content for it is not much that nature wants it is lesse that she requires Take up therefore the care of riches only to serve thy turne in this life and as thou findest thy selfe drawing neerer home the more disburthen thy selfe of them knowing that he is but a foolish traveller that will furnish himselfe for a litle way as if his journey were of many Miles and if in thy journey thou meete with any crosse or affliction which the good are most subject unto being heere from home in a strange place in body goods or good name first looke backe to thy selfe what thou hast deserved and then looking up to heaven 1 Sam. 3.18 say with Eli It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good No man that warreth entangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a Souldier 2. Tim. 2. ver 4. 2 IT ill becommeth a Souldier that is upon service for his King and Countrey when hee should be bending both wit and force for the annoying of the enemy then to bee contriving or making Merchandise with him and as ill or rather worse it becommeth a Christian when hee hath given up his name to become the Souldier of Christ Iesus then to be traffiqueing and trading with the Devill dealing with him about worldly affaires Thou therefore that hast by Baptisme put on Christ Iesus Gal. 3.27 proclaming him to be thy King and vowing thy selfe to be his Souldier stand to thy tackling be strong and quite thee like a Man feare none but God and yeelde to nothing but godlinesse which hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come Turne thine eyes from the things of this World and fix them upon heavenly consider it is a Crowne thou runnest for a kingdome thou fightest for fight therefore manfully and so at last having fought that good fight of faith thou shalt inherit the Kingdome and raine regally without opposition or annoyance for ever for thou shalt please him whose Souldier thou art 1 Sam. 2.30 and who hath thus honoured thee NOVV will I arise sayeth the Lord now will I be exalted now will I lift up my selfe Esay 33. ver 10. 3 AS the nource to weane her child from the too earnest desire after her breast layes some bitter thing thereupon which having prevailed shee eyther wipes it off or throwes it away So deales God with the bitter enemies which he stirreth up against his peopl to weane them frō sin the love of the World hee at the last turnes their rage and fury upon themselves though they bee for the present Thornes in his Churches side Numb 33.55 and Prickes in their eyes and vexe them in the land wherein they dwell yet having executed and brought to effect his purpose hee at the last sweepes them away with the besome of destruction Esay 14.23 and kills their roote with famine For their actions proceeding from an hatred against Gods people and not from obedience they are at the last justly punished of God for that they have in such cruell manner made havocke of his people Let this then arme thee with patience when the Hand of God is upon thee Job 13.15 To trust in him though hee slay thee or when he doth exercise thy faith by wicked instruments yet still to relie upon him for deliverance for he will in his due time deliver thee he will arise and be exalted so that thou shalt see thy desire upon thine enemies O. JOB 21. vers 23.25 ONE dyeth in his full strength being in all ease prosperity And another dyeth in the bitternesse of his soule and never eateth with pleasure 1. VVHAT is the life of mā but a journey or pilgrimage through the desart of Sin toward the land of Promise the heavenly Ierusalem Esay 33.24 where no inhabitant shall say I am sick In which progresse some parents see their childrē consumed for presumption like Nadab and Abihu Leut. 10.2 Some both parents and children are devoured for rebellion like Corah his company Numb 16.31 but most children see their parents interred in the Wildernesse for their manifold transgressions and disobedience Man is borne with a condition to die and not only old men must but the youngest and lustiest may die Nay our whole life is a continuall death Infancy dies in childhood childhood in youth youth in strong age that in old age and old age is our Nebo from whence having taken a veiw of the holy Land we die according to the word of the Lord for it was Satans language he first spake the word yee shall not die at all Deut. 34.5 Some depart out of this World like a guest out of his Inne willingly others leave it like a Man pluckt out of his house Gen. 3.4 against their will one dyes like a Lampe or Candle wasted and consumed so dyes the old man the other like fier quenched with water violently so ends the yong man so that will they nill they yet all returne to Golgotha The workes of God are unsearchable and his wayes past finding out wherefore the godly and the wicked are many times deceived in the end God aimes at The wicked doe many times so flourish and end in such pompe and the godly are so afflicted and die so despisedly in the eye of the World that the one thinkes the godly mans life to be but madnes Wisd 5.4 and the other that he hath clensed his heart in vaine but the time will come when the wicked shall be scattered away like chaffe Psal 1.5 and the righteous shall stand in great boldnes before the face of such as have tormented him Wisd 5.1 Therefore judge not thou thy selfe hated of God because thou art poore and endest thy dayes without pleasure neyther judge thy selfe beloved because thou art rich and departest in prosperity but labour in both estates to die the Servant of the Lord and so bee thou low Wis 5.5 or high rich or poore thou shalt have thy Portion among the Saints ONELY by Pride doth Man make contention Pro. 13 10. 2. PRIDE is a disease of the minde whose efficient cause is the good gift of God abused to wit a wealthy estate yea so easilie doth prosperity infect that hardly can a Man be rich and not tainted with this disease While the families of Abraham Lot were not greate there was peace and quiet but assoone as they were encreased peace was excluded and debate admitted into the roome then began the hearts to bee possest with that contentious rhetorique of Mine and Thine which parted those whom neither adversity nor peril 's in famine or exile could sever or part assunder It is commonly sayd that poverty parts good company but it is more often seene that those have bin severed by prosperity whom a meaner estate had lovingly knit in a firmer bond for wealth inflameth the
thy goodnesse LOOKE not thou upon the Wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup â—or goeth downe pleasantly Pro. 23. vers 31. 3 THE sight as it is the most noble and excellent sense so is it also the most delectable and can hardly be removed from what it hath once entertained what a sin and shame then is it to puddle that Crystalline Spring by presenting a Basiliske to infect Pro. 23.32 and poyson it Such is Wine and strong drinke which whilest some have immoderatelie hunted after and with too eager a desire gazed upon they have found death in their potts Gen. 1. God in the beginning made all things good and shall Man the best of those good creatures pervert the first institution shall that which God ordained to make glad the heart contristate and sade the same Psal 104.15 God forbid yet this is done by an excessive use and superabundant lusting after the same Let therefore the counsaile of Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 5.23 bee thy doctrine use Wine or strong drinke but let it be litle such as may conduce to health and not put nature to too heauy a taske in easing of the burden which hath unmeasureablie bin layd upon it Remember that Wine is a mocker Pr. 20.1 and strong drinke is raging desire it not therefore over much lest it make thee unwise M. JOB 17. vers 1. MY breath is corrupt my dayes are cut off and the Grave is ready for me Psal 58.3 1. BIRTH begets sinne the wicked from the belly have erred and speake lies sinne sicknes sicknesse death and so all dy forasmuch as all doe sinne Rom. 5.12 had not Man sinned he should have drawne out his life to a comfortable maturity or if his life like some long-kindled Lampe must have consumed it should have bin without all payne for without sin there could have bin no punishment But sinnes generation became Mans corruption and no sooner was it borne but Man began to die August de lib. arbit lib. 3. c. 8. Which is not the nature of Man thereto ordained but the punishment of him condemned because hee willingly died in spirit hee must though against his will die in body Job 17.13 The grave must bee his House And Here he must rest Mr. Austine inâ—dâ—t in fine and Where else should he rest Is not a mans owne house to sleep in best Seing then this is the condition of all Men let it be thy care to furnish this house that thou mayest bee rich and happy in it Here lay up the precious Oyntment of a good name here laye up the well kept bookes of a good conscience here lay up the workes of mercy here lay up thy bills of exchange of convay thy treasure to Heaven where neither theife nor Moth nor rust shall annoy it and having thus deckt and garnished the same lay thee downe in the sweete bed of faith and assurance of mercy and looking for a glorious Resurrection say Now farewell World here in my house I 'le rest Sepulchrum enim domus mea est MANY devises are in a mans hearte but the counsaile of the Lord shall stand Proverbs 19. vers 21. 2 THE way of man is not in himselfe â—…er 10.23 neyther is it in man to walke and direst his steps he proposeth but God disposeth Man determines but GODS decree must stand To morrow sayth Man I will goe to such or such a place or doe this or that whereas he ought to say if the Lord will and if I live I will doe this or that James 4.13.15 Vaine Man may thinke to get him a lasting name by erecting his cloudy peircing Tower but God determines to make it Babel a confusion so vaine are the devices of Man Doe not thou therefore peremptorilie determine of any thing eyther in the Service of God or thine owne affaires but desire of the Lord to bow thine heart unto him 1 King 8.58 that thou mayst walke in his wayes and begin all thy workes in his name and feare and so shalt thou bee sure to end them in his favour MANY Men will boast every one of his owne goodnes but who can finde a faithfull Man Pro. 20. vers 6. 3 IT is bad for a Man to sin it is worse to delight in it but it is worst of all to extenuate and lessen it Whilest Man seeks to shrowde his faults under vertues habit and boasts himselfe to bee a very good Man because hee is not an incarnate Devill what else doth he but passe on to the second death like the offender to the first with merry company whereby the way may seeme somewhat shortened but the punishment nothing lessened It is a block which Satan casts in the Christian Mans way and whereat many stumble when hee makes a Man to compare himselfe with others and to thinke himselfe a very holy Saint if he be not worse then the very worst and more notoriously wicked then the most profligate wretch But alas this is no sure fence it is no better then Adams thicket which cannot shelter a Man from Gods inquisition who will finde him out in his deepest Hypocrysie Pro. 20 9. Therefore say not thou I have made my heart cleane I am cleane from my sinne but rather acknowledge thy selfe to be an unprofitable Servant a miserable sinner and in the publicans tone implore Gods favour Luke 18.2 13 O God be mercifull to me a sinner N. JOB 1. vers 21. NAKED came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither the Lord hath given the Lord hath taken it 1. Job 5.6 MISERY commeth not forth of the dust neyther doth afflicton spring out of the Earth but a supreame hand rules over all 1 Sam. 2 7 and it is the Lord only that maketh poore and maketh rich Notwithstanding Man who is of a dogged nature and currish disposition like the dog that bits the stone that is throwne at him but regards not him that threw it is ever wrastling and striving with the Crosse and affliction that is layd upon him but he never lookes to the hand that sent it Psal 14 1. and with Davids foole he can hardly be brought to thinke on God Exod 8.19 till with Pharoahs enchanters he be compelled to confesse it to be his finger handy-worke Man hath nothing but what he hath received from God in trust who when hee sees good will call for what is his owne and then Man as hee came naked into the World shrowded onely in bloud so hee shall returne as naked wrapt up peradventure in a sorry cloute In his pilgrimage here he vainely affected what hee must leave behind him and like a foolish traveller burthens himselfe with more then is needefull Let this then teach thee so to use this World as though thou usedst it not 1 Tim. 9.8 Hast thou foode and rayment be therewith
nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy He both prepares the good will of man August Enchir cap. 3 1. Repent Peter fol. 117. that it may be fit to be holpen by grace and also aydeth it being prepared Hee preventeth him that is unwilling that hee may bee willing and followeth him that is willing that hee may not will in vaine Blasphemous then is it to hold that the will of man should worke with Gods Grace in any thing that is good Indeede as they are workes and actions so they proceede from the will of man but as they are good works they are only the workes of grace as our Savior Christ told his Disciples John 15.5 Without me yee can doe nothing Yet in the very act of conversion the will of man is not idle nor without all motion and sense as a dead image but it followeth the Spirit of God that draweth it not by any violent necessitie but by sweetning and softning our hearts by his holy Spirit For in one and the same moment God moveth and boweth the will Non violenta necessi◅ate sed infandendo suavitatem ◅er spiritum sanctum bid and causeth us to bee willing indeed but yet so as all the efficacy of the worke is from the Spirit of God who of unwilling maketh obedient and of slow and dull maketh us runne Let this then teach thee himiliation for if there be no goodnesse nor any aptnesse to that which is good in us why should we be lift up with any conceipt of our selves rather glorifie God with acknowledgment of thy poverty and by earnest Prayer crave the assistance of Gods grace to quicken thee and effect the worke of thy conversion that so thou mayst performe those duties which God requireth of thee Thus doth the Church of God in divers places Convert thou me Jer. 31.18 and I shal be converted And againe Turne thou us unto thee O Lord Lam. 5.21 and wee shall be turned Yea Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Soliloq cap. 18. St. Augustine had that sweete Prayer oft in his Mouth Lord give grace to doe what thou commaundest and then commaund what thou wilt Otherwise there can be no good looked for in any of us And therefore Moyses maketh this the cause why the people were no more moved to repentance by all the gracious proceedings and administrations of God toward them in the wildernesse namely That the Lord had not given them an heart to perceive Deut. 29.4 nor eyes to see nor eares to heare unto this day QVENCH not the spirit 1 Thes 5.19 2 THE graces of the holy Spirit in this life are like sparkes of fier which may soone be quenced with a litle water as oft as wee sinne we cast water upon the Spirit of God and as much as in us lies wee put out the same Therefore let it bee thy speciall care to avoyde and make conscience of every thing wherein thou mayst offend and grieve the holy Spirit of God He is a Spirit most pure and will have an undefiled Temple to dwell in keepe therefore thy Vessell cleane thy body pure which is his Temple doe nothing that may disquiet or molest him least by abusing thy selfe by sinne thou cause the Holy Ghost with griefe to depart from thee QVEENE Esther also being in danger of death resorted unto the Lord Esther 14.1 3 THERE bee two things that fill the heart full of endlesse griefe outward calamities and a wounded conscience which as Salomon speakes none can beare Pro. 18 14 and the only comfort in distresse is to have recourse to GOD by earnest Prayer and although hee seeme not to heare presently Job 13.15 yet to trust in him with Iob even unto the death Rowle thy selfe therefore upon the Lord and cast all thy care upon him who careth for thee and though GOD or wicked men afflict and vex thee yet let it not drive thee from this Rocke of comfort to vaine and sorry shifts The Lord hath comforts for his children that will quiet and support them in any feares and dangers his consolation will make a man sleepe without a Bed live almost without a Soul they will make a man bold in danger quiet in trouble and live in the jawes of death Rejoyce therefore in all thy troubles but let it be in the Lord and hee will give thee strength to withstand thē for the joy of the Lord is our Strength R. PROVERBS 11. Vers 4. RICHES availe not in the day of wrath but righteousnesse delivereth from death 1. RICHES of themselves are not simplie evill but as they are corrupted by abuse it is possible though hard for a Man to bee rich and yet to bee a good Man neyther doth the Prophet advise us to have no riches Psal 62 10. but that wee should not set our hearts upon them But alas so easilie doth a prosperous estate make a corrupted minde that povertie were much better for many There is a fonde imagination possesseth the heart of most men that wealth brings some happinesse and that if they have abundance they are then in safety and in an happy case This is evident by a common speech that such or such a man cannot doe amisse for he is wealthy and hath the World at will as if they should say hee is free from danger no hurt can come unto him But wealth is a very weake defendant against the LORDS assaults it shall not stand them in any stead neyther deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. Ezeck 7.19 Trust not therefore to thy riches Ecclus 5.1 and say not I have enough for my life for thou knowest not how soone they may be taken from thee or thou thy selfe pluckt from them Ecclus 1 1◅ 19. the time draweth neere that thou must leave all such things unto others and then whose shall those things be that thou hast provided RIGHTEOVS lips are the delight of Kings and the King loveth him that speaketh right things Pro. 16. ver 13. Ecclus 10.17 2 BLESSED is the Land when the King is the sonne of Nobles vertuouslie trained up and delighting in the grave advice of his Sage counsellors then doth he like the Sunne in the Firmament shine gloriouslie and as it so hee comforteth and rejoyceth the hearts of all that are under his rule But when his eares are stopt to honest and wholesome Counsaile and tyed onely to the tongues of flatterers and Thrasonicall Sycophāts a woe it is to the land Pro. 11.14 for the people must needes fall 2 Chron. 12.1 When foolish Rehoboam the Sonne of wise Salomon forsooke the Law of the Lord all Israel went with him Looke what manner of Man the ruler of the City is such Ecclus 10.2 are all they that dwell therein his very example is a secret kinde of Law and whatsoever hee doth himselfe he seems to command it to