spirit sing praises to Our God yea a joyfull and pleasant thing to be thankfull Psalm 147.1 If we delight in this heavenly * Singing of Psalmes to Gods glory Melodie and soule-ravishing Harmonie it is impossible we should ever forget God Therefore it is an Antidote of Soveraigne vertue against worldly securitie Lastly the celebration of GODS Name reduces to our memory the Dangers and disasters that we have past Psalm 54.6 7. and those sins of ours likewise that occasioned them The consideration whereof may deterre us from sinning and teach us to stand in awe of the Divine Majesty Psal 4.4 lest by committing new sinnes wee pull on our Heads new punishments according to that terrible Commination of God Deut. 32.23 I will heape mischiefes on them I will spend mine Arrowes upon them and verse 42. I will make mine Arrowes drunke with the bloud of the slaine c. Let us therfore as Moses there adviseth ver 46. set our hearts * Hardnesse of heart the cause of Inconsideration Mark 6.52 compard with 2 Chr. 12.14 unto all these words lest after we have escapt the sword of Saul we be hew'd in peeces by Samuel All relapses into sinne or sickenesse are extreme perillous Recidiva pejor Radice Recidivation aggravates the crime and makes the latter end worse than the beginning as Saint Peter testifies 2 Pet. 2.20 who resembles such Delinquents to dogges and hogges ver 22. Wherefore let us not provoke to anger our heavenly Father our gracious Redeemer and sweet comforter Sinne no more saith our Saviour Iohn 5.14 least a worse thing befall thee that is sinne no more wilfullie doe what thou canst to avoid it Shun whatsoever hath any tincture of sinne Detest it as the bane of thy soule * Numb 16.38 and abhorre thy selfe for it Desire to forbeare all sinne and that desire shall exempt thee from the Guilt or Punishment Turne Hagar out of doores Crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and lusts Crush the Cockatrice in the shell Non nocent peccata praeterita saith Saint Augustine Si non placent praesentia Grace resists and subdues corruption Sins past cannot harme us if sinnes present doe not please us Be vigilant therefore and keep an eye upon thy selfe and all thy actions and designes Make a covenant with thine eyes and set a strict watch on thy lips that thou offend not Let Gods Law * Qui diligit legem diligit Regem and Word be a Lanterne to thy feet by which thou maist order thy steps then if thou slide thou shalt not fall and if thou fall by infirmitie Dominus supponet manum the Lord Iesus shall raise thee by his Power and not * See Isaiah 41.10 permit thee to be attempted above thy strength He is full of compassion and will not deale with us after our sins nor reward us according to our Wickednesse for hee knowes whereof wee are made and remembers that we are but Dust Est piger ad poenas Ichova ad praemia velox Quique dolet quoties cogitur esse scrox Multa metu poenae poenâ qui pauca coercet Et jacit invitâ fusmina rara manu Qui cum triste aliquid statuit st tristis ipse Cuique feré poenam sumere poena sua est Gods blessings are more rife then 's Maledictions He frets when he is forc'd to plague the Times Choosing affright ments rather than Afflictions Rarely he thunder-strikes the greatest crimes When he resolves to strike he doth condole And when he strikes irgrieves his very Soule Let us then wholly fixe our mindes on God and embrace the divine Counsell of our blessed LORD and Redeemer Watch and pray that yee enter not into Temptation Mat. 24.42.46 Watch for yee know not in what houre your Lord commeth Blessed is that faithfull and wise servant whom his Lord when he comes shall finde so doing But if wee say in our hearts with the evill servant Mat. 24.48 Our Lord delayes his comming and therupon abandon our selves to all excesse of sinning following our unsanctified affections and extravagant lusts in all security the Lord will come upon us in a Day when we looke not for him and cut us in peeces as Agag when he lest expected it Let us remember there is Dies Deus ultionis a day and a God of Vengeance that we must shortly appeare before His dreadfull Tribunall who is a Iudge for wisedome infallible for Iustice inflexible Behold death is at our doores and Iudgement hovers over our Heads we cannot therefore conclude that the bitternesse of death is past If therefore wee have any * 1 Pet. 2.3 Taste of Grace any sense of our Mortalitie any Impression of Eternitie any resentment of sinne which raignes every where to the subversion of States and destruction of Soules let our conversation be honest modest sober pure and holy as becomes the Children of God that wee may so improve to our selves by repentance and amendment of life this grievous visitation that the blessed Angels in Heaven may rejoyce at our conversion and our Mercifull Father bee pleased to continue to us His gracious protection For the Angell of the Lord the volant minister of his Vengeance being still abroad with his sword drawne as appeares * This was written in the time of the great plague in Italy and Savoy by those horrid spectacles of Mortality every where visible it concernes us All to humble our selves under the mighty hand of God And as in prosperity wee may not presumptuously say The bitternesse of death is past much lesse in this time of Pestilitie and tribulation ought we to sleep in securitie lest wee be worthily branded with that stigmaticall Mark which is set upon Ahaz 2 Chro. 28.22 This is that King Ahaz What had he done that the Spirit of the Lord should point at him with his finger in that sort above all the rest of the Kings of Israel and Iudah the reason is there rendred In the time of his distresse hee trespassed yet more against the Lord. This is that King Ahaz These things saith Saint Paul are Examples for us to reflect on and are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come 1 Cor. 10.11 AN ESSAY OF FRIENDSHIP Written by a Noble GENTLE-MAN DECEASED And now Revised and Illustrated 1 PET. 1.22 and 3 16. See that yee love one another with a pure heart fervently Having a good Conscience that whereas they speake evill of you as of evill doers they may be ashamed c. Amor Dei amorem proximi generat LONDON Printed by T. Badger for H. Mosley and are to be sold at his Shop at the Princes Armes in S. Pauls Church-Yard 1640. AN ESSAY of Friendship IN the workemanship of the World MAN is the most excellent piece and there is no particular Man but in his Essence and nature is far more excellent then the Frame of all the rest of the World But that
Himselfe a man after GODS owne heart had a spice of this disease as appeares in the 30. Psalme In my prosperitie I said I shall never bee removed thou Lord of thy goodnesse hast made my Hill so strong Ver. 6. but immediately in the next ver he confesses that the Lord hiding his face he was troubled and then he cried to the Lord and went to him right humbly being neere death or in great feare of it as appeares by the verses subsequent Thus danger ever treads on the heeles of security and oft trips them up I will close these examples with our Saviours Parable Luk. 12. the Apodosis or Application thereof being common to all men The rich man there sung a Requiem to his soule when immediately it was said Thou foole this night shall thy soule be taken from thee ver 20. The Reasons hereof are evident For II. Reasons when men feare least they provide lest against danger A Citie is never more subject to Surprize then when t is ungarded The Trojans defended themselves bravely ten yeares together while the enemy encampt before the Citie but when the Greeks discamping faind a Retrait and came upon them unawares the Town was suddenly taken that held out so long A Poët describing the overthrow of that famous City the Metropolis of Asia saith thus Sic profanatis sacris Peritura Troja perdidit primum Deos. They lost their GODS before they lost their Towne Their Palladium had been stolne from them which argued their carelesse security In like manner t is seldome seene that men run any great hazard of life livelihood or liberty but they first loose GOD by carnall security David in the prementiond * Psalm 30 ver 7. Psalme intimates the cause of his Trouble Feare and Danger saying Thou didst turne thy face from me implying that he had first turn'd aside from God in the time of prosperity when hee had said I shall never be removed A second Reason may bee drawne from the Propension of our corrupt nature to Lust and Concupiscence whereto as we encline strongly so the Devill tempts us hourely Now sensuality hath never so much power over a man as in prosperitie which rendring us secure no marvaile if we fall into sensles stupidity and never reflect on the bitternesse of Death The Prophet relating hereto Psalm 32. compares such to the Horse and Mule which have no understanding whose * Affliction fires out corruption mouths must bee holden with Bit and Bridle that is Affliction and Tribulation which restraine men commonly from precipitating themselves into such grosse sinnes as otherwise they were apt to fall into Afflictio domat cupiditates exerat fidem coronat patientiam Inconsideration the common errour of the World and the chiefe cause of all grosse sins and errors See 2 Chro. 12.14 The last reason is defect of understanding and want of sound Iudgement in most men who seldome looke further then the present and consider not what may fall out hereafter Demosthenes upbraiding the Athenians with Improvidence and incircumspection presented to them an innocent Foole who being struck on the one Cheek laid his hand on the place where he had received the blow and being smit on the other did the like never using either of his hands to defend himselfe from further blowes Such is the case of mankind Ubi dolor ibi digitus Wee are so possest with worldly businesse or so besotted with pleasures that we never think on Gods Iudgments but while they are present and if we escape we conclude with Agag The bitternesse of death is past not considering that so long as we carry sinne about us we carry Nemesin à tergo Vengeance still dogs us and without Repentance will at last overtake us III. Scripture Proofs Scripture Authorities to confirme this point are obvious to any that hath studied the Book of God there being nothing more frequent then exhortations to vigilancy and dehortations from security Yea the Prophets are therfore stil'd Watchmen because they are appointed to watch over us that when we sleepe in security as the Disciples did at the instant when the Shepheard was to be smitten and the Sheepe to bee scatterd they might sound an Alarme in our eares and rouze us to consideration of our danger In the Greek Anthology we reade of a Physitian who having two Patients the one Lunatike the other Lethargike lockt them up both in one Roome when he that was frantick did so beat the Lethargik that he kept him from sleeping by force and so cur'd him and withall so wearied himselfe with beating that he fell a sleep and recovered likewise If we apply this to our selves it may serve to shew us what a perillous disease a Lethargy is which requires blowes to cure it the smart whereof we may feele and beare the Markes a long while after If therefore after some great crosse or danger over-past our carnall lusts desire to renew their acquaintance with us the Vanities of the World allure us or the Devill would perswade us to think that the bitternesse of Death is past yet as we tender our owne soules let us not give eare to those charming temptations least with Agag we be hewne in peeces when we least suspect it Nemo tam Divos habuit faventes Crastinum ut possit sibi polliceri In our best health wee cannot promise to our selves a Day and therefore can never say the bitternesse of death is past since every Day is a step to Death yea every Houre and Moment Our bodies are but earthen Vessels which a small knocke will breake so that they who have escapt a furious plague may dye of a small Fever or surfet Thus worldly dangers and disasters still hover over our heads and compasse us round and therefore none can truely say that the bitternesse of death is past but those only that are reconciled to God by Iesus Christ who swallowed up Death in Victory and exempted his children from its sting and bitternesse The danger of this spirituall Lethargie being so great and impendent let us consider what signes or Symptoms thereof may bee found in our corrupt Natures that perceaving our owne perillous estate wee may seeke to prevent it by applying such remedies as are proper and specificall Symptoms of security The first marke or signe of this foule disease is a ml n = 1 giddie and vertiginous spirit which is most visibly seene in Reprobates who 〈◊〉 madly after their owne wild lusts and pursue their pleasure with such greedinesse as apparently shewes they have no sense nor apprehension of Death or Iudgement These kinde of men the Psalmist paints in their colours Psalm 59.5 they offend of malitious wickednesse verse 6. they runne to and fro and about the Citie Psal 10. They care not for God nor once thinke of him These are entred into a Lethargie being taken in the head and having lost regimen intellectus whereby they might understand their owne danger
mater est diffidentia Diffidence is the mother of Prudence For if thou examine thy life by the Rule of GODS Law thou wilt finde thy soule full of a spirituall Leprosie which nothing can cure but the bleeding wounds of the immaculate Lambe of God which taketh away all the sinnes of the World The 4th note of our inclination to that Lethargik disease was the want of selfe-examination viz. how we stood affected to holy duties in times of adversitie and Prosperity respectively If then wee feele the Pulse of our Soules to beate more faintly and weakely in our prosperous and flourishing estate then it did when we were in Trouble or Danger it is high time to looke to our selves lest we fall into a Lethargy For as the lest Declination of the Sunne from the Meridian though insensible at the beginning ever encreases till the Sunne bee set so the lest relenting in the zealous * M. Latimer being asked why there was so much preaching and so little practising answered Deest ignis there wants fire viz. of Zeale practice of Piety and Charity will in short time prove a Retrogradation which will cast us mainly backward and take quite from us in the end the light and Comfort of the Sunne of Righteousnesse There are few men that after they have sung Te Deum for any great Deliverance will seriously remember or thinke upon Miserere mei Deus present Prosperitie making them secure of future Danger as if they needed not to pray Leade us not into Temptation A relation of the Italian Revels and Bacchanals the week before Lent They have a Custome in Italy of putting out the Quaranta hore as they terme it in the principall Churches in the last week of Carneval when Feasting Dicing Dancing and Masking with all sorts of licentious revelling is shamefully priviledg'd among them During those fortie houres they which have any Devotion attend to the hearing of Sermons fasting and praying for the Remission of their owne sinnes and of those that sinne in that time of excesse and loosenesse which was the best peece of Pietie that I observed in the Roman Church Weaknesse of Faith is in degree Want of Faith When we finde therefore a weakenesse of Faith a faintnesse in our Devotions cold affection to God and good men fewer Teares shed for sinne then formerly lesse remorse of Conscience and dread of Gods Iudgments we may well suspect in our selves a carnall and Carnevall Securitie which by all pious meanes wee must labour to prevent Howbeit in this Synchronisme or Collation of the times of our Adversity and Prosperity I require not in all points the same spirituall exercises without Variation as if there were no difference betwixt Christmas-day and Good-Friday but a constant Tenour of serving God all the dayes of our life without intermission or remission of the essentiall duties of Religion that as in Affliction we call'd on him for deliverance so being deliverd we forget not to glorifie his Divine Majesty as he hath * See Psal 50. ver 15. and 23. commanded us having ever a watchfull eye to our selves that our Zeale to his service relent not nor our Charity to our neighbour wax * Coldnesse is a Symptom and degree of death cold and learning of holy Iob ch 9. to feare all our workes as knowing that wee are to worke out our salvation c. as wee are taught Phil. 2.12 which is not to bee understood that we are to bee so fearefull as to doubt of the end if we continue in our faith but to be so carefull and punctually circumspect as to omit no means thereto conducent The last signe indicating a propension in our soules to carnall security was the Omission of the Spirituall Sacrifices of Praise and Thanks after any blessing comfort or deliverance receaved from God To remedie this requires only an inspection into the Booke of GOD where wee shall finde innumerable Precepts and Precedents seconded with most gracious promises exciting and even enforcing us to that heavenly exercise of glorifying God for all his Mercies Moses in Deuteronomy doth preach to the Israelites and mainly presse on their Soules and Consciences two chiefe Doctrinall Points viz. Obedience and Thanksgiving This was the Reverend Patriarchs Practise who never receav'd any blessing The ancient practise of Piety by Gods true servants worthy our imitation but immediately wee reade of an Altar by them erected yea if they found but Water for their Cattell they gave to the Wells they had digged significant Names expressing their Gratitude The Israelites deliverance at the Red Sea produced the Song of Moses The Victory of Barak the Song of Debora The birth of Samuel the Song of Hanna The birth of the Baptist the Song of Zachary and the Annunciation of our Saviours Nativity the Blessed Virgins Magnificat The Prophet David hath left us only seven penitentiall Psalms but his Eucharisticall psalms of Thanksgiving are very numerous not omitting to compose an Hymne of praise for every signall favour that hee receaved at the hands of God Motives and Reasons impelling yea compelling us to the performance of this duty are many First among Ethniks and meere Morall men Ingratitude is reputed the Metropolis of Vices and ingrate persons branded with the greatest infamy Ingratum dixeris omnia dixeris It is a violation of naturall Iustice Secondly Partem beneficij reddidit qui gratias dedit He hath in part requited a benefit that returnes thankes The Prophets demand was Quid retribuam arguing that some kinde of retribution was due to God for his blessings Ex aequo bono the neglect whereof must needs bee adjudg'd a violation of naturall Equity Gratitude a due debt Doe yee thus requite the Lord ye Fooles saith Moses * See Deut. 32.6 Thirdly Gratitude for Mercies receav'd is the next way to purchase more from God as the servant in the Parable that improved the pound left with him by his Master was made Ruler over tenne Cities Luke 19 16.17 Fourthly whosoever is truely thankfull to God will endeavour to expresse his gratitude by Obedience extending it to the whole course of his life and to all the divine Commandements not taking liberty in any one sinne but striving to avoid all nor omitting any Duty of Piety or Charity but conscionably * The Law may bee kept sincerely though not fulfilld exactly performing all like Zachary and Elizabeth who walked in all the Precepts and Ordinances of the Lord unblameably Luk 1.6 As God never ceaseth to bestow his blessings on us so should wee incessantly serve laud and magnifie him all our days In which heavenly exercises if wee continue constant faithfull to death wee shall receave a Crowne of Life Revel 2.10 Fifthly this holy Duty is full of comfort and contentment and a singular solace to the religious soule O praise the Lord saith the Prophet for it is a good thing to * Sing Davids Psalms with Davids
Divine MEDITATIONS WRITTEN By an HONOURABLE PERSON Whereto is adjoyned a Determination of the Question whether Men ought to Kneele at the Receipt of the HOLY COMMVNION And an Essay of FRIENDSHIP Dat Rosa mel apibus LONDON Printed by T. Badger for Humphrey Mosley and are to be sold at his Shop at the Princes Armes in S. Pauls Church-Yard 1641. A MEDITATION upon PSAL. 91. 1. Who so dwelleth under the defense of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty THe Holy Ghost by the Prophet David exhibites here matter of singular comfort to all such as can well understand it and rightly apply it to themselves But wee must bee carefull that wee runne not too fast to the Application lest we deceave our selves and thinke wee are safe under the defense of the most High when perhaps wee are in the shadow of Death All men naturally beleeve easily what they desire strongly Quod nimis miseri volunt hoc facile credunt Senec. and there 's no Hypocrisie so dangerous as when men deceive their owne soules and think they are safe when they are in danger Many runne boldly to God with Lord Lord in their mouth as if they were his Children who shal receave for answer Nescio vos I know you not Matth. 7.22 23. This is a spirituall Phrensie not unlike that of the mad-man in Athens who seeing any Ship arrive ranne straight to the Haven and tooke an Inventory of all the Lading imagining it to bee his owne when he had no part therein Wee must therefore study to know who are those that dwell under the defence of the most High before wee can conclude who shall abide under the shadow of the Almightie This Point is excellently cleered by the same Prophet who seemed to comment on this Text in the fifteenth Psal demanding in the first Ver. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle or who shall rest on thy Holy Hill and resolving the question in the words following to the end of the Psalme Even hee that leads an incorrupt life and doth the thing that is right c. Thus let the true Christian examine his owne heart and consider whether his life hath been or is incorrupt whether he doth the things * See Zechar 7. ver 9 10 that are right whether hee speake the truth from his heart whether hee hath used no deceit with his Tongue nor done evill to his Neighbour c. as it followes there and then he may conclude with David in the last words of that Psal that he shall never fall having done these things and consequently that he dwells under the defence of the most High There is likewise another Rule by which wee must examine our selves and that is properly ministred to us in the Phrase which the Prophet useth of dwelling under the defense of the most High It is an ordinary expression in the Scripture that God dwells with his Elect and they with him and these are Relatives which cannot stand one without the other Hee then that would know whether hee dwell under the defence of the most High must see whether God dwell with him Of this no man can bee ignorant Fruits of the Flesh and Spirit evidently discernable Gal. 5.9 for where the Spirit of God is it will evidently appeare and make it selfe knowne Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Galathians declares what are the Fruits of the Spirit viz. Love Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse Faith Meekenesse and Temperance and likewise what are the Fruits of the Flesh viz. Adultery Fornication Uncleannesse Wantonnesse Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Debate Emulation Wrath Contention Sedition Heresies Envie Murther Drunkennes Revelling and such like Hee that will sit in Iudgment on himselfe and examine which of these Fruits spring out of his heart shall soone know whether God dwell in him or the Devill For the eyes of God cannot behold impurity He is all purity and sanctity and his Spirit will not inhabit a polluted Temple If therefore thou finde thy Heart and Soule to be corrupt and impure know that it is a Cage of uncleane Birds and no fit Tabernacle for God But if thou have washt away thy filthinesse by Repentance and the Bloud of Christ hath clensed thee from all sinne then maist thou bee sure that God is with thee and that thou dwellest under the Defence of the most High and maist boldly goe on with David and say 2. I will say unto the Lord Thou art my Hope and my strong Hold my God in Him will I trust If any man would have a Paraphrase upon these words hee may have recourse to the 18. Psalme and say with David there The Lord is my strong Rock and my Defence my Saviour my God and my Might in whom I will trust my Buckler the Horne also of my salvation and my Refuge In the 144. Psalme ver 2. the same Prophet calls GOD his hope and his fortresse his Castle and deliverer his Defender in whom hee will trust Psalme 31. ver 3. he stiles him his strong Rocke and House of Defense and verse 4. his strong Rocke againe and Castle Psalm 62. ver 2. Hee verily is my strength and salvation hee is my defense so that I shall not greatly fall which words are repeated ver 6. Through the whole Body of Scripture there is nothing more frequent then such like expressions of Gods power to secure his children from any danger whatsoever and Exhortations unto them to rely upon him without * Doubting of Gods mercy or providence is not beleeving Abraham staggered not at Gods promise by incredulity but was strong in Faith glorifying God Rom. 4.20 And Iacob ceased not to wrestle with the ANGEL though his thigh were bruised Gen. 33.26 Doubting and to trust in him as a faithfull Creator Is he a Rock then pray with the Psalmist O set mee on the Rocke that is higher then I Psalm 61.3 Follow our Saviours counsell Matth. 7. and Build thy House on the Rocke which nor storme of winde nor deluge of Water shall ever be able to shake Is hee thy Hope then maist thou be sure he will not faile thee for hee never did forsake those that put their trust in him Is he thy strong hold Feare then no persecution of any enemy whatsoever For no Battery can make breach in this Castle nor any craft of Man or Devill undermine it This Fortresse is God in whom onely David trusted who having created the World and all that is therein commands and over-rules all his Creatures so that nothing shall offend those his Children whom hee hath taken into his protection Yea Satan himselfe shall tempt Iob no further then God shall permit him Some put their trust in Chariots and Horses but they are brought downe and falne Psalme 20. But wee that remember the Name of the Lord our God are risen and stand upright Ver. 7 8. O then trust not in Princes nor in any child of man for there 's
and doe them no hurt In this Visitation the Angell of God the executioner of His Iustice is abroad they therefore that desire to be spared must by Faith apprehend the merits of Iesus Christ and have their soules sprinkled with His Bloud else how can they hope or trust in God or have confidence in His Protection being not reconcil'd to Him by His Sonne Nor having by a true and lively Faith apprehended the merits of His Passion and applied them to themselves It is true our Saviour hath promised to ease those that labour and are heavie laden but conditionally if they come unto Him which is done by Faith and Repentance Wherefore in so dangerous a Visitation when the Defence of the most High is so necessary and our Trust in Him so comfortable let us be sure that our Hope be well grounded on Faith and pray without ceasing for Faith Hope and Penitence which are Graces that we cannot attaine of our selves but are gratis datae and cannot be obtained but by fervent Prayer Hee then that by Prayer and Repentance often renewed hath got sensible Encrease of the saving Graces of Faith and Hope may safely and sincerely trust in God for deliverance from the Plague either by taking it away from him or him from it Faith with out Repentance a meere mock Faith which latter Saint Paul accounts farre better desiring to depart * Psalm 1.23 and to be with Christ Death being to the Godly a Rest to the body and happinesse to the soule which is freed from falling into sinne and admitted to the blissefull Vnion of her Creator and Redeemer Howbeit in time of Visitation and Vengeance when the destroying Angell is abroad with his Sword drawne it is no small comfort to a Christian man when Thousands fall beside him and tenne thousands at his right hand to be preserved from Infection His comfort may well be encreased and doubled in contemplation of Gods mercy * See this excellently exprest Esa 30 1â— and goodnesse to him Yet must we take heed of passing rash Iudgement on those that are visited by Gods hand concluding our selves to bee more righteous then they Our Saviour taught His Disciples another Lesson Luk. 13 upon occasion of the Galilaeans whose Bloud Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices and of those on whom the Tower of Siloe fell telling them that they were not greater sinners then other men and except they repented they likewise should perish Saint Paul's Counsell is seasonable Let him that stands take heed least he fall and his example is worthy our Imitation professing himselfe to bee the Greatest sinner though hee were an elect Vessell When therefore wee see Gods Iudgements powred upon * What then are we better then they No in no wise Rom. 39. others let us not fondly and rashly condemne them as more ungodly then we are but confesse that we have deserved as much as they and thanke him for having spared us and given us a longer Time of repentance Give glory to God for shewing mercy to thee which thou deservedst not when his wrath was powred on others which perhaps deserved it lesse than thou Improve the Time lent thee to Humiliation Contrition and Amendment of Life Be frequent and fervent in praier Let the Lord be thy Hope * Ioel. 3.16 let thy faith be operative by works of Piety and Charity Gal. 5.6 Vers 9.10 11 12 13. and then shall no evill happen unto thee for Hee shall give His Angells charge over thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes c. These Angels being Spirits are not to be seene by the eye of Faith but when by Gods order they assume Bodies and therefore we must looke up with an eye of Faith to Him who rules and commands them and hath made them all ministring spirits sent forth for the behoofe of them who are heires of Salvation Heb. 1.14 and therefore when the Angell executioner of Gods justice is abroad we may hope and trust in God that His Angells encampe about us that feare and worship Him in sinceritie of heart In the eighteenth of Genesis we reade of three Angels that appeared to Abraham in the shape of men and from him they went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah yet in the nineteenth wee finde mention but of two Angels that were entertained by Lot and did execute the vengeance of God on those sinfull Cities Some have observed that God Almighty who was one of the three that appeared to Abraham and ministred occasion to him to pray for Lots deliverance did afterward retire and leave to his Angels the execution of His justice and that throughout the Scripture God Himselfe is never recorded to shew Himselfe visibly but when Hee glorifies Himselfe in Mercy ever committing the executing of Iudgements to His ministers This Conceipt is strengthened by our Saviours Interpretation of the Parable of the Teares Mat. 13. where Hee saies that the Officers which are to burne the Teares are the Angels Psal 39.41 42. which in the end of the world Hee will send forth to gather out of His Kingdome all things which offend and them which doe Iniquity and to cast them into a Furnace of fire When the Devill tempting our Saviour had set Him on the Pinacle of the Temple he perverted part of this Psalme to perswade Him to shew Himselfe to be the Sonne of God by casting Himselfe downe for saith he it is writen He will give his Angels charge over thee that thou hurt not thy foote against a stone Matth. 4. Pope Alexander the third is observed to have followed the Devill very close applying to Himselfe the words following abusing them likewise when he set his foote on the neck of the Emperor Fredericke saying Thou shalt goe upon the Lion and Adder the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under thy feete This had no conformity with the Doctrine of our Saviour nor with the practise of Himselfe and His Apostles He paid Tribute to Caesar not trode on his necke But I will not amplifie this Exorbitancy Transeat inter caeteros errores Canonistarum and let that Pope passe among them that detort Scripture to their owne Damnation Let us beware we stumble not at the same stone by misinterpreting * or misapplying Scripture carelesly and negligently See a learned Sermon preached at Oxford by Master Iohn Hales the rare Ornament of Eton College as Satan did subtilly and maliciously God hath given His Angels charge over us that they beare us in their hands c. but they are bound to keepe thee but in all thy wayes which words the Devill omitted because they made not for his purpose This point is clearely demonstrated in the History of the Iewes from their Exit or comming out of Egypt till their Entrance into Canaan For as long as they were in their way and were obedient to the word of the Lord nothing could hurt them as appeares by their miraculous Deliverances from