anguish for Christs sake Saint Paul is a notable example unto us of this kind and if thus wee dye dayly as Christians wee shall never be afraid to dye as men wee shall be ever ready for death and so farre from shrinking backe that wee shall boldly meet it it shall be no losse but gaine unto us no end of life but the beginning of a better while wee fly death we runne into sinne headlong yet is there no death so bad Oh that wee could once truely learne to dye that we might live for ever Many are dead which thinke themselves alive Many to avoid a temporall death do lose those things without which life is nothing worth the parting of the soule from the body is no death but the parting of God from the soule if the body without breath be but a carcasse what is a Christian without grace but a painted tombe Our first birth is the death of that life which the infant drawes from his mother and the body is borne into the world for sense and growth by our second birth which is the death of the body the soule is borne into the kingdome of heaven to live a new life from the body for there it understands without phantasie or common sense it seeth without eyes heareth without eares maketh it selfe understood without speech And as the birth of the body into the world is a better life than that which the Infant had in his mothers wombe so must the birth of the soule into heaven be a better life than that of the body by how much the faculties of the soule are more excellent than the bodily senses In our mothers wombe we lived as plants in the world wee lived as men in heaven wee shall live as the Angels neither are soule and body parted so as they shall never meet againe for the body no doubt doth naturally long for the soule and the soule beareth a love to the body Therefore by a holy ordinance of the Lord they abide one anothers absence for a while that they may come together againe as man and wife with the greater comfort the body is gone downe into the grave to leave there his shame of mortality of weakenesse of corruption necessity without all which after the resurrection it shall returne to the soule and the soule trimmed and tricked up in glory like a fresh spouse shall receive the body into the same glory and both shall be received into God and dwell with him for ever Death then is called so onely as it doth appoare unto us and others which live here but in very deed and by the benefit of Christ the state of the dead is the very true life everlasting neither is the birth of the child a greater hope of life in the world than is this of the soule in the death of the body of the life both of body and soule to be glorisied in the kingdome of heaven Many think on death to be more vicious as Epicures Let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall dye some will not thinke at all on death and they live neither the longer nor the better but are sure to die much the worse When wee thinke on death which are Christians it should make us live very justly and soberly because wee looke for a Kingdome after death where none enter but the righteous Oh my soule and body if wee must needs part how soone wee know not let us do it willingly to overcome necessity resistance is vaine obedience is profitable let us provide for that which else will prevent us let us make use of death as some do of money which else lyes dead let us die in the Lord to the Lord this is the best advantage Meditation 44. Last Judgement VVEe cannot avoide either judgment or death when sicknesse summous us to the one doth not our conscience to the other and in this life God hath his tryalls judgements executions so that men of times are forced to cry out Justus es Domine just a sunt judicia tua but because the wicked observe them not and God doth desire to appeare unto men rather as a mercifull father than a severe Judge therefore the Majesty the Authority the severity of his judgment is hid unto us so farre that wee are bound to beleeve that he will come to judge a thing which else we would never dream of Though then we see no examples of this judgement as yet neither can conceive the form therof yet do wee beleeve it and that there is a certaine time appointed for it they that looke not for it with joy shall abide it with sorrow that is that last and finall judgement wherein all causes shall be opened all persons censured all workes rewarded what hath hitherto beene suspended shall now be sentenced and never more altered Marke the preparation unto it the heavens shall passe away with noyse the elements shall melt with fervent heat the sea shall be dried up and the earth shall be burnt with all her workes then a summoning trumpet shall sound and awake up all those that sleepe in the silence of death and they together with the living shall be caught up then shall the Judge appeare visibly above in flaming fire compassed about with infinite thousands of Angels ready to do his will A strange judgement towards no doubt whether we respect the Judge or the parties which are to make their appearance or the sentence it selfe the wisdome of the Judge is such that hee cannot be deceived hee knoweth all causes without information things past are to him present and things to come hee made mans heart and findeth out every corner and turning thereof hee heares our words before wee speake them and knowes our thoughts before wee act them we do not will without his power though without his allowance nor worke without his privity though without his consent nay he knowes our purposes before wee are fully resolved and our thoughts before wee conceive them and our workes without producing any witnesse his justice is such that he cannot pervert judgment for favour or bribes his will is the rule of all righteousnesse and therefore hee can favour no cause but that which is right and if hee could be unrighteous what bribe might winne him which wanteth nothing his power is such that all must abide his decree here lyes no appeale no prohibition can be granted againstit no pardon obtained his jealousie shall take on harnesse and hee shall arme the creature to be avenged of his enemies hee shall put on righteousnesse for a breast-plate and take unfained judgement instead of an helmet equity shall be his shield and his fierce wrath as a sharpe sword and his troop are the whole compasse of the world Now what are the parties which are to appeare and abide tryall Adam and his posterity from the first man to the last that shall be borne here shall they be judged which have beene heretofore Judges
I am bound to bee thankfull unto him in which I am to take comfort this is my duty to follow his calling to be obedient to his government herein standeth my eternall happinesse or bee it that I doe not beleeve or love God or live in his feare yet is not this in my power to amend or have I any just cause of excuse examine not Gods decrees by thine owne reason or those lawes of justice which wee are bound to observe feare his Majesty humble thy selfe before his presence seeke his mercy receive not grace in vaine there is no way to heaven but a holy life and hee that purposeth thou shouldest besaved doth call thee to faith and repentance If thou avoid the meanes to attaine unto either thou â—…est thy selfe out and art an â—…my to thine owne Soule if thâ—… come unto God he will not reject thee wherefore aske for grace that thou maist come without which thou shalt never come and it is necessary for thee to know this lest thou shouldest trust to nature and not seeke grace or despaire when thou seest thou canst not attaine unto it by thine owne strength Aske not how he is mercifull which saveth a few and condemneth many how he is just which by his will so bringeth it about that wee are all in the cause of damnation but beleeve it aske not why God doth not change the wills of wicked men with whom and in whom hee doth not cease to worke but reverence his decree whose judgments are just though unknowne But thou art much troubled and vexed to heare this doctrine and so are many others this trouble this vexation if thou belong to God shall turne to thy good for it shall so humble and cast thee downe that thou shalt wholly depend on God and give him his glory but if thou belong not to him thou shalt complaine and murmure more and more and be nothing the better nothing the neare for God will not cease to be God though wee beleeve not nor good though we be wicked But who will care to beleeve to amend his life to strive against sinne if it be not in us if without us God have disposed of us surely none of himselfe can or will they only doe whom God doth vouchsafe to enable The word of God which is his revealed and conditionall will is unto some the savor of life unto life and unto others the savor of death unto death to none the savor of life but to those that beleeve to none the savor of death but to those that beleeve not he will have all men to be saved if they will them selves and hee forsakes none but they that forsake him these things are for us to marke and observe yet to beleeve or not to beleeve to will salvation or to will it not doe depend upon a higher will whose law is unknowne to us wee must live by that which is revealed and adore that which is hidden from us so shall wee neither neglect our duty nor deprive God of his glory and majesty Meditation 5. Of Patience THere is none which can bee merry none rich none well friended none in authority none have ever good successe more safely then a Christian for in all these he useth a good conscience yet because such a streame of prosperity is dangerous to mans frailty hee is not to looke for his heaven here but elsewhere because he is now in triall not in triumph a pilgrim and not at home that many troubles must bee suffered either to purge him of vice or for his better exercise of vertue and both to Gods glory I see nothing more necessary for him then Patience a vertue which doth harden him to follow Christ willingly and quickly in bearing the Crosse and if wee consider our Saviours life wee may observe that he used no one vertue more then Patience not only in his Passion but in the whole course of his life which as it were nothing but a Passion throughout so was it but an exercise of his continuall patience wee must suffer many things of our adversaries which will oppose themselves to our vocation it is not in our power to put them by and take them quietly wee cannot without patience Yea which is worst of all God will seeme sometimes to be against us and taking from us inward consolation will leave us to sorrow and sadnesse of spirit as if we were forsaken these things befell unto our Lord who used Patience as the best remedy teaching us not only to beare his Crosse but how to beare it also till it shall please God to returne againe unto us with comfort Wee must have patience to beare great tentations as well as small and to beare them as long as it pleaseth God whether great or small great troubles will need great Patience and small troubles enduring long no small Patience Now the Christian is to be exercised grievously continually because God meanes to make him partaker of a great victory a great reward Faith is necessary for our entrance into the Church hope to nourish faith and love is the fruit of faith and briefe of all the Commandements see here the summe of divinity But without Patience wee cannot abide in the Church for being once offended wee shall lose them except we have Patience Why is it said Woe bee to him that hath lost patience belike it is the last losse If a Master of a Ship lose his Anchor or Maine-mast or a Saile those are great losses yet to be repaired but if it be said once he hath lost his Ship wee know hee hath lost all and perhaps himselfe too so if wee lose a time of Prayer or the exercise of reading and meditation an occasion of doing good if wee stagger in faith these are heavy losses indeed yet particular and recoverable but if it be said wee have lost Patience what meanes it but that wee have lost all and our selves too Wherefore well is it said Woe be unto him that hath lost Patience Patience is as it were the second concoction of all vertues and drawes from them whatsoever is for the strength and nourishment of a Christian life if this be weake in working our strength is small From faith Patience drawes confidence from Hope perseverance from Love cheerfulnesse They which are Saints in Heaven are said to have Palmes in their hands a resemblance of Patience by which they are victorious Patience is a remedy in those causes which nothing else can remedy Shew thy faith to the persecutor he will not suffer thee to enjoy it except thou wilt lose liberty goods friends and life what will become now of thy faith except thou have Patience shew thy charity to thine enemy hee will despise it hee will wrong thee still more and more what then will become of thy charity if thou have not Patience let it bee knowne that thou art an upright man the Devill will tempt thee outwardly and inwardly and what will become
betweene Faith and profession but if his Workes bee good and godly thou maist boldly presume that the Sunne of righteousnesse is risen on him and hath with his beames of Religion enlightned him wherefore James saith Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this to visit the fatherlesse and widowes in their adversities and to keep himselfe unspotted of the world marke how he judgeth of Religion not by Faith but obedience and yet there is no Religion pure but by Faith because Faith is also to be tried by obedience in the sight of men as obedience by Faith before God And Christ useth the same direction Hereby shall all men know you are my Disciples if yee love one another and love as yee know containeth all duties of the Law and hence is Christs answer in the Gospell to such as shall say at the day of judgment Have not wee taught and preached and done great Workes in thy name Depart from me I know you not all yee workers of iniquity Christ looked not on their profession but practice There is a knowledge of the truth and that wee have from Faith beleeving in the Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and there is an experience of the truth when the vertue of these things beleeved doth worke in our lives as when by the power of Christs Death wee die unto sinne and by the power of his Resurrection wee arise unto newnesse of life and by the power of his Ascension are heavenly minded When wee are come to knowledge wee passe on to trust and confidence by applying to our selves the promises of the Gospell so when wee are come to this trust wee must passe on to experience and triall in our lives by imitating those things in our selves which Christ hath done for us this is that which Saint Paul saith wee all behold as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the spirit of God God sheweth his face open to us in the Gospell wee behold it by Faith wee are changed into the same by speciall trust and confidence that the things there promised belong unto us as remission of sinnes the righteousnesse of Christ freedome from death and the gift of eternall life and wee passe from glory to glory by the experience spoken of when the vertue of the things wee beleeve doth worke in our lives and make us holy as he is holy and wee have both righteousnesse inherent and imputed and for this cause Paul speaking of the same matter to the Philippians doth not count himselfe perfect or to have as yet attained the full end of his calling for though he had begun in the first degree to beleeve and gone forward to the second for application yet had he much to doe in the last as long as it should please God to lend him life But you will say what doth the vertue of Christs Passion Resurrection and Ascension belong to us As the sap of the stock belongs to the graft so wee being grafted into Christ by a lively Faith that vertue of his whereby hee overcame death rose againe and ascended must needs grow up in us to bring forth like fruits and to signify this union he in other places is called the head and the faithfull members of the same body a vine and the faithfull branches of the vine and how this union is made betweene Christ and the faithfull the Sacrament of Christs blessed body and bloud doth not only represent but that it is done also as often as the faithfull doe rightly receive the same it doth testify and therefore there is not bare bread or a signe only but the body and bloud of Christ really yet not grosly as the Papists imagine but after a heavenly manner to the Soule to Faith neither is it necessary for this union and the benefit thereof that it should be locall so as Christs body must enter into ours but when Faith doth embrace Christ crucified for us that the Spirit whose power is not tied to distance of places make the faithfull man partaker of those gifts and graces of his redemption which can be no otherwise derived unto him but from the humane nature of Christ which suffered and as hee is a member of Christ Meditation 11. Of Merit THere is a great question betweene the Papists and us what workes please God best either such as are done to Merit or of duty they say workes done of duty have lesse zeale but belike they separate duty from love wee say workes done to Merit savor more of pride and cannot please God of themselves because they want duty and if wee should joine with them in an issue about zeale it might bee proved that their zeale for the glory of God is not so great which worke to Merit as the others Saint Paul as appeareth in his Epistle to the Philippians wrought not to Merit but of duty and love he which worketh to Merit must remember what is past and examine all his workes from the beginning to the end whether they be worhty that reward which he meanes to challenge but Saint Paul working of duty forgot what was past as though he had done nothing and his mind was only on that which he might be able to do farther as long as God would give him life according to that of our Saviour When yee have done all that you can say you are unprofitable servants as if he should say thinke so meanly of what you have done that you count it your duty to doe much more as long as you live even as much as you can and yet shall you be unprofitable servants both in respect of the grace used and not turned to the best advantage and in respect of the glory to bee received for which you can give no worthy recompence saving that it is the fathers will for my sake to give it to you what he hath promised he will in justice performe Belike Christ when he spake so much of duty meant to take zeale from workes nothing at all but to adde the more love and willingnesse which is the cause of zeale to the base and slavish mind a benefit past is of no force whereas the free and gentle heart is disposed towards a good turne received but because both they and wee agree thus farre that good workes are necessary let us rather busy our selves about doing well then disputing wittily God grant that I may remember I am a Christian if this bind me not to doe good nothing will if I doe unfeignedly what I can God will bee mercifull where I faile and Christ will rather want merits then I shall want reward Meditation 12. Pastorall cure THey which know what belongs to a flock are not ignorant of the care of a Shepheard or the necessities of Sheep neither is it an unworthy consideration for out of Shepheards have been taken Kings and Kings in time
this dulnesse is to converse with God and to keep our hearts in ure with him by calling to mind every day his benefits generall particular corporall spirituall what he hath done for thy Soule already what he will doe farther then to examine thy selfe how thou hast beene answerable that day for such kindnesse and love unto thee then to fall to prayer asking pardon for thy sinnes with a faithfull and penitent heart and entring into a new league betweene God and thy Soule to forsake sinne more earnestly and to serve God more carefully then in times past Meditation 14. Of Joy IT is good to rejoyce ever and never to rejoyce I meane carnally wee must not set up Joy as an Idol in our hearts as though there were no higher matter if a man ask us why wee are merry wee can say nothing but because wee love to be merry yet ought wee to preferre God to our Joy and the glory of God the good of our Neighbour and the health of our Soules wee must so rejoyce in temporall things that wee barre not our selves from heavenly comforts wee must be so familiar with outward things that wee grow nothing the more strange with God if otherwise wee sell our birth-right for Esaus Broth Canaan for the flesh-pots of Egypt and as it is commonly said Wee goe out of Gods blessing into a warme Sunne Take heed then to thy selfe it is lawfull for thee to use the blessings of God for thy necessity I say more for thy comfort and recreation so farre forth as doth concerne thy person yea thy state and calling but if thou use them for thy recreation only and have no farther or better end thou wilt quickly fall to the abuse respecting rather what thy appetite doth crave then God allowes God allowes no such use of his creatures as makes thee the lesse able or willing to serve him wherefore a restraint at least in affectation touching these things is better then by loosing too much the reins to our unruly flesh to suffer it to take the bridle and runne away let the feare of God be the steward of our expences and it shall make a good account for us if it cause us to passe by many worldly delights yet wil yield unto our consciences the sounder comfort for God doth bring unto him the joyes of the Holy Ghost which willingly forsakes outward pleasures the later end of such joyes is woe but of this it is said No man shall take it from you Wilt thou rejoyce ever me thought I heard thee say so bee sad ever to the world if thou smile with it let it bee from the teeth outward ingage not thy heart A strange Paradox that a man should bee sorry to make himselfe merry and these as strange wee must stand in feare to make our selves bold wee must bee fooles to bee made wise wee must die that wee may live Meditation 15. Humane reason IS not this our common answer Have I not reason to do as I doe yet are wee not to live by reason but by faith wheras we should rather say Doth not Gods word warrant mee to do as I do If Religion were but the improvement of Reason how would men entertaine it as their owne wheras now they suspect it as a stranger Many have thought that the Articles of Religion might winne credit from principles evident to the light of nature and that Philosophy hath laid as good grounds as Divinity Surely Humane learning can convince us well enough of many things wee doe but cannot bring us forward In that wee ought to doe for salvation it was a power in nature created to obey and beleeve if it would but now in nature decaied it is a want and it is not in mans will to beleeve and obey the truth and the misery is that it knoweth not how to find what it hath lost nor so much as that it hath lost any thing without a borrowed light the word of God is the powerfull meanes whereby the Holy Ghost which worketh inwardly in our hearts doth impart this light unto us our Reason is naturall Faith supernaturall Reason is the begining of Knowledge but Faith of Religion The Papists will say they have more Reason for their Religion then we for Free will Satisfaction Merits Purgatory Prayers Latine Service Images Pilgrimages Hierarchy stand all upon good grounds of Reason Let us give them what they aske wee may the more boldly challenge truth without which there is no Religion and to protest freely what wee maintaine and wherein wee desire by Gods grace to die wee follow not Reason in making choice of Religion but Gods word searching to understand the harder places and easy keeping our selves within the proportion of Faith refusing not the helpe of Humane learning for the phrase or story neither the testimony of better times by this word wee learne that man hath no good will nor hath his will power to returne to God untill grace make the will willing which of it self is unwilling and then but not till then doth it work with grace What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary By the word of God wee learne that there is no satisfaction for sins besides the death of Christ no merit to eternall life but his righteousnesse that sinnes are all mortall by nature though not equall that mans righteousnesse though done in grace is unperfect What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary By the word of God wee learne that bread in the Sacrament is not turned into the very body of Christ nor wine into his bloud yet that it is his very body and bloud to the faithfull communicant who is made partaker of whole Christ not by a grosse and fleshly incorporation but a ghostly and effectuall union What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary By Gods word wee learne that worshipping of Images amongst Christians is but a setting up of Idols as amongst the Heathen that Prayers in a strange tongue for the dead are neither devotion nor charity What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary By Gods word wee learne that Religion consisteth not in Popish shrift Penance difference of Meats Apparell Fasting Pilgrimage Reliques Crossing Holy-oile Holy-water Holy-bread Holybeades Holy-bells What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary to the decay of Christian obedience which consisteth in an inward mortisication and outwardly in a patient bearing of Christs crosse By the word of God wee learne that Christ is the only head of the Church and doth still governe the same by his spirit and word from which Gods Ministers or Priests fetch all their authority and hath not given over his place to another which should take authority above the word What if Reason deny this and teach the contrary By the word wee learne that the Scriptures have sufficient instruction to salvation What if Reason deny it and put us farther over to traditions revelations miracles to enforce doctrines contrary to the
wherefore as the desire of Society betweene man and man hath erected States and Weales publique so the desire of Society betweene God and man hath caused Churches and holy Assemblies for they are a number of such men which not regarding the world or the fashions of it do desire the acquaintance and familiarity of God having a speciall care in all their doings that in nothing they offend his presence which vouchsafeth to be amongst them as his owne children and friends Our blessed Saviour knowing how necessary it was for man to recover this Society with God lost by the fall of our first progenitor Adam and desiring to be the author of so great a good unto us all did in his owne person ratify the band or league of our reconciliation with God for being everlastingly God as the Sonne the second person in the Trinity he took unto the same our humane nature and so became both God and man and one true Immanuel of which nature it is truly said that the fulnesse of the Godhead dwelleth in it bodily and all wee which be made bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh are also partakers of this fellowship not only to dwell with God and God with us but also for the nearnesse thereof to dwell in God and God in us but wee must remember this still for a chiefe point in this argument that wee have no communion nor fellowship with God but by Jesus Christ and that this loving league and sociable familiarity doth proceed wholly from his incarnation and in the use of this most singular blessing doth consist all the happy content which man may reap here in this life or in that which is to come I meane if wee converse and keep company with God as he on the other side doth most lovingly offer himselfe unto us for this only are wee borne and this is truly to live and without this wee are rather shadowes then men or very beasts in mans shape Oh man how hath the Lord ennobled thee didst thou not debase thy selfe he calls thee to be a favorite in his Court and thou hadst rather shift up and downe as a base peasant in the Devills countrey he would make thee a Lord over all things in his right but thou choosest rather to be a slave to the world sure of nothing but misery It is the chiefest commendation of good men that they walke with God and the shame of the wicked that they walk with the world they which converse with God are not much addicted to this life not because they despise the commodities thereof but seeing they are much abused they are wary how they medle or looking for better they make the lesse reckoning of them wherein they take no losse as is supposed but procure to themselves no small advantage for when it so comes to passe that they must part with life they doe it with the greater quietnesse and comfort of mind and wheresoever it be that death wait for them they are the readier for it which the worldly man is never and in the meane while none use life better then they or make more account to spend it well but it is rather to draw towards God then to seek any farther acquaintance with the world But some will say the world offereth it selfe unto us in every place but God is farre from us and so strange unto us that wee know not how to have any acquaintance with him A strange saying indeed of him which is made after Gods Image and cannot live or move or have his being but in him which is compassed about and closed in with his wonderfull workes and dayly benefits so that if he would seek he might by groping easily find him which by reason of these things whereby he hath made himselfe knowne cannot be farre from us but this principle of nature is oft times darkned in men by evill custome or wicked malice and moreover not able of it selfe to bring men forward to this familiarity or acquaintance with God and therefore God offereth himselfe and the godly walk with him by other meanes as by his word where they find the helpe of his Spirit by the Sacraments by prayer meditation a godly life for as by certaine obsequious offices wee infinuate our selves into the favour and familiarity of men so these are the duties whereby wee living here in this world are made neare and deare unto God the poorest wretch in the world that walketh with God which is in his favour and sets the Lord before his eyes in all his doings is happier for the present time then the greatest Monarch on earth which saith as Pharaoh did Who is the Lord and shall hereafter find more happinesse then all the world could ever bestow Most unworthy wee which envy the ordinary favours of a Prince unto our brethren and would come betweene them and home if possibly wee might whereas wee might have accesse unto God and seek it not and if wee have it wee rely not so much on it as they doe on the grace or countenance of a mortall man What doe not they adventure which are so backt and how many of them shrink away unto whom God doth say I am with thee I will not faile thee or forsake thee I speak out of my owne feeling let others take the matter as they list I doe specially condemne my selfe in those two points first for that I seek the Lords most loving grace and sweet acquaintance with no more heat and zeale secondly because that when I find it I am no more thankfull unto God for it neither am so strengthned by it and go on in Christian duties as I should The Lord have mercy on mee and grant mee grace ever to see my errours to confesse and repent for them not pleasing my selfe in any knowne weaknesse but alwaies striving to overcome get out of it Meditation 38. Non-parity of sinnes AS an aptnesse to laugh or weep is a property which necessarily followes the nature or kind of man and is affirmed of the whole alwaies and of his owne right so guilt doth follow sinne and makes the sinner subject to the guilt of the Law which is death There is then no sinne so light which of his owne nature doth not deserve death or to which a pardon is due of course without an infinite satisfaction yet are not all sinnes equall for neither doe they offend God alike nor find the like punishment howbeit by a consequent to the true Christian all sinnes are veniall and to the unbeleever all mortall as they are ever of their owne nature And it is not amisse to observe a farther difference that there is sinne which beareth the whole sway in a man such are the sinnes of the wicked and there is sinne which doth but remaine and dwell in man because there is a resistance and head made against it by the better part and is at last expelled by grace and thus are the godly and
aske pardon for his offences or be beholding unto him for his mercy but doth still repine and grind the teeth against God as though hee did him great wrong Now how like unto him are men in these points which loving the faults they do commit hate the lawes which they breake and cannot abide any order or state under God which hindereth their wicked designments counting themselves better and more noble than others because they despise lawfull authority disgracing them that be good and having no goodnesse do boast of strength that the sway of the world is on their side which scorn to acknowledge their faults and thinke so well of themselves as though they needed not to have any favour which are as resolute in their evill purposes as though they had made a covenant with death and league with hell saying they had rather goe to hell with good fellowes than live with such peevish professors as know not how to laugh and be merry Our blessed Saviour the eternall Word which was in the fulnesse of time made flesh which dwelled amongst us and wee saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth as hee paid the price of our redemption by his death so hee left his life going before as an example to reforme us to the image of God decayed in us by sinne and amongst all his excellent vertues wee are specially to imitate these two which are opposite to the devils malice and pride his charity and humility his charity so great towards his heavenly Father and us men that because his Father would have it so and our misery might by this meanes be done away hee became obedient thus farre not onely to live amongst us a meane man and to endure our necessities but also to suffer a most painfull and shamefull death for us and to beare all our sorrowes and so much he loveth obedience that he accounteth all them his brethren which live in it and for them hath prepared his grace and glory yea hee rejoyceth in a little flocke which heareth his voyce and breaketh the nations in pieces with a rod of iron like a potters vessell which breake his bonds and cast his cords from them his humility so great that though there was never sinne or the least spot of uncleannesse which did cleave to him yet he became our surety taking on himselfe our sins and in our person doth acknowledge himselfe a grievous sinner and doth aske pardon and receive mercy for us to the forgivenesse of all our sinnes teaching us evermore to confesse our sinnes unto God and to seeke for grace and favour by him who is both willing and able to grant whatsoever wee need and if wee aske in faith no good thing will hee deny unto us and let the devill rage with his malice and pride let him set all his devises and instruments on worke to confound us if God be on our side we care not who be against us Meditation 43. Mortification OUr life must be a continuall meditation of death so the Philosopher but the Christians life is no other than a continuall death and that by the example of his Lord whose whole life was nothing else but a preparation to death and all they which are heires of promise with Christ have the title on this condition that their lives be made conformable unto his death that whosoever looketh on them may see the image of Christ dying in them neither may they looke to come otherwise unto his life than by dying first which is not either the first or second death spoken of by Saint John in his Revelation when a man liveth in this world without grace in sinne or else suffereth elsewhere eternall punishment for sinne but in a daily dying as the Christian ought we shall avoid both these and be made partakers of the first resurrection here and of the second in the life to come The continuall death of a Christian is that which in the Scripture is called mortification which maketh us conformable in all our life to the death of Christ for as Christ died to deliver us from the guilt of sin to bring us to God so the Christian dyeth in himselfe as the child of Adam that sinne may have no power over him but that hee may be led by grace to doe all things to the glory of God and this death is first inwardly and is called a crucifying the old man the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof the law of the members which rebell against the spirit the unregenerate part this must wee kill and sacrifice and in this respect a Christian must daily die for though he doe every day what hee can to destroy sinne hee shall find new monsters spring up out of those heades which hee hath cut off which will procure him more labour Paul saith indeed they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof yet meaneth hee not that the flesh is utterly dead in any but that they keepe it so under awe and master it that it dyeth in them daily likewise hee saith they that live in the flesh cannot please God for in this part the Christian must be still dying that the spirit may live in him though a man die yet a constant man will be loath to deny himselfe Ttherefore this kind of mortification seemeth worse than death wee must deny our owne will our owne affections our owne reason we must be no greater adversaries to any than we are to our selves wee must rebuke our selves wee must barre our selves of many faire occasions of much liberty we must punish our selves this crucifying consisteth in a search and knowledge of our sinnes wee must not smother our sinnes or sooth up our selves but call a spade a spade we must be also sorry for our sinnes as sorry as ever we have beene for sicknesse shame or losse that ever lighted on us so sorry that nothing else be so sorrowfull unto us lastly we must hate sinne and cast it out as it were a serpent crept into our bosome and spet on it as wee would spet on a foule toade The second kind of mortification is outward is a submitting of our selves to dangers griefes and losses as poverty paine disgrace wrong for Christs sake and needs much patience for wee must have death still before our eyes and all deadly things this hath beene the portion of the Church at all times Wee are killed all the day long and are counted but sheepe for the slaughter saith the Psalmist and Saint Paul tels the Corinthians that he dies daily I dye daily he his owne words againe in the Acts to the brethren What doe yee weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not onely to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus And in another place the same Apostle I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in