wine increased Shew thou thy selfe a good man by thy contentednes when thou wantest outward comforts and riches in the world Looke vpon the wide sea behold how euery day it sends forth plenty of waters into all the riuers about it daily takes them backe againe yet is the sea neuer dry neither doth it euer want water Goe thou and doe likewise Shew thy selfe as well satisfied when floods of wealth are flowed from thee as when springs of riches run vnto thee So shalt thou bee to the world a proofe of the text and an example of selfe-satisfaction Thirdly Vse 3 it may informe wicked men what tickle termes they stand vpon For information and how great a mischiefe the want of goodnes is their conscience is vnquiet perhaps Al the world cannot giue them satisfaction who might receiue it from their owne consciences if they were good and feared God Perhaps their conscience is quiet for the present So may the sea be for a time but euery little wind will moue it and suddenly make it rage The wicked are like the troubled Sea Esay 57.20.21 when it cannot rest whose waters cast vp mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked So miserable is the condition of a wicked man that he hath no assurance of quietnesse nor no solid satisfaction in vnquietnesse of mind They that want goodnes are no where assured to remaine quiet much lesse are they able to giue satisfaction to themselues for this is a good mans priuiledge and a wicked man hath no share in it So the want of goodnes both layes a man open to a world of mischiefes and also depriues him of all meanes of selfe-satisfaction Lastly Vse 4 all that hath beene spoken may serue for prouocation For prouocation to stirre vp euery one with all his might to seeke after goodnesse This is the onely way to selfe-satisfaction A wicked man when his goods are lost raues and rages as if he had lost all his happines A goodman quiets himselfe with holy Iob Iob. 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither the Lord gaue and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. A wicked man when his body is sicke and he disquieted with paine and in feare of death quakes for feare of hell torments A goodman concluds with S. Paul 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were disolued we haue a building of God an house not made with hands eternall in the Heauens A wicked man when his friends forsake him So the words are in the Hebrew Hee meanes that Christ will plead for him to God the Father Iob. 16.20.21 cryes out against the perfidiousnesse of this age and the vnfaithfullnesse of the world A good man lookes vp vnto God in Christ as Iob did before him saying My friends are my scorners but mine eye powreth out teares vnto God And he will pleade for man with God and the Sunne of man for his friend A wicked man when wars rage and the trumpets sound in his eares and the sword glitters in his eyes finds his heart dead within him like Naballs 1 Sam. 24.37 Psalme 46.1.2 A good man resolues with Dauid God is my refuge and strength a very present helpe in trouble Therfore will I not feare though the earth be remoued though the Mountaines be carried into the midst of the Sea Behold a man able to stand of himselfe when Mountaines are mooued and to giue himselfe satisfaction when the stable earth is fleeting A good man is like a die throw it which way you will it is alwayes square so is a good man euer the same in his maine and generall carriage how euer for the present he may be daunted at some sudden accident vnlooked for in the world Stuâ—tus vt luna mutatur sapiens vt sol In sole et fâ—ruor et splendor stabilis in luna solus splendor atque is ommino â—mutaâ—ilis et incertus qui nunquam in eodem statu permaneat Ber de Beata Mar. The foole saith Bernard is changeable like the Moone but the wise man is constant like the Sun In the Sun there is both heate and brightnes constant in the Moone onely brightnes and that altogether mutable vncertaine as neuer remaining in any condition In al the creatures God hath placed somewhat to proue them to bee his somwhat to resemble him and somwhat aboue the power of any creature to infuse that it might appeare to be Gods workmanship especially in a good man God hath placed selfe-satisfaction whereby hee is most like his Creatour and which none could put into him but God that God might haue all the glory of it To conclude goodnes and selfe-satisfaction holines happines goe together Reuel 20 6. Indè beatus vndè bonus Aug. ep 121. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection On which words S. Augustine shortly and sweetly comments He is therefore happy because he is good wouldst thou then be safe Get goodnes that thou mayest haue selfe-satisfaction in this world and thou shalt be sure of eternall hapinesse in the world to come Which God grant euery one of vs through Iesus Christ our Sauiour Amen FINIS
vnder Gods in greatest perils The Lord is my Shepheard I shall not want Psalme 23.1.4 Yea though I walke through the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no euill for thou art with me thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me And least it might be thought to be his case alone hee ioynes others with him that feare God Psam 46.1 2 3 God is our refuge and strength a very present helpe in trouble Therefore will wee not feare though the Earth bee remoued and though the Mountaines bee caryed into the midst of the Sea Though the waters thereof roare and bee troubled though the Mountaines shake with the swelling thereof Selah A very high straine indeed and worthy of a Musicall note of Eleuation Hence come S. Pauls triumphes He knew hee had enough within him to vphold him what euer outwardly happened in the world I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities Rom. 8 38.39 nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. An Apostolicall height yet such a pitch as may bee attayned by priuate Christians whom S. Paul ioynes with himselfe in the body of this triumph Many are the gifts and graces that God hath enriched a good mans soule withall Among those many diuers there are that are giuen him to giue satisfaction to his owne soule though I deny not but sundry other internall indowments are bestowed on him to enable him to honor God and to do good to men by his actions while the earth affords him a dwelling place and till heauen be ready to receiue him God deales with him as a father with his tender child whom he bestowes great breeding vpon to his no little cost partly to make his life profitable to others and partly to make it comfortable to himselfe Thus God furnishes his Children with abundance of graces that they themselues may haue cause to blesse God for such as giue satisfaction to their owne soules and others for such as bring profit and benefit to them Let vs now view the particulars and bring into a list such graces as shine inwardly and enable Gods seruant to satisfie himselfe Meanes of selfe satisfaction The first iewell that God bestowes vpon the soule of a good man is peace of conscience I put it in the first place because it yeelds most comfort Peace of conscience This can satisfie a man inwardly whatsoeuer befals him outwardly in the world His conscience being naturally vnsetled hath led him through all the conditions that euery man passed through in this world Hee lookes backe to the state of Creation Hee viewes it as a state of innocency and a condition of felicity But saith the conscience what is that to thee Adam was innocent and happy but by his fall hee hath made thee sinfull and miserable There is as little comfort in thinking of lost happines as in a staruing man ruminating vpon his lost Gold and perishing It doubles the greefe in our selues to thinke wee haue beene happy in our first parents Seeking rest in the state of Creation and finding none at length his thoughts fasten vpon the estate of corruption The former was a good but is a lost condition The latter is a bad one better lost then found yet easily found but not easily lost This is his naturall condition This makes him hang downe his head with heauinesse At length a third condition offers it selfe vnto his consideration a state of reconciliation to GOD by the blood of Christ His conscience cannot deny hee hath sinned but God in the Gospell offers him pardon for all his sinnes in Christ This Offer hee hath applyed to himselfe by a true faith Now the plaister applyed hath healed the wound His transgressions are remoued from him Psalm 103.12 as farre as the East is from the West His conscience now is at peace within him His soule is ioyfull It is secured from the wrath of GOD what need it feare the wrath of men Hee finds peace from Heauen hee feares not warres on Earth Rom. 5.1.3 Thus being iustified by faith hee hath peace with GOD through our Lord Iesus Christ And this peace makes him to glory in tribulation Psa 91.1.5.6 Now doth he dwell in the secret place of the most high and therefore shall abide vnder the shadow of the Almighty Now plagues and dangers are not so terrible to him as before because he knowes none can hurt him whom God loues and protects A ship at Sea playes it the midst of stormes there are no trees to shelter it no anchores can hold it Nothing cannot can secure it that is without it all the safety it hath is from within If it be well ballanced it may escape So is it with the shippe of mans conscience When GODS wrath smites vpon it like a storme and the world blowes vpon it like a tempest no honours can quiet it no tiches can pacifie it If any thing keepe it from sinking it must bee the inward peace of a good conscience this assures him of Gods loue and that giues him satisfaction The soule was made according to Gods Image nothing then can satisfie it but God himselfe according to whose Image it was created Take a seale and ioyne it to waxe the stampe or image that is left in the waxe cannot be filled but with the same seale againe Neyther can Gods Image in man be fully satisfied but by the fruition of God himselfe Mans nature sayth S. Augustine although it be mutable yet it may obtaine blessednesse by cleauing vnto the highest God who is the onely vnchangeable good To make it happy it must haue satisfaction for all the defects of it Aug. de ciu Dei lib. 12. cap. 1. Now all the world is not sufficient to satisfie the necessities of the soule God onely can doe it The same Father in his Confessions presseth the end of mans creation to shew what onely can giue him satisfaction Thou hast made vs sayth he O Lord Fecisti nos ad te et inquietū est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te Aug. Coufess l. 1. c. 1. for thee and our heart is restlesse till it rest in thee This was Cyprians counsell to Donatus to seeke for satisfaction not from the world without him but from his owne conscience within him There is but one pleasing and sure tranquility one solid firme and perpetuall security if a man withdraw himselfe from the tempests of this disquieting world being surely setled in a safe hauen and lift vp his eyes from earth to heauen and being admitted to Gods fauour and in his mind now neerest to his God glories to find within his owne conscience whatsoeuer others deeme high or great among worldly commodities Nihil appetere tam nihil desiderare de saeculo potest qui
esse post seculum Caeterùm nullus ijs dolor est de incursatione malorum praesentium quibus fiducia est futurorum bonrum Cypr. ad Demetr s 15. Rom. 8.18 2. Cor. 4.17 Epict. Ench. c. 79. O Lord if thou be thus good vnto them that follow thee how good wilt thou be vnto them that ouertake thee Hee lookes forward to the heauenly end of all worldly troubles and concludes with Cyprian He feeles it a punishment to be crossed in the world all whose ioy and glory is in the world He mornes and laments that it goes ill with him in this life with whom it cannot goe well after this life But they greeue not for the inuasion of present euills that haue a confident expectation of future happinesse Thus S. Paul teacheth his Romanes I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be reuealed in vs. Thus hee instructeth his Corinthians Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for vs a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory So then our good man collects that farre more certainely from Scripture which the heathen man collected from nature Tyrants may kill me indeed but they cannot hurt me Hee sees that temporall euills may stand with his eternall good Yea hee sees they are not euill in themselues simply but rather in mens estimation So could the naturall or rather morall Philosopher say Men are troubled not with the things that befall them On ta pragmata alla ta perton pragmaton dog mata 1â— but with those opinions which they haue of the things For example Death is not euill els would it haue appeared so to Socrates also but our opinion of death is that which makes it euill Hence it is that a good man endures sicknes and death quietly which much perplexeth a wicked man So Cyprian labours to perswade the Gentiles that crosses appeared far otherwise to the Christians then to them because there was an infinite difference in the bearing of them Thinke ye that we beare aduersity equally with you when ye see that the same crosses are not borne alike by vs and you â—ypr ad Demet. s 16. Thus patience furthers selfe-satisfaction by turning away many crosses and making others easier to bee endured The seuenth helpe that a good man hath to helpe to satisfy himselfe withall Innocency is his innocency which though it be not compleat in action yet it is in intention And it is a great comfort in all crosses A good man is oftentimes crossed by them of whom hee hath deserued no hurt but rather much good Hence ariseth a world of inward comfort in outward crosses Heerewith Dauid comforts himselfe before the Lord against the slanders inuented by Sauls followers beleeued by Saul himselfe and very costly to Dauid Psal 7.3.4.5 O Lord my God saith hee if I haue done this if there be any iniquity in my hands If I haue rewarded euill vnto him that was at peace with me yea I haue deliuered him that without cause is mine enemy Let the enemy persecute my soule and take it yea let him tread downe my life vpon the Earth and lay mine honour in the dust Heerewith Iob comforts himselfe against the vnkindnesse of his friends GOD forbid that I should iustify you Iob. 27.5.6 till I dye I will not remoue my integrity from me My righteousnesse I hold fast and will not let it goe my heart shall not reproach me so long as I liue And else where Iob. 31.35.36.37 If mine aduersary had written a Booke Surely I would take it vpon my shoulder and binde it as a Crowne to mee I would declare vnto him the number of my steps as a Prince would I goe neere vnto him Yea in sicknesses and afflictions that come from God innocency is a great comfort witnesse Hezekias prayer in his great sicknesse neere vnto death I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart 2 Kings 20.3 and haue done that which is good in thy sight Sinne is the very sting of afflictions He sayth Chrysologus Qui innoc entiae creditum seruat paenitentiae non soluit vsuram Chrysol ser 167. Clem. Alex. strom 1.6 that keepes the debt of inocency needs not pay the vse of penitency It is a signe of peace within when a man slights afflictions without Witnesse Clemens Alexandrinus It is the glorifying of a boasting soule indeed but yet it comes from a good conscience to be able to discourse against those troubles that come vpon vs. Innocency is a testimony to our consciencs that our afflictions are not punishments inflicted vpon vs by GOD for our sinnes but trialls of our pacience tending to our greater glory Thus the good man comforts himselfe from his innocency both against mortall men and also before the immortall God The last grace of GOD that giues a good man to inable him to satisfie himselfe is Hope Hope This satisfies the soule of a good man for the present because it perswades him vpon good ground that it will goe better with him hereafter So that although now it bee not so well with him as hee could wish yet because hee knowes it will bee better hee rests satisfied S. Augustine compares hope vnto an Egge For hope sayth hee hath not yet attained the thing it selfe And an Egge is something but it is not yet a chicken Beasts then bring forth yong ones but Birds bring forth onely hope of yong ones Aug. â—e ver Dom ser 29. The hope then of a good man is somewhat and hath some ability to giue him satisfaction for the present though it be not so much nor cannot so well satisfie as the glory he hopes for hereafter It is a morsell to stay a good mans stomacke till the feast of the Lambes mariage be ready where he shall bee fully satisfied Peraduenture it goes not well with him now but it will goe well with him one day and this thought vpholds him Thus louing Ionathan comforts deiected Dauid Feare not for the hand of Saul my father shall not finde thee and thou shalt be King ouer Israel and I shall be next vnto thee and that also Saul my father knoweth 1 Sam. 23.17 So the good man knowes and his aduersaries are not altogether ignorant that heauen is prepared for him and therewithall he satisfies himselfe A yong Prince brought vp vnder tutours and disciplined by meaner men then himselfe yet rests satisfied because he liues in expectation of a Kingdome So doe Gods Princes being exercised by wicked men looke vp to heauen and quiet themselues Moses lost his honours in Egypt and his pleasures to suffer afflictions with the Israelits Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches Heb. 11.26 then the treasurs in Egypt for he had respect to the recompence of the reward There is a hope of worldly preferments
and Gentiles It is the estate wee are borne in it is the estate they liue and dye in that know not the Gospell or the way of saluation by Christ alone The other is voluntary 2 Pet 2 20 not a condition put vpon vs by our parents but chosen by our selues The one is a fayling in our duety the other is a falling from our profession I let passe the naturall defection because it is not that which Salomon here aimes at preaching to the backsliding Iewes not to the wandering Gentiles Neyther is it needfull for mee to speake of that speake to such as are beleeuing Christians not vnbeleeuing heathen by profession We professe a double duety the one to God comprehended in the precepts of the first Table the other to man contained in the Commandements of the second The profession of a double duety makes vs subiect to a double apostasy The first is a falling from the duety of piety The second is a falling from morall honesty Our falling from duties of piety is eyther a publique or a priuate defection The publike apostasy is the falling from the profession of the true Religion to Idolatry and false worships this apostasy the Israelits were much subiect vnto They turned backe and dealt vnfaithfully like their fathers Psal 78 57.58 they were turned aside like a deceirfull Bow For they prouoked him to anger with their high places and moued him to iealousie with their grauen images Thus dealt they with God vnder their Iudges they serued him in their misery but when their Iudges were dead they returned to idolatry And when the Lord raised them vp Iudges Iudge 2.18.19 then the Lord was with the Iudge and deliuered them out of the hand of their enemies all the daies of the Iudge for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed and vexed them And it came to passe when the Iudge was dead that they returned and corrupted themselues more then their fathers in following other Gods to serue them and to bow downe to them they ceased not from their owne doings nor from their stubborn way Thus dealt they with God vnder their Kings when their Kings were good they serued God and when they were euill they serued Idols Such are they that after so great light by the preaching of the Gospell turne to antichrist renounce the true Religion and fall to popery Such are they that being taken by the enemies of the Christian name turne Turkes that they may not turne slaues They venture their soules to saue their bodies forsake their God to procure their quietnesse Their offence is so much the greater because they not onely leaue Christ but cleaue to Antichrist They not onely forsake God but serue Satan against God These are trayterous souldiours that content not themselues to faile their Captaine in the heate of the battell but fight against him openly vnder the colour of his knowne Aduersary They not onely weaken Gods part what lyes in them by their Apostacy but also strengthen the aduerse part by their contrary profession The priuate defection is a falling from the practice of those priuate dutyes men haue formerly performed to the LORD of Hoasts Such are they that haue beene carefull of praying Morning and Euening in their Families and daily in their closets But afterward neglect all priuate Prayers and like bad husbands wast their owne priuate stocke and looke to liue vpon the publicke charge Such are they that haue beene zealous for the glory of GOD but are growne remisse and care not how God bee dishonoured Such are they that haue with patience borne all troubles as comming from God but now murmure at the least calamity as if it came from the Diuell that hated them and not from God that loued them These are like to rotten Apples that when they begin to putrify grow worse and worse till they be good for nothing The second fall is from morall honesty when men haue beene carefull to liue iustly in the world for a time and afterwards deceiue the expectation of the times and proue deceitfull themselues Yee haue many that haue beene wonderfull iust seruants that proue most vniust masters When they were seruants they delt truely for the gaine was their masters now they are masters they deale falsely for the gaine is their owne Some children are very quiet in their yonger yeeres and the delight of their parents who in their elder yeeres proue most troublesome and perpetuall vexations to them that with most tendernesse haue bred them Absolon and Adoniiah were Dauids ioy when they were children and Dauids annoyances when they were men Some haue beene famous for deedes of charity in the strongth of their yeeres that in their dote-age haue beene strangely miserable as if they had taken no care for the world when they were likely to liue long in it and take care for nothing else but the world when they were likely to goe soone out of it These are they that haue set God and the world at defiance they neyther regard to keepe a good conscience towards God nor a good name before men they haue made shippewracke of faythfulnesse towards men and of a good conscience before God Let vs now come to the second poynt What may make these men to slide backe Externall prouocations to Apostasy Surely the manifold prouocations of the world That they may the better be auoyded they may be ranked into these particulars First the troubles of the world Man hath a strange passion called feare that will smell out danger before it come and oftentimes before it be intended All his care now is to preuent this trouble whether it be by good meanes or bad his wisedome will not forecast because it aimes at nothing but freedome from imminent danger Mans nature is very tender it seekes to turne away all manner of hardnesse Peter espies a cloud comming hee must needs deny his Master Mat. 26.35.70 or beare trouble with him his stout heart that before would dye with him rather then deny him now will deny him that it may not dye with him Many a man playes abroad with the Bee and gathers honey in the summer of prosperity that hides his head within his hiue in the winter of aduersity Iudge 7.3 â— If God like Gideon should make a proolamation of a war and send backe euery one whose heart faileth him he must be contented with ten thou sand and let twenty two thousand goe backe againe to liue in peace Secondly the profits of the world driue many backe from their former forwardnesse Desire is a strong passion It is like a Riuer with a violent current no bankes can keepe it in If it once fasten vpon riches it cannot easily bee pulled off Demas keepes S. Paul company a while 2 Tim. 4.10 but in the end forsakes him for the loue of this present world Religion lookes at another world her prayers her plots all