liquor from it though the Author be contemptible yet the matter is considerable God lookes not for what he gives not As well as I am able I have from this Scripture drawn you a Beleevers Picture and according to this Glass doubt not but your selves will dress If these bellowes keep the vestall fire alwayes burning upon the Altar and your graces have their advancement I shall have my contentment I have here laid the Rods of correction on the backs of offenders and given the words of Instruction to the hearts of believers Worthy Sirs Compare what is spoken in the books of men with what is written in the Book of God that the Bristoll stone may not passe for the sparkling Diamond noâ— Brasse and Copper goe as currant as Gold and Silver I would lay no other burdens upon your backs then I would carry upon my own shoulders nor would I have you make any brick but with Gods straw Mans fault cannot prejudice Gods right though we have lost our abillity of obeying yet he hath not lost his Authority in commanding By how much the greater you are then others by so much the better you should be then others where Divine Providence advances to honourable dignity there Divine precepts ingages to proportionable duty on earth it 's your businesse to serve God in Heaven it will be your blessedness to see God Many by feeding upon one dish grow to maturity when they that sit down to a multitude are surfited with variety When others grumble to look upon rich mens estates doe you tremble to think upon rich mens accounts and as the earth will doe you no good when you dye so let it do you no hurt whilst you live They that are in the right way to Paradise should greeve at every thing that hinders their progresse There are many are the Pictures of piety but I wish you may be the patterns of piety Alas what 's the reflection in the glass to the complexion in the face or the form of godlinesse upon us to the power of godlinesse within us such Jonah's in the lading of our Vessells doth but fill the Seas with stormes and tempests You Worthies have almost stretcht your lives to Davids standard and who knowes how soon such may meet with the death of the body that are incompassed with the body of death Whilst you are descending to the bottom of the hill of nature I wish you may be ascending to the top of the hill of grace that the nearer your bodies draw to the pit of corruption the nearer your souls may draw to the place of perfection that your declining Sun may not set under a cloud that hath so long shined in a clear sky Vsually their durations are the shortest whose possessions are the greatest But you have had as larg a share of being as you have had of blessing My hearts desire and prayer to God for both you and yours is that you may be as glorious in Heaven as you have been prosperous on earth that you may be such jewels of grace as may be lockt up in the Cabinet of glory that such silver Cups may be found in the mouths of all your sacks that the word which hath brought salvation to your souls may bring your souls unto salvation that as your children sit like Olive plants about your Table so you and your children may sit like Olive plants about his Table that your little family below may make up that great family above that when others as chaffe are thrown into the fire you as wheat may be gathered into the Garner That you may live long on earth profitably and for ever in Heaven joyfully is the Prayer of Your Humble Servant William Secker The Author to the Reader CHRISTIAN READER WE live in age that is most censorious and yet in age that is least religious where there are any faults men are more skilful to find them then careful to mend them But shall we turn the Sun into darknesse because of its moats or the Moon into blood because of her spots It s in vain to look for clear light where God himself will have a shaddow Good meats displease none but distempered palats and must wholesome dishes be barr'd the Table because they offend aguish stomacks To serve mens necessity is charitable to serve mens conveniency is warrantable to serve mens iniquity is damnable but to serve mens purity is honourable Grace needs a Spur to prick it on as well as Vice needs a Bridle to hold it in The design of this Peece is not the ostentation of the Author but the edification of the Reader I hope none will blow out such a Candle upon earth by the light of which themselves may see the way to Heaven The face of none is so comely in a Saints eyes as the face of Christ and the voyce of none is so pleasant in a Saints ears as the voyce of Christ The Manna of spiritual influences doth usually fall in the Dew of spiritual Ordinances To set them up was a work of mercy in God to us and to keep them up is a work of justice in us to God Whilest we suck at these Breasts they will stream warm Milk into our mouths Dear Christian In this Subject I have given thee a breviary of Religion The works injoyned in it are weighty and ponderous and the wages annexed to it are mighty and glorious Christianity is here cloathed in its white Linnen of purity Wouldst thou obtaine that happinesse which the promise confirms thou must espouse that holiness which the precept injoynes The best way to greaten your felicity is to heighten your activity Grace as it makes our comforts sweeter so it makes our Crowns greater And as it begins in the love of God to us so it ends in our love to God Those children that are found moving in the Orbes of obedience shall have the beautiest Sunshine of their Fathers countenance Christians Be sure to lay your superstruction upon an unmoveable foundation and propagate such a businesse as hath an immediat tendency to blessednesse It 's an unparalel'd mercy to be kept free from corruption in a time of infection It 's better to be innocent then it is to be penitent To prevent the malady then to invent the remedy Christians As you have not a Lease of your lives so you have not a Brace of your lives That that which is corrupted in the former may be corrected in the latter Had we not need to take heed how we shoot that have but a single Arrow to direct to the mark No time is ours but what is present and that 's as soon past as present We had need improve that with the greatest diligence that glides away with the speediest nimblenesse Shall our rests steal away one half of our time and our lusts the other O Sirs The more you have of good in you the more you shall have of God with you yea spiritual actions they will make
noise at the bringing forth of a child Well enough saith she for now I suffer for my sins but then I shall suffer for my Saviour There is more evill in a drop of corruption then there is in a sea of affliction In suffering the offence is done to us in finning the offence is done to God In suffering there is an infringement of mans liberty in sinning there is a violation of Gods authority The evil of suffering is transient but the evill of sin is permanent In suffering we lose the favour of men in sinning we hazard the favour of God The rose is sweeter under the Still where it drops then on the stalk where it sprouts The face of godliness is never so beautiful as when its spit upon The best corn is that which lies under the clods in snowy weather It was a brave saying of Vincentius to his persecutors Rage and do your worst you shall finde the Spirit of God more strengthening the tormented then the spirit of the devil can strengthen their tormentors Let but Professors do their best and then let persecutors â—eâ—cussâ—res nihil moraâ—amur praeseâ—tim â—um moriendum esse nobis sciamuâ— Justin 2. Defens ad Anâ—on 〈◊〉 do their worst Though you may feel their might yet you should not fear their malice Nil desperandum Christo duce auspice Christo It s storied of Hooper when he came to suffer O Sir saith one have a care of your self life is Thus the Proconsul perswaded and besought the noble German who suffered under Verus Vt quoniam admodum juâ—enis in flore esset sui ipsius misereretur Euseb Hist Eccl. cap. 15. sweet and death is bitter Ah saith he this I know but the life to come is more full of sweetness and the death to come is more full of bitterness A man may suffer without sinning but a man cannot sin without suffering When Philip asked Demosthenes If he was not afraid to lose his head No saith he for if I lose my head the Athenians will give me one immortal Do but listen to the language that drops out of the mouthes of those three children or rather of those three Vos occidere quidem potestis nocere non potestis â—ust ubi prius champions Dan. 3. 17 18. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up Either they must sin fouly or they must suffer sadly Either they must bow to a golden Image or burn in a fiery furnace Yet they were as far from worshipping of his gods as he Thus Polycarpe was assaulted by Herod and Nicetes who said Quidnam mali fuerit dicere Domine Caefar sacrificareque conservari But he answered Facturus non sum quod consulitis and chose rather a flaming fire then to consent unto their fawning words Euseb ubi prius was from worshipping of theirs And Daniel chuses the den of the lions before he will forsake the cause of the Lamb. Shall not we for his sake bear the wrath of man who for our sakes did bear the wrath of God Though obedience be better then sacrifice yet sometimes to sacrifice a mans self is the best obedience He that loses a baser life for Christ shall finde a better life in Christ Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Heb. 11. 25. What is a cup of physick that takes away the disease to a cup of poyson that takes away the life They that live upon God in the use of the creature can live upon God in the loss of the creature It was a brave expression of one What I receive thankfully as a token of Gods love to me I part with all contentedly as a token of my love to him For a good man one will even dare to dye Rom. 5. 7. Will one dare to die for a good man and shall we be afraid to die for a good God And others were tortured not accepting Melius est mibi emori propter Christum Iesum quam imperare sinibus terrae Ign. ad Rom. deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Heb. 11. 35. Some would have used any pick-lock to have opened a passage to their liberty but they knew too much of another world to bid so high a rate for this world It is storied of Hormisdas a noble man of Persia who was degraded of all his promotion because he would not alter his professions afterward they restored them all again and sollicited him to deny Christ but he rent his purple robe and laid all his Honours at the feet of the Emperor saying Siideo me sperasti pietatem deserturam habe tibi donum tuum una cum impietate If you think to make me deny Christ for The like constancy and resolution you may read of in the noble Suenes and the zealous Benjamin both barbarously used by the same Prince Id. ibid. the obtaining of my honours take them all back again He thought that Christ without his honors was better then his honours without Christ It is storied of one of the Martyrs going to the stake a Noble man wisht him to have a care of his soul So I will saith he for I give my body to be burned to keep my soul from being defiled How many are there that had rather have sinful self satisfied then to have sinful self crucified As grace comes in at one door vice goes out at another as in a well when one bucket comes up full the other returns down empty The only way to have the house of Saul weakened is to get the house of David strengthned Those Philistims that could not stand before Sampson in his health how scornfully did they dance about him in his sickness O remember sin it is that which in this life doth debase us and it is that which in the next life doth destroy us Those whose end is damnation their damnation is without end No condition is so intolerably easeless as that condition which is unalterably changeless One seeing a woman going chearfully to prison O saith he you have not yet tasted of the bitterness of death No saith she nor never shall for Christ hath promised that they who keep his sayings shall never see death A beleever may feel the stroke of death but he shall never feel the sting of death The first death may bring his body to corruption but the second death shall never bring his soul to damnation Though the cross may be endured by them yet the curse is removed from them Though they may live a life that is dying yet they shall not dye a death that is
the King If you will needs be Judges sit upon your own benches I shall ever esteem such to be but lepers that care not for looking-glasses He that doth not mind what he hath done Self-examination is the beaten path to perfection its like fire which doth not only try the gold but purifies the gold The sight of your selves in grace will bring you to the sight of God in glory The Heathens tell us that Nosce teipsum was an Oracle that came down from heaven Sure I am it is Oracle that will lead us up to heaven The plague of the heart is not every mans plague but the plague of the soul is every mans plague though there be no vision that 's less pleasurable yet there 's no vision that 's more profitable till you know how deep the pit is in to which you are faln you will never seek to get out of it again The bottom of our diseases lies in not searching our diseases to the bottome so we have but some raggs to cover our nakedness we seek not a remedy to cure our naughtiness He that trusts his heart is a fool and yet such fools are we as to trust our hearts the heart it s that which God searches by his Omnisciency and its that which man should search by his industry if a man would know whether the sun shines it s better viewing its beams on the pavement then its body in the firmament The readiest way to know whither or no you are in Christ is to know whither or no Christ is in you for the fruit is more visible then the root that 's the Seventeenth 18. Singular thing is to set out for God at our beginning and to hold out with God unto our ending to be amongst the first that seeks God and amongst the last that serve him First to set out for God at our beginning remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Eccl. 12. 1. In the stilling of strong waters the first thats drawn is fuller of spirits then the rest that follows The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God Exo. 23. 19. The way to have the whole harvest of your lives sanctified by God is to have the first fruits of your lives dedicated to God I remember the kindness of thy youth the love of thine Espousal Jer. 2. 2. God prises a Christian in the bud and likes the blossomings of youth above the sheddings of age We should pay our tribute as soon as ever our money comes out of the Mint Is it not pitty that plant should grow in Egypt that will thrive so well in Canaan Your Naturalists tels us that the most orient pearls are generated of the morning due They who are in Christ before us are like to be in Christ above us The way to keep a field from overgrowing with weeds is to pluck them up in the spring If youth be sick of the will nots old age will dye of the cannots Under the law they who gathered not Manna in the morning found none all the day if when you have seasons and want hearts the time may come when you may have hearts but want seasons Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Ier. 12. 23. He is a bad husband that hath money to spend on company abroad but none to lay out for provisions to keep his family at home Yet one accustomed to Drunkenness will rather strarve his posterity then be bound in the cords of Sobriety It s hard casting off the Devils yoaks when we Quod in morbis accidit cum invaluere per longas moras ut Serò medicina paretur idem judicandum nisi quis a puero rectam viam meat et eidem assuescat Riveâ— in Ps 119. 9. have worn them long upon our necks can a man be born again when he is old grace seldome grafts upon such withered stocks An old sinner is nearer to the second death then he is to the second birth It s more likely to see him taken out of the flesh then to see the flesh taken out of him his body is nearer to corruption then his soul is unto Salvation Where the Enemy is the stronger there the victory is the harder Usually where the Devil pleads antiquity he keeps propriety As there 's none so old as that they should dispaire of mercy so there 's none so young as that they should presume on mercy if Gods To day be too soon for thy repentance thy To morrow may be too late for his acceptance Mercies clock doth not alwayes strike at our beck The longer poyson stayes in the stomack the more mortal Jesus Christ he had two Disciples whom he highly prized the one who was young for Comming so soon to him the other who was old for staying so long with him O how amiable are the golden apples of grace in the silver pictures of age God prizes a young friend but punishes an old Enemy Old sinners are like old serpents the fullest of poyson It s a rare spectacle to view the Antient of dayes in those who are not antient in days To see green peeces of Timber hewing and squaring that they might be laid in the celestial building when nature is in its minority to see grace in its sincerity Ps 119. 99. I have more understanding then my teachers Ex disci pulo doctorem me fecisti etiam eorum qui doctores meifuâ—runt Rivet in loc his youth was wiser then others age his dawning was brigher then their noon tyde and this was the more admirable because t was in his youth for when our lives are the most vigorous our lusts are the most boysterous You teach a dog whilst he is a whelp and break a horse whilst he is a Colt A plentiful harvest is the issue of an early seed time Thou writest bitter thing against me thou makest me to possess the sins of my youth Job 13. 26. Needs must that Iron gather rust that is not often filed Remember children your youthful sins layes a foundation for aged sorrows You have but one arrow to hit the mark and if that be shot at randome God will never put another into your bow I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending or as some the first and the last Rev. 1. 8. He that is the first and the last will be served from the first to the last you can never come to soon to him who is your beginning and you can never stay too long with him who is your ending The flower of life it s of Christs setting and shall it be of the Divels cropping But what 's seting out without holding out Mutability is at best but the badg of infirmity Letters ingraven in
personall appearance 4. Principle that you should walk by is this There 's more bitternesse following upon sins ending then ever there was sweetness flowing from sins acting The Devils Apple though it may have a fair skin yet it hath a bitter core Me thinks this flaming sword should keep us out of the forbidden Paradice and make our hearts like wet Tinder to all the sparks of Satans fire Per delictum morti regnum datur nec potest regnare in aliquo nisi jus regni accipiata delicto Orig l. 5. in Epist ad Rom. You that see nothing but weal in its commission will suffer nothing but wo in its conclusion The wages of sin is death Romans 6. 23. He that likes the works of sin to do them will never like the wages of sin to have them Yea who would do those works that are but drudgery for those wages that are but misery Though all sins are not equal yet all sins are mortall The candle of ourlives is blown Nonne per peccatū mors et per mortem omnes ejus comites paenae cruciatus et miseriae hujus vitae omnes porro peccatum toti mundo detrimentum adfert Stap. in Dom. 5. Post Epiph. Tex 4. out by the wind of our lusts The corruption of nature tends to the dissolution of nature as the Leprosie got into the wals occasioned the demolishing of the house Sin it stands as a But at which God may shoot every Arrow till he hath emptied his whole Quiver We began to be mortal when we began to be sinful If man had had nothing to doe with sin Peccatum aculeus mortu dicitur non quia peccatum per mortem sed per peccatum Mors in mundum intravit Fulgent de Incam et Grat. Christi cap. 14. death had had nothing to do with man Our impiety forfeited the priviledg of our immortality Sin it s like a Serpent in the bosome that 's stinging or like a Theif in the Closet that 's stealing or like poyson in the stomack that 's paining or like a sword in the bowels that 's killing It s like Johns Book sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly this fare faced Rachel will be found but a blear eyed Leah Knowest thou not that it will be bitternesse in the latter end The dregs lye in the bottome of the Cup. That which is now like a Rose flourishing in your bosome ere long will be like a Dagger drawn against your breast The Ivy though it embraces the Oak yet it eats out its heart Sin it s a thing that 's delightful O but its a thing that 's deceitful it s like Judas that at first salutes us but at last betrayes us it shews the bait but hides the hook it represents the amiability but covers the obliquity it s like a River that begins in a quiet spring but ends in a tumultuous Sea Do men gather Ex his spinis colligitur non laetitia conscientiae sed labruscae remorsus interioris non retributio gloriae sed labruscae Gehennae Gorran In locum Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles Mat. 7. 16. The grapes of tranquility grows not upon the Thorns of impiety Heart peace is espoused to heart purity The way to keep conscience untormented is to keep conscience undefiled A Saint cannot so sin as to destroy Vide Bzoviu Conc. 24. Excellentissimè de hac re disserentem his grace but a Saint may so sin as to disturb his peace The Spider cannot kill the Bees but if she gets into the Hive she spoils the Honey If you will be nibbling at the bait the hook will enter into your bowels O think of that time wherein you shall be ashamed of nothing but your wickednesse and glory in nothing but your holinesse You may be eternally sinful but you cannot be eternally joyful In Hell all the Sugar will be melted in which this bitter pill was wrapped that 's too hot a climate for wanton delights to live in The pleasures of sin are suddenly abortive but the pains of sin are eternally extensive How soon did our first parents eat their forbidden fruit Esus vetiti illius pomi omniū malorum sons et orīgo fuit Bzovius in Con. 24. p. 229. De malis a peccato allatis vide Bzovium loco jam citato but the world to this day cannot rid it selfe of the miserable consequences of that woful banquet Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness Proverbs 14. 13. The Serpent of sensual delight alwayes carries a sting in its taile In such golden cups there are deadly draughts Will Gaul and Wormwood ever make you pleasant wine Such thick and muddy vapors will never yeeld any sweet and pleasant showers You that sin for your profit will never profit by your sins O that England would look with Scripture Spectacles upon all it s rased Tabernacles and say if sin had not been there these had not lain here It s better to take up our lodging in a bed of Snakes then to take up our lodging in a bed of lusts who would spread such silken Sails upon a Pirates ship When the pale horse of death goes before the red horse of wrath doth follow after When the body goes to Worms to be consumed the soul goes to flames to be tormented It s better here to forgoe the pleasures of sin then hereafter to undergoe the pains of sin Your ill doing will be your undoing What fruit had you of those things whereof you are now ashamed Romans 6. 21. What advantage doth Dives reap in hell of all the delicate banquets that he had on earth What taste hath Cleopatra now of her draught of dissolved Pearls The stench and torment of everlasting burnings will take away the sweetest perfumes that ever sin was powdered with How can I doe this wickedness and sin against God Gen. 39. 9. It doth not grieve a Saint so much for this that God is displeased with him as it grieves a Saint for this that God is displeased by him He mourns not so much for the evil which sin doth bring as he mourns for the sin which doth bring the evill When Craesus son saw them go about to kill his father he cryed out O kill not King Craesus Did Christ open his veins for our redemption and shall not we open our mouths for his vindication The Crown is fallen from our heads wo unto us for we have sinned Lamenta 5. 16. Sin it doth not only unman us but it doth uncrown us Yea it doth not only take the Crown from off a sinners head but it layes a curse upon a sinners back There 's many think the fountain of their lusts are quite dryed up when the streams are turned into another Channel A hand taken off from sinful practises without a heart taken off from sinful principles it s like a peece of ground which having long lain fallow
nor of him that runs though it be never so hastily Our Crown of Glory is made by mercy Our working is not the cause of Gods grace but Ipsa salut hominis non debetur alicui per aliquam ejus voluntatem vel exteriorem operationem quae dicitur cursus sed procedit ex solâ Dei misericordiâ Aquin. in loc but Gods grace is the cause of our working Man may doe something against it but man can doe nothing without it It s ill hanging the great weight of Eternity upon the small Wiers of Activity The boundless life of felicity flowes from the bottomless love of the Deity That 's the sixth 7. Principle that you should walk by is this That there 's no obtaining what is promised but by fulfilling what 's commanded As those which were under the Law were not without a Gospel to save them so those that are under the Gospel are not without a Law to rule Lex moral is non minus ad Christianos pertinet sub novo quum ad Judae nos subvetere Testando Synops. Pur. Theol. disp 18. them What God hath put asunder let no man joyn together but what God hath joyned together let no man put asunder It 's as ill divorcing what 's united as it is uniting what 's divorced Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall Quasi dixisset id quo vobu opus est petite Non conceditur quod petitis Quaerite Negatur quod quaerites â— Pulsate Deus vult cogi Arrowsin Tact. sacr l. 3. cap. 1. sect 11. find knock and it shall be opened unto you Matthew 7. 7. Continued Importunity is the most learned Oratory repeated knocks soonest opens heavengates Man cannot blame God for not giving but God can blame man for not asking He that inables us to find him he enjoyns us to seek him He that hath promised us to open that we might not be doubtful hath enjoyned us to knock that we might not be sloathful He that will not heare Debet se ei viâ morum conformare in viâ justitiae charitatis et patientiae c. et haec est via Coeli non seculi Dei non Mundi Gorram in loc the voice of Christ shall never see the face of Christ He that saith He abideth in him ought to walk even as he also walk 1 John 2. 6. Then only doth the Watch of our lives move with uprightnesse when it is set by the beams of the Sun of Righteousnesse As he hath made his glory to be the pattern of our happinesse so he hath made his grace to be the pattern of our holinesse The Law condemns those persons as criminal that pretends to the Royal blood but are not of it because there 's a dependance between the blood Royal and the Crown Royal. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Revel 2. 9. Many would be made like Christ in Blisse who would not be made like Christ in Grace They would have a promise to corroberate their assurance but would not have a precept to regulate their performance Observe the connexion The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us Isa 33. 22. Where ever Christ is a Priest for Redemption he is a Prince for Dominion Wherever he Non rebellibus sed meum credentibus et ei obedientibus est causa sufficiens salutis aeternae Gor. in loc is a Saviour there he is a Ruler And being made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Jesus Christ where he is a fountain of happinesse there he is a fountain of holinesse If he be not your Refiner he will not be your Redeemer And those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay before me Luke 19. 27. It s here the voice of rebelious sinners we will not have this man to reign over us and it will hereafter be the voice of a righteous Saviour I will not have these men to reign with me As many as walk according to this rule peace be upon them Gala. 6. 16. To tread in any other path on Earth is but to mistake your way to Heaven If the Golden Chains of duty will not hold you Jussasme culsâ non negligâ—ntur sine crimine non coâ—temnanâ—ur ubique enim et neglectus culstâ—biâ—e et contemptus dâ—mnabiâ—is est Bern de praec dispens the Iron Chains of darkness shall bind you If you abuse your liberty in one world you will loose your liberty in another Blessed are they that do his Commandemenâ—s that they may have right to the tree of life Revel 22. 4. To look upon a promise without a prâ—cept is the Road way to presumption To look upon a precept without a promise is the Road way to desparation the one is like the Lead to the Net to keep it from floating the other is like the Cork to the Net to keep it from sinking Beleevers should be like the point in the compasse that 's governed not by the various winds but by the constant Heavens An obedient person when hisbody is translated from life to death his soul is translated from death to life O doe not make him to be a Quà m miserum est ex eò flore veneâ—um colligere equo alii remedium sugunt stone for stumbling that God hath made to be a stone for building The force of the fire is manifested as much in consuming the dross as in refining the Gold The strength of a Rock is seen not onely in upholding the house that 's built upon it but in breaking the ships that dashes against it The pillar of a Cloud was as wonderful in the darknesse that it cast upon the Aegyptians as in the brightnesse that it gave to the Israelites Thus doth the Lord Jesus display the greatnesse of his owne power in putting off the living to death as well as in raising of the dead to life Come unto me all ye thatlabour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Matthew 11. 28. But what follows vers 29. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me Wherever he takes a burden from off the creatures back there he layes a yoke upon the creatures neck The Gospel it gives a pardon to the greatest sin but it doth not give a patronage to the smallest sin To be lascivious because God is gracious what 's this but to split that ship in the Sea which should Land us at the Shore To live in a holy obedience to a Heavenly Father is the liberty of Gods sons but to give lust the swinge is the licentious bondage of the Devils slaves That soule was never related to Christ that was never devoted to Christ Not every Observa quomodo Christus ponit discrimen inter judicium Dei et hominum
carnal man and what he can do that he will not take a Christian man what he would do that he cannot Now impotency shall be pityed when obstinacy shall be punished God hath mercy for cannots but none for will nots Adams want was rather will then power but our want is rather power then will Psal 119. 5. O that my wayes were directed Emitto vocem cupientis et antrelantis Donec liberati simus semper clamabimus utinam Suspirabimus ex sensu imbecilitatis nostrae Donec gaudium plenum sit infruitione Rivet in loc that I might keep thy statutes A Saints will begins where his work ends Lord I beleeve help my unbeliefe Lord I see enlighten my darkness I hear but cure my deafness I move but quicken my dulness I desire but help my unwillingness I remember but remove my forgetfulness In the playing of a Lesson a single string may jarr and slip and yet the main be musicall It were a folly indeed to think our fields had no corn because there is chaff or that the pile had no Gold because there is Dross In Heaven there 's service alone without any sin In hell there 's sin alone without any service but on earth there 's sin and service in the same heart as there is Wine and Water in the same Cup. To condemn thy evil is good but to condemn thy good is evil Here beleevers are like the Israelites that in their darkest night had a pillar of fire and in their clearest day had a pillar of a cloud Above us there 's light without any darkness below us there 's darknesse without any light but here it s neither day nor night but in the evening it shall be light Though the lowest beleever be above the power of sin yet the highest beleever is not above the presence of sin It s in a living man that lust is mortified but it s in a dying man that lust is nullified When the body and the soul are separated by mortality sin the soul are separated to eternity though a forced compulsion is sufficient to testifie a Tyrant yet its ready obedience that proves homage to a King Sin never ruins but where it reigns It s not destroying where it is disturbing Lust its least hurtful where it is most hateful The more evil it receives from us the lesse evil it doth to us it s only a murderer where it is a Governour But the Rose is a fragrant flower though it be surrounded with prickles The Passover was a feast though it was eaten with sowre Hearbs There 's much of the wild Olive in him that 's ingrafted into the true Olive Our graces are our best Jewels but they do not here yeild their full lustre The Moon when it shines brightest hath its spots and the fire when it burns hottest hath its smoak I said in my hast I am cut off from before thine eyes nevertheless Intalem stupori excessum adductus fui ut mihi viderer projectus a conspectu praesentiae tuae tu verò exaudita mea oratione quanto ejus ad fuisti per subventionem et consolationem misericordiae tuae Titelman in Locum thou heardest the voice of my supplication Psal 31. 22. Who would have thought that ever those prayers should have had any prevalency that were mixed with so much infidelity Sin is an enemy at our backs but not a friend in our bosomes Although beleevers should be mournful because they have infirmities yet they should be thankful because they are but infirmities It is not the Interposition of a cloud that makes a night but the departing of the Sun Take the best beleever that breaths and he is fuller of his sins then he is of his prayers There is too much of earth in our imployments for Heaven But as he that drew Alexanders picture when there was a scar on his facedrew him with his finger upon the scar so Jesus Christ when he draws the picture of the Saints excellencyes layes his finger upon the scars of the Saints infirmities He looks over what is his and overlooks what is theirs Where there is no sins of allowance in them there shall be grains of allowance to them he will not throw away his Pearls for every speck of dirt Christ honours grace in its maturity yet he owns it in its minority O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt They had faith enough to keep them from damning but they had not faith enough to keep them from doubting The least buds draw sap from the root as well as the greatest branches Though one Star exceed another in magnitude yet both are alike seated in the Heavenly Orbe Though one member of the body be larger then another yet each hath an equal conjunction with the head The Rind of good actions is tainted by infirmities but their Core is rotted by hypocrisie Jacob halted and yet was blessed as his blessing did not take away his halting so his halting did not keep away his blessing Hagar will have a room in Sarahs house till death turne her out of doors Death as it leaves the body soul-lesse so it leaves the soul sinlesse For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8. 12. He doth not look that the Cock should run water when there 's none put into the Cistern Jesus Christ doth not put out a beleevers Vae nobis si secundum firmitatem fidei Deus nobiscum agere vellâ—â— Chem Har Evan cap. 83. p. 15. 85. Candle because of the dimness of its burning nor overshadow a beleevers Sun because of the watriness of its shining Though that Vice may be found in us for which he might justly damn us yet he hath not lost that grace by which he can as easily save us He comes not with water to put out the fire but with wind to drive away the smoak The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Pro 15. 8. because the Incense stinks of the hand that offers it Not only the wickeds plotting against the Godly is sinful but also the wickeds praying unto God is sinful but what follows The prayer of the upright is his delight If the vessel of the heart be clean he will taste of the liquor that 's drawn from it O my Dove that art in the clefts of the Rocke in the secret places of the Stareâ— lee me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely 2 Canticles 14. That 's the ninth 10. Principle you should walk by is this That inward purity is the ready road to outward plenty That 's but a Hell-bred Proverb â—lain dealing is a Jewel but he that uses it shall dye a beggar Religion though it be against our ease yet it s not against our interest O what clusters of Grapes hang all along our way to
judgeth the earth Psal 58. ult There 's no work that is done in vaine but that work that is vainly done Wealth and riches shall be in his house and his righteousnesse indures for ever Psal 112. 2 3. Doe but you take care of all that belongs to God and God will take care of all that belongs to you For all other gaines whilst we live we lose them or when we dye we leave them to whom we know not but it may be to them we would not Inkeeping of thy Commandements there is great reward Psal 19. 11. There is not only a reward for keeping of them but there 's a reward in keeping of them In other services the Master hath all the profit and the servant none but in this the servant hath all the profit and the Master none 2 Sam. 6. 11. And the Arke of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his houshold The Ark was not blessed for the sake of the houshold but the houshould was blessed for the sake of the Arke The Arke of God payes for its entertainment wheresoever it comes We say that those have decayed limbes that must be helped on with crutches Such are they that will side with resigion when they may live upon it but will shrink from Religion when it must live upon them But that maxime is still ture that Godliness with contentment is great gain 1 Tim. 6. 6. It 's only the Christian man that is the contented man and what is our enjoyments without contentment what 's abundance of possessions if linked to abundance of vexations Wicked men make this world their treasure and God makes this Fiunt instrumenta paenarum quae scilicet divitiae fuerant oblectament◠culparum Innocent world their torment When they want estates they are troubled for them when they have estates they are troubled with them when they should drink of the river God disturbs the water Sinner remember when thou diest thou wilt find godlinesse needfull and whilst thou livest thou wilt find godlinesse gainfull The purest honey is ever gathered out of the hive of holiness O that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my wayes Psal 81. 13. But what had they got by it vers 16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee The wayes of iniquity are the wayes of beggery It 's but equal that God should fall out with them in the course of his providence that falls off from him in the course of their obedience that they should have nothing from him in a way of bounty that will doe nothing for him in a way of duty If you make your Tabernacles leprous God will make your Tabernacles ruinous Length of dayes is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3. 16. Look to which hand you will and yet you shall find that both are full It 's storied of Synesius a Minister that living near Evagrius a philosopher This story you may read larger just after Mr. Baxter's Preface to his book called the Crucifying of the world and had often perswaded him to be a Christian O but saith the Philosopher if I become a christian either I must lose all for Christ or else I may lose all for Christ to whom the Minister replyed what you lose for him he will pay you againe O but saith the philosopher will you be bound for Christ that if he do not pay me you will Yes saith he and so became a surety for his surety and the philosopher became a Christian When this person came to lye upon his dying pillow he sent for this Minister saying here 's your bond Christ hath paid me all he hath left nothing for you to pay It was a vaine conceite of that potentate who refusing the name of Pius would be called Faelix Inward piety is the best friend to outward felicity though outward felicity be many times the worst enemy to inward piety That 's the tenth The eleventh Principle that you should walk by is this That all the time that God allows us is little enough to fulfill the task that he allots us Man that is borne of a woman is few of dayes and full of troubles Job 14. 1. The creatures life and existence is of a very short and small continuance Natures womb somtimes proves natures tombe and swallows up her own Vitae hujus principium mortis exordium est nec priùs incipit augeri aetas nostra quam minui Prosp de vocat Gen. lib. 2. c. 20 issue With many it's ebb water before the tide be at the full the lamp of their lives is wasted even as soon as it is lighted the sands of their hour-glasse are quite run out when they think it is but newly turned When men feele sicknesse arresting then they feare deaths approaching But we begin our dying as soon as ever we begin our living and how much the longer our time hath been so much the shorter our time shall be Every mans passing-bell hangs in his own steeple Take him in his four elements of Earth and Aire Fire and Water In the Earth he is like dust that 's scattering in the Aire he is like a vapour that 's vanishing in the water he is like a bubble that 's breaking in the Fire he is like smoak that 's consuming Seneca said truly Maximum vivendi Sen. de brevit vitae cap. 9. impedimentum est expectatio quae pendet in crastino the greatest hinderance of well living is the expectation of long life Therefore men so little prepare for death because they so little think on death they think not of living any better till they think not of living any longer Did you but walke by this principle though much of your time be past yet would no more of your time be lost you would this moment make sure of God because the next moment you are not sure of your selves One to-day is worth two to-morrows you know not how soone the sails of your lives may be rowled up or how nigh you are to your eternall haven O ply your Oares dilligently lest the vessell doe miscarry everlastingly What will you doe if you begin to dye naturally before you begin to live spiritually if the Tabernacle of nature be taken down before the Temple of grace be raised up if your paradise be laid wast before the Tree of life be set in it if you give up the Ghost before ever you have received the Holy Ghost if the Sun of your lives set within you before the Sun of righteousness shine upon you if the body be sit to be turned into the earth before the soul be fit to be taken into Heaven If the second birth have no place in you the second Death shall have a power over you One excellently compares
our life to a day Infancy is as it were the day breake youth is the Sun rising full growth is as the Sun in it's Meridian and old age is as the Sun setting by the light of the day let us doe the worke of the day O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that doe belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Luk. 19. 42. The dews of grace is falling whilst the day of grace is dawning O how just is it that they should misse of heaven at the last that never seek for Heaven till the last That God should deny them his grace to repent that abuse his grace to sin It 's a Maxime Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum every thing hath an aptitude of returning into the Principle of its beginning as the Rivers that have their eflux from the Sea have their reflux to the Sea Out of the dust man was formed and therefore into the dust man is turned Sirs How much of your lives is gone and yet how little of your works are done You tender plants will you spend your youthfull lives in following of your youthfull lusts will you hang the most sparkling Jewells of your yeares as pendents in the Devils ears The Aegyptians sold their funerall balms in the Temple of Venus to shew that where they prayed for their nativity they might not forget their mortallity O you fresh pictures will you not be hung in Heavens gallery do you not know that the blossome is as subject to nipping as the flower to withering and the spark to extinguishing as the flame to expiring Veins brimmed full with blood may be emptied by an accident as soon as those that are leakish with old age As there 's none too old for eternity so there 's none too young for mortallity In Golgotha there are sculls of all sizes You are but green enough for reformation that are gray enough for dissolution tell me how wilt thou live when thou diest that art dead whilst thou livest every step that your bodies take it 's towards the earth O that euery step your souls take might be towards Heaven We sin as well in not doing the good commanded as in doing the evil prohibited The Vine that bringeth forth no Grapes shall be cut down as well as the Vine that bringeth forth wild Grapes There 's no countermining against the death of the body without us but by undermining of the body of death within us O how sad is it to be taken out of the world before we are taken off from the world To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3. 7. We have but a day wherein we are called to repent and therefore should repent whilest it is called to day None sings so sweetly as the Turtle upon the Churches Walls and all that he may even constram sinners unto himself He is the deafest Adder that stops his ears to the voice of the sweetest Charmer The Lord hath made a promise to late repentance but he hath not made a promise of late repentance If the Tap be not now thawed it may be for ever frozen A pardon is sometimes given to a Thief on the Gallows but he that Quòspectas quò te extendu Omnia quae ventura sunt in incertojacent Seneca ubi prius trusts to that sometimes hath a Rope for his wages Boast not of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27. Man is such a pur-blind creature that he cannot unerringly see a day before him O see the ending of one day before thou gloriest in the beginning of another Many a mans dayes deceives him they passe away like a shadow by Moon-shine that then appears longest when it s nearest to an end Thou mayest not have halfe a day to live Dum floret aetas dum viget animus operemur bonum cùm enim vita ista transierit auferetur tempus operandi Arbor in cap. 6. ad Gal. ver 10. who thinks thou hast not lived out halfe thy dayes up and be doing least you be for ever undone The night cometh wherein no man can work The Grave is a Bed to rest in but not a Shop to trade in There 's no setting up under ground for those that have lost their time above ground When the soul in death takes its flight from its loving maite they shall meet no more till the general Assises 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the acceptable Vide Gor. Arboreum in loc time behold now is the day of salvation Now is the time for grace to accept of you and now is the time for you to accept of grace Opportunities they are for eternity but opportunities they are not to eternity Mercies Clock doth not strike at the sinners beck Where the means of grace is greatest there the day of grace is shortest Thou mayest be unhappy all thy dayes for the neglect of this dayes happinesse It was the sad cry of one My life is done but my work is undone O that you would imploy the small remnant you have of opportunity for the obtaining of the whole peece of felicity Make Hay whilest the Sun is shining and hoyse up Sails whilest the wind is serving Let this be thy living day the next may be thy dying day Seek the Lord whilest he may be found call upon him whilest he is near Isa 55. 6. Sirs The sufferings of eternal death are but the Issue of the slightings of eternal life Methinks the worth of such Pearls of price should sparkle in your eyes Will you let such a Sun set on earth by the beams of which you should walke to Heaven No disease is more fatal then that which doth reject Cordials What asad thing is it that such rich Mines should be opened and not a penny of this treasure fall to your share Some are gone so far in the way of sinning that there 's small hopes of their returning How much time did God bestow upon you before ever you returned any of that time to him It 's good to have an Ark prepared before a Deluge come in which you may be overwhelmed Man must do what he can and leave God to do what he will Though you cannot create the breath of the Spirit yet hang out your Sails to entertain it Though you cannot make the Pool of Bethesda healing yet lye at its mouth and wait for its stirring The longer a building goes to ruin the more cost it requires for reparation Remember that God can as easily turn you into the dust as he could take you out of the dust Delayes are numerous O but delayes are dangerous Who will look for water from a drained River Or that wealthy Grapes should grow upon a withered Vine For a man to make his best work to be his last work what 's this but as if an Husbandman should be putting in of his Plough for the sowing of his
heated in the Mid-night of adversity Afflictions are not a fire that 's consuming but a flame that 's refining they are like the prick at the Nightingales breast that awaken her and put her upon her delightful singing Many Saints are like Topps that goes best when they are lasht most For Ireckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Romans 8. 18. These fall as far short of glory as the smallest fraction of the greatest number or as the least filings of Gold of the riches of the whole Indies If the early glimmerings of our Lord Jesus Christ shroud so much joy and strength within their own beams as over-powers the cross what will his Meridian Rayes of glory doe when they are revealed Will you cast them both into the scales of the Sanctuary 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory How light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory and how short a Minute of pains to an Eternity of pleasures He said excellently Bene fertur Calumina cúm acquiritur Corona He need not be weary of the Crosse that 's sure of the Crown After the Cup of affliction comes the cup of salvation The Wine-presse prepares for the Wine-cellar After the pangs and throws comes the child birth O clear up your interest in God A pardon may be past the Princes Seale that is not put into the Prisoners hand Things that are exceeding sharp calls for much Sugar to make them sweet Death is a thing that hath the most ungrateful taste to the creatures pallate Now Grace is baptized with a double name It 's called The first-fruits of the spirit Romans 8. 28. It 's called The earnest of the spirit 2 Cor. 1. 22. It 's a tast to shew us the sweetnesse of eternal life and it 's a pledge to shew us the sureness of eternal life Our Heavenly Physitian will keep us no longer in Physick but till we are thorowly purged Our merciful refiner will detain us no longer in the Furnace but till we are sufficiently purified Patience for sowing the seeds of sorrow on earth shall reap a golden crop of joy in Heaven We may talk of the greatnesse of our future recompence but we shall never know the weight of our Crowns till they be set on our heads nor the worth of our Robes till they be worn on our backs then the pricking Thorn shall be turned into a precious Gem. As darknesse is the absence of light when the Sun is removed from its Horizon so is death the privation of life when the soul is removed from its Prison we have here but jus ad rem there we shall have jus in re Here we have an expectation of our fruitions there we shall have the fruition of our expectations Chear up brave spirits your Wildernesse Nunc deprimuntur et calcantur electi ut olim assurgant et extollantur ad instar palmarum Drex Christian Zod. Sig. 5. p. 42. journeys will soon be periodized The cloth must be cut in peeces before it can be made up in garments The hewing of the timber is for the erecting of the structure The new corn that lives in Summer is produced from the old corn that dyed in the Winter We should willingly embrace death though we should not desperately rush upon it you will be like Civet that 's when it 's taken out of the Box leaves a sweet savour behind it Shall Christ willingly come down from Heaven to earth to dye for us and shall not we willingly go up from earth to Heaven to live with him A Saints loathnesse to expire doth not spring from this root because they judge that death is not good enough for them but it 's a sprig that grows upon this root because they judge thēselves not good enough for death But remember the edg of this keen sword is blunted since the sides of Christ was the scabbard in which it was sheathed When the Ship is in the Haven its Erras mi Christiane erras sicogitas te integrum et non bene contusum perventurum ad coelum Drex loc citat past all storms but by induring storms it at last arriveth at the Haven When we come to Glory there will be no temptations to endure but it s by enduring of temptations that we come to glory When the body and the soul shall part asunder the soul and God shall meet together The sharper your sorrows are here the sweeter will be your joyes hereafter let me allude to that Psal 68. 13. Though ye have lien among the Pots yet shall ye be as the wings of a Dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold All the Grapes in Christs Vineyard must passe thorow the Wine-presse Health is most acceptable after the sharpest sicknesse and liberty most sweet after a rigorous bondage and the harbour most welcome after turbulent storms How pleasant soever a sinners beginning is his ending is dolorous how troublesome soever a Saints beginning is his ending is joyous The fresh Rivers of carnal pleasure run into a salt Sea of despairing tears when the wet seeds-time of a pious life ushers in the Sun-shiny Harvest of a peacefull death When Craesus askt Solon who he Dicique beatus ant◠obitum nemo supremaque funera debet Horat. thought happy he told him one Tellus a man that was dead Happinesse doth not goe before death but death goes before happinesse It 's storied of Adrianus that seeing many Christians put to such cruel and bitter deaths he askt some of them what it was that they suffered such cruel torments for to whom they answered Speramus illa bona quae oculus non videt auras non audivit in cor hominis non ascenderunt We hope for those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive They who are born blind are unable to judg of that glory that dazles the very eyes of the Angels One smile in Gods face will dry up all the tears in their eyes When beleevers change earth for Heaven they do not loose their blessednesse but compleat their blessednesse as fishes dropping out of the narrow Brook into the wide Ocean do not leave their Element but are more in it then they were before A beleevers dying is resembled to a burnt-offering now in a burnt-offering when the ashes falls to the earth the flame ascends to Heaven Thus have I set twenty Diamonds in your Golden Ring And so much for the first thing Namely The erection of singular Principles I come now to the last stage for the direction of singular practises Here I shall spread but six Sails and make to the shoar 1. Would you do more then others then you must know more then others I may say of Divine