and turn Arrian to this purpose answered the Messenger Such babies of preferment are fit to catch Children with and such bug-bears of bonds and imprisonment may fright your tender Gallants and Courtiers Faith enableth the Christian to mount up to heaven and thereby secures him from the baits and shots the snares and lime-twigs which attend him on earth Homer saith Vlisses caused himself to be bound to the Mast of the Ship and every one of his fellows ears to be stopped with Wax that they might not hearken to the Songs of the Syrens and so be drowned in the Sea Faith fastens the soul to Christ and so ravisheth iâ—s ears with the glad tidings of pardon and peace and eternal life that it is deaf to the worlds musick 1. Faith enableth the soul to overcome the affrightments of the world Faith like blown bladders keepeth the soul from sinking in deep waters It s a Target under which a soul is free from the hurt though not from the smart of evil It s the Ark wherein he rides triumphing when the windows from above are opened and poure down and the floods from beneath are broken up In this strong Tower the soul finds shelter Faith like Ioseph layeth up in a time of plenty against a time of scarcity in a day of prosperityâ— against a day of adversity and so feareth it the less Faith sheweth the Christian a place of refuge in the time of trouble He shall hide thee saith Faith in the secret of his presence i. e. cover thee with the warm wings of his providence he shall keep thee secret in his Pavilion An allusion to Princes retiring rooms which are sacred and secure places for their Favourites Nature teacheth all creatures to run in distress to that which they count their defence The Conies run to the Rocks the Goats to the Hills the Ravenous Beasts to their Deâ—s the Child to his Mothers Armes This grace discovereth to the soul a Rock a Refuge a Fort a Fortress an High Tower which makes him fearless of the worlds threatnings and bugbears The lame and the blind those most shiftless creatures when they had got the strong hold of Sion over their heads scorned the Host of David 2 Sam. 5. 6 7. The Egyptians that dwell in the fens are much troubled with Gnats therefore they sleep in High Towers whither those Insects cannot flye The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous run unto it and are safe Prov. 15. Such a soul is like a strong Tree which no wind can shake or like Mount Sion which cannot be moved Therefore he can sing when unbeleivers quake and tremble Though the Earth be troubled though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea though the Waters roar and the Mountains shake yet we will not fear The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge Psa. 46. 56. and 91. 2 3. Faith is like the Cork in the Net when the Lead wound sink the Net the Cork keeps it above water This Faith is the Anchor of the soul both sure and stedfact entering into that within the vail and so stayeth the Saint against all the winds and waves of affliction Faith or beleif of the resurrection and that happiness which then should be enjoyed was that which enabled Paul to dye daily and to fight with Beasts at Ephesus 1 Cor. 15. 30. In the greatest distress Faith can see deliverance and when it is at the greatest distance salute it as Abraham did Christs day afar off When the weather is cloudy it can see the Heaven begin to clear and notwithstanding his present pain and poverty cause the Christian to rejoyce in his hope of bliss and glory The eye of Faith looking to the recompence of reward seeth afflictions with the Israel of
concern thee to watch Consider 1. His Power Your adversary the Devil It is not a weak man but a mighty Devil Thou art not called to wrestle with flesh and blood but Principalities and powers Is man a match for a Devil or a stripling nodding fit to enter the Lists with Goliah What is a Pigmie to a Giant or a a dying creature to the Prince of the powers of the air Had David been asleep when the Lion out of the wood came against him the Lion had sooner tore him by the throat then he had taken the Lion by the beard The cobweb may as soon withstand the broom in the maids hand and the dust oppose the force of a violent wind as a nodding secure Christian the temptations of Satan 2. His Policy Seeking whom he may devour Had our enemy strength without craft there were not so much danger nor cause of vigilancy but when he hath seven heads as well as ten horns and exceeds us in subtilty as much as in power it concerneth us to be watchful He that playeth with a cunning Fencer will heed his wards the more Reader the Devil hath a shrewd guess what Dalilah is most likely to entice thee and deprive thee of thy spiritual strength and if amongst all the uncircumcised there be any that will fit thee thou shalt not want her He hath not walked too and fro in the earth so long for nothing but he knoweth what weeds will take best and thrive most in the soil of thy heart be confident he will help thee both to the seeds and plants of them The subtle serpent that could wind himself into Paradise knoweth surely how to wind himself into thee If he were too crafty for man when he was perfect much more is he for man polluted And can such a strong politick foe be resisted when thou art lazing upon thy bed of security 3. His Industry Your adversary the Devil goeth about He is a diligent servant never from your elbow As Ioseph's Mistris when denied still sollicited and Sampsons Harlot pressed him with continual importunity night and day that his very soul was vexed unto death So the Devil serveth men he will never forsake them but follow them with his darts and assaults till they are safe in heaven from hiâ— or safe in hell with him He is called the Prince of the powers of the air and his Angels spiritual Wickednesses in high places the air is the seat of his Empire and truly as ravenous foul hover up and doâ—n in the air to catch and kill little chickens and though they be frighted away by any one yet they lye near at the catch and the person is no sooner gone but they are descending to destroy them So those infernal spirits are hovering up and down walking too and fro to defile and destroy souls and though they are resisted and foiled yet they impudently continue their former endeavours to undo us Now hath he any time for sleep that is every moment in such danger 4. His Cruelty As a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour The Lions of the Forrest have no pitty Lest he tear my soul like a Lion renting it in peices Psal. 7.2 The Lions brake the bones of Daniels accusers before they came to the bottom of the Den But the Lions of hell have much less pity his tender mercies are cruelties indeed it is not the loss of thy life but of thy soul and thy God and thy Christ and that for ever which he looks after The racking of thy body and renting thy bones is nothing to the flames and whips and torments which he makes men suffer and that not for a day or week or year or age but to all eternity Reader is there not infinite reason for watchfulness Had not the Apostle ground enough for his precept Be sober be vigilant when our adversary is so strong a Devil so sedulous going about so cruel as a roaring Lion and so crafty seeking by all means whom he may devour Yet alas this is not all Go where we will we see abundant cause to look well to our feet Every place we come into is a net to ensnare us we cannot look out of our eyes but we see a baited hook nor open our ears but we hear the Syrens songs we cannot put forth our hands but we touch pitch nor set our feet but in the midst of nets every part of the body is a Iudas a Traytor to the soul. Our crosses and afflictions if we be secure will be to us as the Goal to a prisoner filling us with Vermine Our greatest earthly comforts if we be not watchful prove but like traps set for vermine pleasant and killing When the world sings most sweetly in our ears she doth but like Orpheus with his pipe endeavour to lead us by the ears into unquenchable flames Theives with provender in their hands catch horses to steal them The world allures our hearts by its pleasures and profits and steals them from God Our own hearts are Iacobs Supplanters of us deceitful and desperately wicked As the water-foul in Friezland will decoy other wilde foul in a net and then give a watchword to their Master to seise on them so officious will our own hearts be to the Devil And shall we not watch and pray that we enter not into temptation Sleep is the great Leveller which makes all equal The strongest Sampson is as liable in his sleep to be slain as the smallest infant When a deep sleep from the Lord had seised on Saul and his Souldiers how easily might David if he had pleased have killed them He took away Sauls Spear and Cruse of Water to assure him that he could have taken away his life Ah! how soon may the Devil or World or Flesh defile deceive and destroy a sleeping soul Bees that have many enemies Mice Spiders Drones Hornets Birds and Beasts never dare say Naturalists to give themselves to security but night and day have their Scouts and Centinels and Corp-du-guard to keep watch and ward lest some of their many enemies should on a sudden surprise them The Christian may learn this duty from such creatures Spiders weave their Cobwebs near the Flowers where the Bees use to gather and also just over the passage out of their Hives that so at their going out but especially at their comming in laden and weary they may catch them and make a prey of them David saith In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me So mayst thou Reader say In the way wherein I daily walk doth Satan privily lay Baits to catch me at my Table in my Closet in my Shop in my Bed in the Streets in all places where I go he hath laid snares for my soul. If there be a snare and such danger in all things then let me advise thee if thou woulst avoid them in the words of Paul to Timothy Watch thou in all things 2 Timoth. 4. 5.
so often to remember his latter end because the meditation of it is so gainful to him The first day man was made he was called to think of his last day God minded him of death in the Tree of Knowledge and the threatning annexed to the Prohibition that he might thereby keep him from sin Satan could not prevail with Eve to taste of that killing fruit till he had prevailed with her to distrust that threatning of death ye shall not surely dye Gen. 3. 4. After the fall God reneweth this meditation by turning the conditional into an absolute commination Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return and though the Holy Ghost omitteth many particulars about Gods carriage with the long-lived Patriarchs and their holy conversation before him yet he is exact in registring their deaths And he died and he died of every one Gen. 5. to quicken us to fear God because we are but dying frail men There is hardly any thing about which we deal but God gives us by it a Memento of Death Our Cloaths are all fetcht out of Deaths wardrobe our food out of deaths shambles The Sun is an emblem of lifes posting the night of the chambers of darkness the year hath its autumn the day its night Our candles should mind us of the wasting of our days the evening of the shadow of death our undressing of our putting off our earthly tabernacles and our lying down in our beds of our lying down in our graves If thou wouldst make Religion thy business and main work think often and seriously of thy death and departure of this world He that guides and steers the ship aright sits in the stern or hinderâ— most part of it He that would order his works his way according to God must be frequent in the meditation of his end The end of his days must be at the end of all his thoughts Zeno Cittiaeus consulted with the Oracle how he might live well and received this answer If he would be of the same colour with the dead Reader if thou wouldst live much and well get thy heart as much affected with godliness in health as it will be in sickness Have the same thoughts of it the same seriousness about it the very same carriage towards it whilst the world salutes thee with its smiling face and bewitching features which thou wilt wish thou hadst had when thou shalt come to take thy leave of it and lye upon thy dying bed Be of the same colour with the dead O what thoughts have the dead of godliness and of making it ones business The dead in Christ and the dead out of Christ have both other manner of thoughts of Religion and making it ones occupation then thou canst possibly imagine Those who while they live delay repentance and dally about Religion minding it as if they minded it not who neither in their dealings with men nor duties towards God nor in their relations nor vocations make it their business but mispend their precious time misimploy their weighty talents neglect God and their eternal welfares as if they had not been made to mind either when they come to dye and perceive in good earnest that that surly Serjeant Death will not be denyed but away they must go into the other world and fare well or ill for ever according as their hearts and lives have been godly or ungodly good or bad here good Lord what thoughts have they then of godliness How hearty are their wishes that they had made it their business What Worlds would they give that Religion had been their principal work What prayers and tears do they poure out for a few days to mind it in What sighs and sobs and groans that they have neglected it so long What purposes do they take up what promises do they make if God spare them to follow hard after holiness and make it their onely business A Philosopher asking Euchrites which of the two he had rather be Craesus one of the richest and most vicious in the world or Socrates one of the poorest and most vertuous Eucrites answered Craesus vivens Socrates moriens Craesus while he lived and Socrates when he dyed The Cuckoe when wearing away changeth her noat The worst men when they come to dye alter and change exceedingly It is worthy our observation that those who are greatest strangers to death are most familiar with the works of darkness No place abounds more in Wolves no person in wickedness then where this Mastiff is wanting Jerusalem hath greivously sinned her filthiness is in her skirts she remembreth not her last end therefore she came down wonderfully 1 Lamen 8. 9. Jerusalem hath greivously sinned hath sinned sin Heb. Hath committed a great or greivous sin so the Chaldee Behold here the colour of her sin is was not of an ordinary dye but of a black a bloody an heinous nature Her filthiness is in her skirts Lo here her carriage after her sinning she made of it an open shew so far was she from shame It is a term taken from prostituted Strumpets or monstrous women saith Diodat The outward looks of the former bewray her inward lusts and the marks of the latters defilement are visible on her garment thus the shew of Ierusalems countenance did publiquely evidence her crime She did as clearly by her skirts proclaim her filth as if it had been written on her face and engraven on her forehead Here was impiety in her practice Ierusalem hath greivously sinned and impudency to purpose Her filthiness is in her skirts But what dust was that which bred such vermine what polluted seed was that which begat such a poisonous serpent Reader if thou wouldst know the Mother which brought forth and bred up this ugly Monster She remembreth not her last end therefore she came down mightily It was her forgetfulness of death which nourished and cherished her wicked deeds They who mind not their reckoning care not how much they riot and revel They who put far away the evil day cause the seat of violence to come near Amos 6. 3. The further we drive death from our thoughts the nearer we draw to sin They who fancy their foe to be very far off will not prepare and make ready to fight Men that are young do not consider that the old Ass often carrieth the skin of the young to the Market that death comes like a Thunderbolt and Lightning and blasteth the green corn and consumeth the strongest buildings if they did they would flee youthful lusts He who seeth death at his door will be most diligent about his duty A serious consideration of the death of the body will be a soveraign though a sharp medicine to kill the body of death The Naturalists tell us that the ashes of a Viper applied to the part which is stung draweth the venome out of it They who look on themselves as Pilgrims and strangers will abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the
Giant of sin get in but a limb he will quickly get in his whole body Wanton thoughts if not stifled bring forth actual uncleanness Sin is like water if we give it the least way run it will in spight of us If we get not the conquest over it in its infancy we shall not overcome it when it is brought to maturity He that cannot put out a spark will be much more unable to put out a flame The smallest of these twigs will prove thorny bushes if not timely stubbed up The Horse must be broken when a Colt and the Lion tamed when a Whelp It s best to deal with sin as Iocasta with Oedipus to cast it forth in its infancy The Israelite must dash these Babylonian Infants against the wall if he would be a blessed man Isa. 13.18 The Christian that checketh and curbeth sin when it first appeareth doth as David to the Philistine wound it in the forehead and so slayeth it certainly As the Snail by little and little creepeth up from the root of the tree to the top consuming the leaves as it goeth and leaving nothing behind it but filth and slime So sin gradually infecteth the whole man This poison if not presently vomited up as soon as taken down flieth to and destroyeth the vitals The Apostle calleth it a Canker and truly so it is in regard of its spreading nature both as to persons from one man to another and to parts from one faculty of the soul and member of the body to another How dreadful was the effect of a few boys joyning with Massianello in Naples anno 1647. whom the officers and people laughed and jeered at instead of subduing What murders and burning Palaces and Churches did ensue and arise from so contemptible means Therefore as wise Princes will be heedful to suppress riots and petty insurrections knowing that if they be let alone they will break out into open rebellion and cause much bloodshed and mischeif So Reader do thou stifle and kill sin in the womb before it be quick lest thou like the young Serpents if brought forth it tear out thy bowels and its birth cause thy death Twefthly If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness study the knowledge of God T is ignorance of God that is the original of all sin Did men know the sad fruits of his fury they durst not by sin provoke him Did men know the sweetness of his favour they would do they would suffer any thing to please him It is in the mist of ignorance that they lose their way and wander from him who is the chiefest good The Devil is bound in chains of darkness and so are all his Children They who know God most love him most and fear him most and trust him most It is life spiâ—â—tual and the seed of life eternal to know thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Joh. 17. 3. All godliness all grace is seminally in the knowledge of God and floweth from it They who with open face behold the Lord though but as in a glass are changed into his image from glory to glory from one degree of grace to another â— Cor. 3. 18. They who know the infiniteness and immensity of his being cannot but despise all things for him esteem all things as nothing to him as nothing without him look on the whole creation as less then nothing in comparison of him Ah what admiring reverent thoughts of that being of beings of him whose name is I am have they who lanch a little for 't is but a little that they can here into this Ocean All Nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less then nothing and vanity they cannoâ— but desire and labour to enjoy so boundless a portion They who know the power of God cannot but fear him and stand in awe of his presence and threatnings They fear him who is able to cast soul and body into hell Heb. 12. 27 28. They will depend on him because there is no want which the Almighty cannot supply no weakness which he cannot remove no danger which he cannot prevent or support in Acquaintance with him who is mighty in strength makes the Christian resolute in Gods cause and as bold as a Lion at his call and command They who know the eternity of God will chuse him before temporal vanities What are the pleasures of sin for a season in his eye who seeth the pleasures at Gods right hand for evermore What are the honours on earth to him who knoweth the eternal weight of glory What are temporal relations in comparison of the everlasting Father Nay what is his natural life to eternal life no good is little that is eternal how great then is the infinite and eternal God They who know the wisdom of God will submit to his Providences and acquiesce in all his dispensations He is wise in heart his understanding is infinite and he knoweth what is best for thee and me and all others and therefore there is all the reason of the world why I should rest in his will and be satisfied in his pleasure It is the Lord saith the soul in his greatest afflictions who is infinite in wisdom and knoweth what will do me most good Let him do what seemeth good in his eyes They who know the faithfulness of God will credit his word and make him the object of their Hope and Faith They that know thy name will trust in thee Psa. 9. 10. His truth commandeth our trust We will rely on faithful men who will not lye but the Christian seeth infinitely more reason to rely on the faithful God who cannot lye They who know the mercy and love and goodness of God will love and admire and trust and praise him The knowledge of his love to us will call out our love to him as one that deserves it being infinitely amiable in himself and the more deserving of our love for his love to such loathsom ones as we are It will cause us to rely on him for infinite love joyned with infinite strength and faithfulness will not cannot deceive us It will help us to see the odious nature of sin in that it is an abuse of infinite love The goodness of God will lead the soul to repentance They who know the holiness of God will sanctifie him in their approaches to him and walk humbly and watchfully with him They know that sin is loathsom to him because contrary to his holy nature and therefore they hate it they know that holiness is lovely as it is his Image and Excellency and therefore they follow after it They are upright and serious and zealous and humble and reverent in their holy performances because therein they have to do with such a holy God They who know the anger of God will stand in awe and not sin They know that God is not to be mocked for it is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God for our God is a consuming fire They know his fury is terrible intolerable none can abide it no sinner can avoid it therefore they hate sin the object of it and flie to Christ who delivereth from it O what a work a gracious sanctifying work doth the knowledge of God make in the soul It makes the understanding to esteem him above all the will to chose him before all the affections to desire him to delight in him more then all the whole man to seek him to serve him to honour and praise him beyond all in Heaven and earth What is the reason that God is so much loved admired and worshipped and glorified in his Church when all the World besides despise him but this In Judah is God known his name is great in Israel Psa. 76. 1. O Reader be confident of this the more thou knowest of the excellencies of God the more thou wilt prize his Son submit to his spirit crucifie the flesh contemn the world fear to offend him study to please him the more holy thou wilt be in all manner of conversation Hence the main work of Christs prophetical office was to reveal God to the world And the Devils great work is to keep men from this knowledge of God knowing that it will tend so exceedingly to their sanctification and holiness and to the overthrow of his interest The Miller mufleth and blindeth his Horse that draweth his Mill and thereby keeps him at his round deceiving him in making him to think he goeth forward The first work of the Philistines was to put out Sampsons eyes and then they made him grind at their Mill and make them sport The Eagle saith Pliny Nat. Hist. lib. 10. cap. 20. before he setteth upon the Hart rolleth himself in the Sand and then flyeth at the Staggs head and by fluttering his wings so dustieth his eyes that he can see nothing and then striketh him with his Talons where he listeth Satan darkneth mens understandings and thereby commandeth their wills and affections and destroyeth the whole man If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that perish whom the God of this world hath blinded their minds lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4. 4 5. When men are spoken in Scripture to be vicious and prophane they are onely said not to know the Lord and there is no knowledge of God in the land Ier 4 22. Hos. 4â— 1. and when God undertakes in his Covenant of Grace to sanctifie and make men holy he is said to put his knowledge in their hearts and his promise is They shall all know me from the least to the greatest Heb. 10. Ier. 31.34 And they that would grow in grace are commanded in order thereunto to grow in knowledge 2 Pet. 3. 18. Ignorance is the mother of all irreligion of all atheism Ephes. 4. 18. They are alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts As Owles sinners may see in the night of this world have some knowledge in worldly affairs but they cannot see in the day are ignorant of spiritual of heavenly things Sin like the pestilence David speaks of walketh in the dark Psa. 91.5 And Satan is the enemy that soweth his tares by night This is one cause why sin is called a work of darkness It is from that darkness which is in mens understandings that they turn their backs upon God and run upon their own eternal ruines It were impossible for the rational creature to be so desperately mad as to play with the wrath of God and slight the love of God to neglect his mercy and despise his justice if they did but know God When Princes go incognitâ—s in a disguise and aâ—e unknown then they are disesteemed Hence they who are obstinately prophane and resolved on wickedness say unto God Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways Job 21. 14. The hooded Hawk that seeth not the Partridge will never flye after it The Israelites pitched in Mithkah which signifieth sweetness before they removed to Cashmonah which signifieth swiftness They onely who know the sweetness of God will flye to him with swiftness Ignoti nulla cupido He who knoweth the Allsufficiency of God will never turn to the Creature even as the Bee if it did not find honey enough in one flower would never hasten to another Those that are ignorant of God abound in all manner of Atheism and wickedness The Families which know not God will not call on his name There is no truth no mercy but lying and stealing and swearing and killing where there is no knowledge of God Hos. 4. 1 2. 'T is no wonder to see blind men stumble and fall and break their limbs I do not marvail to see ignorant men who know not God to live without him to turn him out of their hearts and houses as if they had no dependance on him or ingagements to him Whence is it that men are regardless of their souls and eternal estates that they dance over the unquenchable lake and are merry and jovial at the very brink of destruction that they despise the God that made them preserveth them bought them and hath them in his hands and at his mercy every moment that they slight his Son his Spirit his Law his Love his wrath his promises of eternal life as if they were things of no value and rather fit to be trampled on then esteemed that they can lye down and sleep and rise up and eat and dâ—ink and follow their sports and pleasures and laugh and sing under the guilt of sin and curse of the Law and infinite wrath of the Lord but their ignorance of God Ah did they but know his holiness his Jealousie his Power his Justice they they would sâ—oner undergo any misery that men could inflict on them then incur his anger or provoke him to jealousie they would never neglect â—is Worship or put him off with a few heartless prayers Ludentes cum Deo ut pueri cum suis puppis as Calvin hath it Playing with him as children with their babies when they come immediately to his presence and pretend to seek his face The holy times under the Gospel wherein the people of God shoâ—ld be of one heaâ—t are spoken of as proceeding from this cause The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the sea Isa. 11.9 The perfection of grace and holiness in heaven will be the effect in part of this knowledge of God When we shall see him perfectly we shall be perfectly like him 1 Ioh. 3.2 Reader be perswaded therefore to study this knowledge of God think no labour too much for itâ— pray and read and hear and confer and mourn that thou mayst know God Beleive it it is a jewel that will pay thee well for all