foul one God likes no such bargains Lord I am willing to serve thee but unwilling to suffer for thee I will go to sea but on condition I shall meet with no storms I will enter the war but on condition I shall have no blows They would fain be wafted to the point of felicity in such vessels as might not be tossed on the waters of calamity Such think much to borrow a thorn though it be taken from their Saviours Crown Some there are that will sacrifice a stout heart to a stubborn will And will rather dye as Martyrs for errors then bow as servants to truth How shall they ever stand for Christ who did never stand in Christ But beleevers study more how to adorn the cross then how to avoid the cross as deeming it better to be saved in rough waters then drowned in a calm ocean Temporary Professors are like Hedge-hogs that have two holes one to the North the other to the South when the South wind suns them they open to the North and when the North wind chills them they go to the South They will lose their activity to finde their security It was the saying of the King of Navar to Beza That he would in the cause of Christ sail no further then he might retreat safe to the shore Man is a life-loving creature he is afaid to follow truth too near at the heels lest it should lift up his foot and dash out his brains Weak grace will do for God but it must be strong grace that will dye for God A true Christians will lay down his lusts at the command of Christ and he will lay down his life for the cause of Christ The trees of righteousness the more they are shaken by the wind the faster they are rooted in the ground What art thou a member of Christ and yet afraid to be a Martyr for Christ Si beati sunt qui moriuntur in Domino quam beati sunt illi qui moriuntur pro Domino If they be blessed that die in the Lord how blessed are they that die for the Lord What though the flesh do return to dust so the spirit do return to rest what is the body of Adam for a soul to live in to the bosom of Abraham for a Saint to lye in Righteous Abel the first Soldier in the Church Militant was the first Saint in the Church Triumphant He offered up a Sacrifice when the Altar was sprinkled with his own blood But as his body was the first that ever took possession of earth so his soul was the first that ever had a translation to heaven Should such a man as I flie saith Nehemiah A man that hath been so much honoured and a man that hath been so much used It is better to dye a Conqueror then to live a Coward They who will be no less then combatants they shall be more then conquerors None are so couragious as those who are religious A Christian if he lives he knows by whose might he stands and if he dies he knows for whose sake he falls Where there is no confidence in God there will be no continuance with God When the wind ceases to fill the sails the ship ceases to plough the seas The taints of Ishmael shall never make an Isaac out of love with his inheritance If a righteous cause brings you into sufferings a righteous God will bring you out of sufferings Christ is beholden to his enemies as well as to his friends Their malicious opposition wrought out his glorious exaltation The worst that men can do against Beleevers is the best that men can do for Beleivers The worst that they can act against them is to send them out of earth and the best they can do for them is to send them up to heaven It was the expression of one of the Martyrs to his Persecutors You take a life from me that I cannot keep and bestow a life upon me that I cannot lose which is as if you should rob a man of counters and furnish him with gold He that is assured of a life that hath no end cares not how soon this life is at an end All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant Our heart is not turned back neither have our steps declined from thy way Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of Dragons and covered us with the shadow of death Psal 44. 17 18 19. Beleevers are like the moon that wades out of her shadows by keeping her motion and leaves not her shining for the barking of dogs Shall we cease to be Professors because others will not cease to be Persecutors by the seed of the serpent the heel of the woman may be bruised but by the seed of the woman the Serpents head shall be broken Christians see you good times prepare for bad times there is no spring without its fall no Summer but hath its Winter he never reaped comfort in the night of adversity that did not sow it in the day of prosperity Many waters cannot queneh love neither can the floods drown it Cant. 8. 6. The fire of affection is not quenched by the water of affliction But if the trade of piety cannot be peaceably driven Formalists will shut up their shop-windows They will rather tarry out of the land of Canaan then swim to it through the red sea But a beleever never falls asleep for Jesus till he falls asleep in Jesus If it be thou bid me come to thee on the water Matth. 14. 18. Love can walk on the water without drowning and lie in the fire without burning It s said of the Serpent that he cares not to what danger he exposes his body so he secures his head Thus it is with a Christian he cares not to what hazard he exposes his substance so he may but enjoy his Saviour None of these things move me neither count I my life dear to my self so I may finish my course with joy Act. 20. 24. A Saint is inwardly pious when he is not outwardly prosperous The sharper such Physick is in its taking the sounder the Patient is for its working The higher the floods swell on earth the nearer the Ark mounts up to heaven God can strike strait strokes with crooked sticks and make the Devils dross to fetch off the rust that cleaves to his gold Christians are crucified by the world that they might be crucified to the world God makes it to be an enemy to you that he might make you an enmy to it Remember Christians that Religion is that Phoenix that hath always flourished in her own ashes Magistrates they defend the truth with their swords but Martyrs they defend the truth with their bloods And the losing of their heads makes way for the receiving of their crowns How should we land at the haven of rest if we vvere not tossed upon the seas of trouble If Joseph had not
sitteth on the right hand of God Col. 3. 1. The same pen writes fair or blots as his skill or rudeness is that handles it The same strings make a pleasant musick or a jarring discord as they are set and fingured So our affections according to their objects about which they are conversant become either like fiery chariots to carry us to perfection or like Pharoahs chariots to hurry us to perdition There is no need of blotting out these Characters but of writing of them in fair papers nor of drying up of these waters but of diverting them into their proper channels nor of plucking up of these plants but of setting them in a right soil Solum dispicit qui coelum aspicit He that looks upon heaven with desire will look upon earth with disdain Our affections were made for the things that are above us and not for the things that are a out us What is your earthly Manors to your heavenly Mansions As carnal things seem small to a man that is spiritual so spiritual things seem small to a man that is carnal Ignoti nulla cupido there are no movings after things beyond the sphear of our knowledge Heaven is to them as a mine of gold covered with earth and rubbish or as a bed of pearl inclosed in a heap of sand If they had the eyes of an eagl to see it they would wish for the wings of an eagle to flie unto it How little would the great world seem to us if the great God was not little in us Either men have no thoughts of a future state or else they have low thoughts of a future state If we had souls without any bodies then there would be no need of earth to keep us if we had bodies without any souls then there would be no need of heaven to crown us But such as have no present holiness are for a present happiness There be many that say Who will shew us any good Psal 4. 6. any good will serve the turns of those that know not the chiefest good But Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us O how sordid is it to prefer the garlick and onyons of Egypt before the milk and honey of Canaan Visible things to them is better then invisible They mind the world that is come so much as if it would never have an ending and the world to come so little as if it would never have a beginning Why should you be so taken with your riches that shall be taken from your riches or dote upon a flower which a day may wither They that are travelling beyond the world they shoulst be trading above the world but such are not easily awakened that fall so fast asleep on the worlds pillow But now they desire a better Country that is a Tunc ut fama est primum gustantes vinum ex â—taliâ delatum sic illius admiratione amentes facti sunt omnes ut collectis armis c. quaesicrint eam terram in quá hujusmodi fructus oriratur Plut. in vit Camil. heavenly Heb. 11. 16. The Gauls when they had tasted the sweet wine of Italy asked where the grapes grew and would never be quiet till they came there O that I had the wings of a Dove that I might fly above and be at rest A beleiver is willing to lose the world for the reception of grace and he is willing to leave the world for the fruition of glory As the worst on this side hell compared with that is mercy so the best on this side heaven compared with that is misery There is no more comparison to be made between heaven and earth then there is between a peice of rusty iron and a peice of refined gold St. Austin saith Spes vitae immortalis est vita vitae mortalis The hope of life immortal is the life of our lives mortal It s the expectation of their future heritage which is the Saints Jacobs staff to walk through this dark pilgrimage If in this life only we have hope in Christ we were of all men the most miserable but because we have hope in Christ after this life we may be of all men the most comfortable for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven 2 Cor. 5. 2. A beleever longs to be there most of all where he shall be best of all He is not only one that grows in what is gracious but he is one that groans for what is glorious Perfection is the boundary of expectation as it likes no other so it looks no further every thing in Eternity is wound up to its highest capciaty Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God Act. 7. 56. A beleiver can sweetly see with an eye that is purified what he shall shortly see with an eye that is glorified Here it is that mercy is received unmixed and majesty is viewed unvailed What 's a Pebble that is worthless to a Pearl that is matchless Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord O what joy enters into the beleever when he enters into the joy of his Redeemer The vessels of mercy shall then swim in the ocean of glory Come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world Mat. 25. 34. That which makes hell so full of horror is that it s below all hopes That which makes heaven so full of splendor is that it s above all fears The one is a Ibi erit verè maximum Sabbatum non habens vesperem Aug. de civ deil 22. c. 30. night that shall never see any day appearing the other is a day that shall never have any night aproaching Who would not work for glory with the greatest diligence and wait for glory with the greatest patience seeing we advance the interest whilst we stay for the principal There are some deluded Professors that aspire after earthly scepters as if the place where Saints are to be crucified were the place where Sts. are to be glorified then certainly the Church here should rather be in a state triumphant then in a state militant In heaven the crown is made for them and in heaven the crown shall be worn by them St. Austin presents us with two parts of the Church Vna in tempore perigrinationis altera in aeternitate mansionis We are not speaking of that part which is established above temptations but of that part which is encompassed about with temptations and its hard finding of this ark without moving on a tumultuous deluge In my fathers house are many mansions I go to prepare a place for you Joh. 14. 2. Our Redeemer is our Forerunner he that takes possession of us on earth takes possession for us of heaven As they are not long here without him so he will not be long there without them Here all the earth is not enough
then he can quench them As sheep amongst briars are injurious unto their fleeces so Saints among sinners do an injury to their graces Be not unequally yoked together with unbeleevers for what fellowship Non debetis jugum ducere cum infidelibus quia alius habitus est in vobis alius in illis in vobis quâ—dem est habitus justitiae in illis verò est habitus in quitatis Aquin. in loc hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness And what concord hath Christ with Belial or what part hath beleiveth with an Infidel 2 Cor. 6. 14 15. To see a Saint and a sinner associated with one another is to see the living the dead to keep house together Christs doves Peccatum adeò sacile alios unvadid ut nulla pestis tantopâ—re acrem inâ—icere possit 〈◊〉 â—ar 〈…〉 wil be sullied amongst the pots By the evil the good may sooner be corrupted then by the good the evil can be converted The finer bread in the oven partakes of the courser but seldom doth the course partake of the finer If you put an equal proportion of sowre vinegar to sweet wine the vinegar will sooner sowre the wine then the wine will sweeten the vinegar That is a sound body that is healthful in a pest-house It s as great a wonder to see a Saint so good amongst those that are evil as it is to see a sinner so evil amongst those that are good In the salt sea the fish retains its freshness amongst the noysom weeds the rose preserves its sweetness the fire burns the hottest when the weather is the coldest It was the saying of a Christian as often as ever he came amongst the ungodly He returned less Vt ligna arida igni admota cito flammam concipiunt sit bomines ob naturae corruptionem aliorum improborum exemplis facillinie impelluntur ut secure eadem committere audeant Idem ib. a man from them then he was before he came to them It is a singular thing for Saints to carry it so amongst sinners as to do much good to them and Theodosius tame â—si in ipsâregiâ natus educatusque erat nihil tamen ex illa educatione omn no contraxit mollitiae tarditatisve Socr. Eccl. Hist l. 7. I 22. to receive no hurt from them to touch pitch and not to be defiled If we cannot help them it s their unholiness if they hurt us it s our unhappiness By keeping of evil company men are like those that walk in the sun tanned insensibly Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your father which is in heaven Mat. 5. 16. Light abides pure though the air in which it dwels be corrupted yet it admits of no corruption Men may defile themselves in the light but they cannot Non mediocris titulus virtutis inter pravos vivere â—onum inter ma lignantes innoce tiae retinere caendorem moâ—um lenitatem Bern. in cant serm 48. defile the light it self The sun shines all over an unclean world and yet is without uncleaness How many are there that are like dirty swine in the fairest meadow like Judas that instead of being a Disciple amongst Devils was a Devil amongst Disciples Good company it brings fire to Vivitur exemplis magis quam legibus kindle our graces when they are freezing but bad company it brings water to quench them when they are flaming Some observe that those are the sweetest flowers that grows nearest the stinckingest weeds The Poets affirm That Venus never appeared so beautiful as when she sate by black Vulcans side And Stevens face never shined so gloriously in the Church where all were gracious as before the Council where all were vicious How will that fire subdue dry fuel that hath prevailed against the green Needs must that jewel be glorious in the sun that glitters in the shade There are many men that can suit with any men they can be Professors amongst those that are Professors and scorners amongst those that are scorners These are like the Planet Mercury in the horoscope of mans Nativity that is good in conjunction with those that are good but evil in the conjunction of those that are evil Every man loves to be a man that is beloved and is apt to take pleasure in them who do take pleasure in him but take heed of ceasing to be good Christians that others may think you good companions It s hard to be conformed to the world in the outward man and transformed to God in the inward man to be an outward Heathen Noscitur ex socio qui non dignoscitur ex se and an inward Christian It s a Spanish proverb Tell me but where thou goest I will tell thee what thou doest And our English Proverb will English this Proverb That birds of a feather will flock together To be too intimate with sinners is to intimate that you are sinners And being let go they went to their own company Acts 4. 23. To whom should beleevers joyn to but beleevers There is no trusting the tamest natures let but the lions out of their fetters and they will soon show you their bloody natures How darest thou be found lodging in that house where God himself is not found dwelling There is no sleeping with dogs without swarming with fleas It s a royal Diadem that Christ sets on the head of his Spouse As a Lilly All the States Societies of men upon earth being compared to the Church are but like thorns unto Lillies and Roses without all beauty and delight unpleasant and harmful plants Pemble in his serm on 2 Caâ— 1. amongst thorns so is my Beloved among the daughters Cant. 2. 2. There are many thorns that are amongst the Lillies but few Lillies that are amongst the thorns How rare a spectacle is it to see a beleever keep his beauty in the midst of Blackamoors to be like Solus ipse diversâ ambularit viâ virtutem malitiae praefereus c. Chrys hom 22. in cap. â— Gen. Noah a new man in an old world If Lot had been polluted with Sodoms sins he might have been consumed in Sodoms flames It s ill breathing in an infectious air Satans progeny loves not to go to hell without society It s better to be with Philpot in his colehouse then with Bonner in his Palace A man may pass through Ethiopia and yet be unchanged but if he remains there he will be discoloured Ecclesiastical history saith Illius enim uxor prior irretita-laqueis Ariani â—rroris irretivit ipsum adduxit ad communem secum in barathrum casum Theod. Eccl. Hist lib. 4. cap. 12. of Valens the Emperor that by marrying an Arian Lady he was himself ininsnared in that wicked opinion Come out of her my people that you be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues Rev.
He that promises to cover the sincere souls infirmities threatens to disclose the Hypocrites impieties O remember Judas who purchased nothing by his deceitful dealing but a halter in which his body was hanged and a fire in which his soul was burned that 's the tenth 11. singular thing is to be more afflicted with the Churches heaviness then we are affected with our own happiness When we suffer not from the Enemies of Christ by persecution we should suffer with the friends of Christ by compassion wherefore the King said unto me Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick Nehemiah 2. 2. Sadness is the fruit of sickness What sad when the Kings cup bearer and wine so neare the third verse informes you the reason why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my Fathers Sepulchres lieth wast and the gates thereof are consumed with fire Let not Sions sons be rejoycing whilst their mothers mourning are not her breaches like the Sea and there 's none to heal them though you cannot make up her breaches yet let your hearts break for her breaches Have pitty upon me have Non oportet nos laetari in malis proximorum sed compati Stel. in Luc. 1◠3. pitty upon me O me my friends for the hand of God hath touched me Job 19. 21. It s observed of the Bees that if one be sick the other will lament Christianity strips no man of humanity some observe in Swine that there is a sympathy when one is killed the rest are troubled and shall that be lost amongst men which is found amongst Swine Will you see the Church bleed to death and never ask balm to cure her wounds how can such rejoyce in her standing that do not mourn for her falling Others what they do not feel by sence that they will not feel by Sympathy Nero could be playing when Rome was burning we may Suet. in vit Ner. Thus the killing of the infants was Spectaculum Herodi jucundum quia luctuosum Bap. Ferra. Orat. 5. draw up that charge against many persons Amos 6. 4 6. They lye upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the flock and the Calves out of the midst of the stall that drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief oyntments but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph They can weep for the◠dying groanes of a child but not for the dying grones of a Church their love unto their relations transcends their love unto their Religion But he that hath a stock going in the Churches ship cannot but lament at every storme I should be jealous that thats but a silver eye in the head an Ivory tooth in the Mouth a Wooden Leg in the body that is unsensible of its sorrows I will know that the Churches Enimies though they may be Waves to toss her yet they shal never be rocks to split her It s only such fabricks as are bottomed upon the sands that are overturned by the wind he that is a well of water within her to keep her from fainting is a wall of fire about her to keep her from hurting Though he may scoure his plate and his Jewels yer ye will throw such wispes on the dunghills yet Enemies will be found pushing as far as their short hornes are reaching Sion like a bottle may be dipt in the water but she shall never be drownd in the water Many had rather see a Churches Expiration then see a Churches reformation they had rather view her as one thats nullified then view her as one that 's purified they care not how many Tares spring up amongst Gods Wheat When the Churches adversaries make long furrows upon her back we should cast in the seed of tears Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Thus the head cryes out in heaven whilst the Toe is trod upon on earth Jesus Christ though he hath altered his condition yet he hath not altered his affection Death took away his life for us but it did not take away his love from us he that loves to see the face of his Church beautiful eare long will wipe away those bloody teares that run trickling down her cheeks the prise of her redemption is already paid and the Lords will not require that debt again Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40. 2. When we see the Church pledgin her beloved in the cup of affliction we should drink to her in the cup of consolation a heavy burden is easile born by the assistance of many shoulders others they are like Galeo that care for none of those things Nay when they should be Sympat hisers with them in their miserie Temerarium judicium est quod ex levi conjecturâ levibusque signis colligitur Stapl. in Dom. 1. post Pent. they are Censurers of them for their misery they judge the golds not good because it s tryed and the grounds is naught because it s plowed It s dangerous smitting them with our tongues whom God hath smitten with his hands Christ himself because he suffered for transgressors was therefore numbred with transgressors What 's this but to give the sharpest Vinegar where we should give the sweetest wine Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Psal 69. 24. But what 's their sin 26. verse for they persecute them whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded Sympathy is a debt which we owe to sufferer and creature comforts will fit those seasons no better then a Silver lace would do a Mourning sute a particular loss it s but like the putting of out a candle which brings darkness to a room but a general loss is like the Eclipsing of the Sun which overshadows the whole Hemisphear Pliny tels us of two Goats meeting together on a narrow bridge when the one could not get forward nor the other go backwards the one lay down that the other might go over him How much of men were there in these beasts but how much of beasts are there in some men It s better to be in the humble posture of a mourner then in the proud gesture of a scorner Have mercy upon me O Lord thou Son of David my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil Mat. 15. 22. The childs malady was the parents misery the tortures of the daughter was the torment of the mother as if the one had been possessed till the other was dispossessed The righteous When Alexanders Army was ready to perish with thirst he himself refufed water that was proffered to him with this Heroick Ipeech Nec solus bibere sustineo nec tam ex iguum dividere omnibus possum Quin. Curt. l. ◠Sect 5. perish and no man lays it to heart Isa 57. 1. Sympathy with others makes an estate