in the words of St. Paul O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of sin and death Who can say he hath cleansed himself Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean But yer St. John saith that he that is born of God sinneth not because his seed remaineth in him and the 1 Epst c. 3. I have wrote unto you young men because you have overcome that wicked one Love not the world nor the things of the world And v. 6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not Whosever sinneth hath not seen him nor known him v. 7. Little children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous v. 9. He cannot sin because he is born of God v. 8. He that committeth sin is of the Devil Which Texts are not to be expounded in this sense that a Saint of God may not be overtaken or be temped so above his strength as to be overcome against his will as some suppose it is for then to what purpose doth the Apostle Paul enjoyne it as a duty if any one be overtaken with a fault restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness considering that thou thy self also mayest be tempted unless a good man might be overtaken and the argument too of the duty is positive that thou also who art to restore him mayest be tempted and overcome therefore do this duty to another and the promise of lifting up those that fall would be needless and those many exhortations of our Saviour all the Apostles to watchfulness and prayer circumspection and carefulness against temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil seducers and deceivers would little become so great teachers if there were no need at all of those duties and no danger in the neglect of them nor no possibility that the regenerate person could fall Then he that standeth needs not to take such heed least he fall and St. John himself also saith in the first Epistle chap. 5.17 All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death And in vers 16. If any Man see his Brother sin a sin that is not to death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death and 1 Epist ch 1. v. 8. If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive and ch 2. v. 1. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father c. But if we were absolutely free from sin and the power of sinning what need had we of our Advocate Therefore it seems by the opinion and consent of most Men that when he saith He that is born of God sinneth not he meaneth the same as St. Paul doth express saying It is not I but sin that dwelleth in me And again so with my Spirit I serve the Law of God but with my Flesh the Law of sin and the Law of his Members lead him Captive By which it appears That the inclination of his mind was to serve God in all holiness of Life and he delighted in that in his inward Man And if he chanced to do the contrary it was unwillingly and he counted it his unhappiness and bondage from which he endeavoured to get free Whereas the unregenerate Man counts sin his freedom and every holy observance of Gods Commandments his bondage And when his Conscience checks him and forceth him to any walking with God in religious duties it is thraldom and bondage to him For his course of Life and Conversation is to serve the Flesh and the World to walk in the ways of his own Heart and the sight of his eyes and is sorry that there is any Commandment to restrain him and desires not to know it at least in the strictness of it Again if a regenerate person chance to be overcome by his corruption and strength of Temptation he immediately not only loaths the sin but himself also that he is no better and would rather undergo all misery than fall into the same again And would foregoe all the enjoyments that he hath or hopes for in this World if he could but undoe what he hath misdone The unregenerate are not so and as Solomon describes the Harlot she wipeth her mouth and saith I have not sinned so do others in the state of Nature unless their sins be very gross say they have not sinned or if they confess their sins to God and pray for pardon they think it is enough to embolden them to sin afresh And as the Regenerate walk with God and premeditate and study not how they may commit a sin secretly and undiscovered so as to avoid the shame and punishment but how they may walk closely with God and avoid every Temptation and Snare of Satan so the unregenerate study and contrive to sin with advantage And that place of St. John that saith ye have overcome the evil one may be upon this ground that they have overcome the evil one many times and persist in the conquest of their corruption every day though peradventure some time the Devil may prevail to overcome them as it is said he shall bruise thy heel And though God never leaves Man to be overcome when he endeavours his utmost yet God may let him be overcome as Peter was to humble him in the sight of his own weakeness when he is confident of his strength that he may depend and rely more upon God and seek to him more and not rely upon his own strength but ascribe all to God and his grace And though St. Paul confesseth so much imperfection and St. John so much perfection both of them will agree in this that we are made perfect in Christ St. John further describeth the perfections of the regenerate 1 Ep. 5.4 Whosoever is borne of God overcometh the world And sheweth how in the following words and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our saith He tells us the particulars which he means namely The lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life which all are overcome for ch 3. v. 7. He saith That he that doth righteousnes is righteous And 10. Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God And 1 Ep. c. 5.18 We know that whosoever is borne of God sinneth not for he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and the wicked one toucheth him not Which touching certainly hath reference to the words before of sinning a sin not unto death and those words sinneth not have the same reference viz. He sinneth not de industria Pleno Animo Else no man will be found that it can be said of him that he sineth not Noah whom God mentioned for one of the three persons most acceptable to God of whom it is testified in the holy scriptures that he only was found righteous yet he was overtaken by the sin of
a noise in the ear without any profit would God require such love from us but that he is Love Gracious Merciful and full of compassion slow to anger hateth nothing that he hath made what can he say more free to thee though thou art as an adulterous Spouse to him yet thou maiest returne and he will receive thee again though thou bringest no merit but demerit to provoke He hath excluded none from his mercy unless they be such as will shew no mercy or else those that sin of malicious wickedness and sin in despight of the Spirit wilfully against light The entail of his mercy is to thousands of them that love him 2 Meditation on Gods Mercy Lord if thou shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss who may abide it but there is Mercy with thee c. LORD be merciful to me a sinner we have all sinned and hope in thy Mercy only through the merits of our Saviour If we were not sinners thy mercy would be of no use towards us And our Blessed Lord and Saviour would be of no use to us nor faith nor hope would be of any use nor prayer nor praises But because I am a sinner I pray for thy mercies I praise thee for thy mercies I hope for thy mercies I trust in thy mercy revealed to sinners I believe in the merits of my Saviour and renounce all merit in my self therefore Lord cast me not off because I am a sinner shut not out my prayers for this I will not sin that grace may abound but though I have sinned I am an object of Mercy and thy grace that abounded to Mary Magdalen to Paul to Publicans and sinners may also extend to me Thou hast sent thy Son to call not the Righteous but Sinners To the lost sheep of the house of Israel to seek and also to save that which was lost to quicken them who were dead in trespasses and sins To preach the glad tidings of the Gospel of our Salvation though thy Mercy in giving up thy Son to dye for us that by his death we might escape death and live because he bore the iniquities of us all and by his stripes we are healed That precious blood that he shed upon the ground when the speare was thrust into his body was a sufficient ransom for the lives of all man-kind And as my sins had a concurrent demer it procuring his death so I hope they are joyned in the effect the attonement and expiation That his righteousness may be imputed to me also as my sins were to him 2 Cor. 5. That I may be made the righteousness of God in him Therefore we have need that he should be made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption because we were foolish disobedient and deceived serving divers lusts and therefore hast thou proclaimed thy self abundantly pardoning because our sins abound Isa 55. As our Blessed Saviour is the chiefest and greatest of all mercies because he is of more value than all so is he also to be esteemed because in him as in the Fountain are all others contained for by him and faith in his merits only we pray for all others which we need therefore above all we praise thee for him and in him and by him we praise thee for all 3. Meditation All our spirituall mercies as well grace here as glory and eternal happiness hereafter are free without any merit of ours of meer gift and mercy Tit. 3.3 5. We our selves were sometimes disobedent c. But after the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared not by workes of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ c. He is the medium by whom they are derived to us and not our own merit of his fulness we have received grace for grace as the members derive their vital Spirits from the head The converting grace and the confirming graces are both free Ephe. 1.13 In whom after ye believed ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance He worketh in us both the will and deed that is good when of our selves we cannot think a good thought Therefore above all we pray that thou wouldst give us thy Son whom thou hast given for us all freely and then with him thou givest us all things and as a Father pittieth his own Children so doth the Lord pitty them that fear him Thy bowels cannot see them want any thing Let him live in us by his word by his Spirit by his image in us by his graces which we receive from his fulness let him be formed in us and by him dwelling in our hearts let us be crucified to the world and dye daily and be buried with him and yet live but so that we may be said not to live our selves but Christ in us Thus let the word and the Sacraments convey him to us Since thou hatest nothing that thou hast made and thy delight is among the Sons of men Pro. 1. Certainly thou dost not afflict nor grieve willingly the Sons of men Therefore when we cry unto the Lord in our trouble he delivers us out of distress Psal 104. He cannot forbear to kiss and embrace his prodigal Son O let thy revelation of thy love to man recall mans straying affections to God If we believe this our faith will work love to him again and we shall be as willing to be reconciled to him as he to be reconciled to us 2 Cor. 5.20 If while we were enemies Christ died for us whom hath he not died for who is excluded from his mercy much more being justified by his blood will he save us seeing he hath done so much for us when we were worse now that we are put in a better relation by the blood of Christ and are reconciled to him and made just persons much more now will he do the rest which is but the consequence of the justification to save us All this is free mercy Not of workes which we have done but of his own good will he begot us and accordingly we are justified freely by his grace 4. Meditation I find no condition annexed to be precedent to make a subject capable of mercy but only want and desire of mercy want I have without my own act or endeavour desire of relief too ariseth spontaneously without my endeavour and largeness of desire proceeds from a covetous mind an eye unsatisfied yet such is the ocean of mercy that it requires but only that we open our mouth wide and he will fill it as he promiseth As long as the widow brought empty vessels the Oyl ran he giveth liberally and upbraideth not he giveth more then we are able to ask or think the debtor doth but desire forbearance but the Lord forgives him the debt Jacob only desired food and
holiness to the Lord be writ upon us and all our common things Make every pot in Jerusalem like as the bolls before the Altar Pardon our iniquities heal our backslidings and receive us graciously Let the Sun of Righteousness arise on us with healing in his wings Subdue our iniquities and cast our sins into the bottom of the Sea Wash away our scarlet sins and make us clean and white as Snow Make the Lion to lye down with the Lamb and to cat straw with the Bullock Make the heart of the rash understand knowledge And let not the fool erre O Christ give thou light to them that sit in darkness Give sight to the blind Plant in the barren Wilderness the Fir-tree the Mirtle-tree the Cedar the Shitta-tree the Pine-tree the Olive and the Box-tree Make the barren Wilderness a standing water and water-springs in a dry ground Pour water upon the thirsty And give us all those means of grace which thou hast promised Give us Pastors according to thine own heart which shall feed us with knowledge and understanding and such as shall teach us by their lives as well as by doctrine And since thou hast appointed afflictions for means make us to rejoyce in them and hear the Rod. Water us every morning and every moment with the dew of grace and make our souls as a watered Garden As a Garden inclosed as a Fountain sealed that no polluting thing may come into us to defile us That we may be more pure in heart more holy delight in thee more and feed upon thy Word more That we may grow up like the Calves of the stall be fat and well liking That we may flourish in the Courts of the house of the Lord. That we may run and not be weary walk and not faint mount up with wings like an Eagle and renew our strength as an Eagle Give us all those means of improving our graces which thou hast promised Strengthen us sustain us support us and hold us up that we may not fall lead us and guide us in that way whorein we shall not stumble Make us to feed by the Rivers of Waters thy holy Ordinances upon thy holy Word and the Lord's Supper That the weak may be as David and the house of David as God That thy willing people may be more and more wiling that they may be zealous of good works alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that their labour is not in vain in the Lord. Quicken and water the means of Grace Make us able to mortifie our members more and deny our selves more to suffer losses sicknesses and afflictions more contentedly willingly and patiently put a new edge upon those motives which first moved us to forsake our lusts and the world to embrace the love of God and the fear of God the knowledge of God As the eyes of a servant are to the hands of his Master and the eyes of a Maid to the hands of her Mistress so let our eyes be ever upon thee for help strength and direction Give us the means of guarding and defending our selves against Satan All the Armour of Light the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit the Breast-plate of Righteousness and for a Helmet the Hope of Salvation Teach us the Art of well using all these pieces of this spiritual Armour both the defensive and the offensive that we may with them beat down every thought that exalteth it self against God Teach us all our military postures that we may be able to stand Watch thou over us though we our selves watch too and do thou keep us night and day for thy promise sake Bear us in thy hand as a man beareth his child Go with us never leave us nor forsake us Make us to know thy will and do it Be thou our guide unto death Direct thou our way and order our steps in thy Word Incline our heart that we may delight in thee Deliver us from every evil work Let no spiritual weapon formed against us prosper Preserve our bodies and souls blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and make us able to overcome all our spiritual enemies Lord whatever promises thou hast made to us thou madest them because thou didst desire to give us the things promised Thou only desiredst an opportunity from the receiver or to be sought to for them We seek to thee according to thy command therefore let thy mercy which first moved thee to promise them move thee now for thy Truths sake to give them as well all other thy promises as these mentioned And give us all those mercies which thou hast invited us to ask or thy Son hath invited us to seek Lord heal our blindness with thy eye-salve which thou hast invited the blind to seek of thee And strengthen our weak sight more and more that we may behold clearly the glory of the Lord and may be changed into the same image from glory to glory and may see the things of our eternal concernment Relieve our nakedness with those pure white Robes which thou hast invited the naked to buy of thee which will never be soiled nor wax old And relieve our poverty and penury with thy refined gold which will inrich to eternity which thou exposest to be sold to the poor and needy who have nothing to purchase it withall Shew us wherwith we poor blind and naked sinners shall purchase of thee these necessary supplies For if we continue without them we shall remain miserable and perish for lack of them Lord our raggs we are willing to part with for those unspotted Robes our wretched poverty for that refined gold and our blind eyes for that clear and quick sight which thy eye-salve will make in us that we may be capable of seeing the remedies of our poverty and nakedness Shew us how we may purchase of thee wine and milk without money and without price to relieve our thirsty souls Lord give us the thirst and desire of those precious liquors to satisfie our thirsts and do thou satisfie our souls with those Rivers of pleasure which are at thy Right hand for evermore And that we may lack no grace and thy relief may supply all our needs and spiritual wants Give us of the fulness of Christ Jesus grace for grace that we may know that be liveth in us as our Head and we in and by him Give us to be like him and to imitate him in all holiness Make us to walk as he walked that we may know that we are members of his body Give us Patience Humility Meekness Temperance Chastity and Charity Mortification and Vivisication Faith and Obedience of his fulness Give us all those graces that any of thy Saints and Servants have had and all those degrees of grace Give us all those graces which thou hast commanded us to have and all those degrees of grace Make us perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect Give us all those
present or afterwards doth speak against can that be gainful to a man that loseth his souls eternal salvation If the ship be drowned in the ocean all that is in it is drowned What gain can that be that is so short that in the next moment we must say it was and is not and for that we have lost eternal happiness Or had I lived the daies of Methusalem and all my daies had been daies of pleasure and this were my last day what would remain of profit of it all or what joy or satisfaction or comfort to beare me up against the fear of death would not a little tidings of death and Judgment confound me in the midst of my pomp and jovialty as it did Nebuchadnezzer Do not the wickedest when they sin think to repent of it and would they so if it were there gaine and commodity or if I should get by sin would not that gaine be loss should I not throw away riches gotten by unjustice upon my unfeigned repentance did not Judas throw away his 30 pieces what man in all the world either that repented or that repented not ever gained by sin What gained Adam or Cain the old world Jerusalem Sodom Sampson Lot David or Peter but besides that it costs the penitent sinner what hath it cost Christ therefore as thou hast made us reasonable men O Lord let us make choice of that that will make us happy thy favour and let us not sell it and all our happiness as it were for a mess of pottage If sinners think nothing too dear for sin let me think nothing too dear for Heaven When sinners cast away their souls for a lust and yet say that we lose our labour for Heaven how incompetent Judges are they but of holiness what fruit have we not what is it not profitable for either in this life or that which is to come it confers all that sin would strip us of That I may fear to sin Let me consider that our God is a consuming fire though he be ours so that we are his people yet our priviledges must not exempt us from this fear for thou hast commanded us to abstain from sin for this cause and all thy people Whoever sinned found thee a consuming fire to punish them as did David When he cried out My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments The Lords judgments were grievious upon him murther and rape committed in his house his Son drave him from his Throne so Eli felt this also when his Sons were vile and he lightly reproved them and Job when he felt one spark of this fire cryed out My soul chuseth strangling rather than life Therefore let all thy people consider the terrour of the Lord and remember that thou art a consuming fire and let them walk in the fear of the Lord and the comforts of the Holy Ghost And as they call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth every man according to his works so let them pass the time of their so journing here in fear remembring that our blessed Saviour could not escape this fire when he undertook the work of satisfaction for sinners but cryed out under it My God my God why hast thou forsaken men And in respect of our proneness to sin against God let us keep our selves with this as with a bridle and curb and to keep up our vigilancy for religious duties working out our salvation with fear and trembling considering what it is to fall into the hands of the Lord Knowing that it is not a sinful servile fear which is to fear the smart more than the offending of God for this hath an enmity joyned with it for whom we fear with servile fear we hate but this filial fear proceeds from love and the tender sense of God's displeasure against sin And though we could say with the Apostle Paul that we know we have a house in Heaven yet was he still keeping under his body for fear of sinning For the Righteous shall be recompenced on earth and where shall the ungodly and sinner appear To these the Lord shall come in flaming fire rendring vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the Gospel He will wound the head of his enemies He that believeth not shall be damned His wrath shall be poured out like fire The indignation of the Lord shall consume his adversaries The damned spirits and fallen Angels are under this fire But thou hast given thy Son Christ to be a Saviour to save thy people from it O Lord save us through our dear Saviour's merits from this worm that never dies and fire that never goes out and let thy people fear not those who can hurt the body only but those who can hurt both soul and body and cast both into Hell fire Lord thou hast pronounced them cursed who do thy work negligently yet how negligent am I in all religious duties and my heart goes sometimes after covetousness and sometimes after vanities O give me thy grace that I may serve thee with a perfect heart That I may seek thee with my whole heart Let me not think to divide my heart to God and Mammon because it is thine all and thou wilt have all or none because thou madest it and Christ hath bought it Let me not be weary of these duties but be willing to labour in them and wear out my body in them and strive with zeal wrestling with the Lord for a blessing since I have experience that thou art a God hearing prayer and hast not stopped thine ear to mine O Lord God I am not holy but thou hast promised we shall be all holy and required that we should be holy as thou art holy how infinitely short doth the best of men come of this pattern The Apostle Paul confesses he was carnal sold under sin and that he had not attained but pressed forward that he might attain Lord give us with him to see our sinfulness that we may in like manner as he was be stirred up to strive after holiness and fulfil thy promise That we shall all be holy Lord inlighten my understanding that I may see what a shameful thing sin is that the very brute beasts do not so brutishly as sinners For the Oxe and Ass who know their owners reprove them who refuse to acknowledge thee to be their Lord and all others do more rationally without any reason than man who hath understanding yet casts off all understanding and is not ashamed of sin For it is a shame to speak of the things that are done of them yet are they not ashamed when they commit them O let me consider how naked a sinner renders himself to the view of the world and when God himself shall put him to shame as it is written As thou hast put the Son of God to open shame so God shall put thee to shame And when it shall be their everlasting
thy own children though men of passions and like infirmities to thy Servant as 't is said that Elias was who prevailed with thee And Moses when he prayed the Isralites prevailed when he ceased to pray the Amalakites prevailed And Joshua prevailed and caused the Sun to stand still and altered the course of nature Isa 37.21 So Hezekiah when he prayed against Senacherib So Asa 2 Chron. 14. When the Ethiopians invaded Juda with a thousand thousand he prayed saying Lord it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee So the Lord smote the Ethiopians and they fled and the people of Juda spoiled them So Jona in the whales belly Lord let me not regard iniquity in my heart lest thereby my prayers be hindred so that thou wilt not hear them neither let me ask any thing to consume it on my lusts But grant that I may lift up holy hands in thy name and that I may pray with humility like the Publican who smote upon his breast saying Lord be merciful unto me a sinner and not like the Pharisee And with fervency crying mightily to the Lord Jona 2.8 And with perseverance crying night and day unto thee Luke 10.11 And let me pay my thanks unto thee for the things thou hast already bestowed upon me and say I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and so shall I be saved from my enemies and give me that confidence he expressed let me know that the Lord is my light and salvation and I shall be able to say as followeth of whom then shall I be afraid Meditation If ye by the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the Flesh ye shall live Let me not think that I can resist the motions of lust and sin by reason or moral arguments but only by the Spirit of God and let me not think that I have attained but let me press forward to greater degrees of grace LORD shew me how bountifully thou rewardest every office which we do to thee for as thou rewardedst the Woman who poured the Balsom upon thy head with this honour that whereever the Gospel should be preached it should be recorded of her so dost thou requite and reward every Cup of cold Water that is given for thy sake make me sensible of this that my charity may not be so cold as many times I feel it nor my services and duties to thee so few and lukewarm and lifeless but I may always abound in the work of the Lord. Make me willing Lord to suffer the reproach of Christ and to endure that contempt which is usually put upon holiness and the professors of it As David did when Michal scoffed him for dancing before the Ark as also when the rebukes of them who reproach thee fellupon him And again he complained that the Judges those that sate in the gate spake against him and the Drunkards made Songs on him Accordingly as Jeremy also complained saying I am a Derision daily every one mocks me And the Apostles sped no better than when they had most of the Spirit when the holy Ghost descended upon them and they heard every one speak in his own language the ignorant people said they were full of new wine And our blessed Saviour when he cast out the Devils they blasphemously said he did it by Belzebub and he suffered bearing the reproach of the shameful death of the Cross Let us be strengthened by these examples and remember that he hath pronounced them blessed whom men revile and speak all manner of evil of falsly for his name sake Considering that it is certain we shall be reviled and slandered for his name sake and that our well bearing it is an evidence to us of our soundness and integrity in religion since the hypocrite may be reproached for his seeming holiness but rather than suffer the persecution for it will fall away Since the men of this generation will not be laughed out of their gain interests and callings the assurance that we have of reigning with Christ will make us willing to suffer LORD shew me the evil fruit and ill consequence of bad company that I may fly them How that the Israelites by being mingled with the Heathen learned their works for which they suffered How that he that walks with the wise shall be wise But for David to dwell with Mesech and in the Tents of Kedar 't was his calamity and woe for 't is said in the word that they sleep not unless they do mischief But they are blessed who walk not in their council nor stand in their way nor sit in their seat and are the Companions of them that fear thee Let me prefer solitude before vain Company considering how it helps devotion the Soul being free from those divertisments which such company procures So our Saviour separated himself from company when he prayed and hath commanded us when we pray to enter into our Closets So Peter went out from the company and wept bitterly and so in the Psalm we are directed Commune with your own heart in your Chamber and be still So Isaac walked forth to meditate But in vain and lewd Company the righteous Soul cannot but be grieved with their unclean conversation It is a Hell to thy Servants as the Worldly mans conversation is a burthen they are so busy about many affairs that they mind not Mary's choice but to be in thy Courts one day is better than a thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the Tents of ungodliness Psal 84.10 11. LET not my confession be without contrition lest it prove but as Sauls or Judas's but as Peters was when he went out and wept bitterly which will the better be effected if I take the present time as he immediatly when he heard the Cock crow went out for the Devil deceives us with promises of future repentance that he may steal away the present opportunity Therefore we are commanded to exhort one another while it is called to day remembring the unhappy condition of the Cripple at the Pool of Bethesda who had none to help him into the water when it was moved till another got before him and Felix in the Acts trembling at the preaching of Paul put him off for a farther hearing to a more convenient time But to day is the time to hear thy voice And if thou call'st and we will not hear then we shall call and thou wilt not hear While God calls one tear will do us more good than an Ocean of tears when it is too late And for what use hath God given man his tears but to weep for his sins then let us with David make our Tears not our Physick but our meat and drink which we cannot do if we extenuate our sins or excuse them LORD if thou goest not forth with our armies we are put to
are with him And if God be with us who can be against us And we must convince our selves of this comfortable presence of God with us by our presence with him If we walk with him desire and love him for if he be with us he warmes the Soul and the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts then we must continue seeking till we find him Cant. 1.7 Tell me my Spouse where thou restest Because she thought he was all Lovely therefore she sought him And because she could not be without him Psal 80. v. 87. All my fresh springs are in thee She trusts in him and stays her self upon him when she is in darkness and sees no light as it is expressed in those words Though he slay me I will trust in him It is like death unto the soul and it can find no joy nor content no rest nor quiet in this condition When Zion said The Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me it was her misunderstanding of her own condition for it follows But I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands When we know we have God's presence with us we are ravished like the Spouse in the Canticles Ere ever I was aware my soul was like the Chariots of Aminadab She is vigorous in holy duties and carried with an Impetus to desire an enjoyment of God in his Ordinances But in the withdrawings of God and the hiding of his face the soul is troubled If any trial be a fiery Trial this is It it more fiery than that of the three children in the furnace But comfort thy self with these promises I will be with thee in the fiery tryal that is to come upon all the world to try them The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart And I will never leave thee nor forsake thee The Angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him and delivers then of Look upon them as sent from a merciful Father for good ends either to restrain thee from sin to humble thee or to drive thee to seek God by prayer and fasting and other holy duties which thou haply hast neglected and therefore the Messengers of Satan are sent to buffet thee Look upon Christ bearing a part of thy sufferings and suffering with thee Look upon the Holy Spirit helping thy infirmities and look upon the Crown and the exceeding weight of glory which they work But if thou hast walked with God in prosperity put him in mind of it as Hezekiah and Job did Also comfort thy self with the Love of Je-Jesus Christ thy Saviour revealed to thee who suffered the like that he might know the better to succour thee his unspeakable Love For seeing it is so that he seeth such beauty loveliness and perfection in his beloved Spouse as he expresseth Canticles 4. throughout If he be so inflamed of her love as is there expressed he cannot if he would long absent himself from her nor brook her absence from him In the first sixth verses he admireth her several beauties and in the seventh verse least he should seem to have overlook'd any imperfection he giveth a large commendation of the whole and exempteth it from all imputation of Imperfection Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee Vers 8. It followeth Come with me my Spouse c. He must needs desire her company in whom he seeth such excellent beauty and perfection Further reasons he expresseth of this his desire of her company in the following verses In â—â—e 9th Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse thou hast ravished me of my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain of thy neck How fair is thy Love my Sister my Spouse How much better is thy Love than Wine and the smell of thine ointment than all spices Thy lips O my Spouse drop as the hony comb hony and milk are under thy tongue and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebenon A Garden inclosed is my Sister my Spouse a spring shut up a fountain sealed Thy plants are an Orchard of Pomegranats with pleasant fruits Camphire with Spikenard c. These are the amorous Courtships which thy most loving and lovely Saviour courteth thee with These and many more of like love and kindness he useth to thee to satisfy thee of his love and to gain thine And having said all that in love could be said and done all for thy love that could be done unless it were the last Act of giving thee his hearts blood suppose him thus speaking to thee immediately before his passion And now my Sister my Spouse what wilt thou have me say or do more wilt thou have my hearts blood If thou wilt I am ready to give it thee Methinks I see the Spouse astonished at this ravishing kindness and grieving fore that her need is such that she must have her lovers hearts blood to heal her she answereth thus O Blessed and most dear Lord worthy of all love and service for this real expression of thy love how can I entertain such excess of love but be inflamed with love to thee again and if I am inflamed with love and desire of thee how can I admit of this thy wonderful offer the effusiion of thy blood And yet I must accept of this thy offer to cure those my greifs which otherwise are incurable And so with tears she breaks off her speech because her heart is broak and she knoweth not how to answer such high and reall expressions of love But yet the Lord who is love resteth not there he doth for us above all that we are able to ask or think And seeing that thou must needs have his hearts blood to cure thee or perish he suffereth death and inviteth thee to the funeral banquet and there under the complexion of of noble wine presenteth thee with his hearts blood to drink and under the complexion of bread presents thee his heart to eat And now thou must needs feel thy self revived and healed with the heat and virtue of this heavenly food and thou knowest thou hast ravished him of his heart therefore maiest rejoyce in thy Beloved Ejaculations LORD Since I cannot experience thy goodness and mercy in my deliverances or thy faithfulness in keeping promise to them that trust in thee hope in thee call upon thee delight in thee and love thee unless I first experience troubles dangers calamities and the malice of my enemies and fiery trials from which thy promise is to deliver us to save us and be with us in them Then make me be contented to fall into these troubles and trials the fire and the water of affliction and let them not seem strange to me though never so fiery Neither let me be cast down or dismayed faint or sorrow as those that are without hope and have no promise of God to trust to LORD Supply me with all suffering graces as well as doing graces
let the Children of Life learn this Wisdom of the Children of the World for our most wise Authour of our Salvation hath taught them so to do Do thou fly sin as they fly poverty and shame seek understanding and the knowledge of God as the World seek Silver and search for her as they search for hid Treasures Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.4 5. Let it not suffice thee to seek him by night in thy bed whom thy Soul desireth But rise and go about the City enquire for him of the Watchmen and of all that can probably make any discoveries of him charge them if they find him to manisest him to thee cry after knowledge lift up thy voice for anderstauding as well in thy private prayers to God as in thy eager pursuit after it in such places as it is to be found in Where thou sowest sparingly thou dost make expectation of reaping sparingly or else thou may'st be ashamed of thy sparing But a far more sordid and shameful thing it is to be sparing of thy cost and pains when thou sowest for Glory Immortality and Eternal Life and hast God and Jesus Christ engaged for thy satisfaction Thou needest not to fear to part with all thou hast to purchase this precious Pearl that is invaluable the Kingdom of Heaven and the Crown of Righteousness that never fadeth since there is no hazard of spoliation nor any of Anticipation or prevention or for uncertainty as St. Paul argues on his own behalf touching his running fighting and striving for all that use the same means must attain it certainly Be zealous against sin as he was that vexed his Soul with the unclean conversation of the wicked but beware of zeal for God against God such as Pauls was before his conversion If every vertuous action affordeth satisfaction to him that atchieveth it then the more strenuous he is in doing it the more perfect it will be and the more satisfaction it will yield Lord let this cure the Green-sickness of my Soul Meditat. Psal 34.4 I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me out of all my sear A preparatory Ejaculation Lord if Christ Jesus our head thy dear Son suffer with us then deliver us we beseech thee for Christ's sake for why should he be afflicted A Prayer In extremity of sickness and peril of Death O thou that art the Father of the fatherless the comfort of the comfortless the helper in all needs the healer of all sickness the succourer in all wants the ease in all pains the calm in all storms the composer of all perturbations the asswager of all grief the deliverer from all dangers the refuge from all fears stand by me now and save me as thou hast promised and let me see Heaven opened to receive me and the Angels ready to convey my Soul into Abraham's bosom And thou blessed Jesus who art mighty to save and hast finished the work of our Redemption alone and subdued all our enemies draw nigh to us in the time of our sickness when Man's help is vain when our bodily pains are so many and great in every part of our body that no part can relieve the other The mind being altogether unable to fix upon any inward solace whereby to sustain and bear up it self put forth thy Almighty power to succour me be my comforter and conquer death for me and keep away Satan and all his Temptations A Meditation upon peril of Death If Croesus when taken prisoner by Cyprus and sentenced to be burned upon the instant when he expected his execution was exceedingly rejoyced by calling to mind the wise sayings of Solon and was willing to die Shall not I much more rejoyce in death and be willing to change this unconstant transitory life for the joyes of Heaven when I call to mind the comfortable words of my Saviour and the never-fading joy which he hath assured me of in the world to come Med. 2. LORD I have had such a great delight in the sweet conversation of some of thy Saints and Servants departed this life that I have desired to be dissolved that I might be with them shall I not much more desire to be dissolved to be with Christ the Lord whose sweetness infinitely surpasseth the Sons of men Meditations in my sickness Med. 1. Dost thou pass the tedious nights of thy sickness in restlesness and Dolours Let it not greatly trouble thee if thou spendest those restless hours in holy Meditation for those Meditations are a sweet savour to God and service wherein he delighteth and God draweth nigh to thee to instruct and teach thee in his ways and thou drawest nigh to God to learn his righteous Judgements and to delight thy Soul in him And better it is that thou shouldest want thy rest than God to be without such services or thou without thy Spiritual comfort Med 2. As every step of our journy to Heaven is beset with Temptation so it is with tribulation of necessary consequence therefore expect it and not halcion days of tranquility the expectation of them will make them more easy to be born Med. 3. If thy temporal losses are the cause of inward and spiritual gaines and improvements to thee in thy graces and thou hast found them so formerly then are they still no cause of grief And do thou O Lord make thy Servant amends for the want of temporal comforts with the affluence of Spiritual Med. 4. If the time of sickness or Affliction be the time and season of the comforts of the comforts of the Holy Ghost and not prospetiry This is to be chosen and embraced rather than that Moses made this choice And thy allurements to the contrary cannot be compared to his which he dispised Med. 5. All Afflictions are either from God or for God if from God they are the chastisements of a merciful Father for our good if for God they are our glory Philip. 1.29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake Consider then that they work for us not against us and what they work for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 4.17 No Tongue can express the greatness of the eternal glory which they work for us nor any hyperbole upon hyperbole for being borne with love and child like submission they endear us more to God and kindle and inflame his love towards us Consider them in themselves they are but light and for a moment for before v. 8. He saith We are troubled on every side perplexed v. 9. Persecuted cast down yet neither distressed nor in dispare nor forsaken nor destroyed which words fully express both their heaviness and their lightness and concludes with their lightness And he makes a double end or final cause of these Afflictions grace and glory for in the next verse v. 10. He saith Always bearing about in our