Faculty The Will against the Will Affection against Affection And this is that the Apostle calls The lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit That is the striving of one Unregenerate part against the Regenerate part and this ever in the same Faculty But striving against Sin may be in several Faculties as between the Will and Conscience as for fear of Hell which Wicked Men may have Acts 7.15 It is impossible for a Man to forsake Sin except he forsakes all that he knows to be Sin To hate Sin as it is an offence to God and wrong to his Majesty to hate Sin as it is a breach of his Commandments a wicked controuling of God's Will which is the only Rule of Goodness To hate Sin as being a disingenuous Transgression of that Law of Love established in the Blood and Death of Christ and so in a degree a Crucifying of Christ afresh to hate Sin as being a grieving and quenching of the Spirit of God as all Sin in its nature is Thus to hate Sin is Grace and thus every true Christian hates Sin and not for the Shame that attends it nor as it is contrary to some other Sin c. I do not cease to lament the more hainous Sins of my Life and cannot forbear continually to implore the Pardon of them I do not again return unto them and resolve never so to do I watch and pray against all Sin but especially against those Sins to which I especially am enclined my Conflicts are daily and I am hard put to it but I do not yield up my self to any Sin nor lie down in it Yea I do not suffer Sinful Thoughts or Cogitations to lodg in me howbeit I am much discomposed and damped in Spirit deadned in Duty distracted in my Studies and molested and hindered every way by Sin that dwelleth in me But I resolve that Sin shall never have rest in my Soul and that I will never enjoy it I cannot keep Sin out of my Heart yet it doth not raign in my Mortal Body nor do I yield my Members to the Service of it Mr. Corbet 's Enquiry It is a less Evil to do Sin and not to love it than to love Sin and not to do it for to do Sin may argue weakness of Grace but to love Sin argues strength of Lust What I hate that I do Rom. 7.14 A Man may forsake the Life of Sin and yet retain the Love of Sin. True Mourning for Sin is more for the Evil that is in Sin than the Evil that comes by Sin more because it dishonoureth God and Wounds Christ and grieves the Spirit and makes the Soul unlike God than because it Damns the Soul Mat. 7.11 O Lord when I confess Sin unto thee grant that I may feel the burthen and weight of it upon my Conscience that it may not be a customary Confession Where Confession is right it will be distinct especially of those which were our chief Sins Confession should come like Water out of a Spring which runs freely not like Water out of a Still which is forced by Fire Salvation by CHRIST's Blood. TAke it for granted there is no Man under Heaven whereby we can be saved but Jesus Christ all Grace for this Life and for that which is to come must come to you through the Channel of Christ's Blood. Acts 16.30 31. Sorrow I Could have born any Sorrow rather than this I am under this is a good sign GOD hath let me Blood in the right Vein he will have me part with all manner of Sin without exception It is doubtless our Sin to disable our selves by our Sorrow for our general or particular Callings Let us be heartily Sorrowful that we have so Carnally so Hypocritically so Covetously so Vain-gloriously Professed the Gospel Let the Plagues and Anger of GOD most justly fallen upon us be applyed to our Sins that from the bottom of our Hearts every one of us may say It is I Lord that have Sinned against Thee It is my Wickedness that causeth success and encrease of Authority to my Enemies M. Bradford Speech THERE is no Man that talks but I may gain by him and none that holds his Tongue but I may lose by him As Henry Wotton being bound for Rome asked his Host in Vienna a Man well versed in Men and Business What Rules he would give him for his Port Conduct and Carriage He answered There is one short Remembrance which will carry you Safe throughout the whole World and that is nothing but this Keep your Thoughts close and your Countenance loose He that knoweth to speak well knoweth also where he must hold his Peace Said that Old Grecian Think an Hour before thou speakest and a Day before thou Promisest Spirit SPirit in the un-erring Sense is nothing but Reason illuminated by Revelation out of the Written Word for when the Mind and Spirit humbly conform and submit to the Written Will of God then are you said to have the Spirit of God and to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the Flesh Mr. Hales of Eaton College There is an Having of the Spirit which is a sure Work of Saintship Where the Spirit is an effectual prevailing Principle of Grace and Sanctification renewing and regenerating the Heart Where the Spirit is as a potent Worker helping the Souls Infirmities Rom. 8.26 Where the Spirit is said to abide for ever John 14.16 The true Believer hath so much of the Spirit such a work of it in him that he cannot sin that Sin unto Death He that is born of God sinneth not to wit that Sin unto Death for that is meant 1 John 7.16 1. Mr. Smith in a Sermon said to this purpose If God be our Father in Christ he lays hold of us by his Spirit and we lay hold of Him by Faith. Now it is his Hold-fast of us that saves us so that tho our Faith be as it were a sleep yet the Fathers Hold-fast continues firm Many when they hear that Spiritual Comforts are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit presently conceive themselves to be meerly Passive therein and that they have nothing to do but wait when God will bestow them Notwithstanding tho these Comforts are Spiritual yet they are rationally raised up on the Understanding's Apprehension of the Excellency of God our Happiness and our Interest in Him and by the rolling of these blessed Objects in our frequent Meditations the Spirit doth advance and not destroy our Reason it doth ratifie and then use it as its ordinary Instrument for the Conveyance of such things to our Affections and Exciting them accordingly and not lay it aside and affect us without it Therefore our Joys are raised discoursively and the Spirit first revealeth the Cause of our Joy and then helps us to rejoice upon those revealed Grounds so that he rejoyceth groundedly who knoweth why he rejoiceth ordinarily Mr. Baxter's Rest 3d. part p. 159 160. Sufferings I May be Poor but still I
needs be by a valuable Consideration made Justification Evangelical 88. 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Scripture WHen the Scripture wants a Tongue of Expression we need not an Ear of Attention we may safely knock at the Council Door of God's Secrets but if we go further we may be more Bold than Welcome Cyril of Alexandria Basil when he had read the Bible over he said It was a Physician 's Shop of Preservatives against Poysonous Heresies a Pattern of profitable Laws against Rebellious Spirits a Treasure of most profitable Jewels against Beggarly Elements and a Fountain of most pure Water springing to Eternal Life Sanctification Sanctification and the New-Creature are no less than for a Man to be brought into an Intire Resignation of his Will to the Will of God and to live in the offering up his Soul continually in the Flames of Love a whole Burnt-Offering to Christ And how little says he are many of those who profess Christianity experimentally acquainted with this Work on their Souls Bishop Usher The Work of Sanctification that is true and effectual is a Work of the Spirit of God on the Soul enabling it to the Mortification of all Sin and to the Obeying of every Command to work with God in all well-pleasing Rom. 8.13 1 Pet. 1.2 Heb. 23. Mead. There is an Inward and an outward Sanctification Inward Sanctification is that which deals with the Soul and its Faculties as Understanding Conscience Memory and Affections Outward Sanctification is that which deals with the Life and Conversation both these concur to make a Christian indeed Thes 5.23 The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ This is my Body by the Word This our Saviour meant This Bread is Infinitely plain to any that is unprejudiced What did he take the Text tells you he took Bread What he took he also Blessed Broke and Gave This he said Take Eat and then adds This is my Body this will be put out of doubt if by the following This in those Words This is my Blood by This be meant This Cup no reason can be assigned why This in Mat. 26.26 should not denote This Cup if This ver 28. denote This Cup It is true that St. Matthew and St. Mark having mentioned the Cup which Jesus Took Blessed and Gave tell us that Jesus said This is my Blood and tho' it be plain from what goes before that by This be meant This Cup Yet we have further proof of it still for whereas St. Matthew and Mark say only This St. Luke and St. Paul say This Cup and having this Warrant for This in the latter words to understand This Cup where lies the Blame when by the former This Bread. But I proceed This Verb IS is Interpretable according to the subject Matter but where it is used of a Sacrament and joyns the sign and the thing signified together and where another sence contended for is destructive to our Senses and against Reason and other Scripture 't is reasonable to understand it to Import the same with the Word Signifie and this is the present Case There are many more Reasons but what hath been here said may satisfie any unprejudiced Person Of the Real Presence acknowledged by Protestants in the Holy Sacrament made appear by a plain and familiar Example viz. A Father makes his last Will and by it bequeatheth his Estate and all the Profits of it to his Child He delivers it into the hands of his Son and bids him to take there his House and Lands by this his last Will he delivers to him The Son in this case receives nothing but a Roll of Parchment with a Seal to it from his Father But yet by vertue of this Parchment he is Intitled to his Estate performing the Condition of his Will and to all the Benefits and Advantages of it And in that Deed he truly and effectually received the very House and Lands that were conveyed to him Our Saviour Christ in like manner being now about to leave the World gives this holy Sacrament as a final Bequest to us in it he conveys to us a right to his Body and Blood and to all the Spiritual Blessings and Graces that proceed from them So that as we receive the holy Eucharist as we ought to do we receive nothing but a little Bread and Wine into our hands but by the blessing and promise of Christ we by that Bread and Wine as really and truly become partakers of Christ's Body and Blood as the Son by the Will of his Father was made Inheriter of his Estate Nor is it more necessary for this that Christ's Body should come down from Heaven or the outward Elements which we receive be substantially turned into it than it is necessary in that other case that the very Houses and Lands should be given into the hands of the Son to make a real Delivery or Conveyance to them or the Will of the Father be truly and properly Changed into the very Nature and Substance of him Soul. THat which the Soul is in the Body that are Christians in the World for as the Soul is in and not of the Body so Christians are in but no part of the World. Justin Martyr He that feasts his Body but starves his Soul is like him that feasts his Slaves but starves his Wife Ephrahim Cirus As the Soul is the Life of the Body so the Life of the Soul is God When the Soul departs the Body dies when God departs the Soul dies Prosper The reasonable Soul made in the likeness of God may here find much Distraction or no full Satisfaction for it being capable of Good can be satisfied with nothing but God. Austin The Soul of Man says St. Austin is a Spiritual or Incorporeal Substance Sensible Invisible Reasonable Immortal Sinful Absurdities Saint Cyprian observes Twelve Absurdities in the Life of Man. 1. A Wise Man without good Works 2. An Old Man without Religion 3. A Young Man without Obedience 4. A Rich Man without Alms. 5. A Woman without Shamfacedness 6. A Guide without Virtue 7. A Poor Man that is Proud. 8. A King that is Unjust 9. A Bishop that is Unjust 10. A Bishop that is Negligent 11. People without Discipline 12. Subjects without Law. Sin. GOD Condemns none before he Sins nor Crowns any before he overcomes P. Lumbard It is best not to Sin and next that amend upon the Punishment Justin Martyr Our Sins being Sins against the Infinite Majesty of God none but our Saviour who also is an Infinite Majesty both God and Man can make Satisfaction for them Bishop of Hereford's Legacy When Sinners have no sence of their Spiritual Condition it is plain they are dead in Sin the Tokens of Eternal Death are upon them Mead. In Deut. 5.25 28 29. They promise to fear God and keep his Commandments but they wanted a new Heart to perform what an unsanctified Heart had promised There is a strife against Sin in one and the same
We can hardly spare time for God because we Love him too little but we have abundance of spare time for our Idle Aversions only because we love them too much Sir Thomas Howard was wont to say That the less others set by him the more he would set by himself God makes his Love sensible to the faithful Soul and saith to it by the Presence of his Spirit Soul I am thy Salvation and the Soul saith to him Lord thou art my God I am thine save me teach me to do thy Will God Communeth with the Soul by his Word and Spirit that is by Prayer and Holy Meditations Pe. Du Moulin 39. All the Deliverances that God sendeth his Children all the Blessings that God poureth out upon them they take them as Productions of the Fatherly love of God who hath Adopted them in his Son they taste that love in the Enjoyments of present Goods they breathe that love in hope of future and eternal Good they rest upon that love when they sleep they rest upon that love in the Occurrences of their Life with what face soever the World looks upon them they see thro' them the evident love of God being certain that nothing happens to them but is directed by the good hand of their loving Father Ib. 37. Life to come THe Life to come is blessed Eternity certain Security a secure Quietness quiet Joyfulness happy Eternity and Eternal Felicity Lyes A Lye as Mountane saith is only to brave it towards God and to be a Coward towards Man for a Lye faceth God and shrinketh from Man. Lusts AS a great shower of Rain puts out the force of Fire so Meditations of God's Word puts out the Fire of Lusts in our Souls Maxims VIdeo Rideo is God's Motto on Affronts Video tacio was Queen Elizabeths And Prudens qui Patiens Sir Edward Cooks Melancholy A Mind in the dark of Melancholy and Trouble feareth every thing Mistakes in Divinity THere will be Mistakes in Divinity whil'st Men Preach And Errors in Government whil'st such Govern. Mirth and Vanity SIR Edward Fines would say That he that would be Merry for a Day let him be Trim'd He that would be Merry for a Week let him Marry He that would be Merry for a Year let him Build And he that would be Merry for Ages let him Improve his Land. Marriage HOly Marriage says St. Austin is better than proud Virginity Meekness THeodosius Senior Commanded That he that Reviled and spoke Evil of him should not be Punished because if it proceeded from levity it is not to be regarded if of Madness it was to be pittied if of Injury received it is to be Pardoned in them Malice Origen saith That Gods Providence hath ordered all things for some End or Purpose He made not Malice and tho' he can restrain it yet he will not for if Malice were not Virtue should not have a contrary and so should not shine so clear For the Malice of Joseph's Brethren was the means whereby God brought many admirable works of his Providence as the Story sheweth Mass AT Rome saith Luther I heard them say Mass in such a manner as I detest them For at the Communion Table I heard Curtesans laugh and boast of their Wickedness And others concerning the Bread and Wine on the Altar saying Bread thou art and Bread thou shalt remain Wine thou art and Wine thou shalt remain Martyrdom IGNATIVS said of his Tormentors That the Lions Teeth are but like a Mill for tho' it bruiseth yet wasteth not the good Wheat only prepares and fits it to be pure Bread Let me says he be broken by them so I may be a pure Manchet for Heaven Mr. Latimer being ready to be burnt said God is faithful that will not suffer us to be Tempted above that we are able c. When the Fire was brought he said to Bp. Ridley Be of good Comfort Brother and play the Man we shall this day light such a Candle by Gods Grace in England I trust shall never be put out Mr. John Philpot in a Letter which he wrote to Mr. John Careles then a Prisoner in the Kings-Bench he thus writes I am in this World in Hell and in the shadow of Death but he that for my deserts hath brought me down into Hell shall shortly lift me up into Heaven where I shall continually look for your coming and others of my faithful Brethren in the King's-Bench And tho' I tell you I am in Hell in the judgment of the World yet I assuredly feel in the same the Consolation of Heaven Praised be God their loathsom and horrible Prison is pleasant to me Mercy CHrisostom says God had rather Men should love him than fear him to be called Father rather than Master He wins by Mercy that he may not perish by Justice Only a Godly Man knows how to make use of Mercies Neatness SIr Edward Cook was wont to say It is profitable to be Neat that the outward Neatness of the Body may be a moniter of the purity of our Souls Negotiating USE such Persons as affect the Business wherein they are to be Employ'd for that quickneth much and such are fit for the matter As bold Men for Expostulation fair spoken Men for Persuasion crafty Men for Enquiry and Observation Froward and Absur'd Men for Business that doth not well bear out it self Use such as have been Lucky and prevailed before in things wherein you have employed them for they will endeavour to maintain their Prescription It is better sound a Person with whom he deals a far off than to fall on the Point at first except you mean to surprise him by some short Question Lord Bacon's Essays Nobility NObility without Virtue is a Disgrace Virtue without Nobility is low but Nobility adorned with Virtue and Virtue embellished by Nobility raiseth a Man as high as Nature reacheth and he in whom these two Concur have all the Glory a Man can attain unto that is both an inclination and a power to do well In the Life of Francis Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury Obedience LET it be thy serious and fixed purpose every Morning through the assistance of Grace not willingly or knowingly to commit any Sin or to do any thing thy Conscience shall tell thee is displeasing to God but if contrary to thy serious intention through Infirmity sudden Surprisal violence of Temptation or Incogitancy thou do'st at any time fall humble thy self before the Lord bewail and confess thy Faults with sorrow and grief and speedily recover thy self by a serious Repentance by flying to the Blood of Christ for Pardon Our Natures must be renued before the Command can be rightly obeyed Mat. 7.18 Whatsoever a Mans performances are they cannot be called Obedience whilst the Heart remains unregenerate because the Principle is false and unsound Every duty done by a Believer is accepted of God as part of his Obedience to the Will of God tho' it be done in much